CAS Reflection (Project Week) – LO6 & LO7

My project week group consisted of my friends, majority of which are from the boarding house. Initially, we wanted to do an “activity” based project week, with the first choice being Scuba diving in Bali, but after researching the location and the costs we found it to be unviable. However, during our research we came across a “service” option (called “Biosphere Foundation”) located at a national park (Bali Barat National park) in Bali, where we could learn about the ecology whilst also helping environmental sustainability efforts, I saw this as a beneficial option for both the community and us, and thus proposed we should make this our new first choice. Although all of us, understandably, found “activity” based project weeks much more enjoyable, we decided to change our first choice to the aforementioned service as we realised that project week should not be a “vacation”, but rather a great opportunity for us to contribute to a global issue and gain useful skills (LO7 and LO6).

CAS Reflection (Project Week) – LO3

Having decided our project location and host, we began planning all aspects of the trip. We worked in pairs, where each group had a particular role to ensure efficiency and avoid double bookings and miscommunication. I had responsibilities of communicating with related parties, such as Biosphere Foundation, and helping arranging transportation, through this experience I not only realized the importance of organization and defined roles in planning process, but also the benefits of collaboration (LO3).

However, despite our efforts, unfortunately due to COVID-19 our trip had to be cancelled. This came as a disappoint to us as we had spent a considerable amount of time preparing for the trip, and the fact that is it is suppose to be one of the key moments of our grade 11 experience, made it particularly hard. Though my group and I still benefitted from the experience as we were able to utilized these skills which we gained during the process, to plan trips to our home countries after graduation (as we are all boarder).

The Power of Naming (The Handmaid’s Tale)

In ‘The Hand Maid’s Tale’, it is made obvious the significance of names to one’s sense of individuality and self-government. Upon become a handmaid, the narrator is given the name ‘Offred’, a common name which is used to refer to all of the commander’s previous handmaids, this name strips the narrator of her previous identity and brands her as the property of the commander (‘of Fred’), as were the predecessors. To society, she is an insignificant member of a larger system, she is replaceable and not should not be regarded as a individual by others. The narrator’s disdain towards the new name is seen by how she openly reject’s it, she, alongside with the other handmaids, used to whisper their previous names in the dark and use them when talking amongst themselves, a resistance against the dystopian patriarchy in efforts to retain the fragments of their previous lives. In the past, the handmaids use to have unique names, and with that, rights and individual personalities, however, these are all removed and replaced by the common names which they now have and the identical clothing and colours, all traces of their previous life is wiped from existence in order for them to serve their role as a handmaid The duty of the women to serve others is of the utmost importance in their life, they cannot even have a name of their own as it an obstruction and is unnecessary. Renaming those with an inferior status has been prevalent throughout history, often used as a method of oppression. One of the most famous examples of this is the treatment of Jewish people (among others) by Nazi Germany, where prisoners where stripped of their names names and instead identified by the numbers that were branded on their wrist. This was done not only due to ease of logistics but also the ‘master race’ ideology, the non-Aryan’s were inferior within society and therefore did not require names, similar to how the handmaid’s are merely given a ‘name’ for identification.

Biased Headlines

CORONAVIRUS: ‘Hopefully’ Under 100,000 Deaths, STILL no Guarantee of Vaccine

A Headline which paints the government in a negative light and causes public uncertainty.

  • Bias by omission: The headline fails to convey the fact that although technically there is no guarantee, the government is very confident that a vaccine will be available by the end of 2020. This causes people to interpret that progress is not being made to find a vaccine.

  • Bias by spin: The headline does not state who the statement “‘Hopefully’ Under 100,000 Deaths” belongs too, this causes the public to antagonise the government as a whole.

  • Bias by spin: The headline adds quotations around “Hopefully” and capitalises the word ‘still’, causing uninformed viewers to believe that government officials are at a loss and that the situation is beyond their control.

 

The same article, but with a biased headline leaning to the other side:

Trump: Only 75,000 Deaths, Vaccine Likely by End of Year

A headline which paints Trump in a positive light and instils optimism.

  • Bias by omission: Trump stated that the death toll will be between 75,000 and 100,000. By only stating the lower limit, and using the word ‘only’, the headline is able to instil a sense of security, that the situation is better than expected.

  • Bias by a selection of sources: The headline states that a vaccine will likely be ready by the end of the year, however, this is only Trump’s perspective. Majority of scientists have stated that it will require 12-18 months more for a vaccine to be ready.

Yunma Al-Arashi Image

Breaks away from the stereotype that Singaporean Indians are unathletic

– The person in the background looking at him, the one in the foreground is the centre of attention, he is a unique case.

– The light source behind him signifies the success following him, something which is viewed as uncommon for Indians in many sports

– The lens flare and minor reflections symbolise a glass cabinet. He is on ‘display’ as if he is a role model, something which others should strive for.

– He is looking away from the camera, not paying attention to onlookers and doubters.

– The opposition is an adult, showing that not only is he against the stereotype but is also capable of challenging those which other nationalities may also view as ‘beyond them’.

(Abhinav Gupta)

Home Fire and Yumna Al-Arashi

The book, Home Fire, portrays Muslims from the perspective of multiple communities, including, although not directly, the perception of the religion from a foreigners standpoint. Whereas Yunman Al-Arashi’s photos are purely depictions from her own/photographers perspective.

Throughout the entirety of Homefire, from all perspectives, Isma and Aneeka have been faced with discrimination. Displaying the universal perception which society has on the religion, however, Eamon, although not openly discriminative, shows a different side to the outsider perspective. He initially could not comprehend why Aneeka would wear a hijab despite the misfortune it brings, often those who are not discriminative are instead oblivious towards the religion’s practices. Kamila Shamsie uses this to highlight the challenge which the Muslim communities face, the sheer lack of understanding which in return causes a lack of empathy for those in the religion. Shamsie also explores the concepts of family, society’s perception of Muslim familial love is one where men are antagonised, and women are oppressed, however, in reality, Muslim families are very much the same as other families, as shown by Parvaiz’s initial depiction. This again relates to the lack of understanding in society.

Similarly, this lack of understanding is the very point which Yunma Al-Arashi is attempting to change, AL-Arashi’s photos use scenic images to juxtapose society’s perception of Muslim women, however, instead of sparking empathy, she is striving to change the direction of society’s empathy. In Al-Arashi’s perspective, Muslim women are most challenged by the stereotype regarding their ‘oppression’, similar to how Shamsie wants to stop baseless accusations, Al-Arashi wants to stop baseless pity. Muslim women are being regarded as weak due to a false stereotype. The concepts of loyalty are also evident in her images, her hardships can be resolved simply by wearing ordinary clothes, however, in all her images, she is wearing the full attire of an Islamic woman: conveying the idea that she is not wearing the clothing due to oppression, but instead, loyalty, and that she wishes to be judged by her individual self and not by her religion.

These two texts show us that, the challenges that the Muslim community face as a result of the disconnect between communities. The perception that many have on minorities are thus left to speculation and extreme cases, causing such groups to be labelled incorrectly.

Cas Reflection (Creativity)

The decision that our group collectively made was quite a success, there were a few problems regarding the kit but all were solved without much issue, the final ‘Sumo Robots’ which we produced were properly functioning and allowed us to ‘battle’ against one another; we were able to continue the project and achieve the goals of the activity, albeit with less of a challenge. Though I was not able to learn as much as I hoped due to the change of plans, through this activity I was able to gain some basic knowledge about coding and robotics, this caused me to gain further interest in these field. In the future, I hope to participate in more activities which can give me opportunities to learn more coding.

CAS Reflection (Activity) – LO5 & LO2

In karate, I recently passed the examination and have been promoted to the next rank, though I still believe that I have much to learn why. Prior to taking the examination, I was very busy preoccupied with a plethora of tests and assignments deadlines, in addition to the official SAT test, and thus it was very difficult for me to find time to practice for the examination. In order to solve this problem due to the lack of time, I decided to train with other people who are also taking the examination (LO5) in order to accelerate my learning and reduce the length that I needed to practice. By having someone to practice with, I could train more effectively in a more time-efficient manner. Through these few weeks, I also started mentoring some of the younger students (LO2), teaching and helping them improve on their skills and training, thus challenging my communication skills and allowing me to develop my leadership qualities.

Monologue

Marlene:

Pardoning Howard from his position was for the best, that person is a little shit -his abilities are not sufficient for management- just look at the mess he has made. I’m much more fit for the job and if he’s unhappy with it he should just find somewhere else that’ll accept him, that’s just how business is.

Others think otherwise just because I am a woman, what has being a good manager got to be with being a man? But naturally, I’ll have to be tactful and pleasant to those fucking bitches.

Mrs. Kidd:

These women, thinking that they can stand above Howard, how truly disgusting, revolting. I tried being respectful to that woman but she paid no heed to my words, first she steals Howard’s position and then the woman is vulgar enough to act as if she deserves no hate for her actions? She’s not natural.

That woman is all alone, no one to support, while Howard has a whole family to feed and his dignity as a man, he deserves the position much more than the ballbreaker.

Shona:

Great person. I am a great person, successful too. Very successful, I sell a lot, lots of things. I like driving the car I am driving. I have my own Porche, and I’m only twenty-one. I can take care of myself, I like vegetables very much. I don’t smoke. Or drink. That’s why I am so healthy at twenty-nine. People like me a lot. Because I smart and give good deals, I sell them goods. Go out and have coffee with them. I usually like black coffee, I like bitter. I like cookies a lot. I like having scones on the side. Sweet scones.