The Lottery

The themes and issues raised in this story.

1) Scapegoating.

This oftenly happens in real life, with us wanting to push the blame to another person, not wanting to suffer the consequences which the fault they caused brings. This is also shown in my life too, during the secondary 1 annual camp. During our trek to the milo slide, almost half our group got lost. Those people, who did not want to take up responsibility for misleading the group, pushed all of the blame to Samuel Ng. This is a very good example of modern day scapegoating. Usually, the scapegoater is very much less believed as majority of the people all push their blame to him, making the scapegoater the underdog in this situation.

2) The unfairness of the human society.

As many people would have at least suffered a situation in which they were put in an unfair role. unfairness is rampant. Let us get back to the story of 'The Lottery'. The lottery tickets were put in a box and gives all its participants a fair chance. You get what you pick. This is the fairest way, which is by chance. Tessie Hutchinson should not have put up a fight in being chosen as the winner of the lottery. She fairly picked that ticket, fairly got chosen, but still exclaims that the lottery was unfair. In life, not many things go according to your way.

3) Hypocrisy of man

People also tend to follow blindly what others are doing, without sparing a thought about whether it is the right thing to do. Some people may follow what others are wrongly, leading to them making the same mistake. Let us get bak to the story of, ze lottery. Tessie Hutchinson in the spotlight, again. she goes to the lottery happily, joking with the others like in any other party. However, when the results of the lottery are revealed and Tessie Hutchinson is the 'chosen one' she immediately begins to shriek, "It's not fair, it isn't right." Her change in emotions is very great. From happily arriving to participate in the lottery, to receiving a death sentence. This was what happened to Tessie Hutchinson when she drawed the 'winning ticket', she did not once stop to think if having the lottery is a bad event. She only thought of it when she was chosen to die. This point can be seen in many people, doing what others are doing, and regrets it when the consequences come in.

Well, that's all for today, the next blog post should come in a few day's time. I hope.

What are teenagers' attitudes towards studying nowadays?

How do you think that teenagers' attitude towards work has changed over the years? Well, it is quite obvious that majority of the teenagers nowadays have become lazier and more reluctant to study. They do not take the initiative to pick up their work and revise when they have nothing to do. They do their work halfheartedly and decide to close up the book even before they have finished doing it. Then, they plunge into video games. However, whenever a test nears, they would then hurriedly pick up their textbooks and do last-minute revision, hoping to get a good grade just through that one hour of revising. As my Japanese teacher once said: Children nowadays do not study unless there are tests. Her statement appears to be quite true. Why have teenagers degraded to such of today's state? Does the problem lie in video games? Parents always say that video games are the cause of why their children are not doing well, and that f they keep playing, they would get addicted very easily and neglect their studies. I, however, disagree with this point. I personally feel that the problem lies in the child himself, instead of the video games. It is because of the child's lack of discipline that is causing them to play video games endlessly, and neglecting their studies. If the child has self-discipline and says stop, after an hour or more of video games and gets back to his work after that, letting the child play is alright. The child should take control over the ame, rather than let the game control him.Most studying children lack this basic skill. That is why their grades are dropping and they are spending more time on the computer playing games. So, parents should stop blaming video games over their child's grades. They should instead, allow the child to exercise self-control. If this fails, Then, should video games be cut down. The child should also be willing to do self-revision. I guess if these measures are taken, the child would not only excel in his studies, but also be able to set some time aside for relaxation. As the saying goes: All work no play makes Jack a dull boy. So, instead of cutting out the child completely free of video games, let him enjoy a little, and see if he can exercise this small little thing called self-discipline.

Taxi Stand abused.

When the government first installed taxi stands within the Central business District, it was hailed as a solution to the road safety issue caused by the stopping and lane changing of taxis within our busy city centre. However, very few or none of these taxi stands are operational. The taxi drivers have reverted into their old ways: stopping anywhere they wish, to drop of and pick up passengers without a care for other road users. Even worse, some of the taxi and van drivers use these taxi stands for convenient "free" parking lots! Why aren't there anybody who wants to report this abusive act to the authorities? Taxi stands are meant for taxis only, and not for other forms of vehicles to use them as free parking lots. Is it because that the electronic road pricing is to expensive? If it really is, I don't see whats the problem in taking public transport. Maybe they feel that taking public transport pulls down their social status, but actually, no one really cares about whether or not you take the public transport. To me, I think that the problem lies in the people who misuse the taxi stands.

Strange phobias that you might be interested in knowing.

1) Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia- The fear of the number 666.
2) Somniphobia- The fear of going to sleep.
3) Aquaphobia- The fear of water
4) Ichtyophobia- The fear of eating fish
5) Neophobia- The fear of trying new things.
6) Anthropophobia- The fear of people
7) Agoraphobia- The fear of going to public places.
8) Trichophobia- The fear of loose hair on clothing.
9) Tetraphobia- The fear of the number 4
10) Xenophobia- The fear of people from other countries
11) Nyctophobia- Extreme fear of the dark.
12) Gephyrophobia- The fear of bridges.
13) Bathophobia- The fear of depths
14) Phagophobia- The fear of swallowing.
15) Heliophobia- The fear of sunlight
16) Ergophobia- The fear of work.
17) Gynophobia- The fear of women
18) Caligynephobia- The fear of beautiful women.
19) Androphobia- The fear of men
20)Gerascophobia- The fear of growing old.

Well, these are all the phobias that I think are quite interesting, feel free to check them out at Wikipedia or any search engine.

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th is not actually an unlucky day. I suppose that many people who have heard of Friday the 13th is through friends or books. But have you ever paused to wonder, why is this particular date counted as unlucky? Well, it is very strange for one person, Rossini. He believed that Friday and the number 13, were unlucky. And spookily, he died on those very dates! Friday the 13th!!! Very, very, spooky. And for the 13th, Friday has the most number of 13's throughout the years! For 2009, the months which have Friday the 13th are: February, March and November.

Strange events that happened/will happen on this date: 1) Continental Airlines Flight 3407 crashed into a house in New York on Thursday 12th February, , resulting in a fire burning till Friday, 13th February resulting in 50 dead. 2) The asteroid, 2004 MN4 will make its first close encounter with Planet Earth on Friday, 13th of April, 2029. It is expected that this asteroid will be very bright and super hot, which will be visible from Africa, Asia and Europe. It has obtained the highest level of possibility of hitting the Earth. If it does, the impact equivalent will be to 880 MEGATONS of TNT. The eruption of Mount Krakatoa was only equivalent to roughly 200 megatons. Everything within a thousand square kilometers in its path will be destroyed and asia will experience tsunamis of up to 30 meters tall!!!


FYI: The term used for the phobia of Friday, the 13th is Paraskavedekatriaphobia.

Robbers turn on bus driver when he steps to the rescue.

Two robbers, pretending to be passengers, boarded SBS Transit Service 160 at the Kotaraya Terminal in Johor Baru on Tuesday. But just as the bus neared the Malaysian Customs Checkpoints at about 3.45p.m., the two robbers decided that it was time to act. The duo whipped out parangs and attempted to rob a middle-aged Chinese woman passenger. Frightened by the thought that the robbers would harm her, she shouted for help. Upon hearing this, the bus driver immediately slammed on the brakes. He turned round and warned the two robbers, believed to be in their 30's, to halt what they were doing. However, his act of heroism infuriated the robbers, making them turn on him instead. They took his wallet which contained RM$260 ($108) and $40. Not content, the two robbers allegedly slashed him several times on the arm and shoulder before fleeing on foot. The bus driver sustained a deep gash on his left wrist and a fracture. He was treated at a nearby hospital and his condition is now stable. The Malaysian police confirmed the incident and are now already in the process of identifying suspects. From this incident, we can derive the fact that money is in fact, the root of all evil. If it were not for the money, those two robbers would not have done such a criminal act. It is also because of money, that people have become bolder in their actions, robbing jewellery stalls or even large banks. With money, comes the point of a limit. Do rich people have a limit in which they feel that they have enough money for the rest of their lives and wants to retire? Only the minority feels that way. Majority of people wants now, is to earn more money. A million is never enough, ten million? They still want more. They only think of themselves, and how they themselves can enjoy the luxuries that money brings, never sparing a thought for those less fortunate people somewhere out there in the world, who thank god even if they manage to find a dead bird which they can eat. If those rich misers would even care to donate a portion of their money out to help these less fortunate people, the world would become a more wonderful and heart-warming one. So, money is in fact, not the key to happiness, but the key to greed, selfishness and destruction.

Boss unconcerned over workers' safety, worker loses his left leg and right foot.

Mr Abu Bakar Evos, a former worker of Likok recycling firm, lost his left leg and right foot in a workplace accident. However, this incident could have been prevented if the company's manager abode to workplace safety regulations. It all happened at a paper compacter, where workers needed to enter it about 10 times a day to change paper, remove excess paper or paper jams. They were told to use a PVC pipe or their legs to clear the jam. But each time the machine's door was opened, the sensor would be triggered and the electricity would be cut off. It took time for the machine to power up after workers were done and closed the door. This greatly affected productivity and used up more electricity. So, the manager instructed workers to install metal strips over the sensors so that it will not shut down when the door is opened. But the workers were also instructed to switch the machine from automatic to manual before entering it so that the ram used to crush paper into compact bales would not move when they were in the machine. On one fateful day, Mr Abu Bakar Evos, went into the machine and used his foot to clear the paper that was stuck. But, he lost his footing and fell into a chute where paper is fed into the machine. Sensors where activated and the metal hydraulic ram roared to life and sped towards the frantic Abu Bakar. He attempted to hoist himself out of the chute but was not fast enough. His left leg and right foot were smashed into the wall by the merciless ram. The company and its manager were charged in court with failing to ensure that the machinery was safe for the workers. I am utterly disgusted at the company, risking its workers' safety for his own profits. I hope that after reading an incident like that, companies will care more about their workers' safety to prevent a similar incident from happening



Point to ponder : Is it really the company's fault? Or was it just due to Mr Abu Bakar's carelessness?