When we talk about environment nowadays we will think of the depleting fossil fuels, the greenhouse effect, global warming and the list goes on. Due to the fear of destroying the earth, being environment-friendly seems to have became quite a popular term.

In the past, we were all eager to develop, to improve. Countries were fighting for development, companies were fighting for profits. However, now that the consequences of such developments were being discovered, are we truly willing to slow down and save the earth?

Many companies are now trying to advertise themselves as environmental friendly. One example will be Apple, which is now focusing on energy efficiency and recycling. Their new 20 inch iMac is made from highly recyclable glass and aluminum and is so energy efficient it consumes about the same energy as a standard light bulb. However, are they truly trying to save the environment, or is it merely for advertisement sake?

Even Singapore has come up with its own Go Green Campaign, trying to create awareness among its people.  Supermarkets like NTUC will not give out plastic bags on certain days of the week. However, it costs merely ten cent if you really need a plastic bag from them, do you think this help to deter people from using plastic bags? It is common knowledge that the icebergs are melting, that the ozone layer is depleting, but why is it that some people just choose to ignore such consequences? Things like fossil fuels and icebergs are not things we see, thus it is likely for us to sacrifice them for the sake of economic gains and other practical needs. Simple things like saving on electricity and recycling your newspapers will contribute, but some feel that this is too little to matter, hence not bothering at all.

It is indeed hard for all to be environmental friendly, for there will always be people who are unwilling to do so. It is also not wise for countries or governments to force the people into being environmentalists, because this is a personal choice. Companies like Apple might be doing it for the sake of advertisements but it is better than those who are not doing it at all. Some companies are producing large amount of waste, and even worse dumping them into the third world countries who in turn happily receive it for the sake of economic gains. Do they really not know the consequences of such pollution are did they merely chose to fulfill their practical needs instead?

There is no absolute measure to solve this worldwide problem. The only thing that governments like Singapore can do is to try to create awareness among the people. Places like NTUC can do their bit in protecting the environment but, whether the people choose to receive it or not will be up to them. As even celebrities are now stepping out to promote being environmental friendly, let’s hope that even though not sincerely, more people will follow their footsteps and doing their part for the environment. For we all know the heavy price we have to pay if we continue such mistakes.

Facebook. I am sure most people are familiar with this term. I myself have a facebook account, and so do many of my friends.

I was asking one of my friends to sign up for a facebook account a few days ago and she asked me a simple question. What is it about facebook that made it so attractive to teenagers, and even adults? You can view photos of your friends, post messages on their page or even chat with them instantly if they are online at the moment. You can send them ‘gifts’ including flowers, food or even pets. You can keep track of their birthdays and even find out how many mutual friends you have. It is like a mini society which welcomes everyone.

 But out of everything, I would think the most important factor is how we are able to keep track of each other’s life without the person knowing. I was just facebook-ing the other day and without having to talk to anyone, I managed to find out where my ex-classmates have gone to, what they are doing now. A friend of mine even went to facebook all her course-mates, and it’s amazing how she can know so much about everyone before she even meet them. We can see that it is indeed a useful spying device.

If you are a fan of the internet and facebook you would say that facebook has resulted in great convenience. You do not have to make any phone calls at the risk of disturbing your friend who might be mugging hard for his exam nor do you have to press your ex-classmate for information about this particular person. All you need is just to click and enter into the same network as this person and most probably (if he did not set his profile private) you would be able to find out all you need to know about him. It’s time saving and less energy consuming, and it draws people closer together.

But of course, if you are one of those who still believe in letter writing, you would say facebook is rubbish. It is even worse than email writing which is already insincere enough. It became an excuse not to contact your once close classmate. And you would think it is ridiculous expressing your concern through messages posted on the wall, and funny how people consider themselves social butterflies just became they have two hundred friends on facebook. It has pulled people apart further than ever. To get information about a person does not equate to being close to him/her. Facebook is merely a stalking device like any fan site!

Yes, it is ironic how people can think of it as two extremes. However no matter what, one cannot deny that facebook is a rising social trend, if it has not already become a trend. Even if you are not a facebook addict, one of your friends must be one. And for once, this is not just a trend among the teenagers. Surprisingly, the first time I heard of facebook was through my junior college teacher who is already in her thirties and a mother of two.

Facebook has changed the way people communicate with each other and is being use as a tool to socialize. Some many think that it has resulted in an invasion of privacy, but why sign up for a facebook account if you care so much about your privacy? But then again, when internet first started and globalization began, we have already lost our privacy. I would think facebook is just a fun application, perhaps to drop a hello when you are too busy or send a good luck plant during exams. Most would still be happy to see such messages, even if it’s in the virtual world, just don’t become addicted to it!

Facebook – The movie (They know)

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Health is important to every human being and there’s a saying that says it cannot be bought by money. However, is that really true?

We are all aware of the poor condition in rural countries, the people there lack money, food, water, education and the list goes on. They are not educated enough to know what they are doing might affect their health, or rather, do they even know what health is? They have no money to get proper food and water. In poor countries like Africa the people eat whatever they can find, bath and drink from the same place. In Africa, more than one billion people have to travel a significant distance to collect water and almost half the population has no access to basic sanitation. Due to this, 4000 children die everyday from waterborne diseases. On the other hand, in Singapore, we get water with just a turn of the tap. Do we even know what waterborne diseases are?

In Singapore, the hospitals are able to cater to people with different illnesses. People are encouraged to go for health checkups every years for early detection of any diseases. For the less well  off people, we have different organisations subsidising them. In South Africa, at least one in ten people are HIV positive, the number still increasing. By the time the people reach adulthood, most were already dying, be it from aids, tuberculosis or malaria (Geffen). The life expectancy rate not exceeding sixty. The saddest thing is, most are not even aware of their own health conditions.  Also, most with such transmitted diseases live in informal settlements. This shows how poor housing conditions affect a person’s health. Most importantly, how poverty deprives a person of good health and treatment for diseases that could have been easily cured if the patient is living in countries like Singapore.

The culture of such rural areas, the lack of knowledge of hygience have led to the quick spread of diseases. Just like what has happened in Guangdong province, how the consumption of wild animals has led to a deadly disease called SARS. Such examples are ample, just not commonly known because they have yet to affect us.

From this, we can see how social inequality has affected even issues like health. The rich has the access to good medical services, while the poor are struggling to even get enough food. Is it fair to leave the poor to suffer and die? But is there anything which we can do to improve their conditions? It is not able giving them the best medical services or resources. Nobody can give them anything if they themselves do not want it. Rather than health, it is natural that they are more concern about food and their immediate survival. Health is something they cannot see, something that cannot fill their stomachs.

The root of the problem is still the poor conditions they are living in. There is no use giving them condoms and to educate them about safe sex. They want as many children as possible, to them children are resources to help them with work and labour. They need to improve, step by step. There is no reason why Singapore can achieve success while a country like Africa which such rich natural resources is so backward. Perhaps conditions will be better if  the other countries can stop exploiting them, be it for natural resources or cheap labour. No use giving them money today and digging for oil in their land tomorrow.

Reference:

Geffen, N. (n.d.). What do South Africa’s AIDS statistics mean? Retrieved 2006, from Treatment Action Campaign: http://www.tac.org.za/community/aidsstats

Although in the 1950s, before urbanisation, people live in villages with poor conditions, there was social solidarity. People of different ages hang around together. Although poor, there is a sense of belonging and community.  After urbanisation, people were being separated into different classes. There is increasing class stratifications due the division of labour. The building of HBD flats make worse the situation as the size of the flats were being use to determine a person’s wealth and economic status. What were see nowadays are the high rise buildings which symbolises our wealth, but this is not the case for those without education and skills. We look at the poor begging on the streets, those singing till their voices are hoarse just for a few dollars, will that be the case if it was back in the 1950s? If not for urbanisation, will they be forced to move to the city area and resort to such to earn a living?

Due to the policy of multiculturalism, the government has set regulations on the number of people of different ethnic groups living in a HDB flat. Although on the surface it seems like the different races are now living together, corresponding to the idea of racial harmony and multiculturalism, I think that the people have become more stratified than ever. More Malays and Tamils live in the lower storeys of the flats, while the Chinese prefer the high levels. All the gates and doors are close almost every day, even when the owners are at home. There is minimum interaction between the people, even for those who live next door, what more those in other storeys. I doubt many of us actually know more than ten families from our own block. I feel that this policy of the government has separated the Malays and the Tamils from their own community and at the same time has failed to integrate them into the Chinese community who due to the ethnic ratio is the majority in any block of flat.

On top of that, the older generation now has little interaction with the young people. Due to urbanisation, Singapore is now a city state where there are shopping malls and places of interests like Sentosa all around. The younger generation will obviously prefer to hang around such places. On the other hand, the elderly usually gather at coffee shops or the void decks, chatting among themselves. This, on top of the government promoting nuclear families has separated the old and the young. Unlike in the past where both the young and the old gather together in the village’s coffee shops, idling and gambling together, we rarely see many youngsters hanging around with the old now. We now see cases of youngster fighting with the old for seats in transportations and coffee shops; will that be the case in the past?

Urbanisation is unavoidable in order for a country to progress and improve; however, I think there is a need to retain the rural parts of a country. The government might see rural areas as a bad side of the country, especially when tourists see them, but I feel that the rural areas are the place where inequality does not exists, and where people can actually live together in harmony. Why break the Malays from their own community? Why force the poor to move to the city area and magnify their poverty and sufferings?

Why War? (Koh Yong Kha Ashley)

We are all aware of the negative consequences of wars: People get killed, environments get damaged and countries incur huge losses. Why then, do countries choose to go to war?

Some countries might have chosen to go to war for the sake of resources or territories. This is especially in current times when natural resources are depleting.  One example will be the Gulf War, where Iraq invaded Kuwait for oil resources. Other reasons for war include ideological clashes. The most famous example will be the Cold War.

Despite the fact that different reasons have been used to explain the start of wars, I would feel that the root cause will be the breakdown of social relations. Social relation between two parties is build on the basis of interaction, a lack of interaction will mean a lack of understanding and hence the breakdown of social relation which can result in undesirable consequences.

I would like to use the Cold War as an example.

There are three schools of thought for the causes of the Cold War. Out of which, the third school of thought states that neither America nor USSR was to be blame for the start of the war. It was not deliberately caused by either party, but instead a result of an action-reaction process. The two countries perceive each other as a serious threat who seeks to spread their ideology. America perceived that the USSR was pursuing ideological expansion and hence came up with the Iron Curtain Speech and Marshall Plan to contain communism which of course resulted in unhappiness within the USSR government. When Western Germany merged as one, USSR came up with the Berlin Blockade in an attempt to guard its territory.  This resulted in the Berlin airlift by America which further worsens the relations between the two countries.

We can see from the above example that the Cold War was a war of misunderstanding, caused by the breakdown of social relations between America and the USSR. If there have been better communications and interactions, the war might not have lasted for so long.

This is further proven by the fact that when Gorbachev took over USSR, he willingly negotiated with USA. Both countries reduced their military resources and tensions gradually died down. With understanding of Capitalism, he even came up with two new policies: Glasnost and perestroika which eventually resulted in the end of the Cold War.

This is also illustrated in the Gulf War. Although the pursue of oil is an important reason for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, there was the involvement of historical animosities. Kuwait had obstructed Iraq’s attempt to bring the oil prices up so as to pay their debts. Iraq was unhappy with this and it is obvious this was one of the other reasons which led to the war. We can see that the social relations between the two countries were strained even before the war.

Will two people who have always got along well fight with each other all of a sudden? There odd to be problems and misunderstandings between the countries that led to the choice of violence.

We cannot say that social relations is the only reason that results in wars; there are of course other reasons that contribute to it. However, as what we learnt, a society is built on the basis of interactions and social relations, without them, the society will end. Due to globalization, all parts of the world are linked together; hence we can say that the world operates just like one big society, each country as the people. It is important for each and every to build good social relations so as to maintain peace in the world.

Juvenile Crime

The number of youths who were arrested for committing a crime acounted for 21 percent of the total number of people arrested (SPF). This goes to show the seriousness of juvenile crime in Singapore. I feel that there was a number of reasons for this.

As we learnt from the lecture, there was several characteristics to a globalised city like Singapore.  First of all is the dominance of materialism. Almost everything is being measured by wealth. How rich you are will determine your status in the society or even the kind of education your children will receive. It is hard to deny that the rich people will get the best of everything while the poor struggle to survive. This has made Singapore a breeding ground for crimes, especially for youths. Small things like who has the better handphone or the more expensive bag can easily affect young people. Teenagers who have yet to mature in their thinkings might resort to illegal methods like stealing just to get things that they/parents could not afford. I feel that this is one of the reason for the fact that theft is the most common offence for teenagers in Singapore.

Another considerable reason will be the family. From what we have learnt, family is the most important factor in the process of childhood socialisation. To a large extent, the type of family the child grow up in will determine what kind ofperson the child will grow up to be. On top of that, the lack of the family, especially in the case where both parents go to work might also affect the child. The lack of care and concern from the family might result in the children using criminal acts as a way to gain the attention of the parents. Teenagers from single parent families might also feel neglected and react in the same way.

Apart from this, we should also take the Singapore education system into consideration. The Singapore education system is the survival of the fittest, students who are unable to keep up will be ‘kick out’. We are being streamed into different courses at the mere age of 12. This system of meritocracy will result in elitism and class consciousness, where those who are not academically inclined will not have the chance to show their capabilities. In addition, the teenage years is the time when we seek for our self identity and discover our capabilities, to be determined as ‘stupid’ due to bad academic results may badly affect the self confidence of the child. People who have low self confidence or  self-esteem will tend to be easily influence by the media or will tend to succumb to peer pressure.When they are incapable of proving their capabilities, they might turn to illegal methods.

Some might argue that there are sports and arts schools in Singapore for those who are not academically inclined. However, the sports school in Singapore has an age limit while theres no subsidy for arts schools like NAFA. What will then happen to those who discovered their talent late? Or those who have financial difficulties? I would say there are still loopholes in the education system of Singapore. Other than that, in general, people still see academic education as highly important and as a mean to a good future.

I would think the meritocracy system has indeed resulted in class consciousness and inferiority. Although some feel that juvenile crime is the result of the lack of self-control and that those mentioned above are just excuses. However I think that even if that is the case, external factors like the education system do play a part in being the trigger that could cause on to commit such an act.

Reference:

SPF. (n.d.). Retrieved from SPF: http://www.spf.gov.sg/stats/stats2007_youtharrests.htm

Discrimination against Woman

For years, women have been viewed as the weaker sex. They are seen as less capable compared to men and have suffered different kinds of discriminations. Women in less developed countries may face violence or be force into sex trade. Women in developed nations are luckier but still, they are usually paid less compared to men and do not have equal job opportunities. Up till now, there have been several organizations like Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and National Organization for Women (NOW) working hard to achieve gender equality, but still the problem persists.

Song of an African Woman

I have only one request.
I do not ask for money
Although I have need of it,
I do not ask for meat . . .
I have only one request,And all I ask is
That you remove
The road block
From my path.

From the Acholi poem, Song of Lawino
Okot p’Bitek

In Africa, around 54 percent of girls do not have the chance to enter primary school education, and for those who do, very small number can even reach the fifth grade (The Hunger Project). This shows the serious problem of gender inequality in the third world countries.

Women in developed nations on the other hand, suffered a different form of discrimination. They are indeed given opportunities to attain high education level and to get a good job but they get lower pay compared to men. On top of that, they have to manage family and household problems (doing housework, taking care of children etc). Despite doing more than what a man is doing, generally they are still viewed as the weaker gender, especially in more conservative societies like Japan.

I feel that the root of such problems is that there is no common understanding that as men and women, we are each capable of different things, neither one is more superior to the other. We are indeed different and because of these differences, one cannot do without the other. Just like both man and woman are required to produce a child, a society without women will be impossible to survive and the same goes for one without men. We each have different abilities, like men are indeed stronger physically while women are more sensitive and better with the details. Due to such differences, we complement with each other.

We should also recognise the fact that absolute equality is impossible. Two things that are different can never be equal. Certain jobs will prefer women while certain jobs will need men, and the fact that men can never give birth to children enhances the fact that absolute equality can never be achieve.

Also, it is unavoidable that women are deemed as the weaker sex in the third world countries. Due to the fact that they are not as developed yet, most of the people do laborious tasks to earn a living, hence women, being weaker than men physically will be on the losing end. They will be seen as less ‘useful’ as they will not be as productive as men doing such jobs and thus are expected to stay at home to feed the children. To solve the problem of gender inequality in such countries like Africa, we will have to first solve the problem of poverty and undevelopment. It is only when the conditions of their lifestyle improve will the people receive more education and hence learn to be concern about issues like gender equality. With hunger at hand, who will care if women and men are equal or not?

Reference:

1: http://www.thp.org/women/status.htm - Web Source

Work

Work, is an essential part of our live. We work, to earn a living; we work, to apply what we have learnt. Most importantly, work is what that keeps a country’s economy moving.

Work is a complicated concept. In order to work, we have to possess the necessary skills for the job. However, it is hard, if not impossible for us to possess the knowledge for all kinds of jobs, most of us tend to specialise in a certain sector, hence the division of labour.

In the division of labour, workers are separated into different sectors. For example, in a factory certain groups of workers are in charge of the manufacturing of the goods while another will be in charge of the packaging. Even in schools, we have different departments of teachers teaching different subjects. Division of labour makes production more efficient. As mentioned in the lecture, capitalist economy relies on division of labour, and it will bring prosperity to the whole society if everyone is engage in production.

However, as always, there is a conflicting view to this. It is said that labor division also creates solidarity. People of the same jobs will tend to be group together, hence creating the solidarity. I believe that this is true. Work takes up most of our time, and it is no surprise that we will tend to interact more with people who work together with us. It is argued that this would result in class consciousness, which can be linked to last week’s lecture on class and inequality.

Free Trade

The case of inequality is worsened by free trade. Under free trade, countries are allowed to seek the cheapest cost of labour from the less developed countries.

Multinational Corporations (MNCs) from developed countries, seeking the lowest cost of labour often choose to move their manufacturing process to less developed countries like China and Vietnam. The workers there earn minimum wages while the MNCs get higher profits due to them. In a way, this can be considered as exploitation. This will also result in the widening of the income gap between the developed countries and the less developed ones. On top of that, as stated in the lecture, child labor is the cheapest form of labor, unknowingly, the MNCs have encouraged child labor.

Furthermore, several industralised countries are also treating the third world countries as their dumping ground, choosing to dump their waste in these countries. An example of such a country will be Albania, who accepted a shipment of expired pesticides from Germany (American University). Again, the industralised countries have exploited the less developed ones. Also, due to the fact that these developing grounds act as the manufacturing grounds to the MNCs, environmental problems like air pollutions will be worsened.

Thus, unknowingly, these MNCs have worsened the social problems of these countries.

The idea of free trade is supposed to benefit the countries, to allow their economies to prosper. However, just like globalization, it is a double edged sword. It indeed allowed prosperity in countries, but only the developed nations. Once again, the third world countries, who are the ones in need, are being left out of the route to prosperity. Their conditions have yet to improve, and even in some cases, worsened. So is free trade fair trade? I do not think so. The rules and regulations of free trade should be review to protect the interests of the third world countries. One good example will be the banning of OEDC toxic waste exports in 1997. There should be limited exploitation of cheap labour in the developing countries, especially when it involves child labor, which should be completely removed.

Reference:

1: http://www.american.edu/TED/projects/tedcross/xwast31.htm – Web Source