GL's English Blog

The Greatest Athlete of All

2008-08-31T05:25:00.000-07:00

The Beijing Olympics is finally over, and I have to say that it was a spectacle to behold. The chinese have done themselves proud, and it will be difficult to remember another Olympic games as remarkable as Beijing had been.

However, all must remember again that the Olympic Games was, and always will be, about the athletes. This group of elite sportsmen, who spent countless hours training and perservering, with only one one goal, to push their limits and attempt the surpass the physical limits of the human body.They have a capacity for enduring pain, and that is something few individuals have. Despite all that, they carry on, because they love their sport.

But who is the greatest athlete of them all?

Perhaps one of the most decorated athletes of all right now would be Michael Phelps. Having won 8 gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, along with 7 world records and 1 Olympic record, he has achieved the impossible. Some attribute this to a very good body build, nearly to perfection for a swimmer. An abnormally large armspan, extra big feet that act like propellors, and a slim torso to decrease drag in water. These are scientific explanations for the feats achieved by this great man.

What I feel though, is that science can merely explain a small part of his success. He is a winner not because he has the best physique for swimming, but rather because of his attitude. Phelps had dedicated his life to swimming. He had been training to swim for nearly his whole life, starting at the tender age of seven. He excelled and dominated throughout his life, because he wants to push his limits and do what he loves.

How about Bryan Clay? He is the decathlon champion in Beijing, and usually the winner of the decathlon earns the unofficial title of the "Greatest Athlete in the World". It is not an easy event. To win, one must not merely be able to run well, but must also throw and jump well. It requires great discipline and perseverance to last through all ten events in the two days, and also requires extreme traning and hard work to develop the body to a point where one can compete at the world's stage.

The more remarkable thing about Clay is that he is so much smaller than the other athletes. The average decathele is about 190cm, while Bryan Clay is merely 180cm, a full 10 cm shorter.He does not however resents at the fact that he has a disadvantage, but rather improves himself in other areas to back up his weakness. A true sportsmen never whines, but merely pushes himself harder. That is what Clay does. And that is why he is a winner.

At this point, we think again. What defines a great athlete. Is it merely his achievements? Or is it his attitude. I say it is the mind over the body. Michael Phelps and Bryan Clay are both examples of the minds triumph over the body. They exhibit startling levels of endurance and grit, and that brings them to the top of their field.

But I say, there is no greatest athlete. The are merely many exceptional ones. Phelps is a great athlete, so is Bryan Clay. But not only winners are great athletes. The greatest athletes are those who push themselves not only to the maximum, but beyond it. They don't have to be stars. A school athlete who breaks her shin bone, but crawls to the finish line has demonstrated remarkable spirit. A school athlete who refuses to let his opponent run away from him, despite obvious signs of fatigue and exhaustion, deserves as much applaud as any of the medal winners.

Roger Bannister, the first man to do a four minute mile, said this," Doctors and scientists said that breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line, I figured I was dead."

The potential of the body can be stretched further by the potential of the mind, for the mind has no limits. And all those who have figured this out, and applied it, are together the world's greatest athletes.

GL

"Democracy creates stability in a society."

2008-06-18T05:41:00.000-07:00

Stability is generally defined as peace, with no riots, strikes and any form of protest from the people.

Democracy is a system where power effectively goes to the people. The people make decisions, the people make their own choices. In true democracy, decisions made by the government must be supported by the people. It is a system where the people are the voice and the greatest power.

To achieve stability, it is agreed that we must please the people, since the people are effectively the population and they are the nation. Democracy is exactly the system where people are made happy. Everyone's votes are equal, no one person's vote is more or less important than another, regardless of race, wealth and reputation. The people are given the choice and freedom of how they think the country should be ran.

Since the people are involved in the decisions of the country, they should feel a sense of belonging, and being part of the nation. This would create a common identity that all can relate to, and people will understand the nation not just as a country, but as a home.

By allowing everyone to vote, the people are made happy, or at the very least, satisfied. This forms the very basis for stability. Afterall, happy people probably are unlikely to plan riots and strikes to disturb the peace of the nation, are they?

In short, democracy allows the people to have a voice, and to have the freedom to speak their mind, and no fear of getting into trouble because of anything they say.

The main reason why democracy would create stability would be because it keeps the people happy, and allows them to have a voice. However, there are of course problems with democracy.

One major problem with democracy would be its slow speed in decision making. In true democracy, decisions have to be made by the people. Urgent issues that affect issues such as economy stil have to go through the people. Logically speaking, it is never easy, and never fast to collate the votes of the entire nation.

Another problem with democracy is that the people do not always make the right decisions. Some decisions affect the country on a very wide scale, and since most folks do not see the whole picture, they merely vote for what is best for them. This may sometimes leave various groups of people in difficult situations. For example, the blacks in America used to have a hard time living a good life because most votes were from the whites, who almost always outnumbered the blacks, and made choices that benefitted only them!

The point is, democracy is a system where the majority wins, but the majority may not always be right. And that brings problems to the nation.

Therefore, at first glance, democracy may bring stability and happiness amongst the majority, but for the rest of the people, maybe not so much happiness, since their choice is overshadowed by the majority, regardless of whether it is a 99% to 1% of the population, or a 51% to 49% of the population.

Robert A. Heinlein, a famous author, once said, "Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is about eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried."

I fuly agree with him. After all, we see many countries in the world adopting democracy, and most do not have very major instability problems. However, countries such as Russia, which adopted Communism in the past, have had dictators that brought about the downfall of their nation.

Therefore, I feel that I have to agree with the statement. Democracy creates stability in a society, far better than most other systems.

Guan Lin

The Power of Teenage Slang

2008-03-08T01:46:00.000-08:00

Teenage slang has been on the rise very rapidly. The use of words such as LOL (Laugh Out Loud) and BRB (Be Right Back) are seen in many teenage messages nowadays.

Surprisingly, this slang has moved to more than just emails and text messages. They are appearing in schoolwork! While I am one of those who actually apply the teenage slang into my text messages, I never actually realised that people were using them in schoolwork. Worse still, it is not intentional. Teenage slang has become part of our everyday language.

Before we go into the problems of such a language, we must first look at why teenagers actually use such terms.

Teenagers think that using slang actually makes them cooler, not to mention that the slang actually sounds more fun. Words such "BRB" basically sums up what one needs to know in 3 letters. Rather than typing out the whole phrase of "Be Right Back", it is so much more convenient to use the slang version of the phrase. In fact, this would even save some space in a text message. Since one text message only accommodates 160 characters, using the term "BRB" would reduce character count, and allow more space for other words.

Influence from friends is also a major contributor to the constant rise of the slang. The slang spreads like wildfire. When one uses it enough, friends would start to use it as well. A sort of human chain reaction occurs, explaining why slang is so common these days.

The major concern over this new phenomenon must be the effect it has on the use of good English language. As stated just now, if teenagers start to apply it in their schoolwork, what is to become of proper language? How are teenagers going to draft formal letters in the future during work?

Most kids picked up the slang from around 8 to 10 years old, and since they would also be learning their grammar usage during this time, the teenage slang would seriously interfere with the very foundations of their English language!

For parents do not use the teenage slang, there may be a communication breakdown between the parent and the teenager. Some parents are smart. They understand that they are unable to change the way teenagers speak to each other, and therefore learn the teenage slang. These parents will have a stronger bond with their kids as they talk more frequently. However, parents who are stubborn and refuse to understand what their kid's language will ultimately destroy communication between the parent and the child. Teenage communication is a powerful skill to parents. Parents who master it will understand their child much better.

While it will be difficult to eradicate the teenage slang completely, it is essential to understand that teenage slang is not all bad. With sufficient control and restrain, the convenience of the teenage slang can go with the use of proper English. It is just a matter of knowing when to use what.

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Source: The Secret Language of Teens

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=2820582&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

Guan Lin