Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Prefects Investiture

Prefects Investiture today was in the new hall. Definitely bettee than last year.

Looking back at Sec 1, I realised that the 3 people I voted for CEC in Sec 1 are all prefects now.

Coincidence or superb foresight?

Thursday, February 22, 2007

CA for CA: Poor Turnout closes Singapore Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse troupe performing
Another one comes and goes just as quick as it came. Crazy horse, the cabaret show, so famous in Paris but a ho-hum to Singaporeans, closed its doors in January, just more than a year after its opening.

You are in school and your friend runs up to you and say, "I watched Crazy Horse yesterday night, there were long queues and the show was a sell-out, and it was fantastic to watch." There are 2 loopholes in this scenairo. Firstly your friend will not be able to watch the show as he is under 18, and secondly the show has never been a sell-out (except for once).

Social Perspective
But why don't the Singaporeans watch these shows where in Paris, the show has been running for many years and recieve a good amount of viewership every day? Firstly, compare our museums and heritage sites in Singapore to those in Paris. I think our museums have more wax figures that visitors in them, but in Paris, just look at the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, etc. which are bustling with visitors every day. Another comparism is their shows we watch to those the Parisians watch. We watch almost meaningless shows like Singapore Idol, the Dance Floor, Project Superstar and other comedy and competition shows. What the Parisians watch is soap operas in which they really appreciate. It just goes to show the type of culture we apprecite and what the Parisans appreciate. It's not surprising that the two crazy horse situations are so different. I mean, if Singaporeans want to watch half-clad women dancing, they can just watch it at home on their computers. Technology is so advanced now that people can do everything at home, on their computers, compared to 30 years ago. Other examples of falied cabaret shows now is Neptune, which also closed not long ago. It was very popular in the 1970, where people didn't have computers and wanted entertainment, so they watch these shows, but the situation is so different now and people don't like to watch these shows, and the Neptune's viewership has dipped since the 70s. Singaporeans' mindsets are sterotyped- if you watch these shows, you are not appreciating culture but you are a 'dirty old man'.

Political Perspective
What the Singapore government is trying to do is to promote this show to both Singaporeans and tourists.But it isn't doing much to help improve viewership of these shows and expose Singaporeans to appreciate new cultures. Firstly, the government has too many restrictions on the shows, for example banning advertisments on the Crazy Horse shows on bus stops and on newspapers, beside the Movies section in Life. The government also ins't doing anyhing to promote these shows. Maybe they could have a minister watch Crazy Horse so he can 'endorse' the show. This might abolish the steryotype that make Singaporeans scared to watch the show. As for tourists, why would they want to come here to watch a second-rate show where they can go to Paris and watch the real and original performance. The atmosphere here is also not 'conducive' and the theater will be almost empty. Tourists go to different countries because they want to see the countries' specialities, which for Singapore is the food, warm weather, shopping and our 'kiasu-ness', and not to watch these shows. Perhaps when the 2 IRs are open more people from Batam and other parts of the world will come here to gamble, and convinently enjoy some form of entertainment through the cabaret shows. But not for now.

Source:
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/070125/5/singapore254709.html

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

CA for CA: Indonesia Floods Leave 145,000 Homeless


Residents use a makeshift raft to help a motorist cross a flooded street in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007. Severe storms caused the worst flooding in Indonesia's capital in five years, forcing rivers to break their banks, inundating thousands of homes and businesses. [AP]


Hey, all you people sitting in your comfortable chairs, sipping your coffees (or soft drink or milk, if you are) and reading this post on your computer, have you ever thought of how lucky you are to be in your current situation. Just look at the 145,000 people in Indonesia who are homeless. They don't even have a roof to cover their heads, much less the computer you are sitting in front of now.

You many say that it is just another flood (after the Malaysia floods), just a natural process which just happens to certain countries and not others. We know that they are homeless and despearte for help. But we cannot understand what they feel, because we have not experienced it, thus cannot empathise (not sympathise) and it will be hard for us to put ourselves in their shoes.

Needs and Wants

Our society, the upper class society is talking all about what we want, good food, computer games, the 5Cs, and even though we have a lot already, we want more and more and more... even though we got what we actually targeted. But people who are working very hard to make ends meet, like atking up 3 or 4 jobs a day, all they care for is things they need, not want, like basic necessities such as clothes, and they would be grateful to even get a little of those. So we ask ourselves this question, are we demanding too much?

We think that going to school is a boring process of life that we go through everyday just beacuse the government forces us to, and we are sick and tired of it, and we want air-con, more recess, blah blah blah... but in Indonesia, the children would be estatic just even to be able to go to a basic school wih no fans or air-con, and tables and chairs made out of wood, and dusty blackboards.

Effects in Indonesia

The floods have brought out the best in some and the worst in others. When someone is in distress and see fellow people who are in the same boat as them and need help, people will lend a helping hand and try to the best of their abilities to help others (as shown in the picture above). That's what I think is one of the positives that can be taken from floods. However, looting is also common after floods, where looters break into other people's homes and steal anything they can find. The reason why they do this is because they too, are desperate for money and goods and so resort to looting, and in some way we can sympathise with them. But looting is immoral in the first place they they should not have done it.

The floods will also teach the Indonesian government an important lesson in what they have gone wrong in by having poor urban planning and not having an adequete sewerage system.

So just spare a thought for the people who are so very homeless and desperate for help, and be thankful that you are not in their shoes and appreciate what you have.
P.S. Donations Welcome too

Source:
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070204/ap/d8n2m9tg0.html

Monday, February 05, 2007

CA for CA: Indonesia Bans Sand Exports

Land sand for export

The Situation and reason
Oh...so Indonesia has banned land sand exports. I don't know if Singapore was prepared for this, but this came as a sudden thing to those who only read the newspaper (which is quite a lot for kids like us these days). However it has hit the republic island quite hard, considering that most of the sand which comes here is from Indonesia, after Malaysia banned the same thing in 1997. Note that people think that land sand is used for reclaiming, but in fact it is used for producing cement, essential in the construction industry. Indonesia has banned the sand due to environmental reasons and to protect Indonesia's borders. However it is stated that much of the sand mining is done inland, and is unlikely to affect outlying islands and Indonesia's borders.

Effects on the 'little red dot'
As stated earlier, lots of sand used here comes from Indonesia, and by this ban, will have an impact on the construction industry. However the government and BCA (Building and Construction Authority) states that the impact will not be significant, and won't really slow down the construction sector, in which they can use sand from their reserves. The fact is that at this time, major works are happening in Singapore, the building of not one, but two IRs (Integrated Resorts), the MRT Circle Line, Marina Barrage, and lots more. It would be difficult to say that we would not face problems in the coming future.

Solutions
What Singapore will have to do when her reserves run out is to import land sand for concrete from other countries further away around the region, and there will undoubtedly be higher costs. Eventually, the higher costs will have an effect on the people and consumers (that means US) will have to pay for this increase in costs when they buy or use facilities. What we can also do is to use sustainable construction methods to build buildings and stuff, and the BCA states that it will cut consumption of sand by 60 to 70 percent.

The ban takes effect on the 25th of February 2007 and gives exporters us to 5th February 2007 (today) to honour it's existing sand export contracts.

Reflections


Indonesia
I felt that this ban by Indonesia was something that would be expected someday or another, and it just happened today. Indonesia's decision to ban the export totally at one go was in my opinion, a little too sudden. What I think they should have done was to inform on the ban a few months before to give the countries which obtain the sand from them to find other sources before the ban kicked into place, or maybe they could have phrased out the ban, which will allow countries importing the sand to deal with the situation slowly and gradually, and eventually have time to come up with ways to solve this problem. However you have to look at Indonesia's situation and know that they are losing lots of sand and they need to protect their borders. There is also environmental issues, where animals will lose their habitat and erosion will speed up, thus causing more land to be lost.

Singapore
I thought that even though the ban came as quite a shock to the countries that import sand from Indonesia, especially Singapore who imports most of its sand from there, the BCA (Building Construction Authority) has done quite well in preparing and foreseeing this might happen by having lots of sand in our reserves and having other sources around the region where we can import sand from. The government has also done quite a good job by providing subsidies and cheaper rates to those contractors and building companies which have been affected by the shortage of sand and the price hike. However, I think that this can only be a short-term solution because eventually, we either switch to sustainable construction methods which do not use sand or look for other countries around the region for sand to import, and this will certainly increase costs eventually and thus the people who will pay more will be the consumers too, us.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/254450/1/.html

About me (For the CA for CA)

Yes. This is me. Koh Yong En a.k.a. Ernie by 1/2Q and some others.

Tokking about CA (current affairs) for CA

Sigh...Homework's here again. This time it's an English CA thingy on CA (Current Affairs). For the time period of about till end of Term 2, there will be some posts on Current Affairs. Anyway, will still continue to post.