Can justice and mercy co-exist

Can justice and mercy co-exist?

think of it this way. there is a murderer, convicted to the death sentence, but is let off due to the mercy of the judge. instead, after being slapped with a fine and a few weeks in a cell, he escapes scott free, will this then, be justice, even though it is mercy.

the obvious answer is no, while there is one, there cannot be another, and the reverse argument cannot hold either. as stated above, while one is practised the other has to be forgone. simple because of the difference in the definitions. justice is going by the book of law, while mercy is steering away from what that book says and being more lenient.

but there are conditions where the two can indeed co-exist, but these situations are both rare and when it happens there is still conflict.

one way would be that the victim spares the guilty party on his/her own accord. if this is done, the victim would not see it as an act of injustice as the person spared the guilty on his own accord, thus bending the definition of justice as no one seems to be at a point of injustice as it is a totally mutual agreement between them.

another case is in fact, the degree of mercy shown in the case itself. lets go back to the case first mentioned, the murderer and the victim. of course, it would sound atrocious to to slap him with a fine and a short jail term. but what if he was given the life sentence, would things then be different. definitely.

think about it, the murderer was able to escape with his life, he should feel glad, the victim has seen the justice administered, and the convic has gotten his just deserts

the main reason for creating the character Shylock was to personify the Jews, which were a very infamous religion as the rivaled the belief of the christians, as the Jews were another larger religion, thought still smaller than the christians.

throughout the book, Shylock is portrayed as rather inhumane, with little pity and emotion. he demanded a pound of flesh from Antonio, and seemed totally void of pity when begged for mercy. also, when his daughter left home, he hoped not for his dauhgter, but the small fortune that the daughter had gone off with.

with these two forms of description, Shylock seems like a riches above kin, revenge over humane kind of person, and the further emphasis on the fact that he is a Jew makes people all the more strereotypical towards the jews

also, in the court scene, he is portrayed as some one who would rather accept punishment than repent, which goes to show how much Shylock is devoted to his religion, which was then not a very highly-respected religion.

Also, he was portrayed as the type of person who was bullied by the christians. through verbal insults and acts like spitting, there was an obvious hatred Shylock had towards the Christians, which are a sort of evidence ans wering the question of Shylocks prejudice.

thus, this puts Shylock in a better, and worse light. Now, he is someone who is not just snapping at the Christians randomly, but has his own reasons for doing so. also, he is put into an even worse light than before because he now seems like a lunatic bent on revenge.

thus, i am guessing that this was probably shakespeares point of view of the Jews at that time.

he was probably trying his best to condense the general Jew under a single character, whether to ridicule or help them

i feel that Jim Rogers is an extremely far sighted man, and he is trying to say, not only the West has potential, which is definitely true. China is definitely a rising superpower in the world. with gargantuan landmass, and the willingness to work, it is no surprise that China may eventually overtake America.

thus, will it be very useful to learn English only for future? not really. Of course it will be useful to a certain extent because you can still do business in English speaking countries, you will not even be able to touch China for development, as unless through an interpreter, you will fail greatly to communicate with almost the whole population.

thus, what is the best method to maintain happy's English roots, yet be able to venture out into new areas for economic purposes? bilingualism of course. which is essentially learning more than 1 language, but 2

by learning both English and Mandarin, they will be able to do business with both the current superpower, and the rising superpower. in a way, whichever country, be it America or China that makes it to the top, someone who can be in touch with both, benefits from both.

essentially, having a wider spectrum of languages increases the number of business opportunities and the thing is, most Americans are not realising this as America has been the best for many decades,

thus, many people do not see the need for 'when you cannot beat them, join them', and they continue to have their heads in the clouds

her main complaint, it seems, is the rigidness and inflexibility of the education system. to her, asking 'why' is taboo, and students do not need to understand the cold hard facts forced into their minds, all they have to do, it seems, is to memorise them.

The way of studying is no longer understanding and doing, it is about memory-work now. people are no longer concerned about how these nuggets of knowledge will affect them in their real life, and how these will be useful, but instead, they focus on how to use these knowledge to pass tests with flying colours.

thus, this creates a person who only focuses on the short term obstacles and are not looking at the big picture. they are in a certain way of speaking, short-sighted. these are studying for the wrong reasons. they are not trained to ask questions, but t give answers.

'You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.'

said Naguib Mahfouz, thus no matter how many answers and facts someone knows, he is only clever, till he can break from this education scheme and start asking, then he will be truly wise.

Now, the question lies, is ideal education possible?

this is a question that requires one to think deeper. there are a few things to think about. subjects themselves are rigid, but in the real world, people will not ask you for the sum of numbers. the open world is flexible and different from school.

thus, you cant have the best of both worlds. to be clever, you have to rigidly learn. To be wise on the other hand, you have to flexible and eager.

So, to make people wise and clever takes very long. Education is a lifelong process. thus with this much time to make the best of people is very difficult a process. thus to make a flawless education system in the time dedicated to education, is not enough

Is there a difference between treating water as a human right and as a commodity? In your opinion, should water be treated as a human right or as a co

Firstly, what is a commodity, and what defines the term 'human rights'. Firstly, the term commodity refers to a useful or valuable thing (water is an example ). the term human rights on the other hand refers to a right that is believed to belong justifiably to every person.

Thus from the definitions, it is right to say that it is different to treat water as a commodity and as a human right. If all referred to water as a human right, which all should have, then should they not be giving out gallons by now, but instead there is PUB bills, charging people for their water consumption. Yes, it may be a measure so that they do not use water senselessly, but at the end of the day, they reap the profits of it. they are thus treating it as a commodity, giving to those who can afford it, and cutting those who cannot afford it away from it.

In my opinion water should be treated as a human right for people all walks of life. Water, whether you like it or not, is not just a vital factor for economic development, but a neccesity for survival. yes, though 75% of the Earth is water, people do not have the ability to filter it. Rich people thus treat water a commodity for profit purposes.

but we do have to consider the people who treat it as a commodity and their reasons. Some have no choice but to use water as their income. In poorer counties, the only thing in demand is the water itself, but of course, they have to charge the buyers for the water out of the need for cash.

in this case, it is acceptable to charge.

As mentioned before, to control the usage of water. if water was given to everyone for free would people come to treasure it. the obvious answer is no. People would use it anyhow they wanted to and eventually, despite Earth's water abundance, it would deplete. then, it would be too late to regret it.

So in a nutshell, water has always been a commodity, and should remain that way. only with a price tag attached on the water they use, will the people be careful about how they use it. Water trade is also one of the things that is keeping the economy moving.

In your opinion, should the giving of weekly days off be legislated in Singapore?

In my opinion, maids are every much as human as all of us, it i only fair that they, like us get an off-day. I am sure that they too, want a day off whereby they can let loose and talk openly to their friends.

With reference to the recent events, be it on STOMP or on the papers, more and more maids are taking advantage of moments alone with elderly to do their own things, such as hair re bonding in one instance. Thus, by giving them their day off, they will less likely try to sneak time to do such acts.

Similarly, there are the social problems of these aspects as well. the people they mix with might be the wrong company, which could even endanger their lives. Quoting from the Straits Times, the maid who got murdered by her Bangladesh boyfriend while they met up. Clearly, wrong company is a hazard and a hindrance to allowing the maids to leave the house .

Once again they are human, they are working in Singapore and it is not right to treat them like they do not matter at all. they are like a tortoise in a well. they work in Singapore yet have never seen the sights there, it will not be fair if all they have seen from application to termination, is the walls of our homes.

Similarly, apart from chores, they are also assigned to take care of children and elderly, thus making it all the more inconvenient to leave the house at all. Yet, being a domestic worker is a job that requires a lot of commitment. Just think, one person's work quality controls the hygeine of the entire house.

Similarly, prevention is better than cure. i would rather the maid remain confined than have her life endangered or here wealth targeted in any way.

term2 lesson 2

War was everywhere, leaving nothing but destruction. Hunger plagued the land, everyone was starving. The only word to describe the people here, was scrawny. With almost no flesh on their bodies, and their frail legs barely supported their skinny bodies. The atmosphere itself was saddening.
Everyone was cynical. They seemed to hold the mindset that nothing would change for the better, and that the war that ravaged their once peaceful lands was going to be eternal.
As a journalist from Singapore, i only felt guilt as their sorrowful eyes met mine, and almost at once, i realised that i wanted to do so much more for them, and realised that war benefits nobody.
i found myself digging into my pockets, trying to find the tiniest morsel of food, to feed these innocent people. they did not deserve to suffer. They received the food gratefully.
These, were of the few burned by the war, they did not deserve it, neither should anyone else...

my comments

reflections...

This week's blog assignment requires you to write a 200 word reflection on the LA lessons covered so far. In your reflection, you may include the following points:

• what you have learnt/gained in the LA programme up to this point;
• what you like about the programme;
• the change(s) that you hope to see in the programme; and
• a lesson that you particularly enjoyed and why

from the LA lessons so far, i have basically picked up the skills and the criteria to write a good short story. i have also had a better understanding on too kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee. the criteria part has taught me what defines a good short story, and know an incomplete short story when i see one.

i like the LA program a lot because it condenses literature and English into one subject, thus making it very easy to study, and a lot more interesting than just plain English or plain Literature, which requires us to 'mug' more than learn.

yet i hope that the lesson can be more interesting if we get to opt for the book that we want to study on. this will give us the initiative to read the story more on our own than just reading for the sake of reading the book. thus, the book can be completed at faster pace and will be more convenient for the teacher if he/she wants to elaborate on the book.

I particularly enjoyed the lesson when we were expected to write a story. this made me think harder on how to express that particular character and i myself also have to know basically what this character is like and so on. but the bad part is i could not condense all of the characters traits in the same exert.

t1 wk 5

As you step inside that enclosed court, you are immediately greeted by the musty smell of shoes, rubber and sweat, a tell-tale sign that someone has used it not too long ago. the lines of red seem to mock you everytime you miss a shot and the tin sounds sonorously as if laughing at your precision.

Sometimes, that place seems like a place to have fun, but other times, during the competition,

it makes you sweat profuesly despite the cooling air-conditioner. the boxes at the sides seem like two eyes sometimes, staring at you.

yet, the most interesting thing in the court is the permanent black streaks on the side walls, created when the dirt-covered balls rub against the walls at high speeds. it is almost like these streaks tell the age and the maintenence of the court itself, an interesting feature in the court which is almost white all over.

the last thing that is special would be the wire netting above the highest line. this netting is as irritating as a mosquito, sucking up all the balls that belong to others. Balls that get stuck between the wires are never picked, waiting till another ball knocks them out from the other side.

charecterisation, story exerpt

On the surface, Reborn may look like an ordinary home tutor, but he is actually a hitman, training the 10^th Vongola boss to be a proper mafia boss. He may look a lot like a baby, but that is due to his pacifier, as he is one of the archebalengo.

Reborn heard from tsuna’s mother that there would be a parents meeting the next day, Reborn, all cooped up in the house because of his previous fiascos, was dying to hhave some fun. When everyone else was asleep, he drew out the plans for the next day.

The next day, a student fell extremely sick, and had to be escorted by the teacher to the sick bay. Not wanting to waste the chance, Reborn promptly got dressed in his best suit and pretended to be a relief teacher.

After gaining the trust of the gullible parents by writing overly-complex questions with no answers on the board, reborn was ready to have his fun. Slowly, he asked the students one by one for the answer, and if they could not give one, Reborn threw bombs at them.

Later on, the bombing game was starting to get old. Reborn then claimed that it was time to raise their IQ the scientific way. Once again, after providing nonsensical evidence that if they were put in an electrical chair, they would grow smarter, Reborn continued with his torturous game.

After a while, the parents were aware of his tricks and eventually managed to chase him out. But Reborn did not care, he had had his fair share of fun, and now it was time to go back home.

the place that means the most to me? that is not a very difficult question, and it is the squash court in school. it may only seem to be a place thatis for exercise only, but it has brought me a lot of happy memories.

Firstly, the 2010 trials, I beat all the sec 2 students in squash, sequring me a sweet solid place in the nationals, earning me much valuable experience that stills help me in my current competitions. this is also the place where i made most of my friends, although most were sec 2 instead of sec 1, but nonetheless they were good friends i could rely on.

this was also the place i spent a big portion of my holidays, since school was out and there was no trouble to go home, i spent even more time in the court, further improving and the results showed in competitions.

but after saying this much, how does this link to my identity. basically, it links to my identity because it is the only thing that sets me apart from others, because i am proud to say i am the only one in sec one last year that played it competetively, and my constant absence during the first few weeks because of the nationals has set me apart from others.

E-learning on 24th Jan comic strip

i have selected the theme of 'discrimination' and the plot is about a piece of burnt pizzas in a town of uncooked pizzas, though neither one is very edible, the uncooked ones stilll think they are supirior.
i mostly chose city as the background, and enhances the fact that this is a real-life problem.

my main character is a black pizza, otherwisw a negro in real life, the rest white, or caucasions, discriminate the black through speech and ostrasiation.

B. i used differnt backgrounds to highlight that this is happening everywhere,

week 2 post

this song is trying to convey the message that the world we live in has many problems, like chemical warfare,terrorism, wars and the heavy use of propaganda when they sang 'the wars going on but the reasons undercover.' and 'wrong information always shown by the media. So they are trying to tell us that there is only one world, which is slowly dying, and we have to treasure it, because we will not have a second chance.
the part that has the most impact on me is the part 'Overseas yeah we tryin to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK', this part has a big impact on me because it is a bold direct critic to the USA government about how they are trying so hard to stop terrorism overseas that they are neglecting the local threat. this is however, true to a certain extent, as the USA has used a lot of effort to curd the Afghanistan threat. they may not be able to keep its order.

to kill a mockingbird

After reading the book 'to kill a mockingbird' by Harper Lee, it has left a big impact on me. first, let me start with a short summary.

Jem and 'scout', who are siblings, live in an old town called maycomb. In the town there is a rundown old house belonging to the infamous 'Boo' Radley, a negro who was rumoured to be extremely dangerous. As a result, nobody in maycomb dared to even take a step into his house. Also, 'Boo' almost never came out of his house, so Jem and 'scout' had never seen him before.

Their father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer in the town. Unlike most of the folks in Maycomb, Atticus is not prejudiced towards Negros, and even acts as an attorney for the negro criminal Tom Robinson. this earned him the name 'nigger-lover', but despite that, he still tries his best to protect Tom.

Close to the end of the story, when Jem and 'Scout' were in big danger, their ironic saviour was Boo Radley, the negro they used to tease and disturb. this changed the views towards Negros in Macomb. Boo Radley also shows himself once again.

This story has left quite an impression on me. Maybe most of us as Singaporeans do not know much about prejudice against Negros or ostracising because of skin colour. this is because of the government's effort to make Singapore multi-racial. But in the west, as it seems, most people are prejudiced against Negros not because they did anything bad or committed any grave sin, the are only prejudiced because of simply what they are. Almost everyone in America is biased towards whites, the have places exclusively for whites, jobs which only whites can take up, schools which only whites can go. this system is also poisoning the minds of younger generations because these measures will really make them think that they are superior to the Negros, so unless someone breaks this chain, the endless cycle will continue