Racial Prejudice

This topic is inspired by the book "Merchant of Venice". In the book, Jews were treated as lower class beings by the Christians and are looked down upon, spat at and insulted by these "higher class" men. All these mistreatment all thanks to their religion. Now if we think of our daily lives, is there racial prejudice? Are people of a different religion treated as outcasts or "avoidable" people by others of different religion? The honest answer is yes.
Racial prejudice is something that is unavoidable even in "multi-racial harmonious countries like Singapore. Those of a religion of minority people are often treated as outsiders. For example( not being racist), blacks are treated badly due to their skin colour. Insults such as "nigger" are directed at them because of their skin colour, even in Singapore. For example, when I was walking past a few black workers, I saw how hard they were working, digging up the dirt e.t.c, while their superior, a chines man,was merely standing there and shouting instructions at them. Although this might seem natural as superiors are to treat the "inferiors" as someone of lower class. However, when the Chinese "dictator" was about to leave, he said something to one of the workers, "if you slack, you die". Although this was a treat used to make the worker work diligently, it is still awkward as compared to how Chinese superiors would treat those of their same religion of lower status as equals when they talk, becoming brotherly. P.S: this was just an example and is not being used as a stereotype.
Even in the past there was racial prejudice, such as during Hitler's time(which we are learning about during History). Jews were mass slaughtered alongside suspicious Germans that were suspected of being anti-Nazi. All "enemies of the Germans were slaughtered in concentration camps and yet, the Jews are included as well. The Jews had done nothing to wrong the Germans or harm them but were merely leading that peaceful lives and yet they are murdered ruthlessly because they are Jews and not Germans.
All this actions taken by other religions towards the minority is really not justified as they are merely bullying those that they think are inferior, which is common in the current society that we live in as those that are strong can choose who or who not to bully. Which reminds me of "survivor of the fittest": only the strongest will live on while the weak die.

STOMP

I'm sure that many people have heard of the STOMP incident where a student posted about an incident that occurred when the students were not in class and the teachers had taken their belongings for safe-keeping. There were various reactions to this incident, some were anger at how the student would post something bad about their school online, others were complaining about how the school had taken the belongings and others began insulting the school and its students. This incident caused much commotion not only amongst the public, the students but also the teachers and principal. I am sure that the teachers and principal were probably mad at a student for publicly posting stuff that would make the school in a bad light and tarnish its reputation, and not following the school's motto of remembering those that had helped you and showing your gratitude. Indeed this might seem outrageous towards the school, however, the student might have reasons for doing so.
The students had taken the students belongings for safe keeping, but most of the students were not aware of it when they returned back to their classes and thought that a thief had stolen their belongings, causing panic amongst them. Luckily none of had called the police as it would have caused the situation to be worsened. Although the items were returned to the students, there may have been some that felt angry at the school for doing something which made the students panic and feel that the school was not a safe place to bring their valuables.
The student that had posted this may have only been trying to tell the public the methods of discipline which the school carries out to teach the students a lesson. The results which were produced may not have been what he had expected as it caused a great uproar from the public.The student might have done it out of good will but the results produced had caused his good intentions to become seen as nothing more than an attempt at sabotaging the school. The school has also come up with their side of the story which was that the students had left their classrooms unlocked and took the belongings for safe keeping but the article states that the students belongings were confiscated and taken away as a form of punishment and students were made to write letters to the school.

Racial Harmony Day

Some people might think what is the point of Racial Harmony day as they believe that it is simply a waste of time to celebrate something as "useless" as Racial Harmony Day. Take my school for example, during Racial Harmony Day, there were are sorts of activities held, such as an Indian mass dance, performance by different cultures e.t.c. However, during all of this activities, some of the students were either talking to their friends or slacking off, only some were really participating actively during the activities.*not that I was any better*
Racial harmony day is to celebrate Singapore's success as a racially harmonious nation and society built on a rich diversity of culture and heritage and to commemorate the Racial Riots in the 1960s, that took place in Singapore during two separate periods in July and September between Chinese and Malay groups. Different reasons have been cited for the riots. Malaysia Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak blamed ethnic Indonesian and Communist provocateurs.On the other hand, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and several foreign observers attributed the riots as the result of agitation by Syed Jaafar Albar and other elements of the ultra-nationalist faction in United Malays National Organization.
As to prevent future riots such as the previous one and to maintain its religious equality, Singapore is using Racial Harmony for the sake of maintaining peace among the various religions to prevent conflicts from happening again. Using such means by also allows the various religions to learn more about the other cultures and strengthens the bond between them.

Hols

Most students look forward to the June holidays as they plan on going on vacations or relaxing at home and playing computer games. However, during my June holidays i was occupied with CCA and homework which have been assigned. Although this may not seem much, it is rather hard to juggle between these two as students tend to have the desire to play computer games and do their homework on a later date as the holiday is still rather long.
Due to this procrastinating, it was only two weeks before school restarted that i began to rush my homework. Although the amount of homework i had and the time i had left to complete it may seem rather fair, i was under pretty much stress as i felt that i could not complete the homework in time. However as i finished homework after homework, i began feeling that i had enough time to finish the remaining few pieces and began slacking off again.
I believe that i am not the only one that constantly has this thoughts as many other students often complain about how much homework there is to complete with the time limit set by the teachers but they soon find that they have rather enough time to finish their homework and play computer games. Many students also often feel that relaxation time, weekends and holidays, are rather short and often whine for longer breaks. However, i feel that this complaining is often caused by the fact that school starting means more homework and more studying which results in less sleeping time and gaming time for students which causes their complaints.
However, if students were to enjoy what they already have and not complain for more, they may find holidays more enjoyable than what they find it now and may actually have a much better time during the weekends and holidays.

Real: History-replayed

This year for our drama production, we are planning on putting on a modern versioned Shakespeare play adapted from King Lear. This would be the first full length play i am part of since joining HCIEDC club. (Maybe its because this is only my second year) When our club first heard this news, many of the members were greatly shocked by this news as many of them felt that the two new teachers were still inexperienced and doing a Shakespearian on the same year they "reign" over the club sounded pretty shocking. Others were also unwilling to be part of a Shakespeare play as Shakespeare are known the be long, draggy and extremely dull.
However, although some of the current ex-co may have felt that this idea was not really too good, they still stuck by the teacher's side and tried to encourage others to support the idea as well so as to have an excellent production for the year. Indeed our current ex-co is extremely organised and tries to think of many various ideas to help improve the club, but many people in the club frequently think of what would happen to the club after the current ex-co leaves as most of the current Sec 3s are considered "slackers" by the teachers and the idea of having some of them in the ex-co is pretty hard to comprehend. However, there are still a few enthusiastic Sec 3s that i think are capable of replacing the current ex-co. I do hope during this years election we can find a good ex-co. :D

War effects

Merchant of Venice

E-Learning

Spatial/Visual
Design an obituary for Mrs Dubose.

Mrs Henry Layfayette Dubose
Age: 84

As a strong-willed woman, Mrs Dubose passed away free from drugs, after a difficult struggle with her morphine addition. She chose to die "beholden to nothing and nobody" and fought against her morphine addiction, instead of choosing to die painlessly. She upheld her beliefs of freedom and struggled towards it even when her condition worsened. Her actions were all based on courage from within herself. It took all she could give before she finally overcame her addiction. Even though she may not be with us anymore, I believe she will still be remembered as a heroine that fought off morphine addiction in the heart of many of us.

Interpersonal
Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain.

I would choose to be friends with Jem. Jem has a deeper understandings of matters as compared to Jem or Dill and shares some of his understandings to Scout while keeping some to himself which he feels is better for Scout not to know. He has an unbiased view of the things happening around him. He is courageous and looks out for others around him when they are in danger.
He is also determined to help others as evident from his unwillingness to leave the Maycomb Prison when the mob was there to lynch Tom Robinson. He is strong-willed and has strong beliefs. Although at times he may suddenly explode from confiding his feelings towards others and be mean to others, he is generally a nice person as he kept most of the things that he knew would heart scout's feelings to himself, showing how he cares for his younger sister.

Maycomb living conditions

Many of the residents residing in Maycomb are brave and courageous. This can be seen through the incident when Ms Maudie's house caught fire. Mr Avery ran into the flaming house bravely and started throwing furnitures out of the window. Other residentsR were also helping, either by helping to push the fire truck or helping to carry Ms Maudie's furniture out of her burning house. This not only shows courage displayed by the residents, but also teamwork and care among the neighbors. However, many of the residents in Maycomb are racist. Racism can be seen through many incidents that occurred in Maycomb. For example, when Jem, Dill and Scout sneaked into the Radley's Porch to sneak Boo a note, Mr Radley saw them in the dark and assumed that it was a negro that had sneaked into his yard. This proves that whenever someone is suspected of doing something bad, the first thing that would come to people's minds will be that it was done by a negro. Another good example is when the mop turns up at the jail, wanting to lynch Tom Robinson before his trial. Tom Robinson was also being discriminated during his trial by not only the juries but also by the audience at the trial. Although there was no real evidence that Tom had raped Mayella, it was almost as if the court had already planned on sentencing Tom. This shows how badly Tom, a black, is being discriminated. Maycomb is a pleasant town to live in but the residents are racist against blacks.

Learning profile

Naturalistic: 22
Visual/spatial: 21
Musical: 16
Intrapersonal: 17
interpersonal: 21
Logical: 21
Linguistic: 17
This multiple intelligence has asked me questions about teamwork and e.t.c. It feels like a self reflection of myself. It tells me what i am better at. The questions that are asked are really significant as it relates to our everyday life. This quiz tells us what we are good at. This quiz also tells us as a person which type of smartness we are better at, be it picture smart, music smart, myself smart, people smart, number smart, word smart, body smart or nature smart. This quiz gives us a overview of what we are better at. To get accurate results from this quiz, one must be honest when attempting the questions and not randomly clicking.

Perseverance

Perseverance is something that most people lack. Many people tend to give up on what they are doing once they fail or they encounter difficulties. People that give up and do not persevere till the end seldom succeed as they are unable to overcome the difficulties and failures that they have met. Only people that are willing to learn from their mistakes and persevere till they obtain success. These type of people are determined to complete their task and are undaunted by any obstacles that they may face. They normally obtain success.

Abusive behaviour

Bullies are common around Singapore, be it bullying animals or people. Through bullying, the bully feel a sense of power and superiority over the bullied. These bullies are normally self centered and are lonely. Some bullies even take pictures of the bullied and posts it online to humiliate the victim even more. Most people that see the pictures normally laugh at the victim while others may pity the victim. Regardless of which, the victim will become a laughing stock. Bullies take no remorse for their actions and are actually amused by what they are doing.
Other people tend to bully small animals such as cats, dogs e.t.c. The reason they bully small animals is either for amusement or to vent their anger on helpless little animals. They either stone the animals, kick them, try to hang them or drown them in a river. These bullies take animals as nothing but mere objects. These bullies or rather murderers should treat animals as they would to any other humans as animals are living creatures as well. Animals are here to accompany us, the world belongs to not just us but every other living thing on it.

Loaning cash and casino gambling

Many people love gambling to take time off their work and have some relaxation. However, soon gambling becomes an addiction that they cannot get rid of. They keep gambling after losing as they want to earn back the money that they had lost. Eventually, the gamble will run out of money. However, the gamble still wants to continue gambling as he believes that he can earn back the money he lost on gambling. But he is already broke, so he has no other choice but to take loans from loan sharks.
Loan sharks charge incredibly high interest for loans they give out and use various threats to force their clients to return the money they had borrowed.
Most of the time the gambler is unable to return the cash he had borrowed and needs more money. Gambling not only ruins peoples lives, but also increases stress. Gamblers start feeling stress whenever they gamble as they are desperate to win, either to pay their debts or to make money.

Lying

There are 2 types of lies, one is to cover up for a mistake that you have made, and another is to please others.

Lying to cover up is used more commonly than lying to please others. Majority of people who lie to cover up are teenagers and young children. The reason many people lie to cover up is because they are afraid of the consequences that they will face if other people find out about their mistakes, mainly their parents.

An example of lying to please others is many people in China are now lying to their parents, by bringing fake dates home for chinese new year. The date is paid money to go home with the payer. This is because many "pushy" parents are forcing their children to bring home their date. The singles would pay the opposite gender that they are so called "dating" if they were to go home with them for chinese new year. The children are doing this in order to please their parents.

Chinese New Year

1 year has flown by and now I am 14 years old. However, this year's Chinese new year celebration at my school was not as interesting as last year. Last year, the various performance by different CCAs were much more interesting an attention grabbing as compared to this years. It is evident as seen from how restless the student body was during the performances. Most of the teachers present at Kah Kee Hall were talking amongst themselves as well. Well after the event ended, most of my ex-schoolmates went together towards the bus stop to take a bus back to our primary school.
However, instead of going with them, I went home. Although that day was pretty boring, i could still feel the excited atmosphere of new year coming from my family.

Misplacing of public property

As many people living in Singapore may have noticed, many public properties such as trolleys at supermarkets are often misplaced. Is this because patronizers are just too forgetful to put the trolleys back? Or is it because of convenience that they just leave trolleys lying around? Either way, Singaporeans should have more personal responsibility. What would visitors from other countries think about Singaporeans if they are to see such behavior? This will tarnish the good image of Singapore in the eyes of many and other countries may start looking down at Singapore. Why is it that it is so hard for us to just return the trolleys after using them? Some countries even have security guards patrolling near the supermarkets to ask patronizers to return the trolleys on time.
Through this small act of returning trolleys after usage, we can see just how much responsibility people have. Additionally, some people even tend to damage the trolley! Sometimes, when we take a trolley, we often find out that a wheel is dented, or that there are bumps in the trolley. Could this have been caused accidentally or deliberately by the users?