Children in the Darkness

There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light
Henry M Bechtold
Task 1:

Nice poem, isn't it?

This poem came about when Henry M Bechtold was in his hotel room in Saigon just before Christmas 2009. At that time, he was trying to write about young girls working in the park and how they were mistreated by men. Asexpected, he is experiencing a writer's block, and is very vexed that he was unable to write anything substancial. Just as he was about to give up, his television screen showed a very chilling sight - a photo of a small boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle.
Inspiration came.

Adapted from : http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

From this poem, we can see that the children are being forced to go to war at a very young age. At the start, it is already very clear that the children were taught how to fight instead of a proper education involving the OH-SO-WONDERFUL mathematics and english, etc. "has not seen the light" could be inferred as the children are still quite young and has not seen much of the world, and these children are already taught how to fight. This is a conflict, since fighting should not be taught to those who are still immature, and that the cruel nature of fighting would be instilled in the pure and innocent minds of the children.


Task 2:

(1) Point of View
This is in the third person point of view, as the poet refers to the children as "them" and "their". The poet uses this point of view to make his stand as part of those who opposes to making children fight wars.

(2) Situation and Setting
This is set in times of war. The children are taiught how to fight, and many of them are young and innocent, and they "have not seen hte light".

(3) Language/Diction
1st stanza: The children are described as in "darkness", which means that they are still ignorant and naieve. They "have not seen the light", which further emphasises that the children have no future, as well as them being naieve and ignorant.The rhyme of "light" and "fight" could mean that the children will not learn anything but fight, that fighting would be the first thing they learn.

In the second stanza, "chalk" and "blackboard" could be intepreted as education, which there is "no key" to. This implies that the children will not have a chance at education at all,and that they are not masters of their own fate, as they "can not flee" and "are not free".

Moving on to the third stanza, the poet implores the readers to give the children "half a chance" to do the things that ordinary children do, like dancing and reading. The poet also plays on "darkness" as mentioned earlier, using "light a candle". If darkness above symbolises that the children has no future, then the candle represents that the children has a small glimmer of hope. The poet wants us to help the children, to emphatise with them.

In the 4th stanza, war is depicted as an endless hole, where everyone is dumped in and they are wasted. The poet is condamning war here, saying that it is a waste of people and time, claiming that it is an "endless thirsty hole".

Finally in the 5th stanza, the poet shows us that it is too late, as the darkness is not of ignorance anymore, it is when they are in the hole of war, and they are unable to escape that reality.


(4) Personal Response
It shocked me when this poem is written in 2009. This clearly shows that even in the advanced world we live in now, children are still being recruited as soldiers in wars. It really made me appreciate my life, that i am living a very luxurious life as compared to the childen in the story.
6:36 PM By Eugene

TIME TRAVELLERS EXIST!!!!!
“If time travellers exist, then where are they?” as said by Albert Einstein.
You see, this is actually a lie made up by him to cover up the fact that he is actually a time traveller. If there was no time travelling, then how would the person who took the photograph of JFK’s assassination know when it would happen?
Ha-ha, just a little digression there.
Okay, have anyone of you experienced deja-vu? I sure have. It occurred to me, that I experienced the same thing again. One example, as I was rehearsing late at night with my Chinese drama CCA, it suddenly occurred to me that it actually happened before! It’s quite hard to explain, but I felt that I actually went through it before. Either I am crazy, which I am not, or something is going on… really! Just now, as I was writing the blog post on ang mohs, I suddenly felt that I have done all this before. Can anyone offer some explanation?
Okay. This is pretty much philosophical, and it is not in my scope of work, idiosyncrasies. So here is the crux of the matter. On the newspapers, I always see NTUC trolleys( the type where you put $1 inside) parked along corridors, and chained to the railings. It is quite a funny sight, actually, but can you imagine the anger of the store manager when you see your own trolley “stolen” by someone. The trolleys must have cost quite a lot.
The mindset of the people is: ONE DOLLAR FOR A TROLLEY! WOW! CHEAP! MUST GET MORE TOMORROW~ Yes, this is about it. The $1 is to ensure that people do not steal the trolley away, as they would not be able to get back their $1, but it is very funny seeing how this backfires on the store. People are not THAT petty. They may have lost $1, but they have gained a trolley. A good, reliable one at that.
What I suggest, and this may work, is to let people use their ICs to borrow the trolleys.
Speaking about ICs, I want to talk about libraries. THOSE LIBRARIES ARE WAY TOO LIENIENT!!! Scenario 1: student a borrows book, returns them on time, no fine
Scenario 2: student borrows book, does not return until he finished reading, 2 weeks late. Does not pay fine. Ignores messages to pay fine. End of year, fine waived, no fine
See? Bothe does not pay the fine, and thanks to people like student 2 who does not pay fines, libraries are losing money. Last year, NLB waived off about 1 million in fines. This should not be the way. People will just develop the mindset that even if the return the books late, the can still evade the fine.
Once again, I have the solution. Like the trolleys, pay a deposit, say $10? If the books are failed to be returned, the deposit is kept. So, the problems for both situations can be used interchangeably to solve each other.
6:39 AM By Eugene

Yes, it’s finally out. The inconvenient truth about foreigners here in Singapore. It has been awhile before this topic has been brought up in Singapore. LONG, LONG AGO, say 2001? That was the time of major changes here in Singapore. I just bought a book (YAY!) yup. It is Neil Humphreys’ Scribbles from a small island. Apart from the OCCASIONAL expletive, it is a very good book, depicting Singapore from a Caucasian point of view. Thus the birth of this blog post. I decided to revise the stereotype that all Caucasians in Singapore has fat wallets. This is a known fact that at that time, Caucasians who come to Singapore has an automatic social pedestal to stand on. It is quite sad actually, that Caucasians are automatically associated with some rich CEO of a big company.

It is quite ironic, as in every facet of Singaporean society, there is a growing realization that white skin does not automatically equate to a greater talent of bank balance. You would have to be living in a cave all this time if you still think that this is the case. However, there is still a wide gap between the foreigners and us. There is actually no difference. Just because they are of a different skin colour and speak differently, does that mean we should have a clear divide between us? All men are created equal, and racism will not be allowed. Take Michael Fay for example. He thought that since he is Caucasian, he can get away with crime here in Singapore.

Singapore's The Straits Times newspaper in 1993 ran stories about car vandalism in Singapore. Unknown individuals, thought at first to be residents of the HDB flats in which 85% of the local population lives, damaged their neighbours' cars with hot tar, paint remover, and hatchets. Taxi drivers complained that their tires were slashed. In the city center and the condos, cars were found with deep scratches and dents. Fay pleaded guilty to vandalizing the cars in addition to stealing road signs, as he was advised that such a plea would preclude caning. Fay later maintained that his confession was false; that he never vandalized any cars and that the only crime he committed was stealing signs. Under the 1966 Singapore Vandalism Act, originally passed to curb the spread of political graffiti in Singapore and which specifically covered vandalism of government property, he was sentenced on March 3, 1994 to four months in jail, a fine of 3,500 Singapore dollars (US$2,214 at the time), and six strokes of the cane.

Yes, this is what we need! Equal treatment for all!
5:28 AM By Eugene

After finally reviving my blog from desolateness, I finally feel the need, the need for ACE. Okay. This is what I want to talk about. Nowadays, we, the people of an elite school, focus more on results more than anything. I mean, results are good and all, but there has got to be al limit for all this. We need to pause for a moment in our busy lives, and take a moment to just enjoy what is around us, our friends (somehow I spelt fiends the first time), our family, our teachers, our homework, our paper, and even the bird droppings on our beautiful table, chair, and floor. Indeed, there are so many things to look at, to observe, to appreciate. BUT, what are we all doing?

Teacher: “it is a good day today, go out and enjoy yourselves”
Students: “is there ACE?”
Teacher: “No, just go enjoy yourselves”
Student: “Is there LEAPS?”
Teacher: “Just go and enjoy, for goodness’ sake”
Student: “Do I get OP for asking these?”

Of course, this does not always happen, and it never will, but this is the general idea of our systems. A project? Does it have ACE? No? Then I don’t want. We students are taking this way too seriously. Of course, we cannot all be blamed. How I envy those enthusiastic primary one pupils, who goes to school bright and early, with every intention to learn new things. How I wish that we could be more like them. School is a place to learn, not to get ACE, OP, LEAPS, and cry over bad tests*hint hint*. NO. It is more about that.
We have lost the overall idea of what school is, which is pretty sad, actually. School is about fun and learning, or part thereof. So, here is the plan, that we all should, for once, just try, to forget about everything and just relax, and enjoy the simple life.
5:47 AM By Eugene

Okay, here’s another food for thought. At home, when I was getting lunch during the e-learning week, I saw several items which I would like to critique:

One such example is that I saw a bunch of kindergartners and their teachers at the roadside. Without waiting for the traffic light to turn green, she led them across the road. Of course, the road was very empty and there were no cars at all.
However, what will this be telling the children? At that particular age, 5-7, children are very receptive and they will be picking up habits, good or bad, everywhere. With this action of crossing the road without waiting for the lights to turn green, the children may think that this is actually correct. As said in my previous post, affect one generation, and the generations after will follow.

Like this, the children will grow up with this mindset that it is OKAY to cross the road without waiting for the traffic light. Actually, I do this also (yes, I’m a hypocrite). In this fast paced society we are in, time is money. In my opinion, if the road is empty, go for it. Okay. I have a point to clarify. There is actually a very simple logic I use. If the road is empty and there are no dangers posed to oneself, I will cross the road. However, in most situations, I will just wait for the traffic light.

Okay. I shall deviate a little here. In the past, cars have the priority on the roads. Now, due the development of our “kia su-ness (scared to lose)” we feel that we will should and will have the priority on the roads. The car now should fear us, people. If there are any accidents, there is one and only one action: sue. We will forever have this mindset: complain, or sue. It’s quite saddening, actually, that we Singaporeans have to resort to this form of “blackmail” to ensure that we do not lose out.

The bad stuff has come out. However, there are good things happening also.
At the same road after I finished lunch, I saw a primary school (primary 3, I think) helping an old lady cross the road. Yes, the road was literally empty, (and I think the old lady cam waltz across the road slowly and there will still be no cars) but it was the thought that counts.

The boy had the best intentions when he helped the old lady across the road, and it was very heartening to watch. In one day, I saw both the ugly and the pretty of Singapore, and I am pleased and pis*ed.
3:45 AM By Eugene

Finally, it’s the sabbaticals! One week of no school, and one week of fun and enjoyment. But, let’s not get caught in all the festivities. We should always be on the lookout for interesting stuff to blog about. I know I have!
Today when going home from school, I passed by the walkway outside Marymount Station. The drain along the walkway was littered with cigarette butts. Yes, you have guessed correctly, I will be blogging about smoking.
Smoking is pretty much a major issue here in Singapore. Even though the government “strongly discourages” smoking, a lot of people are still smoking. Just take a walk along any street which does not ban smoking and you will see a smoker. As my father once said, “take a stone and throw it at a crowd. Chances are you will hit a smoker.”
Funny as it is, we must not underestimate the seriousness of smoking. Like drugs, smoking can be addictive. The government tried to discourage smoking by printing grotesque pictures of organs and sufferers of smoking. But actually, who really bothers to look at the pictures?
As I have heard in one Mr Brown show episode, some people have even gone to the extent of trading cigarette boxes, like playing cards. This clearly shows how much this plan is backfiring. Let’s face it. Smoking will forever be a problem all around the world.




BUT



There is hope! Schools can help to educate their students that smoking is evil (propaganda speeches, anyone?) . The rationale is simple; affect one generation and the generations that follow will be affected as well. So, in my opinion, the government should stop wasting its resources in trying to change the adults. How about us children for a change?
2:29 AM By Eugene

Task for Naturalist:

I have found put that the mockingbird lives in open country with thickets, farmland and desert brush, where ants, beetles, grasshoppers, seeds and berries grows. The mockingbird eats these animals.

Characteristics:
The mockingbird is gray on top and white on its underside. It has white patches on its wings that look like bars; a long black tail with white outer feathers and a long, slender bill. Males and females look alike.

Behavior:
The mockingbird was given its name because of its ability to mimic the calls of dozens of other bird species. In fact, the mockingbird's Latin name, Mimus polyglottus, means many-tongued mimic. The mockingbirds have even been known to mimic the sounds of dogs and sirens! The mockingbird is especially vocal on moonlit spring nights. The mockingbird is also very territorial and will attack intruders.

Conclusion
The mockingbird lives in Maycomb as Maycomb is an open country with thickets, farmland and desert brush. These conditions are vital for the mockingbird to flourish.



Intrapersonal:

Firstly, before I say who I would like to befriend, I shall do a brief character analysis on the characters on the novel.

Scout:

· Intelligent

· Tomboy-ish

· Combative

· Naïve

· Appreciates human goodness without ignoring human evil (more mature)

Atticus

· Moral

· Dry sense of humor

· Just

· Equal (no prejudice)

· Wise

· Convicted

Jem

· Refuses to back down from challenges

· Athletic

· Strong sense of justice

Boo Radley

· Reclusive

· Symbol of goodness swathed in creepiness

· Intelligent

· A good person injured by the evil of mankind

After doing the character analysis, I feel that I will like to befriend Atticus Finch. Among the four people, I feel that Atticus has the most merits and I will benefit the most when I am around him. People get influenced by the people around them, and Atticus will be a good nfluence to me, making me a more refined gentleman.

6:47 PM By Eugene

About the Author

About the Blog

For Communication

External Connections

Down Memory Lane

Acknowledgments