Proud to call myself a Singaporean

Singapore has come a long way, from a small little fishing village to a bustling and vibrant city. Now, despite being just a little dot on the globe, Singapore managed to find a spot in the top 50 countries ranked and emerged as 20th. What's more, we even top the list for economic dynamism, a feat accomplished by a mere dot on the globe. Recently, we even hosted the first ever YOG and what we have done so far is commendable. What with all the ceremonies, concerts and preparations, everything is indeed excellent.

The title "Uniquely Singapore" suits us perfectly as well. Singlish, a language created by Singaporeans and known only to us, proves this point. Besides, Singaporeans are also stereotyped to be 'kiasu' and this is also another point which shows just how unique we are.

Unlike other countries, Singapore is also a peaceful and safe place to live in. We do not experience clashes between the army and protesters, neither do we experience riots or wars. Best of all, we also do not need to be worried of natural disasters claiming our lives.

From all this, I feel blessed and is grateful to be born in such a fantastic country.

Finally... =D

It's the end... of our tests. :)

2.48 p.m. in the afternoon marked the end of our tests for the term as we handed our history papers to Mr Ho. Looking around, I noticed that everyone seemed more relax than they were the previous days. Finally, there will no longer be any late night mugging nor last minute revision to stress us out... at least for now. Now, the only thing in our way are the test results. Good or bad, no one knows except for the teacher and this suspense is killing me. At least we will be getting our Biology paper tomorrow, and after hearing some rumours from the other classes, I am certainly not hoping for much since the paper was indeed a challenging one.

Also, despite being the end of our tests, we should not slack off to much since there is still the upcoming End-of-Years examinations to look forward to.

On a final note, I would just like to wish all my classmates Good Luck for tomorrow. You never know what a little luck could result in and how big of a difference it would make.

An Act Of Kindness

It was like any other day, except for the fact that I was suffering from a severe headache. After all, getting rammed in the head by a soccer ball at point blank range would certainly result in nothing less than that. While waiting for the bus, fair skies turned to ominous clouds and in an instant, it began to pour heavily. From that, I learnt that a throbbing headache and a runny nose does not really go well together.

Not long after, the bus finally came. However, unlike what I had hoped, the bus was crowded. This reduced my chances of sleeping on the bus to zero. So I did the next best thing, to sleep while standing. Just when my eyelids were about to close, a shrill cry shattered the silence in the bus and jolted me awake. Trying to locate the source of disturbance, I looked around until me eyes settled on a cute toddler rubbing his eyes. He was a Caucasian and his big blue eyes and chubby cheeks dismissed all thoughts of me wanting to shut him up for good. I could tell that the other passengers had forgiven the toddler upon seeing how cute he was, while some of them even had that look of wanting to pinch his cheeks and cheer him up.

Soon, the little commotion died down and things went back to normal on the bus. I tried to sleep once again and could nearly succeed if not for the same thing that woke me up before. Another toddler bawling. So much for trying to sleep... This time, it was an Indian toddler who was crying. However, the responses were unexpectedly different. The other passengers were clearly unhappy and pissed and glared at the toddler instead of showing that look of affection. (Perhaps an act of racial prejudice?) Apparently, those were not very smart moves, since they served to only make the toddler bawl all the more louder.

All of a sudden, a smiling middle-aged lady took a handful of sweets and offered them to the crying toddler, who stopped immediately upon seeing the sweets. The lady was a total stranger and was not obliged to do such a thing, yet she still did it. What's more she did it not in order to shut the toddler up, but out of pure kindness, which was evident from the radiant smile on her face...

Task 2 - We Slept With Our Boots On

Analysis of We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell

Steve Carlsen

Point of View: Similar to Rainbow Death, this poem by Steve Carlsen, is also written in the first-person account. Having served in the United States Army, Steve Carlsen has participated in wars as well and this poem allows him to share his experiences.

Situation and Setting: Unlike Rainbow Death, the situation and setting of this poem is one in which the character is in the midst of a shoot-out with the enemies, the vivid description of the shoot-out is followed by the poet's personal feelings. First of all, Steve Carlsen writes about the horrors of war and what he witnessed - (They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes),followed by the process in which he traveled to his destination - (They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies

Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew), the shoot-out - (I run as fast as I can through the lead rain...pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more), and his personal feelings - (Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns...Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell).

Language/Diction: Steve Carlsen makes use of code-names such as (LZ ~ Landing Zone, bird ~ aircraft) to enhance the poem's effect of allowing the reader to relive the moments of the war. He also makes use of the rhyme scheme a-a-b-b-c-c to ensure smooth flow of the passages. There were also sentences on hell and God, possibly to show that the shoot-out was practically a living hell, with so many dead and wounded. Steve Carlsen makes use of metaphors as well. For example, he compares the hail of bullets to lead rain.

Personal Response: Through the vivid description and feelings, we are able to reenact those scenes in our mind and understand the poet's plight as he took part in the war.

Task 2 - Rainbow Death

Analysis of Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -

Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson

Point of View: This poem was written in the first-person account by Hubert Wilson, a Vietnam War Veteran who has served in the USAF Security Service previously. This poem shows his thoughts and disapproval of how America handled the war in Vietnam, which affected him as well since he took part in the war and witnessed the horrors of it.

Situation and Setting: The situation in the poem is dire. Due to the usage of Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant, a lot of Vietnamese lives have been wasted, and this was something unexpected (America did not foresee). Even though America carried out such actions to deal with their enemies and make them suffer for their actions (expecting others to pay a high price), they did not realise that they were actually committing the same atrocity as their enemy since they had also killed many innocent civilians with their weapons (toll on the innocent and unborn). However, they are not bothered by the deaths of the Vietnamese people (o

mnipotent and disregarding who will mourn)

. America was said to be a respectable country yet it actually brought such untold suffering to the innocent civilians (all the deceit continues to spread), the power and authority that it held has changed its nature (n

efariously America led astray). The issue is not settled yet, there will be people seeking for revenge as well as people suffering once again (g

enerations untold WILL pay), and all these was just because of Agent Orange, the herbicide capable of mass slaughter (e

xecrable effects of agent orange spray)

.

Language/Diction: Hubert Wilson makes use of words with negative connotations to enhance the mood of the poem and to show his disapproval e.g. nefariously, mourn, dead, execrable. The poem follows a rhyme scheme of a-a-b-b-c-c as well to allow a smooth flow from the previous line to the next one.

Personal Response: I find the poem pretty interesting. Because the various weapons used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War were all named after colours, hence the title "Rainbow Death". Also, the way in which Hubert Wilson capitalized WILL was to emphasise that no matter who started the war, both sides will ultimately be at the losing end since both the victorious and the defeated would

certainly

have to pay the price. This also tells us that nothing good comes out of a war and that we should avoid it no matter what since the only thing it brings is bloodshed.

Task 1 - Rainbow Death

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson

This small poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.

Wikipedia reports, “Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.

According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.

From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.”

This poem may remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over.

Author's Comments:

I am a Vietnam War veteran (as are my four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. I, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of us were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang!
My health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago my central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure.

Since my brain still functions moderately well (and I have mobility issues), I have turned to writing just like my late Father and the late singer (and writer) Johnny Cash.

Source: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html