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.