doctorate? two weeks? no problemo. NO NO.

http://newslink.asiaone.com/user/OrderArticleRequest.action?order=&_sourcePage=%2FWEB-INF%2Fjsp%2Fuser%2Fsearch_type_result.jsp&month=08&year=2008&date=29&docLanguage=en&documentId=nica_ST_2008_9826794

http://newslink.asiaone.com/user/OrderArticleRequest.action?order=&_sourcePage=%2FWEB-INF%2Fjsp%2Fuser%2Fsearch_type_result.jsp&month=08&year=2008&date=29&docLanguage=en&documentId=nica_ST_2008_9826787

I have recently concluded reading these two inter-related articles on the increasing convenient availability and usage of bogus online universities to attain bogus degree's and doctorate's. These acts of immorality reflect poorly upon Singapore and i would like to highlight the impact of these acts on our society and individuals.

This articles highlights the efficiency of online degree mills that operate online and mainly in USA and how people in Singapore today are proudly citing their bogus doctorates and masters' degrees in their resume. These degree mills often name themselves after reputed educational institutions in an attempt to aid their clients to fool their potential employers or increase an individual's portfolio. One such degree mill is Ashwood University, which presents anyone, or anything with a degree of your choice within two weeks. Dangerous.

But can't these people rest their mouse's for a minute and just think about the long term effects of their foolish actions? Even if people do purchase these online degrees, the ugly truth sits just a few clicks away. A minimal check through a google search would be more that sufficient to justify, or should i say, un-justify all the credible looking certificates. As such, these bogus degree's serve as nothing more than a tool to dig your own grave for these fake degree's would burn the reputation and your credibility despite how much effort you've really put in.

These degree's cast seeds of doubt into our society and it might ultimately result in a relationship o distrust between employers and potential employees. for all you know, these degree mills might take their "bogusness" up a notch and daringly replicate certificates from renowned universities. That would most definitely be detrimental for the course of future development of Singapore not considering the fact that we have an extremely small workforce as compared to major economic superpowers all around the world.

Such capitalistic corporations can prove to be extremely profitable, yielding US$7million in a six year period. But thats not the point! These acts reflect poorly on clients, suggesting their raw desperation to resort to any means necessary to get what they want which includes forking out large sums of money for a few pieces of paper for evidence to lies. And that ain't good, especially for a place like Singapore, where our strength lies in our unity. This doubt strains the fabric of our nation.

If employees are hired on the basis of their bogus certifications, they pose a great threat to society. Imagine, the danger of a " financial consultant " of whom you are paying money to to manage your life-savings. These people could crush, flip and destroy lives. They are a threat to society.

These degree mills could probably still operate under the radar, but i think that the government should do all in their power to prevent the influx of these detrimental websites. So for now, people, please, THINK. Degree mills do nothing but plant bombs in our society, social bombs. Dangerous.

Democracy + society = stability?

Countries have proudly proclaimed their democratic political systems. And definitely, political candidates have sprinkled their election speeches with ideals of democracy as if it is some miracle drug. Actions speak louder than words and history proves that democratic nations have their fair share of stability and are prospering, say America for example, and Singapore. Stability can manifest itself in various forms, the more common ones being financially, economically and socially. China, Russia and England are other countries that are perhaps even thriving without democracy. However, i shall put other political systems such as communism, monarchies, autocracy or conservatism aside and concentrate solely on democracy.
Basically, democracy is about the means used to achieve goals, with a greater good for the society in mind. While implying values such as peace, reconciliation, dialogue, consensus and most of all, choice. There are also various sub-systems that work cohesively to ensure the smooth running of democratic politics. That being multi-party politics, representative government, voting, and other systems. Voting is one of the most important components of democracy. It is the main platform that citizens of a society will be able to exercise their freedom of choice. I believe that democracy should be kept free and fair as much as possible which would in turn allow citizens to truly express their individual preferences and not be inclined or influenced to follow a certain trend due to the fact that they are under the pressure of a majority. Voting as such can satisfy a large majority of the society as it takes into consideration the opinion of each citizen before making a choice. Though minorities are sometimes taken out of the picture, the government sometimes arrives at consensus to satisfy various parties in the choices that they make. I think this is one of the reasons why democratic nations are usually stable. Much unlike authoritarian states which have collapsed with the test of time due to their intolerant rulers who failed to build consensus among it's people for polotical and economic liberalization. Though they might seem like a peace-living nation that promotes the cohesiveness of various ethnic, religious or racial groups, it might just be dominated solely by one group. And as much as democracy seems to advertise or encompass liberalism, they are might be liberal, but they're concerns and voices are never heard and just drowned under the dominating din of the majorities. What might seem like a stable society might be in fact a suppression of other groups.
Thinking of voting in itself, democracy is supposed to promote the freedom of political and intellectual choice, but in what way is forcing us to choose the path we want to take freedom. Either way, we would still have to make a choice and perhaps thats why some people leave their votes void for they find no choice worthy of their support. Correlation between various groups within society is good. However, this would sometimes mean that minority groups would be rejected. Slowly but surely, their threshold would begin to fill up with the frustration that their cries and pleas would never be heard. Which might ultimately culminate itself in a civil war. Finally expressing their concerns on a violent scale.
Thus, i believe that democracy is like a political hulk that has the power to do great things if it can be controlled. Good democracy has it's roots deep within the power of the people, and the limit of these people's power depends on their intellect which originates from the simple idea of good education. Democracy has more than just the potential to create stability within a society, it can maintain that stability for years to come if put to good use. Countries should deal with problems like how minorities should not be oppressed which might eventually result in undesirable outcomes. Or "pseudo-democracy" like what seems to be democracy but is just the flexibility of choice within another political structure. Electing dictators might also pose a threat, this exposes the possibility and danger of entrusting a majority of social power among a group of individuals as that would give them the power to crush all other opposition.
With all this in mind, democracy is most definitely able to create stability within societies. And like anything in the world, it is not perfect and it's citizens would have to look out for signs of the system waning towards undesirable outcomes.

some days all i do is watch the sky.

"Democracy creates stability in our society."
Taking this on a more local scale, do we seriously really really believe this? As Singaporeans? Democracy in Singapore? Perhaps, though some people might want to refer to it more as a "democratic dictatorship." Whatever the case, it seems to be promoting stability in this society. Although this might seem the case, this is one of the disadvantages of democracy. As it is a system that aims to appease the majority, minorities are disregarded. This is one of the costs that a country or a society has to pay on it's route to development. Democracy implies the means through which development.
Democracy values and processes refer to peace, reconciliation, dialogue, consensus as well as intellectual and political choice. To me, this is not all, most of all, i think democracy is about power to the people, about how the general public has the most influence in decisions. Much unlike the authoritarian political systems like autocracy or the communism. Thus democracy would then act in response to the outcome of the people's choice, be it through voting, representative government or whatnot. This sort of oppression of minorities might be good in the short term, but there is a limit to this voiceless concerns can tolerate. And perhaps with time, it could evolve into a social war and a political uprising. No system is perfect. And neither is what i have said.

the evolution of goodness.

Have you ever wondered where love, hate, kindness and all our emotions ever come from? I'm certain you've stared and contemplated the diagrams of the human anatomy hanging upon the walls when you visit your local clinics. We have this organ and that organ, it does this and that, perhaps our source of goodness is stored somewhere deep within our brains. We might never know.
We do know that is prominently present within the complex webs of communities, from tribesmen to businessmen, and of course, women too. But that's not the point. I've been wondering and these acts and thoughts are to a certain extent, the fruit of human intelligence. We are nice to one another, to gain favor, for an advantage or whatever intention might be underlying. Yet again, we might be just good towards one another. Selflessness i believe.
And this belief is accompanied by the perhaps myopic perception that we are all just living human beings inhibiting the Earth and instinct drives us for constant survival, to carry on the human race. We are all alive on this planet and knowing that, there isn't much that we can do. Perhaps explore the ends of our planet, and at most explore neighboring planets. For what i ask. ( Purpose is everything, yes? HAHA )
Since we are all alive, shouldn't j we just live our lives and enjoy our times on earth? I don't understand why people must have deadlines or their own money, or why we go to school and try so hard to fathom the occurrences in our world. It is a little too late to develop your own ideals now, we hardly have a choice except the conform to it, anyways, they will most definitely be crushed under the thousands of years of systems and structures that mankind have spun into a complex web. However, it is true that people should be rewarded differently based on the effort they put in. For example, a man who catches a pig in the jungles should be granted the rights to do whatever he wants to it, be it to eat it or to share it with another group of individuals. Yes, we have made use of human intellect to ease our time on this world and we have succeeded and for what we are, we are relentless and still constantly striving for improvement. In short, we are humans and all trying to enjoy our life and what we have, can't we and shouldn't we just try to make those people suffering from poverty or whatever disadvantage live their lives better?
I'd like to believe that some people do realize this ideal and exercise it on every scale possible, and bit by bit, are expressing it through the altruism in our society, to you, to me, to anybody, and everybody.

Dear Mr. Diamond-ring-stealing thief man, and other various parties

Well so apparently Mohamad Azman Abdullah had decided that swallowing a diamond ring would be the best way to steal one and getting away with it. Apparently not. He had attempted to flee with a diamond ring with the estimated value of $2700 from Taka jewelry, wouldn't anyone else try to steal something more valuable if we were going to steal something of that sort in that manner? In the end, he did not only have to serve his one and a half year jail time but also pay the $227 worth of surgery and x-ray bills that he chalked up on the way to jail.
"Low crime does not mean no crime." I guess we do see this sign about everywhere nowadays, and it is only proving true, there have been more and more cases of theft, robbery and other various crimes. This is not good, not good at all. Not for Singapore as a whole but the regard of our people by strangers, their whole mindset and preconceived notions will change if we keep this up. We'll soon become a nation of thieves. Perhaps each of us can do our bit to help, but for now, we'll just try to catch Mas Selamat. Why do people do this?
Is it really true? About the raise in the cost of living in Singapore that is. For me, i guess it hasn't directly affected me, but is it driving Singaporeans to the edge? Are we getting too desperate? It definitely will be tough to move an entire nation a little back or somewhat to save it's people without resulting in chaos in one way or another. So i guess the government or someone in charge will have to do something about it, cause i;m sure he wouldn't like this behaviour to keep up. Or maybe it's just me, or us...