Merchant of Venice

Although many said that the Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare, is a comedy, it is still worth to analyze as there are hidden themes such as prejudice, love and mercy laid behind the scenes.
What is the play about? It is about a Merchant, named Antonio, lent his friend Bassanio, 3000 ducats Bassanio is desperately in need of money to court Portia, a wealthy heiress. Antonio does not have the money on him yet, hence he asked a Jewish money lender, Shylock for a loan. Shylock wanted revenge against Antonio, and he demanded that if he did not repay in 3 months he will have his flesh taken... Click here to read more.
The book, although written in the olden English, is still easier to understand compared to other plays of William Shakespeare. I loved the part of the court scene where Portia cleverly turned the court case against Shylock.
However, i also felt pitiful towards Shylock. I felt that he should deserves the right to carry out the bond, as Antonio had not been forced, but willingly agreed to it. Shylock should get what he wanted.

Singapore's national day

SIngapore's National Day is coming on 9th of August. Well what is the meaning behind Singapore's National Day? Singapore celebrated its first Natiornal Day in 1966, one year after Singapore's independence from Malaysia on 9 August 1965. The theme for this year is "Live Our Dreams, Fly Our Flag". I wondered what do you think of this theme? I find this theme very meaningful. We should work towards our goal and always remember our own country when we realised our dreams. We should never forget how our country's had nurtured us. Let us have a nationalistic national day!

Graffiti in SIngapore

Do feel that graffiti should be allowed in Singapore? Before I answer this question, let be brief you on how the Singapore government treat graffiti. There was a recent arrest and sentencing of the Oliver Fricker, 32, who graffitied an MRT train to 3 strokes of the cane that had come into spotlight in SIngapore. In 1994, Michael Peter Fay was also sentenced to caning in Singapore for theft and vandalism. The above reports showed how strict SIngapore deals towards graffiti. They count street art as vandalism and showed no mercy to bring the offenders to court. But personally, I felt that the punishment of Oliver is too strict. He may be punished, but not till the extent of caning. "This is what I see from where I stand:- Fricker’s act has caused no one physical harm.- Fricker’s act has not damaged anyone’s property. Sure, the MRT was vandalised, but it’s not that hard to clean off, right? Besides, quite a lot of us Singaporeans actually think it makes the MRT look more interesting, a refreshing difference from the boring standard trains.- Fricker’s act has alerted SMRT to the flaws and shortcomings of their security system (or lack of one). SMRT could not have learned this lesson in a way that was cheaper or safer; they could have been learning it from an overpaid security consultant, or from the aftermath of a planted bomb. Now they have the opportunity to bolster up their security and improve their system, all without having to spend money on an expert evaluation and without the loss of civilian lives!" ----------------------------------Quoted from http://kixes.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/how-dare-he-make-the-mrt-look-nicer/ Well, personally, I felt that there should be places set aside especially for street art. We need to let the people living in Singapore appreciate that street art is still an art.