http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A8100797-B0E5-4440-BDCC-6FBADEBEAD9D.htm

In the recent mining accident that happened in China, 181 miners were left trapped in the mine due to unexpected flooding. Although government authorities claim that it was a natural disaster, many relatives of those miners feel that the government is not putting any rescue effort and this has sparked riots.

While you may feel that this kind of accidents happen often and should not be bothered about, I beg to differ. Not only are the lives of the people at stake here but the integrity of the government officials in China are also being questioned. The relatives of the miners have been kept in the dark ever since the flood had left 181 miners trapped and the authorities have made no attempt to inform them of anything. I feel that it is the duty of the authorities to inform relatives as they would be misplacing the trust of the relatives if they do not do so. I believe that people are certainly able to empathize with these people. How would one feel if their loved ones are trapped and no one is doing anything about it?

As China’s economy continues to grow at an increasing rate, it is important to realize that even though China’s economy is doing very well, there are still many socials problems in China. Unless China can solve these problems, the citizens of China would continue to suffer. In the future, China is set to become one of the most powerful countries in the world with its booming economy, however, how can a country ever progress if even safety in the country is in doubt? Instead of blaming such disasters on nature and avoiding the problem, China government officials should be taking full responsibility and try to solve the problem. This is not the first time such accidents had happened and many lives had already been lost in the past. Yet, the government has done nothing about it.

Many of these miners are already from poor families. Yet, they still have to risk their lives being lost just to earn enough money for their family to live. In China, polarization happens at extremes. On one hand, there are people in China rich enough to go on holidays while on the other hand, there are also people who do not even have the money to eat a meal once a day. As we can see from this article, miners are being sent into the nearly 1000m deep even though the flooding threat was growing. Is this a case of corruption? Why couldn’t the mining company had got the miners to safety before it was too late? I feel that the rich people in China are corrupted and often use their wealth to control the poor. Unless this social issues are solved, I just cannot see how China’s society can continue to progress as a nation.

In conclusion, I feel that although the disaster was an accident, the minister should not be trying to deflect the criticism but take full responsibility for it and make sure measures are taken to make sure it does not happen again.


Samson
Never Give Up!!!

6:20 PM

http://news.asiaone.com/
News/The+Straits+Times/Story/ERP+extended+to+more+roads.html


Recently, a total of 12 new ERP (Electronic road pricing) gantries were erected in many parts of Singapore such as Toa Payoh, Kallang and other roads which are often congested during peak hours. 1 new gantry would start operating in the mornings when it opens on Oct 26th at the first stretch of the New Kallang-Paya Lebar expressway while 4 others would be activated from Nov 1st. The rest of the gantries would be erected but only activated when it is deemed necessary.

The government’s rationale for opening more ERP gantries is simple, to reduce the traffic congestion in many roads in Singapore due to the increasing number of people owning cars in Singapore. From 2006-2007, there was an increase of about 7% on the number of vehicles in Singapore, the greatest jump in many years. Without the implementation of more ERP gantries, there could be serious consequences. Not only does traffic congestion affect drivers, but it would also affect Singapore’s image as a country with efficient transport due to the time wasted. Many businesses would be affected as much time would be wasted on transport alone and the efficiency would be affected. In this way, the ERP does have its benefits as it would benefit us in the long run.

However, the view from the general public might be completely contrasting. With the implementation of ERP, drivers have to “pay” a small fee ranging from $1 to $2.50 during peak hours in order to use the road. Thus, many drivers are not happy as even though this might be a small amount, it amounts to a lot of money in the long term as many people drive to work every day. On the other hand, I feel that the negatives of ERP has been greatly exaggerated by Singaporeans as this small fee is really not much to many drivers. The fact that he or she is an owner of a car proves that they are not poor and would not affect their financial income even in the long run. So why can’t they afford a small fee from ERP?

ERP is not the only way to solve the problem of road congestion in Singapore. In fact, has the implementation of ERP really solved the problem? Last year, the increase of ERP rates has resulted in many drivers detouring to other roads to avoid the payment. However, this was only short term as many of these roads became congested soon afterwards as drivers feel that the fuel usage of using taking such detours would even be more than the amount that they have to pay through ERP.

Therefore, a better solution could be the construction of new roads to ease the traffic congestions in certain roads. Perhaps with the construction of other efficient roads, drivers would not be congested on 1 road. In the long term, this would allow drivers other alternatives and ease the traffic congestion during peak hours. However, I do understand the shortcomings on this problem. The government might not be willing to construct such roads due to the fact that it would be costly and also due to the lack of land space in Singapore.

In conclusion, although ERP does have its advantages, it might yet to be the best solutions to the traffic congestion in Singapore. After all, Albert Einstein once said that “When the solution is simple, God is answering.”

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

6:13 PM

Some people are really naturally born lame and funny. Let me show you 2 examples.

While Gan was drinking his milo, dehong decided to snatch it as usual. Then Gan of course immediately told him to give it back. Then de hong said "Wait.............. Pipette first"

Then today, before the Abassador's series talk max was trying to wear his tie, dehong decided to show his lame side again. Max was wearing his tie then I remembered what happened yesterday and told him to pipette his tie. Then max said titrate the tie lar. Dehong, as lame as usual said "eh, TIE-trate" LOL

According to max, dehong is suppose to be his shifu. Anyway, when theres max and dehong with you, its seriously hard to stop laughing. But whats life without humour =)


Never Give Up!!!

Samson

8:55 PM

Lessons were pretty much the usual today. We watched "The Last Castle" for 2 hours man for ss so slack =). Too bad today no chinese cannot “闭目养神. Those from 3G and 3B would understand ^^. Then eng presentation thought it would be today but didn't present as only 5 min left.... So long still cannot get that over with.

After school, went for morrison meeting to sign up for exco. lol really hope I can get into morrison exco next year =). After that, went to eat lunch with Gan, Zhuo Yang, KC, Max, Joewie. Then went to watch the karaoke competition. Well, when there are good performances, there would always be bad performances. Didnt get to watch Daniel perform as need to go for interact =( (Cannot laugh). Then when I almost finish mentoring at about 4.15, cytam called me to tell me I forgot to for Bio DMP and had already missed 2 hours of it. Wth man. Who was the one you told me it was next week? . Nvm, cytam since I'm a kind person I shall forgive you. In the end, I rushed back to school at 4.30 and only did half an hour of DMP. So wasted.... Then Gan started spraying me and cytam with enthanol....

Next week is crazy man.
Mon- Maths cct
Tue-Nothing yet
Weds-Chinese cct
Thurs-Nothing yet
Fri-Chem titration test and physics concept map test.

AHH I'm gonna die next week from mugging...

Just finished my bio concept map ^^
Until next time...

Never Give Up!!!

Samson

9:23 PM

I dunno why but I suddenly feel like updating my blog since its like so dead and got no more tests until week 5(not sure whether next week got physics practical) =)I can see that my tagboard is deader than ever. lol. Maybe, this blog might be revived after all.

Went to watch Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today. Luckily tests are over for now if not also not time to watch. The movie, as a whole, was not as nice as I expected. Maybe cause after reading the book, I expected the movie to illustrate it even better. However, many parts of the book were cut from the movie, to minimize running time I think. So many parts were like cut and many facts were wrong jus like the previous harry potter movies. Eg. in the movie, Cho betrayed the DA but in the book it was actually her friend and they changed many parts at the last part of the book about the battle in the department of mysteries. Anyway, overall, it was still an enjoyable movie so I'll recommend harry potter fans to watch it =)

Oyea, and while reading some article today, I realize Emma Watson, who acts as Hermione Granger has the same birthday as me. lol

7th book is coming out next sat, cant wait to read it. Thats all for today. Time to slp


Never Give Up!!!

Samson

11:05 PM

Article

http://business.asiaone.com/Business/News/SME%2BCentral/Story/A1Story20070625-15330.html

Recently, there have been plans to have a new law by 2012 to help seniors get rehired. However, this does not mean that the retirement age would be raised but it just means that there would be more flexibility. This would allow healthy older workers to continue to work even after the retirement age as this law would require companies to rehire holder workers.

From the old workers point of view, they would be very happy with this new law as it would allow them to work pass the retirement age. This is important to many of them as they are still healthy and many of them do not have enough savings from their golden years to sustain themselves. With this law, older people would no longer be discriminated against and not hired just because of their age as companies would be given more funds to recruit, retain and rehire older workers as many of these older workers might not work as efficiently as the younger ones. Therefore, this law would allow older workers to continue to earn enough money to sustain themselves.

However, from the government’s point of view, their purpose of making this law might be completely different. As Singapore population continues to age, the government needs to find a solution keep older workers working so that Singapore would have enough labour. By 2020, there would be more than 500000 people aged 65 and above in Singapore and this could be a big problem. In order for Singapore’s economic growth to continue, there is a need for more people to work and the aging population in Singapore might become a big obstacle as there is less labour. While there is still time before this law would be confirmed, the government would feel a need for it to be implemented quicker as the companies would be able to accept the law instead of going against it since Singapore economy is good at the moment.

Lastly, from the companies point of view, this law would cause many problems for them as they would be forced to rehire older workers pass the retirement age. This would prove a disadvantage to them as older workers tend to be less efficient than younger workers. The rehiring of older workers might affect the progress of the company as it would slow down the company’s renewal process. Yet, even with the funds provided by the government, many companies would feel that it is not enough as they no longer have the freedom to hire all their workers. This might caused the companies to start retrenching their older workers before they reach the retirement age.

In conclusion, looking at the bigger picture, we can tell them this new law would have many implications, both good and bad. I feel that there is a need for this new law mainly because of Singapore’s aging population. Without enough workers in Singapore, Singapore’s economy might be affected and this can affect the growth and progress of Singapore as a whole. Therefore, I believed that although this law does have negative implications, the positive implications would overshadow it.



Never Give Up!!!

Samson

10:17 PM

I've decided to keep this blog alive. =) lol.

Went to register for my IC today at the immigration centre with my mum, which was quite far. Not the first time there but quite a cool place. I must look weird since students are suppose to be in school at 9am in the morning. So reach there and went to look at the address, it says 8th floor. I was like wth I'm sure. We took the lift to 8th floor and realized that it was only for authorized access. So my mum check the paper again and found out that we read the wrong thing. =.=. Waste our time. So in the end went back to 3rd floor. Fast sia no one there. Jus sat down on the counter when someone called me. I turned to my left and saw Peisu. Cool sia, didnt expect to meet someone at the immigration centre. Must be because this is the last day and his birthday is on April too, in fact 2 days earlier than me. Then after that, recognized another RI boy, though I dunno him. lol this day off for people to register for their IC sia.

Then in the afternoon for a meeting for the organizing commitee. Need to discuss on the camp. Then stupid Wayne Chan keep whacking me whack until I fall off the bench..........He so fat, how to expect me to retaliate. Opps I mean big size.

At night, was eating dinner at home with my family when the topic of food came up. We were trying to find a kind of food which only my father eats but not the rest of us. Finally we found out, that it was celery. Guess wad my father said.

Of course only I eat celery, I'm the only one who got salary wad. LOL funny sia make us all laugh. I also found out that my mother eats yellow pepper 0.o . Then my sister go ask wad is yellow pepper, say she only heard before yellow pineapple. I was like dotzzz, arent all pineapples yellow.

Chionging hw now =( so many things to do. Lucky got 4 days holiday if not even worse.

Cant believe I updated it 2 days in a row.



Never Give Up!!!

Samson

8:24 PM