The time of judgement has come for 7/9 classes. Large concrete dies which contained friends and foes, fire and ice, terror and relief, happiness and disappointments. Not forgetting chairs and desks. All arranged side by side, each rolling out our fates - To float or sink in this grey enclosure we call our school.

Like every other society, the school does have its own 'carreer ladders', '(racial) discrimation', 'deadlines' (literally), 'abusal of authority' and 'terrorism'. It is merely how we define these terms that differ us from the vast and battle-torn land we know as the Corporate World. On a smaller scale, we indeed separate ourselves for Ourselves (I am referring to the school, as a whole) based on our results, achievements and thus, classes. We face our teachers, who we sometimes liken to tyrants or dictators. Sometimes they don't make sense at all, speaking in nursery rhymes and tinsel cloth. We are told sugared facts in door-less texts. Within the spines of invertebraes of paper. We 'suffer' this indignity for our parents' dignity now, and for ourselves in the future, so that our children may do the same, or hopefully, even better. We set the standards with a single letter and number, only to be crushed by others, thus completing a section of a vicious cycle.

We are students. And every other occupation you can possibly imagine.
We are humans.

But we will continue the agony until we are less competitive, no matter what we 'grow up' to become. Until we no longer envy. But then we will fall away from 'normality', and cast-away from humanity's dangerous planet, into space - We become aliens to them, in more ways than one.

Of course, facing this in a six-walled, concrete reality with others for one year sometimes help to ease the sense of suffocation. Others, who may be like you, or worse, or oblivious. Others who who could not care less about you, others who could not care more about you. But is it the former or latter whom we shun more? Others whom we call friends, claiming that they're 'Forever'. But we sometimes then fall out with them, or drift away. Yet always remaining within a bar-less cage, a prison of freedom. Feeling that one could not be nearer, nor futher from the said person.

Yet with each other, we have survived for a year. Some wishing that they could relive it and regretting not cherishing each moment, others already wanting to move on, or simply cast all of the year's worries and responsibilties away to go into a comatose state. But the 'sad' truth is that most are to be separated. Separated from the familials that have kept them going when all seemed impossible. Or celebrated sided by side when nothing could go wrong. Next year being the clone of the current. Somewhat greener, somewhat deader much pretty much the same. Bringing similarly structured worries, the same 'Dates of Death', and the same emotions 365 days later.

Unfortunately for myself, I will not be able to experience this pain of being separated by concrete walls. I will have to stay in my class for the next 3 years, which, incidentally, I have gotten off on a bad start already.

Life.
How you torment us.
Bequeath the want upon the weary.
Tempt us with regrets.
Cast Illusion's shadows upon the walls.
Manipulate the strings.
Do it.
For we are helpless.

Life.
You cruel temptress.
Raging hurricane upon those on stilts.
Pick at us with your scythe.
Let false pity rain down with your Sun.
Cup our lives in your wrinkled palms.
You do it.
For we are helpless.

Li QingYi's Insane Brain on
3 Little Known Facts & 1 Believe it or Not:

-Did you know? A dolphin saved a drowning child. However, the child fell into the sea while fishing, so the dolphin threw him back in.

-Did you know? A teenage girl in the United States was almost electrocuted when lightning struck the cable cord of the phone she was using. Fortunately, the girl was blonde and the electric current simply went in through one ear and out of the other.

-A tiny tumour was found in a man's head after he 'accidentally' commited suicide. Apparently, it bore a striking resemblance to a brain. Which, coincidentally, the man was missing. Believe it or Not.

- Did you know? A red indian warrior once attempted to sail across a river in his bright yellow kayak, only to discover that it was sinking. Closer inspection showed that that was because the 'kayak' was really a banana.

Welcome, Dear Reader, to:

Li QingYi's Guide to Everything
Chapter 11653- Annoying Slogans that Stick to the Cranium

Yes yes, we all know the ones right? The familiar, annoying slogans that big-shot companies pay wordsmiths hundreds to think up, air them on television, only to be trapped in the viewer's mind.

Has it happened to you?

If so, don't fall for it! That was the plan in the first place. Think about it. The television is the ultimate brainwashing device. Meaningless sentences and a cliched plot, all the tragic love, tears, and chickening out of a marriage just as one is scheduled to say 'I do'. Just when our mind is at its most relaxed (and thus, vunerable), we are subjected to 'Them'. Advertisements. Just screaming "BUY ME, BUY ME!", sometimes even ending with a slogan.

That's where the horror starts.

The company is taking advantage of the now easily-penetrated skull to engrave a lasting message on the surface of our mind before we regain consciousness. Over a prolonged period of time, and various sessions of engraving, the message has sunk right to the deepest trenches of our minds. Let us now look at a typical example of how this could affect you. How it can plague your thoughts, and promote its fellow slogans. Let us look at how it could mess up your mind.

A Victim of the 'Slogan Scheme'

' "You wouldn't want to be thought of as 'uncreative' now, would you?" that voice in my mind sneered. "Someone's gonna do it, why not you?" That sounds familiar, doesn't it? Realization then hit me right smack in the face like a cast-iron wok. It's from a television advertisement. Guinness's, to be exact.
As I was pondering further and deeper, another inner voice of mine spoke.
"Just do it!" I know that one, it's Nike. It then occured to me that I must suffering from a major lack of creative juices. Even my thoughts were speaking in advertising slogans. Oh, of all things, why this? Of everyone, why me?
"Because you're worth it." Oh my, L'Oreal strikes back. I once again concentrated on ideas for that essay, when I realized that no matter how hard I try, the class genius would still beat me at it. How does she do it? It's a mystery to me.
"Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline". It's Maybelline, no doubt about it! I think I'm going insane. I seriously need a break from all that television. Oh no! Not the 'B' word!
"Have a break, Have a Kit Kat." Argh! The insanity was too much to bear and my mind blacked out. When I came to my senses, I could almost imagine my mind grinning
"I'm lovin' it!" "

Now that you, Dear Reader, understands the full absurdity and severity of the situation, I shall now move on to the next step in my personal campaign to 'Stop the Slogans & Axe the Advertisements". Which, coincidentally, is the name of my campaign, but I digress.

What can I, an innocent, carefree teenager do?

Fine, we've all got to accept our position. I agree that there really is nothing we can do about this brainwashing attempt besides standing hopelessly in a corner as we watch our loved ones fall deeper and deeper into this abyss of constantly repeated sentences. But here is a 'solution' in 3 simple steps.

1) Identify these slogans and the advertisements that harbour them. So everytime you see them on television, switch to a different channel immediately. If that channel is currently broadcasting advertisements as well, keep changing the channel until you have reached safe land - another boring re-run.

2) Mediate. No, I don't mean contorting your body into unnatural position, Yoga style. I meant to clear your mind of the holes the slogans have drilled. Do whatever it takes. Fill the holes up will images of your crush, abuse your physical limits. It doesn't matter really.

3) Promote public awareness. Explain the Scheme to them and convince them that you aren't joking. Come on, if you didn't convince them that you're serious (for a change), it would sound like you are trying to go against extra-terrestrial invaders. Encourage them to do the same as you.