Term 3 Post 5

I feel that Shakespeare's intention of creating Shylock is to portray the image of Jews. Shylock is a very negative character in the book. He sees money more important than his daughter, as depicted in act 1 scene 3. This shows us how much a loser Shylock is, because even though his daughter is of his own blood, he would rather have the wealth. Also, Shylock was seen as an inhumane character, when he was so determined to cut off a pound of flash from Bassanio. This can be referenced to act 4 scene 1 and act 3 scene 3. In short, Shylock is a cunning villian in every aspect. Shakespeare is a christian and disliked the Jews. This can be seen from the many concrete evidence that we have. For one, the Jews were accused of doing many terrible things, which included sacrificing children who were Christian and drinking their blood. It is not difficult to see why the Christians disliked the Jews, and thus the reason behind creating Shylock is to show the Christian's hatred towards the Jews.

Term 3 Post 4

In this article, Jim Roger's argument is that the West are becoming the debtors, whereas the East are becoming the creditors. Therefore, it is important to learn chinese. Also, to learn chinese effectively, one must have the correct environment.

America is utterly failing to produce a generation of global citizens, with only 37% of Americans holding a passport. This shows that a large percentage of the Americans fail to look into the future, thus not able to see the importance of travelling overseas and improve oneself. This can be a very serious problem, because the reality shows that the West is gradually coming to a financial downturn. The learning of Chinese is especially important now, since China would most probably the country that leads the world in the near future. To be able to converse well with the leading nation, one must definitely know Chinese.

Also, being able to blend into the Chinese society by understanding their cultures would be a great help as well. I feel that people from all over the world will soon migrate to China for a better living condition. And since it is gaining power as we speak, it is essential to a citizen of China as soon as possible.

To start off, it would be better if one comes to places like Singapore and Taiwan to stay temporarily, which would act as an adaption period. If a child is brought up in such an environment, she would have a start ahead of other child. In the future, it is almost definite that she would be a very rich person.

Term 3 Post 3

I fully agree with Janalle's point of view. I feel that the educational system in Singapore is pointing in the wrong direction. In this country all that matters is doing the right thing and emerge as champions, and it makes us think of this question: are we using the right method? In many cases, such as "why is carbon a non-metal" as mentioned, questions are not answered. Perhaps most of the teachers do not even know the answer to that themselves. All they think of is probably what can carbon be used to make? Janalle then elaborates on the point that Singaporeans are taught to help an old lady cross the road when she looks like she needed some help, but in actual fact how many bothers to reach out to these people in need of help? It has become such that Singapore's educational system is ineffective, and this is made worse by the fact that teachers often take up CME lessons for their own subject's. This proves that Singaporeans see academic results more important than moral values.

An ideal education would be possible. It is only a matter of whether the government wants to put in more effort in realising it. For one, I have been to Taiwan and saw how everybody lined up for the elevator and stood by one side for those who are in a hurry to walk past. They do this without reminder and it makes me ashamed to see that Singapore is far from their standard. In actual fact, they received education on all these, and even though they may not be as advanced in technology as Singapore, they certainly have cultivated much more moral values than us. All of these lie in education. We can see the importance of it in many ways. Also, if the teachers would let down their pride and hesitate for a second to think why certain things are also, I strongly believe that the educational system would be much better than it is currently. Most teachers regard simple questions as something that is not worth taking up their time to figure out, however in many cases it is these "simple things" that they fail to comprehend. To sum up, I really hope that the government will see the light as soon as possible, because not only does this lead to foreigners looking on us, Singaporeans will also lack moral values themselves.

Term 3 Post 2

I think that there is a difference between treating water as a human right and as a commodity. I feel that water is a human right and it would be wrong to use it as a commodity.

Some may say that even though water is a human right, there are people who are not privileged enough to purchase sufficient water. For the people living in these areas, water must be purchased via other countries, thus it is very unfair. Even though they may not have natural water resources, they should at the very least be able to purchase them. However, I feel that selling water as a profit is a very selfish thing to do. These profits are private, but the water belonged to everyone.

Water is a very valuable resource. It belongs to the Earth and everyone living in it. It should be conserved for the later generations, not sold to other people for a profit. Then again, what would happen to those who are not rich enough to pay for the water? Should not water be something entitled to everyone? Or would be it be such that only the rich gets to drink? People definitely need water to survive, therefore the more should water be provided equitably to all people and not on the basis of the ability to pay.

Since water belongs to everyone and anyone, there should not be any selling of water. This is especially the case when people are selling water to earn a private profit. Not only is this morally wrong, it is not justified and definitely morally wrong.

Term 3 Post 1

I feel that giving of weekly days off should be legislated in Singapore. To start off, I would like to state a fact-- maids are humans too. They, too, need a break like everyone else. The problem here would be whether or not at least once per week would be too much a break for maids. In my opinion, breaks are very important to workers and maids, because it helps minimise significantly the number of issues regarding stress and overwork.

Not only can stress and overwork lead to health problems, the morales of such workers can be greatly affected too. Singaporeans complain that they are working for prolonged hours, but have they ever spared a thought for maids then, who definitely work longer hours than they themselves?

I think that the maids would work more efficient given sufficient rest. One day off would not be over demanding. However I do feel that the maids have an obligation to report what they have done with the money/ time outside. This is because there were several incidents whereby the maids went out late in the night and went home pregnant. This causes much trouble for both the employee and the employer. If both parties cooperate, I am very sure that these disputes would be avoided.

Sundays are deemed as the day for most people to rest. Maybe it would be most ideal to allow the maids to take a break like the rest of the family. Maids would certainly feel bored if they are stuck to chores everyday without break.

To conclude, I find breaks especially important in whatever we do. Not only is it only fair for maids to have weekly days off, it also increase the efficiency level from maids in whatever chores they do.