Is Shylock a villain or a victim?

In Merchant of Venice, Shylock is both a victim and a villain. Shylock is a victim he is the subject of discrimination and bully by the citizens of Venice. For example, Antonio often insults him by calling him names like "cut-throat dog" and "misbeliever". Another incident when Shylock is being bullied is when the beggars on the street mock at him when his daughter, Jessica, fled with Lorenzo and even took away with her Shylock's hard-earned ducats and his gems. A large portion of Shylock's business of usury has also been snatched away by Antonio. Antonio, like most of the Venetians, disapprove of the usury, the business of lending money and getting it back with an interest. To show disapproval of Shylock, Antonio lends money to others gratis (without interest), a sign of open competition to Shylock's business. This would make people who want to borrow money to go to Antonio instead of Shylock as it is a more lucrative and money-saving option, and therefore Shylock's business is being stolen by Antonio (note that Shylock did not be an moneylender because he wanted to be one, but because he cannot find other jobs in Venice as he is a Jew and no one wants to employ him).

However, Shylock is not a an innocent victim. He, too, is guilty of offending others and doing heinous acts. For example, the entire plot to get the pound of Antonio's flesh (with the intention of taking away is life as well) was planned by Shylock under the facade of justice. Shylock makes use of Antonio's willingness to help Bassanio and his confidence that he have much more than enough money at hand than the amount he has to pay by the time the bond is due to make him sign the bond which states that Antonio will have to forfeit a pound of flesh if he fails to pays Shylock the stated amount in the bond when the bond expires. To make Antonio unsuspecting of his intentions, Shylock says that "in a merry spot", Antonio would have to forfeit a pound of flesh if he fails to repay Shylock the sum of money on time. When Antonio eventually could not pay Shylock the money as his money was put in his ships and his ships did not return on time, Shylock mocked at Antonio and promised that he would have his bond. Moreover, when Antonio and his friends try to convince Shylock to give Antonio more time and not be so cruel, Shylock insisted that he would have the pound of Antonio's flesh and justified his action by the fact that Antonio has bullied and humiliated him previously, and now he would have the right do it back on Antonio. In this case, Shylock's argument shows that he is a hypocritical person as he expects others to show kindness to him and not to insult him, while he does not have the same expectation for himself. These show that Shylock is exacting revenge by attempting to take away the life of his enemy under the facade of justice.

Should US have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan?

The US should have dropped on the atomic bomb on Japan. Since the start of World War 2, Japan has been invaded many Asian countries, some of which were much bigger than itself. This caused the Allied forces to see Japan as a major threat, for fears that the war would spread to their countries. The US had taken steps to stop the war. They include the extensive bombing of major Japanese cities, which destroyed more than 40 percent of these places on avcerage. Despite the severe loss, Japan stubbornly refused to surrender. Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, had also come under attack by the Allied forces but they surrenderred by the end of April 1945. In an effort to force Japan to surrender, the US gave Japan the Potsdam Ultimatum, which stated that if Japan did not not surrender, it would result in "the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland". Despite the previous bombings and the ultimatum, Japan still decided to carry on with the war. This proved the conventional bombing that the US had carried out ineffective as it did not bring Japan anywhere near surrenderring despite the great amount of damages done to major cities. Hence, the US decided to drop the atomic bomb, the bomb that could wipe out an entire city.

Logical fallacy in comments regarding current GE

There are certain logical fallacies in speeches of certain contestants of the upcoming GE. For example, The Straits Times wrote that Wong Kan Seng stated "during all his neighbourhood visit, nobody had asked him about Mas Selamat". However, this has no link to the question whether he is responsible for Mas Selamat's escape and why voters should support him even after the Mas Selamat incident.

The opposition candidate for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Chiam See Tong, also had logical fallacy in his speech when he rebutted the claim that he only made one comment throughout the parliament meetings discussing about Mas Selamat's escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre. Chiam See Tong said that he asked "whether heads would roll over the issue of Mas Selamat. The PAP did not give me a good answer. The reason I didn't ask more question was that we were waiting for the elections, and we believe in accountability". Firstly, Chiam See Tong only stated the the PAP MPs did not give him a good answer. However, he did not state what were their answers. Hence, without even hearing what the PAP MPs said, we cannot assume that their answers were not good. Moreover, his statement that "the reason I didn't ask more questions was that we were waiting for the elections, and we believe in accountability" is also flawed. There is no link in the sentence "the reason I didn't ask more question was that we were waiting for the elections". It would not make a difference whether Wong Kan Seng is accountable for Mas Selemat's escape whether the questions were asked then or when the elections come.

Can students be given the autonomy to develop their own curriculum?

Students should not be given the autonomy to develop their own curriculum. If they are allowed to develop their curriculum, education would not be as effective, to the extent that they might not even learn anything.

Students definitely would not know what is needed to succeed in life, or they would not even need education. Hence, they will not be able to come up with proper plans for their curriculum. Moreover, students of lower levels, being immature people, may just end up adding things that they prefer doing rather than things that can aid in self-improvement into the curriculum. Teachers, having gone through enough experiences in life, would understand better what is needed to succeed in life, and can plan the curriculum such that students can learn these skills.

While some may argue that we school should be an enjoyable experience, joy should not be compromised with the goals of education. The purpose of education is to equip students with the necessary skills that can come in useful in life, whether at that point in time or at a later stage of life. Education also aims to instill a good sense of self-awareness, a sound moral compass for pupils. Education also aims to groom responsible and confident people, as well as self-directed learners. If students were to come up with the curriculum, will they be able to come up with an apt one that can satisfy the goals stated?

Hence, I feel that students should not be given the autonomy to develop their own curriculum.

Why should we bother about things happening far away from us?

In whichever aspect, a country would definitely be affected by an event happening in another. Nowadays, the world is getting increasingly connected, and we will have to be aware of the things happening far away from us, things occurring in faraway foreign places.

Events occurring in faraway places can affect our economy. For example, in the recent earthquake that shook Japan that started on March 11 2011, the economy of the areas affected by the earthquake came near to a standstill, causing a decrease in the overall Japanese produce. As Japan is the third-largest economy and exports large amounts of goods, many countries are dependent on the goods produced by Japan. A decline in Japanese produce would result in an increase in the prices of the products of Japan. Another example, which has caused mass economic devastation worldwide, would be the 2008 US recession. Although the sub-prime mortgage only occured in the US, the crisis resulted in many economies around the world to plunge into recession. Therefore, no matter how far away the event is from us, it would still affect us economically.

Knowing about and caring about events happening in countries far away from us would allow us to react to them on time. Perhaps, knowing about the things happening far away from us could even save our lives. Take the 2004 Asian tsunami for example. The epicentre of the tsunami was off Aceh, Indonesia. Although the epicentre of the quake was hundreds of kilometres away from countries like India, tha Maldives and Thailand, these countries, which have coasts facing the Indian Ocean, were not spared from the huge waves. If these people were had kept up with the news, had known that a tsunami had hit the west coast of Sumatra, and had some knowledge about tsunami, they could have escaped on time before the tsunami whipped the shores of these countries. From the above example, we can tell that being aware of events happening in other countries would allow us to react on time.

Being aware of things happening in other countries can also help improve political relationship between countries. When a country experiences trouble, other countries who are aware of the situation can offer help. When the troubled countries would be thankful to those who rendered assistance, and this will improve ties between these countries. For example, during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Japan was one of the first countries to offer help in rescue services. China appreciated the help to a certain extent and during the recent Japan earthquake, China sent a rescue team to Japan to reciprocate their previous assistance.

War narrative

I raced through the alley, with a bulky equipment in arm. It was the first time going to war, the first time going on a real mission, and also the first time running such a long distance with a 7 kg rifle. Beads of perspiration trickled down my cheeks as I dashed towards the camp despite being enervated from the running such a long distance. Everything around shone in the crimson evening light, signalling that there was not much time left for me to reach the camp. I had parachute from a plane and arrived in a forest nearby. The only task for today is to reach the camp and have sufficient rest in order to carry out tomorrow’s mission.

As I rushed past the long stretch of doors, the chilling wind whipped against my face. The air seemed fresher than before and the entire village seemed to turn placid after a bustling day. Incessant chatter resounded through the air as families tucked into their dinner. There seemed to be a sense of warmth lingering around this village as the people here chatted in joy. Perhaps not. In frigid air, I was panting for breath, perspiring profusely. If not for my country calling all men to join the war, I would have been at home spending time with my family too.

As these thought passed, I neared the camp. The camp was a dilapidated biscuit factory vacated for quite a while. Paint from its façade had started peeling off, exposing a brown layer of bricks at certain parts of the building.

I called a comrade through my mobile phone to inform his that I had reached the camp. Seconds later, the rusty iron door creaked open. John stood at the door. Within a split second, I had entered the building, breathing in stale air filled with the smell of filed wood. The door closed gently.

“Come in quickly next time” John said in a low voice, “Don’t let anyone discover us”.

Letter of encouragement to Japan earthquake survivor

Sam Tan
50 Lincoln Road
Singapore 505050

22 March 2011

Dear Kumiko,

How are you? I understand that the 9.0 magnitude tsunami struck your village in Fukushima, almost everything has been

levelled and the villagers are currently staying in cramp shelters. I also understand that your daughter was swept away by

the tsunami waves and she is yet to be found.

I sympathise with you about this. However, do not be upset. Rescue workers from several countries have been scouring the

quake site these few days. These people are mostly from the Civil Defense of their repective countries and have the

experience in the field of rescuing. With their help, your wife should be found soon. I also understand that your house

and cars have been destroyed by the tsunami waves. After things have settled down, I can lend you some money to purchase a

new house. Alternatively, you can also come over to Singapore. I have two vacant room in my apartment and can let you stay

here while things are settled in Japan.

I urge you to stay optimistic during this period of time. Do take care of yourself by drinking and eating sufficiently.

Being displaced to a shelter might not be that bad after all. You can take this opportunity to interact with the people

there, something that you would not have time to do during normal days. Perhaps, you might even get to know a few new

friends.

Do lead a happy life, have enough rest and remember to look after your children. Be tough in this period of ordeal.

Cheers,
Sam