Online Lesson 11

Good afternoon Mr Lundberg and listeners. The theme of my speech today is prejudice against foreign labour workers in Singapore. They help us with the labor work, of which many singaporeans are unwilling to do. However, is it really fair treatment for these workers by the locals? Just a few years back when the government had launched plans of building a dormitory in the neighbourhood estate of Serangoon, objections were raised immediately. Reasons such as these workers would loiter around at night, littering and making unnecessary loud noises were given. It was even mentioned in a dialogue talk that the residents feared a increasing crime rate in the estate, and that their maids would hook up with these workers. 4000 residents that were livin in the immediate vicinity of the selected area immediately signed a petition to oppose this idea as well. These claims made by the residents may have been seen as mere assumptions, but it has been observed that in Jalan Kayu, a residential area of these workers of which there are 2 dorms housing around 6000 foreign workers, that these workers loiter around late at night, litter, and behave rowdily as well. In another context, foreign workers may be referred to foreign talents, who are employed to work in the knowledge-based industry of Singapore. This would include teachers, company advisors and etc. A common Mistaken view point is that these people snatch jobs from the locals, which sounds extremely nasty... But is this the actual case? NO!! instead, they contribute to the various trades. Teachers would mould out better students with their expertise in the different subjects, and talents who work in private sectors of companies would help the country's economy to blossom. So, is the prejudice against these foreigners really so justifiable? Not at all. One can't expect that were practiced for a lifetime to be changed over time. It's the same theory that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. So we gotta learn to accept the habits of the foreign workers. Furthermore, these workers have no entertainment in their domitories. Thus, loitering around is the only kind of leisure to them. At the same time, people should not view foreign talents as competition, but as encouragements for them to upgrade themselves, in order to strive for a better job. Thus i conclude that prejudice against foreign workers are not justifiable and shouldnt exist.

Online Lesson 10

She had enough of this. She wanted to stop all of these right away. But it was really out of her control. She knew that it was partially her fault, being too concerned about her own career, and not giving her child enough attention. Especially when he was a 15-year-old. In the stage of puberty, having his tantrums. She knew that what he need was a little more concern from her, a little more attention from her.

It was tough for her internally, it was the peak of her career. But the peak of her son's emotional instability as well. Career vs. Family. It was impossible to balance between the 2. She was no superwoman. Lying on her bed, she was frustrated about this matter. To her, if she had given up her career, it would be a wasted 15years in the trade. Nonetheless, if she did not do so, it means that she would not be able to help her son. Would she want her son to turn into a gangster? Learn the wrong ways? Get onto the wrong track? Finally leading the wrong life?

She lied on her bed, closed her eyes. Thoughts flew threw her mind. As she went drifting into her dreamland, she have gotten her decision made. The next morning, an email was sent. She got onto her car, dressed casually, with her son in it. She knew she made to right choice.

In-class online lesson #9

R&R:
1) He is describing cannons that are mounted onto war ships.

2) "Jackies" refer to the soldiers that are going for the coming war, and the "war chanties" refer to them winning the war, thus cheering about their victory.

3) The shovel are used to scoop out the soil, which refers to scooping out soil and making space for the dead bodies of the soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for the war. The word "gun" implies the equipment of the soldiers, thus having been a soldier and held a gun, means there was a chance that the soldier would come into contact with the "brother" of it, the shovel, which signifies death. And implying that death and war are related in a way or another, thus the whole sentence, is stating that soldiers would have to sacrifice their lives during war.

4) It is to signify that after a war, when the victorious party gets hold of a city they have defeated, that they have authority over the citizens, and that the citizens do not dare to go against any command from the enemy soldiers. However, this is so as they no have other choice but to do so.

5) The effect of such contrasting actions between the 2 stanza is that, is to tell the reader that war is a cycle, and that things repeat themselves again and again. After something is knocked down, it has to be rebuilt once again. From the effect, I can safely assume that the persona'a attitude is that the citizens and soldiers have hope to gain back their freedom, since after they have lost their city, they will gain it back as war is a cycle.

6) I find that it is always much harder to built up a society once again, after it has been torn down. The society may not only refer to it's infrastructure, but the whole lot of it, including the citizen's psychological and physical pain. For example, when Singapore defeated by the Japanese during 1942, it only took a few days before the morale of the whole city dropped, and that they thought that they could not have survived the whole thing that easily. It lasted for 3 years, and during this 3 years, numerous innocent citizens of Singapore had died, causing psychological pain to their friends and relatives. After the British took back their ex-colony, it was tough building back from scratch. The hardest part of rebuilding the society, is still attempting to recover the citizens confidence in them. It was also living hell for them, when they thought back of the horrible scenes they have witnessed during the occupation itself. The mental harm they were going through from the loss of their loved ones were also incurable in such a short period of time. Building back infrastructure was not much of a problem, but for the society to get back, the people had recover from their mental shock first.

7) There is a progression from loud sounds to softer ones, this can be seen from "drum of hoofs", followed by "hum of motors" and lastly "silent wheels". I imagine the sound of future wars to be much more silent, as technology improves, there will be more advanced weapons being devised. And from then on, war will not be 1 to compete who have better soldiers, but to compete who have the latest equipment and arms. "Silent" makes  me infer that the future wars may be about silencing people, without attracting attention. Such examples may be Chemical Wars, ironically silent yet deadly, compared to military fights.

8) ?


War Poem:

Germany and the Japanese,
taking lives of many.
First it was the killing,
followed by horrendous bombings.

Jews and other countries,
lived in fear in time.
First it was the worrying,
followed my the memories.

America and Europe,
stopped this tragedy from continuing.
First the nuclear bomb,
followed by massive killing.

What was lost?
Oh, what was lost.
Lives of the innocent,
innocent of their deaths.

Self-obsession and Narcissism

Effects of the rise of narcism may be more polluted streets, or congested roads. The world may even become a more selfish place. This is caused by people only thinking bout themselves and not the rest of the society. Our streets in Singapore may ger dirtier, and the already congested roads in Singapore may get more jammed up during peak periods. For example, a Narcisst who thinks that convenience is a way of loving himself, and thus start throwing his/her litter all around the streeta, anywhere near by. As long as the litter is gotten rid of, it doesn't really matter. This is a kind if behavior carried out my Narcisst. If which they only care about themselves, and show no concern for the society.
Self-obsession, would make people more selfish, they would tend to concentrate on their well-being more then others. As such, these Narcisst would come up with selfish acts, for example, scamming or deceiving people for their own personal benefits. Which could turn this world into 1 that is cold and unhappy. As people tend to get cheated, they would start to become more wary of others, and the vicious cycle continues. 
In conclusion, narcism is a selfish behavior of which practices only concern the narcist himself, without giving thought on how the actions would affect the rest of the people.

Would I have shown mercy if I was Ameneh Bahrami

Yes. I would show mercy to the attacker. This is because there is no point for me to cause another person to get blinded. For a blind person, the toughness of being unable to see the world and the things happening around 1 is horrible. For a person who have already experienced such horror, there would not be a need for another person to experience such treatment. Eye-for-an-eye justice may seem as something deserving for one who have done misdeeds. However, the fear if known that 1, in this case, is going to get blinded should have been more terrifying then knowing that he/she is blind. Thus the meaning eye-for-an-eye doesn't really apply in the first place!