I just have to write a response to this article, when I see it, as it is something close to my heart; it is related to the relationship of teachers and students. The article's link is below.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,124376,00.html?
After reading this article, I realized that the classmate and the teacher were at fault for causing this boy to be blind. If the classmate had not misbehaved in class, and the teacher had not lost his temper, none of this tragedy would have occurred. We must analyze the behaviors of the classmate and the teacher to understand why they acted in this way, and to prevent such an event from happening again.
The classmate may just seem to be having fun, making some noise. However, he is showing disrespect to the teacher, at the same time, disrupting those who would rather listen to the lesson. Respect is a core value in our society, if this 14-year-old cannot respect his teacher, how can we expect him to be a building block in our society? We could speculate as to how his behavior is shaped, probably due to his friends, as a person is shaped according to the people around them, and in this case, as he is a student and teenager, his closest influences would be from his friends. We could speculate his friends would probably have the same attitude as him, perhaps due to the family being too lax in enforcing these values, thus it is no wonder that this classmate do not have respect deeply rooted in him.
The teacher seemed to have lost his temper a bit easily and threw a dangerous object (ruler) at the boy. Did the teacher stop to think about whether the ruler would injure anyone? I doubt so as if he had thought about it, he would not have done so. Did the Ministry of Education impart knowledge to the teacher to inform him to keep his temper in check? These questions puzzled me after I read the article. Moreover, this teacher only visited the injured boy once in hospital after causing such serious damage to his eye that he may go blind. It can be assumed that the teacher is not very sympathetic to the boy.
However, perhaps the classmate thought it was just fun to talk loudly in class, and did not think about the consequences and implications about it as he is only 14, and too young to control his desire to talk. The teacher, perhaps angered and irritated by the classmate after many warnings, lost his cool and threw the ruler to vent his anger only, not to injure anyone. Teachers are not gods, they are only humans, and thus it is understandable that they would lose their temper. Perhaps again, that the teacher feels so guilty about injuring the boy that he dare not visit the boy in hospital.
Lastly, as I am a more responsible-type of student, I am not sure about the “classmate’s” mindset. Even if I do not like the teacher, I would still respect him or her and listen to the lesson, as I know that the teacher must have some experience in this subject and it is to my loss if I do not listen.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Monday, March 5, 2007
Marking Scheme
"Dear Ms. Kuang,
Just grade my second and fourth articles, thanks."
Quote From Ben Ng, Put up by iRIch. " Did ben see my blog?" =p sry!
Just grade my second and fourth articles, thanks."
Quote From Ben Ng, Put up by iRIch. " Did ben see my blog?" =p sry!
Incest
I am sorry to all bicyclists out there whom I had offended with my insensitive viewpoints and rants. So, once again, I will embark on yet another article to prove my worth as a mugger. And yes, this time I will do it in such an objective and mugger-like way that even I will be proud of it. P.S. No humor involved. However, I will be leaving my 3rd article on my blog, as it is part of my process as a writer to try out different styles. This article took the most time out of me-2 hours as I really went to research and check out several points about incest.
I will be commenting on this article, all the best to me.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,124215,00.html?
This article relates about how a brother and sister fell in love and committed incest. They had four children together. The brother was tried in court for committing incest and sentenced to jail many times. There is a question underlying this article, should we accept incest in our society? To answer the following questions, we have to understand what incest is all about and why is incest taboo?
Firstly, we must define what incest is. Incest is the practice of sexual relations between close blood relatives. The second question is more difficult to answer, why is incest taboo? There are many theories being it, such as one being a biological issue, which means having incest with one sibling has a higher chance of leading to birth defects in their children, due to the increase of homozygotes which may encode a birth defect. Another theory would be to encourage exogamy and prohibit endogamy to strengthen social solitary. However, we are not too sure about why incest is really taboo, perhaps in our ancestors’ days, they fear incest, thus they spread down “unwritten” rules to us not to commit it, and for us to develop this mindset that incest is “bad’.
Thus, should we commit incest, should we allow incest in our society? I believe we should. Think about it, incest is just primarily sexual relations between a man and woman, albeit that they are blood relatives. Moreover, the theories explaining why incest is taboo have its flaws. For example, the biological theory that incest may lead to birth defects in their children has its flaws, if the siblings do not have any homozygotes that encode a birth defect, it may even reduce the number of the carriers of the defect. Thus, incest is primarily a social and psychological issue.
It seems ridiculous that a man and woman who genuinely love each other and have sex have to be charged in court and sentenced to prison just because they are siblings. A taboo that is ingrained in our mind and which we are not clear how it originated has caused this couple to be separated even though they are in love with each other. We are not even sure how sex with your close relatives became a taboo, and yet we are adhering to this mindset, it seems illogical to me.
However, it would be difficult to counter this mindset as this taboo is so ingrained in our minds that it would be “wrong” just to suggest that this taboo should not be a taboo. This taboo is as if a core belief of our society and if we assume that incest is not a taboo, it just seems to break down the very fabric of our society. Thus, perhaps we should wait for our society to be more mature before discussing this taboo subject.
In conclusion, I feel we should accept incest in our society, if we could overcome the basic belief in our mindset, that incest is “bad.”
I will be commenting on this article, all the best to me.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,124215,00.html?
This article relates about how a brother and sister fell in love and committed incest. They had four children together. The brother was tried in court for committing incest and sentenced to jail many times. There is a question underlying this article, should we accept incest in our society? To answer the following questions, we have to understand what incest is all about and why is incest taboo?
Firstly, we must define what incest is. Incest is the practice of sexual relations between close blood relatives. The second question is more difficult to answer, why is incest taboo? There are many theories being it, such as one being a biological issue, which means having incest with one sibling has a higher chance of leading to birth defects in their children, due to the increase of homozygotes which may encode a birth defect. Another theory would be to encourage exogamy and prohibit endogamy to strengthen social solitary. However, we are not too sure about why incest is really taboo, perhaps in our ancestors’ days, they fear incest, thus they spread down “unwritten” rules to us not to commit it, and for us to develop this mindset that incest is “bad’.
Thus, should we commit incest, should we allow incest in our society? I believe we should. Think about it, incest is just primarily sexual relations between a man and woman, albeit that they are blood relatives. Moreover, the theories explaining why incest is taboo have its flaws. For example, the biological theory that incest may lead to birth defects in their children has its flaws, if the siblings do not have any homozygotes that encode a birth defect, it may even reduce the number of the carriers of the defect. Thus, incest is primarily a social and psychological issue.
It seems ridiculous that a man and woman who genuinely love each other and have sex have to be charged in court and sentenced to prison just because they are siblings. A taboo that is ingrained in our mind and which we are not clear how it originated has caused this couple to be separated even though they are in love with each other. We are not even sure how sex with your close relatives became a taboo, and yet we are adhering to this mindset, it seems illogical to me.
However, it would be difficult to counter this mindset as this taboo is so ingrained in our minds that it would be “wrong” just to suggest that this taboo should not be a taboo. This taboo is as if a core belief of our society and if we assume that incest is not a taboo, it just seems to break down the very fabric of our society. Thus, perhaps we should wait for our society to be more mature before discussing this taboo subject.
In conclusion, I feel we should accept incest in our society, if we could overcome the basic belief in our mindset, that incest is “bad.”
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Commentary on an article (2)
Today I will be commenting on the article listed below.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,124000-1172786340,00.html
This article describes a nine-year old girl who got pregnant. It implies a serious problem in our society. How could it be that a nine-year child know how to perform sex with her boyfriend from the same primary school? How could it be that the parents of the 9-year old child do not know what their child is doing at home. These questions need to be addressed as they present a problem in our society.
Firstly, we could assume that the girl or her boyfriend must have got their information on sex from somewhere or else they could not be so "lucky" to find the way of how to perform sex by pure experimenting. Thus, somehow they must have some knowledge about sex. How? We could only speculate. However, a likely reason would be of the spread of the Internet. With the Internet, one could gather information easily, even taboo subjects, such as sex. Thus, if we could assume that this couple know how to access the Internet, and with such information on sex readily available, it would be only right to assume that this young couple got their information from the Internet. Thus, in order to prevent such occurances from happening, we could either prevent these curious children from accessing the Internet, visiting websites related to sex, or educate them about the dangers of sex.
However, even if we ban these ignorant children from using the Internet, there will still be chances that they would get information about sex from other souces such as friends. Thus, in order to gain a sure-fire "cure" for sexual behaviour at such an irresponsible age, you will need to educate the young children about it, such as you cannot touch a woman's privates or you are not supposed to strip someone's clothes off at such a young age. If these children could understand and accept the advice, the chances of being pregnant at such a young age would be reduced, as the children would grasp the basic concept of the dangers of sexual behaviour.
Next, how could the parents of the girl not notice that their child was having sex with a man? Yes, I understand that both of the parents are working; however they should have imparted to their girl the knowledge of not bringing your friends or classmates to home at such a young age, especially a boy. Moreover, these parents did not even notice that their girl was pregnant until the foetus was six months old. This implied that parents nowadays are too busy to bother about their children's lives, thus causing this tragedy. If we are to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, parents need to play a more active role in their children's lives, at least know where they are, who they are with etc.
In conclusion, I feel that we should educate younger children about sexual education for them to understand the dangers of sex and parents should be more active in their children's lives.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,124000-1172786340,00.html
This article describes a nine-year old girl who got pregnant. It implies a serious problem in our society. How could it be that a nine-year child know how to perform sex with her boyfriend from the same primary school? How could it be that the parents of the 9-year old child do not know what their child is doing at home. These questions need to be addressed as they present a problem in our society.
Firstly, we could assume that the girl or her boyfriend must have got their information on sex from somewhere or else they could not be so "lucky" to find the way of how to perform sex by pure experimenting. Thus, somehow they must have some knowledge about sex. How? We could only speculate. However, a likely reason would be of the spread of the Internet. With the Internet, one could gather information easily, even taboo subjects, such as sex. Thus, if we could assume that this couple know how to access the Internet, and with such information on sex readily available, it would be only right to assume that this young couple got their information from the Internet. Thus, in order to prevent such occurances from happening, we could either prevent these curious children from accessing the Internet, visiting websites related to sex, or educate them about the dangers of sex.
However, even if we ban these ignorant children from using the Internet, there will still be chances that they would get information about sex from other souces such as friends. Thus, in order to gain a sure-fire "cure" for sexual behaviour at such an irresponsible age, you will need to educate the young children about it, such as you cannot touch a woman's privates or you are not supposed to strip someone's clothes off at such a young age. If these children could understand and accept the advice, the chances of being pregnant at such a young age would be reduced, as the children would grasp the basic concept of the dangers of sexual behaviour.
Next, how could the parents of the girl not notice that their child was having sex with a man? Yes, I understand that both of the parents are working; however they should have imparted to their girl the knowledge of not bringing your friends or classmates to home at such a young age, especially a boy. Moreover, these parents did not even notice that their girl was pregnant until the foetus was six months old. This implied that parents nowadays are too busy to bother about their children's lives, thus causing this tragedy. If we are to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, parents need to play a more active role in their children's lives, at least know where they are, who they are with etc.
In conclusion, I feel that we should educate younger children about sexual education for them to understand the dangers of sex and parents should be more active in their children's lives.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Commentary on an article
I am commenting on this article.
Pub Date: 01/02/2007
Pub: ST
Page: 1
Day: Thursday
Edition: FIRST
Headline: Controversial penalty gives Lions win, sparks Thai walkout
By: PETER SIOW and NIRMAL GHOSH
Link of the article.
http://enewslink.asia1.com.sg/brsweb/read_10.brsw?this=result&QDT=1&QFLST=HD%3AHG%3APD&DB=ST%3ABT%4007-07&QSTR=%28%28Lions%29%29.HD.&DTSTR=%28%28PD+%3E=+20070101%29+and+%28PD+%3C=+20070211%29%29&PSZ=10&MAXL=200&SUMY=2&HLT=0&LSTN=0&ID=000005045@ST07
Summary of the article.
"After much persuasion, the Thai side returned, and Singapore’s Mustafic Fahrudin converted the spot-kick as the match clock read 97 minutes to put Singapore ahead, prompting wild cheers from the mostly partisan 55,000 fans packed into the National Stadium for the last game to be staged there."
In this article, it states that the referee gave Singapore a controversial penalty to allow Singapore to gain a score line of 2-1 in the first leg of the Asean Football Championship. Noh Alam Shah had fallen down in the penalty area, and the referee pointed to the spot which Singapore converted .At the 82nd minute, it seems that Niweat Siriwong, a Thai defender, pulled down Alam Shah’s shirt and caused him to fall down on his back. Immediately, the referee called for a penalty.
However, by using TV replays, it seems that Alam Shah was backing into Niweat Siriwong and he fell down on his own accord and not that Niweat Siriwiong was pulling him down. In short, it seems to the Thais, the referee had given a penalty to Singapore which should not have been given as the Thai defender had not fouled Alam Shah. Thus, the Thai players protested by surrounding the referee and walked off the pitch for 15 minutes.
Even though the Thai players returned to play the match, there are a whole lot of questions surrounding this walking-off. Should the Thai players have done so in the first place? Did they consider the implications that may arise from this walk-off? Should they have protested in such a manner? I shall attempt to answer them.
I do not agree that the Thai players should have walked off for a simple reason. It brings a bad image to the Thai players. It damages the reputation of Thai players, that they have no sportsmanship and could not take the referee’s decision in their stride. When they stepped into the pitch, they must realize that the referee’s decision would be final, that they have no right to protest over a decision that did not aid them in their cause for glory. It is as if a student boycotting the school, just because the school penalised him for breaking the rules. It is extremely childish and should not have occurred to footballers that have years of experience in the football world and deemed good enough to compete in a regional competition. They ought to have taken it in their stride and strove to capitalise on the second leg which would be held in their home stadium.
At this point in the competition, Singapore and Thailand’s diplomatic ties were strained due to the arrival of deposed Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who made a public interview here in Singapore about his opinions of Thailand while on a private visit. This strained the relations between Singapore and Thailand, to the point where Thailand cancelled Minister of foreign affairs, George Yeo’s visit to Thailand. At this point of time, the Thai players protested in such an obvious manner that the some Thai fans might use this chance to send a political message, to inspire the Thai people to hate Singapore, to protest against Singapore. It is because it might seem that Alam Shah dived in the penalty area to gain a penalty and since Thailand are known for being a football-crazed country, the protest of the Thai players might invoke the anger against Singapore in the hearts of the Thai fans, and some “anti-Singapore” parties might make use of this chance to raise anti-Singapore sentiments, in order to further strain the relations between Singapore and Thailand. As such, the Thai players should have thought carefully about the political implications their actions might cause before enacting their protests.
The social implications of their action would be that they might influence boys of a younger age to think it is acceptable to protest against decisions that they are not happy about and just boycott the institution that enforces these rules. For example, a boy watched the Thailand-Singapore first leg final. Thus, the next day he went to school and the teacher penalized him for having a long hair. The next day, he boycotted the school since the Thai players could walk off the pitch, why could I not boycott school? This may be an extreme example, but it serves to illustrate my point that the Thai players are heroes to many Thai boys out there. Their actions would be noted to be emulated by these impressionable Thai boys. If these boys decided to emulate these players’ walking-off and their poor attitude and disrespect towards the referee and the competitions, Thailand would have boys who would adopt this poor attitude and not have respect for the authorities. Thus, the Thai players ought to consider their actions, as these actions may have an impact in a lot of other people’s lives.
Lastly, I personally feel that the Thai players should have adopted a less obvious way to protest against the decision. Yes, I admit, in the heat of the moment, perhaps the players felt that the best way to display their anger would be to walk off the pitch. However, they are professionals. They ought to know that walking off the pitch would have many implications involved such as political or social implications. They should have adopted a softer method such as using the power of the media to lambaste the referee after the competition and not involve soccer in political agendas. By using this method, they would also be able to maintain their reputation as professional footballers and show respect to the competition.
In conclusion, I hope that the Thai players would be punished for their unprofessional behavior and disrespect towards the competition.
Pub Date: 01/02/2007
Pub: ST
Page: 1
Day: Thursday
Edition: FIRST
Headline: Controversial penalty gives Lions win, sparks Thai walkout
By: PETER SIOW and NIRMAL GHOSH
Link of the article.
http://enewslink.asia1.com.sg/brsweb/read_10.brsw?this=result&QDT=1&QFLST=HD%3AHG%3APD&DB=ST%3ABT%4007-07&QSTR=%28%28Lions%29%29.HD.&DTSTR=%28%28PD+%3E=+20070101%29+and+%28PD+%3C=+20070211%29%29&PSZ=10&MAXL=200&SUMY=2&HLT=0&LSTN=0&ID=000005045@ST07
Summary of the article.
"After much persuasion, the Thai side returned, and Singapore’s Mustafic Fahrudin converted the spot-kick as the match clock read 97 minutes to put Singapore ahead, prompting wild cheers from the mostly partisan 55,000 fans packed into the National Stadium for the last game to be staged there."
In this article, it states that the referee gave Singapore a controversial penalty to allow Singapore to gain a score line of 2-1 in the first leg of the Asean Football Championship. Noh Alam Shah had fallen down in the penalty area, and the referee pointed to the spot which Singapore converted .At the 82nd minute, it seems that Niweat Siriwong, a Thai defender, pulled down Alam Shah’s shirt and caused him to fall down on his back. Immediately, the referee called for a penalty.
However, by using TV replays, it seems that Alam Shah was backing into Niweat Siriwong and he fell down on his own accord and not that Niweat Siriwiong was pulling him down. In short, it seems to the Thais, the referee had given a penalty to Singapore which should not have been given as the Thai defender had not fouled Alam Shah. Thus, the Thai players protested by surrounding the referee and walked off the pitch for 15 minutes.
Even though the Thai players returned to play the match, there are a whole lot of questions surrounding this walking-off. Should the Thai players have done so in the first place? Did they consider the implications that may arise from this walk-off? Should they have protested in such a manner? I shall attempt to answer them.
I do not agree that the Thai players should have walked off for a simple reason. It brings a bad image to the Thai players. It damages the reputation of Thai players, that they have no sportsmanship and could not take the referee’s decision in their stride. When they stepped into the pitch, they must realize that the referee’s decision would be final, that they have no right to protest over a decision that did not aid them in their cause for glory. It is as if a student boycotting the school, just because the school penalised him for breaking the rules. It is extremely childish and should not have occurred to footballers that have years of experience in the football world and deemed good enough to compete in a regional competition. They ought to have taken it in their stride and strove to capitalise on the second leg which would be held in their home stadium.
At this point in the competition, Singapore and Thailand’s diplomatic ties were strained due to the arrival of deposed Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who made a public interview here in Singapore about his opinions of Thailand while on a private visit. This strained the relations between Singapore and Thailand, to the point where Thailand cancelled Minister of foreign affairs, George Yeo’s visit to Thailand. At this point of time, the Thai players protested in such an obvious manner that the some Thai fans might use this chance to send a political message, to inspire the Thai people to hate Singapore, to protest against Singapore. It is because it might seem that Alam Shah dived in the penalty area to gain a penalty and since Thailand are known for being a football-crazed country, the protest of the Thai players might invoke the anger against Singapore in the hearts of the Thai fans, and some “anti-Singapore” parties might make use of this chance to raise anti-Singapore sentiments, in order to further strain the relations between Singapore and Thailand. As such, the Thai players should have thought carefully about the political implications their actions might cause before enacting their protests.
The social implications of their action would be that they might influence boys of a younger age to think it is acceptable to protest against decisions that they are not happy about and just boycott the institution that enforces these rules. For example, a boy watched the Thailand-Singapore first leg final. Thus, the next day he went to school and the teacher penalized him for having a long hair. The next day, he boycotted the school since the Thai players could walk off the pitch, why could I not boycott school? This may be an extreme example, but it serves to illustrate my point that the Thai players are heroes to many Thai boys out there. Their actions would be noted to be emulated by these impressionable Thai boys. If these boys decided to emulate these players’ walking-off and their poor attitude and disrespect towards the referee and the competitions, Thailand would have boys who would adopt this poor attitude and not have respect for the authorities. Thus, the Thai players ought to consider their actions, as these actions may have an impact in a lot of other people’s lives.
Lastly, I personally feel that the Thai players should have adopted a less obvious way to protest against the decision. Yes, I admit, in the heat of the moment, perhaps the players felt that the best way to display their anger would be to walk off the pitch. However, they are professionals. They ought to know that walking off the pitch would have many implications involved such as political or social implications. They should have adopted a softer method such as using the power of the media to lambaste the referee after the competition and not involve soccer in political agendas. By using this method, they would also be able to maintain their reputation as professional footballers and show respect to the competition.
In conclusion, I hope that the Thai players would be punished for their unprofessional behavior and disrespect towards the competition.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Second try
Ok, fine. Since I have created this blog, the responsibility rests on my shoulders to maintain this blog. Now, today would be my second post. Today I feel I am very slack. Not much homework, not much lessons, just plain slack. And this is the first time I came to school early. Quite an achievement! Today we have PDI, slack, slack, slack. Haha, tomorrow hopefully should be more exciting than today (?).
Today, I feel I am very "enthu" (sorry, seriously I do not know how to slang), I signed up for like 3 Chinese competitions. I have too much free time on my hands.
Oh yeah, and today class meeting was like expected. Noise filled the whole room, the monitor could not control the class and we just drifted off into our own world. Oh well, at least we decide to pin up animes for our class decor (Shaman King, Death Note etc.)
Signing off now, hopefully it is a good post.
Today, I feel I am very "enthu" (sorry, seriously I do not know how to slang), I signed up for like 3 Chinese competitions. I have too much free time on my hands.
Oh yeah, and today class meeting was like expected. Noise filled the whole room, the monitor could not control the class and we just drifted off into our own world. Oh well, at least we decide to pin up animes for our class decor (Shaman King, Death Note etc.)
Signing off now, hopefully it is a good post.
Monday, February 5, 2007
First blood
I am not a blogger, and I seriously do not like to blog. I also do not like to type, and I will not type much for this blog. If not for this "marvellous" project (ERP), I doubt I will ever post in a blog. It takes too much time and effort to maintain it. This blog will be dead after this year, so enjoy this 1 year, irrelevant blog.
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