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I've been diagnosed with a sort of adjustment disorder, leading to instances where it's more difficult for me to cope with stress and anxiety. As such, I attend counselling under the Singapore Association of Mental Health (SAMH) about biweekly.

I'm quite critical of myself. After my recent session with my counsellor, I realised that I was in a bad mood the whole day afterwards. I did some reflection, trying to figure out why.

During my session, I talked to my counsellor about a lot of things that were troubling me, about my school and relationships with other people. I felt like the more I talked about the things I was upset about, the angrier I got. It was like I hadn't had time to reflect and dissect the things myself in my head and when I finally talked and thought about it, I was realising how those things had really negatively impacted me in that moment. It felt worse when I went about my day, noticed these same annoying things happening, knowing I was right in my analysis of why a certain person treated me a certain way that made me feel bad about myself. I didn't let go of that angry feeling in my heart for a couple of days after.

It's frustrating to feel angry at something you can't change. I know it is often said to not try to change somebody's actions towards you, and rather to change your mindset towards them. Much easier said than done, sometimes all you can do is ignore what they have and are continuing to do to you, and try to live your best life. Sometimes, I even feel inadequate for not being able to achieve that kind of zen in my life.

I think this can be connected to false goals vs true need. Poor experiences can be used as a setup to the characters conflict, leading to the character wanting to figure out how to solve their recurring problem. In the search for happiness, a false goal can be the character trying to solve every single little problem that pops up in his life, draining himself out and making him feel even worse all the time. This is a surface solution, and after some hardship and growth, the character realises his true need. This character needs to move on, change his own mindset, to find true zen and happiness.

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This article covers five schools being torn down to make space for residential use.

There are many possible points to discuss in this article, however I want to focus on a nostalgia element for the alumni of these schools.

Looking at this article from this direction is out of character for me. But although I did not have the best time during my secondary school years, it was a campus that I spent four years studying at. The classroom walls, canteen stalls, and sports halls hold deep memories for me. I recently went back to visit my own secondary school for an event they were holding, and felt a strange sense of comfort and familiarity being back there. Unlike polytechnic, a secondary school student population is much smaller, as is the campus, and I saw familiar faces wherever I went.

I could not imagine being an alumni of a now nonexistent school and not having a campus to revisit with my old friends. While this might seem dramatic to some, I really do think that large landmarks in life disappearing is a sad and traumatic thing to go through.

Change is imminent. When solid places are gone, we are left with memory, and memory is faulty. I wonder if there are any teachers or alumni from these schools who feel sad knowing their previous campus will soon be torn down, and moreso wonder if there are any who don't care.

Perhaps in a story premise, years after the schools are torn down and the land is reused to build residential areas, a young character will wonder why he feels such a strong connection to the area. Upon some investigation, he realises his grandparent had once studied in a school that stood on that same land. In an effort to bond with his grandparent and help them relive some happy memories, they work together to recreate the feeling and journal down his grandparent's memories of secondary school life.

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5 former schools in Bedok, Tampines and Pasir Ris set to be replaced by new homes

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Three of the schools are being demolished, while HDB has permission to tear down the remaining two. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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I recently had a dream including my parents, my younger sister, an old friend and my boyfriend. We were in some sort of a practical, hands-on class together when the building caught on fire.

Panicked, I called for my family to quickly evacuate. However, they seemed to have not noticed that anything was amiss. While I had one foot out of the door, I kept insisting to them that there was a fire in the building and that they needed to leave with me right there and then.

I was growing increasingly agitated, unable to understand why they wouldn't believe me, calling me dramatic and saying that I was making things up. My old friend and boyfriend were already out of the building, calling for me to get out and join them downstairs. In a fit of anger, I gave up trying to persuade my family and climbed out of the window. I remember the three of us running away from the scene and seeing the building behind us go up in flames.

I turned around and watched the entire building collapse, feeling guilt, worry, anger. I was angry that they hadn't believed me, and a bad part of myself was thinking, well, who asked you not to believe what I said? On the other hand, I was worried about their safety, wondering if they had gotten out. I knew, or rather, I believed that they weren't stupid, that they would have seen it coming in time and left.

A second later, my boyfriend asked me what about my family, if I had gotten them to evacuate. I shrugged, told him that they should be fine, and that I'd meet them at home.

This dream feels fairly literal to me. I sometimes feel that my words and suggestions are not listened to or properly understood by my family members, whereas my boyfriend/friends are able to 'get' me better and more often. While this scene is an exaggerated disaster, I think similarly when the thing I warned them about would happen does happen. Obviously I might be concerned about how things turn out, but it's a very true 'I told you so' kind of moment for me.

In a story, this could be some sort of foreshadowing, from my warning to the true disaster happening. Additionally, while my dream is based on my feeling and an internal conflict, it shows as an external situation.

I remember reading up on the Greek mythological character Cassandra, a Trojan princess who could see the future but was cursed to have no one believe her. In modern day, there is a phrase to describe this phenomenon based on her story, the Cassandra Truth. The Cassandra Truth trope is seen in movies when a character predicts something but is dismissed and misunderstood by everybody else.

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Today is Election Day 2025 for Singapore. This article from the Straits Times is a live result of votes.

Since 1965, the People's Action Party (PAP) has been the ruling democratic party of Singapore. Notably their strongest competition, as well as the only opposition party to have won seats in parliament, is the Worker's Party.

To speak on a bigger scale, politics is never without its drama. From parliamentary debates to public scandals, the world is constantly reminded that political figures are also just humans, filled with ambitions and motivations of their own.

This trope has long been played out in movies and documentaries, depicting those in power as flawed people just like you and me, or outright corrupt. Usually filling the role of the primary antagonist throughout the narrative, this archetype of the morally compromised politician has been a compelling storytelling device, exploring themes of power, betrayal, and the consequences of unchecked ambition. An example includes "All the President's Men (1976)", a movie based on the Watergate scandal, following journalists (the protagonists) as they uncover a conspiracy deeply embedded in the US government.

I believe this concept to be timeless. As long as humans have known power, they have known to abuse it. Political concepts in entertainment bring attention to such issues, helping the general public understand the system and the conflict within it.

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Singapore election: Live results for GE2025

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Follow live results for Singapore’s general election and get real-time GE2025 updates on Polling Day.

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I recently joined a cca in school. My cca is high-commitment, and oftentimes quite strict. I have a dress code and a bundle of rules to follow, most of which are I am not used to. I don't know if I will be able to keep up with my coursework as well as giving a 100% towards my cca. However, I really enjoy what I do for it even though the physical training is tough. Therefore, I feel motivated to continue it instead of dropping out. I hope I can maintain this mindset, especially as my course workload increases. If I am ever unable to handle both things at once, I still need to figure out my priorities in order to not have to give up on two things I like.

In a scene, this would be an inner conflict in the character. She would have motivations to keep pursuing two things, which might end up clashing with each other or leave her feeling stressed and tired. The audience might be split between supporting her decision to keep going for such a high commitment cca, or hope to see it work out for her. Thus, hero empathy is developed.

A possible story question could be 'Would the character be able to maintain her course workload and high commitment cca at the cost of feeling stressed, or will she drop her cca that she truly enjoys?'

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Overdependence holds back self-discovery

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Can she learn to make and trust her own decisions, or will she keep relying on her journal?

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Who: A teenage girl who has recently started journalling, by advice of her school counsellor

What: A journal that replies to her every entry the next time she opens it

When: Present-day, nightly entries written

Where: She writes new entries while lying on her bed every night

Why: She is having trouble adjusting to a new phase of life, and was reccommended to write down her thoughts and feelings into a journal as a way to vent/cope

How: The journal is enchanted, and replies to her like an old friend. However, not every reply/suggestion the journal writes to her is good

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What if your personal diary started writing back to you?