[China] - Father brings little daughter to play inside grave everyday, because he can no longer afford her expensive medical bills for her severe thalassemia, and hopes this will get her used to the grave so she won't be frightened when she dies soon.


http://mothership.sg/2017/07/aw-confirms-return-to-spore-in-2018/

Indonesia : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00598171
Malaysia : http://multilingualmania.com/english-or-national-language-thoughts-from-malaysia/
Are you kidding? The best language of instruction (eg. when learning Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Medicine, etc) is obviously English, the lingua franca of the world, in order to effectively communicate with the rest of the world (ie. not just with America ; for instance in Europe, the many different Europeans all have their own distinct mother tongue language, but almost all are at proficient in English for the sake of communication with the rest of the world). Having English as the language of instruction has conferred the single most important educational advantage Singapore has had over other Asian countries (eg. Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc), and as Singapore's bilingual policies have proven, does not necessarily require sacrificing your mother tongue or ethnic culture altogether.
99% of Singapore JC students will get this wrong, and about 50% of private tutors and school teachers will get this wrong.
Calculate the pH of 1.0 x 10^-8 mol/dm3 of HNO3.
Go ahead and calculate it, and if you like, post your final answer here to 3 decimal places (note : don't show your working, coz in case you get it right, don't ruin the fun for others). I'll only state if your final ans is correct or wrong, nothing more nothing less.
To elaborate, barring any silly mathematical errors, there are only 3 possible answers commonly given, depending on your level of Chemistry conceptual understanding : the U grade answer, the D grade answer, and the A grade answer. Based on your answer, I'll assign you your grade.
This is a repost from 2013, but I just wanted the new JC students to know about this. Back in 2013, a RJC student named Kevin Wee, burnt his A level certificate in his bedroom, and video recorded the burning on YouTube, together with a 4 hour verbal exposition on why he did this, together with his personal take on the Singapore Education System, and on being a student in Raffles Junior College. It's a pity the video has since been taken down (he must have kena a lot of threats). At that time, Kevin posted about his experience and his A level cert burning video, on many different Singapore forums on the internet. I'll reproduce one of his posts here (the one he sent to TheRealSingapore), together with RJC Confeesions Facebook link, and Kevin's Facebook link.

My name is Kevin Wee, 19 this year. I hope you will take some time to hear my story. I was from Victoria School (VS) and Raffles Junior College (RJC). Growing up, I was taught to work and study hard, for it will give me a secure and good future. I excelled in sports and studies, working extremely hard at both. I never had time for a relationship and spent little time going out with friends. I played badminton for VS in sec 1 and 2, and switched to tennis in sec 3 and 4. I achieved a national ranking, which helped me get into RJC through DSA. In RJC, we won a double gold and I represented Singapore in the ASEAN schools games in 2012.
I had everything going for me, and just needed to work hard for A levels, get good grades, and get into medicine. Or so I naively thought. 1 month before the A levels, there was construction above my house. I got nervous and agitated, but managed to compromise and study 14 hrs a day for a month.
First day of As, I was placed at the side of the hall where I never sat before and the aircon was blowing in my face. I have asthma, and I couldn’t breathe properly. I got shifted to a ulu place whr I got distracted by some sounds (prob due to the anxiety) and ""scrwed up"" GP. I went into mild depression and couldn’t concentrate on the following papers (kept worrying where ill sit) I didnt sleep at all before math, and had a complete mental block in both papers, when to the toilet and sat there...handed up 2sheets of paper. Aft that, I wanted to withdraw, but my mum encouraged me and took me to the doc and got medication. I struggled through the rest of the papers...trapped by my thoughts of the future and all kinds of weird sensations that distract me. I barely made it through As and I thought it was going to be fine.
I was wrong. I had death thoughts (of myself getting hanged, getting cut up,etc) and I couldn’t sleep or control them. Aft 4 days of no sleep, I honestly thought without a doubt I was going to die. I was admitted and the doc gave me a sedative. It didn’t work. I lay awake for 4 hrs, and then woke up trembling from head to toe, I called my parents and said ""goodbye"". The doc gave me a stronger sedative and I fell asleep.
Anyway, I was stuck in depression for 4 months...I was suicidal in January. Some of you may be thinking, exams are a very stupid reason to go into depression like that, but it wasn’t my fault per say. I had dreams, I studied exceedingly hard for so many years. To me, my future was gone to trash, all my hard work over 18 yrs rendered useless. Furthermore, my mind was too spent from all that studying and it shut down because it had reached its limit. Depression is as much a physical as it is mental illness.
Somehow, I recovered slowly. In late march, with medication, love, support, and letting go of everything. I told myself, I really don’t need a degree to survive, there are other ways to make ends meet.
One day, as I was watching youtube, I decided hey, I could do that, share my story u know, try and inspire people from there. So I did it. In my first video I shared my story and eventually burned my A level cert. You may think its stupid, but its not. That piece of paper almost murdered me, and its worthless to me now, I never want to see it again. The video is long but the first 1hr20mins is the crux. If its too long to tahan, do try and watch it in parts if you can It has 18k views so far and good reviews. After my video, some people with mental illnesses have also come to me for help. It’s tiring helping them, but nonetheless I will never give up, for I was once that person, desperate and yearning for help.
I also made two subsequent videos where I interviews elderly cleaners and gave out masks during the haze periods. I do not understand why in our country when our GDP is one of the highest in the world, elderly cleaners, whose faces are riddled with wrinkles, have to bend over and clean tables.
Also, after I woke up from the nightmare, I begin to see clearly the shortcomings of the education system. It is cruely competitive and places too much emphasis on grades. From a young age, some parents bombard their children with two preschools, piano classes, tuition, sports classes, you name it. Children should be able to enjoy their childhood and slowly find their dreams, not having them forced on them. Because parents want “the best� for their child’s future, they may unknowingly put too much stress on kids from a young age. I remember clearly during my PSLE results, a boy was crying over the phone in the toilet, saying “Mummy, sorry, I got below 200, how?� No child at the age of 12 should feel that their life is over because of a stupid piece of paper.
In secondary schools, many “neighbourhood� school kids are struggling to keep up with the content of the O levels with 6-8 subjects, and face tremendous stress. Some simply give up, and worse still develop mental illness. These claims are not made into jest. For my upcoming videos, I’ve interviewed “neighbourhood school� kids and this is what they tell me. So too do taxi driver uncles (about their sons) whom I talk to.
Of course, when grades are held in high regard, there are other perils and implications on society like elitism and social stratification, which are also serious problems.
Also, though my interactions with my new friends, I realised I was very sheltered, and I finally see the neglected side of society-namely people with disabilities, mental illnesses, learning disabilities and the elderly.
Coming out of depression, I have a clearer dream and conviction; That is to inspire a more inclusive, loving Singapore, where we look out for those falling through the cracks, for those crushed under the weight of a fast paced society, for those who are underprivileged and in need of help. I hope we can achieve that dream together as Singaporeans :)

https://www.facebook.com/kevin.wee.16
Another (unidentified) ex-RJC student subsequently posted this on RJC Confessions Facebook page :
To the Kevin Wee dude who did the video on the education system:
The surest way for one to realise his dreams is to go through the given system that works and aim to be the best. In any society, regardless of what systems there are, there will always be the better and lousier people - that's a fact of life and there's nothing you can do to change that.
You flunked your A levels because you hate the system- you have an extremely defeatist attitude and you're unwilling to work hard. Your mistake was not that you were bad, but you were senseless to not take the guaranteed path RJ or any JC offers you and instead tried challenging and finding fault with the system. You claim that "other alternative less competitive" paths can get you to success to. Well sure, if these methods worked you wouldn't be here making vlogs for a living, see?
Competition and comparison between the better and the poorer people in any country is inevitable. You hate the system because it's competitive, and people who lag or are left behind suffer a horrible fate. But it is only with this system that the top few people even work hard in the first place. If we didn't have to compete or work hard for our success, then nobody would study hard at all.
It is people like you who kill the determination and driving force in Singapore. It doesn't help that the "lousier" people as we call it are lagging behind, but people like you have to exacerbate things by telling them that JC is hard, PW stress is crazy and whatnot. Yes it is stressful, but are you telling me this stress is necessarily bad? Will you not face stress and failure in your career in future? Clearly, no pain no gain. If you're unwilling to put in 1000%, you'll never make it big. Maybe that's why you're into making vlogs now eh?
And WHAT THE FUCK stop hitting on your juniors by asking them if they're cute, that's just creepy. I have already notified relevant authorities too, have fun.
https://www.facebook.com/RJConfessions/posts/228031204011708

Truth behind my JC life :
https://stopthe-pretence.blogspot.sg/2012/03/truth-behind-my-jc-life.html
I have an extensive collection of Nernst equation problems ready for my BedokFunland JC students. All other students can go ask their school teacher or private tutor for practice on Nernst equation problems, and/or go Google out such Nernst equation problems on the internet for yourself to practice on. Have fun! :)
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Such a simple Chemistry question with such an obvious answer, but you'll be surprised most JC students don't know the answer. And if you protest, "But acid attacks are not in the H2 syllabus!", my retort is : if you've truly educated yourself in Chemistry, it means to intelligently apply whatever you've learnt within the syllabus, to novel contexts beyond the syllabus. So yeah, certainly expect to have Cambridge do this for Chemistry as well, coz it would be totally unfair and a bloody shame if H2 Chemistry and/or H2 Physics loses to H2 Biology in this didactic, pedagogical, examinational characteristic :
There will be one or more stimulus materials which may be taken or adapted from a source such as a scientific journal or book which may not necessarily relate directly to the content of the syllabus. Questions may require candidates to explain terms used in the passage, analyse data, justify decisions, perform calculations and draw conclusions based on information in the stimulus material.
Acid attack first aid: What you need to do immediately to help victims
https://sg.yahoo.com/news/acid-attack-first-aid-immediately-131700262.html


https://sg.yahoo.com/news/startup-touts-neuro-stimulation-medicine-brain-182659448.html
Originally posted by supercat:Hi there, I'm revising my A level chem + learning higher level chem to prepare for a chem test so I can exempt from chem mods. I have this question to ask.
Which of the following compounds would react most rapidly with NaCN?
a. 1-bromobutane
b. (R)-2-bromobutane
c. (S)-2-bromobutane
d. 1-bromo-2-methylpropaneMy deduction is that either a or d is the answer, since b and c are technically the same compound (except the direction)
Now, how do I know which will react faster? a has 1 R group, compared to d which has 2 R groups. I feel that d is more stable and so d would react most rapidly with NaCN. Am I right?
Options A and D are both primary alkyl halides (your thinking that Option D is a secondary alkyl halide is incorrect : only if Option D was 2-bromo-2-methylpropane, then it would be tertiary, and 1-bromo-2-methylpropane is still primary), hence the electronics factor is similar. Therefore, the least sterically hindered Option A would be the fastest.
For Options B and C, apart from your correct deduction that optical isomerism is irrelevant to the rate of reaction, let's consider them for the sake of comparison with Options A & D. Even though electronics would favor the secondary alkyl halides Options B & C for SN1 (over primary alkyl halide Options A & D), but the strong NC- nucleophile would favor SN2 anyway. Hence being SN2, Option A is fastest, followed by Option D, with Options B and C the slowest.
If instead of 1-bromo-2-methylpropane, 2-bromo-2-methylpropane was specified for Option D (which was what you were prolly thinking of), then Option D (tertiary) would be faster than B & C (secondary) only if SN1 was favored (ie. weak nucleophile, and preferably protic solvent). Since SN2 is favored (ie. strong nucleophile, preferably aprotic solvent) in this question (although the solvent isn't specified by the question), then if Option D was 2-bromo-2-methylpropane, Option A (primary) would still be the fastest (even moreso than Option D being 1-bromo-2-methylpropane), followed by Options B & C, with Option D the slowest (due to greatest steric hindrance).
Note that we've only considered nucleophilic aliphatic substitution SN1 and SN2 here, rather than elimination E1 and E2 (since solvent and temperature weren't specified by the question). If E1 and E2 are to be considered, a primary alkyl halide in an aprotic solvent with a strong Bronsted-Lowry base such as the NC- anion would favor E2 over E1, while a tertiary alkyl halide in a protic solvent with a weak Bronsted-Lowry base would favor E1 over E2.
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So it wasn't the lychee fruit per se that caused the acute encephalitis deaths afterall, but the insecticide used.

Insecticide responsible for deaths of 13 children in Bangladesh: study
https://sg.yahoo.com/news/insecticide-responsible-deaths-13-children-bangladesh-study-004100050.html
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My BedokFunland JC H2 Chemistry Challenge Question :
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Q1. Draw the full electron-flow curved-arrow reaction mechanism for every step of the synthesis pathway :
Cyclopentadiene -----> Octachlorocyclopentane -----> Hexachlorocyclopentadiene -----> Endosulfan alcohol -----> Endosulfan
Q2.
a) Explain why α-Endosulfan is obtained as a racemate.
b) Explain why β-Endosulfan is a meso molecule.
c) Suggest why α-Endosulfan is the more thermodynamically stable of the two isomers.
d) Suggest why the conversion of β-Endosulfan to the α isomer is irreversible.
e) Suggest why the conversion of β-Endosulfan to the α isomer is slow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNi
http://www.masterorganicchemistry.com/2014/02/10/socl2-and-the-sni-mechanism/
Q3.
The chlorination of secondary alcohols with PCl5 results in an inversion of configuration, but when SOCl2 is used, the product could possess either a retention or inversion of configuration, as shown in the diagram above.
a) Explain why addition of pyridine to the SOCl2 reaction results in the inversion of configuration.
b) Use of SOCl2 in either a non-nucleophilic solvent, or in dioxane (a nucleophilic solvent), for reaction with secondary alcohols, both result in the retention of configuration in the final product, but this retention is accomplished by 2 contrasting mechanisms. Explain these 2 contrasting mechanisms and why both result in the retention of configuration in the final product.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_syndrome
Social and psychological
Individuals with Williams syndrome report higher anxiety levels as well as phobia development, which may be associated with hyperacusis (high sensitivity to certain frequencies of sound).[31] Compared with other children with delays, those with Williams syndrome display a significantly greater number of fears. 35% of these children met the DSM definition of having a phobia as compared with 1-4.3% for those with other types of developmental delays.[32] Williams syndrome is also strongly associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and related psychological symptoms such as poor concentration, hyperactivity, and social disinhibition.[9]
Furthermore, cognitive abilities (IQ's) of individuals with WMS typically range from mild-to-moderate levels of mental retardation.[33] One study of 306 children with Williams syndrome found IQ scores ranging from 40 to 112 with a mean of 69.32 (an IQ score of 100 is the average in nonaffected populations).[34] IQ scores above this range have been reported in individuals with smaller genetic deletions.[13] In particular, individuals with Williams syndrome experience challenges in visual-motor skills and visuospatial construction. Most affected individuals are unable to spatially orient themselves and many experience difficulty when given a task that requires even the most basic visual problem solving. Many adults with Williams syndrome cannot complete a simple six-piece puzzle designed for young children, for example. These visuospatial deficits may be related to damage to the dorsal cortical pathway for visual processing.[35]
Despite their physical and cognitive deficits, individuals with Williams syndrome exhibit impressive social and verbal abilities. Williams patients can be highly verbal relative to their IQ. When children with Williams syndrome are asked to name an array of animals, they may well list such a wild assortment of creatures as a koala, saber-toothed cat, vulture, unicorn, sea lion, yak, ibex and Brontosaurus, a far greater verbal array than would be expected of children with IQs in the 60s.[36] Some other strengths that have been associated with Williams syndrome are auditory short-term memory and facial recognition skills. The language used by individuals with Williams syndrome differs notably from unaffected populations, including individuals matched for IQ. People with Williams syndrome tend to use speech that is rich in emotional descriptors, high in prosody (exaggerated rhythm and emotional intensity), and features unusual terms and strange idioms.[35]
Among the hallmark traits of individuals with Williams syndrome is an apparent lack of social inhibition. Dykens and Rosner (1999) found that 100% of those with Williams syndrome were kind-spirited, 90% sought the company of others, 87% empathize with others' pain, 84% are caring, 83% are unselfish/forgiving, 75% never go unnoticed in a group, and 75% are happy when others do well.[37] Infants with Williams syndrome make normal and frequent eye contact, and young children with Williams will often approach and hug strangers. Individuals affected by Williams syndrome typically have high empathy, and are rarely observed displaying aggression. In regards to empathy, they show relative strength in reading people's eyes to gauge intentions, emotions, and mental states.[38] The level of friendliness observed in people with Williams is often inappropriate for the social setting, however, and teens and adults with Williams syndrome often experience social isolation, frustration, and loneliness despite their clear desire to connect to other people.[35]
While these children often came off as happy due to their sociable nature, often there are internal drawbacks to the way they act. 76-86% of these children were reported as believing that they either had few friends or problems with their friends. This is possibly due to the fact that although they are very friendly to strangers and love meeting new people, they may have trouble interacting on a deeper level. 73-93% were reported as unreserved with strangers, 67% highly sensitive to rejection, 65% susceptible to teasing, and the statistic for exploitation and sexual abuse was unavailable.[37][39][40][41][42] This last one is a significant problem. People with Williams syndrome are frequently very trusting and want more than anything to make friends, leading them to submit to requests that under normal circumstances would be rejected. There are external problems as well. 91-96% demonstrate inattention, 75% impulsivity, 59-71% hyperactivity 46-74% tantrums, 32-60% disobedience, and 25-37% fighting and aggressive behavior.[37][39][43]
In one experiment, a group of children with Williams syndrome showed no signs of racial bias, unlike children without the syndrome. They did show gender bias, however, suggesting separate mechanisms for these biases.[44]
Genetic Cause
Williams syndrome genes[45][46]
ASL· BAZ1B· BCL7B· CLDN3· CLDN4· CLIP2· EIF4H· ELN· FZD9· FKBP6· GTF2I· GTF2IRD1· HIP1· KCTD7· LAT2· LIMK1· MDH2· NCF1· NSUN5· POR· RFC2· STX1A· TBL2· TRIM50· TRIM73· TRIM74· WBSCR14· WBSCR18· WBSCR21· WBSCR22· WBSCR23· WBSCR24· WBSCR27· WBSCR28
Williams syndrome is a microdeletion syndrome caused by the spontaneous deletion of genetic material from the region q11.23 of a chromosome 7, so that the person is hemizygous for those genes.[47][48] The deleted region includes more than 25 genes, and researchers believe that being hemizygous for these genes probably contributes to the characteristic features of this disorder. CLIP2, ELN, GTF2I, GTF2IRD1, and LIMK1 are among the genes that are typically deleted from one chromosome in people with Williams syndrome. Researchers have found this hemizygosity for the ELN gene, which codes for the protein elastin, is associated with the connective-tissue abnormalities and cardiovascular disease (specifically supravalvular aortic stenosis and supravalvular pulmonary stenosis) found in many people with this syndrome. The insufficient supply of elastin may also be the cause of full cheeks, coarse voice, hernias and bladder diverticula often found in those with Williams syndrome. Studies suggest that hemizygosity in LIMK1, GTF2I, GTF2IRD1, and perhaps other genes may help explain the characteristic difficulties with visual–spatial tasks. Additionally, there is evidence that the hemizygosity in several of these genes, including CLIP2, may contribute to the unique behavioral characteristics, learning disabilities, and other cognitive difficulties seen in Williams syndrome.[49]
Originally posted by MapPwner:Can I ask something about H2 chemistry question from VJC Prelim 2011/P3/Q4(b) on organic deductive on C10H8O2,which is a neutral compound.
In determing the structure of D,my answer was C6H6-C(carbon 1 of benzene ring)H=C(CH3)COO-(bond bonded back to carbon 2 of benzene ring),resulting in structure having 1 benzene ring and 1 6 membered cyclic ring suiting the formula and subsequent reactions.But the answer given was 1 benzene ring and 1 5 membered cyclic ring whereby the C=C bond was placed outwards of the 5 membered cyclic ring.
Is my answer considered wrong as my 6 membered cyclic ring structure will lead to bond-angle strain making the structure unstable?Or is it acceptable?
Also,just asking is this question considered difficult?
This question is of average difficulty for an upper tier JC such as VJC (for upper tier JC prelim papers, there have been many deductive elucidation questions much tougher than this), so this question would be considered slightly difficult for mid tier JC, and rather difficult for lower tier JCs and MI. Cambridge A level questions should be of this difficulty or slightly easier, but anything is possible.
For yourself, I expect you didn't have any difficulty solving this question, so you prolly found this easy, except that your answer is wrong, and Cambridge would award you with some credit, exactly how much depends on the question (whether deductions are required or only final elucidations), and how you presented your answer.
Originally posted by MapPwner:For me,comparing to all prelim electrolysis questions and TYS,the hardest(and only) electrolysis question I have come across so far is the 2012 A level H2 Chem P3 electrolysis question about drawing of the diagram of an electrochemical cell to measure the relative oxidising powers of chlorine/iodine.The question itself felt ambiguous as I only merely thought of putting SHE at 1 end and pumping the halogen at 1 mol dm^-3,1 atm,25 degree into the solution of the halide ions at another end only,never expecting iodine to be one end,chlorine the other end as i cant imagine I2(s) being in solution.
If you used a SHE setup, you need to carry out two separate setups instead of one, in which case you'll be heavily penalized and Cambridge will at most give you half the number of marks available for this question.
Also, the new syllabus requires 1 bar, not 1 atm for standard pressure.
Lastly, I2(s) is not part of the required setup. What is required is 1M of I-(aq) and 1M of I3-(aq), ie. the triiodide anion.
In this setup, the Cl2 will be reduced to Cl- at the cathode, and the I- anion is oxidized to the I3- anion at the anode. The reading from the (high resistance) voltmeter gives the required answer.
A BedokFunland JC Original H2 Chemistry Challenge
Draw the full curved-arrow electron-flow reaction mechanism for every step of the full methamphetamine synthesis (starting from benzene!) via the Leuckart reaction pathway as illustrated below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methamphetamine
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Chemist Debunks That Nasty Rumor About Moscow Mule Mugs Being Poisonous
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/chemist-debunks-nasty-rumor-moscow-100024945.html
https://www.google.com.sg/search?site=&source=hp&q=MTHFR+gene+mutation
When C6H5COCHO is reacted with OH-, it is converted into C6H5CH(OH)COO-.
i) Draw out the full curved-arrow, electron-flow mechanism for the reaction.
ii) Identify (with reasons) the rate determining step, and concordantly state the rate law for the reaction.
iii) State the specific type of reaction (ie. not the type of mechanism) that has occurred, and explain why this reaction is considered unusual in organic chemistry.
iv) Justify your answer using either OSes or FGLs.