The Dark Shadow Shrine

embrace the darkness; that you may see the light nestled within it......

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

How to relieve the pressure on Earth

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-We do not all have to become vegetarians. But a more balanced diet - less beef, more chicken, more vegetables... can really help relieve the pressure.

-it takes about 25kg of plant matter to produce 1kg of beef...Cows are also major emitters of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to planet warming
-stop food waste...The clearing of land for farming is a major enemy of biodiversity, driving animals and plants from their habitats. Yet an estimated 40 per cent of all farmed food goes to waste.
Pertaining to the qn below, S&T cannot solve the problems alone; it needs to work in tandem with us changing our lifestyle habits, and these include using less plastics, takingp ublic transport instead of driving cars, using less air-conditioning, and as mentioned in this article, eat less meat and waste less food....
Qn: Can we rely on  science and technology to solve our environmental problems?

Health check turns spotlight on ailing planet

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"humans are taking far more from nature than can be replaced and that our consumer-driven lifestyles and economies are driving the destruction of forests and coral reefs, depleting fish stocks, while intensive agriculture is damaging fragile lands.

Nature is not remote. While nature might feel distant to many people living in cities, consumer choices at the supermarket, shopping mall or at the click of a mouse can drive demand for goods that might have a damaging impact through the way they are produced elsewhere. Those impacts are set to grow as the population heads for nearly 10 billion people by 2050, from 7.6 billion now."

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Full house Down Under?

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Overwcrowding, leading to a strain on faciltites and infrastructure, and consequently, the quality of life, is a real issue concerning immigration for the host or recipient countries....

"there are concerns that the big cities are failing to keep up with rapid population growth, which is fuelled by an annual intake of about 190,000 migrants.

Many of the migrants have moved to larger cities, which has led to a growing sprawl and, in some places, clogged roads and overstretched transport and health services.

the surging population was overheating the property market and affecting the quality of life in major cities."

Qn: To what extent does the immigration of people have a positive effect? (Cam. 2008)

Facebook is free, so we're paying for it

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My relationship with Facebook: It's complicated

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A useful read, esp given the recent scandal involving Cambridge Analytical and Facebook....

When being polite is not kind

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sometimes, being kind can actually harm people, as u deny them the truth, which could have otherwise help them to alter their behaviour....
Shakespeare said somewhere in "Hamlet" (I think) that we must be cruel in order to be kind. So tell the truth esp when giving feedback, even if it may hurt the feelings of the person in the short run, even if it may be seen as impolite...

For those who just did the oral Spoken interaction with me, there is one qn on whether u have witnessed any kind or unkind acts....instead of just ing saying what unkind acts u have seen, u can also go into WHY sometimes people do unkind things...as the article shows us, being unkind on the surface sometimes is actually being kind in the long run.....

Qn: “People should always tell the truth.’ Do you think there are any situations in which this might not be the best thing to do? Explain your views. (Cam. 'O' lvl 2017)

Facebook privacy scandal: A wake-up call for social media users

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Qn: To what extent has technology had an impact on both privacy and security in your country? (Cam. 2009)

In critical condition

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Note the causes of the problems and the suggested solutions towards the end of article...

Monday, March 19, 2018

Skills v degrees debate at ST Education Forum ends in a tie

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Some good examples of uni dropouts who went on to achieve success: Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Thomas Edison....Even Albert Einstein was reportedly dismissed by his school teacher as someone who would amount to nothing in the future!

Note an interesting rebuttal in the article:

OV: many successful pple are uni dropouts e.g. Jobs, Gates...
SV: these are exceptions that are 'infinitesimal'; even in the case of Steve Jobs, his futute success is due to his exposure to calligraphy during the brief time he was in uni

This rebuttal is extremely effective as it uses the exact same example of Steve Jobs to hit back at the OV. Using ur opponent's 'weapon' to hit back at them is one technique u want to acquire when rebutting.....

See also HERE: The case for and against uni education

universities provide a safe space for people to try - and potentially fail - without having to face more serious consequences in the real world.

"Maybe your form teacher gets angry, maybe some of your friends get angry with you. But transport yourself to the workplace. What if you make a key decision in the workplace and you get it wrong? You have very real-life consequences. People get fired, people's lives get affected in a very serious way."

He said that being in a university pursuing a degree gives students a safe experience to learn social skills, such as making judgments and decisions, and, more importantly, the chance to learn from mistakes.


Qn: Education occurs both in and outside the classroom. What are your views?

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Inequality looks like this? Help!

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an insightful read....

Bad launderette behaviour just won't wash

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yet another good current example of the ugly Singaporean with ungracious behaviour....to add on to the random parking of bikes and supermarket trolleys....

In the advent of the shared economy (think Uber, Grab, Airbnb, Ofo Bikes, etc...), the gracious behaviour of its users need to be cultivated too for the shared economy to become a success....
See also more HEREShared services being abused: Why can’t we just share

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Of personal choice and govt's role

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But there are those who believe they should have the right to access the information first, and then decide if they want to believe it.
On the other hand, others will argue that people may not be equipped or knowledgeable enough to make that call. And even if they are, what is acceptable to them might not be appropriate for the common good.

Qn: To what extent should the government interfere in the private lives of its people?

PM Lee, Turnbull push for cooperation on free trade

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"You don't grow stronger by closing the door to other markets. Protectionism is a dead end. It is not a ladder to get you out of the low-growth trap. It is a shovel to dig it much deeper" -- Turnbull

Note how the effective use of figurative language in the above achieves a few things:
-clarity
-interest value due to its 'colour'
-more conviction and credibility
-higher language marks for ur vocab

Spread of falsehoods in mother tongues a worry

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interesting insights on how fakes news rendered in mother tongues has greater credibility and travels faster and wider....

Recycling can be too much of a good thing

Click HERENote the limitations on recycling, esp the reasons for the high costs involved....
IF cannot access above link, click HERE.

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Just Saying: When cloning becomes a pet project

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Got a bit of a shock when I read this article...coz it meant that clonining technology is not just possible today, but commercially available in the market in some countries to anyone who could afford it....The best known celebrity cloned animal was Dollt the Sheep, but alas she had a short lifespan, and apparently suffered from severe arthiritis and some deformities....But now, Barbara Streisand, a veteran (read: old) Hollywood actress had gone to clone her pet dog!

Btw, note how the closing BANG in this article echoes the opening BANG on Barbara Streisand...this technique of making reference at the end of ur writing to something u mentioned earlier is not just about repeating it wholesale, but making meaningful or interesting comment about it when u do the echoing....e.g. giving it a twist or something....it is not a MUST, but it does achieve a very good effect on the ending if the method is executed properly..

Some good ideas about cloning here...
-helps to repair grief of loved animals? coz u can clone it -- akin to immortalizing it, coz u can make multiple copies of it so that it will never 'die'! like using a photocopier!
-as mentioned in the article, cloning is used in the cattle trade to ensure quality cattle and hence quality steak! rather than leave it to the chance of mother nature to determine of the quality of the cattle (even if the parent cattle are of superior quality), why not guarantee this quality of the superior parent cattle by cloning it?
-extinction or the problem of endangered species may no longer be a problem?

Thursday, March 08, 2018

Money can't buy P$G success

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Note Neymar is the most expensive soccer player ever (see HERE)...yet with such a star player, there is no guarantee of succes due to various reasons....Neymar got injured....brings to mind the proverb: Man proposes, God disposes. (please check up the meaning if unsure)....also, having a star player is no guarantee of winning as soccer is about team work. If ur star player is a prima donna and not a team player, or who is disliked by teammates, then victory will still be elusive...
Luck also matters, such as which team u play with first in the lead up to the finals, etc etc...

Qn: Wise people often claim that there are things that money cannot buy. Do you think money can solve all problems?

Wednesday, March 07, 2018

All primary schools to offer hands-on learning by 2023

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hands-on learning is .....is an effective way of understanding concepts taught in the classroom..."Students learn by applying and by doing, and they learn beyond the classroom. They see for themselves how they can apply what they have learnt to the real world,"


Surprisingly, Zee Cheen said that his biggest lesson was not just in creating the robot. You see, his team brought their robot to the Science Centre's Maker Faire and he had to practise his public speaking, which was not his forte. He had to explain their robot to each visitor. In his words, 'these are things that I cannot learn in a classroom'. This is the value of applied learning in real life.
Qn: Education is both gained in and outside the classroom. Discuss.

Friday, March 02, 2018

Bystander photos, videos could deter more attacks

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An excellent rebuttal to the point about compromising security in a previous post HERE.

For Qns on limiting/controlling/regulating/censoring information in the media, including online versions....

Thursday, March 01, 2018

National recycling effort bags only 2% of domestic waste

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Yet another instance of how even if the technology is there to recycle the waste, it is still a futile effort if people do not actively engage in recycling their waste....This is where the govt needs to come in to provide the infrastructure to facilitate and make it easier for people to separate the recyclable waste from the non-recyclable ones.. and if it still doesn't work, then provide incentives or penalties to compel people to recycle.....

Useful stats for BANGing or for use in ur body para...!

Qn: Can we rely on science and techology to solve our environmental problems?