noun
1.
a person who rises in forcible opposition to lawful authority, especially a person who engages in armed resistance to a government or to the execution of its laws; rebel.
It has been a month since I've updated this blog and this is the first thing that comes into my mind when I started typing (well, most probably because I've been reading Insurgent, the sequel to that Divergent book I've talked about before). As usual, life is moving on. If there's anything worth updating about, it would be about my upcoming A' levels in November. Yes, I'm taking the exams after paying $750 to the board and officially part of the 2013 batch. I'm going to take a second shot at this in hope to better my grade after that lacklustre performance back in 2011. But every battle has it's struggles, and mine came early. I almost had to drop the idea of taking the exams after an unexpected cut in my income last month. But thank God for giving me some alternative to pay up the remainder of the fees. Then came the subjects. The Physics subject required a paper 5 - The practical paper. And without recent experience in lab work, no access to a lab, reliable Mr Ng not replying my text and high fees for a private school course in SPA, I'm quickly running out of options. On top of it all, my whole exam, including the other subjects, hinged on the Physics paper as it is my worse grade in the previous exam back then in 2011. Yup, there was that insiders information (Thanks Chan JY!) that you are able to combine 2 exam results in terms of their grades to form a new result, provided that you score a minimum of C for GP and PW. But, if my Physics grade still falter, it just negates my whole score altogether. And I can't go to that Earth Science interview with a D in hand. I must find a way out, before October.
As for camp, well everything has been mundane except for the unseen divide within our seemingly united rota. And guess what, I'm in the middle of that divide (talk about divergence). A part of them want to live their life - drinking, clubbing, women and the likes. Another part of them are ostracised for various reason - being smelly, studious, quiet or maybe just weird. There is that unseen dissent between each other that I know of but it isn't said out loud. Nonetheless, the rota worked well as a whole together and I can't ask for anything better.
So what else have I left out? Yes, recently I've met up with Cel (and I'm going to meet her again today) for some TCS (only for those who know what it meant) and help for my Geography. That is where I've found out further about the clique and how it have been going. Nope, I didn't asked about YY because I do not want the conversation to turn awkward. Anyway it's better that way to preserve the friendship that we have. And on another day, I bumped into Adilah (better called as a mutual friend of Cel, YY and the rest of that clique) and found out further about how is everybody's doing. Apparently she became a part-time teacher, something everybody's been doing to find extra income. Then it was Harith that I've bumped into. That's when I found out about the gravity of the situation I'm in. I'm not the only one interested in this Earth Science course in NTU, and I have to expect competition from more people than I expected. So much for unfair advantage.
So alright, keeping with the tradition, I'll be discussing about GP now. So here's another essay done by me for the 2010 A' levels AQ. And it's all about food :-
From the 2010 Cambridge GP A’ Levels :
11)In this article, Patricia O’ Sullivan describes some current issues around the subject of food. How applicable do you find her observations to yourself and your own society?
Based on her observations of the current issued that are revolving around the subject of food, I find it largely applicable to my society.
Patricia asserted that more women are now entering the workforce and no longer feel obligated by custom or culture to cook at home, hence increasing spendings on takeaways. The increase in the number of women in the workforce has led to the burden of domestic labour, such as cooking, to fall thus leading to them finding other alternatives such as pre-prepared meals for food. It’s relevance is seen in my society as more and more working moms are resorting to takeaways to feed their families. The increase in socio-economic status of women had allowed them to be more educated thus making it easier to get jobs, particularly in the service sector. Due to the long working hours and commitment at work, they could not find time or find it rather unproductive for them to return home to cook for their families. Inevitably, they have to buy takeaways for their families instead. In Singapore, the percentage of women in the workforce was at a 56.5 % high in 2011, with about 15 % of this number representing women holding professional and managerial positions. his is coupled with the increase in food and beverages outlets, such as 7-11 stores which can be found at every road in Singapore and coffee shops that can be found under many HDB blocks. This shows that food is getting more easily available outside hence negating the need for home-cooked food, Hence Patricia’s views in this matter reflects the trend in my society today.
However, some of Patricia’s views does not correlates with the current trend in my society. She argued that the spread of multinational brands such as fast-food outlets threatens local long-established businesses and that culinary diversity is diminished. This would mean that the increase in international restaurants and outlets in a country would threaten the business of local establishment, thus pulling customers away from them and forcing them to close down. This is not the situation faced in Singapore. Local restaurants and eateries are still as popular and buzzing with customers everyday. This is mainly due to the strong cultural ties between my people and the traditional food served by such eateries. Personally, meals such as Laksa and Chicken Rice in Singapore brings back memories of the old Singapore, where pushcarts and mini stalls selling such delicacies are a common sight. In addition, the society today including Singapore are more health conscious and wary about what they eat. Fast-food outlets, such as McDonalds and KFC, have been proven time and again to be unhealthy in terms of the way they the food is cooked and the ingredients used. Hence, more Singaporeans are turning to better alternatives such as local eateries for more healthier dishes. On top of that, in my opinion, Singaporeans may find it boring to always have fast-food for meals as they crave for variety in the food they eat. Thus, Patricia’s views may not necessarily be the case seen in Singapore.
So there isn't any comment left by Arif yet and I'd still need to refine this essay. But for now, it seems like it is improving bit by bit. The next post would feature my first argumentative essay practice. But for now, this should suffice.
So till the next time that I'll update this blog. I'm still waiting for that 3rd book in the Divergent series - Allegiance. What would happen after Tris, Tobias and the rest of the factionless, Candor and Dauntless survivors saw that video? A revelation that Jeanine Matthews was willing to kill for to protect; that the Abnegations was willing to sacrifice for. Why? (Just read the book to find out more hor..). I'll leave you with my favourite song of the moment, and I'm addicted to it already. Maybe it just fits in to the title. Hmm.. ^^