PW results...

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 27 Apr 2007, 2:46:04 AM***

Upon release of the A level results for Project Work (two weeks ago), many J2s were unhappy about it :X

(source: My paper 26 April 2007)

Apparently, the distribution of As is not even amongst the various Junior Colleges:

Hwa Chong- 85%

Raffles- over 40%

Meridian- over 50%

Temasek- only 7%

St Andrew- less than 1% !!!

If i am not wrong, AJ managed to get over 10% of the students getting As and we are not in the extreme cases mentioned above +)

However, this makes me wonder how my cohort will do then given the fact that we are just embarking on the PW journey yet such a furore was caused among students in many JCs!

I'm not sure how actually were the grades assigned; local or Cambridge? MOE or respectively schools internally? I (totally) am worried about it...

Afterall, it's going to make up 10 per cent of Universities' admission criteria :p

#3 Dealth penalty :X

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 23 Apr 2007, 4:36:25 PM***

Blog Task 3

"The death penalty is not a deterrent, it is murder" Do you agree?

In the nutshell, the Dealth Penalty is practised in countries like Singapore, South Korea, Japan and even the US for severe court cases eg 1st degree Murder (planned by the convict beforehand), Drug trafficking, Treason (spy), Terrorist attacks and any acts against national security etc.

The argument that raised much controversy is "Whether the Dealth Penalty is humane and necessary?"

Afterall, these countries are mostly developed countries and are somewhat the leading nations of Globalisation... How civilised is it for them to execute and take the life of another fellow human beings???

Personally, i am not against the idea of having capital punishment in our country. Reasons being, these convicts (no doubt humans too!) have done something so serious that the Law have no choice but to resort to the worst case--Death Penalty.

In a way, 'they deserved it' and if we do not treat these severe cases with great Warnings, it may encourage copycat crimes from the rest; as our nations gets more 'Daring' seeing that previous suspects can get away with the Death sentence! It will be too late to save the nation then if there are simply too many hard-core prisoners who will eventually be out on the streets again after their jail term :p

Well, just give every of them a life-long prisonment instead of Death sentence!?!

No, this is not a solution to the problem as who will be paying for the huge expenses to keep all these prisoners alive throughout the years and decades? The government will be wasting too much of tax payers' money to feed this 'useless' lot of people--whom many have given up hopes on-- when they can't even contribute to the country's (econmic) growth in any ways (-_-)

This is not practical to let them live behind walls for ages and spending unnecessary money to support these people! Besides, for a country like Singapore which tries so hard to maintain the low crime rates that we have achieved, it is certainly not wise to have the Death Penalty abolished. I'm afraid that if the court really decide to put a stop to Death Penalty, the wrong image will be sent to the Evils for them to commit more (serious) crimes. So, why give them the Green light?

Capital punishment assures the public that the felon no longer poses a threat to the society and there is a reason why our government make Death Penalty legal in Singapore for all these years.

However, some feel that it is purely cruel to end one's life; but have they ever thought about the fact that it was they themselves who did something wrong and Against the Law to receive such a pathetic ending of their own life!!! There is no excuse for a country governed by the LAW to not 'grant' them death sentence and serve Justice for the society.

I do agree that "Life is preious", but that's more for the case of preventing suicides in our country not to do away with the Death Penalty completely...

It's just not appropriate!

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a thoughtful entry, but you could also explore the case studies discussed in class a little further, jeanGrade: B+btw i don't get the graph paper image, let alone that formula
Posted by Guest-mdm l @ 7 May 2007, 11:35:18 AM

SEVEN!

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 21 Apr 2007, 10:35:10 PM***


How is art distinct from pornography? Is it possible to regulate 'artistic" media?





Above is an extract from Taiwan drama series "Hana Kimi" that i personally like a lot :) Not only is it an episode with great insights but in this case, it's perfect in helping me explain the different between Porn and Artistic Masterpieces (^_^)

There are many photographers and artists all over the world that love their works to feature some naked body and stuffs. Why do we term them as ART instead of Pornograpghy then? Basically, when the certain masterpieces are able to present the whole theme in a very tasteful and Artistic way, so much so that as viewers, you don't feel anything uncomfortable about it, He has succeeded! Then, these ae not Porn +)

Recently, i have read this article that Singapore banned "SuperStar" by Leslie Kee, the intentionally-acclaimed photographe who was born in Singapore. I find this unacceptable that the censorship board decided that this book is NOT suitable for Singaporeans...

May i ask, what reasons do they have to ban the sale of this book?

Afterall, Kee is one of the most watched and admired photographers today and he does deserve the freedom to showcase his successful works to his homeland-- Singapore. Besides, it was further argued that the book being priced @ $400 is highly unlikely to be exposed to many Singaporeans!!!

I disagree with the attempts done in trying to regulate 'artistic' media esp. in this case where the famous HK artist was not naked (his black trunks were removed digitally in the final picture). I feel that such 'artistic' media should be left alone to a large extent in order not to change the creator's initial intentions for his audience :X Most of which intentions are healthy one, just like in the Video attached above where famous photographer 元秋叶 wanna link TRUST with the very fact that humans are connected with (as expained in the extract)...

P/s: Don't believe me? View the 'youtube' extract again and sense the deeper meaning, yeah? Who knows, you may just love it like what i do :p

To me, i feel that 'artistic' media are just like cartoons. It's very difficult to set the standard and regulate them in terms of censorship. I feel that as long as the works are acceptable by people on the whole, there is no Logic why they are not to be allowed then!

What's more, we are living in the 21st century in this global, world-class city!?!

#2. Censorship!?!

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 18 Apr 2007, 11:12:26 PM***

Blog Task 2.
Consider the merits and demerits of censorship and state your reasons why you think it is un/necessary.

To have or not to have Censorship implemented???

Personally, i feel that there should still be some forms of Censorship present in our country; although certain censorship standards can be rather hard to fix...

For Movies, it is better to have the different rating systems like PG, NC16, M18 and R21 to help limit people who are too 'young' for certain shows. The higher rating like M18 and R21 are usually reserved for movies with Sexual Content and Strong Violence +) However, over the years, there have been many cases where shows successfully 'downgraded' to NC16 or even PG. The question is how should the censorship board base their rating on? Is it true that all movies with bloody scenes can't be PG or what? Physical age is not a good way to judge one's maturity as others can argue that 'young' teenagers may not be so innocent afterall!

With the advanced technology available, children can have easy access to those that we termed as RA rated resources and even with the movie rating, they can still find their ways to watch it online:p So, try to exercise online censorship as well?!?

As we all know, China is one such country that practise Internet censorship. Government of People's Republic of China (PRC) has too set up an Internet police task force to help filter contents of Internet made obtainable for its citizens. They have not only banned access of certain websites, but erased countless critical comments appearing on Internet forums, bulletin boards, blogs, vlogs or any major portals such as Sohu and Sina within minutes!

Stop to think... Is it reallie feasible to do things to such extent in a non-communist country--Singapore? No doubt that Singaporeans are pretty obedient and follow many polices that the government suggests, where will all the "Freedom of Expression" and "Freedom of Speech" be if we do so?

As the saying goes, "Race and religion are potential fault-lines for social division!" . This is extremely true for a multi-racial and multi-religious nation like Singapore (-_-) All of us regardless of our different backgrounds will have to work hand-in-hand to enable Singapore in achieveing greater heights as we are the only resource that she has! Any attempts to create social unrest eg starting a racial riots will be dealt with seriously be the Law.

For instance, three Chinese bloggers who made racism comments online was charged in court in the last few months of Year 2005:

On account of Gan's age (17 years old then) and clean record, District Judge Bala Reddy had called for a pre-sentencing report to see if Gan could be placed on probation.

Gan is the third racist blogger to be convicted this year.

On Oct 7, marketing executive Nicholas Lim and animal shelter assistant Benjamin Koh were given landmark jail sentences for similar offences.

Lim was convicted of one charge and given a 'nominal' jail term of one day. He was also fined the maximum of $5,000.

Koh, who was convicted of two charges, was jailed for one month.

They were the first people to be jailed under the Sedition Act since 1966.

YES, things can get that serious even though censorship was not 100% implemented in our country. Talking about the Freedom of Expression and Individual Rights, Singaporeans are free to comment on anything as long as they don't pass any eg racial opinions which intentionally or unintentionally to create chaos in Singapore; for our government will not tolerate anyone regardless of what their social status is!

People should learn to practise Self-Censorship and what more for educated Singaporeans, they should have an idea of what is right and what is wrong despite Censorship not implemented strictly. Without Censorship, we as readers, viewers and audience may get to see more objective reports and know the true reality but...

In order to protect national interest and ensure that negative messages are not circulated esp. to the younger generation, i am supportive of Censorship. While sensitive issues like racism are avoided, the social tension of our country will be kept to the minimum as well =)

Moreover, it is ridiculous to have massive influx of unwanted resources that caused undesirable results present in our society! There ought to be some regulations and controls imposed before things get out of hand.

As statistics reports have proven, some murderers actually learn about ways to torture and kill their victims via surfing the net and watching movies with strong violence! Try not to view the whole issue as horrible Censorship board not allowing certain shows to be screened locally but the fact that they are trying to provide us with a safer environment to live in :)

All in all, it's more necessary than not to have Censorship.

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an excellent entry, jean! well-researched and substantially wrtitten! =]Grade: Amdm l
Posted by Guest-mdm l @ 30 Apr 2007, 11:14:46 AM

What tells a thousand words?

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 12 Apr 2007, 6:08:29 PM***


It is none other than-- Picture!

As dicussed in our GP lessons, all of us agree that Pictures and Photos do a much better job that blackNwhite Words when it comes to trying to convey a message to the reader!

This reminds me of the days when i was learning Optical Illusion as a topic for my Sec1 ART then :p Luckily, i learned to appericate the beauty of ART from my dedicated teacher and in fact love such master pieces:




I still rmb this one where is the simplest yet interesting Grey dots :) Are your eyes playing trick on you? Well, i should say it's just "Optical Illusion" as the name suggest (^_^)






Another Black and White one which combined Art with English too :X Can you identify what word this figure man is too?

No doubt this is easy but @ the same time dun be surprise that some of us may not be able to spot it! This very image oso appeared in VJ's Funky book this year (*_*) Interesting, isn't it???





Looking for something colourful??? Basically, the world of colours is extremely amazing and i can bet with you that there are many many more optical illusion pieces of colours then! This "How many people" image is something that Mrs Loh has shown to the class. You may just want to try guessing the correct answer...

More of such wonderful OI can be found @ http://www.reallywarped.com/CoolArt.htm

What i want to address is that, we should not underestimate what a simple images has to 'say'. We must 'read between the lines' (To observe!) and understand the hidden meaning in them.





I'm sure pictures like this will be able to bring across the Anti-smoking message pretty clearly!
No words required yet everyone iwll understand; even the Uncle in the hawker centre who don't know any of the 3 words about Cancer thingy will realise the fact that smoking is bad for health!!! Isn't pictures simply powerful???




Oh won't the world be super boring if not a single picture exist and all that we have is just plain text (-_-) I can't imagine myself not having the right to Change my MSN display pic, desktop wall paper and my beloved handphone background @ all +)

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wow! glad to see you taking an interest in the topic on your own initiative. more power to you, girl!mdm l
Posted by Guest- @ 19 Apr 2007, 12:52:29 PM

#1. A white Lie?!?

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 10 Apr 2007, 1:15:08 AM***


Blog Task #1
What have you learnt about the Media in the way they present what is perceived over what is real?

It is basically how the journalists etc. choose to report the news to the people worldwide; whereby many articles may not be simply serving the primary purpose- To inform. For instance, there are many propaganda being circulated around to persuade others to believe that whatever our leaders are doing is correct!

Taking for example the recent (or rather- not so recent as it started as early as in March 2003) Iraq War, many were influenced by the media to believe that Bush started the war for the good of all mankind as "Iraq does possess nuclear weapons of massive destruction!" as announced by US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the 5th day of the bombing invasion into Iraq.

Pause to think; Is it reallie true? If Iraq reallie have these monstrous weapons, why will they still lose the War? and after all these years, have the US team even given any solid evidence to prove that Iraq was creating weapons of that sort???

The answer is NO, in fact, not a single chemical weapon was discovered on the soil of Iraq. On the other hand, what lies under the land of Iraq is the priceless OIL...

This explains why the US oil industry was extremely supportive of the WAR and even funded the US team with a great sum of money to pick up arms! If oil politics is not invovled in this conflict, will they still be as enthusiastic?

It's all about fabrications and falsehood again when Washington attempted to link Saddam Hussein with Osama bin Laden! With the effective publicity by the Media, as much as 61% of Americans (statistics from online poll) are now persuaded that Saddam and Bin Laden were accomplices in 9/11.

It is ridiculous as to imagine turbaned villains trundling together round the merciless desert planning their next outrage on the American homeland!!!

To compound these "creative truths" more lies have been spun to justify the war after it began; where it is obvious (or maybe not so in the beginning) that the whole issue involve one very valuable resource called OIL.

A white lie is one that is justified and shall cause no harm. For example, a white lie on the FULL report of a country's ecomonic growth is to motivate workers and citizens to continue striving for better results but what gives politicians the right to lie when many innocent lives were lost in the war???

White lies? Personally, i don't think so.


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you've a good grasp on the subject. nice work, jean! =]Grade: B+mdm l
Posted by Guest- @ 19 Apr 2007, 12:49:42 PM

GyPsy blog

***From GyPsyGal.moblog dated 8 Apr 2007, 10:52:22 PM***


Hello everyone =)

This blog is specially set up for the very purpose to keep track of any General Paper (GP) blog entries of mine which i believe will come in more frequently in the (near) future!

Due to the fact that i'm a loyal Moblog fan, i have decided to create an additional blog site under my account instead of exploring Blogspot and start to use their prog. from the very beginning :p

So, do watch out for any NEW updates +)