How new NUS College in Singapore can build on the past

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Some interesting views of the arts by Steve Jobs, and the example of calligraphy in Apple 

Students are encouraged to deconstruct the prevailing dichotomy between "useful" and "useless" subjects.

Steve Jobs mentions how the Apple founder attended a calligraphy class out of curiosity, and that this helped form his philosophy of marrying technology to the arts. Mr Jobs is said to have remarked that the best typography was "beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture". This epiphany would serve as his inspiration when he created the world's first computer with beautiful typography - the Macintosh.

Mr Jobs challenged the common assumption that the arts were irrelevant in the world of technology. He insisted that "it's technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing".

The emergence of a militant "woke" culture in certain elite American universities shows how deconstruction, taken to the extreme, can be destabilising rather than healthy. Thus, critics often argue forcefully that within the liberal arts, dogmatic left-wing, liberal ideological positions often masquerade as objective, critical thinking.

Qn: Education should only be concerned with what is useful in life. Discuss.  (Cam. 2013)

Bold initiatives are in the works, as anxiety over climate crisis grows

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Read the section under "What You Wear" to relate to the 2021 'A' level GP AQ on Fashion's impact on the environment....

The production of clothing and footwear generates emissions, and requires a significant amount of water. It takes about 7,500 litres of water to produce one pair of jeans, says the UN — about 10 years’ worth of water, if you drink two litres a day.

Making the most of the Beijing Winter Games

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The government has approached the event as an opportunity to build an entire winter-sports industry from scratch. In addition to budgeting US$3.9 billion (S$5.3 billion) for Olympic infrastructure and facilities - a minuscule amount compared with the US$43 billion budgeted for the 2008 Summer Olympics - China has fostered economywide investment in winter sports. 

the Winter Olympics and the nationwide winter-sports push required significant construction in less economically developed areas....The Winter Games thus have become an instrument for reducing urban-rural inequality - one of China's most urgent economic problems.

In a period of heated political rhetoric and mutual suspicion, athletics and sports culture offer avenues for rapprochement.

Qn: Hosting major sporting events creates more problems than benefits. Do you agree? (Cam. 2005)

Recycling bins to be given to each household to raise domestic recycling rate

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Businessman falsely accused of being Bentley driver involved in school scuffle files police report

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Feeling overwhelmed by climate change? Everyone can make a difference

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Government committed to developing and supporting athletes in Singapore: MCCY

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Qns:

1. ‘Individuals achieve sporting success, not nations.’ Discuss. (Cam. 2020)

2. To what extent is sporting achievement given adequate recognition in your society? (Cam. 2018)

Book on political cartoons banned here as caricatures of Prophet Muhammad are unacceptable: Masagos

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Qn:  ‘In a free society, there should be no restrictions on freedom of speech.’ Discuss. (Cam. 2020)

Obscenity: OnlyFans content creators based overseas could be breaching Singapore law

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it is well within the authority's power to ban the site here. But he added that this could lead to tensions between freedom of expression and the need to protect public morality.

some may argue that OnlyFans is but a means to express oneself, and should be regarded as possibly even art, but he noted Singapore remains a conservative society.

"Singapore takes an almost diametrically opposite view. Freedom of speech and expression does not extend to restrictions Parliament regards as 'necessary or expedient' in the interest of 'public order or morality'

Celebrities, especially those with a large following on Instagram, have earned millions monthly for uploading their photos on OnlyFans.

Qn:  ‘In a free society, there should be no restrictions on freedom of speech.’ Discuss. (Cam. 2020)

Japan's fashion industry gets a green makeover

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Fashion is said to be the second-most pollutive industry globally, after the oil industry, with massive amounts of carbon dioxide emitted and water sucked up across the supply chain, not to mention the tonnes of clothing that are thrown away and incinerated each year.

the production of one piece of garment involves, on average, the release of 25.5kg of carbon dioxide into the air and the use of about 2,300 litres of water.

It is also necessary to work on changing consumption behaviour. This could be a challenge, especially since shopper demand for sustainably produced clothing remains lukewarm. Also, many consumers are unaware of - if not uninterested in - how their clothing is made and the resulting environment impact.

it is up to companies to drive change, including setting up collection bins for old clothes that are then recycled into brand new apparel or donated to refugees or the homeless.

the need to build a circular economy

Relate to 2021 'A' level GP AQ on Fashion's impact on the Environment....

The mutating virus and its message to mankind

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The climate talks known as COP26 made some progress but not enough to hit the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 deg C this century, which is what is needed to avert ecological disaster. That would require emissions to fall by 45 per cent by 2030. But they are expected to rise by 14 per cent over the next nine years, even with the cuts promised in Glasgow. That's how great the gap is between hope and reality.

There is an underlying law of nature which results in the fittest variant surviving to become the dominant strain.....Delta and now Omicron conquered all before them, each successor better equipped than the previous to overcome the barriers in their path, including vaccines and the body's immune system.

If viruses become more transmissible, it can be at the expense of making them less able to deal with the human body's immune system, particularly when boosted by vaccines.

Some scientists believe there is a trade-off, with new variants better in one aspect but losing effectiveness in another.

We all want a better life but there are limits to what can be achieved. You have to give up some things to make space for others. There are limits to how much of the earth's resources can be used without destroying the ecological balance that maintains life here. There are limits to how much more people want for themselves before upsetting the social balance that keeps societies together. The same law that drives virus mutation applies to human progress.

Qns:

1. How far is the pursuit of happiness the most important human goal? (Cam. 2021)

2. To what extent is human life in general about the survival of the fittest? (Cam. 2020)