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Friday, January 30, 2009

Happy Chinese New Year

Hi all,
I would like to wish the people of the world a Happy Chinese New Year .l If you look at the date, this blog is about four days late. Sorry about that, I was too caught up with the holiday spirit. You want to know how I spent my Chinese New Year. Well, I bet only a handful will spend the holidays like me. I went to Malaysia. This is not just a one time thing. Every Year, I go back to Malaysia to visit my grandmother. Yup, I am half Malaysia. You would not have guessed this, right? This year, my grandmother prepared a spread of sweeties. ( I do not know why she did it this year) Some of them looked and smelt weird, so I did not even dare to touch them. Guess what is my favourite Chinese New Year snack? You want to know? Yes, no maybe? Love Letters? Nope. Pineapple tarts? Yuck! It is none other than Kueh balu. I am sure some of you do not know what that is. It is actually a bit round, made of flour and egg. Weird, isn't it. I do not know why but I like things that are plain and made of flour like waffles. Ahh, nice waffles. Ok, I have already told you what kind of snacks I eat. Now it is your turn. Please comment on what you like to eat during Chinese New year so that we can try out the snacks next year.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Electronic Learning Device

This is an assignment given by my teacher. I am suppose to write a short press release on a electronic device that help students learn better during lessons in class.

The JK Electronics Pte Ltd has recently invented an amazing new electronic learning device(ELD) . This device is able to record what you learn in that day. At night, you just need to put it on while you sleep. It is very user-friendly. You just need to put it to record mode and put it on your head and you will record what you learn in a day. At night, switch it to play mode. This device will make you revise what you learn that day sub-consciously while you are sleeping. It is easy to use and also saves time. Best of all, it is eco-friendly as it does not create any pollution and harmful effects.This device is most suitable for school-going children. The device is reasonably priced at S$120 and it is available at all leading department stores. Grab it while you can. Limited stocks available.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Older Workers should be employed

This is an assignment given by my teacher. I have to assume I am a elderly worker who have to make a speech to the employers to encourage them to recruit more older workers in the workforce.

Good Morning ladies and gentlemen,
I am Jonathan Koh, a 51 year-old man, who worked in a bank for the past 30 years in the loans department. Recently, I have been retrenched. I have been looking for a job for the past 6 months.
Recently, there is an increasing number of retrenched older workers due to the economical downturn. Many of whom still need to work to support their family. Many companies still refuse to rehire these older workers despite the encouragement from the Ministry of Manpower. I am one of the victims too.
These are the possible reasons which I assume why employers are not engaging older workers:
(1)Older workers are harder to retrain. Their learning ability will be slower the older they get. The employers have to pay more to train them.
(2)Older workers are slower in their work compared to the younger ones. They will need more time to complete their assignments. The companies require good and efficient workers that can finish their work before the deadline.
(3) The older workers cannot work too long hours. They do not have energy to keep up with the younger and more efficient workers.
(4) Foreign workers are cheaper to employ and they are plenty and easily available. Furthermore, the government also encourage the employment of foreign workers during good times when it was hard to hire Singaporeans.
In order to encourage employers to employ older workers, I have a few suggestions that I hope the employers can take into consideration:
(1) Although it is harder to train the older workers, the government is already helping employers by giving 80% to 90% subsidy to the company to retrain the older workers during the difficult times. The employers will not have to pay as much and they will feel it is not a burden so employers will be more willing to employ older workers.
(2) The government is going to subsidise a portion of workers' salaries during difficult times. The employers will need to pay lesser to hire a person to do a job and will be encouraged to hire the older workers.
(3) First priority of simpler jobs like cleaning which Singaporeans used to shun should be given to the older Singaporean workers now instead of the foreign ones. The older workers will have an easier time looking for such jobs.
Last but not least, let us not forget the past contributions from these older workers. Singapore is so properous today is mainly due to their hard work. So I hope the the employers can look into my above suggestions
I thank you for your kind attention.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Old and Alone

Today, my 20 year- old-sister went door to door trying to persuade people in Taman Jurong to go to the neighbourhood house screening. She is a doctor in training. ( a very passionate one too)
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After a day's work, she came home very happy . She was so happy that she could speak hokkien to many of the patients she treated. She was very excited to teach me a few words in hokkien. Actually come to think of it , I do not know how to speak hokkien at all. I feel pretty ashamed about it. I am a hokkien by nature but have no idea to speak the language.( Many kids my age can at least speak their dialect)

Then, my sister told us what she experienced today. The first person my sister was trying to persuade was an old man. He was extremely thin. Malnutrition, I think. He did not want to do a checkup. Do you know what his reason was? He said he was 78 years old and going to die soon, if he did a checkup and had a disease , he would need to be hospitalised( a waste of money to him) . Doing a checkup was pointless. He continued and said his children had abandon him and he had to go hungry on many occasions. (No wonder he is malnutrition)

Hearing this, I am really sympathise him. I realise I am very lucky to a to have three meals a day. Many people around the world are dying of hunger, while the lucky ones are wasting food . His children are really too much. He had raised them since birth but they were not grateful at all. They had abandon him without second thoughts ,leaving him old and alone. We , children should be grateful to our parents and when we grow up , it is only right to take care of them.
Apparently, there are a lot of elderly living at Taman Jurong. Mostly living alone.(luckily most of them were easier to persuade to have a body checkup)

After hearing my sister out, I felt very sad for those elderly. I made a promise to myself that I must be filial son when I grow up so that I would not let my parents down.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Blogging!!! Good or bad?

Weather:Gloomy
Mood:Gloomy

Ah!! Blogging is so hard! It is my first time blogging. I have never heard the word"blog" until I was Primary 3. I am not a really an IT savvy like any other 13 year old kid you find on the street. Wondering why I am blogging? I have this as an assessment.
Well let's get to the topic. Is blogging good or bad?
I would not say it is entirely good or bad.The good thing about blogging is that it allows people to trash out their feelings than bottling it up inside. (I know. I have been there before) Actually, many Singaporeans are as stressed as me. Perhaps that is why blogging is so popular nowadays.
Also, I believe blogging can help to improve my language skills and speed up my typing ( I type like a dying snail. i took a whooping 2 hours to set up this blog) it is too time-consuming. I have not even started on my other homework by doing this blog.I feel it is quite addictive once you get the hang of it. People can spend hours staring at the computer blogging. I hope it would not happen to me.