Nadhirah, Zahariah, Jia Qi, Ting Huan

Describe some of the superstitious belief that you are familiar with.
· Why are some people very superstitious?
· Do you think it is good to be superstitious?

There are some superstitious i know about is that during Chinese New year.The entire house should be cleaned before New Year’s Day. On New Year’s Eve, all brooms, brushes, dusters, dust pans and other cleaning equipment are put away. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year’s Day for fear that good fortune will be swept away. After New Year’s Day, the floors may be swept. Beginning at the door, the dust and rubbish are swept to the middle of the parlor, then placed in the corners and not taken or thrown out until the fifth day. At no time should the rubbish in the corners be trampled upon. In sweeping, there is a superstition that if you sweep the dirt out over the threshold, you will sweep one of the family away. Also, to sweep the dust and dirt out of your house by the front entrance is to sweep away the good fortune of the family; it must always be swept inwards and then carried out, then no harm will follow. All dirt and rubbish must be taken out the back door.
During hungry ghost festival, it was said that If you hear foot steps behind you on this night, don’t look back. It may be the dead following you. Turning back could mean that you will soon join the dead.Although these beliefs are not scientifically provened there are still many people who believe it.

The reasons why people are so superstitious, mainly because they are afraid,hence they choose to believe such superstitious belief to make themselves feel more secure.Even though the belief not reality,people tend to believe so as to take precaution.because these superstitious beliefs are passed down from the older generation, hence people trusted that they are all true,soon these belief becomes a practise for everyone to do it. Although Superstitious belief holds the culture and society together.However,it is best not to be so supertitious because it will make one person suspicious of many things around them.These superstitious beliefs can limit or even control a person’s behaviour and actions.For example,you  were told not do this thing during this season becomes it will cause something bad to happen. Superstitious belief of good fortunate may lead to a person to think that by following this beliefs,they will gain fortune,hence they will just wait at home for fortune to drop by and not work. Therefore being superstitious is not a good thing, a person has to depend on themselves to do well.

24. Some people like being in a group, others hate it. How do you feel about being in a group?

Being in a group makes me feel happy and complete. Knowing that I have friends, by my side all the time, makes me feel accepted. However, that does not mean I have to stick to that group most of the time. Sometimes, I will mingle with the people outside the group.

People who like being in groups probably share the same feelings as I did. However, people who do not like to be in groups, don not like to have many people hanging around them. Probably they like to be alone. As alone time is pleasure. It allows us to reflect and think. Also, sometimes, being in a group means they have to fit in. some people just cannot fit in, so in turn they do not like to be in groups.

Being in groups also mean that there is a group norm. A group norm shows the alikeness between people among the group. Examples of a group norm are like, their hairstyle, the way they speak or dress or maybe their fashion taste. At times a group norm might be a little bit misleading as, they might think they are more superior to the others as they have the thing, others do not have. This might be the reason why some people hate being in groups as they have to follow the norms.

I like being in group as I know my friends will support me when I fall. They make me feel wanted. They also understand me. They have helped a lot. Lastly, there are many of them.

2nd Post 

28 ) How do you feel about performing in public at school or elsewhere?

The deepest memory of a Chinese orchestra performance was the Singapore youth festival I took part last year. It was a public performance, held near Bugis area. i felt great to be able to perform in public.

Outside the auditorium, every one of us was filled with anxiousness and excitement. My cold sweat was protruding out from my forehead and my hand felt numb as that was my first time I represent my school to take part in a competition. At that time, my mind was blank and I knew that I had to put in my best for the performance. While teachers went around wishing all of us all the best, I kept myself calm by closing my pair of eyes. When the organizer called for our turn to enter, all of us returned to silence and walked into the auditorium smartly, hoping to project a good image to the judges. I was ready to enter. As my members and I stepped onto the stage orderly with our instruments on our hands, the ‘tok, tok, tok’ of the cork shoes vibrated the stage. We searched our way to our respective places and settle ourselves as quickly as possible. As I scanned through the auditorium, I realized that there were students from different schools watching at us .At that moment, I could felt my hands and legs trembling terribly. I was nervous.

My conductress stood in front us, facing us with a wide smile. As she raise her conductor stick high up gracefully, this gave us the signal that it was going to start anytime. I looked at my conductress attentively. Our piece ended around sixteen minutes. After the performance, I was relieved and satisfied that I had played my part well during the performance.

I love this sense of satisfaction after performing in public for the school. Since my school has given a chance, I had used it wisely by putting in my best for the event. I feel that performing in public gives the students the chances to show their talents and it helps to build confidence in them. This competition had helped to bond all of us together and I love to perform on stage with my Chinese orchestra members.

Young Singaporeans are a pampered lot. Do you agree?

Yes i agree and i think that the cause comes from their parents and the government.All parents wanted the best for their children and this leads them to give their children whatever they wanted.On the other hand is the government.As these young singaporeans are the next generation which will help to govern the national,hence in order to nurture more talents,the government gives the best for the youngs such as they will be able to get the best environment for education which in turns do well for the national in future.Be it,in school or house, there will always be cleaner or maid to clean up after lunch mess.Today young singaporeans do not have to help up their parents in farming or work to cope with the family finances,every night, they get to sleep in air conditional environment. They do not have to worry about money or do housework.Moreover, some young Singaporeans have their parents as the driver  to fetch them to and back from school or work. breakfast,lunch and dinner are all delivered in front of them to eat.in additional,life in Singapore are too comfortable and peaceful such as young Singaporeans do not have the chance of experiencing doing tough work. By a snap of their fingers, they get the things they wanted immediately, aren’t they too pampered?

Would you rather spend your holidays traveling abroad or visiting your own country?

If I were given the chance, I would rather spend my holidays traveling abroad than visiting my own country. Traveling gives me the opportunity to learn more about a country’s history, culture and its people. Since young, I have been wanting to travel to different countries such as London and New Zealand because of the beautiful sceneries and magnificent structures in the country. Although Singapore can be a great traveling destination for a holiday, unfortunately it does not have the natural sceneries such as mountains or big vast plains that can be found in other countries. As a natural lover, traveling abroad will be a great moment for me to be able to witness nature’s beautiful creation.

Moreover, traveling abroad gives me the opportunity to learn more about how people in different countries live. Subsequently, I will be able to learn more about their culture and thus expanding my knowledge on the different groups of people living in this world. Traveling is also a great way to get away from the hustle and bustle of life in Singapore. Hence, traveling abroad will help me to relax my mind and giving me the opportunity to experience life in a different way.

37.      What do you remember most about your time at primary school?

The most memorable days I had in my primary school, was in the year of my primary three schooling days. For a period of time, my friends and I love to bring small bottles to school everyday. The purpose of it was to catch the ants and the caterpillars from the garden or basketball court. I had a sudden interest towards the insects because that year was the first year I studied on science subject. Yet, it somehow became a trend in my school at that time.   

Everyday, when the school bell screamed into the atmosphere, indicating that everyone is allowed to go for recess, most of us would rush down to the places to search for interesting and odd looking insects.  Although we may be disrupting the lives of the small insects, we still insisted on catching them. When we had spotted on an insect, we will immediately use our bare hands to catch it and place it into our bottles. Then, we would use some pins to poke some holes on the bottle cap to allow the air to be exchange in and out of the bottles. This is to ensure that the insect would be able to live longer. When the break ended, my friends and I would bring the bottles, with our findings in it, back to the class to show one another on what we have caught. Curious students would crowd around our place to look at the insects, which were trapped in the bottles. However, my group of friends and I would try not to let the teachers find out about our doings because we knew that it was wrong to catch the insects.

The playful moments I had with my group of friends were the days I remember vividly.

15. Relate an incident in your childhood which amuses you when you think about it.

As a teenager, I have truly enjoyed my childhood. There is a balance of good memories, as well as bad memories. As I think about the good memories, there will be one incident that amuses me.

Once, during the fasting month, my grandparents decided to break their fast over at our house. My grandmother will be the one cooking the food to prepare for our break fast. She will also brew coffee for my grandfather as he is a heavy coffee drinker.
My grandmother did not attend school. Hence it made her illiterate. She could not read.

On that day, while brewing coffee, she was looking for sugar. Without realising it, she accidentally place salt in to my grandfather’s coffee. She had difficulty differentiating the salt and sugar, also due to her poor sense of sight, and mainly because she was unable to read. As the time for our break fast was nearing, we were all at the table, waiting for the moment to indulge in the feast.

The moment we broke our fast, my grandfather straight away gulp down his salted coffee. As soon as the salted coffee reached his throat, he spurts it all out. His reaction was excessively humorous. It was a great laugh. It was very amusing. Till now, the cramped face of my grandfather still etched in my mind.