Blog writing 6: Chen vs Tan

Chen vs Tan ?

Are you confused about the pronunciation of the Chinese names in Singapore? Have you wondered why chen(陈) is pronounced Tan? Why do Singaporeans pronounce Lin(林) Lim? It may sound familiar to local people, but quite otherwise to us those from China. So, here I want to briefly talk something about why they pronounce the xing(姓) in this way.

To begin with, we should first know where most Chinese Singaporeans come from. In fact, most of them stem from the southern part of China and have started migrating to Singapore since Ming dynasty. Afterwards, to facilitate the communication and for the needs of their work, they all had to convert their Chinese names into Roman words.

        Then, a problem emerged: how to convert? During that period of time, however, no standard Chinese was widespread all over the country. For this reason, people mostly converted in accordance with the pronunciation in their hometown. Take two of the most common xings, chen and lin (both of them are spelt in compliance with hanyupinyin here) for example. If you are from Minnan(闽南) area, you convert them into Tan and Lim respectively. If your ancestors speak yueyu(粤语), however, you pronounce them Chan and Lam. There are also many other ways to convert these xings, due to that people are from different parts of China and speak various dialects.

        Currently, with the popularization of Mandarin or Putonghua, a growing number of people choose to change their mings into the way pronounced in mandarin. But few people change their xings, which are still pronounced in dialects.

For me, I don’t see any need to change Tan into Chen. Since Singaporeans are living in an area that is very distinct from China, they don’t have to comply with Chinese. In other words, they can form their own culture of giving and spelling names. After all, it also composes an important part of their own unique culture.

Blog 6 I love the erhu

 BLOG   6

I love the erhu!

When I was 10 years old, I started to learn the erhu, a traditional instrument originated in China. It is famous for its smooth sound and it has a perfect effect of expressing the performer inner mood. Because of the stress of study in senior middle school, I didn’t have enough time to learn and practice the erhu. As a result, I had an unbelievable decline of my proficiency of performance, and my fingers got a little bit stiff when I played it. After I finished the College Entrance Examination, I decided to pick up my erhu and continued to learn it. I was surprised by the great retrogress I have made but I got better after two weeks of hard practice.

 Originally, I intended to take my erhu to Singapore when I prepare the luggage for my overseas study life. However, because I worried that I would not have enough time to play it and I didn’t want to take too much luggage, I didn’t take it here. After coming here, I have noticed that there are so many people interested in Chinese Orchestra and good at playing Chinese instrument such as erhu, pipa, which is a great surprise for me. Hence, I decided to learn the erhu here. What’s more, I have also found some courses about erhu held by local community center, which offer me a good chance to learn erhu in Singapore. The good environment of practicing the erhu spurs me to make a decision to play the erhu in Singapore.

 I have told my parents this decision and my parents will send me my erhu through EMS although the shipping fee is very high. I am very delightful when my parents also give me great support and encourage me to practice it a lot since it can enrich my school life, develop me into a person with multiple skills and even give me a relaxation when I feel tired.

 I love the erhu!

［blog 6］ back to Tang dynasty

 Since I was born, I have watched many TV dramas and movies set in ancient China. And I feel it is a shame that I do not have the opportunity to live in old China to experience a totally different kind of life.

  In my childhood, I always dreamed back to Tang dynasty, when China was the most powerful country in the world. People around the world were trying to study Chinese and rushed to China for business. Besides, it was a time Chinese culture was widespread, which accounts for why Chinatown in many foreign countries is translated as “Tang” people’s street in Chinese now. What is more, people then thought of “a fat woman” as a beauty, while girls today are all busy with losing weight. The life in that period must differ a lot from now.

  

  Recently, a series of comics about Du Fu, one of the greatest poets in Tang dynasty, is popular in RenRen, known as the Chinese Facebook. Many people think the author is brimming with imaginary, because he transformed the great poet into a soldier, a woman and a game character etc.

  However, I think it is a spoof of Du fu. The author did not show him respect he deserved. It is lucky that we Chinese live in a country with broad and profound culture, but that does not mean we can make ridiculous fun of our traditional culture.

  Nowadays, Chinese culture is at stake to some extent. As a Chinese, we should shoulder the responsibility to protect our traditional culture.

Blog 6 Did we really evolve from apes？

Did we really evolve from apes? It seems a commonsense to all of us(I mean, Chinese students). However, to be honest, even the author of On the origin of species, the household biologist Darwin could not assert it. Though enormous evidence have been found to support Darwin’s artificial theory (it is not a truth before it is proved on every aspect), the focus of the problem, “how did human evolve from apes” is still lack of enough proofs. According to Darwin’s theory, all creatures on earth evolved gradually from some simple marine animals, whose ancestors amazingly were non-biological things, some gases in the atmosphere in the early earth. This theory explicates the question which perplexes human for a long time, “Where do we come from”, and soon became predominant all over the world. Though unwillingly, facing the facts, some religions are compelled to concede that human are not the decedents of god, who they regard as the creator of the world, and everything.  

Times came to the 20^th century. With the development of science and technology, more alternative approaches are available for biologists to explore the mystery and lift the veil of the truth of the problem. After a series of excavations around the world, scientists confidently allege that during the course of evolution, there used to be a period, named the Cambrian (Period) in geology, when numerous creatures suddenly came out at the same time. Therefore, Darwin’s theory faces the biggest challenge since its birth, and it may take a long time before this conflict subsides.

We accepted Darwin’s theory in school before having considered its authenticity. Despite its applications in a broad range, some thesis of this theory need to be amended by the people, who are in the later time and receive rather than devoutly believe the theory. We should think critically and cultivate the spirit of pursuing for truth, instead of mechanically learning without digesting and thinking.

During the people’s congress that did not end long ago, some delegates propose that the content about the evolution theory should be crossed out because increasing evidence indicate errors in the theory. Arguments against the theory overwhelm the congress. But from what I am able to glean, it seems it has not been adopted by most delegates. In my view, to deny and delete the theory is not a proper solution to this problem. We may put two kinds of theories in our textbooks, and irrigate students a clear and extensive view on the problem.—But it may puzzle for test-makers, because students can answer in two ways. Ultimately, is the truth more significant, or reducing markers’ work?

References: 

http://elianghui.people.com.cn/proposalPostDetail.do?id=198309&boardId=5&view=1

http://baike.baidu.com/view/624565.htm

6.My Give Program

  Last Friday I went to Ngee Ann Sec. to finish my Give Program. It is very interesting and meaningful. Considering the long distance between River Valley High School Hostel and Ngee Ann Sec. , I got up at 7:00 am to catch the MRT, however I still arrived there a bit of late. After a short period of talking about the lesson we would to teach, we finally went into a classroom and had a meet with our students who were all about 12 years old. Our tasks were listening and pointing out the mistakes they made during the talk with us. The talk was based on some pictures. We needed to encourage the students to describe the pictures to us. Of course they should use Chinese. I am so proud that I can be a Chinese teacher there.
  There were some difficults in the teaching process. The first problem encountered was how to let my students understand me. They were good at English but obviously not so good at Chinese. Some students always asked their classmates about what I was saying in English. So I tried my best to use very easy words to express myself. The second problem was that I need to find some topics. as we can see, I can not sit there and just say 'ok! please explain this picture to me.' I must find some topics. The handbook which was given to us before really helped me a lot. The handbook told me some basic aspects for questioning my students. Besides I also found that treating every students equally was not easy to achieve. Because there were some very quiet and shy students in my group, they did not like to talk about the topics. I must always ask them some questions. In summary, I found some difficults in teaching these students but I also found some pleasure in that period.
  I can not wait for my next lesson in Ngee Ann Sec. Hoping that what I have done can really help those students. They are really very clever and lovely students.

Mirror

(This is a story,interesting)
"It 's amazing!"Paul told Marry, as they were walking out of the theatre after the magic show,"Can you imagine how there can be a hand through the mirror?I bet it is real magic!"
"Come on", Marry interrupted him since his non-stopping praising for half an hour, "There is no magic in this world,they are just thricks to fun the fool, like you. Mirror is always mirror."
Paul looked at her in surprise,"I thought that you liked magic,didn.t you? "
"Not any more",Marry said, without turning back to him,briding to the bus station. 'Well, ",Paul shrugged,"It is ok."Then he followed her to take the bus back to the school library.
When Marry was willing to slot her card to enter the library, she turned back ,with a surprised face,"It is your card, look at the number!".    "Are you kidding me?Mine is here."Paul passed his card to Marry, Yes, it is Paul's face and name, but the number was Marry's.Well, Marry said to herself, it is ok if I can enter the library with it. As they entered the Library, they got to the counter to return the books .Then , Marry shouted again, "It is not my books, it is yours!". "You are really good at kidding."Paul grinned."Mine is here."
"I can not be so sure,I borrowed this because of your suggestion, because I got a 'c' in the exam,......"
"Are you crazy?"Paul stopped her,"You got a "A" and I got a "C", look at the paper!"Paul drew out a sheet of paper and pass it to Marry.Yes , it Paul 's name and a 'C' on the top of the paper,"How can?",Marry whispered,"Forget it,",Paul smiled and patted on her head.,"You are not in state today."
"There are so few people here,", Paul whispered to Marry as they found  a table ."Yes , you are right, "Marry answered, looking around,"Today is Monday, there are always many people."
"Well ,maybe you are not the only one who is crazy today."  Paul said  ,smiling to her.
For the first time today ,Marry noticed that his way of smiling was strange, but it was still familiar to her. Then , something scaring happened, Paul 's face was changing, His strong eye-brow turned thin ,and his hair became longer and longer, what is more, his face became the most familiar one in this worrld to Marry,
It was her own face.Then she realised that why Paul 's smile was strange but familiar, It was her way to smile!With a high scream, Marry jumped to her feet and ran as fast as she could.      She ran so fast that she could not stop herself when a big mirror suddenly appeared,
She knocked the mirror.
Strange, again ,she did not feel painful ,and she could clearly hear the sound of the glass broken .The sound became louder and louder, it sounds like clapping, and whistle.
Marry woke up.
" The show is really boring , isn't it?"Paul said.
"Enn, What?"Marry responded.
"A magic fan like you has fallen asleep, the magic really has a dark future."
"Well you know,"Marry said,"You are more cute when  you believe magic."
Then , she jumped up and clapped like others.

Blog 5(2) White Day

Yesterday, Zhaoyou run out of charge of my itouch. Therefore, after school in the school bus, I couldn’t get entertainment from my itouch as usual. But I didn’t want to waste time. It occurred to me that I hadn’t logged in RenRen for quite a few days. Curiously, I took out my phone and began to kill time.

It was so strange that in the column of “What’s up”, all my classmates in my previous university were posting “matrimonial notices” for their roommates. And it didn’t take long before I saw their cheers and celebrations for the “White Day”, or “White Valentine’s Day”.

Just now, via baidupedia, I clinched the definition and origin of it, and now I’d like to share with you.

During Valentine’s Day, which is celebrated by lovers all over the world,

boys show their affection to their secret lovers. While Valentine’s Day stands for the beginning of the relationship, White Day, when girls send presents to their admires, tells boys the final results of whether their sweethearts accept their proposals or not. White is the symbol of respect, and purity. On the White Day, if a boy gets a gift from the girl he sent gift to on Valentine’s Day, he also obtains the indication from the girl that she is willing to be in love with him.

Abounding with romance, this peculiar day expresses people’s expectation for true and everlasting love. Compared to the vehemence on Valentine’s Day, White Day is quieter and emphasizes more on sweet feeling between love parties rather than resonant promises.

If we look deep into the period between Valentine’ s and White Day, a month, which is often neglected by lovers, we will find that it is of great significance to the love parties. Young people nowadays are not very sensible. Once one takes a glance at one’s lover, one deems he/she is supposed to be her/his permanent company. However, this kind of imprudent conduct leads to nothing other than separation. After a month’s inspection, a young person will be able to recognize the strengths and weakness of his/her prospective lover and then decide whether to join hands or not. A relationship based on mutual recognition is certain to be solider than without acquaintance.

Anyway, both two valentine’s day encourage people to pursue for true love and both of them have their own features. Today is not White Day. It’s International Day for Consumers' Rights and Interests. A little abrupt as I may seem, I still want to show best wishes to all lovers: all shall be well, jack shall have jill. Especially, hope all SM3 20th Batch students find their true love in the near future. 

Shifting mindsets of migrant workers

It lasts for three decades that workers from rural area migrate to the coast. Nowadays, however, the trend seemingly begins to change; Inland population is working closer to its roots. Years ago, spurred by the Deng’s opening-up coastal provinces, like Guangdong a remarkable example, became booming. The increasing demand for exporting also boosted the demand for labourers. And salaries offered by coastal factories were usually far more appealing than those of inland manufacturers. Besides, people from rural area used to dream of dreamy life and plenty of bonuses were they lived in a cosmopolis. Thus, the lure of coastal cities results in migrants’ moving hundreds kilometres from their home to pursue better wages and better life. But, it changes. Due to increasing costs among costal region, giant companies, for instance Foxconn, established and are going to establish more factories in the inland city which means a large quantity of jobs available for workers. To attract workers, factories inland would provide quite fair wages even if not necessarily better than their costal counterparts. Once the worker take into account the higher living expanse in the big city working in inland factories would be more desirable. Further and maybe more significantly, working in those new inland places allows labourers to stay near to their home.

(blog4)Diffrence btween food

Since I have been in Singapore for nearly three months, I want to wirte something about the differences of pancake and Chinese burger between Singapore and China.

Firstly, I want to talk about the pancake in Singapore. There is a very famous pancake in Singapore--prata, which is from India.It is very delicious and every morning you can see many SM3 students buy it ,includingme. thre are three kinds of prata,plain,egg,and cheese. However, in China, the pancake contains sauger, meat, vegetables, or nothing. What is more, the material of the fiour also has many kinds while in Singapore it is ususally white flour.However, I prefer the prata because of its difference taste from Chinese pancake and the way to cook prata is interesting!

Next, I'm willing to write something about Chinese burger, which in Chia is called 'baozi'. In China ,there many kinds of 'baozi',in diiferent area, for example,TianjinGoubuli, xiaolongbao,KaiFengguantangbao. However, in my opinion, there are two main type of Chinese burger.One is the sweet and the other is salty. In China, baozi 's contains are always vegetables and meat, sometime there is soup in it.In Singpore, there are a range of contains of both the sweet and the salty, such as dousha, lianrong, and butter . What is more, in the salty, there are always chicken and pork while in China it is always pork and beef.
In conclusion, both China and Singapore have kinds of delicious food, and we can see the difference and similatity between them.Furthermore, we can still see the culture differences behind the food. So, to some extent, it is really a delicious way to study the culture differencess through food.

Who is the best? LeBron or Kobe ?

   Nowadays, there is no doubt that LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are the best two basketball players in the world. They stand for the highest standard of NBA conference and are idols of thousands of young basketball fans. They have similarities in many aspects. For instance, they both have perfect basketball skills and play a vital role in their own team. Besides, their desperate for victory motivates them build up their strength, confidence as well as skills.

 

                          

     

   Even so, they still have many differences. Kobe has got five championship rings till now, while LeBron still has nothing in his pocket. However, LeBron or Kobe? My answer is LeBron. Why? First of all, compared to Kobe, he is more a leader and he knows how to encourage his teammates in the most proper way. Besides, I also admire his filial piety. In the past few years, his mother has done many stupid things that make LeBron very embarrassed, but he also shows much respect to his mother. Furthermore, his loyalty to love deeply touched me. Unlike many basketball stars, LeBron is loyal to his girlfriend, although she is not pretty. They have gone through much tough time, I believe they can finally get into the wedding church and live a happy life.

  

  Maybe you are not interested in basketball, but once you get to know this guy, you cannot help falling in love with him.  

  

  And the new season has begun for some time, I hope I can be the witness of LeBron's getting his first champion ring. God bless him!

Blog 5 Hackers

All boys in RVHS, are you still afflicted by APR invasion? Apart from forbidden hours, can you manage to get access to the Internet? With both eyes fixed on the screen, the feeling of failing to enjoy the Internet can only be described in three words: 1 pitiful, “why am I so unlucky”; 2 angry, I would like to kill the hacker; 3 cannot help it, because I even don’t know how to protect yourself.

In the past, I would shout “How difficult it is for me to publish a blog at the interval between terrible APR invasions!” But no more will I shout it again. Yesterday, a “master” came to my dormitory. After being adjusted by him, miraculously my computer could enter the world of the Internet! I couldn’t disclose his name because blog is open to all. I am sorry I didn’t remember the whole process. However, several students have grasped the points of adjustment process. If you need help, come to our floor and I would introduce an expert to you!

The people who invade our LAN (Local Area Network) is rather disgusting, but they cannot be called hackers. In respect of skills, their proficiency in computer may be no better than us, let alone in comparison with professional hackers. Another aspect that distinguishes hackers and grey hackers, or “crackers”, is that, what hackers pursue is a higher level of computer science, while grey hackers aim at attacking others and enjoy the pleasure of seeing others being uncomfortable.

We usually use the word “hacker” to refer to people who do harm to others’ computers. This commonsense actually deviates from the original meaning of “hacker”. Von Neumann, the pioneer in computer science, is a “hacker”. Bjarne Stroustrup, who laid the foundation for C++ programing, is also a “hacker”. Now we can see the real meaning of “hacker”: It is hacker who creates the world of computer and Internet; and it is hacker who promotes the development of computer science.

Hacker is an interesting and also troublesome occupation which entails intelligence and diligence. They are curious about the most advanced machine in the world—computer. Devoted into this career, they desire to challenge computers, and meanwhile, themselves. They like to find fault with software and computer systems, just like they do to themselves.

In contrast, crackers are the people who we should criticize and hate. Their brilliance is wasted and taken advantage by some illegal organizations. Driven by money, they exert their strength to cause damage to others.

At present, we are learning C programming step by step. Perhaps some of us who have ambitions for computer science may become hackers in future. Hopefully, they would glitter like their predecessors.

Blog writing 4: Tastes and preferences

Tastes and preferences





大头菜+稀饭

From the days when I could remember things till now, I have experienced huge changes in people’s tastes and preferences. During just less than 13 years, people have changed significantly in the food they prefer, the clothes style they choose and the haircut they chase.

Food has played a key role in our daily life and great change has been indicated in food people like. In the past, many people were not rich and they must spend according to their incomes. Ddining out in the restaurant was a luxury, so most of them chose to cook in the home, eating a simple dish like poached Chinese cabbage and poached toufu. For the breakfast, we used to eat Da tou cai, one of my hometown specialty, and porridge as well as steamed buns. In total, it cost us less than $0.2. But now, it is quite different. People usually eat various kinds of food raging from porridge, steamed rice to noodles. And a large portion of them often dine out to eat something that cannot be cooked in the home. Correspondingly, they usually pay more to enjoy this.



Apart from the food, changes have also been reflected in clothes. I still remembered my father wearing the Chinese tunic suit, which he seldom put on except on important occasions. And at that time, trend was wearing this kind of suit. For most women, they liked dressing in long skirt so that they looked elegant. On the contrary, nowadays, few people will put the Chinese tunic suit on again. And for young people, it is very popular among them to wear clothes that have many patches and holes, which their parents think inconceivable. Women have changed as well. Instead of long skirts, their prefer to wear miniskirts so as to make them more attractive and hot. Also, minipants or hot pants are among their favorite. In general, old styles go; new styles come. This change cannot be more enormous.

Zhou Runfa

Finally, these 13 years have also seen tremendous transformation in haircuts. Ten years ago, the hair style has been governed by Zhou Renfa style in which men looked very handsome. And even now many seniors still maintain this kind of haircut. However, as the representative of the new era, young people have already abandoned this and turn to new hairstyles, such as cockscomb style, boldness like monk and crew cut. They admire strangeness and odd things, and are always ready to try new things. People changed; what they like certainly will change accordingly.

    For me, what I like has also changed a lot. I sort of prefer longer hair than the crew cut, and I like rice instead of noodles. Nevertheless, today it may be a trend, tomorrow it may not and the day after tomorrow it is popular again. Times change; so do the tastes and preferences.

some of my predictions about NBA

    I have been crazy about NBA games since my junior high school. Till now many superstars and classical games have come into my eyes. I admire T-Mac’s talent, Kobe’s self-confidence, James’s ability, Wade’s speed, Iverson’s adamancy and so on. I have also witnessed the moment of T-Mac, 81 points in one game and the dynasty of Lakers etc. Though I can seldom see NBA game live now, I still have some personal opinions to share.

  Firstly, I think MVP award‘s competition is between James and Durant. The first reason is that their statistics is very excellent. Considering their team always have a big victory in the games which will reduce their performing time, their performance must be more efficient than other competitors. Next, their teams’ standings are very high, which account a lot in assessing the MVP. Third, James is better than Durant in breakthrough, while Durant win James in shooting. So it is hard to say who will be the awardee of MVP. In short, though other players like Kobe and Paul are also very excellent, James and Durant do better in efficiency and team’s standings.

  Second, I predict the final champion is among Bulls, Heat and Lakers, and Lakers is more likely than the other two. In the west, Thunder is too young and lacks the offence inside, while Mavericks is too old and miss many important players this season. Clippers is outstanding; however, it needs a good shooter outside and stability. Lakers is experienced and have excellent players both inside and outside, so it has the most opportunity to stand out of teams in west. In east, Bulls and Heat are the best two teams, and though Heat has more superstars, Bulls may have the advantage of home match. So I think there will be a fierce match between Heat and Bull in playoffs. In addition, given that Lakers has better inside players and key player, Kobe, who performs well in junctures, I hold the opinion the Lakers is more likely to win the champion.

Those are some of my predictions and analysis. Since NBA is where amazing happens, the result of these event may be quite different. What’s more, if you have great opposite opinion against me, don’t take it seriously.

As the amount of word is limited, those are only some of my opinions. I may share more with you next time. If you are interested in the topic, you can talk it with me in leisure time. I am looking forward to your harmonious comments. 

Blog 4 Durian: a taste of happiness

Durian: a taste of happiness

  I used to love eating durian when I was at home. Whenever I take a sip of it, I feel rather content as if I were a fairy walking on the clouds. It was because of the durian ice-cream that I realized that I can also feel the same when in Singapore, which moved me a lot.

   Last Saturday, Stella, a befriender of our group, invited us out for a dinner. After the dinner, she led us to an ice-cream shop. Before I ordered the ice-cream, the waitress offered several tastes for me to try. When I was puzzled which to choose, I noticed that there was a card written “ durian” . I was exited but wondered whether I misread. The waitress explained that there was durian ice-cream in the shop, but it was not displayed on the showcase in case the strong smell would influence the others. “I want a scoop of it!” I said cheerfully. She was surprised by my resolution. I was amazed to find that the taste of the ice-cream can be so authentic. They made it with real pulp of durian rather than chemical flavor. It reminded me of every happy moment connected to the durian in China. The environment around me seemed pretty familiar, making me feel peaceful and joyful. Maybe it was just biologically a conditioned response. Just as Shi Tiesheng, a writer, said hometown is not a specific place but an attitude and mood of brightness, which is not restricted by time or space; once the attitude is aroused, you are at home.

    After staying in Singapore for more than two months, I found that Singapore was too tranquil for me to seek any novelty. However, the durian ice-cream demonstrated that happiness can be gained in a very easy way.

Jogging Blog4

 Last Saturday, I participated in a 5km jogging competition. I finally ranked 26^th. I was really satisfied.

   Actually, I love jogging and go jogging almost everyday, so such distance running is not an arduous journey for me. However, many people ask me why I love jogging and they argue that running is really boring and miserable. On the contrary, I think they don’t understand jogging well.

   In fact, jogging is a very healthy sport and it is easy for you to do it. You can run as long as you have a pair of suitable shoes. Different from some sports, which will bring you pain and tiredness, jogging seldom make my body feel sour after jogging since it is a kind of mild exercise. So I can go jogging everyday without adjustment.

   In addition, the feeling during jogging is pretty good. I needn’t worry about anything while I am jogging. I can relax my mind and do exercise at the same time. I really enjoy the peace of my mind in my daily jogging time.

   However, my friends still tell me that they suffer a lot from long distant running. To some degree, it is true. But, according my experience, that is just the symptom of lack of exercise. If you run regularly, the difficulty will be overcome by degrees. What’s more, after breaking your limitation during jogging, you can notice your gradual progress. The accumulation of such progress will lead to a health body, which is the most significant in our lives.

   Imagine the scene of jogging in a tranquil park in Singapore in the morning. It must be very enjoyable, isn’t it?