China VS India

India and China are now surpassing other long-standing powers like the United States with their booming economies and intricate cultures, while European and Western countries are now sinking into abyss with their debts. The two countries house many citizens, have economic and cultural similarities, and might spearhead global growth in the future. However, at this point, the two countries seem more of rivals then partners.

Rivals or Allies?

In the past, both races despised each other, with ugly perceptions of each other. However, in the modern world, since education has been largely emphasized in these developing countries, they have learnt to better embrace other races and tolerate each other. As a result, there have been changes to the way both races see each other. This makes me remember my history lessons – in the past, as a result of the misunderstandings between the races in Singapore, numerous riots broke out throughout the country, causing much unrest. The situation turned tables when Singapore developed into a harmonious, multi-racial country – now, neighbours of all races make good friends, helping each other in times of need. Soon, I believe that the racial barriers between the two countries will be broken down.

Even if the racial differences did not exist, the two countries still would not be friends. As a result of the two countries trying to develop their economies, China established a “string of pearls” in the Indian Ocean, while India is trying to do oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea, angering New Delhi and Beijing respectively. There might actually be a hint from this that the two countries are vaguely trying to provoke each other – both want to be the greatest power in the world, and are competing for the title. As a result of this mindset, the two hardly invest in each other, with Chinese investment in India being 0.05% of its total investment worldwide. This even extends all the way into the air travel industry – astonishingly, although the two countries are so huge, they hardly even have many direct flights connecting them.

Getting themselves in order

Before the ambition sets upon them to save the world’s economy, the countries have their own worrying problems that they have to solve first. China’s bubble is deflating, and exports are sliding, and inflation is devastating in both countries. The most obvious problem is probably the income gap – with the rich being ridiculously so, and the poor hardly even surviving. China is leading when it comes to bringing its citizens out of poverty, but the task of solving the problem is still daunting. While reading the article in the Times magazine, I spotted an interesting line – “While China doesn’t follow the rules, India has too many rules to follow.” Upon some thinking, I found this statement to be quite true. I just returned from Beijing, and realized that many laws in Singapore are not found much in China. The two most obvious ones I found were namely the ban on spitting, and the restrictions on smoking areas. Corruption is rife, and this has dented India’s reputation as well.

Perception vs. Reality

Western countries impressions of the two countries are through romantic and ideological prisms. Thus, India is gentle, with articulate and urban leaders, like those in New York. On the other hand, China is a scary country, represented by a fierce and fiery dragon which is threatening. This is because of Beijing’s profile and swagger. Beijing uses its power more often than India – they oppose anything and everything they dislike, from US actions to cracking down on political dissent and cyberspace activity. On the other hand, New Delhi was more accepting and tolerating of anticorruption protests. However, I feel that the main reason for this would be the differences in the political systems between the Western countries and Beijing. The Western countries ultimately believe that the best form of political ruling is democracy, while Beijing is an autocracy, so there may be some disgust at China’s method of ruling. However, not all democracies are countries with stable governments. There are many instances of human right abuse in India too, and though one man has one vote, it does not mean that he has equal voice. In the end, it is still the rich and the powerful that make all the difference.

Although China and India seem promisingly powerful, and the world will depend on their strength to pull through one day, they will have to be able to solve most of their current problems. With the corruption, will aid really reach other countries? With the poverty and violence, will the country be able to control itself? These questions need, and will be answered soon, and I believe that both countries really have to cooperate sooner or later.

Beijing Train Trip

The 16^th of November marks the day during which I embarked on a train trip to the capital city of China, Beijing with my parents and grandparents. This trip would be of two “firsts”. One being my first 24-hour train ride in a cabin, and the other being my first trip to Beijing. The rest of my family had already been to the country before, and I was anxious to go there too. I had read much about the country on the newspapers before, and wanted to visit the tourist spots, most of which were remains of Chinese culture.

The train cabins were very small, with a one-person width, and about three metres long. The cabin did not have any door, and had two bunk beds of three levels each. Looking back, the cabins seemed quite badly furnished. The top and middle layers were not even tall enough to sit up straight! Luckily, the bottom layer allowed more head space. The train we took there was quite empty, with most cabins only having one or two people inside. As a result, our cabin ended up being the most cram.

During most of the trip, we played a four player card game to keep us busy. There was not much else to do on the train – there was no television, and the train rocked too much for me to read my book. What was worse was that we had not brought enough snacks to eat! The people from other cabins were all prepared, bringing along snacks like peanuts and instant noodles. As a result, we were forced to buy the food from the train. To my surprise, the food, although relatively cheap, was quite good!

The train ride was a good chance for us to rest well before our hectic schedules in Beijing. I really enjoyed the experience – the small place proved its coziness, and I managed to interact more with my grandparents and get to understand them better. At the end of the trip, my feelings about the trip were bittersweet - a mix of enjoyment yet a feeling that I did not want to take such a train ride in the near future. This reminded me that I still had to take the train back to Hong Kong, making me think of how I should prepare for it!

The Important Factors of a Good Education

In today’s world, more and more countries recognise the importance of educating the younger generation, especially Singapore, who has already risen in its academic ranking to above that of USA’s. In my opinion, I believe that it is important to work hard. Firstly, there a person needs to work hard in order to improve himself. Malcolm Gladwell found out in his calculations that even supposed natural need to work hard for at least 10,000 hours before he has a chance to achieve success. Secondly, it is important to have a conducive learning environment with people that are better than you. This gives a person the incentive to work harder to try to surpass the people around him. This forms health competition in which one is driven to excel. For example, when John sees that Tom’s results are better than his, then he will want to work harder in order to do better than Tom the next time. Thirdly, the students must feel motivated to work hard and do better. If John wants to become an expert in the area of science, and eventually become a respected and reputable scientist, then he would be motivated to work hard towards that goal. People without an aim in mind cannot achieve much. In the end, it boils down to what the parents teach their children about. If society’s parents are relaxed on their children, and do not expect them to work hard, and most of the children will just influence each other and the average academic grades in the country will drop. Parents trying to force children to work hard will discover that this technique only works on younger children. Nevertheless, it is also important to groom a child from young. If parents inculcate the right learning values and attitude, learning, instead of being a chore, can become an enjoyment. Also, teaching them good learning habits such as working ahead of time and not procrastinating, then they would be much more motivated to work hard.

An example of this is the US education system. Californian public schools used to be the finest in USA, were well-funded and well-run, with excellent teachers. However, they are now a disaster, ridden with so many problems that it has become irreparable. The US’ results have been sliding, falling behind many countries in Europe and Asia, like Singapore, to the 26^th overall.

The result of a poor education system like the one in the US obviously has its toll upon society. In USA, the dropout rate it 25%, and 14% of high school dropouts unemployed. As such, we can also observe that academic results are directly linked to a person’s future. Thomas Edison once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration – it is nevertheless important for a country with many talents to work hard to groom them. If the country continues like this, then the next generation will find that they are lagging behind other countries in Europe and Asia, and will find it harder to compete in the job market.

Population Explosion

The world population has recently risen to 7 billion- 6.5% of the number of humans ever born. Even though that is already a gigantic number of people that we have to care for, clothe and shelter, the good news is that we have the resources available to support this huge number of people in the world. Especially since almost 50% of the world’s population is made out of youngsters, those below 25, it means that education and healthcare is especially important in today’s world. The world definitely has the schools and hospitals to serve all these youths – they are abundant in the Western countries, and are now starting to pop up all over Asia too.

However, the main problem we have now is that these hospitals and schools are not always where the people are. For example, populations are booming in places like Africa and Somalia, but these places simply do not have the ability to support the growing population in their country. As a result, the surplus resources cannot reach the citizens of other countries. The current situation is as such – there are 1 in 8 people who are undernourished, 1 in 3 people lack a hygienic toilet, and 1 in 3 city dwellers lives in a slum. Essentially, we see that people who need help don’t get it. As a result of this, many people from poorer countries are now migrating over to the countries which provide more welfare and more protection. Consequently, the people in Singapore are complaining about the heavy influx of foreigners here.

The population explosion now may cause many problems, but there is always a silver lining to every cloud. Although the huge number of people may seem overwhelming at first, it is important that we are prepared for the future. Also, it is important to note that the young will soon enter the workforce, then boosting general economic growth.

Some interesting facts: 50.4% of the world population is male. This shows the obvious change from the past, especially in China, when the people no longer have a preference for male children. Women are now provided more power and rights- more job opportunities and such. Although the Internet now seems extremely widespread, with the growth of computer and android companies, there are actually 73% of people who do not use the Internet – this is probably because of the huge number of people in poorer states and nations like Africa.

Should fines be proportionate to income?

Should a person be fined proportionately to his income? This is a topic worth pondering.

Law is meant to uphold the five tennets of justice- restitution, where what society has lost due to a crime is given back to it, retribution, where the one who commits the crime is punished, deterrence, which instills fear in the hearts of the people who commits crimes, isolation, which isolates the criminal to make him repent for his crimes, and rehabilitation. In this case, restitution, retribution and deterrence are involved.

After all, it makes no difference at all whether it is a rich person, or a poorer person who parks at a lot reserved for the disabled- the end result is still the same- the disabled have nowhere to park. Since both cases inflict the same damage upon society, they deserve to be punished equally.

Also, the law should treat people equal- in the eyes of the law, all Man are equal. Thus, they should be fined equally regardless of how much he is paid. For example, if a person with an extremely high salary is charged for a petty crime such as shoplifting, it is not right for him to be charged 10,000 for it.

However, on the other hand, fining should be a form of deterrence. When people are deterred, they are less likely to commit the crime for fear of having that fine taken from him. However, in current situations, having 5000$ taken from him is nothing, on the other hand, it is a lot to the poorer person. For both the rich and the poor to be equally deterred from committing crimes, the fines need to be higher for the rich person.

Also, when companies are fined for crimes like worker abuse and pollution, the fines definitely need to be proportionate to how much they gain. For bigger companies like SMRT, they monopolize the Singapore transport market. If the same fine is charged, then they can easily pay for the fine, and simply not change. For example, SMRT was charged only 10,000 for train delays. This amount is extremely small for such a big company, and was easily paid. Therefore, we see that we need more fines in order to force them to improve their standards.

Thirdly, governments like Singapore have income tax, and since progressive tax is used in such cases, we can also apply such a case in the situation of fining. The rich are able to pay more without having too heavy an impact on their lives, and can support the higher fines. After all, the fines go back to the government to help other sectors of Singapore, and the money obtained will ultimately go towards helping the people in the country.

In conclusion, imposing fines that are proportionate to the offender’s income will lower the number of offences. Should a person be fined proportionately to his income? This is a topic worth pondering.

Law is meant to uphold the five tennets of justice- restitution, where what society has lost due to a crime is given back to it, retribution, where the one who commits the crime is punished, deterrence, which instills fear in the hearts of the people who commits crimes, isolation, which isolates the criminal to make him repent for his crimes, and rehabilitation. In this case, restitution, retribution and deterrence are involved.

After all, it makes no difference at all whether it is a rich person, or a poorer person who parks at a lot reserved for the disabled- the end result is still the same- the disabled have nowhere to park. Since both cases inflict the same damage upon society, they deserve to be punished equally.

Also, the law should treat people equal- in the eyes of the law, all Man are equal. Thus, they should be fined equally regardless of how much he is paid. For example, if a person with an extremely high salary is charged for a petty crime such as shoplifting, it is not right for him to be charged 10,000 for it.

However, on the other hand, fining should be a form of deterrence. When people are deterred, they are less likely to commit the crime for fear of having that fine taken from him. However, in current situations, having 5000$ taken from him is nothing, on the other hand, it is a lot to the poorer person. For both the rich and the poor to be equally deterred from committing crimes, the fines need to be higher for the rich person.

Also, when companies are fined for crimes like worker abuse and pollution, the fines definitely need to be proportionate to how much they gain. For bigger companies like SMRT, they monopolize the Singapore transport market. If the same fine is charged, then they can easily pay for the fine, and simply not change. For example, SMRT was charged only 10,000 for train delays. This amount is extremely small for such a big company, and was easily paid. Therefore, we see that we need more fines in order to force them to improve their standards.

Thirdly, governments like Singapore have income tax, and since progressive tax is used in such cases, we can also apply such a case in the situation of fining. The rich are able to pay more without having too heavy an impact on their lives, and can support the higher fines. After all, the fines go back to the government to help other sectors of Singapore, and the money obtained will ultimately go towards helping the people in the country.

In conclusion, imposing fines that are proportionate to the offender’s income will lower the number of offences. Should a person be fined proportionately to his income? This is a topic worth pondering.

Law is meant to uphold the five tennets of justice- restitution, where what society has lost due to a crime is given back to it, retribution, where the one who commits the crime is punished, deterrence, which instills fear in the hearts of the people who commits crimes, isolation, which isolates the criminal to make him repent for his crimes, and rehabilitation. In this case, restitution, retribution and deterrence are involved.

After all, it makes no difference at all whether it is a rich person, or a poorer person who parks at a lot reserved for the disabled- the end result is still the same- the disabled have nowhere to park. Since both cases inflict the same damage upon society, they deserve to be punished equally.

Also, the law should treat people equal- in the eyes of the law, all Man are equal. Thus, they should be fined equally regardless of how much he is paid. For example, if a person with an extremely high salary is charged for a petty crime such as shoplifting, it is not right for him to be charged 10,000 for it.

However, on the other hand, fining should be a form of deterrence. When people are deterred, they are less likely to commit the crime for fear of having that fine taken from him. However, in current situations, having 5000$ taken from him is nothing, on the other hand, it is a lot to the poorer person. For both the rich and the poor to be equally deterred from committing crimes, the fines need to be higher for the rich person.

Also, when companies are fined for crimes like worker abuse and pollution, the fines definitely need to be proportionate to how much they gain. For bigger companies like SMRT, they monopolize the Singapore transport market. If the same fine is charged, then they can easily pay for the fine, and simply not change. For example, SMRT was charged only 10,000 for train delays. This amount is extremely small for such a big company, and was easily paid. Therefore, we see that we need more fines in order to force them to improve their standards.

Thirdly, governments like Singapore have income tax, and since progressive tax is used in such cases, we can also apply such a case in the situation of fining. The rich are able to pay more without having too heavy an impact on their lives, and can support the higher fines. After all, the fines go back to the government to help other sectors of Singapore, and the money obtained will ultimately go towards helping the people in the country.

In conclusion, imposing fines that are proportionate to the offender’s income will lower the number of offences. Should a person be fined proportionately to his income? This is a topic worth pondering.

Law is meant to uphold the five tennets of justice- restitution, where what society has lost due to a crime is given back to it, retribution, where the one who commits the crime is punished, deterrence, which instills fear in the hearts of the people who commits crimes, isolation, which isolates the criminal to make him repent for his crimes, and rehabilitation. In this case, restitution, retribution and deterrence are involved.

After all, it makes no difference at all whether it is a rich person, or a poorer person who parks at a lot reserved for the disabled- the end result is still the same- the disabled have nowhere to park. Since both cases inflict the same damage upon society, they deserve to be punished equally.

Also, the law should treat people equal- in the eyes of the law, all Man are equal. Thus, they should be fined equally regardless of how much he is paid. For example, if a person with an extremely high salary is charged for a petty crime such as shoplifting, it is not right for him to be charged 10,000 for it.

However, on the other hand, fining should be a form of deterrence. When people are deterred, they are less likely to commit the crime for fear of having that fine taken from him. However, in current situations, having 5000$ taken from him is nothing, on the other hand, it is a lot to the poorer person. For both the rich and the poor to be equally deterred from committing crimes, the fines need to be higher for the rich person.

Also, when companies are fined for crimes like worker abuse and pollution, the fines definitely need to be proportionate to how much they gain. For bigger companies like SMRT, they monopolize the Singapore transport market. If the same fine is charged, then they can easily pay for the fine, and simply not change. For example, SMRT was charged only 10,000 for train delays. This amount is extremely small for such a big company, and was easily paid. Therefore, we see that we need more fines in order to force them to improve their standards.

Thirdly, governments like Singapore have income tax, and since progressive tax is used in such cases, we can also apply such a case in the situation of fining. The rich are able to pay more without having too heavy an impact on their lives, and can support the higher fines. After all, the fines go back to the government to help other sectors of Singapore, and the money obtained will ultimately go towards helping the people in the country.

In conclusion, imposing fines that are proportionate to the offender’s income will lower the number of offences. Should a person be fined proportionately to his income? This is a topic worth pondering.

Law is meant to uphold the five tennets of justice- restitution, where what society has lost due to a crime is given back to it, retribution, where the one who commits the crime is punished, deterrence, which instills fear in the hearts of the people who commits crimes, isolation, which isolates the criminal to make him repent for his crimes, and rehabilitation. In this case, restitution, retribution and deterrence are involved.

After all, it makes no difference at all whether it is a rich person, or a poorer person who parks at a lot reserved for the disabled- the end result is still the same- the disabled have nowhere to park. Since both cases inflict the same damage upon society, they deserve to be punished equally.

Also, the law should treat people equal- in the eyes of the law, all Man are equal. Thus, they should be fined equally regardless of how much he is paid. For example, if a person with an extremely high salary is charged for a petty crime such as shoplifting, it is not right for him to be charged 10,000 for it.

However, on the other hand, fining should be a form of deterrence. When people are deterred, they are less likely to commit the crime for fear of having that fine taken from him. However, in current situations, having 5000$ taken from him is nothing, on the other hand, it is a lot to the poorer person. For both the rich and the poor to be equally deterred from committing crimes, the fines need to be higher for the rich person.

Also, when companies are fined for crimes like worker abuse and pollution, the fines definitely need to be proportionate to how much they gain. For bigger companies like SMRT, they monopolize the Singapore transport market. If the same fine is charged, then they can easily pay for the fine, and simply not change. For example, SMRT was charged only 10,000 for train delays. This amount is extremely small for such a big company, and was easily paid. Therefore, we see that we need more fines in order to force them to improve their standards.

Thirdly, governments like Singapore have income tax, and since progressive tax is used in such cases, we can also apply such a case in the situation of fining. The rich are able to pay more without having too heavy an impact on their lives, and can support the higher fines. After all, the fines go back to the government to help other sectors of Singapore, and the money obtained will ultimately go towards helping the people in the country.

In conclusion, imposing fines that are proportionate to the offender’s income will lower the number of offences. Should a person be fined proportionately to his income? This is a topic worth pondering.

Law is meant to uphold the five tennets of justice- restitution, where what society has lost due to a crime is given back to it, retribution, where the one who commits the crime is punished, deterrence, which instills fear in the hearts of the people who commits crimes, isolation, which isolates the criminal to make him repent for his crimes, and rehabilitation. In this case, restitution, retribution and deterrence are involved.

After all, it makes no difference at all whether it is a rich person, or a poorer person who parks at a lot reserved for the disabled- the end result is still the same- the disabled have nowhere to park. Since both cases inflict the same damage upon society, they deserve to be punished equally.

Also, the law should treat people equal- in the eyes of the law, all Man are equal. Thus, they should be fined equally regardless of how much he is paid. For example, if a person with an extremely high salary is charged for a petty crime such as shoplifting, it is not right for him to be charged 10,000 for it.

However, on the other hand, fining should be a form of deterrence. When people are deterred, they are less likely to commit the crime for fear of having that fine taken from him. However, in current situations, having 5000$ taken from him is nothing, on the other hand, it is a lot to the poorer person. For both the rich and the poor to be equally deterred from committing crimes, the fines need to be higher for the rich person.

Also, when companies are fined for crimes like worker abuse and pollution, the fines definitely need to be proportionate to how much they gain. For bigger companies like SMRT, they monopolize the Singapore transport market. If the same fine is charged, then they can easily pay for the fine, and simply not change. For example, SMRT was charged only 10,000 for train delays. This amount is extremely small for such a big company, and was easily paid. Therefore, we see that we need more fines in order to force them to improve their standards.

Thirdly, governments like Singapore have income tax, and since progressive tax is used in such cases, we can also apply such a case in the situation of fining. The rich are able to pay more without having too heavy an impact on their lives, and can support the higher fines. After all, the fines go back to the government to help other sectors of Singapore, and the money obtained will ultimately go towards helping the people in the country.

In conclusion, imposing fines that are proportionate to the offender’s income will lower the number of offences.

The Tea Party

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

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

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

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

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

Poem On Old Major (Animal Farm)

Old Major said

Men were no good,

And wished so bad

For just a tad

Of freedom, when

Animals would rule forever.

The time did come

But not before

He kicked the bucket.

Old Major’s dream was shattered,

His hope lost.

Oh, how wrong he was back then.

He had said that

All the milk had been drunk

By the hateful bunch of Man.

Yet, when Napolean was in rule,

All the milk still had been drunk.

He thought that

All animals would be free,

When Man let them be

Oh, how wrong he had been!

For Napoleon had become

The tyrant, and the animals

Slaves.

Old Major’s life was so sad

For no one remembered a tad

About what he had done.

All his efforts seemed nulled,

His hopes and dreams liquefied.

Alas, what a sad life he had led,

For what he expected

Not having affected

The doomed future of Manor Farm

Wake up 30 Minutes Earlier Every Day

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

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

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

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

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

Yemen Riots

Newsweek, March 28 2011

A Future Up in the Air

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

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

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

The Tissue Issue that won’t go away

Straits Times, April 28 2011

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

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

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

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

All steamed up over nasi lemak

Straits Times, May 2, 2011

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

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

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

Poly grads look to rack up experience

Straits Times, April 30^th 2011

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

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

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

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

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

Extend Edusave to home-schoolers

Straits Times Forum, April 30^th 2011

Most Singaporeans start going to primary school at six years of age. However, there is a minority that decides otherwise, they want their children to be homeschooled. For example, a family feels that their children will benefit under their own teaching, and think that they can teach more effectively than schools.

However, they have to provide full details on the curriculum and a detailed timetable. Furthermore, the cut-off marks are higher than those who attend school. Most importantly, they are not given Edusave at all. This denies them of the chance to go overseas for attachment programmes. This definitely puts them at a disadvantage, as they can learn many things on these overseas programmes. The parents nowadays are very concerned about what the children learn, both in the short and long term.

Many parents who home-school their children are now frowning in disagreement. They complain that although they still have to be taxed all the same, and the parents still make sacrifices, their children are put at a even higher disadvantage. They think that they are unfairly penalized just because they want to take responsibility over their children’s education. However, I think that they are actually not really helping their children when they home-school them. This is because, when their children are homeschooled, they do not interact with others of the same age. They will therefore not have enough experience on how to make friends and get along with other people, which can be learnt greatly in school, where children have to do compulsory projects. Also, they will not know much about cooperating with others, which is vital in the corporate world, where they have to do many group projects and have to cooperate with others. School is a microcosm of society, and they will have an insight on what society is like.

I agree that Singaporeans should be disincentivised to home-school their children. This is because they may not learn the things that the government thinks is necessary for them, since they may not study the same syllabus as their friends that go to school. Therefore, I think that it is fair for the government to give disincentives to discourage children to be home-schooled.

Inside the Danger Zone

Newsweek, April 11 2011

On 11^th of March, the infamous tsunami and earthquake struck Japan, and caused huge damage to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The damage has been extremely widespread, and the situation is as bad as the Chernobyl incident. Japan has set an exclusion zone 20 kilometres from the power plant, and do not allow anyone to enter. It has been measured that the area within this 20 km has radiation 4 times the level that is considered safe for human beings. Although no one has been killed by the radiation, the seas and the ground have been poisoned. This has led to worries of the people that their dietary staples- fish, produce and drinking water will be unsafe for consumption.

Many countries are now venturing into the area of using nuclear power as an alternative to fossil fuels, as the amount of energy produced is huge, and the nuclear power plant can operate 24 hours a day. Unlike fossil fuels, most of the waste can be recycled, and the byproducts do not harm the environment. However, I think that using nuclear power should be discouraged. This is because, although the accidents are rare, the amount of damage caused by one incident is so huge that it is not safe to even risk it once. For example, in the case of Japan, the land and water in the surrounding area has been polluted, and will affect the produce and the fish caught, endangering the lives of the citizens who eat these poisonous foods. Although one might continue to argue that it would be okay to set up a nuclear power plant in countries that are less prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, it is still unsafe even with these security measures. Japan’s government made sure that the nuclear power plant was built in a “non-earthquake prone place, yet the earthquake still struck the power plant.

In addition, the waste disposal methods are dangerous. When the waste is disposed, it is possible for the radiation to leak out, polluting the ground and waters again, thus affecting the lives of the people. The radiation is not only widespread, but also long-lasting. If any waste leaks, then the amount of damage done will not only be high, but will also last for many years, affecting the people and the country in the long term.

Thus, I think that countries should try not to invest in nuclear power, and instead focus on using other alternative sources, such as solar, geothermal and hydroelectric power.

What is the role of the opposition?

Straits Times Forum, April 12 2011

Through the years, the opposition parties have grown in strength and influence. Many of them are getting more votes, and their popularity has risen. Some examples of opposition parties include the Worker’s Party and Singapore Democratic Party, and they are all getting more support from their fellow Singaporeans.

In my point of view, the opposition parties have a certain role if they get into Parliament. Firstly, they represent the voices of the general public in Singapore. This makes sure that the opinions, whether good or bad, from the people are taken into consideration, and are not swept under the carpet and go ignored. I think that this is important. The voices of the people are fundamental as they are opinions, and they can help the ruling parties to make adjustments in the system. The opposition voices out the comments of the people to the Government such that they can be taken into consideration.

The opposition can also result in a two-party or multi-party system. If the Government fails, there will be more people in different parties to act as a backup and support the Government, easing the ruling in times of crisis. The opposition can also act as extra brains to help think of suitable solutions palatable to the current situation and the problems.

More importantly, the opposition provides a check-and-balance where all the initiatives of the other parties are reviewed, and if they are unreasonable, taken down. The purpose of this is to make sure that all alternative ideas are seriously considered before being implemented. For instance, if one of the ruling parties comes up with a initiative, and the opposition decides that the net help provided is too low, they can look through the initiative and debate with the current ruling party on whether the initiative is reasonable and helpful.

Currently, the Singaporean government is trying to include more seats in Parliament for opposition parties. Hopefully, the opposition will carry out their roles well and benefit Singapore and its citizens on a whole.

“Teach less” burden shifted to parents

Straits Times Forum, April 9 2011

Recently, the Ministry of Education has implemented the “teach less, learn more” policy in Singapore, resulting in the decrease in the amount of things taught in the classroom. Some parents feel that this is unreasonable, as they say that they have to go to work, and therefore, the children are not able to ask any questions.

In my opinion, I think that this policy is good to a certain extent. With the policy, the students can plan out their time carefully, and focus on what they need improvement. If a student is extremely good at graphs, and the school is focusing on graphs, the student will end up wasting time in school. This policy is also good because it allows the student to focus on his interests and have more time to study in depth topics that they find fascinating. For instance, if a student enjoys learning algebra, he can study it in more depth, while research on other topics like geometry less.

More importantly, the students will have to learn at home either from their parents, tuition teachers, or search for their own information. This is because not all the tested syllabus will be taught in school during class. However, it instills a sense of independence on the child, gearing him up for the future. When the student grows up, he has to eventually step into society and enter the corporate world. In the corporate world, there is nothing much taught to you by the office. Therefore, one needs to be resourceful and independent. Allowing them to find out ways to learn things will give them these skills for them to be successful person in their working lives.

However, there is a problem with this policy. If the students are not taught the basics first, they might not know which part of a broad topic to learn. I feel that the students should at least be taught the basics, and for students of younger ages, they should be told what topic of each subject will be tested, aiding in their preparations.

Sportsmanship in Sports

Have you been injured when playing sports? I am sure most of you have. Almost everyone has been injured before, and a graze or cut is common due to falls or skids. However, there are some cases where people are intentionally hurt by the opposite team because their opponent's team has won the game. I am sure that most of us have heard about the ugly brawl broke out between the ACSI and St Andrew's secondary schools after a rugby match. A St Andrew's Secondary School student punched ACSI's flanker Leonard David Wee when his school lost 8-7, leaving the ACSI student with a bloodied mouth and nose. This incident put the spotlight on sportsmanship. The Committee on Safety in Sports Schools made it clear in a report that the parents also had a role to play in their children's upbringing in sportsmanship, together with the coaches and the teachers.

I agree with this point of view. Although it is still the responsibility for the teachers or coaches to teach them, they only teach and supervise them on their ability in the sport, and the parents are responsible for the child's behaviour. Children learn more quickly from their parents and they are with them for a longer time than the coaches are with the children, so the parents have more time to teach them how to behave. Additionally, they can teach them the values of fair play, integrity and respect through stories or games. They should also behave in a sportsman-like manner as the children will learn from them.

The coaches should also do more than just teaching the children. The government has made it compulsory for coaches to be qualified in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of a defibrillator. I think that this is a good idea. When the student faints during training sessions, the coaches would be able to help to provide medical help before professional help arrives. This will decrease the chance of a student dying from his injuries. Extra safety measures should be implemented, however, for sports like basketball, judo, taekwondo, rugby and soccer, where there are high degrees of contact between competitors. There is more chance of injuries in such sports, and coaches need to be more alert and careful.

In my opinion, the children should also play a part in their behaviour. They definitely should be more disciplined and not allow their emotions to get the better of them on the playing field. If they lose, they could just accept the fact that they did not perform as well as their opposition during the match. That way, I am sure that fewer fights will occur, naturally leading to the decrease in injuries. For example, when Roger Federer met Rafael Nadal's family along the corridor, they greet and hug each other warmly even though Nadal had just lost the match to Federer in the ATP World Tour Finals. This is the spirit that the children should adopt- to sincerely congratulate the winner even if you have lost.

Competitions are not all about winning. They are also about having sportsmanship. Some people have no sportsmanship if they cheat just to win a competition. Shouting at the referee or opposite team when one loses is also considered having no sportsmanship. Winning is just an additional bonus that you get if you are stronger than the other side, and the process of preparing for the competition is the most important, as that is when you learn the most things.

My First Day at My Secondary School

"Hwa Chong, Ke Ba Ba! Ole Ole Ah Ah!" I was seated in the hall, watching my seniors cheer loudly. It was my first day at my new secondary school. I was in Group 2 and my group had two buddies who would lead us for the orientation days. I was very astonished that such a small group of people could cheer so loudly!

The buddies led us to our classroom to play some ice breaking games. One of the games was Whacko and its objective is to remember who the people in your group are. To start the game, one person stands in the centre of a circle of people. One person that is seated had to yell out someone's name. The person in the centre would need to run to the person and hit him with a stick before he says somebody else's name. That person would have to say another person's name before he is hit by the person in the centre. I was the one standing in the centre. I ran around, trying to hit one person. "James!" Someone in my group shouted. I ran to James and was about to hit him. Suddenly, he shouted out, "Alex!" Everyone roared with laughter. He was only allowed to call the other people seated and he was not supposed to call me. Later, we found out that he did not know who I was and had just memorised it earlier, when we were introducing ourselves! I felt that the games were interesting, and also allowed us to know each other.

That day, we also practised our cheers. We were asked to cheer as loudly as possible. The freshman beside me complained, " Cheering gives me sore throat! Why do we need to cheer?" We were still very soft because we were self-conscious- I had never done this sort of things before! "Come on everybody! Cheer louder and put your heart into the cheers! We cheer to show that we are proud to be part of Hwa Chong, and we love the school!" Our buddies reminded. Later on, we cheered louder and louder and before I knew it, I was cheering at the top of my voice. Magically, the cheers made us high-spirited and made us feel like part of the school!

During lunch, we rushed to the canteen. I was happy that there were not many people there yet. I queued up at the noodle store and saw that there were two queues. "The store must have made two queues due to the crowds," I thought. I chose the shorter queue and was excited that it was almost time for me to buy the noodles. The aroma coming from the store was so nice! To my dismay, when I was reaching the front, my friend in the other queue told me that I was queuing in the wrong line! That was not the ordering queue- it was the queue to wait for your noodles. By then, the ordering queue was so long that it snaked to the stairs behind. Since recess time was almost over, I had no choice but to switch to the mixed rice store because it had a much shorter queue.

That day, we also had many other activities, including the Amazing Race, the learning of the school song and painted our group flag. These activities were also very interesting and made us know our school better.

The first day at my Secondary school was one to remember and I had lots of fun. All of us looked forward to the next day and I hoped that the next day would be just as fun.

Combating Climate Change

The ground trembles and cracks appear on the ground. Rain stops falling from the sky. Volcanoes belch out huge amounts of lava and putrid smoke.

These natural disasters are happening more and more often, and people attribute this to global warming and climate change. Nowadays, it seems inevitable that we see a new warning or the horrendous damages done due to climate change. Farmers have less crop yields, water supplies are down, and the frequency of natural disasters is increasing.

Everyone is familiar with the topic- the factories give out greenhouse gases, which mainly consists of carbon dioxide. The gas traps some of the Sun's heat, but the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are so much that the average temperature is increasing, which is global warming in other words. This has changed the climate and weather. In the 1930's the scientists had noticed that the temperatures in North America and Europe had been rising, but they had then thought that it was only happening there and was not happening elsewhere. However, English engineer Guy Steward Callendar, believes that rises in the world's temperature were due to human's burning fossil fuels and so releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Thirty years down the road, scientists had proved that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was increasing, but it took another 30 years before the world started to take notice and the United Nations Earth Summit met at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Many governments took part in this meeting, and people started to make a commitment to reducing greenhouse gases for the first time.

The meeting did not do much and they gathered again in Kyoto, Japan, and in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was introduced. The EU and Members of State ratified the protocol in May 2002. The developed countries commit themselves to reducing their collective emissions of six key greenhouse gases by at least 5%. This group target will be achieved through major cuts of 8% by Switzerland, most Central and East European States, and the EU, 7% by the US, 6% by Canada, Hungary, Japan, and Poland. New Zealand, Russia and Ukraine are to stabilise their emissions, while Norway may increase emissions by up to 1%, Australia by up to 8% and Iceland 10%. These targets are to be achievable by the period 2008-2012. Demonstrable progress towards meeting their targets must be made by the year 2005. However, the protocol is about to expire soon, and they are not aiming to renew the protocol. Also, the director of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University thinks that the world would take another 30 more Kyoto's before the climate change problem is cut down to size.

The countries gather for meetings yearly. Last year, they met at Copenhagen, Denmark, but their commitments were too difficult to achieve and nothing much was done. This, year, however, the meeting in Cancun this year bore more fruits. They recognised that current emission pledges need to rise, and setting a target of limiting a rise in average world temperature to below 2 deg C over pre-industrial times. They also created a fund to channel money from the West to developing nations by establishing a US$100 billion annual green fund that will pay countries to protect their forests and help them with new technology in areas such as weather forecasting and risk management.

Another problem of climate change is that it will allow more insects to survive in more places. Mosquitoes have recently been found in places where they have never been seen before and people are catching malaria in places where people living there 20 years ago have not seen a mosquito.

The main culprit of climate change is the carbon dioxide released by us, so scientists are scrambling to find renewable sources of energy which are clean and green. Currently, wind power, tidal power, solar power and nuclear power can be harnessed. Wind energy is clean and all you need is a turbine, a generator, and wires leading to power stations, but wind energy is unreliable and can only be harnessed when there is wind around. Wind turbines also spoil the landscape according to some people. Tidal power is also clean, and large amounts of energy can be harvested through tidal power, but they require large areas of land for dams to be built, and have a devastating effect on local habitats and wildlife. Solar power is probably the most common form of energy harvested, but it is inefficient, expensive and can only be used in the day. Nuclear power can harness a great amount of energy and can meet 6% of the world's energy requirements. However, they are dangerous to build and explosions like the Chernobyl incident in 1986 can cause huge amounts of damage. The Chernobyl incident released 30-40 times the nuclear fallout than in the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Harvesting nuclear power also produces nuclear waste which can stay toxic for up to 100 years.

We have reached a point when humans have to make a choice. Scientists that study global warming say that we have little time to do anything. However, if we take action fast enough, temperatures will not continue to climb and the dark future looming ahead of us can be avoided. To stop the worst effects of global warming from happening, everyone has to do their part. There are two possible futures ahead of us and I am sure that we all want the better one. We should do all we can to save our Earth and stop global warming before its ugly effects reach their peak.

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Problem Gambling and the Casinos

About a year has passed since the casinos in Singapore have opened. Both casinos, the Marina Bay Sands resort, MBS, and the Resorts World Sentosa, RWS have indisputably brought more money and tourists to this tiny red dot. In the first nine months of 2010, tourists have spent $13.7 billion, resulting in the 47% increase in the amount of money spent in the same time period last year. Singapore Tourism Board expresses that there are six categories of spending- sightseeing and entertainment, which includes spending at the two IRs, shopping, accommodation, at food and beverage outlets and medical expenditure. The increase in the amount of spending in the sightseeing and entertainment category increased the most, surging by more than 13 times over the same period last year. They attributed this increase to the spending in the two IRs.

Before the casinos were set up, the Minister of Health was strongly against this plan, and each time the Singapore Tourism board pushed forward the proposal, he would object to it and requested them not to go for "easy options", but to think hard about how they could be special and still attract the tourists without building a casino. STB tried- they tried using the Haw Par Villa, Volcano Land, remaking Sentosa many times. Meanwhile, Singapore's market share in tourism continued to shrink. However, when all other attempts did not work, Mr Khaw finally changed his mind when he saw the economical benefit was huge and the y could not ignore the many and much needed jobs that it would bring to Singaporeans. He had noted then that the prospective investors that were willing to put in astronomical amounts of money were prepared for more than one casino and they were confident that the rising Asian market was large enough for more than one casino. They were all ready for the foreign gamblers' arrival and were also confident that the amount of gamblers could support the casinos.

The casinos have many good points. Firstly, they bring in jobs for the public, and those working there do not need many skills. Hence, the casinos reduce the unemployment rate significantly in Singapore. Secondly, they bring more money to the country, thus improving the economy, and giving the government more money to spend on other important things like healthcare for the elderly, youth education, and infrastructure. Thirdly, they will attract more tourists to Singapore, who will contribute to the spending too, like in the report on the spending in the first nine months of this year. Fourthly, the IRs will introduce MICE tourism. MICE stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibition. MICE is a very lucrative business and will attract many tourist to Singapore for meetings. In addition, they will be brought to the casinos on the incentive-based trips, where they will spend money. Also, these tourists may be businessmen here to set up exhibitions centres to advertise their products to the general public. There will also be performances in the IRs, including the newly set up Crane Dance, where ten-storey tall metallic birds dance in front of an estimated 1,000 audience.

However, the IRs is a double-edged sword. They have their disadvantages too. Gambling brings many social illnesses, such as pathological gambling, which is, in other words, gambling addiction. Pathological gambling is a serious mental disorder. It can cause huge damages to the person's health as well as that of his loved ones. They tend to bet more frequently and with higher stakes. They become restless and irritable easily when other attempt to stop them from gambling, and possess serious withdrawal symptoms. Some former addicts share their fearful experiences with gambling addiction. "I feel as though I am hypnotised when playing jackpot. It helps me to relieve stress. Also, I have friends at the gaming room and we are very supportive of each other." "I can't understand why I keep gambling. I always lose. Once I pay my creditors back, I return to gambling… I can't understand it."

I am sure everyone knows the Chia Teck Leng case. On 2 April 2004, Chia Teck Leng was sentenced to 42 years in jail, the longest jail term meted out for the largest case in commercial fraud in Singapore to date. He was a finance manager at Asia Pacific Breweries and he forged documents to cheat banks out of S$117 million over four years to feed his gambling addiction. Previously, the worst commercial fraud case was only held by Singapore Airlines' employee Teo Cheng Kiat, who embezzled S$35 million from the airline for over 13 years. He was convicted in 2000 and jailed for 24 years for the crime. It is scary even just to think of the astronomical amount Mr Chia cheated the banks of.

The amount of cases of gambling addictions has tripled, according to statistics released by the National Addictions Management Service, NAMS. Mr Thomas Lee, the acting chief of NAMS, has said that the number of gambling addicts has jumped from 5 per cent in 2007 to 17 per cent last year. He also expresses that most gamblers are 40 year old males that bet on soccer matches, lotteries and casino-related games. One patient says that he had a constant urge to gamble and he would lose all rationality when he had the cash to gamble. He had spent his over 1,000 dollar salary in a matter of days countless times and had even stolen his wife's money and valuables. Luckily, he went for treatment and is looking forward to the next chapter of his life.

In my opinion, gambling seems very addictive and it is easy to lose track of time when gambling. One's hard earned life savings can be gambled away in just a matter of days. In this aspect, gambling is scary, and addiction is even more so. Some casinos say that "The House always wins", and gamblers or would-be gamblers have to take note of that. Remember Mr Chia Teck Leng's experience. Although that is an extreme case, it will serve as a good deterrent. I am sure that no one wants to be jailed for 42 years. Some people get addicted more easily than others, and if your friends gamble twice a week and not be addicted, you can do so too. . However, it will be better not to gamble at all and not risk being addicted.

The Copyright Wars

    Many people have copyrights, including writers, singers, and companies. These people have copyrights that give themselves exclusive rights over the reproduction, distribution and adaptation of their work. However, in recent years, the anti-copyright movement has been on the rise, and the Internet provides quick interconnectivity between the users all over the world, making the cost-free reproduction and distribution of music files, books and movies possible. Activists that support the anti-copyright laws often argue that the Internet itself has already made current laws for copyright extinct. They think that many creators believe in giving others the right to copy and modify their work in order to achieve more exposure to the outside world in the modern times. Others argue that copyright represents a smart monopoly and giving such exclusive copyright to their work discourages further creativity.

    So far, the most infamous display of the anti-copyright movement is the suing of the four founders of The Pirate Bay. They are reportedly the biggest company that provides free files for the public to download and is based in Sweden. In the 2009 European Party elections, another unrelated organisation that developed in almost the same way in Sweden, it is the third largest political party outside the national parliament. In the end, they garnered 7.13% of the total votes, earning them a seat out of the eighteen that was allocated for Sweden. Its aim is to reconstruct and reform copyright and patent laws, as well as to protect the rights to privacy of the individuals, arguing against the right of the government to look at the email messages, SMS' and the phone calls of the public.

    In June last year, Swedish Software company Global Gaming Factory X AB said that it would buy over The Pirate Bay and turn it into a paid site that would operate on a "give-and-take" model that paid users to share files and would compensate content owners. According to other sources, it is in the process of buying it over, since they have estimated that it could be turned into a legitimate business. The latest survey done by The Leading Question, which is a specialist media and technology research agency reveals that as far as British teenagers are concerned, they are participating significantly less in file-sharing. In 2008, UK teenagers were downloading 842 illegal tracks per iPod, but this number decreased by 5% in half a year. The 14-18 year olds made the biggest drop, decreasing 16% from 42% from 2007-2009. Tim Walker, the CEO of The Leading Question, said that he believes that the best way to beat piracy is to create big, new, licensed services that are easier and more fun to use, and provides unlimited MP3 downloads as well as unlimited streams.

I strongly think that there should be a law to protect the exclusive rights of companies over their work. Those who share files in public should be caught and charged. If the public is allowed to share files freely across the Internet, then those who sang the songs, wrote the books, and acted in the movies will not be able to earn enough money to feed them, because they can only earn money when they sell copies of their CDs or books. I think that, like the case in US, record companies that have been suing college students have a right to do so. The Recording Industry Association of America, the RIAA, estimates that illegal music-sharing worldwide costs 12.5 billion each year and causes 71,000 job losses in America. This has been going on for long enough, and in my opinion, those who share files should be charged accordingly. Judges should be strict with perpetrators, as in the case of Jammie Thomas-Rasset, where the jury decided to fine 80,000 for each of the 24 songs she posted online for the public to download for free. I support the 13 Hollywood studios which are calling for The Pirate Bay to be closed. I also agree that with what Tim Walker suggested. The more user-friendly websites will definitely attract much more people to go to them. I think that people should respect companies more and not download illegal downloads- think of all the people who worked hard to create the tracks. Shouldn't we acknowledge these people?

    In conclusion, I think we should respect the law and download only from websites with licenses. Musicians, actors and writers are all professions and they need to earn money for their families. They need money to survive too. Organisations like The Pirate Bay prevent them from earning money. On top of that, those businessmen who sell CDs, movies and books, will have no business and they too, will suffer. We should respect the law, not only for the sake of these people, but for you. If you are found guilty of downloading illegal tracks, won't you just be creating more trouble for yourself? You may even risk getting charged by the law. Stop using illegal websites and help not only yourself, but also others!

A Day to Remember

    The 21^th of December was important day for me. Schools have model students, and I have a "model day" too. Yesterday was a fruitful day for me, and I have set it as a model to follow in the holidays. I opened my eyes at 7.45 a.m. and read the newspapers until 8.30, and my mother brought me out for a delicious breakfast at Holland Village. After my meal at Ah Koon Kaya Toast, we headed to my primary school, where I collected the 2010 year book and my PSLE certificate. We then drove home and started doing some work. My mother went through the Sec 1 Higher Chinese Textbook with me, and we easily read a quarter of it by 11.00 a.m. I was surprised that the textbook was so easy, and was thinking that the Chinese next year would be easy, until my mother reminded me that, through my brother's experience, the Chinese would be easy.

    After a short water break, I proceeded to do a blog post on an important milestone I made on the 20^th, and I finished the essay in 30 minutes. Then, my parents and I went to a gym in my neighbourhood and we spent the next hour there. I did a variety of things there- sit-ups, running on the treadmill and using the cross-trainer. I found the cross-trainer the most tiring. I had been doing this for some time already, and I did it to keep myself fit. I enjoy my workouts there even though I will be exhausted by the time I finish, and there is even a television there to watch. After reaching home, exhausted, I took a break for lunch and started on my research for my second blog post on the current events happening on the Korean peninsula. Halfway through my typing, I thought about how much I had improved in generating my own ideas about a topic. I relived the time when I first started my blog and took hours to write an essay, and I had troubles even writing a 400 word event that happened recently. Now, I have improved much more and can write on more complicated topics now. I smiled to myself, happy that I have made significant progress in one and a half years.

    It was already three in the afternoon when I finally finished my post, and I practised my daily piano to relax. After I practised for 40 minutes, I rested for another 20 and I started on my mathematics at 4p.m, finishing after two hours. I then squeezed out 40 minutes for a current events discussion and headed for my tuition after dinner. We did a few questions on a video during the tuition and I went to bed directly after I came home. That night, as I gazed at the stars, I thought of the interesting day I had. I had done many things that taught me a lot that day, and I felt happy. If I had all my days like these, I would improve a lot in both studies and sports. I would also feel very cheerful. Before I fell into a blissful slumber, I thought the stars winked at me…

The Rival Koreas

    On the Korean peninsula, things are not good. Tensions between the two rival Koreas are strained since the North shelled the South Korean island, Yeonpyeong Island. The drill which the South carried out on Yeonpyeong Island agitated the North and the North retaliated, shooting over 50 artillery shells at South Korea, killing two civilians and two Korean Marines. This attack has been the worst on the South Korean territory since the Korean War ended in 1953.

    Despite this, South Korea was set on carrying out another drill on the border island yesterday. The North had threatened to retaliate, this time even more badly than the last time. However, South Korea ignored this warning and one of the Defence ministers said that there was no plan to cancel the drills. They added that the only factor they were looking at was the weather. They still carried out their drill yesterday. According to reports, marines fired 1,500 artillery shells into the water, pointing in the direction of the South, like the last time. However, the mercurial North Korea did not retaliate and when asked why, they replied that they felt that it was not worth reacting one-by-one to military provocations. The U.S. State Department said that the South's exercise was defensive in nature and the North had been warned beforehand, so there is no reason for the North to retaliate to South Korea's drill, which lasted only about 90 minutes.

    Beijing is considered North Korea's most important ally and has been urged to use its influence to change the North's decision to attack the South, but it was unclear if the changed decision by the North had to do anything to do with China. However, China and Russia have been asking the two Koreas to avoid any actions that could inflame tensions on the divided peninsula. These two countries are part of the UN Security Council, together with the United States, France and Britain.

    Interestingly, not only did the North not retaliate to the drills by South Korea, they even offered to allow United Nations inspectors back to the nuclear site, and also started selling fuels rods again, potentially to the South. Last month, they also showed a US scientist a new, highly advanced uranium facility and a plutonium plan, which can provide a new way for them to build atomic bombs. This shows that they are prepared to give up their plutonium programmes, which is the source of the fuel rods. Pyongyang, the city where the government is, has even agreed to consider the New Mexican's governor's (Mr Richardson) proposal for a military commission between the US, the two Koreas, and a separate hotline for the Korea's militaries. Mr Richardson hopes that these actions from the North will signal a new chapter and a round of dialogue to lessen tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

    I hope that the two Koreas can come to a consensus through peaceful talks, and bring safety to both sides. I think discussions would be a better way to improve relationships between the Koreas, instead of repeated retaliations, which may result in the needless loss of lives. I hope this tension between the Koreas will resolve soon, before war breaks out, to allow the presence of peace again.

An Important Milestone

I froze, not knowing what to say- my mind was blank. I did not know what to say. I had just written down some points on an article discussing on whether teenagers should be held liable for their own online comments. However, I just could not recall a single thing to say in front of my mother, who was listening. This is one of my biggest problems- to stand up in front of someone and speak naturally about a topic. However, to get into my dream CCA, debates, I knew that I had to work hard to overcome it. In the allocated time that I set to overcome this problem, I was unable to do much and I decided to do more the next day, the 20^th of December.

Yesterday, I finally had a breakthrough. First, my parents asked me to repeat simple sentences like "My name is Alex Cheong" and "This is wrong. If everyone does that, the world will be in trouble" in as many different tones as possible- angry, sad, timid, arrogant etc. Then, I said out a topic on "My Dream House", one of the blog posts I had recently written. My mother used a video camera to record it down and it took me quite a long time before I had finally gathered every ounce of my courage to stand up in front of the camera and say out the words. It was not very natural at first, but I managed to get the hang of saying it, and before I knew it, I had finished speaking for four whole minutes. It was difficult task, but I did it in the end.

Both my parents and I were over the moon, and I was proud that I had broken this speaking barrier and could speak up. I think that this is a big milestone for me. With this improvement, I can continue to practise more until I have built a strong foundation in this aspect and can continue to build on this to improve further. I am sure that with constant improvement, I will be able to get into the debate CCA in my secondary school!

The Fight against Secrecy

Discussion has been ongoing on the topic. Many big and important companies have to do with it. It even involves the U.S. It is the WikiLeaks incident.

Once Private First Class Bradley Manning downloaded tens of thousands of cables to a CD-RW disc at the Iraq U.S. Army outpost, he immediately broke 18 U.S. laws which criminalises unauthorised computer downloads. He then allegedly sent all these files to the self-described freedom-of-information activist Julian Assange and his revolutionary website, WikiLeaks. But these were not just any cables. They were secret U.S. files that contained 76,607 U.S. military files on the Afghanistan war effort and close to 400,000 war logs from Iraq. Both of these files contained unreported civilian deaths and many incidences of abuse. To make matters worse, a batch of U.S. State Department cables that exposed diplomatic cables of all sorts were released, and WikiLeaks claims the number of these files released will eventually number to 251,287. Out of these, 11,000 documents were marked secret, and the release of just one of them, as classified by the government's definition, would cause serious damage to national security.

Following the U.S. government's call, many companies have stopped serving WikiLeaks- the Bank of America, MasterCard, PayPal and Visa Europe has closed down the accounts that provided funds for WikiLeaks, and Amazon.com has removed WikiLeaks from its server. However, many hackers, also known sometimes as hacktivists, in support of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, have gone as far as hacking some of these companies' websites and shutting them down. However, the Bank of America is confident about its website's security. Security experts have said that their website provides access to the customers' accounts through its home page, but it would be a hard nut to crack for hackers, and the bank has a lot of experience warding off hackers already. In response to this, WikiLeaks has called for its supporters to boycott the bank urging that "all people who love freedom close out their accounts in the Bank of America".

On the other hand, naturally there would be others that are against WikiLeaks. Hackers on this side carried out denial-of-service attacks on the WikiLeaks website, preventing the public from accessing the website. Both sides of hackers keep launching attacks at each other, making it seem like a reality war game.

The repercussions of the Wiki Dump are only beginning to play out. In North Korean government which is in Pyongyang, the nuclear-armed regime of Kim Jong Il learned that its long time protector, China, may be turning on it and is willing to contemplate unification of the peninsula under the leadership of Seoul, in which lies the South Korean government. In Iran, the president discovered through the leak that while Afghanistan is publicly nice to them, they are actually pleading with the U.S. to launch an attack against Tehran's nuclear program. Soon, many secrets about many countries will start to show. Countries will both gain and lose, and the secrets between countries will lessen. However, things are not looking good for the founder too. Mr. Assange is being accused of sexual assault, but his lawyers have heatedly argued that these allegations are trumped up just to put him behind bars.

In my opinion, there are advantages and disadvantages in this leak. For the advantages, I feel that this leak will allow some countries to understand other countries better, and know the things that are happening around the world. Take the instance of Iran knowing Afghanistan better as an example. However, the leak will release confidential information that the U.S. does not want to release, and this is not favourable for the country. I feel that those that hack the opposite's website is wrong to do so. Although those that are against WikiLeaks say that the hackers that support Mr. Assange started it, they should set a good example and not start using denial-of-service attacks to retaliate. If they do so, then they are also in the wrong.