Term 3 Week 3 (Blogging Assignment)

Ultimately, the education system in Singapore is a failure in today’s society. Why? Schools teach students to memorise and express facts in a way too rigid for improvisation, too structured for understanding and creativity. The Singapore’s education system teaches people to accept facts as they are, and not truly understand the reasons behind these curious questions. As a result, what is being taught does not prepare them for the future and as working adults, but rather to get past the O-levels and A-levels to get scholarships to get into prestigious universities. Yet, it is our foundation and the true potential of our inquisitive mind that is compromised.

In fact, I speak from experience even though I am still at a young age of 13 years old. When my mind was developing at an even younger age, I was exceptionally quiet for a kid my age. Unlike many of the playful children that fool around all day, I retreated into my mind and embraced the many wonders around me; there were always an unlimited number of questions racing through my mind. I recall sitting my parents’ car and deriving mathematical questions from the view flashing across the window. Perhaps that is why my favourite subject is Mathematics now; it is the only source of knowledge that I can truly understand the roots of all my questions, because it is simply a matter of right and wrong, without the need to ask an adult.

As a matter of fact, an ideal education is possible, but not realistic in the context of our advanced society. True education is teaching people to be able to think for themselves, not to listen to facts that others have derived many decades, even centuries ago. Human civilization will become obsolete if we continue to follow, not create. Evolution is reliant on the species’ development and environment, and it is absolutely unrealistic to think that the convenience of obtaining knowledge will enable us to realize and find out about the mysteries of the never-ending realm that we live. When we live in such a convenient society where everything can be accessed at our fingertips, laziness will undoubtedly lodge into our daily behaviour.

What saddens me the most is that people invent new technology not for its future progress, but for the convenience it provides that can enable it to dominate in the competitive industries. Now, what use is convenience for in this case? Obviously, the answer is right in front of our eyes. Money is the bane of our quest to obtain knowledge. Knowledge has become a source of money nowadays, not a source of joy and progress. If this continues, our human civilization will be destroyed while threats triumph and we could not care less but fix our gazes on the pursuit of money. We will implode.

Term 3 Week 2 - The Religion of Water

Water, as a necessity for the survival of human beings, has been a hot topic of debate recently, mainly on the status of water on the market as a commodity. Water being an unaffordable daily need might seem unrealistic in the eyes of people like us, who have been living comfortably since young. However, the lack of water has been an increasing huge problem in poor third-world countries. As a result, I feel that water should be made affordable for every single human being as it is our human rights to have access to drinkable water.

Statistics show that approximately 1/8 of people on the planet face a lack of drinkable water in their daily lives. Also, 3.575 million people die each year from water-related disease. These figures show the severity of the situation around the world and these problems have claimed more lives than any disease or wars in history. The only solution to these problems is to recognise water as a human right, instead of a commodity on the market. Take for example the prices of bottled water. They are ridiculously high for countries that do not provide drinkable and filtered tap water. Governments need to take action to provide drinkable tap water, a cheaper source of water. It is to not that water is scarce throughout the world; it is that the access to water has become limited.

It has become a known fact that people living in slums pay 5 times of what people living in the city pay for drinkable water. This vicious cycle can only stop when we unite and take action. Make it a right, for it is right.

Term 3 Week 1 (Blogging Assignment)

Veteran labour leader Halimah Yacob recently called for the legislation of weekly days off for maids working in Singapore. This has sparked off an intense debate amongst Singaporeans. In your opinion, should the giving of weekly days off be legislated in Singapore?

No, the giving of weekly day leave should not be legislated in Singapore. In today’s society, working adults face tighter schedules and less free time because of the high cost of living in Singapore. As a result, many Singaporeans who can afford it hire maids to take care of the house and their children when they are at work. Therefore, these maids are extremely important in the family to ensure that the household is properly taken care of.

Also, the giving of weekly day leave should not be enforced by the law. Instead, this practice should be negotiated between the employers and maids so that they can come to a uniformed decision without disputes and discontent.

Most importantly, some maids do not feel compelled at all to take leave and would rather stay at home to work for that day’s wages because they do not have friends or any interested places to go to. If so, it would be inconsiderate to enforce weekly day leaves on them.

It remains our responsibility to take care of our maids wherever they are, and we should always take their feelings into consideration when introducing new policies involving their lifestyles. To achieve a win-win situation, the best action would be to let the employers and maids come to a consensus on whether a weekly day leave would be beneficial to both parties, and not enforce it upon them.