True Justice and Mercy in Merchant of Venice

  After reading through the trial scene in Merchant of Venice which is Act 4 Scene 1, the most important theme in this trial scene is justice versus mercy. So, there is always questions asked about this scene.
  Is there true justice? In my opinion, I will say that there is not really true justice in this scene. Shylock wants a pound of flesh from Antonio as a form of hatred but Portia only merely twisted the words in Shylock's bond which is cutting a flesh from Antonio but not dripping a drip of blood. We can use another example to prove if true justice is done. A person bought a plot of land and wanted to use it to build something. But, another person comes along and says that he did not buy the air that is enclosed by this land so he does not have the rights to use this plot of land. So, is this true justice. The answer is an absolute no. In reality, the true justice in Shylock's case should be the pound of flesh since Antonio did not repay the debt in time. However, Portia gave Shylock the "justice" that he wants which is not true at all. It is unfair to Shylock in this case when Portia twisted the words int he contract.
  The next question will be if there is true mercy as expounded by Portia? I do not think so. The true mercy should be that Portia let Shylock go when he gave up the pound of flesh. However, Portia did not do so. Portia did not show mercy. She forced Shylock into a corner and Shylock does not have a choice but to give up his estate in the end. This is the same as taking away Shylock's life and his freedom. Thus, we may feel that Portia has gone overboard and is a little inhumane. Portia felt that Shylock should deserve his punishment and therefore, she forced him to give up everything. This is not even "mercy" at all. In my opinion, this is cruelty. Portia could have let Shylock go which is then the true mercy.
  Justice and law could be manipulated by people in power. I feel that this is true. In Merchant of Venice, Antonio should be punished for not repaying his debt according to Shylock's bond but it was Shylock who got the punishment instead. So, justice and law could be  manipulated easily by people such as Portia. Portia just twisted and manipulate the words in the bond and the law and justice was turned against Shylock. There is another example where there is a speech made by Bassanio," In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But being seasoned with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil?" This means that even in law, if your case stinks, a smooth talking lawyer can make it smell sweets and cover up your dirty acts. This can also be related to real life examples where criminals get away from the charges when lawyers help them to cover up their criminal acts. Therefore, I agree that justice and law could be manipulated by people in power.

Education in Singapore

  I do not quite agree with the issues that the student has raised in the article. There are a few points that I want to voice out and disagree. Firstly, I want to comment on the point where the student said that education is only about memorizing facts here and there and they are not given a chance to ask questions in the class. I personally disagree with this point because I feel that in Hwa Chong, we are not treated in that attitude. Probably, it is because we are studying in different environments so we have different mindsets. In Hwa Chong, we are not told to memorizing facts but instead learn them in a different manner. I also disagree with her point that we are not given opportunities to ack questions in class and be inquisitive. In fact, it is absolutely the way round! We are given a lot of opportunities instead. We are always told to have group discussions and voice our own opinions in lessons. We also have a component which is oral communications. This component is to teach us to communicate more in class so that we can be nurtured into a leader. Therefore, I disagree with these two points.
  Secondly, I also want to disagree that PCME lessons are totally useless. In Hwa Chong, we are given PCME periods to learn more about moral values. Thus, these lessons are not useless at all. Instead, it is teaching us to be more mature. However, I do agree in primary school, our moral education lessons were often taken away just because we need to catch up with the syllabus. I still rememberes in primary school, when I was primary 6, our CME and social studies are taken away just to learn more about the core subjects to prepare us better for PSLE. However, that does not mean that these lessons are meaningless.
  I feel that the wirter's tone is quite appropriate. She does not use some violent words and have verbal attacks on the minister. Also, I feel that her comments are polite towards the minster. However, I feel that her comments are a bit too exaggerated and too straightfoward. This might let the minister to think that he has not done well enough. All in all, she seeks the minister's understanding and thus I feel that this is a well crafted letter.
 If I were to write a letter to the minister of education, I will raise some issues on solutions to improve the education in Singapore and to give the students studying in Singapore a more condusive environment. However, I would say that Singapore is pushing too much and forcing the students to learn. Probably, there could be some solutions to this problem. This is not at a healthy studying lifestyle for all of us. I feel that we should work together to improve the education of Singapore and not put the blame entirely on the minister of education.

For Love or Money

  So, is money important in a relationship? In my opinion, it is not necessarily so. But, I can agree money is only a small factor in a relationship and I think that true love is the real major factor in a relationship. However, I will not be with someone that is necessarily rich. I will only consider the amount of love between us. Think, will the relationship between a couple be a blissful one if it is only for money? The answer is no of course. There will not be care towards each other and their mindset will be just full of tactics to get hold of neach other's money. However, money is something that a couple should work together for in order to make their lives more comfortable and better. If a relationship started because o money, this relationship will not last at all because there is not any true love between the two of them. I feel that we should not start a relationship because of money nor even trying to play with other's feelings and cheat them of their money.
  I think that there is an upward trend of relationships and marriages valuing money over other qualities especially, love. Nowadays, people are getting more materialistic. They only value a relationship for money. They only want to live off the other person just because he is rich. They only care about money. What is so special about having money? Everyone should know that love is something that money cannot buy with. Thus, I feel that we should try to treasure love as much as we can. Money does not matters. It is true love that actually matters.

How has war evolved from the past to the present?

  War is something that is happening for a very long time for the past thousands of years. War is something that nobody will want because it takes away peace. But, how has war evolved from the past to the present? War still have its characteristic today--violence and killing. Everyone knows that war is about killing and taking away lives from innocent people.

The major difference between wars in the past and in the present is the weapons used. War is gradually evolving. In the past, very long ago, war were being fought with swords and arrows. However, guns were introduced into the battlefield by the Europeans. Then, cannons were invented. More and more weapons were being invented. In the present, when technology were more advanced, bombs and even powerful guns were invented such as the machine gun and the sub-machine gun. With these powerful weapons evolved, the violence in war has also increase. There will be cases where a bomb will kill innocent people.

Thus, I can conclude that war has evolved through the weapons used and the increase of violence and killing.