I have learnt that...
MUSLIMS PWNT* VENICE!

Other than that. I have not learnt much useful things about Venice. I know that its a very cool country because its submerged in water. Its like a submarine country!

The boring stuffs:

Venice was a country that was founded around the 5th and 6th century. This would mean that Singapore is actually older than Venice! The first records of settlement in Singapore are from the 2nd century AD!(irreleavant). Venice had very funny types of government. The power of the government was spread out among lots of people so that no one was corrupted or ceoncentrated with power. It's quite funny, the Doge guy is supposed to be like a king. However, he cant do as he pleased.

Venice was a port. Just like Singapore. Venice was surrounded by other countries. Just like Singapore. Venice made alot of mistakes and got pwnt by both Napolean(short french ruler) and
the Ottomans(Muslim empire). In the end, Venice's economical and military power deteriorated until they became just like any another average country. We as Singaporeans and future leaders of Singapore must ensure that the same thing does not happen to Singapore as it did to Venice. We must remember NEVER to provoke short french people or Muslims or neighbouring countries.

*pwnt: is a word from the L33tspeak language that gamers often use. to pawn is to defeat another person or thing. pawned or pwnt is its past tense.

After some extensive research on the song written by Joni Mitchell, I have found out that she got inspiration to write the song when she was in Hawaii and she was looking out from her hotel window and saw a beautiful mountai scenery but as she looked downwards, she saw the ugly hotel parking lot. This explains the phrase in the song 'they paved paradise and put up a parking lot'. The phrase 'they took all the trees and put 'em in a tree museum' is referring to the Foster Botanical Garden in downtown Honolulu, which is a living museum of tropical plants, some rare and endangered. This song most probably focuses on the topic of development and how we as human beings are affecting the natural environment and surroundings. In the last verse of the song, the lyrics of the song changes from political to personal when the singer writes ' a big yellow taxi took away my old man'. The old man hear could actually refer to the singer's father being kidnapped or even taken away by the authorities.

On a more personal note, I believe that songs like these may cause the public to be more aware of the problems that the world is facing. Current affairs like the Tibetan protests or the war in Kenya may be impemented in songs and other various mediums so that the world may be more aware about the difficulties being faced in various places in the world.

On Thursday, 28th February 2008, an orange alert was raised by the Interpol when Singaporean authorities were not able to locate the limping terrorist named Mas Selamat Kastari. An orange alert, just one level below the red alert means that there is a high risk of terrorist attacks. Mas Selamat Kastari escaped on Wednesday around 4pm in the afternoon. Sources states that he escaped when was allowed to go to a toilet at a detention centre. Questions have been raised about the security of Singaporean authorities. With the upcoming youth Olympic Games just around the corner, will Singapore be able to protect the dozens of visitors and competitors of the youth Olympic Games from external threats if they are not even able to prevent a single prisoner from escaping?

The escape of suspected terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari has evoked emotions of fear within me. What would happen if this terrorist actually bombed Singapore?
If Mas Selamat Kastari can escape, with dozens of Gurkhas surrounding his detention centre, what about the other hundreds of prisoners in jails? A massive island wide manhunt has been initiated to locate the limping terrorist but to no avail. The manhunt which consisted of highly trained Gurkhas, soldiers, police officers and even grassroots leaders have been tirelessly working since Wednesday to find this JI leader.
However, I feel that I can trust the Singapore government and authorities and maybe there is actually a reason why Mas Selamta Kastari escaped so easily or even why he has not been found till now. My theory is that Mas Selamat Kastari has actually been intentionally released as bait so that he will lead the authorities to bigger fishes.

1.Social Defense is important. Maintaining racial and religious harmony is critical to ensuring peace and stability in Singapore. When Singaporeans understand and are sensitive to the cultures and traditions of one another, and build strong bonds across different ethnic groups, we help to strengthen social cohesion.

2.Muslims around the world are being stereotyped as terrorists. This should not happen here in Singapore. If the muslims are provoked, they might actually do something about it e.g. start a civil war, racial riots etc. Muslim or not, we are all Singaporeans and if we label our own brethren as a terrorist we are calling ourselves terrorist as well.

3.We must not insult or complain about things that other racial groups do. When we hear loud noises made by chinese people dressed up as dragons, we must not say something that would hurt their feelings. The same goes with other things like praying in the morning for Muslims or having parades for the Indians. We must learn how to tolerate one another and understand why they do these things so as to build strong bonds between different races.

End.