The Education Systems of England and Saudi Arabia Essay

The Education Systems of England and Saudi Arabia - Essay Example 'The British government has set a national curriculum, which clearly defines different stages and core subjects for children ages 5 to 16 (The Education System in England, n.d.). It specifies the various subjects to be taught at different stages, the expected knowledge, skills, and understanding level for the various subjects, and how the children's progress should be tested (The Education System in England, n.d.).' (qtd. in University of Michigan, n.d.) THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM (ENGLAND) The National Curriculum consists of 11 subjects, including; English, design and technology, geography, math, information technology, music, science art, physical education, history and modern foreign language. The National Curriculum is split up into for stages, referred to as Key Stages, and are based on the student's age. The key stage of a child reflects what subjects will be studied and the method by which they will be taught. Key Stage 1 includes children ages 5-8, Key Stage 2 consists of children 8-11, Key Stage 3 is made up of children ages 11-14, and Key Stage 4 is composed of children 14-16. At the end of each Key Stage, students are required to take a standardized test, known as the SAT, associated with that particular stage. The achievement level Surname 3 obtained on each test is then reported to the parents and the public in two ways: the student's actual test grade and the teacher's individual assessment of each student (The Education System in England, n.d.).' (qtd in University of Michigan, n.d.) In Saudi Arabia, the educational system is structured with the same strict control by the government as it is strict in England, or maybe perhaps stricter. 'Government control... 'Government control of schoolbooks to guarantee they are consistent with Islam and devoid of anything conflicting with its principles. The Saudi government maintains control of every aspect of educational material:[15] "The government shall be concerned with the control of all books coming into the Kingdom from abroad or going out of the Kingdom to the outside world. No books shall be allowed for use unless they are consistent with Islam, the intellectual trends and educational aims of the Kingdom..."[16] The government policy also states: "All books should fulfill the aims of education and be devoid of anything conflicting with Islam."[17]Students also learn "how to face misleading rumors, destructive doctrines, and alien thoughts,"[18]The Saudi education authorities insist "the school textbooks should be in line with Islamic requirements."[19]'. (Stalinsky, 2002). Additionally, the British Council affirmed and posted 'After five years of secondary education, students take examinations in a range of subjects at the level of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). The GCSE is a single-subject examination set and marked by independent examination boards.

Philosophy vs Ideology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Philosophy vs Ideology - Essay Example ividual is considered to be faced with different concepts which primarily aimed at understanding the human existence, mind, values, culture, reason and more. Thus, philosophy is an integral part of the human experience because of his intellect and moral obligations in line with his pursuit to understand the nature and origin of ideas. Beliefs and ideas disregarding whether they are true or false are integral part of ideology (Eagleton, 1991). The most familiar adage puts it that no man is an island. This implies that socialization is part of being human. Thus, the society in general is composed of individual, social movement, institution or group which function together based on certain beliefs and ideas. These guide them in their daily living as they continue to exist and be a part of the highly structured society. Thus, an ideology therefore is a guiding principle underlying the existence of an individual, class or group. For example, the Greek mythology is a specific replica of what an ideology is all about. Doctrine on the other hand is another form of ideology. Considering that there are various religions in the world, each of them carries substantial doctrine which is another form of ideology. The Roman Catholic has specific doctrines that may or may not be applicable among Protestants. Philosophy on the other hand tries to organize beliefs and ideas based on the truth using the senses. Everything is highly intellectualized with Philosophy. For instance, a suspect may remain as such until proven guilty due to strong supporting evidences. In Philosophy, it is only the truth that counts in order to understand various concepts, ideas or beliefs in order to trace their very nature or inception. In a society where people’s beliefs are subject to what they felt, perceived and experienced, the truth is always based on what the human mind can fathom or understand. It is in this reason that faith does not need to be intellectualized because it is more than what

Israeli and Arab conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Israeli and Arab conflict - Essay Example It starts with the Biblical story of Abraham who moved from the land of Ur in present-day Iraq/Iran to the land of Canaan as it was then called. According to Biblical traditions, Abraham was promised the whole land adjacent to the Red Sea and within the west of the Jordan river. However, there were some native Canaanites on the land. Abraham's grandson, Jacob (Israel) moved to Egypt with his children and grandchildren. They lived in Egypt for a few hundreds of years and became a great and populous nation. They then returned to the land of Canaan a few generations after Abraham. The descendants of Abraham became known as the Israelite community. They lived side-by-side with the natives of the land of Canaan. This include the Philistines, the Jebusites, the Hittites and many other native tribes. After a few centuries, the Israelite community became more numerous in the land and with the rise of David as king and leader of the community, it was transformed to a state and its capital was established in Jerusalem. The State of Israel was however divided into two: Judah in the South and the Northern Kingdom. The northern Kingdom was destroyed and the people were sold into nations around the world. The people from Judah however remained a united state around the capital Jerusalem. Eventually, the Roman defeated Judah in AD63 and the remnants of Judah were sold as slave in the Diaspora (Safrai 1). In the Diaspora, the people of Judah continued to maintain their traditional practices and maintained their identity. They became known as the Jews. Meanwhile, the Romans renamed the State of Israel Palaestina which became known as Palestine (Safrai 1). As the Roman power faded, the land of Palestine was inhabited by people from other Middle Eastern origins and this include the Canaanites, Philistines and others who lived in the land before Abraham moved onto it. After the Romans, the land came under the control of the founder of Islam and his successors. As a result of that, they converted to Islam and assimilated to the main sphere of Arab communities. However, the land of Canaan/Israel became known as the Holy Lands and it changed hands for generations before the Crusaders contested over the land for generations. Eventually, it became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 1500s and it remained under Ottoman rule until 1918. British Rule & Palestine The Ottomans were Muslims, however, they never considered themselves Arabs (Willner et al 487). There was therefore a clear distinction between Ottomans or Turkish Muslims and Arabs of the Middle East and North America. During the era of the Ottoman domination of the Middle East and North America, the Arabs were ruled by Ottoman governors. Hence, the British defeat of the Ottoman Empire came with a promise of liberating the Arabs after the war (Willner et al 489). Britain used a complicated system of forming alliances and diplomatic ties with different peoples around the world during the First World War period which was fought between 1913 and 1917. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire was part of the â€Å"Asian Theater† of a larger war that was fought in Europe and other parts of the world. Britain had used the help of the Americans, Monarchical Russia and many others to defeat the Germans in the European War. They had also promised the Jewish Group seeking a homeland for the Jewish people known as the Zionists in Europe and around the world that they will help

Crisis of Kingfisher Airlines Essay Example for Free

Crisis of Kingfisher Airlines Essay The Indian air market is estimated to be the ninth largest in the world but with the population size the country has, the Indian government believes it will become the world’s third largest market by 2020. 87 foreign and five Indian airlines fly to and from India to 40 countries. Approximately five million Indians fly every month domestically. Domestic traffic more than doubled between Jul-2006 and July 2011, with growth of 101%. One reason for the growth was the deregulation of Indian domestic aviation in 2003- 2004 followed by international deregulation in 2007-2008 India has three full service airlines Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and four Low cost carriers: GoAir, IndiGo, JetLite (owned by Jet airways), and SpiceJet. Kingfisher also had a discount version: Kingfisher Red known formerly as Simplifly Deccan and before that Air Deccan. Ironically the Indian aviation despite a market growing at 18 per cent for last 11 months, five out of six Indian airlines are bleeding leading to the failure of one of the leading aviation player Kingfisher Airlines. Kingfisher Airlines, a subsidiary of UB Group (United Breweries Holdings Ltd), founded in May 2005 operates a passenger airline in India. It was the first airline in India to provide premium first class service on domestic routes with all new aircraft. In May 2007, it announced it would acquire a 26% stake in Air Deccan, a low cost carrier (LCC) for 5.5 billion rupees ($135 million). Kingfisher Airlines Limited came to become one of the country’s largest airlines, operating more than 400 flights a day and having a wide network of destinations, with regional and long-haul international services touching almost 60 destinations. At one point the Kingfisher Airlines had the second largest share in Indias domestic air travel market. However due to the severe financial crisis faced by the airline, it has the fifth largest market share currently. Even the company have no funds to pay the salaries to the employees and is facing several other issues like fuel dues; aircraft lease rental dues, service tax dues and bank arrears. As Kingfisher airlines is in the midst of a financial turmoil, the case will aim to understand the various factors which are fuelling the growth / decline and those which are/will be critical for the company’s performance in the near term. Introduction History of the Indian Airline Industry In December 1912, the first domestic air route was opened between Delhi and Karachi by the Indian State Air Services (in collaboration with Imperial Airways of the UK). This marked a new beginning in India. Three years later, Tata Sons started a regular airmail service between Karachi and Madras. At that time, there were a few transport companies operating within and also beyond the frontiers of the country, carrying both air cargo and passengers. Some of these were Tata Airlines, Indian National Airways, Air Service of India, Deccan Airways, Ambica Airways, Bharat Airways and Mistry Airways. The Tata Airlines was converted into a public limited company in the year 1946 and renamed Air India Limited. In 1948 a joint sector company-Air India International was established by the Government of India and Air India headed by J.R.D. Tata. In 1953, the Parliament passed the Air Corporation Act. Air India International and Indian Airlines Corporation came into formal existence and Air India International was nationalized. The Indian Aviation sector was liberalized in commence in 1990 with private sector players being allowed to operate as air taxi operators in India. A number of private players commenced domestic operations like Damania, East-West, Modiluft, Air Sahara and NEPC, entered the industry. However, a decade later none of them have survived. Foreword of Kingfisher Airlines Kingfisher Airlines is an airline group based in India. Its head office is The Qube in Andheri (East), Mumbai; and Registered Office in UB City, Bangalore. Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003 and began operations on 9 May 2005 with a fleet of five A380s, five Airbus A350s aircraft and five Airbus A330s operating its first inaugural flight from Mumbai to Delhi. It seems staggering that an airline a month old could order the world’s biggest plane in an untested market. They went international in 2008, less than four years ago. In May 2009, they became India’s largest airline by passenger numbers. Owned by the Bangalore based United Breweries Group. Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, has a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. The UB group is lead by Dr. Vijay Mallya as the Chairman to one of India’s largest conglomerates with diverse interests in brewing, distilling, real estate, engineering, fertilizers, biotechnology, information technology and aviation. Dr. Mallya, was elected by shareholders as Chairman of The UB Group in 1983, at the age of 28 and has been instrumental in growing it into a multinational business conglomerate. Kingfisher is the only Indian and the one of the six in the world to have received the 6 stars rating for its services by the Skytrax operates more than 400 flights a day connecting 72 destinations the world over. Merger of Kingfisher- Air Deccan A wholly owned subsidiary of Deccan Aviation, Air Deccan, was India’s first low cost carrier. It has a vision to enable every Indian to fly thus representing the airline’s simple and no frills approach. With a low pricing strategy, Air Deccan primarily focussed on first time travellers and successfully shifted people from Rail travel to Air travel. Air Deccan airlines merged with Kingfisher Airlines and decided to operate as a single entity from April, 2008 under the title name Kingfisher Aviation. The merger is based on recommendations of Accenture, the global consulting firm. KPMG was asked to do the valuation and the swap ratio was decided accordingly. The merger came through on as Vijay Mallya from Kingfisher airlines bought 26% of the stake in Air Deccan. The unification of the two carriers had to be sanctioned not only by the two panels, but also by the institutional investors, independent directors, and other shareholders. Air Deccan had four independent directors-which included prominent persons like IIM Prof Thiru Naraya, Tennis player Vijay Amritraj, and A K Ganguly, Former MD Nabisco Malaysia. Post merger, KingFisher would operate as a single largest (private) airline in the sub-continent with a combined fleet of 71 aircrafts, connects 70 destinations and operating 550 flights in a day. The combined entity has a market share of 33%. Captain Gopinath continued as the Executive Chairman and Vijay Malay in-charge as the Vice Chairman. To rationalize the fleet structure, Kingfisher was focussed towards the international routes and functioning as a full-service carrier while Air Deccan was allotted the wider domestic reach and operated as a low cost carrier. As both the carriers operated the Airbus, the operational synergies integrated not only the management and staff of the airlines but also the engineering, inventory management and ground handling services, maintenance and overhaul sectors. These efforts brought about an increased savings in costs by 4-5% (INR. 300 crores)* Further, by devising a more optimal routing strategy it could help in rationalizing the fares. Before the merger Air Deccan recorded a net loss of Rs 213.17 crores on revenue of Rs 437.82 crores for 2006-07. The company had also raised Rs 400 crores through an IPO in May 2006. The merger will create a more competitive business in scale and scope to emerge as market leader.

Discrimination and prejudices against Chinese women

Discrimination and prejudices against Chinese women This paper will be focusing on the discrimination and prejudices again gender especially females in China. It will give readers details on how they are being treated and discriminated in the past as well as the present time. This paper will also cover solutions on how this problem could be reduced by cooperating with the government by educating the people throughout the country and make males and females to have equal rights. SECTION II THE ISSUES AND WHO ARE INVOLVED According to Matt Rosenberg, 2010, the population of China is around 1.3 billion; this figure is based on the registered citizens that we know. Until now we are uncertain of the actual figure of China population as there are babies that are not registered yet with the government due to the one-child policy that China has. One-child policy (Matt Rosenberg, 2010) was created in the year 1979, to limit the growth of communist in China by ensuring every couple having one child only (Jeffery Hays, 2008).Females are being discriminated in traditionally Chinese culture as males are thought to be important because they will be looking after property; inherit land; and passing on the family name. But females have less benefit than males as they will be married off from the family. In China (Adam Brookes 2001), female babies are being discriminated even before they are being born. Researchers did an annual statistics report showing that a million of girl fetuses are being aborted, prior to tha t, tens of thousands of girl infants are being abandoned as well. From ancient practices (Eric Baculinao, 2004) , if a Chinese family without son will face poverty and neglect as Chinese believe that male offspring symbolize continuity of lineage and protection in old age! With advances in medical technology there was a widespread of cheap and portable ultra-sound scanner in the 1980s, that allowed parents to choose their baby sex, this kind of practices are called pre-natal sex selection. If the parents discovered that their baby is a girl they will choose to abort it and try again for a boy. Researched done by (Eric Baculinao, 2004) on Missing Girls, showing the trend of boys and girls being born from a Chinese-tank report. We can see huge significant difference in number of boys and girls being born in recent years. And by looking at the table we can see that parents prefer boys than girls. Year Boys Girls Ratio ( Boys against Girls) Early 80s 108.5 100 1.09 : 1 1990 111 100 1.11 : 1 2000 116 100 1.16 : 1 Present 120 100 1.2 : 1 (According to a Chinese-tank report) SECTION III WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR US TO TALK ABOUT IT? According to Eric Baculinao, 2004, in the year 2002 a survey conducted in a central China village shows that out of 820 women there are more than 300 of them undergo abortion before. And one third of them admitted that they were trying to select their babys sex. (Sheryl WuDUNN, 1992) In a few decades China has made everyone richer but in some ways, China also made life difficult for the nation 565 million women. In China, women are being discriminated in the area of jobs, housing and land location. For example, whenever company is hiring women they usually look for physical attractiveness of the women as they can be used as an ornament in offices or lure businesses for the company. And they usually have lesser chances to get promoted to higher position in their working life. A survey conducted by (Peoples Daily Online, 2010) on females graduates, showing that 21 percent of female students graduating this year found jobs by end of February, much lower than the male student percentage which is 29.5 percent. From the percentage we can obviously see that females are lagging behind in the employment rates. Beginning of 2009 (China Human Rights, N.D), Jiangsu provincial education department did a random survey on 100 employer unit to find out which gender they prefer to hire. The result was 53% will hire male graduates and 35% 36% wanted female graduates, the rest did not have any gender restriction. From the percentage from the survey, we can see that out of 100 companies more than 50 companies prefers to hire males than females. They are being discriminated even further, as even if they have outstanding grades and having many qualification certificates it is no better than an identification card of a male graduate. And i feel that the discrimination against females in China is addressed. Beside from being denied access to good jobs even though they had good qualifications, there have been cases of domestic violence against females in China. According to some survey on domestic violence (Jeffery Hays, 2008), there is around 30 percent occurring in families. The All China Women Federation (ACWF), (Cheng Yingqi, 2010), annually received 40,000 to 50,000 complains since 2004, usually this cases involved husbands acting violently towards them. (Percentage of Females Domestic Violence Victims) From the table, we can see that out of 473 females domestic violence victims around 37.6 percent are between the ages of 31-40 years old and 33 percent of them only had Middle school education background. And they usually suffer physical, psychological and sexual abuse an average of 7.4 times a year (Cheng Yingqi, 2010). SECTION IV WHERE CAN WE START TO FIX THE PROBLEM? There are several ways that the discrimination and prejudice against the females in china can be improved. Example, the All-China Womens Federation (ACWF) was created in April 3, 1949, and dedicated for Chinese women of all ethnic groups in all walks of life. (ACWF, N.D) The federation created laws and regulations with the help of government to safeguard women rights and promote equal rights among men and women in all areas. The China Law center hosted a workshop on anti-discrimination laws with Sichuan University law school. (Yale Law School, 2008) The workshop explore ways which that American approach combating against discrimination, this would provide helpful insight for Chinese academics, lawyers, and activists  seeking to reduce discrimination in China.   Several other organizations in the world are also trying to help females in China. For example the UN Action for women (Department of Public Information, 1996), in 1995 after the Womens conference China provided training for 10 million women in rural area. These training give women in rural area some basic education as most of them are illiterate. The Anti-Domestic violence Network of China law (N.D), specialized in domestic violence against women and eliminating gender based violence. They also promote gender equality as well as social development in the community. SECTION V CONCLUSION Having research about the discrimination of females in China and what has been done so far to help ease the problem. I feel that there is still much effort needed on the China governments enforcement in discrimination against females. Even though there are organizations lending a helping hand for women in China there will still be discrimination against them. The possibility of removing discrimination against females in China is still not possible yet, even though there are laws created to aid them as well as campaigns prompting not to discriminate girls. For example, the Family planning propaganda sends a message saying Boy or girl, it is the same Both can carry on the family name (Research-China.Org, 2005) and the message is far most prominent. With all this aids and campaigns helping females in china, I still strongly believe that discrimination against females in China is still an issue and cant be solved so easily. SECTION VI REFERENCE LINK By Matt Rosenberg (2010), China Population, Available from: http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/chinapopulation.htm By Matt Rosenberg (2010), Chinas One Child Policy, Available from: http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/onechild.htm By Jeffery Hays (2008), Preference for Boys in China, available from: http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=126HYPERLINK http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=126catid=4subcatid=15HYPERLINK http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=126catid=4subcatid=15catid=4HYPERLINK http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=126catid=4subcatid=15HYPERLINK http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=126catid=4subcatid=15subcatid=15 By Adam Brookes (2001), Chinas Unwanted Girls, available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1506469.stm By Eric Baculinao (2004), Chinas grapples with legacy of its missing girls, available from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5953508/ns/world_news By Sheryl WuDUNN (1992), Women face increasing bias as china focuses on profits, available from: http://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/28/world/women-face-increasing-bias-as-china-focuses-on-profits.html By Peoples Daily Online (2010), Sexual Discrimination still exist in Chinas job market, available from: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90782/6909178.html By China Human Rights (No Date), Gender Discrimination, available from: http://www.chinahumanrights.org/CSHRS/Magazine/Text/t20100520_593164_1.htm By Jeffery Hays (2008), Problems face by women in china, available from: http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=104HYPERLINK http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=104catid=4subcatid=21HYPERLINK http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=104catid=4subcatid=21catid=4HYPERLINK http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=104catid=4subcatid=21HYPERLINK http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=104catid=4subcatid=21subcatid=21 By Cheng Yingqi, China Daily, (2010), Experts urge curbing domestic violence, available from: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-11/26/content_11612576.htm By All-China Womens Federation (ACWF),No Date(N.D), available from: http://www.women.org.cn/english/english/aboutacwf/mulu.htm By Department of Public Information (1996), UN actions for Women, available from: http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/women/dpi1796e.htm By Yale Law School (2008), The China Law Center Co-Hosts Workshop on Anti-Discrimination Law, available from: http://www.law.yale.edu/intellectuallife/6198.htm By Anti-Domestic Violence Network of China Law Society, No date (N.D), Strive for a world without violence for women, available from: http://www.stopdv.org.cn/en/about.asp By Research China.Org (2005), Why Girls Are Abandoned in China, available from: http://research-china.blogspot.com/2005/10/why-girls-are-abandoned-in-china.html ~END~

The Pilgrims and the Pilgrim Mystique :: American History Research Papers

The Pilgrims and the Pilgrim Mystique - A Blend of Myth, Fiction, and History [1] At the conclusion of the film Plymouth Adventure, the Pilgrims, physically and mentally, have withstood the rigors of persecution in their homeland, of the long and difficult voyage, and of their first year in the wild, desolate New World. Ultimately, this paradigm becomes the emblem of the founding of our nation and the beginning of a whole panorama of different versions each time the story is retold--some of them factual and some of them mythical. The purpose of this essay is to: 1) survey the scope of the Pilgrim mystique; 2) sort myth from fact in the story; 3) pinpoint the sources of the information we have about these settlers; 4) establish why this group was chosen rather than any of a myriad of settlers who came to the New World, both before and after the Pilgrims; and 5) finally, and most importantly, determine whether the facts about the Pilgrims have been misrepresented, distorted, or simply omitted in the film based on Gebler's book, The Plymouth Adventure: A Ch ronicle Novel of the Voyage of the Mayflower, and the two most reliable accounts we have of the Pilgrims' story, William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation and Mourt's Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Scope of the Pilgrim Mystique [2] If one were to ask the man on the street to recite the story of the Pilgrims, it would go something like this: These religious people wanted to worship as they pleased, so they left England and came to America; the voyage was hard and many of them died, but with the help of Squanto they were able to raise crops the next Spring and Summer. They had a bountiful harvest, and in the Fall they invited the Indians to join them in a thanksgiving feast where they served roasted wild turkey. Their strong religious faith and trust in God's providence were the main reasons they prospered in the New World. Quite likely these two facts would not be mentioned: the Pilgrims were a separate group from the Puritans, and the Plymouth Colony failed to obtain a charter and ultimately became a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692. Also absent from the recital would be the fact that Plymouth, the poor but proud capital of the Pilgrim Colony, sank to the status of a not-very-important cou nty seat, its interests shrinking to a radius of a few miles and the scale of its affairs lessening accordingly (Willison 408).

Conflict Essay Paradise Road Essay

INTRO When people encounter conflict their true nature is often the force behind their actions. Conflicts can vary from personal to group and be fairly tedious and inconsequential or they can be life threatening situations. Individuals will display different reactions to this conflict depending on their true nature. Some embrace the conflict and it enables them to show their long held values and morals whereas others are put into a position where they must avoid showing there true self in order to survive. People reveal long held values and what really matters to them when they are under pressure. Our true motives are displayed when we encounter conflict. In the movie, paradise road Mrs Tippler has a highly negative response to conflict, she becomes critical and pessimistic. She grows increasingly  spiteful and resentful, making racial tensions worse and accusing the Dutch women of being dishonest. She accuses Adrienna of endangering lives with the vocal orchestra and becomes suspicious of everyone saying â€Å"What about that Jew doctor? What about that one making goo goo eyes at that Japanese guard all the time†. Ms tippler seemed like a reasonable person at the beginning of the movie but as tension and pressure was put upon her and the group her nastier values where exposed. Adrienne emerges as a natural leader in the prison camp. Her response to conflict is to maintain her dignity. Another character, Adrienne is placed in a compromising position when she’s asked if the orchestra will perform a Japanese folk-song for Colonel Hirota. She refuses, risking severe punishment. In a modern day example sporting great tiger woods was involved in many types of conflict with his partner at time and also with the media. His true ethics where shown as it was reveled that he had been a serial cheater and had told many lies, which inevitably was the reason for him being caught, if he had not engaged in any form of conflict though media speculation or of that with his wife who he really is would never have been exposed. In times of conflict people may even surprise themselves, and discover new characteristics they didn’t know they had. Under pressure a person’s true character is often revealed. Some people will remain composed under pressure and remain in control of the situation while others will lose control of their emotions and the situation very quickly. Recently a soldier called Trooper Finney was awarded the George Cross for rescuing an injured colleague following during the war in Iraq. He was driving a tank when they were attacked by warplanes, his colleagues ran away to shelter but he heard his fellow soldier – the tank gunner, screaming, but he couldn’t get to him properly in the tank. Finney pulled his gunner out and gave him first aid underneath the tank- returned to the burning vehicle to radio for help and kept the other soldier alive until assistance came. Trooper Finney was 19 and had been in the Army for less than a year. He would not have had many life threatening experiences and may not have known what he was capable of until under immense pressure in the middle of a deadly conflict. His real identity came out and his real character was revealed when he risked his life for someone else and stayed calm and cool under attack. Margaret  Drummond’s character in Paradise Road was also an unlikely hero, she was humble, sweet and a Christian missionary she probably didn’t realise she could survive such a torturous ordeal as the prison camp but she finds â€Å"The will to survive is strong, stronger than anything.† At times people need to behave in ways that are out of character in order to survive. This is not always an accurate representation of who they are. Stressed and deprived, some of the women in Paradise Road find themselves placed in a morally and politically compromised situation when confronted with the choice as to whether to remain at the Japanese ‘officers’ club’, providing sex in return for food and comfort, or to return to the camp. Inner conflict is also encountered by the women who are often pushed to breaking point by the cruelty of the Japanese soldiers, such as when they are forced to witness the injustice of Wing’s execution in silence. Normally in a situation where the women where not faced with the threat of death they might have stepped in but with conflicting interests of survival and that to help others stopped them from expressing their desired actions. In our political environment the sense of conflict can be strong, especially near elect ion time. Many politicians have to tow the party line and state that they are opposed to things like gay marriage or abortion, because that is what their political party policy is. They need to do this in order to survive politically in their elected positions. They often turn out not to be personally opposed to those things, but the pressure of conflicting parties vying for peoples votes forces them to act in a role which may be out of character. Kevin Rudd is now saying he is not personally against gay marriage, even though he headed a government who opposed to it. In some circumstances morals and values are compromised in order to survive in the given environment, thus their actions and perceived values may not be a true representation of who they really are. CONCLUSION Conflicting interests in the eyes of the individual is often the reason behind how and why they act in certain ways. In situations of conflict some welcome the situation and show their true self while others act out of fear and desperation either inadvertently revealing themselves or deliberately  choosing survival over being themselves.