Israel and Hamas
I'm not a H2 History student. But it's really interesting to watch all these events going on.
I say first that I'm not an Israel fan.
Their military is wicked awesome (6 day war anyone?) but their aggression and pandering to the US is very disturbing. I empathize though. Anyone who plays Civ 5 knows how irritating it is to have aggressive allies who don't ever want to co-operate with you and will declare war on the first sign of weakness.
But this mentality has gone too far. I think Palestine should be a free state, yet Israel doesn't look ready to give up land even to peaceful people who don't really like Hamas either. Hamas on the other hand, are being foolish. They cannot hope to win a war I tell you. And being equally aggressive only serves to strengthen Israel's resolve and shun the rest of the world's backing. But it is also understandabe. Most revolutions of secession in the past have been bloody, especially in the face of ruthless government. And if you know the situation of the embargo and military presence, Israel is not being a very nice neighbour.
Israel's search for a so-called "long-term" solution looks increasingly like a ground offensive. Which by many means will be a long-term problem.
The defence minister and the inflammatory comments
No this isn't the f you incident. I'm talking about page 2 of the Straits Times today. Apparently two websites posted baseless allegations of Dr Ng and was then told by Dr Ng's lawyer to remove them and post an apology. Both did so, but because one of the websites allowed comments that criticized both Dr Ng and his lawyer (Mr Singh), Mr Singh wrote to them again and asked them to do a second apology because the first was 'insincere'. I'm conflicted on this. On one hand, I utterly dislike non-fact checking
This sort of dangerous thinking if very hard to remove. Because as people get older and drowned in even more misguided views, they become more close-minded and cannot be convinced.
On the other hand, it is also rather disturbing how swiftly (I admit I'm not aware of the contents of the e-mail) came the government response. Right now, the government is relatively free from corruption, clean and efficient. There might be a time when it isn't. Think why we study Venice in Social Studies. What happens when there are real problems with the incumbent and when people voice their dissenting views, the corrupt authorities abuse their power to remove real truths about the government much in the same way? Hence I remain conflicted. This sort of thing was in my opinion acceptable, even pragmatic, when SG gained independence, especially in a multi-cultural society where one person's stupidity could erupt into open racial conflict. Right now, I just don't know. Perhaps some freedom and trust should be given upon the people to make accurate, critical analysis of information.
Then again, we are talking about human beings in a democracy. Quoting my good friend "One man's stupidity is worth my intelligence"
PSLE
Not sure if not publishing top-scorers is a good idea...
The purpose of it is to celebrate achievers, people who worked hard and should be proud of it.
It is true that more emphasis should be on students who have other gifts or are strong of character. Perhaps then, we should be trying to celebrate them more rather than celebrating less of the academically-inclined. But it is also true that really the problem is cultural. Even if you publish an article of a student with exceptional leadership qualities next to a high-scoring student, doubtless most of the Singaporean public will ignore the former. It is disgusting but cultural is a long-term strength and weakness is most societies. It will take time.
NUS Law
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