Monday, May 24, 2010

Dr Goh Keng Swee

Dr Goh was the Second Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 1973 and 1984 and a Member of Parliament for the Kreta Ayer Constitutency for a quarter of a century.Upon Singapore independence in 1965,he became the nation's first Minister for Interior and defence.He subsequently served as the first Minister for Finance(1967-1970) and Minister for Education(1979-1985).Following his retirement from politics,Dr Goh was still active in his public life rendering his services to many companies in Singapore.

The biggest impact that Dr Goh have done for us students is the education system.He set up the Curriculum Development Institute and introduced key policies such as religious education(which is later discontinued) and in 1980,the channeling of students into different programmes of study according to their learning abilities known as "streaming".I think this is especially important as different people have different pace in learning.Some people may be faster then the others in learning while some people may be slower in learning then the others.Through streaming the students according to their ability in learning,the students would be able to grasp a firm understanding of the subjects better.

The contirbutions that Dr Goh have done for Singapore is more than we can ever imagine.Singaporeans nowadays takes the present standard of living for granted because Dr Goh had laid the economy of modern Singapore.Dr Goh is one of the respected founding father of Singapore and without him,Singapore would not be able to develop so rapidly and become what it is today-a World-recognised country with lots of potential.

Friday, May 7, 2010

NEWater(Pros and Cons)

The natural resources on Earth are limited and there is a need for coutries to maximise the use of these resources to ensure that there are enough to last the other generations.Countries should try and reduce,reuse and recycle these natural resources.One example of natural resources is actually Water and there are limited supply of water in the World.Some countries would have abundant supply of water but some countries would not have.Singapore do not have such natural resources and we buy our water from Malaysia.The water we buy from Malaysia are actually raw water and after undergoing microfiltration,reverse osmosis and ultraviolet technologies,they become NEWater and can be consumed.

With the population growing everday,there is a ned to find alternative to satisfy the human's needs and that is NEWater.Although reclaiming the water is good,there are also some advantages and disadvantages of NEWater.The first advantage of NEWater is that it help to reduce Singapore's dependence on other countries for imported water.This means that Singapore does not solely depend on Malaysia for water and even if Malaysia were to terminate their Water Contract with Singapore one day,Singapore would not be affected much.The Second advantage is that NEWater helps to maximise the use of water on Earth.Through recycling the water,it helps to maximise the use of resources left on the Earth to ensure that there are sufficent supply to last the future generations.The third advantage of NEWater is that it helps to save space and it is energy efficent which means that money would not be wasted in the process.

The first disadvantage of NEWater is that it is very expensive.It requires a lot of processes to obtain the NEWater which means that a lot of money would have to be spend.The product itself is costly which means that if it was to be sold in supermarkets,it would not be cheap and not many people would be able to afford it.The second disadvantage is that not many Singaporeans are used to the NEWater yet.Most of the Singaporeans are still used to the imported water from Malaysia and it would take a period of time before they get used to the NEWater.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Ionescu still has 'immunity'

Silviu Ionescu hit and run accident have attracted the attention of many Singaporeans as they are concerned about the verdict and also whether justice would be served to those that are involved in the accident.The tragic accident happened last year on the 15th of December and it hit 3 pedestrians along Bukit Panjang Road.One of them died later.Following to this,Singapore government issued a arrest warrant against Ionescu and Interpool issued a red notice against him.Despite the fact that many witnesses of the accident pin-point Ionescu as the culprit behind the wheels,he denied all accusations made about him and stressed that he was being framed.Ionescu then returned back to Romania and did not come back since.

A well-respected diplomat as well as someone with a high ranking in the ministry actually doing such a heartless thing have left many fellow Singaporeans with a question to ponder upon.Does Ionescu have immunity?To me personally,I do not think that Ionescu still has immunity.He had severed his contract with the Romanian government which means that he was not the staff of the government.Ionescu was not involved in any offical duties at that point of time when the accident happened.He had taken the flag down from his car when he drove and he himself also declared that it was not official business.The governement had also said that based on the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic rights,Ionescu was not protected by diplomatic immunity against his deeds.Based on the law,a diplomat loses his immunity once he leave the host country.Thus Ionescu would have to answer for his own actions.The Romania government should also stop shielding Ionescu but instead find out the truth of the whole accident and let justice be served.

Diplomats are usually people with integrity and certain social standing who are then chosen to represent their country.Ionescu abusing his diplomatic immunity by disappearing from the scene of the accident and claiming that he was not the driver have proved to us that there was a problem with his integrity.He has brought disgrace to his own country.