YRC 24

Issue 24 / SGD 7.50

2 Featured Stories To Breathe Life Into Your Writing CORE 101 Chasing Stars or Chasing Pavements

ISSN: 2010- 1376

Parents Ask, Teens Answer Keeping Your Dreams Alive YRC Investigates People Who Followed Their Dreams

Professions Of Stars and Dreams Zjayanhi Bte Johan Kang Our Featured Author of the Month

“Having personal standards help build dreams.”

Scan here to know more about YRC!

Building the Next Generation of Thinkers & Writers

YRC TEAM Managing Editor/Publisher Catherine Khoo Editor Carlo Venson Peña Designer

Lim Soo Yong Editorial Assistants Natalya Thangamany, Brian Lee Editorial Advisory Board

Catherine Khoo, Vijay Chandran, Noel Chia Contributors

Ruth Kan, Paulina Lee Illustrators

Adeline Lim, Natalya Thangamany, Eden Nelle YAC Core Contributors

Lee Tat Wei, Theresa Ellsworth, Ron Yap, Ee Chonghui, Woon Kaiqin, Athena Tan, Fiona Tan For advertising and sales enquiries

6336 8985 Education Subscription Agent

ILoveReading.SG 9007 8361 Emit Asia 6372 0330 Email: info@youngreaderclub.sg Website: www.youngreaderclub.sg

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. Call 6336-8985 for back issues.

Printed in Singapore

by Stamford Press Cover and additional photos by

Carlo Venson Peña

Sometimes people tell you that dreams are just that, and that they are never worth the bother. For the bolder ones, however, dreams become the kaleidoscope of their future– however uncertain it may be. Dreams push people to reach for their limits, and remain grounded at the same time; they define what is valuable for us, and what needs to be prioritised, in order to fulfil the dream.

In this issue of the YRC, we look at people who have dared to follow their dreams, and yes, those who have set their dreams aside for reasons they deemed necessary to do so. Read through the Featured Stories, and discover how sometimes our dreams take the form of people and circumstances, while in Parents Ask, Teens Answer, we have advice for a weary parent whose teen she says has lost her initiative to dream.

Professions heralds a publisher who battled against the odds to sustain her business, while our CORE 101 contributors get into the nitty-gritty of dreams, dreamscapes and following– or not following– one’s dreams.

This issue also carries an editor’s pick of featured books by young authors under Janus Education Services’ Google Books in Spotlight, while featuring a young girl who dreams of become a successful novelist in Featured Author. Truly, this is an issue worth taking the time to read and digest.

To those who dare to dream and live the dream, kudos to you. We share your plight and your optimism, because we too dream of the coming days when everyone realises that truly Kids Can Write.

Happy reading!

is published by Experiences & Experiments Books Pte Ltd 261 Waterloo Street #03-08 Waterloo Centre Singapore 180261 Issue 24

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SPOT light 40 Editor’s

Picks

Featured S t o r i e s

YRC Investigates 21

features 6

Featured Author: Zjayanhi Bte Johan Kang Sporty and yet dedicated to the craft, Zjayanhi has long given herself high standards in crafting stories.

Find out more about her dreams of becoming a published author and an animal rights advocate in this issue of the YRC!

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SPACE WAR by Marcus Chew In 2100, Earth was invaded by aliens, but they have been repelled. Two centuries later, Earth has become advanced. It has confirmed two other planets with life forms in it: Mizay and Exnet. Commander Mark, one of Earth’s best generals, is sent to invade Mizay. The war takes twists and turns eventually. Who will win the battle? Would the commander succeed? Read on to find out from this award-winning story from the YAA!

28 Professions

Would you dare to follow your dreams and make a profession out of it? For many, it could be a stark

difference between living a comfortable life and fighting to just break even and survive. Of course, there

are those who were brave enough to trek the unfamiliar path towards following their own star.

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He Said, She Said Two teens from each side of the spectrum share their thoughts about being teens and being aware of important issues in this breakthrough column on YRC!

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Pet Pals Former YRC health columnist Paulina Lee takes on the wild side, as she features favourite pets, their peeves, and how we can properly maintain them as our lovable companions.

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Email From the UK The last instalment in our UK feature, find out how a young lass copes with school and lives her dreams of becoming a writer in this issue of the YRC!

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Editor’s Picks: YAC on Google Books YAC provides a platform for young authors on Google Books worldwide. Let’s read through some of the editor’s picks and see why they gained such a global exposure in this segment of the YRC.

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RAGE OF THE WEREBEARS by Maxmillian Ang Meeting a pack of werebears who eventually revealed his past, what happens next is nothing too close to amazing. Read on and discover the rage that flames from within. n a t i o n a l

33 Pet Pals

CORE 101

44 Inspiring Kids,

Aspiring Asia

national education 21

YRC Investigates People Who Followed Their Stars These people have had it all–pitfalls, challenges, doubts–and yet they’ve remained steadfast in their goals of chasing their own stars and making their dreams into reality.

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Inspiring Kids / Aspiring Asia Inasmuch as the adults think kids are just a bunch of noisy toddlers up for some shenanigans, this column thinks otherwise. Children and teens can be inspirations just as well, for people in Asia and beyond!

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Parents Ask, Teens Answer Parents always want the best for their children. But what if their plans clash? How can parents cope with “unrealistic” dreams?

66 Resources

The YRC is more than just a magazine. It’s a useful tool for learning better E n g l i s h

comprehension and writing for both primary and secondary students. Tap these useful

guide questions for your next group discussion in class or at the student study area, which

are coupled with resource sheets available for schools and parents!

inspirations CORE 101: Teens’ Voice With today’s market-driven economies, should a person still follow his dreams, given that most of these dreams are driven by passion and wishful thinking, instead of being grounded on real-life situations and circumstances?

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Pushing the Limits by Jezreel Castro, Ngee Ann Polytechnic

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Smile! Dreams Can Come True by Athena Tan, Xinmin Secondary School

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Never Abandon Your Dreams by Fiona Tan, Singapore Chinese Girls School

CORE 101: Points of Views What merits a dream to be pursued? How do you defend yourself from everyone who says dreaming is for kids and not altruistic?

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Chasing the Dream or Chasing the Paycheck? by Lee Tat Wei, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

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Inspirations from Oprah by Ee Chonghui, National Junior College

OUR CONTRIBUTORS

YRC Magazine recognises the talents of our regular co nt r i b u to r s a n d writers. For article, illustration and photo contributions, please contact the Editor at info@ youngreaderclub.sg or call 6336.8985.

Adeline Lim Educator / Illustrator What Adeline did for this issue: Featured Stories Illustrations Ad e l i n e L i m i s a n illustrator, designer and visual artists educator who is currently residing in Singapore.

Experienced in both physical and digital mediums, Adeline has worked as a layout artist for magazines, as well as covered a broad range of illustrated work in ink, watercolour paints and digital collage for children’s stories.

Paulina Lee Student, University of Adelaide What Paula did for this issue: Pet Pals Pu r s u i n g a d e gre e in health sciences in Australia, Paulina used to be the health columnist for YRC m a g a z i n e. N ow a l l grown up, she spends most of her time on her studies and in documenting travels she often goes to.

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Ron Yap YAC Core Member, Zhong Hua Secondary School Wh a t R o n d i d fo r this issue: He Said, S h e S a i d / Pa re nt s Ask, Teens Answer As a budding writer, Ron started his stint with the Young Author Scheme, becoming a merit prize winner in the Young Author Awards. Now at 16, Ron aspires to be a travelling author, in pursuit of his ultimate inspiration to write his bestseller.

Eden Nelle Vector Artist What Eden did fo r t h i s i s s u e : YR C Investigates Eden star ted off as a Nursing student, but shifted to Communications midway in her sophomore year in universit y. Af ter graduation, she was led to the digital arts and now contributes elaborate vector illustrations for the magazine.

Ee Chonghui Student, National Junior College What Chonghui did for this issue: CORE 101 A wee lass when she e nte re d t h e Yo u n g Author Scheme, Chonghui is now in secondary school at NJC and has continually kept in touch with the magazine through her contributions. This is her first column for YRC.

Brian Lee Jun Wei Student, Nanyang Technological University What Brian did for this issue: YRC Investigates Shifting from BioMed to English Literature was not a difficult decision for Brian. His love for the written word, coupled with the passion to write, fuels his desire to one day become a published author.

Theresa Ellsworth Student, Occidental College What Theresa did for this issue: He Said, She Said Even before winning a merit prize in the 2 0 1 1 / 1 2 Yo u n g Author Awards, Theresa has shared her writing dexterity to YRC in snippets of contributions that underline her love for writing and her dream of becoming a published author in the future.

Lee Tat Wei Student, Anglo-Chinese School Independent What Tat Wei did for this issue: CORE 101 A senior member of the YAC Core, Tat Wei wrote his first book of 27,000 words when he was 11. Now in secondary school, Tat Wei is a football goalie at school, but is just as hard-hitting as a contributor for the magazine.

Fiona Tan Student, Singapore Chinese Girls School What Fiona did for this issue: CORE 101 As a merit awardee in the Young Author Awards, Fiona wrote her first story under the Young Author Scheme when she was in Primary 5. Now in SCGS, she writes feisty commentary for the magazine.

Athena Tan Student, Xinmin Secondary School What Athena did for this issue: CORE 101 Athena lived in California for nine years, and came back to Singapore three years ago; she has just turned 12. A published picture book author when she was just in Primary 1, released

by Barnes and Noble California, her articles have been featured in the Straits Times. She maintains a fashion and beauty blog for tweens.

Jezreel Castro Student, Dunman Secondary School What Jezreel did for this issue: CORE 101 A merit prize winner from the Young Author Scheme, Jez is a musician-songwriter who helps out in the YAC library sessions in the east.

Ruth Kan Content Strategist, (Youth) Focus on the Family What Ruth did for this i s s u e : Pa re n t s A s k , Teens Answer As the Youth Specialist w i t h Fo c u s o n t h e Family Singapore, Ruth has been involved in the development of No Apologies and I t ’s U n Co m p l i c a te d program, and has been inter viewed by the media on relationships and sexuality issues. A vibrant and passionate individual, she also regularly speaks to young people and have inspired more than four thousand students from secondary and tertiary institutions in the past six years.

At YRC Magazine, we ensure that stories are kept at their most original form, yet there are times that content is abridged to suit the magazine’s readership.

Stories featured in YRC Magazine are abridged as necessary, to fit page constraints. The YRC is a literary magazine that conforms to the reading palate of 10-16 year olds.

Once a story is featured in the magazine, it is at the discretion of the editor to copyedit articles to a certain extent, to suit the target audience.

The views and opinions of the contributors do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of YRC magazine and its staff.

Issue 24

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Featured Author ...Young writers of today

Zjayanhi Binte Johan Kang

Interview by Natalya Thangamany Photos by Carlo Pena

Born Writer 6

PROFILE

Marcus Chew, 12 Science Fiction

Catholic High School Reading is my hobby. I like books about adventure, mystery, science fiction, and the classics, like Sherlock Holmes and the Hardy Boys series. I also like playing sports. I joined the holiday programme of the Young Author Scheme and didn’t expect to win, but I did! I hope you enjoy my story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Space War Written in Pr 5 at YAS Holiday Programme

Attacked They looked like giant squids. They had three legs and two hands. Some carried a flamethrower that could shoot up to 20 metres while others carried a laser gun. It was the year 2100; they were invading Earth in what humans called U.F.O’s. Mizas was what they were called.

Mizas were hyperactive creatures and they loved waging wars. They were ferocious fighters and did not like guarding places. They came from planet Mizay, which only had rocks and metal. They had a light on the tip of their right hand which they used for communicating. They also had a mouth but use it not as often. Their satellite detected Earth and they decided to conquer Earth as it has soil, plants, and many interesting animals.

Before long, the Mizas conquered approximately forty countries and the world

Illustrations by Adeline Lim

was alarmed. All the countries sent soldiers to fight the Mizas and had put a general in charge of the army; his name was Mark.

Mark was a good commander. He noted down all of the Mizas’ weakness and defeated them within a month. After that war, humanity vowed that they would take revenge one day.

Advanced Planet Two centuries after the Mizas attacked, Earth was now a very advanced planet. Scientists have invented ways to prevent global warming and ways to detect any harmful objects heading towards Earth. iPads were outdated many years ago. Computers were obsolete by the turn of the previous century.

In place of them was a type of touch screen tablet, which could be rolled up to the size of a pen, an invention that was called a tablet roll.

Cars were also outdated. They were re-

Due to the length of the story, YRC has created an abridged version of the story. Catch the full story at www. youngreaderclub.sg. under Resources.

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...Understanding how the world works

Interviews by Natalya Thangamany Additional reports by Brian Lee

NATIONAL EDUCATION

YRC Investigates

Full article on www.youngreaderclub.sg

Call it whatever you like, but one can define dreams as the ‘ideal purpose one works towards to in life’.

Issue 24

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Professions

...Understanding how the world works

Interview and pictures by Natalya Thangamany

Lim Li Kok

If any of you are familiar with comic titles such as Gateway to Chinese Culture, Gateway to Peranakan Culture, Stories of Compassion, Top Friendship Tips and Origins of Chinese Festivals, t h e n yo u h a ve re a d s o m e o f t h e works produced by locally renowned publishing house, Asiapac, owned by Singaporean publisher Lim Li Kok. Ms Lim, who turns 60 this year, was raised in a school, literally. “I grew up in a school,” she shared. “My father used to run a village school. I grew up in that village school and there was a small library where I read all the time. This was in the 1950s, when after the war, my father set up the school. My mother and aunt were teachers there. Later, my dad went into business and politics. The school was my house, and I always loved to read. I thought that I was going to write, do research and teach one day.” She added with a chuckle, “When I was in Primary Six, I wrote down that I specifically wanted to be a writer and bring happiness to people. Not just any kind of writer, but a motivational writer.”

Although she had a love for books and reading, publishing was not Ms Lim’s life ambition; writing was what she wanted to pursue. “I later became a book seller, before I became a publisher in 1983,” she shared. “I did not write a lot as I became unsure about what to write.” It was in her university years, while still pursuing her ambition to be a writer, 28

When I was in Primary Six, I wrote down that I specifically wanted to be a writer and bring happiness to people. Not just any kind of writer, but a motivational writer.

More on this article at www.youngreaderclub.sg

He Said, She Said The Voices of Teens Today...

With today’s marketdriven economies, should a person still follow his dreams, given that most of these dreams are merely driven by passion and wishful thinking, instead of being grounded on real-life situations and circumstances?

Do girls follow their dreams more actively than the boys?

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CORE 101... Points of View The emergence from adolescence produces a compelling sense of anticipation and excitement in the youth, as they look to their futures filled with infinite potential. In that very moment, their dreams and ambitions which they had held distant to them as children s u d d e n l y become very real possibilities– dreams that inherently ignore the economic significance it h a s o n o n e ’s lives. As a result m a ny o f t h e s e dreams are based solely upon interest and passion.

As individuals soon have to choose between following their dreams and having a stable job, there will always be a looming fear that while on their deathbed, they will look in hindsight and regret their decision to choose one over the other. So what then, is the right decision to make? Should one take a chance and follow their passion, or be financially secure with a 34

By Lee Tat Wei Anglo-Chinese School Independent

white collar job?

I think our hesitation when wanting to pursue our dreams stem from two reasons; either because we perceive the dream to be out of our reach and unattainable, or because we believe that the dream is not sustainable for a comfortable life. In the previous issue, I wrote an article on the clash of passion and practicality while considering the viability of being a writer as a full time profession. In that article I expressed my opinion that from a financial point of view, it was not a great choice to be a writer.

However, with the broadened scope of this essay topic, my views will naturally be different– in my opinion, we should chase our dreams. Unlike writing, not every dream or ambition can be achieved by balancing a monotonous white collar day job and a passionate hobby. Some ambitions, for example being a competitive athlete, is something that requires full dedication in the field for the possibility to even be open.

Email from...

UK Muna Nour Age: 10 School: Vauxhall Primary School Hobbies & Interests: singing, rollerskating, dancing and reading.

The third instalment in our feature on the UK, we ask a spritely lass about how her family and school is not too different from yours here in Singapore.

What I like most about England are the sights and landmarks we have. My town (Vauxhall) is great, because we are really close to the River Thames. Our school is great, because it is fun and our teachers are fantastic.

I have a big family who are really fun to be around with. I have four brothers and one sister. Luckily, I live really close to all my friends, so we see each other regularly.

SCHOOL LIFE I think our education system is quite easy and I think other countries’ systems are a bit harder. Seeing as I am in Year 6 now, I think the work is easy (so far). However I have a feeling it will get harder as we get closer to SATs. In school, first thing in the morning we have either Handwriting or Grammar, followed by Literacy and then a whole school assembly. Maths goes on for an hour after 36

playtime. In the afternoon, we have a mixture of subjects. I like Tuesdays the best because we get to do singing, and I love singing!

FOLLOWING THE WRITING STAR I enjoy writing very much, it’s like a hobby! I particularly like writing stories, as they keep my mind distracted if I have nothing to do. I write nearly every day, and if not it’s not every day, it’s every other day!

Writing is also one of my favourite subjects, so that’s why I do it a lot.

My absolute favourite thing to write is factual reports, because I feel like I have so many facts to write about! I suppose I like writing factual information because that is what I enjoy reading. Reading facts is really interesting! Writers can contribute to society by writing for newspapers where everyone can see it. That piece of writing could give advice to someone, teach them something or distract them from their lives momentarily.

The piece of work I feel most proud of is my factual report on ‘Wolves’ that I wrote recently at school. This is because I put so

We imagine situations where we are someone else, sometimes even somewhere else, doing whatever it is we wish to do. And these imaginations are usually driven by our passion or wishful thinking.

By Jezreel Castro

FO L

H AT D R E

W T LO

AM FO L

W THA

AM

LO

T D RE 38

Dreams motivate us to push ourselves to our limits.

They help us set goals in life and urge us to achieve them.

However, in today’s marketdriven economy, money seems to be everything.

As the living expenses in today’s society increase, we often find ourselves thinking “better to be safe than sorry”. Our dreams of being a performer, writer, actress or an actor are pushed aside to make way for more rational decisions when it comes to planning for our future jobs. Long gone are the days where the little girl wishes to be a princess or a singer, or the little boy wishes to be a superhero or a sword fighter when they grow up. The pressure builds up as we choose which track to take for tertiary education because our decisions now affect how we fare in life later. So, the greatest question of all that runs through almost everyone, if not all youths today, is whether we should follow our dreams.

Fancy being a young author, but still having doubts?

Maybe this will help you make up your mind.

SPOT light

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Three Times the Nick Three Times the Fun, YAA Books on Google Books

In 2013, Janus Education Services teamed up with Google to launch winning stories from the Young Au t h o r Aw a r d s ( YA A ) i n t o t h e G o o g l e B o o k s platform. Now, more than 200 e-books from the YAA can be bought online, with young authors receiving royalty for their books. For this issue, let’s look at three of these books, all winners from the YAA 2012/13, and discover why they were selected to be forerunners in the YAA e-book features.

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DOODLE

Nicholas Tan A struggling illustrator finds his flimsy two-dimensional drawing jump out of the paper and become his instant best friend. Soon, people in school found out about Doodle the Drawing, and Deo the illustrator was suddenly a hit.

Unbeknownst to them, Deo’s scheming uncle had other plans for Doodle–plans that did not include Deo in them.

Soon, the weary illustrator finds himself trying to save Doodle from the clutches of a conniving relative, and eventually have to decide to let go of Doodle for his own good, by returning him back to his own world.

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Quite comical and often incidental, Nicholas plays with whimsical instances that place both Deo and Doodle in situations where they need to think on their toes and breeze through obstacles hurled at them– sometimes literally. A funny take on friendship and how we oftentimes do not see a jewel in the relations that we foster, Doodle is a quite a good read worth taking a second look.

MY GRANDMOTHER FILOMENA’S STORY Nicholas Enrique Selveraj

Endearing and unforgiving, My Grandmother Filomena’s Story by Nicholas Enrique Selveraj is a biographical account of how his grandmother made the most of a hard life, living in the kampong, and yet enjoying her childhood and the simple joys of a young girl’s life.

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SPOT light Understanding The Janus Champion Programmes: The and the

YAS

YJS

e winner 3 top priz

AA 2012-1 i Sridhar, Y

Ashwin

Strateg ic Agnes Partnership s Eymer y from , Digital Print Co Google with C ntent, APAC M atherin e Khoo anager

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Inspiring Kids /Aspiring Asia Defying the odds. Inspiring people

Welcome to the world of inspiring kids and teens who impel both children and adults to become better individuals and better global citizens. In this flagship post, we look at three exceptional kids– all recipients of the prestigious Children’s Peace Prize– and be kindled by the work that they do selflessly for other children.

Malala Yousafzai Winner of 2013 Children’s Peace Prize Age When Awarded: 16 Nationality: Pakistani Advocacy: Access to Education for Girls When Malala was 11, she wrote under a pseudonym to talk about education inequality among boys and girls in Taliban-threatened Pakistan. By 2009, the Taliban had proclaimed that girls were not allowed to attend school at all, and this made Malala quite perturbed. She told the world of this, and paid dearly eventually, a few years after. In the same year, Malala had to leave her village of Swat due to violent confrontations between the Taliban and government troops. Months later, she and her family returned to a city destroyed by the civil war.

The first thing Malala did was check if the books in school were still intact, and 44

they were. Picking up from where she left off, she held a press conference urging the government to return education in Swat Valley. A year later, she chaired the District Child Assembly, a child-only forum to protect children’s rights, based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Child.

In October 2012, while sitting on a school bus going home, Taliban gunmen boarded the bus and shot her on the head and neck. She however survived and was brought to the UK where she lives with her family now. Her campaign has led three million people signing up for a campaign to access to education, especially for girls in Pakistan and elsewhere.

CORE 101... Points of View Jaly had a dream. And that dream was to be able to smile. She wanted a proper lip, one that could showcase her gleaming white teeth. All she got was a torn cleft lip, which she was born with– and could do nothing about.

Many children are like her, in rural areas of Vietnam, in the villages of Africa– their dreams are to be able smile proudly. That’s why they and their rice-farmer parents walk miles and miles to ballot for a chance to receive free surgery. Their moms and dads wouldn’t be able to afford the 45-minute surgery if Operation Smile hadn’t trundled along, scattering the seeds of hope everywhere..

We, in affluent, well-off efficient Singapore ballot for schools; smiling all the while until we don’t hear our child’s name being called. Their dreams are completely different from ours. We dream to write a best-selling novel, to work in Apple…their dreams are worlds apart, yet are even harder to fulfil than ours.

Jaly lived in a small village in Vietnam, where she goes to a small school. The students write in the dirt using sticks, and go around barefoot. They tease her relentlessly, chanting “SUT”, which means split-lip. They believed she was cursed.

What does following your dream mean to you? Does it mean to study hard until you can get into Harvard? For her, it meant not getting teased.

It meant for all her crying and sadness to ease up and to fly away from her tender heart.

Some dreams are on a smaller scale, some are on a greater scale. Dreams can be big or small. Jaly, after undergoing a mere cleft-lip operation, had her dream fulfilled. It changed her life. Her peers at school no longer called her names or bullied her. Her fellow villagers now treated her as a part of them, not a cursed girl.

There’s a part for everyone. Those without 46

By Athena Tan Xinmin Secondary School

Parents Ask, Teens Answer ...Linking teens and parents together

Parents always want the best for their children. But what if what their children want is something their parents are wary about, especially if this means a redefinition of the future they want for their kids?

Mrs Pereira from Telok Blangah asks: My daughter loves to sing and tells me she aspires to become a singer. Now that she’s passed her O-Levels, she wants to pursue a singing career by taking an Ar ts track that leads to classical p e r fo r m i n g a r t s. I a m q u i te s c a re d that she might not make it big in the arts scene all too quickly because I feel it is an unstable industry. How do we go about making a compromise, since I want her to be an accountant like myself and her father?

Senior CORE member Ron Yap tackles the problem first. He says parents must know that though the concern of letting a child have a foray into an unstable industry is held by all parents, your child would certainly stand a solid chance of holding her own in her career, especially with help from two extremely supportive parents.

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Ron says, the first thing parents have to do now is to find out whether your child is truly dedicated to her passion. Has she held this dream for many years, and is singing now an essential part of her life? Or has she switched aspirations many times before, and is singing but the option at the top of a long list, possibly subject to replace?

Parents have to foresee their teen’s position in the industry, Ron says. If the latter is true (which he doesn’t think it is, honestly), then persuade your daughter to focus on one profession. If the former is the case, then it is truly unwise for you to convince her otherwise and to take a different path.

Ron adds that the inevitable malady of worry plagues parents’ thoughts. The first worry, the important one, the worry about your daughter’s stability of life in the future.

The arts scene is unstable, that is for sure, sort of a ‘sunset’ industry with ups and downs, with artists and artistes dropping in and out through the industry. The second worry, is

Maxmillian Ang, 15 St Gabriel’s Secondary School Magic & Fantasy

Greetings! I am Maximillian Ang and I am going to be 15 this year. “Rage of the Werebears” is a fantasy story about humans having the ability to shape-shift into different types of animals to fight for the greater good.

I believe that my story was inspired by the fantasy and adventure stories I have read. My favourite author is JK Rowling and my characters were inspired by the assortment of different magical creatures inside the book. Although the illustrations are not up to grade as I do not possess a flair for drawing, I am sure you will find the book very interesting and definitely an eye-opener!

Rage of the Werebears Written in Pri 6 at Catholic High School (Primary)

Prologue Fur sprouted from random spots all over my body and my vision sharpened. I could smell the scent of ten different preys and I dropped to all fours as my hand morphed into claws. I let out an almighty roar and I transformed into a sleek, black killing machine.

Good Day “Wow, this is really amazing!” I yelled from the upper deck of the ship to my mother who was sun tanning below.

My family had booked a cruise to Alaska to congratulate me for getting the top in class for the end of the year test.

“Ahhh… This is the life,” I thought, as the cool sea breeze caressed my face,

Illustrations by Adeline Lim

lulling me into an almost dreamlike state.

The Tragedy Suddenly, I was jolted from my daydream by an announcement. ”Attention all passengers, we are headed straight for an iceberg. Please remain calm and brace yourselves for impact.”

Panic engulfed everyone on the ship as screams and cries could be heard. At that moment, there was a loud smashing sound, followed by the ship’s hull cracking.

Seawater started seeping through the crack in the hull and I could see my parents signalling towards me to follow them, but Lady Luck was not smiling on me at the moment. I was buffeted by a massive wave that had crashed the side

Due to the length of the story, YRC has created an abridged version of the story. Catch the full story at www. youngreaderclub.sg. under Resources.

Issue 24

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F E AT U R E S

PROFILE

Inspirations from

CORE 101... Points of View

62

By Ee Chong Hui, National Junior College

CORE 101... Points of View “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.”

–John Lennon, The Beatles

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By Fiona Tan Singapore Chinese Girls School

Resources

Get more from your YRC Magazine by using these exercises and activities in your classroom discussions!

For more student worksheets and teacher resource kits, log on to www.youngreadeclub.sg and click on Member’s Corner.

PRIMARY

*Engagements!

VOCABULARY

P L AY.

Using the following phrase, ask students to create 3, 4, 5 or 6-letter words and list a minimum of 100 new words on foolscap.

Afterwards, let them construct a 10-word sentence, using the words they created from the phrase. The group with the most number of new words created and with the most logical sentence wins.

FOLLOW YOUR STAR WHERE VER 66

We n e v e r h o r s e a r o u n d w i t h o u r mission to build the next generation of thinkers and writers.

Here’s what to look out for in the next issue!

Chasing the Elements

by Ashwini Sridhar, Top Prize YAA 2012/13

In dancing and dying flames, the stor y switches between Amber, the feisty stealer with a frozen heart, and Karis, the lonely, sarcastic and generally grumpy dragon. Karis meets an old enemy, and Amber picks up and continues Karis’ fight. She saves her friends, and is given a purpose: To find four youths. Discover why Ashwini’s story won top prize in last year’s Young Author Awards!

A Twisted Tale

by Sheryl Ewe, 3rd Prize YAA2012/13 Set in a kingdom called Bright City with only beautiful citizens, comes a tale of a pitiful young girl Nevaeh, born ugly. One day, a famished beggar arrives & insults Nevaeh for her lack of beauty. Upset, she ventures out to find her for tune. A cruel queen demands her to search for a beauty potion for she is about to get remarried soon with a young Prince.

Will Nevaeh overcome all these life-hurdles? Find out in the upcoming issue of YRC!

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