(free) What is death

  Death is the cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include aging, predation, malnutrition, disease, suicide, homicide, starvation, dehydration, and accidents or major trauma resulting in terminal injury. In most cases, bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death.

Particularly the death of humans has commonly been considered a sad or unpleasant occasion, due to the affection for the being that has died and the termination of social and familial bonds with the deceased. Other concerns include fear of death, necrophobia, anxiety, sorrow, grief, emotional pain, depression, sympathy, compassion, solitude, or saudade. Many cultures and religions have the idea of an afterlife, and also hold the idea of reward or judgement and punishment for past sin.

(free) The last day of school

  The last day of school was like a usual day of school after the finals, very bad attendance, no teachers in class or teachers that go into the class and do nothing. It was nothing special but we had an  hour recess which is good.

  The day started like the few days before, we gathered at the pavilion and marked our attendance. We mixed all the form 4 classes because there weren't many people that came that day.

  That day was very uneventful but I had fun drawing and chatting with my friends. It was quite tiring too when a bunch of teachers asked us for help one after another.

  Nothing much to say but I just hope more people had attended that day.

(free) The Voice of DJ

  Recently, our school had an event called 'The Voice of DJ' which is apparently a singing competition for form 1 to form 4 students. This is the second time they have this event and the first one happened last year. It isn't the greatest event because anyone is allowed to just join the competition and yes, included people that are tone deaf.

  However, this year is worse than the last one because all of us are 'compulsory' to join the 'competition' because it was very very very very under prepared and had to find a way to force participations among the students. The rules are simple, we just have to choose songs that are under 3 minutes and in Malay, Chinese or English. Besides there were also 3 different categories for us to join: solo, duet and groups. Most of us joined the groups category.

  Our has 15 people and we chose the song 'Happy Birthday' because it was quick and easy for us. Most importantly, it obeys the rules and regulations. I don't think I need explain how terrible it went because everyone is not very good at singing but some are decent. At least it ended and school ended earlier for us.

Keeping a weekly blog helps me improve myself

  After doing blogs for about one year, it has help me a lot in multiple ways. I do enjoy writing blogs sometimes because I can write out what I am thinking that I don't usually say in real life.

  Writing blogs has improved my writing skills (I think) and it has helped me write more smoothly when I am writing an essay or something similar. It has also helped me to think more when writing and before writing something but I think I still need to improve on keeping my idea in order but I think writing blogs have helped me a bit in that particular category.

  Writing blogs has been enjoyable and I get marks for it, it's a plus but Pn. Monica doesn't want to give me full marks even though I completed all my blogs and even added one extra just in case I actually missed somehting.

Commenting on 5 of Chua Weng Hwang's blog

5 comments, use the links:

https://anenglishblockofword.blogspot.com/2018/10/optimism-pessimism-bias.html?showComment=1541258706093&m=1#c6819297420943791193

http://anenglishblockofword.blogspot.com/2018/09/happiness.html?m=1

http://anenglishblockofword.blogspot.com/2018/09/writing-10-word-story.html?m=1

http://anenglishblockofword.blogspot.com/2018/08/ict-ton-and-carnival-2018.html?m=1

https://anenglishblockofword.blogspot.com/2018/01/first-week-of-school.html?showComment=1541261395789&m=1#c3113581506599383447

(free) I am pretty sure I finished my blogs

  I think I have missed one free topic blog according to my list but it's weird because I think I accidentally added an extra free topic into the list. I have checked my blogs and compared it to Chua Weng Hwang's blogs, I have all of them. However, when I compared my list of blog titles to his blog,  it seems like he had missed one but I think it is most likely that I had accidentally added an extra blog to the list, so good luck to the people that are using the list I made.

  I am quite unsatisfied with my blog marks because I am very sure I have not missed any blogs. I hope this is just a  mistake and I hope I can get full marks for my blogs. I double checked and even went for a triple check. All of the titles are there and everything is completed.

  I hope teacher can check my blogs by using the title instead of the dates because I might do some blogs earlier or later from time to time. The order of my blogs might not be accurate but I think all of them are here.

  Besides, this guy named Derrick Lee used my list to complete his very incomplete blogs and got full marks.( Nani?) So yea, the list is probably accurate but I still think I might have accidentally added one extra blog? I don't know.

  ❓❔❓❔❓❔❓❔❓❔❓❔❓❔

(free) My Finals

  My finals are finally over. It was too long for me to actually feel like it's important so I did not put much thought into it. I failed two subjects and I don't really care. I have never understood anything about chemistry and add maths. I failed those subjects because I am too dumb for the education system. I just hope I can pass all the other subjects and get over this exam.

  The finals lasted for 3 weeks and I couldn't handle anything because my mind is empty. I tried to study but I could not memorize anything. Nothing make sense to me and I could not answer most of the questions. I tried to fill up all the blanks spaces but for the subjective questions it is hard to guess the questions and most of the questions are subjective.

  I should work harder after exams because I might fail more subjects if I don't start to study. I hope I can understand and memorize what we learned in class. Hopefully.....

 

 
 

Writing A 10 Word Essay

  Our teacher told us to try out the Star-Nie challenge about writing a 10-word essay. The essay must contain the word "spooky". It is actually quite a challenging thing to do especially with this limited amount of words. Besides, we will have to include the word "spooky" in the essay which makes it more difficult. I managed to finish it after a few sessions of brainstorming and I came up with something that is quite underwhelming but I can't think of anything better.

  The essay is supposed to "crank up the scares" but the compulsory word "spooky" makes it quite impossible as the word itself gives out a more comical feeling than a scary one. It is just annoying to deal with one word that counters everything that they requested to have in our essays. most of the ideas would sound so much better if the word "spooky" wasn't given. They could've given better words such as mysterious, unsettling, ominous and etc.

 

  I know this is a challenge but it is kind of limiting our imagination with one word blocking the way. I hope that they improved other challenges that they are going to have in the future by giving a little less limitation or a more flexible limitation. 

(free) Struggling to come up with a blog title

  As a shallow person, it is very hard for me to think of something to write for my blog when teacher gives a free topic. I don't know anything about this world and I have very little knowledge about stuff around us. My terrible English isn't helping me either because I can't just write a typical essay and call it a day because my vocabulary is very limited. Of course I can read more books to improve but as someone that is lazy, procrastination seems to be my first priority. This is probably not a healthy lifestyle. Wait, it isn't.

  Since I don't know what to write I can just write about random stuff that comes to my mind. Let's talk about dreams, like just normal people talking about how weird dreams are instead of being all scientific and stuff. I don't want to dive so deep into something that I don't really care. Dreams, weird, random, easy to forget. I don't know why but according to people who studies dreams, they say that dreams are a universal language which kind of make sense since we are all the same species? I guess? But they (people who studies dreams) claim that dreams are signs of things that are currently happening in our lives which is not a surprise but it is quite fascinating because, sleeping in such a deep state but still being aware about life problems and on going events in life is quite a mystery. The subconscious mind is said to be a power part of our minds since it controls our habits and the way we act most of the time.

  I am very lazy to continue with this because my limited knowledge about dreams aren't getting me nowhere. I just noticed I have made the 'free' topic into a 'free' blog. I should do this often so that I don't have to think about the title, so expect another one of these random.... thing, Paragraphs thingy?

(free) Love

  Love encompasses a variety of strong and positive emotional and mental states, ranging from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection and to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love of a mother differs from the love of a spouse differs from the love of food. Most commonly, love refers to a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment.

  Love can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection, as "the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another". It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals.

  Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts. Love has been postulated to be a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.

(free) Internet meme

  An Internet meme, commonly known as just meme, is an activity, concept, catchphrase, or piece of media that spreads, often as mimicry or for humorous purposes, from person to person via the Internet. An Internet meme may take the form of an image, hyperlink, video, website, or hashtag. It may be just a word or phrase, sometimes including an intentional misspelling. These small movements tend to spread from person to person via social networks, blogs, direct email, or news sources.

  Internet memes may relate to various existing Internet cultures or subcultures, often created or spread on various websites Fads and sensations tend to grow rapidly on the Internet because the instant communication facilitates word-of-mouth transmission. Some examples include posting a photo of people lying down in public places, known as 'planking' and uploading a short video of people dancing to the Harlem Shake.

  The word meme was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene as an attempt to explain the way cultural information spreads. Internet memes are a subset of this general meme concept specific to the culture and environment of the Internet. The concept of the Internet meme was first proposed by Mike Godwin in the June 1993 issue of Wired. In 2013, Dawkins characterized an Internet meme as being a meme deliberately altered by human creativity—distinguished from biological genes and his own pre-Internet concept of a meme, which involved mutation by random change and spreading through accurate replication as in Darwinian selection. Dawkins explained that Internet memes are thus a "hijacking of the original idea", the very idea of a meme having mutated and evolved in this new direction.

  Further, Internet memes carry an additional property that ordinary memes do not—Internet memes leave a footprint in the media through which they propagate that renders them traceable and analyzable.

Adjectives

  Our English teacher told us to bring colour pencils the day before an activity for our next English lesson. She did not mention what we were going to do so we just brought the colour pencils. When it was English class, she told us that we are going to do a drawing activity. The activity was simple, we had to draw a monster and write a description for its looks. Then, we had to give the description to our friends so that they can recreate the monsters drawn using the descriptions. We took quite some time to finish this activity.

  When we finished, the teacher asked us what did we learn from this activity. I have learned that descriptive writing is important and when we describe something, we should be detailed and accurate. It is important because when we write something, the reader should know what we are writing and be able to imagine the words into picture.

  It is also important to use adjectives when we are writing a descriptive essay because it can help show what we wrote to the readers. Moreover, adjectives can help set up the mood for a piece or make the writing more lively. When we use adjectives, we have to use different words to describe the same things such as feelings, size and etc.

  Besides that, I also learned that I should be more careful when writing because I made a spelling mistake and my friend couldn't fully understand what I wrote. 

 

What actually transpired during the holidays

  During the holidays, nothing much had happened because I don't really have friends that wants to hang out. Most people are going out with their families and some are even traveling but I don't really have any plans. Therefore, nothing transpired during the holidays. I stayed home for the holidays and I procrastinated.

  Writing this title probably isn't a good idea since I have literally nothing to talk about. Of course, I can write something fake just to finish this "assignment" but I really don't want to write something that isn't true. It's my blog and I hope I can at least not write all those essays that require you to write things that you don't even agree on.

  Holidays are not the best days for me but school days aren't too. I am contradicting myself but I am just confused what to write about to be honest. Having a title that had nothing to write about makes me write this thing, this piece of nothing, just me rambling about how I have nothing to do during every holidays.

  The holidays always consist of me laying on bed, procrastinating, thinking about how I should be productive but never does it, thinking about how I messed up, thinking about bad choices I made, the small details that makes me cringe everytime I think about it. I mean, seriously, people don't even remember the  small things I messed up but I still regret everytime the thought comes to my mind. This is just confusing.

  Maybe something did transpired during the holidays. I overthinked again. That's what happened.

My plans for the August 2018 Holiday

  The August holidays are here and I don't really have any plans for it. Like most of my holidays,i usually spend most of the time at home doing nothing and completing some holiday homework. Sometimes, my family and I will go out to watch a movie but that doesn't happen often because my brothers are not usually free after they started college.

  I should study but I don't really feel motivated especially when it's the holidays because school is quite hectic for me most of the time and i can't do much when everything is so messy. I am going out of topic in almost every blogs now, I should stop going out of topic but this is still my blog.....

   I hope my holidays have more interesting stuff but it is hard when you're a person who spends most of your time at home. Not only that, it is even more difficult when everyone around you is just going to study for the finals and no one is really free.

 

SMKDJ Carnival

  My school had a carnival to raise fund so that we can have better facilities like computers and etc. The carnival was held not long ago and a lot of people went to see what is this carnival all about since the school has never had a carnival before. (I think, I don't know though)

  I went there and it was quite underwhelming but we can't complain much because the school and most of them had try their best to give everyone a good time. The food were okay and the prices were reasonable too. Nothing very special that caught my attention.

  The carnival was not that fun because there wasn't a lot of games. I mainly hung out with my friends and we just buy food to eat. There was a concert too and it was fine. Even though they should have more quality control over the performance but I think they don't have enough volunteers to perform.

  Overall, it was a good effort but in my opinion, the school can do better than this because the school has potential and a lot of places wasn't wisely use to set up more booths for interesting games.

  I did enjoy some part of the carnival but I wouldn't want to go to a second one cause it was on a Saturday and Saturdays are for us to sleep after 5 days of waking up early for school. I am leaving the title already, oh no, that's too bad. The carnival wasn't great but it was not bad either. It was better than I expected.

Comments on my friends' blogs

To see the comments, check the links below:

https://howdidifeelwhenireceivedmypt3result.blogspot.com/2018/05/my-first-ulbs-for-english.html?showComment=1533642103272#c2397266193763752537

https://liewchungwei.blogspot.com/2018/06/a-momentous-moment-in-history-of.html?showComment=1533644018688#c3610031944130375638

(free) Origin of HIV and AIDS

  The origin of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has been debated since the virus was identified in the 1980s by researchers and scientists. Now, we have a lot of evidence on how, when and where HIV first began to cause illness in humans.

  HIV is a type of lentivirus, which means it attacks the immune system. In a similar way, the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) attacks the immune system of apes and monkeys. HIV crossed from chimps to humans in the 1920s in what is now the Democratic Republic of Cango. This was probably as a result of chimps carrying SIV being hunted and eaten by people living in the area.

  Researchers found that HIV is related to SIV and there are many similarities between the two viruses, HIV-1 is closely related to strains of SIV found in chimpanzee s, and HIV-2 is closely related to strains of SIV found in sooty mangabeys. In 1999, researchers found a strain of SIV (called SIVcpz) in a chimpanzee that was almost identical to HIV in humans. The researcher who discovered this connection concluded that it proved that chimpanzees were the source of HIV-1 and that the virus had at some point crossed species from chimps to humans.

  The most commonly accepted theory is of the "hunter". In this scenario, SIVcpz was transferred to humans as a result of chimps being killed and eaten, or their blood getting into cuts or wounds on people in the course of hunting. Normally, the hunter's body would have fought off SIV, but on a few occasions the virus adapted itself within its new human host and became HIV-1.

  Some studies of the earliest samples of HIV provide clues about when it first appeared in humans and how it evolved. The first verified case of HIV is from a blood sample taken in 1959 from a man. The sample was retrospectively analysed and HIV detected. The infections, now known to be Aids-defining, suggest that HIV was the cause, but this is the earliest incident where blood sample can verify infection.

  Using the earliest known sample of HIV, scientists have been able to discover where HIV started. Their studies concluded that the first transmission of SIV to HIV in humans took place around 1920 in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

  The area around Kinshasa is full of transport links, such as roads, railways and rivers. The areas had a growing sex trade around the time that HIV began to spread. The high population of migrants and sex trade might explain how HIV spread along these infrastructure routes.

  People sometimes say that HIV started in the 1989s in the United States of America (USA), but in fact, this was just when people first became aware of HIV and it was officially recognized as a new health condition. In 1981, a few of rare diseases were being reported among gay men in New York and California, such as Kaposi's Sarcoma (rare cancer) and a lung infection called PCP. No one knew why these cancers and opportunistic infections were spreading, but they concluded that there must be an infectious "disease" causing them.

  At first, the disease was called all sorts of names relating to the word 'gay'. It wasn't until mid-1982 that scientists realised the "disease" was also spreading among other populations such as heroin users. By the September that year, the "disease" was finally named Aids.

Source: (Please refer to the link)
https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/origin

Minggu Pusat Sumber in My School

  My school had Minggu Pusat Sumber not long ago and it was quite an eventful week for us. Every year the library will have this event and every time they will always come up with a different theme for each year.

  The theme this year is 'Korea'. They had organized some competitions for the students to join and they are related to the theme. I joined the drawing competition with my friends. We were told to draw Korean food and I had lots of fun because I got to join with my friends. I won second place in the competition (only 6 people joined...) and my friend won third.

  Besides, the library is also decorated with different kinds of posters that are related to Korea. Every class get a chance to visit the library because the librarians are presenting their things about Korea in the library. It was fun because we get to learn a lot of things about Korea and its history, culture and differences between our country.

Academic day in school

  On the 13th of July 2018, our school had an Academic day. I woke up early that day to go to school. As I expected, not a lot of people went for that day.

  We did our usual things before class starts. Since it was the Academic day, our form teacher went to our class to meet our parents.

  No a lot of people were there and not a lot of parents went too. It was a very relaxing day for me. When my mother came, she had a conversation with my teacher for a while.

  They talked about my results and my attitude in class. After that, my mother and I went home.

Hari Raya Celebrations in School

  Our school had a celebration for Hari Raya on the 6th floor July. It was a fun day for all of the students and teachers. Most people wore traditional clothes to attend this event as the teachers and students were allowed to wear them for this celebration.

  We went into the hall after having the first few classes in the morning for the celebration. We had food there and it was a nice environment for us to enjoy as we get to eat with our friends.

  The food was quite nice and we also enjoyed ourselves because we get to see some interesting performances by the students. It was a great experience for all of us and we also took some pictures of each other.

  After the celebration, we went back to class to continue our classes. It was a great pleasure to be able to see such wonderful people getting together during this event and I would like to celebrate Hari Raya in our school next year again.

(free) A Lovely Morning

  The dazzling morning sunlight was like a beacon of hope. I woke up from my sweet slumber and stretched while letting out a yawn. When I threw the window wide open, the chilly morning breeze hit me straight in my face. The minty scent of the toothpaste filled the bathroom as I fumbled to brush my teeth.

  I went downstairs after having a refreshing bath to start my day. The sizzling of the sausages on the grill was a beautiful melody to my ears as I looked forward to having a sumptuous breakfast. I ate my breakfast like a tiger feasting on its prey after a few days of hunger.

  The weather was nice and warm out there so I decided to take a walk in the park. The rusting of the leaves and the chirping of the birds formed a symphony. When I looked up at the sky, I can see fluffy white clouds fluttered across the sky and birds soaring in the sky freely. 

  The fresh smell of the grass and trees around the playground was very pleasant. The park was filled with early birds and health enthusiasts.

The changes/progress my country has experienced from 9.5.2018 untill today

  The changes that my country has experienced from 9.5.2018 until today is that the prices of most things have dropped since we do not need to pay for GST anymore. The people of this country also have more hopes towards the new Prime Minister than the former one.

  Besides that, I don't really see much changes or progress yet. I don't know about the adults but our education system hasn't really changed ever since that day. I think the government still needs some time to fix our country's problems that the former prime minister had caused.

  As a student, I haven't seen much changes yet since I am not really interested in my country's politics but the obvious changes are the adults around me have stopped blaming the government for now. Adults also praise the new prime minister a lot for the time being.

  In conclusion, I don't see any changes yet but I hope that the new prime minister can really lead this country and make this country a better place for all of us to live in.

Seriously, nothing has really changed for me.....

  

(free) What is BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder)

  BPD or Borderline Personality Disorder is a personality disorder marked by unstable and inconsistent moods, behavior, and functioning. This often results in unstable relationships, impulsivity, anger, depression, and anxiety. 

  BPD is a personality disorder where you feel as though you lack control, creating frustration. It is thought to be triggered by a traumatic event in early childhood, though there is no direct correlation. Researchers believe that those with BPD, due to a possible traumatic event, experience different structural changes in the part of the brain that controls emotions and impulses.

   However, it should be noted that this shows up in people who do not have BPD, Which makes BPD even more mysterious and unknown. BPD can be hard to detect as it so often overlaps with other mental illnesses. One might talk about depression, but not talk about or be aware of their other symptoms. This results in one being wrongfully diagnosed with depression and not BPD.

  The list of symptoms of BPD includes frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment; a pattern of intense and unstable relationships with family, friends and loved ones, often swinging from extreme closeness and love or idealization to extreme dislike or anger; distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self; impulse and often dangeous behaviors such as spending sprees, unsafe sex, substance abuse, reckless driving and binge eating; reoccuring suicidal beheaviors or threats or self harming behavior; intense and highly changeable moods; chronic feelings of emptiness; innappropriate and intense anger or  problems controlling anger; stress-related paranoid thoughts; severe dissociative symptoms such as feeling cut off from oneself, observing oneself from outside the body or losing touch with reality.

   Interpersonal relationships are quite difficult, but DBT or Dialectical Behavior Therapy can offer skills to not only cope with but successfully live with BPD. Since its creation, DBT has been used to help not only BPD, but other mental illnesses as well. Borderline Personality Disorder is a personality disorder not much spoken about, as many are afraid of it, but it's important to remember that those with BPD are still people, and they deserve to be heard and loved.

Ladies should not accept jobs that take them away from home excessively. How far do you agree?

  I agree with the statement to a certain extent. Ladies should not accept jobs that take them away from home excessively because it is important for them to take care of their homes as a family is an important part of one's life.

  If ladies take jobs that take them away from home excessively, it would harm the family as the family members will not be able to bond with them more often and this will cause family members to be more distant than ever.

  Besides, ladies are also a very important part of a child's childhood and if a lady, in this case, a mother, accepted a job that takes her away from home overly, the child will miss out a lot of things that he or she can learn from the mother. Not to mention that the child will feel remote towards the mother. This may cause a lot of regrets in both the mother's and child's life later in the future.

  Of course, jobs opportunities are good things to receive and if the job that is given is reasonable, it is totally fine to accept it but it is also important to find a balance between jobs and our home. Ladies should not accept jobs that take them away from home excessively but they should accept jobs that offer a better future and a stable life for them. If a job takes someone away from home excessively, it is probably a better choice to not accept it because a job like that is bound to be more stressful and is not always rewarding.

  In conclusion, it is up to the ladies to choose whether it is a good choice to accept jobs that take them away from home excessively or not. If the job is what one enjoys, it is acceptable to take the job, but if it needs one to sacrifice a lot of their time that they spend at home with family and housework, it is not recommended to accept this kind of jobs.

A momentous moment in the history of Malaysia

  A momentous moment in the history of Malaysia is when the Federation of Malaya's Independence from the British Empire was officially declared on 31 August 1957. The declaration was read by the first Chief Minister of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman at the Merdeka Stadium in the presence of thousands of people including Malay Rulers, members of the federal government, and foreign dignitaries.

  This day is known as Hari Merdeka and Hari Kebangsaan, which is Independence day for Malaysians. The effort for independence was led by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, who led a delegation of ministers and political leaders of Malaya in negotiations with the British in London for Merdeka, or independence along with the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock and fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress Tun V. T. Sambanthan. Once it became clear that the Communist threat posed during the Malayan Emergency was petering out, the agreement was reached on 8 February 1956, for Malaya to gain independence from the British Empire. However, logistical and administrative reasons led to the official proclamation of independence in the next year, on 31 August 1957, at Stadium Merdeka, in Kuala Lumpur, which was purposely built for the celebrations of national independence day. The announcement of the day was set months earlier by the Tunku in a Melaka meeting of the Alliance.

  On the night of 30 August 1957, crowds gathered at the Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur to witness the handover of power from the British. Tunku Abdul Rahman joined members of the Alliance Party's youth divisions in observing two minutes of darkness. On the stroke of midnight, the lights were switched back on, and the Union Flag in the square was lowered. The new Flag of Malaya was raised as the national anthem Negaraku was played. This was followed by seven chants of "Merdeka" by the crowd. Tunku Abdul Rahman later gave a speech hailing the ceremony as the "greatest moment in the life of the Malayan people". Before giving the address to the crowd, he was given a necklace by representatives of the Alliance Party youth in honor of this great occasion in history, with a map of Malaya inscribed on it. The event ended at one in the morning the next day.

  On the morning of 31 August 1957, the festivities moved to the newly completed Merdeka Stadium. More than 20,000 people witnessed the ceremony. Those in attendance included rulers of the Malay states, foreign dignitaries, members of the federal cabinet, and citizens. The Queen's representative, the Duke of Gloucester presented Tunku Abdul Rahman with the instrument of independence. Tunku then proceeded to read the Proclamation of Independence, which culminated in the chanting of "Merdeka!" seven times with the crowd joining in. The ceremony continued with the raising of the National Flag of Malaya accompanied by the national anthem being played by a military band.

  The day followed with the formal installation of the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan, at Jalan Ampang, and the first installation banquet in his honor in the evening followed by a beating retreat performance and a fireworks display. Sports events and other events marked the birth of the new nation.

  This is a momentous moment in the history of Malaysia that all of us must not forget because it is what spearheaded us to what we have now and we should appreciate what had been done and sacrificed for us today. We should all learn from the past and build a better, brighter future for the next generation and our lovely country, Malaysia.

Teachers’ Day- what it means to me and how I celebrate it every year from primary school till now

  Teachers' Day is an important day for all of us to celebrate every year. It is a day where we take out time to celebrate and appreciate all the hard work that teachers had done. This is why Teachers' Day is celebrated in every school every year.

  For me, Teachers' Day is a day for all students and ex-students to show their appreciation to the teachers that had taught them. It is also a day for the teachers to celebrate their effort that they put in their jobs and it is important for the teachers to notice how many people appreciate their sacrifice and that the amount of effort that is put into their work is worth it.

 Every year, the school will plan events for Teachers' Day and all I do is just attend school for the celebration. This is why I don't really have any idea when it comes to celebrating Teachers' Day but my friends and I always make Teachers' Day cards for different teachers every year and we will all write messages to the teachers.

  Teachers' Day is just an amazing day for us to stop and realize the importance of teachers in our society. This is why all of us should try our best in school to show that all the teachers that are working hard for our future are doing a great job.

What will teenagers be like in 100 years?

  What will teenagers be like in 100 years? This is a question that no one has the absolute answer to. This is where our imaginations start to form endless possibilities about the future and I imagine that teenagers will be very different from us in 100 years.

  I think teenagers will all have a faster and more intelligent mind than us now because the amount of information they are able to excess will be so much wider and accurate than ours. I think they will be able to learn anything anywhere and they might even grasp the hang of it easily and I think teenagers in the 100 years will most likely be smarter than a present-day adult.

  Besides, I also imagine that they will be physically stronger and healthier than us. This might become the case because our technology in the medical field is rapidly improving and everyone in the future might even be able to edit their genes before they are born. I think teenagers will live a more healthy and active lifestyle and they might even be immune to most diseases that used to be fatal. This is said because it has been this way for centuries.

  Other than that, I also think that teenagers will have better social skills in 100 years because our communication technology is continuously expanding but there is something that may upset us, in the present day. With the current technology we have, more and more people are neglecting their mother language and people found that it is easier and more efficient if the whole world speaks the same languages and this might be the case for teenagers in the future.

  These are just a few of my speculations of teenagers after a 100 years so it might not be valid but it still what I think.



(Yea, that's all, I don't know what to write since I'll be long dead anyway.)

My first ULBS for English

  I did my first ULBS for English on the 18th April 2018. I was quite relieved when I finished it. It's a presentation in front of the class and I personally dislike presenting or talking in front of a crowd. ULBS has started for a while and every time someone picks a number, I always hope that I wouldn't get pick but the fact is it would be my turn eventually because it is compulsory for all of us to do this presentation.

  Our presentation was about a book that we read and how the book has an impact our lives. When someone picked my number, I was stunned for a moment. The feeling of fear rushes through me and I had no choice but to face it. I stand up with the book in my hand. My classmates are clapping and I felt worse because those claps sounded more like sarcasm than support.

  I was in front of the class and everyone was kind of staring but not really. The weird feeling is still lingering in my mind. I started my presentation and not everyone paid full attention but I didn't mind because my goal is to just finish up as quick as possible and get back to my seat.

  To my surprise, it didn't go as terrible as I thought it would and I didn't pause for every word. I actually added more stuff to the presentation than I first intended. I finished my presentation and I was quite happy that I did it.

  The presentation wasn't good but at least I am satisfied with it. I hope I can be more confident in the next few presentations in the future because I am 100% positive that the anxiety will hit me like a truck again when that time comes.

An Empty Canvas

Born pure, white and empty.
Untouched by paint, it remains the same.
But it never lasts long, it became dirty.
Polluted by the colors again and again.

A new picture people called art,
Filled with vibrant colors to catch their eyes,
A picture that wins people's hearts,
Protected by millions of guards.

A pretty canvas, once unknown,
But now, its name travels far,
People are afraid of where it will go,
So, they spent a million gold.

Bought into a new home,
A museum, a place where people roam,
Seems it has been useless,
Just like when it was just an empty canvas.

Kem Membaca 1 Malaysia

  My school had prepared some activities for us for the Kem Membaca 1 Malaysia. It lasted for three days and we have different activities for different days. These activities were held so that students will read more books and articles.

  The activity for the first day is a word search and we had fun. Even though it took some time from our class, it was an interesting activity. The word search was a bit challenging because it has a lot of words in it and some words are very well hidden.

  We had a quiz in class for the second day. We had a lot of fun even though my team did not win because the quiz contained a lot of questions that we don't really learn in school and it was an enjoyable experience.

  I didn't enjoy the third day's activity because it is about presenting a book in front of people. As the awkward kid, I have very bad stage fear and it was overwhelming even though I was just talking to my juniors about a book I read. I just spilled every word I can think of from my mouth and quickly end my presentation but I think it is a good way to help me overcome my anxiety when it comes to talking in front of a crowd.

  Overall, it was a fun and new experience for me and I really did enjoy it a lot. I hope they have something new for the next year Kem Membaca 1 Malaysia.

What I learned about how my efforts will contribute to my exam marks

  After my marks for my English exam is out, it was a relief to me because I got 84 over 100, which is an A and the only A for my first term exam. I didn't do well in my English exam but I did all my homework and got full marks for my homework marks.

  I am quite happy that all my effort I put into doing my homework has contributed to my exam marks. I learned that doing homework is our responsibility and I like how teacher counted our homework into our exam mark.

  Besides, I also learned that sometimes homework is more important than exams because homework can sometimes help us to gain more knowledge and the way to use them. Even though exams are important, we cannot forget about our homework because it is also an essential part of our education.

  Homework can teach us a lot of things such as time management, responsibility etc. I hope people will focus on homework more like how they focus on their exams because the balance between these two is what helps us gain more knowledge in our studies.

 

My first school holiday

  My first school holiday had taken place not long after we finish our first exams. I am quite happy when the holiday came because I am really tired even though I have not done much. This holiday is like my usual holiday, I spend most of my time at home and indoors.

  This holiday is nothing special and it was quite boring but I am fine with it. I had read a book (which I don't do) because we are having an oral test for English after the holidays. Besides, I spent most of my time online. I browsed the internet for hours, which is unhealthy and I hadn't done much. I also drew a lot of stuff because I have nothing to do but I couldn't get anything good out.

  Don't get me wrong, I like holidays because it is a form of escape from school and stress but it can be kind of boring sometimes. I prefer holidays over school days but sometimes I just want to go to school to meet my friends and hang out. I can hang out with my friends on holidays too and I did but it is not possible to meet every day because everyone has their own personal life.

  In conclusion, I had just slacked off for the whole first holiday without doing anything. I know I should've avoided procrastinating on my work but I can't find any motivation to do it. I hope I will change in the future and use my holidays wisely and use the time I have on self-improvement.

My First Form 4 Exams

  I had my first Form 4 Exams not long ago. It was quite stressful as I can't manage every subjects properly. I tried to study every subjects but I just do not understand any of it(mainly the science subjects).

  After finishing every subjects, I have no confident to pass because I am just confused about every questions. It was just a stressful week, nothing much. I hope I can at least get a A- for any subjects but knowing my standards, it is probably an impossible task.

  After the rough week, the stress is still lingering in my mind because I know I am not going to do well and it is hard to move on since I know there will be more exams, harder ones. All I can do now is study bit by bit and try to understand some of the subjects.

  The first exams isn't a great experience for me, like most exams but I have no choice but to face them, even though I know I am going to get "beaten unmercifully" by this first exams. I just hope I can stay stronger and just finish everything.

 

The most memorable sports day

  The most memorable sports day I ever had was this year's sports day. Our school SMK Damansara Jaya had held the 30th sports day on the 11th of March 2018 and it was the most unforgettable sports day I ever had.

  This sports day is memorable because a lot of things happened. One of the things that happened was our bus was late for 2 hours and 30 minutes for the event. Apparently, the bus was late because they had mistaken the date. We were supposed to start the event on 7:30am and end at 1:30 pm but since the bus is late for that long, we are forced to end the event late too.

  Besides the mistake that was made, this sports day is an unforgettable one because our house has won the first place. A lot of people felt happy and they cheered when the results are announced. Our house, berjaya, has also won this year's best cheerleading team for the event. Everyone in my house was so happy about it and some even cried tears of joy.

  When the event ended, we all rode the bus back to school. We were all tired. When we reached school, we all went home to rest.

  

Road Run 2018

  Road Run 2018 was held in our school on the 24th of February. I woke up early in the morning to attend this event. When I reached school, I did not see a lot of my classmates because most of them rather stay at home since it's a Saturday.
 
  After that, everyone gathered at the pavilion and we started to take attendance. We warmed up before we start the run.  There are 4 different houses: Berjaya, Hebat, Kesatria, and Maju. All houses are competing in this run and we were split into different categories.

  Different categories start at a different time and our category was the last one to start. Everyone was determined to run but I wasn't. Having a bad stamina means I can't run for long so I decided to walk. It was a 3km "journey" and I walked all the way. I met one of my friends after walking for a long time. He was ahead of me because he ran at the start. I caught up with him and we walked together.

  Knowing that everyone had finished the run, we did not care and just walk until the end. There were still some people behind us but they gave up and just took the shortcut back to school. We walked back to school and we were the last one to arrive.

  The event ended as soon as we arrived. We rest for a bit and the awards ceremony started, medals were given to those who finished first and so on. It ended when the ceremony ended and everyone left.

A Malaysian Festival That I Celebrate

  Malaysia is a country with multiple races and with multiple races in this country, comes different celebrations and festivals. Examples for the festivals that we celebrate are Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavali and so much more. Different races celebrate different festivals and the festival that I celebrate is Chinese New Year.

  Since I am Chinese, I celebrate Chinese New Year every year. It is our culture and we always follow it. When Chinese New Year comes, we will always go back to our home-town to celebrate. We will prepare a lot of delicious food for this festival and families will gather around for a reunion dinner.

  Besides that, most of us get red packets from our elderly and parents. It is a sign of blessing for the elderly to give the young ones red packets. People who are married also give red packets. We also celebrate Chinese New Year by playing firecrackers. This tradition comes from an ancient myth. It said that the sound of firecrackers scared away a creature called "Nian". This myth is also the reason why people wear red clothing during this festival because it is said that the creature mentioned is afraid of the colour, red.

  Chinese New Year is a festival that I personally enjoy and it has a lot of meanings. This festival brings families together and strengthen the bonds. It brings joy to people and other races also can enjoy this festival.

 

A Response to Chief Seattle's Speech

  Chief Seattle's speech has talked about the threat that Mother Earth is facing due to man's greed and selfishness. It is true that the pollution caused by us has a lot of impact to the environment. As the speech says, if we do not take care of our home, we will be the one suffering the consequences. Pollution is happening everywhere and it is getting worse. People are now cautious of this problem but there are still a lot of people that ignore this issue and claimed that this is just a hoax by the media to control people.

  The speech shows that the freedom that the natives had was taken away by selfish and dishonest people. They had taken away their homeland and broke promises about protecting it after acquiring it. This shows that people are willing to do anything to get what they want without caring about others. This is something to be worried about in this day because more people are now focusing on getting rich and some are willing to bring down others just to achieve what they wanted. This has caused a mass destruction to our planet and there is no sign of slowing down as lots of people couldn't care less about our planet and others.

  The speech has talked about the people who kill other animals for entertainment and this is such a cruel act that the natives just couldn't understand and they are disgusted by it. It is sad to see how cruel and heartless people are towards other animals. The buffaloes that were killed are viewed as worthless and a lifeless metal horse is worth more than those lives. Animals should not be kill for entertainment purpose in any shape of form because every living things on Earth deserves a chance to live.

  It was a shame for the people who took away the natives' homeland. Breaking promises about protecting the scared lands and holy streams. The people had lied to the natives and stole their homeland when they do not deserve rights to own it. Destroying the beauty of nature and Mother Earth with pollutants. Cutting down trees uncontrollably to build buildings. The people didn't teach the youth to protect the environment as they promised. This is heartbreaking to see because of how bad people can be and the harm that was brought to the innocent.

  At the end of the speech, Chief Seattle said " The end of living and the beginning of survival". This is true because living is no longer peaceful but harsh as we and others have to survive, especially the animals, they have to face the threat that we brought to them and later, it will be ours. One day, the Earth will no longer be suitable for us and we will face the ultimate consequence that we brought ourselves.

  Living in this generation, I have seen the amount of effort put to protect and restore our environment. Unfortunately, it is not enough, many people still do not care about the future of our home. The pollution that is caused has made lots of animals suffer and humans are suffering too. It might be too late to restore the Earth as it used to be. Even if it is possible, it would take lots of time and effort. So, it is our duty to slower down the rate of the pollution and possibly stop it from getting worse.

Cardboard Mansions: While preparing, presenting and after presenting my group sketch

  Our English teacher told us to prepare a group sketch for a short story. She split us into groups of 4. Since we still don't know each other that well, it is hard for us to actually plan and act out this play but at least I am closer to one person in the group. Our story for the play is Cardboard Mansions, I read the story after a few days. I thought I was late and I think my group has already started to plan how to act out the story but I was wrong, none of my teammates has started to plan anything but worse, they hadn't even read the story. Some don't even know which story we are acting out. So, I told them to read and try to think of a way to act it out because it is hard to act out a story with a lot of flashbacks and backstories without a narrator.

  It was the day for the sketch. Our group had nothing. One of the members still hadn't read the story. Even though I have the story in my mine but it was still very difficult to present it out through a play. We tried to plan for a bit before the English period but none of us had any ideas. When it was English, Teacher gave the class ten minutes to read our story while we try to plan. We don't have much choice so we just act out the story. It was chaotic since one person only know a bit of the story and we are still kind of confused about how do we act out the story so we just act it out without much care.  I think the act was bad but at least we acted out the story. I think we can do better if we all co-operate and communicate more.

  The short story, Cardboard Mansions, is about an old lady and her grandson living a poor life. This story takes place in Africa. The old lady's name is Dadi-Ma and her five-year-old grandson's name is Chotoo. This story is a very sad story because Dadi-Ma lost all hope when she tried to find her friend so she can live with her like the old days after getting kicked out of the shanties but when she got to the place her friend lived in, she can't find her friend because everything has changed and her friend has moved to somewhere unknown. Dadi-Ma lost all hope because she is worried about the future, the future of her grandson.

  This story has taught me that family love is a powerful thing. Dadi-Ma's love for her grandson is so strong that she is afraid for her grandson's future and she is worried for him but she tried very hard to hide her fear away from Chotoo to make him feel safe.

A Comment On A Blog Post

Link of the blog post (Please Refer):http://thelejen.blogspot.my/2018/01/power-of-information.html

  Hi, I really like your post about the power of information because it is short and simple to understand but as your post say, "Information carries great power and success, but it doesn't only serve the good of this world. Syndicates and villainous communities gain information too and this can cause them to wreak havoc as and when they like." Is there any examples in real life for this statement? I think you can explain more about information that are able to manipulate people because it will help readers learn more about those information.

Which religion is the real one?

  Which religion is the real one? I know this is a very sensitive topic but I am still going to talk about it. If someone asks me about my beliefs, I will most definitely say " I am an agnostic". Most people wouldn't care much but some are surprised? Am I considered as weird, bad, and immoral without believing in a specific god? This is where the question " Which religion is the real one" comes in.

  First of all, do we even have an answer? I am well aware that we have "answers" but which one is the correct one? I think the people who give answers are kind of bias, to say the least, they will always answer with their own religion but never consider someone else's. I know not everyone is like that because most people I know respect others' beliefs but sometimes I got to wonder.... If your belief says that people who doesn't believe in your particular religion is going to suffer in hell... are you going to convert them or respect their beliefs? This is very contradicting....

  Being agnostic(or an apathiest) is the best place for me to take because my claims will not change the truth so I shouldn't make claims and blindly believe whatever I was told. According to Google, there are roughly 4200 religions in the world. So, which one? Am I supposed to choose one? What if I am wrong? Will I get punish because of that? I have so many questions and does it really matter?

  The largest religion today is Christianity but just because a lot of people believe in a particular religion, does it make it the "real" one? Following by Islam, the second largest religion? Are they wrong? Just to make this clear, I am not telling people not to have any believe or religion, if it helps you to become a better person, go ahead, believe it but if it teaches you to hate the minorities and other religions, you're better off without it.

  The conclusion is, we don't have the most accurate answer, but why are people still fighting and constantly arguing about this topic? Can't people just say " I don't know"? I really hope people can stop trying convert each other and throw insults to other religion just because they aren't the " real" one.

( To be honest, I have been thinking about this for a long time but I am just gonna write it here since our moral teacher asked us " Who doesn't believe in God, JUSTIFY." for chapter 1. I didn't have the guts to raise my hand and answer but instead of me justifying, isn't it the other way round?)

The Power of Information

  Information is a driving force behind almost every events in the world. The power of information isn't something to be underestimated. Without the right information, the world would become a chaotic place. It is also important that the right information is in the right hands because a lot of people, especially people with high positions, often manipulate the information that they have before giving it out to the public. These kind of cases happen everywhere in this world.
 
  People who get the wrong information shouldn't blindly believe it. They should question it and analyze it before jumping into conclusions. Unfortunately, a lot of people like to blindly believe the information they get without questioning anything. People who are fed with false information will spread it everywhere and sooner or later, everyone will receive the information that is far away from the truth. If this happens in a large scale, it could ruin a country and possibly the whole world.

  Everyone should have the rights to get the right information for things that they need and people shouldn't be restricted from getting information about the world. It is obvious at this point that information can run the world or ruin it, not to mention countries. Sadly, there are still a lot of countries who restrict the citizens from getting information outside the world. These are the few countries which has a very strict law that prevents the citizens from owning the right information: North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China etc.
 
  Information can manipulate how a person behave and what they believe. This is why getting the right information means getting power. Knowing that false information is everywhere, people should learn some critical thinking skills to analyze the information given to prevent themselves from believing in the wrong information. It is always better to question the information and to be unsure than jumping straight to conclusions. Information is power. Whoever has the power over information has the power to change the world and the power to change people around them.

My first week of school

  My first week of school was quite tiring. Even though we don't really have much homework but I still feel tried. Maybe it is because I am used to the 1 month holiday and coming back to school might be a little hard for me to get use to. Being apart with my friends and teachers from my old class is a big change. I might need some time to get used to it. After the first week, I had met all of new my teachers and most of them are pretty good.

  Did I enjoy the first week? Not really. I am in a computer science class and it is quite hard for me. I had always wanted to go to an art class but it’s a shame that no one, literally, no one chose to take art. Everyone just took accounts and business. Even the teacher was surprised about this. People kept asking me why I didn’t change stream and this is the reason. I don’t want to be the only one choosing art. Since no one chose art and I can’t really change my stream anymore, I decided to join the art club so I can at least hang out with my old classmates.

  The first week of school had ended and I am quite happy that it did. I know this sounds very negative but I still need some time to step out of my bubble and actually face the fact that I can’t always do what I really want and like. I hope I can actually stay strong and just go through this year without braking down. I hope next week will be better for me.