Friday, 7 May 2010

Vocabulary: Take It Down a Thou(sand)!

Do you read finance news? Every day I wake up in the morning, I will switch on the computer and scan through all finance news. Whenever I pick up an English newspaper, the Business page is always the first page I read. As a result, I learn lots of financial terms.

Like I have always stressed on the importance of variety, and today, I read an article on Bloomberg.com that is masterfully written as it demonstrates the use of variety.

Image from The Globe and Mail

Please read the following article and note that the words in bold:

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U.S., Asia Stocks Tumble as Debt Concern Spurs Electronic Rout

By Darren Boey

May 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks tumbled the most in a year as waves of computerized trading exacerbated a selloff triggered by Europe’s debt crisis, sparking a slide in Asian shares.

The rout briefly erased more than $1 trillion in U.S. market value as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 1,000 points, a 9.2 percent plunge that was its biggest intraday percentage loss since 1987 and largest point drop ever, before paring declines. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index tumbled 2.7 percent as of 11:57 a.m. in Tokyo. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 1.5 percent. Markets began to stabilize with Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rising 0.5 percent and the euro gaining 2.7 percent against the yen on speculation policy makers from the Group of Seven nation’s will act to stem contagion from Greece’s fiscal crisis. “People are selling in a panic,” said Hisakazu Amano, who helps oversee the equivalent of $22 billion at T&D Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “Investors will put money back into risk assets when the Greece issues cool down.”

U.S. stocks were pummeled yesterday amid concerns debt problems will infect other countries in Europe. Computerized trading sent to electronic networks turned the decline into a rout, prompting scrutiny from U.S. regulators. The Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. said it will cancel trades of stocks that moved more than 60 percent. New York Stock Exchange spokesman Rich Adamonis said “there were a number of erroneous trades.”

Japan’s Nikkei was headed for its lowest close since March 5, with companies reliant on European exports leading declines. South Korea’s Kospi Index sank 1.8 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.5 percent, led by HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest bank.

Futures Advance

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 1.3 percent to 935.83, extending this week’s retreat to 8.3 percent, the biggest decline since Feb. 20, 2009.

Futures on the S&P 500 Index rose 0.5 percent to 1,127.70. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell as much as 8.6 percent, its biggest intraday plunge since December 2008, before closing down 3.2 percent at 1,128.15. The Dowaverage closed 3.2 percent lower at 10,520.32. It was the biggest percentage drop on a closing basis since April 20, 2009, for both measures.

The euro rose against the yen and the dollar after Japanese Finance MinisterNaoto Kan said G-7 nations will discuss Greece’s fiscal woes in a conference call today following the slump in stocks. The euro strengthened to 117.43 yen from 114.32 yesterday in New York, when it reached 110.70, the lowest since December 2001. Europe’s currency climbed to $1.2694 from $1.2620.

‘Some Relief’

Treasuries fell, paring the steepest weekly gain in eight months as U.S. stock futures rose, eroding demand for the relative safety of the nation’s debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose five basis points to 3.44 percent, according to BGCantor Market Data. The 3.625 percent security due February 2020 fell 3/8, or $3.75 per $1,000 face amount, to 101 17/32.

“There’s some relief in the flight to quality,” said Tomohisa Fujiki, an interest-rate strategist in Tokyo at BNP Paribas Securities Japan Ltd. The company’s U.S. branch is one of 18 primary dealers that trade government debt with the Federal Reserve.

Crude oil rose 0.4 percent to $77.42 a barrel, paring the biggest weekly decline in 10 months. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange lost as much as 2.7 percent to $6,760 a metric ton, and traded at $6,780. Europe’s debt crisis dragged prices down by 8.8 percent this week, the most since the week ending Dec. 5, 2008.

To contact the reporter for this story: Darren Boey at in Hong Kong ordboey@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 7, 2010 00:00 EDT

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Most people reading this will be overwhelmed by this terrible news and the situation, but I am impressed! I now copy those bold words from the article and list them below:

tumbled
exacerbated a selloff
sparking a slide
erased more than $1 trillion in U.S. market value
plunge
biggest intraday percentage loss
largest point drop
declines
slumped
People are selling in a panic
U.S. stocks were pummeled
turned the decline into a rout
Japan’s Nikkei was headed for its lowest close since March 5
extending this week’s retreat to 8.3 percent
fell
paring the steepest weekly gain
eroding
dragged prices down

Look at just how many different ways there are to express the meaning "down"!!! Amazing, isn't it?

So the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell almost a 1000 points! If you were watching the charts on your computer monitor at moment, I suppose you might be having a cardiac arrest!

Image from AP

Here's a joke I invented just a minute ago,

I'm imagining Marcus, a guy who had invested his entire life-savings into the US stock market, having a cardiac arrest while witnessing the market plunging, and Dude was trying to save his sorry friend's life by offering him a CPR (or Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in length).

Dude shouted,
"Damn, Marcus! Damn!"

Due to the lack of oxygen, Marcus' hearing was impeded, so instead of hearing his own name, he heard "Markets".

"Damn, Markets! Damn!"

With all his will, Marcus took his breath of life and asked Dude,
"How... bad ... is it now?"

His friend Dude, still shocked after seeing his good friend collapsed, didn't hear the words and continued to press Marcus' chest,
"Damn, Marcus (Markets)! Stay with me!"
"How... bad ... now?", Marcus murmured.
"Damn! Marcus (Markets)! Take it down a thousand, man!" Dude shouted.

Over-shocked, Marcus collapsed again. His breathing stopped and he had no pulse. Dude had learnt his CPR well so he knew that his chest or abdominal compression had to be rhythmic, so he did the counting while performing the compressions. Just before Marcus' brain stopped functioning, he heard Dude shouting,

"Damn! Markets! 1000! 2000! 3000!"

Will-less, Marcus pushed up daisies.

Vocabulary:
tumble -- [I] to fall a lot in value in a short time
exacerbate -- (vb) [T] to make something which is already bad worse
plunge -- (vb) [I or T usually + adverb / prep] to (cause someone or something to) move or fall suddenly and often a long way forward, down or into something
pummel -- [T] to hit someone or something repeatedly, especially with your fists (=closed hands)
rout -- (n) [C] defeat
retreat -- (n) [C usually singular U] a move back by soldiers or an army, either because they have been defeated or in order to avoid fighting
pare -- (vb) [T often + adverb / prep ] to reduce something, especially by a large amount
erode -- (vb)[I or T] to slowly reduce or destroy
impede -- (vb) [T formal] to slow down or cause problems for the achievement or finishing of something
murmur -- (vb) [I or T] to speak or say very quietly
Take it down a thousand -- calm down

abdominal -- (adj) related to lower part of a person's or animal's body, which contains the stomach, bowels and other organs, or the end of an insect's body
rhythmic -- (adj) describes a sound with a regular movement or beat which is repeated

"Will-less" -- (adj) [improper & derived] derived from the word, wilful, will-less will thus mean, having no will to live in this case.
push up daisies -- (slang) To be dead and buried

Resources:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=azryYMcqKWQ4&pos=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiopulmonary_resuscitation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_arrest
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/tumble_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/exacerbate
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/plunge_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pummel
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rout_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/retreat_3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pare
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/erode
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/impede
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/murmur_1
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/take+it+down+a+thou!
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/abdomen
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rhythmic
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/wilful
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/push+up+daisies

Wednesday, 5 May 2010

Song: She's the One -- Robbie Williams

Since I am teaching many song listening lessons this week, might as well recommend more songs.

"Locky's actually too busy to do his research! Lame excuse!"

Alright, alright... my bad! But having a nice song for learning (accent, linkings, etc.) once in a while isn't a bad thing.

So, this is the man in focus today, Robbie Williams

Image from Why Fame

A British singer, actor, songwriter, musician and ex-boy band member of Take That, it is apparent that Robbie Williams is packed with talents, but his life hasn't been easy. Throughout his life, he has been battling with mental illness, obesity, self-esteem issues, alcoholism, and substance(drug) abuse. Even so, he has been charitable and has set up a charity in his home town to help the people in disadvantage.

Image from AllMusicLoad

Released in October 1998 in the album, I've Been Expecting You, "She's the One" was Williams' favourite song after his time in rehab. Becoming his second number-one hit in the United Kingdom, the song went on to win a number of awards around the world, including a BRIT Award for 'Single of the Year' and a Capital Radio Award for 'Best Single'.

Image from The Time of My Life

The song begins with a slow, romantic tempo piano and very soft vocal, and gradually speed up as the electric guitar comes in in the middle, his vocal picks up strength and feeling starts to muster. Energy and passion are pushed to the climax near the end of the song and back down again in the final two lines.

There are two different interpretations for this song.

With relevance to this rehab, "calling me on" means to visit Robbie for a short time in his rehab.
Without relevance to this rehab, "calling me on" means the same as "call on sb", meaning to ask someone in a formal way to do something, which could further mean, "want him or in need of him".

Which version do you prefer?

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She's the One -- Robbie Williams

I was her she was me
We were one we were free
And if there's somebody calling me on
She's the one
If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one

We were young we were wrong
We were fine all along
If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one

When you get to where you wanna go
And you know the things you wanna know
You're smiling
When you said what you wanna say
And you know the way you wanna play, yeah
You'll be so high you'll be flying

Though the sea will be strong
I know we'll carry on
'Cos if there's somebody calling me on
She's the one
If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one

When you get to where you wanna go
And you know the things you wanna know
You're smiling
When you said what you wanna say
And you know the way you wanna say it
You'll be so high you'll be flying

I was her she was me
We were one we were free
If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one
If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one

If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one
Yeah she's the one
If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one
She's the one
If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one
She's the one

If there's somebody calling me on
She's the one

She's the one..

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Vocabulary:
Lame -- (adj) (especially of an excuse or argument) weak and unsatisfactory
Rehab -- (n) [U] the process of helping someone to stop taking drugs or alcohol
vocal -- (n) [C usually plural] the singing in a piece of popular music
muster -- (vb) [I or T] to produce or encourage especially an emotion or support

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Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_williams
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I've_Been_Expecting_You
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She's_the_One_(World_Party_song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDOjb3C39Lk
http://www.lyrics007.com/Robbie%20Williams%20Lyrics/She's%20The%20One%20Lyrics.html
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/call-in-on-sb#call-in-on-sb__2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/call-on-sb#call-on-sb__2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rehab

Monday, 3 May 2010

Vocabulary: Men's World

Good articles take long time to write, and great ones take even longer because of the amount of researches one needs to do. I have a few more great topics on hand, but I will need to be rather free to get those done. For those of you who like my articles on Singapore, a big thank to you!

Image from Time.com

An article published on the New York Magazine on the 21st Mar 2010 titled "What If Women Ran Wall Street? Testosterone and Risk" has created a big impact and responses have been pouring into the internet. Well yeah, it is finance stuff, but it is worth reading it. It has very good insights on men's behaviour, which brings up my focus today.

In the past, people in the UK use words like chap/chappie/chappy, cove, guv, to call a man in general.

Now, they use mate, which could also mean friend.

In the US, words such guy, dude, feller/fella and Mac are more common, but if they are annoying you, you call him pal.

A man who looks ordinary is called a bloke.
A man who is old and unusual in some way is called geezer in the UK.
An old man is called a gaffer.
A stupid or silly old man is called a buffer.

A young man is called a lad or laddie (Scottish English).
MJ saw himself as Peter Pan as mentioned in an interview, well, that is not because he can fly around, but because it means a man who never seems to look older even he is no longer young.

As oppose to housewife, House husband, a man who stays at home and cleans the house, takes care of the children, etc. while his wife goes out to work.

Is a house husband good or bad? Depends.

But definitely bad are men who hates women and think they are much better than women, thus we have misogynist, macho man and male chauvinist / pig.

Image from Huffington Post

As for a word to describe men in the article "What If Women Ran Wall Street? Testosterone and Risk", suit seems to fit best, as it means a man who works in an office and wears a suit, especially a man with a high position in a company who is considered not to have human feelings and good ideas.

Saturday, 1 May 2010

Travelling and Living: Locky's Top 10 Food & Drinks in Singapore

Image from Terence's Sphere

Hello guys! Still very busy and I am still trying to find time to answer your grammar questions, so hope you don't mind.

Hope you have read "Travelling and Living: Locky's Top 10 Photo Shooting Places in Singapore", coz we are going to talk about dining this time. If you have some ideas where I have introduced in the earlier article, it would be of great help in terms of knowing where the food might be.

Actually, this is going to be a very difficult page to write, because I have to gain a balance between the types of food as well as the taste. The price also matters. Anyway, I will try my best.

We will still need the map.

Image from SMRT

Locky's Top 10 Food & Drinks in Singapore

Image from Rice Cake Confessional

Fresh Sugar Cane Juice with Lime (Anywhere in Singapore)

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Image from Rice Cake Confessional

Roti Prata with or without Curry (Anywhere in Singapore)

You know I am a curry lover, so the curry in Singapore isn't very special in my opinion. That doesn't mean that the curry isn't nice though. I am just saying that I can find the curry I like in Hong Kong, which I will possibly recommend in the future. But not now. The focus here is the roti prata, and I have never found any roti prata coming close to the quality of it in Singapore! The flakiness, the chewiness, and most importantly, the temperature, make the roti prata just always taste better! You might be sitting down by the side of the road or in a stuffy hot hawker centre, and your back in sweating like dog, but ...maybe it's due to the hot weather in Singapore... the roti prata is always hot the moment you put it into your mouth. Nice~! They come in a few taste, original, butter, garlic, buttter and garlic. They all taste great!

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Image from Aroma Cookery

Nasi Biryani (Indian stores of any food court)

Rice, rice, rice! Indian rice! I love that filling feeling of rice in my stomach, and this colourful Indian rice with chicken, mutton, vegetables or fish always saves the day! Personally, I like mutton, but chicken leg is a safer choice as the mutton is often too dry and too hard. It is served both with or without curry, mostly your own preference, and it almost always has a piece of banana leaf at the bottom of the plate. Just for decoration sake really, because the taste of the leaf will not be released until you bake them, which is never done in this case.

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Image from ST Reader's Choice

Bak Kut Teh (Try your luck)

After the rice, have a sip of the famous Singapore Bak Kut Teh, a soup made from pork ribs and Chinese herbs. The smell of the soup is usually so strong that you know you can find it before you actually see it. Whether it tastes good or not, you need to try your luck. Since there aren't too many choices of soup in Singapore, the store owners usually cook this soup well.

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Image from laksa.com

Laksa (Almost every food court)

A little hot, a little spicy, but extremely rich in coconut milk. Crunchy bean sprouts, fish cakes, shrimps, tofu puffs and the most symbolic of all, (blood) cockles / blood clams. Never disappointing anywhere you have this in Singapore. The most important thing is, hot, hot and hot! If the soup isn't hot, you have found a bad store!

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Image from Shimmertje

Barbecued Stingray (Try your luck)

Oh boy! Oh boy! I should have put this to be the number one! How could I have missed this? This fish may not look too pretty, and I suppose many Australians dislike it, but the taste is just simply irresistible! Hold on! I'm not saying that it will taste good no matter how you cook it! You MUST have Sambal Chili sauce applied on top of the fish and then have it rolled up with banana leaf before you put it over the fire! Lime to push the taste of this dish to the max!

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Image from Khairul Today

Teh Tarik (Almost everywhere)

Available in every food court and cafe, this "pulled tea" is not only good to taste, but also nice to watch. Made from black tea and condensed milk, most evaporated-milk fans do not fancy this taste, but if you have nothing against condensed milk, give it a try! You might even see locals drinking it from a plastic bag or from a condensed milk cans with a string!!!

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Photo from Sixth Seal

Hainanese Chicken Rice (Try your luck)

After the soup, now rice again! Singapore is well-known for its Hainanese Chicken Rice. Despite the name refers to Hainan China, Singaporeans consider this dish as their very own. The presentation of this dish differs from place to place, but a Singaporean Hainanese Chicken Rice must consist of chicken, chicken oil steamed rice, cucumber slices, chili sauce and dark soya sauce. The taste ... mostly average, but you do find surprises occasionally. In Hong Kong, you can have a taste of this dish too! Tsim Sha Tsui and Cityplaza's Food Republic is owned by a Singapore company.

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Photo from Yebber Singapore

D24 Durian (As long as you can find)

Durian lovers never miss their chances, and neither do I. Singapore's D24 durians come in top 3 positions of my must-eat-fruits list (only after Thailand's durians and Thailand's Nam Dok Mai mangoes). If you like durian, I guess you don't need me to tell you more about D24. Hm..... maybe I can write another entry on durian next time!!! Great idea!!!

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Image from camemberu.com

Black Pepper Crab (Try your luck)

Frankly speaking, I am not a crab person, but Singapore's black pepper crab is so famous for a reason. And if you want to understand why, you have to try it for yourself. One thing is for sure, they are really really fresh!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Republic

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2010/01/fruit-thai-mango-ma-muang.html

Thursday, 29 April 2010

Song: Quando Quando Quando -- Engelbert Humperdinck

Image from Pixhost.ws

Okay, a few things are involved today.

One, I am working very very slowly because I was down with a cold and my brain wasn't functioning too well.

Two, work is pilling up as usual, thus the delay of this entry (sorry guys!)

Three, I actually managed to wake up last night to witness my favourite football team Inter Milan qualified for the final of the UEFA Champions League (Congratulazioni Nerazzurri!!!!) after 38-year's of wait! Great tactics!!!Just can't have enough of it!

Four, because of this, I kept seeing Heineken beer TV ads appearing every now and then, which reminds me of a funny commercial and a great song! Hence, today's entry:

Image from Popsop.com

There are two versions of the Heineken ad (hope you still remember them):

Version One -- Dropping

Version Two -- Shaking

The song, Quando Quando Quando sung by Engelbert Humperdinck, was originally an Italian pop song from 1962, meaning "When? When? When?" Many other singers have sung this song, but in my opinion, never is there a rendition as cool or as chic as Humperdinck's.

Image from Steveaho.com

The internationally famous pop music singer of the 1960s and 1970s has almost made every song he sings top the charts, and "Quando Quando Quando" is just one of his many many. I guess you can describe his vocal as husky, magnetic, seasoned and charming.

Again, a very simple song, with actually not many new words to learn, but the feelings told the story of the song is still so clear! In just a few lines, the entire picture is portrayed -- A man wants to ask his love one to marry him because he has been waiting all so painfully long, and now he must have her to say "yes" to him. This is certainly one beautiful song which demonstrate class! Enjoy the song and listen for the accent!

Quando Quando Quando -- Engelbert Humperdinck

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Tell me when will you be mine

Tell me Quando Quando Quando

We can share a love divine

Please don't make me wait again

When will you say yes to me

Tell me Quando Quando Quando

You mean happiness to me

Oh my love please tell me when

Every moment's a day, every day seems a lifetime

Let me show you the way to a dream beyond compare

I can't wait a moment more

Tell me Quando Quando Quando

Say it's me that you adore

And my darlin' tell me when

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Monday, 26 April 2010

News Article: Alarm as kids say yes to compensated dating

Alarm as kids say yes to compensated dating

Kaylene Hong

Monday, April 26, 2010

Hong Kong school students - including those in primary school - hold an alarming attitude of acceptance towards compensated dating, according to a survey.

Around 5 percent of Primary Five and Six students polled said they would find it acceptable for a friend to be paid for having a meal with someone, or having their pictures taken in exchange for money.

About 1 percent said it would be fine to have sexy or naked pictures taken and have intimate physical or sexual contact in exchange for payment.

The survey, conducted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church, polled 1,110 children in Primary Five to Secondary Three.

About 15 percent of Secondary One to Three students saw nothing wrong with a friend being paid for having a meal with someone, and about 12 percent thought it fine to get money in exchange for having their pictures taken.
Around 5 to 7 percent said they were willing to have sexy or naked pictures taken, as well as having intimate physical - and even sexual - contact.

"This is a very worrying trend. I had expected the number to be zero, but the figure is around 5 percent," center-in-charge Keswick Chuk Wing-hung said, referring to the percentage of primary schoolchildren who are willing to have a meal with someone for money.

Chuk said children at such a young age should be untainted.

"However, with all the information booming now, especially on the internet, there is a big gap between exposure to the real world and the education given," he said.

The group said sex education in primary school should be strengthened.

An 11-year-old boy surnamed Tsang studying in Primary Five said he had once searched for animal films on the internet but the results displayed "compensated dating" video clips as well.

"I was very nervous then and I deleted the website immediately," he said.________________________________________________________________________

Opinions:
Too much or too little? It could be too much --

too much porn: porn sites, porn movies and adult magazines are all accessible to anybody;
too much luxury: handbags, clothes, shoes, cosmetics and apartments are all so glittering; kids get what they want from parents easily;
too much influence: peer pressure, media propaganda.
too much time: children have too much time after school and thus exposing more to the above.

Or it could be too little --

too little time: parents too busy with work;
too little care: parents expect kids can learn everything in schools, expect no further education needed at home;
too little conversation: parents tired out after work and are unwilling to talk; see generation gap and reluctant to tackle it; no talk no family teaching;
too little love: parents have more cash than love, thus think that materials can replace absence of love.

Or it could be both. Who is to blame? Maybe the society, maybe everybody, every family has different problems and thus no situation applies to all cases, but if this happens in your family, you should be the first one to blame. Why? Because you have made a very wrong assumption, and that assumption is "every kid will grow up to be a good person".

What is good? How do each family define good? Some people say, "good means good enough". How should we measure enough then? Able to pass 1 or 2 subjects in school? Able to play 2 musical instruments? What I can see is that kids are much more mature nowadays in terms of their exposure to the world than they were 10 or 20 years ago, but at the same time, have less guidance from their parents or senior members of the family across the decade or two. The internet boom has contributed immensely to this trend, as it has allowed information to pour into the virtual world, both good and bad ones. Human interactions have changed drastically since then. Snail mails to emails, phone chat to instant messaging. Hard to say whether interpersonal relationships are strengthened or weakened, but faster communication means have definitely pushed up expectations in the business world to work more efficiently to keep up with the speedy internet world. And so, the faster businesses run, the larger demand for man power, the less time there is for the family.

Unless you are extremely rich, most of my students in Hong Kong spend less time with their parents and kids as compared to they did 10, 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Still being told are the old tales about how they spent time with their next-door childhood friends watching a richer neighbour's black-and-white TV through their steel gate, or about how they looked out for one another by carrying buckets of water from a water truck and walking up 3 to 4 storeys during a water ration, but hardly any such neighbourhood interactions can be seen nowadays. During those days, kids lived closely with parents, parents watched every single step their kids made and punished their kids harshly if they sidetracked. Good or bad depends on which time frame you are viewing from, that is, if you were still in the 1960s mindset? Good! 2010s' mindset? Bad, very bad! We now allow much more freedom for kids and more freedom means they enjoy fewer watch-eyes, thus less guidance -- less education.

Human interactions not only crashed new low among neighbours, but also among relatives. Except those who grow up in families that keep a traditional book of their family trees, like the Lees and Tangs, and those who still have reunion dinners during Chinese festivals, how often do people still meet up their relatives? My mum called her sister-in-law (my aunt) one night and asked her if she had taken her children to sweep ancestors' graves. Aunt said no and was immediately blasted by my mum. Mum shouted through the phone that if she doesn't show her young ones the importance of the Chinese traditions, love will fade, even her children's love for her, because the children will see no love from my aunt for her father's bone ashes.

Mum was absolutely right! Traditions are kept for many reasons, but none of which is more immediate than for education. Sadly, such education of traditions and human relationships are fading, even some parents like my aunt are changing her thinkings. Even visiting temples in Hong Kong can be done through the internet, as fancy as you wish, whatever rituals you want to perform, just key in your credit card nobody, and at a click of a button ...Wa-la! Someone will do it for you later! But you can see the results on your computer monitor immediately. How pathetic?

There is a lot of things teachers cannot teach, like sweeping graves, and even if they could, family teaching is ten times more effective. Monkey see, monkey do! Kids learn from watching what others do, what their parents do, just like monkeys. If parents do not care about it, why should they expect their children know? If you don't teach your kids what is "right", others will, the media will, the porn movies will. The news article title said people are "alarm(ed)", well, I'm not, given what I know so well where the problem begins at.

Still want to assume that "every kid will grow up to be a good person"?

Vocabulary:

compensation dating -- (n) [U] a date of which money is paid in exchange for time, company, sex, etc.

intimate -- (adj) having, or being likely to cause, a very close friendship or personal or sexual relationship

glittering -- (adj) exciting or admired by many people, usually relating to rich and famous people

propaganda -- (n)[U] mainly disapproving information, ideas, opinions or images, often only giving one part of an argument, which are broadcast, published or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people's opinions

look out for sb / sth -- phrasal verb to try to notice someone or something
sidetrack -- (vb) [T usually passive] to direct a person's attention away from an activity or subject towards another one which is less important
watch-eyes -- (n) [C] metaphorical use attention from people such as friends, neighbours or parents.
blast -- (vb) [T] informal to criticize someone or something severely

Resources:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=97402&sid=27860822&con_type=1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/compensation_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/intimate_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/glittering_1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/propaganda
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/look-out-for-sb-sth#look-out-for-sb-sth__2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sidetrack
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blast_3

Friday, 7 May 2010

Vocabulary: Take It Down a Thou(sand)!

U.S., Asia Stocks Tumble as Debt Concern Spurs Electronic Rout

Wednesday, 5 May 2010

Song: She's the One -- Robbie Williams

Monday, 3 May 2010

Vocabulary: Men's World

Saturday, 1 May 2010

Travelling and Living: Locky's Top 10 Food & Drinks in Singapore

Thursday, 29 April 2010

Song: Quando Quando Quando -- Engelbert Humperdinck

Monday, 26 April 2010

News Article: Alarm as kids say yes to compensated dating

About The Playground Founder

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