Blog Entry 3 (Rising divorce rates)

One of the biggest social issues here in Singapore now, is the rise in divorce rates. In the year 2006, divorces and annulments hit a record high of 7,061! Two decades ago, this figure was just 2,608. That is almost an increase in divorce rates by 3 times! This increase is really disturbing as it shows that Singaporean couples take marriage for granted. In the past, marriage vows meant something. Today, going by the rising number of divorces, vows seem empty of value. But what are the causes of the rising number of divorces? According to some counsellors, the me-me-me generation prefer personal gratification above all else. Couples these days place more emphasis on personal happiness rather than the family’s' happiness. In the past, the emphasis on happiness was more about 'family'. Now, it's more about 'me'. When young people get married, they find it hard to adjust from 'me' to 'we'." Couples these days do not know how to give in to their spouse as their parents gave them everything when they were young whereas for the older generation, they just took whatever was given to them.

The consequences of the rise in divorce rates are rather serious too. With more divorce cases, there will be a decline in birth rates or worse, children suffering from broken families will all have an impact on society.

I feel that the rising in divorce cases is a really serious issue. The fact that couples these days are taking marriage, a "sacred" bond between man and woman, for granted, shows that Singaporeans will take other less important things from granted too! If other important things were taken for granted, that will mean people will take work for granted, which will result in the decline of the economy.

I also feel that these couples are really selfish too. Over disliking his or her spouse habits, they must resort to such a large scale solution such as divorce. The divorce will result in their children being devastated and only have one parent. The child will not be able to grow up in a fully functional family and will be emotionally traumatised.

I feel that what is needed to solve the issue of the rise in divorce rates is revolves around tolerance. Both parties must learn to "give-and-take" and tolerate each other. They should realise that everyone has flaws and so they should learn to accept their flaws and look pass it.

Article- http://newslink.asiaone.com/user/OrderArticleRequest.action?order=&_sourcePage=%2FWEB-INF%2Fjsp%2Fuser%2Fsearch_type_result.jsp&month=11&year=2007&date=19&docLanguage=en&documentId=nica_NP_2007_7511450

English

The article i chose is from: http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2006/issue3/0306p29.htm




Before answering this question, what exactly is democracy and what type of stability are we discussing about? Democracy is a term often used as an ideal which promises to bring peace, prosperity and happiness to all. The stability that I will be talking about is political, economical and social stability.
I feel that democracy creates stability within a country. A democratic system provides equal chances and equal opportunities for the citizens; it also gives them a right to vote for the government. This means that the people will have a say about how the country is to be run and voting is the best way to elect a suitable government, which is turn would please a larger percentage of the people. This leads to a more socially stable society. A stable society would attract more people who are interested in investing their money within the country. This is because a safe country would mean that the investments that the investors have put into the country would not be lost. With more investors investing in a country, economic stability will be achieved.
This shows that social stability in a country leads to economical stability in a country and vice versa.
I feel that democracy creates a stable government because of liberalism. The government can be elected and if the government is not good, they can be changed. Hence, it is stable and progressing.
On the other hand, I feel that democracy can create instability. In the election process, majority wins. In a country that is populated by a majority race, the majority may oppress the minority as they can surpass them through votes and create laws that are against the minority. Hence with the majority always suppressing the minority, it will cause a lot of social unrest and instability.
This social instability will lead to economic instability. Investors will have second thoughts before investing in a country that is socially unstable as they are afraid that the social instability might affect their investments and lose money in the process. Therefore they will invest in another country which is more socially stable in order to get profits instead of a country which is socially unstable which will lead to lost of money.
Democracy can also lead to political instability as well. A dictator could be elected through democracy, for example Hitler who was brought to power through voting. In this case, the government would be controlling the country and not take into consideration the consents and concerns of the people.
Being a Singaporean, i am tremendously glad that Singapore have been able to maintain stability for the past few years. I vividly remenber my mother "lecturing" me about democracy. “Democracy means freedom, democracy gives us the power. She told me that only Singapore citizens above twenty one years of age were entitled to vote in the election process. The election process is the time when the people elect the government to lead their country. She added that I must not let people influence who I want to elect in the future and must also be sure to make the right choice as the power to choose the people to lead our country is in our hands.
Democracy, government and citizens are 3 major components of making the country into a stable one in all aspects. Democracy acts as a foundation for the people to make choices and to decide on the destiny of their country. It is the people who determine the how the society turns out to be. Not only must the citizens make the right choice, the leaders have to uphold the ideals of democracy and not misinterpret them. This will lead to stability in a society. In the long run, democracy will gain more recognition as an ideal political institution, which would make it more accepted in the modern society of ours.

SS essay

Does democracy create stability?

Before answering this question, what exactly is democracy and what type of stability are we discussing about? Democracy is a term often used as an ideal which promises to bring peace, prosperity and happiness to all. The stability that I will be talking about is political, economical and social stability.
I feel that democracy creates stability within a country. A democratic system provides equal chances and equal opportunities for the citizens; it also gives them a right to vote for the government. This means that the people will have a say about how the country is to be run and voting is the best way to elect a suitable government, which is turn would please a larger percentage of the people. This leads to a more socially stable society.
A stable society would attract more people who are interested in investing their money within the country. This is because a safe country would mean that the investments that the investors have put into the country would not be lost. With more investors investing in a country, economic stability will be achieved.
This shows that social stability in a country leads to economical stability in a country and vice versa.
I feel that democracy creates a stable government because of liberalism. The government can be elected and if the government is not good, they can be changed. Hence, it is stable and progressing.
On the other hand, I feel that democracy can create instability. In the election process, majority wins. In a country that is populated by a majority race, the majority may oppress the minority as they can surpass them through votes and create laws that are against the minority. Hence with the majority always suppressing the minority, it will cause a lot of social unrest and instability.
This social instability will lead to economic instability. Investors will have second thoughts before investing in a country that is socially unstable as they are afraid that the social instability might affect their investments and lose money in the process. Therefore they will invest in another country which is more socially stable in order to get profits instead of a country which is socially unstable which will lead to lost of money.
Democracy can also lead to political instability as well. A dictator could be elected through democracy, for example Hitler who was brought to power through voting. In this case, the government would be controlling the country and not take into consideration the consents and concerns of the people.
All in all, I feel that how well a country is run also depends on education. The country must teach the citizens to be able to live together harmoniously. Therefore I feel democracy is the best form of government due to the fact that the people would be able to continually observe the actions of the government and judge whether if it is doing the right thing. If not they always have some right to vote against the government and the power to change it.

Word count: 503

English homework (social issues)

Mas Selamat acted alone, still in S'pore: police

This article revolves around a terrorist by the name of Mas Selamat Kasatari. He escaped a detention centre last Wednesday. It took place at 4.05pm when he asked the police if he could use the toilet at Whitley Road Detention Centre. Deputy Prime Minister also shared that there is no evidence that the fugitive has fled Singapore. Mas Selamat’s breakout has sparked an unprecedented nationwide hunt, with more than 1000 police, soldiers and elite Nepalese Ghurkhas mobilised to comb all forested nature parks and unoccupied buildings across Singapore. On Sunday, the searchers with dogs trekked through the forest surrounding Lower Pierce’s Reservoir. Mas Selamat has a limp in his left leg when he walks briskly or runs, otherwise he has the normal gait of any man. Police believes that he is still in Singapore as without help, money and transport means, and given the tightened security checks and controls on all border checkpoints and the coastline, he is unlikely to have fled Singapore. More than 54,000 posters and leaflets with the Mas Selamat's pictures and description have been placed at train and bus stations, shopping malls, housing estates and distributed by grassroots leaders and community volunteers. The police urge members of the public to call them if they spot him. Even the three major mobile phone operators in Singapore- Singtel, Starhub and M1 – are also sending out messages with pictures of the fugitive to 3.9 million subscribers. All of these makes it very difficult for him to escape as the public will easily recognise him.

This article shows how big a threat he poses to Singapore’s national security and what painstaking efforts have been taken to try and find Mas Selamat. He had plotted to crash a hijack plane into Changi Airport not long ago. The fact that so many posters and leaflets have been distributed, and over 1000 police and soldiers have been mobilised in the search of Mas Selamat, it shows that Singapore treats this matter very seriously. The efficiency and security level in Singapore will inevitably be questioned. In my opinion, the police at the detention centre should have made sure he could not escape and should have implemented tighter security. For example, they could fix up metal bars on the window to prevent criminals from climbing out. Even though this was a mistake, Singapore’s security is trying to make up for it by distributing posters and leaflets and mobilising security personnel in their bid to find him. He is able to survive for long periods in jungle as he was trained in it and thus it makes it more difficult to find him. Hopefully, detention centres will implement tighter security to prevent such incidences to happen in the future and Mas Selamat will soon be caught.


Word count: 460

Wa...

Wa! lol my tagboard in a mess. Don't pretend to be people la... barathan: LOL u know me so well -.-... wtf is ish?? maybe its richard...lol jarrod also another fake one... gerald eng could be real... your dick... please don't tag here with that nick... mrs nathan reads it -_____-" aravind oso fake... wonder who it is... teh guan consperm fake... lol weixuan oso... ahamed real...lols so many fake.... bet its richard... sian. Just screw off la... dun guts come fight me la...i tink choo is real... olivia is wee keong i think... joanne is real too. LOL wtf.. nvm byess

hihis (:

Something really bad happened to me today :( veryy sad... oh ya, i shall use this blog as a normal blog and not only for work. Those post for work will be stated in the title . Please tag! My blog got no action ...

S'poreans lack of social graces

Not long ago during the long December break, my family went to Melbourne, Australia to experience a different culture and most importantly, have a fantastic time. We took the tram every morning to Victoria Market without fail as it had a large variety of things sold ranging from fresh food, cooked food, accesories, clothes and much much more! Even though there was so much things sold there, it was not what caught my attention the most. The first thing I noticed on the tram was that people gave way to each other, saying "excuse me" when they needed to squeeze through the crowd to get to the exit. Everywhere I went, the people were both friendly and courteous.
Back at home in Singapore, the people are rude and always rushing and shoving just to get into the MRT train or the bus. Taking the MRT train and bus is a daily routine for me and i'm always noticing how "gracious" Singaporeans are. At times, when I go to a fast food chain to have a meal, the cashier would rudely say" What you want?' instead of saying "May i take your order please?" I am not the only one complaining about Singaporeans lacking social graces. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew also remakred about not seeing a gracious society in Singapore. I feel that the extent of the problem is so great that it would take one generation for Singaporeans to be gracious. We must educated our children that education is not all about getting good results and studying, but also to be a courteous person. I would love to see Singaporeans as gracious as the Australians before I die! But I doubt Singapore will ever be one... all due to the "KIASU" mindset!

Signing off,
Lola!