(ANA) Giant waves kill thousands in Asia

Categ...CUT! Hi everybody, long time no see, as you know, normally, my ANA is very "organised". No chit-chatting, no fun, just WORDS WORDS WORDS about the article. But now, I would like to make this article special because it is CHRISTMAS!!! Merry Christmas! HOHOHO! We wish you a merry christ....sorry. Got carried away. Ok now, time for ANA.

Category: Natural Disasters

Imagine yourself playing happily on a beach in let's say, Langkawi. Then suddenly, you see a large wave that is four storeys high coming towards you. Wanna shout for help? No way, the others are already running away. Wanna run away? Too late, can you run faster than a tidal wave or a tsunami? Wanna climb up a tree? Good thinking, but not many trees there, besides, the wave is much higher than a tree. Just stand there and await death? Probably a good way to end your life. Anyway, this is exactly what happened the day after Christmas. A tidal wave came, crashed into costal areas in many countries, swept away cars, tourists, hotels and more. The countries include Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and the Maldives. The greatest devastation was in Sri Lanka. It was the strongest earthquake in the WORLD in 40 years. Over 20,000 people died and many were missing. It all started with an earthquake under the sea... Luckily, Singapore only felt tremors.

I really feel very very very very sad for the casualties. After all, most of them were there for a holiday. Of all days, the quake had to happen on a holiday where most people would be overseas. I hope that the missing people will be found safe and sound. I really pity those people living in Sri Lanka. They were already poor enough, yet this had to happen... I hope that no Singaporeans are injured. Thank God nothing happened to Singapore.

If I could control the situation, I would have built strong brick walls that could reach the heavens to prevent the disasters.

Meaning of words:
tsunami: a long high sea wave caused by an earthquake or other disturbance
recede: move back or futher away
mayhem: violent or damaging disorder, chaos

Why did all this have to happen? Hmmm.....

(ANA) Tissue peddlers on the rise here

Category: People


This article, as the title suggests, is mainly about tissue peddlers(not drug). Everywhere you go, you can see tissue peddlers. All of them have a sad story to tell, but their trades are nonetheless illegal. The Ministry of Development, Youth and Sports have received eight complaints since july this year. A spokesman said that some of these peddlers are soliciting for money by appearing to be in dire straits. This activity can be considered hawking and disguised begging, both of which are illegal. They can be charged with creating a public nuisance and may be fined or jailed. Some even have aggresive selling tactics. They hurl vulgarities at you when you would not buy. Mr Chua Baizhen said: "I think that what they are doing is all right because they are selling a product. They are not asking for money for nothing." Peddlers, rude and polite can range from a 76-year-old man to a primary school boy. Each having a sad story to tell, like losing their jobs or earning their own pocket money.

I agree with Mr Chua what they are doing is all right. I have seen old people going around, selling packets of tissues. I think that is all right as they are really poor and might not even have any money to have their meals. But as for those "fakers", I think that they ARE doing illegal begging. But we never know whether that person is really poor or is just faking it. I know of a woman who always loiters at Lavender. Once, my mother gave her ten dollars and we saw her going into a 4-D betting station. She was betting! I could not believe it. She should have been glad that she had ten dollars but instead, she wanted more. In the end, she might end up with nothing. Everytime we go to Lavender to eat, she would be there collecting cans. I thought that she was really a nuisance, lifting up every can she sees. I hope that people would be more considerate. Do not anyhow go around disrupting people's meal. And remember, do not just give your money away whenever somebody approaches you.

If I could control the situation, I would not allow beggers or peddlers at any food centre and hawker centre.

Meaning of word(s):
soliciting: ask for or try to obtain something from someone
dire: extremely serious or urgent
hawking: carry about and offer (goods) for sale in the streets
peddler: an itinerant trader in small goods
initerant: travelling from place to place

That's all for today!

(ANA) $250 for a free ticket?

Category: People

I bet u must have watched the Singapore Idol finals. Well, this article is not about the finals but, about how people have gone to the extent of buying a ticket for $250! Yes, that's right. I am not joking. People auction tickets for as much as $250. The tickets to the seated event became available on eBay and Yahoo last week. A seller sold a pair of tickets for $200. Not only that, some people even wanted to "sell" votes. Javier, 23 said on a website that he intends to spend $100 sending 200 votes for Taufik Batisah. But if Sylvester Sim fans pay him $150, he will ring up votes for Sly instead. He went as far as to ask for $600, in which case he would send 800 votes for Sly.

I think that those people are really very eager to earn money. But why did they ask for such high prices? Perhaps they could have lowered the prices. Only people who really, really want to go to the finals would spend $200 for two tickets. And people who believed Javier really should reconsider. Why don't you use $150 to ring up 300 votes yourself instead? Or maybe $100 to ring up 200 votes? If you pay Javier, you are giving him $50. Who knows, after taking the money, he might not ring up a single vote. Anyway, people have really gone too far...Who did you vote for? Sylvester of Taufik?

If I could control the situation, I would ban selling of tickets online. So that less people would get "cheated".

Meaning of word(s):
covet: yearn to possess something belonging to someone else
black market: an illegal trade in officially controlled or scarce commodities

(ANA) She chokes to death on sweet while cycling

Category: Accident

This article is about a girl named Poh Yan who choked to death while swallowing a sweet. The three-year-old loved to eat sweets. But she had a bad habit: She did not like to chew them, instead she preferred to swallow them whole. Who would hve thought that this bad habit could cause Poh Yan her life. The tragic accident happened in a park 100m from Poh Yan's house in Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. Her maid brought her to the park to cycle. She gave Poh Yan two jelly sweets which her father bought. Poh Yan ate and swallowed the first sweet with no problem at all. But while swallowing the second sweet, she choked and fell from her bicycle. Desperately, the maid used her index finger and tried to remove the sweet from Poh Yan's throat. But to no avail. She flagged down a passing car and rushed home carrying Poh Yan. Mr Wong, Poh Yan's father told Straits Times that Poh Yan's face turned blue and she had stopped breathing by the time she reached home. He rushed her to a nearby clinic. Unfortunately, it was tooooooooooooooo late. The girl was already dead upon arrival. Her body was then sent for a post-mortem at the University Malaya Medical Centre...

Poh Yan was really very unlucky. She had ate several of those sweets before and nothign ever happened, but this time....Who would have thought that such a tiny harmless sweet would take away a life. I feel that the maid had done her best and she should not be blamed. Luckily, she has an understanding employer who did not blame her for Poh Yan's death. I feel very sorry for Poh Yan. After all, she was only three years old. Her family must be really sad. I hope they will get over her death soon. To those people out there who also has this terrible habit, please CHANGE YOUR HABIT!! or one day you might regret. Also, if you ever see something like this happen, the first thing to do is...
1) Call 995 for the emergency ambulance
2) Do not attempt to use your finger to remove the sweet. Instead, pat the person's back
(when I say pat, I mean pat. Do not give that person a karate chop)
3)Wait...

If I were there, I would have called the ambulance before patting her back.

Meaning of word(s):
1)post-mortem: an examination of a dead body to determine the cause of death

That's all!!! BYE!