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Farsite

 Farsite is a new game built on the Ethereum Blockchain. It features space ships and is set in the distant future. Be sure to sign up today to take advantage of the airdrop campaign, before the game is launched later in the year. Sign up today: https://farsite.club/u/linear-lavender-clam!

This i believe -- Personal essay

It was the most unforgettable experience of my life. What I just went through, it changed my life forever.

I was primary 4 back then, and it was always a joy to visit my great grandmother in Malaysia. Back then, she was already 95 years old.  From the outlook, however, she was a strong, fit, old woman who could even climb flights of stairs and go to nearby shops to buy food for herself. She lived on her own, but it seemed like she was even more independent than my grandparents who were already plagued with high cholesterol amidst many other illnesses.
Every time I went back there, it was as if I could expect loads of biscuits waiting for me. It was as if I could expect a thick, red, envelop of money would be waiting for me. It was as if I could expect her arms around my back and receive many dear kisses from her. It was as if I could expect to hear her stories about how she suffered as a veteran of world war 2.

This I believe: I would be able to give back to her one day.

 All went well, and as she neared a 100 years old, she still looked as fit as ever. However, There's a harsh reality - nothing lasts forever. One has to be ready to grow, and grow fast, for suddenly, I learnt of her fall when climbing up the steps one fine day. I was traumatized.

Seconds seemed to last like eternity. I could not bear the thought of how she was as thoughts raced through my mind. Tears trickled down my cheek as if it were a breach in a dike. At the current state, my grandparents rushed back to Malaysia to have a last glimpse of their mother. However, I was told to stay behind as there was nothing else much to do already.

Back there, I called my grandparents. I figured, if she were to wake up, I would like to have a talk to her. I prayed against all hope that it would be this way. Her unmoving body, my grandparent's unwavering love, the doctor's words were all I had.

This I believe: I had to fulfill her last wish: I had to give back to her one day.
And that special wish that she had was all I could do now. It was as if that was my life's aim, my last goal that I must and had to achieve :" 用功读书，不要放弃".

Water sources for Singapore

Is Singapore River a source of water for us today?

No, it is not. The Singapore River is salty and it has to be processed before it is drinkable. Since processing this water is more costly compared to taking water from another source, the Singapore River is therefore not used as a source of water for us.

Then... Where do we get our source of water?

Today, Singapore’s source of water is partially from the rainfall that is collected in its 16 reservoirs. This is the most economic solution as rainwater is comparably clean, and it is free. However, this has never been sufficient to slake the domestic thirst, so Singapore has had to turn to neighboring Malaysia to make up the shortfall. Now, Malaysia is pumping raw water from rivers in Malaysia to Singapore, and Singapore sells some of this back to Malaysia in the form of purified water.

Advances in technology further made desalinated water an economic solution for Singapore as well, as water from the sea is pumped through a membrane, rather than the old, evaporation technique which made desalinated water too expensive to be viable for Singapore. Water reclamation did not fall short as water is continually recycled from waste waters from homes and industries. The advance method used here makes this waste water safe for consumption, through complicated ultraviolet radiation and microfiltration among other methods.

Which do you think is the best source of water for Singapore? Why?          

To me, I find that Singapore River’s best water supply is from the rainfall collected. I find that relying on other countries for water is not a good thing as the other country could just stop selling you water anytime they want. Reasons might be because of the lack of water in their own country or they found another country who would buy it at a higher price. Whatever the reason it is, Singapore has no say over what other countries decide. NEWater and desalinated water is an expensive way to get water. As we know, these processes require fuel, which is on the rise. Fuel, which is getting less and less on our planet, has a very high demand, which caused the price to have a steep incline over the past few years. To me, I find that this money could be put to a better use as to renovate buildings, given to charity, etcetra. I find that the best solution is still its own reservoir. The reservoir is a reliable, and less costly method of getting water. People might critic that by doing this, there will not be enough land for other use. However, I think that Singapore has a lot of unused land as well. Sometimes as I look out of the car, I can see huge patches of unused land, probably owned by the government. I think that some of this land can be used to build reservoirs.

Introduction to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Summary

Four siblings discovered that a wardrobe in an old country house was a portal that connected their world to the magical land of Narnia. There, it is winter for over hundreds of years, due to the spell casted by the evil white witch.

On his first trip to Narnia alone, Edmund meets the evil White Witch and is lured into betraying his siblings. However, just when all hope was lost, the real king of Narnia, Aslan, returns to the land, heralding the end of the endless winter. A prophecy was later reviewed to them. If all four siblings were to make it to Cair Paravel and sit on the four thrones, the witch will meet her doom. 

Aslan taps into the deeper magic before the dawn of time and frees Edmund from the curse that was placed by the white witch. The white witch later launches an all out attack on the four humans when she realised that Aslan had been away for awhile.

Just when she looked like she was going to win, Aslan comes back with a huge army behind him. He kills the white witch personally through his razor sharp claws and finally, the evil that hung over Narnia for the past centuries had been removed. The children, who fought gallantly in the battle were later proclaimed kings and queens of Narnia.

Setting

My favourite setting is the stone table. It was where Aslan was humiliated, killed and reborned. As Edmund has ate the witch’s food, his blood was her property, as she knew the deep magic of the dawn of  time. So, Aslan tried to be the one who will get killed, and the witch agreed. That night, he went face to face with the witch and many other creatures and get tortured and finally killed. He was reborned as he knew the deeper magic before the dawn of time.

My favourite character: ASLAN

Picture of Aslan in the movie

My favourite character is Aslan, the lion. He was brave, as leading an army against the witch is not easy. He was even willing to be humiliated by the witch to save Edmund’s death, and trying to keep it a secret from his army. He also accepted Edmund, although he has betrayed them. He was also not an ordinary lion. His mane was like gold, and his roar is much more ferocious than any other lions in Narnia. He can also talk, like humans can.

The plot which I feel should be changed

Why did I want to change the plot?

The plot in which the author used does not depict the true evilness of the Witch is. She would simply just kill him instantly, but only if she has no choice, would she sweet talk to him and try to prepare against him.

THE ORINGINAL PLOT

Chapter 4 

From: Then, just as he gave himself up for lost, she appeared to change her mind……

To: He was quite warm now, and very comfortable.

THE CHANGED PLOT

Chapter 4 

Just then, the witch raised her wand, just when she was about to turn him into a statue, Edmund saw a weird looking person as tall as a house. It pounced on her just in time, and her wand was broken. The witch gave a yell of rage and hurriedly retreated on her sledge. After he warned him about the witch, he took off. The moment he was out of sight, the witch appeared again.

“Now, now, son of Adam, don’t be afraid. I’m not going to harm you.” she said, and smiled. “ Are you cold? Now come here and I’ll put a jacket over you.What would you like? Perhaps a warm drink? How about some roasted duck?”

“No thanks,” said Edmund, and turned to go knowing that she was up to no good.

"Now, son of Adam, do you not know that that monster you saw was a bully? He pushed me away and broke my wand! And I was just playing with it! A truly horrible thing. Just look,” said the witch, and presented her broken wand.

“What about a nice warm glass of hot cocoa, with some delicious Turkish delight? And we will talk over the matter,” said the witch in a kind voice, which is not the usual for her.

Full of greed, Edmund hurriedly agreed. Soon, he was sitting beside the Queen, on the sledge, eating at his food very comfortably.

The Merchant Of Venice

The people of England, namely Shakespeare and Elizabeth which influenced the play: The Merchant Of Venice. Today we shall look more into this...

Why is William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon an unlikely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare’s works;

Shakespeare was born to a poor, working-class Warwickshire family which would not have had enough access to any of the resources such as education, libraries or capacity for abstract thought that an author would require to complete such an extraordinary body of work.

 Who are the possible candidates?

Edward de Vere, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Francis Bacon and Mary Sidney.

Who is the most likely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare’s works? Provide reasons to support your view.

Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford is the most likely candidate. According to Kurt Kreiler's book, The Man Who Invented Shakespeare, The Earl gave himself the penname 'Spear-shaker' due to his ability at tournaments. Furthermore,  It is said that he had a prominent political career in court and was a well-regarded poet and sportsman. He was also a sponsor of acting companies such as the Oxford's Boys and a flamboyant nobleman.. As the Earl of one of England's most affluent and academic cities, Oxford would have been rich enough to travel to every country Shakespeare ever set a play in. He was also thought to have owned a home in Stratford from 1589 to 1616, which corresponds roughly with the time Shakespeare's canon was written.

 Elizabeth I: who was she?

Elizabeth I was the queen of England.

 What were England’s international relations like during Elizabeth’s reign?

England had strong international relations with countries that contributed significantly to the English
dominance in the colonial era during Elizabeth's reign. The queen maintained strong relations with the Ottoman Empire and North Africa, thus creating strong allies and maintaining effective trade. Furthermore, she established a long, peaceful process of trade with the Russian Tsardom which was one of the most powerful states in the 16th century.

 What was Shakespeare’s relationship with Elizabeth I?

Queen Elizabeth was a huge supporter of the arts in England and she also wrote poetry herself. She very much liked Shakespeare’s plays, and stood against the puritans who wished to close down the theatres. Later, she regularly invited Shakespeare and his acting company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, later The King’s Men, to perform in her court.

Compare Elizabeth I to Portia. How is Portia’s character a tribute to Elizabeth I?

Portia and Elizabeth were equally intelligent. Queen Elizabeth used tactics to defeat the Spanish Amada and helped England prosper, while Portia was intelligent in finding the loophole of the bond between Shylock and Antonio together with the trick made about the rings.

Computers, a modern marvel

Computers are a modern innovation. Little is known about the effects that computers bring as extensive research has not been carried out on all fields of the computer age. Furthermore, research papers have not been published as a lack of scrutiny into this new world. Today however, I am going to clarify that the benefits of the usage of computers far outnumber and outweigh the harms that computer bring.

Computers and the technology today allow people to receive any type of information in the world right at their fingertips. For example, in America, computers is the basis of every profession, be it to write up information, to check background information for police officers, to issue fishing licenses at fishing stores. This brings about greater convenience and efficiency, as the computing power of the computer is far greater than the human brain. Furthermore, this would also eliminate human errors and replace it with mechanical precision.

Next, Computers permit us to socialise with our friends and get connected with our family who live a great distant from us. This means that one would no longer need to physically be there to get in touch with someone pertaining a certain issue. One of the largest developing platform of these social networking sites is Facebook, with more than 750 million active users, with 50% of their active users logging on to Facebook in any given day. This reduces the distance between continents and makes the world a much more warm and close environment.

However, it is noted that some people complain of computer games being a harmful vice of the computer age that will result to definite drop in grades or the inattention at work. As shown, a Time magazine cover article reported about the issue of "over-parenting," written by Nancy Gibbs in 2009, stated that "the percentage of  "free gaming time dropped 25 percent" from 1981 to 1997. This is a huge misconception and to counter this argument, research from the University of Rochester published in the world's most respected science journal, Nature, offers compelling evidence that playing first-person computer games radically enhances visual attention skills. Video and computer games also help children gain self confidence and many games are based on history, city building, and governance, which indirectly teach children about aspects of life on earth. Although addiction to gaming is a bad thing, but computer games alone, if taken in moderation is actually beneficiary, so it is untrue to state that  computer games are definitely harmful.

Computers are part of almost everybody's everyday lives, and with the continuous expansion of the computer industry, computers will only be increasing every year as more capabilities are developed, and the true long term effects of the usage of computer will yet to be revealed.

References:

Author unknown (Date unknown) The Concerns

Media Awareness Network © 2010
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/video_games/concerns/

Author unknown (2003) Computer games good for IQ

MediLexicon International Ltd © 2011
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
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Author unknown (Date unknown) Computers
123HelpMe.com © 2011
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=59903

Author unknown (Date unknown) Statistics
Facebook © 2011
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
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Timothy Rudon (Date unknown) 10 Benefits Of Video Games
SelfGrowth.com © 1996-2011
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/10_Benefits_Of_Video_Games.html

ALEXIS HAUK (2011) Letting them fly: A parent's most difficult job?
Dow Jones Local Media Group, Inc. © 2011.
Retrieved on: 13 August 2011
Retrieved from: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110812/LIFE/108120302/-1/ENTERTAIN