16th Student Leaders Convention

The 16th Student Leaders Convention took place from the 1st to 4th June this year. The Student Leaders Convention (SLC) is a platform in which student leaders from the Asia-Pacific region come together to discuss recent issues that are happening around the world today. This year, 16th SLC seeks to address problems youth face due to the prevalence of Social Media. Hence, this will equip Youth Leaders with the knowledge, skills and foresight to face the problems of today, nurturing leaders of tomorrow. The convention is jointly organised by Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang Girls High and the Guest of Honour is Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Heng Chee How.

This year, I had the opportunity to be part of the organising team of 16th SLC. It certainly has been a wonderful and enriching experience. I have benefited a lot from it and have gained exposure on things that I have not yet experience for myself in ProEd Council.

In ProEd Council, one does not really have much contact with outside organisations and through this convention, I have learnt how to interact with them. Firstly, I have learnt to work with student leaders from other schools. An example would be Nanyang Girls High School. Working with Nanyang Girls' student leaders is a new experience for me. This is because they are of a different gender and thus the tone and way that one speaks to them is quite different as compared to the tone that we use to speak to our friends. There may be some slangs that Hwa Chong students use when communicating with each other and some short forms of locations that the NYGH Student Leaders may not understand. So adjustments to how we communicate with them have to be made.

Secondly, as the printing of booklets, shirts and notepads require the help of companies, the Organising Team has to obtain quotations and source for them. Also, we have to explain our plans and designs to these companies and through this, I was exposed to working with external companies. This is something that I have not experienced before as these arrangements were usually done by teachers.

Rejection was a common thing in the 6 months long planning stage. Many proposals that one came up with were rejected and I am no exception. However, each rejection was a learning opportunity and we worked on our proposals after knowing what is wrong. A lot of perserverance is needed especially when rejections can be quite demoralising.

On the day of the event day itself, I saw many participants actively participating in the games and discussions. Their smiles were what brought the Organising Team assurance that things were going fine and that they were enjoying themselves.
The sense of satisfaction was priceless.

However, the best thing about 16th SLC was the friendships forged. Each of us were there for each other whenever anyone met with difficulties. We walked through the tough and tiring journey together and that fostered a strong bond between us. We all had a common identity : Organising Team of the 16th Student Leaders Convention and I believe that all of us would remember that for life.

The tedious 6 months of planning was put into place in four days. In four days, it was over. All that hardwork was executed extremely succesfully and that was probably why everyone was so emotional after the event. All of us felt empty after the event, free from all the work that we once had to complete by deadlines.  Oh how I wish I could turn back the clock to the start of 16th SLC.......
16th Student Leaders Convention, you certainly added a lot of colours to my life! Thank You!

You may visit this website for more information regarding 16th Student Leaders Convention : http://www.hci.sg/hci_slc/

Term 2 Home Learning - We Slept With Our Boots On Task 2

We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes


They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies


Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew


Where we would land we had not a clue


Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot


We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not


30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your ****


Get ready to go and make it quick


My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins


I run as fast as I can through the lead rain


The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define


The only reason I survived that day was divine


I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more


You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more


We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks


From house to cave, to car to creek


Dirty and tired and hungry and scared


We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared


Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies


The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives

Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod


Who knew hell was so close to God


Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink

So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think

Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s


Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns


Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire


I will never forget those who were called higher

They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood

Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud


And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell


Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell


by Steve Carlsen




Speaker:


Point:
Soldier who fought in the war. Soldier in the frontline.


Evidence:


1. Where we would land we had not a clue (line 4)


2. I run as fast as I can through the lead rain (line 10)


3. I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more(line 13)


Elaboration


The point of view is of a soldier who has fought in the war. We can infer that by the use of words such as “I” and “we”. These words are used to represent oneself or oneself with others thus telling us that the poem is in a first person’s point of view. Also, the line “I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more” gives the reader an insight to the situation of the war, the things that a soldier does. Thus from the evidences found, we can infer that the persona of the poem is a soldier.




Being written in a first person perspective manner, the poem is one that will be reliable and truly expresses the feelings of war that a soldier has. The first person perspective tone allows the reader to uncover real life experiences that a soldier has gone through and will thus provide deeper and clearer insights.


From the speaker’s words, I can sense that the speaker is one who does not like war. He detests the idea of it and is especially evident when he describes war as “terror”. Terror means something horrible. The gruesome sight of dead bodies and the never ending pour of bullets from the sky caused such an impression. Dead bodies belong to those who have sacrificed their lives for the country. And the everlasting pour of bullets from fighter planes in the sky make the soldiers extremely vulnerable to death. The huge risk of dying and sufferings heightens the terror of war.


The role of the speaker is to provide insights of war and perhaps to bring across a message that war is bad and that fighting in one is like living in hell. Through the poem, the speaker aroused my sympathy for him, having to go through all the pain and sufferings just because two sides cannot agree with each other on issues. Psychological pain present when seeing comrades dying every minute and the worries that they have on whether they would live to see another sunlight. Physical pain would be when one gets hurt in the war, such as being shot with a gun.


Situation


Point :


Afghanistan War


Evidence:


1. “Hindu Kush” (line 20)




2. “Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s” (line 26)


3. “Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns” (line 27)


Elaboration:


The Hindu Kush is a 500-mile mountain range stretching between north-western Pakistan and eastern and central Afghanistan. This was the place in which some fighting happened during Operation Enduring Freedom. The conflict is between countries and is to remove terrorist training sites and their infrastructure, and thus the conflict is due to social problems and is an external one. In the poem, a soldier sees his fellow comrades, dead and injured being unloaded. Then he was transported by a fighter plane to the mountain to fight. Lead was pouring and sounds of explosions are deafening. There was a lot of chaos. Also, the speaker is thinking about the war as something that was extremely negative. Innocence was lost and love ones were killed. Innocence is important for one to not note the horrible side of life. Innocent people often think of the world as a safe and nice place to live in. However, war robs men of that. Also, mothers’ precious sons are lost. Every mother loves her son. The passing away of someone whom she has loved so much and sacrificed so much to raise will inflict drastic psychological pain to the mother. And just because of a war, these pain are inflicted.


Language / Diction


Point 1
Imagery (sight)


Evidence


1. They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes (line1)


Elaboration


The first evidence shows us the huge amount of people who died and are injured due to the war. The fact that these kind of soldiers are able to be “unloaded” gives us a clue that there are many of them. Through this image formed, we are able to infer that the consequences of war are huge and that it robs people of their lives.


Evidence


2. I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more (line 13)


Elaboration


The second evidence shows the way in which the speaker fights in a war. He keeps pulling the trigger and reloading. This is what every other soldier is supposed to do, to kill as many enemies they can with their weapons. The continuous actions of the soldiers fighting make them seem like robots, that they have to continue doing so until they have further instructions or they have won. From the comparison, we can thus infer that the soldiers were not given a choice on what they could do, and perhaps they were forced to fight in a war.


Evidence


3. We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks (line 15)


Elaboration


Valleys are areas of low ground between mountains and mountains are areas of extremely high grounds (above 600 meters). This gives an impression that the soldiers fight everywhere, from all the way at the bottom to all the way at the top.


Evidence


4. Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies (line 19)


Elaboration


The sky is very high up in the sky and that if the mountain is able to “kiss” the sky; it means that it is very high. This shows the amount of physical strength that a soldier has to use in order to scale it to reach and kill their enemies
Evidence


5. Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire (line 27)


Elaboration


Washed in the blood tells us that the soldiers were covered in blood. This means that there were many injuries on the soldiers such that blood was oozing out of them. Baptism is: "immersing", "performing ablutions", i.e., "ritual washing") with the use of water, by which a person is admitted to membership of the Church. In this case the soldiers were being surrounded by fire. This gives an insight to the situation and sight of the war that is happening. Perhaps the baptism of fire was to welcome the soldiers to death and sufferings. The word “baptize” makes use of biblical references, which suggest that the speaker might be a religious person.


Point 2 : Simile
Evidence
1. My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins (line 9)


Elaboration


Adrenalin is a hormone produced by the body that increases heart rate and contracts blood vessels resulting in high blood pressures. This is used to show that the heart beat of the soldier is increasing and this may be due to anxiety and fear. Fear may be caused by the immense amount of danger that the soldier is going to face, or the gruesome sight that they may see later when they are fighting. From this, we may infer that war is a frightening experience and is one that is dreaded.


Evidence


2. Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink


Elaboration


Beauty from the mountains and the terror from the war are what the soldiers experience. These are feelings that are totally different, with one being pleasant and the other being frightening and scary.


Evidence


3. So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think


Elaboration


Drunkards are used to describe the soldiers that were fighting. They bear with the horrible mixed feelings that they experience during the war and just accepted it like an addicted person. From that, we can infer that the soldiers are very used to the feeling. Also, drunkards are always drunk and want more beer. From “tried not to think”, we may also infer that the soldiers are not very effective in controlling their feelings.


Point 3


Evidence


1. Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns (line 27)


Elaboration


The contrast that is present in the poem is between innocence and the cruelty. Everyone is born innocent. Everyone at birth has a pure heart as they are not exposed to any cruel things yet. However, when they grow up and are exposed to the other side of life. War comes in and all are exposed to bombings and killings. One's mind would also start to change in perception and the urge to have revenge surfaces. This is when cruelty and hatred is introduced. This contrast shows how war robs one of their innocence and once it it gone, it is gone forever.


Evidence


2. Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink (line 24)


Elaboration


Secondly, another contrast is present between the beauty of nature and war. "terror" was used to describe the war and this is a direct contrast to the word "beauty". The terror was from all the fightings that happened and especially evident is the death and sufferings of the soldiers physically and mentally. Beauty was present in the "majestic" Indian Kush that "kiss the skies" This shows how war does not go along with nature, causing a contrast.


Evidence


2. Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink (line 24)


Elaboration


Secondly, another contrast is present between the beauty of nature and war. "terror" was used to describe the war and this is a direct contrast to the word "beauty". The terror was from all the fightings that happened and especially evident is the death and sufferings of the soldiers physically and mentally. Beauty was present in the "majestic" Indian Kush that "kiss the skies" This shows how war does not go along with nature, causing a contrast.


Evidence


3. hell was so close to God (line 22)


Elaboration


Lastly, this simile is used to describe the place in which the soldiers were fighting. Hell symbolizes the struggles and horrible times that the soldiers go through. Since hell was close to God, it means that they were fighting on high ground as God is very high up in the sky. There is also another meaning to it. Hell which was the fightings, being so close to God tells us that the soldiers can die very easily. Since they are so close to God, the soldiers thus reach God easily.


Point 4 Metaphor


Evidence


1. We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared (line 18)




Elaboration


The soldiers slept with their boots on so as to be always ready for an attack. When one sleeps, he or she is fully resting and consciousness of the world is suspended. However, this is not the case for the soldiers as they have to worry even during sleep. We can thus infer that there was no such thing as safety during the war.


Evidence


2. Bird (line 6)




Elaboration


Bird is compared with the fighter plane that the speaker is being transported to another location with. However, a bird is free to fly around, but that is not the case for the soldiers. The soldiers are supposed to do whatever the higher authorities asked them to do. In this case, they are being flown to another location to fight the war.




Evidence


3. Rain


Elaboration


Rain is the pouring of water from the clouds. In this poem, lead is the one that is pouring from the sky. Lead is a poisonous substance and may symbolize the bullets that were shot from the fighter planes in the sky. If bullets are pouring down, this means that there are many of it, posing huge amount of risks to soldiers fighting in the war.


Point 5 Symbolism


Evidence


Hell (line 22)


Elaboration


Hell is a placed that is believed to be horrible and full of struggles. Associated with hell are monsters and especially devils. Hell is used to depict and symbolize struggles. In the poem, it symbolizes the war that is happening. The soldiers are having a hard time and the war is full of struggles.


Point 6 Irony


Evidence


They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood (line 29)


Elaboration


“Blood is thicker than water” is a cliché that is often used to say family ties are extremely important and are closer than that of outsiders. However, there is a change when it comes to the battlefield. Fellow comrades are more important then. They are the ones that can help you during a war and your family can only pray for you and give psychological support. Comrades are considered outsiders as compared to family members. However, they seem to be closer to you during war. This is ironical.


Personal Response


Point


I am disturbed after reading the poem


Evidence 1


1. I run as fast as I can through the lead rain (line 10)


Elaboration


The first piece of evidence highlights the grave amount of danger that a soldier faces. Lead is a poisonous substance that can damage nervous connections and cause blood and brain disorders. These are serious consequences when one comes into contact with it. The word rain shows that there is a everlasting pour of lead and this causes the soldiers to be very vulnerable to death. I feel disturbed by the huge amount of peril a soldier in a war is in.


Evidence 2


2. The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define


(line 11)


3. Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire



Elaboration
The second and third pieces of evidence clearly depict the chaos and situation of the war. There were loud explosions everywhere and also fire accompanying it. The soldiers were “baptized” by fire, which meant that they were totally surrounded by it. Terror was used to describe the war and this shows how nasty it is.


Evidence 3


3. The only reason I survived that day was divine




(line 12)


Elaboration


The third piece of evidence shows a slight resignation to fate that the speaker is feeling. The speaker cannot believe that he would survive the day, which allows us to infer that he is prepared to die. Divine means emanating from God, which means that God helped him to prevent death. Without God, the speaker may have died This brings a dark and depressing feeling to the poem, thus I feel very disturbed after reading this poem.

Term 2 Home Learning - We slept with our boots on Task 1

The author, Steve Carlsen was an experienced soldier who was deployed to peacekeeping operations that were held in Kosovo in November 2001. Kosovo is a partially recognised state then and is land locked. There were many border disputes with Serbia and some of other issues with Yugoslavia.

Secondly, Steve Carlsen was involved in combat operations in Afghanistan in December 2002. The dispute then was called Operation Enduring Freedom. The objective of the operation was to destroy terrorist training camps and infrastructure. Raids were carried out and Steve most probably participated in them. This was the event that was described in the poem, and also the conflict described.

This is how the event went.
Seizing upon a power vacuum after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan after their invasion, the Taliban (Sunni Islamist Political Movement) assumed the role of government. Their extreme interpretation of Islamic law prompted them to ban music, television, sports, and dancing, and enforce harsh judicial penalties Also, terrorist groups formed. Amputation was an accepted form of punishment for stealing, and public executions could often be seen at the Kabul football stadium. Women's rights groups around the world were frequently critical as the Taliban banned women from appearing in public or holding many jobs outside the home. They drew further criticism when they destroyed the Buddhas of Bamyan, historical statues nearly 1500 years old, because the Buddhas were considered idols.


In 1996, Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan upon the invitation of the Northern Alliance leader Abdur Rabb ur Rasool Sayyaf. When the Taliban came to power, bin Laden was able to forge an alliance between the Taliban and his Al-Qaeda organization. It is understood that Al-Qaeda-trained fighters known as the 055 Brigade were integrated with the Taliban army between 1997 and 2001. It has been suggested that the Taliban and bin Laden had very close connections

On September 20, 2001, the U.S. stated that Osama bin Laden was behind the September 11 attacks in 2001, and made a five point ultimatum to the Taliban:

1. Deliver to the U.S. all of the leaders of al-Qaeda
2. Release all imprisoned foreign national
3. Close immediately every terrorist training camp
4. Hand over every terrorist and their supporters to appropriate authorities
5. Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps for inspection

On September 21, 2001, the Taliban rejected this ultimatum, stating there was no evidence in their possession linking bin Laden to the September 11 attacks. Then, the fighting began. On Sunday October 7, 2001, American and British forces began an aerial bombing campaign targeting Taliban forces and al-Qaeda.


References: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html