Love or Money

I personally believe that there must be an equal balance of both in order for a relationship to survive and prosper over the years. It is true that without money, financial difficulties will bound to arise, but without true love there is no point in the marriage at all, because the love shown may only be one sided or both parties fell nothing for each other. You cannot like or go after a girl just cause she is rich, one must see beyond the appearance of someone, consider her qualities and personality, when you are around her, are you truly happy? Going after a girl because she is rich, is more like a love for money instead, which is similar to Merchant of Venice: Bassanio's initial purpose in wooing Portia. Quoted from the play' In Belmont is a lady richly left, And she is fair and, fairer than that world, Of wondrous virtues." This is clearly evident that Bassanio puts money as his first priority, Portia's beauty second and her qualities third, therefore proving the point whereby he is actually wooing Portia for the money initially. We must not learn the ways of Bassanio in the beginning of the play, truly loving one another means being through thick an thin, happiness and despair together, only then will a marriage be considered to be blissful. Money is certainly never the criteria that i would look for in a girl, going after a girl that i like means that i like her for who she is and not whether she is rich or not. Using money to threaten one to be in a relationship is not the right way, in this case the love is only one sided as mentioned earlier. We as humans must never value money over love for true love is what keeps a marriage steady and going. I do agree that over time, there have been an upward trend of relationships and marriages that put money over love. It is vey saddening to say that true love may very well be soon rid of it's existence. A relationship that only values money over love is not real, then there are other cases as to couples lose interest in each other but stay on just cause of the money. People are becoming too mercenary, they do not even care about love at all. They only thing that matters to them is living a luxurious life till their deaths and love is nothing but a mere word to them. Life without love is seriously pointless.

Evolution of war

In my point of view, war has certainly taken a huge leap and evolved as time passes. The reasons and the way of fighting war differs as of those in the present from the past. For example, the wars in the chinese kingdoms in the past. Those wars were fought using swords and spears, requiring physical combat between both parties. At that time, machinery was yet to be invented. Even english countries at that time used swords to battle. When guns and bombs were invented, the way of war was fought changed drastically. People started using guns and bombs to fight a war. This actually caused more destruction than in the past. Nuclear bombs were also used and these could affect many people for their lives in terms of health and possibly even mutation when in contact with radiation. Besides the obvious change of usage of weapons, there was also change in why war was fought. In the past, war is usually fought for power and resources. Now times have changed. People do not fight a war to get power or resources. Now wars are fought based on suspicion. For example, USA attacked Iraq just based on suspicion that they had weapons of mass destruction within their artillery. War nowadays use more advanced weapons and the motive of fighting wars has also changed.

Reflection on the "Soldier"

The soldier is a poem that presents war in a new different perspective. Commonly, war poems are about the emotional trauma, devastating bloodshed and aftereffects that one has felt and witnessed after the war has ended.

Reflections:

from my contextual knowledge, national service is compulsory for Singaporeans men that are 18 year old, able-bodied. Singapore is a small country with limited human resources. It would be difficult for us to maintain a professional army as it is costly and with the high standards or living, most men would rather choose not to do so. However, possessing an army is essential as defence should be a priority which may result to Singapore being vulnerable without one and thus prone to invasions or assaults by other countries if that ever happens.

War changes people's views and one might turn into a hero or a coward depending on the nature of one. The mentally strong would be able to go through war and fight for a purpose, e.g. protecting their country. I would like to perceive me as being patriotic. Our country has given us a home to live in, an environment to grow in, free from all types of natural disaster thus we should be able to give back to our country. Even though Singapore is small and vulnerable ( a little red dot on the globe), we must give it our all to protect our home, enduring all hardships and defending till our deaths. I would like to think that if i ever die, i would not die in regret. Living a life of regret is both torturous mentally and emotionally. I am willing to give my life for the country that has nurtured, educated and taught me the moral values of what it means to be human for i will never be able to repay the kindness she has given to me.

Throne of fire (book review)

Following the rise of chaos, Carter and Sadie decide to stick to their plan of reviving Ra the Sun God by finding and chanting the three sections of the Book of Ra. They choose to isolate themselves from their friends and trainees of Brooklyn House. They have already successfully stolen one of the scrolls by infiltrating the Brooklyn Museum. The second is unknown while the other is claimed to be with Russian assassin Vlad Menshikov who is targeting Brooklyn House. Before setting off Sadie decides to enjoy her birthday in London...

It turns out Sadie had walked into a trap made by Nekhbet the Vulture Goddess and Babi the Baboon God who are hosting Sadie's grandparents. Sadie is pursued throughout London and is given a divine knife by Anubis, a useful tool to resurrect Ra. Sadie is saved by Bes, the Dwarf God, and afterwards is joined by Carter as the three plunge into St Petersburg, Russia.

There Carter and Sadie break into the Third Nome to collect Vlad's scroll. They overhear Vlad collaborating with Set. When Vlad discovers them, he summons demons to destroy them, and the siblings are forced to release Set so he can defend them. While trying to escape Carter is stung by a two headed serpent. Set offers the location of Zia Rashid and the last scroll to Sadie in exchange his secret name. Sadie agrees and heals Carter by using his secret name. Carter vows to rescue Zia along with Bes while Sadie searches along with their trainee Walt Stone for the final scroll.

Carter and Bes finds Zia at Red Sands and find out that she had been buried with the Pharoah's crook and flail. They are suddenly attacked by Desjardins and Vlad, and are forced to use the sacred artifacts to fight. Meanwhile Sadie finds out that Walt is dying from an ancient family curse brought on by priests of Amun-Ra. They are attacked by golden Roman mummies but are saved by the God of Creation Ptah. With the scroll in hand Sadie and Walt depart for Cairo along with Carter, Bes and Zia. In a ba dream Carter finds that Brooklyn house is under siege from the House of Life. Walt and Zia leave to Brooklyn to help while Carter, Sadie and Bes descend into the Duat to find Ra.

They come across gods and lakes of fire but Bes finds a woman from his past in a nursery home: Tarawert the Hippo Goddess. With her help they track down Ra and awaken him. Unfortunately, they find they have already lost and Menshikov had closed the gates to the prison of Apophis and is now loosening the giant snake's bonds. The trio, along with Ra, come across Carter and Sadie's parents and gamble with the Moon God for a few extra hours for them to catch up to Vlad. Bes gives up his ren for the two to succeed. Carter and Sadie come face to face with Vlad who is now hosting Apophis. Desjardins arrives and banishes Apophis for at least a few weeks or even months to give the Kanes a little more time, yet dies doing so. Carter and Sadie arrive at Brooklyn House to end the battle.

Bes ends up at the nursery home with amnesia. Amos becomes Chief Lector and tries leading the magicians into a new age of embracing the gods. Sadie vows to cure Bes and Walt. Ra once again becomes the leader of the Gods. Zia and Walt are going to make a huge difference in the upcoming war. And Sadie must choose who she loves more: Walt or Anubis?

I am number 4 (book review)

I Am Number Four follows the story of John Smith, a 15-year old alien from the planet Lorien, together with his guardian, Henri, as they run away from the Mogadorians, another race of aliens that are hunting down John and the eight other teenage Loriens, who all make up the Garde, living on Earth, the only chance for Lorien's future possible survival. The Garde consists of all Loriens who have special Legacies and powers. The teenagers are protected by a charm, which only allows them to be killed in a numerical order, if not the Mogaadorians will have the way of death backfired to them instead. John is Number Four.

The book opens with the death of Number Three. Number Four is introduced, going by the name of Daniel Jones, as he leaves Florida. Four has three circular scars wrapped around his right ankle, symbolizing the deaths of Numbers One, Two, and Three, which means number Four is next in line of the mogadorian's chase to assassinate. The scars are present on all the Lorien teenagers, and with each death, another scar appears. Henri, Four's Cêpan (guardian), tells him they are going to Paradise, Ohio. Four is given the name John Smith as his new identity.

Sick and tired of running, John says that he wants to begin to make a life for himself. Henri reminds him why they run, and the conversation ends. John begins to attend the local high school, where he meets Sarah Hart, a blonde junior. He also meets her ex-boyfriend Mark James, who immediately begins to pick on John. John stands up to him, the first time he has ever stood up to anybody.

In his astronomy class, John's hands begin to hurt and glow. When John is back at his house, he realizes that his first Legacy has arrived. A Legacy is a power that only certain Loriens possess, and each differs from one Lorien to the other, except for telekinesis, which all members of the Garde are capable of performing. Henri tells John that his first Legacy is Lumen, the ability to produce light from his hands and a resistance to heat and fire similar to that of his grandfather's. When Henri begins to help, the resistance of fire and heat spread throughout John's body, John has a vision of his last moments on Lorien when the Mogadorians attacked, while Henri narrates.

Henri and John have a special Lorien chest that can only be opened by John and Henri together. The only way that John can open the chest without Henri is if he dies. Henri shows John a model of the galaxies, where he can see how Lorien looked before the Mogadorians destroyed it and how it looks now, desolate and barren. The chest also has a healing stone that heals all wounds inflicted on the body, but in order to heal the wound, the injured person must endure pain twice as intense as the first time and the wound must have come from the intent to hurt or kill a Lorien. The healing stone must also be used soon after the wound is inflicted. A third item in the chest is small pebble-like rocks(Lorien salt) that John and Henri put under their tongue to reduce pain. But that immediately diminishes if a Lorien uses one of their legacies.

After his first Legacy arrives, John begins to train in combat. John can eventually turn his lights on and off by will. John also makes his first real friend, Sam Goode, who believes in aliens. He also grows closer to Sarah. At a town Halloween party, John, Sarah, Sam, and Sarah's friend, Emily, are ambushed by Mark and his football teammates. John, who is enraged by Mark's constant bullying and the fact that he has kidnapped Sarah, finds, confronts, and defeats him. Sam sees John's lights and begins to avoid him.

John confronts Sam, and Sam turns a gun on him, asking who he really is, but John convinces him that he isn't an alien. At a Thanksgiving dinner, John is worried when Henri doesn't turn up at the Hart's place after going in search of the publishers of Sam's alien conspiracy magazine. John calls Sam for help, and the two go to Athens, Ohio, where they find Henri. John's telekinesis Legacy appears, and he uses it to save both Henri and Sam. Sam is told the truth about both John and Henri after seeing John use his telekinesis, and accepts them for who they are. John's training begins to intensify, by being set on fire and using his telekinesis.

At a party at Mark's house, a fire starts, trapping Sarah on the second floor. John rushes in and saves her, revealing who and what he really is to her in the process. She still confesses her love for him though, and John says he loves her, too. He then proceeds to tells her everything about himself. At school the next day, John fears that he will have to leave, as people had seen him jump out of the window and reported it. However, the paper has no reference to John, but a fax sent to the school saying "Are you Number Four?" causes John to flee the school in panic through a window. When he arrives home, he sees Mark, who has realized what John is. He also has an argument with Henri about why he did what he did, saying he wanted a normal life. He returns to the school to find Sarah after realizing the Mogadorians are on their way to kill him.

John finds her, but is found by a Mogadorian scout, one of several who have closed in on the school. John kills it, and while trying to flee the school is found by Henri and Mark. The four are found by a girl around John's age, and John's dog, Bernie Kosar. The girl says that she is Number Six. John realizes that with Six with him, the charm protecting them from being killed out of order has now broken. Six replies that the war has begun, with Henri agreeing. As the five companions find a way out of the school, John tells Mark and Sarah to go back and hide, as it isn't their fight. They leave, and John confronts his first soldier, whom he kills.

John is wounded severely and is rescued by Henri and Sam, who realized what was happening and came to help. John discovers his third Legacy, the ability to communicate with animals, and convinces one of the Mogadorians' beasts to turn on its masters. Henri is hit by an energy blast from a soldier and dies in John's arms. Before he passes away, he says, "Coming here, to Paradise, it wasn't by chance."

After waking up in a hotel room, John tells Sarah he has to leave. Sarah accepts this and tells him she will wait for him. John replies in a similar fashion, saying his heart will always belong to her. Afterward, Henri's body is cremated. Sam agrees to go with John and Six as they prepare to leave in search of the other four Loriens. The novel ends with John telling Sarah he will come back to her as he leaves.