Othello †the Universal Appeal Essay -- Othello essays

Othello – the Universal Appeal  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   For 400 years the audience has found William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello to be relevant to their lives and tastes. Why? What enduring qualities does the play possess in order to ensure its continuing success?    Does the reason lie in the great heterogeneity of characters and scenes and actions within the play?   Robert B. Heilman in â€Å"The Role We Give Shakespeare† relates the universality of Shakespeare to the â€Å"innumerableness of the parts†:    But the Shakespeare completeness appears graspable and possessable to many men at odds with each other, because of the innumerableness of the parts: these parts we may consider incompletenesses, partial perspectives, and as such they correspond to the imperfect (but not necessarily invalid) modes of seeing and understanding practiced by imperfect (but not necessarily wrongheaded) interpreters and theorists of different camps. Each interpreter sees some part of the whole that does, we may say, mirror him, and he then proceeds to enlarge the mirror until it becomes the work as a whole (10).    Indeed, the reader finds a wide variety of â€Å"parts† from beginning to end of Othello. This is seen in the fact of about 20 characters with speaking roles; and in their variety of   occupations from duke to clown; and in the numerous scene changes; and in the differentiation in speech, actions, manners between every single individual character.    Is characterization another cause of the dramatist’s broad popularity? Harry Levin in the General Introduction to The Riverside Shakespeare finds other reasons for his appeal:      Universal as his attraction has been, it is best understood through particulars. Though – to our advan... ... Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare: The Pattern in His Carpet. N.p.: n.p., 1970.    Frye, Northrop. â€Å"Nature and Nothing.† Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.    Heilman, Robert B. â€Å"The Role We Give Shakespeare.† Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.    Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.       Othello – the Universal Appeal Essay -- Othello essays Othello – the Universal Appeal  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   For 400 years the audience has found William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello to be relevant to their lives and tastes. Why? What enduring qualities does the play possess in order to ensure its continuing success?    Does the reason lie in the great heterogeneity of characters and scenes and actions within the play?   Robert B. Heilman in â€Å"The Role We Give Shakespeare† relates the universality of Shakespeare to the â€Å"innumerableness of the parts†:    But the Shakespeare completeness appears graspable and possessable to many men at odds with each other, because of the innumerableness of the parts: these parts we may consider incompletenesses, partial perspectives, and as such they correspond to the imperfect (but not necessarily invalid) modes of seeing and understanding practiced by imperfect (but not necessarily wrongheaded) interpreters and theorists of different camps. Each interpreter sees some part of the whole that does, we may say, mirror him, and he then proceeds to enlarge the mirror until it becomes the work as a whole (10).    Indeed, the reader finds a wide variety of â€Å"parts† from beginning to end of Othello. This is seen in the fact of about 20 characters with speaking roles; and in their variety of   occupations from duke to clown; and in the numerous scene changes; and in the differentiation in speech, actions, manners between every single individual character.    Is characterization another cause of the dramatist’s broad popularity? Harry Levin in the General Introduction to The Riverside Shakespeare finds other reasons for his appeal:      Universal as his attraction has been, it is best understood through particulars. Though – to our advan... ... Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from Shakespeare: The Pattern in His Carpet. N.p.: n.p., 1970.    Frye, Northrop. â€Å"Nature and Nothing.† Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.    Heilman, Robert B. â€Å"The Role We Give Shakespeare.† Essays on Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.    Levin, Harry. General Introduction. The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1974.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.    Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.† Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.      

Unjustness in The Crucible by Arthur Miller Essay -- Essay on The Cruc

In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, unjustness is displayed constantly throughout the play, when innocent men and women are accused of witchcraft in the town of Salem during the 1690's. Chaos and havoc erupt in this small town during the times of the trials, causing many prominent men and women to be wrongly accused of practicing witchcraft. In particular, John Procter, a well respected leader in the town of Salem, soon becomes entangled in the Salem witch trials, when his wife Elizabeth and many other women of the town are accused of witchcraft by Abigail Williams, his former mistress. Unlike other characters in the story, Procter's personality can be seen gradually changing throughout the course of the play, because of the events that occur in his life at the time of the trials. In The Crucible, John Procter develops from a sinful, dishonest man overwhelmed by guilt over his affair with Abigail, to a man with the courage to be truthful to himself and those around him. Unlike a ny other character in the story, John Procter ultimately learns to forgive himself for his sins, and take responsibility for his actions. As the story begins to unfold, John Proctor establishes himself as a confused man of ambiguity, unable to come to terms with his own sins, initially showing intolerance towards himself. After having an affair with Abigail Williams, John is unsure about his feelings towards her. Upon first meeting Proctor in the story, he is seen flirting with Abigail Williams, and provocatively telling her that â€Å"[she's] wicked yet,† and that â€Å"[she'll] be clapped in the stocks before [she's] twenty. (22).† John's amorous actions clearly exhibit his passion for Abigail. Although at first flirtatious gestures are exchanged, John... ... mistakes and learns to tolerate himself. John Proctor is a man who stands up to authority, and sticks to what he believes in when know one else will. Unfortunately, like all tragic heros John Proctor had a tragic flaw: his physical attraction to Abigail Williams. Sadly, Proctor's tragic flaw ultimately lead to his destruction. Because of John Proctor's tragic death, order is restored throughout the town of Salem. John Proctor is a man that knew the truth, and was going to stand by it no matter what. Workscited: Bowers, Kristen. The Crucible by Arthur Miller: Literature Guide. San Dimas, CA: Secondary Solutions, 2006. Print.

Free Catcher in the Rye Essays: Holdens Phony Phobia :: Catcher Rye Essays

Holden's Phony Phobia in The Catcher in the Rye What does phony mean to you? Do you consider it something that is not what it really seems? Or even something or someone that isn't normal in all ways or just in some? Phony is one of the words in the English literature that can have numerous interpretations. Can be being phony possibly hinder an attempt to accomplish a task to fully function mentally? Can phony delay an individuals maturing period? In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Holden's "phony phobia" restricts him from becoming a fully matured adult. In Holden's attempted journey in becoming a fully matured adult, he encounters many scenarios involving friendships, personal opinions, and his love of children. His journey is an unpleasant and difficult one with many lessons learned along the way. Holden possesses abnormal relationships with some of the characters in Catcher in the Rye. Many of his friends and those he talks highly about are young children. He does not make any negative comments about these companions, and there is no mention whatsoever of phony. Holden has a strong relationship with Phoebee, his younger sister. Holden vocalizes about the fact Phoebee can visit him anytime in the summer, "What I'd do, I'd let old Phoebee came out and visit me in the summertime and on Christmas vacation and Easter vacation" (205). Holden shows a solid liking to his sister and is always wanting her by his side. He finds a hard time associating with older, mature individuals. Also, a strong relationship with Allie his deceased younger brother, is apparent due to the twenty references in the novel. In fact, most of Holden's fondest memories are of those times with his younger siblings. His comments of innocence help establish this connection. Someone who is trying to learn the sta ges of developing into a mature adult would not develop as soon, or as fully when spending their time solely with those who are five to seven years of age. They would not experience the guidance from older adults to correct wrong behavior. The guidance of an elder isn't present and they need to learn by themselves. Harrison Smith has defined Holden's friendships quite clearly "What was wrong with Holden was his moral revulsion against anything that was ugly, evil, cruel, or what he called 'phony' and his acute responsiveness to beauty and innocence, especially the innocence of the very young.

Biblical Movie Versus Biblical Story

The process of translating a book story into film is known as Film or Movie Adaptation. Movie adaptation gives meaning and life to the stories that are confined in books. It is basically spoon-feeding a viewer of scenes and characters in contrast to the tedious imaging demanded of the reader in the written accounts. What is observable in Movie Adaptation is that there are an obvious similarities and differences with written accounts.Primarily, the reason is due to the fact that written accounts are too long to fit into the usual time runs or that although the topic was interesting, it lacked entertaining scenes that would draw a crowd of modern viewers or does not evoked the kind of emotion that is expected of such a situation or incident. That is why stories taken form books oftentimes were not literally translated into films. Story revision however must be done carefully and with a degree of discretion especially involving historical events.Fictional stories can be easily manipulat ed but true stories should stick to the truth (Dudley 95). The Biblical movie the Passion of the Christ based on the historical crucifixion of Christ, true to its nature as an adaptation, had similarities and differences from the written account. Similarities and differences can be observed on the personality and characters of the Biblical figures as well as portrayal or delivery of certain scenes. II. Discussion A. Similarities 1. Biblical CharactersThe most prominent Biblical characters portrayed in the film are Jesus, Mary and Mary Magdalene, Jewish religious leaders, Roman soldiers and Pilate. In the gospels, Jesus is presented as a humble, loving, compassionate and forgiving person whose origin is both divine and human. He was born for the sole purpose of dying on the cross for man’s redemption (Thompson 1085). In other words, the defining moment of his life is his death through the crucifixion. Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ strictly adheres to the Biblical personality and character of Christ.Christ’s is never seen as vindictive in spite of the abuses and insults heaped upon him by the persecuting Jews and Romans. His love and compassion goes forth freely as he asks God to forgive them for according to him they do not know what they were doing. He humbly accepted his cruel fate at the hands of his creation.. His love for Mary was extraordinarily communicated through his eyes. But what the movie had enforced in Jesus character was his unbelievable restraint in the midst of angry mobs.His refusal to speak, to call the angels of heaven to save him, or to his divine powers to smite his accusers was very admirable and worth emulating. Another prominent figure of the story is Mary, Jesus’ Mother. The Biblical movie coincided with the written presentation of Mary as a devoted, sacrificing and loving mother, pure and simple at heart. Her compassion and anguish at the plight of his Son and her willingness to surrender to the will of God can make a viewer appreciate Mary more in the movie. Alongside Mary was the devoted Mary Magdalene whose penitent heart showed forth in the movie.Another prominent character from which the popular â€Å"washing of hands† idiomatic expression is taken (signifying a person’s way of removing guilt or participation of an action or decision) is Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Like the Bible Pilate is portrayed as a cowardly, fearful man who cannot stand up to his convictions (Thompson 1019). The last groups to have made a deep impact in the movie are the persecuting Jewish religious leaders and the Roman guards. They can be described as the blatant antagonist of the story (Satan is the prime antagonist but his wicked ways were more subtle).The Jewish leaders and the Jews were portrayed as a group of men hungry to see Jesus crucified. These vengeful and hateful attitudes are faithful to the description of the Bible. The Bible clearly said that they even prefer to see Barabas free, the notoriously convicted thief, than to let Jesus escape the crucifixion. Portraying Jews in such a manner arose protest from the other races, especially the Jews, declaring that it has anti-Semitic undertones (Carroll 2004). The Roman soldiers on the other hand were also seen to as cruel.Although not directly involved with Jewish skirmishes on religious matters, they were also eager to take part in the vicious carnage. Some of them however showed signs of a tender side. 3. Dialogues and Setting The entire movie was devoted to the final hours of Jesus on earth. It began with his prayer in the garden at Gethsemane, his arrest at dawn upon the betrayal of Judas, to his being brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, his appearance before Pilate, his agony on the way to cross and finally his crucifixion. Generally, these scenes are faithful to the Biblical account.Some dialogues spoken fits the biblical statements, such as Jesus words â€Å"Father forgive them for they do no know what they do† , as well as the dialogues of Jesus and his disciples during the last supper and many others. The whipping of Jesus on the way to the cross, his being nailed in it between the two convicted thieves , the casting of lots of the Roman soldiers are also found in the Bible. The way Jesus was being scourged and bloodied invoke man’s deepest sympathy or appreciation for his suffering and passion for humanity.The bible even said that due to flogging â€Å"he was so deformed that he does not resemble like a Man†(Thompson 714 ). B. Differences Although the Biblical movie has many similarities with the Biblical story, it also had many obvious differences. Many people may argue that the addition of such a scene may be excused as â€Å"Hollywood’s artistic liberties† for the purpose of expanding the Biblical text or widening the confines of the story in order to draw more appreciation and understanding of the topic on hand. 1. Portrayal of the crucifixion.The movie was focused on the final hours of Jesus, from dawn to three o’clock in the afternoon when Christ’s died. The agony and torture on the way to the cross and Christ’s eventual crucifixion was shown in a vivid, horrifying detail: flesh come off after whipping, Christ’s hand was stretch beyond limit when nailed on the cross, constant whipping from beginning to end of the journey, a bloodied Christ’s keep falling off, and a nailed Christ was turned flat on the ground with such forceful brutality sending a cloud of dust in the air.It was the first time that such a bloody and cruel portrayal of Christ’s crucifixion ever hit the big screen. Though the Bible did mention whipping and nailing, it did not evoke the same imagery of torture as seen on the movie. The movie seems to be too brutal and full of bloodshed( Carroll 2007). One reason perhaps is because the Bible did not exactly offer a detailed account of suc h event while the main focus of the movie was the crucifixion itself. The problem may be due to the fact that it was easier more to picture what really occurred on screen than on paper.In other words, the emotion of the moment is easily communicated and understood through the big screen. There is a possibility that such forms of cruelty are experienced by Jesus in the hands of the Roman soldiers for Roman soldiers are known to be cruel executioners (Perry 98). What the movie was trying to achieve though is that the viewer will appreciate what Jesus did for them, and not to treat Jesus crucifixion as just another historical event of his life. 2. Scenes not found in the Bible.There are countless scenes not found in the Bible. Some of the notable scenes are: Jesus crushing the serpent with his foot in the Garden of Gethsemane. This scene can never be found in the Bible (Thompson 1017). The significance of the serpent could be that since it is a popular symbol of Satan, it signifies tha t Satanic influences are near, ever ready to dissuade Jesus from fulfilling his supreme mission of dying in the cross . When Jesus crushed the serpent’s feet, it means that he was victorious over the devil.The scene may help the viewer to realize how hard it must have been for Christ to surrender to the will of the Father with regards to the way he was going to die. A sensitive reader may then appreciate how strong and noble Christ’s really was. Satan , in the form of a beautiful woman, did came to tempt Jesus to forego his mission in saving men for she argued that it was a burden too hard to bear for a single man. Both the conversation and satanic appearance in the Garden were not recorded in the Bible. What is disturbing in that scene (and in many scenes afterwards) however is that Satan was represented by a beautiful woman.Nowhere in the Bible is Satan portrayed as such though he may â€Å"appear as Angel of Light:† It would have been more realistic and relig iously fitting if Satan was portrayed as a male. The scenes on the way to the cross were full of incidents that can never be read in the Bible. For instance, Mary and the traditional Veronica wiping the face of Jesus with a fresh linen handed to them by the wife of Pilate. Although not found in the Bible, this is clearly an accepted tradition in the life of Christ by the Catholic Church.According to traditional Catholic stories the face of Jesus became imprinted in the linen and was then preserved( . The female Satan also kept appearing on the way to crucifixion, obviously taunting Mary. Another scene worth mentioning is that Jesus met Mary on the way to the cross. This is not mentioned in the Bible, nor was it implied that she was there at all. Biblical account tells of the appearance of Mary at a later time, when she stood at the foot of the cross of Jesus with the disciple John at her side.The arrest and trial of Jesus happened so fast so that probably Mary did not arrive until J esus reached Golgotha. In the light of this argument, the much earlier appearance of Mary is a clear deviation of the Biblical account and may not be considered as Hollywood artistic liberties. In the movie the nailing of Jesus on the cross was very brutal wherein the Roman soldiers stretched his hand beyond its limits to match the hole on the cross so that his arms was literally broken. Aside from that, Jesus and his cross was turned together in order to hammer the protruding nail at the back of the cross.It was a very pitiful and painful sight indeed. What was notable and sickening is that amidst that scene is a bird, probably a vulture that plucked the eye of the crucified men. III. Contribution of Movie Adaptation to Biblical Story In the movie the passion of the Christ, the reader was brought into a live and detailed enactment of the sufferings of Christ during crucifixion. Some scenes were added to draw a heightened emotional response which the director or the creator of the s tory believed was originally present in the situation( Dudley 95).But since the movie is based on the Bible which is believed to be the inerrant Word of God, certain scenes not mentioned in the Bible should not be included unless strongly implied, because they may bring confusion or disrespect to the faith from which it was based. Also, Jesus is indeed a historical figure whose events mentioned in the Bible truly occurred so that truth is essential to the movie. III. Conclusion The Biblical movie The Passion of the Christ revolves around the final hours of Christ based on the Biblical story.Naturally, since it was derived from the Bible, it depicts scene mentioned in the Biblical account. However, some scenes were added that can be classified as â€Å"Hollywood’s artistic liberties†. In some scenes, particularly the nailing of Christ where his hand was stretched beyond its limitation so that it crunched or when the cross from which he was nailed was turned upside down so that Jesus was beneath the cross, the reader cannot help but appreciate what Jesus did. In other words, that scene evokes the rightful emotion of gratitude for what Christ did for men.However, some scenes may not be rightfully expanded but actually deviates from truth like when Satan appeared as a beautiful temptress. Work Cited 1. Dudley Louise and Austin Faricy. The Humanities. New York: MacGraw-Hill, 1973. 2. Carroll, James l. An obscene portrayal of Christ's Passion. Globe Newspaper Company. February 2004. Retrieved November 9, 2007 from http://www. boston. com/ae/movies/articles/2004/02/24/an_obscene_portrayal_of_christs_passion/? page=2 3. Perry, Marvin. A History of the World. New York: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1988. 4. Thompson, Frank Charles. The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible. Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1983.

Hispanic Family Values Essay

MacDonald’s article reveals the grim reality of teenage pregnancy and unmarried mothers in the Hispanic community in the United States, backed up by statistical data on various circumstances surrounding unwed young mothers. Birth rates among young, unwed Hispanic mothers are so alarming that according to the Census Bureau, â€Å"one in four Americans will be Hispanics by mid-century, twice the current ratio; also, Hispanics will account for 46 percent of the nation’s added population for over the next two decades† (Mac Donald). Statistics show that the Hispanic women have the highest occurence of births outside marriage at 45 percent, â€Å"compared to the 24 percent of white births and 15 percent of Asian births† (Mac Donald). Only the black population exceed this figure at 68 percent. This can possibly imply a higher demand for a larger welfare state, if incidents of unplanned pregnancy among young Hispanic women surge. MacDonald spoke to several social workers and other people who provide aid and services to these young women in South California, where most illegal immigrants flock, to illustrate the situation of Hispanic young women. According to these workers, illegitamacy has become the norm among the Hispanic community and it is not unusual for young, unwed Hispanic women seek welfare and social services (Mac Donald). According to Dr. Ana Sanchez, it is noteworthy to look into the values system of the Hispanics and compare it with the values system of other cultures. For instance, Dr. Sanchez thinks that in a Hispanic household, having babies outside marriage is normal; whereas in an Asian household, parents strongly imbibe in their children that teenage pregnancy is a taboo (Mac Donald). Another factor that contributes to the increase in unwed teenage pregnancy is the most powerful Hispanic value – a tight-knit extended family (Mac Donald). While marriage is no longer a cherished value in the Hispanic community, a tight-knit family is still very much treasured and children are always a welcome addition to the family. It is an honor for a young girl to be have a baby at a young age. If the father of the child is unavailable, which is normally the case, the relatives are more than willing to help raise the child. The fathers of the children of unwed young Hispanic mothers are another factor that contribute to the problem of rising dependence of young Hispanic mothers on social welfare and services. It is not uncommon for fathers to run off after getting a girl pregnant, regardless of the age. They cohabitate with the mother of their child initially but this does not usually last long (Mac Donald). Girls who are impregnated by older men is another issue that raises the eyebrows of social workers. The fathers of these children can be as young as 13 or as old as the boyfriend of the girl’s mother. Situations where girls are sexually assaulted by their mother’s boyfriends are not uncommon in the Hispanic community (Mac Donald). The present boyfriend of their mother is usually not their father because even their mothers had them when they were their daughter’s age. If it is not their mother’s boyfriend, it is their uncle. The belief is that older men prefer virgins because they think that they cannot be impregnated on their first sexual intercourse and they are less likely to have sexually transmitted diseases. Another revelation in this situation is that the cycle of early, unwed pregnancy among young mothers is a prevalent issue because it is something that is imbibed to them by their elders. Young girls turn out to be like that because their mothers, grandmothers, and aunts went through the same thing at the same age. It gives them the impression that having a child before marriage is perfectly normal. Consequently, relying on social services and welfare has also become a normal part of their lifestyle. The last few paragraphs of MacDonald’s article provide the various solutions that are being implemented to address this issue. For instance, some schools in California have a day care center for the babies of their students. MacDonald also mentions the â€Å"Latina Adolescent Suicide Prevention Act aims to channel $10 million to â€Å"culturally competent† social agencies to improve the self-esteem of Latina girls and to provide â€Å"support services† to their families and friends if they contemplate suicide† (Mac Donald). There are also support group for parents of children who show signs of delinquency such as gang involvement and antisocial behavior; members are usually single mothers. The life of a young, unwed and single mother is not easy. On top of that, the Hispanic community still remains to be a minority in the United States, even if their population is expected to double in the coming years. Support groups such as the ones mentioned above will aid the single mother in coping with the harsh reality in a foreign country. However, the adage â€Å"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure† still works in this case. Aside from helping teenage moms, efforts should be allocated in creating an environment for young Hispanic women that will reduce the likelihood of pregnancy outside marriage. According to the study of National Council of La Raza’s Institute for Hispanic health, Hispanic communities misconstrue pregnancy prevention campaigns as â€Å"anti-family† campaigns (Elkins). NCLR suggests that programs should address family planning rather than the notion of pregnancy itself. According to the Latino Initiative, a very effective way of curbing unwed pregnancies among young women is to foster family values and strengthen parent-child ties because children who are close to their parents are more likely to enact safer sexual practices (Elkins). This intervention program not only works in Hispanic communities; it works almost everywhere as well.

Health and Social Care Setting Essay

Everyone is an individual and when they need to use the health and social care services it is import they have access to the setting which precisely meets their needs, different setting are designed to do just that and the trained staff within those settings have the skills and knowledge to meet those particular needs. Key elements: If everyone who needed support turned up at the same place, things would become rather crowded; more importantly, not everyone would receive the support that they really needed. Health and social care services are designed to meet particular needs and are staffed by professionals who know how to do this. Hospitals: Hospitals provide support for people who have an illness or who are recovering from one. Many hospitals provide support for a variant of conditions and illness and are staffed by people who are trained to do this. Some hospitals provide support for particular conditions such as ophthalmic eye care), maternity (care for the mother and baby durin g pregnancy and birth) and paediatric (children). Hospices: Hospices are normally much smaller than many hospitals and provide support for individuals who have a terminal illness. Some hospices provide respite care which means that an individual may come for a few days to give their career a brake. The staff receives special training in order to provide the people in the hospices the right support. Domiciliary support: Domiciliary support is provide in an individual’s own home and can be either health or social care. For example, community nurses will visit a person at home and give them nursing care: sometimes this could be removing stitches after surgery or changing a dressing. Community care assistants may help an older person with their personal care if they can no longer do so themselves. Domiciliary can enable people to either retune to or remain in their own home and provide a choice. Residential homes: Residential homes are designed to meet the needs of individuals who cannot take care of themselves. Many older people who can no longer meet their own personal needs, or who are lonely following the death of a partner, may prefer to live in residential home rather than remain in their own homes. Residential homes provide the companionship which people are missing, and staff will deliver the personal support if this is needed, in any way which preserves the dignity of the older person whilst safeguards. Other residential settings provide a home for younger people who have physical need and c annot live independently. The staff in both residential usually includes an activity coordinator who arranges events and activities designed to encourage the use of skills such as memory and physical mobility. Day centres: Day centres are designed to provide a social space for people who would otherwise spend most of their time alone. Many day centres provide companionship and midday meals for older people, enabling them to meet with people of a similar age and receive support from trained staff. Many day centres have regular visits from health and social care professionals such as counsellors, chiropodists and even opticians. They may also provide other servicer such as hairdressing and nail care. There are also day centres for young people who have a form of physical disability. Fostering arrangements: For a variety of reasons some children cannot be care for in their own homes. When this happens social services may arrange for the child to be looked after by foster careers who wi ll have received training in order to provide a suitable, temporary home for a child. This can either be short -team arrangement, for example if both parents were ill and there was no other relatives available to provide a home for the child, or long-team if there is thought necessary. Foster careers do receive some financial support, but main reward is seeing the children thrive.

Personal Income Tax System In Malaysia

A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed upon a taxpayer that known as an individual or legal entity by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxation is a compulsory levy that the government of a country will finance their expenditure by imposing charge to the persons, individuals, businesses and other bodies to allows the government provide money needed for them to run their operation and to achieve economic objective of the government. Tax is actually not meant to be paid by all people but focuses towards some class of people.As for personal income tax, it need to be paid by the person who earns income up to certain amount and for corporate tax, it imposed on the corporate entity that makes profit from the businesses. In achieving the economic objective, government will take some action such as reduction in taxable person income by the amount paid as the interest on home mortgage loans which will generates more jobs , encourage public to purchase a local produce, reducing inflation and discourage the consumption of certain goods.In Malaysia tax system, it comprises of corporate and personal income tax, custom duty and local tax. The personal income tax is liable for the individual who has income that derived from Malaysia or received in Malaysia from outside Malaysia for a year of assessment. The tax will be imposed to the resident and non-resident individual in different ways.The resident individual will subject to income tax derived from Malaysia and income received in Malaysia for outside Malaysia whereas non-resident individual will be subject to income tax accruing in or derived from Malaysia. In contrast, non-resident is subject to tax at a flat rate of 25%. In additional, income that received by an individual in Malaysia which income is derived from outside Malaysia is exempted from tax with effect from the year of assessment 2004.Under section 4 of Income Tax Act 1967, income that is su bject to tax comprises of Section 4(1)(a) which is gains from a business, Section 4(1)(b) which is gains from an employment, Section 4(1)(c) which is dividends, interest or discounts, Section 4(1)(d) which is rent, royalties or premiums, Section 4(1)(e) which is pension, annuities or other periodical payment which are not falling under any of the foregoing paragraph and lastly under Section 4(1)(f) gains that not falling under any of the foregoing paragraphs. Besides that, non-resident individual are alsosubject to tax of the amount paid in consideration of a service rendered by the person or employee for the use of property of any plant, machinery or other apparatus purchased from such person. Under capital gains, it will be tax in the form of real property gains tax. This tax is arising from disposal of real property in Malaysia.Real property gain tax is known as tax on disposal of shares in real property companies which owns shares defined value of such asset not less than 75% of the company's total tangible assets.Starting from 2010, disposal of real properties that are held for 5 years and below are subject to real property gain tax which the tax rate is 5%. In contrast, for the employment income, employer is required to deduct tax monthly from their employee’s remuneration and submit it to the Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia.For corporate income tax, resident companies are subject to tax on income accruing in or derived from Malaysia. Income that received in Malaysia from outside Malaysia is exempted from tax except for the companies that involved on the business of insurance, banking, sea or air transportation.Non-resident companies are subject to tax on income accruing in or derived from Malaysia only. Incomes that are derived from outside Malaysia which is foreign income will be non-taxable income. Business income of non-residents is subject to tax once it derived through a permanent establishment in Malaysia.There is a self-assessment in the tax system in Malaysia which required individuals to file and pay their tax based on the time requirement. An individual must file and pay their tax if they has a chargeable income for a year of assessment and has no chargeable income for the year of assessment.An individual who has a chargeable income for the year of assessment, they required to furnish a return for the immediately preceding year and have furnished a return for the immediate preceding year. Under Income Tax Act 1967 of Section 2 describe that royalty as any sums paid as right to use the artistic, patents, copyright, design, trademarks, films where such films are to be used in Malaysia. A person who is liable to pay a royalty that has a Malaysian source to an individual who is not known to him to be a resident in Malaysia and to a company, partnership or any other body of persons who does not carry a business in Malaysia.Besides that, the royalty is said to be derived from Malaysia if the responsibility for the paym ent lies with a resident of Malaysia and the responsibility for the payment lies between the government and state government itself.There is a term of local tax in Malaysia which refers to as the property tax collected by the local authorities for the provision of service to the residents. The property tax is levied on all property such as agricultural, factories, residential and shops located in the areas under jurisdiction of local authorities.Furthermore, the rate of the tax collected is different from one local government to another and it is also different in form of the property rights. Question 1(B): Examine the taxation needs of the present times (locally and internationally).So far Malaysia is using an income based direct tax for the purpose of taxation of goods and services in the country and with international transactions. So, isn’t it better for the country to switch to a consumption based indirect taxation?First of all, what is the difference between direct and indirect tax. The difference between a direct and indirect tax is a challenging issue. It depends on whether it is viewed on the economic way or on the legal way. In this case the interest is given to the economic view only.Based on economic perspective, a direct tax will refer to any levy that is both imposed and collected on a specific group of people or organizations. An example of direct taxation would be income taxes that are collected from the people who actually earn their income.In the opposite, indirect taxes are collected from someone or some organization other than the person or entity that would normally be responsible for the taxes; in other words, an indirect tax is technically an income tax levied against people, corporations, and other legal entities.A sales tax, for instance, would not be considered a direct tax because the money is collected from merchants, not from the people who actually pay the tax (the consumers). A goods and services tax in Malaysia (GST), a v alue added tax, was scheduled to be implemented by the government during the third quarter of 2011.Its purpose is to replace the sales and service tax which has been used in the country for several decades. The government is seeking additional revenue to offset its budget deficit and reduce its dependence on revenue from Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned oil company.They estimated to four-percent the tax rate in order to replace a sales-and-service tax of between five and ten percent. The Goods and Services Tax Bill 2009 was tabled for its first reading at the Dewan Rakyat (the lower house of the Malaysian parliament) on 16 December 2009.It was delayed amid mounting criticism. The government responded by asserting that the tax on oil income will not be sustainable in the future. National Consumer Complaints Centre head Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah has said, â€Å"The government should create more awareness on what the GST is.The public cannot be blamed for their lack of understa nding, and thus, their fears†. Sha’ani says that the GST will improve accounting, reduce tax fraud, and facilitate enforcement of the upcoming Anti-Profiteering Act.Muslim Consumer Association of Malaysia leader Datuk Dr. Ma’amor Osman said the GST could help end dishonest business practices, but expressed concern about how the tax would be applied to medical products and services. A group leading the campaign against the GST, Protes which objects to the GST because of concerns about its effects on low-income Malaysians, cancelled a planned protest but has stated that they will continue to agitate against the legislation Difference between Malaysian taxation and other countries, they need to harmonize.Most of the countries in the world currently use income based taxation. Those countries use two systems for taxation purpose: territorial or residential. Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world using territory based taxation. The tax is applied mainly over local income, in other words, income from a source inside the country. Malaysia operates under a Self-Assessment System (SAS) and income is taxed on a territorial basis.Income tax in Malaysia is imposed on income accruing in, or derived from, Malaysia except for income of resident companies carrying on a business of air or sea transport, banking or insurance, which are taxed on a worldwide basis. Foreign-source income received in Malaysia is not taxable.In the residential system, residents of the country are taxed on their worldwide income (local and foreign). This difference of tax systems may overlap some time, giving rise to a taxation issue. Some taxpayer may be taxed more than once.There is another group, the United States which applies tax based on citizenship. There will be taxation conflict at the international level. For instance Malaysia and Singapore have a tax agreement in order to avoid double taxation for the same person and the same income between the two countries.B ased on the preceding, the taxation system in Malaysia should be reviewed in order to simplify the international transactions as well as multinational operations between the country and others. This could help to ease the business transactions both locally and internationally.Taxation used as a tool to attract investors which useful to note that the Malaysian Government, in trying to attract foreign direct investment, is amiable to consider pre-packaged incentives, Factors such as the size of investment, level of spin-off, employment opportunities, and technology transfer, whether of national and strategic importance will play a role for granting of the incentive. Malaysia is experiencing an increasing inflow of investors from around the world because of various reasons. One of the main reasons is the tax incentive provided by the government to attract foreign capital and know-how.At this point the country is doing very well to gain competitive attractiveness. The tax legislature in Malaysia keeps updating the tax law very often to follow the country’s development need. Switch tax policy is a need as in a multi-stage, broad-based Goods and Service tax (GST) has been announced by the Malaysian Government to replace the existing single stage sales tax and service tax. The implementation date remains unannounced at this juncture. The Malaysian tax specialists deemed more beneficial to make this switch.Experts also have argued that complexities due to timing and inflation adjustment should be avoided. To do so, the authorities need to switch the taxation system from an income based one to a consumption based one. Under such a system all business purchases would be deducted immediately.Borrowing in excess of investment would be added to income, and lending would be subtracted; the resulting tax base would be consumption. Through the tax saving resulting from expensing, the government, in effect, becomes a partner in all investments; the revenues it subsequen tly receives are best seen as the return on its investment.A consumption-based tax imposes no burden on income from marginal investments, because the private investor keeps all of the income relating to his share of the investment. As a result, such a tax does not favour present consumption over saving for future consumption, as the income tax does.Some economists view the flat tax as an alternative that is even simpler than consumption-based taxation but would achieve similar economic effects. It works by exempting most capital income from taxation at the individual level that is, only labor income is taxed.This proposal, like consumption-based taxation, suffers from the loss of  progressivity those results when the tax on most capital income is eliminated. No country uses either of these consumption-based direct taxes. To sum up, the Malaysian authorities has some changes to make in order to improve its own tax system and support the economic growth of the country.The current ta x system is not bad or unproductive, but just to improve through the establishment of a tax policy that is more or less similar to at least the neighbouring countries or least extend the bilateral and multilateral tax agreement with the business partners, as well as the foreign investors.It is also highly advisable deepen the analysis about the implementation of the consumption based taxation to determine whether the switch could be beneficial. Question 1(C): Discuss whether system of tax on goods and services is now timely and appropriate for Malaysia.Goods and services tax (GST) is known as a consumption tax based on the value-added concept. It imposed on sales of goods and services in every production. The tax consumption which the indirect tax charged towards importations and on the value added to goods and services sold by one business to another, or to the end consumer.The new tax system of GST is considered as more efficient tax system. The implementation of GST replaces the current Malaysian service tax and sales tax. Sales tax is a form of indirect taxation which imposed on consumers and collected by business entities while service tax is a form of indirect tax imposed on specified services called as taxable services when the services are provided to the consumer at the time. There are lots of arguments arrived on the introduction of GST in Malaysia especially from various parties who is the taxpayer whether it burden the peoples when being implement.GST have more comprehensive, transparent tax system. It inclusive of the manufacturing and distribution stages as well as providing a tax credit claim for GST paid on business inputs while the sales tax is imposed only at the manufacturing stage when the goods are manufactured or imported.Thus, the GST will overcome the various weaknesses inherent in the present consumption tax system such as double tax, leakages thru transfer pricing and more. The government implement GST as part of their tax reform prog ramme.The objective of this new system, GST is to enhance the capability, effectiveness and transparency of tax administration and management. GST covers all types of goods & services sold to Malaysian & non-Malaysian residents except for common commodities.Government expected that the consumers will have benefit from the price reduction in most of the goods and services which has cheaper services. As a consumer, the GST will affect us as the prices of goods and services which currently have little or no taxes will increase slightly.Although there will be slightly increase in term of pricing, the government also has decided that 40 basic goods and services will be exempted from the GST such as basic foodstuff, residential accommodation, education, health services, communication, water and electricity, public transportation, hardware and maintenance and more.There are various types of businesses that charged to GST. GST is charged and collected on all taxable goods and services produ ced in the country including imports where they need to pay the GST at the time of importation.To business supplying the good and services, they need to pay within one month at the end of taxable period, it depending towards the classification that done by the GST authorities. Thus, businesses registered under GST can charge and collect GST.The social and pricing impact studies conducted by the Ministry of Finance indicated that the suitable GST rate is in the range of 4% of value added to good and services at each stage of production. Value added in this system basically is the mark-up in arriving at the selling price of a product and service.The rate is indicated as a standard rate which is expected to give benefits and to reduce the unduly burden of the rakyat and consumers especially to whom that fall in the lower income group. A business that have annual turnover that is more than RM500, 000 needs to register for GST, this is to ensure that the small businesses are free from GS T. The registration can be done by manually or online within 28days from the end of the month where the threshold is reached.Towards businesses that are not reached the threshold, they can voluntarily apply to be registered under the GST and the businesses must remain in the system for at least 2 years followed in the policy. If the government implement it in Malaysia, they will provide a sufficient time for business and industries to make them ready as GST is the new tax system.It will be around 18 to 24 months as various businesses have different types of primary activities in their businesses. Lots of preparation need to be done including preparing their business computer system, hardware and software to get ready for this implementation.Who will responsible to handle the GST accounting and GST taxation as it involved setting up business records, calculation of GST taxes and more. Training is needed either done by the government or by sending the staff for external training as th is will increase the rate of readiness towards this implementation.In additional, the issues on transitional of GST tax need to be study as to avoid the double taxation and disruption. Therefore, they need to understand the detailed rules and consider how GST would apply to their own business operations to avoid any problems occur in future after the system is being implemented.Corruption is not a rare thing in Malaysia as businesses has already included corruption prices in goods & services. How does that not reflect additional costs to consumers? Therefore, the government need to take step in controlling the prices.They need to ensure that the businesses do not take advantage of the GST implementation to increase prices of goods to make excessive profits. A Heavier fines and penalties will be imposed to make sure that the businesses comply with the rules and procedures formulated. Towards dealing with the issues relating to non-compliance and fraud, various approaches will be used by the government.A risk assessment programme will be used to identify types of businesses and persons with high tendency to commit non-compliance and fraud. Moreover, a comprehensive audit programmes is one of the programme that being used to all business and this programme also will be used in the system to fight non-compliance and fraud cases.Thus, a business records and accounts need to be audit by independence auditor to give a true and fair view of the financial statement. Prime Minister has guaranteed that there is no inflation but with the introduction of GST, the chain of passing the cost will end up usually at the hands of consumers.The multiple stage tax of GST would rise up the final consumption price which might lead to inflation in short while. Malaysia economic would be more conservatives and tided to move forward for low income workers with a high living cost that can be seen in present time.A good approach can be seen when the government learn and get good referenc es from countries that impose GST such as Singapore and Thailand before implemented the tax scheme. Last but not least, the result of GST implementation could not be seen in this current time but they need to ensure that the GST does not burden the people, especially the lower-income group.As a business taxpayer they need to be alert and aware regarding this new implementation. Organised seminar or workshop need to be attend to have a better understanding and at the same time will reduce any conflict occur. GST awareness and education programmes need to be conducted on an on-going basis until the GST is implemented and the answer from the survey can help the government to make decision and a proper preparation need to be done as in computer system or in other medium that GST will be used in future. Therefore, the government need to give businesses ample time to be ready for GST implementation.