Both the authors bring out very credible to state their varying stands, and I must say that the both of them have been very convincing. But, as I have made clear before, I will certainly object to the death penalty, and thus am siding with Antonio Cassese.
Both of them provide evidence that seem to contradict each other. One particular piece of evidence drew varying opinions from the writers. For instance, Gary Becker says that the death penalty has actually helped to deter crimes, which is seen in the drop in crime rate in the U.S. However, Antonio Cassese, seems to think otherwise. Thus there is no real way to tell if either of them is telling the real truth. But the main reasons why I chose to object the death penalty is that, firstly it is highly ineffective and I don’t think that it really helps to deter further crimes. I like the point that Antonio Cassese stated, that in a fit of complete rage, no one is going to think about the consequences should he or she kill someone. That’s the raging bull in us all, waiting to get out and do some real damage, not even sparing to thought to think logically. That’s the extent to which our anger can drive us.
I like another point Antonio Cassese drew up. I really feel that people are paying too much attention to this death penalty issue. I feel that increased emphasis should be placed in fighting for crime prevention and against the inhumane acts in prisons. Through all this, we will be able to totally abolish prisons. I mean, the purpose for prisons is to teach criminals a lesson for the sins that they have committed. But with all the atrocities and inhumane acts being committed in the prison itself, don’t the inmates lose the fight towards turning for the better and leading a new life??? Many are going to be scarred for life and these reasons are why many commit suicide in the prisons. Are prisons really the ideal places for rehabilitation???
But, Gary Becker also brings up a good point in saying that administering the death penalty to a murderer could potentially save 3 other lives. The opportunity to save innocents by killing a murderer, whom I must add, rightfully must not be shown any remorse to, is indeed a good reason for the death penalty. I also really think about the families who are affected by these murders. How will they take it if they see the criminal going scathe free with only having to go through a few canings and a life prison sentence? This brings up the whole issue about “an eye for an eye”. Well, the only rebuke I can come for that is that I really feel that too much of attention is being placed on the death penalty issue. I mean, don’t we all want to live in a peaceful haven right here on Earth. Yes, as corny or as unfeasible as I may sound, this is what we all should fight to achieve. Are we really going to live comfortably when there is going to be at least one person per day who is going to be murdered??? Well, that’s what the situation is going to escalate into, if the everyone does not change his or her priorities.
The bottom line is that if we start thinking about fighting to attain total crime prevention, this whole issue will be blown to dust…. But then again, in today’s society where violence is continually being encouraged in the form of wars and terrorism, very few still believe that peace can guarantee them what they want… This is a dire issue we all must fight to change… the sooner the better…
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Challenges facing Singapore as we play host to more people from different backgrounds and cultures
The article entitled "Embracing Otherhood" clearly defines the ongoing problem is surfacing in Singapore at the moment. We, as Singaporeans are unwilling or just ignorant in accepting these others as Singaporean. The word that we normally use to describe the europeans or the caucasians that we can see form time to time walking admist Singaporeans, "Ang Mo" really is giving them excessive amounts of attention. Do we constantly have to gawk at them as if they were some alien from another planet???
Thus, one challenge is certainly the willingness of we as Singaporeans to accept these foreigners as one of us. Right now, i would have to say that we need to be warmer to these foreigners. The issue about the death of the worker from Myanmar, which was also talked about tin the article, is a clear example of the disparity between the forigners and the Singaporeans. The fact that they did not even have the decency to give he dead worker a proper burial, gives us all a clear indication that we regard these foreigners as nothing more than slaves that do all the dirt work. They do all the hard work like renovating neighboorhoods, upgrading the lifts and yes, clearing the garbage. We think of them as workers more than humans and this is why the accused chose to simply dump the body anywhere. They must have had the impression that the foreigners are so insignificant to them, thus there being no need to give them a proper burial.
Another challenge would be to remove the stereotypical idealogy that Singaporeans preceive of these foreigners as well as removing any prejudice that we may have of these foreigners. Stereotypical claims can range from the "study mama" as well as the "prostitute" label given to the mothers from China to the "we have too many of Bangla workers" comment we hear everytime we pass by a large construction site whereby the majority of the workers would be Bangladeshis. Considering their job options to be very meagre and "degrading" is what is driving us Singaporeans to give hem so little respect. But i would just like to point out that there are pure Singaporeans who also fall into these job categories. But are we discrimination them too???
The way to solve theis is for we as people ourselves to recognise that we do indeed need to give them some respect. Jokes about these foreigners are fast flowing, are can be heard among secondary school students. If they are developing such views now, their negative views are just going to keep piling up as the age. These racist jokes that riducle the foriegners are plentiful, and even though the students mean no real harm form it, they are actually aggreviating the situation. And it is always wrong to talk behind people's backs.
"There are 4 people in a plane: A singaporean, a bangladeshi, an american and a swiss man. They were all discussing about what their countries were best in. So, the american guy stepped up and said that in America, there was an abundance of cigars, and so proceeded to throw cigars off the plane. Next, the swiss guy stepped forward and said that in Switzerland , there was a abundance of swiss watches and so proceeded to throw themhe out of the plane. Lastly, the Singaporen felt he had to come up with something good. So, he then took the Bangladeshi and flung him out of the plane. He then looked at the other two and "Too much of them in my country".
This is one common joke but though again, no real damage done, it does have it social implications.
It about time that we address all these issues and ensure that they all feel like home in Singapore. Not to forget, they also make up about 1 million of the total population meaning that prejudice or personal attacks aimed at them could potentially lead to detrimental results concerning our society.
Thus, one challenge is certainly the willingness of we as Singaporeans to accept these foreigners as one of us. Right now, i would have to say that we need to be warmer to these foreigners. The issue about the death of the worker from Myanmar, which was also talked about tin the article, is a clear example of the disparity between the forigners and the Singaporeans. The fact that they did not even have the decency to give he dead worker a proper burial, gives us all a clear indication that we regard these foreigners as nothing more than slaves that do all the dirt work. They do all the hard work like renovating neighboorhoods, upgrading the lifts and yes, clearing the garbage. We think of them as workers more than humans and this is why the accused chose to simply dump the body anywhere. They must have had the impression that the foreigners are so insignificant to them, thus there being no need to give them a proper burial.
Another challenge would be to remove the stereotypical idealogy that Singaporeans preceive of these foreigners as well as removing any prejudice that we may have of these foreigners. Stereotypical claims can range from the "study mama" as well as the "prostitute" label given to the mothers from China to the "we have too many of Bangla workers" comment we hear everytime we pass by a large construction site whereby the majority of the workers would be Bangladeshis. Considering their job options to be very meagre and "degrading" is what is driving us Singaporeans to give hem so little respect. But i would just like to point out that there are pure Singaporeans who also fall into these job categories. But are we discrimination them too???
The way to solve theis is for we as people ourselves to recognise that we do indeed need to give them some respect. Jokes about these foreigners are fast flowing, are can be heard among secondary school students. If they are developing such views now, their negative views are just going to keep piling up as the age. These racist jokes that riducle the foriegners are plentiful, and even though the students mean no real harm form it, they are actually aggreviating the situation. And it is always wrong to talk behind people's backs.
"There are 4 people in a plane: A singaporean, a bangladeshi, an american and a swiss man. They were all discussing about what their countries were best in. So, the american guy stepped up and said that in America, there was an abundance of cigars, and so proceeded to throw cigars off the plane. Next, the swiss guy stepped forward and said that in Switzerland , there was a abundance of swiss watches and so proceeded to throw themhe out of the plane. Lastly, the Singaporen felt he had to come up with something good. So, he then took the Bangladeshi and flung him out of the plane. He then looked at the other two and "Too much of them in my country".
This is one common joke but though again, no real damage done, it does have it social implications.
It about time that we address all these issues and ensure that they all feel like home in Singapore. Not to forget, they also make up about 1 million of the total population meaning that prejudice or personal attacks aimed at them could potentially lead to detrimental results concerning our society.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
The Ever Growing Improvements in Aviation
The question really, is "Will the dreamliner ever soar???"...In a recent article i had read in Time magazine, i learned that was an unveiling of the newest Boeing 787 airplanes. Not only is in bigger and better, it is also more environmentally friendly that all the previous series behind it...its being built with a lighter material to achieve cost savings and thus concentrate more on establishing comfort to the passengers. On top of that, its usage of LED lights inside the plane thus helping to save on energy usage. This combination of comfort and a social consciousness to reduce pollution looks set to take the aviation world by storm...already there 677 orders of the plane from just about 47 aircraft carriers while simply tells us the enormous demand for these aircrafts...
There is a lot of competition brewing between the airbus and the Boeing. The airbus initially had the upper hand with the release of their latest Airbus A380 into the market in 2007. While the Boeing seems to go for more class, the Airbus seems to be merely focussed on getting the largest number of people in flight as possible. The A380 is currently the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Its capacity numbers reach around the mid 800s. Looking at the monstrous size of the Airbus from the front, its very hard to see how such an aircraft could fly giving its sheer weight. But, alas, welcome to the world of technology. Moreover, due to the ever escalating level of technology in the world today, it is no longer hard to picture over 1000 people i a plane on a commercial flight.
The Boeing company now have to face an extremely uphill task of producing over 600 Boeing 787s in time for 2015. The important thing is that they have got to ensure that the planes made are of extremely good quality. Else, they will be exactly like Airbus, which had the structure of the plane all laid out but due to problems with the production of the various aircraft components in different countries, the overall finished plane ended up being like crap...this had disappointed many people and had reduced the reliability of the Airbus company.
Still, overall, it’s been amazing how much the aviation world has achieved in such a short time... i just hope that the comfort level of passengers in plane such that they feel no sorts of awkwardness...its only then when air-sick prone people like my mother, will start enjoying air travel...
There is a lot of competition brewing between the airbus and the Boeing. The airbus initially had the upper hand with the release of their latest Airbus A380 into the market in 2007. While the Boeing seems to go for more class, the Airbus seems to be merely focussed on getting the largest number of people in flight as possible. The A380 is currently the world’s largest passenger aircraft. Its capacity numbers reach around the mid 800s. Looking at the monstrous size of the Airbus from the front, its very hard to see how such an aircraft could fly giving its sheer weight. But, alas, welcome to the world of technology. Moreover, due to the ever escalating level of technology in the world today, it is no longer hard to picture over 1000 people i a plane on a commercial flight.
The Boeing company now have to face an extremely uphill task of producing over 600 Boeing 787s in time for 2015. The important thing is that they have got to ensure that the planes made are of extremely good quality. Else, they will be exactly like Airbus, which had the structure of the plane all laid out but due to problems with the production of the various aircraft components in different countries, the overall finished plane ended up being like crap...this had disappointed many people and had reduced the reliability of the Airbus company.
Still, overall, it’s been amazing how much the aviation world has achieved in such a short time... i just hope that the comfort level of passengers in plane such that they feel no sorts of awkwardness...its only then when air-sick prone people like my mother, will start enjoying air travel...
Saturday, July 7, 2007
The terrorists at work again
Its yet another scare for the British. This week saw a terrorist attempt in London and Glasgow foiled by the vigilant efforts of the London police. As i look back at the September 11 World Trade Center bombings, I can't help but think how much terrorism has affected us this past few years. Its also really sad to see that the British is currently feeling the full force of the Al Qaeda terrorists.
Is there really no end to this??? Though the car-bombing attempt was far from a successful one, it still strikes fear in the hearts of Londoners that the terrorists are still relentless in their pursuit of vengeance. Like how the world is gather ring on the 7th of July to increase the awareness of global warming through "Live Earth", I feel that there should really be a large-scale effort to curb terrorism as well.
Britain has felt the brunt of the terrorists especially from the London subway bombings. Its good to see that the increased security by Scotland Yard has paid of. The quick apprehension of the perpetrators of the car bombings is good evidence of that. But the fact that the nation is at a terrorist level threat 4 puts every one of its citizens in a very precarious position. I don’t mean to sound racist, the Londoners are probably going to be keeping a wary eye of any Iraqi or Muslim in their streets...but, who can blame them when even people in such a noble occupation as that of a doctor suddenly turns into a suicide bomber...
We live in a very dangerous world where the notion of peace seems as ludicrous as the idea of Singapore winning the world cup...but, if Singapore does put in loads of effort into its soccer, I cannot deny our chances and this idea works the same for terrorism. Try hard enough to curb terrorism and I have no doubt that terrorism can become non-existent and from there, we can look towards creating a safe haven right here in Earth...
I believe in this, now the only problem is convincing others to believe in this....
Is there really no end to this??? Though the car-bombing attempt was far from a successful one, it still strikes fear in the hearts of Londoners that the terrorists are still relentless in their pursuit of vengeance. Like how the world is gather ring on the 7th of July to increase the awareness of global warming through "Live Earth", I feel that there should really be a large-scale effort to curb terrorism as well.
Britain has felt the brunt of the terrorists especially from the London subway bombings. Its good to see that the increased security by Scotland Yard has paid of. The quick apprehension of the perpetrators of the car bombings is good evidence of that. But the fact that the nation is at a terrorist level threat 4 puts every one of its citizens in a very precarious position. I don’t mean to sound racist, the Londoners are probably going to be keeping a wary eye of any Iraqi or Muslim in their streets...but, who can blame them when even people in such a noble occupation as that of a doctor suddenly turns into a suicide bomber...
We live in a very dangerous world where the notion of peace seems as ludicrous as the idea of Singapore winning the world cup...but, if Singapore does put in loads of effort into its soccer, I cannot deny our chances and this idea works the same for terrorism. Try hard enough to curb terrorism and I have no doubt that terrorism can become non-existent and from there, we can look towards creating a safe haven right here in Earth...
I believe in this, now the only problem is convincing others to believe in this....
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Commentry on Friend's Blog
I would like to comment on Vjay's blog entry titled "The Rising EPL".
Link to Vjay’s blog: http://www.woshitiancaiertong.blogspot.com/
Yes, I totally agree with Vjay that the English Premier League (EPL) is on the up rise. It’s now the third biggest grossing sport, still behind the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. But I have no doubt that in time, the EPL will top the word as the highest grossing sport. Soccer in the beautiful game after all….
But what has made the EPL such a success. Like Vjay said, the English football scene wasn’t as glamorous in the past, having its fair share of hooliganism and out-of-control fans. But the scene of English football today has seen a dramatic change. There hardly is any domestic violence and the conduct of the English fans are by far the best if you compare them with the fans of other big footballing nations like Brazil, Argentina. Italy, and Spain. So bad is the violence in Argentina that the fields are actually surrounded with a extremely high metal fence to prevent the raging fans from getting onto the pitch and harming the players and opposing fans. In Italy, the violence was so great that there were cases of deaths, which resulted in the footballing body in Italy actually banning fans from entering the stadium to watch the matches. It was highly humorous seeing those top teams in Italy playing their matches in virtually zero crowds. Where is the fun in that??? The players did not even get the mood to celebrate after they had scored.
That’s nothing compared to what happened in Spain. Racist taunts were the scene of Spanish football last season. There were a few black African players that were taunted by the opposing teams’ fans. They made offensive hoots and monkey actions at them. One particular world-class player, Samuel E’To, was also subject to these cruel taunts and wanted to walk of the pitch because of them.
Why not in England then??? Because the English Football Association has implemented harsh stands and fines to stem hooliganism. Their efforts have not been in vain with the fan conduct in their domestic league being one of the best in the world. Which is why the English Premier League is so marketable. Besides being host to some of the world’s best football teams and world-class football players, the enormity of fan support in England is astounding. It’s no surprise that billionaires, who have never watched football before, can become so engrossed in it the next minute.
The EPL now is becoming home to not only the world’s best football player, but also to the world’s richest billionaires. More than 5 clubs are being owned by billionaires with the most high profile billionaire to enter the scene being ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The fan base that these billionaires can tap on is worldwide. Not like some sports like, Rugby, which is not so popular in Asia.
It goes without saying these rich investors are going to even further the popularity of the EPL, but there are certainly going to be the negatives of such things. In football, if you have the money, you can get the best players who in turn can get you the victories that you want. Thus, there is the problem of the league being too one-sided. The richer teams will eventually end up owning the poorer teams. That’s just the way it is. At the end of the day, football will always be money driven sport.
With this bring the only problem I see in EPL, maybe the English Football Association can bar such transactions where rich billionaires take over clubs, already financially capable, and perhaps request for them to invest in a poorer club. Although the answer is going to be “no” due to the lesser marketing power of lesser popular clubs, it’s worth a try…its time we made the game beautiful and fair again…
Link to Vjay’s blog: http://www.woshitiancaiertong.blogspot.com/
Yes, I totally agree with Vjay that the English Premier League (EPL) is on the up rise. It’s now the third biggest grossing sport, still behind the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. But I have no doubt that in time, the EPL will top the word as the highest grossing sport. Soccer in the beautiful game after all….
But what has made the EPL such a success. Like Vjay said, the English football scene wasn’t as glamorous in the past, having its fair share of hooliganism and out-of-control fans. But the scene of English football today has seen a dramatic change. There hardly is any domestic violence and the conduct of the English fans are by far the best if you compare them with the fans of other big footballing nations like Brazil, Argentina. Italy, and Spain. So bad is the violence in Argentina that the fields are actually surrounded with a extremely high metal fence to prevent the raging fans from getting onto the pitch and harming the players and opposing fans. In Italy, the violence was so great that there were cases of deaths, which resulted in the footballing body in Italy actually banning fans from entering the stadium to watch the matches. It was highly humorous seeing those top teams in Italy playing their matches in virtually zero crowds. Where is the fun in that??? The players did not even get the mood to celebrate after they had scored.
That’s nothing compared to what happened in Spain. Racist taunts were the scene of Spanish football last season. There were a few black African players that were taunted by the opposing teams’ fans. They made offensive hoots and monkey actions at them. One particular world-class player, Samuel E’To, was also subject to these cruel taunts and wanted to walk of the pitch because of them.
Why not in England then??? Because the English Football Association has implemented harsh stands and fines to stem hooliganism. Their efforts have not been in vain with the fan conduct in their domestic league being one of the best in the world. Which is why the English Premier League is so marketable. Besides being host to some of the world’s best football teams and world-class football players, the enormity of fan support in England is astounding. It’s no surprise that billionaires, who have never watched football before, can become so engrossed in it the next minute.
The EPL now is becoming home to not only the world’s best football player, but also to the world’s richest billionaires. More than 5 clubs are being owned by billionaires with the most high profile billionaire to enter the scene being ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The fan base that these billionaires can tap on is worldwide. Not like some sports like, Rugby, which is not so popular in Asia.
It goes without saying these rich investors are going to even further the popularity of the EPL, but there are certainly going to be the negatives of such things. In football, if you have the money, you can get the best players who in turn can get you the victories that you want. Thus, there is the problem of the league being too one-sided. The richer teams will eventually end up owning the poorer teams. That’s just the way it is. At the end of the day, football will always be money driven sport.
With this bring the only problem I see in EPL, maybe the English Football Association can bar such transactions where rich billionaires take over clubs, already financially capable, and perhaps request for them to invest in a poorer club. Although the answer is going to be “no” due to the lesser marketing power of lesser popular clubs, it’s worth a try…its time we made the game beautiful and fair again…
Freedom of Expression or Social Responsibility
Firstly, I would like to talk about the contrasting opinions of the two writers, Singer and Szilagyi. Singer basically places a firm believe that there should be freedom of expression for democratic countries and is making his stand by using the example of one Austrian, David Irving, who was sent to jail because he denied there ever being a holocaust. From this, it is not hard to gather why Singer has such strong believes. Imagine, someone in Singapore denying that the Japanese occupation ever existed. Is he going to get arrested? You see, the basic principle behind having a democratic society is to grant each and every person in society the chance to voice himself or herself, regardless of how controversial their opinions may be. Thus, he feels that David Irving has to be released, as he was simply telling out what he felt was right. You can’t just silence them and throw them in prison. It shouldn’t be done in any society, much more in a democratic one.
As for Szilagyi, she believes that social responsibility should be exercised even in a democratic society. She bases her claims from the Danish cartoon saga There is no shadow of a doubt that it sparked controversy in the Middle East and the temperatures down there were reaching boiling point. It was so terrible that the Muslims refused to but anything that was Danish, believing them to be tainted of sorts. Now, knowing that the situation was volatile in the Middle East, shouldn’t the Danish government, in the least prevent it from being published? If everyone was going to dismiss the cartoons with a hearty laugh, they were obviously, wrong.
Now we shall take a look at Singapore. Singapore is a democratic nation, in which all our voices, grievances are attentively heard by our government. But we must not forget that Singapore is also a multi racial society. Then means being extra careful with what we say or do. This virtually means that we are in total freedom over what we say but know when to keep our mouths shut so as to avoid saying anything that may come across as racist remarks. Of course, Singaporeans are wary about this, with the 1964 race riots still fresh in our minds. So, I’ve finally decided that both writers’ approaches should be adopted to ensure that will be able to build a strong, cohesive multi-racial society, while still keeping the idea of freedom of expression.
But, then again, this idea is absurd…Its near impossible to say that the government is going to be able to do such a thing when the two principles contradict each other on almost every scale. Thus, while I would certainly have been content if there was a way to combine the two principles, I would have to say that Singapore should most probably adopt Szilagyi’s approach. Social responsibility is what’s most important in Singapore…
Firstly, we must think about what our society in made up of: a multi-cultural society. While over the years, the threat of there being social or racial tension has been quelled, we all cannot deny that there still lies distinct lines existing between each racial group. Nobody just wants to admit to it. So say that we focus on the principle of freedom of expression and a cruel racial-related article crops up in the newspaper one day. There is most certainly going to be an outcry of injustice the next day…Yes, this is Singapore, and the outcry certainly is not going to rival those in the Middle East, but it will stir up a bit of hatred and tension within the targeted racial group. A volatile bomb, ready to burst once its endured too much. What could be worse???
But, if we take the better route, in this case, towards having social responsibility, we can be assured that almost everyone in the public are going to go about their daily lives as per normal. By saying almost, I do refer to those minority die-hards who are so vocal and expressive that the press has to cover-up their views. There is going to be an out-cry by these people that there is no freedom of speech but, for Singapore’s sake, I pray that their volumes will be almost negligible.
Finally, I believe that everyone in Singapore has a good moral sense, and have virtues that would make even our forefathers proud. Nobody’s going to post an article, knowing that the social impacts of it would be insurmountable. If not why have the principle of transparency between the government and the public in place??? The government must surely feel that Singaporeans will be mature enough to not boil over racial issues and etc. Take for example; the government was very transparent about revealing the economic status of all the racial groups though this information was indeed a sensitive one.
The fact that we have not had even a glimmer of a potential racial riot in the last 40 years has indicated that whatever transparency the government and public are having is really effective. I almost feel as if I have nothing to worry about…
As for Szilagyi, she believes that social responsibility should be exercised even in a democratic society. She bases her claims from the Danish cartoon saga There is no shadow of a doubt that it sparked controversy in the Middle East and the temperatures down there were reaching boiling point. It was so terrible that the Muslims refused to but anything that was Danish, believing them to be tainted of sorts. Now, knowing that the situation was volatile in the Middle East, shouldn’t the Danish government, in the least prevent it from being published? If everyone was going to dismiss the cartoons with a hearty laugh, they were obviously, wrong.
Now we shall take a look at Singapore. Singapore is a democratic nation, in which all our voices, grievances are attentively heard by our government. But we must not forget that Singapore is also a multi racial society. Then means being extra careful with what we say or do. This virtually means that we are in total freedom over what we say but know when to keep our mouths shut so as to avoid saying anything that may come across as racist remarks. Of course, Singaporeans are wary about this, with the 1964 race riots still fresh in our minds. So, I’ve finally decided that both writers’ approaches should be adopted to ensure that will be able to build a strong, cohesive multi-racial society, while still keeping the idea of freedom of expression.
But, then again, this idea is absurd…Its near impossible to say that the government is going to be able to do such a thing when the two principles contradict each other on almost every scale. Thus, while I would certainly have been content if there was a way to combine the two principles, I would have to say that Singapore should most probably adopt Szilagyi’s approach. Social responsibility is what’s most important in Singapore…
Firstly, we must think about what our society in made up of: a multi-cultural society. While over the years, the threat of there being social or racial tension has been quelled, we all cannot deny that there still lies distinct lines existing between each racial group. Nobody just wants to admit to it. So say that we focus on the principle of freedom of expression and a cruel racial-related article crops up in the newspaper one day. There is most certainly going to be an outcry of injustice the next day…Yes, this is Singapore, and the outcry certainly is not going to rival those in the Middle East, but it will stir up a bit of hatred and tension within the targeted racial group. A volatile bomb, ready to burst once its endured too much. What could be worse???
But, if we take the better route, in this case, towards having social responsibility, we can be assured that almost everyone in the public are going to go about their daily lives as per normal. By saying almost, I do refer to those minority die-hards who are so vocal and expressive that the press has to cover-up their views. There is going to be an out-cry by these people that there is no freedom of speech but, for Singapore’s sake, I pray that their volumes will be almost negligible.
Finally, I believe that everyone in Singapore has a good moral sense, and have virtues that would make even our forefathers proud. Nobody’s going to post an article, knowing that the social impacts of it would be insurmountable. If not why have the principle of transparency between the government and the public in place??? The government must surely feel that Singaporeans will be mature enough to not boil over racial issues and etc. Take for example; the government was very transparent about revealing the economic status of all the racial groups though this information was indeed a sensitive one.
The fact that we have not had even a glimmer of a potential racial riot in the last 40 years has indicated that whatever transparency the government and public are having is really effective. I almost feel as if I have nothing to worry about…
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Effective Punishment
Ah, punishment…A widely talked about topic I must say. Why do we need punishment? Are we so ignorant of rules that we should have to resort to pain to ensure that one learns his or her lesson??? This brings up the topic of today’s justice system and to be specific, effective law and order. What is effective and what is not? Why is it that most of us label the meting out of harsh punishments to being more effective that giving more lenient punishments? It looks as if we humans, highly intellectual people I must add, are only capable of learning our mistakes through pain and torture. Surely something is amiss…
Today’s law and order has taken, from a personal point of view, a turn for the worse. The punishments seem to be getting harsher and harsher form each new crime being committed in today’s society. Just about a week ago, there was an officer form the Central Narcotics Bureau, who came to talk to all the students about the multitudes of highly addictive drugs being circulated among drug traffickers today, and off course, the punishments awaiting these drug traffickers. 24 strokes of the cane is one of the cruel punishments that await these traffickers. 24 stokes of the cane at one session!!! And we aren’t talking about the canes that we buy from any shop…Oh no, we’re talking about canes that are thicker than our index fingers and the people who met out the punishment are real professionals…I talking about people who take target practice to ensure that every shot lands spot on to ensure maximum pain. Sounds totally sick and sadistic right…Wait till you see the pictures…I guarantee that the next time you get even an ounce of craving for drugs, your hand will immediately be feeling for your behinds…
With reactions such as this, can’t it be said that the punishment is effective??? So it’s sadistic and all, but it does shove fear down our guts which does achieve its primary purpose: Making people fear facing the consequences for drug trafficking. Imagine issuing a normal jail sentence to one such drug trafficker. Sure, he’ll be confined but his mentality would simple be, “It’s just a small jail sentence. I’ll just be extra cautious next time. What’s the worse that could happen?” So, in this context, pain does serve as effective punishment.
Another thing I would like to talk about is about one of the stories that was shown on the “Taboo” video shown in school. Though I’ve forgotten exactly what country it was in, but I would like to highlight what its crime punishment ritual works. You see, law and order in this particular place revolves around religion and beliefs. Unlike in countless other places today, where criminals are convicted of their crimes in courts, this particular place goes one step further. Should there be a case where the criminal cannot be properly convicted in court due to reason such as lack of evidence, there is a ritual whereby both the accused and the accuser must dip their hands into a pot of boiling oil and retrieve a ring inside the pot. It’s believed that he person who’s guilty will have their hands burned while those who are actually innocent will not be greatly harmed.
The video actually showed an instance whereby the method worked and the correct person was identified for his crimes. Though the accuser had to go through pain of dipping his own hand into the oil, the purpose of the ritual was served. You see, the mere thought of dipping his hand into a pot of boiling oil was so ludicrous and downright scary was too much for him to handle, that he confessed on the spot. Off course, the punishment was served in full force through public humiliation.
Crucially, what I am driving at, is that every community will have its view one what it considers to be effective punishment or effective law and order. To them, it doesn’t matter if its painful, ludicrous, or downright crazy, as long as it serves its purpose of making people think twice about committing a crime, to them its effective. But for all our sakes, lets just hope that this notion of using boiling oil to solve modern day crimes and disputes never ever surfaces in Singapore no matter how effective it is…
Today’s law and order has taken, from a personal point of view, a turn for the worse. The punishments seem to be getting harsher and harsher form each new crime being committed in today’s society. Just about a week ago, there was an officer form the Central Narcotics Bureau, who came to talk to all the students about the multitudes of highly addictive drugs being circulated among drug traffickers today, and off course, the punishments awaiting these drug traffickers. 24 strokes of the cane is one of the cruel punishments that await these traffickers. 24 stokes of the cane at one session!!! And we aren’t talking about the canes that we buy from any shop…Oh no, we’re talking about canes that are thicker than our index fingers and the people who met out the punishment are real professionals…I talking about people who take target practice to ensure that every shot lands spot on to ensure maximum pain. Sounds totally sick and sadistic right…Wait till you see the pictures…I guarantee that the next time you get even an ounce of craving for drugs, your hand will immediately be feeling for your behinds…
With reactions such as this, can’t it be said that the punishment is effective??? So it’s sadistic and all, but it does shove fear down our guts which does achieve its primary purpose: Making people fear facing the consequences for drug trafficking. Imagine issuing a normal jail sentence to one such drug trafficker. Sure, he’ll be confined but his mentality would simple be, “It’s just a small jail sentence. I’ll just be extra cautious next time. What’s the worse that could happen?” So, in this context, pain does serve as effective punishment.
Another thing I would like to talk about is about one of the stories that was shown on the “Taboo” video shown in school. Though I’ve forgotten exactly what country it was in, but I would like to highlight what its crime punishment ritual works. You see, law and order in this particular place revolves around religion and beliefs. Unlike in countless other places today, where criminals are convicted of their crimes in courts, this particular place goes one step further. Should there be a case where the criminal cannot be properly convicted in court due to reason such as lack of evidence, there is a ritual whereby both the accused and the accuser must dip their hands into a pot of boiling oil and retrieve a ring inside the pot. It’s believed that he person who’s guilty will have their hands burned while those who are actually innocent will not be greatly harmed.
The video actually showed an instance whereby the method worked and the correct person was identified for his crimes. Though the accuser had to go through pain of dipping his own hand into the oil, the purpose of the ritual was served. You see, the mere thought of dipping his hand into a pot of boiling oil was so ludicrous and downright scary was too much for him to handle, that he confessed on the spot. Off course, the punishment was served in full force through public humiliation.
Crucially, what I am driving at, is that every community will have its view one what it considers to be effective punishment or effective law and order. To them, it doesn’t matter if its painful, ludicrous, or downright crazy, as long as it serves its purpose of making people think twice about committing a crime, to them its effective. But for all our sakes, lets just hope that this notion of using boiling oil to solve modern day crimes and disputes never ever surfaces in Singapore no matter how effective it is…
Saturday, May 12, 2007
School Break-ups and Heart breaks
Ah, alas, a growing topic and an issue being encountered by a growing number of teens not only in America alone, but maybe wider on the global scale. Relationships or to be exact, boy-girl relationships and a major issue plaguing young adults today, especially with the ever stressful school life always lurking around us. So what I am trying to drive at is why they even commit to a relationship at such a tender age when they know that is about sure to never work out….
When we look at today’s students, we can see that there is a lot of love in the air, or maybe it’s just the ever growing hormones. We see a lot of these relationships blooming in secondary school and it just becomes greater in Junior Colleges. The thing is that, how many of these relationships actually do make it? In secondary school, say at the end of secondary 4, when one goes to a JC in one part of Singapore and the other ends up in a polytechnic in another distant part in Singapore, will they realistically be able to carry on their relationship? Sure they may have the weekends, but our raging hormones are bound to seek out another significant other to spend our school days with. Then, the boys will have to move on to the army for the next 1 and a half to 2 years. Will he really expect his girlfriend to wait eagerly for him every weekend?
Yes, I may sound very cynical about this whole relationship thing but I really do feel that by committing to a relationship at such an age is bound to give you a heart break sooner or later. In today’s competitive society, where getting to interact with my family members is a rare chance, there is limited chance of building a strong relationship. I think that its for the best that we keep our options open and not quickly jump into things just from one burst of emotion from our hearts. Yes, we are bound to have our crushes and so forth, but it would be best that we avoid making to much hash over it.
When we look at today’s students, we can see that there is a lot of love in the air, or maybe it’s just the ever growing hormones. We see a lot of these relationships blooming in secondary school and it just becomes greater in Junior Colleges. The thing is that, how many of these relationships actually do make it? In secondary school, say at the end of secondary 4, when one goes to a JC in one part of Singapore and the other ends up in a polytechnic in another distant part in Singapore, will they realistically be able to carry on their relationship? Sure they may have the weekends, but our raging hormones are bound to seek out another significant other to spend our school days with. Then, the boys will have to move on to the army for the next 1 and a half to 2 years. Will he really expect his girlfriend to wait eagerly for him every weekend?
Yes, I may sound very cynical about this whole relationship thing but I really do feel that by committing to a relationship at such an age is bound to give you a heart break sooner or later. In today’s competitive society, where getting to interact with my family members is a rare chance, there is limited chance of building a strong relationship. I think that its for the best that we keep our options open and not quickly jump into things just from one burst of emotion from our hearts. Yes, we are bound to have our crushes and so forth, but it would be best that we avoid making to much hash over it.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Today's Parenting
Today’s Parenting
With reference, to the Newsweek article “Still haunted by what could have happened”, I have managed to draw out a few issues concerning today’s parenting. Written by a female writer, the article is about an incident that happened to her at the age of 12. Being very gullible at that time, she was actually lured into having coffee with this man who pretended to be a model photographer. With some measure of sweet talk, the writer was deceived. When he finally revealed himself to be a child pornography photographer, it was the writer’s quick legs that saved her from what would be otherwise, a very horrible fate.
These events have sort of influenced her parenting approach. She has become on the verge of being a very over-protective mother to her children. With this, I address the issue of today’s parenting. It is good??? Is it bad??? Just how mush has changed in parenting over the past years. You see, we all have to look at what the world has shaped into today. Is it any safer you may ask? Well, my answer would have to be “no”. Aside form terrorist attacks, crimes have been rampant as ever. Let’s not look at this in a Singaporean context and instead look at other places around the world. The emergence of the internet chat relay rooms and many other connection devices have may it a walk in the park for sexual predators to pounce on unsuspecting victims. Society itself has shown a growing number of sexual offenders and many other criminals. It is at such “dangerous” times like these when we ask ourselves, “Is it really wrong for parents to be so protective of their children?” I stand on the fence for this issue.
It is not bad but it’s certainly not correct either. By looking aver the shoulder to see if their parents are around, children are really being deprived of the freedom they ought to my. My philosophy is that, children should experience reality alone once in a while. It is mistakes made at time like those where the child really understands the consequences of his actions. I am not trying to imply that girls should get raped just for them to realize the mistake of talking to a stranger. I am trying to say that parents should emphasize their advice to their children and have the trust that they will heed their advice.
I see in more and more in today’s society. Children are generally being more pampered by their parents and with such a good life they are leading today, children actually grown up not experiencing many hardships. The growing concerns of parents can be seen in the way teachers are getting more and more calls from them about their child. Co-curricular activities have really gotten a lot of stick from the parents because of their child’s involvement.
So, at the end of the day, I think that parents should give their children all the advice in the world but actually allow the child to go out and experience reality and life on the streets. Couple that with loads of care and concern, and I can assure that they’ll grow up to be better people. Believe what you want, because in the end what matters the most to me, is that I know I have benefited from the freedom my parents have given me.
With reference, to the Newsweek article “Still haunted by what could have happened”, I have managed to draw out a few issues concerning today’s parenting. Written by a female writer, the article is about an incident that happened to her at the age of 12. Being very gullible at that time, she was actually lured into having coffee with this man who pretended to be a model photographer. With some measure of sweet talk, the writer was deceived. When he finally revealed himself to be a child pornography photographer, it was the writer’s quick legs that saved her from what would be otherwise, a very horrible fate.
These events have sort of influenced her parenting approach. She has become on the verge of being a very over-protective mother to her children. With this, I address the issue of today’s parenting. It is good??? Is it bad??? Just how mush has changed in parenting over the past years. You see, we all have to look at what the world has shaped into today. Is it any safer you may ask? Well, my answer would have to be “no”. Aside form terrorist attacks, crimes have been rampant as ever. Let’s not look at this in a Singaporean context and instead look at other places around the world. The emergence of the internet chat relay rooms and many other connection devices have may it a walk in the park for sexual predators to pounce on unsuspecting victims. Society itself has shown a growing number of sexual offenders and many other criminals. It is at such “dangerous” times like these when we ask ourselves, “Is it really wrong for parents to be so protective of their children?” I stand on the fence for this issue.
It is not bad but it’s certainly not correct either. By looking aver the shoulder to see if their parents are around, children are really being deprived of the freedom they ought to my. My philosophy is that, children should experience reality alone once in a while. It is mistakes made at time like those where the child really understands the consequences of his actions. I am not trying to imply that girls should get raped just for them to realize the mistake of talking to a stranger. I am trying to say that parents should emphasize their advice to their children and have the trust that they will heed their advice.
I see in more and more in today’s society. Children are generally being more pampered by their parents and with such a good life they are leading today, children actually grown up not experiencing many hardships. The growing concerns of parents can be seen in the way teachers are getting more and more calls from them about their child. Co-curricular activities have really gotten a lot of stick from the parents because of their child’s involvement.
So, at the end of the day, I think that parents should give their children all the advice in the world but actually allow the child to go out and experience reality and life on the streets. Couple that with loads of care and concern, and I can assure that they’ll grow up to be better people. Believe what you want, because in the end what matters the most to me, is that I know I have benefited from the freedom my parents have given me.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Virginia Tech Shootings
"Oh man, not again..." was all i could say as I first heard about the Virginia Tech killings. The massacre was the dealiest mass shooting in modern U.S history. As I sat my couch, and saw the pandemonium that surfaced in the video clips of the shootings, i could not help recall the Columbine massacres that started off this mass debate over the selling of firearms to any tom, dick or harry.
The Columbine high school massacre occurred on 20th June 1999. Though not as deadly as that in Virginia Tech, 12 students were killed while 24 others were injured. The preperators were Eric Harris and Dylan Khebold. Brutal, scary and plain insane is what i would describe the whole thing. Brutal for the two guys who unmercilessily shot plainly anyone who came across their sight of vision. Scary because of the extent of their rage towards society. I mean, they absolutely hated the high school. The extent to this can be seen in them actually making 99 over bombs to destroy the school'd caffeteria. It really scary how they could just plainly get life threatening infomation from the internet just like that. In many reports, people indicated that harris had a blog providing all sorts of wierd infomation he had gathered from the internet on how to cause mischief to people. Lastly, its plain insane how two high school students could get the connections and actually buy pistols and two shotguns. mean, some actually sell them these things without asking questions!!! Where's the logic in that??? Would i be right in saying that they would even sell a pack of cigarettes to a 13-year old. These are certainly things that have to be sorted out in America.
As we look at the Columbine as well as the Virgina Tech massacres, the U.S government has to a extremely firm stance against selling of guns. I am not telling them to stop everyone from buying guns, but at least allow background checks for people wanting to purchase these firearms. We need to ensure that we are entrusting these deadly weaphons to people who are sane and are not going to become potential mass murderers. Hearing me say this has made me think about new issues. Sure, everyone's bound to be a little paranoid about safety from time to time. But guns!!! Its a little bit too extreme to ensure safety, won't you agree??? Why not buzz batons or those electric things that women carry around to shock the life out of naughty men??? Has society itself evolved to such a stage where there is no possible way to ensure that you will always be safe as you walk down the street???
Many believe that society played a huge part in both the massacres. Eric Harris and Dylan Khebold were victims of isolation and possibly bullying as well. AS a school student myself, i do know the emotional struggle one is bound to feel if he or she is felt out by his friends. The inability to fit into society can do a lot of things to a peson psychologically. Having our own cliques and not sparing a thought to allow new friends to come and mingle with us. Is this the new face of school life??? Thus, it is essential for us to not shun anyboby and welcome everybody. Who knows, if Cho and the two guys had gotten warm, welcoming friends, they would nto have ever committed those atrocities. We should not discriminate people no matter what. Painting a cruel portrait of someone whom you don't really know and talk to should not be the way.
Again, i come back to the topic about guns. I would really hope the Congress stamps its authority in the issue. My fear is of this things starting to occur in other countries as well. Lets always remember that in a fit a rage, we are daring enough to virtually do anything. Its only when we are calm again that we realise the stupidity of our actions and regret them. If the sale of guns still exists widely, lets hope that more and more Americans don't wake up in the morning regretting for the life they cruelly took with one mere bullet.
The Columbine high school massacre occurred on 20th June 1999. Though not as deadly as that in Virginia Tech, 12 students were killed while 24 others were injured. The preperators were Eric Harris and Dylan Khebold. Brutal, scary and plain insane is what i would describe the whole thing. Brutal for the two guys who unmercilessily shot plainly anyone who came across their sight of vision. Scary because of the extent of their rage towards society. I mean, they absolutely hated the high school. The extent to this can be seen in them actually making 99 over bombs to destroy the school'd caffeteria. It really scary how they could just plainly get life threatening infomation from the internet just like that. In many reports, people indicated that harris had a blog providing all sorts of wierd infomation he had gathered from the internet on how to cause mischief to people. Lastly, its plain insane how two high school students could get the connections and actually buy pistols and two shotguns. mean, some actually sell them these things without asking questions!!! Where's the logic in that??? Would i be right in saying that they would even sell a pack of cigarettes to a 13-year old. These are certainly things that have to be sorted out in America.
As we look at the Columbine as well as the Virgina Tech massacres, the U.S government has to a extremely firm stance against selling of guns. I am not telling them to stop everyone from buying guns, but at least allow background checks for people wanting to purchase these firearms. We need to ensure that we are entrusting these deadly weaphons to people who are sane and are not going to become potential mass murderers. Hearing me say this has made me think about new issues. Sure, everyone's bound to be a little paranoid about safety from time to time. But guns!!! Its a little bit too extreme to ensure safety, won't you agree??? Why not buzz batons or those electric things that women carry around to shock the life out of naughty men??? Has society itself evolved to such a stage where there is no possible way to ensure that you will always be safe as you walk down the street???
Many believe that society played a huge part in both the massacres. Eric Harris and Dylan Khebold were victims of isolation and possibly bullying as well. AS a school student myself, i do know the emotional struggle one is bound to feel if he or she is felt out by his friends. The inability to fit into society can do a lot of things to a peson psychologically. Having our own cliques and not sparing a thought to allow new friends to come and mingle with us. Is this the new face of school life??? Thus, it is essential for us to not shun anyboby and welcome everybody. Who knows, if Cho and the two guys had gotten warm, welcoming friends, they would nto have ever committed those atrocities. We should not discriminate people no matter what. Painting a cruel portrait of someone whom you don't really know and talk to should not be the way.
Again, i come back to the topic about guns. I would really hope the Congress stamps its authority in the issue. My fear is of this things starting to occur in other countries as well. Lets always remember that in a fit a rage, we are daring enough to virtually do anything. Its only when we are calm again that we realise the stupidity of our actions and regret them. If the sale of guns still exists widely, lets hope that more and more Americans don't wake up in the morning regretting for the life they cruelly took with one mere bullet.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
The World of Crime and Justice
It has been debated around the world and yet there has been no answer for it. Yes, can we ever use torture in dealing with criminals and terrorists. Is it really justifiable. If you ask me, i would have to say a firm "NO". There is no way, torturing people can ever be called justice.
In article one, the ineffectiveness of torture in getting the truth out of detainees is clearly shown. To go so low as to start threating that the childen would be killed is really too much. Surely there is a way out of violence. We have been brought up to use our brains and its about time that we start using nore of brain power than muscle power. The FBI seems to believe so and has not employed violence to get the truth out of the the al-Qaeda members. The used the knowledge of religion to sort of persuade them that allah had ensured their survival to ensure that the lives of many others could be saved, giving them a real purpose in life. Not only this, but they even used kindness and promised for an operation to be done to one of the member's child. These methods eventually helped turn the members over to the good side. However, the CIA, being brash and headstrong, decided to use muscle power and would go to the most extreme measures to get the truth out of the members. It was no surprise that Bush and Cheney sided with the way CIA ran their interrogation process.
The CIA were barely successful in getting the "truth" out of the members. The "truth" being stuff that the intelligence had already knwon long before. But, the public was getting wift of these tortures and immediately turned on their President. Bush was clearly being backed to a corner and he could do nothing but lie in their faces. The CIA had gooten large results...The results had lead to the captures of two more high profile terrorists...well done to torture...These were lies only known to the intelligence community. There are even the costs of emplying torture that we all should consider. Say we torture someone, and that person has already given you the infomation that you need. But is that person really going to one day, "Hey you know, i have some additional infomation that you can use..." Fat hope is what i would say. Treat someone with at least a little bit of decency, and the rewards will be far better. Moreover, torturing someone just to get the truth is not legal.
Article 2 gives us the view of someone who is with torture and of course the contrasting opinions of a human rights group. Basically, its the question of whether these actions are ethical. Beating someone to a pulp...Humans beating up humans...Is it really right??? But Mr Faris(pro-torture) mentioned about a psychopatic murderer bruying a teenage girl and the clock running down on you, i sort of started to think that violence would surely have to be used in this circumstance. So, what i am driving at, is there going be a situation where nothing else can be done and the last resort in to use force???
Stangely enough, we should actually think about the people who are the ones who actually torture the people. Just what is going to their head while they brutalise the person??? It has got to be the most traumatising thing to go through. Imagine having vivid dreams about the person who you tortured...Its enough to drive anyone nuts. I thought about this after watching the drama LOST, where there was actually an Iraqi prison torturer among the survivors. In one episode, he confronts one of the victims of his torture(her hands and face were brutally scarred) and actually breaks down crying, saying that he has never spent a day in his life not reflecting on the pain that he has caused.
Overally, torture is a very brutal act and it should never be followed regadless of how desperate the situation is. Else, we can might as well throw away the morals that we work so hard to preserve.
In article one, the ineffectiveness of torture in getting the truth out of detainees is clearly shown. To go so low as to start threating that the childen would be killed is really too much. Surely there is a way out of violence. We have been brought up to use our brains and its about time that we start using nore of brain power than muscle power. The FBI seems to believe so and has not employed violence to get the truth out of the the al-Qaeda members. The used the knowledge of religion to sort of persuade them that allah had ensured their survival to ensure that the lives of many others could be saved, giving them a real purpose in life. Not only this, but they even used kindness and promised for an operation to be done to one of the member's child. These methods eventually helped turn the members over to the good side. However, the CIA, being brash and headstrong, decided to use muscle power and would go to the most extreme measures to get the truth out of the members. It was no surprise that Bush and Cheney sided with the way CIA ran their interrogation process.
The CIA were barely successful in getting the "truth" out of the members. The "truth" being stuff that the intelligence had already knwon long before. But, the public was getting wift of these tortures and immediately turned on their President. Bush was clearly being backed to a corner and he could do nothing but lie in their faces. The CIA had gooten large results...The results had lead to the captures of two more high profile terrorists...well done to torture...These were lies only known to the intelligence community. There are even the costs of emplying torture that we all should consider. Say we torture someone, and that person has already given you the infomation that you need. But is that person really going to one day, "Hey you know, i have some additional infomation that you can use..." Fat hope is what i would say. Treat someone with at least a little bit of decency, and the rewards will be far better. Moreover, torturing someone just to get the truth is not legal.
Article 2 gives us the view of someone who is with torture and of course the contrasting opinions of a human rights group. Basically, its the question of whether these actions are ethical. Beating someone to a pulp...Humans beating up humans...Is it really right??? But Mr Faris(pro-torture) mentioned about a psychopatic murderer bruying a teenage girl and the clock running down on you, i sort of started to think that violence would surely have to be used in this circumstance. So, what i am driving at, is there going be a situation where nothing else can be done and the last resort in to use force???
Stangely enough, we should actually think about the people who are the ones who actually torture the people. Just what is going to their head while they brutalise the person??? It has got to be the most traumatising thing to go through. Imagine having vivid dreams about the person who you tortured...Its enough to drive anyone nuts. I thought about this after watching the drama LOST, where there was actually an Iraqi prison torturer among the survivors. In one episode, he confronts one of the victims of his torture(her hands and face were brutally scarred) and actually breaks down crying, saying that he has never spent a day in his life not reflecting on the pain that he has caused.
Overally, torture is a very brutal act and it should never be followed regadless of how desperate the situation is. Else, we can might as well throw away the morals that we work so hard to preserve.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
New Media
Power to the people or threat to stability??? That is the big question...On one hand, new media is powerful to the people in the sense that, with the abundance of blogs, now everyone has the opportunity to pour their feelings over any issue in the vast internet. Just think about it, whatever you want ot say, it can be said with the touch of a few buttons. Sure, it is bound to chure up some really crude, violent messages, but personally, i would much prefer it to be done in the internet than in riots and strikes, which most of the time escalate into massive fights.
But, however, there surely is the bad part to new media and it takes the form of terrorism. As everyone knows by know, the terrorists are actually using the internet to spread its jihadist views and spread all sorts of propaganda. For instance, the article mentioned about faking the desecration of a Koran. Finding out that your religion's holy book was mocked at is sure to drive everyone mad, and that was just the case. Anti-american riots were up and running not long after that. Thats the problem with media....Any tom, dick or harry in the world could just start up controversy with a few touch of buttons. Its because of these people that the whole censorship thing started off anyway...
I really do understand why censorship started...It would be every government's goal to ensure that its people trust them totally and that their image to the people is a very good one...But is this image coming at the expense of lying straight to the faces of people...Thus, bloggers who know the truth about what really goes on in the government are eager to show it to their fellow countrymen. Its a right of everyone to know whats going on in their government. Take Singapore's policy of openness for example. It has worked out well in the sense that the public is able to know what the governemt is doing and likewise, the government is able to get feedback from the people. I believe that this really helps to reduce any tensions or problems that people have with any policies. This is why the Singapore government does not go around censoring blogs and imprisoning bloggers.
Freedom of speech...A widely debated topic, i mush say...Surely, some governments are really hypocritical...Whats the point of saying freedom of speech one day and the next day, you are censoring blogs and imprisoning bloggers. They, by their own judgement, are saying that the people are not able to voice out their pressing issues and likewise are not able to comment anything bad or controversial about them...The way i see it, if the government has been having a really good relationship with the people and has really been honest and open to them, i don;t see any reason why they should be so afraid of these blogs. "Say what they want but we know that we are right", should be their approach. But whats happening is far form this.
Controlled media is the last thing i would like to touch on. I mean, people watch the news to find out whats REALLY going on..But what they are watching instead is fabricated news, made for a certain party to look really good in the eyes of the viewers...For instace, Micheal Moores Fahrenheit 9/11 showed a scene where the American news would be in full praise of the American army but would quietly shield the public's attention about all the caualites that occured during the war in Iraq.So overall, with he way things have shifted the the media, i think that the media is more of a threat to stability to the world.
Friday, April 6, 2007
Todays' Media
I must say that the article does have its fair share of controversies but I must say that the media has be unreliable to convey the truth. But if you ask me if the media CAN EVER be relied upon to convey the truth, I would say yes. It will once all the money-faced editors and news chairmans are exposed to the whole nation for their fradulent ways.
I really do think that the current media in the U.S are operating on the principles of the 3 Ps: Popularity, Prejudice and Profit. Profit of the three is the main driving force behind the press. I really do like the statement about how the media "markets" and "manufactures" news for profit. It would explain why people would want to edit so much of an interview. Controversy and talking points. These two are what editors look for to gain profit. Take off a few words here and there and cut of some boring parts of a interview, and it will be the talking point among people the next day.
Prejudice is something that is abundant in U.S.A. O.J Simpson is one such victim of this prejudice. When a celebrity black man kills his white wife and eventually is acquitted, the whole country becomes havoc. But switch the black man to a white man and it becomes an everyday piece of news. I could be wrong, but in my opinion, being prejudice would sell in the U.S. Take comedian Dave Chapelle and Russell Peters for instance. Two of my favourite comedians but both comedians have their comedy act based on being prejudice. Moreover, the face that they are very, very popular hints to the fact that it really sells in America. So, its not surprising for the media to slant in this direction.
In the American media, its almost as if anyone who has something to say that may potentially reveal things about the war, will be silenced. The press give people what they want to see and the people blindly have to follow it. They choose what they want people to see. This is what i find is extremely wrong. I mean, who are they to obstruct us from learning the truth. If you have an open media, I would suggest that they start living up to it. Show the casualties of war, the people who have died, and the atrocities committed instead of "happy" rides in tanks with U.S soldiers.
I remember a scene in Fahrenheit 9/11 where Micheal Moore, the director, asked congressmen outside the white house if they would send their children for the war in Iraq. Obviously, none of them answered and its clear what all their answers would have been. The war is wrong, they all know it but the media cannot showcase that stand. They have to stand by the war effort.
I would like to round of this entry with something local. Sure its controversial, but its sort of true. Remember how its always the PAP members mostly on the front papers of the Straits Times...Remember its always the PAP members going door to door shaking peoples' hands that is shown on the news...Remember how the slightest of bad acts by the opposition would instantly be splashed on the front pages...The opposition did lose fair and square but did the PAP receive a little push on the back by our media???
I really do think that the current media in the U.S are operating on the principles of the 3 Ps: Popularity, Prejudice and Profit. Profit of the three is the main driving force behind the press. I really do like the statement about how the media "markets" and "manufactures" news for profit. It would explain why people would want to edit so much of an interview. Controversy and talking points. These two are what editors look for to gain profit. Take off a few words here and there and cut of some boring parts of a interview, and it will be the talking point among people the next day.
Prejudice is something that is abundant in U.S.A. O.J Simpson is one such victim of this prejudice. When a celebrity black man kills his white wife and eventually is acquitted, the whole country becomes havoc. But switch the black man to a white man and it becomes an everyday piece of news. I could be wrong, but in my opinion, being prejudice would sell in the U.S. Take comedian Dave Chapelle and Russell Peters for instance. Two of my favourite comedians but both comedians have their comedy act based on being prejudice. Moreover, the face that they are very, very popular hints to the fact that it really sells in America. So, its not surprising for the media to slant in this direction.
In the American media, its almost as if anyone who has something to say that may potentially reveal things about the war, will be silenced. The press give people what they want to see and the people blindly have to follow it. They choose what they want people to see. This is what i find is extremely wrong. I mean, who are they to obstruct us from learning the truth. If you have an open media, I would suggest that they start living up to it. Show the casualties of war, the people who have died, and the atrocities committed instead of "happy" rides in tanks with U.S soldiers.
I remember a scene in Fahrenheit 9/11 where Micheal Moore, the director, asked congressmen outside the white house if they would send their children for the war in Iraq. Obviously, none of them answered and its clear what all their answers would have been. The war is wrong, they all know it but the media cannot showcase that stand. They have to stand by the war effort.
I would like to round of this entry with something local. Sure its controversial, but its sort of true. Remember how its always the PAP members mostly on the front papers of the Straits Times...Remember its always the PAP members going door to door shaking peoples' hands that is shown on the news...Remember how the slightest of bad acts by the opposition would instantly be splashed on the front pages...The opposition did lose fair and square but did the PAP receive a little push on the back by our media???
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The person whom i am going to choose would be Mahatma Gandhi. Now, many of you may wonder just why. I mean he didn't invent anthing nor did he contribute to the advance of human technology. What impact did he have on any field of human endeavour??? That is none other than the pursuit of independence. In these past century, we have read about the struggles of countless countries who have fought so hard for independence. It has been their goal to be able to rule over themselves and not let any other nation rule them. It has been the most sought after aspect of life. Gandhi had showed us that you need not have firepower to gain independece, you just need to have a good heart and and especially firm believe in peace.
Gandhi was a lawyer who did his practice in Britain. He chose to abandon his good life there and instead fight for independence for India. This turnaround occured in South Africa after he had witnessed the discrimination commonly directed at blacks and Indians. He lead the Indian Independence Movement which would last the better peat of the next 29 years. One major aspect of Gandhi was his principle on non-violence. He so firmly believed in it that he actually called off his campaign when people started to get into a lot of violence due to it.
His non-violent approach did have a significant impact on the world later on. He has allowed everyone to see that there is a non-violent solution to everything. He has become the figure of peace to many and his influence has allowed many leaders around the world to also use peace. So great has his influence been that, the Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela, renowned world leaders, have been called Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence.
Gandhi also made everyone believe that even the most simple man could change the world. You don't need to have a designer suit and large sums of cash to make people respect you. Gandhi was a firm believer in indian tradition and throughout the Indian Independence Movement, he wore a simple dhothi, a traditional home-spun cloth, everywhere, even when he was invited for a meeting in the famed 10.Downing Street in Britain. He also gave up unnecessary expenditure and lead a very simple life.
If Gandhi had not acted the way that he did, would everyone today still have a peaceful approach to things or would violence rule us all.....Nations would have just loaded up on firepower to solve issues....Diplomacy would barely even exist....Thus is the extent that Gandhi had on the world.
Gandhi was a lawyer who did his practice in Britain. He chose to abandon his good life there and instead fight for independence for India. This turnaround occured in South Africa after he had witnessed the discrimination commonly directed at blacks and Indians. He lead the Indian Independence Movement which would last the better peat of the next 29 years. One major aspect of Gandhi was his principle on non-violence. He so firmly believed in it that he actually called off his campaign when people started to get into a lot of violence due to it.
His non-violent approach did have a significant impact on the world later on. He has allowed everyone to see that there is a non-violent solution to everything. He has become the figure of peace to many and his influence has allowed many leaders around the world to also use peace. So great has his influence been that, the Dalai Lama, Lech Wałęsa, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Benigno Aquino, Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Nelson Mandela, renowned world leaders, have been called Children of Gandhi and his spiritual heirs to non-violence.
Gandhi also made everyone believe that even the most simple man could change the world. You don't need to have a designer suit and large sums of cash to make people respect you. Gandhi was a firm believer in indian tradition and throughout the Indian Independence Movement, he wore a simple dhothi, a traditional home-spun cloth, everywhere, even when he was invited for a meeting in the famed 10.Downing Street in Britain. He also gave up unnecessary expenditure and lead a very simple life.
If Gandhi had not acted the way that he did, would everyone today still have a peaceful approach to things or would violence rule us all.....Nations would have just loaded up on firepower to solve issues....Diplomacy would barely even exist....Thus is the extent that Gandhi had on the world.
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