China's Zheng Jie made tennis history as the first Asian woman to make it to Wimbledon semi-finals. She did it as an unseeded player ranked 133 in the world in Singles, overcoming 3 seeded players including Anna Ivanovic, ranked #1. She did it as one the smallest players on the tour at 1.65m, beating girls far taller than her in a tennis world dominated by big players. That makes her a hero for millions around the world, especially Chinese and Asians.
Yet, the most amazing action she took was to donated ALL of her personal winnings at Wimbledon to the Sichuan Earthquake victims. This is by far her biggest tournament win in her career; and she will not take a cent from it.
Some people make the world a better place just by being in it. This week, in this world, Zheng Jie is one of them.
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showsports.aspx?id=SPOEN20080055437
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Life of Fruit Flies
In research done at University of Iowa recorded at the Journal of Natural Science, it is found that fruit flies raised with the younger control flies lived twice as long as those housed with similar aged flies. It appears that social interaction with younger flies helped the flies to make some kind of physiological adaptation that compensated for the genetic defect which makes the insect vulnerable to oxidative-stress induced ageing.
So, my friend, if you love your older folks, talk to them. And to all my younger friends who interact with me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to help me live longer. ... and of course don’t call us older folks fruit flies, Haha!
So, my friend, if you love your older folks, talk to them. And to all my younger friends who interact with me, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to help me live longer. ... and of course don’t call us older folks fruit flies, Haha!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
.. waiting for death ..
Wednesday, 13 January 1943
Amsterdam, in a hidden Annexe to a house; shelter provided by a Dutch family
Dearest Kitty (name of my diary),
Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged ______ of their homes. They’re allowed to take only a rucksack and a little cash with them, and even _______, they’re robbed of these __________ on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to _______ that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone. The Christians in Holland are also living in _______ because their sons are being sent to Germany. Everyone is scared. Every night hundreds of planes pass over Holland on their way to German cities, to sow their bombs on German soil. Every hour hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of people are being killed in Russia and Africa. No one can keep out of the _______, the entire world is at war, and even though the Allies are doing better, the end is nowhere in sight.
So for us, we’re quite _______. Luckier than millions of people. It’s quiet and safe here, and we’re using our money to buy food. We’re so _______ that we talk about ‘after the war’ and look forward to new clothes and shoes, when actually we should be _______ every penny to help others when the war is over, to salvage whatever we can.
The children in this neighbourhood run around in thin shirts and wooden clogs. They have no coats, no socks, no caps and no one to help them. Gnawing on a carrot to still their hunger ________, they walk from their cold houses through cold streets to an even ______ classroom. Things have got so bad in Holland that hordes of children stop passers-by in the streets to beg for a piece of bread.
I could spend hours telling you about the suffering the war has ______, but I’d only make myself more miserable. All we can do is wait, as calmly as possible, for it to end. Jews and Christians alike are waiting, the whole world is waiting, and ______ are waiting for death.
Yours, Anne ( Anne Frank, 13 years old)
Answers:
Amsterdam, in a hidden Annexe to a house; shelter provided by a Dutch family
Dearest Kitty (name of my diary),
Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged ______ of their homes. They’re allowed to take only a rucksack and a little cash with them, and even _______, they’re robbed of these __________ on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to _______ that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone. The Christians in Holland are also living in _______ because their sons are being sent to Germany. Everyone is scared. Every night hundreds of planes pass over Holland on their way to German cities, to sow their bombs on German soil. Every hour hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of people are being killed in Russia and Africa. No one can keep out of the _______, the entire world is at war, and even though the Allies are doing better, the end is nowhere in sight.
So for us, we’re quite _______. Luckier than millions of people. It’s quiet and safe here, and we’re using our money to buy food. We’re so _______ that we talk about ‘after the war’ and look forward to new clothes and shoes, when actually we should be _______ every penny to help others when the war is over, to salvage whatever we can.
The children in this neighbourhood run around in thin shirts and wooden clogs. They have no coats, no socks, no caps and no one to help them. Gnawing on a carrot to still their hunger ________, they walk from their cold houses through cold streets to an even ______ classroom. Things have got so bad in Holland that hordes of children stop passers-by in the streets to beg for a piece of bread.
I could spend hours telling you about the suffering the war has ______, but I’d only make myself more miserable. All we can do is wait, as calmly as possible, for it to end. Jews and Christians alike are waiting, the whole world is waiting, and ______ are waiting for death.
Yours, Anne ( Anne Frank, 13 years old)
Answers:
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Anne Frank - Chatterbox
This is a cloze passage from "Anne Frank - the Diary of a Young Girl", enjoy:
P 11
I get along pretty ______ with all my teachers. There are nine of ______, seven men and two women. Mr Keesing, the old fogey who teaches maths, was ________ with me for ages because I talked so much. After several warnings, he _________ me extra homework. An essay on the subject ‘A Chatterbox’. A chatterbox, what can you write about that? I’d worry about that later, I decided. I jotted down the title in my notebook, tucked it in my bag and tried to keep _______.
That evening, after I’d finished the rest of my homework, the note about the essay ________ my eye. I began thinking about the subject while ________ the tip of my fountain pen. Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing _________ to prove the necessity of talking. I thought and thought, and suddenly I had an idea. I wrote the three pages Mr Keesing had assigned me and was satisfied. I _______ that talking is a female trait and that I would do my best to keep it under ________, but that I would never be able to ____ myself of the habit, since my mother talked as much as I did, if not more, and that there’s not much you can do about _______ traits.
Mr Keesing had a good laugh at my arguments, but when I _________ to talk my way through the next lesson, he assigned me a second essay. This time it was supposed to be on ‘An Incorrigible Chatterbox’. I handed it in, and Mr Keesing had nothing to complain about for two ______ lessons. However, during the third lesson he’d finally ____ enough. ‘Anne Frank, as punishment for talking in class, write an essay entitled “’Quack, Quack, Quack,’ Said Mistress Chatterback”.’
The class roared, I had to laugh too, though I’d nearly exhausted my ingenuity on the topic of chatterboxes. It was time to come up with something else, something ________. My friend Sanne, who’s good at poetry, offered to help me write the essay from beginning to end in verse. I ________ for joy. Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him.
I finished my poem, and it was beautiful! It was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they __________ too much. Luckily, Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well. Since then I’ve been allowed to talk and haven’t been assigned any extra homework. One the contrary, Keesing’s always ________ jokes these days.
P 11
I get along pretty ______ with all my teachers. There are nine of ______, seven men and two women. Mr Keesing, the old fogey who teaches maths, was ________ with me for ages because I talked so much. After several warnings, he _________ me extra homework. An essay on the subject ‘A Chatterbox’. A chatterbox, what can you write about that? I’d worry about that later, I decided. I jotted down the title in my notebook, tucked it in my bag and tried to keep _______.
That evening, after I’d finished the rest of my homework, the note about the essay ________ my eye. I began thinking about the subject while ________ the tip of my fountain pen. Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing _________ to prove the necessity of talking. I thought and thought, and suddenly I had an idea. I wrote the three pages Mr Keesing had assigned me and was satisfied. I _______ that talking is a female trait and that I would do my best to keep it under ________, but that I would never be able to ____ myself of the habit, since my mother talked as much as I did, if not more, and that there’s not much you can do about _______ traits.
Mr Keesing had a good laugh at my arguments, but when I _________ to talk my way through the next lesson, he assigned me a second essay. This time it was supposed to be on ‘An Incorrigible Chatterbox’. I handed it in, and Mr Keesing had nothing to complain about for two ______ lessons. However, during the third lesson he’d finally ____ enough. ‘Anne Frank, as punishment for talking in class, write an essay entitled “’Quack, Quack, Quack,’ Said Mistress Chatterback”.’
The class roared, I had to laugh too, though I’d nearly exhausted my ingenuity on the topic of chatterboxes. It was time to come up with something else, something ________. My friend Sanne, who’s good at poetry, offered to help me write the essay from beginning to end in verse. I ________ for joy. Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I’d make sure the joke was on him.
I finished my poem, and it was beautiful! It was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they __________ too much. Luckily, Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well. Since then I’ve been allowed to talk and haven’t been assigned any extra homework. One the contrary, Keesing’s always ________ jokes these days.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Chinese PM on Facebook!
:) Chinese premier Wen Jia Bao has gained much warm respect from Chinese citizens and netizens worldwide for his quick and empathetic response to help earthquake victims. Check it out ->
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080529/tap-china-earthquake-facebook-bb10fb8.html
Here's a short story to read... but u have to fill in some blanks..:
The teacher she liked best was Mr. Bedlow, in biology. He sat on one ______ of his desk, one foot in his brown loafer swinging back and forth _________ his tan Dockers. And as the class quieted down, he began talking ______ , so softly that everyone had to _____ to hear.
“People ask me sometimes,” he began, “why I teach biology. It all boils down to one ______ fact, I think: All life on earth is produced by other _________ life. The cells of your body go back to the very first life on Earth. Think about that, class….”
_________ to Chrissa the class did understand. Seemed to, anyway, for silence was all ______ her.
“For this semester and next,” Mr. Bedlow went on, “we’ll be studying the human body, what it _______ to be alive, the differences between living and nonliving things, between plant and animal cells, and the place of human beings in nature. Because we’re all tied _______. Think about this: The latest theory is that before the big bang, the universe – the whole universe, class – was ________ into a space smaller than a single atomic particle.”
Chrissa tried to ________ it – herself, one with the rivers, the rocks, the sun, the rain.
Yes! She thought. I’m going to like this class!
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080529/tap-china-earthquake-facebook-bb10fb8.html
Here's a short story to read... but u have to fill in some blanks..
The teacher she liked best was Mr. Bedlow, in biology. He sat on one ______ of his desk, one foot in his brown loafer swinging back and forth _________ his tan Dockers. And as the class quieted down, he began talking ______ , so softly that everyone had to _____ to hear.
“People ask me sometimes,” he began, “why I teach biology. It all boils down to one ______ fact, I think: All life on earth is produced by other _________ life. The cells of your body go back to the very first life on Earth. Think about that, class….”
_________ to Chrissa the class did understand. Seemed to, anyway, for silence was all ______ her.
“For this semester and next,” Mr. Bedlow went on, “we’ll be studying the human body, what it _______ to be alive, the differences between living and nonliving things, between plant and animal cells, and the place of human beings in nature. Because we’re all tied _______. Think about this: The latest theory is that before the big bang, the universe – the whole universe, class – was ________ into a space smaller than a single atomic particle.”
Chrissa tried to ________ it – herself, one with the rivers, the rocks, the sun, the rain.
Yes! She thought. I’m going to like this class!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
shave their heads - Wow!
Today in the news....
:( Aung San Suu Ki's house arrest has been extended by the Myanmar military government
:( A new quake/tremor caused another 400,000 homes in Sichuan to collapse, sigh
:) In recent donation drives to help the Quake and the Cylone victims, Singapore children
have been very generous. Way to go, kids!!!
:) In the continuing campaign to raise awareness for Child Cancer, more people will volunteer
to shave their heads for generous donations. Last year more than 400 people did that.
WOW!!! There are still many good and unselfish people in Singapore.
:( Aung San Suu Ki's house arrest has been extended by the Myanmar military government
:( A new quake/tremor caused another 400,000 homes in Sichuan to collapse, sigh
:) In recent donation drives to help the Quake and the Cylone victims, Singapore children
have been very generous. Way to go, kids!!!
:) In the continuing campaign to raise awareness for Child Cancer, more people will volunteer
to shave their heads for generous donations. Last year more than 400 people did that.
WOW!!! There are still many good and unselfish people in Singapore.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
another DSA Saturday...
Last Saturday we visited NYGH... great school, nice people, nice dorm .. reason to be proud of the NY brand :) Last night we had the DSA roadshow at NYP. Mdm Heng is quite confident that NYP will still have 40% of the top PSLE students even though in recent year we may have missed getting the top. NUS high had an impressive presentation.. one of only three observatories in Singapore. Impressive! Modular programs, self paced, University environment! Incredible campus. Definite dream for the peak performers in Math/Science. We listened to SOTA. I think it's an ambitious plan to have Arts-inclined students study a heavy IB program AND add to it their passion and excel in the Arts. RGS didn't come (is it out of arrogance? tsk tsk... well.. give them the benefit of the doubt.)
Today we visited RGS at their open house. Hmmm .. without question a very very strong program and tradition and great ideals for scholarly learning, community spirit and leadership. Terrific terrific cheers! However, the first talk we heard was titled "Are you ready for RGS?", by the school counsellor, talking about some girls taking 4-5 months to adjust to the pace of the school. No question NYGH and RGS are tops in IP for the girls. Hey any Singaporean can be proud to go into any of these schools.
...
Heard this story in Mary Poppins on TV: Said a man to his buddy, "Did you hear about the man with a wooden leg called Smith?" His buddy replied, "What the name of his other leg?"
Today we visited RGS at their open house. Hmmm .. without question a very very strong program and tradition and great ideals for scholarly learning, community spirit and leadership. Terrific terrific cheers! However, the first talk we heard was titled "Are you ready for RGS?", by the school counsellor, talking about some girls taking 4-5 months to adjust to the pace of the school. No question NYGH and RGS are tops in IP for the girls. Hey any Singaporean can be proud to go into any of these schools.
...
Heard this story in Mary Poppins on TV: Said a man to his buddy, "Did you hear about the man with a wooden leg called Smith?" His buddy replied, "What the name of his other leg?"
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Twin Disasters
The Sichuan quake.. it shook China, shook the world in the extent of human tragedy caused by nature. Good to see quick large scale response from the government and army, outpouring of aid and charity from the world at large, the openness of China, the heroic rescues, and the stories of survival by trapped victims. And the government showed some real sympathy and concern. Thank God for the dams holding up well after the quake.
The Myanmar Cyclone relief is only now showing small signs of hope for survivors. It felt very hopeless a week ago when all the well intended help gets stopped at the border. Even now when we see the military leaders inspecting the relief campsites, it looks so staged.. army generals questioning formally, and a row of Cyclone refugee family standing seemingly at attention, afraid of violating any protocol or of offending the Powers that be. What a sad sight. I'm glad they followed suit after China declared three days of morning. Singapore did well to negotiate for the terms of foreign help.
The Myanmar Cyclone relief is only now showing small signs of hope for survivors. It felt very hopeless a week ago when all the well intended help gets stopped at the border. Even now when we see the military leaders inspecting the relief campsites, it looks so staged.. army generals questioning formally, and a row of Cyclone refugee family standing seemingly at attention, afraid of violating any protocol or of offending the Powers that be. What a sad sight. I'm glad they followed suit after China declared three days of morning. Singapore did well to negotiate for the terms of foreign help.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Myanmar
Hello World! Have you helped the Myanmar Cyclone Relief? ... not yet?
c o m e o n Help! What are you waiting for?
c o m e o n Help! What are you waiting for?
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