Figurative language used in 'Neighbours'

1. 'Knocks on my concience' This is a hyperbole. The author's character is reminded to give cakes to her neighbour and this phrase potrays it nicely.

2. 'Poor woman, dosen't know how to make cakes' This is a hyperbole. The author is trying to exagerate how 'I' look down on 'my' neighbour.

3. 'I hear she's a gossip' This is a hyperbole. The author is trying to create the irony of 'I' saying that the neighbour is a gossip when the whole poem is about 'me' gossiping about her.

4. 'We hold with fists clenched tight' This is a hyberbole. The author is trying to describe the inside hatred between the two neightbours.

Neighbours by Alfian Sa'at

During Hari Raya she knocks on my conscience,
I knock on her door and I give her cakes.

She says she likes them and gives me
Sweets with gelatine inside. I throw them away.

Poor woman, dosen't know how to make cakes.
Her children eat Maggi after school everyday.

That's why the elder one is in Normal stream
And the younger one can't spell her name.

If I was her age I wouldn't be wearing shorts at home.
No shame, she dosen't know how to hide her womanhood.

When the children are naughty and I beat them
I close the door: I hear she's a gossip.

But she beatxs her children harder than I do
What to do her children are like that.

I once hear her scream she wanted to kill herself.
These people never value their own lives.

Other times I see her I smile and she smiles back
And her children smile and call me auntie.

But in our hands we hold with fists clenched tight
THe keys to our homes, each night we slam the bolt shut.

Is progress necessarily beneficial to our society?

I feel that 'progress' can be very subjective. Therefore, my opinion that progress may or may not be beneficial to our society depending on the time, the type of society and the progress itself. For example, in the book Village By the Sea, the government decided to transform Thul, a small, peaceful fishing village, into a industrial site for factories. This may be beneficial to the government's point of view because it has great financial benefits. However, to the villagers in Thul, they certainly do not think of the building of factories in their village as a benefit. They would rather get on with their peaceful lives as fishermen. Therefore, progress may not be beneficial to everybody.

In the book village by the sea, Hari also has had great progress when he went to Bombay. Instead of working in the fields and earning that small amount of money which was barely enough to support his family in the past, he went to Bombay and earned a lot of money relatively and was financially comfortable when he went back to Thul. This progress has a long term benefit but in the time of which Hari was gone, Lila would not have been able to cope if she was not lucky enough to have received help from the De Silvas like in the book. Therefore, this has also shown that progress has its advantages and disadvantages.

Who is your favourite/least favourite character in Village by the Sea?

My favorite character in Village by the Sea is Hari. Despite his relatively young age, he has shown great maturity in his actions. Because of his ill mother and drunkard father, he has no option but to carry a heavy burden of his parents which no ordinary child has to carry. He had to drop out of school due to the lack of financial assistance and has to work in the fields to try his best and support his family instead. With the constant reminder from Lila that what he was doing was not enough, he finally gets fed up and runs to Bombay in hope to find a job and a better life. Fortunately, Hari meets many helpful people that helped him greatly. When he finally earns enough money, he returns to Thul without spending a single cent intending to use the money to support his family. From here, he has again shown great maturity at such a young age. This has made him my favorite character in Village by the Sea.

My least favorite character in the book is Lila's father. Despite his change in attitude at the end of the book, he is the main cause of the trouble and hardship that Lila and Hari had to go through. According to the book, Hari's father once had a fishing boat and went out to fish every day making life very easy for them. However, since Hari's father became a drunkard, he sold his boats and their whole family became dysfunctional and Lila and Hari's lives were turned upside down. They had to drop out of school and Hari had to carry the great responsibility that his father was suppose to carry. Therefore, my least favorite character in this book is Hari and Lila's father.

Which part of Village By the Sea do you like the best?

After reading the amazing and interesting book, Village By the Sea, I feel that I liked the part where Hari goes to Alibagh to fetch his mother home from the hospital in page 242. I liked this part the best as I feel relieved when I read it seeing that their once dysfunctional family is now reunited. I am also happy when I see that Hari's father has stopped being a drunkard and went to Alibagh to look after their sick mother.

Their family has been very lucky which is a stark contrast from the start of the book as De Silvas helped Lila and her parents while Hari was in Bombay and Hari met very helpful and kind-hearted people in Bombay like Jagu and Mr. Panwalla. Overall, I like this part of the book the best as it signifies a happy closure of the story with the impression that they would live happily ever after. All these would also have not been possible without the strong bond and maturity in Hari and Lila.

Mas Selemat's re-arrest

Mas Selemat Kastari's re-arrest on the 1st of April by the Malaysians has been a the prime news recently. I feel very relieved that he has been captured as it has been said that he will plan an attack on Singapore. However, I feel that we should not let our guard down as Mas Selemat is not the only terrorits around. Instead we should take this as a lesson to be more vigilant and alert to reduce the risk of these kind of situations from happening.

My Camp at Sarimbun

We just came back from our Sec 1 annual camp at the Sarimbun Scouts Camp. I must say that I did not really like it at first but on the second day, I realized how meaningful it actually was. I got to bond with my classmates and friends. Furthermore, I feel like I have changed upon coming back home. I learn to be more independent and appreciate what I have better.

Overall, I think this camp is a very meaningful and somewhat enjoyable one.