Singapore-China ties will remain warm under new leaders: PM

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Realize that Singapore has collaborated with China in quite a few mega projects, e.g. Suzhou Industrial Park, Tianjin Eco-City, Chongqing Project, and the latest BRI.
Collaboration at the govt-to-govt level allows for common interests to be forged, win-win situations, and greater understanding of each other -- all of which help to minimize the possibility of conflict since the fate of the two ctys are tied together....

Qn: "International cooperation has not made the world a more peaceful place." Discuss. (MJC Prelim 2018)

Sci&Tech vs Ethics Quotation

Useful idea in this quote....
Note that without the guidance/influence of ethics, we will only use  S&T to destroy the earth.....even if we are using S&T to save the earth, our continued unethical acts on Mother Nature will negate any efforts by S&T....
Btw, the quote below is not strictly on the envmt; can also be about our behaviour in society, eg crime.

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

Tropical forest the size of England destroyed in 2018, satellite data reveals

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Interesing/shocking nugget of info for ur BANGs! (See Title)


The pace of the loss is staggering - the equivalent of 30 football fields disappearing every minute of every day in 2018

Rainforests are the planet's richest repository of wildlife and a critical sponge for soaking up planet-heating carbon dioxide (CO2).

Global forest loss peaked in 2016, fuelled in part by El Nino weather conditions and uncontrolled fires in Brazil and Indonesia....The main drivers are the livestock industry and large-scale commodity agriculture - palm oil in Asia and Africa, soy beans and biofuel crops in South America.

Globally, forests absorb about 30 per cent of manmade greenhouse gas emissions, just over 11 billion tonnes of CO2 a year....Burning or clear-cutting vast tracts of tropical forest not only releases carbon into the atmosphere, it reduces the size of the sponge that can absorb CO2.

Fake news must be curbed before it affects society: PM Lee

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Note this new law:
the new Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill.


Note these useful examples and stats:

a recent survey which showed that most Singaporeans are confident they can distinguish between real and fake news. Last September, an online survey by market research agency Ipsos showed that 80 per cent of survey respondents were confident they could spot fake news, even though 90 per cent of them later mistakenly identified fake headlines as real.

the Prime Minister said there was a website that used his pictures and his name to market a bitcoin investment...."They had 'quoted me' as saying that the product is very good and that I encouraged everyone to invest. It was absurd. But when others see it, how would they know if it's real or fake?" said PM Lee.

Facebook faces probe for mining users' e-mail list

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This may explain why u r getting spammed by a lot of unsolicited ads...ur email address was 'harvested' from ur friend's contact list when he signed up for a Facebook account. Some organization may even SELL these email contact lists to other commercial entities....

Facebook's unauthorised collection of more than 1.5 million users' e-mail address books.... Facebook harvested the e-mail contact lists of a portion of new users who signed up for the network after 2016....Those lists were then used to improve Facebook's ad-targeting algorithms and other friend connections across the network.

Relate to the 2014 compre AQ on how the internet exploits our tastes and dictates what we like and buy....
Consider also the 2017 compre AQ about how if the product/service is free, then we the users are the 'product' unknowingly, as we are being monetised by the company whose product/service we consume free of charge. As the adage goes, "There's no such thing as a free lunch."

Beijing girl finds feathers in chicken meal from McDonald's

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Interesting, colourful BANGs!!!

Qn:   Eating has never been more dangerous. Discuss.  (TPJC 2013)

Sri Lanka bombers: Identity, sense of purpose drive the well-educated to terrorism

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A good takeaway from this articles are the rebuttal to the oft-cited contributing root cause of terorrism -- poverty and lack of education......But we see here that NOT being of a victim of both need not prevent one from becoming a terrorist....

ISIS recruits from Africa, South and East Asia and the Middle East are significantly more educated than is typical for persons of their age in their respective regions.... came from "well-educated, affluent families"

Research has shown involvement in violent extremism is often not driven by poverty or religious indoctrination, as it is generally assumed. What pushes well-educated youth down the road of violence is more a desire to achieve a sense of purpose and identity.

"For some, it is about glory, power and heroism, whilst for others it can be much deeper whereby they believe they are fighting for a higher cause and are only answerable to god,"

"Social and religious harmony doesn't come top-down when you have already gone through an education and social system that has taught you segregation,


Qn: Can terrorism ever be eradicated?

How an undergrad challenged NUS' policy on sexual misconduct

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One issue here is the use of social media to apply pressure on the relevant authorities to act....Sometimes, it is diffuclt to get ur voice heard, esp when u feel u r being silenced or ignored by others, and ur grievances go unaddressed....going into social media is thus one way to have ur voice amplified and heard by others, such that the parties concerned have no chocie but to act on ur case,,,a case of David vs the Goliath by harnessing the power of technology, where technology levels the playing field even for ordinary people of little of no influence.

After she spoke up, things quickly escalated. Online petitions were started and they caught public attention. This prompted the police and Attorney-General's Chambers to explain their decision not to charge the offender. Education Minister Ong Ye Kung described NUS' penalties as "manifestly inadequate".



The other issue is on crime and punishment:

Penalties for criminal offences are typically based on four key principles: deterrence, retribution, prevention and rehabilitation....Deterrence prevents a crime from happening again (or reduces the chance of such occurrence) by instilling fear of the consequences; retribution is based on the principle that the punishment should reflect the degree of harm the offender caused and the extent of culpability; prevention is the idea of putting an offender behind bars so he or she can't harm other victims; and rehabilitation gives an offender a chance at turning over a new leaf.

For qns on social media and crime&punishment....

Qn:  ‘Rehabilitation, not punishment, should be the purpose of the justice system.’ Discuss. (Cam. 2017)

$68m fund to turn labs into food factories of the future

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Singapore's food ambitions, which centre on high-tech solutions to help make it more self-sufficient in terms of what it eats, while aiming to export solutions to other cities feeling the bite of climate change.

The latest move seeks to grow firms that focus on plant-based proteins to produce meat clones.

the country's potential to leverage science, technology and innovation to overcome land and resource constraints, and to grow more with less sustainably.

Singapore is concentrating efforts on increasing the nation's food output, with the ambitious goal of producing 30 per cent of what people need to eat by 2030, from less than a tenth now

technology to create plant-based proteins, as they have a lower carbon footprint than meat and do not involve killing animals.

Farmers in Singapore have already taken up the challenge, by building indoor LED-lighting vegetable farms and multi-storey aquaculture systems which can boost yields by up to 15 times, for instance.

Others are working on lab-grown meat, as well as vegetable substitutes which look and taste like meat.

Note:
-creating meat in the lab will alleviate a lot ethical issues with regard to how we grow and prepare animals for food
-ethical impact is not confined only to cruel treatment of animals, but also mother nature in the sense of less land need to be cleared, less carbon footprints incurred when food is not flown here from other ctys but grown here in Singapore
-food security for S'pore (90% of our food is currently imported; only 10% home-sourced)
-potential of food industry for export; contribution to economic growth

Qns: 
1. How far should countries aim to be self-sufficient? (Cam. 2011)

2. To what extent are the rights of animals protected in your society? (Cam. 2012)

3. Can the transport of food over vast distances be justified? (Cam. 2009)

4. Is effective farming possible without science? (Cam. 2005)

5. Given the growing demand for food, is it possible to conserve the environment? (MJC 2018)

6. ‘It is increasingly difficult to be ethical in today’s world.’ How far is this true? (ACJC 2014)

Saudi sisters call on Google, Apple to pull 'inhuman' app

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Useful example of Saudi Arabia and the Absher app:
Absher - a government e-services app - is bad for women as it supports Saudi Arabia's strict male guardian system....Absher, which is available in the Saudi version of the Google and Apple online stores, allows men to update or withdraw permissions for female relatives to travel abroad and to get SMS updates if their passports are used, according to researchers.

Saudi women must have permission from a male relative to work, marry and travel under the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom's guardianship system

Technology can, and should, be all about progress. But the hugely invasive powers that are being unleashed may do incalculable damage if there are not sufficient checks in place to respect human rights


For qns on technology, gender equality, rights ans freedom.....

Colourful BANG for envmt issues qns....

Impactful BANG for ur intro/conclusion:

Qns: 

1. Assess the view that attempts to control climate change can never be truly effective. (Cam. 2017)

2. In your society, how well are the demands of the economy and the environment balanced? (Cam. 2015)

. 

3. Environmental concerns and economic growth cannot co-exist. Do you agree? (Cam. 2011)

4. To what extent is the pursuit of continuous economic growth a desirable goal? (Cam. 2018)

Don't get phished: Businesses here lost around $43 million in 2017 due to e-mail impersonation scams

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For those whom we discussed the 2014 'A' lvl compre on the internet, relate to the idea of how we 'readily volunteer our personal info online', how unguarded we are as to who we give our personal info to....
Other than the idea that the faceless nature online makes us oblivious to the presence of the countless faceless strangers out there in cyberspace, this article offers other interesting reasons:

Singaporeans are usually trusting of official channels, which makes them let their guard down when it comes to phishing attempts....Singaporeans are pretty used to filling up forms asking for all kinds of personal data and are used to thinking of Singapore as a safe place. These turn Singapore into a soft target for phishers...Artificial intelligence can enhance phishing and other social engineering attacks by creating extremely realistic video and audio or well-crafted e-mails designed to fool targeted individuals

NUS Peeping Tom case: Age a key factor in deciding such cases, say lawyers

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there are four principles at play when determining an appropriate sentence for an offender: 
1) retribution; 
2) general deterrence - or deterring the public at large from committing offences; 
3) specific deterrence, which refers to deterring a particular individual; and 
4) rehabilitation.

Note that for this example, there is doxxing at play on the part of the victim. She was the one who revealed the true identity and background of the perpetrator/culprit online. We have a paradoxical situation where instead of a gag order on the identity of the victim, it is the identity of the culprit that appears to be withheld (at least initially) in order to give him a second chance.....
We also have a weird situation where the culprit is slowly becoming the victim, as the actual victim goes online to seek the justice she wants, in the process becoming the aggressor or even culprit here....talk about role reversal!  [click HERE]

Food for thought: 'Hell has no fury like a woman scorned'

Qn: ‘Rehabilitation, not punishment, should be the purpose of the justice system.’ Discuss. (Cam. 2017)

Interesting Nugget of Info.....

Moshe Safdie, the architect behind Marina Bay Sands and the recent Jewel Changi Airport, got his inspiration for the latter from the James Cameron movie "Avatar".

Qn: Do films offer anything more than an escape from reality? (Cam. 2014)

Useful Colourful Quote

Colouful quote for ur BANGs for envmt-related qns....

Notre-Dame fire: A robot named 'Colossus' was firefighters' secret weapon

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Colossus, a 500kg tank-like robot with the ability to venture into danger zones where conditions would quickly kill a person.

interesting example on the use of techology or robot...the Notre Dame association makes it a well-known example that will connect better with most readers, esp ur examiners....
Consider also how such tech may cause humans to lose their jobs...or will they? Will u trust a robot to put out fire and take human firefighters totally out of the equation?

Biomed sector poised to shine but there are some worries

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USeful quote fro BANG!:
"Do. Or do not. There is no try." So goes the famous quote by Yoda, the legendary Jedi Master of Star Wars fame.

Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), the country's largest public sector research agency with over 5,000 employees

The biomedical sciences industry has become an integral part of the economy, comprising almost 4 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product and employing almost 23,000 workers, many in high-skilled and well-paying jobs.

Jobs and manufacturing aside, the strong grounding in the life sciences is creating new opportunities for the country as well as helping to strengthen its defences against new threats caused by climate change.


Contribution to Food Security to enable Singapore's self-sufficiency:

Agriculture, for instance, is a relatively new area of focus for the nation. Yet the authorities have been confident enough to set a 30 by 30 goal, to produce almost a third of the food we need here by 2030, from less than 10 per cent now.

To achieve this in land-scarce Singapore, researchers and farmers will tap heavily the scientific expertise that has been honed in the last 19 years.

This includes genetics know-how that will pave the way for creating supercrops able to withstand increasingly erratic weather, as well as the skills to grow living cells on a large scale which could be used as food.

In fact, scientists in Singapore have started a company set to produce meat grown in the laboratory, while others are harnessing insects as a rich source of protein for feed stock.

What's more, solutions tried and tested here will not only help Singapore bolster food security, but can also be adopted in other cities facing many of the same global threats.

Qns: 
1. How far should countries aim to be self-sufficient? (Cam. 2011)
2. 'Governments should not meddle in what scientists do.' Comment.

Notre-Dame cathedral will rise again. But it will never be the same

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For qns on conservation of old buildings...

Qns:

1.  Assess the view that traditional buildings have no future in your society. (Cam. 2016)

2. Only modern architecture and modern art have a place in today’s world. How far is this true of your society? (Cam. 2011)

Beyond avocado toast and #adulting

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Think I made a mistake when I categorized some of u as 'millennials' when we did the compre on millennials (last year's 'A' lvl compre...You belong to the Generation Z instead....Millennials belong to Generation Y.

They are the generation roughly defined by the Pew Research Centre in the United States as those born between 1981 and 1996 - between 23 and 38 years old this year....between 22 and 38 this year. In any case, millennials straddle the gap between Gen X, those born in the 1960s to the early 1980s before the Internet took off, and Gen Z, digital natives from the get-go.

Note some of the typical traits often hurled at millennials....for Qns related to youth.

Useful Qn for BANG!!!

A useful thought-provoking Qn in today's Straits Times that I thought serves as an excellent opening or closing BANG for ur intro/conclusion:

For qns on environmental issues concerning animal extinction...

Qns:

1.      ‘It is increasingly difficult to be ethical in today’s world.’ How far is this true? (ACJC 2014)

2.      How far is it acceptable for animals to be used for financial gain? (AJC 2014)

Parliament: Law against online falsehoods will not stifle free speech: Shanmugam

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We are all familiar with how regulation or censorship online is anathema to free speech; but now our govt is saying it actually faciliates free speech! Now u have got a pair of useful rebuttal here!

The draft law against online falsehoods will not affect the right to free speech, and could even encourage it by exposing people to more viewpoints, Law and Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam said yesterday.

The robots are coming - how is the Asian workforce adapting?

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Note the Singapore context mentioned in the article...

Qn: In an age of rapid technological advancement, is a single career for life realistic?

Hate speech law: Concerns about impact on arts and entertainment choices

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Qn:  ‘Music breaks all barriers.’ Can music be so powerful? (ACJC Prelim 2017)

The United Kingdom has gone mad

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Qn: ‘In the global village we inhabit, there is no justification for national boundaries.’ How far do you agree? (Cam. 2018)

Integrated resorts' $9b investment will help Singapore stay ahead of rivals: Analysts

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Note the ethical implications here of chasing economic growth....

The debate over doxxing: People never let me forget, says Amy Cheong

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and also HERE: [Practice of doxxing set to be outlawed but observers see challenges ahead]

If can't access above link, click HERE


Learn the term 'doxxing' (careful of the 'funny' spelling).... it's the English equivalent of the ubiquitous Chinese term: 人肉搜索 (trawling the net for personal info of a person -- and then publishing it online for all to see, usually as an act of vendetta to get back at someone) e.g. disclosing the address and workplace, contact numbers of the person, which school they came from....blah blah blah....

Second haul of pangolin scales seized

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The haul on Monday came from two species, the white-bellied tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) and the giant ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea), and is likely to have come from 21,000 pangolins.....estimated to be worth about $51.6 million

The scales of the pangolin are in high demand in Asia for use in traditional Chinese medicine, despite there being no proven medicinal benefit from their use.

Qns:

1.      ‘It is increasingly difficult to be ethical in today’s world.’ How far is this true? (ACJC 2014)

2.      How far is it acceptable for animals to be used for financial gain? (AJC 2014)

3.      ‘You are what you eat.’ How far do you agree? (SRJC 2014)

Spotlight on 'people farming' at ST Education forum

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Note the term 'people farming'....where internet companies like Google and Facebook 'farm' our details and sell to a third party -- a case of the buyer buying a product online (i.e. we) becoming the 'product' itself which sold to others! Relate to 2017 'A' level compre if u have done it.....

"Facebook has two audiences - their users and their customers who pay them. They track everything that you do, store the data, analyse it continuously to create a profile of you, and monetise it with their customers... I also call this 'people farming'. They are factory farms for human beings."

Parliament: Online vigilantes who publish others' details could face jail

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learn the term 'online vigilantes'...vigilantes are people who take the law into their own hands, esp if they feel that the law and the police are not doing their job well.....Batman and Spider Man are considered vigilantes, but today, everyone does not have to be a superhero like Batman to be a vigilante. Armed with a keyboard and an internet connection, anyone can be a 'keyboard warrior' (another term u have to acquaint yourself with).

Issues of sovereignty and competing boundary claims

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All this talk about erecting walls and asserting one's national boundaries brings to mind a line from Robert Frost's famous poem "Mending Walls" -- 'good fences make good neighbours'.

Qn:  ‘In the global village we inhabit, there is no justification for national boundaries.’ How far do you agree? (Cam. 2018)

Useful Quotation....

Useful quote for BANG on questions relating to the environment...

Two local farms get Certified Humane mark for cage-free eggs, chickens

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For those whom we just did the compre on food, take a look at this....and relate to the AQ.
Note how there is such an option available for consumers who are 'enlightened'. But certification is expensive and will only make financial sense if there is suff demand for it.....
In poorer countries, people won't even give this any consideration when they may not even have access to food (ethically sourced or otherwise). Beggars can't be choosers -- reminding us once again that morals and ethics are a luxury that one can only contemplate when one's stomach or basic needs have been fulfilled....