Term 2 Week 6 (Weekend Assignment)

Justice and Mercy

Can Justice and Mercy co-exist? I believe that they truely can, let me explain why.

Firstly, Justice is being morally right all the time. Justice is given to each and everyone equally regardless of race, language, religion or skin colour.

Then, Mercy means the compassion of a person being shown to a usually weaker person, forgiving all the wrongdoings he had done to you and burying the hatchet.

Many people misunderstand that in order to have Justice, one must do the right thing at all the time. You can do Justice by punishing an offender, but you can also show him mercy by letting him go or reducing the punishment.

Through mercy, you are actually helping yourself.

Term 2 Week 5 (Weekend Assignment)

Term 3 Week 5 (Blogging Assignment)

You are required to respond to one of the questions in the Anti-Semitism handout. The question is as follows:

What do you think is Shakespeare's intention of creating Shylock in The Merchant of Venice? Support your opinion with examples.

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I think Shakespear's intention of creating Shylock in The Merchant Of Vernice is to show the theme "anti-semitism". Anti-semitism refers to the discrimination against the Jews. Thus in the Merchant of Venice, it show how Christians treat the Jews, and by putting Shylock in, we have a first person view of how Jews would feel as Shylock is one of the main characters.

Example:
I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.

Explanation:
This is a speech made by Shylock in Act 3 Scene 1. What Shylock is trying to say is that Jews and Christians are alike. They are both normal human beings with hands, organs etc. However, a Christian treats Jew with discrimination. When a Christian wrongs a Jew, why should he follow the Christian way of punishment.

Term 3 Week 4 (Blogging Assignment)

Read the following Newsweek article, How to Raise a Global Kid, byLisa Miller (July 18, 2011)

http://www.newsweek.com/2011/07/17/american-kids-immersed-in-chinese-asian-education.print.html

What is the main argument Jim Rogers is trying to make in this article? Do you agree with his argument? Justify.

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Firstly, I feel that this world is gradually evolving, when one wants to be able to survive in this society, one must gain it by proving stronger than others; also, I think that children should be bilingual as this promotes cooperation with not just nationally but internationally. Nowadays, America is not the best of everything anymore, countries in the eastern regions are catching up. For example, people in China or even India have many business opportunities and their wealth is increasing rapidly. In order to be adequately prepared for the globalized world we are in, the children of the 21st Century must start to be exposed to foreign people, foreign languages, and foreign lands. Firstly, I must let you know that America is no longer the big boss of everything. They are in debts and are trying really hard just to survive. Thus, although English is the universal language, one should learn more just in case one day America falls. If the adults of the future wants to have an advantage in the society, they better start working on finding out about different cultures and languages. They might lose their working opportunity by just saying the wrong thing.

I agree to a certain extent what Jim Rogers said. Nowadays, China is like the king of goods in almost every country. When you go shopping, there would be at least one good which has a 'Made in China' tag. As you can see, the goods made in china are popular mainly because it is cheaper. However, this may not be true as recently, China has created many 'fake' goods for example the baby powder. The input of dangerous ingredients just to make the baby powder taste better has given many babies throughout the world food poisoning. This case has made many lose the trust of China and now China goods are being known as 'Cheap Goods'. The sales rate will obviously drop but it is still very high. When one wants to go far, he must work together with people of all kinds. In this case, many countries has industrialized and language is definitely a barrier between them. Thus, it is definitely better to know an extra language to break this barrier. However, language is not that easy to learn. I take myself as a personal example. I have learnt Chinese and English since young and I am able to practise both while communicating. In fact, I am using English skills to write this blog post! I have tried learning a 3rd language several times, for example Thai and Japanese. However I failed to do so as none of my family members speak either languages. I may know the simple nouns but is it really enough?. We cannot forsee the economic growth of the East in comparison with the West. Even if Asian powers are not evident in the future, having an extra language in your communication arsenal is definitely an added advantage.It is better to have it safe than to have it as a regret. Thus when the future generations are born, start exposing them to foreign cultures as it may help them in the future society. Schools nowadays are promoting good racial relations and I think that it will help a lot in my future life.

Term 3 Week 3 (Blogging Assignment)

Read the following letter:

http://www.temasekreview.com/2011/07/12/an-open-letter-to-the-education-minister-from-a-secondary-4-student/

(1) Comment on the Janalle Lee's view on the education system in Singapore.

(2) Is an ideal education possible? Explain.

Post your 500 word response on your blog.

1) After reading the letter, I have a better view of the current education system in Singapore. I did not know anything about the education system at first and know I know much more. I am also very impressed about her analysis of the education and how she presents her view to the public. From her letter, I can tell that she focuses a lot about how education should be like and her personal opinions. She is a secondary 4 and by speaking for everyone it’s a very brave thing to do.

I feel that our education is constricted within the textbook, nowadays, schools are encouraging lessons outside the classroom but that is actually just wasting time and learning less. Our tests are set according to the textbook and if we do not learn through the textbook, we would maybe fail. I remember the last time my Science teacher brought us out on a field trip, it ended up a as a disaster. Everyone was so uncooperative and noisy that we could not learn anything much. In the end, I am sure that we all feel that we had wasted our time and learnt nothing. I agree that we have lost the ability to ask “why?” as we students think that all teachers are correct and we should not question them about their answers. Teachers can also be quite complacent and only accept his or her answers and expect their students to follow them thus I agree that we have lost the ability to ask “why?”

I find that she is a very good thinker as she analysed the pros and cons of Singapore education. However, she should compare Singapore education system to other countries' education systems. I believed that Singapore is one of the top 5 in the world. Therefore I believe that Singapore’s education is very good. I believe that education should be fun and fulfilling to ones’ curiosity and his longing to learn.

It is quite true to say that schools are feeding us with facts so that we can do well in academically. I believe that there is a better way to make us learn rather than learning it the hard way. School should provide better education tools to let students have a better way to learn. Since technology has become so advanced we should make use of it to learn. There are so much resources online for us to read but school are quite discouraged to let us use it as there are also many distractions online but if there are rules implemented such distractions can be taken away.

2) I believe an ideal education is possible. An ideal education is achievable but a perfect one is not. Although Singapore has already reached a good level of education but it is still not perfect. We still have flaws in our study plans. If we were to have a perfect level of education, all the students in Singapore would be graduates and this society would be destroyed. The society would be unbalanced. A society needs a cleaner, construction builder etc. Not everyone should be smart. There should be some labour workers. Like a Chinese saying, “Two tigers cannot live on the same mountain”. If everyone in Singapore was made to be a leader, everyone would try to boss everyone around and arguments would occur and there would be disaster. Thus, I believe that a perfect education is not a good one but an ideal one is better.

Term 3 Week 2 (Weekend Assignment)

An article entitled 'The Religion of Water' was published in The Straits Times on 7 July 2011. In the article, it was mentioned that ' within countries, there is debate over whether water should be treated as a human right or as a commodity, access to which is determined by the market.' Please read the article.

Is there a difference between treating water as a human right and as a commodity? In your opinion, should water be treated as a human right or as a commodity?

Post your 300 word response on your blog.

Air, food and water. These are the 3 necessary ingredients that all living things need, without them, life cannot be sustained. A human being can survive for a week without food, 3~4 days without water and about a minute without air. As you can see, water is quite important in a man's life. Over 70% of the earth is covered by water and only 3% is drinkable water. That is less about 0.04% of the matter on earth that is drinkable. Yet we have over 9 billion people to feed, not to mention about plants and animals. This limited amount should be distributed out evenly so that the countries can sustain themselves, but this is hardly the case. Water is treated as a business and those who have the resources and money will get more water, and those without those resources are left with nothing, thus leading to water-shortages. As I said earlier, water is needed for all living things, without water, agriculture cannot survive and without it, food will run out quickly. Since water is so vital for human survival, shouldn’t every person get what they need? Water as a human right means that water can be distributed to anybody who requires it, regardless of wealth, social status and power. Unlike commodities like soft drinks that we consume for pleasure, water is the fuel that keeps us alive.

This is an issue that is worth debating. Water should be given to everyone fairly, but does those that worked hard for it be willing to give water? If you did not do anything to deserve this water, why should it be given fairly to you? Thus I feel that using water as a business is alright.

Term 3 Week 1 (Weekend Assignment)

Veteran labour leader Halimah Yacob recently called for the legislation of weekly days off for maids working in Singapore. This has sparked off an intense debate amongst Singaporeans. In your opinion, should the giving of weekly days off be legislated in Singapore?

Post your 300 word response on your blog.

Maids who come to Singapore is for earning money and although their pay is not very high, their living accommodation and food is being accounted for by their "boss". They are trying to earn money to send back to their homes where it is not that rich and developed. Maids with family who are trying to earn as much money as possible and if they already have the money and resources back in their home town, I believe that they would not want a job as a domestic helper as it is a very tough job and they might get separated from their families. Maids are either paid by days or hours, they are trying to earn as much as possible so as to be able to support their family and when you give days off, you are limiting to the amount of money they can earn. Personally, my maid cooks most of my meals, does the laundry, and cleans the house. Because she has done so much, I think that she deserves the day off. So that's a point for both sides... Hence, this is a very debatable subject. On one side are those maids who earned their day off, and the other side is the maids who do a slipshod job and take the day off. I believe that anyone would agree with me that the maid that had done a bad job should never be given a day off and that he/she should even be fired. Once you get a job, you do it well or you do not do it. I feel that the choice of day-off's should be given according to the "bosses". If their "bosses" think that they deserve a day off, they can give the maid one day off. If the "bosses" are cruel, then it is too bad for the maid or he could even go on to sue her "boss".

Term 2 Week 5 (Weekend Assignment)

Write a short essay of about 300 words on the following question:

'Students should be given more freedom in deciding school rules.' What are your views?

Post your essay on your blog. This will be a good practice for your common test. Think about what I've taught you about writing a good essay.

School rules are what keeps you in school. Without rules, there will be no learning and without learning, there will not be any use in schools. In school, we are faced with challenges made easy that we are going to face in the outside world. Discipline or Detention, choose your path. Rules are made for the sake of the students, but the maturity of the students will determine the rules. Thus, I feel that rules can be implemented by the students after pre-university levels.

Firstly, school rules are here to protect the student and to prepare them for the outside world. From this statement, you can tell how important the school rule is. Without it, there will be chaos within the school and there will not be peace or any form of discipline. Students from primary or secondary schools will most likely not have the maturity to even know what the school rule is for. This goes especially for secondary schools as students are now in their adolescent years. They will be rebellious and they would hate the school rules. However, students after secondary levels should have the maturity as they are already over 17 years old. Once they know that the school rules are set for themselves, they would implement the rules carefully not for their own selfish reasons but for all the students' sake.

Secondly, when there are rules, there will be punishments for 'law-breakers'. Punishments will be necessary because when the students break rules, they feel that "Hey, I've broken the school rules... So what?". They will move on even serious breaking of rules. I feel that this part of the school rule must not be implemented by students even in universities. It is because which student would want to have themselves caned or expelled out of school? They will most likely make the punishment lenient and thus resulting in further rule-breaking.

Thirdly, students will gain leadership from this practice. When you set a school rule, you must follow it no matter what happens. If your best friend gets into trouble, he will still be punished. You will be hated for the rule-implementation, but you still have to do it. This helps the students to make decisions based on general situations. They do not rely on relations to help them pass through the grasp of law. When making decisions, it is always a hard thing to choose between friends and your duty. With this, the students can learn from this and be better at making decisions without hesitations. Of course you must treasure relations, but its your choice. Sacrifice one or a hundred.

In a nutshell, I conclude that students can be given more freedom to implement the school rules, but only after pre-university levels. However, the punishments must still be set by the teachers as students will tend to be afraid.