Term 3 Week 6 (Blogging assignment)

Can mercy and justice co-exist?
Firstly, I would like to define what these two terms mean. Justice refers to following the law by the book, punishing one for his acts which are considered wrong by the law. Mercy means to  taking into consideration the circumstances of a situation that a person was in when he commits a mistake, giving him a lesser punishment, ultimately forgiving him. Some people find that both cannot co-exist as by showing mercy, justice would not be served as the convicted would be escaping with a lesser lighter sentence as compared to what is demanded of him. However, I believe that both of these two factors are able to co-exist peacefully.

Justice is a subjective term as everyone has different views to how justice should be served. Should we have an eye-for-eye system where each person should be punished according to how each crime was committed? Or should justice refer to punishment based on the circumstances that the crime was committed and its severity? It can be seen that justice has many different sides to it.

For me, I feel that mercy can co-exist with justice based on several factors: Circumstances of the crime and the severity of the crime. If the convicted was caught for committing henious crimes such as mass murder and arson, obviously mercy should not be shown to such criminals and justice should be served as charged. However, in circumstances where the crime is less serious than mercy can be taken into consideration if the person who committed the crime shows remorse for his/her mistakes and is willing to repent. When someone is willing to repent, we would be more willing to forgive and show mercy towards the accused. Also, we should take into account the mental state of the person as he committed the crime, is he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, causing him to be unable to make proper decisions, than mercy can also be taken into consideration.

Hence, at the end of the day, I feel that justice and mercy can co-exist based on the different circumstances of the different crimes that were committed.

Term 3 Week 5 (Blogging Assignment)

In the play The Merchant of Venice, Shylock is potrayed as the main antagonist of the story. From the text iteslf, it is difficult to define what kind a character Shylock is, on one hand he is seen as a victim as racial discrimination and on the other he is seen as a vengeful person who is completely heartless. As such, I can only assume that Shakespeare's intention was to make the audience watching his play show more emphathy towards Jews but still stay true to the general sentiments towards the Jews then which were generally negative.

In one sense, he is potrayed as a victim of racial discrimination which can easily be supported by the racial remarks made by the characters such as Antonio and Bassanio:"The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart:
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!"
These were quotes based in the scene where Bassanio attempts to borrow money from Shylock to fund his courtship of Portia. We can see that despite them requesting for a favour from Shylock, they nonetheless still criticize him. From this point of view, Shylock is represented as a victim of racial discrimination and undergoes all these criticism simply because he is a Jew. As such he should deserve our emphathy.

However, this sense of emphathy soon evaporates as he later manipulates Antonio into signing a bond that would allow Shylock to cut off one pound of flesh from Antonio if he fails to return the money on time which Antonio ultimately fails to do so in the end. Also, towards the end, Shylock turns from a man with feelings suffering from all of these injustice to an unfeeling man who remains hell-bent on taking revenge. Our emphathy towards him changes to a sense of anger when he cries for justice and refuses to show mercy to Antonio. As quoted:" My deeds upon my head!
I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond."
As shown from this quote his seems to have lost his humanity and wants to kill Antonio there and then.

In conclusion, I feel that Shakespeare's intention was to raise awareness of the feelings of Jews during his era but at the same time not make it too obvious to keep in line with the norm of his time

Merchant Of Venice

I feel that Shakespeare was indeed biased against the Jews in terms of his portrayal of the main characters in the play The Merchant of Venice. In the play Shylock was described as a cruel and heartless person right from the very first time that he appears. Shakespeare also subjects Shylock to much racial discrimination from other characters such as Antonio and Bassanio, often critising him for the actions that he takes. Furthermore, despite him suffering from much indignance, Shakespeare also wrote that his daughter had left him too as a result of his cruelty and heartlessness. Instead of taking pity on Shylock, Shakspeare had to rub in it further by making his daughter leave him. Also, in the end during the trial, Shylock was eventually nearly robbed of his entire fortune in a stunning twist of events. In my opinion, I feel that all of these actions point to me that Shakespeare was biased against Jews and that this play was Anti-Semitism.

Term 3 Week 4(Blogging Assignment)

In this article, Jim Roger's main aruguement is that in order for children to survive in an increasingly more competitive world of the 21st century, students have to be able to immerse themselves in different cultures and languages. Countries would continue to grow "closer" and "closer" together with the advancements in technology and it would be almost impossible to isolate oneself from the different countries that we would meet as we join the workforce in the future. He further mentions that if America were to continue to feel superior of its superpower title, they would eventually lose out in the future to the rising economies. Hence, immersion in the different cultures and languages would be vital to one's survival in the future.

I feel that Jim Roger's arguement in which he decides to send his children in order to prepare for the future where Asia would be the leading super power in the world is a very viable one. He argues that he sent his children to Singapore to study in order to enable them to be bilingual as to prepare for the future. I agree with Jim Roger's arguement. Currently, China is undergoing rapid industrialising and is the biggest producer in the world, manufacturing most of the things that the world uses. If we were to consider the world to be a car, China would be like the engine as it drives the world onward as it produces almost every single thing that the world needs. Furthermore, there are also other developing economies such as India could turn out to be the next China in 50 years time. On the other hand, the West consisting of european countries and the United States are facing a mountain of debts and are struggling to pay it off. The United States are currently facing debts in the sum of trillions and several European countries such as Greece are bankrupt. If one looks at this situation from this point of view, it would be obvious that the West and losing the advantage that they used to hold and the East are catching up at an alarming rate.

It would be important to put students in a global world since young as by doing so, students would not feel out of place if they were to leave school and enter the workforce. This would allow for students to transit from schooling to the workforce better and much easier Hence, Jim Roger's arguement can be easily justified.

Term 3 Week 3 (Blogging Assignment)

I feel that Janalle Lim's view on Singapore's education system is surprsingly in-depth and accurate. Of the ideas that she had listed, I must say that I agree with most of them. Schools do not encourage students to speak up and ask the question "Why?" which is the fundamental question to understanding. Many times in my primary school, teachers are often unable to reply our questions or just simply cannot be bothered to reply them. Often enough saying that since the textbook says so it has to be correct. During science lesson, understanding would naturally be the most important comcept, however, our education system has made it such that memorising science facts is more important as it is the factor that makes us do well in our exams. These are some of the examples of Singapore's flawed education system. Also, I feel that our Moral and Civic lessons do not really achieve its aim to inculcate good values in students. During Primary School, teachers often use this lesson in order to make up for any lost subjects and skip it. Furthermore, the true aim of this lesson is not met as I feel that students are not taught why we are supposed to so good deeds but rather are told to do so as the society expects us to do so. As such the inqusitive nature of students is quashed as their questions are hardly answered and they no longer bother to question for it will not be answered.

In my opinion, I feel that there can never be a "perfect" education system. Every single person is born differently and everyone has special talents and weaknesses. In my opinion, I feel that the best form of education would be to segregate students into different streams such that teachers are able to teach students based on their strengths and weaknesses. By seperating students into different streams, teachers would be able to teach the students accodingly and explain to them different concepts better. Hence, I feel that while there are no such thing as the perfect education system, the best way to teach a child would be to teach him based on his merits and bad points.

Term 3 Week 2 (Blogging Assignment)

Is there a difference between treating water as a human right and as a commodity?

 

Water, also known as the blue fuel, is essential to every living organism in the world. Every living thing requires water in order to live, without any water no organism would be able to live. In increasing years, global warming is starting to take its toll on Earth, drinking water is becoming more and more scarce and with the gradual increase in the world's population, the demand is also increasing. A human right refers to a right that every single person is entitled regardless of their social status; whether poor or rich, young or old. On the other hand, a commodity refers to an item of value that can be sold. If water is an item that every single person needs, water should never be treated as a commodity as poor people would not have enough money to afford water and they would die of dehydration.

 

 In your opinion, should water be treated as a human right or as a commodity?

 

In my opinion water should be treated a human right and not a commodity as water is a particular resource that everyone requires. If water were to be a commodity any money-minded person would control the prices of water and raise the prices to a premium where many people would not be able to afford it. However, since it is a necessity people would be forced to pay for it and many people lives' would be poverty-stricken from then on. Hence, water is required by every single person and it should not be manipulated by businessmen.

Term 3 Week 1 (Blogging Assignment)

In your opinion, should the giving of weekly days off be legislated in Singapore?

Maids come to Singapore in search for employment as they are unable to look for jobs in their hometown. Out of desperation, they have no choice but to come to Singapore in order to look for a job so that they are able to support their family back in their hometown. In order to earn money to be sent back home, maids have to work long hours taking care of their employers home. Taking care of a range of housework ranging from cooking, cleaning and even taking care of the elderly or children. However, these maids left their hometown in order to come here and they have no relatives or friends here, many of them would grow sick and tired of their life in Singapore. I feel that giving weekly days off for maids is a feasible idea but it should be based on each maid's productivity and workrate. If a maid works hard and takes her work seriously she should be more than entitled to taking a day off to relax and make friends. However, this should not be legislated as maids may try to take advantage of this by putting in less effort when doing the household chores but still entitled to the day off. In that light, I feel that employers should have a hand in deciding if a maid should be entitled to a day off. The weekly day offs should be based on a weekly report, if in a particular week the maid did not  put in hard work, the employer should be given the rights to revoke the privilege for that week. This would also serve as an incentive for the maid to work hard in order to get a day off to rest

Sec 2 Home-Based Learning

1) In many war torn countries, children not only are deprived from education, many were also recruited, mostly forced, into armies to fight. These child soldiers are often treated as cannon fodder, and they are often the first wave of soldiers to enter a fight. Many war lords in countries like Darfur use these children to fight because of their lower cost to maintain. Children would require lesser food and water than an adult would require. The youngest child soldier can even reach up to ages of 6 years old! In contrast, children in our society would slowly be introduced to life and are protected by their families. Children of these ages would often be at home reading and learning instead of holding a gun and killing people with it. Hence, I feel that children in our societry are very fortunate to have been born inour societry and not in some war-torn land in which no where is safe.

Annex A

Steps in Analysis
	Point	Evidence	Elaboration
1.	Point of View Point of view from his own point of view	“There are children in the darkness” Speaks of the children from a third-person point-of-view.  “Could we simply light a candle Could we give them half a chance” Offers a solution from his views.	By writing from an outsider’s point of view, he can truly convey the thoughts and feelings expressed from an objective point of view. This sentence tells us that the setting is in a war torn environment.
2.	Situation and Setting War takes a lot of innocent lives Children are not able to get education Children are in the army at a young age	“Or will a war consume them Their body and their soul” “Chalk and blackboards will not be To this door there is no key From this life they cannot flee	This sentence tells us that the children will not be using chalk and blackboards, which are items found in a classroom. This implies that they are not able to receive any education due to the war that would have affected their lices This implies that the children are also fighting the war, which might even cost them their lives.
3	Language/ Diction Rhyme	“Their body and their soul” And “Down some endless thirsty hole”	The author uses paws to show the extent of how badly the lives of the children have been affected and how the children could have spent their time doing other things instead. From activities such as dancing and reading.
4	Personal Response Pity of these children New insights	It is written in the poem that chalk and blackboard will not to be, to this door there is no key.	This means that the children cannot escape this and have no choice. Their lives are like a living hell as they are born into this life without wanting to in the first place. Hence, their lives are actually very pitiful. This means that we should think about others and count our blessings instead of complaining about how stressful our lives are. We should not constantly complain about how stressful are lives are due to school work instead we should spare a thought for these children and try to help them where we can.

Term 2 Week 5 (Weekend Assignment)

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

      School rules define the barriers of students’ actions, school rules decide what a student is allowed to do in school and anything done outside these barriers are considered wrong and would warrant a certain punishment by the school. However, increasingly, schools are starting to give students some authority to decide the rules they wish to be governed by in the examples of the class rules which students are allowed to decide through discussions in class. Should students be given more rights to decide these rules? Students should be given a voice to speak out of the rules that they think can be improved upon and not be totally denied this right but ensuring that students do not abuse this power.

       Firstly, students should be given a voice as I feel that students are capable of deciding what is best for them and the consequences of their actions. If students are allowed to take part in organizing school events and taking part in the student’s council, why not extend this authority further by allowing students to have a role in deciding the school rules? Some rules that might have been outdated and redundant such that it is no longer effective can be improved if a student is able to improve it such that it stays relevant. With the advancements of the internet, certain rules can no longer govern the students as effectively as it would have hoped and with the students help these rules can be improved upon and hence regain its effectiveness.

     Next, by allowing students to discuss on such rules would allow these students to be able to draw knowledge from their discussions with teachers on certain rules. Students through their discussions with teachers allow them to understand the rationale behind these rules and hence draw knowledge from such. Furthermore, teachers can also learn from their experiences with the students as students being able to experience first the implications of the rules, would be able to better understand if the rules are suitable and whether improvements are needed to be made to it. This method is able to achieve two aims and hence I think that this is indeed beneficial to the school and students.

     However, as there are two sides to a coin, by giving the students some power to decide the school rules there are also some side effects that might be caused due to this delegation of power to the students. Some students might take this chance to implement rules that are detrimental to the school instead and do not benefit the student population. If that happens, it would defeat the entire purpose of having such discussions in the first place. Hence I feel that if students are to be allowed to decide the school rules then students are to be ensured that they do not misuse this power and implement rules that do not benefit the student population.

    In a nutshell, I think that students should be given some power to decide the school rules but be kept in check such that this power is not misused and beneficial to the student population. 

The horrors of war

The sound of explosions all around me, artillery shells dropping and raining death upon my comrades. East Berlin was within sight and the Germans were nonetheless defending stoutly, willingly giving up their lives to protect their city. The war was far from over much to world’s disagreement and the Germans were not giving up without a fight. Hiding behind a thin sheet of metal foil, I prayed for the luck that had kept me alive these years, luckily, it seemed that my luck had not abandoned me and I was unscathed by the constant bombardment of his area. After what seemed like an hour of constant shelling, the whistling sound of artillery shells flying through the air stopped, and explosions ceased to continue. A wondrous silence filled the air and I knew that the artillery bombardment had stopped. Crawling out from my hiding spot, I gazed around the street. Dead and wounded soldiers, burnt-out houses, dug-up fields, cars, clothes, weaponry — all this is scattered around me, a real mess. Men that I had called my brothers lay dead on the pavement that was holed by artillery shells. As I stood upright it seemed as though I was the other person alive in the bloodbath, not a single soul was seen alive. Once again, I doubted the purpose of this war; the government claimed that this war could end the suffering of many innocent civilians. However, what is the true cost of this war, is the price of millions of dead soldiers a price too high for us mankind to pay?

Does nuclear energy still have a part to play in the world?

Despite accidents such as the Fukishima 1 nuclear accidents and the Chernobyl diasater, I feel that nuclear energy is still the way forward. Nuclear powered reactors under controlled circumstances can produce a larger amount of heat energy as compared to the conventional coal energy that is used to produce electricity required to power of daily lives. Producing lesser amounts of pollution as compared to coal energy it is still much more productive than coal, this alone highlights the benefits of nuclear energy already. Coal powered reacters produce many greenhouse gases as its by products, porducing an estimated 2.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year and other toxins such as sulfur dioxide and nitrous dioxide.Theses emissons contribute greatly to the greenhouse effect and globl warming which is taking place currently. In comparison, nuclear powered reacters produce waste in the form of spent fuel rods which can be stored safely in the long run. Futhermore, coal requires extensive amounts of mining to constantly maintain the electricity output of these reactors while nuclear reactors, despite requring mining to acquire the uranium that is needed for production of electricity, require very little amounts of uranium as compared to coal and hence reduced the enviromental impact that is caused through mining. Through the examples listed above, nuclear power is clearly a much better choice as compared to the traditional coal energy. With further developments in nuclear technology, I believe it is a matter of time before nuclear energy becomes the main source of energy for countries.

Comments on Alastair's, Aik Yang's and Jiongwei's blog.

Alastair's blog:http://alastairlanguageartssec22011.blogspot.com/2011/02/write-200-word-long-reflection-on-la.html#comments

Aik Yang's blog:http://aikyang-languagearts-sec2-2011.blogspot.com/2011/01/black-eyed-peas-where-is-love.html#comments

Jiongwei's blog:http://2a116languagearts.blogspot.com/2011/02/term-1-week-7-weekend-assignment.html?showComment=1299339331656#c2074121576850495368

Hwa Chong's LA progamme

As a secondary 2 student now, the Language Arts Programme for this year is certainly more challenging as compared to that of last year. Despite the challenge, I like this year's Language Arts Programme more than last year's because I feel that it is more organized as comapred to last year's Language Arts Programme. This year's Langauge Arts programme allows me to be clear of what I am learning each term without getting mixed up and rather "blur" about what I am really learn during each term.

However, to me, there are still a few flaws in this year's programme. One particular issue I'd like to raise would be actually the issue of ACE. ACE was set up for students to be independent learners and submit work based on their own efforts. However, the school has made it such that each student ahs to submit a certain number of work it he is to progress to the next year. Ironically, Hwa Chong wants us to be independent learners, but this has forced students to submit ACE so as to progress to next year. In my opinion, this is actually defeating the whole purpose of ACE as students no longer submit ACE for their own sake but rather to progress to the next year. When students are no longer doing ACE for their own sake but rather for their teachers, then, what is the point of having ACE in the first place?

A lesson that I particularly enjoyed would be actually the lesson on characterization. During the lesson, we watched videos and went through powerpoint slides in class. I think that particular lesson embodies exploratory learning the most. It was also a good example of "blended-learning" as it requires both info-comm technology and the traditional ways of teaching. The teacher uses IT to further expose us students to how writers craft their stories and the traditional methodof teaching to enusre that we fully grasp the method to be able to breathe life into our characters.

 Overall, I think that the Language Arts Programme this year is a great improvement from last year, however, I hope that the ACE system can be revised.

Description of Hwa Chong Clock Tower

The Hwa Chong clock tower is very special to me, it feels like another teacher that watches over me. On days that I had doen badly for any assignmemts it would seem to silently whisper words of compfort into my ears while telling me to buck up and work harder for the next assignment. On days that I had done well for tests it would seem to congratulate me while also telling me not to become cocky. The clock tower is a guiding beacon of morals for me. Seeing it would constantly remind me of the valueing time and making good use of it and not wasting it. The clock tower is like a representation of the hard work that our forefathers have put into this country. It serves as a reminder to always work hard an never be complacent.

Title: Excerpt of Tom and Jerry and description of Jerry.

 

  With great enthusiasm, Jerry leaps out of his bed. It is a brand new day and he walks to the kitchen looking for some of the beloved cheese that he had filched from Tom who guarded his owner’s food jealously. As he opened his fridge, he realized in horror that all his cheese was gone! “I must have finished all the cheese yesterday.” Jerry thought sadly to himself. “Well it seems it is time I took some cheese from Tom!” At the thought of that, Jerry’s eyes lit up and his entire body quivered in excitement. He could barely wait to see the look of defeat on Tom’s face when he stole the cheese from him. Despite being a mouse, Jerry had always come out tops in his frequent battle with Tom for food and he was confident that he could outsmart his dumber adversary. Using his wits, Jerry began to plot out the route to the kitchen on the map he had at home. He was careful to avoid the traps that Tom had set up which were, admittedly, rather easy to escape. Rather boldly, Jerry strode into the living room and he walked into the kitchen. Without any sense of caution, Jerry closed in on the huge looking fridge in front of him. “Oh the smell of cheese...” Jerry thought. As he opened the fridge, he saw a shadow loom over his body and realized in horror. “It was a Trap!”

My favourite place in Hwa Chong campus

The clock tower is my favourite place in Hwa Chong. It is my favourite place in the school campus as it is the first thing people normally notice when they come into the school. I feel that it is the place that represents Hwa Chong and sticks us out as an elite school. With Tan Kah Kee standing in front of it, it makes the tower feel that much more imposing and grand and I feel that it represents everyone in the Hwa Chong family as a whole. Outsiders may view the Clock Tower as a landmark or a famous spot, but to me as a student of Hwa Chong, the iconic Tower represents my pride for Hwa Chong. I feel that the clock tower also encompasses some important points in life such as valuing time and not wasting it. Everytime I pass by the clock tower it would constantly remind me not to waste time and also the hard work that our forefathers to build this school. It serves as a reminder to always work hard an never be complacent.

Cartoon

By Cheeckj | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

- Why did you choose the different pictures or background(s)?

- How do they contribute to the elements (plot, setting, characterization) of your narrative?

-  How did you make use of the different elements to contribute to the theme you have chosen?

1.I used the background of a bookstore as it is a place where people will buy books and take out their wallets. Hence, the possibility of dropping their wallet. Furthermore, I used the teenage boy as my main character as it is around my age and it would be easier to relate to people of my age group.

2. The thoughts of the boy showed that he was thinking of whether to give in to temptation and take the money or should he instead stick to his moral guidelines and return the money to its rightful owner.

3. I chose a troubled looking lady to be the owner of the wallet as it showed that she needed the money a lot and that it could make a world of a difference to her life. This would make it easier for other's to understand that it we should nto be selfish and take the money for our own.

Prejudice and discrimination

The main idea of this song is to promote world peace. This song mostly blames the media for causing this problems such as blaming the media for portraying overly violent or negative images. This song by black eyed peas is trying to tell people to let go of their hatred and treat everyone as their equals. I have the strongest feeling for the first part of the song. In the first stanza, the song talks of terrorism inside the USA rather than outside of USA. I have the strongest feeling for this part of this the song as it tells us that if we are to solve problems of discrimination or terrorism we would have to solve the problems within our society first. With examples such as the KKK and the crisps in the USA. I find this song to be very meaningful as it reminds us of the problems within our society and of the need to solve them quickly.

To kill a mocking bird

During the December holidays I read the book ''To kill a mocking bird''. Upon reading this book, it has showed me that in our world there exists a social inequality, and that the world cannot be split clearly between black and white. While it is important the we are able to differentiate between while is wrong and right, we would have to learn to understand evil and except it as part of our lives. We have to be able to embrace this and not get confused between what is morally correct or incorrect. This book has also not to judge someone based on their appearance. In the past, the African Americans were treated very harshly by the white-skinned Americans, they were treated like thrash and were forbidden to many basic privileges simply because of their skin colour. However, this book has showed me not to discriminate against others simply because of their race of religion. We should instead treat them as equals and give them respect as we would to our friends.