Term 3 Wk 6 - Justice & Mercy

Justice & Mercy in our Present World --- Can they co-exist?

In my point of view, justice and mercy can co-exist.

Firstly, what is justice & mercy? O.o

Justice is

1. the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness: to uphold the justice of a cause.

2. rightfulness or lawfulness, as of a claim or title; justness of ground or reason: to complain with justice.

3. the moral principle determining just conduct.

4. conformity to this principle, as manifested in conduct; just conduct, dealing, or treatment.

5. the administering of deserved punishment or reward.

 

Mercy is

1. compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.

2. the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy.

3. the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.

4. an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.

5. something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened.

 

So now, why can Justice & Mercy co-exist?

 

Many people say that when there is justice, there will be no mercy. This is because they misunderstand the word justice. They thought that justice means an eye-for-an-eye, a-tooth-for-a-tooth but these are forms of REVENGE, not justice. People also believe that when there is mercy, justice will be compromised as the offender will get lesser than what he deserved. Does that mean that one must suffer the same fate as the victim then is counted as justice is served?

 

Those people that harbour the mindset above are all wrong. They perceive the Justice & Mercy as very superficial. The purpose of justice is not to seek revenge, but to secure well being of the society as a whole and the purpose of mercy is to forgive. In a court, when the judge sentence the offender to a certain form of punishment, justice is served. However, if the victim is willing to show mercy and to forgive the offender, choosing rehabilitation over retribution, the offender might get a lighter sentence or even be accquitted. This does not mean that there is no justice. The court has already announced him guilty and sentence him to the punishment he deserve. However, is beacuse that the victim shows mercy that the offender gets a lighter sentence. In this way, there is both justice and mercy.

 

Mercy can be more effective in certain cases. The act of forgiving gives the offender an opportunity to change and turn over a new leaf, instead of condeming the offender immediately, without giving him a chance to reform and improve. When one shows mercy, one also gets mental peace and is able to let go.

 

However, there are some cases when mercy can't help to resolve the problem. Some people are basically unrepetant. In such cases, we can't afford to show mercy as this might give those people a chance to harm our society. Hence, we ought to deal him with the harshest punishment, to secure the well being of the people in our present world.

 

In conclusion, I conclude that justice & mercy can co-exist as long as the situation allows.

Term 3 Wk5 - Anti Semitism

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. Hence, in The Merchant Of Vernice, Shylock is a Jew and the story tallks about how the Christians treat the Jews.

First 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. He reasons that a Jew is equipped with the same faculties as a Christian, and is therefore subject to feeling the same pains and comforts and emotions. This shows that the Christians do not treat the Jews as humans as they discriminate against them. This also shows the grievances that the Jews had so much that Shylock say that he will take revenge and will be even more ruthless than them.

More Examples:
1. " You called me a heathen, a dirty dog, and you spit on my Jewish clothes" Shylock said this to Antonio (Act One, Scene 3). This shows that Antonio insulted Shylock and spat on his clothes because its Jewish.
2. " He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies - and why? Because I’m a Jew" Shylock said this to Salerio (Act Three, Scene 1). This shows that Antonio insulted him, cost him half a million ducats, laughed at his losses, made fun of his earnings, humiliated his race, thwarted his deals, turned his friends against him and riled up his enemies just because he is a Jew.

Term 3 Wk 4 - Global Kids

Jim Rogers feel that it is no longer enough to raise children who are brave, curious, hardworking, and compassionate nor is it sufficient to steer them toward the right sports, the right tutors, the right internships, and thus engineer their admittance to their dream college. He is trying to prepare his children for the future, for the 21st century and he sees the future in Asia. He wants his children to master both languages, English & Chinese so that in future, they are able to achieve a comfort level with foreign people, foreign languages, and foreign lands, this argument goes, America’s competitive position in the world will continue to erode, and their future livelihood and that of subsequent generations will be in jeopardy. Jim Rogers sees an America in decline, and his solution has been to immerse himself in the countries and cultures that are ascendant.

I agree with Jim Roger's point of view. In the past, people always harbour a very narrow mindset. They insist that their children must do well in their studies, if not when they grow up, they will be useless. They wont be able to find a good job with a reasonable income to support their family. Parents nowadays manage to realise that holistic development is very important for their children too. They force their children to enroll in music, dance, sport courses so as to equip them with a skill which could be a bonus point when they wish to get into their dream school. However, these type of thinking are too shortsighted. The ability to LOOK FAR, thats what people are lacking of today and thats what Jim Roger is doing. He forsee that Asia will  be the emerging power in the world economics in the future. He feels that in order for his children to remain competitive, they have to be billingual. Therefore, he sends his children to Singapore for them to undergo billingual education, to learn CHINESE so that they are able to communicate with Asians. Sending children abroad to study will give them skills that can never be taught. It touches them in places that being in a familiar place doesn’t. It requires versatility, flexibility. It’s a different culture and it’s pressing on kids in different ways. Even though global kids are important, but we dont raise our kids so that they can be global kids. I mean is best if they can become global kids, however, if they aren't suitable to be, then so be it. It's ok. Life can still go on, just maybe not in your favour most of the times. Hence, I still feel that parents should raise their kids as global kids so that they can have a better and more comfortable life in the future.

Term 3 Wk 3 - Education

First of all, I agree with what Janelle Lee says to an extent. Our education system apparently places much emphasis on memorising, memorising and memorising. What teachers in school will tell you to do is to memorise, memorise and memorise. This way of studying is very much "dead". Is memorising facts all you need to attain an A1 in school examinations? Will this kind of 'top to down' method help us students to become a knowledgable person? The reason why china universities' standards are still lower than Harvard, Oxford, etc is because China universities uses the 'top to down' teaching method while Harvard, Oxford uses the inquiry and discussion method. This means that students in China universities only get to listen to what the teacher says and not express their own opinons and thoughts. Teachers teach and they listen. However, in Harvard, thats not the case. The teachers there encourages students to engage actively in discussions and express their own thoughts and ideas and the teachers comment on that and help them improve. This is much more effective than letting the students just memorising facts. In this manner, students get to acquire critical thinking skills and gain self confidence.

I also agree that moulding one's character is more important than getting good grades. In chinese there is a saying, "品学兼优“ which means good in both character and studies. Notice the word "品" comes first. This means that character is more important than studies. Schools teaching us moral values through textbooks. However, such moral values cant be taught through in a teacher to student way. It must be nutured within the student himself, through real life examples and practice. 

An ideal education is somewhat possible. The current education system in Singapore now is slowly moving its emphasis away from just memorising facts and start ecncouraging students to ask 'why". A baby step is all it takes. I believe that gradually, Singapore will be able to teach each and every student how to ask 'why' instead of just memorising the facts. Still, it takes time as Singapore's education system is used to just memorise memorise and memorise. Parents are also influenced and only teach their children to memorise. Hence, it will take some time to change the mindset that they harbour.

Religon of Water - Term 3 Wk 2

There is a difference between treating water as a human right and as a commodity. Treating water as a human right means to give water the freedom to choose where it wants to go. Example, if the water flows here, means is mine. Treating water as a commodity means that we can buy water when we need it. Thats what Singapore is doing now. Singapore has not enough water to supply the whole country, hence Singapore buys water from Malaysia. However, if water is treated as a human right, how can Singapore still buy water?

I also feel that water should be treated as a commodity. In this way, everyone can buy water. Water will be made affordable to everyone. If water got the right to choose, then are we going to die without water? I agree with Singapore's government approach on this matter. Indeed, this will ensure that water will be supplied to every single household. In addition, even if water is a commodity and we can buy water whenever we want, we still have to conserve water. Water is a precious resource. We should not abuse it. Even if currently we have enough water to meet our needs, it does not mean that we can waste water. Think about our future generations when we run out of water. Therefore, we should still play a part in helping to conserve water.

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

I feel that the giving of weekly days off should not be legislated in Singapore. This is because I feel that the main reason maids come all the way here to Singapore is to work and earn money so they can remmit money back to their home country. They are not here as tourists, to enjoy themselves. However, this does not mean that the maids do not get a chance to rest at all. At home, when they are done with their housework or if their employers are not at home, they get to rest. They can eat some snacks, take a quick nap to regenerate their energy. If any employer do not allow his maid to rest, the maid can lodge a complaint against him. Measures are already taken to prevent maids from being abused and get enough rest. Hence, why should the giving of weekly days off be legislated in Singapore? If weekly days off are legislated and maids get a day off, where will they go? They arent familiar with Singapore places. Hence, they will make friends without knowing their true identity and follow them wherever they go. Their friends might be bad company and therefore a bad influence. This will lead the maid astray. Maids might even become the prey of swindlers as they are gullible and cant resist temptations. If the maids are entitled to off-day, they will go out shopping and play. What is their main motive to come to Singapore? It is to work and earn money! If they have off day, they will bound to spend money. After having interactions with the outside world, can the maids resist the temptations? How will the government deal with the problem of maids running away? How will employers deal with the problems of maids getting pregnant outside? There are many problems which will arise if the maids are allowed to go out and have fun by themselves as they dont have self discipline to control themselves. Therefore, I feel that the giving of weekly days off should not be legislated in Singapore. However, if the employers feel that their maids are matured enough to handle things happening outside, then of course giving their maids a day off to relieve stress, talk to friends with be an ideal choice.

Task 2 - HBL

<!-       1. Point of View

The poet is trying to tell us about the children from the darkness from a religious point of view. These children have been living in fear all their lives. They were taught how to fight at such a young age. This can be seen from “Who someone will teach to fight”. These children also are deprived of what ordinary children are learning at their age. This can be seen from “Chalk and blackboards will not be”. The poet believe that children should be going to study to learn and gain knowledge at such an age and not taught how to fight and go to war.  This can be seen from “Could we teach them how to read”. The poet also feels that war is not a suitable place for the children as it is too violent and scary. This can be seen from “Will their life and blood be poured” and “Back into the darkness”.

<!-       2.  Situation and Setting

The current situation is that these children are taught how to fight and being forced to go to war at such a young age. This can be seen from “Who someone will teach to fight”. They might lose their lives anytime. The poet portrays the war as a cruel place and children had no freedom of choice at all. This can be seem from “Or will a war consume them” and “Into which there shines no light”.

     3. Language/Diction

The poet uses repetition of the word “could we” in the third stanza to emphasize on the fact that the children were not given a chance to live a life what a normal child should have and how much he yearned to give these children a chance to lead a normal life. The poet also uses personification. In the fourth stanza, the poet mentioned that “Or will a war consume them”, trying to show how scary war is. The word “darkness” also refers to the children living in constant fear and having no freedom at all. The word “light” refers to the hope of leading a carefree life just like any normal child.

4. Personal Response

Personally, I pity those children. They are so young and they have to learn how to fight and go to war? This is ridiculous. Even if the country is facing a war, sending children to war should be prohibited. What can these children possibly do? They will be digging their own graves if they go to war. So what's the point? These children should be studying and playing, enjoying their childhood, not living in the darkness and fighting in wars. This will deprive the children of their childhood. If the child survives, he will grow up to become a violent person as he was forced to be violent and is living in violence since young. After reading this poem, I realized that we should take things for granted. Many children are not as fortunate as us.

Task 1 - HBL

Background

This poem was written by Henry M Bechtold in the year 2010. He was in Vietnam, sitting in his hotel room in Saigon in the year 2009. He attempted to write a poem about a girl being mistreated by man while working in a park. He was angry, but was unable to write something that sounds good. Then, while watching the news on the television, he saw a photo of a young boy with army equipments such as an automatic rifle. This inspired him somehow and that was how this poem came about.

This poem is trying to say children during war times are being used as soldiers and taught to fight and shoot a rifle at such an early age. Henry M Bechtold is also saying that these children had no freedom, they could not learn the things children usually enjoy doing, like dancing. He is also trying to tell us that war is a very cruel place, and a scary place and the lives of young children are going through all those suffering, just to have a chance to die in war for their country.

Reference:

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Children_

War - Living Hell

Dear Blog,

It is finally over! After such a long period of time, the war has finally ceased. WORLD WAR II IS OVER!!!! :D
I can finally return home after this long, grueling war and see my family! As a soldier, I was busy defending my country from invaders. We fought with all our might, pledging to defend our country at the cost of our lives.

My teammates were all killed in action. I was the only survivor among my team. I was lucky to have survived the ordeal if not I would not be writing my diary now.

A Journey in History

World War 2

Cause of WW2

Woodrow Wilson wanted a treaty based on his 14-point plan which he believed would bring peace to Europe. Georges Clemenceau wanted revenge. He wanted to be sure that Germany could never start another war again. Lloyd George personally agreed with Wilson but knew that the British public agreed with Clemenceau. He tried to find a compromise between Wilson and Clemenceau. Germany had been expecting a treaty based on Wilson's 14 points and were not happy with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. However, they had no choice but to sign the document. The German people were very unhappy about the treaty and thought that it was too harsh. Germany could not afford to pay the money and during the 1920s the people in Germany were very poor. There were not many jobs and the price of food and basic goods was high. People were dissatisfied with the government and voted to power a man who promised to rip up the Treaty of Versailles. His name was Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933. Almost immediately he began secretly building up Germany's army and weapons. In 1934 he increased the size of the army, began building warships and created a German airforce. Compulsory military service was also introduced. Hitler also made two important alliances during 1936. The first was called the Rome-Berlin Axis Pact and allied Hitler's Germany with Mussolini's Italy. The second was called the Anti-Comitern Pact and allied Germany with Japan. 

Consequences of the War

The effects of World War II had far-reaching implications for most of the world. Many millions of lives had been lost as a result of the war. Germany was divided into four quadrants, which were controlled by the Allied Powers — the United States,United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union — and itself was one of the survivors. The war can be identified to varying degrees as the catalyst for many continental, national and local phenomena, such as the redrawing of European borders, the birth of the United Kingdom's welfare state, the communist takeover of China and Eastern Europe, the creation of Israel, and the division of Germany and Korea and later of Vietnam. In addition, many organizations have roots in the Second World War; for example, the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, and the International Monetary Fund. Technologies, such as nuclear fission, the electronic computer and the jet engine, also appeared during this period. A multipolar world was replaced by a bipolar one dominated by the two most powerful victors, the United States and Soviet Union, which became known as the superpowers.

Lesson Learnt

Lesson #1 - You can't determine who your enemy simply due to their ethnicity.
Despite their efforts to concentrate citizens of Japanese decent after the attack on Pearl Harbour, Hawaii on December 7th, 1941, the measure had little or no effect on national security. Most of the citizens targeted had lived in the United States for generations and had little or few ties to Japan. In most cases, the only people that Japanese-Americans contacted in Japan were family and friends who remained. In the end, Japanese internment was a futile attempt to use race and ethnicity to single out potential enemies.

Lesson #2 - Not all perceived enemies will be treated the same.

While Americans of German decent were subjected to discrimination during World War II, but they weren't subjected to internment as were Japanese-Americans. Why? In essence, while the United States was at war with both Japan and Germany by January 1942, Japan was the country that had attacked United States soil. By attacking the US territory of Hawaii, Japan ensured that US couldn't feign a policy of neutrality any longer. By bombing Pearl Harbour, Japan took a step that Germany was unwilling to take (at least at that time).

Lesson #3 - Paranoia of being attacked on the home front can effect policy decisions in a way that few other events can.

In the paranoia that was left in the wake of the "surprise" attack on Pearl Harbour, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt faced pressure to intern all Japanese Americans. It was the reality of an attack on American soil that caused this clamour for decisive action on the part of the President. Without this public pressure, it is doubtful that internment would have occurred.

Lesson #4 - You can learn from history, and should take great care to do so.

Students should be given more freedom in deciding school rules

Students should not be given more freedom in deciding school rules. School rules are what make up school. Without a set of good school rules, then imagine what the students of the school will become. School rules are what the Ministry of Education feels what each student should obey and follow.

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

Nuclear energy still have a part to play in this world. As global warming is getting more and more serious in our Earth right now, this is where nuclear energy comes into place. Nuclear power generators emit relatively little carbon dioxide. This is the main advantage as there are more and more carbon dioxide given out into our atmosphere which causes the green house effect- main cause of global warming. Nuclear energy is also readily available. We do not have to wait for it to be developed before we can start using it. This saves a lot of our time. Time is equal to money. Hence, we are saving money too. Much nuclear energy can also be generated in just one single plant. In this case, we do not have to build more plants just to produce the same amount of nuclear energy. This saves space. Nuclear energy is also one of the safest way of producing energy.  Each year, 10,000 to 50,000 Americans die from respiratory diseases due to the burning of coal, and 300 are killed in mining and transportation accidents. In contrast, no Americans have died or been seriously injured because of a reactor accident or radiation exposure from American nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants need little fuel, so they are less vulnerable to shortages because of strikes or natural disasters.  Many countries had built or wants to build nuclear plant due to the advantages above. Therefore, nuclear energy still have a part to play in the world.

War - Personal Response

This photo depicts a scene of a few bony children with bloated tummies due to malnutrition as they were suffering from starvation and hunger. They are as thin as bamboos, with bones clearly visible. One of the girl is staring into space in despair, looking dejected. She is holding a tiny tin can which I suppose is the only food left for her. She is counted as more fortunate than the other people as at least she has clothes on though they rugged and tattered. Her hands are like those of witches, long and bony. Those little children are totally bare from head to toe. One of the children there had hands placed above his head, looking around hopelessly. He looks so frail, skinny to the extent that his ribcage is visible but his tummy is bloated like a balloon. They are standing in front of a run down house. These children are suffering from the disastrous effects of war.

Crisis in Japan - T2 OL1

Dear Aunt Jenny,

How are you? I was in Fukushima Japan, where the disastrous earthquake & tsunami hit. I am very fortunate to be able to survive this inevitable natural disaster. However, this is not the end yet. We are undergoing the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami which is equally terrible. The conditions here, you wont even want to think about it, it is just plainly HORRIBLE. People are being evacuated to emergency shelters, however, they are without fresh running water, heat and power. Rescuers were working hard to evacuate survivors and distribute food and water supplies to the people affected. Buildings were destroyed, casualties increased day by day because of this natural disaster that no one had expected. Furthermore, with the explosion of the nuclear power plant, the entire country is in a state of panic and chaos.

On that fateful day, I was at home watching television when the earthquake and tsunami struck. I felt the floor tremble very severely, things started to fall all round, lights dropped, causing destruction in my house. I immediately seek shelter under the table. Minutes passed. I thought it was just the normal earthquake that always happened. However, the earthquake persisted. It did not stop. I started to fear and panic. At this point of time,someone outside screamed through the loudspeaker: " Everyone RUN!!! Is a 9.0 earthquake!!!" Upon hearing this, I immediately dash out of my house and ran along with the crowd. I had no idea where i was running. Luckily, I managed to grab my passport and some valuable items before running out of the house.

Now, I am staying together will all the refugees at the emergency shelter that we were ordered to gather at. There was not enough food and water for everyone. However, everyone remained calm. Everybody queued up for their turn and no one was fighting for food or water. Everyone waited paitently for their turn to come and take what is given. I was impressed by their behaviour. They could still be so calm at such a point of time. I wonder if Singapore met with such a disaster, would Singaporeans react the same way as the Japanese?
I am currently coping quite bad as there is not enough food and water for everyone. I feel hungry and tired. When can i have a proper home to stay in? When can i get myself out of this pathetic state? I asked myself several times. But, I still have no choice. I am still stuck here, survivng the aftermath of the disaster.

Hope Japan can get out of this crisis as soon as possible.

Love,
Yong Hong

3 Comments

1 comments:

Yong Hong said...

I feel that the reason why Jia Wang chose white as the background is appropriate but the characters are not dressed appropriately. The character is his comic strip look so well dressed, like a cultured and refined person. Hence, they do not look weird. Jia Wang should change the appearance of these two people to more sneaky and suspicious looking. In this way, the message of the comic strip will be brought out to the reader in a more clear manner. (Jia Wang's Blog)

1 comments:

Yong Hong said...

I agree with you. I have also learnt more about short stories and their components are able to include some of them in my composition appropriately. However, i feel that poetry is as difficult as narrative writing as poetry tests our ability to analyse and spot out figurative languages used to describe the poem and narrative tests our ability to have a creative plot and to include the different elements of short story in it including figurative language.(Yu Xuan's Blog)

1 comments:

Yong Hong said...

I agree with you that the Tan Kah Kee statue represents a lot of the Hwa Chong history about a philosopher, Tan Kah Kee. This statue of Tan Kah Kee is being erected there is to for us to remember the efforts done by Tan Kah Kee to build our school, irregardless of the amount of hardship and obstacles he faced at that point of time. I respect and admire him greatly also. Hence, we should study hard and not let what our founder's efforts go down the drain.

February 24, 2011 5:54 AM  ( Wen Jie's Blog)

Point of View

Headmaster
I felt very proud as my students walked in playing their music instruments with pride. I went up to the stage to give my speech confidently, looking down at all the students and parents. As a usual practice of the school for all these years, I posed the students a question: " what are the four pillars of the school? " The reply was unanimous except for a few students who did not know the answer whom I believed were new to the school. After that, i proceeded to tell the students and parents about the history and achievements the school has achieved in the past years. As the audience gave me an awe look, I instantly felt that i had made the right choice to come to serve this school.

New Student
I sat at the bottom of the stage, looking very bored and listless as the students marched in playing their musical instrument. When the headmaster went up to give a speech, it was even more unbearable. I didn't understand a single thing he was saying as I was not paying attention to him at all. I was just staring into space. What made matters worse was when the headmaster asked us what the 4 pillars of the school were. I didn't know a single thing! My parents forced me to stand up and i stood up pretending to say something. When I sat down, I forced a smile out of myself, responding to my parents' applause.

Podcast

1. Slavery started during the Neolithic revolution around 11,000 years ago. The earliest records of slavery can be traced to the code of Hammurabi and the Bible, stating that it was an established institution.
2. Slavery began in southern states after the settlers imported black slaves for their plantations from 1607 onwards till until the outbreak of the revolution in 1775. 
3. Africa. 
4. The south Americans bought and owned  slaves to help the people out in the farms. Slaves working in the farm have long hours of work from sunrise to sunset. 
5. There were laws where slaves have to abide to.  The slaves were not supposed to learn how to read. The slaves were also not supposed to be harbouring slaves. The slaves are not supposed to teach other how to poison. The slaves not supposed to engage in killing, marking or branding cattle. Slaves are not to strike white people. 
6. The slavery in the United States, involved the Caucasians exploiting and using the African americans as their slaves, because they thought that the “blacks” were inferior to them, which is also the case in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The citizens of Maycomb county, where they discriminated against the African Americans too, but not to the extent of forcing them into slavery. They not only looked down upon them, but condemned them into a life of inferiority towards them. This also stirred up rage in the African Americans, just like it did in America in that time. This then was one of the causes of the civil war in America. 
7. The study of slavery has helped me understand the various reasons why the Caucasians saw the African Americans as an inferior race. Also it helped me understand the attitude and actions of various characters in the novel towards the African Americans, and why they do so. For example why Bob Ewell was so angry at his daughter for kissing Tom Robinson, as he felt that the “blacks” were “dirty” in a sense, and was not fit to be loved by a “white” person.

Names of Group Members: Ng Yong Hong(Leader)
                                           Lye Yu Xuan
                                           Ng Jun Hong
                                           Yeo Wen Jie
                                           Lee Juo Shuen

Week 7 Assignment: Reflection on the LA Lessons Covered so Far

I have learnt the different elements of a short story. E.g. setting and mood, characterization and plot. For setting and mood, I learnt that we need to have descriptive words and figurative languages in order to bring out a mental picture of the setting to the reader, creating a mood. Characterization is where you describe your characters in different aspects. They mainly are physical and mentally. Examples of physical characterization is their actions, appearance, behavior, etc whereas mentally characterization is their dialogue, thoughts and preferences. Plot consists of introduction, followed by rising action, then climax, afterwards is falling action and last but not least resolution/conclusion. There also many different types of figurative languages. Examples are: similes(as....like....), metaphors(he is a lion), onomatopoeia, etc.  The thing I like about this programme is that we get many chances to do group work and go up to present. I enjoyed the lesson on Prejudice and Discrimination when we watch two videos, Susan Boyle and a TV Commercial Ad. These two videos taught me that one should not be prejudice or discriminating against other people as things might not be what you think it is. Always expect the unexpected. I hope that there would be videos and group work included in this programme.

Week 5 Assignment

The school field appeals to many of my senses. Picturing it, I see the immense field and the green grass surrounding me. On a sunny day, the sky is bright blue and the clouds are fluffy and white. It seems that no matter what the weather is like, there is seldom a soothing breeze, in fact, it is scorching hot. During the day, it smells of honeysuckle and the sounds of birds chirping above. However
I am not sure what it looks like at night time. Perhaps sparkly stars which light up the sky and the moon which casts a soft glow onto the grass?  This area is large, but so perfectly enclosed that I feel comfortable and not so accessible to the world during training sessions. On rainy days, we may slip on the wet and shiny grass. The fresh smell of rain mixed with soil was tangling my nose but I
had to move on , so as to take a further step in my dream of becoming the best javelin thrower. Encouraged by the sound of my spikes digging through the ground, I continue training with sheer determination.

Characterization: Story excerpt

Jackie Chan 

Jackie Chan is a guy who always teach the bad guys a lesson. Whenever his friends are in trouble, he will save them no matter what even at the expense of his life. In movies, he is will do his very best in whatever he does and will not give up till the end He also helps tries to help people in need as long as he has the ability to do so. However, Jackie Chan don't usually think before he act and he will get angered easily. He donates money to others in need. He earns money in the movie business and then gives it to charities and retirement homes. He always create his own stunts. Although he got injured while doing those stunts but he never gave up. Despite all the hardships and pain of his youth, he never gave up. He worked very hard until he reached his goals and now he works for peace and charity and international understanding. And despite other adversity in his grownup life, everywhere he goes he brings lots and lots and lots of smiles!

Week 4 Assignment

The Hwa Chong's Field means very much to me because that is the place where I have my CCA every Monday, Wednesday, Friday on normal days and Tuesdays too when there are competitions round the corner.The Field is the place where I first learnt what is javelin and my first time seeing a javelin stick. That was also the place where i learnt how to hold my javelin stick properly and the techniques to throw the javelin far. It marked the start of my CCA journey and my achievement other than academic results. That is also the place where I bond with my batchmates. At the field, we talked, play, share about things happening around us which enhanced our friendship by leaps and bounds. We also competed with each other and with competition brings improvement, hence our distance were constantly improving. The field links to my identity as I am a javelin thrower and the field is the place where i train and practice, hence the you see the field, you will be able to link that I am a person who trains at the field.

Racism

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

I chose a black man and a white man to show racism. I chose the background as a park because racism happens naturally and grass are part of nature.

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

My theme is about racism, hence choosing a white and black man will be the best way to show racism is taking place. And, is very clearly shown that one is a black and one is a white so people will not misunderstand the theme.

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

The plot is about a white man not wanting to help a black man cos he his black, hence showing racism.

Prejudice and Discrimination

Q: What is the main message in this song? Which part of the song do you have the strongest feeling? Why?

A: The main message in this song is to tell us about discrimination. The part of the song that impacted me the most is the part where the song says, "But if you only have love for your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate, and to discriminate only generates hate, and if you hate you're bound to get irate". I have the strongest feeling on this part because it make me understand that one must not love only himself and his race but also have to learn to love other people and their races. Only in this way, then you will not discriminate other people and treat everyone equally. It also taught me that if we discriminate, we will have hatred against other people and will cause us to be angry. Hence, loving everyone and treating everyone equally and not discriminating them is good for us and for everyone. We wont be full of hatred against someone and wont be angry and other people wont feel humiliated or angry so both parties will be happy which is a win-win situation. Therefore, I feel that no one should discriminate anyone, everyone should live in harmony and peace.

Bodyguards & Assassins - Movie

Dear Blog,

Today i am going to write about Bodyguards & Assassins and how it has impacted me.

First, I am going to give you a brief introduction about the movie.

In 1905,Sun Wen intends to come to Hong Kong (then a British colony) to discuss his plans for revolution with fellow Tong Meng Hui members to overthrow the corrupt and crumbling Qing Dynasty. When Empress Dowager Cixi came to know about it, she sends a group of assassins, led by Yan Xiaoguo, to kill Sun Wen. Revolutionary Chen Shaobai arrives in Hong Kong a few days before Sun's arrival, to meet Li Yutang, a businessman who provides financial aid for the revolutionaries. As Sun Wen's arrival day draws near, trouble begins brewing in Hong Kong as Chen Shaobai's acquaintances are murdered and Chen himself is kidnapped by the assassins during a raid. Li Yutang decides to officially declare his support for the revolutionaries after the newspaper agency is closed by the British authorities, who do not interfere in China's political situation. Li Yutang rallies a group of men, including rickshaw pullers, hawkers and a beggar, to serve as bodyguards for Sun Wen when he arrives. Li's son Li Chongguang is chosen to act as a decoy for Sun Wen to divert the assassins away while Sun Wen attends the meeting and leaves Hong Kong safely.

This movie had a great impact on me. After watching this movie, I learnt about how these people sacrificed themselves to protect the safety of Sun Wen. They did that because they know that only if Sun Wen managed to meet up with the Tong Meng Hui members and discuss what to do, they could overthrow the Qing Dynasty. They fought till their very last breath against the assassins sent by Empress Dowager Cixi. In the end they managed to protect Sun Wen, allowing him to safely arrive Hong Kong, meet with the Tong Meng Hui members and leave Honk Kong safetly.

I dropped tears while watching this movie in the cinema with my family. Most people in the cinema cried too. It was really a touching movie. It shows me that everyone in the country has the responsibility to help the country when the country is in need of help. If everyone could serve their country as selfless as those bodyguards did, the country would prosper and progess. This movie had impacted me greatly, making me now know the effort and pain people did last time to protect their country.

Regards,

Yong Hong