Commentary on blog

Commentary on blog (Aw Mun Khay, 32/07)

Reference: http://theultimatefallacy.blogspot.com/

With reference to Aw Mun Khay’s blog article on “death penalty”, I generally do not agree with his arguments. He has taken an extreme stand that death penalty should not be abolished, given the reasons (as stated in his arguments) that death penalty plays a big part in deterring crime rate.

One of the arguments he made in his article is that “Singapore has the lowest murder rate per capita in the world, according to wikipedia and I am convinced that the death penalty has the ability to deter crime.” I disagree with his claim that based on the fact that Singapore practises death penalty and have the lowest murder rate per capita in the world, it would be sufficient to prove that death penalty has the ability to deter crimes. Statistics has proven to negate his claim, as shown in the online fact sheet about death penalty in US (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/FactSheet.pdf). The fact sheet showed that despite having the highest number of execution, the South has the highest murder rate. On the other hand, the Northeast has the lowest number of executions and also the lowest murder rate. Not only that the use of death penalty is ineffective to deter murderers from committing the crime, the money involved in allowing death penalties is also much higher than sending criminals to life imprisonment, as stated in the fact sheet. Hence, the use of death penalty is ineffective in deterring would-be criminals from committing crimes.

In addition, other conditions besides death penalty in Singapore could have been the reason for the low murder rate. One significant reason could have been the presence of an effective government in Singapore. Singapore’s government is well-known for its effectiveness, bringing Singapore from a small unknown red dot in the world to a country that obtains many “firsts” in just over 40years. This showed Singapore’s government’s pragmatism in its governing of Singapore and could probably be the significant factor that accounts for the low crime rate in Singapore. Since death penalty is not a significant factor in the deterrence of crime, the use of death penalty should not be continued.

Furthermore, we should always remember that the act of execution (death penalty) is an irreversible action. Once it is carried out, it cannot be undone. Should there be any discrepancies in the judge’s judgment passed down after the execution, there is no way to reverse what has been done. Therefore, I am against the use of death penalties.

Can poverty ever be eradicated?

Poverty has been a problem that bugs countries all over the world and is a problem that seems to be unable to be solved. The issue on poverty is not just restricted to poor countries but is instead a problem worldwide. Even in a country that is seemingly rich, there certainly live people who are poor and are struggling to survive. With the problem of poverty being so large, I do not think that it is a problem that can be solved.

The problem of poverty has existed for years and will continue to exist even if governments, individuals or groups attempt to help them. As stated by The Straits Times’ interview in May 2005 with Jeffrey Sachs (a professor attempting to eradicate poverty), he written in his book that his goal is to have richer countries contribute 0.7% of their income to help poorer nations. However, this is almost impossible as even though the world’s leading countries has pledged in 1970 to contribute 0.7% of their income to help poorer nations, only 5 have succeeded in doing so (The Straits Times, May 2005). This has showed that many richer countries are unwilling to contribute to help the poorer nations. Furthermore, the characteristics of a poor nation made it difficult for it to rid itself of poverty. Some of them include the lack of schools as well as the geographical location of being in mountainous, waterless regions (World Press, March 2007).Though the problem of the lack of schools can be solved by having the government or neighbouring rich nations contribute to build schools, the shortage of teachers will be the next problem that arises. Furthermore, the geographical features of a nation cannot be changed and this is one problem that cannot be solved. With so many limitations to the solving of the problem of poverty, poverty will not be able to be eradicated.

Is teaching less an effective method?

Article-British move to ‘teach less’ in schools draw protests (The Straits Times, 23/7/2007)

In 1999, Singapore government has adopted the ‘Teach less, learn more” approach, cutting the school syllabus by 30 per cent. This is to allow for teaching of creative thinking, National Education and even computer-based teaching. Similarly, Britain has adopted an approach akin to that of Singapore’s “Teach less, learn more”. Britain is removing traditional subjects in favour of “lightweight” alternatives such as shopping and personal well-being. Officials of Britain said that this approach aimed at producing young adults who are equipped with the complexities of the modern world. Why are more and more countries reducing their syllabuses and teaching less to allow for other things to be taught to students? For me, I think that teaching less to incorporate other skills to be taught to students is a more effective method of teaching as compared to the conventional way of teaching, where purely information with regards to each subject are taught to students.

Would it not be the case that teaching less affect the depth of each subject students are learning? To teach less would definitely mean that there is a less in depth learning to each subject but this can be compensated by using the SDL (self directed learning) method, where some topics which requires lesser explanation to be self taught. In this case, the problem of a less in depth learning would be minimised. In addition, there are many other skills that are more important than science and maths. Life skills to deal with complexities in life, which the Britain new education system aims at teaching, is probably one example that is more important than information from books. These are skills that could hardly be learnt, either from parents or from friends. By teaching them in schools, it allows students to better cope with problems that arise in the later part of their life. In Singapore’s “Teach less, learn more” approach, one of its aim is to promote creative thinking and this is as important as, if not more important than, information from textbooks. In our current world where there is global competition in every industry, an innovative and creative mind would definitely give us an edge ahead of our competitors worldwide. This would allow for Singapore’s development to be on par or even stay ahead of other larger and more developed countries.

Are you for or against the death penalty?

Death penalty, a punishment which some nations take but not others, is still an issue much debated about today. Why should death penalty be allowed? - is it an effective deterrent or does it cost much less than to sentence life imprisonment? Whichever the cause, death penalty is an irreversible action and should be only taken as the last measure.

One possible argument for someone for death penalty could be the deterrence effect that it will have on other would-be criminals. As stated from the article, America’s crime rates has fallen as compared to Europe’s crime rates and the drop is said to be attributed to the greater use of punishment, which includes capital punishment. Hence, this would have concluded the effectiveness of the death penalty. However, statistics has shown otherwise, as shown in the online fact sheet about death penalty in US (http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/FactSheet.pdf). The fact sheet showed that despite having the highest number of execution, the South has the highest murder rate and on the other hand, the Northeast has the lowest number of executions and also the lowest murder rate. Not only that the use of death penalty is ineffective to deter murderers from committing the crime, the money involved in allowing death penalties is also much higher than sending criminals to life imprisonment, as stated in the fact sheet. Hence, the use of death penalty is not only ineffective in deterring would-be criminals from committing crimes but is also expensive to maintain.

Furthermore, we should always remember that the act of execution (death penalty) is an irreversible action. Once it is carried out, it cannot be undone. Should there be any discrepancies in the judge’s judgment passed down after the execution, there is no way to reverse what has been done. Therefore, I am against the use of death penalties.

However, for each murderer executed, the number of murder cases would have decreased and this implies that for each murderer not executed, more innocent victims would die. As such, more lives would be taken by not having death penalties and in addition, these are innocent lives that would definitely be worth more than that of a murderer’s life. Thus, implementation of death penalties is also effective to a certain extent.

The problem of ageing population...

Article- In U.S- GREEN CARD, In EU- 'BLUE CARD' (The Straits Times, 4/8/2007)

In this world of ours, it seems that there is an inevitable problem, and that is the problem of an ageing population. With the increased standard of living and better health of people around the world, people are living longer and yet, lesser babies are being born. As such, the problem of an ageing population arises. This will eventually lead to other problems and one would be labour shortage, where it is estimated that a third of all Europeans will be over 65 years old by 2050.

Consequently, countries are doing their best to vie for as many foreign talents to work in their countries as possible, which leads to the emergence of the recent 'blue card' by the European Union (EU). blue-card holders will be able to work in any EU member state, provided that they work in each country for at least a year before moving on. This is seen as a move to compete with U.S.'s green card to garner as many foreign talents as possible. However, there are many limitations to the effectiveness of the 'blue card', one of which being the exclusion of permanent residence rights. This refusal to view immigration as an opportunity rather than a threat will leave EU with no ability to attract talented migrants. Another limitation is the lack of a universal language as working in some of its member states requires the learning of German or Polish. This is a limitation that can never be removed.

As seen from the actions taken by several governments around the world to garner as many foreign talents as possible, the problem of a global ageing population is a crucial one. However, rather than vying for as many foreign talents as possible, would it not be better if governments from around the world work together to try to increase the birth rates of their respective nations and ultimately solving the ageing population problem?

Nuclear weapons or nuclear power stations?

Article- Australia may sell uranium to Indian nuclear plant (THE STRAITS TIMES, 27/7/07)

Recently, there are many nuclear issues occurring around the world, with the North Korea's nuclear threat being the most significant one. With North Korea using its nuclear weapon technology as a bargaining chip to get more benefits for itself, there are now more reports of other countries that might be possible threats of nuclear weapon technology.

As stated from the article, "since Australia's decision to supply uranium to China last year, India has been pressuring Australia to sell the nuclear fuel to India as well."
Although both countries claimed to use the uranium to fuel nuclear power stations to meet the soaring demand from thier booming economies, the presence of nuclear weapons in these countries made the statement doubtful. Why is it that these countries cannot use other forms of fuel to provide energy?

However, the trade will most probably continue as this will benefit all the parties, with the uranium used in nuclear power stations to support their booming ecnomy as well as Australia gaining monetary benefit from the trade.

Impacts of demographic changes

In your view, what are the likely political and socio-economic impacts of the demographic changes we see in the world today?

Demographic changes are occurring in many parts of the world today- in India there is a high population growth due to gender preference and in Japan the opposite is occurring due to low birth rate. But no matter what the demographic changes are, there are negative and positive impacts to such changes.

As stated in the video “World in the Balance” (Channel News Asia, 15/7/07, 7.30pm), Japan’s low birth rate of 1.3 per woman coupled with a large number of unmarried youths due to women pursuing career success has led to the number of elderly in Japan outnumbering the young. What this would lead to is a large decrease in the number of workers, consumers and a need for more immigrants. This would thus lead to a decline in the nation’s economy as a smaller production source and a lack of consumers to purchase the products and services. A possible social impact that could arise from this could be the government providing more encouragement to increase birth rates or even the provision of more incentives to citizens giving birth to more children.

In the case of Kenya, a large number of cases of HIV results in a higher death rate than birth rate, causing a population decline as well. The large number of HIV cases is due to the commonplace scenario of women selling their bodies when they desperately are in need of money, sometimes just to get a meal. Similarly, this could lead to the economy decline as mentioned in the Japan’s issue. One political impact that could arise from the Kenya’s case is the government’s intervention to remove prostitution from the country. Although this measure might be too drastic, it is definitely necessary if the government wants to solve the problems occurring due to the large number of HIV cases in Kenya.

In India’s situation, gender preference is causing high population growth, where the number of young outnumbers the number of elderly. In India, boys are favoured over girls as boys will be able to stay with the family and dowry has to be provided by the girl’s family should there be a marriage. This would also lead to economy decline as there is not enough jobs for the people, leading to extreme poverty in several places. Also, part of the income of the nation is probably used to provide for aid to areas of extreme poverty thus leading to a decline in economy.