" IBOY -Kevin Brooks " book review

Let me share with you guys about a book that I've just finished reading recently. 

So I was at the library, accompanying a friend who likes to borrow lots of books at once ( And she reads them very quickly like, wow. ) and I came across this book on the right. I borrowed this one book while my friend borrowed 6. Damn... .__. 

Here's what is written on the back page, just to give you guys a rough idea on what the story is about: 

" Before the attack, sixteen-year-old Tom Harvey was just an ordinary boy. But now fragments of a shattered iPhone are embedded in his brain and it's having an extraordinary effect...Because now Tom has powers. The ability to know and see more than he could ever imagine. And with incredible power comes knowledge - and a choice. Seek revenge on the violent gangs that rule his estate and assaulted his friend Lucy, or keep quiet? Tom has control when everything else is out of control. But it's a dangerous price to pay. And the consequences are terrifying. " 


So this book is about a sixteen-year-old boy called Tom Harvey who lives with his Gram in a flat in Crow town. Since young, he was told that his father died when he was born and his mother died due to a car accident when she was on her way to work. His Gram loves writing poems but writing poems don't pay the bills, so she writes love books instead. As a result, her day to day life are miserable as hell. And not to forget, she's getting old :3 

Tom has a dear friend whom he grew up together with called Lucy Walker who lives in the same apartment building as him. As he grew older, he start to have feelings for her, but he keeps it inside. 

Crow town do not have a good reputation as the city is full of gang activities. Everyday, people kill each other, rape each other, there are a lot of illegal drug selling done, you know, all the things that the triad members do. Therefore, ANYONE can fall into bad company, including Tom, but he did not.

Lucy's brother, Ben Walker, joined a gang called the " Crows ". He thought that he would look cool joining a group who do things together and stuff. One day, he was asked to stab someone by one of the gang kids. Of course, he did not have that in him. He refused. This enraged the gang leader and one day, the gang members knock on his door, went inside and beat the shit out of him. Lucy was there and she was raped by the gang members. The raping incident was so traumatising to her that it haunted her forever. 

At that point of time, Tom was waiting to meet Lucy up near the apartment building. One of the gang member took Ben's iphone and threw it out of the window. Unfortunately, It landed on Tom's head. It cracked his skull open and he was hospitalised after that. 

After he was discharged, he realised that he now had super human powers. His mind had the ability to do whatever an iphone can do, make phone calls, send text messages, hack into people's personal or official information, read news, etc. He also could turn on his iskin and electrocute people with the electrical energy inside him. 

He then decided to take revenge on the gang members who had raped Lucy and made her life a living hell. He electrocuted them, handed them over to the police, etc. News started spreading around Crow town about a superhero who takes the law into his own hands. 

However, Tom's identity was later discovered by Howard Ellman, a guy who runs all the local gangs. Tom's life was in danger. He and Lucy were kidnapped and taken to a place where Tom's ibrain could not get any signal from. Tom was defenceless. He then discovered that Howard Ellman was actually his father and her mother's ex-lover. Her mother left him one day and Howard decided to kill her. 

Of course, Tom's ibrain, iknowledge and ipowers were far more powerful than the gang members and he managed to escape with Lucy. Back home, his Gram told him that her mother was rebellious and chose to be with Howard because she thought he was interesting. Later on, she started to realise that he was a bad person and left Howard while she was pregnant with Tom. A few years after Tom was born, Howard killed his mother. 

Tom soon realised that revenge is never the solution to everything. It will only create more problems. He realised that his powers will forever be in him and with great power, comes great responsibility. 


I really enjoyed reading this book and the story is really trilling and kept me flipping from one page to the next. Kevin's aim was not to show how clever he is with words, but to tell a great story, and he did :) 


I really recommend this book to anyone who love Science Fiction as much as I do ^^ 

Tip: How to survive your PSLE year

This is gonna be another " Tip " post and today, I'm going to be taking you back to my past, and tell you some tips on how to survive the Primary School Leaving Examinations. 

Just a little introduction, I took my PSLE three years ago and I graduated with a T score of 207. I was pretty contented as I have gotten the fruits of my labour :) I worked hard for that T score... 

My dream school actually had a cut off point of around 230 but I'm happy that my results aren't really that bad. I got like, 2 As and 2 Bs. 

So, let's not delay any further. Here are my tips on how to survive the PSLE year: 

1) Relax 

I know that Primary 6 is an " important " year but chill out, relax. Don't study 24/7. Don't ditch other things like your friends, CCA, family, food. 

You need to have a life in order to study and do well too. 

However, do not over relax and fail your subjects. Just do your work constantly, revise regularly. You know, the usual stuff. 

2) Do not study primary 1-6 stuff 

The other day a friend told me that he actually studied EVERYTHING from Primary 1 to 6. Are you kidding me?! 

There's no need to be overly " Kiasu " and study every single thing. So you're going to study  how to add 2 plus 2? Or the multiplication table? The multiplication table should be on your fingertips by now. If It is not, then you better start memorising them... right after reading this post. 

Studying upper primary stuff is enough. 

3) Study for all your exams, even if it's not the PSLE. 

Please study for all your exams. Your CA1, SA1, Mock exam, prelim. 

They may not be the " real " national exam but they are reflections on how well you are doing and where you stand. So, please study for them. 

4) Know yourself  

Knowing the studying style that suits you best and where you stand are important things that you need to know before taking any national exam. 

If you are faster than the rest, you may be able to pass with flying colours without studying much. But If you're like me, who is not very bright and the type of person who needs to study, then study hard. 

I got some friends who did not study for their PSLE and still got over 220 points. But that's them, not me. If I didn't study, I'll probably get below 200 points. 

If you're slower than the rest, then you got to work two times as hard as everybody else. You're not stupid. You just need to work harder than the rest. Nothing is impossible :)

5) Cherish time 

Please cherish every moment that you have with your friends because in just a blink of an eye, you will be separated from what you call " Loving friends " and you guys will go to different secondary schools, living your own life. 
In this modern age, It's hard to lose contact due to Facebook, Twitter and all those shits but you guys may not spend much time together anymore. 

That's not to say that you go out with your friends till 12 midnight every day and ditch your studies. Your future's important too you know. Balance work and play :) 

6) Do your PSLE booklets 

Please do them. You need to know your enemy before you attack. 

In case you don't understand what I mean, basically, you need to know the type of questions that will be asked. 

7) Set goals 

Have some secondary schools in mind that you wish to go to and use them as motivations when you study. What do u like about the school? Maybe the facilities, is it convenient for you or the CCA? 

Speaking of CCAs, If you really love your CCA, you may want to apply for the Direct School Admission. The cut off point will be lowered down a little bit, just for you. Isn't that great? 



So these are my 7 tips. I wish all you P6s good luck for your PSLE. You got a few more months, you can do it! :) 

Oh, and don't forget to party after PSLE okay? ^^ 

Singapore Mathematics Olympiad competition

I had my Singapore Mathematics Olympiad ( SMO ) competition yesterday and there was only one word to describe it. It was, " Mind-Blowing " 

The competition was 2 hours and 30 minutes and we had to complete an exam paper consisting of 35 questions. We were not allowed to use the calculator. 

When I sat down on the seat that I was assigned to and looked at the exam paper, I told myself, I'm gonna murder a lot of my brain cells today. And yes, I did. 

The first ten MCQ questions were pretty easy to guess because of the options available ( Not saying that they were easy) but the problem comes in the short answers questions. 

The questions were difficult beyond belief. It was mind-blowing as hell. They were tricky and sometimes I didn't even understand what they were talking about. Even the smartest maths student in my class said that It was difficult, so don't look at me like I'm some kind of dumb person or anything. 

I have tried my best to think through and solve every single question no matter how difficult they were and by the 20th question, most of my brain cells were dead already. I had a headache. My brain just couldn't take it anymore >< 

I finished the paper after 2 hours and spent the rest of the 30 minutes sleeping. My brain couldn't think anymore. All my brain cells died after that. 

That was the first round and those who qualify for the second round will be able to go to NUS to take the competition. 

For me, I don't think I can even get a bronze. I will be more than happy to just receive the certificate of participation. Well at least I tried :) 

Different Parenting Styles ( My Thoughts )

The other day during English class, our teacher showed us a video about four different parenting styles and how It affects the children's behaviors. 

Here are brief explanations of the four types of parenting styles: 

1) Authoritarian- These type of parents are strict and highly demanding. They have high expectations and when the expectations aren't met, you're dead. Nothing else to say, you're basically, dead. These parents do not show much concern to their children and are not really willing to listen to how their children feel and went through. Children of these type of parents tend to follow rules and do well in school but have low self esteem. 

2) Authoritative- Like Authoritarian parents, these type of parents have high expectations of their kids and set rigid boundaries. But unlike the Authoritarian parents, these type of parents are willing to show concern and to listen to how their children feel and went through. Also, when their expectations aren't met, you WON'T be dead ( Thank god... :3 ). Instead of punishing their children, they tend to listen to the problems that their children are facing and actually try to help their children to achieve the expectations. They are simply democratic. Children of these type of parents tend to do well in school and have high self esteem. 

3) Indulgent- These type of parents display excessive concerns and love for their children. They gave in easily to their children's desires and tend to spoil their children. This is because children of these type of parents get what they want all the time. These type of parents have low expectations for their children. Children of these type of parents tend to be selfish and aggressive. 

4) Neglecting- These type of parents are absent in their children's day to day life most of the time. They have low expectations of their kids and show no concern for them. Children of these type of parents tend to have bad behaviors in school as they yearn for attention and have low self esteem. 

So, I hope that that's not too much for you to absorb... Kay so moving on to " My Thoughts " .... 

I think that Authoritative parenting style is the best one out of the four and that's probably the parenting style that I want to use when I become a parent in the future. I want to be friends with my children but I also need to set ground rules and regulations. If they do something wrong, I need to explain to them that it is wrong and they have to face the consequences. 

Basically, If you're controlling without building a relationship with your children and showing your love, they will tend to rebel as they don't feel any warmth in the family at all. However If you give in to every of your children's demands then your children will be spoilt. Don't be neglecting, that's mean. Children will feel that like orphans. They have parents, but where are they? They're always absent.. 

Anyway, just to share with you guys on the type of parents I have, well my mum is authoritative and my dad is kinda Indulgent. When I do something wrong, my mum will scold me but also explain why my actions are wrong. For my dad, well, anything goes. He doesn't even care if I study for my exams or not. He say, " If you wanna study, good. If not, that's your business. " 

I think my dad feels that I am mature enough to make the right decisions on my own. He was actually authoritarian when I was young. He would cane me when I did something wrong, but he no longer does that as I grew older. My mum thinks that I still need to be guided as I am still a " child " in her eyes, HAHA XD. Well that's okay, I still do need guidance. 

Why is Facebook so addicting?

I was on Facebook and this question came to my mind, " Why is Facebook so addicting? " 

Seriously, why is that Facebook so addicting? I mean, there are only a few things you can do, check news feed, reply to messages, check notifications, check your profile, stalk people ( I don't do it by the way. But i know people who do :3 ). 

Once there are no more things to check, what you gonna do? Just stare at Facebook and be a stone? 

I think I finally found out why Facebook is so addicting... 

The main purpose of us going to Facebook is to check for updates by our friends or other pages that we like. So the reason why we stay on Facebook is that we hope to find some cool stuff, so we just keep on refreshing the news feed even If we've checked almost everything. 

But the thing is, most of the time, all we find are statuses telling us what the person is doing, who he/she hates, why he/she get depressed, etc. , photos of girls who are asking for compliments, and probably a thousand other things that we completely don't care about or doesn't even concerns us at all. 

Although we may also find " cool " stuff, It can be kinda boring for a while, just scrolling through the same page, occasionally hitting the " Facebook " button to refresh, check our profiles without any specific reason. 


Also, we hope that we got a notification or two. So we can't close the Facebook tab when we're on the internet. 

So that pretty much sums up why Facebook can be quite addicting, even if there are not much stuff to do most of the time.. 

Tip: How to choose your secondary 3 subject combination

Streaming is something that all secondary 2 pupils have to go through. Basically, secondary 2 pupils are suppose to choose a subject combination that they desire to take for upper secondary and for their O/N level national exam. They will be streamed based on their academic performance. 

I went through my streaming last year and I am currently studying double pure sciences ( Biology and Chemistry ), Double Mathematics ( Additional and Elementary ), Combined Humanities ( History + Social Studies ) and my two languages, English and Chinese. 
These are the subjects that I desired to take and I'm glad that I scored well to get them all ^^ 

So anyway, here's some tips for those sec 2 pupils taking their streaming this year: 

1) Choose the subjects that you enjoy/like 

This is gonna be a decision that is going to affect your life for the next 2-3 years so do the things that you enjoy and NOT what your friends/parents want. 

2) Choose the subjects that you can do well in 

Don't be silly and choose the subjects that you got an F in since sec 1. That's just plain dumb. 

Remember, the subjects you choose are gonna be the subjects that you are going to study for O/N level. If you can't cope a certain subject, you can always drop it halfway. But it's gonna be troublesome and not always easy to do. So just choose subjects of your strength and hopefully stay with those and do well for your Os and Ns, and move on with the rest of your life.... 

3) Choose the subjects based on what you want in the future 

If you already know what you want to do in the future, then that's great! Take the subjects that will get you to where you wanna go. 

I have a friend who wants to get into the veterinary course in Polytechnic and so he took Pure Bio and chem. 
I have a friend who wants to become an engineer and so he took Pure physics and Chemistry. 

If you are planning to get into JC, take Additional Maths. You MUST take it. Non negotiable. 
If you wanna get into the science course in JC, pure sciences are needed, be it double or triple ( actually unless you are super " kiasu ", taking double is enough :P ). If you wanna go to the arts course and do things like Literature, History, Economics, combined science is enough. 


So that was my three tips and I hope that this post has helped you to consider some options.... somehow... 
Now's still June so take your time considering them :) Study hard, get good grades, and choose whatever combinations that YOU want. Good luck ^^ 

A ridiculous saying

The other day during morning assembly, my school's discipline master suddenly said, " Yesterday, I saw one girl and one boy hugging each other just to say goodbye. This is Asia, we do not show our affection to each other in public. I will not identify them this time, but the next time I will take action against them. "

When I first heard this, I was like...



First of all, I feel that what he said was really ridiculous and he was really judgemental. He was just saying those things based on what he SAW. What if they are just siblings? Or just really good friends?

Even if they are really together in a relationship, so what? I don't see the problem with being in love with the opposite gender. If your partner don't affect you negatively, It's fine. Love is beautiful. FInding someone whom you want to show your affection to and that same person wants to do the same, is really, really rare. And he should understand that.

Secondly, he said, " This is Asia, we don't show our affection to each other in public. "
REALLY? Is Asia really like that, or is it just based on what you think? ( Again pointing out the fact that he was judgemental ) Or are you comparing it with the old generation?

Who says that we don't show affection in public? I hug my dad in public, and that is showing affection. Also, I saw many people showing affection to their significant other in public as well... So what? This is free will. It's not against the law to show affection outside. Unless It's a disgusting type of affection... You know.. Kinda like having sex outside? Besides that, It's fine. 


Also, when he said this, what was he thinking of? Sexual affection? C'mon It's just a hug. It doesn't have to lead to sex.





Anyway, this post was not written to complain. I am just voicing out my thoughts and again, this is free will.