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.

Where Is The Love?

Hi people! Today I am going to talk about the issues being discussed in the song "Where is the love". Its quite a nice song and here is the URL to the lyrics : http://www.metrolyrics.com/where-is-the-love-lyrics-black-eyed-peas.html

I would think the song criticizes the injustices and the lack of love that manifests in the people of today's society. In the second stanza, there are references to the Ku Klux Klan, the Bloods, and the Crips, the KKK being extremist organizations that advocate white supremacy. The Bloods and the Crips being rival gangs that have caused must terror and violence in the USA. The inclusion of these three organizations probably serves to highlight the fact that throughout history, there had been terrorism in USA, and even though the government tries to stop it, it still exists. The fact that the Ku Klux Klan is brought up is also particularly pertinent, as this shows that racism exists even in a country where most of the population is Christian. A phrase in the chorus further emphasizes the point; "would you practice what you preach, or would you turn the other cheek?" This shows that even in the society today, where the majority of the population can differentiate right from wrong, there are still lots of people who 'turn the other cheek'. Its just like how so many people know the racism is bad, and that it is hurtful, yet there are still lots of racist people in our society.

This issue is quite apparent even in Singapore. Singaporeans are apathetic. I remember reading and article once; it was about a man who killed a dog by smashing it against a wall. 10 people saw it happen. No one tried to stop it, and no one even volunteered to be a witness.

Another incident. 2 men started fighting on the bus. No one tried to stop them. In fact, when they started fighting, everyone moved themselves as far away from them. When interviewed by the news, someone said something along the lines of "Why should I try to stop them? I might get myself injured. Its better to just leave them alone."

Unless we start showing compassion and love to our fellow man like what the song is trying to tell us, the problems in society that had troubled the world for decades would still remain.

Does Good Genes Mean Good Students?

For me personally, I would think that success in life is not caused by the genes at all. Like what all our teachers have been preaching for ages, success is 1% knowledge and 99% effort. If the child has a correct mindset and he knows that in order to succeed, he has to work hard, then all the other things will come naturally. Thus, even if a child had a very high IQ, if he does not put in any effort, of course he would not succeed. I would think that very few of the people who are famous for doing something have very high IQ. However, they had something else. They probably had the perseverance and drive in them, and also a correct ' I can ' attitude. And with that, they can succeed in the things they do. Thomas Edison invented many things that worked, and how did he do that? Well, by making thousands of things that didn't work. If one had the perseverance to keep working at his goals, then he would surely succeed. This is exactly the kind of person the society today makes us become, as the amount of effort we put into our life is exactly the amount of success we would get.

This leads to another very interesting question, how do you actually measure success? Is the president of a country considered more successful than a construction worker? I'll cover this the next time :)

So long for now.

Mood Of A Photograph

Hi people! I hope you enjoyed your Chinese New Year holidays! I'm sure I enjoyed mine! Today I am going to talk about the mood and atmosphere of a photograph.

The picture above depicts a scene in a forest clearing, or perhaps at the edge of the forest. There is a blanket of fog covering the entire area, which gives the place a mysterious setting and a sleepy or even fearful mood to it. It is quite hard to see through the fog into the distance, thus there is a feeling of mystery, or even fear of the unknown, because we do not know what may appear from the fog. There is also a sleepy feeling to it because fogs usually appear early in the morning, where most people are still asleep.

Blog Prompt 31/1

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew mentioned in the book 'Hard Truths' we are not ready to have a non-Chinese Prime Minister. I do not think that is the case.

Before we start, we need to understand why Lee Kuan Yew said that in the first place. I would think that the reason behind his statement is that majority of the population is Singapore is Chinese, therefore if we would have a non-Chinese minister, there would surely be some unhappiness in the Chinese community. I do not think that that is the case.

Firstly, I think that the people in Singapore had already gone through a lot since independence, and I believe that the different races have all come to accept and understand each other, and even though there may be some racial conflict, all of us are Singaporean down in our hearts. Thus, even if there is a non-Chinese Prime Minister, I would think that the majority of Singaporeans would come to accept and embrace it.

Secondly, if we were to have a non-Chinese Prime Minister, it would be good to the image of the government. Having a non-Chinese Prime Minister would show that the Singapore Government embraces racial harmony, and this would further promote racial harmony in Singapore.

Lastly, I think that a non-Chinese Prime Minister might even be beneficial to the PAP's votes and cause the votes to increase. This is shown by the fact that President Obama won the hearts of people all around the world by being the first black president. If there would be a non-Chinese PM in Singapore for the first time, people in Singapore might even side to the PAP.

Adios for now :)