Learn or Gain Marks?

Through this GCE ‘O’ Level, I’ve learnt one thing which is most of us study just to gain marks, to get better marks in exam. I say ‘most’ because some people may disagree with me.

I remembered what my Social Studies teacher way back when I was in Primary 5 & 6, Ms Agung, said. She disliked students who showed off their excellent grades. We go to school to learn, to make our life better not to get high marks for exam. What for if you took the effort to memorise things but 20-30 years later, you need to refer to books for things that you had memorised back then?

Higher grades in our school certificates means that there is higher chance for us to work in a more respected job. Yes, it is. But don’t forget, more respected job means more stress. Because of the pressure, expectations and politicking.

More respected jobs means higher salary. They need it after going through tough challenges in their careers.

So how about people who worked as scavengers, farmers, fishermen who earned low salaries? How if one day they refused to work? A city will be dirty, run out of food supply (inspired by an article from Kompasiana).

It’s up to you to decide whether you want to work in a more respected or less respected. And the question is do you go to school to learn skills which will make your life easier or just to get good grades? It’s really up to you to decide.

Coming Back in 20 Days

This is my last update before my GCE ‘O’ Level’s main papers are coming. I won’t be blogging about what questions come out due to copyright issues.

I’ll be back on November 11, 2009 which is also my last paper. I’ll only blog when there is really breaking news that needs coverage.

On my twitter update (which you also could see at the right-top corner of this blog), there is a countdown to my return to the real blogging. All the best to you and thanks for your supports over the months.

12 October 2002

Today 7 years ago, three bombs exploded in Bali. One about 1 km away from the US Consulate at Jalan Hayam Wuruk, one at Paddy’s and one at Sari Club.

Late last year, three Bali bombers were executed to death. Perhaps it contributed to the quieter memorial compared to previous years.

I do hope that it really is the end of terrorism attack in Indonesia.

World Sight Day 2009

Some 314 million people in the world, with best-corrected vision, cannot read an 8 mm letter size on a paper held 40 cm away from the eyes.

45 million of those considered visually impaired are blind. In fact, by the time you have read till here, another three people would have lost their sight. And two in three blind people are female.

90% of the world’s visually impaired live in low-income countries. The women there have only half the access to eye care that men do.

In developed nations, women tend to live longer and so are more likely to get ageing-related eye diseases like macular degeneration, cataract and glaucoma.

The tragedy is 80% of cases of blindness are treatable, curable or preventable. Cataract – the main cause of blindness – can be cured with a simple, cost-effective operation.

And a simple eye exam and glasses can restore sight to most of the eight million who are blind due to uncorrected refractive errors like near-sightedness, far-sightedness or astigmatism.

One in two did nnt realise regular checks were needed. Almost 18% said it was inconvenient.

Those who use corrective eyewear should get their eyes checked every year, while those who do not, should do so every two years.

Today is World Sight Day. It is held annually on the second Thursday of October to focus attention on the global issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment.

Adapted from today’s edition of Singapore’s The Straits Times (08/10/2009) with some edited parts to suit the global context. All rights reserved belong to The Straits Times.

1st & 2nd October 2009 – Short Flashback

1st October 2009 which is yesterday has three important events in history and in news.

In history, it is the 60th celebration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leading the country. The Kuomintang, rival of CCP, fled to Formosa (Taiwan). Gala celebration was held in Beijing yesterday.

In 2005, a second bombing in Bali took place claiming the lives of 22. A suicide bomber was hired to do the job. There were two bombs exploding, one at Jimbaran Bay and the other at Raja’s restaurant in Kuta. Nobody even care to remember the day when Bali was under attack for the second time.

Perhaps because Noordin Top is no longer around and many people think that Bali is safe. Well, Bali is still the terrorists’ main ‘destination’ to do jihad. Let’s see the memorial for the first Bali bombing on 12 October later.

In news, 7.5 Richter-scale quake rattled Padang in West Sumatra. The death toll is now over 1000. My question, when will the government learn to build a quake-proof buildings like those in Kobe, Japan? Should we wait until government officials died because of earthquake then they start working?

2nd October 2009 is today. Batik is now listed as an intangible cultural asset by UNESCO. Despite this, there are some arguments regarding who should own batik. A Kompasiana blogger wrote that Jakarta turned into ocean of batik.

The question, is batik the only fabric Indonesia has? How about ulos, songket and tenun ikat? Why aren’t they as popular as batik? Should we wait until another country claimed them then we popularise them among Indonesians? Straits Times’ Urban run an article about batik today. What they’ve got to say? Stay tuned for updates later.