♥ Sunday, April 13, 2008♥

Japan. What really caused them to go into a war that had such disastrous outcomes? Knowing the problems that Japan faced after World War One is essential to understand their feelings at that point of time.

One of Japan’s fears was the lack of resources they had in their country especially oil. It is simply impossible for the Japanese to survive without importing goods and they needed to export goods to make enough money to import essential items.

Japan also feared being colonized by the Western powers in the Pacific. Japan thought that if it did not strengthen themselves to become a world power, it will soon be colonized by the Western Powers. Japan wanted to colonized other countries and not be colonized. It made decisions that deemed best for them at that time.

Protectionism is something that was a big problem to Japan. As protectionism was imposed by countries, Japanese exports dropped by two thirds and many factories that were built by 1929 were lying idle. Japan was lucky that they benefited a little by the trade links that it had made in Asia during World War One. Protectionism proved to be a problem as it raised the price of Japan’s imports.

Japan’s goal was to be a major power. In order to achieve that, they had to possess more of Asia, especially China where there will be an economic and political advantage. Japan’s foreign policy could be summed up in the phrase ‘aggressive opportunism’. They would take what they could, when they could.

All these reasons lead Japan to war with other countries which caused many disastrous problems to people.

Its a colorful world..

♥ ♥

I prefer to be around with a crowd of people most of the times. I have tried many a times to isolate myself from the crowd but all I felt was just moodiness and bottled up feelings. It sure doesn’t make me happy when I am alone for too long as I will feel lonely and cut off from the rest of the people around me.

Usually in a crowd, we tend to have more fun which makes life look exciting and brighter. Doing things in a group will be much more fun than doing it alone for example, cycling. All you do is pedal and pedal on maybe to relieve stress or exercise but when you cycle as a group of maybe 5 people, jokes are thrown about which makes you laugh. Like the saying goes, laughter is the best medicine and it can definitely cheer me up from any problems that I am facing.

Being alone is a hard thing for me to bear as I am the type who needs company. It does not matter if there isn’t a quantity but quality of friends. Quality friends give you the joy and happiness you need and they usually understand how you feel at different times, while quantity friends do not really know in depth things about you. This can lead to insecurity in life to me.

There are also advantages of being alone. For example, studying alone in a condusive environment is better where you can concentrate well and not get distracted from the talkings from friends. Sometimes when I am feeling frustrated, i will just like to be left alone for awhile before i vent my anger on anything else. And also, when some embarassing things happen you will wish no one was looking at you so that you will not be the joke of your friends.

Sometimes, there are disadvantages when with a group of people too. The group may tend to talk loudly within each other and not notice the surroundings around them. This may lead to the public or an individual complaining against the group which will result in unneccesary trouble.

Its a colorful world..

♥ Sunday, February 17, 2008♥

Dear Mrs Sim,

How have you been doing so far since you left Kent Ridge Secondary School? I am Li Li. I hope life’s been great! Do come back and visit us some time soon =)
Well, I am going to tell you the changes that I have experienced since school reopened in 2008 this year.

The greatest change I feel about this year is the pressure faced due to the ‘O’ level examinations. I am fully aware that this is a crucial examination and my results will lead me even closer to the road that I wish to take. Even though it is only the beginning of the year, I have changed my attitude in class by doing my best in listening attentively in class. I have also been studying nightly so that I can keep up with what the teacher had taught earlier.

I remember stepping into the school this year feeling excited about being in the gallery for assembly. There is this sense of being a senior in the school when we are sitting one level above the others which we literally are. Higher expectations are placed on us too by the teachers as we are supposed to be role models to the younger students.

Our uniform had also been revised a little by the principal with the new iron on badge placed above our school’s name on the left side of the uniform. This will help us who used to forget pinning on the badge on the collar previously and also help the public better differentiate us from nearby schools with look-a-like uniforms. There was also major painting work done to our school on the walls and classroom doors as well as fans being installed in our toilets.

This year, I have another new form teacher, Ms Marilyn Goh. As everyone carries different styles, my class has to adapt to her but so far it has been good. Like the recent Community Involvement Program (CIP), we were given a schedule to follow and the class was co-operative. We were on time and things were not done in a rush which resulted in a success in the CIP! My class is also fortunate to have a great chemistry teacher who is well-liked by students.

I hope this year will be a manageable one and that I will be able to meet expectations for my results. Do reply if you have the time. I will definitely like to hear from you!


Yours sincerely,
Pan Li Li
[1e3 ’05, 2e4 ’06]

Its a colorful world..

♥ ♥

My first day of school in secondary 1 [2005]

It seems like yesterday that I entered Kent Ridge Secondary School, feeling so intimidated by the bigger sized seniors and having mixed feelings about entering a new school which I will be studying four years at.

Thinking back, I feel that I am considered one of the ‘lucky’ ones to have a friend from the same primary school as me, in the same class at Kent Ridge. This makes things slightly easier for me to befriend other classmates.

Firstly, as a routine, we sec1s were given a warm welcome by the principal and school. We were then broken up into classes for our ice breaker games where we got to interact with each other. The councilors of the school who were in charge of us sec1s gave us a really great time playing games and learning Mass Dance together. Mass Dance is where a piece of catchy music tune is played and were taught some moves to dance along with the music. It is also taught at the two day one night orientation camp and further practiced to near perfection.

During the orientation camp, we were given the chance to interact with classmates and get to know one another better. Such as eating our meals together in a table, playing games and participating in different activities all together as a class or the whole level.

Getting to remember each other’s names through games such as ‘Whack - O’ was one way. In the game, everyone sat in a big circle with a ‘whacker’ standing in the middle. The whacker would run towards a fellow classmate and if he was successful in hitting the classmate before his classmate shouted another classmate’s name, the ‘whacker’ would be switched to the one who got hit. We were also not allowed to shout a classmate’s name twice so as to ensure that we were able to remember more names.

In another game which requires teamwork and teambuilding was the ‘Caterpillar’ game in which we were grouped in groups of ten or so. First, we were all given a balloon to blow and tie up. Then we had to line up in a straight line placing the blown balloon on the stomach and resting the other side of the balloon at the back of the classmate in front. We were not allowed to support the balloons with our hands but only with our stomach and our classmate’s back. We were then led by councilors around the hall, trying to support the balloon. It built team work as the person at the front had to make sure everyone was at a comfortable pace and had to walk the same pace as each other. If any balloons were to drop to the ground or slip off the body, we had to restart all over again.

Mass Dance is also a way of uniting sec1s as one. As all the moves are the same for everyone, we felt as if everyone is equal. Enthusiasm was also an important factor to a successful orientation camp. This effort was greatly shown by the school councilors and most of the credits should go to them.

Up till now, three years later, I see all the sec1s really enjoying themselves. The enthusiasm is still there and the standard that the ex-senior councilors had set remains. They really were the ones who made my sec1 camp a fabulous and memorable one.

Its a colorful world..