Why we should care

Why should we care about what happens in places far away from where we live? The recent earthquake in Japan has attracted a lot of attention. As we watch the devastation being played out live on television, it is also heart warming to note that other people from all over the world are helping them one way or another. However, one might be curious as to why so many people care about the happenings in Japan. One might argue that the earthquake in Japan did not have a significant impact on us. Yes, Singapore was not directly affected by the earthquake physically. However, the disaster in Japan can affect everyone across the world. One of the main reasons is because we are also human; We can sympathise with them. It is very heart-breaking to see the people of Japan struggling to survive in the aftermaths of the disaster. Thousands of people were killed and even more are still missing. Children were orphaned overnight and loved ones were killed. Seeing the miserable state they are in, our compassion would take over and we would want to help them. The sight of people in tears, completely devastated by the earthquake: homes in ruins, rubble littering the ground, dead bodies all around, this would definitely invoke our sympathy. Unless one has a heart of steel, we would be affected emotionally and psychologically, giving us the urge to help them. We are still humans after all. When the earthquake struck, we are reminded of the value of human life. If we had any friends or relatives in Japan, we would be utterly worried for their safety and well-being. One would definitely look out for any way to help them. These people would be able to empathise with the Japanese who are finding news of their family in desperation. When a particular species gets wiped out on Earth, it would jeopardise the entire delicate eco-system. This also applies to humans. If the rest of the countries in the world do not care about Japan and left the Japanese to their fate, the consequences would be dire. Business in Japan is falling and they are making heavy losses. This is due to less tourists travelling to Japan and the radiation scare. There are in fact many Japanese companies in partnership with Singapore. When their business is not doing well, it would also affect the economy of Singapore (call it a chain-effect). When Japanese stocks fell, Singapore was also affected and shares also fell . This caused some negative impacts on Singapore's economy. Many Japanese products are also widely used here: game consoles, food stuff, electrical appliances, etc. Imagine your Nintendo or your favourite anime movie gone suddenly. It would leave a mark your life and you would definitely be affected. Sometimes it can make your life suddenly turn upside down - your favourite Japanese show stopped broadcasting, or that soap you always use would never be marketed again. It causes a sudden break in your life. From the Japanese earthquake alone, one can realise that whatever happens far away, may not necessarily be insignificant in your life. You would be affected one way or another, it is just a matter of how much it would change you.

Letter Writing

Shawn Chan
33 Hume Avenue #06-11 Symphony Heights
22/03/11

David S. Abraham
Hitachi International Affairs Fellow
Council on Foreign Relations
14 Pellet Road #11-77, Tokyo


Dear David,

How are you holding out in Tokyo right now? Was there any major destruction caused by the Earthquake in Tokyo? I hope that all is well in your area.

I am Shawn Chan from Singapore and I have read your article about the effects of the Japanese Earthquake in Tokyo. The experience must have certainly be not a very pleasant one, and I understand that you are indeed very worried about the current situation in Japan. However, please do not worry, for you have our support and encouragement.

You have the rest of the world cheering you on, urging all of you to not give up and move forward. Do not worry so much about the current situation in Tokyo and always look on the bright side of things. Be aware that there are people in other parts of the world that experienced even worse conditions. However, they are able to tide through these extreme conditions with a strong will-power. If they could do it, you are no exception and I believe you can still carry out your daily life without any difficulties. Do not give up!

Yes, Tokyo may be slightly more chaotic nowadays due to the earthquake, and your lives may be affected slightly, but look at how little the impact is on Tokyo. It would definitely take some time for the people to recover and resume their usual activities. However, I can be sure that the streets of Tokyo would be bustling with people again after a few months.

You also do not need to waste your time worrying about whether other people think another earthquake would hit Tokyo. As long as you feel that you are safe, just carry on with your life and not let this incident scar you for life. You need to live and let live. Once you have assured yourself that the worst is over, you would feel better. Ignore the other people, let them think for themselves, just do what you deem fit. After sometime, things will go back to the way they used to be.

Just take this incident as a lesson to everyone - we must all be vigilant even during a time of peace, for there is no telling when a pandemonium would break out. Remember, always look up for the whole world will be with you in these dark days.

Yours sincerely,
Shawn

The Casinos

Last year, the casino in `World Resort Sentosa ` has been opened to the public. There was a large number of people anticipating its grand opening and on the day it opened, the response was overwhelming. Thousands gathered at the entrance of the casino and most of them waited for many hours before getting a turn. Some of them did not even get a chance to use the jackpots after waiting for several hours. The government has impose a rule that all Singapore citizens and permanent residents must pay a fee of a hundred dollars before entering the casino.
I think that opening the casino is a very good thing as it can help to boost Singapore's economies and people can just go there to gamble for their leisure, it can also attract tourists to Singapore.
However, nothing is perfect, there is also some disadvantages. Singaporeans that are addicted to gambling will often go to the casino and gamble heavily, often ending up with a huge debt and in a miserable state, family members will most likely also suffer. This results in very bad consequences for some of our countrymen.
If many Singaporeans start to go to the casino on a regular basis, in no time at all, they will too become addicted to gambling.
This is the reason why the Singapore government imposed a rule that all Singapore citizens or permanent residents need to pay $100 in order to enter the casino, this is to protect the interest of fellow Singaporeans. This will discourage them from going to the casino too often as they will soon realise that it is a waste of money to go to the casino. There is also a rule that family members can appeal to the government to ban heavy gamblers from entering the casino.
However, the government do not impose this rule on foreigners which encourages them to gamble more often, their money will go into the casino owner's pocket and it will boost Singapore's economy. These money can be used to develop Singapore and construct new buildings, schools, etc to let Singapore become even more prosperous.
So, with all these measures taken, Singapore will become more prosperous while Singaporeans will not become heavily gamblers. So it is definitely a win-win situation.
However, the levy may not be entirely effective. Many people have commited crimes involving scams to avoid paying the levy, which shows that it may have no effect on some people heavily-addicted to gambling. There were also cases of cheating, stealing and other major crimes taking place in the casino.
This is a place for joy and sorrow for various people. It depends on how they use their time and how they manage their life. After all, it is one's will power that is very important.

Are humans inhuman?(The Lord of the flies)

There is one thing that I do not understand in reference to 'The Lord of the flies', how can the children simply kill another one of their own without hesitation and even take pleasure in doing it. It shows the true nature of humans: cold-blooded and cruel,extremely cruel.
Ask this question "Why do humans like to abuse defenceless animals and take pleasure in doing it?", why doesn`t the newspaper once read ' Tiger mauls its keeper and smiles'.
Even when animals kill other animals, they do not 'smile in glee as they devour their prey'. They do it for one reason-survival. However, humans simply kill others for no particular reason because they are just bloodthirsty. One examples are the children in the story: At such a young age, they know how to kill one another and do not feel remorse from it. Yes, there was nobody to correct their wrongs at that time, but isn't it common sense to not kill another one of our own?
It is similar to a kidnapper killing his hostage after he got the ransom. Why does he even do that? The hostage is defenceless and poses no threat, the kidnapper got what he wanted and he has no particular reason for killing him. The kidnapper might as well say "Give me a ransom of one million dollars AND I will kill him".
Furthermore, another question I would ask is why are humans so superstitious that they are willing to kill one of their own kind for silly and non-proven rituals? Another example I got was from the story I learnt last year, "The lottery"
Are humans so eager to see someone else scream or to experience pain? If they like it so much, why don`t they do it to themselves? Afterall, they will get a `first class` experience.
Humans are even willing to kill their loved ones for silly reasons such as money problems, rituals, etc. These actions are totally pointless and the worst part is ,most of the time the culprit does not feel remorseful and treated it as of no significance.
I admit, when I was young I used to get a kick out of stamping on frogs.
Why does this habit come naturally for humans and not for other, less intelligent animals? Are we really inferior to them?
What is the point of being the most intelligent animal if we are also the most cruel animals because of that?
Another thing is, whenever you bring up this topic, it will cause an uproar. That is because of humans` pride, they just would not admit they are heartless and cruel. A good example is when 'The Lottery' first appeared in The New Yorker magazine.
The scary part? These 'trends' tend to come naturally in our life. To all abusers of any kind out there, please change so that humans can clear this image of ourselves.

Machine vs Human teacher

Recently, there has been much talk about whether computers can replace human teachers, after a machine effectively marked an essay. Do I agree with it? I would say absolutely not!

So what are teachers really for if computers can do their work more "effectively"? Teachers can let us learn more information because being human, they know how to convey these information to us. Computers do not answer your doubts and questions directly, and they would not know how to give you strategies to excel and learn better. Computers just "dump" all the information on you and let you try and figure your questions out yourselves. Teachers will know what you want to learn, and can explain it patiently to you.

Teachers do not meerly give you information to score in your exams. However, they are there to assist us in our learning journey. They give us pointers, tell us how to tackle difficult questions, and they are there to support us. There is a student-teacher bond and this will allow students to comfortably learn their lessons.Computers do not do all of that. They are also devoid of feeling, and one will have no motivation and enthusiasm when being taught by a computer.

Teachers can also look out for their students and help them in areas where they are weak. Computers do not know how to give students various skills and strategies to improve their studies, like "Oh, you can practice spelling some words from the dictionary to improve your vocabulary".

If we replace teachers with computers, we will lose our ability to pass on knowledge to the younger generations, and this will have devastating results. We might as well replace all humans with robots...

Prejudism

Yes, I would think that anyone who is racist is totally unfair and cold-hearted. In fact, when I read "To kill a mockingbird", many thoughts swarmed in my mind. How could the people in Maycomb town be so ignorant, so short-sighted? Most of them are totally prejudiced against Afro-Americans, and I find their behaviour very repulsive. Speak of civilisation! The people in Maycomb stood blindly as despite the ridiculous accusation were being pointed out, they only had this thought - "All Negros are lowly, thick-skinned people who are sure to be the guilty ones in a crime". No argument, no protests, and Tom Robinson was found guilty.

Even when Tom, a disabled man, tried to escape from prison, the guards shot him seventeen times. A merciless, cold-hearted seventeen times. From my view, I think the guards were being ridiculous, giving no mercy to someone they think is "low-classed". I could bet that they would not have done that to a white man, absolutely not. These people are just unfair, and we can do nothing about it. Their mind is obssessed with this, and none of us can change their mindset. It depends on them. However, if they are ill-bred and wish to remain as a nuisance, so be it.

I can only pray that in our society today, none of this acts of prejudism will ever take place. Singapore is a very fair, multi-racial country, and I hope that this reputation will continue to exist for a very long time. It is not a nice feeling to be mistreated by other people, so remember virtue ethics - Do not do to others what you do not want others to do to you.

The Power of Facebook and Twitter

"Facebook" and "Twitter", very common tools nowadays that many people cannot seem to live without. What makes them so interesting? Recently, it became more people to socialise and interact with one another through these networking sites. Imagine the convenience of being able to chat with your friends with just a click of your mouse. Share information, movies, games, with one another on these sites. Best of all, it could be done in the comfort of your own home. One would be very pleased with all these applications.

However, I would like to ask, are getting over-dependent on these technological machines to do even our simplest tasks? Previously, people interact face-to-face, engaging in deep conversations and communicate with one another sincerely. Now, most of us are dependent on computers to do this work for us. Yes, it is more convenient, but we will miss out the valuable experience when talking face-to-face.

Gone is the facial expressions and body language, replaced by some emoticons and other objects that can be placed on the screen with just a click. People are now using computers to interact with one another - which is the most basic thing in our daily life. If we cannot even do this little act on our own, what else can we achieve without our I-pads, I-phones, Macbooks, etc. ?

Imagine a day without computers, can we still manage like we used to decades ago? Are we really nothing without our gadgets and devices? Admit it, Facebook and Twitter are part of our life now. This changes the very way that civilisation operates.

I cannot imagine what the future may hold - when we may become entirely on techonology to do our daily "chores".