There are certain logical fallacies in speeches of certain contestants of the upcoming GE. For example, The Straits Times wrote that Wong Kan Seng stated "during all his neighbourhood visit, nobody had asked him about Mas Selamat". However, this has no link to the question whether he is responsible for Mas Selamat's escape and why voters should support him even after the Mas Selamat incident.
The opposition candidate for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Chiam See Tong, also had logical fallacy in his speech when he rebutted the claim that he only made one comment throughout the parliament meetings discussing about Mas Selamat's escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre. Chiam See Tong said that he asked "whether heads would roll over the issue of Mas Selamat. The PAP did not give me a good answer. The reason I didn't ask more question was that we were waiting for the elections, and we believe in accountability". Firstly, Chiam See Tong only stated the the PAP MPs did not give him a good answer. However, he did not state what were their answers. Hence, without even hearing what the PAP MPs said, we cannot assume that their answers were not good. Moreover, his statement that "the reason I didn't ask more questions was that we were waiting for the elections, and we believe in accountability" is also flawed. There is no link in the sentence "the reason I didn't ask more question was that we were waiting for the elections". It would not make a difference whether Wong Kan Seng is accountable for Mas Selemat's escape whether the questions were asked then or when the elections come.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Can students be given the autonomy to develop their own curriculum?
Students should not be given the autonomy to develop their own curriculum. If they are allowed to develop their curriculum, education would not be as effective, to the extent that they might not even learn anything.
Students definitely would not know what is needed to succeed in life, or they would not even need education. Hence, they will not be able to come up with proper plans for their curriculum. Moreover, students of lower levels, being immature people, may just end up adding things that they prefer doing rather than things that can aid in self-improvement into the curriculum. Teachers, having gone through enough experiences in life, would understand better what is needed to succeed in life, and can plan the curriculum such that students can learn these skills.
While some may argue that we school should be an enjoyable experience, joy should not be compromised with the goals of education. The purpose of education is to equip students with the necessary skills that can come in useful in life, whether at that point in time or at a later stage of life. Education also aims to instill a good sense of self-awareness, a sound moral compass for pupils. Education also aims to groom responsible and confident people, as well as self-directed learners. If students were to come up with the curriculum, will they be able to come up with an apt one that can satisfy the goals stated?
Hence, I feel that students should not be given the autonomy to develop their own curriculum.
Students definitely would not know what is needed to succeed in life, or they would not even need education. Hence, they will not be able to come up with proper plans for their curriculum. Moreover, students of lower levels, being immature people, may just end up adding things that they prefer doing rather than things that can aid in self-improvement into the curriculum. Teachers, having gone through enough experiences in life, would understand better what is needed to succeed in life, and can plan the curriculum such that students can learn these skills.
While some may argue that we school should be an enjoyable experience, joy should not be compromised with the goals of education. The purpose of education is to equip students with the necessary skills that can come in useful in life, whether at that point in time or at a later stage of life. Education also aims to instill a good sense of self-awareness, a sound moral compass for pupils. Education also aims to groom responsible and confident people, as well as self-directed learners. If students were to come up with the curriculum, will they be able to come up with an apt one that can satisfy the goals stated?
Hence, I feel that students should not be given the autonomy to develop their own curriculum.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Why should we bother about things happening far away from us?
In whichever aspect, a country would definitely be affected by an event happening in another. Nowadays, the world is getting increasingly connected, and we will have to be aware of the things happening far away from us, things occurring in faraway foreign places.
Events occurring in faraway places can affect our economy. For example, in the recent earthquake that shook Japan that started on March 11 2011, the economy of the areas affected by the earthquake came near to a standstill, causing a decrease in the overall Japanese produce. As Japan is the third-largest economy and exports large amounts of goods, many countries are dependent on the goods produced by Japan. A decline in Japanese produce would result in an increase in the prices of the products of Japan. Another example, which has caused mass economic devastation worldwide, would be the 2008 US recession. Although the sub-prime mortgage only occured in the US, the crisis resulted in many economies around the world to plunge into recession. Therefore, no matter how far away the event is from us, it would still affect us economically.
Knowing about and caring about events happening in countries far away from us would allow us to react to them on time. Perhaps, knowing about the things happening far away from us could even save our lives. Take the 2004 Asian tsunami for example. The epicentre of the tsunami was off Aceh, Indonesia. Although the epicentre of the quake was hundreds of kilometres away from countries like India, tha Maldives and Thailand, these countries, which have coasts facing the Indian Ocean, were not spared from the huge waves. If these people were had kept up with the news, had known that a tsunami had hit the west coast of Sumatra, and had some knowledge about tsunami, they could have escaped on time before the tsunami whipped the shores of these countries. From the above example, we can tell that being aware of events happening in other countries would allow us to react on time.
Being aware of things happening in other countries can also help improve political relationship between countries. When a country experiences trouble, other countries who are aware of the situation can offer help. When the troubled countries would be thankful to those who rendered assistance, and this will improve ties between these countries. For example, during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Japan was one of the first countries to offer help in rescue services. China appreciated the help to a certain extent and during the recent Japan earthquake, China sent a rescue team to Japan to reciprocate their previous assistance.
Events occurring in faraway places can affect our economy. For example, in the recent earthquake that shook Japan that started on March 11 2011, the economy of the areas affected by the earthquake came near to a standstill, causing a decrease in the overall Japanese produce. As Japan is the third-largest economy and exports large amounts of goods, many countries are dependent on the goods produced by Japan. A decline in Japanese produce would result in an increase in the prices of the products of Japan. Another example, which has caused mass economic devastation worldwide, would be the 2008 US recession. Although the sub-prime mortgage only occured in the US, the crisis resulted in many economies around the world to plunge into recession. Therefore, no matter how far away the event is from us, it would still affect us economically.
Knowing about and caring about events happening in countries far away from us would allow us to react to them on time. Perhaps, knowing about the things happening far away from us could even save our lives. Take the 2004 Asian tsunami for example. The epicentre of the tsunami was off Aceh, Indonesia. Although the epicentre of the quake was hundreds of kilometres away from countries like India, tha Maldives and Thailand, these countries, which have coasts facing the Indian Ocean, were not spared from the huge waves. If these people were had kept up with the news, had known that a tsunami had hit the west coast of Sumatra, and had some knowledge about tsunami, they could have escaped on time before the tsunami whipped the shores of these countries. From the above example, we can tell that being aware of events happening in other countries would allow us to react on time.
Being aware of things happening in other countries can also help improve political relationship between countries. When a country experiences trouble, other countries who are aware of the situation can offer help. When the troubled countries would be thankful to those who rendered assistance, and this will improve ties between these countries. For example, during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Japan was one of the first countries to offer help in rescue services. China appreciated the help to a certain extent and during the recent Japan earthquake, China sent a rescue team to Japan to reciprocate their previous assistance.
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