Chapter 142: Just like the Os!

The atmosphere now is so familiar like the O levels. I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing but today was a good exam day although the classroom was especially stuffy because maybe Arts students have this phobia of opening windows in exams and have to survive off ventilation from four fans and two doors. Even worse, i was sitting at the back. I don’t think I did really well for Geog, being an atypical product of the TK system whereby I was trained to pour out facts and information but was not trained to think so the answers aren’t very developed for the essays.

But I’m glad they changed the geography syllabus such that it requires more argumentative proposals of facts in geography whether human or physical but undoubtedly being linked to the impact of humans on the environment. I loved the physical question about the impact of population and government on the effects of a volcanic hazard but alas I didn’t read up on my Wikipedia the night before and thus…yeah, I thought it would have been answered better if it were about the EQs.

See this is why geography is lovely. It’s earth science. You don’t only learn what’s in the earth, but you learn what’s on it (us and other spatterings of the animal kingdom and structures) and this is what interests me the most. The gaining of knowledge about how the political system in various countries work, the legislation practiced here and there, the influence of mass media, human consumerism issues all make up the important facts that we in life have to understand.

This is where human diversity plays a role which makes each individual unique yet contribute cohesively towards the betterment of humankind and also the destruction of it ironically- something highlighted in paper 2 of the GP paper. Twas a good passage that my PW group was familiar with about mcdonaldization and globalisation and its dicontents but I think it would not help at all at the atrocity of my marks. I have a chronic problem with comprehensions and changing words.

The questions for the essays were relatively simple to comprehend and I would have liked more of a challenge, something about homosexuality or capital punishment but we have not breached that subject in GP. Anyway, I think I put out an ok piece of work and my question was something about “There is no joy in growing up today. Discuss in reference to Singapore”.

Then I thought of all the dreadful thing Singapore is known for- capital punishment for drug posession, a government puppeteered by a Mr. LKY,  300% tax on cigarettes, ERP then….I realised they weren’t that relevant so I dumbed it down. I think I was bordering on anti-establishment sentiments about the government grip on society inside so, I hope the karma police don’t come. Talking about gahmen, the following is something that happened in Australia, an innocent conversation between cousin and uncle:

R:Why can’t we take the helicpoter down the mountain?

T: Because this isn’t Singapore, my helicopter’s there.

R: Why Papa?

T: Because I’m Singaporean.

R: Why are there no helicopters in Australia?

T: Because this isn’t my government?

R: Papa what’s gah- ler- men?

T: Lee Kuan Yew.

/

Cheers to the curves