A Patriotic Poem Recital

On 16 September 2009, our school celebrated the 52nd National Day. In the evening, the students gathered at the hall to commemorate the event. The English Panel prepared some students from 1K12 and 2K13 to recite a patriotic poem, A Piece of Paper (see below). Three students recited the poem and a few others (at the background) constructed the national flag, Jalur Gemilang, while they were reciting.

A Piece of Paper

I took a piece of paper
It was white...
White - reflecting the purity
Deep within our hearts,
The heart of each and every Malaysian

In one corner, I drew a rectangle
And then, I coloured it blue
'Cause blue symbolises dignity
And it was with dignity that Malaysia broke
away
From the clutches of colonialism

Next, in the rectangle, I included a new moon
A crescent representing the National religion,
Islam
And also to signify light and hope
Light for all Malaysians, whatever colour or
creed
Hope that peace and harmony may forever
prevail.

Beside the crescent is a star
A star with fourteen points
Representing the different states, their people
Converging in the middle
Reflecting the bond, the unity in our nation

The crescent and the star are coloured yellow
Yellow- the colour of royalty
Pledging my unfailing loyalty to King and country
The symbol of the sovereignty
of this my homeland, the land that I live in and
love

Finally, I added the horizontal stripes
Again, fourteen - for the fourteen states
I painted seven of them red
And left the other seven white
Different, divergent but united we stand,
side by side.

Red is the colour of love
The love I have for my country
The love I have for my fellowmen
Together let us stand hand in hand
United and strong, as one people, one nation
one Malaysia.

(Source: Internet)

The idiosyncrasies of the English Language

According to The Cambridge Advanced Learner's dictionary, the word idiosyncrasy(n) [usually plural] means a strange or unusual habit, way of behaving or feature that someone or something has. Simon Ager, a native English-speaker and language enthusiast, wrote about the aspects of English that can easily confuse foreign learners. According to him, English is a language full of traps for learners. As an example when you think how to pronounce a particular letter or combination of letters, you will then come across an exception or three. You might think you know what a particular word means, but will then see it has other meanings. He added that English spelling isn’t as irregular as it appears; in fact the majority of words are spelled in a more or less predictable way. The trouble is that some sounds can be written in a variety of ways, and that some letters, especially the vowels, have numerous possible pronunciations. (This view was written by Simon Ager from the website http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com) I’m sure you have come across these idiosyncrasies and also many others. I would like to share with you two funny poems on the idiosyncrasies of the English Language. There are many more poems of these kind on the Net, just ‘google’ it and enjoy reading them.

The English Language

Harry Hamsley

Some words have different meanings,and yet they're spelt the same,

A cricket is an insect, to play it is a game.

On every hand, in every land, its thoroughly agreed,

The English language to explain, is very hard indeed.

Some people say that you're a dear, yet a dear is far from cheap,

A jumper is a thing you wear, yet a jumper has to leap.

It's very dear, it's very queer, and pray who is to blame,

for different meanings to some words pronounced and spelt the same?

A little journey is a trip, a trip is when you fall;

doesn't mean you have to dance, whenever you hold a ball,

Now, here's a thing that puzzles me: musicians of good taste,

will very often form a band - I've one round my waist.

A door may often be ajar, but give the door a slam,

then your nerves receive a jar - and then there're jars of jam.

You've heard, of course of traffic jams, and jams you give your thumbs,

and adders, too, one is a snake and others add up sums.

You spin a top, go for a spin, or spin a yarn maybe -

Yet every spin's a different spin as you can plainly see.

On every hand, in every land, it's thoroughly agreed,

The English language to explain, is very hard indeed

Taken from :http://idiocrasiesoflanguages.blogspot.com/

A Poem on Plurals and Pronouns
Anonymous

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,

But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,

Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,

Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,

Then shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of my foot and show you my feet,

And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth, and a whole set are teeth,

Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,

Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,

And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,

But though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his, and him,

But imagine the feminine: she, shis, and shim.