Keep your head held high

December-A unfortunate month. Seems to me, the angel of death has been summon, took away many lives. Many of them didn`t make it to Christmas this year. The kids from Connecticut, an incident we will never forget.Tragic. My grandfather left this world too. He was a hero,a wise man. He is a fighter! He was on dialysis for 5 years and 5 months. He will be remembered and loved. I know what is like to loss someone you truly care and love, the power of love is strong.Not everyone is meant to be in our future. Some people are just passing through to teach us lessons in life.The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.God knows what is best for you.Maybe next year will be a tough year,but He knows you are strong enough to handle it. You got to be strong for your family and relatives, bcz that's the only choice you have. Never let depression get into your way, think about the moments and lives you can change.When storms come into your life, be strong, Trust in God`s promises and His Everlasting Love for you ♥

Pearl

Letter of Complaint

Read this extract from a letter you have recently sent to a friend:

.... Oh, and by the way, don't go to Barry's Restaurant for your birthday. We went there last night - the service was awful and the food was a disaster! I complained to the head waiter but he asked me to put it in writing ...

Write your letter of complaint to the restaurant manager. (220-260 words)

Dear {1} Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my annoyance at {***} {2}your restaurant yesterday. I chose your restarurant to invite three of my important business clients, reading {3} "Best Restaurants in Britain 2000", but the realitiy was far from its recommendation {4}.

First, as stated in the guide book, you have {5} a variety of course {6} meals in {7}the menu. However, only 2 for meat {8} and 1 for fish {9} were on offer yesterday. This deeply dissapointed {10} my guests. Therefore, we chose {***}starter, main dish and dessert à la carte, but it was not very easy. Many were unavailable; e.g. we did not have any other choices {11} than onion soup and seafood salad for{***}starter.

Furthermore, the meals were not served at the same time. About five minutes after a ram{12} steak was put on the table for one of my clients, any of others had not been served yet {13}. Therefore, he had to start alone. I asked your staff to bring all the other meals soon and in another five minutes only two, including my grilled salmon, were brought to us. When the other one, steamed trout, was put on the table, the client who had {14} a ram steak had almost finished.

Finally, the beef steak my client had was overcooked, although he asked for a medium-cooked{***}.

On paying the bill, I complained about this inconvenience to your head waiter, but he asked me to contact you directly in writing{***}. I feel that a refund of at least £200, which is half of our payment {15}, would be appropriate. I look forward to receiving a satisfactory reply within 14 days{***}.

Yours faithfully,

Jane Smith

(just a reference, hope it helps)

xoxo

Pearl

Moment when you miss someone

This doesn't mean you're weak, at least you admit u miss someone. Being honest to yourself. There's no harm to love again. A broken heart can heal if you walk away from the past. Be TRUE and just be YOU. xoxo.

Pearl

Youth and Money

Have you ever thought of what is youth and money?  Youth is the spring time of our life when the mind and body is at its very best. The age from 15 to 25 years is of paramount importance because it lays down the foundation and determines the path of our life. Nowadays, studies, career choices and job opportunities are hotly-debated issues. Money is man’s dearest possession. Money is important and it can be used to buy almost every material comfort and security which is again an integral part of life.  But, are the youths today using money wisely?

Our world today is full of young people, they are everywhere : the shopping complexes, the cinemas, fancy restaurants etc. They spend their money foolishly because of circumstances and pressure from friends and other young people. As we all know, young teenagers often use the money on shopping. No matter how much money they have, they don’t know where the money came from which is actually from their parents. This is not a false statement in fact it is true because living a young life is very expensive. For example, we need money to buy clothes. In high school or college, young people often wear expensive clothes which have great style and name brands: Guess, Nike, Reebok, Versace , etc. There is always competition in styles and young people tend to keep up with the fashion trend. There are many reasons why young people dress in clothes that are very fashionable and stylish. Boys dress nicely to attract attention. They want to be like a celebrity icon. The same goes for girls, but there is competition against the same sex as well. For example, one girl wants to dress better than others.

Looks is one of the issues these days. Young people spend most of their money on themselves buying more clothes, beauty products and for other personal reasons. We can look around and we are able to see that boys are trying to make their own fashion statements. They need haircuts and groom themselves to look cool, so that their hair looks attractive and spiky.  Girls not only spend their money on hair, but also on accessories, makeup, shoes, nails and facials.

Money makes the world go round, a famous phrase. Young people spend their money on other personal products like cars, magazines, educational supplies, and entertainment. The problem with young people today is that they want immediate gratification. They want to download movies before they’ve made it to the show and hear the latest music before the wax on the record has been pressed. It’s all about getting next year’s model, the phone of tomorrow and the newest, latest shiniest toy today. Especially teenagers in universities always want the best looking cars. By having the best looking cars makes the owners popular. Girls mostly spend money on online shopping and magazine subscriptions such as Seventeen, Vogue, Galaxie, CLEO etc., mostly to check out the latest fashion clothing, shoes, and news on celebrities like those famous, good-looking boy-bands and young actors. And at all time , money is spent on entertainment purposes which is buying C.D s, video tapes, concert tickets, theme park tickets and so on. Boys are not interested in young-superstars such as Justin Bieber and other boy-bands. They often buy magazines especially on cars and games. Young teenage boys usually spend their money on these “exciting” video games. Around 50% of boys are addicted to video games. They could play all day and night. They’re burrowed away in their dimly lit basements, ruining their eyesight. Also today , young people also want the best educational supplies due to the persuasive advertisements these days, like backpacks, pens and pencils that are very stylish, calculators and all these supplies should be the best of the best and high tech.

Money is mostly spent at young age because we have the responsibility or learn how to save money. At this age we actually don’t save money but spent it sooner or later. I mean we do save money but money is spent for a better purpose. We as youths today use money to do good deeds such as donate money and clothing to the unfortunate kids because change begins here. They realize money is not everything, money gives us all that we require but money is not all the only thing that we need to keep happy and fit. There are several other things that make life beautiful and mind that these can’t be purchased with any amount of money. 

Last but not least, we can’t ignore the fact that it’s okay not to keep up with fashion because there is someone out there who will criticize about peoples’ dressing, looks etc. A formal social conversation when meeting new people is always about what someone is wearing or  how he/she looks like. This is how people get to know each other. In addition for personal benefit, living a young life can be expensive but at the same time it is very fun, exciting and comfortable. Young life is a one time chance someone can enjoy to live which will be absolutely rewarding. Although it is said that young people are expensive, we use money for our own benefit and also for others. Young people, whether in the East or in the West, enjoy their young life and with help and guidance, will mature to be the citizens and parents of tomorrow. Good citizens and good parents, educate their children to use money wisely and for good reasons.

                                                                                                      (927 words)

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

Time was when physicists dreamed of a final theory of fundamental physics, a perfect set of equations that would describe every force and particle in nature. Today that dream is being overtaken by the suspicion that there is no such thing. Some even fear that all attempts at a deeper understanding of nature are dead ends. This will lend support to those who have long claimed that research into fundamental physics is a waste of time and money; that at best it provides answers to obscure questions which few people understand or care about.
         So do these reservations undermine pure physics as a scientific pursuit? Surely, it makes no difference if the truths that physicists seek turn out to be more complex and messy than they once hoped. It could even make the search more intriguing. There are as many profound questions out there as there have ever been, and to answer them physicists need the kind of hard experimental evidence that can only come from pure research.
        Can we, therefore, justify spending the huge sums of money that such research demands? What it boils down to is whether we think the search for fundamental truths is important. This quest for knowledge is a defining human quality, but it’s hard to quantify how our lives have been ‘improved’ by it. There have been plenty of technological spin-offs from the space race and other experiments. But the spin-offs are not the point. In showing us how the universe works, fundamental physics could also tell us something profound about ourselves. And for that, a few billion dollars would be a small price to pay.

Kesan-kesan masalah sosial

Kesan-kesan masalah sosial

Masalah gejala sosial dalam kalangan remaja pada hari ini akan memberikan kesan dan impak yang begitu besar dalam diri  individu, masyarakat dan negara.  Remaja pada hari ini merupakan aset utama dan sangat penting dalam pembangunan negara pada masa akan datang. Kesan jangka panjang pasti akan berlaku seandainya remaja dan masyarakat pada hari ini tidak tahu bagaimana untuk menangani permasalahan yang kian meruncing ini, ini  menjadi pembentukkan jati diri dan kemuliaan akhlak rapuh  dari mata masyarakat kita sendiri. Akhlak merupakan peribadi dan cermin diri bagi seseorang individu. Sekiranya seseorang individu itu mempunyai akhlak yang buruk, maka peribadi seseorang individu itu juga akan menjadi buruk. Remaja yang mempunyai akhlak yang buruk boleh memberi kesan kepada diri sendiri,masyarakat, dan negara.

Akibat terhadap Diri Sendiri

Penyalahgunaan dadah

Penyalahgunaan dadah meliputi pelbagai peringkat masyarakat, iaitu bermula dari peringkat remaja,dewasa, golongan tua serta terdiri daripada pelbagai kaum dan golongan masyarakat. Apabila seseorang itu mengambil dadah maka kesannya ialah dia akan ketagih untuk mengambilnya setiap hari. Memandangkan  harga pengambilan dadah ini mahal,penagih terpaksa mendapatkannya tidak kira dengan apa-apa cara sekalipun asalkan ketagihan itu dapat diatasi.Selain itu,penagih dadah juga bebas bergaul dan berkongsi alat suntikan yang berkemungkinan penagih dijangkiti penyakit AIDS. Penyakit ini disebabkan oleh virus HIV yang merosakkan system pertahanan badan. Akibatnya seseorang itu akan mudah dijangkiti penyakit yang sebelumnya tidak berbahaya menjadi amat berbahaya dan boleh mendatangkan maut. Kurang daya ingatan juga salah satu kesannya.

Gengsterisme

Gengsterisme lebih berkisar kepada jenayah kekerasan terhadap orang lain. Aktiviti gengsterisme termasuklah membuli, mencederakan mangsa, menyamun, memeras ugut dan bergerak dalam kumpulan dan mempunyai seorang ketua. Aktiviti tersebut lazimnya berlaku di kawasan-kawasan bandardan di kawasan yang lebih membangun. Ketenteraman dan keselesaan tidak terjamin kerana sentiasa dalam perhatian polis dan orang ramai. Seseorang yang melibatkan diridalam gengsterisme mungkin dihukum oleh pihak berkuasa.Bukan itu sahaja, seseorang yang berada dalam gejala negatif ini akan mendapat kecederaan kerana dipukul oleh kumpulan lain atau orang awam.

Vandalisme

Sejak akhir-akhir ini, masalah vandalisme semakin menjadi-jadi dalam masyarakat. Gejala ini perlulah mendapat perhatian yang serius daripada masyarakat dan kerajaan. Vandalisme lebih bertumpukan perbuatan membinasakan atau merosakkan harta benda awam. Remaja selalu merosakkan kemudahan awam seperti :pondok telefon,pili air,cermin bangunan,peralatan di dalam tandas awam, papan tanda, lampu isyarat, mengotorkan tandas awam, mencontengkan dinding bangunan dan mencuri kabel telefon. Seseorang yang merosakkan harta benda awam akan didenda atau dihukum serta diawasi oleh pihak berkuasa. Mereka akan mendapat cemuhan daripada masyarakat.

Penderaan

Penderaan merupakan perbuatan mencederakan mangsa di bawah jagaan atau tanggungan seseorang. Kesan kecederaan terhadap fizikal mangsa adalah seperti parut akibat sebatan,cucuhan punting rokok, tangan terseliuh, pekak, dan kabur penglihatan. Seseorang yang melakukan penderaanakan sentiasa dibenci oleh mangsa dan mendapat celaan daripada mangsa. Di samping itu, seseorang akan didakwa dan akan dihukum oleh pihak pengadilan.

Pergaulan bebas

Sebenarnya pergaulan dalam masyarakat ada syarat dan batasannya. Pergaulan antara lelaki dengan perempuan seharusnya bertujuan untuk memberikan manfaat antara kedua-dua pihak. Pergaulan yang melibatkan antara lelaki dengan perempuan seharusnya diadakan di tempat-tempat yang terbuka dan bukannya di tempat-tempat terpencil yang boleh mendatangkan syak wasangka kepada orang lain. Akibat  terhadap diri sendiri ialah mudah terdorong untuk melakukan perbuatan zina dan maksiat. Seterusnya, bagi penganut beragama Islam mungkin akan ditangkap atas kesalahan berkhalwat kerana melakukan maksiat. Ini juga memungkinkan melahirkan anak di luar nikah.

Penyalahgunaan teknologi

Kita sekarang sedang berhadapan dengan bentuk  jenayah baru selaras dengan kepesatan pembangunan perisian komputer. Bentuk jenayah tersebut dikenali sebagai teknologi atau jenayah siber.Jenayah siber ialah jenayah yang dilakukan melalui teknologi siber dan hanya boleh berlaku dalam siber. Penyalahgunaan teknologi termasuklah kad pintar,kad kredit, e-dagang dan cetak rompak, akan didakwa dan dihukum oleh pihak pengadilan. Selain itu, diri sendiri akan malu kerana dituduh menyalahgunakan teknologi berkenaan.

Akibat  terhadap Masyarakat

Penyalahgunaan dadah

Kesannya terhadap masyarakat adalah imej dan keseluruhan ekonomi Negara terjejas.Ini disebabkan oleh daya pengeluaran ekonomi menurun atas sebab kerugian tenaga dan modal insan kerana ramai pemuda yang merupakan modal negara terlibat dalam pengambilan dadah dan tidak mempedulikan tanggungjawab terhadap pekerjaan.Tambahan pula, kos yang tinggi seperti kos bagi menyediakan kemudahan-kemudahan rawatan dan pemulihan penagih dadah serta program-program pencegahan terpaksa ditanggungkan oleh negara. Selain itu, imej negara terjejas akibat masalah-masalah yang ditimbulkan olehpengambilan dadah. Ketenteraman sentiasa diganggu kerana orang ramai berasa tidak selesa dengan adanya penagih dalam kalangan anggota masyarakat.

Gengsterisme

Kewujudan gengsterisme turut mendatangkan beberapa kesan terhadap masyarakat dan remaja, ini termasuklah mengganggu proses pengajaran dan pembelajaran di sekolah. Kewujudan kumpulan-kumpulan gengster di sekolah memberi impak negatif kepada para pelajar dengan sering melakukan kegiatan ganas seperti bergaduh, membuli golongan yang lemah, ponteng kelas, mencabar guru dengan  pertuturan yang kasar dan lain-lain. Ahli-ahli gengster ini mengutip wang perlindungan daripada pelajar lain dan menakutkan mereka yang enggan memberi kerjasama. Kesan seterusnya ialah ahli masyarakat akan sentiasa terancam oleh kegiatan samseng. Gengster-gengster ini berani melakukan pelbagai kegiatan ganas seperti membakar bangunan, merosakkan telefon awam, merogol dan melumba motosikal secara haram.Gejala ini telah membimbangkan ahli masyarakat yang lain untuk keluar dari rumah.

Vandalisme

Masyarakat tidak dapat menggunakan kemudahan yang disediakan oleh kerajaan. Masyarakat susah untuk membuat perhubungan semasa dalam keadaan kecemasan. Contohnya telefon awam rosak semasa rumah sedang terbakar.Selain itu, masyarakat tidak selesa ketika menggunakan harta benda awam yang lain. Contohnya,  basah ketika menunggu bas kerana atap di perhentian bas rosak sebab tidak dapat menghalang hujan yang turun. Contengan pada dinding tandas awam memburukkan dan mendorong kepada generasi muda untuk meniru gejala tidak sihat ini. Pihak kerajaan perlu menanggung kerugian kerana menyelenggarakan dan membaiki kemudahan yang disediakan.

Penderaan

Perkara ini boleh berlaku dalam kalangan masyarakat kita kerana nilai-nilai moral sudah tiada lagi dalam diri. Oleh sebab terlalu sibuk dan penat dengan tugas atau pekerjaan, stres yang dialami akan dilemparkan kepada anak-anak. Masyarakat turut bersimpati terhadap mangsa dan juga timbul perasaan benci dan tidak senang dalam kalangan masyarakat. 

Pergaulan bebas

Apabila bergaul kita seharusnya bergaul dengan orang-orang yang baik budi pekertinya dan yang mempunyai akhlak mulia. Jika kita bergaul dengan orang yang rendah akhlaknya kita juga akan terpengaruh dan terjerumus dalam perbuatan yang tidak diingini oleh masyarakat dan agama. Pergaulan bebas juga akan menggangu ketenteraman masyarakat.

Penyalahgunaan teknologi

Di Malaysia contohnya,sebarang percetakan yang disebarkan kepada orang awam memerlukan permit yang sah.Individu yang menjadi mangsa akan kerugian. Bukan itu sahaja, individu yang manjadi mangsa akan mendapat aib sekiranya difitnah melalui internet atau perkhidmatan SMS.

生活中的感动

感动是什么？它在千百年间不停地为人们诠释着，延伸着，升华着。没有感动，便没有给予他人的更多的爱，没有感动，身边就没有温暖。因为感动，我们更深刻地体会到了生命的含义。

　

父母与恩师，便是先例。感动使海伦。凯勒在家教教师的引导下，由顽劣变得安静，继而成为享誉世界的盲人女作家；是感动使达尔文在父亲的鼓励下，充分发挥想象的天赋，成为了进化论的倡导者。有了父母和老师，才能有我们后天的成就；因为他们，我们深深的感动。月明星稀的夜晚，些许人早已安宁地进入梦境。老师，却在昏黄的灯光下批作业，备课；父母则在忙碌的脚步中坚持工作，勤俭持家，我们已得到充分休息，而他们，却因为我们的存在，无法早早入睡。

　

顽强的生命，也值得人敬仰与深思。只是偶然，放学回家的我在楼道里发现一只瓢虫，小小的，只因被人翻过身来，而在那里拼命挣扎着。看着它那逐渐减缓的动作，我心想：挣扎的时间应该不短。到底是什么力量在鼓励着这只弱小的虫子奋起抵抗命运及自己的愚痴？没有别的，是爱的力量，正如人的生命，用执着的信念去把生命渲染。我被震撼，感动了。静静地挑了根小木棒，将瓢虫翻起。联想到自己，多少次小小的失败与挫折（苦痛）都足以压垮自己，不愿反抗，只懂随波逐流。我甚至比不上一只小小的虫子吗？是的，我们需要明白：　当你拥有顽强的生命，何须去惧怕环境的恶劣？　

当你拥有坚忍不拔的意志，又何须去在乎岁月的挫折？克服困难，抵抗命运，我们只要努力，同样能看到希望。

love, Pei Pei