Firework

By Katy Perry

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from caving in?

Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there's still a chance for you
'Cause there's a spark in you?

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby, you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go, oh, oh, oh
As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go, oh, oh, oh
You're gonna leave 'em falling down

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go, oh, oh, oh
As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go, oh, oh, oh
You're gonna leave 'em falling down

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go, oh, oh, oh
As you shoot across the sky

Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go, oh, oh, oh
You're gonna leave 'em falling down

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
While most people thought big, my group picked a topic close to heart. Apart from all the common topics of unity, pollution and peace, we believe in self-esteem. Without the very basis of comfort and confidence, all other bigger issues can never be brought to attention. So we chose “Firework” by Katy Perry.

Its lyrics are very simple yet meaningful. It begins with referring humans to plastic bags, worthless, and a waste of space, then uses fireworks to symbolize the light and talent within each of us – a belief that everyone can shine no matter what they do or where they are. “You just got to ignite the light and shine”. Despite all the negatives you may feel about yourself, you just have to trust that you will do better.

For students, we believe this is a song that can speak to them more closely than any others. It has a beat you can dance your feet to and lyrics that are simple enough to follow. Furthermore, it is among one of the current songs on the mainstream radio stations.

Eliciting the meaning behind song lyrics to students is no doubt a fun activity. Even as a student myself I find joy in watching and listening to video clips in class and perhaps to even sing along with it! Not only does this gives life to a gloomy classroom, but also add a little colour with the confident boost amongst students.

Shine, y’all. Shine!

Old McDonald had a farm…no?

This is the story of the pigs. Once upon a time, there were three little pigs. They were red, white and black. Okay. I’m kidding.

This is not the story of the pigs, but about a farm led by the pigs.

All animals are equal; but some are more equal than others.

Of all lines in the novel, this is the one that left the most impact. Coming from pigs, the line is supposedly unintelligible. No? That’s where I was wrong. These are smart pigs we have read about. The novel alludes heavily to the political situation in England at that particular time and is therefore, a political satire meant at mocking the government at that particular time. I have never been a fan of politics so yes, this novel took me a week to complete. Though very political, this novel nevertheless brings forward important messages. For instance, the issue of corruption. Here the novel is a tale of how power corrupts, and human nature eventually leads to corruption and bloodshed in the search for greater personal wealth.

Personally, I find this a rather tough read. In my reading for pleasure, I rarely take up something with a message so heavy and so serious. So to review and reflect on the novel…well, I’d just say I’d perhaps need more time to learn to appreciate works like this. Nevertheless, it’s one witty novel and George Orwell did a good job in this masterpiece of allusion. 

Mona Lisa's Smile

Julia Roberts fits the title perfectly.

If my memory did not fail me, this movie hit the big screens many years ago. I don’t know about the boys who have seen this but for girls, I believe this movie speaks a lot. Unlike those days, girls today are more liberated from the stereotypical role of being a housemaker and other domesticated tasks while men are the breadwinners. Yet, this movie reminds us again of all the dreams we want to chase. It gives light to those who would like to break free of chains that are tying them down.

As Miss Watson, Julia Roberts played the character of a young teacher called to teach art at a prestigious all girls’ school. Upon first impression, an all girls’ school seemed rather easy to teach. They’re generally disciplined, gentle and smart. Well, they really are. In fact, a bit too much of the last part. That’s when Miss Watson faced trouble. During her first class, every single one of her student has already completed their independent reading on the text they were given for her art subject, leaving her with nothing more to teach. For this part, I particularly like what she did in her following class. She gave them something new. She elicited debates. She brought them to art galleries. She planted seeds of interest and the love for knowledge out of text book amongst her students. Gradually, they bonded with her.

She continued to encourage the girls to chase after their dreams; to break the norm of getting married, settling down and leading a life society has carved out for them. These girls are intelligent and she believes they could make it big in life. Thus, she gives her utmost effort in coaching the girls through the different perspectives in art.

Lean On Me

Mr. Joe Clark freaks me out.

East Side High gives me the creeps.

The students scare the nuts out of me.

Honestly, I don’t quite like the movie. It left me feeling very disturbed. There was so much screaming and shouting I had trouble watching it with a peace of mind. I’ve always thought of Morgan Freeman as a wonderful actor. I still do. But with this movie, I found it especially hard to like the character he played. He was a generally nice person on a personal level as Joe Clark. However, he was a really rude and demanding principal. I can’t help but to think of quitting myself if I’d ever come across a principal like him. Once in my primary school, I had a teacher whose character was similar to his; only she was more violent. I remember the days where she would pinch students in their stomach is they never complete their work and slaps their face with their workbook. It’s funny how complaining about her never too place.

That aside, there are still a few things that hit me hard as a future teacher. First, the determination and courage to take on the law and the community who stands against the school and the principal. I admire Joe Clark’s will power to resurrect East Side High despite all attacks. However, I disagree with his way of running the school. I personally feel that all students deserve second chances, even if he or she is a bad egg. I also don’t see a need to be so uptight with the teachers. They are after all working their butts off for the job already. I believe however, that teachers and the principal should have better rapport to cooperate more efficiently. But for a domineering man like Joe Clark, that proved rather hard in the beginning.

Although this movie is based on a true story, it seemed to be more unrealistic than any other movies of the same genre. It is hard to believe that one man can make such a big difference. It is even harder to believe it was done all within a year. Nevertheless, it sure gave me a glimpse of hope that comes with the comfort knowing that as teachers, we are surely capable of impacting lives and turning them around.

Every teacher can make a difference. You just got to believe it..hard enough.

Love Child; Poor Child

Like my previous post, I’ll be writing an essay presenting on another position again. This time around, on another 2 different stories namely “The Merry Maid” written by our very own Dr. Jayakaran Mukundan and “A Great Injustice” by Hweah Chwee Sian. I shall keep this short; and hopefully sweet.

Very briefly, the first story tells of Lakshmi, an Indian lady and her daughter who she gave away to a Malay family at a very young age. After years of separation, Lakshmi worked her way to meet her daughter, now Sakinah. She had wanted to kidnap her away from her current home but decided it wasn’t the right thing to do and gave up. The second story on the other hand, highlights the issue of abortion. Ah Nya who was pregnant with Steven’s kid was ostracized by the community she lived with. Steven refused to marry her and caused her a lot of shame. In the end, she had her baby killed via abortion.

Honestly, it was pretty hard to come to a conclusion on a common issue in both stories. From my group’s perspective, abortion isn’t the core issue. Instead, it is about the innocent child born out of wedlock, or in Ah Nya’s case, still-born. A major part of the story revolves around the fate of the child and the consequences of having one. Therefore, we decided upon this position:

“Modern Malaysian Society still holds Harsh Judgment towards Pre-marital Sex Resulting in the Birth of a Love Child”

Unlike the modern society of today, those in the past clearly reject the idea of pre-marital sex. It is only now that society is beginning to be more open to this notion as a way of practising individual freedom. However, it doesn’t seem to be so in the Malaysian context. Harsh judgments are still passed around rampantly without constraint. So the question is, why? We are a considerable modern society already. Yet, we are not allowing our people to practise their rights. Bringing the 2 stories into picture, the reasons are as follows.

1.    Importance of marriage

Marriage, as we know it, is a rite of passage that all must go through before moving on to the next stage of life.  It is a duty, with all due respect to religion, that must be carried out for a righteous path to the continuation of life. As the law of Malaysia states, the father of a child born before marriage would not be recognized. In other words, it is legally not accepted to have a child before one is married. Hence, when Ah Nya found out she was pregnant, her very first thought was marriage. Likewise, Lakshmi who already had made a mistake of having a child before her marriage, was eager to get married first the second time around before she conceives her second child.

Family pride and dignity

Malaysian society deems pride and dignity a family issue more than that of an individual’s. It relates heavily to a family’s status, upbringing and education background. Therefore, what one does would eventually be related to these issues; be it good or bad. Both Ah Nya and Lakshmi knew what they have done would bring great shame to their family. Thus, the former decided to abort her baby while the latter, gave it away.

Financial matters

Both couples in the mentioned stories are very young and immature at the time their love child was conceived. Being at such a tender age, the society believes them to be too immature to handle heavy responsibilities of building a family. They were not working and hence still dependent on their families in many areas of their lives; one of which is financial support. If they had taken unto their own to continue building heir families, it would perhaps result in the ruins of the following generation – the lack of education, emotional maturity, and financial support.

Nature of Society

As much as we all are a part of the big society of the world, the nature of each individually diverse society differs. While cultures of the majority part of the globe practices individual freedom, our Malaysian society observes a collectivist nature. Modernism exhibits individualism as rights of every human to exercise freedom of speech, act among the many. However, here in Malaysia, we are still very much at the mercy of society’s perception; and because we are, all that we do is expected to fall in line with that of the majority public. When we fail to do so, we are ridiculed – like Ah Nya and compelled to conform – like Lakshmi.

It is very interesting to note the differences between our own country and the major parts of the world in this issue of pre-marital sex and love child. Though still conservative by nature, I’m proud to say we are a country with a firm stand on what we believe to be right. 

Arranged Marriages. Yay? Nay?

NO. I am not getting married as much as I would love to now. I’m kidding. No, not the getting married part. I would love to but..okay. I shall elaborate no further. Off topic already.

“The Modern Society of Today will not tolerate the Ideals of Arranged Marriage.”

In a world so modern and free, it is hard to imagine that arranged marriages still continue to manifest in certain cultures, especially that of the Indians. Every now and then we hear debates over such marriages versus love marriages. Today, class was no different. Based on 2 short stories – “Everything’s Arranged” and “A Question of Dowry”, I dare say the modern society of today will not tolerate the ideals of arranged marriage; just as our position highlighted above.

In brief, “Everything’s Arranged” is the story of Rukumani and Devanayagam, the 2 forbidden lovers whose parents are all for arranged marriages. Unknowing to this couple, their parents have already arranged for both of them to tie the knot. However, when their love was exposed, the arrangement was called off. It was, as the family has put it, a shame to have them known and loved each other before they were supposed to be married. “A Question of Dowry” on the other hand is about Sivasothie’s tragic end to a wedding arrangement similar to that of Rukumani’s. The difference being that the latter was due to money matters – dowry. That aside, it is the arranged marriage that my groupmates and I decide to highlight.

As marriageable youths of the 21^st century, we find this issue irrelevant to the way of life today. What the older generation deemed as ideal, we believe is no longer practical. First and foremost, one is stripped away from the liberty of decision-making. There is no freedom to practise one’s rights to choose a life partner. Rukumani and Sivasothie are both bounded to their families’ decisions. Even when the former tried to break free, she had heavy consequences to pay. Marriages are forever, supposedly. Those who believe in arranged marriages believe they really do as long as the couples are not involved with each other in any way before their marriage. Love can be nurtured. So they say. More often than not we know that is not the case within today’s modern society. Even marrying the person you love can end up in divorce, what more one that you don’t know if you can love. It’s a risk that will last a lifetime.

Secondly, a modern society also exercises the importance of education. Like Rukumani who attends a university, her exposure to education broadens her perspectives on life especially regarding relationships and marriages. She compares herself to Amy and Johnny who are free to love each other. She reflects on her own wishes and acts on it. Unlike her parents, she is no longer confined to traditional views. The modern ideals of practising self-rights and independence have permeated the younger generation deeper than the older ones can imagine; and credits go to knowledge and exposure that comes with education.

Thirdly, injustice to women’s rights. Arranged marriages place women on a platform similar to that of inanimate objects with a price tag. It denies a woman’s rights to be human, to be heard, to be loved. Both women in the story have no rights to say anything and neither are they allowed to defend themselves. They are instead sold as goods. Both the girls were paraded like goods for sale by the family without their consent, as if they had no feelings and thoughts of their own. It is a great disgrace to women to be made so cheap and invaluable.

Lastly, arranged marriages deny love. As humans, we are all blessed with the gift of feeling. We know what love is. However, arranged marriages do not consider this natural emotion as relevant at all to a marriage. Instead, it is bought with a prize – the dowry. This deprives the couple involved of the God-given human affections. Sivasothie never had the chance to love. Rukumani however, was robbed of her chance.

Clearly, arranged marriages aren’t that ideal after all. Yet, I am aware of the prevalence of differing thoughts still present in the society today despite modernism. Nevertheless, we still believe that the modern society of today will not tolerate the ideals of arranged marriage.

I felt like I just wrote an argumentative essay. Gosh. How dry. Presenting it was definitely more interesting. Anyway, this gave me a rather good preview for my coming position paper though. It already sounds like one more than anything else. Haha. But it was good. I had the chance to refine my persuasive skills. Likewise, my presentation skills. Like debates, there is always only the choice between 2 options, either one or the other. I am by nature more of a person who sits in the gray areas, therefore, this was good exercise to polish my firm stand on the position I have chosen.

So, arranged marriages? Nay.

Akeelah and The Bee

Akeelah puts me to shame. Seriously. There’re tonnes of words out there that she spelled which I can’t! and to think she’s only 11. But of course, it’s only a movie. I would like very much to believe it’s just that. But then again, I would also like to believe there really exist kids like her; and surely, a teacher like Dr. Joshua Larabee.

She’s one lucky girl, I must say. So was I. Like Akeelah, I was blessed with wonderful teachers who developed my English proficiency by leaps and bounds. 16 years ago, I was as Chinese as one could get from a student of a typical Chinese school. Following a 2 year stay in the UK, I pride myself now in being bilingual, and a fairly good one at that. The change I would love to credit to my two wonderful primary 2 and 3 teachers from Birmingham’s Woodgate’s Junior and Infant School – my primary school during my stay there. I was new, I was Chinese, I knew only ABCs and XYZs.

“How did you come to school?”

“Teacher, I use leg.”

(Joke of the year and the many following years.)

So much for all the English lessons in school. Shame on me. Shame on me. With love and patience, Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Richards sat down with me every single day after school to read with me. They read me stories, they gave me books to bring home and they showered me with endless praises when I do well. In fact, there was not one time that they scolded me when I made mistakes. It was only encouragement all the way.

Now that I too, am going to be a teacher in the near future, there is so much I could draw from this movie and past experiences with the awesome teachers I had myself. Dr. Joshua Larabee taught me the most important lesson of all – believe in your student as much as you want her to believe in herself. Despite her ability to spell better than the others, she was an outcast in school. Hence, she refused to let herself shine; until Dr. Larabee came by. He challenged her and gave her reasons to believe she can do better than she already is. He showed her what spelling really is – not just rote memorization of letters but rather, an understanding of the mechanics and history of the words themselves. It amazed me how he broke the big words into smaller parts and elicited meanings for each of them. Having known the language that long I am ashamed to say I have never really paid attention to this aspect of it.

As a movie, I’d give this a two thumbs up. The beginning of its plot shows us a fairly conventional movie. However, something happens during the finals of the National Spelling Bee that we never saw coming; and it is this ending that touches me the most. What she did for Dylan, her final opponent, only he can understand; and he did. That’s what made the ending even more beautiful – with both these kids emerging as co-champions for the first time ever in the history of the National Spelling Bee. Winning isn’t everything; and Akeelah Anderson understood that. Her generosity and empathy taught her that doing the right thing involves more than just winning. This is what makes this movie even more valuable.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

It isn’t the fear of losing that should frighten us, but rather, the fear of not knowing what we’re capable of doing to win.

Our deepest fear is that we’re powerful beyond measure. Believe it.