Typhoon Club March 2012

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MARCH2012ISSN 1684-8187

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Special Report

I Want to Be ...

How Do You Feel?

Down to Earth

Take a look at our selection of videos

this month onwww.youtube.com/user/

typhoonclubmagazine

Down to EarthThe Seven Billionth Baby

How Do You Feel?Learning About Epilepsy

I Want to Be ...The World in 3D

Special ReportScott of the Antarctic

Typhoon Club

Videos!

2 TYPHOON CLUB MARCH/2012

EditorialFor all of us living in Hong Kong, March is an exciting month as we wait to see who will be elected as the new Chief Executive. The year 2012 is a year full of elections and we take a special look at other countries who will be appointing a new leader.

March is also an anniversary month. It’s one hundred years since Captain Robert Falcon Scott died following his attempt to be the first person to reach the South Pole. Learn more about this famous story of danger and freezing weather in our Special Report.

Talking of stories, we take a look at the reasons why so many storywriters decide to use orphans as the main characters in their books. It is no coincidence that Harry Potter, Batman and Superman were all orphans. Find out more in our Short Story section.

There is a phrase that every picture is worth one thousand words. This is certainly the case when it comes to the incredible pavement drawings by American artist, Kurt Wenner. Read about his story and look at some samples of this 3D pavement art in I Want to Be …

Happy Reading!

M A R C H • 2 0 1 2

Publisher Mark Cowley / Cho Moon Sook Cyclone Publishing Ltd.Managing Editor Catherine LeeChinese Editor Winnie TsuiDesigner Johnny ChanIllustrator Cody ChanGames Editor GeorgePrinter Fantasy Printing Ltd.Photos AFPFront cover Kurt Wenner

Contact Details:Unit 1909, 19/FWestin Centre, 26 Hung To RoadKwun Tong, KowloonTel: 2806 1018Fax: 2573 8716Email: [email protected]: www.typhoonclub.com

Typhoon Club is published by Cyclone Publishing Ltd. This publication may not be sold. No part of this publication may be otherwise reproduced, adapted, performed in public or transmitted in any form by any process without the prior authorisation of the publisher. © Cyclone Publishing Ltd., 2012.��80�� )B�5E3-�.!6��

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4 World News

6 Down to Earth

8 How Do You Feel?

10 Elections World Wide

12 Photo of the Month

13 I Want to Be ...

17 Special Report

20 Short Story

23 Know Your Typhoon Club

25 Chef Chilli Chan

26 Puzzle Page

28 Vocabulary

10 17

TYPHOON CLUB MARCH/2012 3

World News

Let’s review some recent news events.

Photos: AFP

20th January

Scuba divers perform a dragon dance at the Shanghai Aquarium

to celebrate Chinese New Year.

1st February

The world’s largest social networking site, Facebook, announces its plans for a stock exchange market flotation. The company may be worth up to US$1 billion.


World News

11th February

American recording artist, actress, producer and model, Whitney Houston, is found dead in the bath in her hotel room at the Beverley Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. Doctors cannot confirm the reason for her death at the age of 48.

11th February

A girl with the former flag of Syria painted on her face joins

a rally in London to support protesters in the Middle East and North Africa. They were

demanding reforms and greater respect for human rights.

12th February

Greek police fire tear gas at protesters outside the Greek parliament. The protest

was about the financial measures being taken to try and control Greek debt.


DOWN TO EARTH

The Seven Billionth Baby

Workplace

Communication

Thursday1st March Dinners in the Sky

Five years ago, a company from Belgium started a company that organised very special dinners; dinners to dream about. Instead of going to a restaurant, Dinners in the Sky offers the chance to enjoy your dinner 50 metres up in the air. A crane lifts a specially designed table that can seat 22 people. The guests are strapped into their chairs so they do not fall off. Dinners in the Sky can take place anywhere and there have been over 800 events in countries like Dubai, Turkey and France.

The 31st of October 2011 was chosen by the United Nations to be the day that the seven billionth person was born,

and Danica May Camacho of the Philippines was the chosen child. The press from all over

the world arrived at the hospital in Manila where this historic event took place and photos of the 2.5kg Danica – which means ‘morning star’ - appeared in newspapers from Hong Kong to Honduras.


Cross

Curricular

– Science

Friday2nd March

The Halloween Plant

A few years ago, two people were working on Palawan

Island in the Philippines. Not many people go to Palawan

Island. The two people got lost and ended up climbing a

1,726-metre mountain called Mount Victoria. They were

finally rescued after 13 days without food. Whilst up the

mountain, they discovered this unusual plant. It was a

pitcher plant and it was so big, small animals like rats and

mice could get trapped inside it. Any animal trapped inside

it would be dissolved by the plant’s flesh eating enzymes.

Of course, it was impossible for any person or organisation to know exactly when the seven billionth baby would be born. The date was just a symbol marking the world’s growing population. In fact, the United States Census Bureau believes the seven billionth baby will be born this month, March 2012.

Newborn babies have been chosen before by the United Nations to mark important population dates. Adnan Nevic, now 12, was chosen as the six billionth baby, and Matej Gaspar was the five billionth. Adnan and Matej have both complained that as soon as the press had stopped taking their photographs, the United Nations was never in contact again.

Whatever the intentions of the United Nations are, looking at this table, you can see how quickly the world’s population is growing:

Years toWorld’s Population Date Get There One billion 1804 –Two billion 1927 123Three billion 1960 33Four billion 1974 14Five billion 1987 13Six billion 1999 12Seven billion 2011 11Eight billion 2027 16Nine billion 2046 19

In a world of seven billion people who speak more than 7,000 languages in 195 different countries, is there room for continued population growth, or will the world’s population become the world’s major social issue of the 21st century?

Did You Know?It would take 200 years to count out loud up to seven billion.

Seven billion steps would take you around the world 133 times.


HOW DO YOU FEEL?

The month of March marks the tenth anniversary of a

charity called Enlighten Hong Kong. It is the charity’s mission to provide help and support for a health condition called epilepsy. Epilepsy causes abnormal electrical activity in a person’s brain that can make them pass out or have seizures. Fifty million people around the world suffer from epilepsy and it can develop in anyone at any age and of any ethnic background. About 64,000 people in Hong Kong suffer from it.

A comic strip featuring Captain Enlighten has been specially produced in order to develop awareness of epilepsy. Take a look at it and find out more about this condition that affects one in ten people in Hong Kong.

For further information, please visit: www.enlightenhk.org

Short Stories

– Writing

Monday5th March Going Too Deep

The bends is something that happens when you have been diving in deep water then rise to the surface too quickly. Divers may not realise at first that they have a problem. However, within a few hours of reaching the surface, they will begin to feel aches in their arms and legs and get headaches. The pain is so bad, it causes the divers to put themselves into strange positions to try and get rid of the pain. That’s why it’s called the bends.

Learning About Epilepsy


Cross

Curricular

– History

Tuesday6th March

The Final War Hero

Harry Patch died in July 2009. He was 111 years and 28

days old. He was the oldest man in Europe and the third

oldest man in the world. He was also known as ‘The Last

Tommy’ as he was the only surviving soldier to have fought

in the trenches in World War I. He did not speak about his

experiences in the war for 80 years. Towards the end of his

life he said, “Millions of men came to fight in this war and I

find it incredible that I am the only one left.”


Popular Culture

Wednesday7th March The King of Pop

Known as the King of Pop, Michael Jackson grew up in a world of music, first singing with his brothers in the Jackson Five and then becoming perhaps the most famous face in the world of pop music. Aside from his musical fame, he was equally well known for his unusual behaviour like sleeping in an oxygen tent and keeping a pet monkey. Like many famous superstars before him, he died at a relatively young age following an overdose of drugs. His doctor was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

ELECTIONS WORLD WIDEIt is not only Hong Kong that will hold elections this year to vote for a new leader. In fact, it looks as if the year 2012 will be remembered as the year when political faces – old and new – either disappeared or entered

the world stage. Here are a few elections to

look forward to.

ELECTIONDefinition: A formal and organised process of electing or being elected – usually associated with politics.


General

Knowledge

Thursday8th March

Learning About Peru

Rain does not fall very often in Peru in South America. For

many years water has been collected from glaciers many

miles away, but these glaciers are getting much smaller.

Many companies are charging people six times the usual

price for water that is brought to Peru in trucks. However,

for eight months of the year, much of the land in Peru is

covered in fog. Peru has become one of the first countries

in the world to use a special method to collect water directly

from the fog.

HONG KONG: 25 MarchA 1,200-member election committee that

represents 0.01 per cent of the Hong Kong population will elect the new Hong Kong Chief Executive. Who will win? The fourth Chief Executive will begin his term on the 1st July.

FRANCE: 22 AprilFrancois Hollande is the leader of France’s Socialist Party. He wants to become France’s next president in the election next month. It is not always easy standing for election, as Mr Hollande discovered when a woman threw a bag of flour over him when he was making a speech.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: 6 NovemberWill President Barack Obama be able to win a second term in the White House? He promised lots of hope when he was first elected, but has he delivered?

SOUTH KOREA: 19 DecemberPark Geun-hye, daughter of former South Korean president, Park Jung-hee (1963-1979) is considered the favourite to be elected next president of South Korea. She is currently considered to be the most influential politician in South Korea.


PHOTO OFTHE MONTH

Thirsty WorkReal Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo spits water during a Spanish league football match against Granada.


I WANT TO BE...P

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The World in

Ideal City


I WANT TO BE...

Social Issues

Friday9th March

What is Cyber Bullying?The National Crime Prevention Council defines cyber bullying as when the internet, mobile phones or other electronic devices are used to hurt or embarrass another person. A survey of 1,108 students in Hong Kong and Macau found that 50 per cent of people had bullied other people by using abusive words, physical bullying and joining with friends against another person. Sixty per cent of students had experienced cyber bullying and 40 per cent had known of someone being cyber bullied but done nothing about it. Cyber bullying is bullying and people have now been sent to prison for cyber bullying.

Kurt Wenner sold his first painting when he was 16 years old. It was not long before he got a job as a space illustrator

for America’s space agency, NASA. There, he created paintings of future space projects. In 1982, he left NASA, sold everything he owned and moved to Italy to study the artists and paintings from 500 years ago.

In 1984, Kurt created a new art form and called it ‘3D Pavement Art’. As you can see from the examples on these pages, 3D

Pavement Art looks as if the picture is rising from, or falling into the ground.

One year later, the National Geographic Society filmed a documentary called ‘Masterpieces in Chalk’ and many people around the world began to learn about Kurt’s work. He decided to start his own street painting festival in California, USA, and teach as many people as possible how to create 3D Pavement Art. Today, Kurt has taught over 100,000 people.

Dies Irae


Sports

Communication

Monday12th March The East Asian Games

The East Asian Games were first held in 1993 in Shanghai.

The next event in 1997 was in Busan in Korea, and this

was followed by Osaka in Japan in 2001 and Macau in

2005. In 2003, Hong Kong won the right to host The East

Asian Games in 2009. Three thousand athletes from nine

countries took part and it was the largest international

sporting event ever to be held in Hong Kong. In 2013, the

East Asian Games will be held in Tianjin, China.

I WANT TO BE...

Gluttony

Sea Dragon


I WANT TO BE...

Cross

Curricular

– Science

Tuesday13th March

Eye Stop

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed an interactive bus stop called the EyeStop. The EyeStop has nearly as much technology packed into it as an iPod or laptop computer. It is powered by sunlight so it is environmentally friendly. It also provides all the information you would ever expect in a 21st century bus stop. It has an interactive touch screen that provides information for passengers. All they have to do is key in their destination and the screen will tell them how long their wait will be. With all the buses in Hong Kong and the large number of passengers, will the EyeStop be successful?

Northwest fantasy Rockettes


Social Issues

Wednesday14th March

Power Food

Hong Kong vegetable markets carry a large number of

different vegetables and you can always spot potatoes,

broccoli and cauliflower. Today, it is even possible to find

a vegetable called beetroot. When cooked, beetroot is

extremely red and juicy. Doctors have recently discovered

that vegetables containing nitrates are very good for

reducing blood pressure. Beetroot is very high in nitrates.

Tests have shown that when people drink 500 ml of beetroot

juice, their blood pressure will be reduced within one hour.

This is far more effective than taking drugs designed to

reduce blood pressure.

SPECIAL REPORT

Scott of the Antarctic

The Terra Nova


SPECIAL REPORT

Popular

Culture

Thursday15th March Body Art

A tattoo is a permanent mark or design made on your skin with ink inserted through pricking into the top layer of the skin. A needle connected to a small machine tube containing dye pierces the skin many times. It works a little bit like a sewing machine. Each time the needle enters the skin, it inserts small drops of dye. It can cause a small amount of bleeding and may be painful. If the tattoo is very large, it can be extremely painful.

In a time when man has landed on the moon and rockets have been sent to Mars, it is difficult to believe that only 100 years

ago we were still exploring large areas of the world. It is 100 years this month since one of the most famous explorers and his team lost their lives after reaching the South Pole.

Robert Falcon Scott was born on the 6th June 1868. As a young man, he always looked for adventure and joined the Royal Navy as soon as he could. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Royal Geographical Society asked him to command an expedition to the Antarctic and he travelled further south than anyone before.

The next few years were spent raising money that would allow Scott to be the first person to reach the South Pole. By June 1910, enough money had been raised and he set sail from England with his team, sledges, ponies and dogs.

Once Scott’s team left the ship and started the long walk to the South Pole, they soon realised that the sledges and the ponies would not be of any help. By December 1911, the team looking after the dogs decided to turn back as the weather was so terrible. Only five people remained.

Captain Scott writes his diary


On 17 January 1912, Scott reached the South Pole. His excitement did not last long as he discovered that another team of explorers led by Roald Amundsen from Norway had beaten him. Scott’s team turned

around and began the 1500km journey back.Had Scott and his team returned safely, his

journey and disappointment may soon have been forgotten about, but the weather and the conditions were so bad all five explorers died in March 2012 from starvation in the freezing cold – just 20km from a supply camp. Eight months later, the bodies were found together with Scott’s diary, which told the story of the brave but failed explorers.

Popular

Culture

Friday16th March

Keeping the Witches Away

What do you do if you make a witch angry? People have

worried about witches for hundreds of years, and a recent

discovery has shown what people were doing 250 years

ago to keep witches away. People used to bury a special

wine bottle outside their front door that was supposed

to stop witches casting their evil spells on the people

living in the house. They were called ‘Witch Bottles’. The

bottles contained iron nails, brass pins, human hair and

nail clippings.

Expedition team with Scott centre


SHORT STORY

Sympathy and Isolation

Here are three characters: Batman, Harry Potter and Snow White. Very different characters, but what do they have in common? One may

be described as a superhero, one as a magician, and the other as a character from a fairy tale.

There seems to be nothing in common between them – except there is: they are all

orphans.An orphan can be described as

a child whose parents have died. They have been written about in folk tales, fairy tales and fictional

stories for hundreds of years. In fact, if you think about this

Pros and Cons

Monday19th March School Uniform

When you first joined your school, you were always proud of your school uniform. When you wore it, everyone could see that you belonged to an excellent school. However, as students grow older they begin to resent wearing their uniform. There are good things and bad things about wearing a school uniform. You can call these pros and cons. The pros mean the advantages, the cons mean the disadvantages. What do you think the pros and cons are of wearing a school uniform? What is your opinion?

very carefully, you can probably name several other fictional characters that are parentless.

Writers like including one or more orphans in their stories because they can provide all kinds of advantages for the creative writer. The first response a reader usually has when they learn that one of the main characters in a story is an orphan is a feeling of sympathy. Every child in the world has a fear of


Social Issues

Tuesday20th March

Too Fat? You’re Fired!

Every time we look at advertisements we see beautiful

and sometimes very thin male and female models. Most

of us are nowhere near as thin as they are so we think no

more about it. But to some people, the wish to become as

thin as the models in the photographs can take over their

everyday lives. There has been a long history of criticism

of the weight of models. Many people believe that using

only skinny models can create the impression that everyone

should aspire to become this thin. For most people,

becoming this thin is impossible.

losing his or her parents. To read of someone who has experienced this is almost enough to bring tears to readers’ eyes before they have finished the first chapter of their book.

To take this emotion one stage further, if the orphan is left with a cruel

relative – such as Cinderella or Harry Potter – the reader will feel even more sympathy for the young child. Being an orphan can mean that the character is not only parentless, but also friendless, isolated and alone in the world.

Another great advantage of including an orphan in a story is that it allows the writer to keep parents out of the way. It releases the child to have adventures that no real parent would allow their child to experience.

Next time you are asked to write your own short story, you may want to think about including an orphan. Hundreds of writers have done it to great effect before you. Why not give it a try?


Popular

Culture

Friday23rd March

Dinners to Die ForMost people in Hong Kong love Japanese sushi and are happy to try any kinds of different raw fish. One fish to perhaps keep away from is called a ‘Puffer Fish.’ The Japanese call it ‘Fugu’ and they have been eating it for hundreds of years. A puffer fish contains poison that can easily kill a human. In 1958, 176 people died in Japan after eating fugu. A law was passed that required chefs who wanted to serve fugu to be specially trained. The training takes three years and only 30 per cent of people pass it the first time.

Liberal Studies

Wednesday21st March

Mass WeddingsRecently, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon oversaw a mass wedding where couples across four continents exchanged their wedding vows. Some were dressed in traditional Korean costumes; others wore white wedding dresses or black suits. Reverend Moon is famous for conducting mass weddings. He believes they are a way of mixing races and spreading peace and joy. Many of the couples that were married on this occasion had never met before. The Reverend Moon’s ambition is to arrange 400 million marriages during his lifetime.

Popular

Culture

Thursday

22nd MarchKeeping Rabbits

For hundreds of years people have kept rabbits as pets.

People have also been eating them for thousands of years.

Even though rabbits have two front teeth that look like a

rat’s, they are not rodents. They belong to a family called

Lagomorphs. Rabbits do not eat meat; they are herbivores

and eat vegetables. One female rabbit can produce 24 –

40 baby rabbits per year and each rabbit can live up to

10 years. Many countries, including Australia, have had

problems with the growing population of rabbits.


KNOW YOUR TYPHOON CLUBThis month’s issue of Typhoon Club contains lots of information. How much of it have you remembered? Write the answers to the questions into the correct boxes in the grid.

1

2

3

7

8

9

6

4

5

10

Across 2. Batman, Harry Potter and Snow White

were all what? 3. In which Asian city was the seven

billionth baby born in October last year? 6. Which country has its presidential

election on 22 April?

8. In which month did Robert Falcon Scott reach the South Pole?

9. Kurt Wenner’s first job was with which American organisation?

10. The charity, Enlighten Hong Kong, promotes awareness of what health condition?

Down 1. What does the name Danica mean? 4. Which country in Europe did Kurt

Wenner move to in 1982? 5. Christiano Ronaldo plays for which

football team? 7. The fourth Chief Executive of Hong

Kong will begin his first term in what month?


Poems & Songs

Wednesday28th March Sports Day

Warming up, stretching, ready to runArms, legs, toes un-achingly numbFocus on winning, second at leastThe start gun frees this leopard-like beastAnd off I go, as fast as I canShoulder to shoulder, man to manPast the high jump, along the straightBreathing so deeply, sealing my fate.

News Report

Monday26th March Hippopotamus Tragedy

Last month, eighty-three hippopotami died at the Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, Africa. The animals had been exposed to bacteria called anthrax. Unbelievably, over 300 hippos died from the same bacteria three years previously. No-one knows how the bacteria spread into the area where the hippos lived, and scientists are still working on how to prevent this tragedy from ever repeating itself again.

Sports

Communication

Tuesday27th March

Ocean Ambassador

In 2006, British-born Ellen MacArthur became the fastest

person to sail around the world in 71 days and 14 hours.

Three years later, she announced that she would no longer

take part in competitive sailing. Instead, she would place

all her energy into caring for the environment. People are

more aware of damage being done to the land than the

sea. However, 71 per cent of the planet Earth is covered in

water. Over-fishing, destruction of the seabed, pollution

and warming water has resulted in nothing but jellyfish

being able to live in many of the world’s oceans.

CHEF CHILLI CHAN

To be continued ...To be continued ...

Chilli Chan and Lollipop have come to the end of the first part of their European holiday. Following a few days in Scotland, they have now arrived in Spain and are in a town called Pamplona. Chilli has no idea why Lollipop decided to visit here…..

Why are we here, Lollipop?

I thought you may like it. Let’s

have a coffee.

Could you get me a newspaper?

Ugh? What’s that?

Aghhhh! I’m going

to die!

That was so funny!

You knew this would

happen?

It’s the famous Pamplona Bull Run!

TYPHOON CLUB NOVEMBER/2011 25

PUZZLE PAGE

T S H T S S P T O P S B O O H

E I A R N U F J C L A W L U T

N R R O O P Q M Z T C I C L A

R A R M W E T S M X V K C E R

O T Y E W R Q A C E L Y S Y Z

H O P D H M N K R E R C P M A

N M O L I A O T B L T M J N N

E S T O T N W E E P C L E N U

E A T V E I R G L R P K N E I

R W E Q S R A N Y X S B R Y I

G Y R T Y A L L E R E D N I C

D E U F R Y E K C K E U H C J

K R I W C H C N G X J S U Z C

Y N E R Y E E N A J E Y J Z W

N S Q L V A F P A S O Z P D M

Fictional OrphansIn the Typhoon Club Short Story section this month we write about orphans in fiction. There are twelve fictional characters who are all orphans hidden in this Word Search. Can you find them? Words can go from left to right, right to left, up, down and diagonally.

BATMAN CINDERELLA

GREEN HORNET HARRY POTTER

HUCKLEBERRY FINN JANE EYRE

OLIVER TWIST SNOW WHITE SUPERMAN

TARZAN TOM SAWYER VOLDEMORT


Word SudokuThe Typhoon Club Sudoku word this month is:

DEFINITION: A storm of frozen rain

HAILSTORMEach grid should be completed so that each row, column and 3 x 3 box contains every letter to make the word: HAILSTORM. Good luck!

Writing a

Letter

Friday30th March Dear Michael,

The weather in England has been freezing cold and I have

been playing in the snow whenever I have had the chance.

It’s lots of fun and the boys love throwing snowballs at me.

But it’s not all play. My exams are not far away and my dad

really wants me to do well. So I have to work. My teachers

are making my life very miserable. I find it really hard being

away from you, but you must be enjoying yourself so much

exploring all those restaurants in Hong Kong.

Popular

Culture

Thursday29th March Time Capsules

Time capsules are a way to record a time in history for the benefit of people in the future. People have been making time capsules since the seventh century BC. There are even four time capsules in space for space travellers in the future. One of the most famous time capsules was buried at a university in 1940. It contains microfilm, photos and items that document the entire history of human existence. The time capsule will not be opened until 8113.

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VOCABULARY

In the left hand column you will find the highlighted words taken from the different features in Typhoon Club. Look up these words in the dictionary and write their meanings in the right hand column.

WORD CHINESE ENGLISH DEFINITION

advantages �!

created %��

cruel relative '��1�

emotion �*

future space projects ��,

growing population ��-�

have in common #5

intentions ��

isolated "��

orphans ��

response �3

Royal Navy ��

sledges $0

starvation �/

supply camp +(4�

symbol ).

sympathy ��

to command an expedition �& 2

Typhoon Club March 2012

Documents

special look

cyclone publishing

antarctictyphoon club

world newslets

world news6

d special reportscott

chinese new year

special report20 short