Commonwealth Essay

Film Review : Secret

By Russell Wong (2I)

There is no secret that I admire Taiwanese pop prince Jay Chou for his musical talents.
So naturally I like to watch his movies. Among them, Secret has to be the best.

The film, which was released last year, is Chou's directorial debut. It tells how two
high school students meet and fall in love. The dramatic part is when the boy Ye Xiang Lun, played by Chou himself, realises that his beloved is actually a spirit.

It is a captivting story and I like how Chou builds up the mystery and suspense in the show. This is done through the elusiveness of Lu Xiao Yu, played by Kwai Lun Mei, her empty bedroom, the discovery of a secret piano score and so forth.

I also like how how Chou gives the story an interesting twist at the ending. In the last part Xiang Lun has to race against time to finish playing the “secret” score before the old piano room is blown up. This is so that he could be transported back to Xiao Yu's
era and be reunited with her.

I think other people would like this segment too as the special effects are stunning! Piano room and furniture swirling, score sheets flying, lights coming on and off in the room..

Secret also scores in that it has a strong cast. Chou is credible in his role as a music student, given that he is already a well-known pop singer and composer,Never mind if he looks slightly older than his high school student role. Likewise, his co-star Kwai can play the piano and has a aura of secrecy .Anthony Wong, playing his father, portrays his role very well.I enjoy his comic antics and believe other viewers will also like the chemistry among the three.

But what attracts me most in Secret is the beautiful background music. The music, choreographed by Chou himself,succeeds in heightening or downplaying the mood.It also allows Chou to display his talent when he challenges another bright spark on the piano. This makes the actors more credible as they are supposed to be great music students. I believe these beautiful pieces will also attract the general public.

What I like about the whole film is that it shows the extent a person is willing to go through just to be together with his or her loved one. This touches me a lot. I am happy to see that the young couple are reunited at the end.

Jay Chou has said that the main message in Secret is for people to appreciate the better times in life because they pass by very quickly. How true ! And I believe most of us would agree.

Secret is a successful film because of its intriguing plot and its visual effects. For Chou's fans, it is a must-see movie as they are already listening to his songs. It will be

a bonus too as we seldom get to see the pop star's piano performances up close.

I wish the film is longer than 90 minutes and that the music would go and on. It is truly inspirational and certainly well worth the money I paid.

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An incident that happened in school

Today, while we had our Physical Education Theory lesson this afternoon,
the fire alarm suddenly sounded.
We were told a few days earlier this week that there would be a fire drill, and it happened today.
Also, we were taught on how to evacuate the building in this situation.
So, immediately after the alarm went off, I observed my classmates' and the students' reaction
to it.
Some were rather confused while some knew exactly what to do and kept calm.
Well, as for me, of course I remembered what Operations Manager Mr Chia said, and
took the whole drill seriously.
As I lined up outside, I noticed class after class were going down the stairs as orderly like how ants walk
in a straight line to their anthill, but in this case, it was the school field.
I also happened to see Mr Low, our principal, walking around the second level of the building,
just to observe how students executed the exercise.
Less than five minutes, we were out in the vast open space, our school field.
Overall, I felt that this exercise was not as chaotic as last year, and I personally
felt that we improved a lot.
I am guessing Mr Chia might praise us for it, who knows?
Alright, I will close my Continual Assessment posts here.
Bye!

A difficulty you faced

Hey! I'm doing my second post today.
Anyway, the whole story went like this.
Recently, Ms Neo kicked off our term for English with blogging.
Every student of the class was supposed to set up his blog and post their personal recounts, which constitutes fifty percent of the first Continual Assessment.

Being one of the very few experience bloggers, I had to go round the whole computer lab lending a helping hand. The whole process of helping was rather tough, but I still felt glad deep inside, as I could use what I have learned about blogging, to help others in need.
Their thanks were heartwarming.
Soon after, I was appointed the job of helping to maintain the class blog too, as I could contribute by setting up the links of students in the class blog, as well as add other media. It was more of the technical job.

During the whole lesson, I was standing in front of Ms Neo's laptop, keying in command codes to create links, as well as organizing it.
It was not easy, as it was also time consuming at the same time.
While everyone was doing their first entry post, I did the class blog.
I was so busy that I did not have time to even do my own blog.
I probably got too carried away, I guess.
I also felt that my current priority at that point of time was the class blog, instead of my own.

By the end of the lesson, most of the students had already done their posts and whatsoever.
As for me, I was the only exception.
From that moment onwards, I realized my mistake and decided to rectify it.
Therefore, I rushed down to the library after school and made up for my wasted time in the lab
earlier on, by finishing up my post there.
I hope Ms Neo can be more understanding towards my work, as I am really trying my best to juggle the class blog as well as the English blog.
I'll stop here for now.
Bye!

Personal Recount Assignment- A moment spent alone doing something you enjoyed

Hello! Just to share with everyone, one of my favourite hobbies would be cycling.

I know some of you might find it boring or uninteresting, but for me, its a whole new different
perspective.
Last Wednesday night, I went cycling alone after my tuition.
I had a tiring day earlier on, but I still went ahead with it.
So, I started my cycling 'expedition' at 8pm sharp.
As I pedaled through the blocks of flats, I felt the gentle wind brushing through my hair. The entire feeling was great and I really loved it.

Occasionally, I would accelerate whenever I turn corners or go down a slope, just to seek the thrill of it. The rushing of the breeze seemed to take away my worries every time I did that. Little by little.
I then continued to cycle over the Sungei Api Api bridge, which leads to Elias Mall.
I had already traveled roughly 2 kilometers by then, and took ten minutes.
When I cycled up the wooden boards, I stopped halfway and
stood by the side of the bridge, just to admire the wonderful skyline of the night.
The stars that hung above seemed to talk to me, wanting to listen to the problems of my heart.
But, all I did was to stare back at them, not breathing a single word.
Next, I cycled a big round from there to the Esso petrol station, which was around 3 kilometers away.

For me, the distance does not matter. What matters most is that, after every session of cycling,
I have to get all my unhappiness off my chest, that to me, is important.
After that, I finally headed home and reached at nine plus.

Different people channel their anger through different ways.
I, chose cycling and it will always remain that way.

My Thoughts on Blogging

Hey! This post is strictly meant for the English assignment.
Anyway, my thoughts on blogging goes like this.
I feel that blogging is a good way of expressing one's thoughts in a more interactive way.
Whenever we are down and out, or feel exceptionally happy about something, we can always type it out and share our feelings with the people around us.
I personally find that blogs are far better and more appealing than journals and diary entries.

This is because we can actually put up a tag board where people can comment on our entries, add some background music to it as well as many other interesting stuffs too!
Whereas for journals and diaries, everything is written in ink on paper.
There is no form of interaction with people and the things written are usually personal and confidential.

In this era, most people communicate through the digital world.That is why the government has made the effort, of preparing Singapore for the digital age, through examples like setting up thousands of free wireless hotspots all over Singapore, as well as encouraging Singaporeans to improvise and adapt to these changes over the years.
Back to my thoughts on blogging, there are also its pros and cons.

Some of the pros were mentioned earlier, but there are other advantages such as being able to keep in touch with contacts, being able to upload photos and videos that you want to share etc.The cons.
You might end up spending quite a long time in front of the computer typing one post, as it is quite time consuming, which isn't a good thing.
Next thing to note is that, when typing, we sometimes get too carried away and might therefore end up typing some things that are not allowed on a blog, one example would be racial discrimination.
We all have to be aware of this, because without knowing the consequences, we might end up on the wrong side of the law.

Well, just to wrap up and summarize everything, a blog is just a platform for us to express our life stories and reflections on a different level, instead of the traditional writing.
I'll end here for now.
Bye