Towns and villages

Winner:

The town and village are two places where two different lifestyles can be seen. In the town, people live very hectic lives. From morning till night they have plenty of work to do. However, in the village, they have enough of leisure time to take life easy and co-operate with other.

The town is a modern, industrialised and conjested place. But the village is a slow-paced and a very scenic place with its beautiful nature than the town. The fresh breeze which comes over the green paddyfields is very pure and cooler than the air in the town which is polluted from emissions from vehicles and factories.

When we see the surrounding in a village, we can always see trees, rivers, flowers and animals everywhere. But in the town, we can see mostly concrete buildings and noisy vehicles.

When we wake up early in the morning in a village we can hear the sweet sound of birds and also the cackling of the cockerel. Instead of this what we usually hear in the town is the blowing of horns and other jarring noises from the hustle and bustle of city life.

When analysing all these facts about the town and the village or countryside, it is evident that even though the town is developed with various new inventions and modern facilities, it is not at all better than the village.

Amodha Shachiko Kittangoda,

Grade 6, Negombo South

International School,

Nittambuwa Branch.

A person I admire

Winner:

A person I like and admire very much is the King of Pop, the late Micheal Jackson. He rewarded us with his beautiful songs until his death last year. I really love every single song of his. I also admire his great humane qualities.

He was a great person to many in the world because of his humility too. MJ as he was popularly called, was born in Gary in Indiana on August 29, 1958.

Now it is over one year since he said goodbye to the world. He made the whole world cry and wail on that sorrowful day, June 25 last year.

Even though he was an American, he wanted to link the whole world with his music and make it one nation.

So, while praying for a good rebirth for him as a Buddhist, I urge all who loved him to pay tribute to him by coming forward to “Heal the world and make it a better place for all”. Though you are not in this world MJ you are still and forever will be in our hearts!

Avishka Jayasinghe,

Grade 8C,

Republican International School,

Nuwara Eliya.

Unity is strength

Winner:

Most of us may have tried to break a bundle of sticks and realised that it is impossible to do so. Then we would have started to break one stick at a time and discovered how simple it was.

Likewise, if we work as a group, together no one can destroy or break us apart. We will never fall. However, if we are divided anyone can destroy us very easily, just like the sticks.

In order to win a battle even an army must work as one. If the allies in any army or fighting force are split, they would become weak and the enemy would win quite easily. People have to work as allies always, and not let their friendship split if they want to be a strong force.

Taking this into account, let us also be friendly and united, working as one family in our motherland. A united nation, a united family or a united team, is always strong and no one can easily destroy them. Like the popular saying goes, “United, we stand; divided, we fall.

Rashimi Erandika

Rathnayake,

Grade : 10E,

Pushpadana Girls’ College,

Kandy.

My father

He is the hero in my world,

He is the shadow of my life,

He is the lamp who,

gives me light,

Dear father you are

the word love.

You like a strong wall,

Provide me protection,

You like a sun flower,

Give me many reproofs.

Dear father you are the king,

Dear father you are the hero,

Dear father you are a god,

Of your elder daughter’s world,

I love you so much!

Bhashini Nawodya,

Grade 8B,Ananda

Balika National College,

Hingurakgoda.

Solar eclipses

Winner:

On a bright day, the light, from part of the sun or very rarely, the complete sun is blocked out for a very short time during a solar eclipse. When the moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun, the shadow of the Moon falls on the Earth. This is what is called a solar eclipse.

We cannot look at a solar eclipse with our naked eyes. If at all we should observe it through an x-ray card. If not our eyesight will be weakened because it is not good to let the rays fall directly into the eyes.

Scientists look at eclipses all the time with the aid of telescopes.

But we don’t have such telescopes except in science labs If we don’t have a science lab, where we can watch an eclipse through a telescope,then we should see it with an x-ray card. We should always protect our eyes.

During a solar eclipse, the environment becomes very dark. But this darkness is not like the darkness at night. It is very beautiful to see the environment during a solar eclipse.

Sometimes we can watch a total solar eclipse. However, we can mostly see partial solar eclipses because total solar eclipses do not take place that often. A solar eclipse occurred on January 15, this year.

Rashmi Virajinie,

Grade 7,

Negombo South International School, Nittambuwa.

Value of money in our lives

Winner:

With the introduction of new technology the demand for money has also increased. In this rapidly moving world, none of us can live without money.

If we look back at our ancestors and ancient times we will see that people did not use money. Actually, they did not know what money was. They merely ate whatever yams and fruits they could get from the surroundings, wore the skin of animals and made natural shelters. The requirements of our ancestors were very limited, so they did not have to worry about money.

Then in the medieval era, the barter system was introduced. Under this system, people obtained the things they needed by exchanging what they had with others. For example, those who had tobacco exchanged that with those who had dried fish. Later buying things using coins and notes was introduced. We define these coins and notes as money.

In order to live comfortably we need shelter, food, education, clothes, transport and communication facilities, entertainment and many more things today. To gain all these the most important thing we need is money.

Nowadays the commonly used logo is ‘you pay, you get what you want.’ This depicts the importance of money.

However, money does not only buy good things, but also evil things. Excessive money may lead people on the wrong path. Money can enable them to smoke, drink intoxicating substances, gamble and engage in immoral and criminal activities.

Some people do illegal things to earn money. There are some rich people who worry about protecting their money from burglars.

They will be always concentrating on money and sometimes this may lead to mental stress. So, we should remember that ‘too much of anything is good for nothing.’

Money is known by different names in different countries. They are rupees, sterling pounds, dollars, yen, riyal, dinar, euro, ruppiya, taka and so on.

We do not need to be concerned about money as we are living under parental care now. But in the future, we will have to manage our own lives. For this we need money.

If we study and work with determination, we will get through our examinations and get good jobs. With good jobs, we’ll have sufficient money to live comfortably. However, we should learn to spend money thriftily.

S. Abarna,

Grade 9 (English Medium),

Vincent Girls’ High School,

Batticaloa.

My home town

My home town Negombo is situated in the Gampaha District, on the West Coast, 32 kms north of Colombo.

Little Rome is another name for Negombo because the majority of the population is Catholic. There are many churches in Negombo.

There are also many temples for Buddhists and Angurukaramulla temple is a very old one. As there are Muslims and Hindus too living in Negombo there are kovils and mosques also.

Negombo is a popular tourist resort. There are many hotels and guest houses to accommodate them and cater to their needs. There is also a small fort built by the Dutch. Newstead Girls’ College started in 1817 is one of the oldest places in Negombo.

The Katunayake International Airport is seven kms from Negombo.

Negombo is the birth place of Walisinghe Harischandra, a national hero. His house is now a museum.

There are many mangrove plants in the Negombo lagoon. This old town is home to a fishing community and when their boats come home across the water at dawn each day, it is a fascinating sight to watch.

Sethransi Chamathka Senanayake,

Grade 7C,

Visakha Vidyalaya,

Colombo 5.

Your Poems

Our motherland!

Black or white,

We are united,

Poor or rich.,

We give a helping hand,

Male or female,

We treat them equally,

The ruled or rulers,

We give power to raise our nation,

Happy or sad people may be,

We share each other’s joys and sorrows,

Friends or family members,

We are all sisters and brothers,

Strangers or pals,

We pray for everyone,

North, South, East or West,

We all now live in peace and harmony,

May God bless our beautiful motherland,

To live like this forever.

Fathima Naziya Fahim,

Grade 11,

Ilma International Girls’ School.