Language for Reaching Out

As always, the Annual National Day Rally by our Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long has resulted in many major changes in our country, one of which is out third language policy. Before dismissing the issue at hand as something that is talked about every year, I feel that we should take a closer look into the racial issues that were discussed in the article.

Our Prime Minister has offered various incentives to students to take up Malay or Chinese as a third language, in an conscientious effort to allow the younger generation of Singaporeans to be better equipped to communicate with those of a different ethnic group. And through effective communication will then friendships be forged, and a cultural understanding between each ethnic group is able to be established.

Reaching out to the neighboring countries in their own language, is in my opinion as important as when doing business. When we are able to communicate well with the other party when doing business, we are able to impress him, reduce miscommunications from arising and also, most importantly, gain an upper hand with the party itself. When we are able to communicate fluidly with our neighboring countries, inter country relationships would then definitely increase and everyone will be, to put in simpler terms, happy. International cohesion is now all the more important in the light of the terrorist attacks.

The article mentioned that statistics from surveys show that 80% of Chinese students and 70% of Malay students do not mix with students from other races. This certainly is important, due to the fact that now is a time where acts of terrorism can, and will break the bonds that hold the different races together. An inability to communicate when crisis strikes will certainly prove to be the downfall of any great nation. Better relations with our neighbors can start just with a simple step from just forming a better friendship with that Malay boy sitting in a corner by your class, or by starting to talk to that Indonesian boy who just came in through an exchange program.

When I was filling out the form for the selection of schools to go to after receiving my PSLE results, I was given a list of third languages that I could opt to study. I rejected it, then thinking that it would be useless and a waste of my time, despite my parents stressing to me the importance of learning a third language. But now, in Secondary Three I realize the mistake I made then. By learning a third language, an exponential growth of knowledge is acquired. With that linguistically ability, one could explore the world that was closed before due to the lack of command of the language. One would be open to more business opportunities, and as they say, Knowledge is power, and with that knowledge I could better serve my country and bring glory to the nation.

Teen Crime getting out of control

When reading the article, the first thing that came to my mind was the audacity of the teenagers in Britain. Killing, vandalizing and smoking seem to be commonplace by the teens in a supposedly first world country. Being a teen myself, I find it very disturbing that teens in Britain are so daring and defiant towards the general public. They do not seem to give any thought to the consequences of their actions. We witness loss of life when in ill health, automobile accidents and also during acts of terrorism. All of these above mentioned have an explainable reason behind it. But what is the most disturbing about the situation now is that a teen dies due to an act of violence from another youth.

In the article, a man was killed after challenging a group of youths over a half eaten chocolate bar thrown into his sister’s car, In this case, the teens were in the wrong, yet when being scolded, they took this wrong further and killed the man. This certainly is a shocking revelation, and has also brought me to further question what the authorities in Britain are doing about this situation.

Although they have already identified the cause of these problems, and also what needs to be done, they are, as the article states “ only plastering the wounds” . The real problem here is not yet solved. The fact that the teens are able to acquire knives and firearms so easily is also another disturbing fact.

As mentioned in the article, some people are afraid to stay out at night due to the many teenager “gangs” around. No doubt, fear already gripes the hearts of those who fear for their own safety. The irony in this is that the adults are afraid of the teenagers now, a hundered and eighty degree switch from the previous times. Last time we were told to stay away from adults, now parents in Britain tell their children to stay away from teenagers.

Being brought up in an environment where even talking too loud would earn you stern glares from all around you, and where the Chinese values of loyalty, justice and uprighteousness are imbued within me since young, it seems like an exaggerated story tale to me when I hear of all these teen crimes in Britain that is happening. Britain should start by taking a leaf out of Singapore’s book . Only by implementing stricter laws, by restricting the youths access to firearms and such, will the situation then be able to improve.

Britain is now in a downward spiral. As the years pass, the young will grow old. How will Britain be like twenty years from now, when the same troubled teenager who smoked, drank and even killed in the past now takes over the role of the adult, in charge of running the country? Why, utter chaos would ensue and Britain then would be stuck in a never ending downward spiral, doomed to failure. Now that the problem has been identified, the current leaders must take action immediately, and not wait for the case to explode and have another Virginia Tech massacre happening in the world.

Hit Drink Drivers where it hurts

Hit Drink Drivers where it hurts. Today Newspaper 16th May 2007

The author started off with her own personal experience of her driving her drunken friend home even though her friend insisted she could drive herself back. Although I am not yet of age to drink, I have heard such stories about my own relatives encountering these types of situations, as the drunk person nonetheless.

People often think that they are in control of themselves, that they are able to handle their driving properly and are not like those people who are involved in those drink driving accidents. They feel that they are special, and cannot be compared to those other “lousy drivers”. As such, whenever people to go to a pub to drink, they tend to forget, in their moment of foolishness, that they are able to drive back home safely even after downing three to four mugs of beer. These are also the people that often cause the drink driving accidents that we see in the newspapers every so often, and they often involved casualties of innocent drivers, who drank coke while their other friends downed mug after mug of beer. What is even more ridiculous is that the convicted drink drivers get away with only a meager fine and perhaps a short jail term. Is this a fair exchange? I think not. If you shatter a persons leg it could take half a year to heal, while you spend less that a quarter of that time the person agony the person has to go through in jail.

I agree with the author, that we should hit the drink drivers where it hurts them the most, which is much longer suspension of their license them to reflect on what they have done while taking the bus or the MRT. Being a student, I know what agony they will have to go through when they take one hour to reach their destination while the car could get them there in fifteen minutes. Heavier fines and a longer jail term would also serve well in deterring people from drink driving. But, I think for the best impact we would have to blow the whole event up in the media. This would cause the convicted person shame and humiliation, and would also serve the purpose of deterring many from drink driving. For example, after actor Cristopher Lee’s conviction which was so talked about in the media, how will he ever get a good role in any show again? Everyone will go “ That’s the guy who went to jail because he drunk and drove.” His reputation would be ruined and to an actor that is the most crucial factor for him to earn a living.

All in all, punishments nowadays are not sufficient to deter potential threats on the road. Heavier fines, a much longer jail term , and a longer suspension of their license should be enough to deter them from drink driving. And for those celebrities, the event should be emphasized on in the media for much greater impact. Now that, would be a fair exchange.

All Societies have elites, but some become elitist.

All Societies have elites, but some become elitist. The Straits Times, 19th May 2007

Referring to this article that was published in The Straits Times, I fully agree with the writer’s concept. In any society, one will always be able to find elites among them. However, the elites are not considered elitists until they seek to promote and support themselves, to be this exclusive group of privileged people, while looking down on those who are not as well to do as them.

I feel that this article is particularly relevant to me, as being from a student from Raffles Institution, I am always given second glances whenever I walk past a coffee shop, library or even at a bus stop. I am regarded as a snobbish and rich student who looks down on people from other schools, or in other words, an elitist. Already just by looking at my badge everyone automatically classifies me as an elitist, without even letting me show them I am certainly not one.

This article’s purpose from my point of view is that it is trying to change the longstanding stereotype that all students from top schools are elitist. Indeed, I was shocked to find out that those from elite schools were affected much more by elitism as compared to those from non elite schools. I was shocked was because that I initially felt that elitism was supposed to affect non elite schools more, such as feeling inferior as they were not in top schools. However, after reading the passage and reflecting on it, I realize that being from an elite school, the mindset of one becoming an elite mindset is already planted in you the moment you step into the school compound.

To me in any case, being elite is one who has the most amounts of money and having best grades. When one doesn’t achieve those targets, even when he has given it his all, he naturally feels much more inferior as compared to those he lost out to. In contrast, those from non elite schools do not have this mindset of “I must become the best”, with emphasis on must, and thus they just do their best at everything they do and are generally not affected by the outcome, as they know they have tried.

Nowadays, it is not only about getting good grades that matters for one to get into a desired job, it is about one’s emotional quotient, how one can relate with other people and to interact with them well. I feel that elitism has not affected Singapore much on the whole, but it is just the fact that the few who are elitist have been discussed about so much that people are starting to feel the presence of elitism. In order to prevent elitism from happening in Singapore, top schools in Singapore should be open and accessible to all, and not based on who the father is or how much money he posseses.

Terrorism around us

Nowadays, when we open the newspaper, the first thing we see on the front page is always 'this place was bombed by terrorists', or 'the terrorists strike again' .Indeed we face terrorism everyday but we should try to curb it at least.

An example of terrorism is the recent hijacking of the plane by a single armed terrorist. At gunpoint, any pilot would have been scared to death and done whatever the terrorist wanted. But the pilot, seeing that the terrorist did not understand French, used it to his advantage. By the work of the pilot and several passengers, they were able to subdue the terrorist and bring him to the police. This act of heroism by the pilot was unprecedented. This example also goes to show how real terrorism can get; it can strike anywhere, anytime.
We should all take a stand in preventing these kinds of disasters from happening; already the government has taken action by placing up posters and such to remind us of what we should do to prevent terrorism. However, knowing what to do is not enough; it is the lack of courage that we Singaporeans face. Everyone is always scared to call the police when they see a package or a bag because if it was not a bomb, it would have all been for nothing and they would ‘lose face’. It is this fact alone that still prevents us from being a hundred percent safe from terrorists. I feel that it is always better to be safe then sorry, especially in this circumstance. Imagine the chaos and panic if a bomb exploded in Singapore. Thus we must all find the courage or in some cases ‘thick skin’ to be vigilant and prevent terrorism in Singapore.
However, one person’s work is not enough. Even if the pilot had managed to knock down the hijacker, if the passengers did not pitch in to help, the hijacker could have just as easily got back on his feet and shoot the pilot. Even if the whole police force kept a 24 hour watch on the island, there have only a limited amount of resources and they cant possibly be everywhere every time. Therefore, it is up to the citizens of Singapore to help the police, to be on the lookout for anyone or anything suspicious. This applies not only to terrorism but basic crime itself.
With the combined effort and courage of all citizens in Singapore, I am sure that terrorism will slowly drift away from us. Although we will never actually be free of terrorism, we should try our best to prevent it from happening in our land.

Does game violence make teens aggressive?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/
I am sure that every teen my age has heard of games such as “Gears of War”, “Grand Theft Auto” and many other games such as these that depict gore and violence in the most gruesome and lifelike way possible. A well placed shot to the head while playing “Grand Theft Auto” sends the helpless victim into a decapitated state with blood spewing continuously from its head like a fountain.
I admittedly get a kick out of playing these games and I feel that in-game violence does affect teens in real life. Based on personal experience, when I first started playing these games, I felt myself becoming more aggressive towards other people. It did not come across my mind that the game was affecting me in that particular way, and I only realized it when I got into my first fight with another boy in the same level as me. I did not stop playing the game but instead limited my time playing it.
Although everyone is always quick to point the source of violence towards video games, we should look at it this way. If the parents didn’t allow the teen to buy the game, how could they even play it? Even if these teens did not play these games, it is inevitable that when they grow up, they are sure to be affected by violent situations in one way or another. In the end, it is all about self control, and just because a few games are violent does not mean that all games which have violence in it should be banned. We should follow the old saying, “all things in moderation”.
Teens nowadays are attracted to what they cannot have, the more they can’t have the game; the more they will play it and thus get affected by it. Thus, we should not ban it totally but only block the few games that depict too much gore from teens. After all, this is a stage in our lives where we are still learning and easily affected by our surroundings, and always wanting to try out new things. Without being exposed to violence through pixels, would we “try” it in real life instead? When we are sent to jail it will be too late for regrets, rather than shooting a guy in real life, wouldn’t it be better to try it in a game? Of course, first to be able to play these games teens must always understand the consequences of their actions and know how to differentiate between either realms. Only then, will we not face this growing violence in the community.