Newspapers

Every school day, as soon as I arrive home, the first thing I do is spread open the newspaper. On Sundays, all five of my family members will divide the paper according to its various sections and then rotate each section amongst ourselves. In a family where reading is our main past time activity, the newspaper is read practically from 'cover to cover', and provides entertainment for the whole family. We devour the latest scandals and political gossip, follow every last detail of the many court cases, enjoy the comics, and discuss all the latest updates in sports. We do not fight over television channels or over the remote, but we do quibble over who gets to read the newspaper first. I am sure this is rather common in most households where reading prevails over the so-called 'idiot box'.

So, why do newspapers play such important roles in our lives? After the printing press was invented by a German man named Johann Gutenberg, someone invented newspapers, as a way of spreading information.nIt became easy to produce printed material, and it was all thanks to the printing press. Ever since then, newspapers have become increasingly popular, more and more newspapers were published and new jobs were created for the job market. Journalists and editors were added to the growing list of jobs for a man to choose from. All in all, newspapers have certainly revolutionized the world. Even today, will all the television sets, radios, and the internet, we still remain faithful, devoted, avid readers of newspapers.

In fact, we can see newspapers everywhere! Every morning, when you have your breakfast, the paper boy tosses the paper on your front porch. You slowly flick through it as you enjoy your coffee. While driving to work, you casually glance at the sundry shops lining the road, and stacks of newspapers stare you back in the face as they wait to be sold. Later, during your lunch break, you cross the road to buy some delicious 'nasi lemak', and lo and behold! It is wrapped in a banana leaf and a few sheets of old newspapers! Looks like the newspaper is quite indispensable to us humans!

Besides being indispensable, newspapers have also played an important role in our history. They were once the means of spreading information, particularly anti-British sentiments. Newspapers such as al-Ikhwan, Neracha and so many others were actively circulated by the people of Malaya, urging every last man, woman and child to stand up, in unity to demand our freedom. In our History textbooks, a long list of the many newspapers published, and not to mention their founders and pose quite a headache to any student. Even in History, we are faced with newspapers! Writers like Za'aba, Syeikh al-Hadi and Abdullah Hussein run around in tangled circles in our brains as we try our very best to remember the papers they wrote for. After all, this is all part of the history of Malaysia.

Newspapers are printed in many languages, according to the mother toungue of the country the are published in. Nowadays, in an effort to attract more buyers, newspapers include many other things besides the latest news and headlines. There are comics sections, entertainment sections, classifieds, the list goes on. Even the list of the 80, 000 teenagers selected for national service next year was published in many local dailies. This means that in a newspaper, there is something to please everyone. One of my English teachers cuts out the various articles she thinks are useful in aiding us to write better essays. So the newspaper is useful in education as well. As the old saying goes, 'Reading Maketh a Man'.

A newspaper costs no more than RM 1.50 a day, a considerably affordable price for the masses. Thae even provvide you with one for free when you board an airplane! The also means that we have a lot of old newspapers. Besides using newspapers to wrap up our favourite foods, we can use them to clean windows, or crumple them up to protect delicate things when we pack them away, or line the surface children are using to complete their art projects. If you so none of the above, never mind. Stack your newspapers up outside your house and wait for the familiar call..."Paper lama!!" followed by the familiar siren. Be a good citizen of the Earth, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle!

There is absolutely no doubt about it. Newspapers have come and conquered our lives, and they are here to stay. I, for one am not complaining. Newspapers can provide information, entertainment, and the industry itself creates a job market for people. Not many everyday things have such a wide variety of uses. There is one use of the newspaper I find amusing though. Did you know that in some English manor homes, the butler still has to iron the morning paper before setting it on his master's table? A tad unnessacary don't you think?


This was my post-trial paper. My teacher says there is a variety of facts/ opinions. Any comments? Personally, as always, I think it could be better, mainly because this was one of the few essays I did not organize, all I did was put pen to paper and.....whoosh! Flood of words ;D

Cest MoiY

Xtine
Loves
Music

'I dreamt that I was composing a symphony....I had gone to my table to begin writing it down when I suddenly reflected: "If I write this part I shall let myself be carried on to write the rest. The natural tendency of my mind to expand the material is sure to make it very long...When the symphony is finished I shall be weak enough to allow my copyist to copy it out, and thus immediately incur a debt of 1,000 or 1,200 francs. Once the parts are copied I shall be harassed by the temptation to have the work performed; I shall give a concert in which, as is sure to be the case in these days, the receipts will barely cover half the expenses; I shall lose what I have not got; I shall want the necessaries of life for my poor invalid, and shall have no money for either myself or for my son's keep on board ship!"...I threw down my pen saying, "Bah! I shall have forgotten the symphony tomorrow." But the following night the obstinate symphony again presented itself...'
- Berlioz writing about a nightmare he had during the 1850s

SHE WANTSY

job >3
grand piano <3
happiness

SCREAM;TALKY

(where to get one)

EXITSY

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