Parents Is the best role model of children.

Are parents the best role model of children?
In 2007 the numbers of claims are 109, and just after 24 months later the figure nearly doubled to 200.
The recent Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Spots commercial got its message right with the tagline “How one generation loves, the next generation learns.”

It’s seriously a question whether how a parents act affect how the children will be in the future.
From my own opinion, I agree but not fully. How a parent behaves definitely affects how the kids will grow up to be, but due to the studies and the time we spend with friends and girlfriend. We seldom spend time at home. Precious time spend talking to our parents became lesser and lesser due to overwhelming project and time spend with friends. In the end we still left our parents out and pay less attention to them.

But sometimes how parents treat their parents will affect how we treat our parents in the future indirectly. We will tend to think that that’s the way to treat our parents and there’s nothing wrong about it since my parents are doing it to their parents.

In conclusion, I think that parents still have to be a role model but the children himself have to really reflect and try to be like their parents in the good way, not the bad.

-Tang Ming Wei

Do we have racial harmony in Singapore? If yes, is it based on understanding or tolerance.

Since I was young, I studied in a neighborhood school. And on the 21th July of every year, we will celebrate Racial Harmony Day. We are encouraged to wear different races traditional costumes and also we will learn more about the custom of different races and religion. We are taught the importance for understanding and have tolerance to other races that have different custom compared to our own.
We are also taught that the first Racial Harmony day was celebrated on the 21 July 1997 which is remind ourselves not to repeat the communal riots of 21 July 1964.Since I start receiving education, I have to spend time studying , understanding and also making friends with classmate of different races and religion.

The reasons why Singapore is so successful without riot are mainly because we have racial harmony between each other races. Hence, to maintain racial harmony in Singapore, we emphasize on the understanding and the tolerance towards other races. During our Chinese new year, our Malay and Indian friend will join us for celebration, this help us to understand each other culture more. Different race have different culture where we may not be used to, but we have to tolerate and try to understand that it’s their way of life. Example like, in the lunar 7th month the Chinese would burn offering to their decease. This may cause difficulty in breathing to other race, but we tend to tolerate and understand each other. This helps Singapore to grow as one strong nation.

-Tang Ming Wei

Floods in Singapore.Who should bear the responsibiity?

As everyone knows, recently it has been raining heavily and so called "endlessly", the heavy rain just wouldn't stop. It was to the extent that floods are starting to occur at different parts of Singapore.

There cases whereby even the most crowded part of Singapore which is Orchard Road is flooded. A newly opened fast food restaurant is destroyed, the furnitures are damaged and shop itself is flooded. After opening for three days, it is forced to suspend its operations for 2 weeks to restore the shop to how it was. This not only consume time, it also cost a lot.

There is also a case whereby an underground condo carpark is flooded it went almost 3/4 that high of a car. I believe this would cost damage to the car and the cars will not be able to function properly and safely. Causing a lot of inconvenience to the residents.

Who should be blamed for such disasters to happen? Actually I feel that nobody should be held responsible for such disasters. It is unexpected that floods would occur in Singapore. Thus, I feel that the only responsibility people have is to build precautions and solve the problem immediately and effectively so as to prevent more damages to be done.

-Tang Ming Wei

Is there any more room for privacy given the hyper-connected world of online social networking?

I believe most people are using services from various social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, friendster ect. Such social networking sites allows users to post information about themselves, photos and videos of themselves. It is also able to let other people view sensitive information such as mobile number, email address and more.

So are there privacy in such social networking sites? I guess not. In facebook, users can post anything on their friends wall, for example pictures or even offensive messages. This will cause other friends of that particular user to see, which leaves the user with no privacy. Maybe if its posted on his/her wall, they can remove it. However, if its pictures of the person posted on other users account they won't be able to remove it.

Groups and fan pages are also created. People can write anything they want on the page they created, this would allow all facebook users to be able to view the contents of the page, including if there are offensive messages about others or sensitive pictures/videos of others. This leaves the person with no privacy at all.

In twitter, users can also tweet about anything they like. Whether is it flaming at others or talking about others, which such social networking site increasing, privacy of users are decreasing rapidly. However there also options to keep information to be viewable for selected friends. This is the only privacy given in social networking sites nowaday.

-Tang Ming Wei

Singapore table tennis team wins championship!!! Glory ?

Singapore table tennis team wins championship!!!= glory ?
Singapore has won its first gold medal in the World Table-Tennis Championship which was held in Russia, Moscow. The final are between Singapore and China, after a series of tough set Singapore was declared the winner. This event should have made the whole nation proud, but somehow lots of Singapore does not really accept this win as a proud matter. This is because the player that made the Singapore table tennis team that represent for the competition are all permanent residents living in Singapore but were however born in China.

Lots of Singaporean feels that it is more like a China versus China final, and not a Singapore versus China event. There is nothing to be proud of since it’s not won by local Singaporean.
But there is also another group of Singaporean who are really proud of the Singapore Table tennis team. As they think that since they decided to play for Singapore, it means that they are willing to be a part of Singapore.

For my own opinion, I think that we all should be proud for our Singapore Table Tennis team. To me Singapore is a multi racial country it does not matter which country you from, as long as you choose to play for Singapore he/she must be a part of our family. Hence we should all be proud of the team as they are willing to fight their home country as a Singaporean.

-Tang Ming Wei

Are Flyers equal to Chewing Gum ? Should it be banned ?

Flyers could be seen everywhere. You might see some people giving out flyers in town area, Mrt station and many other places. Flyers could also be seen at most bus stops or some notice board. Flyer are mostly seen to advertise a product or a company, this is because flyers could be print in large quantity at a very cheap price and also very easy to design. Hence, lots of companies choose flyers to be their choice of advertising their product/company. Flyers are easily distributed as it could be distributed at anywhere in Singapore, where there are crowds.

Despite there are lots of good points in using flyers as an advertisings tools, there are lots of people saying that flyers are the current “Bubblegum / Chewing gum “in Singapore. You can see flyers anywhere on the ground and pasted at every corner of the bus stop or even some lamp post.
It is kind of a hazard to the environment.
But my own opinion is that it should not be banned, but a fix quantity of flyers each company could give out should be set. And fine should be given to those companies that paste their flyers at prohibited places like lamp post. When fine get stricter, companies will then be more responsible in giving out their flyers. Hence Flyers are different from chewing gum, as it has its use in advertising and it should not be banned.

-Tang Ming Wei

Hot news circulating around Singapore-Singaporean woman whacks her dog!

Enraged netizens and readers wanted immediate actions to be taken. One reader wrote in'' Bring the poor dog to an animal shelter and slap a fine and jail term on that monster!''. There were other vicious and discriminating comments as well. All these reactions caused by a video. One showing a Singaporean woman hitting her dog with a broomstick and yelling at it. This video was filmed by her husband.

The objections were violent and especially infuriated animal lovers. I have mixed feelings and views on this piece of news. I was initially upset with the way a helpless animal was being cornered and beaten up. Later on, i realised that the dog had behavioural problems and had damaged much of the house furniture. Even though being repeatedly disciplined, it still continued with this behaviour. The neighbours have complained about it's uncontrollable behaviour as well.

However, I am not saying that it was right of her to discipline her dog using physical means. IT WAS DEFINITELY WRONG OF HER TO DO THAT. She could have instead send her dog to training school. If she was so troubled by her dog but really wants to keep it, she should be willing to spend money on it.

Officials have looked into the matter and probed further in. They have taken the dog away from it's owners but have not taken any actions against them as it was not as serious as seen in the video. She reported to have only used little effort and it has been proved. I think that netizens and some Singaporeans are reacting too strongly to this matter. They should let it go since the dog is in good hands now.

BY PAVITRA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Floods in Singapore.Who should bear the responsibiity?

I could not believe the footage I saw on the news.

'' Is that really Singapore?'' I asked myself. Apparently it was. Images and footages of Orchard Road and Bukit Timah filled with water was flashing on my television screen. Flood. In Singapore. That could be considered phenomenal. Almost identical to snowfall in Singapore.

The recent climate shift is to be blamed. These extreme changes, from scorching hot to wintry cold is being caused by global warming. However, there were no warnings. These flash floods were quicker than lightning flashes but the damages they left behind were massive and destructive.

No one could actually be blamed for the damages since such cataclysmic events are unpredictable. Traffic was congested, cars plunged into manholes, money was lost, work was disrupted and building facilities as well as properties were damaged. Majority of the public blame the government for these losses. However, i beg to differ as the government obviously didn't want such damages and losses to be brought upon Singapore. Afterall, it would only affect the economy and make them lose out. This is the last thing the government wants.

The government and official have taken the necessary actions. For example, they have taken measures such as placing sand sacks by the lanes of Orchard road to keep the water from coming in and modified the designs of flood-prone carparks. PM Lee also addressed this issue and asked Singaporeans to manage their expectations. The National Environment Agency(NEA) and Public Utilities Board (PUB) have made a joint effort as well and have taken preventive measures.

Hence my conclusion is that no one is to be blamed for such unpredictable circumstances. Instead of pondering on who should bear the responsibility, we should try our best to overcome such situations and try to co-operate with the government as much as plausible.
BY PAVITRA!!!!!:DDD

Do we have racial harmony in Singapore? If yes, is it based on understanding or tolerance.

'' We are different flavours melted together in a pot.''

This statement made by a Singaporean best represents what Singapore is really about. It is what makes Singapore unique, racial harmony, whereby the four races live under one roof in harmony.

Or is there?

Is the presence of various races really racial harm or racial harmony? There has been many racial and religious misunderstandings in Singapore before. In 1950, there was the Maria Hertogh riots. Recently, there was also the racial disputes by a group of young bloggers discriminating the Malays. There also has been incidents where fights broke out due to the different races shunning each other. Alot of these also has to do with the skin tone and being ostracized .

There also has been racism circulating around workplace and in school on a daily basis. If this happens on a bigger scale, the minority and the ethnic enclaves could rise up against the other races and cause an uproar. However, it is not just the majority who are behind this but rather everyone against each other due to their parochial mindset.

The truth is that racial discrimination does exist in different permutations. It is according to the current situation in Singapore. For example, a high unemployment rate might get the minority ethnic groups to start opposing. Their train of thoughts might lead them to thinking that the Chinese are getting the job when in fact everyone is affected, However, they could be right sometimes as some companies would only accept Chinese and not other races who can speak Chinese proficiently. Certain priorities are also given to the majority and it seems like the other races are left aside. This is when racial tension increases and racial bonds weakens.

However, besides these minor matters, there has never really been major racial disputes or riots in Singapore. It is common for such misunderstanding in every country especially one like Singapore where a myriad of races live together. However, i would like to say that those relationships forged by different races are mutual and by understanding and not just mere tolerance.

DONE BY PAVITRA S

Is there anymore room for privacy given the hyper-connected world of social networking?

'' Hey did you hear that Samantha and Ian broke up?'' ''Yes'' ''How did you find out about that?'' ''Facebook''

I have heard these lines one time too many and even been part of such conversations. The exchange above shows how public your private life can be, thanks or no thanks to social networking and internet. Frequently used and popular social networks would be twitter, Facebook, Tumblr,Formspring and even blogging.

Hyperconnectivity refers to person-to-person and person-to-machine communication in networked organisations and societies. It also refers to multiple means of communication. Posting pictures and leaking out information about your private life can be easily seen by others. Even confidential information reaches people fast. The net is very unsafe to use due to hackers and spammers who pose as harmless and distribute or steal whatever activity you have done in the net to date.

Social networking and such organisations encourage the users to continue using their network. They do these enhancing their features and spur them on to go public. They make their networking sites addictive and make them stand out from other public platform sites. Hence, this encourages the people to post things and reveal more about their personal life and photos.

As for blogging, its suppose to act as online diary to release your emotions and vent out your anger. However, the world is becoming 'smaller' due to globalisation and more people having access to internet. An example of a blogger who has gone public with her private life would be xiaxue. She post pictures of her intimate and personal life online. She expresses her views,negative and positive there. Everyone knows about her personal life and relationships due to her blogging.

Another example of the internet being unsafe and having lack of privacy would be the recent leaked photo of well-known lead singer of band Paramore, Hayley Williams. She accidentally uploaded her nude picture on Twitter but quickly deleted it. A few minutes later, it was already posted on the net and distributed.

Privacy whilst using social networking can be managed as long as you limit what you post and do not reveal discreet information.

Can World Cup 2010 affect productivity?

The event that everybody is psyched about. The event that no one can avoid. The event that is recognised globally. The event that affects work productivity.

Although the football-loving world are all hyped up to catch this event, their focus on other important things is lost. It is even worse for soccer fanatics who take medical leaves and abandon their work duties just to catch the tournament. Research shows that most of those who work in offices plan to watch the match in their office computer if their medical leaves do not get accepted. Mass watching might crash the system since it is live telecast. Hence, this would be consequential especially for big companies.

A lot of workers would also opt to watch the match rather than to work on their assignments. This is reasonable because the employees would rather watch something interesting than spend their time on mundane and stressful office work.

The World Cup also comes once in every four years so avid fans would not let the opportunity of watching something as sensational as this slip by them. Hence comes the late nights which exhausts and drains them out of their energy. The next day when these people, be it students or the working population, report to their school or workplace, they do not have the energy or concentration to continue their work anymore. The lack of sleep takes it's toll on them and brings forth health problems such as chronic headaches, migraine and eye strain. The inability to cope with work then forces them to take medical leaves and be absent from school or work.

It is a chain of events that impacts the population and work productivity. Therefore, World Cup 2010 definitely affects the productivity. However, this can be improved on if those affected manage their time well and avoid late nights. They can watch pre-recorded matches instead.

DONE BY PAVITRA!!!!

26,500 new jobs in Q2 in Singapore~

The Singapore economy added 26,500 jobs in the second quarter, bringing total employment to 3,053,000, a Manpower Ministry report said on Friday (30 July 2010). That was fewer than the 36,500 jobs gained in the first quarter of 2010.

The questions asked by Singaporeans frequently are: Does it really work? How many of these people who fall in the age of 40 and above got employed and are true Singaporeans? How many are adopted Singaporeans who got employed?

The Singaporeans who have an age of 40 and above always cannot get the jobs although the government had already added many new jobs. They do not have the skills needed and unable to compete with the other graduate or young. Hence, Singapore government should help them by providing training to them, such as computer skills and some technology skills. After the training, they can really find the suitable jobs for themselves.

Foreigner workers are getting more and more in Singapore. Adding 26,500 jobs is giving benefits to Singaporeans or foreigners? Are we bringing in another 100,000 foreign workers to Singapore? These problems are worried by the Singaporeans. Hence, Manpower Ministry has to take this problem into their considerations and try to solve it to protect Singaporeans’ right.

~Pei Ling~

Floods in Singapore: Who should bear the responbility?

This question was asked by scores of Singaporeans as they battled one of the worst flash floods which wrought havoc in many areas after a heavy early morning downpour.
The PUB is investigating the cause of the flood, especially in the worst-hit Orchard Road/Scotts Road intersection, where the flood waters reached 300 mm high, flooding basement car parks and shops, destroying goods and disrupting businesses.

Hence, who should bear the responsibility? Government? Singaporean?

In my opinion, I think both. Personally, I think that the Government should look into this seriously and to implement action plan to find out root cause. Flood prone areas have long been identified, but nothing has been done. In fact, aggravated by the construction boom. SG government needs to take responsibility and stop telling the people to live with it.

But I think that Singaporean should not just start complaining and expect government to solve every single issue for them, instead those able people should just stand out to contribute suggestion and possible solutions, Singapore do only belong to PAP but all Singaporean. I am not a PRO Government, but I don't agree that people should try to score political points on this kind of issue just because election will be approaching.

Actually it is not the time to find out who is to be blamed now. Singaporean and every single unit should cooperate with Singapore Government to solve out this problem as soon as possible to ensure floods will not happen again in the future.

~Pei Ling~

Hotels, restaurants that offer views of NDP fireworks fully booked.

Singaporeans are getting ready for the nation's 45th birthday! Many people are willing to spend their money on hotels room just to see the fireworks on a bird's eye view, on the day of celebration. Those hotel rooms have special views of the parade and fireworks. A special one night stay in hotels are not cheap, but people are willing to pay to witness the National's Day Parade Celebration.

For example, a 55th floor hotel room in Swissotel The Stamford costs about $640. In exchanhge, the people will be able to have a spectacular view of the Padang and the fireworks that will light up the skies on the day of celebration.

*This picture shows the view from the 55th floor hotel room in Siwssotel.


All rooms with similar views are all fully booked since April. Singaporeans are really willing to slurge on hotel rooms and even made early booking for it. All they want is to have the best view of the celebration that happens every August of the year.

Swissotel The Stamford's restaurants locate at the 69th level are also fully booked, by customers who will pay for the good view. Window seat of the restaurant even cost additional $20 per table.

As singaporeans are all getting ready for the nation's big day, let not forget the meaning behind every national day, which is to celebrate and commemorate the nation's independance.

Written By: Chan Jia Yi

Floods in Singapore: Who should bear the responbility?

Recently, Singapore has encountered several floods across the island, particularly central Singapore. This is a rare phenomenon in this country as the last flood that occurred here would date back to some 50 years ago. The worst-hit area was Orchard Road, where traffic was halted, productivity was crippled and goods damaged. When this news struck me, I was marvelled by the mere fact that a flood could occur in Singapore. To me, Singapore was flood-proof, but the flash floods themselves proved my view wrong.

People say that the government is to be blamed for not developing the proper infrastructure to prevent such an overwhelming event to occur. However, I put myself against the grain here. The flash floods around central Singapore were nothing more than unpredictable, and as the word states, the government could not anticipate it. Moreover, why would the government want this destructive event to occur? It affects our society and economy.


Due to the flash floods, PUB is already investigating the cause of the floods and how to mitigate the impact of heavy rain. Therefore, I feel that we Singaporeans should take this as a lesson learnt, to be prepared for the unexpected, as well as to give the government time to carry out measures and strategies that benefit both you and I.

Written by: Chan Jia Yi

Do we have racial harmony in Spore? If yes, is it based on understanding or tolerance?

Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious society. There are three main races in Singapore, which is Chinese, Malay and Indian. There is an event to celebrate Singapore's success as a racially harmonious nation and society built on a rich diversity of culture and heritage. The first Racial Harmony Day was celebrated on 21 July 1997. As part of the National Education Programme, it is celebrated yearly on the anniversary of the communal riots of 21 July 1964. Students are encouraged to be dressed in their traditional costumes such as the Cheongsam and the Baju Kurung.

This racial harmony in Singapore is based on tolerance and understanding between the races. From colonial times up to the independence of the island state, racial and religious harmonies have been the top priority of the governing institutions.Tolerance and understanding was a key principle underpinning peace and social cohesion. Understanding and tolerance must be present between the races to maintain the harmony in Singapore. They should respect each other’s religion and traditional custom. They should celebrate the occasion together. All the races should work together to create a better future of Singapore. Parents should always teach their children about the importance to tolerate and understand the other race from they was young. Hence, I feel that both tolerance and understanding are important to maintain the racial harmony in Singapore.

~Lim Pei Ling~

Is there any more room for privacy given the hyper-connected world of online social networking?

Young people share the most intimate details of personal life on social-networking Web sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, portending a realignment of the public and the private. In my opinion, I feel that sometimes yes, sometimes no. If it is not as the social-networking sites allow seemingly trivial gossip to be distributed to a worldwide audience, sometimes making people the butt of rumours shared by millions of users across the Internet.
Facebook is another example to show that is there a privacy given to the online social networking because it seems to attract most of the people, while at the same time offering the most comprehensive set of controls on any site I have seen. On Facebook, there is a dialog boxes to control access to most objects. An object’s owner can restrict access to the following choice:

Only Me—which provides complete privacy
Some Friends—which permits an explicit list of people to access the Object
Only Friends—which permits all friends to access the Object—of course, implying friends within the Facebook network
Friends of Friends—which broadens access to all of a user’s friends, plus friends of their friends
Everyone on Facebook—which makes the Object completely public

The Facebook options imply a hierarchy of privacy, including the ability to explicitly deny access to a list of selected people. Hence, we have to emphasize on personal privacy and information security carefully.

~Pei Ling~

Do we have racial harmony in Spore? If yes, is it based on understanding or tolerance?

Racial Harmony, I remember the primary school used to celebrate. Every year, we will be taught the importance of having racial harmony in Singapore, which is a multi ethnic country. Also, we will dress up with clothes and costumes of different races on the celebration day. Items will be brought up by students of different races as well. There will be a strong demonstration of racial harmony, working together despite the differnet races through exhibits and activities for the students to attend. Since young, we have been taught and we have learnt to accept the different races in Singapore.

Ministry Of Education commerate Racial Harmony Day on 21 July every year to mark the anniversary of the 1964 racial riots. This is a day for students to reflect on and celebrate Singapore's success as a harmonious nation built on a rich diversity of cultures. It can promote inter-racial understanding among students as the celebrations are a reminder that promotes social cohesion and racial harmony among the different races.

The theme for this year's RHD is “Embracing Diversity, Building Community”. It reminds us of the different races, cultures and languages in Singapore. Hence I feel that racial harmony in Singapore is based on understanding, not tolerance.

As singaporeans, we should respect each other’s race and religion and celebrate Racial Harmony Day together. All the races should work together, in harmony, to create a better Singapore.

Written By :Chan Jia Yi

Is there any more room for privacy given the hyper-connected world of online social networking?

Everyone is now using social networking websites such as friendster,myspace, twitter, facebook. They are channels with allows people to connect to their friends, post information about themselves, post photos and viedos as well.

Privacy seem to be not an issue in this case. People are happily posting all about their lives, openbly to the public through these networking websites. I know of some people who can hardly leave these websites. They will check for updates every now and then and even have the applications in their smartphones so that they can use it everywhere they go. People are willingly showing their lives to the world, because they do not feel that it should be kept private. They feel that it is alright to share it with the world. Information of people have made their friends and followers intersted and they started to connect with them through these networking websites.

Some information may be comfortable with people, but nowadays, people are more and more daring as photos of couples being intimate, scandily clad photos, nude photos are spreading on the internet. I feel that there is no more privacy on these social websites as anyone and everyone can have access to a person's information as long as suffcient information are given, for example and name or email. However, I think people should not expose too much of themselves or give too much information about themselves online as it is very dangerous to do so. It is not safe to have your personal information all over the internet. Some networking websites allow private viewing for friends only, however, if people were to have bad intention towards someone, information can be easily found out and it is dangerous to do so.

Written By : Chan Jia Yi

South Africa 2010 World Cup !

I bet you have been hearing people talking about some world cup matches in school or even everywhere you have been to. World Cup is the greatest soccer event where a soccer fans could be looking out for.
World Cup does not only attract soccer fans to stay up all night to catch a match, it attracted students or even the whole family to catch it as a get together thing. World Cup is organized every four year and the venue of the event will be selected randomly. This year World Cup, it was held at South Africa. Due to the time difference between Singapore and South Africa, World Cup matches are shown from 10pm for the first match to 2.30 am for the last match of the day.

Catching all these World Cup matches may cause lack of sleep to students and working adults. This will cause them to have lack of energy and concentration for their studies and work. This is very irresponsible and also very bad for personal health.

Worst of all things that World Cup will bring into the society are gambling. Due to World Cup, the numbers of cases of addictive gambling have increase. Underage gambling is responsible in part of the increase. These underage gamblers may become became addicted to gambling and harm to both the society and their loves one.

World Cup may have brought positive effect/influence to the economy, sports industry and many other aspects. But certainly it did bring as many negative effect/influence to our life. Hence we have to really decide for ourselves on what things are right and what things aren’t. And be responsible on what we should do.

-Tang Ming Wei

World Cup 2010~~

World Cup is a hot topic in 2010. Every football fans are crazy about it. Everyone can sacrifice their sleeping time to watch the competition show and they will watch it on 2.30am. It will seriously affect their daily routine of next day. Football fans completely cover all the age of people, including students, office worker and others. They will have not enough energy to work or study the next morning because they have not enough sleeping time. It will affect office and school productivity. They will totally forget their responsibility and what should they do. They should arrange their time allocation properly.World Cup encourages people about sports but it also brings up some disadvantages. Some people will use this ‘good opportunity’ to earn money. It will promote more social ills, such as gambling, especially under age gambling. The young will use their pocket money to gamble although they know it is illegal.There is the news shown as below related to gambling in Malaysia:Police in Malaysia have arrested 129 people including students for illegal football betting worth 94 million dollars since the World Cup began this month, a police official said Monday.Mohamad Bakri Zinin, chief of the criminal investigation department, said that since the tournament kicked off in South Africa on June 11 until Sunday police had carried out 156 raids against illegal betting.Among those arrested were individuals, including a family of four and criminal syndicate members, he told reporters."One hundred men and 20 women and nine foreigners were arrested," he said, adding that the youngest bookmaker was 15 years old. Hence, everyone should restrain themselves from the bad manners during the period of World Cup and they should also arrange time properly to fulfill their own duty and responsibility.
~Ivy Lim Pei Ling~

World Cup 2010

World Cup season is here! It is driving all the football fans crazy. Everyone is watching World Cup, even if it is on the morning of a working day. World Cup 2010 was held at South Africa. Due to the time difference between Singapore and South Africa, World Cup matches are shown as late as 230am for a match.



Who watches World Cup? Not only working adults, but students as well.
Late matches deprived them of sleep and caused them to lose focus in work and school. People stay up till the morning of a working day, just to catch the match. This definately affects productivity of school and at work. When people sacrifice their sleep to watch the match, deep in the night which drags till the morning, they will not be able to concentrate in the day. World Cup fans may be too hooked up with the game that in school and at work, all the think of is to go home and watch the next World Cup matches.

Conversations in school and workplaces, will definately include World Cup. This affects productivity as well. This is because people lose focus on their work as they chat more and more on the topic "World Cup". I believe that this is an exciting topic which people will be discussing on. World Cup fans or anti-World Cup people will all be talking about it because it is the EVENT of the year. No one will miss World Cup, everyone will know about it. Hence, the conversations about World Cup cannot be avoided.


Also, World Cup may have given people an opportunity to start gambling and trying out their luck at the matches. Even after the World Cup ended, those people who gamble may not be able to cut the habit and continue to bet on other things such as TOTO and 4D. This is such a bad and harmful activity that World Cup can actually cause to people.

In conclusion, I feel that people should not get too crazy over the World Cup, but balance their fun time with serious school or work in the day. People should not indulge in harmful activity such as gambling even when World Cup have ended.

Written By : Jiayi

Singapore table tennis team wins championship. Is there any glory?

The Singapore Table Tennis National Women's Team made history by upsetting the defending champion, China in the World Team Championships at Moscow. The team which consist of Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Beibei beat China 3-1 in the final of the World Team Table Tennis Championships. Thought representing Singapore, all the team players are from china, so the quuestion is: "Is there any glory in the winning?"

Quoated from a forum, a Singaporean said: "As far as i'm concerned, it was China A vs China B and the B Team won, that's all! These Chinese sportsmen representing other countries are just rejects that were not good enough to represent China and they sold their skills for foreign money, they have not the slightest shred of loyalty for their own country!!"

From this comment, it can be clearly seen that this singaporean do not feel proud about the winning of championship by our fellow Singapore team. He feels that the Chinese table tennis players are rejects of China and thats the reason why they are coming Singapore instead of representing China. He also stated that those players are not loyal to their country.

On the other hand, other Singaporean applaud for their success.
Quated from a forum: "I am delighted that our table tennis players have done Singapore proud. Congratulations to them!"

This shows that the people feel there is indeed glory in the winning of the championship. The word 'our' is used. It shows that people accept the chinese sportmen who come from China, as our own. They regard them as our table tennie team which represente Singapore in games and competitions, on a national level.

Several people look at the winning in this manner: "If u need a country to denote it, its Singapore, but still,the people who won it, are from China." While others may rejoice in the winning of our Singapore team regardless of the nationality of the players.

I feel that there is glory in the winning of championship. When they win, the country 'Singapore' was lifted up. People in the world, do not see them as 'imported talent', but acknowledge the winning by the country by its name which is Singapore.

I feel that people should not critise the nationality of the players because they have indeed made us proud by winning the championship. We should not critise or make remarks to comment on the 'fake glory', but take pride in the winning by being proud of it.

Written By : Chan Jia Yi

Flyers: Are they like chewing gum?Should they be banned?

Flyers; a graphical piece of paper used for advertising and creating public awareness. Many businesses function consistently due to the help of flyers. There are various advantages of flyers. Besides promoting and enhancing the sales of the firm, flyers are also easy to distribute and design. They are cost-effeicent as well, since it is cheaper than other sources of commercialising. The target market is huge as flyers can be posted anywhere and everywhere around our island. This marketing medium is also used to update the public about their services. Hence, people can access the services they want.

However, are flyers really that useful? It comes across as problematic as well. It is not a very convincing marketing tool. They are also not interactive and do not have a long-term impact. Since the it is a cheaper alternative to print flyers, they are printed out in huge amounts unneccesarily. Many of these flyers,hence go to waste. It also becomes a public nuisance when there are flyers sprewn everywhere and becomes unsightly. This instead causes the public to react negatively to flyers and hence they refuse to take interest in them.

There is also a high chance that reader might miss out the message as flyers are not considered important or persuasive. Printing out too much of flyers causes much wastage. Many trees are cut down to make needless messages and commercials through flyers. It also contributes to land pollution as older, unwanted flyers are torn down to be replaced by new ones.

In conclusion, I think that distributing flyers should not be banned as it is a constructive way of spreading a message. However, there should be limitation to the number of posters to be printed out. Flyers are in way, like chewing gum in the aspect that they pollute our island. However, chewing gums have not much use for us except for freshening our breath. Flyers however does good in publicising.

Yours truly,

Pavitra S.

Flyers : Should they be banned?

What is a flyer?
Flyers are leaflets used for advertising. It is also a channel to make the public aware of any information through reading from a piece of paper. Flyer are forms of communications methods used for people who want to engage or inform the public but do not have the money or desire to advertise over the internet, or use other means of advertising.

Flyers is a one way communcation method. They will be no feedback given by people who reads it. I feel that it is not a very effective way of advertising.

Sometimes, flyers are seen all over the floor. These are done by inconsiderate people who throw them on the floor after reading and reciding that they no longer need that piece of flyer. This causes land pollution and affects the beauty of the environment that we lvie in. This should not be the way how flyers should be treated. The printing of flyers cost money. People should only take the flyers when they think they need it, instead of taking it for fun and throwing them on the floor after they finished reading it. This is litering and is not a gracious act.

If flyers are carefully treated and used, there will not be litres of flyers all around singaopore and resources would not have to be wasted to print those flyers.

Sometimes, old people are seen giving flyers in heartland areas of singapore. I feel that this is the only source of income they have and I will take the flyer from them even if I may not need it. However, I will make sure that I will throw it away only when I see a trashbin and not throw it on the floor.

Hence I feel that flyers should not be banned but they should be used carefully with consideration to cost and the environment. People should dispose it in the right place, if they do not need it anymore.

Written By: Chan Jia Yi

Singapore emerges victorious in World Table-Tennis Championships

The news was all over the world. In the net,on television and published in the newspaper. Our home team had won a gold medal in the World Table-Tennis Championship. The competition which was held in Russia, Moscow was the finale and showdown between the two remaining teams, Republic of China and our very own Singapore. After a gruelling duel, Singapore was declared the winner due to the teams' skills and accuracy.

However, that was where the problem stemmed from. The trio who made this victory possible are permenant residents living in Singapore but were however born in China. Hence, this caused an outrage and upset many Singaporeans who believe this win can only be accepted if the trio were Singaporeans and not foreigners. According to this group of people, its like this foreigners are parasites, coming to Singapore to enjoy the benefits and later steal oppurtunities from the local talents. Besides that, for them, winning this title is equivalent to China winning the championship since the players are of Chinese origins.

Our people also see this win as something with no value and to take pride in. Afterall all the credits still goes to China since the winners are from China and in the end,it would be China that has all the talents. This news also set netizens questioning as to what happened to our locally bred talents. A netizen even commented that even if Singapore won the title wouldn't it still be China that won in the end?

I had a hard time deciding on which side I am, the non-supporters or the supporters. However, in the end I clearly decided to disagree with the latter's train of thoughts and go with the supporters. It would make no sense to put down this trio who have left their homeland to come here. Not only have they shed sweat and tears for this outcome but they have also left behind their family just to come here and slog for our country's victory.

On top of that, the three of them sang our national anthem, carried our flag and represented us with honour. Hence, I beg to differ with the view that the Chinese do not deserve the credit just because of where they were born. Nationality is not an issue when it comes down to who they finally fought for. The ones who brought us this title fought a battle against their own country because they really wanted to this win for our country.

Such people are WAY BETTER than those Singaporeans who commit crimes and other shameless acts disgracing our country. Also, when we look back at Singapore's history and lineage, most of our ancestors were foreigners who migrated to Singapore for a higher standard of life. So instead of lamenting on how this champions do not deserve merit due to their nationality, we should warmly welcome them for choosing Singapore to represent and live in.

Yours truly,

Pavitra S.

Flyers

You will see some people giving out the flyers everywhere, especially in the MRT station. It is a common scenario in Singapore. I was always taking the MRT, there were people giving out flyers. As I always have to habit to ‘help’ these people by taking the flyers, obviously they were more than happy to give the flyers to me.

Somebody says that flyers are just like chewing gum. When Singapore government has not banned chewing gum in Singapore before, you can see the chewing gum was stick to the ground, wall and etc. You can see the flyers are threw everywhere now. Hence, should it be banned?

In my opinion, I feel that it should not be banned. Flyers are the most direct, cheap and effective way to the young and small business to introduce their products and service to customers. Hence, it is a chance for them to earn the maximum profit and success in their career. The students, retired and some disabled will usually be hired to do this kind of job. Giving out flyers doesn’t need any professional and great skills. This job gives them a chance to earn money. If flyers have been banned, the businessman will lose a way to promote their products and services and the people will lose an opportunity to earn basic living expenses.

Banning flyers is not a correct way to solve this problem. Government should hold some activities to tell the Singaporean the way to solve this problem together. School should give a talk to the student about this topic which is directly related to the environment problem. Singaporean should also put more concern about this topic. They should behave themselves and make sure that do not throw the flyers everywhere if they do not need the flyers. They can recycle it if they don’t need it. Hence, flyers will not be described as chewing gum if flyers are gave and received in correct way.

~PeI LiNg~

Singapore table tennis team wins championship!!!

SINGAPORE lifted its first table tennis world title in Moscow on Sunday night.
The Republic's team of Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Beibei stunned mighty China 3-1 in the final of the World Team Table Tennis Championships.
The China-born but Singapore-raised trio of Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu and Sun Bei Bei stunned reigning champions and arch-nemesis China 3-1 in the final held in Moscow on Sunday.

While some Singaporeans feel that ultimately, it is still a “China versus China” competition and that the win is no big deal, others disagree, triggering a fierce online debate. To date, the post has garnered close to 600 comments within the first 12 hours of the post being published.

One Yahoo! Fit To Post user, Raj, comments, “What’s the point anyways, aren’t this kids Chinese migrants (sic)? Most athletes are imported in Singapore anyways, it’s just a sense of hollow value. Hardly any pride in it.”

Many others, however, beg to differ.
“Regardless of the nationality issue, this achievement is outstanding,” says reader Ignatius Albert Wijaya.

“The players might not have been locals but they train to become the players that they are in Singapore. I hope Singaporeans can show their respect to the players. That’s the least we can do,” he adds.

There is too many comment about this topic.
I think everyone should be proud of them despite of their home country.
They should give them applause instead of say something insultation.
They represent Singapore to compete with other country, they strive to get champion for Singapore.
They were trained to be a Singapore players in Singapore.Singapore provide everything good to them.
Hence,
Singaporeans should show some respect to the players and support them.
Singaporeans should proud of their outstanding achievements.

~Ivy Lim Pei Ling~

Do teens need etiqutte lessons in school?

'Please' and 'Thank you' are basic etiqutte that everyone should adopt. When requesting for something, it is only right and gracious to say 'please' and 'thank you'. However, it is not the common lanaguage among young people these days. Young people may feel that practicing etiqutte is not cool and they don feel it a need to do so.

Teenagers do not have good manners when they talk to their teachers or parents. This may be due to the upbringing they have at home. In school, we see that teenagers are talking back at teachers, not respecting teachers or even scolding the teachers. Even when teenagers are with their family members, they are not behaving themselves.

Nowadays, teenagers lack the basic courtesy and manners. I believe that teens need to be taught etiqutte in school. Schools can start introducing etiqutte classes which can be conducted outside of cirriculum timings. It can be in a form of workshops where a speaker will talk to students about the importancy of practicing etiqutte. Students can also learn to practice etiqutte through case study given by the workshop. I believe that it can give them a better idea on etiqutte and how it should be carried out. I think that schools is the best way to improve students's etiqutte.

The society can be such a better place when the young people of the country can be gracious people who practice social etiqutte.

Written By: Chan Jia Yi

Do teens need to be taught on etiquette?

This week's topic would be on whether teenagers nowadays need to be taught on basic manners and social etiquettes. Youth's nowadays are seen as the lost generation by the older crowd. Their behaviour and body language is seen as offensive and vulgar. Adolescents are seen as ego-driven slackers with their head held up high and views said out loud. The elders who have been brought up in a different reality from the current generation show resentment when they see such attitude.

In the earlier generations, teenagers were forced to obey and follow traditons. It was also of utmost importance to be thankful and respectful to people who were older than them. They had to endure the harsh and sometimes insensitive words of adults. They were not allowed to retort or give snide comments to the people older than them even if they were right.

Hence, it comes an advantage that teenagers nowadays are more assertive and fight for their rights. So instead of just taking in whatever is hurled in their way, they take it in their stride and handle these situations by themselves. Adolescence would be the stage where your a kid yet an adult simultaneously. Hence, it comes by hard to make the right decisions as your childishness in you wants to take risky decisions whereas your maturity resents it. When your a teenager you also become more aware of life and find ways to release the steam and pain. Hence indulging in such nonchalant behaviour.Teenage angst is very much misunderstood. Teens do not want to forced into decisions and fight for freedom. Therefore, they oversee the norms and traditions. Adults see this as arrogance and see their walk as swaggering. However, teens are also partially at fault.

Their attitude overwhelms them and they later tend to overdo it. Some teens behave in an irksome attitude on purpose to annoy others around them. Research shows some unbelievable statistic. Whilst kids take 30% risks and adults take 20% risks; adolescents take 80% risk. Their free will attitude transforms into a 'why do i care' attitude. This also drives them to adopt amore violent and offensive behaviour. The unneccessary use of expletives and profanities increases. They refuse to listen or take advices from experienced and older people. This is where teens need to be taught on how to control themselves. Seesions or lessons on how to behave gracefully needs to be conducted. In Singapore, the goverment has made it mandatory for civil moral educations to be conducted in all primary and secondary schools. However, these things cannot really be taught or forced upon, it should come voluntarily.

Etiquettes coming from within also goes back to the background of the teenagers and the environment they have been brought up in. Alot of teenagers have gone through emotional or psychological pain and have received no family support. Or worst, their family are the ones making their lives worst by their discouragement. Hence, their escape from this hell would be their defiance.

In conclusion, I think that teens need to be taught etiquette and the perfect time to be taught would be when they are in primary and secondary school. They also require some counselling sessions to be emotionally stable. However, besides that, i think it depends on how they were brought up and what they have gone through. Teenagers are just plainly misunderstood. Adults also need to know that they are growing up and need to give them more space.

yours truly:PAVITRA S

How teenager's behaviour can be improved?

Nowadays, teenager's behaviour is getting worse.

They even need to be reminded to say "thank you", "please" and so on.

The news show that 2 ungracious teenagers placed their feet (and shoes) on top of the bus stop seats when the bus stop was already seemingly crowded and there is a handful of elderly.

Hence, we need to solve this problem as soon as possible.

Teenager's likelihood of having good manners outside of the home is a direct reflection of the way etiquette was taught in the home. Ideally, parents model proper behavior such as greeting elders, saying please and thank you, and respecting the belongings of others. If parents have reinforced such behavior for many years and gave children opportunities to practice social etiquette at family dinners and gatherings, they are more likely to act properly in public as teenagers. Although it is more difficult to learn later on, teenagers can certainly pick up these skills and make them a part of their daily lives.

For many teenagers, etiquette is not learned at home.An etiquette lesson should be given to students in school. This lesson should be provided at least one hour in a week.Importance of good etiquette will be shown in the lesson. The lessons often focus on encouraging students to develop their communication skills in a variety of contexts and become aware of the messages they send in their body language.

Teenagers might not realize the ways in which poor manners can create a negative impression, it is up to parents and teachers to ensure that teens learn the value of social etiquette.Hence, it is necessary to teach them well when they was young.

~ivy lim pei ling~

Facebook Banned in Pakistan !

Facebook is a social networking website launched in February 2004. Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. It is a great social networking site to catch up with your high school friends or get to know more new people.

However, people tend to misuse such websites to post comments or create groups that contains information that are sensitive, religious or explicit. I feel that it is not right for people to misuse features of facebook that is to socialize and make new friends.

Recently, facebook has been banned in Pakistan due to the set up of a page "Draw Mohummad Day" which slights other's religion. I feel that Facebook should not be used for political or religious purposes. After all, facebook has many users from worldwide and there must be people from different religions and people who have different political views.

Setting up such pages will cause unhappiness and conflicts between different users of Facebook. This will then defeat the purpose of this social networking site which was originally created to let people socialize and make more friends. Different people believe in different religions, so I believe that Facebook users should respect one another's religions and not slam at each other's religions.

Groups like different retail brands, sports, hobbies, interests can be created freely, as this can bring users with same interests together. They can also start commenting and discuss about their common interests. This is the purpose of a social networking website.

Facebook is a successful social networking page with more than 4 million users. It is free and user friendly. Users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information and other personal information. Communicating with friends and other users can be done through private or public messages or a chat feature. Users can also create and join interest groups and "like pages". Regarding concerns about privacy, Facebook enables users to choose their own privacy settings and choose who can see what parts of their profile.

However, since Facebook is for everyone to use for free, they will not be able to control whatever that is posted up on the website. This will result in groups or pages created to slam other religions or people. A possible consequence is that facebook will be banned on religious based countries like Pakistan due to the setting up of the page "Draw Mohummad Day", this will cause people to not be able to use the functions of Facebook because of inconsiderate individuals who create such pages.

In conclusion, I feel that everyone should be mindful of what we post on the internet.

~Tang Ming Wei

Facebook is banned in Pakistan.

What is Facebook?
Facebook is a social networking website which allows people to connect to people from all around the world. Users can add people as friends, sent them messages, write on their profile, chat online and update about themselves!

Pros : Facebook is useful because its a website that people can talk to their friends, post their feelings and comments on their wall, friends can also comment on their friends' update. From there, a chat can happen as more and more comments from different people comes in. It is always interesting to read the comments that comes from different people. We can look at their point of view towards a certain subject. Users can also play games that are available in Facebook.

Facebook allow people of the same interest to join a group and they can discuss issues of their interest in the group. They can even put up photographs and viedos and share about their experiences. They can share pointers and views. Above all these, Facebook is free to use.

Cons: Through there are advantages of using Facebook, it also cause people to spend a large amount of time on Facbook. Students are actively using Facebook all the time, even during lessons times and this can disrupt their learning. Due to Facebook being so easily accessible, people start to abuse the use of Facebook by posting comments without being responsible for it.

An example of people mis-using Facebook can in seen in the recent Pakistan case. Facebook have been banned in Pakistan because of the creation of a group called "Draw Mohammed Day". Thr group encouraged a 'contest' of drawing caricatures of Mohammed, the highest prophet in the religion, Islam. I think this Facebook group is very biased and insulting to the religion.

Facebook should never be used to discuss religion or political issues as they are very sensitive. Discussion of such topics may easily arose unhappiness in the targetted group. In serious cases, fight or wars may occur in the country as people want to voice out and show their unhappiness. This cause instability in the country.

Hence, I strongly believe that every user of Facebook should be responsible for what they say. We must take into the consideration, the impact of our comments towards other people. Is our comment insulting or being biased towards any group of people? How would they react after reading the comments posted by us? All these are questions that we must ask ourselves before we post anything on Facebook. If every user of Facebook follows this rules and respect different religon or political views, we will not see Facebook being banned in another country anymore.

Written by: Chan Jia Yi