flout \FLOWT\, transitive verb:
1. To treat with contempt and disregard; to show contempt for.
2. To mock, to scoff.
3. Mockery, scoffing.
The thorough training in the fine points of lyric writing that he has received from Hammerstein has made Sondheim highly critical of those lyricists who flout the basic techniques of the craft.-- "Sondheim: Lyricist and Composer", New York Times, March 6, 1966
Seth and Dorothy were completely mystified by Janis's determination to flout as many social conventions as she could.-- Alice Echols, Scars of Sweet Paradise
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
A word a day.
reticent \RET-ih-suhnt\, adjective:
1. Inclined to keep silent; reserved; uncommunicative.
2. Restrained or reserved in style.
3. Reluctant; unwilling.
His wispy eyebrows sit above eyes undimmed by more than forty years of serious scholarship; a tight-lipped smile suggests that there are many things he will not say about himself or his accomplishments. Indeed, he is almost painfully reticent about what most scholars now consider to be a monumental achievement in the field.
-- Marc K. Stengel, "The Diffusionists Have Landed", The Atlantic, January 2000
Within a circle of intimate friends, he's a very sociable person, says Russell Banks, another novelist, who has known Auster since 1977. "Outside of that circle, he's fairly shy and reticent."
-- "Case of the Brooklyn Symbolist", New York Times, August 30, 1992
1. Inclined to keep silent; reserved; uncommunicative.
2. Restrained or reserved in style.
3. Reluctant; unwilling.
His wispy eyebrows sit above eyes undimmed by more than forty years of serious scholarship; a tight-lipped smile suggests that there are many things he will not say about himself or his accomplishments. Indeed, he is almost painfully reticent about what most scholars now consider to be a monumental achievement in the field.
-- Marc K. Stengel, "The Diffusionists Have Landed", The Atlantic, January 2000
Within a circle of intimate friends, he's a very sociable person, says Russell Banks, another novelist, who has known Auster since 1977. "Outside of that circle, he's fairly shy and reticent."
-- "Case of the Brooklyn Symbolist", New York Times, August 30, 1992
A new book.
There's this book that's written by a senior ST reporter or something... sounds interesting. You can read excerpts of the interview in The Straits Times. But I guess if you want to know the full works, you gotta read the book itself. If I'm not wrong, it's $14 for the book. The content is more for people who will like to know more about criminal minds. I just find the whole thing rather psycho! The talks with the criminals can be chilling sometimes. This interview with the internet predator is quite disturbing, in my terms. Be careful of what kind of friends you make on the internet!!! SUCH TERRORS DO EXIST!!!
Aug 22, 2009
The Internet PREDATOR
Alan Tan is one of Singapore's most diabolical Internet sex predators. Between 1999 and 2002, he baited dozens of young girls with money, later raping or filming them in compromising positions. His youngest victim was just 13 years old.
By Wong Kim Hoh
ALAN Tan (not his real name) shakes his head slowly and lets out an exaggerated sigh. Feigning resignation, he says: 'What goes around comes around.'
'I needed to come in here. I was going mad,' adds the short, slight man who, although only 33, is already greying at the temples. 'Here' is Changi's prison complex, in the maximum-security section housing inmates serving long jail terms.
He has a euphemism to describe what landed him behind bars. 'I was messing with other people's minds,' he says.
What he did, however, was a lot more diabolical. He was a sex fiend who used the Internet to prey on young girls by offering money as bait. Many of those who fell for his ruse were raped or captured on film in compromising positions.
Alan began his infernal online exploits in 1999. By the time he was arrested in 2002, he had claimed several victims, the youngest of whom was just 13 years old.
Convicted of several charges including rape, statutory rape and unnatural sex, the former assistant engineer was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment and given 36 strokes of the cane.
On more than one occasion during this interview, Alan pronounces gravely that he has got his just deserts. But there is also no mistaking the smugness in his voice or the perverse smile on his face when he describes the suffering he inflicted on 'the greedy bitches' who fell for his trap.
Perhaps the contradictions are in keeping with a man described in press reports as complex and disordered. In fact, colleagues at the factory where he worked at the time of his arrest were stunned to learn about this unsavoury side of him. They described him as 'very shy and quiet' and a hard-working 'model employee'.
Alan, who has one elder and one younger sister, grew up in Bukit Merah. He says he was an 'introverted child who didn't talk much'. He describes his bus driver father and production operator mother as strict parents who made him kneel in the kitchen if he fared poorly in his studies.
Bullied in school, he found solace in the computer, and became quite conversant with systems and computer languages.
Alan, who has a diploma in electronics, computer and control engineering, was a frequent visitor to IRC (Internet Relay Chat) rooms while studying at the polytechnic.
'I made friends online. We used to go on social outings. It was all very proper and innocent,' he says.
'Proper' and 'innocent', however, are not adjectives he could use to describe himself when he was serving his national service. In 2001, he was court-martialled for attempting to peep into a woman's toilet as well as searching a woman officer's locker for undergarments.
With a greasy grin, he tries to explain the peeping incident: 'I didn't open the door of the toilet. I was outside the toilet when it opened.'
His forays into chatrooms took an equally sleazy turn when an army mate told him it was easy hooking up with girls online.
'One day, he told me that he once offered money to a girl he was chatting with, and the girl came over and had sex with him,' he says.
Intrigued, he went to an online chatroom for teens and dangled $200 as payment for sexual services.
'Some people responded to my offer but they were not genuine. I was about to give up when I started chatting with this girl,' he says.
'Angie' was a 14-year-old Secondary 3 student. After a few chat sessions, they exchanged phone numbers and decided to meet at a shopping mall.
'I arrived earlier and saw that she was quite chio,' he says, using the Hokkien term for 'hot'. They walked around the mall, engaging in awkward conversation and ended up having sex in a multi-storey carpark.
'We both didn't know what to do, but she started it and things got too hot. We went overboard. Oh my God!' he exclaims melodramatically, slapping his forehead with his right palm.
He found out Angie was a virgin. When it was over, he took her home in a taxi. During the ride, she asked to be paid more than double the $200 they had agreed on.
Over the next two hours, Alan enthusiastically takes my questions, often dropping salacious details which he knows will pique my curiosity.
He tells the bizarre tale of how he and Angie became an item when she tried to overdose on Panadol after their tryst.
'I felt guilty so I became closer to her, and we had sex again,' he says.
By then, the Internet had become his second home. He gleefully describes girls he bedded, boasting that he would also engage in threesomes with some of them.
But when he found out that Angie had been equally promiscuous, he went berserk. Unable to get over the 'betrayal', he resolved to exact revenge by making 'bitches' like his erstwhile girlfriend suffer.
He decided he would dangle money to lure them but not pay them. He also planned to film them in bed and use the tapes to blackmail them into doing his bidding.
He does not believe, he tells me airily, in baiting victims with sweet talk. He would just offer money, sometimes up to $2,000.
'Money talks and money would lure out bitches like my ex-girlfriend. If they were so good, they would not fall for my trap,' he says, using the derogatory term very liberally.
'For oral sex, I said I would pay them $200. But they would get $2,000 if they agreed to the whole package.'
The whole package, he explains, meant having sex with him, as well as allowing him to film them.
He beams animatedly as he patiently describes the nuts and bolts of his traps, and the care he exercised in luring girls to carparks or hotels where he performed his dastardly deeds.
For instance, he never gave out his phone number and only called from his mobile phone which had an unlisted number. He always carried a bag containing a video camera, blank tapes and fake $50 notes, which he printed from his computer and stuffed into a red packet.
'This was to make them think I really had the money. I would just flash it so they would not be able to tell that the money was fake,' he says.
All in all, he claims to have met at least 50 girls this way.
Some of the girls allowed him to film them. For those who did not, he would try to do so secretly.
'The smart ones would always ask for their tape after the session. But I would swop it with a blank one,' he boasts.
Alan would bolt when his victims were busy cleaning themselves up after sex. 'They wouldn't make a police report because they were doing something illegal too,' he says smugly.
He bristles when asked if he used the tapes to blackmail for money. 'I wouldn't stoop so low,' he hisses contemptuously.
'I wanted revenge. You can feel my anger, right?' he asks earnestly. 'If you're not happy, you want to spread the misery.'
He turns philosophical. 'When you go up the mountain often enough, you will soon run into a tiger,' he quips, using a Chinese proverb to explain that it was only a matter of time before his exploits caught up with him.
Alan was nabbed in a dramatic arrest when one of his victims set up a trap with the police.
Doing time, he says, has been a sobering experience.
He says: 'I'm actually scared of leaving this place. I don't know if I will do the same things again if I'm out there.'
Aug 22, 2009
The Internet PREDATOR
Alan Tan is one of Singapore's most diabolical Internet sex predators. Between 1999 and 2002, he baited dozens of young girls with money, later raping or filming them in compromising positions. His youngest victim was just 13 years old.
By Wong Kim Hoh
ALAN Tan (not his real name) shakes his head slowly and lets out an exaggerated sigh. Feigning resignation, he says: 'What goes around comes around.'
'I needed to come in here. I was going mad,' adds the short, slight man who, although only 33, is already greying at the temples. 'Here' is Changi's prison complex, in the maximum-security section housing inmates serving long jail terms.
He has a euphemism to describe what landed him behind bars. 'I was messing with other people's minds,' he says.
What he did, however, was a lot more diabolical. He was a sex fiend who used the Internet to prey on young girls by offering money as bait. Many of those who fell for his ruse were raped or captured on film in compromising positions.
Alan began his infernal online exploits in 1999. By the time he was arrested in 2002, he had claimed several victims, the youngest of whom was just 13 years old.
Convicted of several charges including rape, statutory rape and unnatural sex, the former assistant engineer was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment and given 36 strokes of the cane.
On more than one occasion during this interview, Alan pronounces gravely that he has got his just deserts. But there is also no mistaking the smugness in his voice or the perverse smile on his face when he describes the suffering he inflicted on 'the greedy bitches' who fell for his trap.
Perhaps the contradictions are in keeping with a man described in press reports as complex and disordered. In fact, colleagues at the factory where he worked at the time of his arrest were stunned to learn about this unsavoury side of him. They described him as 'very shy and quiet' and a hard-working 'model employee'.
Alan, who has one elder and one younger sister, grew up in Bukit Merah. He says he was an 'introverted child who didn't talk much'. He describes his bus driver father and production operator mother as strict parents who made him kneel in the kitchen if he fared poorly in his studies.
Bullied in school, he found solace in the computer, and became quite conversant with systems and computer languages.
Alan, who has a diploma in electronics, computer and control engineering, was a frequent visitor to IRC (Internet Relay Chat) rooms while studying at the polytechnic.
'I made friends online. We used to go on social outings. It was all very proper and innocent,' he says.
'Proper' and 'innocent', however, are not adjectives he could use to describe himself when he was serving his national service. In 2001, he was court-martialled for attempting to peep into a woman's toilet as well as searching a woman officer's locker for undergarments.
With a greasy grin, he tries to explain the peeping incident: 'I didn't open the door of the toilet. I was outside the toilet when it opened.'
His forays into chatrooms took an equally sleazy turn when an army mate told him it was easy hooking up with girls online.
'One day, he told me that he once offered money to a girl he was chatting with, and the girl came over and had sex with him,' he says.
Intrigued, he went to an online chatroom for teens and dangled $200 as payment for sexual services.
'Some people responded to my offer but they were not genuine. I was about to give up when I started chatting with this girl,' he says.
'Angie' was a 14-year-old Secondary 3 student. After a few chat sessions, they exchanged phone numbers and decided to meet at a shopping mall.
'I arrived earlier and saw that she was quite chio,' he says, using the Hokkien term for 'hot'. They walked around the mall, engaging in awkward conversation and ended up having sex in a multi-storey carpark.
'We both didn't know what to do, but she started it and things got too hot. We went overboard. Oh my God!' he exclaims melodramatically, slapping his forehead with his right palm.
He found out Angie was a virgin. When it was over, he took her home in a taxi. During the ride, she asked to be paid more than double the $200 they had agreed on.
Over the next two hours, Alan enthusiastically takes my questions, often dropping salacious details which he knows will pique my curiosity.
He tells the bizarre tale of how he and Angie became an item when she tried to overdose on Panadol after their tryst.
'I felt guilty so I became closer to her, and we had sex again,' he says.
By then, the Internet had become his second home. He gleefully describes girls he bedded, boasting that he would also engage in threesomes with some of them.
But when he found out that Angie had been equally promiscuous, he went berserk. Unable to get over the 'betrayal', he resolved to exact revenge by making 'bitches' like his erstwhile girlfriend suffer.
He decided he would dangle money to lure them but not pay them. He also planned to film them in bed and use the tapes to blackmail them into doing his bidding.
He does not believe, he tells me airily, in baiting victims with sweet talk. He would just offer money, sometimes up to $2,000.
'Money talks and money would lure out bitches like my ex-girlfriend. If they were so good, they would not fall for my trap,' he says, using the derogatory term very liberally.
'For oral sex, I said I would pay them $200. But they would get $2,000 if they agreed to the whole package.'
The whole package, he explains, meant having sex with him, as well as allowing him to film them.
He beams animatedly as he patiently describes the nuts and bolts of his traps, and the care he exercised in luring girls to carparks or hotels where he performed his dastardly deeds.
For instance, he never gave out his phone number and only called from his mobile phone which had an unlisted number. He always carried a bag containing a video camera, blank tapes and fake $50 notes, which he printed from his computer and stuffed into a red packet.
'This was to make them think I really had the money. I would just flash it so they would not be able to tell that the money was fake,' he says.
All in all, he claims to have met at least 50 girls this way.
Some of the girls allowed him to film them. For those who did not, he would try to do so secretly.
'The smart ones would always ask for their tape after the session. But I would swop it with a blank one,' he boasts.
Alan would bolt when his victims were busy cleaning themselves up after sex. 'They wouldn't make a police report because they were doing something illegal too,' he says smugly.
He bristles when asked if he used the tapes to blackmail for money. 'I wouldn't stoop so low,' he hisses contemptuously.
'I wanted revenge. You can feel my anger, right?' he asks earnestly. 'If you're not happy, you want to spread the misery.'
He turns philosophical. 'When you go up the mountain often enough, you will soon run into a tiger,' he quips, using a Chinese proverb to explain that it was only a matter of time before his exploits caught up with him.
Alan was nabbed in a dramatic arrest when one of his victims set up a trap with the police.
Doing time, he says, has been a sobering experience.
He says: 'I'm actually scared of leaving this place. I don't know if I will do the same things again if I'm out there.'
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
In The Straits Times yesterday...
| Aug 17, 2009 |
| MY LIFE OVERSEAS: CHENNAI Trying to stand out, yet fit in |
| By Zack He |
| INDIA is a land of profound contradictions, not least because of its vast land mass and its multitude of cultures. The land of spiritual ashrams and the great Ganges is also that of smog-filled, over-populated cities that propel one of the world's fastest growing economies. Against that backdrop, all manner of events were going on in India from April to July - also, when I chose to begin my internship in Chennai as a journalist with a local newspaper called The Hindu. I could not imagine a better time to be there. It was at an ill-advised time of the year. Still, it was there I witnessed first-hand some of the contradictions I'd previously heard of. Temperatures hit 40 deg C nearly every day, yet, as I found out, the preferred Chennian dress code in that heat was 'formal shirt and pants, footwear optional', the latter especially applicable for the street hawkers. The well-constructed pavements on which these hawkers stood contrasted acutely with the bare-boned family of four just metres away, who'd made it their home. My own dwelling was a no-frills hostel near the pavement, where bathing was a matter of washing oneself in cold water collected in buckets. Then there was transport. My office, although just a short distance from my hostel, was a challenge to reach. I had to fight off throngs of sweaty bodies and skilfully navigate past traffic that always seemed to be coming at me. But through this, I inevitably acquired the toughness that allows the locals to get around unscathed - and for me to adequately go about my job. At the time, elections were in full swing and tensions were high where I was because of the Sri Lankan army's assault on the Tamil Tigers - Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu. Once, when I was interviewing supporters of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran at a street rally a couple of days after his reported demise, someone suddenly shouted: 'He's from China, don't tell him anything!' China is one of the parties they blame for allegedly selling weapons to the Sri Lankan government to fight the Tamil Tigers. The situation intensified, as murmurs of 'Chinese spy' echoed through the crowd. It wasn't until a policeman came along, and assured them that I was a journalist and from Singapore that tensions eased. Witnessing the world's largest democracy at work, I visited polling stations too, where, in surprisingly orderly lines, voters arrived in chauffeur-driven Mercedes or barefoot, baby in tow. An American colleague of mine observed that India was dealing with the socio-political issues America did some 30 years ago - feminism, minority rights, environmentalism. Chennai even saw its first gay pride march through the city in June this year, while the New Delhi High Court decriminalised homosexuality. I saw a country in transition, grappling with issues of modernisation and cultural identity, trying to stand out, yet fit in. There, I also saw a people possessed of the hunger and drive that many of my generation, basked in the comforts and security of our relative affluence, lamentably lack. The writer, 24, recently graduated from SMU with a degree in business management. He was in India from April to July this year. This is part of a series of YouthInk contributions from those who have studied or worked abroad. |
Sunday, August 16, 2009
3-on-3 basketball
This is none English related.... Hahs.
Well, I was playing some street netball league at Velocity, Novena Square yesterday, and I happened to come across this poster. This is for all basketball enthusiasts out there, if you want to compete in some street basketball, here's the chance to do it. Check this out for more information. You can treat this like a destress event, if it doesn't clash with your examinations. Sorry girls, this one is only for boys/ men.
Cheers.
Well, I was playing some street netball league at Velocity, Novena Square yesterday, and I happened to come across this poster. This is for all basketball enthusiasts out there, if you want to compete in some street basketball, here's the chance to do it. Check this out for more information. You can treat this like a destress event, if it doesn't clash with your examinations. Sorry girls, this one is only for boys/ men.
Cheers.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Of preliminary examinations.
Study hard k. This is almost the final dash for the 'N' levels... work hard!!!
Guess what, on Sunday night, i saw a certain student, let's call her J. J was walking in a mall in the East with her bf. Not to be judgmental, but perhaps this is not really the time to go pak-toh right... especially when you know that you have 1 1/2 weeks of examinations awaiting you, starting from Tuesday! Sometimes, you just need to have the discipline to know what you should do and what you should not do. Hhmmm...
ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR PRELIMS!!!
Guess what, on Sunday night, i saw a certain student, let's call her J. J was walking in a mall in the East with her bf. Not to be judgmental, but perhaps this is not really the time to go pak-toh right... especially when you know that you have 1 1/2 weeks of examinations awaiting you, starting from Tuesday! Sometimes, you just need to have the discipline to know what you should do and what you should not do. Hhmmm...
ALL THE BEST FOR YOUR PRELIMS!!!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
HK Sec Paper 2 Answer Scheme
This is continued from where we left off. Please check your answers, as I will not be referring to this passage again. You can ask me questions on another day, if you still have doubts after marking. Thanks!
PASSAGE A
Q11b) The repetition of the word reiterates / emphasises the fact (1m) that everything in the universe revolves (1m).
Q12a) The government banned them out of fear that their religious roots would lead them to revolt against the new secular government.
Q12b) Firstly, it has become a major tourist attraction. (big draw for visitors from abroad - no mark)
Secondly, they have been allowed to perform in other countries / overseas (have also travelled abroad to England, Germany, Belgium, the United States and Tunisia, all under the auspices of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism - no mark)
PASSAGE B
Q13a) They are "exploded across the world", "overwhelming force", "crashed against the world with such outrage". (Any 2 of the points)
Q13b) They are swing jazz and rock and roll.
Q14) Firstly, in Brazil, rap rivals samba in popularity (1m)
Secondly, in China, teens spray-paint graffiti on the Great Wall. (1m)
Q15) It was about the painful journey of the slaves who survived across the vast oceans.
Q16) As a result of the drastic budget cut in the arts, school children had no access to music (1m). This prompted a creative teenager to think of an alternative way to play music in the neighbourhood (1m).
Q17) It was because the Bronz attracted many musicians of different nationalities living in the neighbouring areas.
Q18) It is the feeling of embarrassment / shame.
Q19) The group's debut recording sold 400,000 records in three months without any advertisements.
Q20) They have violent/ sexually explicit lyrics / lyrics that debase women and gays / glorifying crimes. (Accept any two points)
Q21) They fantasise about succeeding in the hip-hop business and becoming millionaires.
Q22a) defiant: refusing to obey
Q22b) enigma: mystery
Q22c) demise: death
Q22d) affluent: wealthy
Q22e) unabashedly: shamelessly
Q23) Summary (Any 15 points)
The origins of hip-hop music can be traced to ......
1. the slave ships from West Africa that made its way to America centuries ago.
2. They had the roots to the dance, drum and song of West African griots.
3. Their songs were mainly about the painful journey of slaves who survived the voyage across the oceans.
4. Speech-song has been part of black culture for a long time.
5. The verbal duelling, rhyming, self-deprecating tales and stories of blacks outsmarting whites were defensive, empowering strategies used by black Americans.
6. The drastic cut in the funding for public schools in New York City in the mid 1970s
7. deprived the youngsters of music.
8. The teens of the South Bronx and Harlem came up with an alternative way to enjoy music
9. which set the housing project of 3000 people alight with party music.
10. The Bronx became a music magnet for people of different nationalities from the surrounding areas.
11. A master of ceremonies named Lovebug Starski was said to utter the phrase "hip-hop" between breaks to keep time.
12. Jazz musicians and blues greats can easily find the foreshadowing of rap music in the verbal play of their work.
13. Black performers have put spoken political lyrics to music which elevated spoken word to a new level.
14. It was performance art, delivered in step with the anger of a bold and sometimes frightening nationalistic black movement.
15. The group Last Poet's demise coincided with hip-hop's birth in the 1970s.
16. Hip-hop music which was once the purview of black America has gone white and commercial all at once.
17. The music was not only enjoyed by working class whites
18. but also by affluent suburban white teennagers.
19. White teens are attracted to the violent and sexually explicit lyrics,
20. life on the other side of the tracks; its "cool" or illicit factor, which black Americans are always perceived to possess.
21. Hip-hop has evolved from party music to social commentary.
22. But today, most commercial rappers spout violent lyrics that debase women and gays.
23. Most rap songs also function as walking advertisements for luxury items.
PASSAGE A
Q11b) The repetition of the word reiterates / emphasises the fact (1m) that everything in the universe revolves (1m).
Q12a) The government banned them out of fear that their religious roots would lead them to revolt against the new secular government.
Q12b) Firstly, it has become a major tourist attraction. (big draw for visitors from abroad - no mark)
Secondly, they have been allowed to perform in other countries / overseas (have also travelled abroad to England, Germany, Belgium, the United States and Tunisia, all under the auspices of the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism - no mark)
PASSAGE B
Q13a) They are "exploded across the world", "overwhelming force", "crashed against the world with such outrage". (Any 2 of the points)
Q13b) They are swing jazz and rock and roll.
Q14) Firstly, in Brazil, rap rivals samba in popularity (1m)
Secondly, in China, teens spray-paint graffiti on the Great Wall. (1m)
Q15) It was about the painful journey of the slaves who survived across the vast oceans.
Q16) As a result of the drastic budget cut in the arts, school children had no access to music (1m). This prompted a creative teenager to think of an alternative way to play music in the neighbourhood (1m).
Q17) It was because the Bronz attracted many musicians of different nationalities living in the neighbouring areas.
Q18) It is the feeling of embarrassment / shame.
Q19) The group's debut recording sold 400,000 records in three months without any advertisements.
Q20) They have violent/ sexually explicit lyrics / lyrics that debase women and gays / glorifying crimes. (Accept any two points)
Q21) They fantasise about succeeding in the hip-hop business and becoming millionaires.
Q22a) defiant: refusing to obey
Q22b) enigma: mystery
Q22c) demise: death
Q22d) affluent: wealthy
Q22e) unabashedly: shamelessly
Q23) Summary (Any 15 points)
The origins of hip-hop music can be traced to ......
1. the slave ships from West Africa that made its way to America centuries ago.
2. They had the roots to the dance, drum and song of West African griots.
3. Their songs were mainly about the painful journey of slaves who survived the voyage across the oceans.
4. Speech-song has been part of black culture for a long time.
5. The verbal duelling, rhyming, self-deprecating tales and stories of blacks outsmarting whites were defensive, empowering strategies used by black Americans.
6. The drastic cut in the funding for public schools in New York City in the mid 1970s
7. deprived the youngsters of music.
8. The teens of the South Bronx and Harlem came up with an alternative way to enjoy music
9. which set the housing project of 3000 people alight with party music.
10. The Bronx became a music magnet for people of different nationalities from the surrounding areas.
11. A master of ceremonies named Lovebug Starski was said to utter the phrase "hip-hop" between breaks to keep time.
12. Jazz musicians and blues greats can easily find the foreshadowing of rap music in the verbal play of their work.
13. Black performers have put spoken political lyrics to music which elevated spoken word to a new level.
14. It was performance art, delivered in step with the anger of a bold and sometimes frightening nationalistic black movement.
15. The group Last Poet's demise coincided with hip-hop's birth in the 1970s.
16. Hip-hop music which was once the purview of black America has gone white and commercial all at once.
17. The music was not only enjoyed by working class whites
18. but also by affluent suburban white teennagers.
19. White teens are attracted to the violent and sexually explicit lyrics,
20. life on the other side of the tracks; its "cool" or illicit factor, which black Americans are always perceived to possess.
21. Hip-hop has evolved from party music to social commentary.
22. But today, most commercial rappers spout violent lyrics that debase women and gays.
23. Most rap songs also function as walking advertisements for luxury items.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Grammar
Try these grammar exercises that can be completed at ease, in front of your computer!!!! All you need to do is to read and click.
TRY IT NOW. CLICK HERE!!!
Please please please... this is the final lap for this year. Try harder ok?!! You people can do way better than a pass.
TRY IT NOW. CLICK HERE!!!
Please please please... this is the final lap for this year. Try harder ok?!! You people can do way better than a pass.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The Countdown Widget.
It's cool, isn't it??!!! If you mouse over, you can see the exact date of the written paper!!! Now I hope to get your minds ticking, perhaps flustering a little, so that you can start to buck up and work more.
With the oral examination behind, for half of your lot, pick up your pace and drill yourself with comprehensions and compositions for the next 6 and a 1/2 weeks! I don't think you need me to keep nagging you that just attending English lessons alone is not enough. Practice, practice, practice!
Tips on WHAT to study: 1 to 2 comprehension(s) a week + planning for EL essays (ideas & brainstorming) + grammar practice
This is the final lap... YOU CAN DO IT!!!
With the oral examination behind, for half of your lot, pick up your pace and drill yourself with comprehensions and compositions for the next 6 and a 1/2 weeks! I don't think you need me to keep nagging you that just attending English lessons alone is not enough. Practice, practice, practice!
Tips on WHAT to study: 1 to 2 comprehension(s) a week + planning for EL essays (ideas & brainstorming) + grammar practice
This is the final lap... YOU CAN DO IT!!!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
In the news...
In case you didn't manage to read this in the news, I just want to highlight how some st*pid youths get exploited to do this for illegal lenders, and all for just a meagre sum of money!!!
This amount you can jolly well earn, in the span of an hour or less, when you graduate and get a decent job in an office next time. And you definitely do not run the risk of getting caught and being thrown behind bars!!!
I only pity them, because they may not have proper guidance and concern from individuals to bring them back to the "correct side". Otherwise, they deserve every ounce of punishment being inflicted upon them.
July 6, 2009
Loan shark runners are getting younger
Some seduced into making an easy buck, others paying off their debts
By Teh Joo Lin & Ben Nadarajan
IF THE 'O$P$' scrawls on the walls look more childish nowadays, it may be because they are the handiwork of loan shark runners barely out of their teens.
Those caught harassing debtors to pay up seem to be getting younger, with at least one as young as 12.
Police nabbed 63 youth last year for doing the dirty work for loan sharks when debtors default on repayment. In 2007, 59 youth were arrested.
Police did not release figures for this year, but The Straits Times did its own count based on police releases. Of 124 loan sharks and runners arrested, 31 - or one in four - were aged 19 and below. The youngest was a 12-year-old boy caught last month as part of a group of five youth who were harassing debtors in Bedok and Ang Mo Kio.
Rather surprisingly, there were seven girls among the young people arrested.
In May, four girls aged 15 and 16 were caught in the act with the help of a Hougang resident. Two of them were spotted at a corridor armed with a blue marker and bags of paint. The girls fled but were pursued by the resident and his father, who caught one of them at the void deck of a nearby block. The other three were later arrested by the police.
The cases have led the police to warn youngsters against being made used of by loan sharks.
A police spokesman said many young people were referred by friends to work for these syndicates for a quick buck.
Youth recruitment reflects the changing modus operandi of loan shark syndicates, according to those familiar with their operations.
To reduce the risk of getting busted, syndicate members are staying behind the scenes, preferring to hire runners to harass debtors for small fees.
Those taken on board have included debtors unable to pay off their loans, foreign workers and youth who know too little to yield any leads about the masterminds if they are nabbed.
A loan shark said he used youth because they are more daring. Harassment is a ready outlet for them to vent their teenage angst and pent-up frustrations.
But since they can get out of hand, these youngsters are often 'teamed' with older runners who guide them along, he added.
Counsellors such as Ain Society's Mohd Yusof Ismail, who has counselled a few such youth, compared it to when youth were used to hawk pirated VCDs in public. 'But these kids don't realise what they're getting into and they're biting off more than they can chew.'
The police have been clamping down hard on loan shark activities, with harsher penalties added in late 2005.
But the youth, lured by what they see as easy money for deceptively simple work, seldom think that far, said counsellors. They can get paid about $50 per job by just splashing paint on doors and scribbling threatening notes on walls.
Lawyer Amolat Singh recently handled a case involving a 17-year-old boy who was promised $100 for delivering a letter at 2am to a debtor. But he never got to pick up his pay because he was caught. He is now under probation.
In addition to vandalism, youth have also been known to lock gates with bicycle chains and smash flowerpots and windows before running away.
A teenage boy and girl, among four youth caught in June, allegedly even set fire to items outside units in Hougang, Woodlands and West Coast.
Interviews with some youth revealed two ways in which they fall in with loan sharks: while they are trying to secure loans and when they join gangs.
A 17-year-old boy said a friend introduced him to an 'Ah Long' at a Geylang coffee shop when he had to pay off $800 in soccer-betting debts.
He was offered a job on the spot: Work for the syndicate rather than borrow money and be saddled with a 20 per cent interest rate. He would earn $800 upfront for 20 assignments. 'I thought this would be much better than owing them because what if I can't pay and they beat me?'
Now midway through his 'bond', he said his first job at a Lengkok Bahru flat was 'quite easy'. All he did was shout loudly, bang on the door and ring the doorbell for 10 minutes, with two 'seniors' look-outs. He said he has pushed debtors around but never beaten anyone.
Mr Yusof reckons these youth are being exploited. 'They've to continue working until they pay off their loan or until they are caught. That's why they are being exploited.'
While some youth are hired while trying to borrow money, others are told to become runners after they join gangs.
New gang members find it hard to turn down assignments as they feel the need to prove their allegiance. 'It isn't a must, but they 'bully' new people into doing it,' said a source close to such gangs.
While they are supposed to just knock on doors, deliver warnings and spray on walls, they may do 'additionals' on their own such as smashing flowerpots.
If the debtor pays up, the youth get a cut of between 3 per cent and 5 per cent of the debt, which is typically about $2,000.But over time, many runners drop out of the job after it dawns on them that the risks outweigh the spoils.
Apart from the fear of being caught by the police, some find themselves getting beaten up by irritated debtors, who can turn out to be gangsters themselves.
The source said: 'A friend got bashed up and was bleeding all over. They're afraid of getting beaten up because if they have to go to the hospital, the police will know.'
This amount you can jolly well earn, in the span of an hour or less, when you graduate and get a decent job in an office next time. And you definitely do not run the risk of getting caught and being thrown behind bars!!!
I only pity them, because they may not have proper guidance and concern from individuals to bring them back to the "correct side". Otherwise, they deserve every ounce of punishment being inflicted upon them.
July 6, 2009
Loan shark runners are getting younger
Some seduced into making an easy buck, others paying off their debts
By Teh Joo Lin & Ben Nadarajan
IF THE 'O$P$' scrawls on the walls look more childish nowadays, it may be because they are the handiwork of loan shark runners barely out of their teens.
Those caught harassing debtors to pay up seem to be getting younger, with at least one as young as 12.
Police nabbed 63 youth last year for doing the dirty work for loan sharks when debtors default on repayment. In 2007, 59 youth were arrested.
Police did not release figures for this year, but The Straits Times did its own count based on police releases. Of 124 loan sharks and runners arrested, 31 - or one in four - were aged 19 and below. The youngest was a 12-year-old boy caught last month as part of a group of five youth who were harassing debtors in Bedok and Ang Mo Kio.
Rather surprisingly, there were seven girls among the young people arrested.
In May, four girls aged 15 and 16 were caught in the act with the help of a Hougang resident. Two of them were spotted at a corridor armed with a blue marker and bags of paint. The girls fled but were pursued by the resident and his father, who caught one of them at the void deck of a nearby block. The other three were later arrested by the police.
The cases have led the police to warn youngsters against being made used of by loan sharks.
A police spokesman said many young people were referred by friends to work for these syndicates for a quick buck.
Youth recruitment reflects the changing modus operandi of loan shark syndicates, according to those familiar with their operations.
To reduce the risk of getting busted, syndicate members are staying behind the scenes, preferring to hire runners to harass debtors for small fees.
Those taken on board have included debtors unable to pay off their loans, foreign workers and youth who know too little to yield any leads about the masterminds if they are nabbed.
A loan shark said he used youth because they are more daring. Harassment is a ready outlet for them to vent their teenage angst and pent-up frustrations.
But since they can get out of hand, these youngsters are often 'teamed' with older runners who guide them along, he added.
Counsellors such as Ain Society's Mohd Yusof Ismail, who has counselled a few such youth, compared it to when youth were used to hawk pirated VCDs in public. 'But these kids don't realise what they're getting into and they're biting off more than they can chew.'
The police have been clamping down hard on loan shark activities, with harsher penalties added in late 2005.
But the youth, lured by what they see as easy money for deceptively simple work, seldom think that far, said counsellors. They can get paid about $50 per job by just splashing paint on doors and scribbling threatening notes on walls.
Lawyer Amolat Singh recently handled a case involving a 17-year-old boy who was promised $100 for delivering a letter at 2am to a debtor. But he never got to pick up his pay because he was caught. He is now under probation.
In addition to vandalism, youth have also been known to lock gates with bicycle chains and smash flowerpots and windows before running away.
A teenage boy and girl, among four youth caught in June, allegedly even set fire to items outside units in Hougang, Woodlands and West Coast.
Interviews with some youth revealed two ways in which they fall in with loan sharks: while they are trying to secure loans and when they join gangs.
A 17-year-old boy said a friend introduced him to an 'Ah Long' at a Geylang coffee shop when he had to pay off $800 in soccer-betting debts.
He was offered a job on the spot: Work for the syndicate rather than borrow money and be saddled with a 20 per cent interest rate. He would earn $800 upfront for 20 assignments. 'I thought this would be much better than owing them because what if I can't pay and they beat me?'
Now midway through his 'bond', he said his first job at a Lengkok Bahru flat was 'quite easy'. All he did was shout loudly, bang on the door and ring the doorbell for 10 minutes, with two 'seniors' look-outs. He said he has pushed debtors around but never beaten anyone.
Mr Yusof reckons these youth are being exploited. 'They've to continue working until they pay off their loan or until they are caught. That's why they are being exploited.'
While some youth are hired while trying to borrow money, others are told to become runners after they join gangs.
New gang members find it hard to turn down assignments as they feel the need to prove their allegiance. 'It isn't a must, but they 'bully' new people into doing it,' said a source close to such gangs.
While they are supposed to just knock on doors, deliver warnings and spray on walls, they may do 'additionals' on their own such as smashing flowerpots.
If the debtor pays up, the youth get a cut of between 3 per cent and 5 per cent of the debt, which is typically about $2,000.But over time, many runners drop out of the job after it dawns on them that the risks outweigh the spoils.
Apart from the fear of being caught by the police, some find themselves getting beaten up by irritated debtors, who can turn out to be gangsters themselves.
The source said: 'A friend got bashed up and was bleeding all over. They're afraid of getting beaten up because if they have to go to the hospital, the police will know.'
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