tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76734582509842062502024-02-08T14:19:40.089+08:00The Chosen OneAlexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-15587200495488752412015-09-08T16:04:00.000+08:002015-09-08T16:04:06.066+08:00Youth versus Experience<h4>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small; font-weight: normal;">Commonwealth Essay Competition senior category 2015 (Gold)</span></i></h4>
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<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">THE YOUNG MAN AND THE SEA
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">“Today’s the eighty-fourth day with an empty net,” the old man Santiago sighed. “Perhaps the luck
of my boat has worn off.”
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Under the setting sun, Santiago and Manolin shared a wordless moment. To the casual observer, it
was a scene of perfect tranquility - an old man and his apprentice winding down on the beach after a
day of hard work, their boat gently bobbing beside a weathered dock, an empty fishing net
crumpled and cast carelessly on the sand. The romanticism of the moment, however, was lost on
Santiago and Manolin.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">“Santiago,” Manolin finally said. “Why don’t I take your boat and go out to sea tomorrow? Maybe
I’ll bring fresh luck.” Rubbing his sore knees, Santiago considered the boy’s offer. He had his
reservations, but nodded nonetheless. </span><span style="color: rgb(0.731680%, 0.378214%, 0.347114%); font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">“Remember what I’ve taught you,” he said.
</span><br />
<span style="color: rgb(0.731680%, 0.378214%, 0.347114%); font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Manolin set out early the next morning, vowing to break his respected mentor’s unlucky streak and
return with a large catch of fish to provide for his family. He sailed far out to sea, right where he
knew the old man wanted him to be. Along the way, he diligently followed the instructions of the
old man, hearing his gentle, deep voice in his head. Manolin danced about, aligning the sails,
rowing the oars, and setting the bait like clockwork, as the waves beat rhythmically against the hull
of the boat.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">The youthful boy did not have much experience with </span><span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">la mar</span><span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">, but he had treasured whatever few
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">journeys he’d been on, making the most of every opportunity to learn about sailing a boat and the</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">behaviour of the hundreds of varieties of fishes at sea. Recently, he had begun taking on more
responsibilities on deck, exploring new ways of overcoming the myriad of problems faced whilst
fishing. Santiago would often smile and shake his head at the eagerness of his apprentice to
experiment. “Old ways are the best,” Santiago would remark.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Under the watchful eyes of Manolin, the green projecting lines by the side of the boat dipped, in a
tell-tale sign of a fish on the hook. “</span><span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPS'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-style: italic;">Ay dios mío! </span><span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Santiago would never believe this!” Manolin
thought aloud, as he scrambled to his feet abruptly and lunged for the fishing line. His heart
thumped hard — in his inexperience, he began to worry that he would not be able to secure the fish.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">But this was no time to be worried. Lifting the line off the stick and yanking it, Manolin discovered
with excitement and trepidation that the marlin was much heavier than he had expected. The marlin
must have felt it, because it veered off south-west, further out towards sea. Leaning back against the
pulling force of the fish, Manolin almost lost his balance as the the fish surged forward with defiant
strength. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, Manolin began considering his options. Obviously,
yanking the marlin into the boat would be out of the question, given its extraordinary weight and
size. Let the fish tug the boat along until it tired out? Perhaps, but who knew how long that would
take, and if he would have even the strength to outlast the fish? Besides, by then he would be
stranded far out at sea. Manolin chewed his lower lip nervously and tightened his grip on the fishing
rod. No, he decided, there was no choice but to kill the marlin as soon as possible.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Wracking his brains for a solution, a memory surfaced. Years ago, his parents had told him the tale
of a boy who protected his village from swordfish attacks by planting banana trunks by the coast.
As the tide came in and brought the swordfish to the shore, the swordfish’s bills would be firmly
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">wedged in the trunks, allowing the villagers to kill the swordfishes easily. Scrambling for the</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">carving knife, Manolin cut a wooden cargo box into a long plank of wood, and attached two
sardines to the plank via his fishing lines. Lowering the plank into the water, Manolin hurriedly
lashed thick ropes to secure the plank onto the boat’s hull. Sure enough, it was not long before the
tug on the marlin loosened, and the huge marlin rose close to the surface at breakneck speed,
attracted by the sardine bait. Manolin grabbed his harpoon hard enough that his knuckles turned
bone-white. A flash of a long spear-like snout; soaring waves that rocked the boat soundly; a
worryingly loud thud against the boat — and the marlin was trapped. Manolin desperately grabbed
the edges of Santiago’s boat as the humongous marlin thrashed about, its dorsal fins thwacking hard
against the bottom of his boat.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">The rocking subsidised momentarily, and Manolin saw a quick flash in the water as the marlin’s
head peeked out beside the boat - it must have broken the wooden plank and gotten free! Manolin
gulped as he let go of the boat and slammed his harpoon down in the water with all the strength of
his two arms. His heart beat painfully fast and he panted with the exertion as he saw his harpoon
lodged between the blazing, bright eyes of the marlin.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Almost immediately, the marlin’s tail shot up, splashing salty, bitter seawater onto him. Manolin
gritted his teeth and refused to give in, continuing to drive in the harpoon with all his might. It took
ten long seconds of struggling before the fish’s thrashing began to subside, and the choppy waters
began to calm. Manolin let loose a sigh of relief he was not aware he had been holding. He had
done it!
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Under the cruel midday sun, Manolin lashed the marlin, through its gills and out of its mouth,
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">preparing to head back to port. His hand instinctively reached to pull out the harpoon stuck in the
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">marlin, but quickly stopped himself when he saw blood oozing out of the marlin’s wound, forming</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">a cloud of bright red in the otherwise clear blue waters. He jolted up and scanned the horizon for
fins that would indicate incoming sharks — he had heard stories of the incredible noses sharks
possessed, and of how they would mercilessly chase after fishing boats, attracted by the smell of a
wounded fish. Arms still aching from the struggle with the marlin just minutes ago, and with no
weapons by his side, Manolin was not sure he would be able to fend off an army of the ocean’s
most feared predator.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Knowing that removing the harpoon would cause more bleeding and attract the sharks, Manolin left
it wedged in the marlin. Yet, he knew that if nothing was done, it would only be a matter of time
before the sharks would catch up to him. With this thought in mind, Manolin set out on a new
project to give himself time to escape the jaws of imminent danger. If he were able to leave another
blood scent, then hopefully, the sharks would leave him and his fish alone. Energised by the hope
of escape, he rapidly began scooping the bloody water around the marlin into an empty barrel, and
attached the remaining pieces of his bait around the barrel. Then, throwing an inflated life vest over
the barrel, he tossed it overboard, and begun rowing away. An hour later, fins appeared around the
bright yellow life vest, but by then, he was already far away, and well out of the reach of the sharks.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Satisfied, Manolin headed back towards the port with renewed strength. Occasionally, he would rub
his eyes, and look over his shoulder at the marlin, half-expecting it to disappear in his disbelief. It
was well over two hours before he arrived, his arms sore, his eyelids heavy. Fishermen, seeing the
huge marlin at his side, gathered, pointed and shouted at the docks. Manolin squinted, and spotted
Santiago in the crowd. He leapt up and waved with youthful vigour. </span><br />
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-91483365518868950192015-08-27T22:25:00.002+08:002015-08-27T22:25:21.710+08:00To what extent is science the solution to environmental problems?<div class="Body" style="line-height: 300%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 300%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";"> The
pursuit of scientific knowledge has benefited mankind in many ways. Science and
its applications have helped us combat the multitude of problems facing our
world, and many believe that science is the solution to any future challenges
we may face. Our longer lifespans, ever-expanding knowledge of diseases and how
to treat them, and a growing convenience in our lives all lends credence to
such a belief. Thus, it should only stand to reason that environmental problems
– which are illnesses plaguing nature – are simply impermanent challenges
facing man, which would soon submit to the successes of the scientific world. Yet,
such reason fails upon closer examination of the issue at hand; we should not
be as optimistic as scientists and technocrats would like us to be. Instead, it
is perversely more likely that environmental problems are here to stay. Science
cannot be depended upon as the solution to these problems – at best, science
and technology can only offer short-term methods to alleviate their symptoms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 300%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 300%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Science
has removed many of mankind’s stumbling blocks in the past, and it may seem
likely that science will pull off such miracles again vis-à-vis the environment.
After all, environmental problems do not seem to be radically different in
nature from previous problems. Furthermore, the fact that scientific
discoveries rely on empirical evidence and reliable results also lends credence
to the belief that science and its application, technology, is a dependable
source of solutions to the difficulties we encounter. Vaccines, derived from
medical science, have conquered smallpox and the German measles; the Green
Revolution, stemming from soil science, allowed Mankind to escape the Malthusian
theories of global famine. There seems to be no reason, then, not to believe
that in time, science will offer us solutions to the problems of global
warming, pollution, and a loss of biodiversity. Already, scientists have been
able to make some progress on recovering the genetic makeup of certain extinct
species, opening up possibilities of bringing them back from the abyss of
extinction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 300%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 300%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">In
addition, science appears to be the most viable solution Man currently has to
combat the overwhelming burdens of environmental degradation. Science has saved
us where all else has failed, precisely because understanding the laws of
nature and manipulating them allows us to replicate previous successes. The
atomic bomb, created out of theories of nuclear fission, brought Japan to its
knees and World War II to a close. This saved thousands of lives from a
prolonged war, where all diplomatic attempts had failed. This situation is not
unlike that of environmental degradation. In a time when we are warring against
the forces of nature, and all attempts to reach peaceful understandings at
Copenhagen and Rio de Janeiro have failed, the world waits with bated breath
for scientists to make a breathtaking entry and save the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 300%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 300%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">As
much as we wish that the above arguments hold true, the reality is that science
is merely an option to alleviate particular symptoms of environmental problems,
and cannot be treated as a panacea. The precedents of disease and famine were
localised, having singular or few root causes. In comparison, the magnitude and
intensity with which environmental problems plague us are incomparably large. Global
warming, as its name suggests, involves a global phenomenon by which entire
regions experience rising temperatures, accompanied by rising sea levels. Pollution,
as seen in the Pacific Garbage Patch, is the result of excessive consumption
and insufficient responsibility taken for waste disposal. As such, the root of
environmental problems can be distilled into excessive human consumption, with
a disregard for the consequences. This differentiates such environmental issues
from the Malthusian famines, which are naturally occuring phenomenon. However,
human beings’ unique thirst for consumer goods, and the attendant ability to
supply these goods, leads us to conclude that science will be ineffectual in
addressing the root cause of the problem. At best, even if scientific
discoveries could aid the creation of a piece of technology capable of
nullifying the effects of human overconsumption on the environment, it would
not convince people to understand the error in their ways. In fact, it is
likely to spur further consumption and leave people dependent on the existing
technology to prevent the devastation of nature. Hence, science is unable to
address the root cause of environmental degradation, and cannot be considered
to be its solution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 300%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 300%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Even
when considering the possible merits of science in alleviating the symptoms of
environmental problems, it is worthwhile to note that protecting the
environment is a time-sensitive issue that requires quick, if not immediate,
responses. While the technology developed off scientific theories may be
dependable and reliable, another drawback is that much time is needed for the technology
to be designed, built and then tested for possible side-effects. At the same
time, we are in a race to preserve the environment as it is. We have lost 17%
of the Amazon Forest, the world’s last pharmacopoeia, in the last fifty years,
and this number will grow to a shocking 65% by 2030. Hundreds of trees are
felled in forests all around the world as minutes tick, representing the loss
of habitats for wild species. Subsequently, entire ecosystems will be thrown
off balance, as the world waits for a way to scientific breakthrough. Meanwhile,
the continuation of manufacturing plants spewing toxic chemicals into the air,
slash and burn techniques employed on the forests of Indonesia, and practices
encouraging overfishing continue apace with scientific efforts to pull together
a response. In this situation, it is difficult to forsee science as the answer
to a problem as pressing as those of the environment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 300%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 300%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">As
a corollary, it is important to acknowledge that the possibility of science
making a globally applicable breakthrough is predicated on a best case scenario
in which people worldwide will be amenable to introducing the new, critical
technologies into their lives. More often than not, other possible conflicting
interests, be they political or economic in nature, may hinder our
decision-making. For instance, Germany recently announced new energy plans,
with the end goal of powering 60% of the country’s needs with renewable energy.
The burden of such high energy prices fell on the companies in heavy industry,
leading to companies pulling out of Germany to set up shop elsewhere in search
for other countries with comparatively lax energy pricing which allow for lower
costs of operations. RAND Corporation also released a report, saying that the
cost of China replacing half its coal-fired generations would be US$184
billion. Most countries, if not all, would shy away from taking up such heavy
responsibilities. Therefore, even when the benefit of the doubt has been given,
there is no confirmation that the answers which science provides will be ones
which politicians and the common man would like to hear. Hypothetically
speaking, even if scientific discoveries had the potential to radically affect
the quandary described the environment, there is no guarantee that they will be
used in a world which prioritises economic growth and political strength over
all else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 300%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">Unfortunately,
it seems that science has run into a wall which it cannot break through. The
sheer commitment required to develop a scientific response to environmental
degradation, and then implement it worldwide, seems daunting. It seems that the
best mankind can do is to hope that scientific discovery can help stall for
time by alleviating the symptoms of environmental problems, while the world’s
leaders wrangle out an agreement which could potentially deal with the issue at
hand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-91350892272136713382015-06-05T23:14:00.003+08:002015-06-11T15:47:49.526+08:00Is Gender Equality Ever Possible?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Baskerville; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today,
the majority of countries acknowledge that ensuring gender equality is not just
an axiomatically humanistic objective, but is also a purpose that spells
profits and economic growth for them. Hence, modern societies identify gender
equality as a desirable objective to strive towards. The assumption that gender
equality is currently lacking can be affirmed by general observations of the world
– female genital mutilation still occurs, and the persistent abuse of women in
many countries shows that women are not being given due respect as a form of
gender equity. However, recent trends and precedents show that imbalances
between the genders are being corrected. Hence, gender equality is plausible
and will likely occur, even if it takes an extended time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Baskerville; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
most intuitive reason behind the inequality of the genders is the biological
difference between men and women – the inherently greater physical strength men
possess has meant that many women have historically been treated as the weaker
gender, both literally and figuratively. Hence, they are viewed as the gender
with less significance and importance. The biological differences between the
genders cannot be resolved, so it is claimed that gender equality can never be
achieved. However, the issue of equality between the genders is analogous to
the issue of equality between the races – instead of striving to homogenise the
human population, we should instead strive for equity in the treatment of
differing social groups. Therefore, the objective should be to grant each gender
equal agency, and ensure all have equal means to obtain what they deserve as
human beings. For all intents and purposes, the muscular advantage men also have
means less and less in today’s society. Advancements in technology have largely
leveled the capabilities of men and women today, vis-à-vis the military
conquests and agricultural economies which men had the clear advantage in.
Hence, what both genders today can achieve is largely independent of the
physical strength advantage men possess. On this front, gender equality has
indeed been achieved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Baskerville; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In
ancient civilisations such as the Chinese, Japanese and even the United States,
females were seen as the inferior sex. Their cultural roles as homemakers and
the primary individual in the household caring for the children have long been
entrenched, up until today. Cultural norms dictate that they should be
subservient to men, and not enjoy the same rights and liberties as men do – in
Saudi Arabia, there is overwhelming social pressure against female drivers, and
all females must be accompanied by a male adult whenever they step out of their
doors. Hence, it may seem as if this cultural rift between the two genders
prevents women from ever being equal to men. However, there has been progress
made over the years, demonstrating a trend which heads towards eventual
equality between the genders. In the 1960s, women in the USA spent about ten
hours on childcare, forty hours on housework and ten hours on paid work weekly,
while men spent forty hours on paid work and ten hours on housework and
childcare combined. Now, women’s paid hours have tripled, and the time they
spend on household chores has halved – comparatively, men’s hours spent on
childcare tripled and their involvement in household chores has doubled. This balancing
act has been incrementally advanced due to improvements in household
technology, such as the advent of the washing machine, dishwasher and the
microwave, which liberated women from spending countless hours on household
chores. At the same time, these technologies made housework more palatable for
men, reducing gender disparity in household involvement. Increasingly, fathers
see their significant, unique role in the upbringing of their children, and
societies acknowledge this. This can be seen in the growing trend of granting
men paternal leave – Norway grants all men non-transferable twelve weeks of
paternity leave. These are optimistic trends, as they point towards growing
equality with regards to the cultural expectations of each sex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 300%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Baskerville; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Skeptics
also argue that women often face an unfavourable pay gap as compared to their
male counterparts, and are often forced to sacrifice the work-life balance when
they have children. Such an occurrence is worrying, because financial
independence represents power and capability in our materialistic world. Hence,
the numbers suggest an unstable power asymmetry between the genders in our
society. Despite this claim, there are reasonable explanations for the
imbalance – the discrepancy is due to a lower proportion of women working,
leading to lower average income. If the metric was instead a skill-for-skill,
hour-for-hour measurement of income, on average women now earn 98 cents for
each dollar a man earns. This is huge leap from the past, when working women
were frowned upon. Hence, the problem nowadays is no longer a lack of
recognition of the female workforce’s contributions, but rather a disproportionate
number of women choosing to sacrifice the work-life balance upon having
children. In this regard, there is good reason to believe that the situation
will improve. Women today enjoy greater liberty over their career and life
decisions, by initiating the breaking up of traditional work-hours – from nine
to six. Until recently, this rigid schedule employed women had to abide by discriminated
against women who played a significant role in raising their children – they
were forced to choose between their jobs and the need to bring up their children,
and many chose the latter. Since the 1990s, women have been campaigning for
more flexible working schedules that revolve around their responsibilities at
home, with increasing frequency. Hilary Clinton, the USA’s ex-Secretary of
State was insistent on working at home, after she had dinner with her family,
and Sheryl Sandberg, current Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, goes home for
dinner daily at 5.30pm. These successful individuals have begun to break down
traditional workdays’ rigidity, so that working adults, male and female alike,
no longer have to treat family commitments and working commitments as mutually
exclusive options. As a result, both genders have increased capabilities to
pursue an even work-life balance, so women no longer have to bear the brunt of childcare,
a burden which has typically caused them to sacrifice their financial
independence. This in turn would lead to more capable individuals, especially
women, who can choose to further their careers and contend with men for the top
managerial and executive positions at the workplace. With these highly feasible
changes at the workplace, some of which have already been set into motion, it
is not difficult to envision a future when gender equality is indeed an
achievable aim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Baskerville; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ultimately,
the world has been moving towards the point where the arbitrary occurrence of
gender is no longer an obstacle to what any individual can achieve, and will
likely continue down this route. The impatient, hastily drawn conclusion that
attempts to manage gender equality have not borne any fruit is parochial, as it
fails to acknowledge the considerable progress societies have made so far. Admittedly,
more needs to be done to bolster the fight against gender inequality, but there
is reason to be optimistic that this goal will be achieved eventually. In
essence, gender equality is indeed possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-42725276682748510562015-04-03T19:37:00.002+08:002015-04-03T19:38:51.048+08:00Higher education is no longer necessary for success. Do you agree?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12px;">
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In the past, those who obtained higher education were often associated with a high standard of living and prestigious social status. The chance to attend university was viewed as a necessary milestone in life if one wanted to achieve success financially — graduates proudly displayed their degrees on job applications and interviews. However, attitudes towards higher education today have turned, in light of growing discontentment with graduates being unable to find well-paying jobs despite their good qualifications. Furthermore, many point towards powerful, successful individuals like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Li Ka Shing, who seem to have made it in life without higher education, or even walked away from it. In spite of such claims, for a majority of people, higher education undoubtedly remains key to achieving success. Not only are degrees badges of acquired skill, they are sometimes even status symbols. In addition, the experience of going through higher education often proves to be greatly important if one seeks a successful career.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It is easy to see why there has been increasing optimism of attaining success through means other than higher education. First, the rapid growth of online courses such as Coursera and Phoenix University have led to the argument that the advent of the Internet has made it such that individuals no longer need higher education to obtain the skills they require for their jobs. Second, people often lament that despite obtaining degrees, they are unable to find work, and cannot pay off college debts they have accumulated. Third, mass media platforms have recently painted pictures of how individuals like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg reached the very peak of what it means to be “successful”, without ever needing the support of higher education. This leads to the claim that higher education has lost its ability to deliver some measures of success. These three arguments present the case that higher education is no longer necessary for success. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>However, it is overly assertive to claim that the skills that people learn from university education are irrelevant, even with the aid of the Internet. Instead, it is more reasonable to believe that higher education provides greater opportunities for learning. Though it may be possible to obtain the same access to information, it is only at universities that individuals of similar interests are able to gather in a classroom, exchange thoughts and ideas with each other, and learn under the tutelage of professors at the forefronts of their fields. Comparatively, those who do not attend higher education do not have that same opportunity to ask peers or professors for help when they run into problems understanding the content taught. Especially for specialised fields like biotechnology and law, the skills and knowledge necessary for the future remain largely accessible only to those who have undergone higher education. From this, it is clear that university graduates have greater propensity to gain skills and knowledge than non-graduates.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In addition, the university degree itself is a badge of acquired skill, reassuring employers that these employees have learnt the content, and are able to handle the work assigned to them. This means that graduates are more likely to be hired than non-graduates, which often translates into higher salaries. From April to June 2013, graduates were more likely to be employed than non-graduates in the UK, and non-graduates aged 21 to 30 have consistently higher unemployment rates than their peers who are more qualified. This directly responds to the claim that graduates remain likely to face unemployment woes despite their good academic qualifications. Furthermore, the trust that employers have in graduates’ ability to perform better often translates into greater financial remuneration. Today, bachelor’s degree holders can expect median lifetime earnings of about US$2.3 million, as compared to US$1.3 million for workers with just a high school diploma. Ultimately, higher education does in fact bring about greater financial success for graduates. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It is also fallacious to argue that higher education has stopped being a necessary part to being successful just because there have been exceptions to it. Not only were Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates intellectual geniuses and visionaries who had foreseen and grasped business opportunities, they were born into circumstances which ultimately facilitated their success. Courses offered at universities could not offer advice to these entrepreneurs embarking as pioneers of a new field. On the other hand, an overwhelming proportion of individuals do not enjoy the same kind of privilege, be it financial or intellectual. Hence, for most, the likely route to success is higher education, which sets them apart from other job applicants. </div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In fact, for most occupations excluding degree-blind jobs such as entrepreneurship and advertising, higher education plays an integral role in assimilating graduates into their future workplaces. Upon entering the workplace, university graduates depend upon the ties they had developed to help them along, and this often stems from their higher education experience. For example, specialists often depend on the referrals of other doctors to obtain a base of patients. In such a situation, getting to know others who are in the field is incredibly important for one’s career advancement prospects. Thus, higher education is not just about the content and skills involved, but also the relationships graduates develop with each other. The social advantage that higher education offers hence allows graduates to get a leg up over non-graduates.</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In essence, higher education remains necessary for success.. This is not to say that all graduates are necessarily more successful than all non-graduates, because of the multitude of factors involved. However, university graduates do indeed benefit greatly from higher education, a crucial factor contributing to being successful. Not only does the content of such courses remain highly relevant to the industry, the degree that graduates gain and the experiences they obtained gives an indisputable advantage over non-graduates. In fact, governments’ continued spending on higher education — America spends 2.7% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on higher education — only serves as a testament to its importance. </div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-33670381551907624602015-03-01T10:40:00.002+08:002015-03-01T10:40:11.754+08:00Is the modern world too reliant on technology?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hannotate SC'; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The extensive and rapid growth of the world has been largely attributed to the technology developed by engineers, scientists and architects. In the past, the Industrial Revolution in the UK had helped to develop it into a sprawling city with the newest technology, improving the quality of living of its citizens in the long run. Today, with the rise of globalisation, the frequency of technology booms has increased greatly. However, recent failures involving technology has raised the question of the modern world being too reliant on technology. Indeed, it seems as if the world has become overly dependent on technology, such that people become unable to complete certain tasks in the case of mechanical failure, or become overly addicted to the use of computers, phones and tablets. Further, there is the question of important tasks and ethical decisions being delegated to technological devices as substitutes.</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;"> </span></div>
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Some argue that there is no problem with tasks being done by machines and computer programs, because it relieves us of some degree of effort and helps to complete such tasks more efficaciously. This allows for people to use more time and effort on other tasks, or even to take a rest, improving their quality of living. However, such an analysis would hold only in an ideal world without mechanical failures and mistakes. Often, technology being marketed and used does serve its purposes, but when it malfunctions or fails due to a variety of reasons, it can often lead to catastrophic consequences. The problem underlying this is that people today have begun to assume that technology has help them to do their jobs, leading to a decreased focus on honing skills to do those jobs themselves. A key example is that of the aviation industry. As a result of complex algorithms and computer programming, most planes have in-built autopilot sequences that help to relieve a pilot from flying the plane by himself, save taking off and landing. However, this has led to an overwhelming assumption that this has meant pilots have reduced duties, so pilots practice less, are less alert on the flight, and reports have shown that this causes their skills to atrophy. This was exemplified in the high-profile Air France crash in 2009, in which the Airbus A330’s autopilot malfunctioned upon hitting a storm at a high altitude. The pilot, who had not been paying attention, failed to regain control of the plane, leading to the death of all 228 people on board. On board a flight, it is the key responsibility of the pilot to ensure the safety of his or her passengers. In this case, the pilot had delegated his job to the autopilot function, which could potential harm or kill others in a malfunction. In the same way, a misplaced dependency on technology could possibly constitute a harm to others — it is clear that people have indeed become overly reliant on technology.</div>
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Some go on to contest that technology could reduce errors in human judgement, helping to increase the accuracy of decision-making. This would purportedly result in fewer mistakes made, increasing efficiency and productivity. On the other hand, proponents of such a view fail to take into account that there are simply some tasks which must be made by humans alone, and should not be delegated to artificial intelligences. Such tasks often involve moral decisions to be made, in which the judgement of a human who possesses emotions and morality on top of just rationality is highly valued. For instance, the use of drones directed by artificial intelligence has raised huge questions of whether such computer programs which are cold and unfeeling should be allowed to make major decisions such as whether to take the life of another human. Often, situations that occur in reality are complex, with many competing interests and considerations. Computer programs and technology fail at taking into account these complexities, making decisions that may not seem moral to the average reasonable person. For example, in a terrorist hostage situation, a computer program might implement a utilitarian calculus, deciding that it is more rational to obliterate the site using missiles and bombs, at the cost of the innocent hostages. However, a general in the army may disagree, because he recognises the significance of saving those innocents, even though it might mean having to negotiate or make concessions. In such an instance, it is difficult, or even unjustified to allow technology to replace such decision-making. The current use of such means as ways to make decisions shows the world’s excessive reliance on technology. </div>
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Beyond this, an obsession with the capabilities of technology can lead to detriments, because people begin to lose sight of the original intention of the technology. This goes counter to the ability of technology to relieve people of certain tasks and make them more efficient. Many individuals are constantly glued to their mobile phones and computers, spending countless hours whiling their time on surfing the internet, chatting to friends or playing games. For example, in the UK, consumers of digital media spend an average of nine hours a day on their digital products. This takes away time from their work, school life and other interests they may have. As a result, they become less efficient in making good use of their time, instead becoming unproductive. Such excessive use of technology turns out to be counterproductive to its original goal of encouraging efficiency. Hence, when this occurs, people can be said to be too reliant on technology. </div>
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In essence, the world has become too reliant on technology, evidenced by individuals’ reduced ability to perform tasks on their own under the aid of technology — when the technology fails, they become incompetent at solving the problems on their own. This is especially problematic, because it is difficult to tell when the technological device is likely to malfunction. Further, the reliance of technology has spread to areas of decision-making that should be limited to humans, reflecting a dangerous trust in technology to help us make important social decisions. These reflect the fact that technology has the potential to cause harm, especially when people become careless and too unassuming. However, this is not to say that we should stop using new technologies, because they do present a host of benefits, but that we should not completely relinquish the need for humans to be proficient at performing certain tasks on their own, even when technology could possibly be a complete substitute for their function. </div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-16156441422189023122015-02-06T21:05:00.002+08:002015-03-14T16:16:34.415+08:00How far is it important for people to be aware of current events in countries other than their own?<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: 'Hannotate SC'; font-size: 12px;">
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;">The interaction between countries, in this day and age, is never static and unchanging — countries are constantly scurrying to build diplomatic, economic and military relations with one another. This is because governments recognise that events within one nation can inadvertently lead to other events elsewhere, so they have an interest in influencing events in other nations to their own benefit. Similarly, individuals can be influenced by events in other nations, and being aware of such events can be helpful. At the same time, it should be noted that not every event affects the individual, which would mean that knowledge about them is relatively unimportant. With this in mind, it is important for people to be aware of current events in countries other than their own, insofar as these events interests them, be it because it affects them, because they are able to influence and change such trends, or because information about that event brings them intellectual stimulation.</span></div>
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Some claim that events occurring outside the country in which one resides are not important to the individual, because he is not directly involved in the event. If the person was not directly involved, they claim, then there is no benefit in him knowing about the event because such knowledge does not impact him in any way. However, such a view is parochial and does not consider the fact that events in other countries can affect people directly. Recent cases of fruit contamination in the United States and melamine contamination of milk in China have caused an uproar, precisely because these products are exported to other nations for consumption. The question implicitly assumes that people living in a country should be aware of events occurring within the country they reside in. This is often the mindset that is adopted, because events within the country are more likely to affect us, in that such events hint to us potential gains and losses we may experience. For example, it is regarded as important for people to know about governmental policy in their own country, because such policies are directly tailored towards them and would necessarily affect them. However, as Thomas Friedman, American author, put it, the world has become “a global village”. It follows that it is indeed important for individuals to know of events outside just their geographical surroundings, because the increasingly interconnected world means that events in a single country can in fact affect those living elsewhere. Information about a lack of control over oil production by OPEC would warn Singaporeans of impending price hikes at petrol stations, simply because Singaporeans do not live in a bubble, disconnected from the rest of the world. In essence, many current events outside of the geographical boundaries of an individual can have an impact on his or her behaviour — it is thus important to hold a wealth of knowledge of such events.</div>
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Others may then argue that even if some events may affect one’s life, these are far and few between — the majority of events occurring abroad are completely unrelated to one’s life. Such claims disregard the fact that information can affect individuals’ actions, which in turn affect current events or set off new ones. People make decisions based on the knowledge they have, not just from the experiences they themselves have garnered, but also from the information they have about events they may not have experienced themselves. Thus, the knowledge of events elsewhere changes the way people respond to their everyday lives. This was exemplified in the aftermath of the collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka. As a result of this, the problem of poorly constructed garment factories and poor working conditions for workers came to light. As a result, many individuals boycotted brands which used employed such garment factories, leading to large-scale improvements in the enforcement of rules and regulations. With such cases, individuals need to know of the event before they can pledge support for a certain cause. This can be further extended to completely live-changing decisions being made. For example, during the Arab Spring, Tunisia’s citizens rose up in protests against their governments. Information about this event eventually reached the people in neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Libya, who were experiencing similar oppression from their dictatorial governments. As a result, the information about the initial uprising in Tunisia gave people in Egypt and Libya the inspiration to do the same, rising up to challenge their governments for greater liberties. In this instance, information is important to these individuals because it gave them hope, motivating them to make life-changing decisions they previously did not have the courage to undertake. The amalgamation of many people making similar decisions change current events or trends completely. Clearly, keeping up to date on information in another country can affect one’s life markedly, making such information important.</div>
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In addition to this, some individuals feel a sense of intellectual stimulation from certain new events, which may or may not be within the country these people live in. For instance, many individuals in Singapore caught onto the killing of Michael Brown in Singapore, not because police brutality or trigger-happy policemen are problems in the country, but because these events trigger a sense of moral outrage in many. For such individuals, who constantly seek to question social structures and better understand the environment around us, knowledge of current events is never divided according to geographical distances, but according to specific issues and areas of interest. Such knowledge scratches an intellectual itch, by informing them of the developments in societies across the globe. Further, such information helps them better understand the world better, and to reconsider the positions they have on issues like economic policy and international relations. These non cost-benefit analyses are ends in themselves for some individuals. Therefore, insofar as certain events and issues in other nations help to stimulate individuals to rethink their stance on the world, it is important for people to be aware of these events.</div>
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Ironically, it is difficult to discern and differentiate events which are relevant from events which are not without first being aware of both. This is because there are events which may only lead to direct consequences to an individual later on, and so people can only decide that knowledge of a particular event was important to them in retrospect. For instance, knowledge of the disease Ebola is largely irrelevant to most individuals living in Singapore now, as the disease has not spread to the country. However, given that there may be possibilities of this happening in the future, one cannot objectively decide that knowledge of how the disease spreads and how to cure it is completely irrelevant and unimportant to Singaporeans. </div>
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In essence, current events in other nations are important to know about only if they affect the person or interests him as a sentient and intellectual being. However, one must be careful not to claim that any particular news event as being important for everyone to know about, because relevance is subjective — every individual is different and are affected to different degrees by the same event. Hence, while it is important for people to know about only certain types of news events, it is best that each and every individual keeps abreast with current events in countries other than their own.</div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-4382234000724097142014-09-06T11:19:00.003+08:002014-09-08T22:54:22.003+08:00Commentary on "The Staid Young"<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Link to article: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21606795-todays-young-people-are-held-be-alienated-unhappy-violent-failures-they-are-proving</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-family: 'Hannotate SC'; letter-spacing: 0px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Hannotate SC'; letter-spacing: 0px;">The writer’s arguments are valid, and are largely applicable to Singapore’s society. Many countries have introduced, if they have not already in the past, tougher measures to police youth’s disruptive behaviour in order to curb such violent acts. At the same time, the standard of education for many youths have increased, inculcating important values and providing youths with information, while acting as a deterrent against dropping out from school. In addition, parents have increasingly become nurturing parties that help to bring up their children with better moral values and learning attitudes. All these phenomenon have been relevant and apparent in Singapore as well, making the passage very applicable to our society.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The author finds that the tougher policing in many societies, including Britain’s, has curbed many illegal acts that teenagers of the past had used to indulge in, such as the consumption of alcohol. Hefty fines and “ferocious policing” have helped to catch and punish such teenagers, along with the stores that abet their illegal acts. According to the author, such policies double up as deterrent measures as well, to prevent such crimes in the future. This argument is valid, because an increased policing is a measure that increases state resources dedicated to dealing with crime and illegal youthful indulgences. Naturally, this would lead to a reduction in the crime rate, because there is more manpower and effort directed towards solving the problem, giving law enforcements the necessary resources to identify such activities. In doing so, we direct citizens, especially youths in this case, away from immoral acts and encourage them to pick up better habits instead. This argument is relevant to Singapore as well, though the context may be different. Singapore has long had a reputation for tough crime-fighting policies, and so there has never been much destructive behaviour in the country. Its recent prosecution of “Sticker Lady” Samantha Ang for pasting stickers on traffic lights and lamp-posts only goes to show the continuation behind Singapore’s tough stance on crime. Effectively, Singapore enjoys low crime rate, even for juveniles, showing that there might possibly be a link between having tough policies and better behaviour in youths. This resounds with the claim of the author.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The author also explains that the increased standard of education, and subsequently its cost, has made youths more staid and strait-laced. On one hand, the education in and of itself has taught youths morals and information they require to excel in school and in life. On the other hand, the “new premium on education”, such as increasingly expensive university tuition fees, has given youths a stronger reason not to neglect their studies. This is a valid argument that is also very applicable to Singapore. For many, a good education represents an opportunity to succeed later in life. With the necessary skills and knowledge, students will be better equipped to deal with challenges, and have the necessary qualifications. This hope acts as a source of motivation for youths to study hard, and keep on track. This argument is especially relevant in Singapore, which mostly follows a meritocratic system — the standard of education one receives usually determines how successful one is later on in life. Hence, a huge majority of students are often serious about their work, and put in much effort into preparing for their exams, such as the GCSE O Level and A level examinations. Clearly, the rise in standard of education has encouraged more youths to be more hardworking and determined to succeed in school.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Another reason brought up by the author is that parents now positively influence their children. First, the fact that many young people still live with their parents means that they are more restrained. Second, youths are now brought up with more attention, care and strictness, as parents become increasingly determined to help their children succeed, by helping their children in any way they can, as compared to the arguably more laid-back style of parenting seen in the past. This leads to youths being more hardworking and strait-laced, having been encouraged to study hard by their parents, and inculcated with stronger moral values. This is a valid argument — parents are often a strong source of influence for their children, which means that more time spent with their children can be expected to lead to children that have better learning attitudes and a stronger moral compass. In Singapore, though many parents may be working in the day and do not take care of their children during that time, they often send their children to childcare centres during that time, and catch up with their children in the evenings to help them with schoolwork. Many Singaporean parents have also been credited with being “kiasu”, or being afraid that their child may lose out to others in school, or in life ten years down the road — this turns out with them being very strict with their child’s behaviour at home. All of this reflects the degree of care and concern they have for their children’s future education and occupation. This comes in stark contrast with parents of the past, who would often leave their children to their own devices, expecting them to pick up the necessary skills on their own. In essence, the increased parental influence in the lives of their children motivates the latter to work harder and strive to do better in the things they do, picking up better moral values along the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In conclusion, it is largely true today, especially in Singapore, that young people nowadays are hardworking, serious about their work, and have good moral values. The three main reasons for this, as the author states — namely tough laws and policies, increased standards of education and heightened parental influence — are indeed very valid explanations for this phenomenon, and they are very applicable to the Singaporean context. Ultimately, I agree with the author on his point of view on young people today. </span></div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-15050859311389481932014-08-29T18:18:00.002+08:002014-08-29T18:18:13.375+08:00Can small countries have significant voice in world affairs?<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It would be presumptuous, though perhaps intuitive, to claim that the size of a country determines its influence on the rest of the world in today’s hyperconnected, globalised world. In the past, geography and a country’s demographics were essential to it’s success, because labour intensive work like construction and agriculture depends on the quantity of resources a country possesses. However, today, taking into account modern trends such as globalisation, geographically small countries do indeed have the potential to become influential, and have a significant voice in world affairs. Not only can globalisation help to introduce small countries’ culture ot the rest of thew world,an increased global interdependence between countries has encouraged small countries to develop a comparative advantage to gain a significant voice on international platforms. In addition, small countries can form coalitions to get their voices heard.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Critics would argue that the size of a country determines its ability to get its voice heard, because big countries have larger labour forces that give it powerful militaries and stronger economies. By extension, this gives it bigger spheres of influence over its neighbours, so its voice becomes more significant. On the other hand, however, smaller countries have found a way out of this problem — by finding a niche, and developing it into a comparative advantage, they can become influential countries with significant voices as well. In a globalised world where trade is the way in which countries get cheaper and better quality goods, many, especially small ones, specialise in a particular field so as to create a niche in it. This gives them the ability to trade on the larger international market, even becoming a market leader for the product sometimes. For example, the Ivory Coast is the world’s largest exporter of cocoa beans, controlling about 40% of the world’s supply, making it the leader of the industry. This is in spite of its small geographical size and political insignificance in the world. When so many countries around the world, especially developed ones, depend on it for cocoa beans, they have a vested interest in listening to the Ivory Coast on issues regarding their beans, and helping them in every way possible to increase crop yields to satisfy their demands. Evidently, small countries that are able to capitalise on their strengths to become market leaders do have significant voices, at least within the field they specialise in. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Some others also disagree with the significance of small countries’ voices, for the reason that they lack the military might to reinforce their decisions. According to these groups, having a powerful military is essential to backing up their plans and proposals, or others with do possess military capabilities will override these smaller nations. This is a questionable claim which does not stand true given modern contexts. First, small nations can have strong militaries — in an age empowered by technology, the strength of one’s military is determined not by quantity but by quality. Singapore is a good example — possessing many modern military technologies, such as Leopard Tanks and many fighter pilots, Singapore is more than capable of fighting off potential aggressors from the region. Further, the 21st Century has been marked more by its tendency towards diplomatic solutions, rather than fighting all out wars between nations. Countries like Costa Rica have even begun disbanding their armies. Hence, many small nations have decided to pool their resources together in order to force coalitions and alliances — doing this allows them to ensure their interests are heard, and acted upon. For instance, the formation of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has helped smaller countries some degree of mediation to deal with territorial disputes with larger nations like China. Such regional or sometimes international organisations help earn geographically small nations a significant say in international issues — UN’s rule of each country having one equal vote when deciding on resolutions aids small nations to become politically important and subsequently having a bigger say on international affairs. Essentially, forming blocs and coalitions can help smaller countries represent a general, shared interest that cannot be ignored by other larger nations when it comes to world issues.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In addition, some would also argue that small nations cannot have significant voices because they lack soft power that developed nations possess. They argue that due to the sheer size of larger nations’ cultures, the rate of these cultures spreading is much greater than that of small nations. Without presenting their unique cultures to the rest of the world, they say that smaller nations will never possess significant voices. Despite this claim, the rise of social media and the effect of globalisation has aided the cross-border spread of cultures, even that of smaller nations. With the Internet, unique cultures can showcase themselves to the rest of the world through video channels like Youtube, through songs that they compose and through articles shared with others all around the world. This helps them spread their culture quickly, and individuals who are piqued by such unique cultures help to spread them further through word of mouth within their own communities. For instance, the Korean culture has of recent managed to obtain a worldwide audience that listens to and appreciates their music, films and art. This is in spite of their small size, relative to superpowers like the United States, China or Russia. Clearly, the process of globalisation has aided cultures’ spread around the world, allowing them to be increasingly on par in terms of demand with larger, supposedly more powerful nations. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ultimately, in the modern world full of new trends like globalisations and the shift towards diplomacy away from war and conflict, it has become increasingly possible for small nations to have a significant voice. They now have a variety of options to do so — be it on the political, economic or cultural field, small nations can now find larger audiences to which they can appeal to, to ensure that their interests are heard by larger nations, instead of being bullied as they were in times past. Therefore, small nations can indeed have a significant voice in world affairs. </span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-38616934342298090202014-07-28T11:29:00.001+08:002014-07-28T11:29:10.107+08:00Thoughts on data presented in "Asian Universities" Economist April 23rd 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcL8bz1YTWvNmXJphN8bLifAL-_28bOH8VZkXk-5fwTdJBdx5UpM6jNTziP38JIA0CNzeksxzx4H78eSEW9eU0ssbcxgb7WCSn-9LzIHE9ayi9iqoRmLm_LAZsvHiw_vAvQ0IXlK8osYbR/s1600/Asian+Unis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcL8bz1YTWvNmXJphN8bLifAL-_28bOH8VZkXk-5fwTdJBdx5UpM6jNTziP38JIA0CNzeksxzx4H78eSEW9eU0ssbcxgb7WCSn-9LzIHE9ayi9iqoRmLm_LAZsvHiw_vAvQ0IXlK8osYbR/s1600/Asian+Unis.png" height="253" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This bar graph aims to show that Asia’s
universities are “gaining ground on their Western counterparts”, by plotting
out the number of universities in each Asian country that are in the Top 100 in
Asia. The representation here is clear, with Japan having 22 universities in
the top 100, while Malaysia only takes up one slot in the list. However, the
graph does not adequately prove what the article tries to say. First, there is
no comparison with the universities in the Western world. Even though Japan may
have 22 universities out of the top 100 in Asia, it does not necessarily mean
that Japan fares well on the international level. Without the comparison to the
universities in Western countries, readers cannot decide whether the statements
in the article are true or not. Second, there is no trend line of the changes
in numbers. If the article tries to prove that Asia’s universities are “gaining
ground”, then the graph needs to show a continuously increasing number of Asian
universities in the top international lists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However, some information presented on the bar
graph can be interesting to address. First, the visual can show a comparison
between the population size or land area and the number of top universities a
country has, and study if there is a correlation between having a larger
population and having a greater number of top universities. If there is no
correlation there, then what should countries try to do in order to get better
educational institutes? Second, there can also be an exploration of the correlation
between the number of top universities in the country and the enrolment rates
in these universities. Although the graph does present the gross enrolment rate
in each of these countries, is there any link between this and the number of
top universities that a country has? Or is it that the population figure
affects enrolment rates? These are the questions that can be asked by readers,
and the graph should answer them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In general, given that education is such a
complex system, and there can be multiple factors that affect its proficiency,
more facts need to be given for the reader to understand what allows Japan to
have such a great number of top universities, and how proficient the Asian
universities are in comparison to their Western counterparts. This means that
the simplistic bar graph will not be sufficient in proving the point of the
article, and the information can be represented in other ways to allow readers
to understand the issue better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-44530790871387669792014-07-28T11:26:00.000+08:002014-07-28T11:26:07.678+08:00Are socio-economic models useful in predicting societal actions?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The world that we live in is complex, hence, models
are developed to help us comprehend and predict human behavior. These models
are important, not only for individuals to make decisions, for businesses to
make changes to their business methods, and even for policy makers to develop
their social policies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Bronfenbrenner’s
Ecological Framework for Human Development is a model which predicts how the
five environmental systems with which an individual interacts will influence
the character and behavior of a child. Parents can then decide how they should
teach their child and impart the correct values in them. The education system
can also be tailored to be more effective according to this model. In addition,
from the economic theories and models that we derive, we learn that businesses
operate in order to maximize their profits, and individual customers make
buying decisions to optimize their utilities, like happiness and satisfaction. Hence,
the price of a product is determined by demand and supply. At the same time,
demand for the product reduces if prices go up. For example, if I wanted to buy
a new iPhone, but when I find out that its price is increased significantly, I
may change my mind and purchase a Samsung SIII instead. Understanding of such a
model allows manufacturers to better predict consumer behavior, and thus
business decisions to be made.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">However,
while models may be useful in predicting the human behavior, they are not
always accurate. Some researchers conduct social experiments to verify or
challenge the predictions made in models. The Milgram experiment exposed that people
are willing to obey a figure of authority, even if the latter’s instructions
conflicted with their personal conscience. The Asch Experiment was another
famous social experiment designed to test how peer pressure to conform would
influence a person’s judgment and ultimately his decisions. Back to the example
of hand phones, if most of my friends have iPhones and it is perceived in
society that iPhones are better, I may choose to buy the iPhone even if it
costs much more than the Samsung. In this case, the economic model cannot
accurately predict my final decision. It is reported that although the prices
of luxury goods such as Louis Vutton handbags increased, its sales increased
unexpectedly. This went against the demand and supply model which would have
predicted sales to have decreased instead. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Just
because models cannot be applied to every single case does not change the fact
that they are relevant to our daily lives. They allow government policy makers
and business decision makers to understand and predict behaviors of a large
population, since these models are largely accurate at predicting behaviors at
a macro level. Models are useful because it is the only practical way of predicting
the way a large population acts. On the other hand, as some social experiments
show that predictions using models may not be accurate at all times, it is
essential to understand the limitations of models. We can in fact modify these
models to make them more encompassing of exceptions, and make them more
accurate in predicting people’s actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-26155490510091054262014-07-28T11:25:00.000+08:002014-07-28T11:25:17.122+08:00Effects of Haze in the region<div class="MsoNormal">
While it is true that haze has not killed many directly, an
atmosphere obscured by the suspension of these fine particles can have many
other direct and indirect socio-economic consequences on society. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Most obviously, a society will face problems with physical
mobility. Due to the haze, visibility drops, and the air quality drops, giving
it a singing smell. This discourages people from leaving their homes. This is
especially so if the haze comes swiftly and unexpectedly like the one Singapore
experienced during the 2013 June holidays. However, this is just the tip of the
iceberg. Environment related issues may seem like an inherent harm, but these
issues can bring about greater ills in society as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Most tangibly, health problems arise. Especially when those
with breathing problems like asthma and chronic bronchitis leave their homes
without the proper precaution like the N95 masks, the perils of the haze are
exacerbated. In worse cases like the haze in the South-East Asian region of
1997, a plane collided into a mountainside of Medan, killing all 256 passengers
– this was attributed to poor visibility that is coupled with the haze. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This then leads to hospital bed crunches. In the case of
Singapore, in the short span of a week or so, the National University Hospital
(NUH) has seen a 10% increase in patients, and this caused a lack of beds
considering the dengue spike prior to the haze episode. Certainly, experiencing
these illnesses affects society’s quality of living in general.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Down the line, government expenditure on healthcare rises
consequentially for the public is unsatisfied with the lack of beds due to the
spike in health-related cases. Recognising that budget is limited and that we
cannot “have the cake and eat it”, this health expenditure comes at an
opportunity cost – it would mean less spending on other areas like housing or
transport. These are all the indirect consequences of the haze that one cannot
physically experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Besides health, social interaction is compromised as well – most
directly people cannot attend go outdoors to meet friends or engage in personal
activities like exercise. This may seem very much minor, but these small things
add up to alter the way of life of the community for the worse. It is also
worth noting that the extension of the haze is proportional to the limits
placed on the choices of the people.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s not all there is to the haze – on top of
health-related issues, there are economic consequences as well. Most obviously,
tourism drops. Hotel rooms, travel groups and flights are cancelled, bringing tangible
economic losses that, once again, are proportional to the duration of the haze.
However, more insidiously is the impact on economic work in and of itself. People
are less willing to go outdoors to work, more likely to call in sick, and more
likely to give excuses, legitimate or not. This is pernicious not because of
the pure number of hours lost, but that coupled with the fact that it is a
sudden occurrence – the 30 hours lost, for instance, is not spread evenly over
the entire year, but rather is concentrated in that one week. This deals great
blows to businesses not only in terms of unexpected drops in revenue, but also
to their reputation – people see them as less reliable. As a corollary of this,
Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) lose out because they depend very much on a
solid, constant customer support, rather than pure quality-based attraction of
customers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Certainly, the haze problem, usually existence in SEA, has
and will continue to cause the above social and economic problems, direct and
indirectly, in the short term and long term.<o:p></o:p></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-64297973873440770182014-07-18T20:50:00.002+08:002014-07-18T20:50:38.255+08:00Popular leaders are influential leaders. Do you agree?<div style="font-family: 'Hannotate SC';">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> It was apt when John Maxwell, American author, mused that “People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.” Often, people become more receptive towards the opinions and ideas of leaders if they were likeable individuals, who were kind, caring and encouraging. A group of such individuals is what forms the support-base of popular leaders — and these leaders can then gather supporters for their causes, becoming influential, for better or for worse. At the same time, though, we must also recognise that there are two types of popularity — sociometric popularity, which was what was earlier described, and perceived popularity. Perceived popularity refers to those who are well known for being popular, and are subsequently highly visible, but rarely liked by others. Both these kinds of popular leaders are people who become influential leaders, because they harness the advantages of popularity, funnelling their wide support-bases towards fulfilling their ideals and goals. The sheer number of supporters they garner bestow great legitimacy upon which they can make a difference, and they are also able to push through with necessary, though sometimes unpopular, decisions, by virtue of the support they possess. In addition, some can make use of their soft power over others to initiate change and influence others. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Critics of the thesis would be doubtful of the influence that leaders without a clear vision can bring about. They postulate that the determining characteristic that makes leaders influential is the quality of their ideas and thoughts, not their popularity, because that is what determines if one’s policies and suggestions will be pushed through. In spite of this claim, it is undeniable that the popularity and following of these leaders would prove essential in helping them influence others around them. Sociometrically popular leaders can capitalise on the connections and relationships they share with their followers to convince and spread their vision and ideas. In this way, the followers popular leaders have confer upon these leaders a sense of legitimacy that extends the reach and impact of their policies. Hence, popular leaders are easily able to galvanise their followers towards a common goal, so as to achieve their objectives. The very structure of democratic systems lean in favour of these popular leaders — the characteristic of majoritarian rule serves to show that popularity is the premise to being placed in positions of authority, and subsequently implement their policies and suggestions. In contrast, even leaders with the best of ideas but lack a following is unable to become influential, because of the lack of recognition and support for these ideas. Therefore, those with large followings that like their leaders for their personalities and traits — sociometrically popular leaders, in short — hold the legitimacy to push forth their ideas and become influential. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At the same time, even leaders who are perceived to be popular are influential ones. Though some may not be liked for their individual attitudes and traits, they can still garner popularity from those who share their vision, and thereby institute change, so as to influence others. Nelson Mandela is one such leader. Despite the aggressiveness and thirst for power he exhibited in order to wrest power over his political party, many look up to him for his bold vision and achievements. Such followers granted him popularity, with which he was able to influence South Africa by winning the elections and then implementing economic, social and political reform. Ultimately, it does not matter what one does to obtain it, but the popularity a leader has is instrumental to his becoming an influential one. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Skeptics would adamantly insist that popular leaders pander too much to the desires and wants of their following, which hinders their ability to make a meaningful impact. However, there is no reason to treat such populism as an immediate harm or problem. Sometimes, the only way in which leaders are able to institute change and implement policies is by pandering to some of their followers, in order to tap on them as either financial or human resources. Without these resources being accorded to them, there would be no way in which unpopular leaders can ever crystallise their ideas and goals. For example, the Jewish lobby in the United States holds great sway in politics, especially during times of elections and campaigning. This is because the lobby is able to flex its financial muscle by agreeing to fund the political party that it agrees with most hugely for their campaign. As a result, it is these leaders who are able to gain advantage by pandering to such groups are those who actually wield the power to influence societies and make an impact. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As a corollary, sociometrically popular leaders are able to sway over the support for certain causes by virtue of the fact that they are people who many look up to and listen to. As a result, the soft power that they possess often give them the opportunity to win the hearts and minds of the people, so as to bring important issues to attention. Noting that leaders are not limited to merely the political sphere, sporting stars and media celebrities are hugely popular leaders of their industry, and hold the international limelight. By making use of their popularity in such situations, they can become powerful advocates for, and campaign for various causes. For instance, famous beauty pageant Miss World is linked to many humanitarian causes, such as starvation in Africa, and poverty in less economically developed countries, and their annual winners, whom are thrust into the limelight, go on trips around the world to promote and help out with these humanitarian causes. Angelina Jolie, a famous Hollywood actress, has also used her fame to raise awareness of displaced persons as a United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees. These are all examples of such industry leaders who are largely popular, who can make use of the attention they receive to forward important social causes to benefit others and make an impact. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In essence, it is true that popular leaders are influential ones as well. Not only are they able to use their extensive followings as pillars of support to forward their ideals and visions, they are also able to gain reputation and support simply for being well known for being popular. Through these means, they are able to initiate change through legitimised action and extensive resources granted to them by their followers, and influence their followers to spread their ideas and to support their decisions. This makes them influential leaders. </span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-56220121539702582142014-03-27T18:12:00.004+08:002014-03-27T18:12:55.666+08:00Are teens doing enough for the environment?<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="letter-spacing: 0px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Faced with the issues of preserving Earth’s natural scenery, combating global environment phenomena like global warming, reducing Man’s carbon footprint on the earth and other problems that plague the earth’s physical environment, the global community is worried. Environmental problems are the result of constant, accumulated dependency on the earth’s resources since centuries past— and these problems will only worsen in the future if nothing is done to resolve these problems. It is imperative, then, that future generations begin preventive, if not restorative action in order to mitigate or resolve the harms Man has brought to our planet, especially since they are emotionally invested in the condition of Earth in the decades to come. Fortunately, these teenagers are stepping up to their responsibilities, and within their capabilities, grapple with these environmental problems — signifying that they are indeed doing enough.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Before gauging the contributions of teenagers to the environment, it is important that we understand the constraints they live within and the extent of their capabilities, because their contributions must be compared relative to those boundaries. First, we need to recognise that they have financial constraints. Lacking a source of income, it would be unreasonable to expect huge donations that traditionally come from concerned philanthropists, or to expect financial investment for environmental solutions. Second, we need to acknowledge their other commitments. Being growing individuals with little experience and knowledge, teenagers often have other commitments such as school that take up their time. Noting this, it would also be unreasonable to expect them to take on the role of full-time environmental activists like those in Greenpeace, for instance. Third, teenagers are commonly thought of as irrational beings with inability to make important decisions, so adults usually bar them from obtaining partaking in discussions and making significant choices. As such, many lack the power to implement change, unless they obtain support from adults. However, what we should examine is the effort put in to think up new, innovative ideas to solve environmental issues, or the time committed outside school hours to participate in environmental efforts such as sorting of recyclable rubbish or beach cleanups as a part of serving the community. Hopefully, then, they will implement and push out their new innovations as they grow up. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Some would argue that teenagers are completely ignorant of the problem of global warming, and this means that they do not contribute to saving the environment because they do not acknowledge the problems facing the environment and do not understand the solutions to solve it. However, in a world of increased connectivity through pervasive media platforms like the Internet and social media platforms, the number of teenagers understanding the severity of the problem has increased. Naturally, a majority of these teenage individuals are concerned about the problem — a survey done by Habbo and Greenpeace in 2007 of 50,000 teenagers showed that they were more concerned about greenhouse gases than drugs, violence and war, with 74% believing that global warming is a serious concern. Taking note of the fact that the implications of the energy crisis and the onset of melting ice caps in the Arctic all happen and will affect the lives of these teenagers, it is reasonable that these teenagers will be invested in solving these problems. At this, it is then important to understand how these concerns translate into concrete action to care for the environment and the future of the Earth. Increasingly, schools have been providing chances for teenagers to show their dedication to the environment. Students have been coming up with unique solutions, like using soy bean waste to produce bioethanol, or using sea shells to adsorb heavy metal ions from water, all in the name of saving the environment and making the world a better place to live in. These reflect the sheer dedication of these students to think up novel methods of solving issues like the energy crisis and pollution of Earth’s resources, showing that teenagers are indeed acknowledging the problems with the environment, and intend to solve them. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Other skeptics of teenage environmental activism also claim that teenagers today are often distracted by other things like technology and their gadget, which leaves little thought for contemplating how to protect the environment. On the contrary, teenagers are much more likely to initiate their own environmental projects and awareness campaigns, bypassing the political, bureaucratic world of adults. Furthermore, the familiarity teenagers today have with technology and their devices make their campaigns all the more effective and their messages all the more impactful. Though many teenagers are often not handed the chance to make important decisions, many teenagers do not merely give up but go on to push for change in other ways. For instance, a group of these teenagers in San Francisco went to rally for change in their own creative ways, such as the donning of impactful costumes made of plastic bags, and finally testifying in their courts for their cause. This led to the banning of the provision of plastic bags in their county, which is a significant change for the community. This also disproves the assumption that one must hold significant power before change can be brought about. In addition, the technologically-savvy younger generation is able to forward their cause more strongly aided by the Internet, their handphones and the like. These social media platforms are increasingly used in the global community, and they are special in that the messages they portray are not only delivered efficiently but also effectively, aided by the use of photos and videos that come along with campaign messages. Well-accustomed teenagers can thus use these technological platforms to show their concern, share their thoughts and promote their own actions. This bonds groups of adults and teenagers alike that are interested in doing more for the environment, and can serve as a source of inspiration for change such that more people can contribute, and more effectively. Clearly, teenagers are indeed doing enough by pushing for change in their own unique ways, manoeuvring within the tight boundaries they experience. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Opponents of the thesis express regret over the fact that commitments bog down teenagers, and make the statement that teenagers could have done so much more if academic work was not as intensive as it currently is. The problem with such statements is that it fails to consider that the growing trend that education seems to be taking a turn towards. Education is no longer just the feeding of knowledge, but also has adapted to include the requirement for students to take on projects. This means that schools increasingly take into account the need for students to learn new skills and apply them in the real world. There is no better place to do this than in schools, where teachers are students’ sources of guidance and a pathway to greater resources and connections. Teenagers that are indeed concerned about the environment would have access to ideas and previous works, of which schools have a dearth of. Therefore, under the mentorship and help of adults, teenagers can then find ways to realise and materialise their ideas to save the environment. The learning of the effect of bonding between the cell walls of microorganisms to certain substances in biology, for example, facilitates the inspiration of students to find out if harmful substances can be selectively removed from the environment. Overall, the intense focus of the entire global community on the environment has allowed students to build on the foundations set up by their forefathers, and thereby concretise their ideas and inspirations. </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In essence, the children of today are raised to feel a natural inclination towards saving the environment, and have been repeatedly told by the global community and the media that they are tasked with the job of preventing environmental chaos and further harm. This pushes teenagers to take on more projects with like-minded individuals, which can be found more easily in this globalised world with the help of social media. The expertise, knowledge and interest of scientists and researchers can then add on to the ideas and projects of these invested youths, so as to actually find a way to solve environmental problems. As Thomas Jefferson, previous American president, said, “Every generation needs a new revolution”. The environmental revolution will be a new one, headed by teenagers, the adults of tomorrow, and backed by their parents and the research of generations past. </span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-37453961552867209462014-03-03T17:21:00.001+08:002014-09-30T11:01:32.292+08:00Does technology necessarily improve the quality of people’s lives?<br />
Science and
its application, technology, are definitely tools mankind has utilized over its
long years of existence – conversions from writing letters to sending emails,
and from the Gutenberg press to the Internet have all been hailed to have been
improvements in the quality of life in the history of man. Generally speaking,
the explorations of the boundaries of the human race and the world we live in have
generally developed beneficially for us. However, there have been some harmful
impacts we must also take into consideration, because whether the technology
does improve the quality of living of humans is dependent upon the manner in
which it is used. Therefore, though it does have its positive benefits,
technology does not necessarily improve the conditions we live in, or the
emotional comfort we experience.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One may argue
that the aspect of communication has been well developed, because the creation
of emailing and social networking sites allows humans to transcend geographical
boundaries to communicate with each other. However, we need to recognize that
efficiency of communication does not necessarily equate to the quality of conversation
we have. In fact, it can be harmful in multiple aspects. First, the fact that
we can communicate online gives the veneer that we no longer need face-to-face
interaction. Despite this, it is the real, physical interaction that really
draws relationships closer, because we bond over the physical times we spend
together, and understand each other better through body language – empirical studies
have shown that up to 60 percent of our impressions of a person are formed by
observing their body language. When such a major aspect is left out in online
discussions, we tend to get further away from each other. Second, the ability
to post comments at the click of a button makes us all the more careless, in
posting insensitive comments about race and politics, which often offend others.
There have been many instances where young children, whose cognitive function
have yet to develop and thus cannot rationalize as clearly as adults, misuse
the Internet. For example, a boy of a mere thirteen years of age was arrested for
threatening to “bomb marina Bay” online. Not only does technology draw people
further apart in their relationships, it also increases our possibility of
being rash, because of the over-efficient nature of the technology available.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>One may
also think that with all the scientific research, experimentation, and
findings, we would have nurtured our environment healthily. Unfortunately, the
answer to that claim is an adamant “no”. On the other hand, it is as Alan
Eddison says, “Modern technology owes ecology an apology”. With all the coal
plants, cars on the roads and factories spewing out smoke, the environment has
been harmed far more than it has been benefitted. Ultimately, the generation of
excessive methane and carbon dioxide has caused global warming, which directly affects
lives by increasing the concentration of UV rays in the Sun’s rays, that can
give us skin cancer over long exposure periods. Increases of sea temperatures
have indirectly caused us harm as well. Not only are entire biodiversities
harmed when coral reefs die, fish have been shown to migrate to cooler regions,
away from seashores. In fact, repeated scientific studies have come to a
consensus that an increase of just 2 degrees Celcius of sea temperatures is
sufficient in causing a significant fish migration pattern. This trend affects
the fishermen of nations who depend heavily on the marine fish industry, most
viscerally seen in nations like Japan and Taiwan. Clearly, the products of our
technology have generated more problems than benefits, even in the
environmental aspect, which invariably affects the quality of people’s lives
adversely. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
strongest proponents of technology argue that medicine is where the benefits of
science are truly seen. To some degree, this is true – live expectancies have
indeed gone up in many societies of the world, with rates of cholera and
malaria going down. However, if we really examine the problem, we realize that there
is much more to be done. To begin with, we need to understand that the premise
of furthering medical technology is that those who are poor must have access to
these technologies, and we see that this is often untrue, in many cases. In the
example of Plumpy’nut, a proclaimed nutritious food for people in undeveloped countries
that only requires water to work, corporations often jack up prices in an
attempt tot gain more profit for their selfish, personal consumption, while
neglecting poor families scrounging all their savings to buy just one or two
tins of the product. New Zealand GM food giant Monterro has discovered a way to
develop juicier, plumper tomatoes, at low costs, yet alters prices to exorbitant
degrees, by virtue of the fact that it is a monopoly in the industry. While it
is undisputable that in this instance, technology can indeed improve the
quality of people’s lives, we need to acknowledge that technology discriminates
against poorer people at a fundamental level, because we need profit-motivated
corporations to market these technologies. An indisputable harm of technology,
then, rises in the military sphere. To begin with, a benefit to the military –
having more F16 jets, plutonium nuclear warheads and Leopard tanks – is only a
detriment to human kind, because the inherent definition of a good military is
its ability to obliterate enemies, who are unequivocally humans as well. When
we examine rogue nations, we realize the extent of harm that technology can bring
about. Iran’s insistence on developing a nuclear weapon so that it can “wipe
Israel off the surface of the earth” is a massive bargaining chip in
negotiations, North Korea’s increasing missile arsenal has worsened ties
between the two peninsulas, and Bashaar Al Assad’s use of chemical weapons in
Dasmascus, Syria, has led to the death of a thousand innocent civilians. Even
for nations like the United States of America, which supposedly has a goo
dtrack record, has thoroughly blundered in the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars,
causing unnecessary bloodshed and deaths. At the end of the day, the brunt of
the conflict between societies and technology is brought down savagely upon the
people. Clearly, dying or being mutilated does not contribute to any improvement
to a person’s quality of life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Though cliché,
the famous line from Spiderman “with great power, comes great responsibility”,
is very true. In a world where knowledge is power and our endeavors in
scientific discovery have given Man knowledge, there is a great responsibility
for us to utilize that knowledge to the best possible degree. The problem is
that the definition of “the best possible degree” is very arbitrary, as one Man’s
meat may be another’s poison. Our discoveries have generated many ethical
dilemmas, upon which we are hesitant to make a decision. Our complete
sequencing of the human genome by the Human Genome Project does help to
identify stick-cell disease, possible cases of future Alzheimer’s and the like,
but sometimes knowledge can be deadly, even literally. In a report done by a
doctor, it was commented that it is very hard to decide to tell a mother that her
child would be born with Tay Sach’s disease, which causes the brain to
degenerate and a layer of plaque to form over the baby’s brain, effectively
guaranteeing his death by the time he is four. Should people suffering from
cancer be allowed to be euthanised, to save him from great pain? Should we tell
couples information of their child’s gender in advance, only to have them abort
the baby? Should we allow cloning for the harvesting of organs, so that the
thousands of people on the kidney transplant waiting list can be cured? These
are all ethical dilemmas that unfortunately are not black and white. Sometimes,
it is said, ignorance is bliss, and science and technology sometimes does
nothing to facilitate that bliss.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Eventually,
the question of whether science and technology improves the quality of people’s
lives boils down to the question of how the technology s used, who uses it, and
to what ends is the technology used – it is a complex question that has no
definite answer. However the existence of many abuses of technology only makes
us ponder over whether the knowledge that science provides, and the chance to
make full use of that technology present, is really beneficial for us. Perhaps,
it is as Jean Rostand, acclaimed French scientist says “science has made us Gods, even before we are worthy
of being men”. Science indeed has left us many problems we can only hope to
resolve. Hence, the best possible direction we can work towards is to make use
of that scientific knowledge we have to resolve our problems, and to set
appropriate regulations on the created technologies.<o:p></o:p></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-87478020830316793222014-02-12T18:23:00.002+08:002014-02-12T18:23:10.829+08:00Consider the view that the spoken language is more important than the written word. <div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="letter-spacing: 0px; white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The written form of a language is considered it’s best form of representation, not only because is it the backbone of the language and serves to formalise many documents and ideas that society agrees upon. Countries are often formed based on their Constitutions, which must be written or typed out to be saved in its archives, legal contracts and decisions must be “in black and white”, as is commonly said, and both parties need to sign such documents to acknowledge their relation to them. The fact that the written word is often more influential, organised and vital makes it more significant and crucial than the spoken word, signifying its overwhelming importance.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Some argue that the spoken word is more applicable to everyday living, because it is efficient and conveys ideas more quickly. This means that the spoken word is always linked and related to society, in one manner or another. However, the medium that actually formalises these ideas, such that it can be acknowledged by the rest of the community and impact society, is the written word. Simply, it is the most convenient to refer to for people. The spoken word is often manipulated and misinterpreted, making it unreliable, especially in times where it does matter — in courts. Individuals are able to easily twist what had been said, because it is very difficult to verify the truth in his words. Even when his speech has been recorded, these recordings are easily tampered with and so, do not hold weight. This is exactly the reason why courts do not accept voice recordings as pieces of evidence, and a written will which was signed by the person in question easily triumphs a voice recording of the will. When we consider cases where words are needed to formalise documents, such as a lease contract, both parties must be present to ratify the contract by means of their signatures. Not only is this exponentially more difficult to replicate, the fact that both parties were present at the site of the agreement gives credibility to the document — now it is agreed upon that both sides agree to the contract. In the case of a lawsuit, then, judges or juries can easily refer to back to the document to understand whether the person has actually upheld his side of the contract.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Opponents of the significance of the written word assert that the spoken language is more convincing and are remembered more distinctly because it marries the language with one’s body language and emotion. Despite this claim, the written word remains to be more important by virtue of the fact that it is immortal. Religious scriptures like the Bible and the Koran have only survived the test of time due to the written word — obviously, these influential texts would have been badly passed down through generations if only the spoken word were to be used, considering the tendencies of humans to forget information and their inability to replicate the idea of another person in the exact, same manner. This truth extends to fiction and non-fictions works alike. Students can easily whip out their history notes and refer to them to ace a test, but under pressures of the test setting they are often unable to whip out the advice of their teachers from their minds. In fact, it is exactly because of the potency and the importance of the written word, that schools disallow students from bringing books and notes into examinations. Furthermore, even when we consider particularly rousing speeches such as the victory speech of Barack Obama, the current president of the United States of America, in 2008, we trace its origins to the written word. The only reason why he was able to speak with such conviction, composition and content was the fact that the speech was first typed out, then read and reread hundreds of times to perfect his delivery in the form of the spoken word. In the end, the foundation and basis of these influential spoken words is the written word. This signals the latter’s importance and continuous relevance in the world today. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Supporters of the importance of the spoken word would then argue that the spoken word is more important to culture because many languages yet to have written forms. However, this only means that such languages without written forms are first to be forgotten by society. The written word remains to be the best way of preserving cultures, and is also important because of society’s culture. The ability of written words to convey meanings most concisely, and the characteristic of people being able to recall it most vividly are reasons for this. People are easily able to revisit parts of their culture, to see it written, recorded and remembered tangibly, providing a visceral understanding of it. Compare this to a spoken version of this cultural remembrance. First, as earlier established, it is often forgot and misunderstood. Second, and more importantly, there is a fundamental difference to the person trying to understand these two mediums. A person can listen to hundreds of sounds, be it people or their abiotic environments, but he can only read one text at a time, a word at a time. This is significant because it means people are much more likely to be inundated by what they hear, and forget it, often without another means of recalling the content of what they heard, than they are to be inundated by words, because they need to focus all brain function to read, digest and understand the words before their eyes. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In addition, the culture and environment Man lived in for the past thousands of years make the written word much more important — its significance is grounded in language. A quick look at the English language tells us that tangibility means much more than intangibility, since we always want things to be formalised to be “printed in black and white”, and consider things that are here to stay to be “set in stone”. These cultural nuances make the written word more significant and important to the minds of society, even when they are unconscious of it. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Being the medium which ideas can be immortalised, legitimised and accepted by society, the written word is the most important form of a language, more so than its spoken form. In many aspects, such as law, literature and culture, seeing words before one’s eyes is so much more endearing and convincing than it is to hear these words in one’s ear, competing with the buzzes, the chaos and the noise of the world. Ultimately, the written word is more influential and vital to societies, and the world at large. </span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-85461902890482643072014-02-10T21:02:00.001+08:002014-02-10T21:02:01.829+08:00Is capital punishment ethically acceptable?<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A basic and accepted tenet
of justice and retribution is proportionality – the severity of one’s
punishment should correspond to the harm he or she had inflicted upon society
through a particular act – but what is controversial is the extent to which
this principle of proportionality should extend; is there any punishment that
should never, on moral grounds, be exacted upon even the most cold-blooded,
cunning murderers? Considering that the implications of some crimes upon
individuals and society are severe, crimes like murder and drug trafficking
should be punished by the most severe of possible options, capital punishment. It
does not matter if the criminal is hanged, given a lethal injection, or
executed by a firing squad, because what is important is that the criminal
receives retribution for his crime. Not only is this what the concept of
justice embodies, capital punishment serves to deter potential criminals from
committing these grievous crimes against humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many opponents of the death
penalty argue that life is sacrosanct, and is not something the state can
forcibly take away from individuals. After all, it seems ironic that the state
so fervently opposes the act of killing another, yet it is doing exactly the
same thing by sentencing an individual to death. Despite this argument, it is
important to understand that capital punishment fulfills the interests of
victims. For victims that never consented to the grievous harm inflicted upon
them, only when the person responsible for the harm dealt to them is executed
do they feel that justice has been served. Justice is a concept that does not
have to be tied to the benefits that it reaps, but is the representation of the
ideal that criminals destabilize society’s rules, and it is in the moral
responsibility of societies to sufficiently punish these criminals to right the
system once again. To ground this in reality, the criminal has harmed innocent
individuals that never agreed to their treatment. In the case of drug
trafficking, that packet of five hundred grams of cocaine can totally destroy a
dozen people’s lives. Getting people addicted to it, the drug continually seeps
money from the victims, and hampers their ability to think rationally, while
the criminal is benefitting monetarily from the harm inflicted upon his
victims. This situation is most prevalent in the Golden Triangle of South-East
Asia, which includes countries like Myanmar and Thailand, which are commonly
known for trafficking drugs in the region. In such a scenario, the damage the
criminal has caused is so massive that the only way through which we can right
his wrong is by executing him. Why is it then in the state’s responsibility and
duty to recognize this, and then exact this punishment upon the criminal?
Simply put, governments are meant to reflect the sentiments and desires of
societies through its policies, especially in democracies, which adhere to the
principle of acting “for the people”. If victims of these crimes only feel that
it is fair that criminals receive the punishment of death, then governments
should reflect this, and execute these criminals under the justice system. Ultimately,
for the interests of victims, whom are civilians governments have
responsibilities to protect, the latter must enforce the law, and make sure
criminals receive their just desserts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Critics of the death
penalty further posit that in the circumstance where society does not agree
with the fact that criminals should be executed, then the punishment is not
just. However, there still lies great moral justification for the inclusion of
capital punishment as an option for the justice system to consider, vis-à-vis
the rights of people within society. In other words, it is in the interests of
all societies to implement the death penalty. All individuals should enjoy
enshrined human dignities and rights, such as the right over bodily integrity
and the right over our financial properties, and the way we balance these
rights between people is through the policy of “your hand ending where my nose
begins”. At the moment where a criminal disregards the rights of another
individual, he forsakes some of his own rights. Therefore, in cases of theft,
we fine them both to compensate the individual, and also to repay the state for
his actions – in exchange for abusing his right to choice, he compromised the
victim’s right over his own property. Similar to this, when a person decides to
murder another or traffic illegal drugs like marijuana and heroin, he forfeits
his own right over his life, because that is the closest approximation of the
harm he had inflicted. This alone makes it morally justified for the state to
take the criminal’s life from him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Furthermore,
crimes have implications not just for the parties physically involved, but also
for the larger societal climate. When crimes are rampant, the climate of peace
and security within society is compromised. To better understand this, a
comparison between the social climates of Singapore, where crime rates are
amongst the lowest of the world, and Delhi, where the rape culture has been
formed due to the prevalence of rape, tells us that every crime is an assault
on society’s values and moral principles. Criminals that commit more grievous
crimes are more culpable than those who commit petty crimes, because the net
implication on society’s trust of law-enforcement agencies is much greater. When
crimes of such serious natures are seen to be common and prevalent, innocent
civilians begin to fear for their lives and their futures, which signifies a
serious issue that the government cannot tolerate and must handle with the
strictness means possible. Hence, criminals that commit severe crimes like
murder deserve to be punished not only for their assault on victims, which
society disapproves of, but also for their assault on social cultures of peace
and security. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 252.0pt 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Furthermore, the
introduction of the option of capital punishment of criminals helps to deter
potential crimes, because prevention is always better than cure. The harshness
of the punishment is a strong reason why potential criminals rethink before
committing a crime. No matter how evasive criminals can be, one who commits a
crime will be in constant fear, because he can never return to normal living,
especially if his crime is particularly serious. Having considered this, the
weight of the punishment adds to the risk of being caught, since the implications
in the event that one is apprehended are much greater. This can act as a factor
as to why potential criminals would choose not to commit a crime in the event
that the punishment for his crime is definite death, as compared to a case in
which the punishment is a jail term with parole. It is the fear of hearing the
judge slam the gavel and say, “Proven guilty – this man will be sentenced to
death”, that keeps potential murderers away from harming society. Furthermore,
even if the deterrence factor serves to be of no use, this case is much more
preferable than if the punishment was not capital punishment. It is as John
McAdams, a university professor from the US pu</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">ts it: “</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Verdana;">If we execute murderers and there is in
fact no deterrent effect, we have killed a bunch of murderers. If we fail to
execute murderers, and doing so would in fact have deterred other murders, we
have allowed the killing of a bunch of innocent victims.” In other words, in
the case where the punishment lacks severity, then there will be cases in which
innocent victims would be harmed, when the implementation of the death penalty
would have prevented this. Statistics have also shown how effective the
implantation of capital punishment can be at deterring crime from occurring. In
Britain, between 1965 and 1969, when capital punishment was suspended, the
number of murders that would have been charged with the death penalty rose by
125%. In the United States, the murder rate dropped from </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">24,562 in 1993 to 18,209
in 1997 during a period where the use of capital punishment had risen. These go
to show that the use of capital punishment as a tool to serve justice can, at
the same time, act as a stronger deterrence against individuals that
contemplate grievous crimes like murder and drug trafficking. Acknowledging the
fact that this ensure better social peace and security, and makes the nation a
safer place, governments, whose job it is to benefit the people and make them
satisfied, should in fact implement capital punishment to achieve this goal. If
we interpret this argument in a consequentialist argument, the fact that
implementing capital punishment brings net positive benefits means that it is capital
punishment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
essence, capital punishment is just one of the tools that the justice system
can utilize to better effect justice, for the sake of society. Of course, the
fact that the punishment is so sever means that courts should not abuse it by
being overly-liberal with passing sentences of the death penalty. However, by
accurately balancing its use for retributive purposes against cold-blooded
individuals with no qualms about severely harming other individuals and
society’s fabric, capital punishment works in tandem with the rest of the
available punishment that criminals get the punishment that they deserve, and
at the same time prevent as many of such serious crimes as possible by serving
a deterrent effect. For these reasons, capital punishment is a legitimate tool
for the justice system to utilize, and it is perfectly ethically acceptable. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-26820363252889294422013-12-08T12:48:00.000+08:002013-12-29T17:17:18.387+08:00Should the word "failure" be used in education?<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> One of the worst fears of a student, besides being called into the Principal’s office, is arguably the word “failure”, marked in stark red at the top of a test, like a fire-hot brand pointing accusingly at him or her. This seemingly tortuous word is employed in a few ways within the education system - it may be used as a concept to reflect the academic performance of a student, to grade a physical assignment or test, and even as a spoken criticism used by teachers on under performing students. Education’s purpose, broadly speaking, is to transfer knowledge to students, and a means to gauge the degree to which the student has gained knowledge is through these tests and assignments. The use of this term is important, nonetheless, as part of education - it is important as a grading standard to both students and the school, and also serves as a means for students to improve. Its eradication then, loses its benefits and also creates new problems for education systems.</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Opponents of the term’s use would claim that its use as a concept is unfair, because there have been many instances where children have been cast aside as “failures”, though they grow up to succeed eventually. However, the concept of failure is an important one because it is an invariable constant in everyone’s lives - teaching children of it and getting them to experience it is the first step to exposing them to the real world, as one cannot hope to succeed in all their endeavours. Having said this, education which intends to teach students more than just facts but also skills, should incorporate skills such as the ability to deal with these failures in life. The blow to students whenever they encounter failure increases with time, because stakes increase - not only is a matter of a single assignment, but also rejection from job interviews, relationships and the like. Besides, the concept of failure does not vanish merely because the word is used - rather failure is something that permeates through all things competitive. Instead of fearing the word “failure”, the grade “E” becomes the replacement for it, which covertly refers to the failure of the student in that test. Having understood that failure cannot be avoided throughout life, dealing with it head-on by introducing the concept openly to students will teach students to confront their fears, and to improve themselves to prevent another “failure”. The concept of failure is something that must be embraced by students as life’s constant, and they must learn to deal with it appropriately - education cannot seek to hide these important concepts of life from students if it is to achieve its goals of transferring knowledge.</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Critics would assert that grading assignments as a “failure” deals too great an emotional blow to growing children, and teachers should refrain from using the term within the educational structure. This would purportedly cause students’ academic performance to drop instead. Despite this claim, the importance of the grade supersedes the emotional loss. the value of the term is most evident in its meaning. Assignments and tests are meant to guide the process of education, because it serves as a measure of the proficiency of the student in a specific area. For instance, a biology test tests the ability of the student to synthesise information given to him about the human body, to interpret graphs, and be able to identify certain traits and symptoms. Hence, a student who is deemed a “failure” in the test has not succeeded in obtaining the skills deemed by his teachers to be important. Not only does this mean that labelling the work submitted by the student to be a “failure” is a fair decision, it also alerts the student to his insufficiency. Besides the school can better understand the groups of people that need help with a particular subject or topic from the grade given. Second, the emotional blow can be softened by different stakeholders. Parents are there to help children along the way, and encourage them to keep trying, as Winston Churchill would advocate - “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”. Thus, using “failure” to grade a piece of work is fair and beneficial.</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Some would continue to argue that teachers must act as a form of encouragement for their students, and should not label their students as failures, which would cause them to be shunned. Instead, they should give encouraging grades which would instill positive attitudes. While it is true that teachers should not be careless with criticisms, most teachers are responsible with their words, and more often than not the word is meant as a tool for incentivising greater effort from students for them to attain better performances. On the other hand, the elimination of the term “failure” only generates the problem of grade inflation, and decreased standards of education. To relieve themselves of the conundrum of having to give low scores, teachers would decide to reveal answers before a test, give more marks than is due, and award passing grades to even the lowest of scores. This is the reason why Nancy Gibbs, who recently ascended the role of Time’s editor, commented in an article that the American education system often gives students false hopes, as they expect to be competing for the top jobs with their “stellar” results, often the result of artificially inflated grades or extremely easy tests and examinations. Keeping students blind to the globe’s requirements is a huge problem especially in today’s hyper connected, globalised world that requires competition with not just the local students but also those from all around the world. Hence, the forced removal of the term “failure” causes success and achievement to lose its relative meaning, and instead only fosters false hopes that will harm students in the future.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Helvetica;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>It is as Samuel Beckett, Irish novelist, says “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Only when we acknowledge our failure, can we identify reasons for our insufficiency and resolve these problems. Education should guide us in this direction, for failure is an inescapable situation that will exist, whether or not we use it as a word on assignments or on students’ performance in general. Its absence, however, only generates falsified confidence in students, beckoning them towards failure once they leave school. Therefore, failure should be used in education, both taught as a concept and as a remark to push students towards bettering themselves. </span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-13550672761093800032013-08-25T14:41:00.002+08:002013-08-25T14:42:35.460+08:00Hazy Issues in SG<div class="MsoNormal">
While it is true that haze has not killed many directly, an
atmosphere obscured by the suspension of these fine particles can have many
other direct and indirect socio-economic consequences on society. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most obviously, a society will face problems with physical
mobility. Due to the haze, visibility drops, and the air quality drops, giving
it a singing smell. This discourages people from leaving their homes. This is
especially so if the haze comes swiftly and unexpectedly like the one Singapore
experienced during the 2013 June holidays. However, this is just the tip of the
iceberg. Environment related issues may seem like an inherent harm, but these
issues can bring about greater ills in society as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Most tangibly, health problems arise. Especially when those
with breathing problems like asthma and chronic bronchitis leave their homes
without the proper precaution like the N95 masks, the perils of the haze are
exacerbated. In worse cases like the haze in the South-East Asian region of
1997, a plane collided into a mountainside of Medan, killing all 256 passengers
– this was attributed to poor visibility that is coupled with the haze. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This then leads to hospital bed crunches. In the case of
Singapore, in the short span of a week or so, the National University Hospital
(NUH) has seen a 10% increase in patients, and this caused a lack of beds
considering the dengue spike prior to the haze episode. Certainly, experiencing
these illnesses affects society’s quality of living in general.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Down the line, government expenditure on healthcare rises
consequentially for the public is unsatisfied with the lack of beds due to the
spike in health-related cases. Recognising that budget is limited and that we
cannot “have the cake and eat it”, this health expenditure comes at an
opportunity cost – it would mean less spending on other areas like housing or
transport. These are all the indirect consequences of the haze that one cannot
physically experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Besides health, social interaction is compromised as well – most
directly people cannot attend go outdoors to meet friends or engage in personal
activities like exercise. This may seem very much minor, but these small things
add up to alter the way of life of the community for the worse. It is also
worth noting that the extension of the haze is proportional to the limits
placed on the choices of the people.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s not all there is to the haze – on top of
health-related issues, there are economic consequences as well. Most obviously,
tourism drops. Hotel rooms, travel groups and flights are cancelled, bringing tangible
economic losses that, once again, are proportional to the duration of the haze.
However, more insidiously is the impact on economic work in and of itself. People
are less willing to go outdoors to work, more likely to call in sick, and more
likely to give excuses, legitimate or not. This is pernicious not because of
the pure number of hours lost, but that coupled with the fact that it is a
sudden occurrence – the 30 hours lost, for instance, is not spread evenly over
the entire year, but rather is concentrated in that one week. This deals great
blows to businesses not only in terms of unexpected drops in revenue, but also
to their reputation – people see them as less reliable. As a corollary of this,
Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) lose out because they depend very much on a
solid, constant customer support, rather than pure quality-based attraction of
customers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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Certainly, the haze problem, usually existent in SEA, has
and will continue to cause the above social and economic problems, direct and
indirectly, in the short term and long term.<o:p></o:p></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-11304092634013751742013-08-01T22:18:00.002+08:002013-08-01T22:18:29.847+08:00Should scholarships for students be solely based on academic merit?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;">Education is a great social leveller
– it can empower people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, by giving them
the knowledge and skills that allow them to rise up the social ladder. To
equalise opportunities, governments, private institutions and educational
institutions provide scholarships, aimed at providing financial support or
employment opportunities to stellar students, so as to attract top talents to
work for them after they graduate. Examples of these include the Public Service
Commission Scholarship (PSCS) and the A* Star Research Scholarship in Singapore,
both of which fund students to attend tertiary institutions with heavily
subsidised fees, then bonds them to working in the company or institution for a
period of time, from five to ten years. However, it is not definitive that
those who deserve these scholarships the most are always the students that
boast the best results in their examinations. The alternative would thus be to pass
students through a selection process, including phases such as an interview and
character evaluation on top of academic evaluation. This would mean that
selected scholarship holds not only meet a certain academic criteria, but also
show possess other traits that would help them in the future, depending on the
nature of the scholarship they receive.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Scholarships, first and foremost,
should be handed to those who best fit the culture and requirements of the
organisation. Although some would argue that academic grades are a good
barometer by virtue of its universality, there is more to a job than just being
able to regurgitate information. The information we obtain through our
education serves to set the foundation for the future, but it quickly becomes
obsolete in this day and age where changes are frantic and unexpected. To
overcome this, companies seek talents that can adapt to changes, and meet the
industry’s future needs to keep it competitive. In order to decide the best man
for the job, it would be in the interest of the corporation to look at the
extra-curricular activities and achievements of the student, because they
potentially point at the personality of the person. For instance, the Monetary
Authority of Singapore (MAS) probably would not want to award its scholarship
to a student who excels at literature, even if he had won the Angus Ross. On
the other hand, the PSC committee would be looking out for students that have
shown to be involved in community work and leadership roles. Ultimately, the
future scholar not only has to excel academically, he must also be able to fit
the culture of his future workplace in terms of his character traits and his
individual interests. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Beyond finding the best fit for
the company’s culture and nature, scholars should also possess other traits
such as the awareness of the people around them and their interests. Judging by
academic grades would result in a pool of potentially arrogant, narcissistic
individuals who cannot be bothered about the interests of his employees, but
rather only seeks practical results. Recognising that many of these scholarship
holders are granted high positions in the corporations because they have
already been identified as individuals with potential, these high achievers
must be able to take responsibility for the people working under his
instruction. With great power, comes great responsibility – those who have
great power must also bear the responsibility of caring for the needs of those
who work for him. There must be an agreement between the employer and the
employee that the employee gives up some degree of his right over his own
actions in exchange for the trust that his or her employer will consider their
needs. For this to happen, scholarships should also look at the capability of
the candidates to become leaders that are aware of others’ needs beyond just
their personal desires. For instance, scholarships should look at the
willingness of students to be involved in the community and get to know the
needs of the community better, plausibly represented by the number of Community
Involvement Project (CIP) hours the student has obtained. By looking at a
multitude of factors other than just the student’s academic results, we are
better able to pinpoint students that are better-rounded and better suited to
make decisions for the organisation in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Some would argue that it is more
effective to give the best examination performers a good position, so that they
can implement the best changes. Despite this seemingly intuitive argument, it
does not consider the question of who best makes use of that opportunity. Even
if we assume that those with greater potential do the best in examinations,
these people may not necessarily have the moral integrity to make decisions in
the best interests of the people if they were to be given the opportunity to do
so. Clearly, we need to consider the values of those that receive these opportunities
– as C. S. Lewis proclaimed, “education without values, as useful as it is,
seems, rather to make Man a more clever devil.” When systems like the Gifted
Education Programme (GEP) of Singapore singles out those with greater
intellect, it does nothing to change the personalities and the moral systems of
these intellectuals. If the people we funnel opportunities and top positions do
not have the sense of responsibility required to make decisions that do not
only bring personal benefit, then we would end up with industry leaders that
stand upon their ivory towers, making decisions that could potentially harm
others. For example, Jonathan Wong, a student with a stellar academic record,
was awarded a scholarship in education, despite his poor social track record.
In the end, he was even found to have illegally downloaded child pornography –
those who lack morals like him clearly do not deserve such a good opportunity.
On the contrary to this, scholarships can represent great opportunities if we
consider the fact that those who really have the conviction to improve others’
lives. When such morally upright individuals are given exposure, they are more
likely to use their understanding of the situation to implement positive
change. Therefore, scholarships given solely based on academic merit turn a
blind eye to arguably as important, if not more important criteria, such as the
individuals’ principles and values that can bring about better change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;">The capability of a student is
multi-faceted – not only is it important for students to score decently well on
their tests, they must have the moral courage and social awareness to act
beyond their own interests. Scholarships today hold a whole new world of
opportunities for those who are more disadvantaged, and would never have had
the chance to let their ideals impact the rest of the world for the better. Giving
top scorers all of these scholarship opportunities would not achieve this, not
only because such high achievers may not necessarily be the best fit for the
organisation, but also because they may not have the needs of the people at
heart when they make certain decisions. Ultimately, scholarships must not only
consider one’s ability to score in a test, but also his passion for work, his
moral code by which he works, and also the potential he holds. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-44797464061767379632013-06-26T18:27:00.000+08:002013-06-26T18:27:08.514+08:00Is there a case for keeping animals in zoos?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Segoe UI, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">The
concept of zoos has very much evolved with time – in the past, zoos were places
for the royal family to house animals, where animals were used for human
entertainment. Under Nero, a Roman Emperor, four hundred tigers fought with
bulls and elephants while humans watched for their pleasure, and at the
Colosseum of Rome, five thousand animals perished in a single day after being forced
to fight each other. Today, the purpose of zoos and the way they operate is vastly
different – in some zoos, the keepers are even required have a master’s degree.
Despite these changes, it is </span></span><span style="font-family: Segoe UI, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 32px;">indisputable</span></span><span style="font-family: Segoe UI, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 200%;"> that zoos today cannot sufficiently
provide for animals. Going forward, although conditions will indeed improve for
these animals, many will still suffer if they are housed in zoos.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Segoe UI', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Optimists would argue that animals enjoy better
quality zoos because of the stricter requirements imposed for zoo employees.
Some zoos even hire specific nutritionists and stud-book managers to cater to each
of the animals’ specific needs. Despite this claim, even if the zoos of today
have the ability to understand the needs of the animal, they are largely unable
to provide for it. Animals have each of their own specific needs, from the
basics of keeping instincts sharp by escaping from animals and finding prey, to
more complicated needs, such as the way they locate mates for mating. Zoos
often cannot provide for it, because each animal can only meet these needs in
their own habitats, something that zoos cannot replicate. With the obvious lack
of space in zoos – animals are inevitably deprived of sufficient space to meet
its needs when placed in a zoo. For instance, the space an elephant is supposed
to have is almost twenty times larger than what it is actually given, which
means that it lacks sufficient space to exercise, which is necessary for it to
keep healthy. From this alone, we can tell that the physical incapability of
zoos show that zoos can never be sufficient at replicating the ideal habitat
for animals. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the zoos of today are
meant to showcase a whole range of animals that live in different conditions,
from aquatic animals like seals to the king of the forest, the lion – zoos have
to spread its already limited resources thin for all the animals its houses. Furthermore, in spite of this problem, little
is being done to improve the conditions the animals are in. On the contrary, it
gives the veneer that the animals are comfortable and happy with their
condition, generating little interest or will to continue improving their
habitats. This is despite the fact that behavioural studies show the exact
opposite. The better alternative would
be to place more resources into preserving the current natural habitats of the
animals, for example the grassy savanna terrain. Preservation goes a longer
way because it is something that is more permanent, and is not subject to
various factors such as the lack of visitors, which can cause a zoo to close
down completely. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Advocates of zoos assert that zoos are
essential to repopulate animals into their natural habitats by breeding them in
man-made enclosures that provide them with daily necessities and protection
from natural predators. This allows animals to grow in numbers, and from there,
communities of animals can be reintroduced into the wild. Despite this claim,
the truth is that in the long run, keeping animals in zoos harms the animals
more than it helps them. It may be true that zoos keep animals safe from
predators, and provide meals which animals otherwise would not have gotten, but
this may not be the best thing for the animals. In the long run, animals become
habituated to an environment of comfort, because they are neither filled with
fear of predators, nor with the pangs of hunger that push them to continue
searching for prey. Content with their safety, the animals lose the sharpness
in their instincts. When released back into the wild, these animals cannot cope
with the harsh needs that their environments demand. This was etched in the attempt
to repopulate orang-utans into the forests of Sumatra – the mammals died off
because they could no longer climb trees efficaciously, after being closed in
their small, insufficient enclosures. Even in the instance where efforts to
repopulate animals work, the benefit of doing so is often misplaced. The key,
primary purpose of zoos today is not to help the animals as much as possible,
but rather to earn as much profit as possible. This is because the money gained
from visitors is necessary for the zoo to pay for rent, food, maintenance
costs, and also the salaries of the workers. This means that it is in the best
interest of zoos to implement the course of action that earns itself the most
profit, even in the instance where it is not in the best interest of animals in
the zoo. Thus, zoos are more inclined to breeding animals that are more popular
amongst visitors, although it may not be the animal that is in the most dire
straits of becoming extinct. The safety bubble provided by zoos eventually
harms the animals when they are repopulated – on top of that the nature of zoos
being profit-motivated hinders its ability to protect and conserve the animals that
needs the help the most. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">In addition, the zoo’s supporters propound
that animals can be a source of entertainment and education for its visitors. Youngsters
who are interested in animals would visit the zoo, and from there, exhibits
will be able to educate the public on the different types of animals in the
zoo. This aims to raise awareness about the plight of endangered animals, such
as the giant panda. However, on a first, level, using animals for our own
enjoyment is inherently unjustified. Just because human civilisation is more
powerful and has greater capabilities, does not mean that they should be
allowed to enslave animals and put them on display. On the contrary, it means
that humans should have a greater responsibility to take care of the natural
habitats that these animals belong to – as declared in the Spiderman series,
“with great power, comes great responsibility”. Just as how humans are given
their right to movement and the right to bodily autonomy, animals should be no
less deserving of these rights. Humans, after all, are just scientific
extensions of other animals. Hence, it is not justified for people to limit the
rights of animals just to use them as a means to our own entertainment and
enjoyment. Furthermore, aiming to use the zoo as a means to educate the
population about animals is largely ineffective. Young children that go to the
zoo are not interested in finding out more about the history and numbers of
these animals, but contrary to this, look out for exciting shows that animals
trained to perform. This means that zoos tend to appeal to the emotional needs
of the children, as Andy Baker, senior vice president for animal programs at
Philadelphia Zoo, admitted. Not only are zoos disinterested in disseminating
information about animals, children themselves are more likely to be interested
by that ball trick performed by the seal in the tank as compared to the dry,
boring signage describing its geological descent and its plummeting numbers in
the sea. Evidently, keeping animals in their small enclosures is not only
unjustified, it does not achieve its supposed end of educating the population
about the dire situation faced by animals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The road to hell is paved with good
intentions – granted, the intentions of zoos today may be well and good, however
it is incapable of providing the needs of the animals that consist it. Zoos
today cannot provide the space, nor the environmental condition that most
animals are used to, and even if they could, the over-comfort provided by zoos
cause animals to lose their instincts in the long term, and they will be unable
to adapt back to the harsh environment when repopulated. Rather than trying to
protect them in zoos, it would be much more effective to protect the animals by
preserving their natural habitats and prevent the poaching of these animals,
which are a key reason for their condition<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-85986760826676281102013-06-11T16:49:00.002+08:002013-06-11T16:49:45.928+08:00Education does not develop individuality but conformity<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The conception of an education
system came with the aim of equipping students with the necessary skills to
fill the jobs in the economy to make the country more productive. This form of
education is most efficacious when there is a fixed set of rules for those that
comprise it – it guarantees an entire batch of workers able to work efficiently
on the assembly line. As society develops, so has the system of education,
which aims to meet society’s needs. In a world where societies are becoming
increasingly meritocratic, education has become less about knowledge and more
about students’ achievements and grades, compelling people to avert from “the
road less taken”. As a result, education restricts one’s choices, and ends up
developing multiple individuals who are good at abiding by rules but lack
personal voices and interests. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">It is claimed by some that the
education system has diversified, allowing a vast array of choices for students
– we can now choose what school to attend, and what courses to take. The
choices individuals make, they argue, would be reflective of the differing
qualities and characteristics of each person. Theoretically, this argument may
hold true, but education today is not just as simple as they suggest. Granted,
it may be true that there is now a larger variety of choices for a student, but
the overwhelming need to conform to expectations overcomes it. On the most
basic level, students need to conform to the most basic school rules or risk
punishment. For instance, a large number of schools mandate a uniform appearance
– all students of the same school have to wear the clothes of the same design,
and there are rules about every single part of one’s appearance. Not only is
this inherently an expectation to conform, it conditions young minds to think
that their actions will represent that of the school, so anything that catches others’
attentions is deemed to be “bad”, and is frowned upon. This means that students
are discouraged from taking up courses commonly associated with unsuccessful people.
For example, Korean society expects its crème de la crème to study engineering
or medicine in university, although that may not be everyone’s cup of tea. This
is because they buy into the concept that people should practice what others
before them had done, because that is thought to be the “safe” route to success
which guarantees a stable income. As a result, those with good results are
pressured into taking these courses even if they find greater interest
elsewhere – a quarter of all Korean university graduates major in engineering. This
overwhelming expectation quells any earlier consideration of taking up a course
that one has an affinity or interest in, like the arts, which is vehemently discouraged
because it is seen to be a job with an unstable income. As a corollary of this,
heuristics are being taught in many societies, especially in Asia. For any question,
there is a thought to be a predetermined method to derive the answer that would
“guarantee” high marks. Students follow these “model answers” to meet the rigid
requirements present in national examinations to gauge the ability of students.
This means that they blindly apply formulas without understanding why these
concepts and formulas apply to solving the problem at hand. This encourages
rigidity in terms of thinking, and all that results from the system would be
people who can only excel in repeating what they have done before. Evidently,
students in the education system are not only overtly conforming to the school
rules, but they covertly begin to conform to society’s beliefs and mindsets
instead of developing their own, individual passions and qualities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Opponents of the thesis argue that effective
teachers can instill a sense of interest in learning in their students. As a
result, students will have a life-long thirst for knowledge. Despite the claim,
the truth remains that the system of education today creates obstacles for
teachers, which limits their ability rather than help them teach effectively. Most
education systems around the world today have national exams, because it is
deemed as necessary in order to determine the standard of the students. In the
face of these inevitable examinations, teachers rush to prepare students for
the multitude of questions to be tested. In such a circumstance, even a teacher
who believes in developing the interests of students has no choice but to focus
the bulk of his or her lesson on the curriculum to be tested. This is because
the education ministry gauges the ability of teachers based on how much improvement
students make in terms of grades, and focuses less on students’ holistic,
all-rounded development, something that cannot be measured accurately. In Singapore’s
case, parents that traditionally adopt the “kiasu” mindset fret over finding
tuition classes for their children sitting for the Primary School Leaving
Examination (PSLE), GCSE “O” Levels or “A” Levels examinations, while teachers feel
pressured to get as many “A”s in class as possible. Effectively, the
requirements of education as set out by the country’s government limits the
ability of teachers, even good ones. Furthermore, it would be idealistic to
argue that all teachers are as effective as opponents claim them to be – in many
cases teachers are more focused on getting students to do well in order to get
a raise in pay, as compared to trying diligently to help develop each individual
student based on his or her needs and interests. Anything outside the declared
curriculum is seen to be “unnecessary” or “irrelevant”. In addition to the fact
that teachers are limited by the requirements of the system, the school also
has to be accountable to society. Parents send their children to school with
the expectation that the latter group will gain knowledge and learn some
morals, and this expectation falls on the teachers and the school. Schools tend
to err on the side of caution because they are paid to take care of the needs
of students, so they are unwilling to take risks. However, to create a system
actively promoting individual development hinges on not just the curriculum and
the school rules – it comes with a large amount of risk. Encouraging
individuals to find out more about themselves necessarily means that teachers do
not advice students on what they should do – teachers let children develop without
interference. When a system is lax, it cannot identify children who are acting
abnormally and help them. As a result, if a child grows up in a poor living
environment, he is likely to be negatively influenced, and this is where a
hands-off system fails. It is exactly this that many schools are afraid of,
compelling them to hold a tighter leash on students and forces them to conform
to the rules, thereby limiting students’ ability to explore and develop their
interests. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Critics would argue that individuals
can spend time on their own outside of the school gates in order to develop their
own passions, because they are still able to choose what extracurricular
activities to take up and what activities they should pick up in their free
time. However, this is increasingly untrue in a world where the burden of
students keeps increasing. Students of today recognise that their future
choices hinge upon their grades – even with an outstanding co-curricular
portfolio, it all comes to naught if they cannot manage their academic grades.
This is because educational achievements are the determining factor of the
nature of one’s future – when hiring employees, many corporations today look at
the school the applicant attended, his grades, the scholarships he received and
so on. Hence, the students of today go to school not to gain new knowledge
about topics they are interested in, but rather in a mad paper-chase to build
up their portfolios. This generates an interest to focus more on academics,
equating to a heavier workload. This results in individuals unwilling to spend time
nurturing their own passions and interests – the time spent on learning a musical
instrument is thought to be better spent on revising more past-year physics
papers. Even if students pick up an activity that they are interested in, for
example a sport, it would take a backseat in students’ lists of priorities.
When push comes to shove, most students would rather drop their sport when the
national examinations approach, because the sport is unlikely to define their
future lives, unlike good grades achieved in exams. Hence, even outside the
school gates students are compelled to conform to society’s expectations of
them, instead of developing their own personal passions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The idea of rules is central to all
forms of education – people need rules to teach them the limits of what they
can and cannot do. For instance, a person cannot be allowed to search up the
steps needed to make a pipe bomb because the information can cause great harm
if misused. However, as are most things in society, rules are double-edged
swords. While it protects people from others, it also limits the areas of
interest because people avert from testing boundaries, making them conform to
what the government or society deems as “safe”. Ultimately, while some can
still have that personal space to develop themselves, and indulge in their
interests, education systems largely warn individuals against challenging
social norms, and force them to make decisions that may not be the best for
every individual in society. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-57707492872565664332013-06-08T21:27:00.001+08:002014-04-18T22:22:25.787+08:00America's Budget Deficit?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span lang="EN-US"> America’s debt crisis of 16 trillion dollars may come from great
spending in different areas, but these areas such as the military and
healthcare are all important expenditures. The key to solving the nation’s
problem would be to increase participation from the American public in solving
our problems.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span lang="EN-US">The
problem with the system is that there are too many loopholes. There are too
many people who receive what they do not require in the first place, or attempt
to cheat the system. We have recently charged 1,500 medical personnel for
falsely billing the Medicare system by 4.8 billion, majority of which actually
comes from the taxpayers. These are the people who<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: '', serif, '', serif;">add to our deficit
for selfish, independent reasons, and they do it at the expense of other
citizens in the form of taxpayer’s money. While these amounts are meagre
considering the size of the debt, the amount is enough to save many people from
their situations, and these sums of money will gather with time. In other
words, investing in the patching up of loopholes in the system will have a
great positive impact.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: '', serif, '', serif;">Although I recognise that there has been great scrutiny of Obamacare
being unconstitutional, there still exists a need for the government to
intervene in healthcare matters. All the rights of the people depend on their
existence, and this is in turn supported by a dependable healthcare system.
Since the government’s duty is to preserve the rights of the people, there is
an impetus for them to invest in healthcare, which falls under the general
health standard.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: '', serif, '', serif;">At the same time, I propose three solutions.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: '', serif, '', serif;">1) First, close all the loopholes in the system. There is no reason to
provide the richer portions of society with subsidies that they are well able
to pay for. The money that we save from this can be implemented into a more
progressive subsidy, where poorer people get more subsidies from the
government. In addition, we should reduce pre-emptive subsidy in general. There
is no requirement for the government to provide so thick a safety net to insure
people against events that may not happen in the first place. We will still
provide the services such as checkups and vaccines, but it is not compulsory
and we will implement an “opt in” system. At the same time, we need more
monitoring on the system, so we can weed out illegal billing of it.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: '', serif, '', serif;">2) Second, I propose to raise the debt ceiling. The nation is going to
burst the ceiling in the near future, which means that the country is unable
considered unable to pay back its debt. We cannot integrate cuts too greatly at
once, because that would cause small businesses to be unable to cut costs so
quickly. This means that we should integrate cuts in spending on unimportant
areas. At the same time, we should allow more loans to patch up our loopholes,
so that we can lower deficit in general in the future.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: '', serif, '', serif;">3) I also propose to increase taxes for Americans. . If we need to stop
the deficit once and for all, the people of the country are vital, and it is
naïve to expect the government to solve everything while the country sits back
to watch. Nearing the end of the Bush-era tax hikes means that both individuals
and corporations alike will need to pay more for the government’s service to
them. Recognise that the richer people have the ability of pay for these taxes,
and the increased amount we tax them will not even be significant for them.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><span style="font-family: '', serif, '', serif;">If all groups of society work together to recover lost money, use money
more efficiently by redirecting funds to more vital areas, I believe that we
will be on the right track to solving our budget deficit.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></div>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-22416060040190257932013-06-08T21:25:00.002+08:002013-06-11T16:51:05.706+08:00Natural Gas Fracturing <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">There
is a common consensus amongst everyone that the US is going to face an energy
crisis in the future. The world has increasingly sparse reserve of oil, prices
going up. Therefore, America went to find new alternatives, one of which is
natural gas.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Today,
let us talk about its advantages and its problems. Natural gas would seem to be
the best source of energy to rely on at the moment. It is much cheaper than the
current sources such as oil and coal. Its reserves are also in much greater
amounts than oil and coal, lasting until 2065.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">However,
the process of obtaining and refining the gas has its own share of problems.
When trying to create wells for the extraction of natural gas, there has been
the problematic usage of chemicals. Chemicals such as methane and radiation
have the capability to harm the environment, and this harm does spread to the
rest of the country.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Furthermore,
we need to think in the long term, where the only real possibility is to depend
on renewable energy sources as a source of power, and this possibility is best
developed now, as we continually discover new technologies to be more efficient
and effective. This would ensure a smoother transition over to renewable
energies.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I
propose two solutions. First, I propose to redirect some of our funding in
areas of subsidies and incentives. The problem we face is that some 79% of our
subsidiary spending is used on non-clean measures such as oil, coal and gas
exploration, while it could have been better spent on investing in other forms
of renewable energy. When there is so much spending on the oil and gas, then
companies and corporations have lesser of an incentive to develop and place
funding in the other renewable energies. Evidently, the conservative doctrine
of “burn it if we’ve got it” is a roadblock for our future energy usage – we
simply cannot afford to discard the energy crisis as relevant just because we
have a supply of gas for the short term. In comparison, I still recognize that
citizens still largely depend on current non-renewable sources as of now, so we
should shift our funding from subsidies to tax incentives for them, such that
those companies who do their job get rewarded. At the same time, we should
slowly shift our energy focus to renewable sources by providing subsidies for the
technological developments in these areas. This would encourage more
corporations to start looking into the area of renewable energy because they
are generally profit-oriented.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Second,
America should close up the loopholes that are present, for instance the
Halliburton loophole in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. This means that we should
clear up the definition that encompasses the idea of developing our natural gas
systems. Despite this year’s change in the EPA, we need to recognize that
things such as water bodies are not discussed. Granted, corporations cannot
release their wastage into surface water sources such as lakes, oceans and
rivers, but there is no mention of the aquifers and underground sources. There
is a need to end the vagueness in the policies that we create that allow for
exploitation. At the same time, we should not be wasting the gas that we are
trying to get in the first place. Gas leakage at our extraction wells are
costing us 15 million a year – by minimalizing this amount, we maximize the
usage of our spending in the area because a short term expenditure on the
system has a great long term effect on the amount of gas we obtain.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-49741351300952950522013-06-08T18:53:00.001+08:002013-06-08T18:56:05.090+08:00Data Analysis - Asian Universities?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7673458250984206250" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7673458250984206250" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgTIHokzbGN5RVIOSI4-T8stn1VqpmH-Vybv6_8xvZoO8Uv8YLTBUzkW_8cx1wj08dbDBKlgsUE4DaBKAwqI-PA1VEmD7i7pezSv85LPc27yDiIG7uzQcw820bbH6ss7rXrxDkMXeb-s0/s1600/Economist.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgTIHokzbGN5RVIOSI4-T8stn1VqpmH-Vybv6_8xvZoO8Uv8YLTBUzkW_8cx1wj08dbDBKlgsUE4DaBKAwqI-PA1VEmD7i7pezSv85LPc27yDiIG7uzQcw820bbH6ss7rXrxDkMXeb-s0/s320/Economist.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">- Taken from The Economist </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">This bar graph aims to show that Asia’s
universities are “gaining ground on their Western counterparts”, by plotting
out the number of universities in each Asian country that are in the Top 100 in
Asia. The representation here is clear, with Japan having 22 universities in
the top 100, while Malaysia only takes up one slot in the list. However, the
graph does not adequately prove what the article tries to say. First, there is
no comparison with the universities in the Western world. Even though Japan may
have 22 universities out of the top 100 in Asia, it does not necessarily mean
that Japan fares well on the international level. Without the comparison to the
universities in Western countries, readers cannot decide whether the statements
in the article are true or not. Second, there is no trend line of the changes
in numbers. If the article tries to prove that Asia’s universities are “gaining
ground”, then the graph needs to show a continuously increasing number of Asian
universities in the top international lists. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">However, some information presented on the bar
graph can be interesting to address. First, the visual can show a comparison
between the population size or land area and the number of top universities a
country has, and study if there is a correlation between having a larger
population and having a greater number of top universities. If there is no
correlation there, then what should countries try to do in order to get better
educational institutes? Second, there can also be an exploration of the correlation
between the number of top universities in the country and the enrolment rates
in these universities. Although the graph does present the gross enrolment rate
in each of these countries, is there any link between this and the number of
top universities that a country has? Or is it that the population figure
affects enrolment rates? These are the questions that can be asked by readers,
and the graph should answer them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">In general, given that education is such a
complex system, and there can be multiple factors that affect its proficiency,
more facts need to be given for the reader to understand what allows Japan to
have such a great number of top universities, and how proficient the Asian
universities are in comparison to their Western counterparts. This means that
the simplistic bar graph will not be sufficient in proving the point of the
article, and the information can be represented in other ways to allow readers
to understand the issue better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7673458250984206250.post-56864890010620298542013-06-08T18:51:00.000+08:002013-06-08T21:24:52.362+08:00Does the Book have a Future?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">As Oscar Wilde, an Irish writer and
poet put it, “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what
you will be when you can’t help it”. The books today still have a strong impact
on the makeup of its readers, even though it has undergone many changes in the
last few centuries ago. Back then, the book was only available for the rich,
educated priests – being literate was an important step towards being powerful.
However, as time passed and technology improved, literacy rates have gone up
and many more people now have access to the book. The book has evolved into a
formal medium in which information is passed on from writers to readers. In
spite of the rise of forums and social media, books will still be able to
maintain its popularity, instead of being squeezed out of business by changing
its form – from the printed text to e-books, electronic books for short, audio
books and micro books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Proponents would argue that the rise
of social media would lead to the decline of books, because social media is more
convenient and accessible, and provides a platform for people to share their
information, and this improves the quality of the final product. Books are just
a single directional way of transferring knowledge and ideas, while new media
like forum pages can facilitate discussion and collaboration amongst groups of
people. However, as opponents point out, the benefits that these new media
platforms bring are hinged upon the assumption that contributors are sufficiently
knowledgeable, fair and objective in their posts, something that we cannot take
for granted. However, books are more credible as authors need to be accountable
for their words, forcing them to be more careful with the accuracy of what they
say. In most cases, radical people with extreme beliefs are more outspoken on
these new Web 2.0, discursive media platforms, and their words leans towards
spurs of emotion. The moderate majority, however, is silent or less active most
of the time because they do not seek to impose their own ideals upon others in discussions.
This lack of proportionality creates warped perceptions that cloud readers of
these online forums. For example, the Kiasu Parents Forum, a commonly visited
site for Singaporean parents, is often flooded with feedback from parents
clearly unhappy with the Singaporean education system – they form a majority of
the posts on these forums, although the number of posts does not represent the
general sentiment of the people. Instead of pooling together birds of the same
feather, books which are typically written by professionals or experts in the
field, are more credible – they are actual people who are accountable for what they
write, as compared to that anonymous participant on the forum website, making
them more believable and trustable in the eyes of a reader. This means that
those who are really interested to understand the system better would still choose
to read books, which provide concrete examples to support their claims. This can
be seen through the heated debate over the quality of Wikipedia versus its
competitor, the Britannica. Wikipedia is not seen as a credible source for
obtaining information because it people are free to edit and add information
according to their personal inclinations without having to take responsibility.
As a result, many Wikipedia articles have inaccuracies that stem from an excess
of “cooks” which “spoil the broth”. In comparison, readers trust the Britannica
more, because the authors will be brought up to task in the case of
misinformation. The accountability of books and their authors makes them a more
accurate source to obtain information, a fact that many still recognize. This maintains
the book’s popularity as a form of information transfer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">There are some critics who would argue
that books will lose their prevalence in society because of the changing lifestyle
and literacy habits that do not complement the nature of book reading. To be
able to read, one needs to focus on the content of the book, which is difficult
in this modern day and age where people lack the patience to read, and are
always multi-tasking. A constant effort to focus to read a book and digest its
information will build into a habit of learning, a skill that it important to
everyone. The education system aims to encourage students to learn on their
own, and develop their own passions the long run, which they will pursue even
in the absence of mandatory homework. For example, the “Teach Less, Learn More”
campaign organized by Singapore’s education system seeks to encourage students
to take the initiative to independently learn more about specific topics that
they have a passion in. In addition, in other parts of the world, such as the
United Kingdom, the National Literacy Trust is heavily supported with nearly
six million pounds in donations. Its initiative, the “Gift of Reading campaign”,
encourages older students to read to the younger generation, which will
hopefully build up a culture of reading. This will help to expose students to a
variety of topics, spurring students to cut some time out from their busy schedules
to sit back, relax, and immerse themselves in the words of the author. In
response to the changes in the desires of the new technological generation,
authors have changed their style of writing. This led to the conception of the
e-book and self-publishing, where authors could appeal to a specific niche of
readers without relying on traditional publishers. Therefore, by changing the
form of the book, authors can now use audio and electronic content to broadcast
their stories and ideas to the new generation. Surveys across the world have
also noted that many that make up the new generation are extremely receptive
towards e-books and audio books. This is because they can access the author’s
words through their smartphones and tablets, which are be much lighter and less
bulky than the original book. The concept of the book has thus shown to have
changed and adapted to the different lifestyles of the youths of today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Another reason why people would
conceivably pick up a book to read is the fact that it is entertaining – it almost
seems as if one is transported through space and time into the imagination of
the author, giving people a sense of awe, and in some cases, happiness. Pessimists
of the future of the book would exclaim that the book will soon become impertinent
in the lives of the technologically savvy generation, because alternatives like
movies and video games now provide a clear image of the world depicted in books
– the fact that people can see the events of the book taking place right before
their eyes makes the story more appealing and believable. Despite this claim,
optimists point out that the problem with the high definition movies we watch
is that they tend to flesh out every single detail, which invariably leaves
little space for imagination. For fictional books, however, their magical
effect comes from the space the reader has to derive their own takeawys from
the words of the author. The beauty of language is that there can be certain
nuances, plays on words, and strong descriptions of emotion which can be
difficult, if not impossible to represent in a movie. Movies are developed by
directors, whose one opinion or interpretation may differ vastly from that of
other readers – the close bond between writers and their readers can best be
experienced when a reader finds his or her own personal meaning to the events
of a story, as compared to having it being told in the same way, with the same
biases portrayed in a movie. Therefore, the entertainment value may not exist
for some. Some want to have the experience of unraveling the intense story at
their own pace, and have their own interpretations of the ideas being put across
to them. This means that the book has its own unique ways of putting across
ideas to its readers, something that cannot be replicated in a movie or game. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Although there has been great
acceptance for the new social media platforms where people can interact and
share ideas, books will still remain. Books still fulfill their aims and
functions of providing new insights and ideas supported with credible examples,
so they will still have a vast audience. However to meet the desires of
society, the book will have to adapt as well, turning to alternatives such as
the e-book and the audio book, just like how people adapted from using sticks
to drawl words in the sand to writing using paper and pen. Thus, it is safe to
say that the threats to the book will definitely not squeeze this form of
information transfer out of existence, and the latter will be a part of our
lives for a long time to come. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Alexhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16800421633716719973noreply@blogger.com0