Why meat?

As oppose to the topic shared by Chengyi on 'Why Vegetarian?', i'm going to share my views on 'Why meat?' Most of us non-vegetarians are very satisfied with our omnivorous lifestyle that we tend to wonder why will people ever turn vegetarian (besides religious beliefs of course), and by asking various questions, we can sound rather insensitive at times. After the point made by her, our doubts on why people turn vegetarians are, to a certain extent, clarified. However, after her presentation, my friends and I are still not convinced and we have 0 thoughts on turning vegetarian ourselves. After all, everyone has their own opinions on things, right? So here's my opinion!

I think that turning vegetarian due to the whole 'animal cruelty' thing is common especially for animal lovers, but in my opinion, it isn't the strongest reason to convince someone to turn vegetarian. In a way, turning vegetarian doesn't support animal cruelty, but look at the percentages of people still killing animals for their own consumption. The ratio could be 1:15, and the 15 doesn't even know how the meat they're eating are being killed. So, to stop eating meat doesn't really help in stopping animal cruelty because billions of people in the world are still insisting on eating meat! As selfish and disgusting as it may sound, its the fact - even if you stop eating meat, so many animals are still being killed for humans' personal needs: leather to make handbags, carpets, clothes etc. However,  killing animals for consumption without a form of cruelty is indeed possible! When a meat is labelled 'halal',  it means that no cruelty is involved during the process of killing the animals because slaughtering is the least painful method to kill as it cuts through the vein which instantly kills the animal, and prayers are also being recited while slaughtering them (that's what's being taught in Islam, but other religion believe in that too, especially if they're against the cruelty of animals.) Of course, this matter is very much subjective but hey that's just my belief/point of view 

Besides the fact that meat is extremely delicious and life has no meaning without chicken and fish, without them in your meal, you actually need many many many types of vegetables to compensate the tons and tons of nutrients, minerals and vitamins that your body may miss out! Let's take fish for example. It contains omega-3 fatty acids which is one of the many essential nutrients needed to be taken in by our body, and there's only very limited vegetables which provide the omega-3 fatty acids. It is also called the 'fish oil', and very obviously,  it's called fish oil for a reason. Just a fun fact, I don't eat red meat since i was very young because i simply hate how it tastes and i find it pretty gross with all the veins and slimy-thing, but my mom and i make sure that i consume enough dark green vegetables to compensate with the iron present in the red meat... and trust me, she made me eat A LOT of dark green veggies especially when i'm on my period. So yep, it shows that no matter how God makes it fair for everyone by having whatever nutrients present in meat also present in vegetables, it still can't beat the power of nutrients that meat possess! In short, it's always better to consume protein from chicken than from soya beans, right?

I personally do not go for vegetarian diet because my religion says that it's always better to consume what's good for us - a little of everything - for optimal health! I mean ya, only food that He believes which benefit us (doesn't include alcohol, pork), and the animals that we're eating. God also said that animals are created for humans, so it's best that we make use of what He has given to us in the best way, and not by taking it for granted by abusing them and what not. 

So those are just my thoughts on why I should stick with eating meat, and not choose to go vegetarian! Of course, though, people can do whatever they want because people have different beliefs and nobody has the rights to go against it. But there's one thing that all of us should be against, and that is, animal abuse. If you're not a meat eater but you still abuse animals, then you might as well die along with them! So whether we're vegetarian or not, it leads to only one thing - DON'T ABUSE ANIMALS.

Common Test Essay

My eyes were droopy as soon as I hung up the phone. I looked at the clock. It was already 12.30 am and I had just finished my revision for a test. My body felt aches all over and my bed was calling up to me. I washed up and laid comfortably on my cozy bed. The chilly night turned warmer as I fell asleep, but it was not long before I jumped up from my bed; feeling uneasy about something. I was then wide awoken and fresh.

I grabbed my phone to check the time - it was 4.30 am. I wondered why was I feeling so worried when my eyes were evidently worn out from all the studying I did before that. Just then, as I laid back down on my bed, I had a little flashback in my mind about the short phone conversation I had with my mom earlier.

"Ain, I need you to tell me the truth," said mom, who was in the kitchen at that point of time, probably too lazy to walk over to my room.

"Yes mom. I'm very sure Dad didn't call her yesterday. He told me they aren't contacting anymore. Would you just believe me, for once?" I lied.

Dad had been contacting Aunt Jane, a lady who had always tried to break my family apart. It was disgusting how Dad could fall for her, and for that, my siblings and I secretly hated him. Mom had given him the care and love that no other wives could provide for their husbands. There was no end to this problem; we all knew that from the beginning. Dad just would not stop talking to Jane that it began to feel as though he was obligated to do so and we simply could not understand him.

My train of thoughts was too much for my already tired brain to handle, and not long after, I fell right back to sleep. It felt like only ten minutes until my slumber was being interrupted yet again. However this time, it was because of the loud screams and banging which were coming from my parents' room. My sister woke me up anxiously and we instantaneously hurried out to see what was going on. It was Mom and Dad quarreling. It should seem normal by now, but this one was a little different.

As my sister and I rushed out from our room, we saw Dad trying to run away as Mom begged and pulled him away from the direction of the door. I shouted for my oldest brother, as he always had control over situations like this. My dad was nearly in the state of hysteria, tying to push away both Mom and my brother as they tried to stop him from leaving the house. I blocked the door while my sister calmed him down, asking him to take a seat. He sat down and the tension of the house decreased as everyone were trying to console Dad, who was sweating profusely.

"She just called to ask about my condition. I told you, we have nothing going on. You just refuse to believe me!" Dad wailed.

Mom glanced at me as though I was the cause of it. I sat next to my sister on the sofa and watched as my parents talked things through. I felt my body stiffen and I could not move a muscle. My dad was sick and his movements were restricted, but he still refused to listen to us when we asked him to cool down - I just could not understand the whole situation.

"Why did you lie about Dad not talking to her anymore?" My sister whispered beneath her breath and then continued, "we all know she's still calling him. Mom just wants to know the truth."

I thought telling Mom would be a bad idea. She definitely would not want to know the truth, but lying to her would hurt her even more when she finds out. The dilemma I was put in was too much and I could not possibly settle it all by myself, especially not when it was 5 am when that happened.

The pillow I hugged which was initially warm,  turned icy cold. I felt my body turning colder as though blood was no longer circulating my body. My mom noticed my face turning pale, so she asked me to get a cup of warm water for Dad, while she continued to talk things through with him.

As I passed the cup of warm water to Dad, I tried to glance at Mom, but she looked away. However, I could still capture the pain that was in her eyes.I looked down, still feeling the numbness in my limbs. I glanced at the clock. Half an hour had passed and my sister and I were still sitting on the sofa.

Dad entered the room to go back to sleep while my mind was still filled with ruckus. Mom was still rooted to the chair, staring into the empty space, probably thinking of what to do next. The dim lights around us turned even darker. Mom threw the phone onto the ground and it felt like the ground was breaking apart.

"Ain, you should have just told me the truth. I'm truly disappointed in you." Mom said to me in a very soft voice - trembling and weak.

"I could not let you hear me say that I knew they were still in contact. I don't want you to find out either." I said calmly, feeling the fear in every word I said.

I guess it was too late. Mom felt even more furious when I said that, and I could see the disappointment smear all over her face as she entered her room.

A few hours later, it was time for school. I could not find Mom and my siblings had gone off to work. I walked to school, eyes filled with tears, asking myself where could Mom be. She did not even bother to tell me what really happened. She just left and did not return. I did not speak to Dad for days. I was too young to understand the situation, but I knew for sure that my siblings were there for me and always will be. The three of us strengthened ourselves to walk this journey together, without Mom. If only I had told the truth; Mom would still be here with us.

Days turned into weeks and Mom finally returned home. Upon seeing her, tears filled my eyes and I rushed to hug her tight. She kissed my forehead, asking for my forgiveness.

"No, Mom. I should be the one who is sorry. I promise, we will always be here for you." I said while hugging her.

The lesson was learnt. I would never lie again.

First term break

It's been a week since the term break ended and I would say that this week went by pretty slowly while the term break was crazy fast. I could barely remember what I did during the two weeks of break but I will try to recall :)

I felt like my term break was definitely spent wisely and fruitfully. Including exam week, I managed to do almost everything that I planned to; from going back to work, to have some quality time with family, catch up with my friends, complete assignments by a certain date and even to have enough time for myself. I managed to divide my time equally and I feel like the holidays were not wasted at all, despite it going past super quickly.

The highlight of the whole holiday was, MEETING TAYLOR SWIFT (!!!) Well, I didn't personally meet her but I watched her on one of her shows here in Singapore and I was speechless. I even cried during one of her songs because I was taken aback in disbelief. I felt as though my entire seventeen years of life was all about waiting for that very day. I know it sounds pretty exaggerated but that was exactly how I felt. Her voice was indescribably powerful and I could feel so much emotions even though she looked tired on that day because she was from Manila. She ended the concert slightly later than expected, and she had to travel to KL the next day before coming back to Singapore for the last ever show of the Red Tour. The item lineup for the show was appropriate and it was very engaging. Taylor kept saying she loved Singapore and that's why she chose to come here twice, and that her mom grew up in Singapore. The choreo, lighting and the stage setup was spectacular! I could go on giving the reviews about the concert, but it will still be summarized in one word: perfection. So here are some photos for you to relate to my excitement.

with my secondary school buddy who is also now in NP :)

the entire stadium was filled with the colour red to embrace the event

She's so beautiful!

I was actually pretty close but it doesn't seem like it.

And that is how exciting it was! (Even though i'm completely aware that the set of pics doesn't depict a lot of excitement.)

I've also always contemplated whether to work even while schooling, so when the holidays were near, I didn't hesitate to include my name in the work schedule. Getting back to work was a lot of fun. I managed to pick up the hang of things very quickly and my colleagues were happy to see me back. Despite the conflicts and disputes among workers, I remained neutral and kept reminding them of how I am not involved in those controversies at all. I do understand that working life is mostly filled with adult-dramas but as a teenager working part time, I am so not going to get myself tangled with the oldies (sorry). And hence with that, I kept my mind very clear off the negative things and viola, my six days of getting back to work were really fun, pleasant and interesting few days of my holidays! Oh, not forgetting, I also did a lot of new things during work such as restocking supplies and counting stocks (which I tried to avoid for the past eight months of working there). So you could roughly gauge how motivated I was to go back to work. In fact this weekend, I'll be working :D

Besides all those main activities I did, I also managed to catch up with my close friends from secondary school who have now proceed on to JC, ITE, poly and some even in sec five. It was nice and refreshing to be catching up with them once again because we have all been very busy with school and other personal activities for the past few months. It's normal to be too occupied to always be spending time with one another, but keeping in touch and remembering one another's company is always important! In fact, we consider one another as our 'escape' from reality because being with old friends is always so much fun - we tend to forget all our woes!

Holidays were about two and a half weeks long and for all the other plan-less days, I took my time to stay home to relax with my parents and catch up on a lot of movies which I didn't get to watch before. I could say that out of all the hours I had to myself, I dedicated three-quarter of them to watch online movies. I love watching movies and just get really drawn into them. I watched a total of 24 movies throughout the holidays and I had no regrets. This was also the reason to my super screwed body clock - I stayed up til 4am every single night to watch online movies! 

Holidays are long over and it's time to get back on track.  Common test results weren't up to expectations but I will buck up along the way, I promise. I'll also have to catch up on my reading and assignments. Thank God for amazing people around me who are always bringing joy and laughter on a daily basis. If not for them, I can foresee having school as my next phobia!