Sunday, July 26, 2009 ♥
The story settings is when Totto-chan's mother coming to know of her daughter's behaviours from Totto-chan first school.ToTo-chan was a weird and mischievous girl. Totto-chan mom later realizes that Totto-chan needed a school which has more freedom of expression which will not be taken as misbehaviour. Totto-chan mother soon takes Totto-chan to meet the headmaster of her new school, Mr. Kobayashi. After meeting with the headmaster of the new school, a deep bonding is formed between master and Totto-chan. The book later elabprates on to elaborate the times that Totto-chan had spent, the friends she makes, the lessons she learns, and the vibrant atmosphere that she gets. All of these are shown through the eyes of a child. Thus, I am able to imagine how the normal world is transformed into a beautiful, exciting place full of joy and enthusiasm. I also imagine myself in their role as adults, how Mr. Kobayashi introduces new activities that a public school will not have to interest the pupils. A normal person will see that Mr. Kobayashi is a man who understands children and strives to develop their qualities of mind, body and heart. He is mostly concern for the physically handicapped and his emphasis on the equality of all children are great. In the school of Mr . Kobayashi, the children lead happy lives, without being aware of the things happening in the world. Although World War 2 has started, but yet in this school, nobody seem to know about it. But one final day, the school was bombed, and was never rebuilt, even though the headmaster claimed that he looked forward to building an even better school the next time round. The headmaster passed away before he can fufuil his wish of rebuilding the school. This eventually marks the end Totto-chan's years as a pupil at Tomoe Gakuen.
Thursday, July 23, 2009 ♥
There was a racial riot between Muslim Uighur and Han Chinese in the Chinese city of Urumqi at the month of July.156 people were killed in the clashes on Sunday and over 1000 were injured.In the article Mr Shi Guanzheng ,a retired teacher from Shanghai, blamed the government for failing to quickly quell protests by Han Chinese.
I feel this riot can lead to a bigger problem if not stopped.The affected region is near Chinas border.Since the riots are an internal problems neighbouring countries might take advantage and take over the territory.This can lead to war.I also feel this is quite unfair to the Muslim in the region.Most Muslim are not violent and its difficult for them to retaliate.
The government should not differciate them just by their religon, it will lead to further disputes and riots in the future, the government should treat both the Chinese and Muslin equally the same.
http://thechinabeat.blogspot.com/2009/07/xinjiang-riots-tried-paradigms-fresh.html
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/editorial/world-issues/2009/07/12/215950/Xinjiang-riots.htm
Friday, July 17, 2009 ♥
Introduction
History of Sri Lanka
- The Sinhala or Sinhalese (74%) constitute the major ethnic group.
- The Sri Lankan Tamils, who inhabit the north and east form 12.6% and the group known as Indian Tamils.
- There are also small minorities such as Burghers, and Malays.
- Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka is the history of emergence of consciousness among the majority community, the Sinhala, which defined the Sri Lanka society as Sinhala-Buddhist, thus denying its multi-ethnic character.
Ceylon Citizenship Act 1948
- Grant citizenship only to those born in Sri Lanka or forefathers who were born in Sri Lanka
- Resulted in many Indian Tamil becoming stateless
- Indian tamils do not have the basic rights such as education, jobs ,housing and voting.
- Tamils only work in tea plantations which contributed significantly to the economy of Sri Lanka
Resettlement Policy 1950
- Sinhalese peasants were transferred from densely populated south western and centre areas to Tamil areas
- Policy for the landless Sinalese peasants to live and cultivate padi
- Tamils were not happy as the Sinhalese peasants came to live among them
- Buddist monks and the Sri Lankan Army which are mostly Sinhalese came to occupy their lands.
Official language Act 1956
- Sinhala was declared as the country's official language under the Offical Language Act
- Tamils in the government service were given three years to learn Sinhala or be dismissed
- Tamils were upset as they found it difficult to find jobs or be promoted.
New university Admission Citeria 1972
- Benefited the English-Educated Tamils and they scored well in the examinations.
- The Tamils and Sihalese students to enter the same course ( medical and engineering) were almost the same although the tamils only make up 18% of the populations.
- A new policy was set-up that the Tamil students had to score higher marks than the Sinhalese students to enter the same course.
- There are places in the university reserved for Sinhalese mainly.
Formation of the Tamil United Liberation Front 1976
- Demands of the TAmils were not met
- Created a new political party named Tamil United Liberation Front (LTTE)
- Tamil United Liberation Front was a terrorist group known as Tamil Tigers
- Asked for a Separate independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka
- State to be called Tamil Elam as they believe the separation from Sri Lanka would ensure their rights
- Killed Tamil members who opposes them and the idea of the proposed separate state
Resolution
- A country may offer to play a role as a mediator. It may also interfere directly by sending troops to resolve the conflict
- Tamils can speak their thoughts which the Sinhalese can take into serious consideration (one must give in to another)
In Singapore almost everyone can speak english.Yet most of them do not talk proper english but rather singlish.Singlish is defined as the english spoken with the Singaporean modifications.It is not the official language and should not be the official language of Singapore.There are multiple reasons for this.
The first reason is because english is the main language across the world. The fact cannot be changed.If Singapore were to use Singlish for the main language , we would not be able to communicate as efficiently as before.If we can not communicate with the world, then complications are possible and we will lead ourself to our downfall.The fact that english is the main language worldwide can not be changed as it is one language almost everyone on the planet understands.
The second reason is that Singlish is a language that only Singaporeans understand.This language is limited to a little nuber of countries which understand it.Another such country is our neighbour Malaysia.Apart from us they too understand SInglish.Other continents such as the United States are clueless when we speak in Singlish
Therefore i conclude that Singlish should not be the official language of Singapore
The first reason is because english is the main language across the world. The fact cannot be changed.If Singapore were to use Singlish for the main language , we would not be able to communicate as efficiently as before.If we can not communicate with the world, then complications are possible and we will lead ourself to our downfall.The fact that english is the main language worldwide can not be changed as it is one language almost everyone on the planet understands.
The second reason is that Singlish is a language that only Singaporeans understand.This language is limited to a little nuber of countries which understand it.Another such country is our neighbour Malaysia.Apart from us they too understand SInglish.Other continents such as the United States are clueless when we speak in Singlish
Therefore i conclude that Singlish should not be the official language of Singapore
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 ♥
"Are Singaporeans gracious and socially responsible? Discuss."
Most Singaporeans not gracious and socially responsible when it comes to certain things, Singaporeans are known as "kiasu" as they go for cheap goods and when they is an illness , everyone seem to hide away, one incident is the recently H1N1 illness know as influenza virus.
Many people have the misconception that the flu bug is harmless and that the flu will ride itself out without visiting the doctor. They are not aware, for example, that it can result in serious complications for the very young, the elderly and those suffering from medical conditions.
The government has to introuduced some prevention poster or reports showing that this illness of the influenza flu is no small matter, they have to hope that Singaporeans will adopt socially responsible actions when they are not feeling well, in order to prevent the spread of the flu.
Another example can be the great singapore sale , as singaporeans are known as "kiasu", they tend to look for cheap goods which are totally at their budget range, and end up regarding their budget, this is an act of showing that they are not gracious and socially responsible.