Title: Bus driver inconsiderate and rude
Writer: Sim Khae Bin
Date: Jan 30,2010
UPL: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_483953.html
I REFER to this Saturday's letter from Mr. Sim Khae Bin 'Bus driver inconsiderate and rude'
A couple of senior citizens who are over 60 took SBS bus on this Tuesday. The old woman is handicapped and uses a walking stick so the old man asked the driver to move nearer the kerb when reached the bus stop. The bus captain refused his request and shouted that the bus was crowded when the old man asking for reason.
I am sorry to hear that. Senior citizens had contributed to the society when they are young. As the increase of the age, they gradually become disability. They need help and regard when they are old. Morally speaking, people should help them as much as they can especially the handicapped ones.
In addition, SBS Transit is a company that serve the public. Bus drivers have obligations to provide convenience to the passenger especially the elder and deformity. I think that SBS Transit should think about it.
I hope the public traffic can become better. All people live in a harmonious society.
Seth
Sunday, January 31, 2010
ST Forum: Police officer taking his time to investigate accident
Title：Police officer taking his time to investigate accident
Writer：Radiah Baba (Madam)
Date: Jan 30,2010
URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_483954.html
I REFER to this Saturday's letter by Ms. Radiah Baba, 'Police officer taking his time to investigate accident '.
In this letter, she firstly told about the traffic accident her husband and relatives had last month. Her family got many troubles in insurance claim and were caught in a predicament. What has made her most upset was the attitude of the police investigating officer.She was at a lost and was anxious that the police can expedite
investigations.
I understand the situation Radiah is in and I would like to share her pain.I am also glad that they are all alive. For her question, firstly, I want to point out that even with death, it still take some time to investigate. The police has to follow rules to ensure justice.They could not simply rule out the fact that someone could be at fault. Besides, there is a lot of work behind the accident,and there are many accidents every day. In addition, there are other more urgent accidents than hers. Therefore, the police needs many time to work on these cases for further and better investigation.
On the countrary, I hope some higher authority will take some measures. They could improve their management and change some process reasonably to improve the efficiency of the police. It could make them better serve the victims and make the best possible to minimize their loss.
At last, I hope Ms Radiah Baba can relax and be calm. Most importantly, take care of the health at this moment.
Amy
Writer：Radiah Baba (Madam)
Date: Jan 30,2010
URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_483954.html
I REFER to this Saturday's letter by Ms. Radiah Baba, 'Police officer taking his time to investigate accident '.
In this letter, she firstly told about the traffic accident her husband and relatives had last month. Her family got many troubles in insurance claim and were caught in a predicament. What has made her most upset was the attitude of the police investigating officer.She was at a lost and was anxious that the police can expedite
investigations.
I understand the situation Radiah is in and I would like to share her pain.I am also glad that they are all alive. For her question, firstly, I want to point out that even with death, it still take some time to investigate. The police has to follow rules to ensure justice.They could not simply rule out the fact that someone could be at fault. Besides, there is a lot of work behind the accident,and there are many accidents every day. In addition, there are other more urgent accidents than hers. Therefore, the police needs many time to work on these cases for further and better investigation.
On the countrary, I hope some higher authority will take some measures. They could improve their management and change some process reasonably to improve the efficiency of the police. It could make them better serve the victims and make the best possible to minimize their loss.
At last, I hope Ms Radiah Baba can relax and be calm. Most importantly, take care of the health at this moment.
Amy
Saturday, January 30, 2010
ST Forum: Real challenge is changing mindsets
-Title: Real challenge is changing mindsets
-Writers: Halimah Yacob(Madam) and Bob Tan, Co-Chairmen, Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices
-Date: Jan 29, 2010
-URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_483576.html
Comment by Brandy:
I REFER to Ms. Halimah Yacob and Mr. Bob Tan’s letter this Friday, ‘Real challenge is changing mindsets’. In the letter, they mentioned that some jobs have special language requirements. This, to some extent, may course discrimination. Hence, they suggested that the employers should explain the reasons of the language requirements clearly to avoid the negative effect on the employees. However, the most important point they are concerning about is changing the mindsets and avoiding discrimination in the real work instead of written advertisements. Although people are trying hard to change it, there is still unfairness among employees. They think people should still work on this and focus on the capability instead of race of an employee.
I strongly agree with the writers. Race and language should not be considered as criteria of the jobs, expect some special cases as language education. We cannot deny that certain races might achieve a lot in certain fields, so people tend to hire certain races for certain jobs, such like Indians are good at Electronic area. However, I think, this also cannot be a criterion. People can get certain skills is not because they are certain races. It is because what they learnt and how they were trained. Like Chinese can also speak good English, other races which do not seem to be good at an area may also have elites. Hence, it is really unfair to have such requirements. However, language is still important. Employees must have the ability to communicate with each other, so English, the global language, should be required. But it will be unreasonable, if you want a casher who must be able to speak mandarin.
It is true that many companies had already changed their criteria, but how can they insure they will not tent to select employees of certain races? As the writers said, it is important to change our mind and treat every race equal. Capability is the thing employers should look for.
-Writers: Halimah Yacob(Madam) and Bob Tan, Co-Chairmen, Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices
-Date: Jan 29, 2010
-URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_483576.html
Comment by Brandy:
I REFER to Ms. Halimah Yacob and Mr. Bob Tan’s letter this Friday, ‘Real challenge is changing mindsets’. In the letter, they mentioned that some jobs have special language requirements. This, to some extent, may course discrimination. Hence, they suggested that the employers should explain the reasons of the language requirements clearly to avoid the negative effect on the employees. However, the most important point they are concerning about is changing the mindsets and avoiding discrimination in the real work instead of written advertisements. Although people are trying hard to change it, there is still unfairness among employees. They think people should still work on this and focus on the capability instead of race of an employee.
I strongly agree with the writers. Race and language should not be considered as criteria of the jobs, expect some special cases as language education. We cannot deny that certain races might achieve a lot in certain fields, so people tend to hire certain races for certain jobs, such like Indians are good at Electronic area. However, I think, this also cannot be a criterion. People can get certain skills is not because they are certain races. It is because what they learnt and how they were trained. Like Chinese can also speak good English, other races which do not seem to be good at an area may also have elites. Hence, it is really unfair to have such requirements. However, language is still important. Employees must have the ability to communicate with each other, so English, the global language, should be required. But it will be unreasonable, if you want a casher who must be able to speak mandarin.
It is true that many companies had already changed their criteria, but how can they insure they will not tent to select employees of certain races? As the writers said, it is important to change our mind and treat every race equal. Capability is the thing employers should look for.
Last time's comments by Brandy
Brandy commented on Alphabet Crystal's and Girls &hill's Rachel's passages.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
ST Forum : Reward employees who work smart
1)Written by: Crystal
2)Title of article: Reward employees who work smart
3)Anthor of article: Eric J.Brooks
4)Date of publishment: 28 Jan 2010
5)URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_483064.html
I REFER to the letter “Rewards employees who work smart” written by Eric J. Brooks. In the letter, the writer firstly pointed out that “doing more work in less time” was the core of the problem which PM had come up with in Tuesday’s report. Hence, the protraction of working hours or the growth of employment was useless to increase the productivity. Then he compared the two different working situations in Asian nations and California. He figured out that the working system in California focused more on the productivity while working hours and work style seems more significant in Asian nations. At last, he suggested rewarding employees those who work smarter to build up the new work value.
In my view, I strongly support his opinion. With the rapid development of technology, Singapore has already done a good job in economic growth. However, why did PM still point the low productivity out as a problem in Singapore? It is because that the low productivity in Singapore is not a problem caused by low level of technology but by an antiquated work value, which will have negative effects if not dealt with seriously.
In most Asian countries, working longer and harder represents the better quality of an employee, which affected the productivity seriously and emphasizes a wrong work value. To achieve a “better” quality, employees may spend half a day to finish the work which can be done in two hours. If those employees are rewarded by their “hardworking” and make others follow their examples, the productivity will definitely reduce. Hence, to increase the productivity, the most significant part is to establish a new reward system to encourage the “smarter” workers but not the harder ones. For those who did their work with low efficiency, no matter how harder they work, they should be reconsidered whether they are competent for the job. Also, the employers should make full use of the modern technology and make working more flexible. If the workers have higher efficiency at home or at night, they can be allowed to bring their work home. We should not be the slave of work and so formalistic. Just make working easy and relaxed, maybe we can get a better outcome.
2)Title of article: Reward employees who work smart
3)Anthor of article: Eric J.Brooks
4)Date of publishment: 28 Jan 2010
5)URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_483064.html
I REFER to the letter “Rewards employees who work smart” written by Eric J. Brooks. In the letter, the writer firstly pointed out that “doing more work in less time” was the core of the problem which PM had come up with in Tuesday’s report. Hence, the protraction of working hours or the growth of employment was useless to increase the productivity. Then he compared the two different working situations in Asian nations and California. He figured out that the working system in California focused more on the productivity while working hours and work style seems more significant in Asian nations. At last, he suggested rewarding employees those who work smarter to build up the new work value.
In my view, I strongly support his opinion. With the rapid development of technology, Singapore has already done a good job in economic growth. However, why did PM still point the low productivity out as a problem in Singapore? It is because that the low productivity in Singapore is not a problem caused by low level of technology but by an antiquated work value, which will have negative effects if not dealt with seriously.
In most Asian countries, working longer and harder represents the better quality of an employee, which affected the productivity seriously and emphasizes a wrong work value. To achieve a “better” quality, employees may spend half a day to finish the work which can be done in two hours. If those employees are rewarded by their “hardworking” and make others follow their examples, the productivity will definitely reduce. Hence, to increase the productivity, the most significant part is to establish a new reward system to encourage the “smarter” workers but not the harder ones. For those who did their work with low efficiency, no matter how harder they work, they should be reconsidered whether they are competent for the job. Also, the employers should make full use of the modern technology and make working more flexible. If the workers have higher efficiency at home or at night, they can be allowed to bring their work home. We should not be the slave of work and so formalistic. Just make working easy and relaxed, maybe we can get a better outcome.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Reflection from Brandy
The Article: Tensions Mount in Devastated Capital as Nations Step up Aid Pledges to Haiti
By Marc Lacey
Published: January 14, 2010
From New York Times,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/world/americas/15haiti.html?pagewanted=all
The Comment:
Recently, there was an earthquake happened in Haiti. This article meanly talked about the struggle of people in Haiti and the circumstance of aid. This reminds me of the Wenchuan earthquake happened in China in 2008. We can still remember the scenes of collapsed buildings and crying people. The feeling of helplessness in front of nature is still fresh. The world gave us another shock, Haiti’s earthquake.
Now, the aid is the most important thing to the victims. We can see many countries are sending their troops to Haiti to rescue those who are still buried under the ruins. However, there are so many refugees who need shelters, food and medicine. The insufficiency of goods actually caused chaos. Because of different policies, unlike China, there are many robberies happened to shops. The police also did not do their work well. Maybe the control of the refugee area is also very important. The ignorance of it may cause extra death.
People in Haiti are waiting for the aid thirstily. I think the aid arrived too late. Every minute counts in rescue. However, different countries may have different reasons which we cannot conjecture, but I really hope the aid can arrive at the first place. Now, I really wish people in Haiti can get through this hard period. We still get time. We still have hope.
After all the tsunamis and earthquakes, it seems that we start to face more natural disasters than we expected. What should we do? Will we be faced the situation of 2012? Is negative protecting the only thing we can do? I think the protection of our earth should be taken serious.
By Marc Lacey
Published: January 14, 2010
From New York Times,
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/world/americas/15haiti.html?pagewanted=all
The Comment:
Recently, there was an earthquake happened in Haiti. This article meanly talked about the struggle of people in Haiti and the circumstance of aid. This reminds me of the Wenchuan earthquake happened in China in 2008. We can still remember the scenes of collapsed buildings and crying people. The feeling of helplessness in front of nature is still fresh. The world gave us another shock, Haiti’s earthquake.
Now, the aid is the most important thing to the victims. We can see many countries are sending their troops to Haiti to rescue those who are still buried under the ruins. However, there are so many refugees who need shelters, food and medicine. The insufficiency of goods actually caused chaos. Because of different policies, unlike China, there are many robberies happened to shops. The police also did not do their work well. Maybe the control of the refugee area is also very important. The ignorance of it may cause extra death.
People in Haiti are waiting for the aid thirstily. I think the aid arrived too late. Every minute counts in rescue. However, different countries may have different reasons which we cannot conjecture, but I really hope the aid can arrive at the first place. Now, I really wish people in Haiti can get through this hard period. We still get time. We still have hope.
After all the tsunamis and earthquakes, it seems that we start to face more natural disasters than we expected. What should we do? Will we be faced the situation of 2012? Is negative protecting the only thing we can do? I think the protection of our earth should be taken serious.
Avatar: The View from China
1) Written by: Crystal
2) Title: Avatar: The View from China
3) Source: Times Online
http://timesonline.typepad.com/blockbuster_buzz/2010/01/avatar-the-view-from-china.html
4) Author: Michael Moran
5) Date of Publishing: 15th Jan 2010
Summary:
The news was mainly about the views from Chinese audiences towards the new 3D movie “Avatar” recently. Avatar had achieved a great success in China since the film opened and drew forth a lot of comments about the plot: how Na’vi, a native group, protected their home from exploration by others. Some of the Chinese audiences regarded the movie as an innuendo of Chinese government’s land-exploitation and violent eviction. They hold the opinion that the Na’vi in the movie were a reflection of a Chinese “nail house” or someone challenged the authorities. The article also quoted two bloggers from China, Han Han and A Cup of Green Tea. Both of them pointed out the resemblance of the movie to real situation in China.
My own view:
Similarly, I also found the similarities between the Na’vi native group and “nail houses”. Both of them did not give in the powerful authorities and tried to prevent their home from destroying. Moreover, both of them did not accept the advices from the authorities and paid a lot for their persistence. Na'vi finally succeeded, while "nail houses" always eventuate in a failure.
However, I did not agree with some ideas in the news. Firstly, for most times, the “nail houses” chose to use their lives to threaten or just persist for a more acceptable condition, not just based on their love toward their homeland, which is different with Na’vi in the movie. Also, I do not think that the exploitation and eviction only happened in China as Han Han had claimed. As a blogger on Times Online said, “It probably could happen only in China, unless you happen to be an Australian Maralinga or a South Seas islander living on a bomb test site.” In the other area of the world, violent exploitation even without informing also happened and led to a terrible life and great loss to local residents. I wondered the reason why people only focused on China every time there were unpleasant innuendoes in works of art. Maybe we should give more attention on the idea about “love of home”, “dignity” or “greed” in the movie, not only the situation in China which had already draw attention of authorities long before and been improved to a certain extent.
2) Title: Avatar: The View from China
3) Source: Times Online
http://timesonline.typepad.com/blockbuster_buzz/2010/01/avatar-the-view-from-china.html
4) Author: Michael Moran
5) Date of Publishing: 15th Jan 2010
Summary:
The news was mainly about the views from Chinese audiences towards the new 3D movie “Avatar” recently. Avatar had achieved a great success in China since the film opened and drew forth a lot of comments about the plot: how Na’vi, a native group, protected their home from exploration by others. Some of the Chinese audiences regarded the movie as an innuendo of Chinese government’s land-exploitation and violent eviction. They hold the opinion that the Na’vi in the movie were a reflection of a Chinese “nail house” or someone challenged the authorities. The article also quoted two bloggers from China, Han Han and A Cup of Green Tea. Both of them pointed out the resemblance of the movie to real situation in China.
My own view:
Similarly, I also found the similarities between the Na’vi native group and “nail houses”. Both of them did not give in the powerful authorities and tried to prevent their home from destroying. Moreover, both of them did not accept the advices from the authorities and paid a lot for their persistence. Na'vi finally succeeded, while "nail houses" always eventuate in a failure.
However, I did not agree with some ideas in the news. Firstly, for most times, the “nail houses” chose to use their lives to threaten or just persist for a more acceptable condition, not just based on their love toward their homeland, which is different with Na’vi in the movie. Also, I do not think that the exploitation and eviction only happened in China as Han Han had claimed. As a blogger on Times Online said, “It probably could happen only in China, unless you happen to be an Australian Maralinga or a South Seas islander living on a bomb test site.” In the other area of the world, violent exploitation even without informing also happened and led to a terrible life and great loss to local residents. I wondered the reason why people only focused on China every time there were unpleasant innuendoes in works of art. Maybe we should give more attention on the idea about “love of home”, “dignity” or “greed” in the movie, not only the situation in China which had already draw attention of authorities long before and been improved to a certain extent.
Reflection
article title: The 11 Best Foods You Aren’t Eating
name of article writer: Tara Parker-pope
date of article: June 30, 2008
source of article: The New York Times
(http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/the-11-best-foods-you-arent-eating/?em)
In this article, nutritionist suggested people to eat some healthful foods which people hardly eating. Dr. Bowden listed 11 kinds of simple but nutritive foods which include beets, cabbage, Swiss chard, cinnamon, pomegranate juice, dried plums, pumpkin seeds, sardines, turmeric, frozen blueberries and canned pumpkin.
Seth
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