Why China kicked Google out

If we take a closer look at modern China, we would find that things are really different from before. To start with, whilst in the past, most Chinese have always been living in agricultural areas, in 2 to 3 years time, this number would be overtaken by people living in the city. For Chinese living in cities, already about 45% use the computer or the internet, and this percentage will no doubt grow quickly in the years to come, as Chinese become increasingly wealthy.

Today's China is definitely not a true blue communist country, nor is it a democratic country, but one day, with more Chinese being western-educated, and with the world being increasingly globalized, it would have to path its way to democracy, or part-democracy.

However, in this path, what determines the speed of its progress to socialist or democratic ideals, and what determines the weight of democracy it places in its current political system? There are many factors - the receptivity and tolerance of the people towards the government, the freedom of people - economically and socially etc.

And in the center of these factors and the people's concerns is the fact that there are still many sensitive issues yet to be solved - the Tibet and Xin Jiang political instability, the rapidly appreciating yuan, the widening gap between rich and poor, the challenge to urbanize rural and agricultural areas etc.

If the central government does not solve these problems before releasing democratic powers to the people, it would cause too much political instability in China due to unresolved unhappiness, which is detriment to the developing China, whose current government is responsible and efficient.

As such, if the citizens are too quickly exposed to Western values, especially online, where un-backed criticism of China's political system is rampant, then it would not be beneficial to the current gradually steady regime, where problems need to be solved and tackled by a firm and responsible government.

As such, I think China has made the right decision to part ways with Google, when the company threatened to quit after attempts by the Chinese government to hack and censor information. Political freedom is not what China needs at the crucial moment of its development. It needs one single firm government that can concentrate on tackling economic and social issues.

Mas Selamat's Family

No Singaporean doesn't know Mas Selamat, the infamous Jemaah Islamiah leader whose escape from Whitley Detention centre in 2008 brought much embarrasment to Singapore. However, few know about his family, without whom Mas Selamat would not been able to successfully escape.

Two days after he fled from Whitley Detention Centre on February 27, 2008, Mas Selamat put a tudung over his head and wore make-up as part of his disguise as a Muslim woman, which successfully aided him in his trans-country escape attempt.

But this could not be done without family members who harboured him in their HDB flat two days after his escape.Family members - Asmom, his borther, Nu Ainin Asmom, his niece, Aisa, his sister-in-law, as well as Mahadir, his nephew, not only provided a place to sleep and gave him food and drinks, but also lent money to him and offered him their hairnets, sarong to disguise as a woman.

As a result, when Mas Selamat was being re-captured and re-detained in Singapore in 2009, his family were also arrested for helping him, and were all sentenced to over a year period of jail. Clearly, the government wants to send a strong warning message to all Singaporeans that anyone who aids terrorist activities would face serious consequences.

However, has the government not considered that the motivation behind the aid offfered by Mas Selamat's famaily is not one of supporting terrorist cause, but more of kinship and family love towards their family member?

The government claimed that "kin's acts don't reflect on community", and asserted without evidence that "all Singaporeans across the communities will feel disappointed with the actions of Asmom and his family". Putting words in our mouth, the government seems to picture our coomunity as one that should be totally impartial, even to a the point of betraying your borther?

Will you turn your wife or your mother to court if you found out she was actually a terrorist leader? Of course not.

The government should really be more humanitarian in their judgement.

Students studying in groups in the library, rushing through their daily homework; students tapping furiously at the keyboards, their eyes sweeping through lines and lines of words; students dashing past, running to their next destination for their important lectures. Throughout their entire globe, a phenomenon is happening. Students and adults alike, are faced with a constant pressure that they have to bear: stress. Is stress really an unwelcomed visitor into our world, our society and our private lives? Undoubtedly, it is. It sweeps through the entire nation, entering houses stealthily under the cover of darkness, and like a gas, it enters our bedrooms, sliding through the doors and affecting everyone, causing people to do several extremist means, such as committing suicide, just to escape.. On the other hand, committing suicide may not be the only result of stress, in fact it actually even leads to self-motivation and peer pressure, which causes people to do better than usual.

Stress is constantly surrounding us, like how the hot and humid weather bears down its weight upon us. People may believe that stress is harmful to oneself and may even affect one’s grades. However, self-motivation may also bloom from one’s stressful life. For instance, someone who leads a stressful life and is able to cope with stress, and has poor grades and a poor attitude to life, may be saddened by his grades and in the end, he is able to activate the potential that is innate in him, through self-motivation. Stress activates self-motivation as the willingness in him to do well and excel is present. Therefore, one may think that stress is harmful to one, but yet, they do not think of the benefits that stress may bring.

There are different types of motivation, such as self-motivation and peer pressure. All these contribute to the benefits of stress. However, one may never understand how peer pressure can help oneself. When there is stress, the people around you will also be affected. As you are self-motivated, you will become more hardworking, more efficient and faster as you finish your work. The people around you will soon become under the same pressure as you are as they are afraid to lose out to you due to our students’ competitive nature. This will cause them to undergo peer pressure, by being afraid to lose out to others. For instance, would Usain Bolt exceed his limits and expectations running on a track with competitors around him, trying to push him to his limits or would Usain Bolt exceed expectations and perform better just by running on a track with the stadium empty, devoid of any people? Therefore, one may think that stress is harmful, but it indeed brings some benefits.

However, there are also banes in which stress will harm oneself while leading a stressful life. Indeed there are some who will succumb to pressure, committing suicide in order to be able to escape and getaway from this stressful life, and while no one expects to commit suicide without reason, undue stress can compel one to do the unthinkable and this can happen to anyone who face stress. For instance, one who leads a stressful life and is unable to cope with the amount of stress may think of escaping, as a resort to remove the burden off their shoulders. They have a totally contrasting and different mindset as compared to those who have a competitive nature, as they will never succumb to the thought of committing suicide or other extremist means in order to escape from reality. In true fact, those who are competitive will continue on, constantly trying to get ahead of the others. Therefore, stress has banes too, such as the extreme cases of people committing suicides.

Stress is a double-edged sword, it causes people to be motivated, be it through peer pressure or self-motivation and it also causes the unthinkable to happen, like one committing suicide, through the pressure and burden on their shoulders. One must never be narrow-minded and just consider the banes of stress. Instead, one must be able to understand the true meaning of stress and the ways in order to cope with it, in order to be able to use it effectively and to his own advantage. We can disregard the importance of stress and brush it off as an unnecessary evil visitor in our lives. Yet we can also embrace stress head-on and turn it into motivation for oneself and for others.

I believe in facing stress, then choosing periods of time to avoid it totally. In this way, I can complete my task yet still enjoy the process fully.

Don't sell your flat?

I was amused when MM Lee said so.

The government, as we all know, has been extremely worried over the property market recently, and have taken many measures to protect young citizens who simply want and need a roof over their heads.

Cooling measures such as compulsory time levy before public property can be sold, construction of more government HDB flats etc. have all but proven to be effective in really cooling down the market and its increasing transactions that pushes prices of public property up.

MM and PM Lee have over the past few months, not only come up with policies, but also seized opportunities and occasions as platforms to subtly influence the public to treat property as "homes", instead of "assets" through talks and speeches.

As such, when MM Lee pointed out so explicitly an "advice" that Singaporeans living in HDB flats should not sell their flats away, it was surprising.

If residents do not sell their flats away, it would easily translate into less supply, and increasing demand, as more and more foreign workers and young couples seek public property for cheap housing. And this would mean that property prices would further appreciate, as foreigners generously fork out more and more money to get property.

If we look at this matter from a personal view, it would equally be as stupid to keep property. MM Lee mentioned that "With economy growth, your property value would keep appreciating, so it would be stupid to sell it away now".

30 years ago, property prices were 10 times cheaper than what they are today, due to globalization and increasing wealth of Singaporeans. Faced with a bought-low, can sell high situation, why wouldn't Singaporeans be tempted to earn a handsome profit from transactions, and use the profit to buy a landed property? Besides, will things really turn out like what MM Lee said? Analyst have predicted that the property bubble would most likely break in 2 years time.

The government's policies of constructing new property and upgrading old property isn't fast or effective enough. The root of the problem is over-surge in foreigners and PRs, because they are the ones who continuously push property prices up, with their wealth.

The government needs to regulate the number of foreigners entering Singapore, if not, young couples who need homes, really cannot compare to their wealth limit and purchasing power.

Media Coverage: The Other side of the story

With reference to 16/11/2010 Today article "Cover both sides of the story", I would like to strongly agree with Mrs. Lim on her concerns that newspaper should portray both sides of the story.

Mrs Lim, in her comment, has indeed reflected an important point, that the government has failed to mention, or deliberately ignored. Of course, we don't the extreme scene of sensational news and entertainment reporting, but at least at least, we want the government to give journalist a bit more freedom such that it doesn't reach the level of sensational news, but instead reaches the level of a "balanced news" that presents both sides of the story.

Mr Shanmugum pointed out that it is vital Singaporeans "make decisions based a common source of information and news". However, is this "common" source of information equivalent to only propaganda and stories that put the government in good light, yet deprives citizens of the rights to make decisions after knowing both sides of the story.

One very good example would be the recent gang fights. These are fights that involve death and very serious injuries, and have these gangs have proven to disrupt the peace of neighborhoods and reputation of our country. Such serious social problems, however, gets pinned down by the government one day later with statements saying that these gangs are only "street-corner gangs" that consists of teenagers that are "afraid" themselves, and finally saying that there is no need to take any drastic measures to crack down on these gangs, telling readers not to worry.

Isn't this clearly a sign of the government protecting itself from constructive comments from netizens such as "police should be more alert", "government should have found out earlier", the "government is doing too little to ensure our security"?

The government uses these statements of saying that "there is no need to panic" to protect the fact that it has not done enough to crack down on gangs, yet two days later, the government started to come out "crack down" measures to ues force and investigation to quickly solve the problem.

As such, from these one-side news, should we be wary when in face of these gangsters, or not? Should we really take measures to protect against these gangsters, or should we follow the government's protection statement of relaxing?

Lastly, one-sided news that only favour government policies, usually suppress complaints from the minorty that are urgent and apt, but are not published just because they portray the government in the bad light. As such, these actions made these resident unheard in our society, which claims to be "democratic".

With this, I rest my case here, and hope my post would not be deleted by the government.

Singapore gangs

The recent appearance of “street-corner” gangs such as “369” has shocked many - the government, netizens and citizens living in small neighborhoods. While one week ago, one may think that local gangs have been eradicated, this assumption is totally proven wrong one week later, with a serious gang fight (over 10 casualties, 3 dead) in Bukit Panjang.

It may seem foolish to join gangs, especially in partially law and military state like Singapore. However, if we sit down and take the time to properly think of this matter, we would realize the gravity of this social problem - from the overwhelming drivers that encourage youths to join gangs, to the overarching adverse social effects this would bring.

The most attractive factor about gangs that encourage many youths nowadays to join, is the fact that is gives these youths, who mostly come from broken families or have family problems, a sense of identity, and a false sense of brotherhood and home, which actually merely translates to fighting and playing in arcades together in reality.

For some, they can easily be victims of bullying in school themselves, or are cowards want or are afraid to step out of their “security zone”. These timid people join gangs, usually prestigious ones to seek a sense of security and safety, as well as to gain back their confidence, because they are not afraid only when they are all together.

Why do we often find that youths involved in gangs have unsatisfactory academic results? The reason is simple - students who have lousy grades often lose their sense of usefulness and worth, as well self-confidence. As such, they join gangs because only in street-corner gangs, they can easily score A1 in things like gaming, billiard, poker, drinking, drub-abusing, and fighting, and this helps them regain their sense of worth and self-confidence.

Lastly, some of these youths are simply lonely - they may be the only child in the family, or live in broken family. They simply want to seek entertainment with a bunch of friends that can accompany them.

So, what dangers do these timid, lonely or cowardly youths exactly bring to Singapore, that caused it to be such a hot topic?

Firstly, because these youths have a strong desire to prove themselves, and find their confidence, they often get involved in fights, and more major gang fights such as the recent one in Bukit Panjang. From these gang fights to a small action of throwing away a beer bottle, these actions do endanger residents, and threaten the peace of the neighborhood. Even if the physical consequences are not serious, residents will constantly live in fear and cannot have a peace of mind.

Furthermore, gangs often go to pub and disco places such as Clarke Quay, which happens to a tourist attraction too, due to its night clubs and beautiful scenery. If vulgarities, cigarettes, beer, rowdy / violent behavior is what Singapore has to show these foreign tourist, then Singapore’s reputation as a safe city and “global hub” would be tarnished.

Lastly, gangs also have personal harms to the youths themselves. When in a mob attitude, they often do not think clearly, and may do foolish actions, such as drug abuse, gang fighting, that can easily lead to years of imprisonment.

As such, the government should and must seriously consider the social gravity of this issue and carry out some feasible measures to solve the problem. These youths are inherently timid, so the government can suppress them and eradicate them using force. Once they are not in mob, the government can also consider giving them counselling to regain their confidence, or set up associations that operate classes to help them pick up a skill that can secure them reasonable-paying jobs, so that they can find their sense of worth.

Obesity Problem

Recent reports show that already 10 - or 10.8 per cent of the population are obese. This may seem like a small number but estimations show that by the two decades, this figure would potentially triple, and this is a indeed a worrying trend.

There are many reasons and causes that lead to this mysterious trend. As a netizen pointed out, due to increasing urban development and industrialization, coupled with Singapore's already small land space, there are really indeed less "playing field" and other outdoor space and facilities. This attributes to the inability for children to gather together to play outdoor games, especially in urban areas, where the at 15 minutes walk to "nearby" parks further discourages children from stepping out of their comfort zone in their homes.

Not only is there inconvenience for outdoor activities nowadays, there is also increasing convenience for indoor activities, such as using the computer and going to the internet over the past decade. From the introduction of computer, macintosh and advanced software, to increasing broadband speeds (1 gb), and more and more internet social networking platforms, games etc. The computer indeed provides much convenience in work, as well as fun entertainment for modern kids.

And all these really do discourage "computer couches" from exercising, walking, as well as carrying out other activities outdoors. It seems that their most frequent position is that of sitting in front of the computer, since they can also interact with the world through email and networking sites. Lack of exercise, even small exercise such as walking causes the accumulation of fats, which will eventually lead to obesity.

The seriousness of the problem is further gravitated by the fact that at the turn of the century, food is and will never be as healthy as before. For example, it has become difficult to find chicken without steroids nowadays. With advanced technology, even potato can be fried over 4 times again to ensure that it is heated! The general increase in oil and unhealthiness in food greatly explains the increase in acne, body oil and fats in youths today.

So what? Reports show that today, 47% of people over 60 years old have either heart attack, diabetes or stroke problems, whereas the figure was only around 24% 30 years ago. This clearly illustrates how an unhealthy lifestyle would lead to serious health problems.

Medical science has also proven that obese people have generally less stamina, physical endurance and energy. This can easily be translated to frequent spells of fatigue and lack of energy experienced in work, that might affect work performance.

And not only are obese people physically compromised, being fat my also affect their psychological well-being too. It is a foregone conclusion that obesity has always carried that heaviest social stigma, alongside with pre-marital pregnancy and bachelorship at old age. Manifestations of this can be even spotted in school where discriminatory terms such as "fatso", "freak", "pig" are common.

As such, it is vital that we protect our own well-being - in health, physical, and psychological by at least not only watching the food we eat, but also maintaining a exercise routine that can be sticked to consistently.

Obesity Problem

Singapore censorship really good?

With reference to Today 06/11/2010 headline article, "Good for US, but not for Singapore".

Media censorship has long been a controversial topic debated over elite schools, criticized among netizens, as well as younger Singaporeans who have been influenced by the Western culture and idealogy of "freedom" and "liberialism".

The fact that the PAP is carrying out media-censorship over media platforms such as local newspaper, online and TV news reporting etc. is definitely. If one visits foreign online news portals, he would only find the same "breaking" news only days after in our Straits Times newspaper.

Although this matter has been ignored by many of the older generations, it started to become a hot topic for the younger generation elites at the turn of the century, with advancing information technology that effectively connects Singapore to Western culture. Complaints of "lack of sensational news", "inability to see the true story behind bigger events that happen in Singapore" are rampant, but slowly died down as they get ignored by the government.

As such, many are confused and determined that Minister of Home affairs, Mr Shanmugam, is indeed digging his own grave, when he released a press statement, that is predicted to be controversial, and will spark up past debates and more controversy over this issue.

However, it is instead understandable why the government is explaining its stand. There are really only a few controversial actions that the government is doing that raises public unhappiness, especially with increasing number of educated population. As such, with the General Elections around the corner, the PAP tries to "clear up" some of the unhappiness raised among the public, which one significant one is the complain of lack of democracy, freedom and liberalism.

However, what Mr Shanmugam said is not all bullshit. Although it is true that with one of hthe few motives of making government policies look good, there is an element of party interest involved in censorship, there are also true advantages of controlling the media, and giving news presses less freedom and independence to do whatever they want.

In U.S., 4/5 of newspapers published report mainly sensational news - deliberately finding faults in governmental policies, satiring of recent nationals events, focusing more on actors and actresses etc., so much so that the news reported have already deviated from its objective of reporting news. This motivation is fueled by the need and desire to earn more money, as the public would no doubt be more interested in sensational news, and it strips the public of real or sufficient news information and updates.

Furthermore, over-fast news reporting often leads to riots and rebellions in developing and less-developed countries. Sometimes, when a chain of undesired, sometimes small events that portray the government in "bad light" happen together, and get published in succession, it often leads to great public anger, leading to undesired riots that threaten the stability and peace of the country. As such, although there are ineffective or perhaps unfair governmental policies that have not been reported in the newspaper, it is understandable that PAP cannot be perfect. What is definitely more important is the peace and stability of that country.

Although there are clear disvantages of not being able to know both sides of certain stories, being hidden from some governmental failures, and being unable to get sufficient sensational news to entertain our lives, let us nonetheless accept the wiser choice for our society.

Live Longer, Work Longer (2)

Besides unhappiness amongst the public, it seems that local companies are also angry at the new raise in retirement age.

By raising the retirement age, it effectively means that in a typical company, there would be an increase in the number of old employees working, because companies would be obliged to keep their employees till retirement age. This is further ensured by the new re-employment scheme that will be rolled out by 2012.

Precisely because this matter is one of the most pertinent social problems that Singapore is facing now, it is important that multiple social viewpoints should be carefully considered and weighed before any decision is being made. As such, it is not only vital but necessary that the government should change the spotlight from the citizen's viewpoint to the company's viewpoint as well as economic drawbacks of having a old workforce.

Although in my last post, we have established the conclusion that it is necessary for the old to work, so as to balance out the working : non-working ratio, it is also vital to take a closer, more down-to-Earth look at the older section of workforce, and whether they are effective workers that can contribute to our developing industries.

In fact, this hoo-ha has already been brought up last year, when the government pointed out the advantage of having older workers in the company. PM Lee highlighted that older workers have more experience in company procedures, and are wiser than younger employees when it comes to making critical decisions.

However, it is also true that younger workers, especially those who have just graduated, have more drive, passion and motivation when they enter the company. Younger workers are also more energetic and will go the extra mile.

Take my uncle for example. He has been working for his company for at least 10 years already, and being an old worker there, he knows many loopholes in the company's leave and MC system. Recently, he has taken this to his advantage, coming home at earlier hours than he is supposed to. Generally, he would seize the opportunity to slack (e.g. trading shares in company) whenever he can.

As such, it is clear how older workers lack drive when working, especially when there are increasing physical limitations. So, what can we do if our country becomes a country which depends on an old-workforce?

Firstly, birth-rates must increase. The government is really doing too little to encourage child-bearing. Incentives such as motherly leave are not attractive enough. Besides monetary incentives, the government should also hold seminars to persuade couples of the benefits of having children. More rigorous campaigns such as pasting of posters, cartoons etc. should be used.

Also, citizens should be welcoming to foreign PRs (e.g. PRs from China, India, America etc.) , and not always complain about them. After all, they have proven to be very innovative and creative when coming out with ideas in a company. They also have generally higher birth-rates.

In a nutshell, the government really has to put more effort and emphasis on this matter. Singaporeans should not be too ignorant, indifferent or over-reactive towards what the government is doing too. Only then, can we have more driven and healthy society and economy.

Live Longer, Work Longer

With reference to 29th October Straits Times article - "Live Longer, Work Longer".

It looks like a worker 62 this year who can't wait for retirement has to wait - and work - 6 more years before he can officially retire and enjoy CPF pensions.

Minister in the Primer Minister's Office Mr Lim Boon Heng yesterday released a press statement considering the idea of raising retirement age up to 68 from the current age of 62, "in view of the social benefits of doing so".

Current legislations such as the re-employment policy which will only be released in January 2012 have been pinpointed as "too slow", and as such there must be "more (examination on) how (the government) can further raise the retirement age" .

This idea was precipitated by the Finland system where retirement age is 68, but life expectancy is lower than an average Singapore senior citizen. Mr Lim Boon Heng quipped that "this gives us am indication about where we should be heading".

While many citizens - especially senior citizens - complained about the adverse social effects it could bring, it is understandable where the government is coming from.

This is a controversial issue because of the fact that there is unhappiness raised amongst the citizens. Comments such as "When are we going to rest?", "It seems that we would work forever", "The government would keep pushing the age up" easily gives us a clear horizon of one social viewpoint amongst the citizen.

And it is true - raising the retirement age is not just a matter of "following Finland's system", but actually a number that the government has been constantly changing for the past decade - from 50 to 68 is indeed a big change that will be especially frustrating for senior citizens stuck in the ever-changing and never-stabilizing system.

The government no doubt gives lame excuses - from telling us that "other countries like U.S., Germany and Britain are also doing it", to assuring us that "people are living longer" and "they wouldn't have enough savings to last for 15 years if they retire when they are just 62 or 65".

Indeed, who can predict fate? With increasing carbon emission and pollution rates, coupled with decreasing food quality, I, for one, would consider myself lucky if I can live until the idealistic age of 80 the government estimated. Although it is true that global life expectancy has increased with better healthcare and technology, who can really know if he or she would not die tomorrow? Furthermore, why would one like to work for close to 70 years, only having about 10 years to enjoy the fruit of his labour?

Being stuck in this valid social viewpoint, the government still nonetheless plays the bad guy because they are really left with no choice. Singapore, just like any other developed country (e.g. Britain and Japan) is slowly facing the problem of population aging, one of the most pertinent but inevitable global problems today. With supposedly better healthcare, people are living longer on the average. This, coupled with the fact that there is decreasing birth rates, make it such that if the old does not work, there would be an inbalance of workforce : non-working population ratio which will lead to an unhealthy society. In layman terms, in the future there would be inevitably too small a working group to support too large a group of non-working population.

And really, this problem only has two solutions: one to make the old work, and the other to attract foreign talent to supplement our current workforce, and at the same time raise our brithrates. The latter sounds attractive?

However, the government, when implementing this solution, had been (if you can recall) faced with strong resistance and complaints from citizen with arguments such as "too many will cause loss in national identity!", "They are taking away our job positions!". And when these immature comments get ignored when the government really has no choice left but to attract foreign talent, another set of complaints about the "lack of democracy", and "citizen rights" attack the government.

These arguments may seem logical, but if we consider the bigger picture from the government's point of view, then, really what can they do to solve the population problem?

As such, let us accept the increase in retirement age as the only way out to measure to balance the workforce : non-workforce.

And let us be generally more understanding and empathizing to the government.

Property Price rise allieviation

Recent reports show a slowdown in property price growth, as cooling measures implemented by the government start to take effect. However, on the other hand, this in turn triggers a prompt rise in landed property prices.

Only three months ago, there was a big controversy raised over property cool-down measures by the government by opposition parties, grassroot leaders, as well as many netizens. Doubts were being expressed at measures such as policies to extend number of years one can buy and sell public property, clearing of land to build more HDB flats, special price privileges for citizens who buy property for the first time.

These measures are precipitated by concerns raised over the fact that many new citizens and young couples can't afford to simply have a roof over their head. The reason is clear - the increased number of investors in the property market putting their faith in public property.

The government's policies seem to be working thus far. However, it distills many other side effects. For example, although it is true that the government can control the various mechanics and matrixes of the public property market, landed property is something out of reach. And this side effects have already started to surface - with landed property prices surging this week from investors turning to landed property.

Furthermore, the measures the government have implemented are not long-term enough to totally cause a drop in prices. Singapore has a small land space and it is inevitable that there is really limited area in which the government can build more housing flats. As such, the government has to come up with longer-term solutions such as limiting our country's population, researching on technology of building higher (e.g. Duxton @ pinnacle that is about 40 storeys high), researching on reclaiming land from sea that is past 15 m deep etc.

The government's current solutions are effective in stalling the problem temporarily, but it is still vital to prepare longer-term solutions that increase land space, as well as maximize current land space.

The Haze Problem

For the past few days, and perhaps for the coming week, a quick look at the morning sky would give a view of not just a misty morning, but an hazy scene. In fact, recent haze levels have again hit a new high on unhealthy levels.

Visibility reached a wary low, posing imminent danger to cars on expressways, pedestrians crossing the road etc. Not only did overall air quality drop, symptoms such as teary eyes, difficulty to breathe were subtle but notable when one is near the haze in the air.

This problem is pertinent not only because of the adverse social impacts it poses to Singapore, but because it has proven not to be just a exotic one night stand, but instead more apparently long-term problem that will constantly haunt Indonesia's neighboring countries.

When the problem first surfaced around June in 2008, Indonesia pinpointed the blame to "an uncontrollable rise in forest fires" and also pledged to tackle the problem. However, the problem again resurfaced last year in August and once again drifted into our country recently this year.

As such, seeing that this problem cannot be just a temporary one, it is necessary for the Singapore government to implement measures that can really solve the root of the problem, or at least longer-term in its alleviation.

So far, solutions that have been reported seem rather irrelevant and ineffective. The government's action plan that requires our countries' environmental agencies to pledge haze impact reduction appears to be irrelevant because there are really little effective ways to contain the haze, or to minimize its various impacts, because it is inevitable that people have to go outdoors for daily routines.

The Asean seems rather irrelevant in this matter too. Although it has come up with a Asean Transboundary haze Pollution agreement, Indonesia, almost definitely the only country that produces this amount of haze, is also definitely the only country that has not rectified this agreement.

In my opinion, Asean should be more aggressive and pressurizing on this matter; even the UN can be involved in this matter. Due to the fact that Indonesia's actions not only affect itself, but also the whole region in general, it is logical that Asean reserves the right to intervene in Indonesia's methods and policies used to solve this problem. Countries involved such as Singapore should also stick in a head to solve a pertinent problem that is not only Indonesia's "domestic affairs", but a regional problem.

Solutions such as the combined purchasing of satellites to monitor regional forests, gathering teams of environmentalist to research on this matter, massive irrigation for Indonesian forests, tougher laws on forest utilization, protecting forests by converting them into national parks etc. can be implemented to ensure the safety of forests mainly in Indonesia, but also expendable to other Asean countries for longer-term planning.

I'm sure if Asean is willing to tackle this problem, together, a brighter and clearer tomorrow awaits us.

Minimum Wage?

The Government has restated its stance against a minimum wage in a blog post by Minister of State for Trade and Industry, and Manpower Lee Yi Shyan. The decision to increasing the minimum wage is final.

Personally, I have strong feelings of opposition towards this policy.

I can understand where the government is coming from. By dropping the minimum wage of a citizen worker, the government is trying to show citizens that they come first, as well as to ensure the welfare of workers, especially lower-end menial workers who are usually the lowest-possible monthly salary.So far, the worst case I have seen is a worker who is paid $400 per month, with 2 children to look after. God knows how he is able to live till today!

But really, these are extreme rare cases that should not undermine the government's long-term vision when it comes to making policies that will affect the country.

The government must possess more long-term realization that employers are smarter than what they perceive. Will employers not be more encouraged to employ foreign workers (for whom no laws are currently being applied) for a lower salary, and probably same labour?

Netizens have made a joke out of this matter - pointing out the fact that the government's salary is ten times higher than average, perhaps this is a move to collect higher income taxes to feed fat themselves? A little extreme, but the government's unbelievable failure to see how employers will be more encouraged to avert their effort to foreign workers (some even illegal), seems very convincing. This move does not help citizen workers get more money, it makes many lose their money completely.

Some say - a pathetic move get the workers' votes? Haha, many possibilities lie. Who knows?

I think rather than talk about salary, the government has more work to do when it comes to helping the workers improve their skills and productivity, and it is indubitable that with higher productivity, comes more promotion and salary increase opportunities for the workers. It is natural that work abilities determine the level appreciation for one in the company.

The country's overall productivity is important as we step out recovering from the recession, and I don't think illegal foreign workers and employees have the motivation as well as the basic skills to work hard, and work smart.

As such, I think the government should really think further ahead - into increasing the country's overall productivity, truly protecting our citizen workers, rather then coming up with moves that really do nothing much than in the short-term make a certain group of people happy.

Corporate Universities

Since the 1990s, bigger companies came up with the strategy to train and equip employees with company, and by the 21st century, this strategy is being mass-practised by 2,000, including Walt Disney, Boeing, and Motorola. And this strategy is the establishment of corporate universities that specializes in training undergraduates how to work in that specific company.

Today, the term "corporate university" is not a new idea anymore. Being an increasingly popular alternative for undergraduates in this age, corporate universities no doubt have their alluring advantages of high job positions guarantee, early exposure to the real world, but is not without its disadvantages of opportunity-narrowing, lack of strong knowledge fundamentals, and over-commitment to one certain company.

It is widely known and recognized by undergraduates that once they enter corporate universities - such as Hamburger university of Macdonald's Corporation, they will no doubt, be automatically promoted to formal employer immediately. Whats more, high job positions and more opportunities such as managerial roles will come by with that certificate in hand.

As such, it is not unusual to see many students opting for corporate universities of hospitals, banks, and bug businesses. They are probably risk-avoiders and just want to secure a reasonably good life for themselves, with monthly wages of about 4000-5000.

Hate school? Think trigonometry is totally irrelevant to what you aspire to be in the future? Then, corporate university is definitely for those who would die to get out of taxing school, with most universities providing courses that are way deeper and complicated then what is really required in the real world.

"You won't use so much complicated knowledge of finance or accounting when in real business world", "EQ is much more important", these are popular cries by corporate university under-graduate when asked to justify their decisions. Well, it is not without proof. Today, a quick research on famous and rich people who drop out of school mid-way can easily tell us that in the business world, specific, real skills - whether in work or with people - are really more necessary than plunging into thick, deep books. And corporate universities provide the ticket to the gateway of early exposure to the real world.

However, it is not without its disadvantages, without qualms. It is not without reason, too, why over the years, people have also raised doubts about the quality of education corporate universities provide. Learning how to operate a Macdonald's cashier, how to make a hamburger, how to deep fry fries? Are these the things taught in corporate universities?

Now, the very reason for the existence of such questioning is because everyone understands how narrow the field of knowledge many corporate universities offer can be. It is only logical that learning what is the style of doing sales in one certain company is incomparable, in terms of transversality, to learning the general techniques of sales in a normal university.

What if recession hits your company very hard? What if another company offers a higher pay job? You, as a corporate university graduate, who only understands the certain company's model and way of working, may be left with less opportunities in the corporate world, as compared to someone with basic skills that can be applied to anywhere he goes. Of course, it really depends on one's decision - conservative, secure or bold and hungry for success.

Besides, it is no untrue that general skills and enlightenments from a normal, "orthodox" universities can more importantly, be applied in life. Sales "soft" power is used by many to pacify their wives, and finance helps many plan, financially, for retirement.

As we analyse this scenario, we would really find that corporate companies not only give one job opportunities, but by limiting one's knowledge learnt, it is forcing one to be loyal and commit fully to the company. The mentality goes, "Since I have already spent 4 years learning how to work in this company, I cannot waste the time, I have to use the skills learnt, and stay in the company". This is what makes the company not sorry for investing and pumping millions of dollars into these universities.

In a nutshell, the decision has its advantages, of course, but be aware of its drawbacks too when making considerations. Personally, I would choose the latter stand, as a much better alternative for entrepreneurship aspirations.

Should we do away with Singlish?

Sept 8 ST article "Ah Beng English part of our culture" has reference.

"Ah", "mah", "lorh", "yah", "lah", "cheah", "ai yo". These words probably surface to your mind whenever the word "singlish" is being mentioned. And it is precisely because of these words that netizens are having great debates over whether we should do away with Singlish.

What is Singlish exactly? It is basically English with the fusion of words from Chinese and Hokkien into the language. Nobody is sure of when it started, but somehow it has over the years slowly integrated into the way all Singaporeans speak and communicate with others.

I'm neither a big fan of Singlish, nor somebody here to greatly support British / American English, but I feel every Singaporean must master at least a basic of both former and latter.

Singlish is, with no doubts at all, a very good representation of our multiracial country. If we pick up a language-based perspective, we would see the Singaporean Hokkien is not pure-hokkien, but a language that fuses Malay words into it. But is Hokkien a good-enough symbol of Singaporean's Chinese and Malay culture? I doubt so. Singlish is the best representation because it not only incorporates Chinese words, but also Hokkien language, as well as Malay words such as "alamak".

'Primitive' Mortlock islanders spoke grammatical English in their own accent - unmixed w local speech. Mainland Papuans use Tok Pisin - their 'Singlish'; an official language, and I think it is time Singapore recognizes the language epitome of its multi-racial culture - Singlish.

However, it is important to realize the significance of the ability to speak proper English too. After all, in this increasingly globalized world with English as one of its only communication bridge between countries of cultural polarities, speaking good English has inevitably became a need, and no longer a "bonus" in the good old days. "Want a good job? Do you know how to speak English?" has become one of the important questions in any job interview.

If a foreigner comes to this so-called bilingual country (or vice-versa), yet does not understand a word we are saying, then won't it be very embarrassing for ourselves and for Singapore too. Of course, the same case is even worse for Chinese language!

Therefore, it is invariably vital that we at least master the ability to speak proper language. Some said that language is language and if Singlish can be a communication that is understood and convey a meaning, then so be it. However, one should realize that this choice would only limit their world to our small island, which also in fact, is increasing with young generation so called "Ah moh" speakers. There is only indubitable benefit of widening our world, our friends, and our social and commercial circle, if we put in the effort at least grasp the basic pronunciation, grammar and spelling of English language.

Of course, its ok to use Singlish in Singapore. Personally, Singlish feels more warm to the heart and it identifies who we are. But what I think we should possess is the very least ability of transition.

Singlish has only one tap of education, and that is from one's parents, of course. When I was 6-7 years old, still without many friends and without classmates, I could already speak Singlish with extreme fluency.

As such, I feel the first step we should take in consideration for the younger generation would be to, as parents, control our tongues with moderation, Singlish is okay, but not too much until this language hijacks proper English. It will be sad if the child grows up, not being able to differentiate between standard English and informal English.

Let us be truly fit for the term "bilingual"!

Florida Pastor Burns Quran: A Christian's Viewpoint

A rash believer or somebody there just to stir trouble? I'm sure you would choose the latter.

"I mean ask yourself, have you ever really seen a really happy Muslim? As they're on the way to Mecca? As they gather together in the mosque on the floor? Does it look like a real religion of joy?" Jones asks in one of his YouTube posts. "No, to me it looks like a religion of the devil."

That was Pastor Terry's justification.

When asked if he would decide not to act, the response was, "We are actually very, very concerned of course; we are taking the general's words serious. We are continuing to pray about the action on September 11. But we don't know, how long do we back down?"

Luke 6:29, “If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also.”

From my understanding Christ never decided it was time to not “back down”. In fact, Judas believed it was time to stop backing down and he betrayed Jesus, Peter believed it was time to stop backing down and he cut of the servants ear. Christ, however, went passively from the garden, to the courtroom, all the way to the cross.

As Christians, is our solution, and is our witness an uncivilized act of violence? Yes, it is true that Muslim religion does not have the correct beliefs that God imparts to us, but as witnesses and stars for Jesus, is this the way we shine for God?

I believe that this is the most important question we could and should ask at this moment. What is the message of Christianity? Why are we here on Earth? If we want people to see Christians as the more mature religion, let’s act like Christ and not like Goliath. Or Hitler. Or Osama Bin Laden.

I think that, when we look at the life of Christ, we can gain a wonderful understanding as to why we are here.

Before Jesus told the prostitute to sin no more, he saved her from being stoned. Had he not prevented her stoning, not only would she have not been able to hear his message, but she would have had no desire to hear his message. The first thing that Jesus did was reveal that he truly cared for her (saved her life) – and then he taught her how to live a better life.

Perhaps then, the answer to witnessing to a Muslim is to show up in his village, give him a meal to eat, talk with him, and then discuss religion.

John Terry seems to be a very fervent believer who seems to practice "what God tells (him) to do", as quoted from his press statement.

Will God, the creator who teaches us to "love our enemies" send a message to treat our enemies by "not backing down" and burning their books? I highly doubt so. I am sure love, kindness and respect would be more possible alternatives God's message to his servants will deliver?

I assume, since John Terry is really a Christian, that he see Christianity to be a superior religion to Islam. then my advice to this pastor is this: If we want people to see Christians as the more mature religion, let’s act like Christ and not like Goliath. Or Hitler. Or Osama Bin Laden.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” Matthew 5:9, Pastor John Terry of Florida Church.

Too Many PRs?

Are you a PR? If you are one, better be a citizen soon.

In a press statement just yesterday, SM Goh Chok Tong pointed out the importance of loyalty to one's country.

'We want to welcome selectively some immigrants - we just can't open our floodgate to all and sundry or Singapore will be overwhelmed. But... we should choose the right people to help contribute to Singapore.' This was what the senior minister said that sparked off vigorous debates and reaction from netizens.

He quipped that Singapore is a sovereign state and its people have a 'uniquely Singaporean' identity that embraces elements of China, India and Malaysia - even in the way we speak.

"So likewise that must be our attitude - to try and entice these people to take the next step and become a Singapore citizen," he said, urging Singaporeans to welcome the right people to come to their own country.

As there are increasing number of complains about foreigners stripping away citizen rights - from overcrowding MRT trains to taking away job opportunities, it is understandable where SM Goh is coming from. More than appeasing citizens, SM Goh is also apparently concerned about citizen loyalty to countries.

It seems that certain groups of people are making use of Singapore for personal benefits.

'I know there's some debate over this Chinese girl who's a PR in Singapore who took part in the parade, the 60th anniversary of China, PRC,' Mr Goh said, referring to Chinese national Zhang Yuanyuan who displayed her Singapore permanent resident (PR) identity card on Chinese TV.

The senior minister's statement implies as a hint that there will be more actions taken following previous policies taken up to tackle this problem - such as the National Citizen Test for general knowledge about Singapore, as well as the NS award that distinguishes citizens from foreigners.

Personally, I feel that it is totally understandable why the government is doing so much to curb Singapore's population. After all, has to be a limit simply because of our small land area. It is only fair that elitism be carried out in our society.

The Transport Problem

As population hits 5.08m, how is the government going to solve the problem of transport? This question bothers many commuters in Singapore.

Every morning as we enter the public transport, be it the 190 bus or the North-East line, things like overcrowding, people being squeezed, waiting for the next train ... has become common sight to commuters nowadays.

The underlying reasons behind this trend seem to be the increasing young generations picking up public transport as a viable and cheaper alternative to car, as well as the more frequent need to travel to the city that can provide business, socializing and shopping needs. Furthermore, the rise in number of "lines" and bus routes in our system makes it more convenient and attractive to use public transport.

The government claims to have solutions to the problem, and tells Singaporeans that they can be rest assured the problem would be solved.

However, the statistics are - the project to increase the number of trains on the North-South line can only be finished by 2020, and even by then, carriage load can only be increased by 20%. In fact, it is estimated that our population would increase by another 3 million then.

Is this really a viable solution to this long term problem? I doubt so.

In my opinion, here are some solutions I think the government can consider.

• Instead of working on increasing train carriage, which presently is too slow, the government should curb and increase filtering regulations on foreigners wishing to become Singaporeans.
• Spend more time, effort and money on increasing number of trains.
• Increase bus and MRT fares for commuters
• Since increasing bus speed through buying buses is much more convenient and much faster than increasing MRT carriage load and waiting speed, the government can consider initiatives and policies to encourage commuters to take bus instead.

In general, I think this matter is something the government should pay more attention and money to.

Let Singaporeans go to work on time.

New Creation Resurrection?

It has been months after the New Creation saga, where concerns arise over potential misuse of funds. But just last Saturday, the megachurch broke its previous record when it received a grand total of $21.1 million in donations from four services, in less than 24 hours.

Though the litmus test has proven success in showing the church members' faithfulness to the mega church, it seems to only retrieve further undesirable results from netizens.

Whilst some defended the church, most were appalled at how people can get "scammed" and "cheated" again even after acquiring knowledge of fund misuse.

Some even went on to list examples of the money, used for building towering skyscrapers, can be put to better use such as saving children dying in Africa. Statistics such as how one iPhone can save three years of a African kid's life popped up in one of the comments.

Personally, I was rather disgusted when I saw these baseless and seemingly hypocritical cliches appear in response to New Creation's new record. Why talk about saving an African kid, when I can give that commenter statistics that half an hour electricity of using the computer to type his comment could save an African kid for 10 days?

Let's not assume that New Creation Church has, without qualms, misused the funds. After all, they are also Christians, just with different beliefs. Let us accept the possibility that New Creation Church may be using Suntec City for congregation services, and let us be more forgiving towards them.

The NS Award

You can be an unemployed NS man, and continue to be unemployed for another ten years of your life, but be assured that you will have $10, 000 waiting for you in your CPF. That is the government's promise to citizens with effect to today.

On surface level, it may only seem like a token policy but in fact, there is a deeper meaning to this "award".

For a long time, citizens have been complaining about how foreign workers or talents have stripped them of promotion opportunities, how they have caused house price to rise, how they have caused unemployment amongst Singaporeans, and the list of complains goes on.

It is not impossible to understand how and why such complains are rampant. After all, we are the ones who went through the difficulties - all the way from the Japanese Invasion, building this nation, the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, and the 2008 economic recession, to serving our nation through hard work, menial work, and perhaps 2 years of our life in NS. Go to a white-collar citizen and this will probably be a typical answer he will "passionately" tell you.

It is not just the money, but the intention. NS is probably epitome of sacrifices in the long list, and that is why the government wants to use this award to show that it appreciates and recognizes the effort citizens put in for its nation.

As corruption prevails in increasing number of countries, another concern that bothers the government is the rising skepticism about the government itself, how it uses funds, and how transparent it is.

This move is also effective in showing and proving to Singaporeans that extra surplus, when not needed, will be given back to citizens in ways like this.

Personally, I feel that as citizens, we should be grateful for what we already have, and not depend on such policies to get a sense of patriotism. Let us ask not what our country has done for us, but what we have done for our country.

Youth Olympics Games

It is the first, and probably the last that can pull it off in such a fashion.

It has been a day since the closure of this excitement-packed 12-days affair, but some take-aways stay. Throughout the 1st ever games, friendships have been forged, the olympics spirit has been inculcated into Singaporeans, and most importantly, a new generation of potential Singapore sports stars have been identified.

US Virgin Islands sailor Ian Barrows, gold medallist in the boys' Byte CII event, danced at the disco in the Village, happily mingled with athletes from other nations, and will go home with a bunch of photographs.

The Youths Olympics Games has gone beyond broadcasting fees and country promotion. Above all, it has taught our youth athletes the values of excellence, friendship and respect, and gave them a $330 million taste of what a international sports event empowered by a indescribable spirit is like.

Singapore has without qualms, impressed International Olympic Committee president Jacque Rogge. His response to our organization was a thumbs-up. "Hats off to Singapore for its success in organizing such a spectacular show!"

If there was any imperfections, applause is indubitably due to the hardworking volunteers and helpers who took playback videos, provided athletes umbrella shelter whenever it rained, served drinks and the list goes on.

Well done Singapore! Let us continue the olympic spirit even without any physical remains of the games.

Entrepreneurship (1)

He may be only 34, but he already owns fashion company that has 14 local outlets, and more than 3o worldwide.

How he started? Mr Tan Yew Kiat opened his first local store at Tiong Bahru Plaza in 1998, with seed capital of only $60,000.

His unshakable motto and promise to customers - "'A new woman every day', and we have engaged in branding projects since Day One to get that right" said Mr Tan, who juggles his hectic business life with being a father of four.

After 12 years of hard work and determination of engaging in expansion and branding work, Mr Tan now owns over 40 outlets, both in Singapore and overseas.

Said Mr Tan: "Fashion is something that depends a lot on your creativity. There's no fixed policies, there's no definite answer for whether this piece of clothing will sell or not. You must really study the market trend well."

Kudos to Mr Tan for achieving astounding success! Many are like him, who started from a small local outlet, perhaps they even had more capital than him. However, many of them may not achieve success.

Mr Tan has taught me a very important lesson - in order for your work to succeed, you must love your work and have interest in it.

After all, in the very beginning, it was a passion for fashion that transformed a young Mr Tan, who was a delivery driver for his merchandiser mother (his father was a banker), into an entrepreneur. That, and hard work.

If one does not like his or her work, they will be no passion and hard work put in to pursue this interest. However, for people like Mr Tan, they can have the best of both worlds. When they work, they are actually also enjoying themselves in their "hobby" and interest.

Another significant take-away from Mr Tan's story would be that we must have a strong vision and motto for our company to succeed. As Mr Tan has mentioned, his company focuses on creativity, his company wants to a place where women will be different everyday. This is a good vision to start with, and coupled with his passion and determination in this field, his company manages to achieve this vision to the end.

I particularly like this quote - "Success is not the key to happiness, happiness is the key to success. If you like what you are doing, you will be successful"!

Poem Analysis: Arms and The Boy

Please give your invaluable comments:

Arms and the Boy:
Let the boy try along this bayonet-blade How cold steel is, and keen with hunger of blood; Blue with all malice, like a madman's flash; And thinly drawn with famishing for flesh.
Lend him to stroke these blind, blunt bullet-heads Which long to muzzle in the hearts of lads. Or give him cartridges of fine zinc teeth, Sharp with the sharpness of grief and death.
For his teeth seem for laughing round an apple.
There lurk no claws behind his fingers supple;
And God will grow no talons at his heels,
Nor antlers through the thickness of his curls.


Analysis:
This poem tries to bring out the cruelty of war through the destruction of innocence in a young boy. This poem has 3 stanzas, each stanza consisting 4 lines, with strict rhyme scheme. This restricted poem style brings out how the boy has lost his initial carefree innocence.

The setting is one of the boy stroking his weapons. Through this episode where the poet personifies the weapons, we can see how the boy has already become obsessed with these weapons of destruction.

The point of view is spoken in a third-person point of view. This shows how one is already unable to comprehend the boy’s obsession with the weapons, and how cruel a person he has turned into. Therefore, this poem is written not in first person point of view of the boy, but instead a third person observation of his incomprehensible behavior.

The language used in the poem is very effective in conveying the poet’s theme. One must note that there is much personification in the poem of the weapons - “steel...keen with hunger of blood”, “bullet-heads...long to muzzle in the hearts of lads”. All these serve to convey the theme that war is cruel. The gruesome imagery painted in the poem by the diction such as “malice”, “madman”, “death”, “famishing” totally contrast with the innocent and naive characteristics a young boy should have. The thought that such a young boy totally changes into a “madman” who strokes his weapons, “famishing” for “death” once he is sent into the battlefield, gains our sympathy for him, as well as arouse our hatred towards war - a cruel place.

Furthermore, there is also clever use of alliteration in the third and fourth line: “madman’s flash...famishing for flesh”. The harsh pronunciation of the letter “f” when being read emphasizes the cruelty and inhumanity of such thoughts by the boy. Also, the alliteration is deliberately put on these words precisely because they depict cruel images - “famishing for flesh”. The alliteration gives them an extra emphasizes and highlight. Another alliteration can be seen in the 1st line of stanza 2 - “blind blunt bullet”. Again the harsh pronunciation of the letter “b” brings emphasis to the cruelty of such weapons of murder. Indeed, the bullets just kill whoever they see - they have no target, or even any mercy.

The last two lines were especially well-written - “And God will grow no talons at his heels, nor antlers through the thickness of his curls”. Indeed, God did not design us, when we were born, to have “talons” and “antlers”, which are weapons of killing. They are symbols of inhumanity and violence, and the by making this link, the poet instill in us the idea that war is violent and inhumane. War is also meaningless - we were made to live in peace, yet now in this war where humans fight each other, even young boys lose their innocence, and turn into madman obsessed with weapons of destruction.

It may seem impossible, yet actually not difficult to empathize with the young boy in the poem. In a war, death is such a common thing, that the young boy is already numbed with these images and scenes. In fact, he is obsessed with weapons of destructions precisely because in a war, the only way one can defend his own life is to kill others.

The last two lines of the poem really do conclude my analysis. Life is created to live, work and play in peace, especially when we are young, we should play and live in innocence and harmony. However, this poem depicts a true but harsh reality of what war is like - soldiers have to constantly fight for their lives and even young boys are being conscripted into war, where they have to carry weapons of murder at such a young age and see images of death, blood and murder everywhere. Such traumatizing scenes has totally changed them into madmen who love their weapons, because its the only thing that can make them survive.

This poem has succeeded in making us sympathizing with young boy and his plight. Indeed, war is so cruel and inhumane. This quote summarizes my thoughts: “War is a novelty only to those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded”.

Clean and Green? It takes a lifetime.

The first batch of soldiers have entered the battlefield.

Armed in white polo-tees with a green trim, six new Litter-free Ambassadors zoomed in on one of Queenstown’s littering hotspots yesterday. This is an initiative by the National Environmental Agency to wage war against litter louts.

Without the authority to issue fines, NEA hopes that their presence only can encourage a new social norm - one where people will speak up upon seeing others littering.

However, I personally feel that this initiative will not succeed. I have three reasons to justify this.

Firstly, Singapore has already tried doing this before. In the past decade, we have seen many ambassadors encourage putting rubbish into bins before, but have any of them succeed?

Secondly, most being surveyed about why they litter respond that the bin is simply too far, and it is very inconvenient to bin their litter. Therefore, I think what NEA should do is to evenly distributed bins around the whole Singapore, instead of just concentrating them in Business Districts and shopping places like Orchard Road.

Lastly, I don’t think Singaporeans would be bothered by ambassadors walking around and talking to people. After all, we are busy people. Therefore, what I think should be done in addition would be to educate Singaporeans from young in Primary School and Secondary School about the importance of keeping our country clean.

Personally, I have not really gone through “green” education. My teachers are too focused on academic growth, that they often use Moral Education sessions to teach academic subjects instead. Therefore, I think this is something quite serious - the NEA and MOE should work together. Perhaps, the no. of sessions of Moral Education should be increased.

This is especially important as parents nowadays are so busy that they only can provide for their children’s physical needs, but lack the time and energy to inculcate moral values in them. Worst still, some of them even litter in front of their children. Such a bad example and role model would definitely guide the child wrongly.

Tackling cleanliness issues is not something that can be achieved in one month of ambassadors walking around. It also cannot be done in one month, one year, or even a decade. It takes a generation - of teachers inculcating moral values, and then of young morally educated to replace our population.

Healthy Competition Amongst Town Councils

Today Newspaper 11/06/2010 article "Good, but can do better" has reference.

Few has known that though Hougang is one of the biggest town in Singapore, its maintenance is also the worst.

In a Town Council Management Report (TCMR) released yesterday by the Ministry of National Development, majority of the town councils received an above average assessment overall, but almost all were found to have more room for improvement.

Out of 16 town councils being inspected, 14 were evaluated to have achieved commendable cleanliness and maintenance. This evaluation was baased on inspections carried out over the six months by HDB inspectors, and data from town councils were also used.

As Ang Mo Kio-Yio Chu Kang Town Council had said, "The report gives us a feel of how we are performing in different areas in comparison to others".

Indeed, this report paves the way for more healthy competition amongst town councils - for better town councils to "defend their title", and for town councils who have room for improvement to realize their shortcomings, and strive for better excellence.

Personally, the idea is good, but can be better. Perhaps, the Ministry of National Development can do more reports on other areas, such as family bonding, unity amongst citizens, how much effort the town council has put into the welfare of the residents etc. so as to promote a more holistic competition.

However, in the midst of running the race, it is vitally important for the town councils to ensure that competition remains at a healthy level. Should unity and brotherhood be destroyed in the process of the race, the race would become a meaningless attempt to impress the inspectors.

A hint of bitterness can be observed in the reactions of various town councils. For example, Hougang Town Council, the council which scored the least, emailed MediaCorp to complain that Opposition town council like his, "never received any Government funds to improve and rejuvenate the estate" and as such , they were "in a disadvataged position compared to other PAP town councils".

While, there is nothing wrong at pointing out a shortcoming of the PAP, such complains should be made in private during governmental meetings etc. but not whined in the newspapers. After all, this is just a report; the honest resemblance one can think of Hougang Council's reaction is a 6 year old child whining that the game is not fair!

A hint of red can also be seen in Potong Pasir Town Council Chiam See Tong's reaction. He said that Potong Pasir Town Council is the "best town council in Singapore" and that the report was deliberately made to put Potong Pasir down.

The fact that there is already hints of bitterness reflects the competition between town councils, as well as between the PAP and opposition parties to becoming an unhealthy game.

As citizens of our country, even if we are Oppositions who are marginalized by the ruling party, we should constantly think of the bigger picture. Instead of solely basking in the joy of "winning" other town councils, I strongly feel that town councils should also take note not to damage unity in the process, and most importantly, constantly think of how they can help the other town councils achieve excellence as well, because the ultimate objective of everything is to make our nation be one step closer to success.

Time for Action to be Done

With reference to Sunday’s Straits Times article “Littering: What’s the fuss”.

This is not the first time this topic has been brought to public attention. Today, whenever we walk into public places, it is not surprising if eyebrows were not raised over “flying” tissue papers, spit, or even water on the mirrors.

Recently, NEA reports have even shown that at least one in three Singaporeans says he would bin rubbish only when it is convenient to do so.

This truly and sadly, is testament to our increasingly dirty garden city, despite the numerous efforts and propaganda by the government about our improving situation or rather image of our country.

And this phenomenon, I feel, cannot be explained by one reason. There are many matches that fuel this haystack, and with that, much smoke produced. I think the first match is the increasingly selfish nature of all of us as Singaporeans.

With the accelerating pace of our modern society, the need to earn materialistic possessions, especially money and time, is invariably heightened. The attempt to survive in this ever-changing society indubitably forces many of us to care about ourselves before others - from self-convenience before cleaners’ hard work, to time saved before the country’s cleanliness.

Another fuel that spurs on the fire is how our country’s general cleanliness has never been very clean in the first place, so why not throw another tissue paper? After all, one tissue paper would not influence much? However, if we are in a hotel room, we would not feel like throwing rubbish around because it will severely damage the whole feel of the hotel room.

I dare to say, this mentality is prevalent in all of us. And, no doubts, this will result in a vicious cycle, so I strongly feel it is important for us to start immediately on a massive clean up and beautifying project for our country.

Another problem is the lack of rubbish bins around. It is really troublesome to go all the way from one place to the nearest shopping centre just to throw a tissue paper, so this results in littering. This is also supplemented by the lack of time and patience in many youngsters nowadays. Therefore, it would be good if the government can set up more rubbish bins in all places, not just in the city or shopping centers.

Something has to done; the government cannot just keep doing reports.

Money corrupts

Reverend Kong Hee, pastor of City Harvest, was confirmed to be under a police investigation recently for misuse of church funds for personal use. Church financial transactions, as well as the Reverend’s background will be probed.

This is not the first time City Harvest has made headlines. Earlier in March, eyebrows were raised over a 310 million stake in Suntec Convention Centre. The Reverend, whose wife is a pop singer, cannot be found since reports about a possible investigation have appeared.

This incident indeed brings the limelight back to the charity sector of Singapore. Strange as it seems, it is nonetheless understandable why frauds and scandals will always be associated with charity and religious organization.

Every year, the charity sector earns the most amount of money worldwide amongst all other sectors. With the world becoming increasingly corrupted and selfish, the only way for stars and singers to gain popularity is to donate. Billions and trillions are pumped into this sector with the motivation to gain nods of approval from supporters. Furthermore, in this increasingly empty world, the only way we as humans can soothe our conscience is to donate.

Therefore, precisely because of this, the importance of the charity sector is invariably heightened. It has been reported in 2008 that if all charity organizations work together to help the poor, there would not be single starving child in Africa.

However, idealistic as it seems, reality proves otherwise. Look around us - NKF golden taps, Ming Yi Organization, Suntec City Investment. Indeed, money corrupts a person; even a once devoted christian.

Though nothing has been confirmed, I believe the money collected through City Harvest church offerings can certainly be put to better use than investment in the convention centre, or helping one’s wife to open a retail shop.

Indeed, this is testament to the saying money is the root of all evils. Though it is often preached that money is neutral - it is how we use it that is good or bad, in this modern society, the preacher should realize that things have never been so idealistic.

Singapore Deserves our Applause Too!

Much debate has been going on since Singapore clinched the world champions title for Table Tennis after China’s defeat, in fact, the first in 19 years. Some rejoiced for Singapore’s victory, while others labelled Singapore as the “2nd China Team”.

Personally, this matter relates to myself a lot, because being a amateur table tennis player myself, it is not difficult to understand the sweat and effort required for this seemingly small, but draining sport.

I sincerely applaud the efforts of our home team - they have fought well, and indeed they have put in all they have - from skill and technique, to spirit and determination. Indeed, as quoted from team manager Mr Eddy Tay, “They felt that the past didn’t count”.

Many coldly commented that Singapore’s victory is merely the “2nd China Team” winning the “1st China Team”. It is not difficult to see why such thoughts will arise, because our home team indeed consist of all Chinese players. However, it is definitely not easy to understand why there is no applause for Singapore’s effective training system.

Feng Tian Wei, who is World no 2 today, was once a rejected member of China’s table tennis team. But today, she stands at the apex of the table tennis world, and it was she who led Singapore to greater heights.

This is no doubt, testament to our effective training system, that I strongly feel, does not deserve such cold comments from ourselves, as Singaporeans. As quoted from Lee Bee Wah, President of Singapore Table Tennis Association, “At this level, the abilities of the players are quite similar and the difference between victory and defeat is mental strength”.

Well done, Singapore, for making our players believe in themselves!

The Empty Society

With reference to Today newspaper, 31/05/2010.

He is the oldest GRC member in Singapore, and the longest. Mr Tan Kim Hong, 72, has served the community for five decades since the 1960s. Being the witness of the changes that Singapore experienced over the past 50 years - from the merger to the IR, Mr Tan says that “GRCs are not what they used to be”.

In the past, Mr Tan says, GRCs are not a group of professionals or businessmen. They are just a small group of energetic teenagers who have the passion to help the community - from repairing the roofs of neighbors, helping a Auntie transport her groceries, to helping the neighboring town building a structure or raising funds for a neighbor who is in financial difficulties.

Much has changed. Today, a GRC is a organization of business-like professionals who constantly complain about the lack of time to help. Today, GRC is a place where “volunteers” enter to secure for their children positions in good Primary Schools, as well as for businessmen to expand their contact list. Today, GRC’s efforts may not be always appreciated. Whenever goodie bags are given out, many resident would say, “Like that only??”. Today, the GRC is indeed not what it used to be.

Mr Tan’s witness really reveals the constant struggle in all of us as human beings to choose between the calling to exercise important values such as gratitude to the society, kindness to our people in our community and constantly seeking personal benefits such as money, positions in Primary Schools for our children, and time. Sadly, the order of the world has indeed shifted from the former to the latter, with the increasingly fast pace of our society today.

I have no qualms with the shifting order and how people are adapting to it. After all, who can survive in this fast society without paying attention to money, time and other more practical needs? Who can spend time helping their neighbors, when they are in shortage of money and food? However, who can be truly happy in this fast paced world? “钱乃身外物” Indeed, values that can carry us through our whole life such as the true passion to help others when they are in need, are more important in the era of ancient China history.

However, it is not true that this ideology is not practical in our modern day society. Look around us, Mr Tan, community volunteers, fund raising organizations - they do not die of starvation. In fact, they seem to do be doing better than many of us! Indeed, do onto others what you want others to do onto you. The fact that kindness begets kindness will last forever and this will never shift with the increasing pace of our society. This will in fact be more true especially in our modern society - where people are cold and selfish, and they lack nothing - not money, not time, but love and kindness.

People are constantly lost and depressed - look around us, we have seen many cases of actors and actresses committing suicide just when they are at the peak of their career, take for example, 张国荣. Why? The reason - they lack kindness, warmth and love in their life.

People nowadays are abundant in physical and materialistic needs, but short on emotional needs. They are constantly feeling a deep sense of emptiness in their hearts, and no matter how they try to numb themselves with work, play and parties, this emptiness will not go away.

Therefore, it is vital that as fellow human beings, we should constantly show our love and kindness to one another, no matter the way - through talking, helping etc. Only through that way, can our society be a more perfect one - one that is both physically and emotionally adequate.

We Slept with Our Boots On

Someone once said, "War is a delight only to those who have not experienced it". Indeed, when we are young and innocent, we may find war a fun subject of play, something we always look forward to be involved in. However, it does not take long for us to open our eyes to the reality of war and witness the cruelty of it.

And that is exactly what Steve Carlsen is trying to bring out in his poem "We Slept with our Boots on". Steve Carlson is an ordinary soldier who has experienced 3 years of war. He joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to D Company 1^st battalion 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 82^nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. He deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He Deployed to Afghanistan in of December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003.

Well, he may seem like an ordinary soldier, but it is exactly, being an ordinary soldier that allowed him to experience the worse of war, and the cruelty of fighting your own kind. The theme and central idea Steve is trying to bring out in his poem is that once you are involved in war, you are eternally scarred, and will lose your innocence forever. This was clearly brought out in the line "Everyone loses their innocence when they carry gun".

Steve Carlsen is a experienced poem, as can be seen through the techniques he used to bring out the theme he wants to convey to his readers. Firstly, let us look at the structure of the poem. Steve's poem is seemingly untidy, with no clear structure at all. Also, the clauses are very short in the poem, most are just 3 words: "30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit". This creates a extremely fast paced poem, and Steve uses this to show fast paced war is - you are either fighting for your life, and running for your life. It is just so terrifying that you can't settle down. The moment you have settled, something suddenly pops up, and you have to defend your life again.

This is also brought out through the story line of the poem - the poet and his comrades running and fighting for their lives. They were so afraid and unsettled, that they don't even dare to take off their boots when sleeping. This, being put as the title, further emphasizes the terror of war.

The setting is in a battlefield, somewhere between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as the poet wrote "Hindu Kush". The first line also shows how "They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes".They probably referred to the enemy, and the enemy might be miaming their dead comrades to make sure they are dead. Therefore, this setting may be one of a lost battle on the poet's side, and he and a few comrades were probably the few who survived. Hence, they had to fight and run away, for their lives.

The POV is mainly 1st person POV "I" with occasional switches to "We". First, the poet would show his own personal feelings, emotions and actions, and then he would proceed to show a collective action by using "We". This is probably to link "We" and "I" together, to show that his terror, his feeling of injustice is also shared by everyone who is involved in war, and they experience exactly the same thing as him. Hence, this poem may be representing the emotions and feelings of all involved in the war, and gaining our sympathy for them.

The use of language is smart. For example, the writer uses the line "baptized in fire" to show the hopelessness and cruelty of war. As we all know, baptism is a tradition whereby all Christian have to be submerged in water before being saved. This is a symbolism of being washed of our sins and having hope for the future. However, in war, there is no water, so it symbolizes that the poets sins of killing accumulated in war can never be washed and forgived. This brings out the cruelty and sinfulness of war. Also, instead of having hope, the writer is "baptized in fire". This shows how hopeless, cruel and torturing war is, to the point where it defies convention.

Another possible interpretation: baptism is a tradition for Christian to gain a new life by washing away their old sins. However, in war, the only thing the poet can do is to defend his own life through "fire", which is fighting with guns, but not water. This illuminates the terror war brings to soldiers, especially ordinary soldiers like Steve Carlsen.

Other techniques being used include the repitition of the word "and". "I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more ... Dirty and tired and hungry and scared". The constant use of "and", show how never-ending, dreary and tiring war is. The soldiers have to constantly do something in order to save their own lives.

In conclusion, I think Steve Carlsen is a great poet. He uses much technique such as repition of certain words, symbolism and vivid imagery. His poems are always open to many interpretations like the phrase "baptized in fire". Furthermore, he experienced the most basic of war itself, and this story shown through the poem is a very true and honest depiction of war.

Indeed, war is a cruel and terrifying thing. It is also meaningless terror - after all, it is just human vs human. In the end, nothing is gained, only precious lives are lost, and families separated. I can only summarize my personal response in this one quote, "Older men declare war. But it's the youth who must fight and die! Mankind has to put an end to war, or war would put an end to mankind".

Jonah Heng 2P105

Surprise Winning

Henry spoke softly. When being asked a question, he will either nod or shake his head, and no more would be heard from him. Everywhere he went, you could always see him poking his nose into a thick textbook. He wore a thick spectacles from morning to night and had pimples all over his face. He did not own any communication device - not a handphone, not a pager, not even a e-mail address! Everywhere you see him, he would be drifting in a world of his own.

Therefore, it came as a big shock to all of us when Henry finally spoke up and announced softly on Monday that he was going to give it a try at the coming speaking competition. Even when we found out he had training sessions at home, our confidence in him did not move an inch. After all, this was the way he had been all the time - the reluctance to speak up, the tendency to drift into solitude, and the timid quivering in his voice even when he finally speaks.

We encouraged Henry nonetheless, for it wasn't easy for a man like him to step out of his own world and muster the courage to speak. While we were full of praises for him, Henry produced his second sentence, "I am... no ... I think this... this competition .... is a .... no .... good for .... a ... a ... training... ". We immediately shouted a "Yes!" in unison, and congratulated him for being so courageous, although his second sentence only worked to further waver our confidence in him.

Finally the day came. It was a Saturday, and we all came to support Henry. The topic was "Should abortion be allowed in countries", a topic that can never be found in Henry's textbooks. By the time we reached the auditorium, we have more or less given up our hope on Henry. There he was - with his big spectacles, a long wordy script, and his hunchback, standing amongst 2 other young, bright, energetic and charismatic speakers who had already memorized their scripts. Tom and Hong Ming have always been known for their gift of gab, as proven during weekly debate. No, Henry is definitely not going to stand a chance against his opponents.

Almost everyone laughed at Henry, some said he must have gone crazy, some commented that Henry is too arrogant and he should know his limits. It was during then when my friends and I noticed Hong Ming twitching about. Hong Ming, dressed in navy blue overalls, with his hair combed, started to turn pale. Putting his hand on his stomach, Hong Ming approached the teacher-in-charge and asked if he could be excused to the toilet. From then on, we never saw him again until the next day. Apparently, Hong Ming was down with food poisoning.

Just as Hong Ming rushed off for the washroom, Tom went over to Henry's waiting position and whispered something into his ear. It was inaudible, and it was only after the competition that we learnt that Tom said, "So, its just me and you left. You are going down". Apparently, the saying "Pride comes before a fall" is very accurate. In the process of returning to his waiting position, Tom accidentally tripped and fell on his floor. It turned out that he broke his left leg upon falling on the floor, and had to be sent to the hospital immediately.

And there was Tom, the only participant left, standing safe and sound on the stage. In the end, he clinched the title of "Hwa Chong Institution's Best Speaker 2010" without even opening his mouth on stage! The unbelievable turn of events were all to our pleasant shock. With a uncertain smile of incredibility, we looked at each other, then turned to the timid "nerd" in front of our eyes, and back and forth. It turned out the impossible was possible.

Three years has passed since that incident, but everytime I looked back to that day, I can still never believe my memory. It was indeed a surprise winning none of us ever dared to dream of.