Transient Workers Count 2 by Christine Pelly

On Friday, we had speaker Christine Pelly come to our school. She came to our school to spread awareness about transient workers count 2. It is a Ngo which aims to provide better living conditions for construction workers. I thought that her talk was really eye-opening because Singapore usually covers all the things that happen behind to the workers. She said the main issues the workers faced was salary issues, injuries or the harsh working conditions they were subjected to. She also said that workers were very scared of their employers because if they lost there job, there would be no way to pay back their debt. When she mentioned that workers were vulnerable and exploited, I felt really bad as they are the people that make Singapore the infrastructural it is today.

Dpers Lesson One

I value when people listen to me and everyone has an equal role. The one thing you can do to support me best when we work together is put in all your effort and work hard. When it comes to tech, I am good and technological organisation, and I need to get better at using new softwares. People miss understand me for someone that is harsh and a mean group member. I think more of myself as an extrovert, in group work, you may notice that I like to take a leading role, please remember I prefer a democratic group.

 

Deborah Emmanuel

Today we had Deborah Emmanuel, an ex-drug offender and poet came to visit us. She shared a lot of her poems and information about her life. She identifies as a Singaporean and does not believe in the CMI system (Chinese, Malay, Indian). She was very explicit with her poems but I found it very cool as she was so passionate about expressing art and her life story through poetry (p.s she is a great singer). Many students asked her about what she felt like when she was in prison and when she was going through very tough times. She said that she did not have any regrets because if she didn’t go to prison, she wouldn’t be the person she is today. She also mentioned that she had no regrets in life. I found that very interesting because if I was in the shoes of Ms Emmanuel, I would definitely turn back time and change things I asI would not be able to cope with going to prison.

Robyne Hayes

Today Robyne Hayes, a social justice photographer came to visit us. She talked about her work around Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The main problem she addressed was child marriage. I thought her talk was very inspiring as she pursued a photography career without properly being qualified to be a photographer. She doesn’t only take photos of women in need, but the photos she took told a story. It was the story of the women and girls that had been used and miss treated. I also thought that she was a figure for all women in need as she was empowering women through her passion. It allows the women to really express themselves freely, despite the fact they are abused at home.

Authorpreneur by Chetan Bhagat

Yesterday we had a very special speaker come to our school. It was world renowned author Chetan Bhagat. His talk was very engaging and very funny but also very interesting. He talked a lot about success as he had obviously experienced it a lot through out his life with best seller books that how turned into hit Bollywood films. He also gave us many tips on how to reach success and a few tips on what to do when we become successful. Most of his tips he gave us were based around the goal setting tips we have been taught in school. He also had a very clear goal in life. It was to change and especially change India. The two main goals he had was to reach maximum Indians via entertainments and to influence them towards a progressive society. After he very inspiring talk, I learnt that success is only a word that describes what someone has achieved in their life.

(Its suppose to be Upside down :))

Interview Tips by Steve Dawson

Today, Steve Dawson, a sports journalist came to our school for the UWC’s  annual writers fortnight. At his talk, he gave us tips on how to conduct a great interview and interview techniques.

His tips for us were

  1. Ask open-ended questions
  2. Set the Answer Free
  3. Don’t Interrupt
  4. Be a Single Shooter
  5. Listen to the Answer
  6. Don’t be a Fan Boy or a Fan Girl

Aside from the great interview tips, I learnt a lot about Steve Dawson as a person and his influences. From the tips he gave us, I thought back to all the times I did something that he said not to do and immediately realised how I could have conducted the interview better.

Navigation Protocol

North: In today’s lesson, I learnt about what a feature article is and what a opinion editorial is. Today also helped me deepen my understanding because it allowed to look at the different perspectives the article gave on the event and by that I could judge if they were biased or not.

South: This made me question my previous learning when I learnt that hard news could not be on sided and it had to be neutral and if it was one sided or biased it could cause controversy and could potentially add problems to the event.

East: This lesson inspired me to look at news articles differently and it taught me how to dig deeper into why the author had the opinion he did and what triggered that.

West: I am not really unsure about anything at this point of time.

English Short Story

It was two hours till Bryan’s fifth birthday party. I was in a bit of a panic, rushing to find the flavour of chips Bryan likes, the flavour of Soda Bryan likes. Every thing was just racing in my head because I still had to go back home and set up the decorations for the party. Since I was in such a panic, I knew that I was going to forget something. So I called up Maya and told her to come to the local connivence store to make sure I wouldn’t forget anything as Bryan meant so much to me. I was still running around the store like a mad man when I assumed that I had got everything I would need. It was about a fifteen sprint to the cashier I placed the basket on the counter. By that time Maya had arrived and asked the cashier for a pack of chips and he gave it to me and added it to the bill. I had also remembered that I hadn’t bought Bryan a present but luckily I saw the present he wanted in the shelf were they kept the cigarettes. It was the limited Nerf blaster ECX ten. I asked the waiter how much the blaster caused the he said “I’m not sure if you can afford it” slight giggling after making the comment. That comment angered me so much, I reached over the counter, grabbed the gun, the things for the party and darted for the door. The cashier raced for door trying to stop me when I shoved him into the shelf and sprinted away.

#G9 #100seconds #storywriting

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