Girl almost drown in MBS pool

20 Dec, Monday, 2010

From STOMP

After I read this news, I felt quite ridiculous how this type of thing could have happened. How could a lifeguard do not know how to perform CPR? If this is so, then why are this people wearing a vest named with the word, “Lifeguard”?! A lifeguard should be someone who could save people lives’ when they meet emergency happenings in need of help. What if there was not even a guest who knows CPR? The girl might have died. This is a very serious matter. Personally, I felt that Marina Bay Sands should stricter their criteria and rules of hiring a lifeguard. This type of incident should not repeat itself again. From this news, I would like to encourage all who have read this news to learn about the basic steps in knowing how to perform CPR, because such skills might save a life in which anytime this type of situation might occur. An easy step such as pumping the chest 100 times a minute might just be beneficial enough to save a person.

 

Name: Felicia Tan

Admin no. : 104945D    

Elder-friendly pilot plan takes place in Feb

Tuesday, Dec14, 2010

Mypaper

I saw this article. As Singapore is an aging population, there are many elderly and when I saw that the government is taking more actions to accommodate the needs of the elderly, it is certainly a happy thing. Including the interior of flat, the traffic lights and other more, changes would be made to lighten the burden of inconvenience for the elderly. An example would be to change the speed of the traffic lights which might be too fast and the overhead bridges that would be too challenging for the frail elderly. In the article, Mr Lim, who is the Minister in-Charge of ageing issues. He said,” We want our senior citizens to be truly active participants in the community, not just seniors among seniors, but together with younger people."I totally agree his statement, the senior citizens also play a role in Singapore, there might be even some senior citizens who have made Singapore proud or even more outstanding then the younger people. Isn’t it good news to us too? Because one day, we will be the elderly ones in others eyes’ too. Ending with an old saying, “家有一老 如有一宝”which means having an elderly is a treasure in the family. There are both different perspectives in how you think of it, and this would be up to you.

Name: Felicia Tan

Admin Number : 104945D

Music for old souls

Wed, Dec 08, 2010
The New Paper

I felt touched as I read this news article. People volunteered to perform music in the hospice every weekend consisting of a music teacher and four pianists. The elderly patients would be so much happy as they had made the hospice livelier. Having song requests from the patients, listening to the music and bringing back memories of their past. It had not only brought back memories but relieve painful memories they might have. People nowadays are always occupied with their own activities and even if we have any free time we would rest or find entertainment. What more would we think of volunteering in a hospice? As I see that people spare out their time to bring joy to these patients I felt that may be everyone would just spare some time and do volunteer work. I do not wish people doing voluntary work are just for CIP or CCA points but out of their true hearts’. That people would truly want to bring these patients some happy memories and help them in the way we could. Time is precious; however, bringing some joy to them by sparing some time is not a waste. It not only brought them joy but you yourself would be happy and satisfied when you see the smiles’ on their faces.

^.^

Name: Felicia Tan

Admin No.: 104945D

Molester charged, campus security still lax

Fri, Dec 03, 2010
RazorTV, taken from AsiaOne News

I would like to talk about this article as it concerns about NYP which is the recent incident of a 23-year-old NYP student Jee Guang Yo which committed the offences of molest and theft in the campus library. Which one of the cases, he allegedly lifted up the skirt up a 19-year-old female student. In this article, RazorTV contacted NYP if it would increase their security upon this incident but NYP has declined to comment. I felt that the school should do some precautions and safety measures upon seeing that NYP met such an incident as it has input fear towards the female students especially as it might happen again. No one could predict that history might not repeat. The school should inform the public that they would take actions towards the security of the school rather than declining to comment about it. It makes people feel that NYP campus security is loose and it would make students feel unsecured. I wish from my opinion in this article, students would be more careful in their campus as no matter the school might put in the effort to tighten security, it is still limited.

Name: Felicia Tan

Admin No. : 104945D

Man in wheelchair ignored by cabbies
- the new paper. 26 Nov

From what I have read from this news, there was this slightly elderly couple which the husband was on the wheelchair always had the problem of transport and often had to take taxi to reach another destination. As he was in the wheelchair, he had difficulties boarding and alighting from the taxi. Therefore, there was often taxi-drivers that simply ignored the couple or gave excuses, refusing to service them. Furthermore, there was another case that made angry and disheartened of these drivers.

For once, the couple was alighting from the taxi and there was not enough space for the husband to alight as there was a need to put the wheelchair on the platform. It was causing the taxi-driver to have some troubles but was not serious. However, as the driver get irritated, he drove off without the husband on the wheelchair to alight properly.

I could not believe what I saw from the article, that these drivers could be so selfish. From human nature, people often tend to give in to people who are in wheelchairs or being disabled in any ways. However, these drivers were just scared that the couple would be troublesome and did not wanted to service them. To me, it was a very ugly act of human. In conclusion, I would just like to say that, causing just a little trouble to yourself but being able to give someone a big help means a lot. We are people that are fortunate and blessed to be able to be healthy, but there are people who aren't. Giving a helping hand isn't that difficult. I wish one day if you met someone who are on wheelchair or any one in need, you would offer your help too. Playing a part to make this society better, everyone have this ability.

Felicia Tan
104945D

Another 70 arrested for gang activities

Tues Nov 23 2010, My paper

From the article, it had shown that through the incident that took place in Downtown East and Bukit Panjang, it had alarmed the police and government. Police started to take aggressive actions towards gang activities and arresting these people that involves in gang-related activities and more. From a phrase in the article, “The latest clampdown brings the total number of people arrested for gang-related activities to 144.” As I read this sentence, I felt shock. What had Singapore turn to? Has Singapore turned into a country that has gangsters everywhere?

I thought some of the reasons might be because of stress, family or psychological problems. Singapore is a fast-paced country which there is always stress being placed on the children that they would do well in their studies for a better future. Pressure was nearly like everywhere for the younger generation. Teenagers might just be too tired and shut themselves off from the world, that it had made them gangsters today.

It had not only endangered the safety of people in Singapore. However, seeing youngsters turning bad nowadays as the numbers are rising, it worries me. Has the younger generation turned that rebellious, what would the future look like when the younger generations are the ones that uphold the future? I would like to just end here by saying, it is you who hold on to your future, you who decide how it will be, would you want to crush it by your own hands? Maybe teenagers nowadays would like to this about this question.

Felicia Tan
104945D

Nov 17, 2010

PAN-ISLAND EXPRESSWAY ROAD ACCIDENT

Girl dies in PIE accident

Unfortunately the girl succumbed to her injuries at about 11 am and was pronounced dead, said the police spokesman.

It was an unfortunate incident that had happened to a girl who was only 12-years old this year. That day should have been a happy day for the Malays to celebrate their festival. However, on this day, this family lost their beloved elder child. It was an accident that happened on the PIE on Hari Raya Haji. There were three injuries, one death and massive traffic jam resulted from the incident.

From this article, it might just seem like a normal traffic incident that has happened. However, do you people think for another second that it might be because of people overlooking in the safety precautions that should have been taken in the first place? Singaporeans or you could say that nearly everyone are complacent about taking safety precautions. People often thought that these accidents that happened and what we have seen on the news would not happen to us. Moreover, what if it might just happen to us one day, we will never know. Through this article, I would like to remind everyone that we have always thought that many unfortunate things would not happen to us but we might not know that any day, ill luck may fall upon us. Therefore, do not be complacent, maybe by doing something a bit more would just save our lives someday.

Felicia Tan

104945D

I always lived in fear and danger

The New Paper | Mon Nov 8 2010

Gangster who once slashed rival till his head 'split open' gets changed by mother's love and a university dean's faith in him.

A DECADE ago, he was carrying choppers and spending his evenings fighting in gangs. Twice, he stabbed men from rival gangs. Both times, he paid for it - with hefty prison sentences and multiple strokes of the cane. Today, Mr David Thorairajan Manickam, 29, can only look back with deep remorse over his violent past. He is now on the cusp of graduating with a degree in Psychology and Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource at the Singapore Management University (SMU).

Firstly, I would like to say that I am glad that Mr. Thorairajan had changed a lot from his past and had turned to be a man that would stand out to the public and let them know about his past. And his only motive to let people know was because he wanted to teach the younger ones of not following his actions in the past. It had been a pain and remorseful past for him and a painful experience for his family. 

Secondly, from this phrase, “But all this would likely not have happened and he would have continued on his path of destruction if not for the one person who turned him around - his mother.”.  I was touched as i saw this phrase. His mum had always been there for him and till at the point of time where everything goes wrong for him, his mother saved him from getting deeper into endless destruction.

From this paragraph, “ Mr Thorairajan, who still sports tattoos all over his body and has the Tamil words "I am not a good guy but a bad guy" tattooed on the back of his right hand as a searing reminder of his dark past, told The New Paper on Sunday: "When she came to see me in jail the last time in 2002, I just burst out crying.We were separated by a glass panel and I couldn't even touch her."I realised then I had caused her and my family a lot of pain and I had to change."Her love supported me when I was in darkness and isolation in prison." .”

I felt heartbroken for him, as because of a moment of folly, he did such remorseful actions. Seeing how his dearest mum that loved him so much to cry for him, seeing his only beloved son in jail but was helpless. I could nearly feel how Mr. Thorairajan had felt at that moment, how painful would his heart had felt. How guilty and remorseful could he been at that point of time and regretful of his actions. Therefore, people please think carefully before you act, it may lead to something you might not have expected and may be disastrous.

Mr. Thorairajan changed much and studied hard as his efforts started to pay off. He took his N levels, O levels with five distinctions and A levels scoring five Bs. It was such a gleeful matter to know how hard he has worked out for all these results and had proved that he really wanted to change. As time passed by, he was out of prison and involved with the “’Architects of Life’ programme which it works with the youths at risk which they conduct motivational and educational programmes for various schools.

Mr. Thorairajan said, "I use my life as an ex-offender to tell young people that they can turn their lives around too. I want to inspire others to realise that if I can do this, they can do it too." I found that he was very courageous to be able to speak about his past to let the young people know that although they may had done wrong, but if they wanted to turn back, there is always a chance and the first thing to do would be giving yourself a chance to turn back.

Lastly, I would like to say about recent cases in Singapore. Singapore had quite a few cases of death recently such as the death at Downtown east. I wish they would be able to learn from Mr. Thorairajan  to turn back in life or be able to pull themselves from the path of destruction as from what Mr. Thorairajan said, "I want to tell them that whatever they do affects not only themselves, but their loved ones." .”

In conclusion, I would like to say if you think your life only belongs to you and what might happen to you is only concern to yourself, you are totally WRONG. I do not believe that people are born to be bad but changed due to various factors and mostly, people have their loved ones too. Therefore, think for a moment, what effect it might have on your loved ones before you take any actions. You would not like to be like Mr. Thorairajan when he was in jail and heartbroken he was to see his beloved mother to cry helplessly and knew that everything was too late.

Felicia Tan

Admin No. : 104945D

  

Why Singapore can't produce a Zuckerberg ?

Mon, Nov 01, 2010, my paper From this article, I find that it’s true that Singaporeans does not have a type of spirit that they would work hard and willing to take the risk to set up their own business. From a statement in the news article, “In the film The Social Network, Mr Zuckerberg was portrayed as a rebellious geek who stood up to authority. Mr Mohan Belani, 27, who co-founded a home-grown mobile social-gaming start-up this year, said while the education system here produces good workers to join multinational corporations, it is "very hard to find raw talent here who would be willing to take the risk, join start-ups and slug it out for a year or two". ” I totally agree with the statement as we, Singaporeans often are being protected by our parents and being influenced by a mindset that we should always try to work hard just for a stable and high pay position and this is our typical Singaporean ‘kiasu’ spirit. I think that there are talents in Singapore but none would dare to take a risk to set a business that have unpredicted future. Another statement from the news, “Pundits cite factors such as the nation's limited pool of resources and, more importantly, its kiasu climate of being afraid to fail or lose face.”. I felt that this is true that Singaporeans are ‘kiasu’ and I felt that this has to be changed because Singapore most important resource is human resource. Although the present, was the Y-Generation, the youngsters are often being influenced by their parents and I would not wish that this would continue. If Singapore continues to promote this ‘kiasu’ spirit, Singapore would not be able to advance in any area when other countries are advancing in fast speed in every second. Singapore would lose out to other countries if this continues! In conclusion, I felt that Singaporeans should walk out of the black box and have the spirit in having the willingness to take risk in their business to let themselves succeed in the future, as without failure, you would not be able to go as far as to your potential.

Name: Felicia Tan
Admin No. : 104945D

Rent your friendship for up to S$65 an hour

You can look for friends to rent on US website, but creator says it's no escort agency. -TNP on 25th October 2010

When I saw this article, I find it fascinating and curious about its title. A thought came into my mind, “How can friendship be bought?!” Therefore, I continued reading on and I realized that there is a website providing service of renting a friend, which originated in the US last year. I find it ridiculous that friendship could be rent because a friendship that you gain should be a bond you build with a person over time and in turn, becoming friends. However from this website, you could rent a friend by paying a rate of $65 per hour. I find it unbelievable that people use money to want to have an experience of having a friend.

From what the article had shown, there was nearly 3,000 people who are willing to pay for the friendship, I would find it difficult to stand in their shoes, to understand why.  I could not imagine that the society had turned to a state that even friendship could be brought. Have the world change to an extent that there genuine friendship does not exist?  Maybe I’m still young and have not really been into the society, that’s why I felt that it’s common for people to have friends.

 Although there may be many hypocrites in the working world and would be difficult to build a genuine friendship between your colleagues, I do not believe you need to use money to gain a friendship. Additionally, I believe that this friendship bought would not be genuine and could last long because friendship should not be measured by money.  In conclusion, I just wanted to share this article because I wanted to let people to take notice of how this world has changed and to cherish their friends because friendship is precious.

Source of article: http://www.digitalone.com.sg/news/article/13615/1

Felicia Tan =)

104945D