Bullied Aussie boy to donate $663k to charity

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It all started with bullying (lack of kindness), but leads to various acts of kindness online as social media spread the word.....and again to kindness as the mum donated the money raised for her son....

The clip of nine-year-old Quaden Bayles shows him crying and repeatedly saying he wanted to die after being bullied at school, sparking an outpouring of support from around the world.

Australian actor Hugh Jackman and National Basketball Association player Enes Kanter were among the hundreds of thousands posting support for Quaden.

For qns on kindness or social graciousness, esp those doing the SAJC Prelim 2019 AQ....think also role of social media and celebrity influence.... and childhood qns....Think also about links to privacy, as something private here is deliberately exposed to the public, creating an awareness of an issue (i.e. bullying in schs) and adding momentum to its solution....

Qn: "Privacy is worth protecting in the world today." Discuss.

Wildlife Reserves sees success in breeding endangered species

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Relate to the 2019 GP compre on relevance of zoos...

Breeding species of animals that are endangered to supplement their population in the wild can ensure their continued existence in the event of threats like the fires that razed the Amazon last year and, more recently, Australia.

focuses on protecting biodiversity in Singapore and South-east Asia through collaborations with like-minded partners, organisations and institutions.

Each year, the four attractions welcome 4.6 million visitors.

Singapore Budget 2020: A leg-up for youth and securing nation's future

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Useful for showing govt does not neglect the young....relate to 2018 compre AQ on youth and politics where it was observed that the young are disinterested in issues as they feel alienated by politicians who prefer to chase after the votes of the elderly whom they feel are more responsive to them....

"70-70 target" for local graduates of institutes of higher learning (IHLs) to have some form of overseas exposure. What this means is that 70 per cent of graduates from universities, polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education will get some international experience, whether through an internship, exchange programme or service learning or study trip.

In the compre AQ, it is stated that the young will only be interested in issues when they settle down and have children.....but what the following excerpt from the link shows is that the reverse is true -- young people are paying attention to issues to help them decide whether to settle down and have children. This attention and interest in issues happen BEFORE, NOT AFTER they have settled down:

many of my peers say they are reconsidering whether or not to have children because of this global problem. To them it boils down to one question: In the long term, will Singapore still be a suitable place to raise children?

Concerns over the virus outbreak will fade in time, but efforts to help Singaporeans go global, and protect the island from climate change, will go a long way to ensure this Little Red Dot continues to thrive

Amazon's Bezos commits $14b to address climate crisis

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Mr Jeff Bezos, tech giant Amazon's chief executive and the world's richest man, said on Monday that he was committing US$10 billion (S$14 billion) to address the climate crisis in a new initiative he called the Bezos Earth Fund.

Amazon would meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement 10 years ahead of schedule and would be carbon-neutral by 2040. As part of the pledge, he said, Amazon was ordering 100,000 electric delivery trucks from Rivian, a Michigan-based firm that Amazon has invested in.

"one hand cannot give what the other is taking away"...."The people of earth need to know: When is Amazon going to stop helping oil and gas companies ravage earth with still more oil and gas wells? When is Amazon going to stop funding climate-denying think-tanks like the Competitive Enterprise Institute and climate-delaying policy?"

For qns on affluence and business ethical obligations (Corporate Social Responsibility)

Apple warns of revenue hit

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note how it is not just medical or our physical health that is affected by the virus, but also our economic health, which comprises the production and retail sector, cos China is the 'factory of the world', as well as the largest consumer market worldwide, so both supply chains and sales are hit...

slowing production and weakening demand in China.

Apple's manufacturing facilities in China have begun to reopen, but they are ramping up more slowly than expected, while most of its retail stores were either closed or operating at reduced hours.

It also said that store restrictions due to coronavirus precautions have affected its sales in China, with most retail stores either closed or operating at reduced hours and with very low customer traffic.

Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai and General Motors have also said their auto production lines were, or could be, hit by Chinese factories that are slow to restart owing to the virus.

the virus may slash demand for smartphones by half in the first quarter in China, the world's biggest market for smartphones and Apple's third-biggest market in terms of revenue. Apple has 42 stores in China, which have been closed for much of this month.

the virus outbreak has dramatically impacted iPhone supply from China/Foxconn with a demand ripple impact worldwide

Qn: Is globalisation to be welcomed or feared today? (Cam. 2019)

Netflix says IMDA got it to remove five titles in Singapore

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VPN (virtual private network) connections allow users to mask their real location and access the streaming service as if they were in a different country.

Last year, IMDA demanded that The Last Temptation Of Christ (1988) be taken down here. The Martin Scorsese-directed film features controversial scenes involving Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

The content code serves to protect the young from unsuitable content, maintain community norms and values, and safeguard public interests, while allowing adults to make informed choices."

"The Legend Of 420 is a film that expressly advocates the legalisation of marijuana, which is an illegal narcotic in Singapore

censoring these titles will likely raise more interest surrounding them. "As with all banned content, the action of banning will likely increase the content's popularity as it generates curiosity about these films where, previously, some might not even be aware of their existence,

the purpose of censorship in this era of seamless digital media has moved from denial of access to maintaining official political and moral positions

Possible rebuttal pair concerning censorship

OV: censorship is futile since pple can bypass it via VPN

SV: govt's act of censorship is not so much to deny access but as a token measure to signify govt's stand on such material (i.e. a symbolic gesture to make clear that such materials are not in line with what is acceptable in society)  -- signal disapproval

For qns on media censorship.....

Hydropower boom, climate change threaten to destroy Mekong River

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-a good look at the effects man's use of technology has wrought on the environment as well as the communities by the river banks.
-consider also the limitations and viability of hydro-elctric power as a form of renewable energy that helps to cut carbon footprints....note how it may solve one envmtal problem (cut emissions) only to create another envmtal problem (disrupt ecosystem downstream)


a prolonged drought and a huge new dam over the border in Laos, the first on the lower Mekong, have stolen the nutrients needed to sustain life.

With about 10 more dams planned for the mainstream Mekong's lower reaches and hundreds more on its tributaries, a lifeline for 60 million people is being choked.

The fishers of Nong Khai used to farm to supplement their income, but the Mekong's vagaries have upended agriculture, too. As the water recedes from the riverbank, Mr Buorot has been forced to use pumps to nourish his riverside fields.

"When you build dams and steal sand," the monk said, "you change the course of a river, and you change the course of life."

Qns:
1. Assess the view that attempts to control climate change can never be truly effective. (Cam. 2017)
2. Discuss the view that, with an increasing global need for energy, every possible source should be exploited to the full. (Cam. 2014)
3. Does modern technology always improve the quality of people’s lives? (Cam 2006)

Creating comic strips on virus to educate public

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"I hope that the comics can play a small role in bringing some clarity to some of the issues in this outbreak in an accessible manner"

Note also how artists today have more opportunities to make a living
For qns on cartoons, comics, and the arts.....

Qns:
1. ‘A career as an artist is more attractive now than ever before.’ Comment. (ACJC Prelim 2015)

2. ‘For the majority of people, the Arts are irrelevant to their daily lives.’ How true is this of your society? (Cam 2014)

Online site barred from receiving financial benefit

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it is also an offence for him to profit from the page, or for anyone to provide financial support to the page for the purpose of communicating falsehoods.

Under Pofma, Facebook, which is considered a digital advertising intermediary, must also take steps, both in and outside Singapore, to ensure that paid content on the STR page is not displayed to users in Singapore.

Qn: How far is it acceptable for technology to be used only for financial benefit? (Cam. 2012)

China using technology such as drones and robots during outbreak

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From deploying drones to chide citizens for not donning masks in public, to using robot medical assistants to deliver medical goods and conduct disinfection operations, China is employing a tech-savvy approach to tackle the country's coronavirus outbreak.

"The gentleman wearing a red coat holding a white plastic bag in your right hand - yes, it's you. We found you are not wearing a face mask. Please wear it. If you do not have one, come to the patrol car by the street and get one," a drone instructed a passer-by

In Chengdu, a group of mahjong players had to disperse after an official told them through a drone that such activity had been banned during the epidemic, Reuters reported.

The robots are equipped with high-resolution cameras and infrared thermometers that are capable of scanning the body temperatures of 10 people at once.

Robots have also played multiple roles in the nationwide battle against the virus, such as to allow remote video communication, patient health monitoring and the delivery of medical supplies in hospital, to limit human-to-human contact

Meanwhile, officials in the southwestern province of Yunnan plan to ask residents to scan a QR-like code on their phones to enter many public buildings so that their movements can be tracked

Interesting anecdote on how drones and robots are employed during this current crisis, though the one about drone hovering above you and shouting out commands at you is a tad disturbing and reminiscent of an Orwellian scenario.
Relate also the surveillance technology that can be useful for contact tracing in this curretn crisis...
Anyway, this is a good example to show how tech can help humans in tasks that may pose a threat to our lives....think also the use of robots and drones in fire-fighting, in battlefields, to repair nuclear reactor metldown in Fukushima, in deep sea diving expeditions....
A major boon also in nations where there is a manpower shortage....

But one interesting angle to conisder is whether is will make us a less human society....if in our daily life we end up just interacting with machines and robots which had taken over jobs previously held by humans (think counter staff at pharmacies, postman, ATMS, bank counters, vending machines...) wouldn't our lives lack the human touch? This is esp so when machines are also making their presence felt in jobs like nursing, surgical operations, eldercare, etc. Realise that the human side of us (capacity for compassion and sympathy, our conscience) can only be manifested when we interact with humans. You probably would need to see a psychiatrist when u start feeling sympathy for a drone or robot. Over time, our interactions with machines will cause the human side of us to be buried and forgotten, so much so that our attitudes towards we fellow human beings will be one that is cold, unfeeling, calculative, etc...
We may even become numb to the sufferings of other human beings coz daily interactions with tech has conditioned us to be lacking in human warmth, not to mention that tech has the ability to alienate us from actual experience; e.g. the scene of a city being bombed on the screen is not 'real' to us for it is 'just something that happens on the screen'. Likewise, a soldier operating a drone from afar has less qualms about pushing a button that will release a bomb on the people below coz he is far away, cushioned from the effect of having to see the consequences with his eyes...it's almost like playing a video game to him,,,,,,

Qns: 
1."Scientific advancement make us less human," Do you agree? (ACJC Prelim 2015)
2. To what extent is artificial intelligence replacing the role of humans? (Cam. 2019)

Taking a strong stand against doxxing

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Note how the ending of the article echoes or make a reference to the opening BANG on 'super spreader'...there's also the pun on super spreader as a person who spreads the virus, and who spreads the private info of others online without their consent -- both can seriously bring harm to the parties affected....

WHAT IS DOXXING?

To "doxx" means to identify someone publicly on the Internet. It's a cyber weapon used to harass and victimise.

Doxxing is a bad thing. It's carried out with malicious intent, in order to embarrass or harass a fellow human being. Doxxers expose your birth date, address, telephone number, employment information, and photographs of friends and family. The idea is to humiliate and destroy.

To make things worse, the Internet never forgets. Years from now, if that person applies for a job, and a prospective employer googles him, the doxxed information might reappear.

It happens when people become upset with a wrongdoer and feel that the wrongdoer will get away with bad behaviour.

Doxxing is "street justice". It increases as people lose confidence in society's mechanisms to punish misdeeds. And doxxing is easy. Anyone can publish a photograph of you and name you, without your permission. ... Add to that the anonymity of the Internet, and we have the perfect conditions for mob violence through doxxing.

Thankfully, it is now illegal to publish identity information about someone, with the intention to harm that person. This has come about because of an amendment to the Protection from Harassment Act (confusingly abbreviated by lawyers as Poha).

Leaders who speak up quickly and clearly, on issues that capture the public's attention, are doing their duty to dissuade doxxing. When people know the authorities are on top of things, and are taking a strong stand, people will feel less inclined to take matters into their own hands...community leaders and thought leaders must speak up when harmful narratives are propagated. If too many of us take a back seat, then others will seize the microphone and influence the message.

For qns on social media and privacy.....

How well Singapore stands together amid crisis defines us as a people: Halimah Yacob

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See also related article HERE [click HERE if can't access link] titled: Coronavirus outbreak brings out the best in some Singaporeans

Relate this also to the ugly side that has been rearing its head among Singaporeans...think hoarding of masks, sanitisers....selling them at high price.....xenophobia....landlords evicting tenants from China...

"The strength of a people is seldom tested during good times, but will be severely challenged when we face a crisis," [Think about the analogy of tea contained in tea bags. You will only know how strong the tea is when you dip the tea bag in 'hot water']

"How well we stand together, support each other and react to a situation define us as a people."

panic-buying, spreading of misinformation and victim blaming of any community are not the right responses to the outbreak

"These [kind] deeds give me hope that there is still care, compassion and cohesion in our midst, and are good reminders of how we as Singaporeans have a choice in the kind of society we desire,"

the ST Singaporean of the Year "is not just about the winning"...."They cause us to pause and ponder why they do what they do, and perhaps whether we too might do the same, each in our own way, in whatever way we can."

Qns:
1. Do awards and prizes serve any useful purpose? (Cam. 2011)
2. Adversity brings out the worst in human nature. Discuss. (TJC Prelim 2018)

17-year-old held under ISA for supporting terror group

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Good local example of how exposure to social media influence can make young people interested in causes and issues...

Relate to 2018 GP AQ....

Oscars: Prestige, profit and little else

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That is why it fades fast, within four years on average, for a winner - possibly faster. "If you're nominated for an Oscar and you don't win," cautioned Helen Mirren, 2007 Best Actress for The Queen, "it's all over on Sunday night. If you do win, it's all over Monday morning".

Note also that the Oscar winner South Korean movie "Parasite" is a critique on social inequality that resonantes with audience worldwide.....

Can use use this article as a discussion of discrimiantion against women and blacks in the film industry...but does heaping the Oscar accolades onto a non-English film dispel the discrimination accusation?

Some of the points dwelt on in the article:
=are awards a reflection of excellence or popularity? [note the examples given at the very end of the article...]
=boost career? open doors to opportunities?
=recognition from peers or heavyweights in the industry?
=boost earnings from movie ticket revenue?
=awards ceremony as a platform to champion issues? [Brad Pitt made comments about Trump's impeachment when he took to the stage to receive his award for Best Supporting Actor]

Qns:
1. Do awards and prizes serve any useful purpose? (Cam. 2011)

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

      3. ‘For the majority of people, the Arts are irrelevant to their daily lives.’ How true is this of your society? (Cam. 2014)

S'pore sending coronavirus test kits, screening machines to China: Heng

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Increasingly extreme measures taken in Wuhan

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The Chinese authorities have resorted to increasingly extreme measures in the central city of Wuhan to try to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus, ordering house-to-house searches, rounding up the sick and housing them in enormous quarantine centres.

The city has already been basically shut down and isolated because of the contagion that began more than a month ago. The new measures came two weeks after China barred people from leaving Wuhan...It then expanded the restriction to other cities in Hubei province and now confines more than 50 million people - a containment of nearly unimaginable scope.

Qns:
1. To what extent should the government interfere in the rights/freedom of its people?
2. How far should a state have a right to monitor the actions of people within its borders? (Cam. 2007)

Coronavirus whistle-blower’s death unlikely to be watershed moment for freedom of speech: Analysts

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For qns on censorship....

On a wing and a prayer: Tackling aviation's ticking carbon time bomb

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Learn the expression "on a wing and a prayer" (for meaning click  HERE)
Note also the colourful expression 'carbon time bomb'

Aviation produces about 2.5 per cent of mankind's emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that scientists say is heating up the planet

If aviation emissions (at about 900 million tonnes of CO2 last year) were a country, it would be the sixth-largest polluter. 

The biggest expected reductions, though, will come from growing use of sustainable biofuels and offsetting.

The concern, though, is whether huge demand for biofuels will compete for land used to grow food or lead to over-intensification of land use or further deforestation. 

offsetting emissions. This basically means paying someone else to reduce international aviation's emissions growth.The scheme is called Corsia, or Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation. Under Corsia, the international aviation sector will have a cap on emissions from this year. Any emissions growth, expressed in tonnes of CO2, will be divided up among participating airlines, which will have to purchase carbon offsets from approved emissions reduction projects equal to the emissions growth of the sector. ..These projects could be more efficient cook stoves, forest preservation projects, and wind or solar farms. The idea is that these projects receive financing from buying carbon offsets and this cash flow makes them viable. Over their lifetime, the projects reduce or prevent CO2 emissions because of the cleaner technology they use.

1    Qn:  Air travel should be discouraged, not promoted. To what extent do you agree? (Cam. 2008)

Chinese censors clamp down on media coverage as cases surge

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the Communist government has clamped down on the news media and the Internet, signalling an effort to control the narrative about a crisis that has become a once-in-a-generation challenge for leaders in Beijing.

China's leaders appear to be strengthening information controls after a brief spell in which news organisations could report thoroughly and many negative comments on the official response were left uncensored online.

Internet platforms have removed articles that suggest shortcomings in the government's response or are otherwise negative about the outbreak. Local officials have also cracked down on what they call online "rumours" about the virus. 

such efforts, which have continued even after one person reprimanded for spreading rumours turned out to be a doctor sounding the alarm about early cases.

"strengthen control over online media" as one of several measures to maintain social stability.

a mandatory change of tone in their stories and fresh orders to hew to the official line. Journalists at the Xinhua news agency, for example, have been told to keep their coverage positive, according to internal instructions seen by The New York Times. They were ordered not to continue mentioning that the World Health Organisation had declared a global health emergency and not to cover every new case abroad. Across the rest of China's news landscape, articles on a broad range of themes have been blocked or deleted online. They include reports in the financial news magazine Caijing about deaths in Wuhan that might not have been counted in the official tally and a first-hand account of a funeral home in Wuhan.

Qns:

1. Is regulation of the press desirable? (Cam. 2017)

2. Consider the view that social media has more influence than politicians. (Cam. 2019)

3. How effectively is public health promoted and managed in your society? (Cam.2015)

Thai tourism hit hard as Chinese stay away

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Around 11 million Chinese visited Thailand last year, making up a sizeable proportion of the 40 million tourist in total. Almost a million visitors from China came to Thailand in January alone.

Qn: Should poorer countries develop their tourist industry when the basic needs of their own people are not being met? (Cam. 2007)

True victim of coronavirus: Our sense of humanitarianism

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Note the stark contrast in attitudes in the opening BANG....

numerous individuals in the 21st century choose not to see that humanity inhabits the same earth and shares a common destiny. The global health chain is only as strong as its weakest link: An epidemic anywhere will threaten everywhere. Humanity's survival hinges on our ability to fight calamities in unison.

Instead, with lice-like myopia, some individuals raise the banner of Yellow Peril and lead a crusade against anyone, even their own compatriots, who look Chinese, whom they mock as carriers of the "kung flu".

In a newspaper article published on Jan 27, Danish cartoonist Niels Bo Bojesen drew China's national flag with its five stars replaced by virus particles. As the Chinese idiom goes, such actions are akin to "throwing rocks into the well when somebody has just fallen into it".

It is also the Chinese government that has pushed for the 1,000-bed Huoshenshan Hospital to be built in 10 days, and the 1,600-bed Leishenshan Hospital in 12 days. An empty building in the city of Huanggang was converted into a 1,000-bed hospital in three days.

Confirmation bias is the greater pandemic afflicting us today, and it is best explained with an analogy: If a referee awards your opponents with a red card, that's a good call - but not if the red card goes to you.

The recent outbreak of Sinophobia, triggered by the coronavirus, has long had its symptoms.

In recent years, newly awakened cancer cells - injected with anti-Chinese ideology - have eaten up the spirit of helping our fellow human beings in our shared time of need.

In this time of viral outbreak, our most dangerous disorder is not just of the body, it is also of the body politic. Our most dangerous prognosis is to ignore the fourth louse and instead imitate the trio: each quarrelling for its own petty interests, unaware of their impending, collective doom.
[note the how the closing BANG echoes an earlier reference on the anecdote about the lice]

This coronavirus has two interesting angles u can forged:
=there is another virus (possible even more virulent) that we have to combat; i.e. fake news that can spread and go viral online and poison our mind
-the epidemic of ignorance mentioned in the article....

Try to see also such pandemic threats in the same line as environemental, terrorist and economic threats.....in the sense that it is not just your problem, coz if it is not contained properly, it will overspill and affect me as well; i.e. the contagion effect.....we are all in the same boat -- if u go down, it'll be a matter of time before I go down as well. Put it another way: we may not be in the same boat, but our boats are tied together, so if ur boat goes down, it will drag our boats down as well....

For qns on discrimination and globalization....collective destiny and responsibility....

Qns:

1. Is globalisation to be welcomed or feared today? (Cam. 2019)

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

Falsehoods on coronavirus show why Pofma is necessary

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Falsehoods circulating about the coronavirus that originated from Wuhan can cause panic, and they underscore why it is so important for ministers to have tools like the laws against fake news to correct misinformation quickly

a Pofma order can be issued based on the minister's interpretation of the content in question.

"It is my view that the danger of moving too deep into the domain of interpretation is that Pofma risks stifling a frank and healthy exchange of opinion required for a functioning democracy....Why do we have to accept the subjective opinion of the minister as to which is the appropriate comparison?

a fundamental feature of Pofma...is perhaps the only such law in the world that allows for the offending post or article to remain available and accessible online alongside the correction...the Government had initiated only such corrections from the get-go and none of the original posts or articles were deleted, censored, amended or blocked when people complied with the correction orders...this allows people to read the original article or post and compare it with what the Government said about it, then decide for themselves.

long-term, pernicious misinformation was no less damaging than the kind with dramatic impact, and was designed to undermine trust in the Government and institutions, ultimately eroding the practice of democracy.

Hunan culls chickens after H5N1 bird flu outbreak

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18,000 chickens culled in China's south after outbreak of highly pathogenic strain of virus

A striking contrast can be seen here if you compare this with the Wuhan cirus outbreak. It's a justifiable case of how animals do not and should not enjoy the same rights as man. Where the lives of mankind are threatened, the rights of animals would have to go....otherwise, we will be killing those infected with the Wuhan virus too, just like how the infected chickens are culled. In fact, as a precautionary measure, they do not just cull the infected chickens, but also chickens in the same region.  By that same logic, all the people in the locked down city of Wuhan will have to be exterminated, and we're talking about millions of people here, which is just ludicrous!
To give another example, during the outbreak of the Nipah virus (in Malaysia?), a million pigs were culled in the late 1990s.....the same reason why we will not hesitate to exterminate mosquitoes for spreading dengue, zika, malaria, etc....for the simple reason that while animals are not without rights, these are not quite the same as those of humans, and they should not be lumped in the same cateogory as humans. To modify Geroge Orwell's quote a little, 'all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others'; and mankind being the superior species in the animal kingdom positioned at the apex of the food chain, is definitely in a special category of its own -- one with special/exclusive privileges....

For qns on animal rights....

Prototypes banned, but Nike super shoes OK for Olympics

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If one of the purposes of competitive sport is to inspire us with regard to the human potential in surmounting obstacles and pushing our limits, then the use of technology may be guilty of taking away some of the shine and magic in that, as we may now think that oh, it's not because of his ability that he manages to break the record, it's because of the shoes he's wearing, the suit he dons, the car he's driving, etc....Nowhere is this more evident when it comes to F1 racing! and in competitive sports like sprinting and swimming, the ability to shave of fractions of a second can mean a world of difference; therein lies the unfairness in tapping on technology in competitive sports....

The first shoe ban by World Athletics (WA), the sport's governing body, addresses concerns that technological advances are giving athletes an unfair and unnatural advantage.

Kipchoge and other leading athletes have welcomed the shoes as a natural technological advance, but others say they have gone too far, with Professor of Sport and Exercise Science Yannis Pitsiladis at Britain's Brighton University calling them "technological doping".

Nike promises improving times of up to 4 per cent. Over the course of a 2hr 10min marathon, that is a difference of more than five minutes. The five fastest official marathons of all time have come in the shoes, all within the last two years.

Qn: Should the use of technology in sport be allowed?

China's response to Wuhan virus outbreak is a stunning exercise in mass mobilisation

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Most remarkable of all, China pulled off the largest quarantine exercise in history when it put Wuhan and nearby cities under lockdown, isolating over 50 million people.

That Beijing could do all this, and be praised by the World Health Organisation and others for its formidable political will, organisation and execution, comes primarily down to its top-down, authoritarian model.

Not only is it able to order a draconian move such as this, it can also execute it with little overt opposition from its citizens.

"The authoritarian model is relevant in at least two ways. One, it mobilises the bureaucracy and society for one united objective. Two, it casts aside ethical and legitimate concerns that will not be possible in a liberal democracy, such as the lockdown of a city of 11 million people. "It's an infringement of rights, and a public policy trade-off between public health concerns and rights of the city's residents."

Censors have been unable to keep a lid on the growing online resentment over officials dragging their feet or downplaying the outbreak in its early days.

China's highest court last week took Wuhan police officers to task for silencing a group of doctors who had alerted a chat group on messaging app WeChat in late December about a spate of pneumonia infections. Health authorities announced the outbreak only on Dec 31. The eight people were sanctioned for supposedly spreading rumours, but the court said if those "rumours" had been allowed to circulate, that might have helped in making people more vigilant.

Qns:

1. Consider the view that efficient government is more important than democracy. (Cam. 2011)

2. To what extent does the state have the right to interfere in the freedom of its citizens?

3. Is regulation of the press desirable? (Cam. 2017)