Museums can find ways to help people imagine different futures

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how museums can play a key role in conversations about climate and sustainability

re-imagine their roles in promoting awareness and civic action around pressing global issues

"The first step to a better future is being able to imagine it."

The emotional connection made possible by art and the understanding made possible by science give us the tools to tackle systemic problems."

Qn: There is no value in visiting museums today. Discuss. (IJC Prelim 2016)

Belarus leader slams critics for 'crossing red lines'

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intercept an international airliner flying through his country's airspace and arrest a 26-year-old dissident journalist has brought new levels of condemnation and vows of serious action

Europe's aviation regulator issued a bulletin yesterday urging all airlines to avoid Belarus airspace for safety reasons, saying the forced diversion of the Ryanair flight had put in question its ability to provide safe skies.

Qn: Consider the view that authoritarian leaders are better able to bring stability to a country. (ACJC)

Why some diplomatic events cannot go virtual

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"face-to-face meetings were necessary for frank and deep conversations" between participants.

This lack of effectiveness becomes more pronounced when the depth of issues to be discussed increases in terms of complications or in terms of variance in views, and when the heterogeneity of participants increases

nformal conversations are important for testing out ideas, sounding out the range of possibilities, getting a sense of your interlocutors, pushing for certain positions - all without having to commit too much if you do not want to do so

There is the worry of surveillance and conversations not being as discreet as they ought to be.

casual banter, a warm handshake and a friendly pat on the back can foster feelings of trust and goodwill that hours of Zoom meetings will never replicate.

Diplomacy and commerce isn't just about swiping right, liking, following, or something like that.

MFA reminds US embassy not to interfere with S'pore's domestic issues

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examine how LGBTQI+ equality and inclusion could increase economic competitiveness

Qns:

1. Many developed countries are paying increasing attention to the needs of the disadvantaged. How far is this true in Singapore? (Cam. 2008)

 2. To what extent should foreign countries interfere in the domestic affairs of another country?

More South Korean men taking paternity leave, becoming stay-home dads

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attitudes start shifting in South Korea's patriarchal society where fathers traditionally bring home the bread while mothers raise children.

Experts attribute the change to Western influence on family values and a growing number of pro-family policies rolled out by the government to battle a chronically low number of babies.

offering male workers more parental leave will allow women excelling in their jobs to remain employed, rather than to quit once they get pregnant.

"My presence at home has definitely made a big difference to my children's well-being and growth

Qns:

1. Should both parents take equal responsibility for raising their children? (Cam. 2019)

2. In your society, how far is equality for all a reality? (Cam. 2012)

3 in 4 in Singapore think social media can hold people in power accountable: Survey

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Note watchdog / check and balance role of the media:

Three in four people here are motivated to use social media because they believe it can hold people in power - such as politicians, business leaders and celebrities - accountable for their actions

"It also seems to be producing results in terms of apologies, a review of decisions and more."

many here might use social media as a check on people in power, partly because of how easily they can use it to express themselves.

"We've also been seeing instances of online vigilantism and examples of cancel culture in Singapore, which definitely shape how users view social media as platforms and what these platforms can do

some social media platforms preserve users' anonymity, which might encourage them to use the forum to share their views.

Long working hours are a killer, WHO study shows

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=compare with the '996' work culture in China [9am to 9pm 6 days a week]

=with an average of 45 working hours per week, Singapore was ranked #2 behind only to Japan, in a global ranking in 2019 of the nations with the longest working hours, .

Working 55 hours or more per week is a serious health hazard

Capping hours would be beneficial for employers since that has been shown to increase worker productivity

Qns: 

1. ‘People today do not work as hard as they did in the past.’ How true is this of your society? (Cam. 2018)

2. Consider the view that we do not take enough responsibility for our own well-being. (Cam. 2018)

How the arts help people stay healthy and resilient

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

Singapore extends lifeline to India in Covid-19 oxygen crisis

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Example of cooperation btw countries....

Qn: Given greater levels of international cooperation, how necessary is it for countries to engage in the arms trade? (Cam. 2020)

Safeguards in place against auxiliary cops using guns illegally

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Qn: Should the police have unlimited powers when dealing with crime? (SAJC Prelim 2020)

Paternity, maternity leave: Remove wide disparity, says activist

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the wide disparity between maternity and paternity leave reinforces the idea that raising children is primarily women's work

the disparity also goes against gender equality and affects mothers' career prospects

Currently, fathers get two weeks' paid paternity leave, while mothers get four months.

The issues of women's workforce participation and Singapore's low fertility rates boil down to one thing: the expectation that women, who are now educated and have careers, will continue to bear the brunt of the caregiving burden, as they did in the past

This expectation sets up a situation where women have to choose between their careers and their children.

the number of women in the workforce "goes downhill all the way" from the age of 30, when many women become mothers and stop work. Many do not return to the labour market when their children are older as they may have to care for their elderly parents, among other things.

In line with the idea that fathers should be equal parents or sometimes even stay-at-home parents, we should also amend the Women's Charter to equalise men's rights to seek maintenance from their wives

the total fertility rate fell to a "dangerously low" figure of 1.1 last year.

Qns: 

1. Should both parents take equal responsibility for raising their children? (Cam. 2019)

2. In your society, how far is equality for all a reality? (Cam. 2012)

SPH to hive off media business: What is a 'company limited by guarantee'?

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Recent change announced about the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) [which publishes the national newspaper, The Straits Times] that is affecting the media landscape in Singapore. 

Simply put, the SPH is made up of:

[A] -- its original news production and publishing sector

[B] -- its other core business that it eventually expanded into [e.g. real estate, etc....]

SPH has announced that it is going to separate the two. [B] is the lucrative part of SPH that is turning in profits whereas [A] is currently making losses due to people -- and advertisers -- turning to new media for news. It is thus a commercial decision to 'hive off' [A] to appease shareholders who are unhappy about the losses incurred by [A]. 

After separation, [A] will become a non-profit entity that allows it to receive funding from the govt. The debate now is whether this will compromise the editorial integrity/ independence/ autonomy/ freedom of its publications.

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

TraceTogether tokens safe to use, says S'pore Govt, after video raising radiation concerns surfaces

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Example of fake news that interferes with govt policies by casting doubt.....consider also fake news on Covid vaccine that results in vaccine hesitancy. 

Earlier this week, a video clip surfaced online and on social media claiming to show the amount of electric and magnetic field emissions from the TraceTogether token....."Can you imagine that you are wearing this token... inside your pocket or somewhere near your chest?" he says, later advising viewers to keep the token away from their bodies as much as possible.

Everyday items tell stories of POWs at Changi museum

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Note: 'Everyday' in title spelt as one word here as it is used as an adjective

Depending on whether u see the physical building as separate or a part of the artefacts in the interior, or the events that occurred within it in the past, a potential argument can be made that the physical building is just a shell on the exterior; it is the stuff within, or the historical event that occurred within, which impact us -- in this case, our attitudes towards war, and perhaps the lessons learnt about how we should defend ourselves and chart our nation's destiny....

the museum has always been a sort of off-the-beaten-path museum, quietly remembering the suffering and surprising productivity of prisoners of war (POWs) held in the area during World War II.

Although many decades have passed since the end of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore, the legacy of Changi continues to be an important part of the national and personal histories of the countries and the lives it impacted.

Qn: ‘We shape our buildings, but then our buildings shape us.’ To what extent is this true of your society? (Cam. 2020)

Riding to break recidivism cycle

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For qns involving the role and function of sports....

Police arrest couple linked to dumped baby case in Taiwan

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Note examples of CCTV, forensic science, DNA fingerprints, etc in identifying the criminal...

Taiwanese authorities reviewed footage from more than 100 closed-circuit television cameras and checked immigration records, which led them to the couple who had checked out of the hotel the same afternoon and flown back to Singapore.

A forensic test conducted in Taiwan in 2019 concluded that the baby was alive at birth.

Qn: 'Technological advances are a boon to crime.' Do you agree?

1,155 have asked to opt out of TraceTogether programme

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TraceTogether, which identifies people in close contact with a Covid-19 patient via a Bluetooth-enabled app or token, came under the spotlight earlier this year when it was revealed that its data could be used for criminal investigations, despite earlier assurances that it would be used solely for contact tracing.

The public backlash prompted the Government to enact legislation to restrict the use of contact tracing data, including that obtained under SafeEntry, to investigations under seven categories of serious crimes such as murder, terrorism, rape and armed robbery.

Qn: 'Technological advances are a boon to crime.' Do you agree?

Pipeline attack in US underscores weakness of cyber defence

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"The fact that a bunch of geeks armed with laptops shut down a pipeline that serves 45 per cent of America's oil refineries shows that US critical infrastructure is a lot more vulnerable to cyber extortion than we'd like to think

the attack was carried out by a cybercrime gang calling itself DarkSide, apparently based in eastern Europe and Russia.

"DarkSide ransomware is responsible for the compromise of the Colonial Pipeline network

Qn: 'Technological advances are a boon to crime.' Do you agree?

Kkondaes thrive in South Korea despite pushback against abuse

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deeply ingrained culture that frowns upon talking back to your seniors.

A classic example is the 2014 Korean Air "nut rage" saga, whereby the airline's heiress and then vice-president Heather Cho made a cabin crew member kneel in front of her for serving nuts wrongly, and ordered the taxiing aircraft to return to the departure gate.

Things have changed since then as young people are fighting back against abusive behaviour that has been tolerated for centuries in Confucianist South Korea. A labour Bill was even revised in July 2019 to prevent workplace bullying.

"We are told to follow work instructions unconditionally and we are forced to drink alcohol at every office dinner," the respondent said. "If a young employee raises a problem, the bosses will say he is a 'clueless 90s generation'."

Another respondent said he was insulted, ignored and harassed so much at work that he became depressed and "my body trembles just looking at news of suicides".

oung people started to fight the cultural problems they saw in the wake of the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster. Some of the 250 high school students who died had obeyed instructions to stay in their cabins when the ship started to sink.

Qn: "It is better to obey than to question." To what extent is this true of your society? (RI CT 2014)

SPH CEO's use of 'umbrage' gives rise to memes, merchandise

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"I think it took off as it did because many netizens took umbrage at the fact that he took umbrage at a not-unreasonable question being posed in an appropriate setting,"..."We should be so glad that Singaporeans have strong opinions and tremendous creativity in using humour to express their views."

Qn: Can humour ever be serious? (Cam. 2012)

EU ready to discuss proposal on waiving patent rights for jab

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the way to fight the pandemic now was to quickly make more shots and lift export curbs on them in countries like the United States and Britain that make vaccines but do not sell them to others

India and South Africa called last year for the lifting of patent rights to vaccines as a way of boosting manufacturing and ensuring the world is supplied.

Germany - home to BioNTech which holds a patent on the highly effective mRNA vaccine together with Pfizer - argued strongly against the idea of waiving patent rights.

any action should not financially punish the companies that came up with the vaccine technology

Qns:

1) To what extent is it acceptable for private companies to be involved in financing scientific research?

2) Consider the view that scientific research should not be commercialized.

Eat's tough

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Note the catchy title: Eat's tough = It's tough

anorexia nervosa, which is characterised by an abnormally low body weight and an intense fear of gaining weight.

bulimia nervosa - binge eating, followed by purging - make up the bulk of the rest.

Some might have gained a significant amount of weight during this period as a result of stress-induced overeating. This, she added, might have caused them to feel unhappy with their bodies and worry about further weight gain - in turn triggering food restriction and excessive exercising, which eventually became an eating disorder.

Some might turn to food as a source of comfort, or a means to soothe themselves or relinquish control

When exercise is done excessively and there is insufficient recovery or food intake, it can lead to a drop in weight, absence of menstrual periods, repetitive strain injuries, muscle strains and tears, among other physical side effects

Qn. To what extent do you agree with the idea that some teenagers lead an unhealthy lifestyle? Give reasons for your views. (Cam. 'O' lvls 2016)

Voices of Youth: Resist temptation to buy fast fashion

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According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the fashion industry produces 20 per cent of global wastewater and 10 per cent of global carbon emissions.

Our behaviour of buying without thought has only exacerbated the earth's decay, with online shopping and fast fashion the main catalyst

For Qns on the individual's role in saving Mother Nature.

Qn: Fashion is as much a good thing as a bad thing. To what extent do you agree? (Cam. 2009)

Do zoo animals have enough space?

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Wildlife Reserves Singapore's animal welfare and ethics policy states: "All exhibits must be of such size and volume as to allow the animal to express its natural behaviour." But some of the animal enclosures seem to be relatively small compared with the size of their occupants.

Relate to 2019 'A' level AQ on relevance of zoos....