My visit to Singapore Air Force Open House

This is quite an exciting thing to write about, as I am just back to Eton hall after spending 8 hours from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm in the Paya Lebar Air Base and totally exhausted physically and thrilled mentally. I even feel surreal about what happened in the daytime today. After all, I really have no idea what word on earth should I use to describe my feelings after seeing F-15,F-16, Apache, C-130,S-70 and so many other famous aircrafts which only have appeared in my favorite magazines for so many years?
At first I was quite worried whether foreigners like me can participate in such activities as things related to Air Force are often classified and may not open to foreigners. However, I thought even they did not allow me to go inside, I can see something outside as they could not block the sight of fighters flying anyway. To my surprise, it turned out that, during the whole visiting, I was not even asked to show any identity. All I had was a security check at the entrance. Considering the large scale of the open house, it must have cost a lot of money for the air force, but the activity is absolutely free, which also surprised me. What surprised me more is that all aircrafts of the air force, ranging from the antique F-5 to the air force’s most advanced F-15SG, are open to public to see, touch, hug or whatever action one likes as long as it does not damage the machine. I even wore the flight helmet of F-16. Another notable thing is that all the pilots and military experts (people who do the maintenance of the aircrafts) are remarkably friendly and patient to answer all questions you raised on spot. The climax was the aerial display, during which the mighty fighters F-15 and F-16 past by us roaring all the way and the helicopters CH-47 and Apache hovering above us. The shock to me was beyond description and I can feel all cells of my body trembling with excitement. All these things that used to happen in films or magazines are happening right in front of my own eyes!
However, everything has a price. I only managed to get back to Eton Hall at 9:00 pm with my neck dragging all exhausted parts of my body below my neck. Another price is that I seem to have my skin burned after its exposure to serious sunshine for the whole daytime. Anyway, I would sincerely like to have more such prices to pay for such fabulously wonderful experience. For me, this is the best day in Singapore, absolutely. Thank you, RSAF!

Save forest, save the earth

Countless species were extinct due to human’s encroachment to their habitats and thousands of other species are under threat of extinction. It is a great cost of civilization and industrialization and if we do not change this trend, the consequences are beyond imagination.

Forests have been disappearing at the highest speed among all biomes led by human’s activities, and forest has the richest biodiversity among all biomes. This unfortunate combination makes the loss of forests lead to an enormous disaster to the animals live in forests. According to our ‘Quest 3’, each plant’s disappearing “may take with it as many as 30 insects and animals that depend on it for food.

Ignoring the great function of maintaining the variety of species forests have, people are always short-sighted. Though the campaign of replant trees have been launched, forests are lost at a speed way faster than they are plant. One of the biggest problems is, some people or countries are not aware of the importance of forests or they only focus on their own short-term profit but do not care about the forests or environment. As the example Mr. Lim gave us, despite western countries give Indonesia billions of dollar ask them to remain the forest, Indonesia still cut down tracts as large as Singapore of forests every day. As the owner of one of the most extensive and biological diverse forests in the world, Indonesia should learn to treasure it, not to ruin it.

People are concern about environment and saving the earth nowadays. But what have been done now is far from enough. The effort to reserve and rebuilt is much less than the power of destruction. We must make more effort to protect the forests, to give our earth a future.

Why are many species facing extinction?

As we all know, there are numerous kinds of species facing extinction. Looking into the reasons, I have to admit that the natural environment have influenced their selection to some degree; however, the main reason is humans’ destruction.
Firstly, humans are changing the Earth every second; therefore, the animals’ habitats are altered all the time. If the changes of the natural environment occur in a slow speed, there will not be any impact on the species. However, in contrast, there is not enough time for species to adjust themselves to the new environment if the changes occur in a very fast speed. The pollution of the sea animals’ habitats and the change of the global climate apparently demonstrate that humans’ activities have already destroyed every region of the world, especially in the past several decades. Besides, the exotic species destroy the balance of the native ecosystem. During the lengthy period of time, the native species like plants and animals have already become a part of the specific landscape. They are well adapted to their local environment and are accustomed to other native species. However, after humans bringing exotic species to the area, the balance of the ecosystem will be disrupted and may lead to other serious consequences at the same time. Moreover, humans’ overexploitation also contributes to the extinction of species. With the development of the society, humans spare no effort to satisfy themselves such as eating shark fin. Because of its delicious taste, people cruelly capture these species. And the rising of the market demands directly leads to the continuous suffering of exploitation.
To sum up, many species face the extinction because of humans’ activities. We really should do something to protect them. It is urgent for us to realize that protecting the species in the world is making contribution to ourselves and our later generations.

blog ten: divorce or not

Six days ago when we start our topic endangered species, we discussed about the divorce. On the lesson one, I did want to say my own point about the divorce since I saw some terrible marriage on TV with parents bearing each other only because of their children, which I cannot understand at all. Here, I mean those parents who fail to pretend to create a harmonious family for their children. 

First, a child does not mean love forever. I do not deny that child is the combination of the love between parents. And some people regard their children as the evidence of love and hope this kind of love could stay long.But child did not mean the existence of love anyway except the special period of time in my opinion. Since nobody could predict the future , how could control what would happen such like the lack of love between their parents? Then, a terrible relationship is more harmful to children. I do not agree that single parent could always bring negative effects. And I totally insist that it is more helpful for the growth of children with single parent than necessary to create the complete family for them. The endless quarrel is totally devil which leads children to suffer much. 

Maybe some people would say it is selfish if the parents divorce without thinking about their children. it is true that human did be selfish somehow. However, when people meet such situation, I think it is far from selfish because everyone has right to pursue their ideal life and should do so without hesitation. 

these are all my thoughts. What is yours? 

Are zoos good for animals
Because human beings develop their technology and expend their space, wild space is becoming smaller and smaller. Animals are distinct in a very fast speed. Some people say that zoos can help to protect the endangered animals. But it cannot solve the problem thoroughly. Animals should live in the wild, not in cages. Zoos limit the freedom of animals and let the animals loss their survival skills. For this reason, animals will not be able to go back to the wild. Though some of the endangered animals are protected, it makes little sense to the whole.
Besides, there are some people use zoos to earn money deviously. For example, once I saw a video about a zoo in China. Near the zoo there was a restaurant, where people could buy tiger meat. We all know it is illegal to eat tiger, but where the tigers from. Journalist found that the tigers were offered by the zoo. Workers in the zoo maltreat the tigers and did not give them food, so that the tigers would die quickly. As a result, they can sell them for their own profit. This is so cruel for the tigers.
The best way to protect animals is to increase people’s awareness about protecting the natural environment, then animals can be really protected.

The college entrance examination system is necessary
One month later the college entrance examination will start in China. One year ago we were busy preparing our examination. It was really a struggling period. Just because of the stress and tire caused by the college entrance examination, many people think the examination should be canceled. But in my opinion, the college entrance examination is necessary.
Firstly, China is a large country. There are lots of students compete for opportunities of work. We need a standard to select the outstanding persons. The college entrance examination right provides a relatively fair competition platform for students. Secondly, since the college examination is difficult for students to get a good result, students need to be intelligent, hardworking, patient and ambitious. So the people who have these personalities can be selected generally. Thirdly, the college entrance examination can ensure that the knowledge level of the students is high enough. Then our country can have a better future.
Some people may say, they have abilities, so that though they cannot study well, they can have a bright future. But I think study is a work which can test one’s abilities. Young people should experience this trial, so that they can have a better volition and their other personalities can also be developed.For these reasons, I think the college entrance examination is necessary

separation



During my eighteen years of life, I have seen and gone through quite a few separations, like separating from my parents, teachers or roommates, departing from home, leaving high school after graduation or breaking up with friends. I feel depressed every time I have to face separation, maybe because something I feel will exist forever is suddenly coming to an end. We suppose it will be a long time before anything changes, but actually departure is just around the corner.

Two weeks later, our bridging course of English will come to an end and it also means our Group 6 will separate. We have been together studying Englishfor more than 5 months. It is nearly half a year, but I still feel time is quite short for us to get to know each other. When I first started the bridging course, I thought it was quite a long time, but now it seems time flies so fast and just in a twinkling, the course is near the end. Moreover, only after two months, we will finish all bridging courses including c programming and economy course. Then we SM3 students will be distributed to different faculties and halls and it also indicates the present big community of 19^th batch SM3 students will no longer exist.We no longer attend the same lectures and may hardly meet each other afterwards.

I always feel sad when thinking about separation in the near future or maybe I am a little pessimistic. We do not have many “half a year” to make new friends, so I quite value every relationship with people around me. However, separation, on the other hand, also marks the start of new stage of life. We will see different beautiful scenery and make new lovely friends in the next stage of life journey. I just hope we can value every person we meet during the journey, for it is so lucky to meet each other among crowds of people.