Week 4 Blog Prompt

In my personal view, I think that this letter serves as a great example of how we Singaporeans think of our education, and this, definitely has aroused my attention.

The tone of the letter written by the student is rather good, but sometimes, it is a bit too much. Firstly, I would like to comment on the point that she said that teachers do not explain things clearly, like the question "Why is carbon a non-metal?"

In my opinion, I think that all the why, what, who, how etc. questions, should not always rely on teachers to teach you. We must all learn to be independent and to learn how to study yourself and go into deeper research. This is also why you will see tougher questions in Science or other subjects, where a lot of research, notes, and a lot of self-study is required. Why is carbon a non-metal? This question can be solved if you go deep down into research, because you cannot expect your teacher to answer all of your questions. They do not have time too. Hence I do not agree with the writer. Yes, it is right that you cannot stop questioning, and children have a lot of curiosity in mind, but sometimes things have to be done yourself, rather than relying on others for help.

However, I do agree with her that memorization is not effective. Because memorization does not help in learning. If you only memorize, what if you met a phrase you do not understand? Do we even bother to check the dictionary, or go and research? If you memorize for the sake of getting good results for your teachers, your classmates, and your parents to see, then you are absolutely wrong. And this shows that you do not really understand the point of learning. You memorize so that you can apply those knowledge you have in the future, not just only for tests and examinations.

Let me make an example - Chinese idioms. Our Chinese teacher will test us 10 idioms every week. Yes, we have to memorize, and I believe that most of us only memorize the sentences only right? Memorization is no longer useful if you do not know what is it talking about, or the meaning of a sentence or phrase.

Also, if you only memorize, you will only know a limited amount of knowledge. The number of skilled people around the world is increasing. With that limited amount of knowledge, how are you going to face the society, where there will be all different kinds of challenges, and it is impossible to use only the few ways you 'memorized' to solve.

By ending my blog prompt, I think that the education system need to change as I think that it is already good enough. However, sometimes the attitudes of the students seriously need to change, because their way of learning things may not lead them to the road of success.

Week 3 Blog Prompt

In your opinion, is money or love more important?

Is money important in a relationship?

Yes, I agree that money is only a small factor in a relationship. Instead, I think that love is very important in a relationship.

There is no use if he/she is rich. The problem is that whether he/she has the love in you, and do you love him/her? Or both of you want to get married just for money? Money and love is both precious. But money can be replaced, but what about love? Love can never be replaced. We should not cheat others by getting into relationship with others just for money.

Nowadays, more teenagers are more towards money already. They only want to live off just because of money. Love is something money cannot buy with, and we should treasure love as much as we can. It does not matter about money. True love matters.

Week 2 Blog Prompt

In your opinion, how has war evolved from the past to present?

It takes away peace, it is happening for a very long time for the past thousands of years, it is something that nobody will want, and that is war.

But, how has war evolved from the past to the present? The common thing in war is still violence and killing. It takes away many innocent lives.

In the past, people fight with swords, cannons and arrows. Those are the basic weapons for going to war. However as the technology improves gradually, from time to time, guns, rifles, and stronger and more effective weapons were introduced into war with more effective power and more accurate killing.

Now bombs were created. This is why there are cases of terrorisms in the world. Even before that, there is a very serious case that happened - to Japan in the World War II. The U.S. army dropped atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They are extremely powerful and violence in war also hence increased. There is a lot of deaths and serious injuries by the radiation after the dropping of atomic bombs, unlike the past when there are fewer casualties in the war. Atomic bombs are made of chemicals. They are extremely dangerous and the consequences are unthinkable, because the evidence from the past stated that this had taken away many lives.

In conclusion, war has indeed evolved a lot from the past to present. Now with high technology and skilled force in the world and fierce competition, the swords, arrows are pushed aside and guns, rifles, rockets are being introduced.

Book Review 1 - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns recounts the experiences and emotions of two Afghani women, Mariam and Laila, whose lives become entangled with the history of recent wars in their country. Mostly bleak and heartrending, their story does offer the promise of hope and happiness in a land ravaged by warfare, gender conflicts, and poverty.

Her future husband is Rasheed, a successful shoemaker in Kabul. He is a big man, and his size alone frightens Mariam when she first sees him. Before she leaves her father’s side, Mariam swears she will never again speak to him for not allowing her to stay in his house.Rasheed believes that a man should rule over his wife. He does not allow Mariam to go outside without him, and she must also dress in a burka whenever they leave the home. Mariam, however, remains in Rasheed’s relative good favor until she has a miscarriage and fails several more times to bear a child. With each of his wife’s miscarriages, Rasheed becomes crueler and more distant. Soon she is routinely beaten for trivial and often made-up reasons. Laila’s mother dotes on her sons and mostly ignores Laila. Her mother falls into a deep depression when her sons go off to war and then are killed. The Russian and Taliban armies intensify their clashes, and one day a missile destroys Laila’s house. Her parents are killed, and Laila is injured.

One day, Tariq, the boy who grew up in Kabul with Laila returns. He expresses his love, and Laila takes him to see his daughter, whom Laila has been forced to place in an orphanage so the little girl would be guaranteed food. Rasheed has lost his business, and money is scarce. When Rasheed finds out that Tariq is back and has been to the house, he beats Laila. His rage intensifies when Laila talks back, and he tries to strangle her. Mariam, fearing for her friend’s life, hits Rasheed in the head with a shovel, killing him. In order to save Laila and the children, who might be implicated in the murder, Mariam turns herself over to the Taliban. She is sentenced to death.

Laila and Tariq run away with both children and live in Pakistan. But after the United States invades Afghanistan, the family returns to Kabul. Their love for each other, as well as their love for their homeland, despite its cruelties and harshness and hardships, ends the novel on a high note, suggesting the possibility of a better future.