Why is it OK to be mean to the ugly?

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beautiful people are described as trustworthy, competent, friendly, likable and intelligent, while ugly people get the opposite labels. This is a version of the halo effect.

Over the past few decades, social media, the meritocracy and celebrity culture have fused to form a modern culture that is almost pagan in its values. That is, it places tremendous emphasis on competitive display, personal achievement and the idea that physical beauty is an external sign of moral beauty and overall worth.

This ethos underlies many athletic shoe and gym ads, which hold up heroes in whom physical endowments and moral goodness are one. 

Qn: To what extent are people judged more by their physical appearance than by their abilities? (Cam. 2017)

Buzz over ecocide likely gaining recognition as a crime

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Note this new term -- 'ecocide'

Qn: How far can an individual be held responsible for crimes against humanity? (Cam. 2010)

A 'silver tsunami' looms. What can Singapore do about it?

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Census 2020 showed that residents aged 65 years and above formed 15.2 per cent of the resident population last year

By 2030, about one in four people here will be aged over 65.

in the span of 10 years, Singapore has gone from being classified as an ageing society (defined by the United Nations as one in which more than 7 per cent of the population is aged 65 and over) to an aged society (above 14 per cent).

The current statutory retirement age of 62 will be raised to 63 from July 1 next year. The re-employment age will go up from 67 to 68 as well. By 2030, the retirement age will be raised to 65 and the re-employment age to 70.

older workers are currently over-represented in professions such as craftsmen, plant and machine operators, cleaners and labourers. This is due to their lower education levels compared with younger workers, he adds. "It would be a mistake to think the issues of the elderly in a few years' time will look exactly the same as that we are concerned with today, when we worry about why there are elderly cleaners or cardboard collectors

the problem facing the elderly today is largely basic financial adequacy, which can be addressed by significantly increasing financial and social support beyond existing measures like the Silver Support scheme. But the problems of tomorrow will likely be much more expensive to solve, because ageing PMETs will not be satisfied with a basic standard of living, or with low-wage retirement jobs, or with current standards of long-term care,

Qn: Nowadays, people live longer than ever before. What problems does this present and how can these 

problems be dealt with? (Cam. 'O' lvl 2007)

Multiracialism and faultlines

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Beautiful analogy:

I am reminded here of something that I had read by the late Kuo Pao Kun when I was at MCCY. He likened culture to trees - they are separate at the trunk but touch at the tips of their branches where cross pollination occurs, and at the tips of their roots where they draw sustenance from the same soil.

As Pao Kun observed, it's important to move higher and deeper to realise the beauty of pluralism. This is what we are constantly striving to do. Go deeper to strengthen our cultural roots; and at the same time, reach higher to cross-pollinate with other cultures, and thus develop a stronger shared Singaporean identity.

Forum: Teach ethics in school to highlight the similar core values in different religions

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Note also the recent survey that reveals that more Singaporeans having no religious affiliation [click HERE]

Since all our religions teach similar core values of love, kindness, generosity, truth and honesty and similar precepts in behaviour - to renounce killing, stealing, adultery, and so on - why not bring back classes in civics and ethics, which teach the core values in the different religions, emphasising their similar values?

Qn: How far is it true that religions are tearing societies apart? (ACJC J1 Midyr 2021)

Banned: Book linked to radicalisation of former NSF

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the book "carries problematic ideas", by encouraging armed jihad and promising that people who do so would be guaranteed bountiful rewards from God.

Tough fight looms against ransomware 'epidemic'

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Attacks hitting the Colonial Pipeline and the major JBS meatpacking operations are examples of a burgeoning cybercrime industry with the potential to inflict pain and extract profits by impacting "critical" networks

ransomware remains a scourge because "the financial rewards are huge (and) the chances of being caught are near-zero

Human error is one of the biggest vulnerabilities and we've seen that remote work has made networks more vulnerable

For Qns on the impact of technology on crime....think how technology has made it more difficult for the police to solve crime.

Qn: How far has technology helped in the fight against crime? (SAJC J2 Mid-yr 2021)

High-tech sting leads to arrest of over 800 crime figures in 18 countries

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After the ransomware hacking incidents of Colonial Pipeline [Click HERE] and the American beef [Click HERE], see how the police can also be hackers in combating crime...

Qn: How far has technology helped in the fight against crime? (SAJC J2 Mid-yr 2021)

Hacking American beef

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For Qns on technology's impact on crime -- whether to combat crime or perpetrate crime.

China's population decline need not be a crisis

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The worry is the spectre of what the Chinese call the 1-2- 4 problem - one person having to support two parents and four grandparents - and the effect on economic development.

There could be environmental dividends, too, as a smaller population will be less taxing on the country's water, land and other natural resources.

China has begun to address this by emphasising high-quality growth, moving away from labour-intensive industries towards more high-tech and capital-intensive industries that reduce reliance on huge numbers of semi-skilled and unskilled workers.

Development experts have called for China to raise the retirement age - 60 for men and 55 for women - as an immediate solution to increase the pool of working people and also reduce pressure on the increasingly strained pension system. This is an unpopular move as younger Chinese worry about competition from older colleagues, and older Chinese will chafe at a delayed access to their pensions.

that the demographic change can be an opportunity for the Chinese government to invest in Chinese women who, she said, are the most undervalued assets of the country.

It would also help China to achieve its climate change goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.

When nations say sorry for past wrongs

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Relate to 2020 GP 'A' level Compre AQ on apology....