My life In Hong Kong Essay Example for Free

My life In Hong Kong Essay Dr. Jose P. Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, had said, â€Å"Ang taong hindi marunong tumingin sa pinanggalingan ay hindi makakarating sa patutunguhan.†[1]   One must always know how to go back to one’s roots.   The essence of one’s life is greatly reflected by the ability to remember the path taken to get to where one is headed.   One’s achievements are also highlighted by the reflections brought about by the environment that shaped one’s own vision and mission in life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At this point in my life, where career opportunities are being shot at me from every direction, indecisiveness slowly creeps in to the corners of my mind:   what do I really want to do?   And one answer always keeps coming up:   I want to change the world.   Clichà ©, yes.   Probably impossible as well.   However, all grand actions in this world began with baby steps.   As for me, this research paper is my very own baby step.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite still being undecided as to what the conclusion to my studies would be, as to what career path I would take, as to which country I would serve, this research paper will aid me in whatever ministry I decide to do. This research paper will lay down the path of understanding diverse professional and career opportunities.   If I decide to enter the corporate world and work under its marketing, sales or any other economics-related division, this research paper will bring about a deeper understanding of the economic policies of Hong Kong – why Chinese products and services are more acceptable to Hong Kong companies, rather than those offered by other countries, especially the United States and Great Britain.   If I do decide to enter a career in the academe, this research will pave the way for a deeper understanding of colonization, state freedom, and shifts in political, economic, social and cultural environments. On a personal level, this paper will help me understand immigrants in a deeper sense.   Just like Hong Kong nationals, immigrants experience a change in environment, and the struggle to balance embracing a brand new culture and holding on to age-old traditions passed from generation to generation. Either way, this research paper will not go to waste as it brought me back to the place that gave birth to my being. It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in Hong Kong.   Many times, I forget what it means to be Chinese – choosing a burger over dumplings and noodles, partying in Times Square on the eve of the new year and yet sleeping through the eve of Chinese New Year, not calling my family during holidays or even just to tell them how I am doing.   Living in a foreign country brings about either one of two things: craving to go back home or completely forgetting what home is like.   This research paper made me go through a journey that I was trying to evade – to remember where I came from. It is not easy to do a paper on a place that had been a part of my life.   And yet the perspective brought into the paper is the perspective of a third person – one who is not a Hong Kong local, Chinese national or British citizen.   This research paper on Hong Kong is done by someone from Hong Kong and yet all information and data are taken in a very objective view in order to report an unbiased analysis.   The need to present all sides of the issue is necessary for a better understanding of the conflict being presented in the paper. And this is what distinguishes this research paper from other research papers. [1] â€Å"A person who does not know how to remember where he came from will never get to where he wants to go.†

of mice and men :: essays research papers

Of Mice and Men is a book about the socially oppressed and about migrant workers. The workers went through a lot of things in this story. There are many themes in this book, which had to do with them. These themes are violence, nature, loneliness and dreams. Out of these themes I think that loneliness was the most important. However, all the themes played a part in the workers lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A dream is pictures and ideas a person has in their mind. Dreams are special to people and show how they feel. George and Lennie were the main characters, who had a dream. George and Lennie have been together for a long time and they talked about their dreams. They both just would like to own a farm with animals and a garden. They don’t want to have anyone bossing them around anymore. They just want to be their own boss and do what they want to do. They want to be able to run everything their way and no one else’s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Violence is a force, which is damaging and negative. There were a few characters that experienced violence in this book. The main one was Curley. He always likes to pick fights with bigger guys and cause trouble. He also likes to threaten people about them getting close to his wife. Another person who caused violence was Lennie. Lennie isn’t a violent person he just can’t help hurting things. He doesn’t mean to cause any of the violence that he puts out. He wouldn’t be violent at all if he could just control his strength. Carlson was another person that showed some violence. He kept on pushing Candy about killing his dog. When he ended up killing Candy's dog it didn't even bother him he just did it and went on with his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nature is living things like the animals and plants. Nature is a beautiful thing that is being ruined by man. In the book the workers cut down trees and build things with it. They don’t care about nature at all they just ruin it. The only person that might have liked nature was Lennie, when he mentioned about living in a cave.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Loneliness is when a person feels isolated on the inside, not really important to anyone. Loneliness is a very big theme in this book. Many of the characters experienced this. This is a very sad thing, which I think no one should have at all.

Biotech Ethics and Advancement Essay

Biotechnology: Of Ethics and Advancement Thousands of years ago, early man, like the rest of earth’s fauna and flora, was at the mercy of the elements; we relied on nature’s gratitude when it came to finding food and survival. As Charles Darwin would say, only the fittest could survive Mother Nature’s test. Eventually, however, a fully-evolved man turned the tide of the competition; we began to domesticate the once savage beasts we hunted and competed with like wolves and horses turning them into livestock and our own companions bred out of their natural ferocity, to grow our own food for our own and tart agriculture, and eventually we started to settle down into permanent communities. Man had transcended nature when the first steps of human civilization began to grow. Since then, man had crafted its own grand design for himself; the discovery of metals like Bronze and Iron, to the Pyramids of Egypt and Cities of Rome, and the rest, as they say, Is modern history. In the Modern world, we still have that said control, and with It we have now intrinsically used our knowledge to design nature herself In our Ideal Image. Technological Advancements have allowed us wield it as we pleasure. We can now edit Mother Nature’s work and remake It anew through our vast Interference with the body that is Science. The presence of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms), Dolly and all her Cloned brethren, and Real life Cyborg-Animals are Just samples of what weVe done to her. Eventually, because of this, someone Just had to say It: â€Å"When will it be too much? When will we know when weVe gone too far? † That Is where Ethics falls in, our man-made balance of whether or not, In the most basic sense, what we do Is right or wrong. Ethics has long been a question of how much more we can do to these once â€Å"all natural† things and make them â€Å"artificially enhanced. When can we truly say that we, the â€Å"masters† have abused our power? One cannot mistake, however, that human alteration of natural things Is only a recent occurrence. Like I said, since the earliest ages of man we already tampered with nature as we sought. We turned once vlclous and wild wolves, through our process of selectively breeding the weaker ones, Into the loyal and lovable K9 friends we have today minus the genes of aggression. Pavlov strapped down dogs to make psychological breakthroughs In condltlonlng. World War 2 scientists strapped bombs to dogs, dolphins, and even bats to assist them In fighting the enemy. Indeed, this tinkering of human hands has always been there. It now falls onto us people of today to see If things can still be set as Is. How much more can we do for our species’ own satisfaction? The Ethical question must always be present whenever we trod upon something as sensltlve as the condltlon of llvlng things. Animals, Ilke any other llvlng being, have xtremes in straining those rights to our needs. The uncertainty of Science itself shows that we cannot always control what happens to them come experiment time. The fear of abusing these innocent creatures is always on the minds of the very ethical/moral such as Animal Rights groups and such. Modern Genetics and Technology have sometimes crossed lines for the sake of advancement, such as taking away a creature’s autonomy to turn them into â€Å"natural robots. † If this is truly how far Advancement has gone into sacrificing Life’s basic rules, then these righteous† people really do have a reason to riot and protest.

Declaration of the Rights of Men and of Citizens Essay

The Declaration of The Rights of Man and of Citizens begins with a clear stipulation of intrinsic freedom and equality in every man. Equality, therefore, seems to be an appropriate place to begin. The Declaration defines our equality in relation to our rights, such that we are all born with the same entitlements and among them the right to perpetuate such rights throughout our lives. Each and every one of us is entitled to the expression of the will of a community (which, according to Rousseau, is the collective will of the constituent individuals). In a similar light, the law is to regard each individual without bias; performing its duty of punishment or protection as justice sees fit. The sixth section of the declaration states that: â€Å"All being equal in its sight, are equally eligible to all honours, places and employments, according to their different abilities, without any other distinction than that created by their virtues and talents.† Effectually, this levels the metaphorical playing field, rightly empowers the skilful and the able while ensuring men are distinguished not by the colour of their skin, nor by their religion and neither by their wealth – but by their merits and abilities. Unfortunately that has never been so. There are a plethora of sordid historical examples that contravene section VI. The apartheid, holocaust and slave trade are amongst the many historical events that have grossly violated the former section. Nepotism, racism, sexism and segregation still ail society and contribute to its atrophic senescence. One audacious claim is that every man is innocent, until proven guilty by the law. The present Catholic Church disagrees, believing than everyone is born  with the burden of original sin. It is not the only body that believes in immediate guilt, many states (including China) adopt a judicial system, which operates on a contrary principle: that every man is guilty until proven innocent by the law. UNRESTRAINED COMMUNICATION Each individual is entitled to his own opinions, their expression and their communication (regardless of content and context). The Declaration explicitly iterates that this is a man’s most â€Å"precious right† and can only be annulled when it threatens the public order. The law establishes the threat. How exactly can you abuse the right of free speech? Who has the right to decide when freedom of speech is abused? A state may act unjustly towards the expression of politically or religiously sensitive opinions, as they may rouse widespread criticism and lead to an imbalance of governing power and authority. However, is it within the law’s rights to place the right to freedom of speech below its own interests? Such controversy is faced in places such as China and Russia. However, the uproar provoked by Julian Assange and Edward Snowden prove that the West cannot lay claims to an unmarred reputation of moral conduct. Individual intrinsic equality is never defined with autonomy, since it is always bordered by the canons of the law. The Declaration seems to state that the power of the law transcends the rights of man, as it may decide what is within and excluded from such rights. It is given the power to distinguish and determine. LAW The Declaration defines the primary duty of the law as an â€Å"expression of the will of the community† and that the law should only â€Å"[prohibit actions that are hurtful to society]†. It decrees, â€Å"what is not prohibited by the law, should not be hindered† and â€Å"the law ought to impose no other penalties but  such as are absolutely and evidently necessary†. The law is detailed as the decision-making faculty in society, it has the power to imprison, accuse, arrest, apprehend and (the two most important powers) to determine the extent at which one man may secure the liberal exercise of his own rights and to establish when public order is breached or threatened. So who deems what is â€Å"absolutely and evidently necessary†? Who holds the reins to the law? Shouldn’t the law be separate from the normal man, should it not occupy a different order of sovereignty? What gives another man the power to wield the scales of the law, is he superior to any other man that he may decide his counterpart’s fate? Who has the prerogative to empower another man with the sword and shield of the law? According to the declaration, â€Å"all citizens have a right†¦either personally, or by their representatives, in its formation†. So the populace, by right, has power over the law, which in turn, by right, has power over the populace. Ideally, this ascertains the equality of power. A cyclic system where the law changes with the people and adjusts itself accordingly as the essence of man itself changes; where any change in the attitudes of the people is reflected in a change in the law. Equilibrium is, therefore, maintained and this allows elasticity and exposes duality in the expression of power. This is by no means a moral system. By this definition, the law is as fickle as man and serves as an inadequate canon, an imitation canon to reassure us that we are a moral and just society. Though the Declaration implores the equal distribution of law, all being equal in its sight, it has managed to allow the atrocities committed in the past. The witch hunts, slave trade, oppression of women, exploitation of children and the inquisition are merely a few events where the latter section of the clause (â€Å"[the law] should be the same to all†) has been unpardonably violated. Is this the fault of the people? No, the fault lies with the educated  lawmakers, the â€Å"representatives†. REPRESENTATIVE The Declaration mentions lawmakers (or â€Å"representatives†) and their sole duty to express the will of the citizen. They are effectively the mouthpiece of the populace and are crucial for succinct communication between power and the people. In modern society, this role is prevalent in the majority of democratic states in the form of: Members of Parliament in the UK, Senators in the US and LegCo members in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the representative role can be held responsible for neglecting its duties and promulgating laws in favour of the upper echelons of society throughout history. The Church is one of the main perpetrators, abusing its influence and power to serve its own needs or requirements. It can be held directly responsible for the frenzied witch-hunts, the inquisition and the violent reformation, which are some of the darkest events in history. Wealthy plantation owners all over the world perpetuated the slave trade, since their operations were extremely labour intensive and extensively profit orientated. Plantations could not profit if workers were to be paid and treated fairly; therefore requiring underpaid and exploitable workers. Since the role of a representative is conventionally a caste specific role, it is nearly impossible for a member of the â€Å"people† to ascend to this position. Therefore the role of a lawmaker is somewhat disconnected from the people and is, perhaps, inadvertently stifling the voice of the people. The representative has, of course, the same (equal) rights of the people and therefore is entitled to ambition. Though their duty is to represent and express the will of the people, it is – rather understandably – second only to their personal desires and demands. Self-satisfaction is ingrained within every single complex organism on this planet, so it is only natural to pursue your own interests and seek your own ends. However, those with power (and above all representatives and lawmakers) have  the means to meet their ends. The mere possession of power is corruptive and addictive. Those in the upper classes of society will, at the very least, strive to remain in the rung they nestle in; fearing a relegation to a lower status. Many will desire to advance and climb further from the people and manipulate the resources available to them in order to do so. Yet, it is the privileged that possess such resources or have access to certain opportunities that allow them to advance and the unprivileged that don’t, thereby consolidating caste preservation and setting the cyclic nature of disparity in place. This is where the voice of the people is lost in transmission. This is evident in the American taxation scheme, where the wealthy benefit from certain policies that permits income to be classified otherwise and thereby avoiding the maximum rate of taxation. The Republican Party immortalizes these policies, as it contributes to their socio-economic preservation. What seems not to be apparent is that there is no need to abuse power. The correct expression of power and fair distribution can only bring about what the Declaration suggests: a level playing field. It would encourage a Darwinian model of progression, where the socio-economic advance and preservation of an individual is reliant on performance, ability, talent, skill and virtue. COMMON CONTRIBUTION It is necessary, according to the declaration, for a common contribution. This is for the â€Å"support of the public force, and for defraying the other expenses of government†. The declaration states that this common contribution ought to be â€Å"divided equally† amongst all â€Å"according to their abilities†. The former of the statements still rings true today and is the only thing reputed to be certain (apart from death). The latter stipulation, regrettably, has not. Internationally most citizens are taxed on their income, on the goods they  purchase and the money they inherit. Yet no system of taxation is truly fair, as the law affords disproportionate contribution and means of evading certain taxation. This is most evident in America, where many high net worth investors pay a smaller percentage of their income than their middle class, working counterparts. This is achieved through exploiting the capital gains tax and the carried interest tax. As a result of such exploitation, Warren Buffet only paid a combined tax rate of 17.4% in 2010, where less affluent Americans contributed up to 45% of their income to the government. The declaration stipulates that â€Å"common contribution† should be divided â€Å"equally among members of the community according to their abilities†. A merit and ability based taxation scheme is fair and just. So how should a population be taxed (if they are to be taxed on ability)? Taxing on the basis of income seems not to work. Perhaps the rate of tax should be varied by age or perhaps determined by occupation (seeing as occupation is decided by ability). A problem that arises is that this would discourage hard work and penalize success. Thus resulting in a population hesitant to use their abilities and work to their full capacity.

How to Perform the Mohs Hardness Test

How to Perform the Mohs Hardness Test Identifying rocks and minerals relies heavily on chemistry, but most of us dont carry around a chem lab when were outside, nor do we have one to take rocks back to when we come home. So, how do you identify rocks? You gather information about your treasure to narrow down the possibilities. Its helpful to know the hardness of your rock. Rock hounds often use the Mohs test to estimate the hardness of a sample. In this test, you scratch an unknown sample with a material of known hardness. Heres how you can perform the test yourself. Difficulty: EasyTime Required: mere seconds Heres How: Find a clean surface on the specimen to be tested.Try to scratch this surface with the point of an object of known hardness, by pressing it firmly into and across your test specimen. For example, you could try to scratch the surface with the point on a crystal of quartz (hardness of 9), the tip of a steel file (hardness about 7), the point of a piece of glass (about 6), the edge of a penny (3), or a fingernail (2.5). If your point is harder than the test specimen, you should feel it bite into the sample.Examine the sample. Is there an etched line? Use your fingernail to feel for a scratch, since sometimes a soft material will leave a mark that looks like a scratch. If the sample is scratched, then it is softer than or equal in hardness to your test material. If the unknown was not scratched, it is harder than your tester.If you are unsure of the results of the test, repeat it, using a sharp surface of the known material and a fresh surface of the unknown.Most people dont carry around examples of all ten levels of the Mohs hardness scale, but you probably have a couple of points in your possession. If you can, test your specimen against other points to get a good idea of its hardness. For example, if you scatch your specimen with glass, you know its hardness is less than 6. If you cant scratch it with a penny, you know its hardness is between 3 and 6. The calcite in this photo has a Mohs hardness of 3. Quartz and a penny would scratch it, but a fingernail would not. Tips: Try to collect examples of as many hardness levels as you can. You can use a fingernail (2.5), penny (3), a piece of glass (5.5-6.5), a piece of quartz (7), steel file (6.5-7.5), sapphire file (9). What You Need: unknown specimenobjects of known hardness (e.g., coin, fingernail, glass)

The Meaning of To a T

The Meaning of To a T The Meaning of To a T The Meaning of To a T By Mark Nichol The expression â€Å"to a T,† as in â€Å"That suits you to a T!† is often mistakenly written or said as â€Å"to the T† (or â€Å"to a tee† or â€Å"to the tee†). This type of alteration occurs often in idiomatic phrases (note â€Å"all of the sudden† and â€Å"for all intensive purposes,† among others). In today’s anarchic publishing environment, writers are free to consciously or unconsciously style such phrases however they choose, but careful writers will preserve prevailing norms. But what, exactly, is a â€Å"T†? None of the various proposed origins of â€Å"to a T† is definitive, but only one makes any sense. The opinion that it refers to how well a T-shirt fits is nonsensical: The term for a collarless, short-sleeved shirt is less than a hundred years old, and the expression dates to the late 1600s. That also disqualifies the more plausible theory that it alludes to the precision a T square, the T-shaped drafting tool, enables; the first attested use in print of the tool’s name postdates the first use of the phrase by nearly a century. And is has nothing to do with the golf implement known as the tee, which has always been spelled as such (though the spelling error â€Å"to a tee† goes back hundreds of years). Most likely, the phrase is descended from the expression â€Å"to a tittle.† A tittle is a small mark used in orthographic details, such as the dot over an i or a j or a diacritical mark such as an accent mark, and the sense is â€Å"to the smallest detail.† But why isn’t the expression styled â€Å"to a t†? That’s because uppercase letters are the default setting when using a letter to represent something. Report cards have As and Bs (but, the recipient hopes, no other capital letters), the force of gravity is expressed as a multiple of Gs (the capital letter is the scientific symbol for gravity), and X, not x, marks the spot. (We also use uppercase letters such as S and V to denote shapes- though, like X as a location marker and the other uses referred to above, they should not be italicized in those contexts, because they do not literally represent letters.) There are a couple of exceptions: The context of â€Å"Dot your i’s and cross your t’s† and â€Å"Mind your p’s and q’s†- if one accepts the contested interpretation that the latter originally referred to easily confused letters- requires lowercase letters. Does teetotaler have any connection? The word for someone who abstains from alcohol goes back nearly two centuries but originally referred merely to intensification of one’s feelings about being totally devoted to something, with tee attached as a form of reduplication. But as the differing spelling indicates, this word has nothing in common with the expression â€Å"to a T.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 English Grammar Rules You Should Know44 Resume Writing TipsPreposition Mistakes #1: Accused and Excited

Ashima's pregnancy experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ashima's pregnancy experience - Essay Example Therefore, Ashimas’s first pregnancy brings her significant outcomes in order to give a birth. She feels abnormal to raise a child in a foreign country. She is concerned by her first experience in the hospital, and she feels discomfort because of her family members’ absence during her pregnancy. Ashima is worried by the fact that she is going to raise a child far away from her parents. It is extremely difficult for her to give birth, and raise a child in a strange country where she knows almost nothing. Therefore, she feels lonely and more worried than anything else. Even though becoming a mother brings her satisfaction in her life just like her ancestry, â€Å"she is terrified to raise a child in a country where she is related to no one, where she knows so little, where life seems so tentative and spare† (Lahiri p.6). Ashima is also concerned with giving birth in the hospital because she has a different belief from where she hails. The fact that she is going to deliver a child where people experience extreme difficulties makes her unhappy. She thinks that giving birth in a hospital is an unnecessary experience a woman should never undergo. She reasons that women in India feel more comfortable giving birth in their parents’ house than in the hospital. For instance, she mentions, â€Å"there is nothing to comfort her in the off-white tiles of the floor, the off-white panels of the ceiling, the white sheets tucked tightly into the bed† (Lahiri p.4). For these reasons, Ashima feels strange giving birth in the hospital. Ashima feels discomfort since she lacks relatives who can support her during her pregnancy. Being pregnant in a strange country without her mother’s and grandmother’s support is the most difficult part for Ashima. She feels that she misses the most important people in her life. She has a different feeling due to the absence of her relatives during her baby’s birth. Furthermore, the birth of her baby brings her