Week 2 Blog Prompt

A random post again...

"A country cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war."

- Albert Einstein

Indeed. In fact, even though war had ceased in most places, or seemed like that, war is always ongoing even for this second. Just matters that it now differs in purpose and its way compared from the past to now. It's obvious from Einstein's quote that war is still ongoing but because of present conditions we usually do not prepare for a war that many.

War has evolved, in general, a traditional war to a modern war. War has a very long history of up to thousands of years, yet many people are still fighting it. From traditionally using only simple tools and weapons to compete for food, to using troops of thousands to conquer land using basic weapons, eventually to guns and cannons and ships and aircrafts for war, and even nuclear weapons which could turn a huge area of metropolis to a pile of scrap heaps in just a short time!

From how in ancient China the famous Chinese generals like Yue Fei and Sun Tzu leading several troops consisting of tens of thousands of armies, winning battles and conquering lands, to the Civil Wars in America, to World War I and World War II, where the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki which raided thousands of people dying either directly from the bomb or the radiation aftereffect, to the recent death of the leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden, we know that war is always ongoing non-stop.

Although the ways of fighting a war is not the same throughout the years and that their purpose is not the same, war to me is just a fight, mostly an unnecessary fight between a huge number of people, that usually leads into bloodshed, and can be avoided at all costs. As what Albert Einstein had said, a country cannot possibly take too many wars at once, so why fight the unnecessary fight?

"As far as I'm concerned, war always means failure."

- Jacques Chirac

Book review - Merchant of Venice

I've read this book before school holidays, and it is a wonderful book. It features Antonio, the merchant of Venice, along with Bassanio, Gratiano, Salerio, Solanio, Lorenzo and more. There is also Shylock, a Jew who drives himself into hatred, and Portia, an heiress of Belmont who is also a wise maiden.

Ironically the main character is not Antonio, the merchant of Venice. Rather, it is Shylock, the Jewish money lender. While I think there is no way one would consider Shylock a nice fellow. I came away believing that he was more wronged than anyone in the play whom he harmed. He is presented as a nasty and greedy money lender. No doubt that portrait played well in a time of rampant anti-Semitism, but I came away with great sympathy for him. Even Antonio, the merchant, is just horrible in his judgment of Shylock, much more based on his race and religion than his money-lending practices.

The play is a mixture of romance, tragedy, mostly comedy, and has a happy ending. It also tells us, from Shylock and Antonio, that Christians then hold much prejudice towards the Jews. We also see romance between Lorenzo and Jessica, and Bassanio and Portia. The way of how Portia finds a suitable husband is seemingly interesting, and of which Portia already predicts her future husband, which is Bassanio.

The twist comes in when Shylock, having arrested Antonio, demanded a pound of flesh from Antonio's body rather than three thousand ducats. This trial, judged by the Duke, becomes very interesting when Portia, disguised as a lawyer defending Antonio, though pretending to agree with Shylock to cut off a pound of flesh near Antonio's bosom, suddenly says that no blood should be dripped while cutting the flesh, or Shylock will lose his fortune. In the end Shylock chose to pay instead.

The Merchant of Venice is a wonderful read. Touching, challenging, insightful and fascinating; just a delightful read.

Reflection on the Middle East riots

The recent riots going on in the Middle East has it's news spread worldwide. Over the last few weeks we have heard about riots in Tunisia, Egypt, Lybia, Algeria, Bahrain and more, mostly powered by the disruptive role of social media like Twitter and Facebook, to the point that in many cases governments have been forced to block Internet access.

The Soldier by Rupert Brooke

The spirit of the narrator possesses a strong essence of patriotism towards England. In Malaysia, there also lies a potential power of patriotism under every people, but buried deep due to the recent political affairs. This is because our fore fathers are willing to negotiate with the British to achieve independence. If they were to sit there and do nothing, we would not have life as it is today. I also think I have some patriotism in Malaysia because of the comfortable lives in Malaysia, but partly none because of the government.

About being a Hwa Chongian, I'm actually proud of it. This is because to enter Hwa Chong Institution from Malaysia requires a number of challenges, and among thousands of candidates, I was one of the few who are eligible to study in Hwa Chong Institution. With such a good oppurtunity, I felt proud to be in this school and shall study hard to prove it.

T2 HBL

Does feeling ironic that a lot of tragedy happens more on this blog. Regardless, I still have SOOOOOOO much more homework to do. Now let's see......

Rainbow Death

America did not foreseeGreen, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!Expecting others to pay a high price.Now thinking twice?Toll on the innocent and unborn.Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.All the deceit continues to spread.Nefariously America led astray -Generations untold WILL pay -Execrable effects of agent orange spray!Hubert Wilson

Okay so if we have to know about the whole poem, we will have to know the author first. It's Hubert Wilson, but who is he? He is a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF security service. Together with a dozen or so intelligence school graduates, they prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas. They were sent to Vietnam or other places in Southeast Asia in 1970. He was assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska along with the 6984th Security Squadron, which was a severely contaminated environment. After staying there for about 18 years, he started to have unexplained headaches and limb pains. No doctors have been able to diagnose the illness. Since his brain is still functioning moderately well although he has mobility issues, he has decided to turn to writing. (credits from http://mon-aime.blogspot.com/2010/05/analysis-of-rainbow-death.html)

Let's now turn to analysing the whole poem, and since we already have the background of the author, we should be able to know that this is a war poem

War - A Personal Response

At the first glance at the picture we see two soldiers tending to their injured squad mate. The whole atmosphere is very tense with war going on and we can sense it when we see the chaos in the picture, buildings fallen apart, masses of people dying or injured in the war and soldiers carrying rifles and guns, dressed in army suits, to battle and risk their life for the sake of a better future and safety for their country and nation.

In fact, this picture is taken in a war in Hue, Vietnam in 1968. The war is going on and the photographer managed to take a picture of such situation when two soldiers tend their squad mate who looks seriously injured at a hiding place. This picture manages to evoke pity towards men who sacrificed themselves in the war. It also manages to evoke a person’s dread and horror towards the effects of war that claimed many lives in the past.

The effects of war also seem like what the photographer is trying to convey through this photo. War actually also means that the nation is wasting manpower for the sake of the piece of land. In the end what is left is a series of blood bath and massacres of dying people and resulting in a mass area of wasteland, with buildings razed and destroyed through all the bombings in the war.

Through this picture, I've learnt the dreadful effects of war and the consequences of the loss of lives and the loss of economics due to the destroyed buildings which were once carefully built by people in the past. I also learnt that if a war is to be stopped, people must unite and not develop misunderstandings so that there will be peace and harmony among the people and the country.

Letter for Japan victim

Just read an article about how Japanese victims, and felt like writing a letter to them. So I wrote one to David, an American working in Tokyo.

661 Bt Timah Rd
Singapore 269735
Dear David,

How are you? This is Charles from Singapore writing a letter to you. From what you posted in the article, I can see that how fearful it is to think of the earthquake in Japan and actually experiencing it. To be frank, I sympathize for you, much as the others who suffered from the wrath of Mother Nature, attempting to rip Japan apart.

You might have known how much damage did this earthquake deal to Japan. And I know it is not really good to wander hopelessly after the quake, searching for possible hopes but not finding any. But in fact, you were being very lucky indeed compared to other victims who are nearer to the epicenter, and so I believe there is still hope for you and the others to find a way out of this chaotic disaster.

With the town destructed by the cruel force, people running crazily around, the sky looking apocalyptic and helicopters and police sirens going off randomly, even I will be uneasy about the environment and the atmosphere and feeling hopeless. However, bear in mind that there is always hope. You will soon find out that Tokyo will recover its busy metropolis of the past quicker than you imagine!

Actually I admire you for being grateful towards yourself for surviving the disaster comparing the others who are more unlucky than you. You also cared about the others by asking, in heart, how are your colleagues, how are the other victims. It also shows thatyou are not the one caring for only his own self, but also the others.

If you have trouble living in your current place, you could try to evacuate to safer areas. And do not worry about Japan’s economies because the world is working very hard collecting funds to save Japan. Have faith in your heart. I’m sure you will find hope of surviving and living.

Regards,
Charles