Sunday, September 9, 2007

National Day Rally

One of the plans is to encourage more students to take up Malay, Chinese as third language instead of the common choices- Japanese, French, German. Incentives will be introduce to encourage the taking up of these languages. Besides that, there will be Regional Studies Programme introduced in a few secondary schools to learn more about our neighbouring countries. It is certain that these plans will benefit Singaporeans greatly as knowing the language of our neighbours will build better rapport between us. Immersion trips to the various countries while taking up the courses will also broaden the views of young Singaporeans. Business opportunities between Singapore and various countries will also grow as the communication barrier is brought down. However, I do not believe that the plan will carry out as smoothly as it is thought to be. Though there are attractive incentives that encourages students to take up the languages and courses, yet it is an unknown figure to how many of such students will be determined enough to finish the course and apprehend the language learnt. It will defeat the purpose of this plan if young Singaporeans pursue the learning of third language for the two bonus points for JC admission. Thus there are still may amendments need to be made so as to make this plan a success.

Not only that, the Prime Minister mentioned the building of Singapore’s fourth university. The idea was proposed due to the growing demand for university places in Singapore. The rate of each school cohort eligible for university is now 23.5% (What 4th university could be The Straits Times 21/8/07). Furthermore, there are many that comment about the lack of places in universities this year as the A-levels and poly students applied for places in universities. Thus, it is necessary to have a fourth university to cater to the growing numbers of students. The new university can also offer courses that are not made available in the present 3 universities, offering more opportunities for students. The opening of a fourth university greatly benefit Singapore with the many advantages it brought. Firstly, it ensures that more are not deprived of the chance to enjoy tertiary education and ensure that many have the skills needed to survive. Secondly, the offering of a different variety of courses from the other 3 universities helps to produce talents from various areas for Singapore. The large pool of talents will help to drive Singapore economy in the game of globalisation.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

commenting

Aw Mun Khay (32/07) http://theultimatefallacy.blogspot.com/

Are career demands killing marriages in Singapore? 4.8.07

It is undeniable that the high career demand does affect the amount of time one spends with his family. High career demand could be one of the factors that result in the high divorce rates in Singapore, thus bring along dire consequences. Hence, various measures should be taken to solve such a problem.

It was mentioned that government should ban employees from making their employees to work unreasonably long hours. However, I do not believe that such a law is possible to implement as different jobs have different demands. For example, a doctor cannot refuse to offer their professional help in a case of emergency even if they had worked for long hours. In such a case, it is difficult to determine the amount of working hours seen as unreasonably. Instead, having a more flexible working schedule can allow the employees to have a better allocation of their time between work and family. If such a freedom is allowed, employees can attend family gathering before returning to work. For example, parents are able to support their children participating in any major competition, and then returning to finish off matters at work after the competition. In this way, both the family and work are not neglected.
Besides the government and companies coming up with measure like family day to allow the employees to form stronger family bonds, individuals should also play a part in ensuring sufficient time is allocated to their family. It is often a practice to bring unfinished work home. Although this is unavoidable, one should not be concern only on finishing their work and sacrifice the time to catch up with their family members. Hence, individuals should also learn to allocate their time between work and family so as to strike a balance between the two. One can have a light chat with his family members before heading off to finish his work or while taking a break in between. These time spent may seem insignificant but it ensures that individuals always put in their effort to show their care to their family members, thus building strong family ties at the same time.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

can poverty ever be eradicated?

Poverty is a common problem faced by many countries and there are various attempts to solve or even eradicate this problem. The richer nations lend a helping hand to the poorer ones through aids like financial aids. Although situations do improve, it is certain that poverty cannot be eradicated without solving these problems.

The people of the countries are the determine factor when it comes to improving the situation of poverty. Although there could be foreign investments that provide new jobs opportunities, it does not mean that everyone from the lower status of the society can get the chance to improve their lives. Skills are required for the various jobs created, thus the lowly skilled are at the lose end. As mentioned by Sarup, with the new technologies brought in by the foreign companies, there exist the demand for technicians who are able to operate simple machineries. (Can a poor country become rich? Worldpress) Hence, the lowly skilled may not get a job unless they are trained and educated for the job. Therefore, poverty cannot be eradicated, as there is a group of lowly skilled citizens who are unable to improve their standard of living as they are deprived of the chance to do so.
Besides that, there exist the problem of countries not taking part in the fight against poverty actively. As mentioned by Jeffery Sachs, in 1970s, the world’s leading countries pledged 0.7% of their national income to help the world’s poor. Only 5 nations honoured this pledge, which was renewed in 2002. (Poster boy for the poor, The Straits Time Interactive) Many of the poor today live in countries that have limited financial resources that can rescue them from the poverty cycle. Thus the help from richer nations is greatly appreciated. However, the richer nations are not their part in offering their help to the poor, leaving them to fend for themselves. Thus, poverty cannot be eradicated, as the poorer nations can find no extra revenue that can be pumped into improving the living standards of the poor.

Monday, August 13, 2007

death penalty- for or against?

Death penalty is one punishment that is commonly used in many countries on murderers. It had always being an issue to whether it is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to death penalty. Personally, I would say yes to it due to a few reasons.

Firstly, death penalty will restrain people from killing. As mentioned by Gary B Becker, mast people are afraid of death and murderers will also try to escape from death penalty. Hence, it is evident that by imposing death penalty, it helps to deter potentials that thought of murder. One, seeing that there is a severe consequence for committing murder, chooses alternatives to solve their problems instead of taking impulsive actions like murder. Thus, death penalty should not be abolished.
Secondly, death penalty acts as a way to mend for the psychological loss of the victim’s close ones. To an outsider, it seems absurd to execute the murderer for what he had committed as it does not help to bring back the dead. However, to the victim’s close ones, there is no other punishment that could bring the same sense of justice that is brought by death penalty. Many still feel that an eye should pay for an eye, thus the execution of the murderer is justifiable. There may be an emotional unbalance in the victim’s close ones if the murderer were given life imprisonment instead as they feel that the punishment the murderer deserve s more than being locked up in the prison for the rest of their life. Hence, death penalty should not be abolished, as it is accountable for the justice for the victim’s close ones.

Monday, August 6, 2007

New gaming centres in school

Article: Game time at schools by Lim Yee Hung & Melissa Tan The Straits Times 24/6/07

In view of the many advantage of opening a game center, Local Area Networking (LAN) e-gaming centres were set up in schools so as to keep their students away from LAN gaming outlets.
There are obvious advantages to such decision so that there are a number of local schools already have their LAN gaming centres located in their schools. Some of such schools are Montfort Secondary, Wellington Primary and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). There are a number of reasons as to why the schools support this move.

Firstly, at commercial gaming outlets, students are exposed to bad influences such as smoking or swearing. As cited from the article, 58% of youth between 10 and 15 played or download computer or video games online. Thus, there is a need to guide these young users so that they will not pick up bad practices like smoking. In schools, the students’ gameplay will be monitored so as to ensure the students from not picking up the bad influences. For example, there is a teacher stationed in the gaming center at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) so as to ensure discipline. Thus, parents need not to worry their child picking up the wrong things from wrong people as they enjoy their game online.

Secondly, students’ health is also taken care for in the game centres in schools. For example, at Wellington Primary School, students are to take a 15-minute break after an hour. They are to go to a reading corner so as to give their eyes a break. An OSIM eye massager is available in the centre. As myopia is one of the health problems associated to long hours of gameplay, thus under the monitor of the school, students are able to have fun in the center while paying attention to take good care of their health. Thus, the idea of having LAN centre is greatly supported in the schools.

On the other hand, the opening of LAN centres worries the shop owners of the commercial LAN centres as their business may be affected. There will definitely have a decrease in the number of younger customers patronising their shops. However, it is certain that the decision of opening a LAN centre in schools brings no harm to the students as they receive guidance as they play their game. It is also a more protected environment as compared to the commercial LAN shop where they are exposed to people from all walks of life – whether they are good or bad.

Article: Embracing Otherhood, The Straits Times 17/12/05

As Singapore play host to more people from different backgrounds and culture, challenges arise, as there exists the question of how accepting the locals are and the possible unfair treatments to the foreigners.

The influx of new immigrants brings out the problem of how accepting the locals are to the foreigners. Many locals view foreigners as burdens or people that snatch their jobs or opportunities away from them. From the article of “Red stars, scholars and stayers” (The Straits Times), one of the parents interviewed, Madame Irene Tan said that China students that had done excelling well in schools may go on to compete in the same job market as our local students in future. Besides that, the difference in appearance is believed to be one of the causes for locals finding hard to see the foreigners as one of us. As cited from the article, there are still whispers about Caucasians living HDB estates. This does not help Singapore in playing the role of a hospitable host as she invite more foreigners that may contribute positively to her economy. The foreigners may feel rejected by the treatment from the locals and chose not to come to Singapore to work or stay.

In addition, the foreigners may receive unfair treatment from the locals. Foreigners with lower social status may have their welfare neglected. For example, the recent case of the death of the illegal worker Maung Soe Thein from Myanmar who fell to death while working on a block of flats as stated in the article. His employer, Chua Beng Lye, buried is body instead of reporting his death to the authorities. As the case was revealed, there was not much of a strong response from the locals, which simply show the apathy of the locals to these foreign workers of lower social status. The prejudice suffered by the foreign workers causes unfair treatments from work and the public as we can see from the death of Muang.
In conclusion, the challenges faced by Singapore as she play host to more people from different backgrounds and culture are interlinked. The unaccepted foreigners receive prejudice and unfair treatments from the locals in various places like workplace. Hence, steps should be taken to solve these problems so that the locals and foreigners could work and live harmoniously, contributing positively to Singapore.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

world in balance

Regardless of the rise or fall in human population, the society and economics of
a country will definitely feel the impact of such changes.

With the rise in human population, there will be more demands like more jobs
will need to be generated for the young workforce. However, economic problems
arise when the country is unable to meet the demand. For example India is unable
to keep pace with its growing population in creating six million new jobs a year.
The situation of unemployment in India is thus made worsen with youths joining the workforce jobless.

Eventually, this leads to social problems like poverty and increasing crime rates.The poor are forced to steal or rob so as to survive in today’s world. They are trapped in a poverty cycle as their children are unable to receive sufficient education thus having little or no skills for jobs with higher pay. Hence, socio-economic problems occurred due to the increase of human population.

The fall in human population results in the lack of young workers in the workforce. As the population of the old increase in the country, there will be a strain on the economy as there are insufficient young workers to generate enough revenue for the welfare of the elderly. Hence, the country may lack the resources and money to build necessary infrastructure like old folks’ home for the old. The social impact, in this case, is that the elderly in the country may not be well taken care of.

Besides that, it is also to note that the country suffering from a fall in human population may not be generating as much revenue as they could if there is a younger workforce. There are also fewer consumers with a drop in human population. This means that there is less business targeted for the younger age groups. Eventually, this affects the welfare of the elderly as less revenue means that there is less measures to take care of them since the country is unable to afford it.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

young investors in the money market?

article: Savvy young investors in the money market by Tessa Wong, The Straits Time 2 july 2007

There is a growing number in teens as young as secondary students to the early 20s who are getting involved in financial trading. They handle real money with sums as large as $200,000 as investments. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages of youths getting involved in financial trading since they are mostly inexperienced youths who hardly have enough working experience to be able to make the best decision when comes to financial management. However, I am giving my full hundred percent support for youths getting involved in financial trading.

Many got their capital from their parents who supported them in their involvement in the financial market. They believe that their children are able to handle the money wisely and most importantly, learning life skills and experience as they trade in the financial market. As mentioned by Mr Tan Choon Hwa, father of the teen, Ace, “He (Ace) will learn life skills and god finance management.” It is undeniable that youths do earn life experience as they encounter difficulties or make hard decisions during their trade. As they learn and eventually make up a choice, the youths will learn some skills or values that they pick up along the way. This adds up to their life experience that may help them in their future work.
However, it is to note that the youths are handling with real money and are trading in the financial market. This is no child’s play and with every investment comes along risks. Thus, the youths need to be guided and be given advice for their decision. Some may have their family members who have experience in the trading world to act as their mentors. For those who are not so fortunate, they are still able to receive help from clubs or associations. Foe example, I-cube is an association formed last year by Singapore’s three universities’ investment clubs. It organizes financial literacy events for students from secondary schools, junior colleges and polytechnics. Thus, with the availability of sources to teach the youths and advising them on making the wise choice, why should we discourage the youths from learning financial management early?

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Article: Students with average grades grab chance to shine by Jane Ng, The Straits Times 22 June 07.

In 2004, the Education Ministry allowed the NUS and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to set their own admission criteria for up to 10% of their students. This allows students that are unable to earn a place in the universities with their grades, yet have performed exceeding well in other areas.

I believe that such an allowance provides more opportunities for the average students to excel as well as an A-grade student could. As tertiary education is not only about being book-smart, average students who have other strengths of their own that may in turn be helpful for the course that they are studying. For example, Mr. Han Weiding, 22, a second-year NTU student was admitted to NTU through the discretionary admission. His experiences in writing competitions during his secondary school days are helpful in his studying of journalism. Thus, it is certain that the discretionary admission helps to discover a pool of average students that have hidden talents that makes them as competitive as an A-grade student.

In addition, discretionary admission also prevents Singapore from losing average students who can be accomplished. For example, before the discretionary admission was allowed, Miss Penny Tan failed to get into NUS and decided to stay in Britain’s University of Leicester after she secured a place there. She is now studying medicine and prepares herself in becoming a doctor. Singapore hence lost an individual who can contribute positively to Singapore. Moreover, there is more than one such student like Miss Penny Tan in Singapore. Undeniably, Singapore will be at the losing end if steps fail to be taken in keeping these talents. Thus, with discretionary admission, Singapore will be able to keep promising students that may not be performing academically well. It eventually benefits Singapore’s economy in future. Thus, I strongly support the discretionary admission.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

commentary

http://innerv0ice.blogspot.com/2007/05/in-view-of-global-warming-many.html

I do not agree that Singapore can go car-less. Instead, Singapore can try to cut down the number of cars in the country.

It is not possible for Singapore to go car-less as there are a portion of the population that need private cars so that it is more accessible for them to reach places in the country. For example, my father need to travel to many different places in a day due to work. Thus, having a private car is undeniably more convienent than waiting ten to thirty minutes at the bus stop or train station for public transport. Of course, some may suggest taking a cab. However, it is not possible to take a cab everytime as the fees are high.

Though Singapore is not able to go car-less, we should still try to reduce the numbers. Besides reviewing the car ownership, the government should also educate the public in taking public transport over private cars. More canpiagns like 'no-car days' should be organised and perhaps getting more public members involved in such campaigns. In addition, the public should be kept informed about the present situation of global warming. This can be done through putting up the newst information regading global warming on the notice board at the basement of the flats. Not only that, the young should also be educated so that they are more aware of global warming and contribute by going green. Besides studying the causes of global warming and the consequences of it, the school should engage the students in how to conribute in controlling global warming. Through this, the students can be encouraged to take public transport instead of private cars and other ways of reducing carbon dioxide emission or preventing the further worserning of global warming could be taught.

Monday, June 11, 2007

freedom of expression- should it be limited or more should be stressed on social responsibility?

I believe that Singapore should adopt freedom of expression whereby more focus is placed on social responsibility.

Singapore is a multi-racial society where sensitive issues like minority rights are dealt with great caution. Thus, freedom of speech in Singapore should be one that emphasise on social responsibility. Citing the publishing of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad incident, conflicts would arise if the media in Singapore were to publish such cartoons. Muslims in Singapore may feel that they were being discriminated against, resulting in resistive movements from the muslin community. Besides that, wrong information may be brought across to the younger generation, thinking that making insensitive remarks to sensitive issues is all right. Eventually, having such a mind set will lead to the problem of the young not able to get along well with people from other races or religions.

As raised by Singer, “ We must be free…to criticize the teachings of Jesus, Moses, Muhammad, and Buddha, as reported in many texts that millions of people regarded as sacred. Without that freedom, human progress will always run up against a basic roadblock.” I do agree that necessary discussions should be done in questioning the beliefs of the people. However, there is a limit to what can be said in such discussions. In a cultural and religious pluralism society, great caution should be taken in terms of discussing such sensitive issues. An intentional remark may spark off conflicts with ugly consequences. There should be a limit to the doubts raised when discussing such issues as the use of wrong words can easily offence another community. One should be responsible for their comments and ensure that they do not over criticize one community or make offensive remarks to certain community if such issues were to be discussed.
In conclusion, freedom of expression in Singapore should come along with social responsibility to maintain peace among all communities.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Any form of punishment that is effective in maintaining law and order is justified. Do you agree?

In hope to maintain effective law and order, different form of punishment is introduced. However, it does not mean that any form of punishment that is effective in maintaining law and order is justified.

Some form of punishment is not justified, as they are inhuman. For example, the use of torture to get information from prisoners is a form of punishment that is never justified. One of the infamous torture treatments is the torture used on the prisoners by Japanese soldiers during World War 2. Hot iron bars scalded prisoners or a hose is placed in their mouth and water was forced into their stomach. Often the prisoners suffer from physical torture, resulting in deaths of many. The prisoners’ lives were put at risk so as to gain information of other suspects or to force the prisoners to confess to crimes that they commit. The public condemns such inhumane treatment as though the prisoners may commit a crime yet they should not suffer from punishments that jeopardise their life. Therefore, any form of punishment that is effective in maintaining law and order is not justified.
In addition, some form of punishment is immoral. A young child is taught to value life and respect all forms of living. If a young child is able to practice that, the more should the educated officials deciding the form of punishment to be seen carrying out such morally right behaviour. Using the use of torture as an example, the use of punishment is not justified in this case as one’s life is put at risk or even seen as invaluable. It is morally wrong as one was treated unfairly and cruelly. Moreover, a person’s life is definitely more precious than gaining information from the prisoner.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

early NS enlistment as punishment for youth offender

article : early NS enlistment for some youth offenders by Tracy Sua, the straits time 19 may.

Male youth offenders aged between 16 and 18 may get enlisted in to NS earlier. This is another form of punishment for youth offenders as it is believe that by enlisting the youth offenders earlier, it will bring some form discipline into their lives at early stage. However, early enlistment to NS is mostly for youth offenders in probation. Those with more serious offences and judged by the court to need reformative training are not offered early enlistment.

Form my perspective, earlier enlistment to NS will offer better discipline to the youth that committed small offences and change their behaviour. In this way, early enlistment to NS will also achieve the aim of helping the youth offenders in having a more positive attitude and behaviour. It is known to all that NS training is tough and it requires strict discipline. Thus, the youths are able to receive better discipline and help to shape them into a better person.

Besides that, early enlistment to NS may be more efficient than other ways of punishment. For example, serving nine months in a hostel may not have a better impact in changing the character of the offenders than receiving training in NS. The discipline training from these two places differs greatly thus affecting how much impact it leaves on the youth offenders’ character and behaviour.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Is it necessary to pay 10 cent for a plastic bag?

Article: Plastic bags are not the enemy by Andy Ho, The Straits Times May 12.

Is it necessary for the public to pay 10 cents for a plastic bag you use when shopping? It may seem ridiculous to some but this is done in hope to get consumers to cut down the use of plastic bags in Singapore. Besides Singapore, many other countries have their own practices in order to reduce the use of plastic bags. Some countries, like Ireland, paper bags are used instead of plastic bags. However, as stated in the article, the use of paper bags is even more environmental less friendly than using plastic bags. For example, two paper bags are used so as to prevent the paper bags from tearing. This resulted in more wastage and since paper is used, it means that using paper bag will cause an increase in demand for more wood, hence worsen the situation of deforestation.

It is also noted in the article that plastic bags are incinerated instead of being dumped off in the landfills. Hence, plastic bags do not pose a problem to Singapore in terms of taking up too much space to dispose them. However, we should not view the problem only in Singapore’s context. Singapore is not the only country that uses plastic bags. If we were to take into consideration of the usage of plastic bags around the world, we face a serious environmental problem. Other countries may not incinerate the used plastic bags; the plastic bags could be thrown into landfills and buried with other rubbish. Hence, by reducing the usage of plastic bags in Singapore, we may be contributing much to the environment.
So what to do without plastic bags? One may consider bringing their shopping bags when shopping since it is reusable and durable. It also helps to cut down the use of plastic bags and encouraging others to bring their shopping bags, as it becomes a norm.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Teens Internet users having the wrong set of values.

Source: The Sunday Times
Article: Armed, online and dangerous.

Teens Internet users now uses the ratings of how many visited their web page as a marker for their popularity. However, they accolades for cruelty as the more malignant the post, the higher the number of viewers there are.

There are already cases of teens Internet users that posted violent videos or insensitive remarks. For example, earlier in March, an eight-minute video clip of a teen bashing up another boy was posted to YouTube. The viewing rates are high and there are even more cases of such violent videos proceeding this. It is to note that teens nowadays have more choices of sharing their views. Thus, what they discuss or posted on net need not to be accountable to anyone beside themselves. The results? Insensitive or morally wrong comments are posted. Hence, there is a need for parental guidance in the usage of the Internet to prevent the teens Internet users from posting more malignant remarks and violent videos.
Online anonymity further worsen the situation of the use Internet by the teens Internet users as they may escape being caught by anyone for making malignant comments. Physical abuse like those shown in videos on YouTube is just one of the way that teens Internet users revenge on their mates. Besides physical abuse, the teen users could easily bully one by commenting negative remarks and post it on their blogs. A Sunday Times surveyed 32 youngsters aged 13 to 18 on their cyber habits. It is found that nine out of the 32 surveyed felt that it was okay to make such negative comments on someone online. Thus, steps should be taken to correct the mindset of the teens Internet users that shares the same thought. Ultimately, the future of the country relies on the teens today and they should share values that are morally right.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Is globalization benefiting the world as a whole?

Article used: Globalization: A panacea for world economic development?http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/2738.cfm

Globalization is the word that every country has in mind now. Many believe in the benefits that one could enjoy with the arrival of globalization. Indeed, the world income has doubled since 1980, and almost half a billion people have climbed out of poverty. There are further predictions that the number of people living on under $1 a day will halved from today’s one million by 2030 due to globalization. However, no matter how beautiful the figures seem, there is a dark side to globalization- inequality within nations has widened as wealth generated from globalization are not equally distributed.

Globalization had caused the rich nations earning more revenue while many of the poor nations were exploited by the rich nations and in the end, having little growth for them. Forty of the poorest nations have had zero growth during the past twenty years while the rich countries grew on average by almost two percent per capita annually (1980 - 2002). The nation inequality causes more development in the developed countries while the development in the poorer countries remains stagnant. The country did not benefit economically and socially, the standard of living of the citizens did not improve.

The victim of globalization is mostly the developing country. Not only that their economic interest is disregarded, the richer nations relegate the labour rights protection in the countries too. Richer nations hope to get access to the developing countries’ labour forces. In developing countries, farming accounts for 30-60 percent of GDP and up to 70percent of the labour force. Hence, labour rights protection is critical for protecting the citizens’ rights. However, this is not done and social problems arise. In India, the farmer suicide has been a terrible human cost and become a threat to rural development.

In addition, the developing countries face constrains as they negotiated with richer nations for trades with them. For example, during Doha Round of trade talks, the United States proposed that developing countries would have been free to export jet engines and supercomputers to America, but not textiles, agriculture products or processed foods- goods of which the United States produces. The developing countries face limitations to which goods they can export, hence causing them to have a small market where their goods can be sold.

In conclusion, globalization does not benefit the world as a whole as the richer nations dominates the poorer ones, causing limited development that the poorer nations can experience.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Is the use of torture ever justified in dealing with criminals and terrorists?

“‘To pull out a finger of a terrorist in order to save a couple of million lives’ was morally right,” said Mr. Faris, a former chairman of the National Crime Authority with regards to using torture against terrorist in some domestic crime situations.

Indeed, sometimes torture is needed to force the terrorists to give in and provide important information. There may be members of terrorist organizations or criminals that are prepared to face death for whatever they had done. However, that does not mean that using torture as an investigation technique is justified.

The use of torture on criminals or terrorists is morally unjust. What difference is there between a police who dismember a terrorist to get the information they wanted, and a terrorist that set a bomb to harm the public? During his arrest, a terrorist of al-Qaeeda was shot 3 times and nursed to health by the U.S doctors. The terrorist suffered from physical torture repeatedly. Though it is a criminal that we are dealing with, yet we should not forget that a live is at stake. The terrorists and criminals may have committed serious crimes that are unforgivable but we should not use torture as an investigation technique to find out valuable information.

Besides that, the use of torture yields little results. Taking the example in the article “the unofficial story of the al-Qaeda 14’, Zubayah did not give any information regarding another member, Binalshibh. Instead, he was brought to the attention of investigators as he had sent wire transfers to other members of the al-Qaeda. It is also mentioned by Mr. Faris, “If you don’t get the information, you don’t get the information.” Torturing the terrorists or criminals does not guarantee that the terrorists or criminals will give in. They may instead give worthless information in hope to end the torturing. For example, Zubaydah named countless targets inside the U.S to stop the pain. Thus, torturing the criminals or terrorists is not the way to dig information out of them.
Lastly, there are alternatives that not only are productive and moral. For example, instead of dismember the terrorists, the FBI promise of providing better amenities is what causes the terrorists of al-Qeada to cooperate with them. Using a more humanitarian approach to the terrorists or criminals may in turn gain their trust and earn valuable information for the investigation. Moreover, it is an approach that the public is able to accept, as it is morally right.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

New Media- Power to the people or threat to stability?

I agree to a large extent that with New Media, it brings power to the people rather than threatening stability.

Firstly, with New Media, people are engaged in the politics in their country. For example, in Africa, the Media and Guardian hosted a blog for all politicians in recent local elections. This resulted in many comments from the citizens and helped to encourage debate. With New Media, citizens were more involved and their voices are heard. Now, the government have to think and make policies not only based on the comments of the ministers in the government but also the general public. Besides that, the opinions of the public can be found easily on a political issue. In this way, governments can then take an approach or make a policy that suits the citizens' needs the most and reduce discontentment in the citizens to the minimum.

Secondly, the people are given new ways to express and share their thoughts and opinions without having to fear that their comments will be totally censored by the government. How is this so? In the past, people have to get through the newsletters to share their thoughts to the public. Hence, censorship on letters that opposes the government can easily be imposed. However, with the presence of new media, people share their views using the web which the government have difficulty in controlling censorship as there are great numbers of users.

Though new media brought power to the people to have a say in the politics, it does bring threat to stability.

New media provided many route for informations to reach people. However, some of the informations may cause conflicts to countries. One example is the use of new media by terrorists to manipulate people's mind. It is common to find satellite dishes in Iraq today. People are more accessible to various ideas no matter it is morally correct or not. Hence, terrorists could put up false informations and try to influence the mind of the people. In turn, it threatens the stability of the country as some joined the terrorists and carried out terrorists acts in the country if they were influenced.

The threat of stability may come from the citizens themselves. One example is the incident of a few teenagers in Singapore making racist remarks in their personal blogs. The rise of new media does provide platforms for everyone to voice out their inner-thoughts. However, this poses danger as there are users who abuses their rights and causes unnecessary conflicts. In the example given above, conflicts regarding racial issues may rise up due to the remarks made by the teenagers. Thus, to a certain degree, new media brought threat to stability too.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Can the media ever be relied upon to convey the truth?

Based on the article " Great Lies of the American Free Press", it is said that the media focuses on popularity, prejudice and profits instead of people and public interests to determine the news that they report. Hence, to a large extent, the media cannot be relied to convey the truth.

The first word "popularity" suggests that the media selected their reports so that they will not lose their readers, viewers or even advertising dollars. As such, they need to report issues that draws public attention and in turn, generate profits to the corporation. As cited from the article, the Iraqi War is one that was "fueled by corporates-controlled media's lust to boost profits". The more Iraqi War was promoted, the more will the media have viewers and readers who want to know more about the updates of the war. Hence, the media can never be relied upon to convey the truth as many times, the media's reports was determined by the profits they would earn from a news.

Besides popularity, the media also practice prejudice when they select their news. As mentioned in the article, the author of the article once wrote to his local newspaper regarding 'bad faith' standard in America which was censored. This was so as the local newspaper was afraid to offend the local police department. As a result, awareness of the arrant nature of 'bad faith' standard was not put across to the public. Most importantly, what seems to be a good chance to amend the 'bad faith' standard was thrown away as the article was banned. The act of censorship to prevent themselves from being involved in problems greatly reduced the media's credibility in their ability to convey the truth to the public.

The last point, profits, is another factor that controls the news that was reported. Individuals could have been bribed by the government to say in favour of the government policies. One such example found in the article is that pseudo-journalist, Maggie Gallagher was paid $21,500 by the federal government of Health and Human services to encourage marriages. Besides individuals bribery, another way of profiting is through acquiring a bigger share of the marketplace. Thus, media spoke in favour of the government under Bush dictatorship. In such a case, it is highly doubtful that the media can be relied upon to convey the truth.

However, it is necessary to note that media does not stand on the three points mention above all the time. There are times where media's reports were due to other factors like public interest. Taking the media in Singapore as an example, factual reports were made and the public was constantly updated on the situation of SARS in Singapore. Even after the declaration of Singapore being SARS- free officially on 5 June, the media did not cover up another new case of SARS when a 27-year-old researcher, who contracted SARS in September, was infected in the Environmental Health Institute Laboratory where he worked. The public was notified about another SARS patient and thus they were alerted about taking measure to prevent catching SARS virus. Hence, the media can be reliable in conveying the truth to the public.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Great Physicist Marie Curie

Radioactivity is used commonly in our daily life now. From medical purposes such as cancer treatment to nuclear reactors, radioactivity solved much of human's problems and desire. However, the scientist that discovered radioactivity is not Einstein or Newton. Instead, it is a female physicist, named Marie Curie.

Marie Curie's discovery had made a significant impact in the science and medical field of human's endeavour. One of the significant impact from the discovery of radioactivity is the use of radiation for cancer treatment. It is found that radioactivity kills disease cells and tumour without harming the healthy cells. This is a breakthrough in the medical field as a cure was found for cancer, an illness that people seen as incurable. Not only that, the patients had also given another chance to live with the invention of this treatment. Presently, doctors around the globe is using this treatment as one of the treatment to cure cancer.

Besides using radioactivity for medical purposes, the founding of radium also lead to nuclear reactors. Electricity is generated using nuclear energy, benefiting the human community. For example, nuclear energy is used in various countries like Canada and USA. The use of nuclear energy helps to save the consumtion of fossil fuels, which can be used to produce liquid fuel.

Lastly, the discovery of radium led to the discovery of electrons, protons and neutrons in atoms. The discovery of atoms let us know more about chemistry. This is also an significant impact on the science field as sceintist were motivated to investigate more about atoms. Nevertheless, the influence of this discovery persist till today as students around the globe were taught to study regarding atoms and their characteristics in chemistry.

The discovery of radioactivity is the most significant contribution by Marie Curie to the world. The impact of this discovery is still felt by the human community today. Hence, Marie Curie is definitely one of the most influential people who had played a significant role in the modernisation of human community.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

self introduction!!!

Hi all! I am Lim Yi Jia from 08/07! This is a brief self-introduction of mine, and to speak the truth,I don't really like to have a blog. =x I used to create one but after a few posting, i deleted my account! I don't have the habit of writing dairy u see.

Well, let me start by telling you a little about where i came from. My previous secondary is Kranji Secondary and i joined ELDDS during my secodary school times. This year, i joined the Chinese Ochestra in AJC and the instrument I play is Er Hu. I know it seems that only old man would want to choose this instrument but i truly have a great interest in it! (Could it be I'm old at heart???!!!) I've attended two sessions of practices this week and i really had a great time learning the Er Hu from my seniors!

Besides having an interest in Er Hu, I'm a fan of manga and animes! What drew my attention are the drawngs of the mangas and animes. Though I do not have the skills of Da vin ci, i will still try to draw some characters from the mangas.(Sadly, they drawings aren't goodT.T)

Among all the animes that I'd watched, my favourite is Full Metal Alchemist. The story of this anime is not as cheerful and optimistic like other animes like One Piece. Instead, it is full of provocative questions and sentences that makes you think deeper about what we may never notice in life. I enjoy thinking about these questions as you may find a totally different view to things.

Lastly, i shall share a little on my character. Actually, I'm an introvert. Though I am able to make new friends and fit in comfortably in a new environment, having personal time with myself is very important to me. I like to spend the time alone as it clears one mind and is the best time for some introspection. So if anyone interups me durig this time I'lll most probably be very annoyed with them and ask them to LEAVE!! WAHAHAHHA!!

Hope you enjoy reading my first entry!!