A Limerick

By 2E Cheng Siu Fung

There once was a boy called Hugh
Who had a dog that was blue 
It barked at things that it saw 
Playing with them with its claws 
 Throw a bone when Hugh looks at you

A Reflective Journal on Not Waving but Drowning

by Miss S. Wong

      A reflective journal is a record of personal feelings, thoughts, experiences and insights of a student during the learning process of something. In poetry study, a reflective journal is often called an extended response. Learning  to write personal responses to poems is very useful to the secondary students, especially those who take Poems & Songs for an elective in their NSS (New Senior Secondary) studies. In the following is a reflective journal entry I wrote a couple of years back when I took a Language Arts Course in the HKIEd. 

 

Not Waving but Drowning by Stevie Smith Nobody heard him, the dead man, But still he lay moaning: I was much further out than you thought And not waving but drowning. Poor chap, he always loved larking And now he's dead It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way, They said. Oh, no no no, it was too cold always (Still the dead one lay moaning) I was much too far out all my life And not waving but drowning.

       In Stevie Smith’s Not Waving but Drowning, the poet tells the story of a man who was drowning but mistaken for waving by the onlookers and at last, not getting any help and not rescued, he died.

      Beyond the surface there is another level of meaning in the poem. ‘Dead but still alive’ is a description of some people’s situations in life. When nobody hears you, you are dead to the world. There are people close around, but nobody understands your feelings or your needs and problems. That is why the dying man complains in the third stanza that the sea is always too cold - People are too cold, too distant, too detached from one another.

     The poet has effectively painted a ridiculous scene of how someone’s cry for help is mistaken for joy. True, many people would wear a mask when going about their life: at school, in the workplace or even at home. However, it is important for them to at least have someone who cares about them and knows them well enough to see when something is going wrong in their lives. This can often be the lifeline that saves one from drowning.

     In the second stanza, there is a change in point of view from the drowned man to the onlookers. They say, ‘Now he’s dead.’ Yet another message from the poem is that there is hope in desperation: maybe the man is not quite dead. He ‘still lay moaning’. He still hopes his voice can be heard and that something which is wrong in his life can be put right.

      It is better late than never to act, to show love and kindness to each other.

Say NO to Electronic Games

By 3B Luke Chan Kwok Ho 

    Students think that playing computer games and video games is simple. Unfortunately, some students get addicted to the games and this affects their life. I think they must not play these games too frequently. If not, there will be many bad consequences waiting for them. 

    
     First of all, everyone knows that being addicted to computer or video games will make the learning results of students become poorer and poorer. For example, Alex is a genius and he was always the first in his form in primary school. But he got addicted to computer games in the secondary school. After that, he always gets the last position in his form. Of course the reason is “Games”. He always remembers computer games but forgets to do revision after school. This is the reason why he gets bad scores. 

    Secondly, games will affect the hardworking students. Another example, Alex’s friend, Tim, was a good student. But Alex asked him to play online games. After that, Tim loves the online games and becomes lazy. Students are always affected by their friends, especially in playing games. 

     Last but not least, computer and video games will affect the health of students. When students are playing games, they will forget the time and play it overnight. But they must wake up early in the morning to go to school. They do not have enough time to sleep. This affects their learning because they may feel sleepy during lessons.

    To round up, playing computer and video games isn’t bad but addiction to games will make students’ health and their learning become poorer. Suitable amount of games can make them feel relaxed, but spending too much time on games is not good.

Say No to Drugs

By 3B Chan Yat Wah

While some teenagers think that drugs can make them feel happier, I am of a different opinion. Personally, I think that taking drugs will hurt us and make us feel unhappy.
 

   First of all, drugs are harmful to our body. When people take drugs, drugs will affect our body and make the function of our body weak and slow, and finally make us die. It seems that drugs are very harmful to our body. There are many news reports about teenagers who were killed by drugs. It is very terrible!
 
   Secondly, drugs are expensive. Drugs sellers sell drugs at a high price. Young people are not rich but they want more drugs so they will ask their parents for money, and argue with them if their parents don’t give them money. They may steal things and get caught by the police and have to go to prison. It is a sad happening.
 
    Thirdly, drugs will make teenagers crazy and silly. They may fight after taking drugs. They might commit crimes after taking drugs and go to jail. Many newspapers reported teenagers fighting and destroying things after taking drugs.
 
    To round up, the above examples have clearly proved that it is harmful to take drugs. If you want to be happier, you can talk to your friends and don’t take drugs because it is too harmful.

An Unforgettable Day with My Family

by 1D  Ho Sze Tsai 

      I wish I would have an unforgettable day with my family at Christmas. That day would be fabulous!

      That morning, I would go down to the hotel's restaurant and have a buffet breakfast with my mother and father.The hotel would be inThailand, one of my undiscovered countries.

   After breakfast, I would go for a walk at the Chiang Mai Zoo.We might be amazed by the animals there. Although I have never been there, I  have already felt excited by reading the plan! I would see rare animals which are exclusive in Thailand and meet the animal tamers and learn how they tame the animals.

Tom Yam Kung



   After a refreshing visit in the zoo, I would definitely start getting hungry.I would go to eat some famous local food. I would try Tom Yam Kung or some seafood curry. All of them are spicy, so I expect to fell like a fire-breathing dragon that day! I hope I would see the chef who cooks these wonderful dishes and see how he or she cooks!Then I would like to take a nap.

Siam Satari

After the afternoon nap, I would like to go to the Siam Satari. I would see various animals in the wild setting, I would  feel like one of the animals there! Next, I would board a tour veichle and tour around the grassland.

  This Thailand trip would be amazing.There are many new things to discover in Thailand. I would be very happy with my family and also relaxed from school for a day. I'm sure it would teach me many new things!

The Internet Leads You to Success

By 5F Li Pui Him

    Nowadays, due to the improvement in technology, you can change your life within a few days because of the Internet. The reason is that you can show your talent by uploading a video of your performance to some video-sharing websites such as Youtube to let people see your talent on the Internet. With Internet access, people are not confined by time and place when obtaining entertainment. There should be little doubt that the Internet does bring us a lot of advantages.

   There are a lot of examples in which the performers became famous because of the Internet. One resounding example is Susan Boyle. She joined a talent show called Britain’s Got Talent and had a wonderful performance. After that, people uploaded her videos to Youtube and shared them with others. Within a week, millions of people watched the videos. In this case, the Internet helps performers become well-known within a short period of time as there are billions of Internet users all over the world. Also, the Internet provides talented people free promotion in order to become famous. In addition, the positive comments can give support to the performers whose confidence can be boosted and they can improve their performance after reading the audience’s advice for improvement.

   The Internet is a medium for audiences to brighten their lives since they can watch the videos and admire others’ talents. There are some benefits to the audiences while they are watching the videos. For example, they can learn from the performers including the skills for performances and they can gain inspiration from the performers’ stories and experiences. Also, the performers need someone to help them promote themselves and attract the Internet users’ attention. Therefore, audiences are very important to the performers. They can share the videos on some social networking sites such as Facebook and Weibo so that more people will know about them.

   The Internet is just like a person who shares a lot of experiences, information, knowledge, emotions with you. You can learn from them and brighten your life.