The Road Not Taken (Personal thoughts)

I feel that this poem is about the choice we have to made in life. It is described as a journey that we would need to take after the choice of our decision. We would have to walk on with our decision and there will be no turning back. It seems that such a decision would be a crucial one in life such as education, marriage or even family, which needs crucial decision before heading down the journey. The journey would be like consequences faced after choosing the road that you wished to walk on. This poem is quite meaningful to me as it teaches me about the importance of thinking before choosing the right path to go. Both path may look the same but the consequences that we faced differs. It may be a journey to success with many hardship or one which has less hardship but leads you no where in life. Thus, this poem teaches me to consider how do I want to walk my life on.

Recount- Make someone happy but forced to make a sacrifice

Staring at the mountain on my desk, it just laze me from going over to my desk, it is such a fine and sunny morning but my feelings are totally opposite. Gloomy, I have to say. Still, I dragged myself to the desk and started doing the worksheets of end-of-year examination paper one by one, subject by subject. I was nearly suffocating in the loads of worksheets till my sisters bulged the door, ringing my room with her high-pitched voice. "It is time for breakfast and then to some shopping in Vivo City", I said sister said cheerfully. Turning around and looking at her with the helpless look on my face, I gave a reluctant expression just as my father came to rush me too. I explained to my father that I am studying for PSLE and could not go out with them.

His face colour totally changed as I finished my last word. He shook his head and mumbled, "I have such a luck to be free on Saturdays and you tell me that you need to do your work, seems like you have grown up, do not want to care about us anymore..." He continued his hurting persuasions as he moved towards the doorsteps. He just could not understand that preparation for this examination is very important and he thinks that I am using this as an excuse to not go out with them. My heart sank to the bottom of the sea, cold and hardened.

I was walking back and forth of my room, frustrating over this situation, thinking to go out with my family or to reject them and stay at home to study. If I reject them, they will be sad and they will think I am using studying as an excuse, but if I go out with them, I will have to sacrifice my study time for the entire day which may cause a big change in my PSLE score and my admission to secondary school. So how should I choose? To go or not to go? As I was thinking, I could hear my footsteps getting louder and faster even second, finally, I made a final decision. I shall go out with them and give up my study time instead. Why? A very simple reason, I just wanted my parents to feel happy as they have been waiting for such a long time for a chance to go out for breakfast and a day together, how could I destroy such an occasion just by my studying?

I changed out of my home clothes and wore a natty outfit and off we go to Vivo City.  

Should character development place more emphasis than academic excellence

I feel that character development should place more emphasis than academic excellence. Without character development, a student would not have the right attitude to learn and study. Also, intelligence without morality could also result in bad situations to occur. However, academic excellence is also important as it has gain many opportunities in life.

When a student does not have character development, he would not have the right attitude to study and learn. A student with better brain but no character development will definitely think that he is very superior and whatever things taught by the teacher is redundant due to his complacency. Thus, he would not pay attention in class and start disturbing other classmate that wants to learn since he thinks that he knows everything. These students might also mocked at other students that are not doing well and hurt them emotionally. Such attitudes and actions are ridiculous but teachers would not care about them since whatever they want is their academic excellence and nothing else. This would have a hazardous result on the up-bringing of the weaker students as they are being laugh at by such despicable students everyday which will cause negative effects on the mental health of students. Thus, character development is of utmost importance to maintain a person's attitudes towards learning and studying.

Without character development, intelligence might not be good after all. A person has intelligence but no morality would bring adverse effects to the society. Just like what happened to the Jews that were imprisoned. The scientists and doctors are very intelligent but they decided to do experiments on the hated Jews where they start slicing their bodies and obtaining their intestines to do further research. They killed the Jew on the spot by such acts due to their immorality towards people. Another example will be Osama bin Laden. He is very smart at construct bombs but he decided to use his intelligence to wipe out human race. He started to be a terrorist and start bombing countries and killing thousands of people. Thus, talented is good, but without character development, it is very easy to go on the wrong road.

However, academic excellence is also important as it helped us gain many opportunities in life. With academic excellence, we could further pursue our dream of becoming somebody in the future. With academic excellence, you will be given more opportunities in the society as employment will mainly look at your academic excellence. But, academic excellence could only bring to you opportunities more easily than others, but character development is what is required after the opportunity is given to you. If bosses see that you are someone without integrity, someone that is lazy and do not do work, they will also fire you due to negligence to your work.

In conclusion, character development should be placed more emphasis on than academic excellence as character development is the one that chooses how your intelligence is going to help you or not.    

My ideal school

The ideal school that I want could have clean and beautiful environment as a background of the school, the students and teachers are also caring towards each other. Last but not least, the timetable come up by the school must have a balance between studies and relaxation.

An ideal school must have a clean and beautiful environment so that students feels like their at home. The land around the school is decorated with plants, flowers and trees and the concrete floors along the corridors should be rubbish and litter free. In the middle of the school, we could have a small “playground” with ponds and swings for students to take a rest from studying in school. An eco-garden could be set up so that students could learn how to conserve the greenery around them and preserve what they have now. With such beautiful environment, it helps to mitigate the stress level in school as they study. Therefore, a clean and beautiful and environment could aid a person in studying as the tense atmosphere is broken apart part the greenery.

An ideal school must also have caring teachers and students. Teachers that are caring will be well-liked by students and they would naturally obey and follow instructions of teachers. Teachers could have little talks with students that are outside of academic so that they develop some bonding in them. Teachers could also try to talk things out during misunderstandings and helped out those students that are troubled. Teachers should also reprimand students when they are wrong but explain to them why and what they are wrong at. With such caring teachers, students will be able to grow and learn in a wonderful environment. Students must also be caring towards each other so that friendship would be tightened among the school. Students can help each other when they need help, accept all different races of people and understand their culture, last but not least, students should not scold coarse language and hurt others’ feelings. In such a school with students of such character, this school will be peaceful and bonded. Therefore, a school with caring students and teachers would be best for students’ holistic development in academics and morality education.

Lastly, a balanced timetable between academics and relaxation is utmost important in my ideal school. The students are not forced so hard to excel in every subject by giving them tons and loads of test papers, but instead, identify their interest and pursue them. They are given more hands-on activities so that both theory and practical could be taught together which saves out a lot of time for them learning a particular topic. Relaxation could be in a form of sports, recess and CCA activities. Every week, school set aside 2 days for PE and 2 days for CCA activities and a recess as long as 40 mins. When a student goes through such a timetable, they would not find that school life is boring with just academics but also other aspects such as sports and fun. Thus, a balanced timetable is utmost importance for the student’s interest in coming to school.

In conclusion, an ideal school for me should consist of beautiful scenery for studying, teachers that are caring and nice and a balanced timetable for any activities.  

Online lesson 12

Step 2: The common theme here is whether judging appearance is so important than the true inside self of a person. Prince Morocco decided to choose the gold casket as he thought that only the gold is comparable to Portia's elegance and beauty which in turn failed to get the portrait of her. This gold casket's skull and scroll represents simply the cliched moral that one should not judge "a book by its cover", for inside the gold it could very well be a gross skull that belongs in the tomb. As for Arragon, he chose the silver casket and what he got was an idiot smiling at him and as for Bassanio, he decided to choose the lead casket and he got the portrait of Portia. In all, this casket proves that all that glitters is not gold.

Step 3: This is stupid man! So is this the answer or that is the one? Using the laws of physics, and by the law of it, both answers seem to be correct! How I am able to choose the correct answer? I have eliminated 2 of the answers and now, I am left the last 2. Let me work it out, 20 divided by 2 and then multiply by the velocity of 3m/s2.. Wait, both answers could also use that! Crap, this ain't getting anywhere, come on, what is the answer! Never mind, I shall skip and moved on to the next one. Great, the next one is even worse, all 4 could be the answer? What kind of test paper is this? Is there a model answer, I cannot proved that this concept is wrong when it is correct.. This is just great! Almost the whole paper is like this! How am I able to do this kind of paper, it is getting the heck out of me. This is bad, I am only left with 10 mins but I have 40 questions more...... This is just great!

Students' feeling towards school

I feel that many students come to school is not because of studying but instead of their friends made in school. Just look at my own class, 2P4, how many of them are willing to learn seriously in class? 0 maybe? Other than the reason that they are forced to come to school, all of them do not actually want to come school. I, sometimes, also have such mentality. Why? Due to the fast changing society and high level education perhaps.

Singapore is a country that focus a lot on education and also seeks for greater heights for education, which pushes the students to study very quickly and understand them very quickly too. This puts a lot of pressure on students and we may not be able to cope well. Most of us come to school is because that there are friends in school that you can talk with and play together. The only motivation in us students is friends and not education. Actually, everybody wants to do well in subjects but due to the fast-rapid education system that tires us out totally just by catching up with it.

Thus, I feel that Singapore's education system has pushed us to our limits and we are already "dying" in their hands. Thinking of giving up education is equal to losing your future. It is a very difficult choice to be made by us as many of us still consider our future as priority. Therefore, education in Singapore is killing!

National Day Event

This year's national day celebration is much better than last year's, no doubt. Although we had started with parade as usual, at least we could see that the Uniform Groups has improved by lots since last year. They moved more uniformly than before and they marched with more sense of pride. It was a sight to be seen.

As we sat down in Kah Kee Hall awaiting for the celebration to start, my heart was thumping very quickly but it is not because I am excited about the celebration, instead, I was very worried about the test upcoming after national day celebration. What an irony here! I am supposed to enjoy my national day but now, I would need to take a test on national day! the celebration started with some Australian doing some break-dance which kept me so engrossed with their cool and extraordinary dance moves that I forgot about my worry for the test. The introduction for this year national day celebration was awesome, much better than last year's! The rest of the performance was also awesome, with the Wushu students performing their amazing stunts with their weapons. Wonder how they performed so beautifully. The best improvement performance should go to the NCC people. Still remember what happened last year, they threw their rifles into the air and dropped at the start! This year, they performed flawlessly with even more spins of their rifles than last year. Unfortunately, the gymnastics did not perform this year, their performance was superb last year, spinning in the air for like 5 seconds, bet no one can do such stunts!

As the celebration ended, my worry started to come back. This test is different from any other LA test, it is R and R! This is the worst component of my LA, and I had to dragged my feet all the up to Ortus room......

Descriptive Pose

Cold and wet atmosphere filled the once warm and bright apartment. Every table and chair is so still at its position, the floor is pale and yet full of texture. A rug covers the floor which fine dusts particles could be seen with naked eyes. In an array of gloss and semi-gloss, shades of pale blue cover three of the four walls and their baseboards speckled only by an occasional paint chip or faded fingerprint.

Photographs of varying sizes and of varying content, most expressing various political ideas and music hang stiffly on the wall at a secluded section of the room. Shelves protrude from a wall adjacent to the door, topped by a number of knickknacks and decorative accessories. Yet nothing obscures the blueness of these walls quite as magnificently as the furnishings which fill the room. A dressing table was placed at a corner that is 45 degrees northeast from the door, it looks so empty, the warmth of the table has left together with her owner, never returning. The icicle room awaits the next owner in loneliness...

Introduction of Reading and Reasoning

I was introduced to a new learning system this year for LA. It is a new way of writing comprehension which is called Reading and Reasoning. As the name suggests, it is like a comprehension passage but it focuses more on reasoning skills than answering skills here. It leads us to think more deeply on each and every question. This also helps us to practice our thinking skill and helps us reason effectively when it comes to controversial issues.

When I just started doing R and R, I thought it would be something similar to comprehension, andwe could just answer the questions directly from the passage. But, after doing the 1st exercise on R and R, it changed my mindset totally. When I was marking my own paper, I was giving myself so many zeros as I did not have a single answer to is even close to the correct answer. I did not know that I have to go deeper to look at the question as an issue as a whole of the question. There is this part of the questions that asked for your own opinion which is also known as the application. I thought a few lines would settle this question but I am utterly wrong. I cannot believe that it has rubrics and LORMS! There is a step by step way to answer this kind of question whereby you need to consider the opposing side of your own opinion. I was totally stunned as I listened to the teacher explains about the way to answer the question.

I could get a hang on R and R till term 3 after much clarification on how to answer application questions. Even so, I am not confident in getting a very mark for my common test that I just took whether I could get a satisfied score.

I feel that R and R is good to train thinking skills but it may not be effective for people to be able to answer to the model answer as many answers varies according to point of view.

Ameneh Bahrami case

I would have shown mercy to the attacker. It is of 7 years of rehabilitation, thus, he may have learn his lesson about his wrong doing. Also, what is done cannot be undone, my life would be happier by forgiving than living inside revenge. However, I could ask for medical fees compensation as a form of justice that should be given to me.

After going through 7 years of rehabilitation, he should have already learnt his lesson that he had done the wrong thing. In 7 years, he would be able to understand the purpose of them being in a rehabilitation centre and what has really happened in the process of harming me just because I rejected his offer of marriage. Besides, the assistants in the rehabilitation centre should have guided him through the process of knowing what is actually wrong with his decision of throwing acid at me and he also has a quiet environment for him to recall and reflect on his reckless actions. Thus, I feel that I should just show mercy towards him and do not force justice onto him.

Also, What he had done could never be undone, even forcing justice could not return me my beautiful looks anymore. My life now would be more miserable if I would also be thinking of getting back justice for myself. So what if I could get justice and punished him? Will it actually make a difference for me? I doubt so... Instead, I should forgive him after he had gone through 7 years of rehabilitation, and I should just let bygones be bygones. I should think of how I could live my life on for the next 50 years and try to get out of the mentality of revenge. Both of us do not gain under an eye for eye circumstances, so what is the point? Having him to learnt his lesson and not do it again, that is the way to prevent such things from happening again. Thus, I should show mercy to him as what justice could do here will have a greater extent of harm than help.

However, I could ask for medical fees compensation as a form of justice. He is the cause of everything and he ought to be responsible of what he had done wrong. Asking for compensation would let him remember the lesson learnt of throwing acid at people. In this way, I am asking for justice but in the same way, teaching him a lesson that what actions he had done, he have to be responsible. It is not just understanding mistakes, but to be able to be responsible for the mistakes he had done. Thus, I could ask for justice by letting him be responsible for what he had done wrong.

In conclusion, I feel that mercy should be shown to him as he ought to learn his lesson after 7 years of rehabilitation. Although I could ask for medical fee compensation, but just let bygones be bygones, the more important thing for me now is to learn how to live on my life with this face and not asking for revenge.

Self-obsession and Narcissism

There will be a negative impact on environment caused by Narcissism due to rapid economic development. Also, the country will lose the united spirit as everyone will develop the selfish character in them. Lastly, there would be a surge for mental health care needed for the country if narcissism is on the rise in that country.

There will be a negative impact on environment when narcissism is on the rise in a country. Since everyone cares only about themselves and focus on what ever that can benefits them, there would be rapid economic development to that country. When there is rapid economic development, there would be more waste that needs to be disposed. Furthermore, since everyone is a narcissist, they would also not care about the waste and would just disposed it in their favor. Thus, there would be an increase in land, air and water pollution due to mishandling of waste and chemicals. Therefore, when narcissism is on rise in a country, they would definitely face pollution this problem in their country due to selfishness among people.

The country will also lose its united spirit when narcissism is on the rise in a country. Due to Narcissism, many people will developed a selfish thinking in them as they a=only think about themselves and all the benefits for themselves and do not care about others. This could pose quite a threat to the nation's security system as people will not be working together to protect a country by a whole. Instead, everyone will just fight individually which means that opponents will have a higher chance of invading the country. Since there is not united spirit within them, there will be no way a country can prosper on as everyone only cares about themselves. Therefore, the country will lose its united spirit due to narcissism and it may likely cause a big threat to a country when it comes into trouble.

Also, the country will also need more medication for the help of narcissism. Narcissism is a mental illness that anyone can suffer from and medication will be needed for such patients so that we could treat this illness. Thus, money must be inputted into medical healthcare so that these patients have a chance of recovering from narcissism so that it would be a long term benefit to the country. Therefore, there would definitely be a surge in medical care in this country where narcissism is on the rise.

In conclusion, narcissism has many bad impacts on a country in terms of economic, social and political threats that could be resulted in that country.

Car race

"You are not going win, you loser, I am way ahead of you now! You can never catch up with me, accelerate... And goodbye!"
"You are not very ahead of me, you retard, I am going to chase you down all the way, look at your speed, only 120km/h, I am going at 150km/h, going to overtake you in less than 10 seconds, haha!"
"What nonsense is this? It is such a gigantic lake, the water in there is so clear! It is so fascinating, can't believe I could still see such a lake in this century!"
"It is awesome, it seems so glistering under the fine sunlight! Wonders what living organisms could be inside this beautiful lake..."
"Guess we are expecting the wrong thing.... Such enormous and ugly creature with 18 legs and 24 hands should not appear in this location, oh come on, this should not be happening.."
"K, I guess we have to... RUN! Sorry, DRIVE AWAY NOW!"
"Right, engines turning up, relax, just a little while more, we are leaving, just relax, do not get so overwhelmed, we are.. LEAVING! Oh my god, it is trying to capture us!"
"Well, I can see that, I am driving like at the speed of 200km/h, but it does not seem to be leaving further away from it!"
"I bet it is traveling at the speed of 250km/h, that is even faster than birds! I guess this is the end to say bye bye to the world...."

Caylee Anthony case

I feel that the general public should show mercy and just leave her alone. As a mother, losing a child is already very unbearable for her. Furthermore, there are no concrete evidence to prove that she had murdered her child.

Being a mother, it takes 10 months to give birth to a child, the bond between a mother and a child is unexplainable. They are just very close as the mother carries the child for 10 months! How much work, care and comfort is needed from the mother for the 10 months of pregnancy before giving birth, there is no way anybody can doubt this. During giving birth to the child, the mother experienced how it is like being separated from its own child, the pain felt is something you never know. Furthermore, the mother has to take care of of the child till it grows up, the feelings developed between them can never be broken up. Relating back to Casey Anthony's case, she had lost a daughter for weeks and months, and later, found her dead, is there any way an outsider would be more upset than the mother? There may be other reasons that Casey did not wish to say why she did not report her daughter's missing, but as a mother, do you think she would not care about her daughter? It is within the mother, all the feelings that others can never be able to experienced it after being a mother. Thus, I feel that the public should just leave her alone, the pain that Casey feel will definitely overwhelm the crowds' "circumstantial evidence".

Next, there are no concrete evidence that shows that Casey had murdered her daughter. From the article on this case, it states that "Prosecutors couldn't say how Caylee died because the girl's body was too decomposed to harvest DNA or other forensic evidence. So the state relied on circumstantial evidence: the trunk of Casey's car smelled like a dead body to some witnesses; someone did an internet search for chloroform — a chemical that can be used to knock someone unconscious — at the Anthony home; and there was duct tape on Caylee's skull when it was found six months after she was last seen in June 2008." Thus, even the defense cannot find out how she died, so how can the public just judge that it is Casey that murdered her daughter? It utterly makes no sense here. It is just the public's assumption and just by their assumption, they deduce that it is Casey that murdered her daughter! Thus, the public should just show mercy towards Casey as no evidence proved that Casey killed her daughter, even the jury also proved her acquitted.

Fairness for Strauss-Kahn's innocence

It is not fair for the media to charge him guilty. First, there must be no bias against Strauss. Second, the people and media should not be using their own past knowledge to judge a person's guilt.

There should not be any bias against Strauss when there is fairness. From the article "Rush to misjudgement?" from the Time magazine, it has stated that "there is a long history of women who have been ignored or worse when they dared charge a powerful man with rape. One of the great victories of the feminist movement of the 1960s and '70s was reforming how rape cases are handled. States passed rape shield laws, which barred defense lawyers from cross-examining women about their sexual history. States also dropped requirements that there be corroborating evidence beyond the victim's testimony. These reforms were much needed, and they helped victims get fairer treatment in the courts" Thus, it has clearly stated that women are given equal rights to voice out their own words, and it would a fair sentence by the judge according to the above laws stated. Therefore, Strauss, as a head of the International Monetary Fund, will not be given any special privilege, thus, the media should not be bias against Strauss just because of his position in the society.

It is not fair towards Strauss if the media and public judge him just because of past knowledge that people in high positions will definitely escaped from such cases. The definition of fairness means that both parties are given themselves a chance to voice out before the final judgement is out but the people and the media now are accusing Strauss for a rape charge. They just listen to what the victim said and have not analyze whether it is credible or trustworthy to just believe the maid. It is very rash to just deduce that Strauss raped the maid without even listening to his point of view. Although a rapist would never admit what he does, but it is still not confirm whether he is lying or really innocent before the evidence even came out. Thus, it is not fair to Strauss in this case.

Although Strauss upholds a high position in the States, we must also be fair for both sides. Thus, it is unfair to Strauss just by saying he is guilty before any evidences has been found out. It is just what the people proclaimed, but it may not be true after all.

Online lesson 11

Money is everything?

I am absolutely sure that everyone knows what M-O-N-E-Y stands for. It stands for money. Money is an essential item for survival. Look around you, the pen that you are holding, the clothes that you are wearing, all these needs money. Money can be taken in many forms: Cash, Cheque, Plantations, Land. But, do you think money is everything? If your equation is Money = Everything, then I can tell you, you are wrong!

There are things which you cannot get with money. It includes friendship, kinship, brotherhood and also love. If you think that you can buy all these things, you are utterly wrong! Do you know how much is 1 friendship? Can you weigh it? Can you tell me what is the exact amount? No, no one even knows! It is the same for love. You think that money is needed to have love? Let me tell you, love is never a matter of money. Love is something that is within you, it is reflected by all your actions. Caring for an injured animal, treasuring loved ones, all these demonstrates your love. Does these actions need money? What it needs is your heart.

Maybe you could tell me that once you step into the society, everything changes. Relationships will built on money. It is always money placed at the top, those that have money comes to me, people without money, just get out of my sight. Talks and parties attended, money will say everything. When people see that you drive in big cars, holding big bucks on hand, they will come naturally to you. But remember, will these people really treat you as a friend? a person that really cares for you? I am sure everybody has an answer for their own.

To end my speech, money is needed, but it is nothing compared to your feelings and relationships. Always remember, never give up relationships for the sake of money, it is never worth it as money is not everything!

Private space travel

I feel that private commercial space travel is a good thing. There will be a rise of reputation of the company and a deeper insight of space. However, there may also be a rise of danger too as there may be inexperienced people on-board.

Private commercial space travel can bring a rise of reputation to that company. When private commercial starts their space travel mission, it will "disturb" people from world-wide to look at this company through publicity. Newspaper, broadcast and internet will all be showing what this company is doing which thus, attracted much attention for this company. When this company successfully launched space shuttle into space and coming back successfully to Earth after the space exploration, many people will remember this person from this company had done us, man, proud! Therefore, if private commercial does space travel, it would increase their reputation by lots and would eventually be able to earn revenue from all the customers that come to "buy" their goods.

Private commercial space travel can also help us to have a greater insight on space. As NASA has been the only big association that have done space exploration and we, man, do not want to stop exploring space, thus, if NASA does not have the financial cost to carry on space exploration, it must be taken over by someone. Private commercial, having enough financial cost, should be able to take over NASA's role here. By continuing exploring space, we may be able to understand better on space and even find new stuffs in space too. Thus, by carrying on exploring space, we will be able to get a greater insight of it. Therefore, private commercial doing space travel will be able to continue the space exploration for NASA.

However, There will also be risk of danger in the process of private commercial space travel. Since private commercial steps in, they will be a slight chance that there may some inexperience people boarding into space. It will be very dangerous if there in no experienced people in a flight as it will be havoc if they ever meet any unexpected situations. Although this may happen, but with much training and the advances in technology, this problem will be reduced to its minimal so as to protect the people on-board the space shuttle. Thus, there may be danger during the flight but it will be overcome by the advances in technology and training given to the people.

In conclusion, private commercial space travel has more pros than cons, in which the con, rise of danger, could be easily settled with high-leveled training and the best technology. As for the pros, it could be much wealth for the private company, no doubt!

Lending of money

No, I would not lend money to Bassanio. First, I do not have money to lend him, second, I am not a risk-taker like Bassanio, thus, I would not want to risk the lend and I feel that matrimony is not a matter of money.

I would not lend money to Bassanio as I do not even have the money to lend him. I am a wealthy merchant but not happy since I have to worry about my business enterprises. Bassanio still owes me money but unable to pay back his debts, and now asking for yet more money so he can marry the wealthy Portia and so pay me back. But the problem is, I have no money to spare as my wealth comes from the ships that I own and Salarino also comments that I am worried for my ships which could easily be at peril from storms or pirates. Thus, I do not have the money to lend him thus, I would not lend him money.

I would not lend my money to him as I am not a risk-taker here. Bassanio persuaded me by using his childhood experience on arrows. He said that if he shoots he same arrow at the same direction as the other, he would be able to find both. The money which Bassanio had borrowed from me and had squandered is like the first lost arrow; and the additional sum of money that he hopes to borrow from me is like the second arrow. Bassanio suggests that if I would take the risk of investing yet another sum of money, like he once did shoot an additional arrow, I might be able to get his original sum of money back, just as Bassanio managed to locate his first arrow. But what happen if both my sums go down the drain? Thus, as I am scared that I lose both the amount of money as I am not a risk-taker, therefore, I would not lend money to him just to gamble.

Lastly, I feel that matrimony is not a matter of money, Portia may not be a person that who put much concern on the appearance you give her. A real-life example would be my parents. Neither side was rich and both still get along well with each other during their dating season and they slowly develop their compassion towards each other and finally deciding to have a marriage. What if you have lots and lots of money but your lover does not actually love you, so what is the point? True love is not using money to hold back the person, it is compassion.

In conclusion, I would not lend money to Bassanio to pursue Portia. Although it may seem that I do not treasure the friendship between Bassanio and I, but Bassanio needs to learn the hard way and not lend money to settle all his problem.

Changes between plot and play

There are much changes to be seen in Merchant of Venice when you compare the play and the plot. First, there are some parts of the story being cut away like how Bassanio is supposed to persuade Antonio to lend him money so that he can pursue the lady he loved, Portia. In this case, it changes the characters of Bassanio and Antonio. In the book, it says that Bassanio took examples of his childhood experience to persuade Antonio to lend him money to pursue Portia, but in the clip, it shows that Bassanio only told Antonio how Portia looked like and did not attempt to persuade Antonio. Antonio also seems eager to lend Bassanio money to pursue Portia.

Second, the words used in the clip were more of standard English so that we are able to understand it better. But in the book, everything is written in Elizabeth English which take me a long time to understand and digest whatever the book is writing about. Furthermore, I am more of an image learner. So, the clip shows entirely how Antonio and friends teases Bassanio, thus, it tells me right away what is happening in the book. When I read the book, I did not really know that Bassanio was getting teased.

Expert Circle

Topic 1: Will the real William Shakespeare please stand up?

Why William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon is not considered a likely candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare's works?

Many scholars and historians all feel that the name “William Shakespeare” is a pen name for he real author of the plays to hide from the public and many scholars and literature historians all feel that the thought that “William Shakespeare” was simply a pen name is counted a fringe belief. Then, Shakespeare's biography, particularly his humble origins and obscure life, seemed incompatible with his poetic eminence and his reputation for genius, arousing suspicion that Shakespeare might not have written the works attributed to him.

Who are the possible candidates?

The controversy has since spawned a vast body of literature, and more than 70 authorship candidates have been proposed, including Francis Bacon, the 6th Earl of Derby, Christopher Marlowe, and the 17th Earl of Oxford.

The full list is available at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Shakespeare_authorship_candidates

Who is the most likely candidate to have written Shakespeare's works? Provide reasons to support your view.

I feel that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford is the most likely candidate to have written Shakespeare’s works. Edward was a well-educated and well-traveled nobleman of Queen Elizabeth court which may be comparable with the intelligence of William Shakespeare as William needed to very intelligent and also smart to be able to have written so many superb and historical plays which are still being acted and read till date. Another reason is that Edward was also not known being a playwright or a writer, and simply attributed to have high level of intelligence, which William Shakespeare may have wanted, not wanting anyone to recognise him for anything, if he used a pen name to avoid the public. Edward was also known to be pursuing literature, which William Shakespeare should be doing because the only reason he wrote so many plays was because he loved literature. Last but not least, the birth and death date of William Shakespeare is very close, with the birth date being unknown, only that it is known that he was baptised in 1564, which may be possible as Edward was born in 1550. However, there is a 14-year difference in the year of death, which may also be caused by mistake during recording such as assuming that he was dead just because he disappeared and left.

Topic 2 : Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth I: Who was she?

1. Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. She was also known as the virgin queen, gloriana. Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. In 1558 Elizabeth succeeded the Catholic Mary I, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels

What were England's international relations like during Elizabeth's reign?

2. Throughout the Early Modern Period English foreign policy underwent many dramatic shifts as the Monarch moved within the Franco-Spanish-Burgundian triangle. King Henry VII had been incredibly isolationist and intent on recovering from England's internal problems after the War of the Roses, but his son Henry VIII had grandiose imperial ambitions. Elizabeth had more in common with her grandfather than her father, and yet her reign would see England involved in fighting from Brussels to the New World and one of the great martial victories of English history, over the Spanish Armada. She was very sensitive to the European situation and it was often a catalyst for change in her foreign policy. This was a time of change for English foreign relations and Elizabeth learnt after a decade that the old-fashioned and well-trodden paths of her ancestors would need re-examining. England had strong relationship with Spain & France prior to 1567, Philip II of Spain, most powerful man in the World, had been married to Elizabeth's estranged sister, Mary I. But such a direct Spanish link to England had offended the common people, and Elizabeth declined Philip's offer of marriage to herself upon her accession.

What was Shakespeare's relationship with Elizabeth I?

3. Queen Elizabeth I liked when plays were acted out for her. She was very fond of Shakespeare’s plays. In some of his play, Shakespeare cleverly hinted passages referring to the Queen and other events that affiliated during both of their life time. Queen Elizabeth I was a great supporter of the arts, mainly she supported plays and masques.

Compare Elizabeth I to Portia from The Merchant of Venice. How is Portia's character a tribute to Elizabeth I?

4. Queen Elizabeth I liked when plays were acted out for her. She was very fond of Shakespeare’s plays. In some of his play, Shakespeare cleverly hinted passages referring to the Queen and other events that affiliated during both of their life time.

Diet

Did Elizabethan food and drink constitute a good balanced diet?

No! And especially not for the rich! The rich ate few fresh vegetables and little fresh fruit - unprepared food of this variety was viewed with some suspicion! Fruit was usually served in pies or was preserved in honey. Vegetables and fresh fruit were eaten by the poor - vegetables would have been included in some form of stew, soup or pottage. Food items which came from the ground were only are considered fit for the poor. Only vegetables such as rape, onions, garlic and leeks graced a Noble's table. Dairy products were also deemed as inferior foods and therefore only to be eaten by the poor.

Hygiene

The Poor

The greatest majority of families were poor. Hygiene, at this level, was not important enough to be practiced. Most people took only one to three baths a year. Oral hygiene was not considered.

Middle Class

The yeomanry and the gentry were more concerned with hygiene, bathing as often as once a month. Daily washing of the face, neck and wrists was common. Teeth were cleaned by rinsing with vinegar and water, then wiping each tooth with a cloth. Toothpicks were also widely used.

The Wealthy

The wealthy bathed every other week, and often enjoyed expensive soap. Beards were also washed with soap, and kept trimmed and neat. Ironically, many oral hygiene concoctions were sweetened with honey, causing rapid tooth decay.

Recreation

Fairs

The Annual Summer Fair and other seasonal fairs such as May Day were often bawdy affairs.

Plays

Started as plays enacted in town squares followed by the actors using the courtyards of taverns or inns (referred to as Inn-yards) followed by the first theatres (great open air amphitheatres built in the same style as the Roman Coliseum) and then the introduction of indoor theatres called Playhouses.

Miracle Plays

Re-enactments of stories from the Bible. These are derived from the ancient Briton custom of Mystery Plays, in which stories and fables were enacted to teach lessons or educate about life in general. Miracle plays included stories from all ecclesiastic literature, from the Bible to the everyday psaltery or prayerbook.

Festivals

Celebrating Church festivals

Jousts / Tournaments

A series of tilted matches between two or more warriors, by the Elizabethan time period these were more of a show or display of arms than to settle disputes such as we hear of in stories. Unlike our romantic notions of only knights participating in a joust, they were in fact a favorite of many, such as King Henry VIII, who often in his youth showed off his equestrian skills with a lance and a tilt.

Games and Sports

Sports and games which included archery, bowling, cards, dice, hammer-throwing, quarter-staff contests, troco, quoits, skittles, wrestling and mob football.

Card Games

Cards appeared in Spain and Italy about 1370, but they probably came from Egypt. They began to spread throughout Europe and came into England around 1460. By the time of Elizabeth’s reign, gambling was a common sport. Cards were not played only by the upper class. Many of the lower classes had access to playing cards. The card suits tended to change over time.

Accommodation

The most common manor plan for Elizabethan times housing was an E shape, with the vertical line of the E being the main hall, and the shorter horizontal end lines the kitchens and living rooms. The shorter central line was the entry porch. On the upper floor of the main hall there was a long gallery, used for entertaining as a family area, for exercise on dull days, and as a portrait gallery, the long gallery was an almost universal feature of Elizabethan manors. It featured windows on three sides and fireplaces along the fourth, and it usually ran the entire length of the floor.

Topic 4: The (historical and cultural) Setting of Venice

What was Venice like during the 15th and 16th century? Comment especially on its demographics and culture.

Venice in the 14th and 15th century was fighting and acquiring islands and various territories on the way to the Middle East. Venice started declining in the 16th century after various attacks like the Kingdoms of France and Spain. One of such example will be the Turks. In the summer of 1570, about 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Mustafa Pasha landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to Nicosia. In an orgy of victory on the day that the city fell — September 9, 1570 — 20,000 Nicosian Greeks and Venetians were put to death, and every church, public building, and palace was looted.

However, Venice flourished and was an important trading centre and art centre due to its stable political climate. There were over a 100000 people living in Venice in the 15th and 16th century. At the beginning of the 16th century, theatres were introduced and were welcomed by the citizens. Groups of actors performed in the houses of nobles and even they charged admission.

Why was Venice important during the 15th and 16th century?

Venice was a centre for Renaissance culture in the 15th and 16th century. Architecture, art, music and literature flourished in Venice. As a major port of trade, Venice was able to find ready markets for whatever decorative arts Venetian craftsmen could produce. The whole Republic was crawling with ceramists, glassworkers, woodworkers, lace makers and sculptors (in addition to painters), all of whom made entirely satisfactory livings. Trading was also very important in Venice as it was along one of the main trading routes during the Renaissance.

How Venice is an appropriate setting for the plot of The Merchant of Venice?

While Jews had been legally banned from England since 1290, Venice had laws in place to protect non-Venetian traders who supported the city's economic well-being

Shakespeare's setting is filled with religious strife, especially between Christians and Jews. Also, in 16th century, Venice was more tolerant of foreigners than Elizabethan England; Jews in Venice were confined to ghettos at the time Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice.

Topic five:

Why was there such animosity between Jews and Christians?

Love in Christianity:

Jewish conception of love to justice, and the Christian conception of love to charity.

Sin:

In both religions, sin refers to an offense towards god. these sin can be thoughts, words and deeds.

However, in the christian religion, sin is grouped into different types. the first one is called a venial sin, in which the sinner has wounded their relationship with god. on the other hand a complete destruction of the relationship with god is most often called a mortal sin. Christians think that unless the sinner has salvation from sin, after they die they will go to hell in the afterlife

In what ways did the Christians discriminate against Jews in 15th and 16th century Europe?

Christians thought that Jews are inferior to them and therefore, should not be accepted into their society. What is more is that if a Jew wants to be accepted into the society, they will have to be converted to a Christian. They are also openly discriminated by the Christians and treated as slaves.

Anti-Semitism

Among socio-economic factors were restrictions by the authorities. Local rulers and church officials closed many professions to the Jews, pushing them into marginal occupations considered socially inferior, such as tax and rent collecting and moneylending, tolerated then as a "necessary evil". Catholic doctrine of the time held that lending money for interest was a sin, and forbidden to Christians. Not being subject to this restriction, Jews dominated this business. The Torah and later sections of the Hebrew Bible criticise Usury but interpretations of the Biblical prohibition vary. Since few other occupations were open to them, Jews were motivated to take up money lending. This was said to show Jews were insolent, greedy, usurers, and subsequently led to many negative stereotypes and propaganda. Natural tensions between creditors (typically Jews) and debtors (typically Christians) were added to social, political, religious, and economic strains. Peasants who were forced to pay their taxes to Jews could personify them as the people taking their earnings while remaining loyal to the lords on whose behalf the Jews worked.

Topic 6

In what sort of building were Shakespeare’s plays performed?

Shakespeare’s plays were mostly performed in the Globe Theatre which was some sort of a medieval building. The outer view of the building has a much simpler design while the inside holds a much more intricate design which brings out a mystical atmosphere. The Globe Theatre had no roof, allowing sunlight to enter the building during the day. The building had no lighting equipment thus plays were mostly scheduled in the afternoon where there is light.

How did the physical constraints of the theatre affect the language of Shakespeare’s plays?

The theater that Cuthbert Burbage built for the Chamberlain’s Men had a total capacity of between 2,000 and 3,000 spectators. Because there was no lighting, all performances at the Globe were conducted, weather permitting, during the day (probably most often in the mid-afternoon span between 2 P.M. and 5 P.M.). Because most of the Globe and all of its stage was open air, acoustics were poor and the actors were compelled by circumstances to shout their lines, stress their enunciation, and engage in exaggerated theatrical gestures.

The language of Shakespeare’s plays are also descriptive as the theatres are open air without much scenery. The scenery are being described through dialogues and actions of the actors. Therefore the language of Shakespeare’s plays are often descriptive.

What sort of people acted in plays?

Shakespeare’s fellow members of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men acted in his plays. Among these actors were Richard Burbage (who played the title role in the first performances of many of Shakespeare’s plays, including Hamlet, Othello, Richard III and King Lear), Richard Cowley (who played Verges in Much Ado About Nothing), William Kempe, (who played Peter in Romeo and Juliet and, possibly, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Henry Condell and John Heminges, are most famous now for collecting and editing the plays of Shakespeare’s First Folio.

What sort of people went to see them?

People from all classes went to see Shakespeare’s plays in Shakespeare’s time. Anyone who could afford the minimum price of one penny could go and stand in the yard in front of the stage. They were known as ‘groundlings’ or ‘penny stinkers’; they stood all through the play. Those who could afford two pennies could sit on the covered benches; there were three tiers of covered seating around the edge of the yard. Rich people could sit above, or above and just to the side of the stage in the ‘Lords’ rooms’.

How was “The Theatre” viewed by Elizabethan society?

The Mayor and Corporation of London banned plays in 1572 as a measure against the plague, and in 1575 they formally expelled all players from the city1 This prompted the construction of playhouses outside the jurisdiction of London, in the liberties of Halliwell/Holywell in Shoreditch and later the Clink, and at Newington Butts near the established entertainment district of St. George’s Fields in rural Surrey

Compare the modern-day Globe Theatre in London with the theatres that Shakespeare worked in.

In the past, Shakespeare worked in places like the theatre….

The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch (in Curtain Road, part of the modern London Borough of Hackney), just outside the City of London. It was the second permanent theatre ever built in England, after the Red Lion, and the first successful one. Built by actor-manager James Burbage, near the family home in Holywell Street, The Theatre is considered the first theatre built in London for the sole purpose of theatrical productions. The Theatre’s history includes a number of important acting troupes including the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.The design of The Theatre was possibly adapted from the inn-yards that had served as playing spaces for actors and/or bear baiting pits. The building was a polygonal wooden building with three galleries that surrounded an open yard.

However, the modern Globe theatre is different in…

Shakespeare’s Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction, of the 1614 building, was founded by the actor and director Sam Wanamaker and built approximately 230 metres (750 ft) from the site of the original theatre. The theatre was opened to the public in 1997, with a production of Henry V. The site also includes a reconstruction of the Blackfriars Theatre.

Rampant Piracy in Asia

There will be three negative consequences I will be talking about. First, Apple's business will dropped a lot, more piracy would be resulted and unhappiness will be rendered due to the restriction of music, books and movies.

Due to this restriction, Apple's business may drop due the loss of market in Asia. The restriction of music, books and movies in Asia will discourage many people from buying Apple product as they could not get anything that they like. As smart phones like HTC and Androids are becoming more and more useful and popular compared to Apple phones, many people will go for other smart phones but not Apple products due to the restriction. Thus, Apple may ver likely to lose much of Asian market if this restriction continues.

Due to the restriction, more piracy will be resulted in Asia too. Many Asian Apple fans that bought Apple product but did not get whatever they like, they will try all means and ways to get these "better" apps. As such, "jail-breaking" became very popular among people in Asia as "jail-breaking" allow users to get any apps of any cost at 0 dollars. Thus, this tempted many people to "jail-break" their phones, which had resulted more pirated products being evolved in Asia. Thus, the restriction did not stop piracy in Asia, it had made piracy "stronger" in Asia.

Due to the restriction, many people in Asia will be unhappy as they cannot get whatever apps they like while those people in the Europe can use such apps daily. Many Asians will then be agitated that why Europeans are able to use such apps that we Asians cannot use. The Asians will be more infuriated when they hear that because of piracy in Asia that caused this restrictions. Does that mean that Europeans will not used "jail-break"? Such arguments will be resulted due to the unfairness of Apple which had caused much unhappiness in Asia.

In conclusion, I find that Apple is very "stupid" to impose such restriction in Asia as it will cause them to lose revenue, heated up more piracy in Asia and cause Asians unhappy over Apple product.

Project Work

I am walking to my friend's house now doing our project work. Preliminary is around the corner and we have not done much preparation on our project. Our mentor, Ms Wun, has given us criteria and notes that we need to follow but till date, we have not done any of it! All my group mates, Patrick, Chuan Xin and Kah Xuan, are also slacking for the June holidays. It is 3 weeks to preliminary but we are still not preparing for it. Getting back on track, we rushed through the entire project, that includes APA format, power-point slides, rehearsals etc. We are shagged after doing project throughout nights for 4 days. The day of prelim arrived and all of us were preparing our script. We are scared that we will forget any of our lines, so, we kept on memorizing our lines, till we enter the judging room. Our hard work paid-off, we presented well in preliminary without much stammering and we are able to answer most of the questions the judges throw over. We exited the room, relieved and confident of getting into semi-finals. We left school, worrying next about our math test!

Online lesson 10

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-l-esposito/combating-religious-intol_b_890537.html (Racial and religious tension)

This article talks about racial intolerance now in America, when religious pluralism, versus the defamation of religion and freedom of speech is an increasing source of conflict in international politics and inter-religious relations. Racial intolerance is one of the themes of Merchant of Venice, when the Christians hated the Jews but currently, instead of Jews at that time, people now picked on the Muslims.

http://www.globalissues.org/article/768/global-financial-crisis (Financial Problems)

This article is about our global crisis during the 2007 to 2008. In Merchant of Venice, Shylock also suffered from a "crisis" when his daughter robbed his money away.

"When are you returning my money, you brown guy! It has been a week, your interest rate is a boom here, dude!" an ABC shouted

"Well well well, white guy, oh.. I am sorry, yellow guy, you did not say that you will calculate interest at first, so, I am able to not pay you interest, you, yellow yellow, dirty fellow!" a Muslim boy refuted.

"I don't care, you filthy pile of mud, you better pay up or else I shall dial the police number and there goes you into the jail!" ABC angrily scolded.

"I guess, you do not know your laws well, such a small case, and you want to bring up to the police, you think the police will believe you, young kid, you do not have any "contract" with me, no evidence, so go away, you noob!" the Muslim boy sniggered as he answered the ABC.

"You don't call me a noob, you idiot. You, Malays are always known for all these pathetic stuffs, especially riots, don't think you Malays are the biggest, actually you suck!" ABC laughed.

"You don't scold my race, noob, you think yellows are better? We are about the same!" the Muslim roared.

What is the point? One brown guy and one yellow guy quarreling, just listen to us, white people! :)