Two years back, Amy and I attended the St Joseph Band Concert. We were both quite impressed by the performances and arrangements, but what stuck with me the most was the pride the band members so very obviously felt for their alma mater.

 

And I guess they do have a very good reason to be proud of it, which makes their love for their school even more justified.

 

I wonder what it's like to be proud of something. I never really had the chance to be proud of anything. Everything I ever cared about to the point I could be proud of it left me disillusioned. Because nothing is perfect. Frankly speaking, I am not proud of my school. There's nothing to be proud of, except perhaps the rare and few individual talents my school has produced in its short six years of existence. And that alone isn't enough to make me proud of my school.

 

I can't even take pride in my own so-called abilities and talents. There will always be people who are better than I am. I can't even take pride in grades - if I come out top, it was probably because my rivals were sick/didn't study enough. If I got a high 90, the exam was too easy/the teacher gave tips. If the exam was hard, well it couldn't have been harder than what students of yesteryear had - after all, the Ministry of Education has gradually been cutting out certain integral parts of the syllabus. Plus, ever since 2007, Science and Maths have been taught in English. The medium makes a lot of difference.

 

I can't take pride in ANYTHING. I can't protect and defend something fiercely, not caring about what others think because I believe wholly in its value. Even if I DID care about something, I doubt it'd be acceptable to brag. No one likes a braggart.

 

In that case, I can never fully take credit for any achievement. I can never be proud of anything. *sigh* I am but nothing.

 

The world is a sad place. xD

Pn Lee commented that my moral essay for soalan 3 was good. So guys, if you want to refer to mine to get full marks, here it is.

 

...but you might be inclined to throw tomatoes, if not sledgehammers at me after this. xD

 

 

 

Kerajaan perlu memupuk nilai cinta akan negara dalam kalangan pelajar masa kini. Kerajaan harus menyemai sikap sayang dan bangga kepada negara dalam jiwa pelajar. Misalnya, kerajaan telah memperkenalkan mata pelajaran Sivik dan Sejarah dalam kurikulum bersepadu sekolah menengah. Kerajaan juga perlu memupuk kesanggupan meletakkan kepentingan negara melebihi kepentingan diri dalam kalangan pelajar. Sebagai contoh, Program Latihan Khidmat Negara seharusnya diwajibkan bagi semua pelajar lepasan tingkatan lima. Di samping itu, kerajaan perlu memupuk nilai sanggup berkorban untuk negara dalam kalangan pelajar. Kerajaan perlu memupuk kerelaan melakukan sesuatu demi negara dalam sanubari para remaja kini. Misalnya, aktiviti kemasyarakatan di peringkat sekolah harus diperbanyak supaya para remaja dapat melibatkan diri mereka dalam pembangunan negara. Kerajaan juga perlu memupuk sikap kerelaan menyerahkan sesuatu termasuk nyawa dalam jiwa para pelajar. Contohnya, Program Latihan Khidmat Negara menuntut sumbangan masa tiga bulan daripada kehidupan remaja lepasan tingkatan lima.

 

I can be so hypocritical for the sake of perfect scores. xD And no, I didn't mean a thing about NS. I'm still quite sane, thank you very much. Lies, lies, all lies. The things one can come up with when the PM test hits. *sigh*

 

=P

Two more days and I'll be done with the trial exam. Nothing to be glad about, though - the zone paper's just another two to three weeks away. =S

 

And I just found out that Batu Lintang and SMKJA were the only two schools (as far as Amy knows) wacko enough to set complete papers for this mid-sem exam. How wonderful. I love my school.

 

Anyway, that's beside the point. The topic of my rant today will be my BM essay.

 

For the last test, my teacher commented that my bahasa was flat, not enough peribahasa and not enough contoh. Oh, and I didn't paragraph nicely. =P

 

So, I tried my best this time and really polished up on my language. However, the topic of the essay I chose was about preparations to meet one's goals/ambitions. Usually I only do karangan fakta, but this time the karangan fakta choice was about PBB and its role in preventing nuclear warfare. VERY FUNNY.

 

Anyway.

 

Comments this time round : Your bahasa is good (FINALLY!), but still not enough peribahasa and not enough contoh. And you don't hurai enough.

 

Author's thoughts : I put in about 3-4 peribahasas, still not enough? o_0 Okay. What contoh are you asking me for? This isn't a karangan fakta, what I'm PLANNING to do hasn't come to PASS yet!

 

Still commenting: I could see that you were writing from your heart. (haha, thank you very much, I WAS writing from my heart.) But your essay is very...simplistic and easy to understand. It gives people that feeling.

 

Author's thoughts : The feeling that I'm not very complicated and sophisticated? I thought the entire point of essays was to get your ideas across. What's the use of writing something no one is able to follow?!

 

All my life, I've been trained to organize my thoughts and get them across to people in the simplest possible manner for easy absorption. My parents' genes probably had something to do with it. xD Public speaking values clarity and concise language too. But when BM Kertas 1 hits, one man's meat is another man's poison.

 

How am I going to complicate myself? =S

All of a sudden, I'm feeling very covetous.

 

Hence my wishlist for 2008. =P Guys, you know what I want for Christmas....

 

#1 A brilliantly organized mind. (Don't tell me I have to be born with it. Mendel can be wrong, can't he?!)

#2 A British accent. (Hot. Enough said. And stop listening to Russell Peters. =P)

#3 To NOT get selected for the prestigious, elite National Service Training Programme.

#4 Someone to lose his plane tickets. *cough*

#5 A long list of what every close friend of mine wants for Christmas/New Year/their birthday for a few consecutive years so I won't have to crack my brains trying to figure out what other people covet. =P

#6 A new and highly improved vocabulary in English, with the added plus of superbly polished writing skills.

#7 To beat my brother's 94 in Physics. (Just this once. Not too much to ask for, right? *smiles sweetly*)

#8 World peace. And a brain for all who need it desperately. So that they can give me peace of mind.

#9 A brilliantly organized mind. (why does this sound familiar? Never mind. I want it badly. =P)

#10 For Rach to come back home with a packet of my favourite cocaine. Now you may pretend you never saw me type that. xD

 

And here I thought I couldn't ask for more in life. xD

 

 

 

I haven't done this in a looooong, loooooong time. *grins wickedly and rubs palms in anticipation*

 

What haven't I done in a long time? My classic conversation starter course for a blog entry larh! Aiyor. Miss those days. Nowadays Eddie doesn't make as many crazy comments as before. He doesn't even online as frequently. *sigh*

 

But no fear, Jwern's as good a substitute, if not better.=P (Now, now, Eddie, don't get jealous. Online more often and I might just reconsider the rankings. xD)

 

 

This morning, I opened the door to let my moffie offie loffie coffee doggy (aka Lara) out and beheld a wonderful sight.

 

The sight of Tiger (another one of our current three dogs) sleeping. Lying on his back, legs spread wide out in an act of submission, the most indecent position for a MALE dog. Tiger happens to be the most macho-looking of our three dogs, which adds to the irony. As to whether he's really macho in real life, uhhhhh....(he's gay, I tell you. He can make out with Inky for minutes on end. =P)

 

Anyway. The most touching part of the entire scene was that he actually looked happy. Blissful. Relaxed. Gay. =P In that macho-dog-won't-be-seen-dead-in position.

 

Moral of the story : Why bother to be macho when you can be gay. xD