I beg to differ with the statement: “There are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.” While the statement may be true for international relations and the corporate world, it may not always be true down at the person-to-person relations. For nations and companies, interests are permanent while friends may not be so. However, for people, permanent friends do exist, even though interests may change.
Friends are formed when people with similar interests meet each other. While it may be argued that friends are forged as a result of similar interests and thus when interests change, friends also change, this argument is flawed. Interest is not the only binding factor among friends; fate is another factor. People have feelings, unlike entities like nations and companies. A friendship formed from the bottom of the heart is usually hard to break. True friends are those who go through thick and thin with you and stand by your side when you are down, not those who only make use of you and leave you when you cannot serve their interests anymore. Interests may change, but friendships can still last. You do not become enemies with your friends just because he developed a liking for a particular sport which you do not like, do you? There are indeed permanent friends, albeit rare. The have been cases where people do not mind getting themselves into trouble or even sacrificing their own lives in order to save their friends in times of need. This goes to show that there are people who put their personal interests behind them when it comes to helping their friends.
Nations do not become friends in the same sense that people do. The people of one nation may have good feelings for the people of another, such as people of US and UK, because of common cultural or familial links. But nations do not define their relationships by the feelings they have for one another. Instead, nations have permanent interests, for they have to further the well-being and security of their citizens. When nations perceive that an alliance with another nation will secure those interests, they enter into one. During World War II, even nations that are fundamentally hostile to one another allied themselves when their perceived interests dictated that they do so. That is how the USSR ended up allied with the US and Britain. Another example is the recent Iraq War in which France, a hitherto staunch ally of the US, did not support the US-led war. This was in stark contrast to the US-led war in Afghanistan a few years ago, in which France supported the US in their war efforts. Thus it is clear that when the interests of allied nations no longer converge, the reason for their alliance disappears, and the alliance splits apart. The former allies do not necessarily become enemies, but each becomes freer to pursue its own interests. The merger and separation between Singapore and Malaysia in the 1960s also serves to illustrate the point that friendships between nations are transient. Therefore, nations do not have permanent friends, only permanent interests.
In the dog-eat-dog corporate world where business interests come first, there is no such as thing as permanent friends or enemies. Sometimes rival companies may enter into a merger with one another if doing so is beneficial to their business interests. Such mergers between companies are not uncommon. An example would be the recent merger of two local media giants, MediaCorp and SPH MediaWorks. After several years of rivalry and competition for viewer-ship which left them bleeding in their finances, they decided that it was better to work together and tap on the synergy of the merger. Multi-National Companies, Sony and Ericsson, have also merged to jointly develop mobile phones. It is without doubt that companies only have permanent interests and no permanent friends.
In conclusion, the statement “there is no permanent friends, only permanent interests” does not apply to all levels of society. The statement is the defining equation in relations between nations and companies, but it is not so when it comes to person-to-person relationships.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Monday, November 15, 2004
Should gifted children be allowed to skip grades? (Holiday Journal topic 1)
I agree most with Dr Lee Siew Peng in not supporting grade-skipping for gifted children. I agree with her on the point that ‘gifted children are not spectacularly more successful than their peers who are of 'lower' intelligence as children.’ She also cited evidence from Mr Lewis Terman’s study who found out that 'children with very high IQ did not necessarily make any mark in science, business, arts or commerce'. Thus, I see no reason to allow gifted students to skip grades since doing so may not enable them to make a mark in any area.
If gifted children are allowed to skip grades, the only benefit they will get is that they get to complete their education and probably start work earlier. But why cram two decade’s worth of education into a span of several years for gifted children and deprive them of a wonderful childhood? Childhood should be a time when children can play and enjoy, not studying all the time. As Dr Lee has said “All-round development is important.” While a child may be academically gifted, he may not be good at his social skills. Development of social skills of gifted children is important for it will help him or her to network with others and this will become increasingly important as he grows up. What better way to develop a child’s social skills than to place him/her in a class of children his/her age and allow him/her to interact? Thus, I feel that gifted children should not be allowed to skip grades.
Allowing gifted children to skip grades is not without risk. If the child is unable to cope with the higher level of academic performance that is required of him when he skips grades, he might become too stressed and suffer from stress-related problems and depression. Worst still, he/she might have to revert back to the normal academic curriculum for his/her age and that would waste a lot of time. Surely, this risk is not worth it when the potential benefits of doing so remains obscure. Recently, there was news on The Straits Times about a gifted teenager currently studying at NUS and he has not done as well as he has expected and regretted taking things so fast. This goes to show that skipping grades does come with a price.
Some may argue that not allowing gifted children to skip grades may stymie their maximum learning potential. Thomas Anthony said that ‘sticking to the current curriculum would only cause such a whiz-kid to become laid-back and complacent and, in due course, he might become so complacent that his current level of achievement takes a dip.’ Mdm Lai Ee Sa said that ‘the gifted child spends many hours in school and these hours would be better spent doing work that challenges and intrigues him, rather than on lessons on topics that he already has a good grasp of.’ To prevent this from happening, special exceptions could be made for the gifted pupils such as allowing them to do their own self study in class at faster pace than their peers. This way, the gifted child can not only mix around with children of the same age and develop his social skills but also challenge himself/herself intellectually.
If gifted children are allowed to skip grades, the only benefit they will get is that they get to complete their education and probably start work earlier. But why cram two decade’s worth of education into a span of several years for gifted children and deprive them of a wonderful childhood? Childhood should be a time when children can play and enjoy, not studying all the time. As Dr Lee has said “All-round development is important.” While a child may be academically gifted, he may not be good at his social skills. Development of social skills of gifted children is important for it will help him or her to network with others and this will become increasingly important as he grows up. What better way to develop a child’s social skills than to place him/her in a class of children his/her age and allow him/her to interact? Thus, I feel that gifted children should not be allowed to skip grades.
Allowing gifted children to skip grades is not without risk. If the child is unable to cope with the higher level of academic performance that is required of him when he skips grades, he might become too stressed and suffer from stress-related problems and depression. Worst still, he/she might have to revert back to the normal academic curriculum for his/her age and that would waste a lot of time. Surely, this risk is not worth it when the potential benefits of doing so remains obscure. Recently, there was news on The Straits Times about a gifted teenager currently studying at NUS and he has not done as well as he has expected and regretted taking things so fast. This goes to show that skipping grades does come with a price.
Some may argue that not allowing gifted children to skip grades may stymie their maximum learning potential. Thomas Anthony said that ‘sticking to the current curriculum would only cause such a whiz-kid to become laid-back and complacent and, in due course, he might become so complacent that his current level of achievement takes a dip.’ Mdm Lai Ee Sa said that ‘the gifted child spends many hours in school and these hours would be better spent doing work that challenges and intrigues him, rather than on lessons on topics that he already has a good grasp of.’ To prevent this from happening, special exceptions could be made for the gifted pupils such as allowing them to do their own self study in class at faster pace than their peers. This way, the gifted child can not only mix around with children of the same age and develop his social skills but also challenge himself/herself intellectually.
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Should marriage be a legal contract between individuals or a non-binding relationship based on love? Why?
In light of the changing social circumstances in today’s world, where women are no longer financially dependent on men, views on marriage have also changed with times. In traditional societies, there is a social stigma associated with singles who cannot find a mate but polygamous relationships are usually frowned upon, except for some Muslims who believe that it is the religious obligation of men to several wives. However, the increasing trend of singles preferring to stay unmarried in developed countries these days shows that it is now socially acceptable to remain single.
People marry for a variety of reasons; some marry as a culmination of love while others marry for money and there are those who are forced to marry against their own will as in the case of forced match-making in some traditional societies. In the modern context of today’s world, more and more feel that it is superfluous to make marriage a legal contract if the relationship is rooted on love. Nevertheless, it would be an idealistic thinking to assume that marriage based on a non-binding relationship rooted on love would work out for all couples as not everyone marries for love. A more realistic approach would be to make marriage a legal contract.
A recent survey in Singapore this year showed that couples who have been married for more than a decade made up most of the divorce cases. With trends and statistics in developing countries pointing to increasing divorce rates, it is clear that some couples do fall out of love. Thus, a non-binding marriage would engender social problems as people can simply walk out of their marriage as and when they like and throw away their responsibilities. In the end, the ones who would suffer the most are young children of the couples.
By making marriage a legal contract, one would have to abide by the laws and take responsibility in their relationship. One would then think twice about divorcing as it is a long and complicated process, not to mention the legal costs involved. As a result, couples would be more willing to reconcile rather give up on each other. Also, couples will also be less likely to engage in extramarital affairs as they would not want to endanger their relationship which could lead to divorce.
However, the consequence of making marriage a legal contract is that more singles may choose to remain unmarried as they do not want to be tied down by marriage for this would entail curtailing their social activities. Nevertheless, after weighing the pros and cons, I think marriage should be a legal contract between individuals.
People marry for a variety of reasons; some marry as a culmination of love while others marry for money and there are those who are forced to marry against their own will as in the case of forced match-making in some traditional societies. In the modern context of today’s world, more and more feel that it is superfluous to make marriage a legal contract if the relationship is rooted on love. Nevertheless, it would be an idealistic thinking to assume that marriage based on a non-binding relationship rooted on love would work out for all couples as not everyone marries for love. A more realistic approach would be to make marriage a legal contract.
A recent survey in Singapore this year showed that couples who have been married for more than a decade made up most of the divorce cases. With trends and statistics in developing countries pointing to increasing divorce rates, it is clear that some couples do fall out of love. Thus, a non-binding marriage would engender social problems as people can simply walk out of their marriage as and when they like and throw away their responsibilities. In the end, the ones who would suffer the most are young children of the couples.
By making marriage a legal contract, one would have to abide by the laws and take responsibility in their relationship. One would then think twice about divorcing as it is a long and complicated process, not to mention the legal costs involved. As a result, couples would be more willing to reconcile rather give up on each other. Also, couples will also be less likely to engage in extramarital affairs as they would not want to endanger their relationship which could lead to divorce.
However, the consequence of making marriage a legal contract is that more singles may choose to remain unmarried as they do not want to be tied down by marriage for this would entail curtailing their social activities. Nevertheless, after weighing the pros and cons, I think marriage should be a legal contract between individuals.
Saturday, July 31, 2004
My views on advertisements
Advertisements help businesses to sell their products or services by generating awareness about them. Advertisements can come in different forms, such as in newsprint, flyers, television, radio and internet advertisements.
What makes a good advertisement?
A good advertisement should be one which can capture the attention of the target audience and influence them to buy or use the advertised products or services. It need not necessarily be sophisticated or glitzy. The styles of advertisements have evolved over the years as they need to suit the changing preferences and psyche of the target audience. In the past, telco television commercials would usually contain a commentary on the pricing of the different phone plans, but nowadays some of the telco television commercials do not contain such commentaries. A recent M1 advertisement in Singapore had a short animated clip of a ‘paperclip man’ prancing about the screen with two bikini-clad ladies to convey the company’s catchphrase “Anywhere anytime under the Sun.”
Most people nowadays are busy and are already tired of putting up with constant barrage of advertisements they encounter in their everyday lives. As such, advertisements have to creative and stand out from the rest in order to capture the attention of the target audience. The recent Carlsberg beer television commercial had a group of people ‘humming’ to the tune of a catchy song (Can’t Take My Eyes of You) using beer bottles. The advertisement drew warm response from people because of its catchy song. Using superstars in advertisements can also help to capture the attention of the target audience as in the numerous sports commercials starring sports stars like footballer David Beckham and basketball player Michael Jordan. The clever use of graphics, music and even positioning of texts and layout can have a subliminal effect on the minds of the target audience and influence their purchasing decisions. Condominium advertisements in newspapers are usually uncluttered and contain as little text as possible to project an impression that the condominium is spacious. Some bank advertisements in newsprint take up an entire page but only have a single line of text in the center of the page to catch the eye of the reader.
Do you think the money that companies spend on advertising is worth it?
Some people think that certain companies spend a disproportionate amount of money on advertising which could instead be used to manufacture more products or refine the products or services. However, one must realize that though the product is important, the awareness of the product or service is important as well. Without awareness of the products or services, how would people buy or use the products or services? Thus, it is important for companies to invest equally in their product research and advertising.
Should unsolicited advertisements be banned?
With the advent of the Internet, unsolicited advertisements in form of emails and pop-up window advertisements have become ubiquitous. Some companies send a myriad of emails using random email generators to Internet users, even if they have never released their email addresses to those companies. This is known as ‘spamming’. Spamming has been on the rise and it has become such a big problem that Microsoft, a software giant, has paid attention to it and even suggested introducing email stamping, that is an email user has to pay a fee to send an email. Currently, sending emails is free and that is what makes spamming so attractive to companies. Tracking down the spammers is not an easy task and thus it is difficult to prevent spamming.
Unsolicited advertisements, whether in the form of flyers or spam emails, are a source of nuisance to people. Instead of promoting the companies products or services, unsolicited advertisements may lead to a public backlash and irritated people may even boycott the advertised products or services. Thus, banning unsolicited advertisements is necessary not only to protect the interests of the recipients but also that of the companies.
Should advertisements be restricted in any way?
Some advertisements contain explicit violence and sex content and exposure to such materials may corrupt volatile young minds. In order to prevent this from happening, it is imperative to impose restrictions on advertisements. In Singapore, the Media Development Authority (MDA) regulates media content, including advertisements.
What makes a good advertisement?
A good advertisement should be one which can capture the attention of the target audience and influence them to buy or use the advertised products or services. It need not necessarily be sophisticated or glitzy. The styles of advertisements have evolved over the years as they need to suit the changing preferences and psyche of the target audience. In the past, telco television commercials would usually contain a commentary on the pricing of the different phone plans, but nowadays some of the telco television commercials do not contain such commentaries. A recent M1 advertisement in Singapore had a short animated clip of a ‘paperclip man’ prancing about the screen with two bikini-clad ladies to convey the company’s catchphrase “Anywhere anytime under the Sun.”
Most people nowadays are busy and are already tired of putting up with constant barrage of advertisements they encounter in their everyday lives. As such, advertisements have to creative and stand out from the rest in order to capture the attention of the target audience. The recent Carlsberg beer television commercial had a group of people ‘humming’ to the tune of a catchy song (Can’t Take My Eyes of You) using beer bottles. The advertisement drew warm response from people because of its catchy song. Using superstars in advertisements can also help to capture the attention of the target audience as in the numerous sports commercials starring sports stars like footballer David Beckham and basketball player Michael Jordan. The clever use of graphics, music and even positioning of texts and layout can have a subliminal effect on the minds of the target audience and influence their purchasing decisions. Condominium advertisements in newspapers are usually uncluttered and contain as little text as possible to project an impression that the condominium is spacious. Some bank advertisements in newsprint take up an entire page but only have a single line of text in the center of the page to catch the eye of the reader.
Do you think the money that companies spend on advertising is worth it?
Some people think that certain companies spend a disproportionate amount of money on advertising which could instead be used to manufacture more products or refine the products or services. However, one must realize that though the product is important, the awareness of the product or service is important as well. Without awareness of the products or services, how would people buy or use the products or services? Thus, it is important for companies to invest equally in their product research and advertising.
Should unsolicited advertisements be banned?
With the advent of the Internet, unsolicited advertisements in form of emails and pop-up window advertisements have become ubiquitous. Some companies send a myriad of emails using random email generators to Internet users, even if they have never released their email addresses to those companies. This is known as ‘spamming’. Spamming has been on the rise and it has become such a big problem that Microsoft, a software giant, has paid attention to it and even suggested introducing email stamping, that is an email user has to pay a fee to send an email. Currently, sending emails is free and that is what makes spamming so attractive to companies. Tracking down the spammers is not an easy task and thus it is difficult to prevent spamming.
Unsolicited advertisements, whether in the form of flyers or spam emails, are a source of nuisance to people. Instead of promoting the companies products or services, unsolicited advertisements may lead to a public backlash and irritated people may even boycott the advertised products or services. Thus, banning unsolicited advertisements is necessary not only to protect the interests of the recipients but also that of the companies.
Should advertisements be restricted in any way?
Some advertisements contain explicit violence and sex content and exposure to such materials may corrupt volatile young minds. In order to prevent this from happening, it is imperative to impose restrictions on advertisements. In Singapore, the Media Development Authority (MDA) regulates media content, including advertisements.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
What is one value or belief which you hold on to in life?
I believe that fifty percent of what happens in life is determined by fate and the other fifty percent by our actions. As a Buddhist, I believe in Kharma, that is what you do now will affect you in the future, including your next life. A person who has done numerous bad deeds in his past life will suffer in his next life.
However, not everything is entirely decided by fate alone. We have to make numerous decisions every day, including small and insignificant ones such as whether or not to eat or got to the toilet. In almost every decision that we make, we have a choice. Thus, we can control our lives to a certain extent. One may argue that whatever decisions one make had already been decided by fate and whatever that happens is predestined. But if this true, then there is no purpose in life.
Since everything that we do will eventually affect us, we have to be cautious about what we do and do what is right. We should help others around us and have compassion towards all sentinent beings. If we want to achieve our goals, we have to work hard and not just wait and let fate decide everything.As the saying goes, "You reap what you sow."
However, not everything is entirely decided by fate alone. We have to make numerous decisions every day, including small and insignificant ones such as whether or not to eat or got to the toilet. In almost every decision that we make, we have a choice. Thus, we can control our lives to a certain extent. One may argue that whatever decisions one make had already been decided by fate and whatever that happens is predestined. But if this true, then there is no purpose in life.
Since everything that we do will eventually affect us, we have to be cautious about what we do and do what is right. We should help others around us and have compassion towards all sentinent beings. If we want to achieve our goals, we have to work hard and not just wait and let fate decide everything.As the saying goes, "You reap what you sow."
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