Salim Group free essay sample

The focus of the Salim Group’s operations adapted to Indonesia’s economic policies and shifted from trading to manufacturing, and ultimately diversified into a series of unrelated sectors. Following the fall of Suharto and the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Salim Group has continued to internationalize its portfolio with Liem’s son, Anthony Salim, as the group’s chief executive. Currently, the Salim Group’s main holdings are in food, media, automotive, property and telecom with aggregated revenues estimated at 14 billion USD in 2012. The biggest companies in the portfolio include First Pacific Ltd. , Indofood and Indomobil. The competitive landscape consists of other multinational companies and Indonesian conglomerates on a group level, and industry specific competitors in each distinct business field. Although certain elements of the Salim Group are comparable to the traditional Chinese family business, such as its extensive network of relationships, through adaptations to this model, including the professionalization of management and business, an open and informal culture, and a decision-making process supported by strict internal monitoring procedures, the group has been able to achieve significantly greater scale and success. We will write a custom essay sample on Salim Group or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Anthony Salim has already dictated the firm’s future strategy, which entails an expansion throughout Australia-ASEAN-China (‘Axis of Prosperity’), a portfolio focus on industries known to the group, and the development of local managers for regional adaptation. Going forward, the Salim Group should closely consider changes in the institutional environment of ASEAN countries, succession planning, and the centralization of control, as well as both the benefits and concerns associated with its Axis of Prosperity expansion. 1. History of the Salim Group The historical events of the Salim Group can be classified into three phases that the Indonesian conglomerate experienced. These phases are broadly grouped time periods that share characteristics and observe similar trends. We begin by examining the first phase of the Salim Group’s accomplished history, which includes the actions that led to the creation of the company and its earliest business activities. Prior to the Second World War, Liem Sioe Liong immigrated to Indonesia from China’s Fujian province. When Liem arrived in Central Java, there was already an existing and organized Chinese community. This is a direct reflection of the increase in Indonesia’s Chinese immigrant population, a group considered to be economically higher than the local Javanese as they were used by the colonists as intermediaries and traders. The importance of Liem’s ethnicity will be discussed in later sections. Liem began trading and lending in the early 1940’s before the Japanese occupation. Similar to many Chinese immigrants, Liem abandoned his Chinese name and adopted the Indonesian-sounding Sudono Salim, hereafter referred to as Sudono. Shortly after the Japanese occupation in 1942, Sudono engaged in Dangbangke trading, which consisted of smuggling small goods with bicycles. At the same time, Sudono started a family and fathered both Anthony Salim and Andre Halim, two sons that would eventually play a prominent role in the Salim Group. It is in the 1940’s that the Salim Group was founded; however, sources do not specify the exact commercial nature that Sudono pursued. After the Japanese occupation, Sudono actively supported the Indonesian Independence movement who were fighting the Dutch army. Sudono was part of the Futsing Hwee movement and helped hide revolutionary leader Hasan Din, the father-in-law of Sukarno, for over a year. This would prove to be an important connection for Sudono as the Indonesian nationalists won independence and enabled Sudono to resume trading commodities such as peanut oil, cloves, and coffee. Through his connection with Hasan Din, Sudono was labeled as a â€Å"trustworthy supplier of the military†. As a result, Sudono profited from helping the Indonesian army both during and after their independence movement (Dieleman, 2007b). Following independence, Sukarno took over Indonesia in 1957 and implemented a closed economic policy that rejected foreign capital and focused on creating a greater role for government nationalism (Dieleman, 2006). Although Sukarno’s policies attempted to favor indigenous businessmen with his Benteng program, Sudono and Indonesia’s Chinese minority economically dominated the country. Sudono moved his family to Jakarta where he would continue to supply the Indonesian army. In addition, Sudono develop several business partnerships outside of his family network with other Chinese immigrants. Dieleman points out that the Salim Group began to rapidly diversify because of Sudono’s belief that â€Å"all businesses are good† (Dieleman, 2007, p. ?). The group continued to develop textiles, became the army’s supplier of soap and purchased the Bank of Central Asia (BCA), which would grow to be Indonesia’s largest bank. The group’s â€Å"business ventures adapted to the unpredictable environment and grew by taking the opportunities as they came, without a focused business strategy† (Dieleman, 2007b). Here it can be seen that Sudono’s activities shifted from trading to manufacturing and financing. Indonesia’s political environment changed again as Suharto seized power from Sukarno in 1967. By this time, Sudono had already established large businesses and built up a powerful network of political elite. President Suharto’s New Order policy opened up private and foreign investment for many of Indonesia’s commercial industries. Sudono utilized his connections with Suharto to acquire licenses that gave him exclusive rights over certain strategic exports. In addition, Sudono kept close ties with the Indonesian Army, which was now the dominant political force. Suharto implemented policies aimed at rapid industrialization from 1970 onward that also promoted import substitution. As a result, the Salim Group expanded to include domestic flour milling, cement and automobile production. Each of these industries had established favourable conditions that encouraged domestic production through government programs. The Salim Group had companies in highly diverse sectors and profited from the wave of Indonesia’s industrialization (Dieleman, 2006). See figure 1 to see the Salim Group’s growth during Indonesia’s industrialization. 1. 2 Phase Two: Transition to the Second Generation The next phase of the Salim Group is distinguished from the previous period of unrelated diversification, a common characteristic of Chinese family businesses. In 1972, the Salim Group stopped randomly diversifying and Sudono’s strategy shifted by targeting select industries rather than being driven solely by opportunity (Dieleman, 2006). The purpose of this shift was to decrease the group’s dependency on government contacts and enable internalization. Dielmans highlights that overseas partners in Japan helped the Salim Group by providing both technology and knowledge to the company. This is likely a result of Akamatsu’s proposed flying geese strategy (Bu, 2012a). In addition, Anthony Salim and other family members joined the business in 1972 to help manage the sheer number and diversity of the companies that the Salim Group owned. However, most of Sudono’s business partners were Chinese immigrants, stemming from the bamboo network of overseas Chinese across Asia. The Salim Group continued to grow and engage in commercial activities on a much larger scale. This was aided by the government’s changing policy from import substitution to export led growth, following the pattern of many NIEs and other ASEAN governments. In addition, the Salim Group continued steady growth through the 1980’s and moved into more capital-intensive industries such as chemicals and steel-making. Sodono also recognized the risk of Indonesia’s political instability and intensified the group’s internationalization rate in the 1980’s and 1990’s, specifically in Singapore and Hong Kong. In 1982, Sodono founded First Pacific in Hong Kong, which was owned by the Salim’s and opearated businesses throughout Asia (Dieleman, 2007b). Refer to figure 2 to see a breakdown of the Salim Group’s internationalazation in the 1990’s. The result was an extremely diverse yet powerful family business that structured its business offerings across the value chain. Another major event in this phase of the Salim Group’s history was the changeover in leadership. Anthony Salim assumed control of the family company in 1993. The ever-expanding business required the help of professional managers, which Anthony continued to hire to help manage the Salim empire. By 1995, the Salim Group had become a giant, representing 5% of Indonesia’s total GDP, with revenues above 20 billion and 200,000 employees. Refer to figure 3 to see a snapshot of the Salim Group’s commercial activities in 1995. 1. 3 Phase Three: Financial Crisis and Reform The final phase of the Salim Group’s history begins with the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and continues to the present date. The Salim Group borrowed heavily from foreign banks to capitalize on superior lending rates, making them highly vulnerable to currency risk. As Indonesia’s currency rapidly devalued in 1997, the Salim Group was faced with increasing debt obligations. Refer to figure 4 for a breakdown on the corporate leverage of selected Asian economies and figure 5 for a breakdown of the growth of US, reflecting foreign, borowing for the Salim Group. The group’s pyramid ownership structure and internal lending compounded the situation as the largest Indonesian conglomerate’s debt-to-equity ratio skyrocketed. Even more concerning was the fall of Suharto, an important political connection that helped the Salim Group flourish under his corrupt ruling period (Dieleman, 2006) As a result of these factors, Anthony Salim was faced with tough decisions on honoring over $5 billion in loans. See figure 6 to see the impact of the Asian financial crisis on select economies. The Salim Group transferred 107 of their companies to the Indonesian government to settle their debt obligations. Many of these assets were ultimately bought back by the Salim Group at a discount, likely due to the corrupt Indonesian government. Since this period, the Salim Group has been on the road to recovery and has continued to experience growth by refocusing its portfolio while also internationalizing rapidly. See figure 7 to see how the group’s actions reflected Indonesia’s political and institutional environment and figure 8 for a complete summary of the Salim Group’s strategic actions. Using history as a basis of analysis, it is clear that the Salim Group exhibits many of the characteristics of a Chinese family business. These include centralized decision making through a dominant CEO, family ownership and control, the importance of external networks, and a high degree of strategic flexibility. The details and justifications for these characteristics are further developed in the following section of the report. Big whales swim in the deep sea, in the salt water, but we are talking fresh water here. † (Anthony Salim) The competitive environment of the Salim Group is as complex and opaque as the company itself. As the conglomerate operates in various and mostly unrelated business fields, it is not easy to determine its main competitors on an aggregate level. The second difficulty is the fact that these different operations are often spread amongst different countries in Southeast Asia. Although it is not possible to find a directly comparable conglomerate, operating in exactly the same businesses and geographical regions, it is possible to identify those whose main businesses overlap with the primary commercial activities of the Salim Group. In doing so, we found three major competitors: (1) multinational giants such as Unilever and General Electric1, (2) Indonesian conglomerates operating in similar sectors and (3) other large industry specific competitors, not necessarily conglomerates. While the first two have the potential to compete n a macro or group level, the third category of firms mainly competes in one specific business field. The American food company General Mills, for example, is a direct competitor of Indofood, but does not possess the potential to jeopardize the Salim Group as a whole. Please see figure 9 below for a peer group overview on a macro level. In summary, we find that although the group has competitors of similar and larger size, there is no competitor that could take complete market share from the Salim Group as a whole. This is primarily a result of the Salim Group’s high level of diversification. As the Salim Group operates across numerous business lines, even if one aspect of the business was facing tough competition or declining sales, the group as a whole is large enough to compensate for fluctuating financial performance. 3. Features 3. 1 Ownership and Organizational Structure Chinese family businesses (CFBs) are typically fully owned by the family members. Top-management positions are occupied exclusively by members of the core family and senior management positions are usually taken by other close relatives or long-term employees with proven loyalty. This context restricts quick promotions or the acquisition of professional management that distinguishes itself through high performance. Thus, growth is limited and the organization is maintained at a small scale. Another feature of the structure of CFBs is their aptitude for unrelated diversification in terms of products and geography, with an additional focus on short-term returns (Chen, 2004; Bu, 2012c). In contrast to these characteristics, Sudano Salim began to professionalize the group’s business while in charge. When Anthony took over, he hired even more professional managers that also had access to top management, organized the group into divisions and initiated IPOs to list companies on stock exchanges in Indonesia and abroad (Dieleman, 2007a, p. 22). The latter resulted in companies having to conform to transparency rules and to develop working organizational structures and controlling systems on the one hand, and provided access to foreign capital on the other hand. The inflow of foreign capital came along with a dilution of ownership.

The Black Dahlia Murder Case

The Black Dahlia Murder Case The Black Dahlia Murder case remains one of Hollywoods long-running mysteries and one of the most gruesome of the 1940s. A pretty young woman, Elizabeth Short, was found cut in half and posed in a sexually explicit manner in a vacant lot. It would be sensationalized in the media as the Black Dahlia murder. In the media frenzy that followed, rumors and speculation were published as fact, and inaccuracies and exaggerations continue to plague accounts of the crime until this day. Here are the few real facts that are known about the life and death of Elizabeth Short. Elizabeth Shorts Childhood Years Elizabeth Short was born on July 29, 1924, in Hyde Park, Massachusetts to parents Cleo and Phoebe Short. Cleo made a good living building miniature golf courses until the Depression took its toll on the business. In 1930, with his business suffering, Cleo decided to fake his suicide and abandoned Phoebe and their five daughters. He parked his car by a bridge and took off to California. Authorities and Phoebe believed Cleo committed suicide. Later, Cleo decided he made a mistake, contacted Phoebe and apologized for what he had done. He asked to come home. Phoebe, who had faced bankruptcy, worked part-time jobs, stood in lines to get public assistance and raised the five children alone, wanted no part of Cleo and refused to reconcile. Her High School Years Elizabeth was not academically inclined earning average grades in high school. She left high school in her freshman year because of asthma which she suffered with since childhood. It was decided that it would be best for her health if she left New England during the winter months. Arrangements were made for her to go to Florida and stay with family friends, returning to Medford during the spring and summer. Despite her parents difficulties, Elizabeth continued to correspond with her father. She was growing up to be an attractive young girl and like many teenagers enjoyed going to the movies. Like many young pretty girls, Elizabeth developed an interest in modeling and the movie industry and set her goals to someday work in Hollywood. A Short-Lived Reunion At the age of 19, Elizabeths father sent her money to join him in Vallejo, California. The reunion was short-lived, and Cleo soon grew tired of Elizabeths lifestyle of sleeping during the day and going out on dates until late at night. Cleo told Elizabeth to leave, and she moved out on her own to Santa Barbara. The Next Three Years There is much debate about where Elizabeth spent her remaining years. It is known that in Santa Barbara she was arrested for underage drinking and was packed up and returned to Medford. According to reports up until 1946, she spent time in Boston and Miami. In 1944, she fell in love with Major Matt Gordon, a Flying Tiger, and the two discussed marriage, but he was killed on his way home from the war. In July 1946, she moved to Long Beach, California to be with an old boyfriend, Gordon Fickling, who she dated in Florida before her relationship with Matt Gordon. The relationship ended shortly after her arrival and Elizabeth floundered around for the next few months. A Soft Spoken Beauty Friends described Elizabeth as being soft-spoken, courteous, a non-drinker, or smoker, but somewhat of a loafer. Her habit of sleeping late in the day and staying out at night continued to be her lifestyle. She was pretty, enjoyed dressing stylishly and turned heads because of her pale skin contrasting against her dark hair and her translucent blue-green eyes. She wrote to her mother weekly, ensuring her that her life was going well. Some speculate that the letters were Elizabeths attempt to keep her mother from worrying. Those around her know it that over the next few months she moved often, was well liked, but elusive and not well known. During October and November of 1946, she lived in the home of Mark Hansen, owner of the Florentine Gardens. The Florentine Gardens had a reputation as being a rather shoddy strip joint in Hollywood. According to reports, Hansen was said to have various attractive women rooming together at his home, which was located behind the club. Elizabeths last known address in Hollywood was the Chancellor Apartments at 1842 N. Cherokee, where she and four other girls roomed together. In December, Elizabeth boarded a bus and left Hollywood for San Diego. She met Dorothy French, who felt sorry for her and offered her a place to stay. She stayed with the French family until January when she was finally asked to leave. Robert Manley Robert Manley was 25 years old and married, working as a salesman. According to reports, Manley first met Elizabeth in San Diego and offered her a ride to the French house where she was staying. When she was asked to leave, it was Manley who came and drove her back to the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles where she was supposed to be meeting her sister. According to Manley, she was planning to go live with her sister Berkeley. Manley walked Elizabeth to the hotel lobby where he left her at around 6:30 p.m. and drove back to his home San Diego. Where Elizabeth Short went after saying goodbye to Manley is unknown. The Murder Scene On January 15, 1947, Elizabeth Short was found murdered, her body left in a vacant lot on South Norton Avenue between 39th Street and Coliseum. Homemaker Betty Bersinger was running an errand with her three-year-old daughter when she realized that what she was looking at was not a mannequin but an actual body in the lot along the street where she was walking. She went to a nearby house, made an anonymous call to police, and reported the body. When police arrived on the scene, they found the body of a young woman who had been bisected, displayed face-up on the ground with her arms over her head and her lower half placed a foot away from her torso. Her legs were wide open in a vulgar position, and her mouth had three-inch slashes on each side. Rope burns were found on her wrists and ankles. Her head face and body was bruised and cut. There was little blood at the scene, indicating whoever left her, washed the body before bringing it in the lot. The  crime scene  quickly filled with police, bystanders, and reporters. It was later described as being out of control, with people trampling on any evidence investigators hoped to find. Through fingerprints, the body was soon identified as 22-year-old Elizabeth Short or as the press called her, The Black Dahlia. A massive investigation into finding her murderer was launched. Because of the brutality of the murder and Elizabeths sometimes sketchy lifestyle, rumors and speculation were rampant, often being incorrectly reported as fact in newspapers. Suspects Close to 200 suspects were interviewed, sometimes polygraphed, but all eventually released. Exhausted efforts were made to run down any leads or any of  the several false confessions  to the killing of Elizabeth by both men and women. Despite efforts made by investigators, the case has remained one of the most famous unsolved cases in Californias history.

Islamic accounting and financial reporting Essay - 1

Islamic accounting and financial reporting - Essay Example 16). On the other hand, IFRS was enacted to harmonize the universal accounting procedures and processes into a harmonized system. This study will cover the implementation of the IFRS by the country of Malaysia. The paper will have a candid review of the adoption of the IFRS by Malaysia, and the conflicts that this move presents to the application of the AAOIFI standards. As a start off, the paper evaluates the financial and accounting system in Malaysia. AAOFIFI and IFRS are then evaluated with respect to their components, procedures of application and treatment of various financial transactions. The paper then compares and contrast the accounting treatment of both standards before discussing the procedures that are used by the Malaysian authorities to implement IFSR and overcome Conflicts with AAOIFI (Schoon 2009, p.50). The study finalizes by analysing the effectiveness of the IFRS implementation strategy in Malaysia. The financial system of Malaysia is made up of Islamic and conventional financial institutions which operate in parallel. The apex of financial and monetary structure in Malaysia is the Bank Negara, which is the Malaysian Central bank. The financial system comprises the banking and non-banking system. The banking system is made up of 21 Islamic banks, 25 commercial banks and 15 investment banks. To compliment banking institutions are the non-banking financial institutions. In Malaysia, there are 43 insurance and re-insurance companies, 13 Takaful Operators, four retakaful operators and six development financial institutions. The Islamic financial system in Malaysia has continued to grow and develop. Currently, the Islamic financial system comprise of Takaful, Retakaful, Islamic Capital Market and Islamic Interbank Money market. MIFC (International Islamic Financial Centre) was opened in the year 2006, with the aim of strengthening

Homelessness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Homelessness - Essay Example I have found many people around me who forced to spend their final days of their lives in rescue homes even though they have enormous wealth. An old age couple who was staying near my home forced to transfer their lives to a near rescue home recently since they failed to get enough attention from their parents. These couple had huge wealth, but their children were working abroad. They failed to get enough protection from their children and finally forced to take shelter in a rescue home conducting by a charitable trust. In another case, I have seen a person forced to live in a rented house because of unemployment. The recent recession resulted in this person losing his job. He forced to sell his house in order to repay some of his debts and forced to shift to a small rented house with his wife and two children. Before recession itself, they were struggling to find their livelihood. When we analyze both the cases mentioned above, we can see that the homelessness problem is due to structural reasons rather than the individual reasons. Unemployment, poverty, lack of affordable housing, housing policies etc are some of the structural reasons commonly cited by many sociologists for homelessness (What causes homelessness?). But in the first case given above, we can see that the family set up forced the couple to take shelter in rescue homes. Kendall (2008) mentioned that people like to form groups to meet instrumental and expressive needs. Instrumental or task oriented needs cannot be met by one persona alone, so the group work cooperatively to fulfill the goal. Moreover small groups are better for all the members to acquaint well and to interact simultaneously (Kendall, p.151-152). The first case given above can be analyzed with respect to the above perspective. As per the current trends, people like to live in nuclear families, a family with husband, wife and one or two children. It is difficult for them to accommodate more

The Relic Short Story Essay Example for Free

The Relic Short Story Essay â€Å"Come here child†¦Ã¢â‚¬  the old man said to me. It was getting late and I had to go home, but there was something in his voice that beckoned me to take notice. I stopped in my tracks. There in the middle of the empty sidewalk where I was walking along.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Come.. come†¦ I have something important for you to see.† The old man had messy long hair that have all turned gray and he wore clothes that seemed like rags. His face was wrinkled and dirty but his eyes glimmered of a certain youth that seemed so out of place. I walked towards him, without   clear idea of why I was doing so.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I was about to ask him what he wanted when he answered my question for me. It seemed like he knew what I was thinking. This added both to my wonder and terror of what I was experiencing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I have something for you..† the old man began, â€Å"It is a relic of sorts and it tells of a great story that happened a long time ago†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   He reached behind him and produced a book, thick with dust and visibly out of shape. From my point of view, it seemed to be hardbound, but at that time I could not make out the title. He stretched his hand with the book clasped between his fingers. I tried to reach it but when as my hand was closing upon it, the old man suddenly pulled the book back.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"This book has a terrible, terrible secret!† he gasped, â€Å"It has been passed on from one owner to the next and on every owner, the book imparts its terrible secret when you’ve read till the end.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"W-what’s at the end?† I managed to ask.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"What’s at the end?!?† the old man chuckled, I could see that his teeth were rotting and the putrid smell of his breath reached my nostrils, â€Å"Child, you must find that out for yourself, but I warn you†¦ you must never, NEVER skip the pages. You have to read the entire book page after page. Learn its contents thoroughly before you arrive at the end.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Y-yes I underst-and.† I stuttered again, probably due to all the confusion that the experience created.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"How much do you have on you?† the old man suddenly asked.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"What?† I answered with my own startled question.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"How much do you have on you, child?† the old man raised his voice and I cringed at its sound, â€Å"Do you think that this book is free? Hah!†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"W-well, how much is it?† I asked.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Just answer my question!† came the old man’s response.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"I surveyed my pockets and was surprised to see a hundred dollar bill. Then I remembered that the money was my salary for 4 weeks of doing odd jobs for our neighbors. I thought for a while and then reluctantly handed him my money. The old man snatched it from my hand and then pushed the book to my face.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"Take it!† he ordered, â€Å"Take it and begone!!!†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And so I took the book and went home bewildered at what had happened. The days followed and I began reading what I have acquired. The story within it was interesting to say the least and I was eager to find out its ending. However, I was mindful about the old man’s warning and so I did not skip to the last page. I read the book whenever I had the chance and after roughly a week, I was almost at its end.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When the time came for me to turn the last page, I prepared myself well and made sure that I could handle whatever it was. I turned the last page, hoping that the book would be merciful, a hope that was shattered to a million pieces by what I saw.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was terrible†¦ terrible†¦. Joey’s 2nd hand bookshop sale price! $5   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Noooooo†¦.. The end.

The Theme of Colonialism in Shakespeares Tempest Essay -- colonizatio

The Tempest, by Shakespeare, offers the reader a variety of themes. The one theme that stands out the most is that of colonialism. During the time of Shakespeare, many European countries such as Spain, France, and England, were expanding their borders by taking over less developed countries, referred to as colonies. During this time of exploitation, there was skepticism concerning the possible success of the colonies. While some scholars believe that the play is about the Americas, I argue that the play reflects on colonialism in general and how it is destined for failure which is shown through the character’s relationships throughout the play. During the 1600’s the English decided to have people colonize in the Americas for the potential resources and wealth that they may find. During this time Spain, France, Portugal, and the Dutch have already began trade and exploration in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. England hearing of their riches, didn’t want to miss out of the opportunity. However, during these expeditions, there has been various news beforehand of the strong oceanic storms that would sometimes destroy ships or mislead them from their destinations Such news was not uncommon but due to the storms, many of the people knew the dangers of the journey and would often doubt the success of these explorations. For example, â€Å" In may 1609, nine ships carrying 500 colonists under Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Summers had set sail to America to reinforce the colony at Jamestown. In an unusual storm, Gates and Summers were driven on the Bermudas, before managing to sail to the mainland† (Honan 371 ). News such as this was widespread throughout England and amongst these would be news of the encounters with natives. For example, â€Å"... ... such as slavery and exploitation of nature, and also gives us insight to the speculations that were common in the time of explorations and discovery. Works Cited Cesaire, Aime, Richard Miller and William Shakespeare. A Tempest: Based on Shakespeare‘s The Tempest, Adaptation for a Black Theatre. New York: TCG Translations, 2002. Print Shakespeare, William, Virginia Mason, Vaughan, and Alden T. Vaughan. The Tempest. Arden Shakespeare, 1997. Print. Third Series Smith, Hallet Darius. Twentieth Century Interpretations of The Tempest; A Collection of Critical Essays, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969. Print. Honan, Park. Shakespeare: A Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print. Marshall, Tristan. â€Å"The Tempest and the British Imperium in 1611.† The Historical Journal 41.2 (2003): 375-400. Print.

Liberalism

This week essay based on Gerald Macaulay, last week's articles Essay Assignment November 4th Instructions, Guidelines Topics Opinion based on research (secondary) Extension of a week to November 1 lath for any reason 1. What are ideologies 2. Key Feature of Ideologies 3. What Is â€Å"special† about Ideologies? 4. What is the history of the concept? 5. Positive vs.. Negative conception of ideology 6.Complications of studying them What are ideologies? Competing conceptual frameworks Clusters/composites of political beliefs, values and ideas a pattern of social, political, economic, technological and philosophical beliefs that help us organize the world around us. † P. X Grounded in beliefs about human nature and social possibility (what is, and what could be) What do Ideologies do?Explain or Inform – what Is going on? Judge-what should I think about this? Guide political actions- what should do about this? Inform social relations-Who are my allies? My enemies? What Is my relationship to other In this? Etc. Key Features of ideologies Historically contingent-constantly changing/shifting Changes In central concepts (meanings) and also In relation of concepts to other concepts (e. G. Allegations of freedom to equality) Include â€Å"core† and â€Å"adjacent† concepts Both rational and emotional Normative and prescriptive In various affinities/alliances with each other (historically shifting) Include a spectrum of views Frequently claim to be true, to be non-ideological 1 OFF Differentiating ideologies from political theories/philosophies 1) Typicality 2) Influence 3) Conceptual Creativity 4) Communicability History of Ideologies Link to democracy, to concern with public opinion ) As a scientific term of study.