AWAKENING (3RD PRIZE: HEW CHONG SHEN (S3C2) – A1D)
All my life, I have been living deep down in an endless dark tunnelway, inside a deep abyss, filled with nothing but fear and despair. I pray to catch a glimpse of the bright sun, just to have a slightest grasp on what is known as, hope. My life, is full of bitter and sorrow, nothing else, nothing more. Filled with agony, loneliness and sorrow, I hope to escape this spiralling abyss, and live a life of my own. A life of joy and happiness and with a bright future. I wish, I can grab on to the one person, and never let go. Because nothing is more important, not even time or gold. That person, who brought light into my life, is the one I sought for. Cause I wouldn’t want to miss that person, as missing a person is so much more different that missing a bus. I wouldn’t want to get leave behind and left alone. Lost, is my hope. Loneliness still lingers, deep in my soul. I am nothing more that a shadow, who is a spitting image of what I used to be before. How I wished to go back to when the time where all used to be simple and normal. The time before a huge wave came crashing into my life and destroying what’s made of me. And throwing me into the deep abyss. The road is still long, but without the ray of hope, I can’t go on. But deep down, my heart and soul called me to move on and keep running until I see the break of dawn. No matter how heavy my heart, no matter the pressure of the deep abyss weighs on me. I must go on. No more hopelessness, no more sorrows. I just want to move on and on, and suddenly, I see the ray which I longed for, miraculously breaking through the deep abyss. I see not only the ray of sunlight, I see hope, I see freedom, I see my bright future. For the first time, I felt alive. For the first time, I have hope………For the first time, I am free…….. For the first time, I awakened………………
AWAKENING (2ND PRIZE: YEAP ROU YI (S3S) – A1D)
We used to dream, all of us. I am a senior three student and I am going to have a very luxurious graduation ceremony on 12th November 2011. Well, maybe “ luxurious” is not a suitable objective for a graduation ceremony. Though, when you compare our independent school’s graduation ceremony to those who are currently studying in government school, they will totally be envious. As we know, everything cannot be compared, comparison between human is a waste. However, how can all of us realize the bliss we own without comparison? Apparently, it is where contradiction stands. “Awakening” is the title of our graduation journal. The title was chosen by the committee members after a lot of conflicts. And so, the question comes, why did we decide to name the graduation journal as “Awakening”? We spend six years in high school. We play, we eat, we spree as we hope to have an enjoyable and memorable six-year life in high school. It is time for us to awake. Time flies. So grab it. A person without dreaming is a person without spirit. You can seek for everything you desire to have in the dream. You can imagine that you are a perfect guy and you fell in love with a very beautiful girl. Before that, you have to clearly ensure yourself that it is only a dream, a very surreal dream, nothing is going to happen when you awake. Because you, yourself do not even awake in the real life. Dreaming rationally is the best way to keep you awake and do not lose the steps in real lives. We see a lot of examples in real lives, for instance, a girl is day dreaming during the office hours and turn out that the girl can’t even complete her task. This is what happens around us everyday. Well, you can’t hope for the good to come when you do nothing and remain at the same place. A very serious problem for the teenagers today is they do not even know how to move their steps, how to dream and how to do things rationally. Live our lives to the fullest as we have already lived. Learn to appreciate as we have already missed. We have to keep our dreams alive. In the the end of our lives, people do not ask “what have you owned?” but “what have you given?” ; not “what have you won?” but “what have you missed?”; not “what have you succeeded?” but “what have you done?”. The purpose of lives is to give. The more we give, the more we get. It may sound ridiculous but it is the truth. There is everything we know and everything that happens. When the two do not like up, we make a choice. We are delighted when we have dreams but we usually have to make a lot of choices and decisions when we awake. Therefore dreaming is actually cruel sometimes. No matter how much we dream, we still have to get back to our real lives where everyone is smoking and flirting, the environment is still polluted by human. So, awake. This is my favourite quote from W.H.Auden,”fate succumbs many species; one alone jeopardizes itself”. Something we cannot control and predict will happen spontaneously but there is something we can control just like our lives. So,keep dreraming and stay awake.
AWAKENING (1ST PRIZE : ONG JIE YWI (S3S) - A1D)
The bells of Notre Dame chimed ,melodiously and solemnly, while the bell ringer. Quasimodo took a peep at the world, outside the bell tower. When the first beam of light broke the monotonous blue-black of the night sky, it broke the silence of the world as well - at once, the world is alive. The world out there, vibrant, chaotic, unlike the majestic tower of Notre Dame which stood there, quiet, solemnly.
He had never been out there since he was locked up in the bell tower for his hideous face and monstrous looks was indeed, a testimony of the unforgiven sin at that fedualistic society. He dreamt of pacing along the buzy streets, chattering with the kids,bargaining with the baker, and wondered when will his life begin.
Boldly, he took a step out. He rubbed his eyes for the light out there was too bright. Only then, he realised – he was awakening.
We are children, soft naïve saplings that yearn for ultimate freedom, and a real life experience out at the world. We are, somehow, bashful like Quasimodo in the sense that we feel not confident enough to face the obstacles and savour the extravaganza out there. We may think that we have already awakened and is well equipped to combat any challenges. We lament about the rules and restrictions, complain about the “injustice”, yell out our great plans and hopes and wishes. Yet, only to find out that we are, still, in a dream.
At this age of adolescence, we are in the great process of awakening. Albeit the process is not as complicated as the metamorphosis of a caterpillar which ends up being the beautiful butterfly, our eyes are opened, our mindset changes. And, it is only then, we hear God saying to us, “Child, the floor is yours.”
In this process of awakening, Quasimodo accidentally took part in the Festival of Fools and his disgusting looks had him crowned as the King of Fools. There, he met the beautiful gypsy girl, Esmerelda, the gallant as well as womanizing captain, Phoebus, who was, too fascinated by the enchanting Esmerelda. The three of them formed a strong bond of friendship and worked hand in hand to flee from the evil grasp of the Judge, Claude Frollo.
Awakening, is one step out of the bell tower. It is a process when we struggle to outwit our uncertanities, fears, discouragements and anxieties. It is only when we fight off all these, we can be addressed as an adult. We are all like Quasimodo, longing to be out of the bell tower, thinking that we have the perseverences to strive. Yet, what if we fail? What if we have to surrender to the darkness of the world?
We may , not always be heroes as we have always been, in our dreams. We may, have all the qualities and virtues to be a true hero, but, it is crystal clear that the good man is not always be the King. When the trials are at their hardest. should we materialize our own beliefs, our utmost objective of the mission or just let go and join the long line of the dusty and musty world? The world outside is like a whirlpool of murky water. We may shook our heads, sigh or even cry out loud when we have eventually open our eyes wide to observe it, in detail. Yet, should we be the tadpoles and little anchovies that twirl around, relentlessly in the whirlpool or should we be the pure white stork that is able to fly above the puddle and look at it, and subsequently find our role in this cold dark swamp.
It is only then, we find love.
Not only, it is the romantic love that Quasimodo had for Esmerelda, it is also the love, the sacred love within men. Love is pure, is perennial, is not envious and is a grace. Embark on this journey of awakening, you will lift you eyelids to see the false and dishonest love people have in the world. Sad to say, there are people who love, but do not know the right way to show or receive this grace. Love is the greatest of all kinds of emotion that men have. Even if we are not embraced by the worldly love, open up your eyes to see God, holding you gently and preciously in his hands. Friends, lets all be wide awake to savour this grace, of divine love.
<<The Hunchback of Notre Dame>> by Victor Hugo ends with Esmerelda being hanged by Claude Frollo for not accepting his love and Quasimodo jumping of from the bell tower onto Frollo, killing him and himself as well. Well, life is not a bed of roses. Even if we are wide awake, we may be pummeled by injustice in the world and bombarded by silly questions of scheming people, and eventually, all life ends with death. Awakening is another saying of being sure that life is a route to death. Have no anxious and despair, my friend. Be awakened to have a good look at this vibrant yet topsy-turvy world and then, find your core value of live and finally, live your life to the fullest.
Remember, life is a process of awakening. And you find death pacing to you when you are wide awake.
Proposal for the year 2012
How to motivate students to do well in the UEC examinations
| 1. |
To brief them clearly about examination format. |
| 2. |
To emphasize the importance of English language for higher studies – especially for the Senior Middle 3 students. |
| 3. |
For essay writing – students need to be trained to choose the right topics for the exam. |
| 4. |
Avoid direct translation from Chinese to English. |
| 5. |
More exercises such as Error identification, sentence Structures, word forms …….. should be given to those Authority oriented learners. |
| 6. |
To cultivate students to be an analytical learner, such as grammar rules. |
| 7. |
The students should read more in order to improve the vocabulary ( spelling) and grammar rules, especially weaker students. |
| 8. |
Tenses should be drilled thoroughly. |
| 9. |
Motivational talks should be conducted occasionally. |
| 10. |
Cultivate them to be an active learner. |
| 11. |
Make sure they are attentive in the class. |
| 12. |
Explain and advise the students on the importance of Learning attitude. |
| 13. |
For Junior 3 students, more examination orientated exercises should be sufficiently given. |
