YJC Summer Fun Photography Competition Winning Submissions

1st place: 

Lim Jas Lin, Form 5 Science 1, Class of 2015

Runner up:

Timothy Yang, Form 4 Science 1, Class of 2014

YJC Summer Fun Editorial Entry: Summer For Aliens?

Written by Ho Wye Yew, Sophomore Cempaka, Class of 2016

Neo Nvan Netereok
 
Rocky Red Cliffs
,
Mars
.
30th June 2014

Cempaka Damansara Campus
19 Jalan Setia Bakti 1
,
Bukit Damansara
,
50490 Kuala Lumpur
,
Malaysia
,
Earth.

Dear Earthling,

I received a letter from you a year ago, asking me to describe how I spend my summer holidays. Unlike your two month holiday, Martians get to relax for 6 Earth months since our summer is longer than yours! Be warned: do not get overwhelmed by the complexity and absurdity of what I shall write below. Keep in mind that Mars and the Earth are two different planets, so expect a huge cultural shock!

After the mundane term, my friends and I usually head to the meteor valley to play a game of Meteorball. Usually, we have to wear ‘gravity gainers’ which overcome the lack of gravity and pull us downwards in our everyday lives. Basically, Mars has a significantly lower amount of gravity than your planet and as such we will float in the air during this game. When the game commences, two hundred meteor balls will be unleashed upon us on the field. As individuals, we need to catch as many balls as we can to win the game. The twist is, that when you place your meteor balls back into the cage, they may escape so you are required to keep an eagle eye on it. The highlight of this game is that a rush of adrenaline and pure excitement always surges through you when you try to partake in the frenzied pandemonium for the first time.

To the contrary of all the commotion, many Martians enjoy hiking up Arsia Mons to enjoy the serenity of what the mountain has to offer. Whenever I get the solitude to stroll briskly up the mountain, I grab the chance to gaze at the psychedelic sunset, where a warm orange glow of sunlight glistens upon the edges of the clear yellow sky. Purple clouds envelop the vicinity, creating a picturesque yet mystic panorama. Eerie but interesting creatures can be found roaming the area. Defining fun on Mars is not just the presence of friends and activities but also by observing Nature’s talent. Although many people do not even notice it, there are so many things to learn in this area which really defines the educational side of my summer fun. For instance, observing a different creature can improve your biological knowledge on the classification of Martian animals.

If the gruelling sun takes its toll on me, heading to my mother’s dance studio would be ideal. Not only have Martians placed first place consecutively in universal dancing competitions with their authentic ‘jelly dancing’, we have been accorded with twisting dances from different planets as well. At first, when I tried dancing, I forgot to put my ‘gainers’ on, so I ended up twisting my entire body in mid air. It was a real disaster. Nonetheless, failure is the head start to success. As I learned new techniques, I felt more confident in meandering myself across the hall.

In life, I believe that people should experience their summer fun by indulging in unattempted activities yet having that irresistible feeling of excitement, enrichment and exhilaration. Holidays filled with opportunities should not be demolished by stress and pressure. One word of advice—prepare cold refreshments with you! On Mars, all of us get dehydrated extremely easily so we need more redeau, which is our source of hydration. Anyways, I hope you will invent some activities on Earth based on mine! Cheers!

Regards, Neo.

YJC Summer Fun Top Editorial Entry: Summer Fun, Expectations Versus Reality

Written by Yap Jia Xin, Class of 2015, Form 4 Science 1

For most people, the bare mention of the word “summer” triggers the uncontainable excitement that builds inside of them as they yearn for the summer holidays to arrive year after year. As summer inches closer, many even count the days till they get to kick back, relax and enjoy that time of the year where the very existence of stress and worry have no authority over anyone whatsoever. Unfortunately, or shall I say fortunately, we Malaysians do not fall into that category as living in a tropical country, we experience this much anticipated season all year-round. However, let’s not talk about how we spend our year-long summer indoors with the air conditioning set to the lowest temperature permitted, but about how we would spend our summer if we did experience the four seasons. 

The promise of summer brings great hype and expectations- tanning, swimming, going to beach parties, the list goes on. You and your best friends spend the whole month planning out the perfect summer, but let’s face it, odds are that the exhilarating activities and action-packed agenda will not quite go as planned. Nonetheless, chances are that it will not result in summer break being any less spectacular. Having that said, here is a breakdown of typical summer fun, where expectations meet reality.

It is almost guaranteed that the first thing on everyone’s summer to-do list is to hit the beach. That said, your expectations would in all likelihood, be to get a tan or swim in the ocean. Either way, when summer rolls around and the reality of the sun beating down on your back and frying you on the sizzling pan (otherwise known as the beach) would suddenly make watching movies indoors with the air conditioning on full blast seem like the more reasonable choice, which you take without a moment of hesitation. Just like that, all hopes of getting that beautiful sun-kissed skin is thrown out the window. 

The next thing on the list you would expect yourself to fulfill - start being healthy and exercise every day. Alternatively, this could also be written as - start working hard for the perfect beach body. In reality, and also the unbearable searing heat of the summer, you may as well just cross this off the list as it would be immediately ruined by your overdose of ice cream, frozen yogurt and shaved ice. Well, that was quick.

Besides that, surely you would expect to spend every waking moment of summer break with your friends going to phenomenal beach parties or simply just letting loose. However when reality kicks in, your inner sloth would probably have revealed itself and have you stay inside and be socially awkward in every possible way. Incidentally, no, this in no way implies endless hours of stalking your friends on Facebook, Twitter or even on Instagram. Of course not!

As you can see, reality has quite distinctly triumphed in the expectations versus reality war. In spite of that, one thing remains unchanged. The element of fun in the summer was always at hand whether in expectations, or reality. Truth be told, although it is wishful thinking that we would ever live through the four seasons and get to experience summer from this point of view, one thing is undeniable - summer is always filled to the brim and bursting with fun, whether it lasts for two months, or a whole year.

YJC Summer Fun Editorial Entry: Making The Best Of Your Summer

Written by Sarah Rajaratnam, Class of 2016, Sophomore Cempaka

“SARAH RAJARATNAM!!!”

After I bounced out of bed, I tied my flawless hair into a perfect bun, and admired myself in the mirror! After getting ready, I went jogging around the park, took a shower and cooked delicious breakfast for myself!

Translation into reality, you may ask? I dragged myself out of bed, and caught sight of myself in the full length mirror, attached to my cupboard. I saw... a confident young woman, who really needed to stop looking like a zombie that had been electrocuted. I looked at my phone. 11:50am. Wonderful, I was late for lunch with the neighbors, which had started at 11:30. Honestly, I did not expect my holidays to start like this.

I’m sure this essay was a bit unexpected, since most people would write about how good their holidays were, and how much they achieved, and how much fun they had during the holidays. However, I cover everything, down to the last nitty-gritty, disappointing detail. Don't worry, it doesn't get worse.(not by a long shot anyway!) Also, since summer is all year round here in Malaysia, I’m just going to refer to it as holidays, instead of summer holidays.

Summer fun. When the phrase comes to mind, so do a lot of other things, like playing volleyball on the beach, swimming in the crystal-clear ocean with tropical fish, and taking selfies with your best friends. What probably doesn't come to mind is spending hours, you’ll never get back, on your laptop, and promising yourself that you will finish that assignment today, but never really starting it. Usually, plans get a little messed up and sidetracked, along the way. The trick is how to deal with it when things don’t go completely perfect, though, to you people who’ve had ‘perfect’ holidays, good for you! Otherwise, I’ll let you in on a little FBI Secret’... You’ve got to look at the positive side when things go south!

“What is this silly writer talking about? How can I be happy after I... (bought a game on Steam, and it went on sale later, , got sick and wasn’t able to meet up with my friends, etc.) ? Ah, this is just going to be like one of those encouraging hipster posts, about being happy no matter what happens, and stuff like that.”

I’m going to bet some of you thought this.

To be honest, summer fun could be spending a day at the beach with your best buds, or it could be finishing holiday homework with friends the night before, and thinking of the worse-case scenarios of when school starts, but it really doesn't matter what you do during your holidays, weekends, or free time, as long as you don’t feel like you're wasting most of your youth, (even if you are a little), because every moment is worth enjoying.

It’s time to end the essay with a very deep and knowledgable line, or else you’ll only finish reading this essay after Hari Raya Holidays. It isn't so much what you do, it is your attitude while you’re doing it. You can choose to complain and generally be the pessimist, or you could choose to make whatever you’re doing, fun. (or at least pretend to!) 

YJC Summer Fun Editorial Entry: Through The Eyes Of A 13 Year Old

Written by Aishwarya Baskar, Class of 2016, Sophomore Cempaka

Parents these days do not understand what a teen’s life is like. Hormonal teenagers have a lot of things on their hands and barely have enough time for themselves. The stress that teens experience is very different from what it was like in the 1900’s. Back then, teens barely had stress till they started working. Now, we experience stress even before high school. Teens have homework, household chores, baby-sitting, peer pressure and the list goes on and on.

Just the other day, I was deprived of one the most important necessities in my life other than nasi lemak, my iPhone. It was confiscated for a month and I was devastated. I begged and cried and begged but nothing worked. For them, it is simple: if we could live without a phone till we were in our 20s, you can too. The older generation do not understand that we have been exposed to technology since a very young age and thus it has become a necessity in our very short lives.

The other thing that parents often do not understand is the difficulty of trying to juggle classes outside of school and homework. For instance, I play the piano and the violin, I do Taekwondo and I also play badminton. I often find that I barely have time to do revision or even talk about practicing the piano and the violin. In the 1900’s, students never had much homework and had more time to practice other skills and be more well rounded.

Also, many teens this days have bags under their eyes. This is no doubt the cause of lack of sleep due to overloading of homework. Homework has become a major issue among teens these days. The amount of homework given by teachers is literally so exorbitant that my bag returns home overflowing almost every day.
Peer pressure. Peer pressure is one of the main causes of suicide these days. Peer pressure has became a major worry in today’s world. Peer pressure is basically when

a teen feels pressured to follow their friends. Suicide occurs when their friends tease them due to something they do not have or because of their body size or even because they are smart. Peer pressure often makes teens make decisions that they will likely regret later on in life. I find that teens are often very insecure because little things like friends calling them ‘fat' or teasing them can actually cause them to commit suicide.

I think a lot has changed since the 1900’s. Things have affected the way people behave and how technology has evolved from large telephones to small pocket-sized mobile phones. 

YJC Summer Fun Editorial Entry: 5 Seconds Of Summer

Written by Ayena Shaneez, Class of 2016, Sophomore Aer

“I am so sorry Olaf. They were...they were the best snowmen in Winter Woods.” With that the last mourner left. Olaf stood silently under light shower of snowflakes as the graveyard turned silent once more. He dropped to his knees and cried, hugging himself for warmth. As his sobbing receded, he gave his last eulogy.

“Dad, you were the bravest snowman I knew. You were my role model and I will miss you. I will miss your gruffness, how we bonded through baseball, how your eyes lit up when I hit a home run, how you had always been there for me.” Olaf said, placing frozen irises at the base of his father's tombstone. He turned to the adjacent tombstone.

“Mom, you gave the warmest hugs in Winter Woods. I don't know how to live without you. I love you, mom. I love you so much.” Olaf said, and with that, he bid his final farewell to his parents and began walking home.

As he stepped into the threshold of his home, he was assaulted by a barrage of happy memories. His father reading the paper in the morning. His mother knitting beside the kitchen table. The delightful trio eating dinner together. Then it hit Olaf like a ton of bricks. He had no one else. He was alone, and so he began packing. To where, even he didn't know. Anywhere but where he was now.

He packed his tiny amount of belongings into a bundle, and he was set. Olaf walked and walked for what seemed like ages. He spent his nights on the ground or nestled near frozen foliage. He scoured the ground for nuts and acorns. He came across a perching owl one morning. “Hello” he said - waving to the animal. The owl ignored him-extending its wings, ready for flight. “Hey wait! Wait!” Olaf called out as the great bird flapped its wings and soared into the shaded sky.

The owl was now a speck in the sky, and yet Olaf followed it throughout the morning. He forced himself through the labyrinth of pine trees until his whole body was numb. The owl was the beacon-the guide- and he, the follower.

Olaf felt it before he saw it.The heat. And then he found it. Summer. The line between winter and summer was so narrow and distinct, with Olaf standing a mere inch away from crossing that boundary. For a second, Olaf was caught in a conundrum but then he remembered that he had nothing to live for anymore. And so he crossed.

The feeling of sunlight was euphoric,unlike any other sensation. Olaf twirled in the warmth, a prominent smile plastered on his face. He inhaled the pollen with extreme gusto and listened to the chirping in the air. The emerald leaved trees rustled slowly,whispering to each other. Heaven, he thought. Olaf found himself staring at the azure sky and the sun nestled in between cotton clouds like an untouched egg yolk. That was the last thing Olaf remembered.

The owl watched intently, astounded as Olaf melted in a matter of seconds, leaving behind only black stones, a carrot and two sticks. His heart went out to Olaf's family. Little did he know what the melted snowman had been through.

YJC Summer Fun Editorial Entry: Summer Break, I Can't Wait!

Written by Riana Kumarajothy, Class of 2015, Junior 1 Venter

Dear Kate,

Thank you for writing to me and staying in touch with me since the move. Glad to hear that you and your family are doing well. We are all doing great here. Summer break has finally arrived after months of monotonous school days and the dreaded early morning wake ups, am I right? I will be on a ten day break during the time you come visit so I have loads in store for your fun filled summer!

As you asked about in your previous letter, Kuala Lumpur itself has plenty of details I can drone on and on about. The weather is something you can look forward to as you said the temperature back in England has been fluctuating. Well, get ready for the warm and humid yet pleasant weather as we head off on our brief journey!

Firstly, we should certainly take a trip to Port Dickson, home of the most attractive beaches of the state, Negeri Sembilan. Not too far away from the bustling city of Kuala Lumpur, the crystal-blue ocean waters and soft, golden sand are definitely things to anticipate. We should undoubtedly capture the picturesque scenery of the sunset at Port Dickson before heading off to our next destination after a few days of relaxation by the seaside.

Next, we should visit the historical state known as Malacca. Knowing you for about 10 years now, I have learnt that your favourite subject is History. A must to explore is the A’Famosa Fort. This is where we can learn and gain knowledge about the colonisation of Melaka by the Portuguese through the remains of this event. I am sure you will enjoy it!

From the historical spot, we should definitely take a stroll down Jonker Walk whilst waiting for the Night Market to begin along the Jln Hang Jebat, in Chinatown, where you can spend a little bit of money on a wide array of delicacies and handicrafts. Did I mention that it might get quite crowded? Not to worry, the delicious treats and pretty souvenirs will make up for that.

Before you head back to England, I have to take you to our twin skyscrapers at the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the Petronas Twin Towers. It really is mind-boggling to think about how they came about building such structures! As we will already be in the city centre, we can also visit the historical site known as ‘Tugu Negara’. This National Monument commemorates the many soldiers who lost their lives in Malaysia’s arduous journey to freedom.

I really hope you are looking forward to your trip to Malaysia even more now that I have given you a brief overview of what is in store for you! Please let me know if you require any other details before you make your way here. I can’t wait to spend time exploring different places with you!

Lots of love, 
Riana. 

June Issue : Summer Fun

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS

We've all been counting down to it and finally, after weeks of studying, test papers, sports practices and dreaded results, the month of June has finally come and with it, the long-awaited Mid-Year Holidays. 

That last sentence just feels so good it needs to be said again; It's the Mid-year holidays! In fact we can't imagine anyone saying that sentence without jumping up and down while hollering it, yes, it's that good. As much as we love classes and sports practice (though the latter may be a bit of a stretch), the mere mention of the holidays makes one all warm and fuzzy on the inside thinking about all the lazy days of nothing ahead. We can finally sleep in, become zombies, go out, watch movies, or whatever else school deprives us of doing (though becoming zombies might be excluded from that list); the world is your oyster. 

To get you into the holiday mood (which unless you're a stick-in-the-mud, you should be in one already), we've chosen the theme of Summer Fun this month. From travel articles of sunny, sandy beaches and lovely vistas, to movie reviews of the various much-awaited movies coming up this summer - we'll try our best to cover them all. We've also got something up our sleeves, which will hopefully be revealed to you all later in the week, so do stay tuned! 

Also look out for many an article on the year 2013 which we'll be throwbacking as part of our collaboration on the IB student's yearbook project. Working together with the them to painstakingly gather (more like beg for) articles, we're glad to see that this project will come to light soon, and we for one can't wait to see the final product! 

Looking back on Manic May, it really was a crazy month but like we said in our last editors' note, it's something we'd look back on and wish we could experience again. For the seniors out there, we just swam our last lap, scored our last goal, faced the terrifyingly high rope during high jump for the last time. Though our legs still turned to jelly when it was our turn to walk the talk and do what we've been cajoling our juniors to do all day, SFA was definitely to sum it all up in one word - fun. (wow, and we call ourselves the YJC). I'm also sure we can all agree, persuading scared freshman to jump into the pool was a riot. 

The remaining school events include CeMA and the academic events so be ready to switch out your football boots for boring school shoes and your swimming caps for thinking caps. On that note, we'd like to wish everyone a very happy holiday!

Happy holidays from your Editor-in-Chief and Deputy,

Amanda Lee and Chin Wye Mun.