LPP essay

The purpose of the LPP is to prepare students for exchange in French, Korean, and/or German medium universities in their 2nd & 3rd year. Write in 300 words why you would like to participate in the student exchange programme in these countries.


As Ludwig Wittgenstein had said, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world”. If this statement is true, my “world” is truly narrowed with the limited languages I know. Being a keen explorer since young, the opportunity to pick up French in NUS and to actively practice it in the SEP could not be more enticing. Other than satisfying my personal interests, picking up a foreign language also opens up new job opportunities for me in this cosmopolitan society. Having been in an Asian country all 19 years of my life, I feel it is really time to explore more of this large world and widen my perspective. And what easier way is there than to learn a foreign language?

Language is a skill of a lifetime, it could bring you to places you would find difficult to thrive in without a common tongue as the natives. Choosing to go to an English-speaking country for SEP would definitely be more convenient as I could easily communicate with and learn from the students there; however, learning in a non-English speaking school, even though challenging, would provide me with a whole new dimension and insight towards learning. This would be an added benefit for me apart from mere content.

I have always been curious about the European cultures, which is starkly different from the way of life in Singapore. France was ranked first among 192 countries in the “2008 Quality of Life Index” released by “International Living”. Also, in the 2008 scoreboard of the best universities worldwide, the British Times Higher Education – QS introduced a new type of index: the capacity of a country to offer a high quality and internationally recognized system of university education. France is ranked in 7th place behind the United States, United Kingdom, etc. Indeed, France is the true embodiment of arts and has attracted me to engage myself in their culture.





He who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Kunst and Alterthum

A different language is a different vision of life. ~Federico Fellini

Learn a new language and get a new soul. ~Czech Proverb

The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.
Ludwig Wittgenstein

French is the language that turns dirt into romance.
Stephen King

Language is not only the vehicle of thought; it is a great and efficient instrument in thinking.
Humphrey Davy

If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world. Ludwig Wittgenstein

Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.
Benjamin Whorf

One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language. That is our country, our fatherland --and no other. E.M. Cioran



This is what i wrote for the essay to get into the language preparation programme at NUS. Do you all think I have a good chance of getting in?

racial harmony

In the context of Singapore multi-racial society, where there is cultural and religious pluralism, which author's view do you think should be adopted?

Although Singapore is a democratic country which respect freedom of expression, there is a greater need for emphasis on social responsibility due to out multi-racialism society. 4 main different racial groups resides in Singapore, namely the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian. Any racial insensitivity or use of inappropraite language can easily lead to a racial riot. On top of that, one of the reason why Singapore is able to remained as the top of the world is because of the racial harmony present, attracting talents from all around the globe to come to Singapore. Therefore, I feel that Szilagyi's view should be adopted due to the important yet vulnerable racial harmony Singapore enjoyed. People need to be responsible for what they do or say while enjoying freedom of speech.

Whether we like it or not, we have to accept the fact that we all effectively live next door to each other. Everyone is linked by just a click away. Therefore, we now have to spare a thought and be responsible to the larger community whenever we say something sensitive.

The consequence of racial insensitivity is humongous. Just a controversial picture, a reckless comment or a wrong choice of words could result in a large impact on the minority group. Just a few decades ago, in 1950, the Maria Hertogh Riot sparked by the granting of her to her biological parents after she had been raised as a Muslim by Aminah binte Mohamed, whom she regarded as her mother. It resulted in 15 killed, 173 injured and many properties damaged. This riot is the worst incident of its kind in Singapore. From this, I can see that we have to continuously be aware of the impact of putting up reckless remarks on the internet. Freedom of speech can sometimes lead to dire consequence.

JUNE HOLIDAYS~

ahhh.....today is 2nd of junE!!! i m soo angry with myself!ahh ahh ahh.....i m like not studying to the max i can...which i promised myself before the school holidays...now there is onli 22 more days to the end of holidays!oh nooo........i have to start following the timetable i set for myself le....if i can do it...den i can still make it!!remember!must must must!jiayooouuuu meileng!

"Prejudice is a disease we can never get rid of." Discuss. (CJC Promos o3

"Youtube has no ethics, it's been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money." Do you agree?

Many would agree that youtube had brought much entertainment and knowledge to us in a convenient way. Just a few clicks away, we could enjoy a video of our choice, be it a drama series, comedy, or even knowing more about a scientific subject like biology. However, we never fails to come back to the same question, "Is the information obtained credible?" Though this question always popped up at the back of our brain, we dismissed it easily since the information we gathered is usually not taken seriously ourselves. We all knew that there is no real filtering in these videos, but it usually does not bother us much, since youtube mainly serves to provide entertainment for us. We watch the videos, get some satisfaction, and chunk it to the back of our head.

These videos, in the name of entertainment, commits no wrong. The problem only starts to arise when these so called "entertainment" videos put online go against certain morals accepted by the society or stirred up feelings among religion groups. These controversial videos would then lead to dire consequences since these videos can be viewed globally by anyone with an internet connection. The severity of these could not be taken lightly, as it might well lead to war between countries if serious.

Ethics is defined as a particular system of principles and rules concerning duty. In regards to the question, i do not agree that youtube has no ethics and had been created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money. However, to a very large extent, this is true.

One example is the recent news about how Youtube got itself in hot water when someone posted a picture of King Bhumibol Adulyadej next to a pair of feet. Feet are considered particularly insulting in Thailand. Thailand's army-backed government had considered suing Youtube over charges of lese majeste which could have ended up with the company getting 15 years in prison. The videos were only removed after a few days, showing youtube lack in efficiency in filtering out "wrong" videos.

Another example is the many movies that can be found on youtube. Many of these movies put on youtube had breached the copyright laws of the movie-makers. This goes to show that youtube has no ethics, as they do not respect the rights of others as these movies are published.

So is youtube created just to earn money? I would say yes. Examining the case of the movies that can be found on youtube, why is it not taken down despite the copyrights they might had breached? One reason I can offer is that these movies put online can bring in alot of money for the company as many people would be more than willing to watch a movie for free online.

Therefore, I can conclude that youtube has no ethics, and is created for the sole purpose of entertainment and money.

General Paper

This is my first time blogging and it is funny that my first topic would be on General Paper.

General Paper seems like an extremely tough subject to me. My greatest worry about General Paper is my lack of knowledge on the current affairs of today's world. Very often, i found myself in situation whereby i could not understand what the article is talking about because I did not follow up on subsequent articles.

However, my elder brother beg to differ in my thinking. He told me as long as you know what GP is about, you can do well in it, and advised me not to waste too much time on it. To my worries, he said that the main barrier I need to overcome is my lack of content to write on. Ironic to what I felt and heard, it is good to hear a different perpective from someone close to me. At least, it helps eradict some of the ominous feeling I have towards this subject.

To a large extent, I agree with him that I lack content to write on. Without ample information, I have nothing to substantiate my points. My writing would be childish and full of my own opinions only, lacking useful supporting ideas to help me.

So, to help myself in GP, I decided to accomplish 2 goals that I had set for myself. First, I would brush up on my grammar, a component I had always been weak in. Second, I would read extensively, trying to close the gap between my knowledge and world affairs. If I managed to accomplish these two goals, it will not only help me in my GP, but also in my other subjects like Economics.

Though I know my journey on GP will not be a smooth-sailing one, I still feel hopeful about it. Maybe this is because I know that doing well in GP will definitely help me in my future as many things in life require skills as such. Or maybe because I cant wait to put pen to paper my first essay to see how well I would score in it.=)