Michael Jackson, 50, who went from a wonder boy to a global pop superstar to a sad figure haunted by lawsuits, paparazzi and a few failures in plastic surgery, died in a Los Angeles hospital.
There is 1 thing reminded me of Michael Jackson. Not his song-Thriller nor his prominent Moon Walker-but it is his paradise, it is his NEVERLAND. I have been to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida a few times and that is the best Disneyland in the world, I have to admit. But there is one amusement park which I long to visit-Neverland of late Michael Jackson. I hope that it will soon be opened to public to so that we will be able to mesmerize our King of Pop.
Here is a video on Neverland:
Neverland Valley Ranch (formerly the Sycamore Valley Ranch) is a developed property in Santa Barbara County, California, most famous for being a home of American entertainer Michael Jackson from 1988 to 2005. It is named after Neverland, the fantasy island in the story of Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up. It was Jackson's home and private amusement park and contained, among other things, a floral clock, numerous statues of children, and a zoo.
During his residency there, Jackson brought groups of children and their families to the facility as day visitors. He also hosted various children overnight, a practice which came under scrutiny when Jackson was accused of sexual misconduct with minors at the ranch, first in 1993 and again in 2003.
Here is a video on Michael Jackson’s Memorial Service
MJ was being accused for his immoral act on teens and I always wondered how his children judged this renowned singer. I even despised him and ‘boycotted’ his songs although he is mum’s idol. On his Memorial Day, mum spent the whole day in front of CNN to watch in tears. I joined her when MJ’s daughter, Paris Jackson, made her testimonial. “Ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine,” she said. “And I just want to say that I love him so much.” It was an impromptu and unscripted speech and voiced from the bottom of her heart dedicated to her late father. I was touched.
No matter how ‘plastic’ and how immoral MJ was, he is forever the best father to his kids, he is forever Peter Pan –never grows up nor dies-in our heart.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
A National Day CIP
Our school organized a Community Involvement Project(CIP) for the entire Secondary 1 cohort yesterday. It was done on a large scale, about 500 students went to Taman Jurong to collect newspapers and at the same time sold them to a specific ‘karang guni’ so that we would be able to donate the money for charity.
At 7.15 a.m., we gathered in school, eagerly anticipating for the bus to arrive at 9 to bring us to the Taman Jurong housing estate. This is my second CIP with my peers. At 7.15 we arrived at the terraces to watch the march-in of the Uniform Groups which include Scouts, St Johns Ambulance Brigade, National Cadet Corps and National Police Cadet Corps. They marched in with such dignity, self-pride that I too unknowingly, truly respected them. They marched an entire circle around half of the tracks in such a neat arrangement. Later at 9, the march-in and the celebration for National Day ended.
Then, our only ideal mode of transport arrived, a school bus. We all waited for the bus designated to our class to arrive. When it finally came, we were all drenched in sweat as beads of salty sweat trickled down our faces. We all piled up the bus in a chaotic manner.
Unknowingly, the small trickles of sweat were only just the beginning…
Once we reached Taman Jurong, we split up into our already designated groups. I was with Jarel, Brendan, Fabian and Aloysius. Jarel then shouted,” Let’s go!” We went in search of Block 349, the “lucky number” that we had been assigned to. He also said in a soft yet commanding voice,” We have 11 floors to cover, so we need to split up into twos so that each level there are two people doing it. Fabian and I will be doing the even floors, while Brendan and Sean will be covering the odd numbers. Aloysius, you shall guard our bags and the newspaper s that we will be carrying down. Any final questions?” Nobody muttered a sound. This was the start of my CIP.
We took the lift all the way up to the last floor, the 11th floor. We decided to finish level by level by using the stairs. Thus, we attacked the first two units to our right of the lift. On our first attempt at collecting newspapers, I could say that we did extremely well. The first unit that we had knocked was a middle-aged lady and she was very hospitable. She opened the doors with a broad welcoming smile while opening the locked gates and even offered us a glass of water, but we gratefully declined. Then she led us into the house where she stored the newspapers. Brendan and I were both flabbergasted at the stack of newspapers. It was two stacks and each stack was as tall as half the height of a normal bedroom door. We slowly and painfully carried the newspapers out. Although our backs were aching and our foreheads were full of sweat, we continued to working diligently. Our cheeks were both red, we thanked the auntie profusely and said that she was of a great help to us. She simply smiled and closed the door after biding us good luck and goodbye. Brendan and I had the same thoughts. If this was just one apartment, what about the other 25 units of the block? I could literally say that we were both going to be knackered after this CIP. At last after repetitive times of going down the stairs and carrying the entire stack of newspapers down for Aloysius to stack up, we finished the CIP. It was definitely a good warming up for me before my squash competition the next day.
This again made my Pre-National Day more meaningful and memorable. Like my dad always emphasizes to me to add-value to my life and enjoy every moments in Hwa Chong. I did a few CIP activities and met all sorts of people from all walks of lives. The next CIP I may want to do is to step into boys’ homes or orphanages so that I will be able to appreciate with what I have and contribute with what I own to those who are under-privileged of my same age group. Anyone who wants to join me, let me know. We can initiate our own CIP to the homes.
Thank You!
At 7.15 a.m., we gathered in school, eagerly anticipating for the bus to arrive at 9 to bring us to the Taman Jurong housing estate. This is my second CIP with my peers. At 7.15 we arrived at the terraces to watch the march-in of the Uniform Groups which include Scouts, St Johns Ambulance Brigade, National Cadet Corps and National Police Cadet Corps. They marched in with such dignity, self-pride that I too unknowingly, truly respected them. They marched an entire circle around half of the tracks in such a neat arrangement. Later at 9, the march-in and the celebration for National Day ended.
Then, our only ideal mode of transport arrived, a school bus. We all waited for the bus designated to our class to arrive. When it finally came, we were all drenched in sweat as beads of salty sweat trickled down our faces. We all piled up the bus in a chaotic manner.
Unknowingly, the small trickles of sweat were only just the beginning…
Once we reached Taman Jurong, we split up into our already designated groups. I was with Jarel, Brendan, Fabian and Aloysius. Jarel then shouted,” Let’s go!” We went in search of Block 349, the “lucky number” that we had been assigned to. He also said in a soft yet commanding voice,” We have 11 floors to cover, so we need to split up into twos so that each level there are two people doing it. Fabian and I will be doing the even floors, while Brendan and Sean will be covering the odd numbers. Aloysius, you shall guard our bags and the newspaper s that we will be carrying down. Any final questions?” Nobody muttered a sound. This was the start of my CIP.
We took the lift all the way up to the last floor, the 11th floor. We decided to finish level by level by using the stairs. Thus, we attacked the first two units to our right of the lift. On our first attempt at collecting newspapers, I could say that we did extremely well. The first unit that we had knocked was a middle-aged lady and she was very hospitable. She opened the doors with a broad welcoming smile while opening the locked gates and even offered us a glass of water, but we gratefully declined. Then she led us into the house where she stored the newspapers. Brendan and I were both flabbergasted at the stack of newspapers. It was two stacks and each stack was as tall as half the height of a normal bedroom door. We slowly and painfully carried the newspapers out. Although our backs were aching and our foreheads were full of sweat, we continued to working diligently. Our cheeks were both red, we thanked the auntie profusely and said that she was of a great help to us. She simply smiled and closed the door after biding us good luck and goodbye. Brendan and I had the same thoughts. If this was just one apartment, what about the other 25 units of the block? I could literally say that we were both going to be knackered after this CIP. At last after repetitive times of going down the stairs and carrying the entire stack of newspapers down for Aloysius to stack up, we finished the CIP. It was definitely a good warming up for me before my squash competition the next day.
This again made my Pre-National Day more meaningful and memorable. Like my dad always emphasizes to me to add-value to my life and enjoy every moments in Hwa Chong. I did a few CIP activities and met all sorts of people from all walks of lives. The next CIP I may want to do is to step into boys’ homes or orphanages so that I will be able to appreciate with what I have and contribute with what I own to those who are under-privileged of my same age group. Anyone who wants to join me, let me know. We can initiate our own CIP to the homes.
Thank You!
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