Independent Post 6

Does fat equal bad?

                Most people in the world feel that being fat is bad. Not many think otherwise. Obesity is always associated with inability to fit into clothing, heart problems, diabetes and immobility. Few think otherwise. What are the disadvantages to being fat? That is an easy question to answer. Obesity rates in the States are high. Even some health experts who comment on how to lose weight efficiently are slightly round themselves. Of course I am not saying that all people in the States are fat, nor am I saying fat people are only found in the States. But coming to think of it, are there only downsides to being fat?

                Being fat would mean an increase in weight, and this weight can be used in situations like an attack. I am not suggesting that people who are heavy engage in fights but in the case of a provocation, one can use one’s massive body weight against the provoker. There are other advantages these people have too! For example: In a tug-of-war game, the strong can afford to pull the weak, but the heavy can pull the light. Take me for example. Due to my tiny size and light weight (Fortunately not underweight), I can be easily be pushed out of the class by anyone bigger than me. Fats can also serve as a protection from the cold. The fats can act as an extra layer of protection from the chill.

                I ask my relatives, usually during New Year, “What’s your new year’s resolution?” A significant amount of relatives of mine states losing weight as one resolution. This New Year resolution, however, is usually unachievable. Somehow, as the year passes, I notice them putting on a little, and few maintain at the same weight. Only one or two lose a little weight. I ask my mum, “What weight do you intend to achieve?” She says “50kg”.

                However, if you are skinny, there are also its disadvantages. You cannot fit into most clothes, like me. You also tend to feel colder than other bigger sized people. You are also more likely to fall ill.

                The better is to be of a healthy size. Not too fat, not too skinny, just right.

Blog Prompt 5

                                Can the machine ever replace the teacher?

No, it cannot. As technology advances, new discoveries are made and machines such as robots become more and more sophisticated, able to express feelings etc. These robots have access to the internet and very accurate and advanced information. They can be described as encyclopaedias, able to provide information in a second. However, the robot or machine can never replace the teacher.

A teacher can never be replaced by the machine, at least not any time soon. Things like morals are in the grey area. For example, is it morally right to have an abortion? Some people may say that there is nothing wrong with it, as the foetus cannot feel a thing. Others simply do not agree. They feel that it is not right to end a life. Some classify it as murder. Different individuals have different viewpoints on issues like this. A machine runs on a program, programmed by a programmer. Therefore, viewpoints that the machine is programmed to support are similar to that of the programmer.

Another reason why a teacher can never be replaced is because a teacher’s role is not solely to mark essays produced by a student, nor is it solely to give advice to students. I feel that a good teacher is one that can maintain a human relationship with a student, and not a I teach you learn kind of relationship. There must be some form of understanding. A teacher must also be able to cater to every individual’s needs, teaching lessons in ways which benefits every individual. Of course this is not possible for a human teacher, but it would be even more impossible with the current technology for machines to be capable of doing so either.

Lastly, it is way too expensive to replace every teacher with machines. It would cost way too much, and would also worsen global warming.

Blog Prompt 4

                                        Where is the Love?

                The issues discussed in the song are terrorism and discrimination. These issues are present even now. Terrorism can be fought if we are united. However, unity is not possible with discrimination. I feel that discrimination is one cause for terrorism, and terrorism is a cause for discrimination. These two issues are interlinked. When one dislikes another race, one would not want to associate oneself with that particular race. The society then would be pretty much divided. Discrimination can also be caused by terrorism. Terrorists groups like Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), which is a Southeast Asian Militant Islamic organization, may result in people thinking that all Islamic people are dangerous. This is the kind of stereotype which would cause discrimination amongst the people or a population. The song talks about us being led away from unity, and that there is space for discrimination. It hints that our efforts to fight terrorism would lead to nowhere as there is no unity amongst us in the first place.

Independent Post 5

                                 Which is the cleanest country in the world?
        Which is the cleanest country in the world? I came across this when I was searching STOMP for some inspiration to blog on. Well, in the STOMP post, it says that "The top scorers for year 2010 were Iceland , Switzerland and Costa Rica with EPI scores of 93.5, 89.1 and 86.4 respectively. Singapore qualified at 28th place with a score of 69.6." I agree with this. Well if Singapore is a clean place to live in, why do we need advertisements on keeping the country clean, and the penalty which comes along when a litterbug is caught throwing his litter on the ground.

        I feel that Singaporeans should put in more effort to keep the country clean and litter-free. Let me quote you one incident: The usual PLEASE DON'T LITTER advertisement was playing on the television between the Okto shows. My brother was doing his homework and the table was full of eraser dust. As the advertisement "pleads" Singaporeans not to throw litter on the ground, my brother conveniently threw a cluster of eraser dust out of the window. So much for the effectiveness of the advertisement. I wonder how much impact the advertisement actually had on Singaporeans. Does it really stop Singaporeans from littering? Is it playing a crucial role in keeping Singapore clean? Is the fine an effective deterrent?

STOMP Link:

http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/558770/guess_which_is__the_cleanest_country_in_the_world.html

Independent Post 4

The Pace of Life

                After a tiring day at school or at work, majority of us proceed on to take a form of transportation home. A minority would walk home from school, probably because he or she stays nearby. This form of transportation exists in many forms, ranging from public transport to private ones like cars. These modes of transportation allow us to travel at constantly fast pace, unachievable by a mere human. These methods for transportation allow us to get around quickly, too quickly perhaps. We have little time to ponder and appreciate the little things in life, except probably for one’s dying few moments. Life is a wonderful thing. There are many things we can appreciate in life, from the little insects to the larger creatures like elephants, the dancing grass to the swaying trees. However, there is one word that can describe a typical human’s life, stress.

                Does Bill Gates live a happy life, with all the money, all the fame, all the apartments and houses and bungalows? Or does a farmer from the outskirts of a country live a happy life, despite the hard life and hours of backbreaking work? I feel they both don’t lead happy lives. Bill Gates is the richest man on earth. There is a constant threat of him being killed, kidnapped or robbed by terrorists and robbers. Therefore he has little chances of going around, little privacy due to his guards, and little chance to live normally like anyone else. He is likely to be faced with a lot of stress due to his company. The farmer however, works a lot and gets little respect from most people in the city. His efforts are not met with great appreciation and his pay despite his contribution may be the bare minimum for survival. All these people aren’t happy. Why? One of the causes is due to the fast paced life in the city.

                Transportation has greatly sped up the pace of life in the city. With this increment of speed, everything is done at breakneck speed. Despite the speed these vehicles already travel at, the drivers still travel at dangerously high speeds. This goes to show the pace of life is still accelerating, despite its current speed. Now, everything is rushed. There are so many choices, so many things to do, but only one life to live. Increasing the speed at which one takes to do things is seen as a solution, so that one can use his lifespan to the maximum, completing as much things as possible in the time he is allowed to live. However, is that what we humans are truly meant to be?

                Look at the butterflies, the fly happily, freely in the morning. Look at the Orang Utans, they enjoy life in the forest amongst the trees. Look at the birds, they wander the sky freely. Look at the whales, they explore deep beneath the oceans and seas. Look at us humans, we are supposedly smarter than all of them. But are we as happy? Are we as free? We have the luxury of vehicles to move around the land, they don’t. We have the luxury of aeroplanes, birds don’t. We have submarines to explore the deep oceans effortlessly, whales have to swim. Are we as content as them? How often do you see a butterfly rushing to go from one place to the other? Maybe the pace of life has long exceeded the speed limit.

Independent Post 3

                                                     The Importance of the Internet
              When we encounter problems doing Math or Science homework, Google and Wikipedia comes to the rescue. When we require a platform of discussion, Google Docs and online
discussion forums come into the picture. When we wish to broadcast something to
the world, and make known to everyone something, the internet is the answer.

                Nowadays,as things become more modern, everything becomes electronic. Instead of buying encyclopaedias like in the past, we have reliable online ones like Wikipedia, where there is
even a discussion forum. The books get published online, things get purchased
online, advertisements and posters are designed and put online. Everything is
online. The internet, although we may not feel so, has become an integral part
of life.

                The internet is frequented by many nowadays. Different people use it for different
purposes. The most recent and significant one today, I feel, is in the Egypt
2011 protests. They used online resources such as Facebook to rally support and
expose the bad sides of President Mubarak. I feel that this is a clever use of
the internet. Due to the fact that the internet is frequented by many, everyone
can view whatever they have posted on the internet about Mubarak, rallying
support from all over the world. Even for those who do not understand Egyptian
language, they can use Google Translate to translate the text into their own languages
and understand the viewpoint of these Egyptians.

                The internet can be used to chat with other relatives or friends overseas in faraway
countries, where prices for phone calls may be exorbitant. The internet can
also be used for work. The major e-mails such as Gmail and Hotmail are few
examples of mailing systems that can be used to communicate information. These
e-mails are sent at high speeds, definitely faster than the writing and sending
the letter in an envelope with a stamp which you must pay for.

                If one day, the internet were to fail, our connection with the world would fail. This
would affect everyone’s daily life. Important information cannot be sent to
each other quickly, communications would be cut off, there is no Facebook wall
and update status, there is no platform like Blogger where we can broadcast our
own personal views, there is nothing. We as humans, nowadays, are largely dependent
on the internet. If we lose the internet, we lose everything.

Independent Post 2

                                                            Bilingualism
        Technology advances as time progresses. As time goes by, more and more computer programs get written. More scientific discoveries are made. The world globalizes. Everyone uses many different language. Westerners widely use English, people from China use Chinese, people from Japan use Japanese. These are just few examples of languages different people use. The world globalizes. People gather to share and discuss ideas. Communication is bound to be an issue. Therefore, it is advised that we be bilingual. This would enable us to speak in two different languages, making it easier to communicate with others who knows the language. However, there are so many languages which one can choose to learn. With the advancement of technology, and with programs like Google Translate, being bilingual may not be necessary.
        As technology advances, no doubt these translation programs become more and more sophisticated. Google may even create a device like the iPod, mobile and fast, with the sole intention to translate. This device can detect through the sound waves, what is being said. From there, a translation to the selected language would be displayed on the screen. This would allow fast and efficient communication with people of other languages, without even knowing the langauge.
         Such technology has its down sides too. There is a lot of noise in places like supermarkets and the wet markets. Such devices which detect sound waves may be inefficient, as there are many sound waves picked up by the device. Also, if no one learns each other language, as more things are discovered, more words are invented. The words stored in the device may become irrelevant, which would result in a disability to communicate.
         Therefore I feel that there is still a need to learn at least the basics of the language. With translation devices and certain rules for pronunciation of words, I feel that it is no problem to every now and then check Google translate for the exact meaning of the more difficult words. At first, it may seem inconvenient to repeatedly take out the device and keeping it again just to translate 1 or 2 words. However, after some time of usage, you may start to pick up the language, without having to read textbooks and go for language lessons. The day may come when such a thing happens but for now, technology is not advanced enough. Textbooks and lessons still need to be conducted, and languages still need to be learnt.

Descriptive Writing

                It pierced our eyes. We nearly forgot of its existence. The breaking boat stumbled towards the light in the distance. We were reaching the promise land! The wooden paddles and canoe was falling apart. The glow sticks lost its glow. Our hearts were sinking and arms were breaking. But we took no breaks. The dark void we were in was menacing. There were creatures dangling from above, with tiny fluttering unidentified-flying-objects occasionally hover past us. The wall above us seemed to be drooling. Substances sometimes drip onto my hair. It slithers down the hair, past the oily forehead, down the pimple plagued face and onto the neck where it slows to a stop. There was silence.

Independent Post 1

        I was scrolling down my cousin’s Facebook wall, checking for updates. After a while of scrolling, I noticed, amongst the huge chunk of status updates, an interesting post. The following is the post:

“It takes courage to devote your heart and soul into pursuing a dream. But after years of fruitless sacrifice, it takes much more courage to admit to yourself that it's about time to give the dream up. :(:(

So maybe we should respect the quitter; for in reality, determination is often merely cowardice in disguise.”

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                The above post, I find, is very interesting. I find myself agreeing to most of it. Yes I agree it takes courage to devote one’s heart and soul to pursuit a dream. People without courage would not even dare to do so. This is because devoting oneself to a dream would mean focusing most attention on achieving it. Sacrifices would have to be made and a lot of effort would also have to be put in to fulfill that dream. For that, one requires determination, which may be too much to ask from a coward.

                However, there are cases where the dreams are not reachable despite countless number of tries. That is when it is probably time for one to give up. It is not wise to pursue a dream which is impossible to achieve, and make so many sacrifices for it. I feel, it would be wiser to devote oneself into another dream, rather than taking a boat and sailing toward disappointment. This may not sound like it but it takes a lot of courage to give up on a dream. This is because a lot of effort and sacrifices has been made to attempt fulfilling that dream. Giving up on it would mean that all these effort and sacrifices would go to waste.

                The end is the part I don’t really agree with. However, I do agree determination is cowardice in disguise. After devoting oneself to a dream but failing countless times to achieve it, one may be still determined to fulfill it probably because he is afraid to give up on it. Those who quit are brave enough to do so. However, I feel that quitters shouldn’t be respected. Sure it takes courage to give up on a dream but it would be even more courageous to persevere and try to fulfill it against all odds. Also, those who quit not necessarily actually have the courage to do so. They may quit due to plain laziness or unwillingness. Therefore I feel we should respect those who persevere, and not those who quit.

Blog Prompt 3

        Some believe that parents with “Good Genes” produce better children. These children are said to perform better academically than others. The rest don’t. How true is this?

        People with “good genes” tend to have more money, as they are intellectually more capable than the rest. This money is spent on giving their children tuition after tuition, teaching and enhancing the child’s learning from a young age, sending him for courses like “I Can Read!” and to child care centres where he can learn his math, alphabets etc. Therefore, these children are assumed to do better academically as they have an advantage over those who don’t start their learning from a young age.

        Children without parents who have “good genes” can also do well, as long as they have determination and perseverance. These children can study hard and yearn to do well academically and socially. Likewise, children with “good genes” may not want to study and would not do well. Therefore, parents with “good genes” not necessarily produce better children.