Where theres a will theres a way

Minister tried to deflect criticism over mining tragedy- Social and Economic Issue

2007-08-26T18:20:00.000+08:00

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A8100797-B0E5-4440-BDCC-6FBADEBEAD9D.htm

In the recent mining accident that happened in China, 181 miners were left trapped in the mine due to unexpected flooding. Although government authorities claim that it was a natural disaster, many relatives of those miners feel that the government is not putting any rescue effort and this has sparked riots.

While you may feel that this kind of accidents happen often and should not be bothered about, I beg to differ. Not only are the lives of the people at stake here but the integrity of the government officials in China are also being questioned. The relatives of the miners have been kept in the dark ever since the flood had left 181 miners trapped and the authorities have made no attempt to inform them of anything. I feel that it is the duty of the authorities to inform relatives as they would be misplacing the trust of the relatives if they do not do so. I believe that people are certainly able to empathize with these people. How would one feel if their loved ones are trapped and no one is doing anything about it?

As China’s economy continues to grow at an increasing rate, it is important to realize that even though China’s economy is doing very well, there are still many socials problems in China. Unless China can solve these problems, the citizens of China would continue to suffer. In the future, China is set to become one of the most powerful countries in the world with its booming economy, however, how can a country ever progress if even safety in the country is in doubt? Instead of blaming such disasters on nature and avoiding the problem, China government officials should be taking full responsibility and try to solve the problem. This is not the first time such accidents had happened and many lives had already been lost in the past. Yet, the government has done nothing about it.

Many of these miners are already from poor families. Yet, they still have to risk their lives being lost just to earn enough money for their family to live. In China, polarization happens at extremes. On one hand, there are people in China rich enough to go on holidays while on the other hand, there are also people who do not even have the money to eat a meal once a day. As we can see from this article, miners are being sent into the nearly 1000m deep even though the flooding threat was growing. Is this a case of corruption? Why couldn’t the mining company had got the miners to safety before it was too late? I feel that the rich people in China are corrupted and often use their wealth to control the poor. Unless this social issues are solved, I just cannot see how China’s society can continue to progress as a nation.

In conclusion, I feel that although the disaster was an accident, the minister should not be trying to deflect the criticism but take full responsibility for it and make sure measures are taken to make sure it does not happen again.

Samson
Never Give Up!!!

ERP extended to more roads- Societal and economic issue

2007-08-26T18:13:00.000+08:00

http://news.asiaone.com/
News/The+Straits+Times/Story/ERP+extended+to+more+roads.html

Recently, a total of 12 new ERP (Electronic road pricing) gantries were erected in many parts of Singapore such as Toa Payoh, Kallang and other roads which are often congested during peak hours. 1 new gantry would start operating in the mornings when it opens on Oct 26th at the first stretch of the New Kallang-Paya Lebar expressway while 4 others would be activated from Nov 1st. The rest of the gantries would be erected but only activated when it is deemed necessary.

The government’s rationale for opening more ERP gantries is simple, to reduce the traffic congestion in many roads in Singapore due to the increasing number of people owning cars in Singapore. From 2006-2007, there was an increase of about 7% on the number of vehicles in Singapore, the greatest jump in many years. Without the implementation of more ERP gantries, there could be serious consequences. Not only does traffic congestion affect drivers, but it would also affect Singapore’s image as a country with efficient transport due to the time wasted. Many businesses would be affected as much time would be wasted on transport alone and the efficiency would be affected. In this way, the ERP does have its benefits as it would benefit us in the long run.

However, the view from the general public might be completely contrasting. With the implementation of ERP, drivers have to “pay” a small fee ranging from $1 to $2.50 during peak hours in order to use the road. Thus, many drivers are not happy as even though this might be a small amount, it amounts to a lot of money in the long term as many people drive to work every day. On the other hand, I feel that the negatives of ERP has been greatly exaggerated by Singaporeans as this small fee is really not much to many drivers. The fact that he or she is an owner of a car proves that they are not poor and would not affect their financial income even in the long run. So why can’t they afford a small fee from ERP?

ERP is not the only way to solve the problem of road congestion in Singapore. In fact, has the implementation of ERP really solved the problem? Last year, the increase of ERP rates has resulted in many drivers detouring to other roads to avoid the payment. However, this was only short term as many of these roads became congested soon afterwards as drivers feel that the fuel usage of using taking such detours would even be more than the amount that they have to pay through ERP.

Therefore, a better solution could be the construction of new roads to ease the traffic congestions in certain roads. Perhaps with the construction of other efficient roads, drivers would not be congested on 1 road. In the long term, this would allow drivers other alternatives and ease the traffic congestion during peak hours. However, I do understand the shortcomings on this problem. The government might not be willing to construct such roads due to the fact that it would be costly and also due to the lack of land space in Singapore.

In conclusion, although ERP does have its advantages, it might yet to be the best solutions to the traffic congestion in Singapore. After all, Albert Einstein once said that “When the solution is simple, God is answering.”

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

2 lame jokes

2007-07-18T20:55:00.000+08:00

Some people are really naturally born lame and funny. Let me show you 2 examples.

While Gan was drinking his milo, dehong decided to snatch it as usual. Then Gan of course immediately told him to give it back. Then de hong said "Wait.............. Pipette first"

Then today, before the Abassador's series talk max was trying to wear his tie, dehong decided to show his lame side again. Max was wearing his tie then I remembered what happened yesterday and told him to pipette his tie. Then max said titrate the tie lar. Dehong, as lame as usual said "eh, TIE-trate" LOL

According to max, dehong is suppose to be his shifu. Anyway, when theres max and dehong with you, its seriously hard to stop laughing. But whats life without humour =)

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

Slack and fun day =)

2007-07-17T21:23:00.000+08:00

Lessons were pretty much the usual today. We watched "The Last Castle" for 2 hours man for ss so slack =). Too bad today no chinese cannot “闭目养神. Those from 3G and 3B would understand ^^. Then eng presentation thought it would be today but didn't present as only 5 min left.... So long still cannot get that over with.

After school, went for morrison meeting to sign up for exco. lol really hope I can get into morrison exco next year =). After that, went to eat lunch with Gan, Zhuo Yang, KC, Max, Joewie. Then went to watch the karaoke competition. Well, when there are good performances, there would always be bad performances. Didnt get to watch Daniel perform as need to go for interact =( (Cannot laugh). Then when I almost finish mentoring at about 4.15, cytam called me to tell me I forgot to for Bio DMP and had already missed 2 hours of it. Wth man. Who was the one you told me it was next week? . Nvm, cytam since I'm a kind person I shall forgive you. In the end, I rushed back to school at 4.30 and only did half an hour of DMP. So wasted.... Then Gan started spraying me and cytam with enthanol....

Next week is crazy man.
Mon- Maths cct
Tue-Nothing yet
Weds-Chinese cct
Thurs-Nothing yet
Fri-Chem titration test and physics concept map test.

AHH I'm gonna die next week from mugging...

Just finished my bio concept map ^^
Until next time...

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

New blog post

2007-07-14T23:05:00.001+08:00

I dunno why but I suddenly feel like updating my blog since its like so dead and got no more tests until week 5(not sure whether next week got physics practical) =)I can see that my tagboard is deader than ever. lol. Maybe, this blog might be revived after all.

Went to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today. Luckily tests are over for now if not also not time to watch. The movie, as a whole, was not as nice as I expected. Maybe cause after reading the book, I expected the movie to illustrate it even better. However, many parts of the book were cut from the movie, to minimize running time I think. So many parts were like cut and many facts were wrong jus like the previous harry potter movies. Eg. in the movie, Cho betrayed the DA but in the book it was actually her friend and they changed many parts at the last part of the book about the battle in the department of mysteries. Anyway, overall, it was still an enjoyable movie so I'll recommend harry potter fans to watch it =)

Oyea, and while reading some article today, I realize Emma Watson, who acts as Hermione Granger has the same birthday as me. lol

7th book is coming out next sat, cant wait to read it. Thats all for today. Time to slp

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

New Law by 2012 to help seniors get rehired --Political/Societal Issue

2007-05-18T22:17:00.000+08:00

Article

http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/SME%2BCentral/Story/A1Story20070625-15330.html

Recently, there have been plans to have a new law by 2012 to help seniors get rehired. However, this does not mean that the retirement age would be raised but it just means that there would be more flexibility. This would allow healthy older workers to continue to work even after the retirement age as this law would require companies to rehire holder workers.

From the old workers point of view, they would be very happy with this new law as it would allow them to work pass the retirement age. This is important to many of them as they are still healthy and many of them do not have enough savings from their golden years to sustain themselves. With this law, older people would no longer be discriminated against and not hired just because of their age as companies would be given more funds to recruit, retain and rehire older workers as many of these older workers might not work as efficiently as the younger ones. Therefore, this law would allow older workers to continue to earn enough money to sustain themselves.

However, from the government’s point of view, their purpose of making this law might be completely different. As Singapore population continues to age, the government needs to find a solution keep older workers working so that Singapore would have enough labour. By 2020, there would be more than 500000 people aged 65 and above in Singapore and this could be a big problem. In order for Singapore’s economic growth to continue, there is a need for more people to work and the aging population in Singapore might become a big obstacle as there is less labour. While there is still time before this law would be confirmed, the government would feel a need for it to be implemented quicker as the companies would be able to accept the law instead of going against it since Singapore economy is good at the moment.

Lastly, from the companies point of view, this law would cause many problems for them as they would be forced to rehire older workers pass the retirement age. This would prove a disadvantage to them as older workers tend to be less efficient than younger workers. The rehiring of older workers might affect the progress of the company as it would slow down the company’s renewal process. Yet, even with the funds provided by the government, many companies would feel that it is not enough as they no longer have the freedom to hire all their workers. This might caused the companies to start retrenching their older workers before they reach the retirement age.

In conclusion, looking at the bigger picture, we can tell them this new law would have many implications, both good and bad. I feel that there is a need for this new law mainly because of Singapore’s aging population. Without enough workers in Singapore, Singapore’s economy might be affected and this can affect the growth and progress of Singapore as a whole. Therefore, I believed that although this law does have negative implications, the positive implications would overshadow it.

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

2007-04-30T20:24:00.000+08:00

I've decided to keep this blog alive. =) lol.

Went to register for my IC today at the immigration centre with my mum, which was quite far. Not the first time there but quite a cool place. I must look weird since students are suppose to be in school at 9am in the morning. So reach there and went to look at the address, it says 8th floor. I was like wth I'm sure. We took the lift to 8th floor and realized that it was only for authorized access. So my mum check the paper again and found out that we read the wrong thing. =.=. Waste our time. So in the end went back to 3rd floor. Fast sia no one there. Jus sat down on the counter when someone called me. I turned to my left and saw Peisu. Cool sia, didnt expect to meet someone at the immigration centre. Must be because this is the last day and his birthday is on April too, in fact 2 days earlier than me. Then after that, recognized another RI boy, though I dunno him. lol this day off for people to register for their IC sia.

Then in the afternoon for a meeting for the organizing commitee. Need to discuss on the camp. Then stupid Wayne Chan keep whacking me whack until I fall off the bench..........He so fat, how to expect me to retaliate. Opps I mean big size.

At night, was eating dinner at home with my family when the topic of food came up. We were trying to find a kind of food which only my father eats but not the rest of us. Finally we found out, that it was celery. Guess wad my father said.

Of course only I eat celery, I'm the only one who got salary wad. LOL funny sia make us all laugh. I also found out that my mother eats yellow pepper 0.o . Then my sister go ask wad is yellow pepper, say she only heard before yellow pineapple. I was like dotzzz, arent all pineapples yellow.

Chionging hw now =( so many things to do. Lucky got 4 days holiday if not even worse.

Cant believe I updated it 2 days in a row.

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

Response on the recent pay-hike of ministers --Political/Societal Issue

2007-04-30T13:38:00.000+08:00

Website with related Articles
http://news.asiaone.com/a1news/20070405_story12_1.html

The recent increases in the pay of ministers’ have sparked debates and concerns from the people. The ministers’ salaries are expected to go up by up to 33% while the prime ministers’ pay has been increased to a mind-boggling figure of 3.1 million. Even as senior mentor Lee Kuan Yew highlights the importance of such a pay rise, there are many people in the nation with opposing viewpoints. While there are those who believe that this increase in pay would allow the ministers’ to do a good job and lead Singapore, there are those who think otherwise and feel that this would only increase the income gap in Singapore.

In my opinion, I feel that this increase of pay for the ministers would allow Singapore to progress well. Even though the prime minister in Singapore is earning many times more than other ministers around the world, this pay rise is necessary as Singapore is a small country and needs to preserve its talents and ensure that the government remains uncorrupt. This would also allow Singapore to attract the talented people to serve our country and have good leaders. People might cite other countries as examples on ministers’ having low salaries but Singapore government is different as it is a paranoid government. It is a government which listens to the people and ensures their needs are fulfilled. They are committed to improving Singapore. However, to ensure that this trend continues, we need to attract talented people to Singapore.

However, on the other hand, this increase in pay might have more disadvantages than advantages. Firstly, with this increase in pay, the total yearly income of the ministers’ becomes 46 million. Although this might only account for 0.22% of Singapore yearly income, it is important to know that this amount is very huge to many people in Singapore as they would not be able to earn this amount even in their whole lifetime. Also, this increase in pay would come from the taxes people pay and this might increase the income gap in Singapore further. Secondly, does high pay equate to a good government? While senior mentor Lee Kuan Yew has given examples of countries which are not doing so well because of the low pay of ministers, there has been no proof that high pay would result in a good government. For instance, the NKF saga has shown that high pay does not keep people uncorrupt.

On the contrary, we must learn to empathize with our government. They are the ones who are leading the country and working hard to ensure that Singapore remains strong. Many people do not understand the difficulty ministers have to go through the ensure that the public’s needs are fulfilled.

In conclusion, although the pay increase does have its disadvantages, I believe that it is important to do so as Singapore is a small country and needs good and uncorrupt leaders to ensure that we continue to progress. As long as this pay rise does that, I don’t see what’s wrong with paying the ministers more.

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

Finally a update

2007-04-28T23:25:00.000+08:00

Yo, I finally decided to update my blog. lol. After around 1 month plus of no updates, I have decided to do so since there is a four day holiday.

Anyway, today was quite boring but fun. I noe its contradicting but who cares. So went for some ptm thingy. First thing woke up in the morning, found out it was raining, wth so suai. Took 53 to school for ptm. argg thought can sleep until later then found out got ptm zzzzz. Anyway, upon reaching Bishan, it was still raining heavily. So used my umbrella. Reach school liao then dump my super wet umbrella into the conpoutment on the side of my bag. After that met KC and we starting chatting. Talking crap as usual. Then after that I saw a puddle of water under my bag, thought I suai suai put wrong place, then realized that it was the water from my umbrella. My whole bag was like soaking wet. Heng never put anything exept water bottle

Was suppose to do some ushering thingy at the LT1 but found out that it starts at 10 -.-. So went up stairs with Jaren and Wei Shen. Jaren is gd at talking with parents sia, talk for like 20 min outside with the 1st parent that came. Daniel nothing to do come our class stone.

After that went to do the ushering at LT1 which was very boring. Stone, stone and more stoning. We were suppose to give out handouts and pens to the parents that came. Got so bored that we went to arrange the pens into a circle and made stupid shapes with it. Took a picture but lazy to put here. Bored until starting folding paper aeroplanes. After the 1st round of the talk was over, decided to go inside to listen since nothing better to do. LOL, then later we found out that we were not suppose to be inside, and I told Gan to go in.......cause something like would embarrass the parents.

Finally, after ages its finally 1pm finally can zao. Went to eat lunch with Patrick and KC at KFC. Gan's parents were very kind and offered us a ride to J8. Thx. So we reached there in a mere 3 min? Went home after that go practise piano again

I just realized how hard diploma for piano is. I'm like getting owned. The pieces are like how hard and somemore have to do some research on the composer. zzzz so sian. Hw already so much liao then now need to do piano hw. The only bright side was the I'm still taking grade 6 theory so thats not so bad.

3 more days of holiday to look forward to, gonna watch Spiderman 3 on tues. Hope would be able to finish more hw and projects. Time to sleep. zzzzzzz

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

Minilogue/hitchhikers choice - short version (Longer on DVD)

2007-03-01T20:32:00.001+08:00

Criss Angel - Levitates From Building to Building

2007-02-24T07:42:00.001+08:00

Criss Angel with another cool illusion. Wonder how he did it. Levitating from building to building

2007-02-16T20:28:00.000+08:00

Today was our Chinese new year celebration. Nothing much just the usual performances and some funny talentime thingy. Lol, and in the morning the classrooms were locked and we were locked out. Haha. Then so mafan must stone outside the classroom with nothing to do. Then me and Jaren argued on who to go to take the madarin oranges from the Staff room. Haiz, I was so kind that I went cause Jaren said that he needed to hold the class register. Lame excuse. Anyway, the performance was quite entertaining and funny. Sadly, this is the final house standings.

1st-Moor
2nd-Hullet
3rd-Bayley
4th-Buckley
5th-Morrison

zzzz so sad morrison got last. Nvm give chance now next time then own.

CNY got so much hw. Ok, actually its not a lot cause the projects arent due next weds. But still, its better to finish them quicker then procrastinate. Maybe I can play a game of dota somewhere during the 5 day CNY holiday. =) OYA, and today kw show me a video on youtube which was very funny. Jus search college saga and you will find it. It's around 40min long. Oh well, watch it when you have time. OK thats all for today I guess. Wishing everyone a HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!!!

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

Card Magic - this'n'that

2007-02-14T21:50:00.001+08:00

Cool Trick. Fast hands. Bet you cant figure out how he did it.

No Peace dividend for Nepal's Wildlife

2007-02-08T17:31:00.000+08:00

News Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6303603.stm

In the modern world today, not many people care about the conservation of wildlife. Even as species are becoming endangered, these people are only concerned about themselves and do not care about these animals. When was the last time you had helped in conserving wildlife or even appreciated nature? Or is mankind just too ignorant?

Firstly, let’s look at it from the poachers’ point of view. Why do they kill these animals? They kill these animals because they can easily earn money from doing so as people are willing to pay high prices for them. But why are tiger skins and rhino horns so expensive? This is because many people insist on believing that tiger skins and rhino horns have healing properties even though scientists have already proven that they have no effect on diseases. Tiger skins are coveted as they are beautiful and many rich people buy them to decorate their houses or to wear them. In buying these products, people are actually encouraging these poachers to kill more animals. I am not saying that it is not the poachers’ fault that these animals are dying but each and every one of us is at equal fault. Would the poachers have bothered to kill these animals if people are not willing to buy products that are made from these animals? These poachers are killing these animals simply to make a living, just like you and I.

From the environmentalists’ point of view, poachers would be the greatest culprits. While the environmentalists are trying their best to conserve these animals, poachers are killing these animals and the government is not able to catch them. Although the government has a great part to play in catching and punishing these poachers, the onus is not only on them. As human beings living on this Earth, we have a role to play in conserving wildlife. Education also plays an important part. Educating young children to protect wildlife and allowing them to love it is very important to ensure that future generations do not continue to kill these animals. These environmentalists are trying their best to conserve these animals and we should be doing our part to help out too. Completely preventing these animals from being poached is impossible but environmentalists know that they must try to minimize these happenings before it’s too late.

As long as there are people who are willing to help, we can conserve these animals and understand more about them. You might feel that you are not in a position to help at all but have you ever thought of how you might feel if you were in the animal’s shoes? Recent issues of global warming and terrorism has overshadowed the importance of protecting wildlife. Even as we speak, many endangered animals are being killed and it all boils down to how you treasure what Mother Nature has provided us. While you may have other takes on conservation of wildlife, I hoped that you would do you part to save wildlife.

(For more information about Nepal wildlife, feel free to visit www.nepal.com/wildlife )

My New Blog

2007-02-03T20:23:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, PLS TAG ME and post a comment on this blog or something. I will try to update it often. Though I must do an essay here for each term for english purposes.

Never Give Up!!!

Samson