Black Ghost Knife Fish

as requested by a student.

as you can see, it does look like a knife. this fish is totally black except for 2 small white spots at the tail. when its a baby, it can be 1 inch long, and can grow to a max of 20 inches. thats 50 cm. interestingly, it is a scaleless fish.

it is actually a tropical freshwater fish, so ppl do tend to grow it in aquariums. but it can naturally be found in fast flowing streams as well.

these fish are moonlighters. so you’d think its called a ghost cos it usually comes out at night? nope. apparently, the natives (Amazonians) believe that the ghosts of their dead relatives live in these fish.

nocturnal creatures. that also means that they function somewhat like deep sea creatures. they dont have much use of their eyes.

so guess what, like sharks, they use electric sensors. these sensors are found near their nose. these sensors send out electric current so small, that it is not felt by most other fish. it doesnt electricute the fish, but it does tell the black ghost that there’s prey around. the other fishes end up dying anyways. or at least the small ones.

if you intend to grow black ghosts (fondly called), your aquarium must have sand gravel as its base. optimal pH at 6-7.

since it’s nocturnal, it doesnt like daylight. so you must also provide hiding places for it. that includes caves, tubes and plants. in the day, you’ll probably find it lying on its side, its sleeping.

since it eats small fish, you cannot have small tetras or neons in your black ghost tank. the small ones wont survive. other than that, black ghosts have been noted to be rather friendly, eating out of ppl’s hands. other food include carnivorous pellets and bloodworms.

apparently, this fish exhibits interesting habits. they can swim backwards as well as upside down. they like to come up to the surface. they can be hand tamed.

seems like a fun species. some warn that you can only keep one per tank, some have said that 2 is fine. test it out. sounds like fun. just make sure you buy a large enough tank…

 

weird deep sea creatures

courtesy of NG.

this is a glass squid. and it is not a fake. it is as real as the sun. it does exist.

how cool is this!

 

im right here! in front of you!

its amazing the kind of things ppl do to get the attention of the ppl they want to get the attention from…… more often than not, i’d say its the mistake of the person they want to get the attention from.

you see, when a teacher comes into the class for the first time, tries to get 40 over students names, and try to match faces to names, the easiest to remember would be the one who’s most vocal, followed by the class clown, followed by the one who constantly doesnt submit homework, as well as the best few in class…….

the middle group, are normally just left behind….

of course, over time, we’d all get to know all the students names and faces…. but in the meantime, if someone needs some attention…. he’s probably going to try different means to get it. good or bad. and the bad way is usually simpler.

alot of things have happened in sch lately. since last term. i may or may not have been indirectly involved, but i cant blame myself…… it didnt happen because of me. maybe i could have helped if i was aware. but, i understand the fact that i cannot possibly be aware of the needs of 260 of my current students (of which double my energy goes to my babies) and 30 of my CCA students and 230 of my previous students. and tens of students ive gotten to know through various means. thats over 500 students to take care of. im sure you can understand. i do try. but i may not be able to reach out to all of you.

if you really need someone to talk to, pls do approach your teachers, if you feel you cant talk to your parents. your friends are of the same age and mentality as you. their advice is probably the advice you’d want to hear. but it may not be correct. we may not be able to solve your problems, but at least we’ll be aware that there is an issue and try to understand your behaviours and such.

dont take things into your own hands and do the wrong things. it will eventually hurt you more than you expect it to.

email us, call us on the extension, write us a note… anything… we’ll follow up. but dont do wrong things to get our attention.

 

study tips

one can only imagine the joy of waking up last friday. the first exam. no lessons. some peace and quiet during invigilation.

theres 1 week left for official lessons for the yr. nevermind the sec 3s who have to come back in nov for lessons.

just 1 week. thats all the time we have to cover everything that we need to cover for exams. thats also only 1 week left for students to study.

and for those staying true to your last minute personality, this is the ultimatest last minute.

for those who havent started (assuming you dont know majority of the yr’s syllabus):

1. pls start doing papers. topical revision can only help that much. so dont waste time. do past yr papers. the questions usually test for the same understanding.

2. do not panic when you realise that 1 week isnt going to be enough to cover 30 weeks of lessons.

3. its never too late to start. but i must admit, starting revision the night before the paper would be considered pretty much too late to do anything. but try anyway.

4. rest and sleep well before the exam.

for those who have started revision (assuming you are average in all your subjects):

1. try to push for higher grades in which ever subject you feel most comfortable in.

2. continue to practice to familiarise yourself with the type of questions, so that you will be faster in writing the answers.

3. try to make less careless mistakes. take note of all your previous careless mistakes and remember to not make the same ones again.

4. rest and sleep well before the exam.

for those who have been planning for EOY exams since jan (assuming you have been paying attention and understand mostly everything thats been taught):

1. do not be over confident.

2. do not make careless mistakes in your exams. take note of your previous careless mistakes.

3. do not go into a seizure if you find a question that you totally cannot understand. if you are a mugger, you probably wont be able to answer some questions. so learn to understand the concepts the next time round.

4. rest and sleep well before the exam.

do your best. make this last week of lessons fruitful.

 

why its worth my time and effort.

a note from me to KS and from KS to me. 2 ppl behind us were talking abt some lesson they learnt, with a nice thick book on the circulatory system. and mind you, it was showing alot more than just a heart and valves. the kind of things they were talking abt made me realise they were medical students.

KS’s reply to my note was actually directed at something that happened in sch today. and it reinstated how much influence someone can have on students.

what happened was bad. but something good has come out of it.

anyway, what’s hidden under the Super sugar sachet was an anti-climax. KS continued his reply, “but, they get to SAVE lives though”

 

how to survive devil attacks

so remember those monkeys that attacked us? ya… they are on newspaper. in today’s copy of Weekend Today. there they are nicely posing under a Meeting Point 5 signboard.

so, here’s what i found from asking others on what to do if monkeys attack.

1. just dont carry any food with strong smells. and monkeys can smell pretty well, so try not to bring any food. (this point include not being stupid enough to feed just 1 monkey, cos there are alot more than what you see. but they know you are there. they are like invisible beings, until they see/smell food)

2. dont open any bags or anything that looks like a bag when there are very few of you and many of them staking out from the trees.

3. make alot of noise and just keep walking when you see a bunch.

4. dont stare at monkeys.

5. carry a stick along. not to hit them, but to try to keep them away.

6. dont wear any perfumes/cologne that smells like flowers, fruits (so no herbal essence hair wash prior to a trekking expedition).

7. this is really hard to do, but DO NOT PANIC.

8. call someone and tell them that you are nearing monkey gang 369. at least they’ll know if you dont come back, your last contact point was when you called them. you probably wont die, but alot of scratches from monkeys could make you faint. i dont suppose monkeys would like the smell of blood, so you probably wont be eaten alive.

thats all i have for now on how to survive monkey attacks. if you know of any, just leave a msg.

 

moral dilemmas

early in the yr, the question came up… “would you rather have a son who’s stupid but morally upright, or would you rather have a highly intelligent son who’s gay?”

while the ppl in Lorong Late were debating, all stunned at which one we’d prefer…….. the conversations attracted ppl from Chinatown, Cozy Corner and the Land of Far, Far Away.

seriously, which one would you prefer?

and recently, for some reason, the question going around is: would you keep a $1000 note if you find a wallet without any namecard or identification and no one was watching….

A said something, much to MB’s displeasure.

my point of view was this:

alot of the times, alot of us do/dont do things because someone is watching.

would stealing be wrong if

1. no one was watching
2, no one knew
3. there was no laws against theft?

if a $1000 bill had no form of identification, and there was no was the owner could ever get it back, why not keep it? alot of the time, we do things with the motivation of reactions of ppl around us………..

MB said she wouldnt do it even if no one was watching.

i said that too. i wouldnt do it. but, who’s to say that others wont? for whatever ounce of integrity, i mean, anything that comes free and easy doesnt last.

the concept of right and not right is quite subjective. while A was debating his reason for his possible action, the bottom line is, “the money isnt yours”.

somehow or rather, for many ppl, the concept of right and wrong is based on how others would react if they knew you did it. and for many ppl, the doing the wrong thing attracts enough attention, for them to keep wanting to do the wrong thing…. who’s to judge them.

such grey areas. too simple to some, yet too complex for others..

 

shark attack

Whale Shark

 

it is not a whale. it is a shark. why the name came abt, i dont know.is it the biggest shark. its mouth alone can be up to 1.5m in length. it does look ghastly doesnt it…

Hammerhead Shark

you know, the hammerhead shark is a very unique species. their head gives them away. its as if their head has been hammered. their eyes are on the 2 ends of the head. their nose almost spans the middle head.

all sharks navigate through electrosensory organs. thats how they know where to swim, where they have swam before, where their preys are….

but in a Hammerhead shark, this electrosensory organs are spread all across its flat, elongated head. because of this, they are highly sensitive to electric fields. such that they can even detect prey that is buried. its like a metal detector, that can scan the ground.

of course, this means that they usually swim closer to the ground.

and their cool head can also act as a propelling feature.

cool eh….

 

Salute the Colours

colours party are made up of different regimental units in the military. for SJAB, these Colours represent the 10 different zones that we have. each zone, a flag, which form up the Colours Party.

the Colours Party is made up of officers (ensigns), escorts and enlistees. the officers are the flag bearers. they bear the flags of their unit. (in the military, examples would include individual formations of the SAF, RSAF, RSN).

so the reason why we salute the Colours Flags is because each of these flags are representing the units and the units’ achievements. they represent the pride of each regimental unit. understand?

however, the Colours Flag are not the most impt. above these regimental units is the President. thats why the Colours Flag are dipped before the President, as a mark of respect.

for the SJAB AGI, the Colours Flags were dipped before the GOH, Minister for State (Education) RAdm Lui Tuck Yew, as a mark of respect.

other than that, everyone else who’s an officer salutes the Colours Flags.

that includes ceremonial drills during the uncasing and the casing of the Colours Flags. this yr’s NDP publically showcased the uncasing of the Colours Flags. just as well, i was lucky enough to see the ceremonial casing of the Colours Flags for SJAB AGI. real cool stuff. and i am envious.

CS (3) asked if i wanted to go for the FDI course. actually i really really really want to. but i think my voice kind of doesnt cut me out for such a position. imagine me shouting “Baris Sediah”. besides, i have to know more than basic FD to train for FDI right?

but anyway, just sharing what i read up on Colours Flags. i suppose army ppl and Flag bearers might know more, so this is just an outsider’s view.

 

Varanus salvator

that would be the water monitor lizard.

i know i said i wanted to write abt Macaques, but i cant really find survival information on the net, so im in the process of gathering opinions on what to do if monkeys attack.

so if you’ve seen the video on my VodPod, you can see how fast the WML runs. in fact, it swims just as fast. while we were at macritchie, i spotted the WML coming from afar. and the aged man feeding the fish took a stick to ward it away, with me hesitatingly trying to tell him to wait till i take a photo.

this was a shot taken when the aged man hit the ground to scare the WML. when CH asked him why, he mentioned that the WML eats turtles. see, there’s one at the top left hand of the pic.

what i noticed abt this WML, the beauty of nature, was that it swam really comfortably with its limbs snuggly fit by its body. you should have seen it. it really swam like a water snake.

so i did some reading, and WMLs eat anything small that they can swallow. including eggs, birds, and faeces (that’s egested undigested food).

it’s amazingly agile on land too. it runs after its prey. apparently, it senses its prey with its forked tongue. and yes, it did stick out its tongue when were a few inches above it on the boardwalk. it ran after something in the foresty area behind us. thats were the hilarious conversation took place.

since WMLs can work well in water and in land, they are usually found near water bodies. you can find them in sungei buloh as well. the ones i saw in sungei buloh are alot bigger than this one though.

i actually want to go to sungei buloh. 5 students from my sch worked with N Parks to make the boardwalk interactive. apparently, they have recorded information abt certain areas i think. the geog teacher was involved in this, and i havent had the time to ask more. but im proud of those kids. 2 of them i know. keep it up!

so anyway, did you know that WMLs try to frighten their predators by inflating their throats. much like how a frog croaks. they also hiss loudly, flap their tails, claw or bite. AND, they used to be food to rural ppl. apparently, they are a rich source of protein. which means they are also a source of income.

oh by the way, the one that we saw, was a baby. they can actually grow really big. they are only slightly smaller than a komodo dragon.

so thats all for salvators…