"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.

Blog Prompt: The Strauss Kahn Case

This case is about the alleged raping of a chambermaid by Mr Strauss-Kahn, the now fired IMF chief and who is running for the French presidency. He was sued by a chambermaid for attempted rape. According to the chambermaid, she went into his room to clean it, but then saw him standing inside, naked. According to her, she apologized, but he replied to her that she had no need to be sorry. Then, she forced her into his bedroom, saying that she was beautiful. Inside the bathroom, he forced her to her knees and made her engage in oral sex, holding her head so 'hard' that it hurt.

One must note that the above is the chambermaid's account of how things happened, and may not necessarily be entirely true. To have a clearer and unbiased view of things, one has to carry out an investigation into the backgrounds of both Mr Strauss Kahn and the chambermaid herself.

Firstly, we will look into the background of the chambermaid. Not much is known about it, except that she is from Guinea, is colored and has a sexual history. It is important to note the that the chambermaid is colored. This will greatly affect the decision by the court as the case is held in the United States, where most people are stereotyped against those who are colored. Also, since she has both a shady background and a sexual history, it makes it more difficult to believe the her story that she has been raped. Instead, it is easier to believe the testimony of Strauss Kahn's lawyers that she had consensual sex with Strauss Kahn. Also, she lied in her application to the USA. Even worse, her reason for immigrating to the USA is to seek asylum, meaning that she had done something wrong in her own country, which is why she has to seek asylum in the US.

Lastly, we shall look into the background of Strauss Kahn. Firstly and most importantly, he is a man of power and absolutely loaded with money. Hence, he is able to hire an army of top lawyers to help argue his case so that he will be acquitted regardless of whether he committed the crime. Also, he can also use his money and influence to destroy evidence, bribe or coerce with other key personalities to help clear his name. And this has happened in the past. Strauss Kahn has a history of sexual assault, but he has not been charged even once because every time, evidence has mysteriously been destroyed and hence there is insufficient evidence to convict him of any crime.

Therefore, the ultimate question comes to whether everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. Undoubtedly, the court will side with Strauss Kahn because of three reasons: he is a white and she is colored, and because they are stereotyped against her, Strauss Kahn has the advantage. Secondly, the court is made up of males, and therefore they will side with Strauss Kahn's lawyers' claim that because she was scantily clad, Strauss Kahn would want to have sex with her. This would also givve Strauss Kahn an advantage. Lastly, Strauss Kahn has money to hire the best lawyers in the world. He can also bribe and destroy other pieces of evidence. On the other hand, she is a chambermaid seeking asylum in the US. Hence, Strauss Kahn's story would be more believable in court and therefore there is a much higher possibility that he will win. This also brings us to the conclusion, which is: Justice and mercy lies with those who wield the power and money,

"Help, I'm in debt"

This article is taken from the Straits Times. It is about the rising number of people who are calling the Samaritans in desperation about gambling debts or harassment by loan sharks. Sixty percent more callers reached out for help between April last year and March this year as they were being plagued by illegal moneylenders. The number of those driven to call over gambling debts rose by half compared with the figure in the same period a year ago, according to the annual report by the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS). The report also showed that 352 people called in with loan shark problems between April last year and March this year, up from 218 cases in the same period a year ago, and 196 called in with gambling debt issues, up from 132. However, the good news is that the suicide rates fell from 401 in 2009 to 353 last year.

I think that these two results are inter-related. This is because it is likely that it is because more people are calling the SOS for help on their money-related problems, and hence fewer people die as their problems are shared with and hopefully solved by the SOS. However, according to a Today article, the number of calls received by the SOS are still worrying. This is because those with such financial problems usually possess "medium to high suicide risk" and hence even thought the SOS can get in touch with them, they are still very likely to commit suicide anytime and their conditions are extremely unstable. Furthermore, the SOS also said that the callers are also "particularly difficult to engage because their urgent need is for fresh funds to service their loans". Therefore, that is their main aim, not to seek comfort and encouragement. There is not much that the SOS can do to help them. In the end, the SOS still has to refer the callers to other community resources for additional help.

Again, this is the common lesson that is taught all over and over again but no one seems to listen. "Once bitten, twice shy" does not seem to apply to anyone anymore.

"Counterfeit lenses sold in shops"

This article is taken from a Times magazine and the Straits Times. It is about some counterfeit lenses being sold in shops. These lenses are imitations if "Freshlook ColorBlends" by CIBA Vision and have been found to be unsafe and of poor quality. Lab tests by the HSA, the Health Science Authority, have found colour pigments deposited on the interior of the lens rather than on the exterior, which causes the pigments to be in direct contact with the eyes. Also, a bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which causes a serious eye infection, has been found in the storage liquid of the lenses. Using these fake lenses can result in serious complications like eye infections, corneal ulcers that open sores in the outer layer of the eye and blindness. After some investigation, various differences have been found between the real and counterfeit packaging of the corresponding lenses. Here is a list of the differences:

1) There are typographical errors on the counterfeit packaging. For example, commas in the real packaging may be replaced by full stops in the counterfeit packaging.

2) The fonts on the packs should have a clearer and more defined outline. On the other hand, counterfeits tend to have blurry text on the boxes.

3) Colour pigments on the real lenses are on the exterior of the lenses while the counterfeits have the pigments on the interior

I think that whoever producing these lenses are very inconsiderate and should be extremely ashamed of themselves. This is because to make money for themselves, they are putting the health of others at considerable risk. The bacteria found on the lenses are very dangerous and may even cause blindness to those who unwittingly buy them. I do not know whether these people know that the lenses that they are manufacturing contain the dangerous bacteria or not. If they really have no idea, then I would suggest that they first check what their products contain in explicit detail before putting them into market. This way, it would be better for consumers as their health would not be at risk and also the producers themselves, because if the products are safe, then the police would not be coming after them for selling not only counterfeit but also dangerous goods, as is happening right now.

However, if the producers of the counterfeit lenses do know that they are selling lenses which contain such a dangerous bacteria, then that would make it even worse. This is because doing so simply means that they are crooks who harbor evil schemes, either to harm as many people as possible because of their perverted minds or even to land CIBA Vision in trouble. Either way, if what I am saying is true, then I have no sympathy for these people and will dearly like to see them end up in jail.

'The Pessimism Index'

This article is taken from a Times magazine. It is about the overall pessimistic feeling in the United States through a series of questions asked to a number of people in the U.S. The poll confirms that the country is going through one of its longest sustained periods of unhappiness and pessimism ever, According to the article, teenagers hardly remember a time before the 9/11 bombing, the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and constant economic upheaval. Baby boomers, the generation known for continuous reinvention, are filled with worry and doubt about their future and the future of their children. Even though the U.S usually bounces back after a few years of difficulty, such as the Vietnam War, Watergate or recessions, but the forces now aligned against the American people seem much more formidable than those which were surveyed; instead, the poll uncovered the minds of attitudes seen among Europeans during the decade after World War II.

The poll uncovered some unpleasant results among the American citizens. Here are some examples. Firstly, a poll asking whether the past decade has been progress or decline for the U.S as a country, 68% of those asked replied that the U.S was on a decline. Another question asked was how does the past decade compare with other decades in the past 100 years. 47% replied it was one of the worst, 32% said it was about the same while a measly 13% said it was one of the best.

I think that these pessimistic views show that this is the start of the fall of America. If the citizens are always so depressed, how then can they be motivated to work harder and produce better result so America can improve. Furthermore, if even the youth also are so pessimistic about the future of America, it is very scary thinking about how the next U.S president will be like. If he is so afraid and pessimistic, he will very likely bring down America into the slums instead of leading them up the road to improve.

"Long night of questioning for 80 youths"

This article was taken from an edition of the Straits Times.

Basically. the article is about 80 youths, aged between 12 and 21, who were alleged to have been helping a loan shark syndicate by distributing name cards and pamphlets advertising illegal moneylending services. The youngsters have since been released on bail. The youths were being paid $14 for distributing 1000 pamphlets and $16 for distributing the same number of name cards. The instructions given to the kids was simple: distribute the pamphlets and name cards for three days before being paid. The father of one of the kids who were arrested said that his son had responded to an advertisement on classified website Gumtree and did not even know that he was working for a loan shark syndicate.

I think that the kids should not be blamed as doing so would only be unfair to them. After all, they are youngsters and are hardly as mature as adults. Most of them, like the boy mentioned above, probably responded to the advertisement and took up the job because they wanted some extra pocket money and anyway, they also had nothing to do during the holidays too. Additionally, the youngsters also did not know that they were working for the loan shark syndicate. Hence, they should not be blamed.

On the other hand, I think that the loan sharks are really cruel to do things like that. They are adults, hence their thinking is more mature and also, they know the minds of children as they themselves have also been children before. Hence, when they posted the advertisement, they were taking advantage of the inmature thinking of children as they knew that the children just wanted extra pocket money and hence would sign up without question. Therefore, it can be inferred that these loan sharks are really despicable.

Blog Prompt 5.7.2011

The question for today was: Should the US have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan in World War II?

The dropping of the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the deaths of many innocent civilians. The next generation of civilians was also affected by sicknesses such as radiation poisoning. However, was the dropping of these two atomic bombs really necessary?

First of all, the dropping of the bombs were the reason for the end of World War 2. The bombs completely decimated the two cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According the the pilot who was instructed to fly there to survey the damage, a scar in the land which was still burning and a great plume of smoke was all which remained. Animals, humans, buildings had all been seared to nothing. Why was it necessary for the US to bring about such an extent of destruction on a city in Japan, which was already on the losing side. Moreover, the US has already been bombing 67 cities of Japan, so why should they suddenly drop the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Furthermore, was not the decimation of Hiroshima and the deaths of about 90,000 to 166,000 people cruel and tragic enough? Why the second bomb on Nagasaki?

Well, the answers will all be explained here. It was most probable that even the U.S, the creator of the atomic bomb, did not know the extent of its power as no other country has ever created an atomic bomb. Hence, it is highly possible that the bombing of Hiroshima was both a so-called test drive for the atomic bomb and also serve as a warning to Japan of the destruction the U.S could cause and therefore maybe get Japan to surrender. Therefore, it is not necessarily fair that the U.S had meant to cause such destruction in Hiroshima. On the other hand, the second bomb on Nagasaki was dropped because before that, the U.S had already issued an ultimatum to Japan that if Japan did not surrender, the U.S would then actually drop a second bomb on Japan. However, because of the fighting spirit of the Japanese, they would not surrender no matter what. Hence, the second bomb was then dropped on Nagasaki. Therefore, these pieces of evidence show that the U.S did not necessarily mean and want to cause so much damage in the two cities.

Another reason why the U.S dropped the atomic bombs on Japan might be a show of power by the U.S. It is important to note that the U.S entered the war more out of revenge than of peace. It had all the high technology weapons and hence it was more satisfied to sit back and make money out of selling those weapons to other countries needing them. However, then came along Japan, who had already signed a peace treaty with the U.S. Japan bombed the U.S's Pearl Harbour. U.S was probably extremely angered by this betrayal and entered the war to defeat Japan so as to take revenge. Thus, it could also be said that the Japanese actually brought the disaster upon themselves.

"Taleban's latest weapon, Child Suicide Bombers"

This article is taken from the Straits Times.

Basically, the article is about the Taliban now turning to using women and young children, especially young children, to become suicide bombers and carry out their dirty deeds for them. For example, some members of the Taliban in Afghanistan, two days ago, approached a seven year old girl and asked her to carry a package to the nearby police contingent for them. Then, as the child approached the vehicle, the men detonated the bomb in the bag she was carrying from a safe distance using a remote control device. Amazingly, all the policemen survived, but the child was literally blown apart. In another case, a boy believed to be between 10 to 12 years of age managed to slip past 6 security cordons and detonate the bomb on his vest, killing 30 recruits who were training there.

I am just so disgusted with the Taleban for committing such acts. How could they resort to using children and women to carry out their suicide bombings? They exploit the innocence of children and mental weaknesses of women, the supposedly weaker type of people, to carry out their evil deeds because they themselves just do not have the guts to carry it out themselves. They are the ones who are unhappy with others, for some reason or another, but to the point that they have the desire to kill those who do not practice what they do. However, when they do not dare to kill, they get others weaker then them, thorough brute force or lying, to do it for them. I think that this is the behaviour of cowards. If they do not dare to do it, then why do it at all, let alone get others to do it for them through underhand means?

Also, the children and women who do their dirty deeds for them are innocent. They do not have grudges against anyone. They just want to live their lives peacefully. They are living in a country which is poor, hence they do not even have big plans for themselves. However, even that cannot be granted to them!! It is so ironic that the members of the Taleban satisfy their thirst for blood and get what they want by denying others what they want to have, for example denying the women and children suicide bombers the merry, peaceful life they yearn to live. Essentially, what the Taleban is doing now is dragging others into their grudges and their fights. Take the pitiful girl for example. She thought that she was being kind by helping the men take the bag to the police contingent and hence she was probably feeling all good and melty inside. However, her reward was to have a short life ended so abruptly and probably with great agony. How is this being fair to her? I do not think that any of the Taleban actually have families and kids. If they do, they are just inhumane. This is because if they have their own children, then they will probably know what love is, how precious their children are to them. And yet, they can snuff out the lives of other children without blinking an eye.

In short, the Taleban are made up of savage, unfeeling men who should not even be called humans. They can watch a life being snuffed out and yet be indifferent about it. The acts they engage in are horrifying and cruel. They should be destroyed as quickly as possible. Ironically, I believe that most people would rejoice over their deaths just as they rejoiced sadistically over the deaths of the innocent, as the earth would then be rid of much evil.

"The Wonder of Not Knowing"

This article is taken from an edition of the Straits Times, but it is actually from the New York Times. It is basically about the essence of not knowing and its many benefits.

If you really think about it, like how this writer obviously has, there are a lot of advantages of disadvantages of not knowing things.

I agree that life must have been much more exciting in the past. This is because people, especially children, asked a lot of question about a large variety of things. Therefore, because of the lack of technology, they had to find out the things themselves. Life would have been more exciting because of the thrill of looking for the answers by oneself, and the satisfaction and pride that one had found out something and widened his pool of knowledge using his own means. Nowadays, although it is certainly much easier to find out things which we want to know, for the information is just one mouse click away, it takes away all the excitement which existed in the so-called "good old days". The curiosity only lasts a while because it can only last for the time which we take to boot up the old laptop.

I personally like to read about the unexplainable, or related topics, like mystery stories. This is because knowing that no one can find out the answer makes the whole issue extremely mysterious and exciting. Knowing that there is actually an answer, as the writer says, takes away the mysteriousness of the whole issue and leaves me quite disappointed. I can truly testify to this, and so can anyone else. This can be accomplished simply by picking up a mystery book. While still thick in the plot, one feels excited and curious about why this and that happened, and how it is going to solved. However, when one reaches the end of the book, where the mystery is solved, one feels a twinge of disappointment because alas, there is an explanation for all the things which happened in the crime, in the mystery. The next time one reads the book, all that excitement is gone, because one already knows what happens. The suspense no longer exists. This may also be the reason why people like to watch horror flicks. Because there is suspense. There is the crawling on one's skin and the cold clammy hand over one's heart. That is exciting.

However, there is still a downside for not knowing, which is quite obvious. The reason is that one will not be able to enhance one's knowledge and know how the world works. Man has long looked for answers to how things work, and since different people have different ideas, Google appeared. This search engine provides comprehensive answers to almost any question one can think of, and not from only a few but instead a seemingly endless list of sources. This is so that people can search for answers as easy as 1,2,3 and satisfy their thirst for knowledge.

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"Ask and you will be rewarded"

This article is from an edition of mypaper. Basically, it is about the writer, despite being Asian and the Asian culture where people normally feels very inhibited from asking. However when she picked up courage, she met with unexpected results. Firstly, when she picked up courage to approach the counter to ask for a replacement of fries when they were not prepared well, the fries were replaced without question and thus the write was very much relieved. The second incident was at a shoe shop. The writer would get a discount if she was to buy two or more items, but as she only needed one pair of shoes, she decided to ask another shopper if they could combine their purchase. Fortunately the shopper agreed and hence she got to enjoy a better discount than she would have asked.

I think that this kind of behavior should be encouraged, especially among Asians. I do not know how this kind of thinking came about, but it seems 'integrated' in us Asians, including me. Sometimes when some one whom I have never met or just met a few times asks me if I would like to have some snacks, I accept because I feel uncomfortable about saying anything else. I strongly agree with the writer that 'if we ask questions, we would learn so much more than we would by keeping silent', even though 'Most of the time, we are afraid that we would be laughed at for asking a silly question'. Also, if we ask, there are only two ways to go from there: one is to be rejected, the other to be accepted. However if we do not ask at all, the answer will forever be 'No", rejection. We have to ask to clear our doubts. If we walk around all day will a head full of clouds, how are we supposed to get anything?

In my opinion, the prime reason why Asians are afraid of asking questions is because they are afraid of being embarrassed, or diu lian, in Mandarin. That is where the problem comes in. The solution, however, should be very simple. One just has to cope with rejections and embarrassment from time to time. These are parts and parcels of life, which one has to go through. It does not matter if one is embarrassed, because at least one's doubts about that certain problem are cleared. However, trying to get over embarrassment is a very big obstacle, which may explain why although the solution is so simple, so many have trouble getting to it.

"Marcus Chin ordered to pay wife $4k a month"

This article is basicially about how freelance radio and television personality Marcus Chin, 57, was ordered to pay his wife $4k a month. Initially, when he walked out on his wife, who is called Madam Yan, he promised to pay her $6000. However, when he took up with a 25 year old woman who has since borne him a daughter, he told Madam Yan that he could only afford to pay her $1500. The latter took the case to court and hence after a four0day maintenance hearing in the Family Court, he was ordered to pay his wife $4000 monthly and $7000 in costs. Marcus Chin's reasons for not being able to afford to pay Madam Yan the sufficient amounts of money were that his income had shrunk to $9000 a month 'as a result of the very public fallout from his affair with Ms Eileen Cheah, the mother of his daughter.' However, he failed to explain why his income was now less nor gave evidence of what it was before. However, I also fail to understand why $9000 is not a sufficient amount of money for a family of three to live on. Also, even after he gives the promised $6000 to his ex-wife, he still has sufficient amount of money as $3000 cannot be said to be very little and also, it is highly impossible that he has no savings of his own from the days when according to him, he had much more salary.

Marcus Chin also said that he stopped performing in getai during the Seventh Month from 2009, and that his earnings from such shows in that month accounted for half of his annual income. This excuse is just ridiculous. He stopped of his own accord, so who can he blame but himself? Therefore, this excuse is totally invalid.

Why are Singaporeans just like that, especially actors. First it was Jack Neo, and then now Marcus Chin. First of all, a wife is supposed to be one's partner for life. If one wants to marry a certain woman, one must be prepared to overcome all the obstacles in the course of the marriage and not just walk out on one's wife. Secondly, a promise is a promise. One must stick to one's promise no matter what and also be prepared to face the consequences if one breaks the promise he has made.

"Dentist pulls out wrong person's teeth"

This article is basically about a dentist, Dr Debbie Hong, who was fined $3000 by a dental council after failing to check the identity of a patient and hence wrongly pulling out 2 of the patient's teeth.

A 23 year old male patient went to have his teeth straightened at Dr Debbie's clinic, but ended up 2 teeth short. This was becausethe clinic clerk put the chit for extracting two teeth into the wrong patient's file, and hence the wrong patient was called into the treatment room. Dr Debbie Hong "failed to check the identity of the patient before commencing the extract the teeth. She wrongly took out the upper left first premolar and lower second left premolar." According to the Straits Times article, the patient was not under general anaesthesia, but said nothing went the first tooth was pulled out. When the error was discovered, the man was called back within the hour. Although 3 senior specialists from NDC were called in immediately, they were unable to reimplant the two teeth. Hence, the patient filed a complaint against Dr Debbie Hong to the Singapore Dental Council.

This is a very severe mistake which has been made, by standards, by quite an experienced dentist. According to the article, this dentist has been in the trade for 4 years already. Hence, she should already be used to checking the identity of patients and hence should not make such a mistake. Furthermore, her careless actions has also caused permanent harm to the man. This was because the man was still in his youth, only 23 years old, but yet had already lost the use of two of his molars. How can this loss be repaid to him? What is more, the patient was also not under anaesthesia. A molar is a large tooth situated at the back of the mouth and secured by lots of roots. Most likely, it was also an adult molar. Imagine the agony the man must be going through without general anaesthesia. This was great carelessness and irresponsibility on the part of the dentist. A $3000 fine is much too little.

Home-Based Learning 25 May 2011

Once again I ask myself: Why in the world did I join the army for? Certainly not for torture, right?? I cannot seem to remember the reason by which I finally convinced myself to join the army.

Here I am, sitting in a dark, gloomy, stinky trench. But I have to be grateful, because of the simple fact that I am not dead yet. My rifle is sitting by my side, ready to be used at any time. We are wary of the Germans, because of what we faced today.

My platoon, and most probably, other platoons, arrived at the German coast by boat. Extremely smelly boats. Why? We were really not prepared for sea. Virtually every soldier was severely seasick. Every second, one poor man would suddenly clutch at his stomach, his eyes widening, before a fountain of vomit spewed from his throat and onto the floor of the boat, and the stench would be unbearable. The seasickness had drained our strength, but still, we held on. Finally, Sgt. Bruce Williams issued the command: Men, get up, prepare yerselves. Pick up your weapons, and fight for yer damn lives and the lives of yer families!!!

As one, we immediately snatched up our rifles, checked quickly for sufficient ammo, then scrambled to our feet to face our adversaries. At once, bullets sliced through the air and slugs ricocheted everywhere. Many comrades fell as soon as they stood up. Directly in front of me, a bullet punched through the forehead of Private Johnson Whiteman. Pieces of bone splintered like wood, and blood spurted high up into the air as Johnson fell, dead, at my feet. I stared down at his fallen frame, horrified, and the world slowed to a crawl. I looked around me. In slow motion, comrades were falling and twisting into grotesque positions as they fell. Someone rapped on my helmet, and I slowly turned to face him. It was Sgt Bruce. He was glaring at me with those deep blue eyes of his and his mouth was working rapidly, but I could not hear him. I cocked my head, puzzled. Then everything rushed back into reality. Bruce's voice was pounding into my ears and the air seemed to be getting hotter and hotter. "Private!! We gotta jump, right now!!! The boat is on fire!!!" He grabbed my wrist, and then flung himself toward the sea. Ravenous flames licked the air where we stood, and the very floor of the boat crumbled beneath our feet as we hurled ourselves overboard.

Would the bullets never leave us alone?? Even underwater, those cold pieces of steel powered through the waters, leaving streaks of bubbles behind them. When they entered human skin and flesh, a dark red cloud exploded like a chemical experiment gone wrong. Rapidly, I swam to shore.

Nicole Seah breaks down during rally

Nicole Seah is a pretty 24-year old, an executive with a multinational advertising agency. However, do not overlook her, for she is at the heart of the political party, National Solidarity Party in Singapore and is contesting in the in the Marine Parade GRC.

On the night of 5 May, Nicole Seah participated in a rally for the National Solidarity Party(NSP). During the rally, she actually broke down in tears while recalling a meeting with a poor family in MacPherson. According to the Straits Times article reporting on this affair, Nicole said that "she was saddened when the mother said that she could not get help to fund her son's $80 tution fees. Worse, when the mother sought help, she was chided for the small amount."

I think that there are two viewpoints from which to look at this affair. The first viewpoint is that in trying to convince the people that the NSP was the best candidate for the job, she, without knowing, blurted out this story. She crying means that she has compassion in her and is able to sympathise with others. The public will certainly be moved and impressed by the maturity of this young woman.

However, the other, negative, viewpoint is that this was all an act. Nicole Seah purposely brought up this affair so that the public will also will compassion for the poor family and hence will start to sway in her and the NSP's favour. If this is true, it would mean that Nicole Seah is a dirty player and will resort to every mean ti achieve her goals, in this case being to be elected into the GRC.

Which one is true, and which is false? It all depends on who is deciding. Followers of Nicole Seah would agree strongly with the first argument while those supporting others would have taken up the second viewpoint with enthusiasm.

"Walkover terrain, 20 years and counting", "Opposition misses deadline"

MM Lee Kuan Yew has lead Singapore for umpteen years, and has literally "raised Singapore from the dead" after the separation with its hinterland Malaysia. Today, he gives the victory sign to supporters at the Singapore Chinese Girl's School after the opposition, Socialist Front narrowly missed the deadline for filing the nomination papers. This is the 20th year that there has been a walkover in Tanjong Pagar GRC. However although newspapers state that the walkover was caused solely by the Socialist Front submitting their nomination forms late, the truth may not be so simple.

Firstly, MM Lee, as stated in the previous paragraph, has led Singapore, such a tiny country with only people as its resources, and on bad relations with neighbouring countries, to such a successful nation today. How would anyone want to challenge such a great leader? The things that MM Lee has done for Singapore are not easily forgotten by the citizens. Any challenger just has to ask himself this question: Can you lead a nation with no resources, teeny land space and on bad relations with other countries into the fifth richest nation in the whole world? Then they will immediately back off and call of the challenge. There is almost no hope of winning. Why waste 16,000 dollars?

Secondly, the Socialist Front had signaled its intention to contest the GRC earlier, only to abort its plans on Monday, but nevertheless showed up at 11.30 at the nomination centre. This will show the residents that the Socialist Front is unreliable as it constantly changes its mind, particularly at the eleventh hour. How then can residents expect them to carry out promises if they are elected? A leader of the nation should stick doggedly to promises made, or he will appear as untrustworthy.

Thirdly, the Socialist Front withdrew so abruptly because they had insufficient funds. Let's think about the reasons why such a scenario could occur. Maybe poor financial management? Or lack of support? The Socialist Front only scraped together the money on Thursday. They appealed for help on Monday. They needed only 80,000 dollars. And it is impossible that they need all the 80,000 from supporters. Therefore they must have insufficient supporters or supporters who were unwilling to help. Who wants a government like that?

"Terrorists "planned to broadcast bombing""

Recently, I read an article in the Straits Times entitled "Terrorists "planned to broadcast bombing"". Firstly before I start writing, I want all readers to note that firstly, this is my personal opinion, and there is purely no intention of attacking or defaming any particular person, race or religion. Secondly, this is NOT a piece of writing, just my own opinion.

This article is about Islamists terrorists attempting to bomb an Indonesian church ahead of Easter
Celebrations and also film and broadcast the inferno. Fortunately, they failed in their attempt.

I feel extremely disgusted by this act. Firstly, I am a Christian myself, and I am deeply saddened by all the anti-Christian activities going on around the world. First, the Allah incident which led to the burning of numerous churches and now this. What do other religions have with Christians. However, I have noticed something going on everywhere like in schools and workplaces which possibly may be related to this incidents. For example, if somebody is very diligent in his work in the workplace, and all the workers are extremely jealous because he has received promotion time and time again. So let's say that the boss gives him a project to complete before a certain deadline. Naturally, the other workers, or at least some, would want to sabotage him so that he will not receive yet another promotion but yet be sacked for not finishing the project or doing it sloppily. This shows that when a certain somebody is good, others lower than that person will try out various means, sometimes under the belt, to try and bring that person down. Is this the same with Christianity?

Next, I have learnt from past teachings, that terrorists are mostly people who are perverted in their minds. They have mostly been brainwashed, and can no longer tell the difference between wrong and right. Therefore, they go down and down, to the level where atrocities seem normal, such as this act. Who in the right frame of mind would want to destroy a church and film the explosion. Something has definitely gone wrong in the brains of these terrorists. Thirdly, these terrorists are Islamic, meaning that they are Muslims. I have no idea what they have against Christians, but I think that they, brainwashed and perverted as they are, should still sit down and think it over seriously. Would they want others to do to them what they have done and are still attempting to do to Christians. I should think not. And another point, if they really have a 'God', would the God be pleased to see them acting in this way? I mean, yes, they are doing it for their 'God', but the way in which they are doing so is seriously wrong. I do not know what their Holy Book says, but I don't think any 'righteous God' would like followers to act in this perverted manner.

The Day I Confiscated my 12-year-old's handphone

Recently, I have read an article entitled "The Day I Confiscated my 12-year-old's handphone". Basically it is about a mother talking about how and why she confiscated her daughter's mobile phone. The author bought a mobile phone for her daughter when the latter was aged 12, mainly to communicate with her and to coordinate picking her daughter and her younger son up from school when the author was tied up in meetings. However, her daughter began to use the phone excessively, and the cost for the phone every month shot up sky-high and in the end, the author decided to confiscate her daughter's mobile phone.

My mother saw this article in the Today paper and highlighted it to me. She thought that I would also have the same problem. However, I think that this is not true at all. Firstly, I think that girls use mobile phones much more than boys simply because they have so many things to talk about and so much to talk on any topic under the sun. Now with the availability of mobile phone, they can talk for 24 hours a day. However, this does not apply to boys because we just do not talk so much. For your information, women talk on average 4000 words a day while men in contrast on average only 2000 words a day. See the difference?

However, this may not be the fault of the author's daughter, regarding the article. This is because she has just received a brand new mobile phone and along with it, free access to chatting all day long. She certainly used that power over-extensively until it has started to resemble an addiction. I also think that the girl does not know that there are charges while using the mobile phone, and therefore has racked up the phone bill perhaps while not even knowing it.

I think that the girl should exert more self-control when using the mobile phone. She can chat and message, but not too much, and also at appropriate times like when she has nothing else to do, not in the early hours of the morning or during school. The author should also educate her daughter on the fact that money is charged for messaging, calling or receiving calls from others and if she uses up so much money, it has a very great adverse effect on the whole family.

I actually have a solution for the author. I think that since the daughter is using a prepaid card, her parents can assist her in kicking the habit by giving her a fixed amount in her prepaid card, say 20 dollars for one month or whatever the author thinks is suitable. If the daughter uses up her money due to chatting unneccesarily, then she will just have to make do until the next month.