Review on “The Modern Cinderella”, the musical

Photo credits: http://theatreaddict.com/images/2008/01January/Cinderella.jpg

Disney’s Cinderella might have been produced back in the 1930s, but till today, this fairy-tale is well-loved. Countless adaptations have been made, be it in the form of movies, musicals or school plays. Recently, I went back to my primary school for the prize-presentation ceremony, since my sister was a prize-winner, and I got to watch “The Modern Cinderella”, a musical put up by the Primary 6 pupils.

Of course, from its name, we can make out that “The Modern Cinderella” is a tweaked version of the original story. The story like this: A girl named Cinderella lived with her step-mother, step-brother and step-sister. Her step-mother was a stuck-up lady who did nothing else but indulge in Korean dramas and order Cinderella around to do household chores. Of course, Cinderella was miserable. To make it worse, her step-siblings bullied and taunted her.

Soon, a ray of hope shone on her path. Cinderella’s school was organising a class prom, which got Cinderella all hyped-up. When her step-siblings heard about the prom, they did not lose the opportunity to bully Cinderella about it, rubbing in that she did not even have a fancy gown for the prom, let alone clinch the spot of becoming the Prom Queen. Her step-siblings boasted that if 2 people had to be Prom King and Queen, it would be the both of them. This of course, made Cinderella more miserable. However, one day, while she was sweeping the house alone, something magical happened - A fairy-godfather appeared (He looked like Santa Claus, but I guess it gives the same effect). He asked her why she was so miserable, and she said that she did not have a nice dress for her school’s prom. Immediately, he produced a beautiful party gown for Cinderella, and disappeared as soon as she thanked him profusely. Finally, the day of the prom arrived. Cinderella wore on the beautiful gown. Upon seeing her, her step-sister accused her of stealing one of her own gowns. Cinderella reasoned that she would never do such a thing. There was no time for argument, so her step-sister could not retort. Cinderella and her step-siblings then left for the prom. When they arrived at the prom, Cinderella earned much praise from her other classmates and teachers, much to the annoyance of her step-siblings. Finally, Cinderella emerged as the Prom Queen! Her step-siblings threw a tantrum but it did not gain any attention. After all, as the saying goes, good always wins over evil.

This musical was an enjoyable experience for me. It brought me the memories of a musical I had performed in when I was in Primary 5. I liked the way my juniors acted; they combined a potpourri of emotions throughout the musical, as well as added an element of humour with their expressions. I hope watch more of such musicals soon!

Review on “Hachiko: A dog’s story”

                            Photo credits: http://a.imageshack.us/img685/7499/hachikoadogsstory2009.jpg

These days, it is rare for a truly good movie to come out. I mean one of those movies that leave you tingling with warmth, like you have just drank a bowlful of your favourite soup. I am glad I stumbled upon “Hachiko: A Dog’s Story”, which is based on a true story.

The movie starts with a Japanese monk bringing along his Akita Inu puppy, Hachi, on board a plane, headed for the U.S.A. Once the plane lands in the States, due to the poor handling of the boxes and crates in the goods compartment of the plane, Hachi’s cage falls off onto the road, with Hachi inside it. Hachi soon manages to break open his cage and loiters freely towards a nearby railway station. That is when Parker, a university music professor, finds Hachi and brings him home. Parker finds a plane ticket in Japanese attached to Hachi’s collar, and brings it to his Japanese-American friend, who tells Parker that Hachi is from Japan. He also points out at a wooden tag on the collar Hachi had been found wearing, on which was written “Hachi” in Japanese, and tells Parker that “Hachi” means good fortune. Parker adopts Hachi as his own dog. Soon, a bond develops between Hachi and Parker and his family. Every single day, Hachi would wait at the railway station for Parker to arrive from his university. It went on like this, until one day, Parker suddenly passed away in the middle of lecturing in his university. Despite the fact that his beloved master would never be coming back, Hachi would wait at the exact spot outside the gates of the railway station every day, just like he used to when his master was alive. Hachi did this for the rest of his life.

The true story is from Japan. An Akita Inu named Hachiko also waited for his master, a professor, at Shibuya railway station every single day, for nine years after his master passed away. Presently, there is a bronze statue of Hachiko the Akita Inu at Shibuya railway station to honour Hachiko’s loyalty.

Photo credits:

http://otakujade.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/hachiko200505-41.jpg

The faithfulness and devotion of Hachiko to Parker moved me to tears. I loved it. It made me realise that animals are truly capable of showing pure love, to the extent of waiting loyally for their deceased masters. It brought me to this notion – if animals are capable of this loyalty, why can’t humans be loving and loyal? (For instance, many are disloyal to their elderly parents by not looking after them even after all that their parents have done for them.) Humans too are capable of reciprocating love towards each other. Humans should be indebted and loyal to the people who have played a part in shaping them into what they are, and to those who have loved them dearly.

“Hachiko: A Dog’s Story” is a movie that should be watched and re-watched; it will definitely bring you a warm tingling sensation as well as enlightenment about loyalty you will never forget.

 

Review of ‘Darkbeast’

Photo credits: http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/173060000/173060562.JPG

‘Darkbeast’ may be a story based in a fictitious land named Duodecia, but this story draws a lot of relevance to our modern world. I am glad I chanced upon this book.

In this story, in a land named Duodecia, every 12-day old child is blessed with an animal companion, also known as a darkbeast. This animal could be a bird, reptile or rodent. These darkbeasts are supposed to “take away” the sins their mortal child companion commits; like anger, jealousy, stubbornness, and so on. However, all good things come to an end. When the children turn twelve, according to tradition, they should slay their darkbeasts. With the slaying of their darkbeasts, these children become “free” from the constant company of their darkbeast. Keara, the protagonist, is one of these children, who is supposed to slay her beloved darkbeast, a raven named Caw, on her fast-approaching twelfth birthday. However, Keara has no heart to kill her dear Caw who has been her best companion for the past twelve years of her life. On her twelfth birthday, Keara runs away with Caw from her home village, in search of the Travelers, who are a group of people who travel from village to village, putting up plays that tell stories of the Gods of Duodecia. Keara falls in love with their acting when they had performed in her village, and she knew she had to be one of the performers. Eventually, she finds them and becomes one of the performers, while hiding from them that she is a girl who crossed the boundaries of tradition by not killing her darkbeast. Ultimately, when the Travelers go onstage to put up a play in front of Duodecia’s king, one of the Travelers, a girl named Vala who Keara befriends, gives away Keara’s secret by yelling onstage that Keara did not slay her darkbeast on her twelfth birthday. Immediately, Keara and Goran, a Traveler boy and another friend of Keara, who also did not slay his darkbeast, Wart the toad, on his twelfth birthday; are pulled away from the stage by the head of the Travelers, Taggart. He leads them to a tiny house, where there is a lady named Brigid. Keara and Goran come to know that Taggart and Brigid themselves are people who did not kill their darkbeasts on their twelfth birthday many, many years ago. That is when Keara realises that although darkbeasts “take away” their child companion’s sins, the child will not completely lose that sin. For example, if a darkbeast took away a child’s anger, it does not mean that the child will never become angry in his life ever again. If this is so, then what is the purpose of slaying their poor darkbeasts? So, the book ends with Keara’s realisation, and her next journey with Taggart and Goran to end this cruel tradition of slaying darkbeasts for no reason in all of Duodecia.

In a nutshell, I thought this book is a masterpiece. It sends a powerful message that superstitions and beliefs are of high importance, regardless of whether they actually meaningful. I am a lot like Keara, and I could relate well to this message. I too think that there are many superstitions in this world that are redundant, for example, crossing your fingers for good luck. I have tried this a couple of times, and realised that even if one crosses their fingers, good luck does not necessarily come their way; if it does, it is just a mere coincidence. Yet, people put such high importance on this superstition and never fail to cross their fingers on every occasion. I also think that there are many things in this world worth rebelling about, such as animals’ or women’s rights. Sometimes, rebelling is better than following beliefs or superstitions that are impractical, just like in “Darkbeast”.

Since Keara is a 12-year-old, the target audience would probably adolescents of ages 10-14, who would be able to relate better to Keara's thinking.

This is a book I won’t forget anytime soon, and to spread this book’s message around, I will definitely recommend this book to my friends, family, and you too, since you have just read my review. 

 

Review of 5 news clips from BBC News

BBC News has been a source of updates and news from various fields – ranging from health to technology. BBC also provides world news to update about what is going on in different parts of the world. I found 5 interesting news clips from which I was enlightened with new knowledge.

Photo credits:http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41059000/jpg/_41059509_titan1.jpg

The first clip was from the section “BBC Nature”. It was about the world’s largest flower – The titan arum. This flower blooms once every three years and it is found in Sumatra’s tropical rainforests. The forest researcher from this news clip stated that the titan arum is 9 feet tall and 3 feet wide! What’s more, this flower has its speciality – it gives off an unpleasant aroma that smells of bad fish! It reminded me of the flower Rafflesia, which is also huge in diameter and smells of rotting flesh. I felt that this news clip was indeed informative; as I had once heard of this flower that was known to be the world’s largest, but I had never bothered to research more about it. Personally, I feel this flower is Nature’s gift - people will admire its occasional blooms with awe.

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Photo credits:

http://image.normthompson.com/solutions/images/us/local/products/detail/87620.jpg

The second clip I watched was from the section “BBC Health”. I have to say I learnt something really important, as this concerns our daily life. Like many household chores, drying laundry is part of every household’s daily routine. However, not everybody hangs their laundry outside their homes or flats; they hang wet clothes on laundry stands inside their homes. The health researcher in this news clip said that drying your laundry indoors this way increases the moisture level inside our homes by 75%. This encourages dust-mites (since they like warm and moist surroundings), which subsequently gives rise to allergies, asthma, hay fever, and a weakened immune system. The recommendation is that laundry should be hung in a well-ventilated space (ie. balcony). This piece of news really opened my eyes. Who would expect that a harmless chore of handing clothes to dry indoors may turn out to be a horrible mistake?

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Photo credits: http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/02/7717023_448x252.jpg

The third clip I watched was from the section “BBC Future”. Here, there was a news clip that showed a new invention – Robot cars. These cars are capable of driving and navigating around without any driver at the speed of 120 metres per hours; hence the name “robot car”. What’s more, these cars are capable of steering around sharp turns or manoeuvring around rough terrains that even man finds difficult to master. Another speciality is that these cars are able to park themselves. So, you may ask what the technology behind how these amazing cars work is. Passengers that are travelling in this car have to first set the destination with GPS maps, and using the GPS map, the car will get a sense of direction. Then passengers have to hit a button, and the car will go zooming off! Personally, I find this invention amazing; one who doesn’t know how to drive will be able to finally travel by car himself. Seeing how efficient these cars can be, probably Robot Cars could become a new revolution in the coming years.

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Photo credits: http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/anatarctica-1-lg.jpg

The next clip I watched was from the section “BBC Nature”. It said that 27 countries have come to a consensus and have formed an alliance to protect the Antarctica. The consequences of Global Warming have reached the Antarctica – the ice there is melting. This ice forms a natural habitat for penguins and other animals; and with the melting of ice, these animals are losing their natural habitat, which threatens their survival in the future. This alliance promises to conserve the natural environment of the Antarctica as well as the marine resources. I hope this promise is really kept - Every time a new alliance is signed, it promises fruit in the field of Nature conservation and for countries to Go Green. However, from what I observe, there are only a handful of individuals who take this seriously. Many others claim that they do not have time to Go Green. If this is the case, how can the damage done to Mother Earth be stopped? So, I really hope that this alliance is powerful enough (with the power of 27 countries) to change the ways of this world.

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Photo credits:http://kevinjohngallagher.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/hero-human-touch.jpg

The last clip I watched was from the section “BBC Medicine”. This was also the clip I liked best. It was about how a simple yet meaningful act can be the most useful tool in the field of medicine. This act is nne other than human touch. In this news clip, a Physician was talking about how a patient who was suffering from tumours revived through the comforting human touch. You may wonder how human touch can help in reviving patients. Basically, human touch is known to be reassuring and comforting. To a patient who has lost hope of living any longer, the comforting touch of human hands may just be the perfect remedy to boost their morale and confidence that they should fight for survival. When morale is boosted, one’s immune system could be boosted too. This will aid in the fight against diseases. I felt this clip was an eye-opener too; such a simple act could go a long way in helping a patient. Human touch is not a medicine or vaccination that only doctors and physicians are experts at handling; people like you and I are capable of offering a comforting hand. Even those under depression or worry could be soothed and comforted if another person holds their hand reassuringly. So, I feel we can help those around us by just offering the comforting touch of human hand – it yields a mixture of hope, encouragement, confidence and survival.

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In a nutshell, by watching these news clips, I learnt a lot. Probably in my free time, I should watch more informative news clips as well as actual world news as I could learn a thing or two, which would be helpful to not only myself, but also to those around me.

Review of 5 newspaper articles from "TODAY"

 

 

   Reading of newspapers always gives one new knowledge and insights. I read 5 interesting articles (though they are from “TODAY” newspapers from August 2012) from which I learnt a lot.

 

Photo credits:

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/01/20/business/20ssaudi.xlarge1.jpg

The first article I read was about where humans will be living when we run out of space on land. The possibilities of our next homes are sea, sky or desert. This article was about homes and cities that could be built on the sea. Abu Dhabi has launched a project – Masdar City, a high-tech eco-friendly city built on the sea. Personally, I find this is a good idea. Many countries are doing their best to maximise their existing land, or even creating new land. Countries like Japan have even built underground cities to overcome land constraint problems! So, building cities on the sea is definitely a good idea to overcome land-scarcity, seeing that two thirds of the planet is covered by sea. However, I feel “sea-cities” will have their minus points too – even while man is living on land, water pollution has become a global problem as natural water bodies are getting contaminated. When man moves to live on the sea, doesn’t the problem of water pollution exacerbate? So, this idea of building cities on seas will definitely require a lot of professional planning and research. While it may seem a solution to the short-term solution to land-scarcity; in the long run, Mother Earth’s beautiful seas could be irreversibly damaged.

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 Photo credits: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/assets/2008/09/30/200893021.jpg

The second article I read was also about the environment. The increasing acidity levels of our seas are directly affecting marine life; in particular, animals with shells like clams, sea urchins, mussels, oysters and so on. Acid in the sea is making it hard for such animals to grow shells, as acid affects the size and weight of shells and skeletons. The acidification of seas also makes it hard for creatures to extract calcium carbonate, which they need for making their shells. The experts have studied four types of creatures – clams, sea snails, lamp shells and sea urchins – at 12 sites, stretching across the globe from the Arctic to the Antarctic. They have observed that the effects of acidification are the same for all the creatures from all the sites. The only silver lining is that these creatures have the ability to adapt and evolve to suit the ever-changing conditions of the sea. However, humans cannot take their adaptability for granted – these animals are living things too. I feel we humans can do our part by disposing of garbage properly, so that our garbage does not end up in sea and make acid levels higher!

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Photo credits:

http://offgridworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/vertical-farm10.jpg

The third article I read about was about agriculture. This article explained that many are moving from rural areas to urban areas, which means that farms from rural areas, that produce food for urban areas, are rapidly depleting. So, there are some possible solutions for cities to solve this problem – cities can grow their own food to support their populations! One possible idea suggested in this article is for cities to built rooftop farms. This not only maximises land, but becomes a steady source of food supply for cities. Cities can also build high-tech farms and use technology to produce fruit, vegetable and poultry. Examples are Hydroponics, Aeroponics and Aquaponics. However, the capital investments to set up these high-tech farms will definitely be high. So, I feel, since Asia is going to be the most populous continent in the coming decades, with more than half the world’s population residing in Asia; Asian nations can sign an alliance to built a common high-tech farm, wherein all the member nations can contribute and subsequently yield the produce. This too will be a way of alleviating poverty and conquering hunger, as richer Asian nations can help the poorer ones. From my viewpoint, farms in the cities will definitely be of high importance in the future!

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Photo credits:http://writenowmom.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/kindness-kitten.jpg

The next article I read was about an act by students taking part in the Singapore Kindness Movement. Secondary school students had observed that young children always look at the illustrations in picture books to help them understand stories, but in the process, some children get frightened of certain illustrations like dragons and beasts in fairy-tale picture books. This just makes the children believe that such creatures really exist and this will hence frighten them even more. So, the secondary school students wrote short stories that spoke about respect and kindness for these kindergarteners. This not only made kindergarteners enjoy the stories as there were no frightening illustrations, but also taught them core values like respect and kindness. Personally, I felt this is a heart-warming act from seniors to juniors. It is a simple act that goes a long way in building a solid foundation in young children, by rooting core values like respect and kindness.

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Photo credits: http://myitchyfingers.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/yip1.jpg?w=550

 

The last article I read was the one I liked best. It is about a Singaporean girl, Yip Pin Xiu, who has a cruel disease called muscular dystrophy. It speeds up the breakdown of muscles when a patient slows down their activities.  When Yip was five, her parents let her join her brothers during their weekly swimming sessions in an effort to slow down the rate of deterioration of her muscles. A few years later, a personnel from the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) spotted her swimming talent. Yip went on to outclass her opponents in local swimming meets later on, winning six gold medals from six events. Later on, she became the first Singaporean to win a Paralympic gold medal. She won gold medals in the Beijing Paralympic Games and in the London Paralympic Games. She says, “I love swimming! I may stop competitive swimming one day. But I will never stop swimming.” I felt this was a truly a heart-warming and inspiring article. Yip has become a pillar of encouragement to other disabled members of society and has proved that physical disabilities should not hinder one in achieving success in life. I have learnt that with great will power, persistence and passion, one will be able to succeed in life.

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In a nutshell, reading articles of various topics has given me added knowledge on global issues as well as made me learn about values like kindness and persistence. Being a person who does not read newspapers regularly; I have realised that if just 5 articles could enlighten me, I should definitely cultivate the habit of reading newspapers more regularly. It raises our awareness about the world around us and teaches us much.
     

Review of Present Perfect Magazine: The Women Issue

Photo credits: http://www.iranhumanrights.org/wp-content/uploads/campaign-in-prison.jpg

The Present Perfect magazine’s “Women’s Issue” is not only a good read, but also a tool to inspire many women and convey the message of striving for gender equality. It encourages women to stand up for their own rights always.

One of the articles I liked best was “Driving for a change”. This short narrative is set in Saudi Arabia, depicting the life of a lady, Zahrah, and her attempts to strive for gender equality in male-dominated Saudi Arabia. As the illustration next to the main body of the article depicts, Zahrah’s husband doesn’t bother much about his wife and sick daughter. Personally, I feel this is a reflection of society’s vision – how females are deemed inferior by males. In this narrative, Zahrah decides to rebel for women’s rights along with several other women who protest to lift the ban of not allowing women to drive; a step towards gender equality. Her efforts are a message to many oppressed females in the world, inspiring and encouraging them to strive for equality. In this magazine, a true story is also featured about a Brazilian girl striving for equality; and it sends a similar message. Another very inspiring article is “Pioneers in male-dominated careers”. Women have really proved females’ capabilities – women are equally capable and talented as men.

There are also a couple of articles in this magazine that give statistics on women’s rights. For example, what percentage of women makes up the workforce in developed nations. Personally, I feel that in developed nations, women’s and men’s rights have almost achieved parity. However, gender equality is still a distant goal for developing nations. Though women’s rights activists are doing their part in these developing nations and women are also rebelling, more ought to be done by the governments of these countries in order to let females enjoy equal rights as males.

There were 2 articles I did not like, despite the fact that they were speaking the ugly truth. One of the articles is about surrogacy in India. I felt that women are being used as a tool to give babies to childless couples. I felt that surrogacy is a cruel practice that just brings down women in their drive towards gender equality in rapidly advancing India. I felt that the government should do more to give these destitute women decent jobs so that they would not resort to surrogacy – which is painful for the body and mind of a woman, as narrated by a fictitious lady in the article. However, this article makes women more indignant and pushes them to stand up for their fellow women’s rights even more fervently.
 

The second article is about how females are portrayed in the media. I personally felt that females are portrayed indecently and suggestively, and even, in some instances, mockingly. I can’t help but wonder why is it that only women are portrayed in this manner; why not men? This just highlights that women are deemed as mere “objects” by the media, as seen by the suggestive manner in which females are made to dress and pose. This shows how lowly the media deems women. Another point is that girls as young as 4 years old go through beauty treatments so that they can clinch the awards in beauty pageants in the future. Media’s focus is more on the outer beauty of females, thus disregarding the rights of these young girls, who are forced to go in for beauty treatments. Lastly, media discriminates females against their age. Older actresses are given inferior roles in movies, despite the fact that they could be acting veterans. I don’t think males are discriminated that much against age, as I see older men acting in rather major roles. This article depicts media’s perspective towards women. As a female, I feel that the way media views females compared to males is totally unjust. This article too will make females stand up for women’s rights more passionately.

To sum up, this magazine is really worth a read, and I would definitely recommend other ladies to read it. I may probably even recommend it to males, so that they too will understand that females deserve equal rights as men and will thus treat women they know with equality and respect. This magazine is truly inspiring as it pushes you to stand up for justice, and makes you realise that with sufficient drives towards achieving equal rights for both genders, gender equality is a feasible aim for the future.