The Tea Party

The Tea Party is a populist political movement in America which is considered conservative and libertarian. It has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009. It pushes for a reduced government spending to reduce the national debt and the federal budget deficit, is against taxation. It has no charter no published manifesto and no governing council.

The Tea Party’s main concern is the amount of money America is spending on bailing the financial institutions out, as well as the expansion of the government-supported healthcare bills. Many of them think that the next generation will not have enough money to live the current lifestyles that they are living right now, and the leaders of the country are messing it up even more. Many candidates also disagree with Obama’s healthcare reform bill.

The Tea Party supports protests, and some of these protests were in response to several laws that have been passed, for example a series of healthcare reform bills.

The Tea Party's most noted national figures include Republican politicians such as Sarah Palin, Dick Armey, and Ron Paul. The Tea Party movement is not a national political party, but is lead by Republican candidates- polls show that most Tea Partiers consider themselves to be Republicans. People have suggested that the movement is not a new political group but simply a rebranding of traditional Republican candidates and policies. The Tea Party is supported by those who are dissatisfied with the current mainstream Republican Party leaders.

The Gadsden flag is a historical American flag with a yellow field depicting a rattlesnake coiled and ready to strike. Positioned below the snake is the legend "DON'T TREAD ON ME." The flag was designed by and is named after American general and statesman Christopher Gadsden. It was also used by the United States Marine Corps as an early motto flag. The current flag is still the American flag, but the alternative is the Gadsden flag.

Poem On Old Major (Animal Farm)

Old Major said

Men were no good,

And wished so bad

For just a tad

Of freedom, when

Animals would rule forever.

The time did come

But not before

He kicked the bucket.

Old Major’s dream was shattered,

His hope lost.

Oh, how wrong he was back then.

He had said that

All the milk had been drunk

By the hateful bunch of Man.

Yet, when Napolean was in rule,

All the milk still had been drunk.

He thought that

All animals would be free,

When Man let them be

Oh, how wrong he had been!

For Napoleon had become

The tyrant, and the animals

Slaves.

Old Major’s life was so sad

For no one remembered a tad

About what he had done.

All his efforts seemed nulled,

His hopes and dreams liquefied.

Alas, what a sad life he had led,

For what he expected

Not having affected

The doomed future of Manor Farm





Wake up 30 Minutes Earlier Every Day

Today, I urge all of you to wake up 30 minutes earlier in the morning from now on. Why? Allow me to enlighten you on this.

I know that this is a typical day for some of you. “Ring!” goes the alarm bell, you gobble down your breakfast wolfishly, zoom down to the bus stop, and once again lose to the elusive bus in a game of catch. In the end, you reach school late. This is a bad start to a good day!

To break this vicious cycle, wake up 30 minutes earlier every day. I know that at least 75% of you will have problems waking up early in the morning. What can you do to solve this problem-causing situation? You can set multiple alarms that ring one after another or place your alarm in another room.

But first, before I decide to wake up early, what can I do in such a short time? You may ask. You can indeed do many things in this time. You can take a hearty breakfast. You can walk to the bus stop, and not dash there for once. You can avoid the morning crowd and reach school early. You can go for an energizing exercise. You can finish your undone homework. You can learn a music instrument.

So many interesting things can be done in such a short time. Time is precious. Don’t waste it sleeping. The time to reach school early is here. The time to improve your skills has come. The time to change your life forever is upon you. Wake up half an hour earlier from now on!

Yemen Riots

Newsweek, March 28 2011

A Future Up in the Air

In the past weeks, there has been fierce fighting in Yemen. Troops that remain loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh are locked in fights with the protesters. The demonstrations were sparked off by other recent ones in other Middle Eastern countries. The people of Yemen felt that their government was unfair, and wanted to overthrow it too. Tens of thousands of people from both sides are in a stalemate at “Change Square”, and the government’s snipers have killed 52 people from the crowd, and it is evident that the number of deaths will increase.

I feel that all of us should feel fortunate to live in a peaceful place like Singapore, and should not complain about small little things that they are unhappy with. After reading about all the riots in Libya, Egypt, Ivory Coast, and now Yemen, I know the importance of an honest government and peace in the country. Any lack of these will result in the loss of many lives and the ruining of the whole country.

In Singapore, the current government is doing well in managing the country, and the crime rate is low. However, we cannot take this for granted all the time. We must keep in mind the time when there were racial riots just a few decades ago, and there is no reason why it will not happen again. This applies greatly to Singapore. Singapore is known as the little red dot, and such a small country like us will be thrown into chaos and destroyed much more easily than the bigger Middle Eastern countries. Therefore, it is important to prevent anything, no matter how small, from destroying our social fabric. We must treat other races equally, and understand and appreciate racial harmony. In order to prevent what is happening in the Middle Eastern countries from occurring here, we must be careful with our words, and not openly criticize other races. It is not only about respecting other races. It is about understanding and inviting others with open arms.

The Tissue Issue that won’t go away

Straits Times, April 28 2011

When we step into a hawker centre in Singapore, it is common to see tissue packets left on the benches. Instinctively, we know that this seat has been “reserved” by someone else. Many people are complaining that this reflects the selfish attitude of Singaporeans, but some disagree, sparking debates over this issue.

Does anything have to be done? Let me express my opinion. When tourists step into Changi airport nowadays, the first few things that they see are red and white posters put up by Singaporean telecomm service Singtel saying “Tables with tissue packs are usually reserved”, as part of the “Tips for a great stay in Singapore” campaign. Although it may be out of good intention, I think that the government should do something to stop this behavior. One may argue that this action is unique to Singaporeans, and are part of our culture and habits. However, think about all the unwanted and negative effects of this behavior. When the tourists see these posters, they will think that Singapore is an ungracious society, and will not come back to Singapore again. Even though they do not see these posters, when they go visiting around Singapore, they will definitely find out about it, and will consequently have a bad impression of Singapore.

I think that the government should remove the posters at Changi Airport, and instead, add other posters in hawker centres that discourage the patrons to be considerate and not “reserve” the seats. However, there will be people who try to find a way around things, and will place things like their umbrellas to reserve the seats. Therefore, it might be more effective to put up posters to tell patrons not to even reserve seats at all. The government should also constantly tell the people that they can remove these items if they feel that the people who placed them there are inconsiderate and selfish. I hope that the people will also realize that they are inconsiderate and selfish if they continue to place their items on the seats.

If all these measures are taken, I am quite sure that Singapore will become a more gracious society and will attract more tourists in the future.

All steamed up over nasi lemak

Straits Times, May 2, 2011

One popular food now is nasi lemak, especially among school children. It is a local delight, and is widely sold- you can find it in schools, hawker centres, and even in restaurants. However, some people feel that eating it is unhealthy, and has caused health problems, especially in primary schools. They say that the message is clear about the health problems it brings, since the direct translation of nasi lemak is “fatty rice”. The government has restricted stores to only sell it once or twice a week.

The government says that the nasi lemak causes more obese children in the country. However, students being obese may be due to the foods that they eat after school. For example, they would be obese if they visit fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, which contains more calories and fats than nasi lemak. Furthermore, there are currently many stalls that mainly sell nasi lemak, and if there is a sudden restriction on nasi lemak, many of these businesses and stores will lose a great amount of income, and this will result in a lot of these stores closing down. Consequently, there will be an increase in the unemployment rate, which will slow down the economical growth rate. If the government wants to ban nasi lemak, then other unhealthy foods such as roti prata should also be banned. Why do they need to single out nasi lemak?

In my opinion, it would be better to gradually reduce the amount of nasi lemak that can be sold per week- from twenty-four hours, seven days a week, to six and a half days, and then six and so on. I feel that this will slowly reduce the sale of nasi lemak, and give the storeowner more time to change what they sell, and give them a “warning” first before lowering the cost. The government should also increase the number of health campaigns and promote more healthy food, and give them the negative effects of nasi lemak and fast foods, to push them away from unhealthy food and towards healthy foodstuff. I think that that is a more effective way to reduce the obesity rate instead of immediately banning the unhealthy foods.

Poly grads look to rack up experience

Straits Times, April 30th 2011

Many more polytechnic graduates have a preference to work for a few years before going back to school for further studies.

This may be because more companies are providing them with job offers that entice them to stop their further education on hold. However, some of them still decide to finish off their education before looking for a job. They think that it would be better to finish off their studies, or have the financial means to continue, while others feel that it is important to get some experience in working life first, or might not have the financial ability to fund their university fees, and have to obtain funds for it by working.

So, is it better to continue one’s education before entering the corporate world, or is it more preferable to start working first before continuing his education? In my opinion, I feel that the answer to this question is different for differing situations. When one is lacking money to continue his or her education, it is obvious that they need to work first. If one does not even have the financial means to go on studying, then there is no need to talk about whether they want to work.

However, for the students with the financial ability to continue their education, I feel that it is more important to start studying first. This is because, schools are a microcosm of society and the workplace, and it might be better for them to continue studying to get a better feel of how the corporate world is like. They can sharpen their skills at cooperation when doing group projects, and can improve their Emotional Quotient by trying to make friends with more people to understand how to react around different people to improve the relationship. When they have these improved skills, then they will have a significant advantage over their colleagues. Some of these students feel that it is a waste to not take on jobs that they are offered by companies at first, and are afraid that they will not be able to find back that job. However, with their improved skills, then it will be even easier to find another job, and even better, stand a greater chance to get another job that they have a passion in.

In my opinion, it would be better for these polytechnic graduates to continue their studies first before working if they have to financial ability to do so.

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Hi guys, I'm a student in Singapore, and this are some thoughts and essays I have written over the years.