Marc Ong 2i218

My CA interview was on the 26th of April(if I'm not wrong), with Andrew. We discussed the responsibility of countries' respective Governments in compensating their airlines for losses incurred when all air traffic was stopped for a 5 or 6 day period due to the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. Overall, I think it went pretty well. My stand was that the Governments are at least partially responsible for the airlines' losses and should compensate them partially, while Andrew felt that since the eruption was a natural disaster, the Governments should not be blamed for the airlines' losses.

Without going too much into the details of the discussion, I basically felt that since the Governments were so disorganized, they should also pay partially for airlines' losses. However, I feel that I could have improved my discussion as I was slightly too harsh toward the various European Governments. Although I still feel that they assessed the risk of the volcano badly and could definitely have met and organised themselves sooner, in hindsight, I feel that it was unrealistic to expect all Governments should have been perfectly ready for this sort of massive disaster. However, Governments should definitely take this disaster as a learning experience.

When a massive cloud of volcanic ash obscures a large part of Europe, Governments and people would definitely be in disarray. With thousands of people stranded and thousands more shipments delayed indefinitely, a communications breakdown is expected. I realize now I was slightly harsh in criticizing Governments for taking 5 days to organize a conference call, as for some of them, key personnel were stranded overseas. This was a good example of how technology can be used to overcome physical barriers and distances. During the interview, I suggested that an International Organization should be set up to synchronise the actions of airports worldwide in the case of a disaster such as this.

However, as Miss Soh pointed out to me, the real reason for the long delay was the self-interests of various countries. Countries such as Britain, with the most profitable airports, would not like to be restricted or constrained by an Organization with and treated like other, less developed members of such an organization.

This was a very interesting topic for debate, as there is no clear solution to the problem. Instead, we have to weigh the pros and cons of each possible solution, and decide which one is the best overall.

This post is more of a summary of my blog thus far than an actual post. It compares my Sec 2 LA Blog with last year's, which can be found at smileyfacesblog.blogspot.com.

Here is my promised third post on the Avatar vs Hurt Locker debate.

Linguistic:

1. You have conducted an interview with one of the characters in TKAM. Write out the interview transcript, taking note to demonstrate the essence of the character and his/her point of view.

I have chosen to interview Miss Maudie Atkinson for this task.

Q: Miss Maudie, how do you feel about life in Maycombe?

A: Well, its not that bad as long as I still have my garden. Taking care of my plants helps me to pass time, since I don’t have anything else to do.

Q: Didn’t your house burn down not too long ago? How can you still be so optimistic?

A: It all depends on how you look at it. Besides, I never liked my house, and the increased garden space is certainly welcome.

Q: What do you think of Atticus Finch?

A: He’s certainly a staunch supporter of civil rights. I respect him, because he is the same in public as he is at home. Most people lead “double lives” by treating everyone differently. Not Atticus. He treats everyone politely and with respect. He also stands by his beliefs.

Q: What about his children, Scout and Jem?

A: They’re delightful children, and I give them free reign of my yard. However, I’m worried about how the stress put on them by other people affected them, when Atticus was defending Tom Robinson.

Q: What are your views on the Tom Robinson case?

A: I didn’t go the trial myself, but Atticus told me how it ended. Jem sees it as injustice and cannot accept that some people are evil, but I guess the result was kind of expected. Atticus gave it his best and I’m sure that if there was any way he could have won it, he would have.

Q: How do you believe black people should be in your society?

A: Well, I think it’s unfair that black people should be forced to be the slaves of white people. Even worse is the attitude of people toward the trial. To them, they know that Tom Robinson cannot possibly win, and just go there thinking of the trial as entertainment.

Intrapersonal:
a. Who would you want to be friends with in the novel? Explain.

I would probably want to be friends with Scout and Jem Finch. In the first part of the novel, they have fun with Dill with their fascination with Boo Radley. They’re also much simpler than other characters, as their beliefs are not yet clouded with society’s prejudices. They’re willing to trust that someone is good, and this is why Jem is so badly shaken after the Tom Robinson trial. Jem and Scout embody pure and innocent children at the start of the novel. Most other characters would not be trustworthy, as they are racist merely because of peer pressure and the anonymity of being in a mob. However, Atticus has raised his children not to retaliate against other people’s insults, and not turn racist like other people.

Yay, Hi everyone. I'm writing this after the long 4-and-a-half day weekend to celebrate Chinese New Year, so I'm still feeling some "monday blues". Still, at least the Lunar New Year still isn't officially over, so there may still be some gambling.

Hey everyone, my next post is going to be on the apple iPad. It was announced on January 27, and is due to be released in March. Anyway, the main reason why I wanted to talk about it is because it just seems like such a weird product. Essentially a bigger iPhone or iPod Touch, Steve Jobs at the keynote described how it bridged the distance between two products- the smartphone and the laptop. Being a proud owner of an iPhone 3g, I feel I have to comment on this. The very idea just seems strange to me. With a 9.7 inch screen, it is obviously too big to be carried around in your pocket. Which leaves carrying it around with you (obviously awkward) or carrying one in your bag. This is definitely a con. If you wanted to bring it around with you in a bag, a laptop seems a more feasible option for a little added weight in exchange for better performance. Not only that, but laptops can be kept in bags because they have "flip" designs, so the laptop's screen will not be damaged when jostled around in a bag with other items. The same, however, cannot be said about the iPad with its "candy bar" design.

Ok, so now on to The Hurt Locker. Firstly, if anyone is reading this post first because it is on top, please scroll down first for part 1.