"Tony Tan heckled; fellow candidates voice disapproval"

This article is taken from another edition of the Strait's Times. It is about a presidential candidate, Dr Tony Tan getting booed by supporters of other presidential candidates when he stepped up to the podium to make his Nomination Day speech, but mostly by supporters of Mr Tan Jee Say, the previous speaker. The hecklers chanted "Patrick Tan, Patrick Tan", the name of Dr Tan's son, whose 12-year disruption from National Service has drawn criticism. Some supporters of Dr Tan replied by shouting "Shut up", while others cheered in support for their candidate. At a press conference, Dr Tan Cheng Bock and Mr Tan Kin Lian both voiced their disapproval at the booing. Dr Tan Cheng Bock said that he had told his supporters that there should be no booing while members of Mr Tan Kin Lian's campaign team told their supporters not to join in the heckling at the Nomination Centre.

I think that it is really very silly and childish of the supporters of Mr Tan Jee Say to heckle Dr Tony Tan. After all, if Dr Tan is so well-qualified as to even be able to run for presidency, what position are the supporters to heckle him? Also, they need to learn to not do to others what they do not want others to do to them. I am sure that they would not like it if they were giving a speech and the audience was booing them. Furthermore, this would leave others with a bad impression on Mr Tan Jee Say(no offence) on the type of supporters he is attracting, thus affecting his chance of getting elected as President. Also, if foreign visitors witness this scene, think of the impression this would make on them when they see that even elections for presidency resemble a wet market.

On the other hand, I think that it is very good that the other candidates, including Dr Tan himself, is handling the situation extremely well. Instead of lashing out at the hecklers, Dr Tan instead just simply says that "while different points of views are to be expected in a campaign. he was disappointed that some refused to listen to another candidate", according to the article. This is very true. Also, his attitude is very good. He does not show signs of being perturbed by the hecklers, showing that he probably is confident of his chance of becoming President, hence he is not affected by the hecklers. After all, let the hecklers heckle! Let them do whatever they want! In the end, the result is then what matters, and by heckling, the hecklers are just disgracing themselves in public.

I think that if the hecklers boo Dr Tan just because they do not like him, then the booing is really unreasonable and childish. However, if they really think that Dr Tan is unsuitable for presidency because of some particular reasons, they also should not boo him. If he really is unsuitable, he will not be able to win the votes of others and in the end, not be elected as President. At the end, the facts will come into light as to who is the most suitable and is able to win over the hearts and eventually the votes of the majority of the voters.

"See, he's a President's Scholar"

This article is taken from an edition from the Straits Times. It is about Hwa Chong's most recent President's Scholar, Aaron Koh. For some unknown reason, he did not get very good grades for his A-levels, although he was a straight A student usually. For the A-levels, he obtained 4 As and a merit for his other subjects but got a B in English Literature and C in Economics. This was a big blow for him and he said receiving the result was one of the "lowest points in my life". However, the PSC, the Public Service Commission, said that results are not all and also stated other factors in their decision to award Aaron the President's Scholarship.The PSC sited other reasons for awarding Aaron the prestigious scholarship. The reasons included all-rounded achievements, topping his midshipman course at Officer Cadet School and a good performance at the President's Scholarship Assessment Center, where candidates go through exercises to test their responses to challenges and scenarios related to public service work.

I think that the PSC's decision is very wise. To succeed in life, results and good grades are definitely not all. One must have both IQ, intelligence, and more importantly, EQ, which is one's manners, courtesy, and how one gets along with others. If one has extremely high IQ, meaning that he is very smart, even a genius, but has zero EQ, meaning that he has no manners, no courtesy, is not gentlemanly at all and totally cannot get along with others, who will want to employ him? No one!! I believe that not even a single person would want to befriend him. With no job, which means no salary, and no friends to count on to get him out of the sticky situation, how will one even succeed in life.

However, the opposite is also true. If one has extremely high EQ, gets along very well with others and makes everyone around him very happy and very willing to get along with him, but yet no IQ, meaning that he is extremely dumb, nobody would want him either. A certain standard of intelligence is also needed for one to succeed in life.

In conclusion, a mix of both IQ and EQ is needed for one to succeed in life. One must have a high level of intelligence and also be a gentleman or lady, extremely polite and get along well with others, not only to be the perfect President's Scholar and also to succeed in life.

'Mubarak spectacle captivates Arab world"

This article is taken from the Straits Times. It is about former Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak's trial. He pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption and complicity in the killing or protesters in the start of his historic trial last Wednesday.

There have been mixed reactions from the public. Some expressed satisfaction at seeing the tyrant get his just desserts while others expressed sympathy at seeing him in such a state in the hospital, confined to a bed.

True, Hosni Mubarak has been extremely evil. He has killed 850 protesters during the uprising. Most importantly, he was a tyrant. He has made the lives of Egyptians extremely difficult during all the years of his long reign. His government is corrupt, accepting bribes and whatnot. All tyrants should be treated with contempt. They have no right to make the lives of others miserable, especially the lives of their own citizens. What have they done wrong which warrants life like that of a prisoner? Therefore, one should feel satisfaction at seeing him get his just desserts and rejoice that he has been thrown out of power.

However, one has to look at both sides of the matter. For one, whatever accusations brought against Hosni Mubarak may or may not be true. There is no cold, hard evidence that he committed all these crimes, although he is guilty of being a tyrant. Moreover, one has to sympathize with the state he is in now. The picture of him in the newspaper depicts him as pale and haggard, confined to a bed. While many will accuse him of playing with the minds of others so that he will not be convicted, the judge ordered him to be held at a military hospital and overseen by an oncologist. This is a very strong sign that Mubarak has cancer. Therefore, one should not be over biased but should be fair and equal and consider both sides of the matter.