You started as a bilingual student, handling both English and Mother Tongue. Not too difficult, I presume? Now, as you grow older, add a third language to your workload, German, French etc. you choose. Starting to get a bit difficult? One day, you returned home from school and hurriedly finished your school homework. Finally. You proceeded to read the newspaper. The headlines read ,“MINISTRY OF EDUCATION MAKES LEARNING DIALECTS COMPULSORY.” Nightmarish?
From the hype and fuss over dialects arose a single question: Should the young generation, thus be forced to learn dialects? Many may think that it is of absolute necessity to learn dialects but I beg to differ. Why so? In this essay, I shall justify why I feel that learning dialects add onto the burden of children. Even if others may argue about its cultural value, that is controversial as well, because the value of a language is its usefulness, which I would elaborate on later.
Firstly, the younger generation should not be forced to learn their dialects as it brings about additional burden to the young on top of their school homework. Let us take a look at my curriculum, a Singaporean Integrated Programme student’s curriculum. My subjects are English, Chinese, double math, triple science and history. Not to forget my CCA and my other projects, I barely have time to relax. By adding dialect to my curriculum is equivalent to divesting my free time, which I hold on so tightly to, from me. I believe, not only I feel this way, many others definitely would have a schedule as tightly packed as mine. For example, a student not undergoing Integrated Programme has to take 2 languages, 3 sciences or 3 humanities plus one elective. Seemingly, their schedule is also equally packed as mine. Adding dialects onto our already heavy burden deny us the right to a healthy and stress-free living. Moreover, the claims made by Singaporean students about the stress level should be highly regarded since their claims are primary evidences and are thoughts about stress face by students, from the students themselves.
Now, you may think that dialects have deep cultural meaning but think of it this way, what is the whole point of having a language? A language’s purpose is just a communication tool is it not? Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew share the same sentiment. Quoting from him, “If you speak Hokkien or Cantonese, you reach some 60 million in Fujian and Taiwan, or about 100 million in Guangdong and Hong Kong. With Mandarin, you can speak to 1,300 million Chinese from all provinces in China,” This example goes to show that dialects can only be used when communicating with small groups who use them. A language is just like a satellite. Dialects, have a smaller communication radius and range when compared to those of international languages. Which would be preferred? Definitely, the more useful international language because you just have to learn an international language to be able to communicate to most of the people. Thus, in this world of globalization, dialects cannot be compared to international languages like English and Mandarin.
To boot, if the younger generations are not interested in learning dialects, there is no point in forcing the younger generation to learn. I am definitely not saying that no one should learn their dialect. My point is that it should not be forced. They will not be able to commit to the subject because they do not want to learn it in the first place. In my humble opinion, I feel that dialect courses should be made an optional course in the school’s curriculum. Since, there are mainly two parties involved in this argument, the dialect advocators and the dialect non-advocators, this way, with my solution, the best of both worlds are obtained.
As such, teaching of dialects should not be forced upon children due to it being an additional burden and its lack of utility. Hopefully, next time instead of “MINISTRY OF EDUCATION MAKES LEARNING DIALECTS COMPULSORY.”, you see “MINISTRY OF EDUCATION STARTS OPTIONAL DIALECT PROGRAMME.”
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
ERP-Personal Narrative (1b)
[Write about your relationship with an elder person, and reflect on what aging means to you.]
All happened so suddenly. In that split second, my grandma crumpled to the ground. I held my hand out in a feeble attempt to catch her, but all I caught was air. Time seemed to slow down at that instant. Everyone gasped in horror. An ambulance was called for and soon, she was sent to the hospital.
The atmosphere was tense. I sat down and waited for the doctor. I appeared calm but deep inside; my heart was beating quickly, literally banging against my ribcage. Although being in an air-conditioned room, I was sweating profusely. When I was young, my grandma took care of me, taught me life lessons and played with me. She was not just my grandma, but also my teacher and my friend. Everyone was praying for grandma’s well being. Soon, the doctor came out from the ward and all of us swarmed around him.
“How is she doctor, how is she?” I asked desperately. Questions of such soon followed.
“Calm down. She is doing fine. Her maxillary sinus was blocked due to the building up of phlegm, which resulted in lower air intake and thus grogginess. There is nothing to worry about.”
Sighs were heard and my mum hugged me. All was well.
We entered the ward and saw my grandmother lying on the bed, her face pallid. Under the white, hospital sheet, she looked so tiny and frail. She had always been so active. Although near her eighties, age was never an obstacle to her. She always had something to do. I still remember that she used to cane me for my mischievous deeds, and she did cane hard. Life, to her, was to be lived to the fullest, to be appreciated. This grandma in front of me had changed. She aged.
This delicate woman had undergone a process everyone would experience at some time. Never, would grandma be able to cane me. Lying like a helpless child, she was not what she used to be. Her loud voice was replaced by inaudible mutters. I did not notice the wrinkles and grey hair before till that day. Age has stolen my grandma and replaced her with a stranger.
Reflecting on the good times I had with grandma, I was still a little child then. Approaching my pre-teen age, I realised that I was drifting further and further away from my grandma’s world. Simple games and things simply did not please me. I too had aged. And as time passed by, my demand for satisfaction became more and more materialistic. Never again was I happy with just a candy, toy or a hug. In this ever changing world, my grandma was not able to catch up with the pace. She was not able to meet my gratifications for a new cell phone, new bag and the likes. Only that day, after some reflection, I realised age had pulled us apart. Yet, we have to face reality. Not wanting to be forever out of touch with her, I am willing to mend the broken bridge between grandma and me. Age with experience, at the same time, made me mature in thinking, and relate to my grandma and Russell Baker in ‘Growing Up’.
Aging is inevitable. Aging tears apart the relationship with your elders. And yet, aging brings about experience, which makes us see the problem and understand what must be done. Reality must be faced.
All happened so suddenly. In that split second, my grandma crumpled to the ground. I held my hand out in a feeble attempt to catch her, but all I caught was air. Time seemed to slow down at that instant. Everyone gasped in horror. An ambulance was called for and soon, she was sent to the hospital.
The atmosphere was tense. I sat down and waited for the doctor. I appeared calm but deep inside; my heart was beating quickly, literally banging against my ribcage. Although being in an air-conditioned room, I was sweating profusely. When I was young, my grandma took care of me, taught me life lessons and played with me. She was not just my grandma, but also my teacher and my friend. Everyone was praying for grandma’s well being. Soon, the doctor came out from the ward and all of us swarmed around him.
“How is she doctor, how is she?” I asked desperately. Questions of such soon followed.
“Calm down. She is doing fine. Her maxillary sinus was blocked due to the building up of phlegm, which resulted in lower air intake and thus grogginess. There is nothing to worry about.”
Sighs were heard and my mum hugged me. All was well.
We entered the ward and saw my grandmother lying on the bed, her face pallid. Under the white, hospital sheet, she looked so tiny and frail. She had always been so active. Although near her eighties, age was never an obstacle to her. She always had something to do. I still remember that she used to cane me for my mischievous deeds, and she did cane hard. Life, to her, was to be lived to the fullest, to be appreciated. This grandma in front of me had changed. She aged.
This delicate woman had undergone a process everyone would experience at some time. Never, would grandma be able to cane me. Lying like a helpless child, she was not what she used to be. Her loud voice was replaced by inaudible mutters. I did not notice the wrinkles and grey hair before till that day. Age has stolen my grandma and replaced her with a stranger.
Reflecting on the good times I had with grandma, I was still a little child then. Approaching my pre-teen age, I realised that I was drifting further and further away from my grandma’s world. Simple games and things simply did not please me. I too had aged. And as time passed by, my demand for satisfaction became more and more materialistic. Never again was I happy with just a candy, toy or a hug. In this ever changing world, my grandma was not able to catch up with the pace. She was not able to meet my gratifications for a new cell phone, new bag and the likes. Only that day, after some reflection, I realised age had pulled us apart. Yet, we have to face reality. Not wanting to be forever out of touch with her, I am willing to mend the broken bridge between grandma and me. Age with experience, at the same time, made me mature in thinking, and relate to my grandma and Russell Baker in ‘Growing Up’.
Aging is inevitable. Aging tears apart the relationship with your elders. And yet, aging brings about experience, which makes us see the problem and understand what must be done. Reality must be faced.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
The evolution of Goodness
From the article and my personal experience,I can conclude that human beings are willing to do good to others because of two factors. The first being the relatedness between the recipient and the person who gives. The second factor is the willingness of an individual to reciprocate the goodness given to him.
The relationship between relatedness, benefits and, cost of giving and altruism between the contributor and recipient can be summarised under Hamilton's equation.
I feel that altruism is actually within all of us and that it is part of human nature.A mother would definitely risk her own life to save her child. This is a general belief among people. I too belief in that.
With regards to giving goodness to people not related to the giver, a person would contribute with the promise of reciprocity. For example, a person who helps a stranger would also expect the other individual to do likewise. One may argue that donating money to the poor is not much of any reciprocity as the donor would not receive any benefits. However, the benefits to donating is not tangible but rather abstract. For example, a person who donates will hope that God will reward him for the good deed and donates to feel better at heart.
Is this not an act of reciprocity?
The relationship between relatedness, benefits and, cost of giving and altruism between the contributor and recipient can be summarised under Hamilton's equation.
I feel that altruism is actually within all of us and that it is part of human nature.A mother would definitely risk her own life to save her child. This is a general belief among people. I too belief in that.
With regards to giving goodness to people not related to the giver, a person would contribute with the promise of reciprocity. For example, a person who helps a stranger would also expect the other individual to do likewise. One may argue that donating money to the poor is not much of any reciprocity as the donor would not receive any benefits. However, the benefits to donating is not tangible but rather abstract. For example, a person who donates will hope that God will reward him for the good deed and donates to feel better at heart.
Is this not an act of reciprocity?
Time based commentary
Summary
The legislation announced in America to make the cloning of a human a crime while allowing medical research to go on had sparked of a huge debate. Speculators are bracing for the real-life impact of cloning. Cloning has two sides. Reproductive cloning can duplicate organisms while therapeutic cloning can produce stem cells to treat a spectrum of diseases. Cloning is not ethical yet as the technology is not ready. The failure rate of animal cloning is high, thus human cloning will not work. A concern of those opposed to cloning is the readiness of society to make such a vast leap.
Clone wars.
Imagine that it is a beautiful Saturday morning. You are sitting on a couch and reading through newspapers. You hear the doorbell ring and walk over to open the door. You reel back in horror. The person standing at your doorstep looks exactly like you. You reach out your hand to touch the person until the person grabbed your palm and said,” Hi, I am your clone.” Believe it or not, such a thing might happen near the future. This technology is called cloning. You may think that human cloning is fun but I beg to differ. I believe that human cloning is unethical. In this essay, I will show why human cloning should not be carried out because it gives unnecessary pain to the clone and promises immortality to evil peoples like terrorist leaders.
Firstly, human cloning provides a lot of physical pain to the clone. Human cloning is still not an established technology yet. Dr. Arthur Caplan, the director of the Center fro Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said that “The problems encountered in many animal species with cloning make it uncertain whether human cloning will ever work. He also added that the failure rate of animal cloning is “enormous” and “ no one has succeeded in cloning a dog or any type of primate” Since the failure rate of animal cloning is so high, would not the failure rate of human cloning be much higher given that human beings are much more genetically complex than most animals? Most of the animal clones are either deformed, diseased or die young and it is very likely that human clones would also suffer the same fate. Given that the chance of a failed human cloning process is very high, the probability of getting a deformed clone is also very high. Human clones are organisms and can feel. This means that human clone would be able to feel the physical pain caused by the deformities or diseases. The human clone is made to suffer pain because of the scientist’s folly in human cloning. Thus, human cloning has a high chance of causing physical pain to the human clone.
One may argue that by prohibiting human cloning, we will be taking a great boon to the medical field. This is because cloning can be used to produce stem cells and produce new organs. People in need of new organs can easily find one by using stem cell technology. I do agree that is a good point cloning has. However, it is of human nature to manipulate science for our own selfish good. For example, the Chinese invented gunpowder for firework purposes but the westerners made use of gunpowder technology to build artilleries for war. Does this not show that science can be used for evil deeds? Cloning is able to make human beings immortal. This is because, for example, a man dying from lung cancer can easily replace his lungs with a new one and thus his life is saved. Likewise, human cloning promises immortality in evil people like terrorist leaders as well. Terrorism is a significant problem many countries are currently facing. If the terrorist leaders replaces their non-functional organs to new ones and become immortal, does that not mean terrorism will be very hard to be exterminated? If terrorist leaders are immortal, terrorism would also be made ‘immortal’ as radical ideas would always be present. This is highly plausible because terrorist leaders are able to afford the cost of the treatments because terrorist group receives a lot of funding from many sources. Imagine living in a world where terrorism persists and living with the knowledge that it is almost impossible to eliminate such a problem. Would you not despair?
I strongly believe that human cloning should not be carried out because it provides unnecessary pain for human clones because of deformities and diseases and because it promises immortality in humans, including evil people like terrorist leaders. Maybe one fine Saturday morning, you sit on the sofa and flip through the newspapers, you see images of the destruction caused by terrorism. Maybe one day, when you hear the doorbell ring and open the door, no you do not see a person looking like you. Instead, you see a person with 1 eye, six arms and 5 ears saying,” Hi, I am you clone.” Would that be fun?
The legislation announced in America to make the cloning of a human a crime while allowing medical research to go on had sparked of a huge debate. Speculators are bracing for the real-life impact of cloning. Cloning has two sides. Reproductive cloning can duplicate organisms while therapeutic cloning can produce stem cells to treat a spectrum of diseases. Cloning is not ethical yet as the technology is not ready. The failure rate of animal cloning is high, thus human cloning will not work. A concern of those opposed to cloning is the readiness of society to make such a vast leap.
Clone wars.
Imagine that it is a beautiful Saturday morning. You are sitting on a couch and reading through newspapers. You hear the doorbell ring and walk over to open the door. You reel back in horror. The person standing at your doorstep looks exactly like you. You reach out your hand to touch the person until the person grabbed your palm and said,” Hi, I am your clone.” Believe it or not, such a thing might happen near the future. This technology is called cloning. You may think that human cloning is fun but I beg to differ. I believe that human cloning is unethical. In this essay, I will show why human cloning should not be carried out because it gives unnecessary pain to the clone and promises immortality to evil peoples like terrorist leaders.
Firstly, human cloning provides a lot of physical pain to the clone. Human cloning is still not an established technology yet. Dr. Arthur Caplan, the director of the Center fro Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said that “The problems encountered in many animal species with cloning make it uncertain whether human cloning will ever work. He also added that the failure rate of animal cloning is “enormous” and “ no one has succeeded in cloning a dog or any type of primate” Since the failure rate of animal cloning is so high, would not the failure rate of human cloning be much higher given that human beings are much more genetically complex than most animals? Most of the animal clones are either deformed, diseased or die young and it is very likely that human clones would also suffer the same fate. Given that the chance of a failed human cloning process is very high, the probability of getting a deformed clone is also very high. Human clones are organisms and can feel. This means that human clone would be able to feel the physical pain caused by the deformities or diseases. The human clone is made to suffer pain because of the scientist’s folly in human cloning. Thus, human cloning has a high chance of causing physical pain to the human clone.
One may argue that by prohibiting human cloning, we will be taking a great boon to the medical field. This is because cloning can be used to produce stem cells and produce new organs. People in need of new organs can easily find one by using stem cell technology. I do agree that is a good point cloning has. However, it is of human nature to manipulate science for our own selfish good. For example, the Chinese invented gunpowder for firework purposes but the westerners made use of gunpowder technology to build artilleries for war. Does this not show that science can be used for evil deeds? Cloning is able to make human beings immortal. This is because, for example, a man dying from lung cancer can easily replace his lungs with a new one and thus his life is saved. Likewise, human cloning promises immortality in evil people like terrorist leaders as well. Terrorism is a significant problem many countries are currently facing. If the terrorist leaders replaces their non-functional organs to new ones and become immortal, does that not mean terrorism will be very hard to be exterminated? If terrorist leaders are immortal, terrorism would also be made ‘immortal’ as radical ideas would always be present. This is highly plausible because terrorist leaders are able to afford the cost of the treatments because terrorist group receives a lot of funding from many sources. Imagine living in a world where terrorism persists and living with the knowledge that it is almost impossible to eliminate such a problem. Would you not despair?
I strongly believe that human cloning should not be carried out because it provides unnecessary pain for human clones because of deformities and diseases and because it promises immortality in humans, including evil people like terrorist leaders. Maybe one fine Saturday morning, you sit on the sofa and flip through the newspapers, you see images of the destruction caused by terrorism. Maybe one day, when you hear the doorbell ring and open the door, no you do not see a person looking like you. Instead, you see a person with 1 eye, six arms and 5 ears saying,” Hi, I am you clone.” Would that be fun?
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Introduction
You are the government of Singapore. You have just gotten extra funds of 40 million dolars. What would you do with it? Build a new MRT route? Buy state of the art artilleries? Or would you rather improve on Singapore’s most popular shopping district, Orchard Road? That is exactly what the Singapore government did. However, I strongly believe that the 40 million dollars could have been better spent elsewhere. In this essay, I would show why I think the 40 million dollars was not well spent as the makeover was largely ignored and because of the leaf litters at Orchard Road.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
A 40-million dollar 'cosmetic surgery'
Imagine that you are the government of Singapore. What would you do with 40 million dollars? Build a new MRT route? Buy state of the art artilleries? Or would you rather improve on Singapore’s most popular shopping district, Orchard Road? That is exactly what the Singapore government did. However, I strongly believe that the 40 million dollars could have been better spent elsewhere. In this essay, I would show why I think the 40 million dollars was not well spent as the makeover was largely ignored and because of the leaf litters at Orchard Road.
The ornaments the government spent 40 million dollars on to beautify Orchard Road went largely unnoticed by many people shopping at Orchard Road. The Singapore Straits time interviewed 100 people along Orchard Road and out of the 100, 60 people noticed some changes. However, out of the 60 people, half could state only one change. Many people who were interviewed said that they “hardly noticed the difference”. This poll conducted by The Straits Times have shown that 40% of the people did not notice any change, 30% noticed only one change, 30% of the people could point out more changes. This goes to show that many people did not notice the new improvement works. Orchard Road is a shopping district and its main purpose is to allow people to shop. Since the new changes were mostly ornamental and unnoticeable and many people did not feel any difference, it can be concluded that the new makeover did nothing much to improve the shopping experience. Moreover, even if people have noticed these changes, they were viewed at in a negative way. A teacher interviewed by The Straits Times said that the many glass panels are of danger hazard to the public as people may get drunk and smash them. Also, a few people commented that the flower totems are annoying as they block their view.
Many people would have argued that since Orchard is the primary shopping district of Singapore and is a tourist attraction, thus by beautifying Orchard, many more tourists would be attracted to it. Henceforth, the 40 million dollars was a good long term investment. I do not agree with this viewpoint. Beauty is defined as “a combination of qualities that delights the aesthetic senses” by Oxford Dictionary. I do agree that since tourists are probably new to Orchard Road, they would most likely notice the new makeover. Although the new ornaments would improve the appearance of Orchard, Orchard is still dirty on the whole. A few locals have commented on the numerous dead leaves littered on the ground and that although the pavements are beautiful, the dead leaves spoil the whole aesthetic appeal. It is well-known globally that Singapore is a ‘garden city’. Tourists come over to Singapore expecting a ‘clean and green’ city. Imagine how disappointed these tourists will be and what impression they would have when they see the filthy pavements at Orchard Road. No matter how pleasant the new ornaments look, they would still be shaded by the unkempt paths. Imagine that you are entering a house decorated by priceless beautiful Ming vases, paintings by renowned artists and exquisite furniture. It would have been a beautiful sight if not for the strewn newspapers all over the floor. That is exactly what the condition is like in Orchard Road.
In conclusion, the 40 million dollars spent on the Orchard road ‘facelift’ was not well spent. Not only did it provide minimal positive effects, it brought about more complaints and worries. It seems that the ‘cosmetic surgery’ had backfired, leaving behind an Orch-hurt Road.
The ornaments the government spent 40 million dollars on to beautify Orchard Road went largely unnoticed by many people shopping at Orchard Road. The Singapore Straits time interviewed 100 people along Orchard Road and out of the 100, 60 people noticed some changes. However, out of the 60 people, half could state only one change. Many people who were interviewed said that they “hardly noticed the difference”. This poll conducted by The Straits Times have shown that 40% of the people did not notice any change, 30% noticed only one change, 30% of the people could point out more changes. This goes to show that many people did not notice the new improvement works. Orchard Road is a shopping district and its main purpose is to allow people to shop. Since the new changes were mostly ornamental and unnoticeable and many people did not feel any difference, it can be concluded that the new makeover did nothing much to improve the shopping experience. Moreover, even if people have noticed these changes, they were viewed at in a negative way. A teacher interviewed by The Straits Times said that the many glass panels are of danger hazard to the public as people may get drunk and smash them. Also, a few people commented that the flower totems are annoying as they block their view.
Many people would have argued that since Orchard is the primary shopping district of Singapore and is a tourist attraction, thus by beautifying Orchard, many more tourists would be attracted to it. Henceforth, the 40 million dollars was a good long term investment. I do not agree with this viewpoint. Beauty is defined as “a combination of qualities that delights the aesthetic senses” by Oxford Dictionary. I do agree that since tourists are probably new to Orchard Road, they would most likely notice the new makeover. Although the new ornaments would improve the appearance of Orchard, Orchard is still dirty on the whole. A few locals have commented on the numerous dead leaves littered on the ground and that although the pavements are beautiful, the dead leaves spoil the whole aesthetic appeal. It is well-known globally that Singapore is a ‘garden city’. Tourists come over to Singapore expecting a ‘clean and green’ city. Imagine how disappointed these tourists will be and what impression they would have when they see the filthy pavements at Orchard Road. No matter how pleasant the new ornaments look, they would still be shaded by the unkempt paths. Imagine that you are entering a house decorated by priceless beautiful Ming vases, paintings by renowned artists and exquisite furniture. It would have been a beautiful sight if not for the strewn newspapers all over the floor. That is exactly what the condition is like in Orchard Road.
In conclusion, the 40 million dollars spent on the Orchard road ‘facelift’ was not well spent. Not only did it provide minimal positive effects, it brought about more complaints and worries. It seems that the ‘cosmetic surgery’ had backfired, leaving behind an Orch-hurt Road.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Do you agree to scraping the CCTs?
I do not agree that we should scrap the CCTs.
In this essay, I would explain why we should not scrap the CCTs using various perspectives from the students, parents and schools point of view.
The reason why students go to school is to learn more knowledge. To get a good grasp and improve on the topic they are learning, students need to know what their standard are and frequent mistakes they make regarding the topic in question. At the same time, we have to agree that the point of having examinations is to gauge our own comprehension of the subject. Examinations are one of the few methods to find out a person’s understanding of concepts, as examination conditions provide necessary stress, time limit and problem difficulty to put students to test. Therefore, if we scrap the CCTs, there will be very little chances for students to gauge their own standards, and thus little chance for improvement in work.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
What is an exposition?
Exposition is a type of oral or written discourse that is written in an informative matter. Its aim is to describe and explain the topic in question and the writer has to assume that the reader has no prior knowledge regarding the topic.
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