RHD Article

Racial Harmony Day is an event that is celebrated annually every Singaporean. Singapore is a multi-racial country where promoting the importance of contributing to a multi-racial society is taken very seriously in all schools. This year is no exception. Many of you may wonder why Racial harmony Day is important and might even pass it off as just another typical school day. But no, Racial harmony Day is much more important than you think it is. Imagine we were still living in the period where riots were occurring every day. In this century, we are blessed that there aren't any riots going on currently. Thus, we should keep it that way.

This year, East Spring has arranged many interesting activities to up our awareness level on how Singapore came to be as peaceful as it is today. Commencing that start of all activities was the reciting of the national pledge in Chinese led by Ms Tay on Monday. Next, during assembly, a dance group performed various traditional dances for us. Their elegant and sophisticated dance moves left all of us in awe. Subsequently, we were shown videos on the riots that happened before and we were all to create a pledge on how we can contribute to our society. On Tuesday, the reciting of the national pledge was led by Mr Tan Wee Siang. Thursday, we had the long awaited Charity Bazaar. This year, the charity bazaar was closely knitted to the theme of Racial Harmony. Stalls consisted of games and food that people used to play and eat back in the Kampong days. It was definitely a fun filled week!

I think that Racial Harmony Day plays a very big part in our lives as ot reminds us of how chaotic Singapore used to be and we are extremely lucky to be living in peace now. In this era where words can easily hurt anyone, we are expected to stay humble and count our own blessings. Let us continue to keep Singapore in peace. Together, we can.

5 photos with caption

Title: Nostalgic

Caption: The picture gives out a very nostalgic feeling which takes us back to the past.

Title: Eye Appealing

Caption: When we first look at this picture, the eye appealing flower is what we look at the first.

Title: Impact

The past has left a huge impact and shaped the person we have become today. Walk down the memory lane to relive all these moments again.

Title: Flying Solo

Caption: There are many crucial decisions that you have to make in life. But, to stand strong and tall amongst all these problems is what counts.

Title: Apple of My Eye

Caption: Many things in life will catch your eye but only a few will catch your heart and make an impact on you. This picture depicts this scenario.

Inter-class Games (Basketball)

The basketball interclass games were held on 16th May 2011. Many classes were gathered at the sheltered basketball court to witness this long-awaited annual event. 2e1, 2e3, 2e4, 2n1 and 2n2 kick started the event with an intense match. Although the sun was shining mercilessly down onto the participants and spectators, many gave in their utmost best. The atmosphere was hyped up. Everyone roared wildly at the top of their voices when their classmates shot a goal.

In the final match, 2e2 and 2n2 fought ferociously for the victory spot. Tension rose between the players of each team and eyes darted back and forth as the ball was being passed around the court. 2e2 emerged victorious after many tough battles. Although 2n2 lost the game, they did not jeer at 2e2. Instead, they showed great sportsmanship by shaking their hands and congratulating their opponents. 2e2 was overjoyed as they jumped up and down once the results were announced. 2e2 have indeed brought out the true meaning of one our school value, 'Excel'.

At the end of the day, everyone walked out of the court with their throat sore and hands numbed, due to the intense cheering and clapping. It was indeed a memorable day for the classes; no matter they won, or lost.

Rachel Tan Hui Shan (16)
2E4Shermaine Yim (19) 2E3

Botanic Garden

Canon EOS Competition

There are many crucial decisions that you have to make in life. But, to stand strong and tall amongst all these problems is what counts.

Many things in life will catch your eye but only a few will catch your heart and make an impact on you. This picture depicts this scenario.

The past has left a huge impact and shaped the person we have become today. Walk down the memory lane to relive all these moments again.

Canon EOS academy competition

This picture shows the sacrifices a mother dog makes to ensure that her child pups can survive. The mother dog is already skinny to the bones and yet, she still willingly lets her child pups feed from her. This depicts the warmth and love a mother shows to her child.

This shot makes me wonder what The monkey is thinking of at the moment. The monkey, holding the peanut and staring into blank space completes this picture and fulfills the theme of wonder.
This bunch of Ixoras is taken at an angle pointing towards the sky. The purpose of shooting at this angle is to allow people to see the Ixora at a different perspective. People teng to look at things at eye level and sometimes it is time for a change.

Water is an element of life and it leaves me in wonder everytime. Have you ever noticed the beauty and art of water? It is without doubt one of the most beautiful thing that God has created.

Personal Portfolio 2

YOG Badminton 2010

On Thursday, 19 August 2010, the badminton finals for the females and males were held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. On the way to the Singapore Indoor Stadium, student were all excited at the thought about going for the match. Especially the badminton players. I'm sure they felt honoured to get the privilege to watch the professionals at their sport play. They even bought a camcorder along with them to film the entire match!

Upon reaching the Singapore Indoor Stadium, everyone was hyped up. The first match opened with Great Britain playing against China. Great Britain had a good start. However, China slowly caught up and closed the game, winning.

Next up was China against Thailand. Although the girl representing Thailand fell down quite a couple of times to serve the shuttlecock, she got back up real quick and showed both perseverance and endurance. She eventually won with a score of 21:20.

The prize giving ceremony was soon conducted. The champions for the bronze, silver, and gold medals went to China, Vietnam, and Thailand respectively. Everyone rose to attention when the Thailand national anthem was played. That signaled the end of the women's finals and the commencement of the male finals.

The male finals commenced with Thailand against India. Everyone cheered when each team made a score and nobody jeered. The stadium was so silent between each pass that you could literally hear a pin drop. Everyone roared wildly when their favourite team made a score. A thai man dressed in traditional thai costume stood up holding a banner for the whole match! Tension rose between the two players and Pisit, the guy representing Thailand, stayed at a secure position throughout all 3 matches. He eventually won and hugged his opponent. He felt so thankful and elated that he threw his racket to the spectators.

I think that all the players displayed all 3 of the Olympic values, sportsmanship and respect to each other. I am happy and proud to say that I'm honored to be part of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010.

Written by: Rachel Tan (1E4)

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Sec 1 Orientation Camp

A few days into the first week of school, we had our annual secondary one orientation camp. What is a better way to kick start 2011 for the secondary ones than having an orientation camp? On the seventh of January, the secondary ones sure had a whale of their time during the secondary one orientation camp.

Girls from 1E1-1T1 battled against each other in captain’s ball at the school hall. Over at the Indoor Sports Hall, boys from 1E1 to 1T1 showed no mercy against each other in a game of soccer. The atmosphere was really tense in both venues.

The girls rooted for each other to do their best in the game and even gave each other some tips on how they could make a goal. At the Indoor Sports Hall, eyes darted back and forth when the soccer ball was being passed around. Everyone was watching intensively during the process and broke into thunderous applause whenever a victory goal was made.

I managed to ask Yasmin and Xuan Hui of 1E3 how they felt about the camp. “The camp is only for a night and I feel that it is too short. Nonetheless, I’m feeling excited about staying overnight and I’m having a lot of fun.” Said Yasmin. When I asked Xuan Hui what she thinks can be improved to make the camp more interesting she replied me, “I think having a campfire will make the camp more interesting.”

Written By:

Rachel Tan 2E4

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Personal Portfolio 1

NTUC Competition.

Untouched

In this photograph, you can see a man capturing a shot of the sunset. I took this photograph from a distance and the man doesn't know that I was taking a photo of him. Hence, all his actions were you can say, untouched. Nobody asked him to stand there and pose for a picture, imagining he was a photographer. Everything he showed there was a raw and untouched side of him.

Badminton Finals

On Thursday, 19 August 2010, the badminton finals for the females and males were held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. On the way to the Singapore Indoor Stadium, student were all excited at the thought about going for the match. Especially the badminton players. I'm sure they felt honoured to get the privilege to watch the professionals at their sport play. They even bought a camcorder along with them to film the entire match!

Upon reaching the Singapore Indoor Stadium, everyone was hyped up. The first match opened with Great Britain playing against China. Great Britain had a good start. However, China slowly caught up and closed the game, winning.

Next up was China against Thailand. Although the girl representing Thailand fell down quite a couple of times to serve the shuttlecock, she got back up real quick and showed both perseverance and endurance. She eventually won with a score of 21:20.

The prize giving ceremony was soon conducted. The champions for the bronze, silver, and gold medals went to China, Vietnam, and Thailand respectively. Everyone rose to attention when the Thailand national anthem was played. That signaled the end of the women's finals and the commencement of the male finals.

The male finals commenced with Thailand against India. Everyone cheered when each team made a score and nobody jeered. The stadium was so silent between each pass that you could literally hear a pin drop. Everyone roared wildly when their favourite team made a score. A thai man dressed in traditional thai costume stood up holding a banner for the whole match! Tension rose between the two players and Pisit, the guy representing Thailand, stayed at a secure position throughout all 3 matches. He eventually won and hugged his opponent. He felt so thankful and elated that he threw his racket to the spectators.

I think that all the players displayed all 3 of the Olympic values, sportsmanship and respect to each other. I am happy and proud to say that I'm honored to be part of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010.

What a busy Wednesday afternoon in East Spring

Wednesday is probably the busiest day in East Spring. There is a variety of activities happening in school, especially today. Everywhere we went, we saw students in groups engaging in different activities. As we were walking, we saw students consulting the teachers for advice in their studies, or revising their work. Probably because the End Of Year examinations is approaching and there is not much time left for revision.

Students in the aesthetics CCAs were practicing for their performance, like the Choir Ensemble. This CCA is normally conducted on Tuesday and Friday. As the SYF is coming soon, Choir Ensemble is practicing even harder which include practicing on a Wednesday. This shows how much they want to contribute to the school.

Students from the Uniformed Groups were training to perfect their march and improving their skills, while students from the Art Club were doing the finishing touches on the staircase at the atrium. With the guidance from their seniors, i think that they will make the RISE wall beautiful.

There was so many activities going on today, it proves that Wednesday is the busiest day of the week.

History Of Olympics

The Olympic Games is an international event featuring summer and winter sports in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of sports. Originally, the ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 5th century AD.

• The Ancient Olympic Games was a series of competitions held between representatives of several city-states and kingdoms from Ancient Greece, which featured mainly athletic but also combat and chariot racing events.


• The origin of these Olympics is shrouded in mystery and legend. One of the most popular myths identifies Heracles and his father Zeus as the progenitors of the Games.
  


• A legend persists that after Heracles completed his twelve labors, he built the Olympic stadium as an honor to Zeus.
  


• The most widely accepted date for the inception of the Ancient Olympics is 776 BC. This is based on inscriptions, found at Olympia, of the winners of a footrace held every four years starting in 776 BC.

• The Ancient Games featured running events, a pentathlon, boxing, wrestling, and equestrian events.

Origins of YOG

Why Singapore was chosen to host the YOG.

Singapore's proposed plan for YOG 2010 includes the following features:

• World-class IT infrastructure


• strong governance and finance


• efficient transportation system


• reliable security

The announcement was broadcasted live in front of a lively and wild audience that had gathered at the Padang for the YOG 2010 Final countdown event to celebrate Singapore's participation in the YOG 2010 candidacy race.

Area of sport/event

Badminton

Badminton is the world's fastest racket sport and is played using strung rackets. These rackets are similar to tennis rackets but smaller, more flexible and even lighter. A shuttlecock is used in play by either two players or four players on a recangular court. The aim of the game is to obtain points by hitting the shuttlecock above the fixed net into the opponent's half of the court. This is to allow the shuttlecock to hit the ground before the opponent is able to receive and return it.

Credits: singapore2010.sg

google.com

Charity Bazaar

On Monday, 2nd August, East Spring Secondary School organized a Charity Bazaar. The Sec 2s were given the task of setting up a booth at the Parade Square to raise funds for the Children Cancer Foundation. All students were free to participate in the event. From advertising, to giving changes, everyone was busy. The customers, which mostly made up from the students, were satisfied with the outcome. I was also busy, advertising for my class, promoting items.

Being from a Sec 2 class, my class had set up a stall during RISE lesson for the charity bazaar. We all had a common target, which is to raise funds. My class had raised a few hundreds, thanks to our customers, probably thousand combined together with other classes. Here, I have Rachel Tan, from 1e4, giving her view on the bazaar. "I think that the bazaar is a very interesting way to raise money for the children. The duration of the bazaar was quite long so there was enough time for all the students to browse and decide what to buy. All the stalls that were set up sold very cool items and it took me quite a long time to decide what to buy."

And many people noticed that some of the ideas were creative and different from other classes. For example, my class promotes our items by giving free hugs. And we sold K-Pop items, like SHINee pouch, Domo bag. And 2n1 had a game where customers can throw wet sponge on a 2n1 student. When asked about this(ideas), Rachel replied," I think this is a very creative idea as people don't get the chance to take "revenge" on their friend in such an interesting way."

There was music in the background, as 2e1 had a song dedication programme, as one of the ways they hope to raise funds. Some of the songs remembered that was played were Waka-Waka(This Time For Africa) that was a worldwide hit during World Cup, that was sung by Shakira. Another one remembered was Baby, also widely known around the world, which was sung by Justin Bieber. Everything was fun and smooth. And the charity bazaar went as planned, the weather's nice and the crowd was huge, in every class. Hours, or days before this event, classes were filled with flyers, distributed by the students. Rachel gives her view on this. "The students stapled flyers on my class's notice board and even left messages on the whiteboard to support their class. There was Polaroid, cheese fries, frizzy float, cotton candy, and many others."

-Done by Rachel Tan(1e4) & AbdulFattah(2e4)

Interview on Paul the octopus.
Mdm Riah, Teacher , South Korean fan

She is the form tutor of 1E1 and teaches several sec 1 class maths. We interviewed her in her staff room, about her point of view on Paul the Octopus.- By Rachel(1E4) & Fattah(2E4)

After making stardom for the prediction of England v Germany, Do you believe in his predictions.
-No, not really, Paul was just lucky, and was probably attracted to the colours of the flags.

What do you think about Paul?
-Each animal have its own intelligence. But I don’t don’t believe in predicting the future, but anticipates it.

What do you think about Mani, the Parakeet?
-He is just like Paul, lucky.

So, are you in favour of Paul or Mani?
-I'm neutral.

Paul have a 100% record for World Cup, while Mani had 75%, luck or psychic?
-What do you have to say? Luck, just octopus nature. I'm not a believer.

When Paul predicted Serbia to beat Germany, do you believe every prediction after that?
-I don't believe. Frankly, it is just by chance. I mean I don't believe in this, as I'm going against the Muslim religion laws.

Do you think Germany's tourism will increase, due to Paul's "psychic" powers?
-Germany probably will have a boost in Germany's tourism. But to me, it is just a miracle/hope.. A last resort for tourism.

The workers in Paul's aquarium put 2 boxes, each bearing a flag, and Paul eats the contents of whichever team that wins. Do you think they allegedly put a nicer food in the tank that they hope the team would win, making it unfair. Have your say.
-Could be, He keeps to the boxes that has nicer foods that attracts him, same as Human nature, taking the nicer things.

Do you agree that Paul should be cooked to sushi, or calamari, for breaking the opponents fans hearts.
-No. Fans should be prepared to have a heartbreaking results when in this kind of tournaments, where there is only one ultimate winner.

Interview on RHD.

Interview with Jian Hui from 4E3 on Racial Harmony Day(RHD)

What do you think of East Spring's Racial Harmony Day?
Jian Hui: I think RHD is meaningful as there are different races, we get to see different cultures and and people can learn about different races' culture and their food.

Did you enjoy the stalls set up at the canteen?
Jian Hui: Quite creative. But it was quite short as it was only during my recess period.

Which stall did you enjoy the most and why?
Jian Hui: I didn't really get to go to the stalls as I came down late for recess.

What do you think about the students who wore their traditional costumes to school?
Jian Hui: I think they are very true to their religion and I like people who are true to their religion.

Did anybody in your class wore their traditional costumes?
Jian Hui: Quite a few. Mostly malays.

How much do you know about RHD?
Jian Hui: Not a lot. I only know it’s a day when people from different races come together.

Lastly, did you enjoy RHD?
Jian Hui: I didn't really manage to spend RHD as it was quite short.