11th August, 1950

Dear Diary,

If I'm not mistaken, today would be my birthday. I had some canned beans for lunch this afternoon, not exactly my favorite food, but it was still great compared to some of the crap that we have been getting.

I think we are soon going to seize the Naktong River. Yesterday, we gained a bit more land on the bank of the river, but at the expense of a really bloody fight. I lost a hand myself to the grenades tossed by the Koreans. Thankfully, it was my left hand that was blown to bits - I would be as good as dead if it was my right hand that was gone. More people on our side died yesterday. I think I knew a few of them, I'm pretty sure one was Fred, another was Ronald... Yes, I think we called him Ronald.

My good pal Remus Moody kinda went mad in the morning. He just rushed to the front line without his guns and grenades and stuff. It was as if he was asking to be shot... If that was his wish, then he would have gotten what he wanted - The Koreans gunned him down promptly. It's quite a pity really. He was one of the few soldiers that I could have a good conversation with.

All this is really terrifying. Every conscious moment is spent worrying about our own lives, and on the rare occasions in which we are not thinking about our own lives are spent thinking about who will go next. Maybe that's why Moody killed himself. Maybe that's why I'm writing in this moldy and moth eaten book - I want to keep myself sane, and I want to go back to America in one piece, however infinitesimal the chance seems to be.

If I'm not mistaken, today is my birthday. I hope my family and friends back at home still remember me.

Logical Fallacies

Fallacy: Poisoning the Well

PAP candidate Lim Biow Chuan said :'The NSP has done nothing. What they have are simply promises. The NSP has no record of serving residents in Mountbatten. Talk is cheap.' (taken from http://www.straitstimes.com/GeneralElection/News/Story/STIStory_664807.html)

Mr Lim had poisoned the well, because Mr Lim had attacked the NSP candidate even before the candidate could give his statement. By doing so, the NSP candidate had a lesser chance of winning the election, because Mr Lim had given the people the idea that the NSP had not done anything beneficial to the society. This was unfair for the NSP candidate, and thus, Mr Lim had poisoned the well.

Fallacy: False Authority

NSP's Tampines GRC candidate Raymond Lim said that the opposition party's attempts to hold Mr Mah accountable for his policies had made him 'panic'. (taken from http://www.straitstimes.com/GeneralElection/News/Story/STIStory_664876.html)

The NSP candidate had committed the fallacy of false authority, because we are unclear of the credibility of the source. As a member of an opposition party, Mr Raymond Lim's words are not reliable because he is probably just trying to win over votes by attacking the PAP. Hence, Mr Raymond Lim's claims are not credible nor reliable.

Fallacy: Sentimental Appeal

In an impassioned speech at Woodlands Stadium on Tuesday night, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan choked back tears when he described how residents had been concerned about his welfare when he dropped by their homes. Many of them have become like personal friends, he said, his voice wavering. (Taken from http://www.straitstimes.com/GeneralElection/News/Story/STIStory_664390.html)

Mr Khaw had commited the fallacy of sentimental appeal, as he tried to appeal to the residents emotions by mentioning how he had become friends with the residents. He probably did this to win over votes.

Let Kids Rule the School

Kids should not be given the power to develop their own curriculum simply because they lack responsibility, experience and other factors that education professionals which run our schools possess.

Experience is a key factor in developing a curriculum and running a school. The people who run our schools would surely have years of experience in education before they are qualified to come up with a curriculum that would affect hundreds of students. The experience that these education professionals have gained throughout the years is necessary in developing a good curriculum as they would know for sure what kind of schooling methods would work and what would not, and what kind of information should be included in the syllabus and taught to the entire student population. If only teachers with years of experience are allowed to come up with a curriculum and, in effect, run a school, how could students with zero experience in teaching be allowed to run a school? Most students do not even have a strong grasp on what is being taught in school, and if so, how could they be given the autonomy to improve and further revise the syllabus when they do not know for sure what is being taught and what is useful? If students were given the right to create their own curriculum, the possible outcome would be that it would fail miserably. Even if the curriculum was workable, it would probably pale in comparison with the various syllabuses that are already in place.

Besides experience, responsibility is also mandatory in the creation of a curriculum. Setting up a curriculum would take up a lot of time, and students who already have various commitments would take ages to create a feasible one. To even attempt to create a curriculum would require a lot of responsibility from the student as he would need to have the responsibility to see the project through.

A Future Leader in Singapore

What do you look for in a future political leader in Singapore?

Firstly, a political leader should possess the quality of perseverance. He must never crumble even when the going gets tough, and he should always be serving the nation. With a political leader that makes firm decisions, the country would surely succeed. With the above qualities, the political leader would surely succeed regardless of his/her gender, race or age. If a political leader can't make firm and informed decisions in the time of crises, then the citizens would surely lose faith in the leader.

As for Tin Pei Ling, I feel that we know far too little to judge if she would succeed as a politician. The only way to know for sure is for her to become a politician.

War

My finger touched the rubble. It was wet; it was stained with blood. The blood of creatures that were the same, but yet they were different. Somehow, time seemed to have stopped. The gunshots ceased, and the people quit their shouting. All that I could hear was heavy panting. Frothy blood gathered around Nguyen’s nose and lip. An overwhelming sense of fear overcame me; I was watching a friend die, and there was nothing I could do. Sounds of muffled crying were heard. All the soldiers around me contributed to the eerie symphony. Suddenly, Nguyen’s grip on my hand loosened. Mustering all the life that is left in him, he spoke for the last time, “I feel… peaceful.” Nguyen’s head fell on the rubble with a thud. A tear fell on his lips. He was smiling.

Motives

I read this story many moons ago and it is one of the things that have stayed in my head. So here it is.

"The businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.

The businessman then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The businessman then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor."

The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But señor, how long will this all take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years." "But what then, señor?" The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions." "Millions, señor? Then what?" The businessman said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"

The moral of the story? Know where you are going in life. You may already be there.

There are many interpretations of this story, but to me at least, I think the moral of the story is to be aware of what you are doing, of what you are getting yourself into, of what your motives are. In this fast paced society that we live in now, work is number 1 for a great number of people. Sometimes, we are so obsessed about getting what we want. Sometimes we are just too obsessed with useless goals, goals like getting a bigger car, getting a bigger house. Some people work at a job that they never liked, but they thought it was necessary, because they needed that car, and that house. They reasoned that it will bring happiness when they finally reach the goal. And after a whole lifetime of chasing the goals, they realized that they had missed life by being obsessed with material possessions that never contained any real value.

That is the sad predicament that befalls many of the workaholics of today. I would never want to live like that.

Can the machine ever replace the teacher?

Machine VS Teacher

The machine can surely replace the teacher if 2 conditions are satisfied. The first condition is that the purpose of an education is only to learn the things that are in the syllabus. The second condition would be that success in life is measured by how well you do in your studies. OK they kind of overlap but ah never mind.

And since these two conditions cannot be satisfied the machine can never replace the teacher.

The first condition cannot be satisfied simply because education is not about learning the things that are in the syllabus. In fact, to be honest, I had forgotten almost all of the things that we were forced to learn for PSLE. And just to add on to that point, much of the stuff that I learn't, remembered, and felt that it was important was not the things I learn't by sitting in class and doing homework. Dr Hon also talked to us once about the Future School program. There was one line that I still remember today. It was something along the lines of "Much of the things that I learn't during my school years are already outdated. If education was only about the academic grades, then we could just use the traditional chalk and talk. But it is not. It is the skill of creating new knowledge that allows you to survive in the society today. Thats why we put you in future school." Yup thats the best I could remember. Most of us are not going to use much of the knowledge passed down to us by our teachers when we join the workforce. If so, why is there a need for education? I would think the main reason is to form the basis of what we are going to learn and create later on in life. A sound education should also inculcate values in us that guide us through our lives, like perseverance, and not procrastinating, just to name a few.

And that is where a machine just cannot compare to a human teacher. It is almost impossible for a machine to make a student open up his mind to learn if the student does not want to. A machine can just stand in front of a student and spout all the facts in the world, but the student can just choose to not listen. This is where a good teacher comes in. A good teacher is also like a counselor, and its his job to teach his students knowledge that crosses the boundaries of the textbook.

Yup that is why a machine can never replace a teacher.