` so i look to you

Don't Let My Kid See Me Like This

2006-08-20T23:35:00.000+08:00

The New Paper
20/08/06
Sunday pg 2

French Chef Francois Fabien Mermilliod stood in handcuffs and the first thought he had was "don't let my kid see me like this". Its really sad when one gets stuck in such a situation. The devastation it brings not only to the person's life but to the life of the person's loved ones..is very horrific. I mean seriously, why do people want to do drugs? Illegal drugs and even the legal ones, people somehow, one way or another manage to abuse it. Cough syrup, subutex and dormicum, isn't it frightening how drug abusers can twist and abuse them? Why dp people still do it knowing that everything they have could be taken away in just an instant? More so for those who have families with young children. Its something to be really concerned about.

Society frowns upon such behavior and relates drug taking to the poor and homeless and so on, but these people are high powered individuals with good paying jobs and flashy cars and yet they cannot be satisfied and take drugs? What satisfaction does taking drugs give someone? Some people use it because their forced into a scenario, others use it because of the environment and the upbringing that has encouraged it, some just take it to escape their life. Which is quite funny because once the high and the effects wear off..they will still wake up facing the same problem and find themselves stuck in the vicious cycle. Funny how singapore is so strict about drug trafficking laws and finding so many people pushing drugs. How ironic..

Drugs Aplenty

2006-08-19T23:44:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
pg 5
19 Aug 2006

Anyone can look around and take a good look and see, how much social degredation has creeped in. One of the most recent cases has been about drugs. Why drugs? a vicious cycle that many cannot break away from, it takes over and controls one's life. So what can anyone do to help? If someone knows that an individual cannot fight temptation then the best way is to stay away. Drugs cause harm not only to the person but also to thrid parties. Such as family members, friends, loved ones. Also it decreases the social status of the country as well. For it to be a ILLEGAL drug, it must be able to affect the lives of many. Singapore a very secure country, as well as a fine one, many would think that the world's drug cartels stay away from singapore. The very thing is, the drugs are actually produced in this region, including singapore and distributed all over the region and to other countries elsewhere. It is such a daunting task for anyone to do and its rather difficult. The only way may be through harsher punishment and educating the people, hopefully this might help.

ISRAEL vs HIZBOLLAH

2006-08-19T13:34:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
Pg 27

Okay, so the wars of the world escalate and this shouldn't be any different. As a student, being far away from all the war and trauma i wonder what it actually is like to live in a war torn country like israel. I mean ALL the newspaper articles i've read all pinpoint israel as the cause and the problem of all the fights, that its ISRAEL'S FAULT for spoiling the beaches and creating such a huge catastrophe.

But what i really do feel is, that it isn't israel's fault. I mean yes definitely it takes two hands to clap and that things do happen but no, i don't think blaming israel for everything is right. It was the hizbollah fighters that so decided to kidnap the israeli soldiers and that they decided to do something stupid after the ceasefire was called. So why are they trying to save their own skin by going out in a smear campaign against israel? Putting israel in a bad light, is very very unfair. I mean they only lobed missiles over simply because they knew that they would not get their soldiers back by simply going for talks because lebanon's and the other surrounding muslim nations and their allies will stand by lebanon and not israel and it would not be fair AT ALL. So hard and fast tactics work the best, and they did it in self defense and preservation.

People show that the missiles and so on is causing damage to lebanon and that its beaches are totally ruined, but if the hizbollah fighters didn't cause this ruckus will there be a need to destroy all the lovely beaches? Plus, if they are doing damage then wouldn't it just show that israel's artillery and weaponry are far more effective than that of the hizbollah fighters? The hizbollah fighters were given a chance to do the same but they inflicted less damage because of the low grade weaponry and have the cheek to blame israel for damage. WORLD PEACE!! WORLD PEACE! where is it when you need it..

ill Molester spared jail, caning

2006-08-17T23:33:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
August 17
pg 23

Judges have the discretion to mete out the lowest sentence allowed under the law in cases where criminals suffer from terminal illness. This i find a rather reasonable new law, but to everything good there must also be a bad part as well.

The good bit, i think yes it is fair for those who are mentally ill and cannot think straight hence they get themselves into any messy crime be it from small scale to large. However coming to think of it, if the person had the inclination to kill someone in the first place wouldn't the violent behaviour of the person wave some little red flags up in the air? If someone had the sanity to kill then it just shows the planning and so on has been there and therefore the person is not quite sick. This part i am unsure, many patients can feign to be sick with some kind of illness worse still pay off some doctors that willingly take the bribe. Which is rather sad. I'm not saying it happens in singapore because we are known to be the least corrupted government and such but anything is possible. I am a little worried that murderers and rapists and so on can just roam the streets when the judge gives a verdict of not guilty due to illness. Isn't that scary? i certainly think so!

DEAD BABY FOUND IN STAFF LOCKER

2006-08-15T00:02:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
aug 15th 2006
pg 2 & 3

The first thing that came across my mind when i saw the words jumping out at me was OH MY GOSH. seriously, who would do something like that?! i was just stunned and shocked at the same time. Everyone knows that people eventually die yes? and that babies are aborted all the time. Things that one see's in CSI or in police detective shows just plays out before your eyes and you can't help but wonder..why?

A poor innocent baby was stuffed into a locker. Is that anyway for a baby to die? Firstly who would do such a horrible thing and like there are plenty of support groups if a person cannot cope. Its so silly to just end a life that doesn't belong to the mother. Just because the mother gave birth to the baby does not mean the baby doesn't have a right to live. As i think about the baby now in a better place i start to wonder about the mother. How old was she? maybe she had her reasons. She could have been a teenager or a maid afraid her parents or employers would find out or simply because this woman was scared and couldn't handle it. Well whatever it is, we'll never know.

On the Trail of Liquid Bombers

2006-08-12T22:19:00.000+08:00

Today Papers
August 12 2006
Pg 1 & 2

24 terror suspects have been arrested on charges of trying to blow up passenger jets with liquid explosives. The simple plot involves, passengers carrying one simple ingredient to make a bomb onto the aircraft. The ingredients could be carried on board in regular containers such as toothpaste tubes and water bottles. As many as four plotters board the plane and are seated throughout the cabin. At a predetermined moment, the four meet in a washroom. Each of them hand over their ingredient to the leader. Inside the washroom, the leader mixes the chemicals, and attaches an electronic trigger such as a mobile phone or an iPod. Once the bomb is complete, the leader returns to his sear and triggers it, killing himself and destroying the plane.

It is so scary to think, that normal household items or harmless electronic devices to us, becomes a weapon in the hands of such skilled terrorists. It is rather alarming and yes even though i applaud their genius minds i am very apalled by what they are planning to do. How can they fight their "holy war" claiming to rid the world of bad influences when they themselves are blowing people up and on the whole, portray themselves as the bad influence! have they no guilt or shame? the many innocent lives, taken away i mean hhow can their views become so skewed? It describes these people as 'normal' and they live their lives without a hint of them being terrorists. Its soo scary that these people are living incognito in our own society. Can one imagine the amount of security checks and paranoia of western countries (especially) and other countries around the world. Medicine bottles, shampoo bottles, flasks, hair products can all be used to contain the materials. So what now? when we board a plane you mean to say they will start testing whether the product inside the container belongs to it? Nothing is safe anymore is it? trains, planes, buses, cars and ships. Seriously i don't think they are helping anyone but they are actually moving us steps behind in the world's development. So public transport is no longer safe..what now walk on water? Violence is never the answer to any problem, i can never understand why the bombings :( WORLD PEACE! hahaha..

Disabled but still going strong

2006-08-12T00:22:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
pg 7
10 aug 2006

Eight disable climbers will be going to scale Mt Kinabalu, with help of course. Certainly an amazing feat for some that are blind, deaf or mute. Being deaf, may seem like it is not as important as having one's sight taken away. However, if the individual is deaf, it becomes dangerous because they cannot hear warnings from team mates. If there is an emergency, the assists have to catch the deaf person's attention, and converse with the individual in sign language. For a blind person, it is definitely more dangerous because much of the person's view has to rely on the guidance from such assists. One wrong move, one wrong step can cause the deaths of any of these courageous people.

I truly commend the effort these disabled people have put up. It is not easy scaling a mountain, yet alone doing it when they're disabled. Truly, i am impressed. It just shows anyone of us that even with a difficulty, it can be overcomed and to be thankful for the things we have in life. "You don't miss the water until the well runs dry" how true it is. The disabled people can carry on living life as it was and how they can be unpreturbed to scale a mountain. No complains but a willing and voluntary heart.

1.4b slumdwellers by 2020

2006-08-09T23:16:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
14 June 2006
pg 22

By 2020, if nothing happens is done, 1.4 billion people the equivalent of the population of china will be living in slums and shantytowns. Big "uh-oh" to the many countries encouraging the growth of such slums and shantytowns. The rates at which the people reproduce in such areas are overwhelming and the vicious cycle of poverty and malnourishment and everything else
has caused much more damage. Not only that the living conditions are bad and the move and multiplication of diseases very widespread. Alot of it is hard to contain as much of the living conditions are very far from the standard set. As the governments try to stem the flow of such migrants staying in slums and shantytowns, the problem only gets worse because they carry on trying to block the people off while the money and time used in that could be brought forth and used in trying to develop areas for the slums and built low cost housing or something of that
sort. Unfortunately they need to realise the problem and start soon before the world gets filled
with slums and shantytowns with 1.4 BILLION PEOPLE living impoverished and lives that
are unfulfilling

Student unrepentant over fake suicide bomb stunt

2006-08-05T23:56:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
World pg 22
Aug 5 2006

A student was caught for apparently pulling a prank of a bomb. The student afterwards said that the government was making too big a fuss about it and that they shouldn't respond so anal retentively to the joke, but is it really a joke?

I don't think so. in this present time where war and so much strife is abundant..it scares me so much to think that anything could happen anytime. Plus now with the liquid detonation bomb it makes things even worse. So the so called joke..the student should just take it back and shove it. He does not know the seriousness of the sitaution. Just like the times in the story where the boy had cried wolf, he might make the people complacent and not worry about bomb threats. This may end up being a backlash to the people when they become complacent and take threats in future as a joke. This student did not only just cause the balance of a country to dangle precariously but to actually cause people to be complacent and not prepared should anything happen in the future. Scary? yes..i think so :S

What does your doodle say about you?

2006-08-03T23:05:00.000+08:00

Reader's Digest
29 july 2006

This article is certainly very interesting. Who would have ever thought that doodles could actually say about a person’s thoughts? I've seen articles which talk about dress sense, the way one talks, drawings, body movements, etc but DOODLES? This is certainly a new thing. Doodles actually relieve stress and sometimes make one concentrate better! Sometimes when doodling solutions come to a person, it is better to doodle and let whatever emotions felt to be released. According to the article drawing vehicles mean wanting a holiday, arrows and stars would mean ambitions and no doodles would mean precise and direct. Usually I draw smily faces!! I hope that means I am usually happy!! It is so interesting how doodles can tell so much about you just like how a person's character can be read by the behavior or the handwriting. The article even states that dooodle analysis can be done on criminals, especially psychopaths to see determine their state of mind.

So why doodles? Doodles are drawn when one's mind is not concentrating on anything particular and one relaxes and lets the guard down. This is when any emotions felt or matters in the innermost mind surfaces and thus show how the doodle defines an individual. However reading doodles is not as easy as one may think. Analysers have to go through courses and such to enhance their intuitive skills and the way they read the doodles. They are thought to pick out the important bits like the different flicks of the pen or curly squiggly line. Who ever thought a doodle could be so useful? Next time a teacher asks me what i'm doing in class, i'll say i'm doing something that would benefit and help me focus and pave my bright future ((:

You're in berry big trouble

2006-07-17T12:03:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
16 June 2006
pg 28

You only speak singlish?? Well this articles shows tt speaking singlish is not that good for the singapore community and for one's linguistic skills. In america or in australia or probably any western country, they have their little "slangs", while we singaporeans have what we called singlish, a form of colloquial english that would help shorten or add a little "flavour" or uniqueness to the way singaporeans distinguish themselves from others. As singapore is a multi-racial society, we have been encouraged by the governement to speak good english or learn english as our link language. HOWEVER, it seems that our english has been transformed to that of one that is filled with "lahs", "lorhs", "mehs", "horhs", "wors", "nehs", "bahs", etc (though i have no idea how the last few are used :S)

Being a singaporean myself, i certainly know how to use a certain few of singlish words with "lah" being the most common, but when i'm with friends from western countries and use or let slip when i speak such colloquial english terms on them..they stare at me in awe and wonder as if they discovered a dolphin learning how to speak and yes they do get a kick out of hearing the many singaporeans speak especially some with their "mehs", "horhs", and "wors" :S one even said it sounded like they were giving animal calls. In some cases, well in most cases, they do sound rather uncouth and sometimes hearing how singaporeans speak to people can make me blush or feel embarassed for them. Sometimes the way we speak may be considered a huge joke as well, like me standing in a queue for a drink and the person at the counter said " what you want to drink? orleng juuu? " i remember bursting out in laughter and so did many of the people in the queue..so can singapore be saved from such language that, even though cuts short many of our words and turn our sentences into "mumbo jumbo", distinguishes us as singaporeans?
I think some examining has to be done, as this may lead to the spiral downward of our english.

A quote from PM lee:
"Speaking good english does not mean using bombastic words or adopting an artificial English or American accent. We can speak in the normal Singapore tone, which is neutral and intelligible."

Thank God for the speak good english campaign.

FARE HIKE!!

2006-07-02T22:50:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
Pg 2
02 July 2006

Since the elections this year, the PAP has won and promised us many things. One of which was saying that there will be no more changes in the transport fees. Well, a few months on and what do the citizens of singapore receive?

FARE HIKES

which is rather strange considering the fact the government told singapore they do not intend to increase transport fare prices! taxi's are now overpriced, bus rides and mrt rides are also raised.

this i feel, most of the singaporeans are injusticed and have been tricked. Personally i feel that shouldn't the government carry out what was originally intended? the fare hikes become unaffordable to some people. By booking a cab, 6 dollars? One can buy a meal with that money! its ridiculous. The greatest fare increase is the taxi's. One example was used, a woman who had no other forms of transport had to take taxi's before. Now, she is not able to do so because of the drastic price hike. Why this injustice? i do not know. For a person going through so much trouble, isn't it unfair to her?I seriously wonder if a survey was taken and the needs of the people really taken into consideration, or is this just another money making scheme.

Convert, or go to hell (how bout no)

2006-06-16T22:11:00.000+08:00

Today papers
16 June 2006
pg 14

I found this article, quite amusing actually. Firebrand Indonesian cleric abu bakar bashir who was involved in the bali bombings and other numerous harmful plans through Jihad(Holy war) was released on wednesday. These islamic extremists are actually quite misguided and disillusioned. Don't get me wrong, i have utmost respect for religion, like many religions act as the firm foundation beneath people's feet and something that sets guidelines and such. Like all other religions, it teaches its followers to be compassionate, merciful and be generally good people. The problem comes when they start to go into these jihads that they have been coercing thousands of people into and brainwashing hate into the minds of the young towards western countries. The hate burned into the skulls of these jihadists, example abu bakar bashir said "Maybe with God's permission they certainly can kill us, but they certainly can't beat islam". they do not get it do they? NO ONE WANTS TO BEAT ISLAM!! they are trying to beat TERRORISM. is that so hard for him to understand? How many innocent lives has he killed? not only that, he has killed his own kind in every possible way, incase he doesn't know bombs just blow up in people's faces. They don't go "OH HE'S MUSLIM and blow up in someone elses face". Not every muslim believes that people who are non-muslim are evil! i have so many muslim friends and they do not feel like bombing or killing people in the name of islam.

Doesn't islam teach people not to kill one another? So why this? Its people like him who actually give Islam a bad name. People do not view islam in any other light but that of another religion. But people killing others in the name of a religion, does not make it more glamourous but more feared! They actually want to run away from the religion, clerics and scholars within the muslim circle have attacked such behavior and discouraged it. If they do not want to listen to outsiders, at least heed the words of advice from the same people who try to give islam a name, and not let it be discriminated in countries. Honestly, it amuses me these jihadists..they can still spread whatever they want to spread to people in non-violent ways. Head on, full force is not such a good idea in this case. It is rather silly thinking about how they want to get the message across for islam but actually tarnish the name of it instead. If you actually want people to stop messing around with your religion..stop being such pansies!

A Singaporean Astronaut

2006-06-02T15:36:00.000+08:00

Today paper
1 june 2006
pg 26

Claude Nicollier the first and only astronaut from switzerland dropped by singapore to give a talk to anyone who aspires to be an astronaut. For any aspiring astronauts in Singapore, the future..may or may not be deemed to be bright. In tiny Singapore, any young mind that wishes to be an astronaut soon sees their dreams going up in smoke, just as soon as they grow up enough to realise that Singapore doesn't offer courses and things of such that would help nuture people to become astronauts. We're also pretty small and limited as a country in terms of natural resources. Our main resource? humans and if they want to pursue their dreams of becoming astronauts, the only way is to go overseas, and in that fact Singapore is losing a huge part of their resources as citizens go overseas for studies, work or to pursue their careers.

But just listening to the awe inspiring words of Claude Nicollier, it'll make you want to dream again, and perhaps dream big in the case of Singapore. If our country were to take up this aspect and start opening courses and training centres and actually finding time to nurture these people, not only will many have their dreams fulfilled, it'll propell Singapore into the world due to the publicity, with the likes of America, Japan, China, Switzerland, Russia, etc. Like he said "reaching the stars isn't a spaced out dream" and yes i do believe its another chance for Singapore to dream big again.

ELECTIONNS!!

2006-05-11T23:22:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
Home, pg 9
11 May 2006

Not that the general elections are over and all the fuss has died down, the big fuss over james gomez and the many issues that are unanswered by the PAP and some workers' parties have arised. So why now? did the people of singapore not realise the importance of their government they're picking and the many consequences that may result? One issue that was raised was not wanting Singapore to be turned into a welfare state. Do we really want people lving off the state, just waiting for the package to just fall into their laps? During this time what can the Singaporeans or anyone else for that matter do? Will it make the people of Singapore complacent? One hardly knows but the ENORMOUS strain on society could lead to the break down and social degredation. To me subsidies and others would do in the case of benifiting the old and the needy as compared to the young able bodied singaporeans who feed off the "progress package". Also the selective upgrading was deemed unfair by quite a few people. In some areas, there has been free updrading due to the town councils that pay for such upgrading. However in certain estates, it is not possible to do any uprading and the people feel the fees may be too high. So many issues so little time, everyone will just hope they live up to their promises.

Discrimination ((:

2006-05-10T23:10:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
HOME
9 May 2006

The issue of premarital sex has surfaced many times over in the media. But this time, rules have been changed.

This is the penalty for having sex with minors

"Women charter states that it is an offence for a male to have sex with a female aged 14 to 16, even if its consensual sex. And under the Penal code, sex with a girl below 14 years of age is considered statutory rape, with or without her consent. Even if the male believes the girl is above 16, it is not valid defence, unless he is under 24 years old. If so, this will be valid defence for the first offence. The maximim sentence for a male wo has sex with an underaged female is a jail term for up to five years and a fine of up to $10,000."

THIS IS THE PART THAT DISCRIMINATES AGAINST MEN (quite funny but is unfair)

"when an older woman has carnal connection with a male under 16, it is termed MOLESTATION. but the offender can be jailed for up to two years or fined a maximum of $10,000 by the district court or caned."

Many men/boys will feel that this is definitely to a great disavantage. Most may feel that this is unfair as both, under the same circumstances do the same thing and yet the females get to be let off with a lighter penalty and a different branding of molestation, which is arguably less heavy as compared to that of rape. So in actual fact is this reall a good form of discrimination or is it a cause for men to be concerned and start or wage"war" against the female species? in the words of a famous blogger

Guy touch Guy = Gay

Girl touch Girl = Lesbian

Guy touch girl = Molest/Rape

GIRL touch guy = SHIOK!!

REDUCING DANGEROUS ULTRA FINE AIR POLLUTANTS

2006-05-10T00:08:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
pg 7
10th May

These particles are a health threat as they can stay in the lungs permanently. PM 2.5 refers to ultra-fine particulate matter- a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets - measuring 2.5 microns or less. Such particles are very tiny. Several thousand of them could fit on the full stop at the end of this sentence. (<--- full stop) The thought is rather frightening, how is one going to filter the ultra particle IF it is as small as that!! What are the sources? combustion by-products from vehicles, power plants, wood burning and industrial processes. They are formed in the atmosphere when gases such as sulphur dioxides and nitrogeneous oxides and flammable organic compounds undergo wrong or incomplete chemical reactions. This has been a major cause to the rise in respiratory and cardiovascular ailments. Thank God for the kiasuness we have in Singapore that almost everything is dealt with strictly and thus enforcing such rules to prevent less of this.

PREMARITAL SEX

2006-05-09T23:54:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
HOME
9th May 2006

In the course of 3 weeks, the youths of Singapore have seemingly changed their minds. A few weeks back, youths in Singapore were perceived to be ignorant, self-centred selfish people. This infact is due to one of the surveys that companies have put up on how nonchanlant singaporean youths are on having sex. Many of the youths said it was no big deal, but because 95% of the people have said that they would like to abstain from any premarital sex. This therfore shows that the youths are singapore are not as nonchalant or bad socially as the government paints the picture of a happy and good society.

Marathon Boy's Health Severly Damaged

2006-05-07T23:31:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
Spotlight
5th May 2006

In india the supposed marathon boy is considered to me a human wonder and the fact that he is only FIVE YEARS OF AGE and ran 65 KILOMETRES IN THE SCORCHING SUN, would be considered rather amazing. But in actual fact, is this just a publicity stunt by the man who adopted the 5 year old? to run 65 kilometres is an amazing feat BUT to run 65 kilometres and one being a small boy is a miracle. However the boy was found to be undernourished, anaemic and under cardiological stress after a medical report was obtained. How can the man push his step son into running 70 kilometres, which Budhia Singh stopped short at 65, just so he can get into the guiness book of world records? Which person with a BRAIN would force a 5 year old to run such a long distance? The man has been accused of exploiting the boy's athletic talent by forcing him to run long distances for publicity. To me i definitely think so!!

THE WORLD

2006-05-04T00:00:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
pg 11 & 19
3rd May 2006

The chronic cases of flu. diabetes, cancer, HIV are killing MANY people around the world. The flu in Singapore may be something that the doctors just give an mc, a few days rest and a little anti-biotics and everything gets all better. However, in other countries, when anyone has the flu it may result in death. ALL of the above can result in death. The world is plagued by many diseases and all this has been the doing of human beings. The diabetes brought upon people who consume too much sugar and do not have proper blood sugar or the lack of insulin. Cancer caused by the wrong division of cells. HIV, the passing on and spreading of it from many many sources results in the deaths of the world today. This results in the many repercussions one recieves and CAN be passed down through heriditary means. So why has the world come to such a stage? Why are there so much diseases present in the world? The desire and much of the things that result in development have been a cause to the degradation of society and so on. This is a rather sad case to actually say that we live in such a world.

Body Dysmorhpic Disorder

2006-04-23T18:09:00.000+08:00

The Newpaper
23rd april 2006
pg 7

A boy recently committed suicide because he believed his penis to be of a undecent length. So too this mand named Daniel who hated himself because he was too tall. Another because she thought her thghs were too big. To the two mentioned later, they were but the blessed few who came close to death but visited a psychiatrist. They get so upset that they cannot function normally all because they are unhappy with themselves. This discovery of BDD will actually change the way many of the legal proceedings in singapore go about. It can be classified as a mental illness and many people can use this as a plea for liniency should they do something wrong. This is very important for the simple fact that some people may end up faking having such a disorder to escape any sentencing.
And in extreme cases some people suffering from the disorder may harm people around them as well.

THE TRADE

2006-04-21T11:24:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
21st April 2006
pg 2

Transplant tourists rising in china. This is such a sad case. Over 2 million people require organ transplants and only 20, 000 get to receive them. As a result, desperate times calls for desperate measures. Many mothers of sick child resort to selling their own organs just to get money to fund operations for their children. THIS IS VERY SAD. one may ask why? well china is a huge country with growing population so obviously many of the citizens have to compete for welfare and for assistance of the country. Only people who are affluent and educated with alot of money may be recognised in hospitals or receive more service and thus get to to top of the list for transplants. Others may be overlooked basically the poor don't get anything. So the only way of getting money is to sell their organs. BUT even then, people take advantage of them. Especially the british who have encouraged the active illegal trading. This is VERY dangerous as some surgeons or people who are not authorised go through illegal surgeons to get their organs removed and sold. In the process, they may die through severe blood loss or the "surgeon" may accidentally cut into the person. :S either way its a sad way to die for the cause of getting more money.

Just Kids but Maids In Own Land

2006-04-16T10:42:00.000+08:00

The Sunday Times
16 April 2006
pg 30

You see them everywhere. In homes, on the streets and during the weekends they flood most of orchard roads. Who are they? maids of course. They have become such a necessity and have been integrated into Singapore society. One country as such that is a supplier of domestic help to singapore would be The Phillipines. However, what is less known is the exsistence of a thriving industry of teenage maids within the country itself.
Especially young girls from the countryside are recruited to work as maids in the big cities.

This is a very horrifying situation, both socially and also to the maids as well. Young teenage girls of the age of 13 being pushed, tricked or even bought into the trade to get maids for the country. WHY IS THIS SO? young children should not be going out to make a living at the age of 13 but enjoy their childhood and growing up years. By forcing them into child labour or pushing them into child labour this will severely affect how children have skewed perspective on life. They are forced to grow up much too early. Could this issue of child labour be also due to the fact the maids or women meant to work in phillipines have been working elsewhere and thus create a vacuum for the teens to go into as they have no other choice.

Mum sells daughter's virginity to 4th hubby

2006-04-05T11:24:00.000+08:00

The newpaper
pg 11
wednesday 05 2006

This is the lowest form that any human being can stoop to. The poor helpless girl got betrayed by her own mother. The woman had already married 4 times and this husband had hinted he would give her more money ( to fund her drug habit) if she makes the daughter sleep with him. ARE THESE PEOPLE NOT HUMAN BEINGS?! it is so annoying how parents or at least human beings, the supposedly intelligent and "feeling" species on earth, can just forgo everything they've learnt in life. Don't they have a conscience? its so depressing seeing how this poor girl is treated. Her own mother sold her out for NT 8,000 to buy drugs, the stepfather raped his own stepdaughter! people like that should be put in jail like forever!! until they actually are able to feel anything in their hearts they should all just choke and die. Seriously, how can anyone not be able to feel a tinge of regret/guilt after doing that? What i conclude? that they are animals.

Cigarettes, everywhere

2006-04-02T21:59:00.000+08:00

The newpaper
pg 2, 05 april 2006

Workers peddling illegal cigarettes all over yew tee..but they work the morning hours just so they can avoid detection of the police. Which is a little silly, peddling illegal cigarettes in the wee hours of the morning will do no good to them. Nobody around, less sales, less sales would mean less money. Being the desperate people there are, they would want to increase the amount of money they get to earn and therefore try to sell during hours where more people are present. This means higher risks for them. Going over and over again with the same routine just because they were able to get away with it for the first time, will lead to their downfall. The police are now coming down harder on such people so it has to be evident to them how they will be at greater risk.

To Be Shamed Online?

2006-04-02T20:19:00.000+08:00

Today
Wednesday March 22 2006

The countries with bad air safety records may now be revealed on the internet.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) plans to discredit countries with dismal air safety records by posting their failures online. Many of the aviation authorities have agreed this is a good plan, while some have objected violently to the posting of the records. Personally i feel that the records should be posted up to let people see the standards. Sitting in an airplane, one must able to feel comfortable in knowing that the individual will reach the next destination..ALIVE and in one piece. So of course for indivuals to board an airplane that has bad safety, the consequences will be rather tragic should something happen. However some countries detest the fact that the records are up because in this event, they fear the information may be manipulated with evil intentions by foreign airline competitors or misintepreted by the public. Well tehchnically such things can happen as it may be a little too difficult and confusing for the public to understand. However i believe that it is essential for people to know about their own welfare and perhaps the authorities could release a simplified version of the figures.

5,000 cancel trips to bangkok

2006-04-01T18:08:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
pg 12, 1 april 2006

5,000 people cancel trips to bangkok due to the protests that are turning the country upside down. So many people are protesting thaksin's stay in the office. Tourists prefer to avoid going to thailand right now due to political unrest and the "hormornal" swings of the people. The protestors especially do not see anyone as helping or moving the country forward. Why so much protests as well? Can't the police keep any of them under control? On top of views being skewed and swayed, innocent parties have to deal with their property being damaged and lives at stake. It affects the tourist and this will lead to a decrease or a slip in the economy. Elections a boon or bane? sigh..you decide.

MONSTER!

2006-03-21T21:25:00.000+08:00

The Newpaper
21 March 2006

I mentioned in one of the other bloggings about a mother's love. This time, i beg to differ. A mother was found to have made her 5 year old child buy drugs for her. The little 5 year old boy could mention the name of the drugs at a snap of his fingers. " Subutex, $5 Dormicum, $3" To think this was only a 5 year old boy. On days when his mother gets high, the only thing the boy gets to eat is bread that he doesn't get from his own house. When she doesn't a little rice with fish and chicken.

And the mother made the little boy beg on the streets for money to feed her drugs habit. The little boys best friend's mother had given him money when she saw that he had no money to eat. Instead, the mother took away 4 of the 5 dollars and gave him 1 dollar for the whole week.

The Importance Of A Father's Love

2006-03-17T19:48:00.000+08:00

Reader's Digest
Extracted From Duke Mag

The importance of a father's love. Many children has to go through life without dads, or having dads that were never there for them. Reading this article certainly struck a chord in me. My dad has always been there for me, am i but the blessed few? Father's contribute so much to a girl's life. As the sruvey in the more industrialised countries such as US and New Zealand where the surveys were conducted, many teenage girls were said to have absent fathers. Statistics show that the absent father's contributed to the girls behavior and gender identity.

Many girls who had no fathers, often get into regular fights, get thrown into jail and get pregnant. Even when the researchers took into account other factors that could have contributed to early sexual activity and pregnancy, such as behavioral problems and life adversity, early “father-absent” girls were still about five times more likely in the United States and three times more likely in New Zealand to experience an adolescent pregnancy than were "father-present" girls. Having a father around is more than important and essential. Hopefully one would think twice before leaving their families.

Making Singapore Proud

2006-03-17T17:50:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
Friday March 15

Tao Li the young swimming prodigy. The secondary 1 student took joscelin yeo's place in the 50 m fly final as the swim queen had come down with gastric flu. The smallest girl among the Australians, Canadians, Englishwomen and New Zealanders in the commonwealth games, she still managed to qualify among the swimming powerhouses. This makes me wonder, must we really let all foreign talent do the talking for singapore? I mean besides joscelin yeo, who else?

In table tennis Li Jiawei and Jun Junhong are from China. Swimming Tao Li, also from China, making the biggest impact among the youngsters. Badminton, Ronald Susilo and Henri Saputra hailing from Indonesia. And Singapore makes the biggest waves in these few arenas. Table tennis and badminton. So is foreign talent the only way to help singapore with the medal tally? Maybe it has nothing to do with the talent but the training environment Singapore offers.

Back in China, because it is such a big country people strive to be the best to outshine other people. In Singapore, most do not feel the urgency. So perhaps Singapore is a land full of talent, just that we do not know how to harness it.

Death Toll On Roads

2006-03-17T16:00:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
Friday march 17
HOME

The roads are definitely not a safe place. Bikers and elderly making up the bigger bunch of people dying on the roads. 95 out of 173 road deaths have been of deaths of bikers. Drink driving has also incresed and contributed to much deaths on the road. Motorcyclists are more prone to accidents due to the fact they have no protection around them. Plus many of them do not wear the right helmets. Elderly people cross the street, instead of crossing at the traffic light and because their responses are slower, many do not see cars or vehicles advancing towards them.

Drink driving is also another problem. The government and traffic police have come up with many ways and means to get people to stop drinking before they drive. Expensive advertisements and pormotions, but do all these really work? Many still end up killing innocent people on the roads. The only solution? Come down harsher on people. When they feel the pinch, only will they stop.

Parents Slave driving their kids

2006-03-06T15:06:00.000+08:00

The Sunday Times
05 March 2006

Parents driving their children really hard in their younger years. For what reason? they believe that by driving their children harder, the child can be more successful in life later on. True, but not all the time. More often than not, the children break down or rebel against their parents. Parents start pushing their children from primary 1 and this may cause a burn out to occur at a faster rate.

Could parents expectations, because the parents see what they have never been able to do or have set a certain standard to be the best, get pushed onto their own children. So much so that the parents see themselves in the child, and when the child fails, they themselves feel that they have failed and push the children harder. Hence the vicious cycle again. The papers showed that two jc students committed suicide in three days.

Both separate incidents but none showed signs of depression. Why kill themselves? one student was the all-rounder popular good in studies and in sports. None saw any reason for him to kill himself. The other worried about his grades all the time but no signs of depression were detected by the parents. Could the missing key be the parents themselves? One may never know.

WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?

2006-03-06T13:38:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
02 March 2006

This is seriously twisted. On wednesday Nurasyura or "Nonoi", as she is affectionately known, went missing. Sparked a nationwide hunt for her and on 04 March her body was found. And the step-father of little Nonoi is the man that all fingers point to in this arrest. Her naked body was found under the flyover at Aljunied Road. What is wrong with the killer? The young child is defenseless against adults. If its true that her stepfather did kill her, I HOPE HE GETS WHAT HE DESERVES! well if he didn't then..OKAY ((:

Another article, the cold-blooded murder of the KTV boss found with 5 shots in his head. His wife was nearly shot and they were traumatised!
Another instance, a 17 year old boy stabbed his elderly neighbour. For what particular reason? because she complained to his parents that he has broken some of the pots holding her plants. In india an india actress has been killed. These are but some of the many articles found in the newspaper. Many murders have been committed but people get away with them. Why is there so much violence and hate in this world? Has so many of their views been skewed to the point that they allow so much subtle brainwashing to affect them? TSK!

POVERTY, STARVATION

2006-02-26T16:52:00.000+08:00

Readers digest

In a world filled with transcending superficiality, do people actually stop and take a GOOD look around them? People in Singapore are so very very blessed. They have a home, food to eat and clothes to wear. They should be happy. The people in certain parts of Africa, HAVE NOTHING. They are plagued with this problem and they have to endure so much pain and torture. Some people just treat money they recieve as "OH, its just cash, Lets spend money" well these people have nothing. Many of them diseased and orphaned due to the widespread HIV virus. 5 out of 10 walking in the streets of certain parts of africa have aids.

It made me think real hard about how i want to live my life and the opportunities and so so much BLESSINGS that i have. When i was younger my dad used to bring my sis and i on mission trips to indonesia, sri lanka, the phillipines. Looking back it deeply humbles me how they can go about with a smile even though their lives can be so cruel and harsh. I went to build house in phillipines and it was so heart breaking to see the kind of conditions the children grow up in. So we should really think twice about complaining when we don't know how much we have it good here.

ANGEL BY THE ROADSIDE

2006-02-25T01:16:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times, Pg 3
The Newpaper, Pg 8

OKAY!! THIS IS SOO COOOL! ((:

Well yesterday there was chapel in the morning so i got dropped off by my sis as it was my turn to lead worship and she went to crystal jade to eat with mel, sarina, sugi and iain. Call it DIVINE INTERVENTION the computer wasn't working and i demanded she come back immediately. So she rushed and dragged all her friends along and on her way a man at the joe's magazine store or something like that, the man collapsed. No pulse. And mel and sarina and sugi were praying while iain went off to get the doctor from silvercross. My sister trained in first aid did CPR! I AM SOOO PROUD OF HER!! WHOOO i'm beaming

-BEAMS-

( i have to put a nice photo of her or she'll kill me ((: heh )

hahaha.anyway all the prefects from the our sec school were made to go through the SCDF first aid course. I think its so important life can be so fragile you know. So anyway the paramedics came and took the man away, the last i heard he's alive and in ICU. PRAISE GOD! ((: So now her phone has been ringing off the hook from reporters calling her..WHOO she's gonna be famous (^-^) anyway..BUY NEWPAPER TML ((: she's coming out! hahahaha..oh gosh i sound like some silly promoter..

-BEAMS-

DONORS TRUST IN NKF SLOWLY RETURNING

2006-02-25T00:58:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
February 24, 2006

Last year the whole NKF saga happened. Everyone started withdrawing their donations, people vandalised the buildings, alot of things happened. And this has affected the donations that the patients need. One men and his team have caused many many people to suffer the repurcussions. So i say this is a good thing that the donors trust is slowly returning to NKF. The patients that required the funds now start to see that they can rely on this foundation again and these early signs of revival for the charity whose reputation suffered after revelations in court showed that funds had been mismanaged, has made the NKF CEO very happy indeed ((:

BIRDFLU OUTBREAK

2006-02-25T00:46:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times
Feb 24 2006
Pandemics, epidemics :P
With all the natural disasters and diseases that seemingly seem to get stronger and more violent, one must always be prepared. Does singapore have what it takes to survive one of either? It has showed that through the SARS period we were able to make it. Though it was taxing and difficult on Singapore, the efficiency and the ability to minimise the spreading of SARS in singapore was rather amazing. One would think, Singapore being smaller, means easier to spread and living conditions too. HDBs close proximity, OOO spreading of germs! ((: Anyway, the world has to be prepared. It has so many new viruses and diseases that may have grown resistant to the antibiotics that the scientists have provided. So much precautionary measures must be taken. The recent one, bird flu. Singapore, has stopped any imports from the 6 areas affected with bird flu. Thank God we're "kiasu" ((:

MOTHER'S LOVE

2006-02-25T00:34:00.000+08:00

The Newpaper
Feb 24 2006

A mother was attacked by a polar bear and she clawed, kicked and punched her way to get to save her son. This goes to show the great extent of a mother and how much she loves her child that she would go up agaisnt a polar bear for the child. A POLAR BEAR. Twice her size, twice as strong, twice as powerful. It truly is amazing. No hesitation, nothing. Another instance where a malaysian family got stranded out at sea for 25 days without food and the pregnant mother gave birth to her baby prematurely in a leaky boat. Wihout little food rations left she used it to feed her other children and had to forgo eating herself. Mothers, the most important person in a childs life ((: hahaha..father's are important too but the child spends so much time with one's mother growing up, its just a natural instinct that any mother (in their right mind) would have, regardless human or animals.

RAPED BY STEPDAD AS SHE LAY DYING

2006-02-24T23:36:00.000+08:00

The Newpaper
Feb 23 2006

What kind of sick person would do such a thing!! How can he do that? I get really upset/emotional/infuriated/pissed/angry/i want to smack the stupid guys face when i see such reports about daughters getting raped by someone close to them. ITS SO HORRID! its actually the people they trust the most that hurt and break their hearts, traumatised them and shatter their self-esteem. Do any of these sick headed gundusamys actually stop and consider what they are doing? A person's psyche is sooo fragile and tampering and traumatising them, its gonna take a really long time to piece their life back together again. I have no idea what goes on in the rapists head. i seriously wonder if they have a brain or if its just an empty space! Anyway he got sentenced to nine years :S WHICH IS TOO LITTLE! hahaha..LOL ((: i'm not evil no..but i just think people like that should be locked up longer, less of a threat to society. However i'm not saying that they cannot be reformed and turn away from their horrendous ways.

JB COUPLE GETS ROBBED

2006-02-24T23:10:00.000+08:00

The Newpaper
Feb23 2006

JB robbers point gun at singapore couple. take $10,000 loot then ask..
WHY SO LITTLE MONEY?

ARE THEY PSYCHO??

its so unbelievable that they make their living by stealing other people's belongings, but stealing $10,000 and saying its too little i think thats just retarded beyond belief. ITS WRONG! I think its so dispicable how they can just walk on in (or at least force their way in) rob and not feel guilty after they committed the robbery. The wife, is pregnant and she has a 3 year old son and maid at home. Can you imagine? if the robbers had pulled the trigger on them had they not complied? The robbers would probably be caught in some deep hole themselves, probably needing money to fund their addiction problems :S and when they spent all the money, the vicious cycle starts again..

2006-02-12T15:00:00.000+08:00

THE STRAITS TIMES
TUESDAY
JANUARY 31, 2006

Denmark has withdrawn its ambassador and embassy staff from indonesia, Iran and Syria after they received serious threats as outrage over the cartoons of prophet Muhammad continued to mount. The stupidity of the newspaper to publish the cartoon strip a SECOND time was certainly not a mistake but a provocation to the muslim society. Why did they do it? Hiding behind the cover of "Oh, this is free speech" has certainly caused so many horrid consequences. Had the danish editor Flemming Rose and his group ever think and realise what an uproar he would trigger? Protestors all over the world wrecking property and innocent lives getting killed at their expense?

They have retaliated and said it is "all in good fun" and they want to prevent further "conflict and turmoil within the country". right -.- i'm sure provoking the 180,000 muslim community in Denmark would "prevent conflict and turmoil within the country". To every action there is an equal opposite reaction. So many muslim communities are all over the world and this one incident has caused muslim communities to boycott danish products. Not only the innocent lives taken, the rioting, the protests, they have to deal with the economic losses as well. Reprinting the cartoon in order to make a point about free speech is an act of senseless brinkmanship.

This is also not shedding good light over the muslim community. In recent times all the issues of terrorism and turmoil points to the middle east. People are prejudiced agaisnt the community and many people are stigmatised by the society. Which leads to this article saying "regardless of race, language or religion??" Will such a thing ever happen in Singapore?
Our society with many races and religions living side by side. If any fool was to start something like this, would the race riots that occured in Singapore years ago happen again? So much controversy follows this issue. Not too long ago 3 youths were charged with making racist comments, they too hid behind the cover of Singapore being a democratic society and this was free speech. The repercussions that they received were less hostile but nevetheless its something to think about.

And these are the youths, the future of the country. Are the younger singaporeans more race conscious? I think not. Some of my friends in their 20s were talking the other day that they wanted to buy danish butter and all danish products just to spite the issue. Funny to them no doubt, but can one imagine what would have happened if muslims heard about it? I definitely support free speech but it has to be used with respect and the consequences, definitely something to think about before someone opens their mouth or does something to cause another uproar.

ON A MISSION TO SAVE TOOK'S LIFE :S

2006-01-28T22:31:00.000+08:00

TODAY newspaper
Friday, January 27 2006

Last year, a malaysian vegetable seller murdered a little girl from China. The high profile case of Took Leng How, murdering the little girl Huang Na, tugged on the many heartstrings of singaporean people. Yesterday Took was given the death penalty after his conviction appeal had failed. A group of strangers gave their assistance to a petition drive to ask the president of singapore to spare Took's life. I personally think that Took should be put to death because of what he did. From all the articles and court cases, it stated that Took had admitted to causing harm to the girl. For people to sign the petition and say that they are unsure whether he committed the crime, is ridiculous to me. Everything was painted out so clearly. If singapore was to take the whole thing lightly and another of such an incident were to occur, what would the outcome be? But since i am not a cold-hearted frigid person ((: looking from the perspective of the parents, its rather heart wrenching that their child is going die. Furthermore, if he is sentenced to death, he leaves behind a wife and child. Growing up in a single parent family is never easy but then again if he did commit the murder he should be held accountable for it.

HOMEWORK :S

2006-01-21T17:57:00.000+08:00

General paper Essay:
Sunday times, January 15

Mother and daughter reuniting after 40 YEARS!!
A mother and the daughter she gave up as a baby for adoption by her neighbours come face to face in a tearful reunion, after a search that began last August. Mdm Willa Mak, 40 and IT manager and Madam Tan Ah Yoke, 68 finally reunited.
Madam Tan gave her youngest child to a couple of cantonese opera artists. She said that she had three other mouths to feed and wanted the best life for her youngest daughter. Mdm Mak's adoptive parents were never to tell her that she was adopted but one of the relatives gave slip. This lead to Mdm Mak going on a search to find her biological parents.
Mdm Mak said "I just felt that i wanted to know who i was and where i was from. Everytime i filled out a medical check-up form and they asked me whether i had a family history of a certain disease, it reminded me that i didn't know my biological family."
I can only imagine how Mdm Mak would have felt..both had said it was the happiest day of their lives, but yet at the same time would Mdm Mak feel angry or upset with such a mother? Yes maybe she wanted the best life for her but giving away her own flesh and blood to feed the other three..wouldn't it seem as though she didn't care? Now when both families unite and meet will they be able to accommodate each other? Its just all so puzzling :S

trial test

2006-01-18T14:35:00.000+08:00

Its 2:35 and erm yeah. its for the trial blog..
BORINGGG MUCH!!
I had lots of free periods today ((: