Rupert Murdoch Phone Scandal

Rupert Murdoch Phone Scandal

I agree to a large extent that the news media should be blamed for the unhealthy paparazzi culture and going to the extremes for sensational news. It is known that the news media will go into extremes to hunt for sensational news, so that people will be interested in reading the news. Furthermore, each news media faces competition from other news media as they have to fight for peoples’ readership, in order to earn more money. However, what is the role of the news media? It is to cover the latest news around the world, not the latest tabloid! One does not need the entertainment of tabloids to survive. It is the greediness of news media that developed the unhealthy paparazzi culture so as to achieve higher readership.

Although it is the news media’s problem for the unhealthy paparazzi culture, I believe that the people should also be blamed for the paparazzi culture. As people, by nature, loves to read about tabloids, gossips and stuff, news media uses this point to get more readership. The news media goes to the extremes for sensational news, so as to grab the reader’s attention, so as to earn more money. In other words, the underlying problem is that because of people’s nosiness, it has led the news media to take the opportunity and go to extremes for sensational news, just for the appetite of the readers, and in turn, the news media develops the unhealthy paparazzi culture.

Justice and Mercy

Justice and Mercy

There is justice, but no true justice. In the trial scene in Merchant of Venice, Shylock kept wanting the pound of flesh from Antonio as Antonio failed to comply with the bond and thus, Shylock wanted true justice to be given to him, that he be allowed to cut the pound of flesh from Antonio. I believe that the justice was achieved when Portia allowed Shylock to cut a piece of flesh from Antonio, but true justice was not achieved, mainly because Portia had made use of the bond and law, and restricted Shylock, by abiding to the bond, that Shylock had only requested for a pound of flesh, and not a drop of blood, and according to the Venetian law, any Jew who tries to claim a Christian’s life but was unsuccessful, the Jew would either be killed or had to convert to Christianity. Portia twisted the bond into cutting the flesh without dripping a drop of blood, but we all know that this was impossible, and thus, Shylock was unable to cut Antonio’s flesh. But this was not a fair trial because firstly, the Christians occupied a majority of the court, and secondly, women were not allowed in courts, and Portia had violated this law.

There is no true mercy. Because when Shylock realised that he could not have his pound of flesh from Antonio, he wanted to take the money and let the matter rest. However, Portia rejected his offer and even forced Shylock to give up his fortune and convert to Christianity just to spare his life. But how different is that to death sentence? Moreover, is Antonio and the Christians’ discrimination against Shylock atoned for?

In Merchant of Venice, Portia was able to manipulate the law just because she was the judge, who had the most power in the court. In real life, about the Lockerbie bomber freeing case, the judge too had the power to spare the bomber’s life as the bomber had terminal disease; the bomber was spared so that he could spend the remaining time with his family.

Education in Singapore

Education in Singapore

I agree to a certain extent about the issues that the student has risen. Firstly, I would like to point out that education is not just about memorizing and not being able to ask why. Perhaps it is the difference in environments that differs our opinions in education. In Hwa Chong, we are expected to clarify our doubts with our teachers, so that we will be able to understand the topic better. However, I believe that in other schools, the situation is the same. Without understanding the topic better, how will the students be able to pass their examinations well? Furthermore, I believe that the student has generalized all the subjects into one whole education. Of course, there are some subjects that we are not supposed to ask why, because those subjects are quite “dead” subjects. Some examples are chinese, history and geography. Nevertheless, there is always a need to memorize the facts and formats for answering questions, to pass the examinations. Speaking of examinations, it is just to test if we really understand the topics tested, or that we are really well-versed in the subjects.

I do agree on the student’s point that moral value classes are useless. This reason why I agreed on the point is because in Hwa Chong, the moral values taught are all learned in our daily lives, and also through the mouths of our parents. Furthermore, I believe that a majority of the students do not remember or apply what they have learnt in the PCME classes.

I feel that the student wrote the letter in an appropriate tone. Her words are somewhat polite and there is no evidence of personal attacks on the education minister in the letter. In the first paragraph, the student states that there is no perfect education in the world and she does not imply that the education system in Singapore is very lousy, and she just states that the education system has some key flaws, so that the education minister could look into the matter and better the education system, so that students of the next generation can have a better learning environment and better education.

Personally, if I were to write a letter to the Minister of Education, I would raise the issue of the fact that there are some subjects that do not have any use in our daily lives. One subject for example, is history. History teachers teach us about the history of Singapore and how to answer questions given in a given format. But ask yourself, are you able to even use these subjects in the future. I believe that one of the flaws in the education system in Singapore is that some of the subjects taught would not really be used in our daily lives. Although Singapore wants to build a knowledge based community, but some subjects taught are not the kind of knowledge that we can use.

Merchant of Venice

Merchant of Venice

In your opinion, is money important in relationships? Consider the "transactional" element observed in the relationships between the couples. Do you think there is an upward trend of relationships and marriages valuing money over other qualities?

In my opinion, I feel that money is not important in relationships, to a certain extent. In today’s materialistic world, one has to agree that people choose their partners because of their wealth. If a person enters a relationship with another person just because he/she is wealthy, but the first person has never developed any form of affection for him/her, the person will feel happy as he leads a comfortable lifestyle. However, does he really feel happy? I feel that one only feels happy if he/she loves his/her partner in their relationship and I think what matters in relationships is the true love between the two partners. When one enters a relationship with another person whom he/she truly loves, they will be willing to conquer all odds to be together, and to live happily ever after, just like a fairytale.

Personally, I think that there is an upward trend of relationships and marriages valuing money over other qualities, as I feel that in today’s society, money has been placed the basic of all needs and without money, one cannot even do a single thing. Almost everything costs money nowadays, so when people find life partners, they will find one that has wealth so that he/she can lessen the work stress that he/she develops while trying hard to earn money to make a living.

War

War

In your opinion, how has war evolved from the past to present? Please use examples to justify your opinions.

In my opinion, I feel that war has indeed evolved from the past to the present. Technology has evolved from the past to the present. Some examples are the weaponry has become more advanced such that they acquire faster speed, heavier damage results and better control of the weaponry. Furthermore, the advancement of technology has also introduced the use of nuclear and chemical weapons such as the two atomic bombs that were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Agent Orange. War has also evolved in the way that there were fewer wars active in the world now, compared to the huge amount of war activity that happened in the past, in which some examples are the Vietnam War, World War 1, World War 2 and the Korean War.

The Soldier

The Soldier

National Service requires all male Singaporean citizens and second-generation permanent residents who have reached the age of 18 to enrol in the military. They serve a two-year period as Full Time National Servicemen, either in the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force, or the Singapore Civil Defence Force. When a conscript completes his full-time service, he is considered to be "operationally ready", and is thereafter known as an Operationally-Ready National Serviceman. National Servicemen are the equivalent of other militaries' reservists. As Singapore has a limited amount of manpower, and there was not enough resources to support a professionally trained army, Singapore has decided to train its own citizens into National Servicemen so when disaster strikes, Singapore citizens would be fully-prepared to take on any challenges.

I think that National Service should not be made a compulsory in Singapore as two and a half years in National Service means that I would go into university late and I would be spending two and a half years practically doing nothing. I do think that it is important to a certain extent as I feel that Singapore should be able to defend itself without relying on others, but on the other side, I also feel that there is not a need to waste such a long time in National Service as the world is much peaceful now.

I do not think that I have the same sense of patriotism for Singapore as the sense of patriotism presented in the poem, as I do not feel a sense of belonging to Singapore.

Book Review_Pride and Prejudice

Pride And Prejudice

By Jane Austen

Review by Chen HuangYan

This novel revolves around the Bennet family and takes place at the turn of the 19th century in rural England. The Bennet family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five daughters - Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia - live in comparative financial independence as gentry on a working farm, Longbourn. Since Longbourn is destined to be inherited by Mr. Bennet's cousin, Mr. Collins, the five marriageable daughters and mother will be without a home and income once Mr. Bennet dies.

The mother worries about this predicament, and is anxious to find husbands for them quickly. However, the father doesn't seem to be worried at all. Elizabeth, the heroine, is convinced that she should never marry unless she feels compelled to do so by true love, even though she has no real ideas about how she will survive financially.

Elizabeth Bennet is of the opinion that her sister Jane, being kind and beautiful, will find a wealthy husband, and that she can then live with her.

The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, moral rightness, education and marriage in her aristocratic society of early 19th century England. Also, unexpected events happen and Elizabeth begins to realize that she may have misjudged Mr Darcy, the man who loves her, and there may be more to Mr Darcy than meets the eye.

The captivating story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy is one of the most charming and romantic comedies ever written.

I feel that this is an extraordinary story as the writer, Jane Austen, depicted the scenes and events in the story well and brings the unexpected into the general picture. This is also an excellent novel for those who seek for romance stories.