To have or not to have?

How will the world be like without children? How will you feel spending your life without the warmth of your children, and how would you feel without children by your side when you are ill? These are the questions would like to ask you if you were given choice to have children or not.

I refer to the article “Baby perks: Do they really work?” published in The Straits Times on 14 August 2008. In the article, the writer felt that the incentive the government is supplying is insufficient in encouraging couples to have a child or more. The main issue which the writer wanted to address was the problem of one's attitude. I feel that what the writer meant by attitude would be the mindset of the society and in which case would be their perception towards child birth and the norms in ones society.

The writer felt that the decision of child birth is not so much of one income state but the cultural norm in the society. For example, in Japan and South Korea, there is this cultural norm which underlines the role of the genders in the society. The male’s role is to provide a stable income for the family while the female’s ultimate role is to be the care taker of the family. Due to this culture is, the women are having second thoughts of having their second child. From what I see, the women are terrified of the stress they have to put up with in the raising of another child.

Upon reading the writer’s view, I felt a sense of injustice that the women face. I feel that the responsibility of raising healthy and happy children should be shared by the couple. The father role is to act as a role model, the source of discipline for the children. It has been said, “Tie a boy to a right man and he almost never goes wrong.” When children grow up, they seek someone whom they can look up to, someone who is a role model. Especially for boys, it is the father who will provide this masculine role model for his son to emulate. Without the father’s guidance, the mother has to take up the father’s role as a source of discipline giving them a double amount of stress especially for working mothers when they return home tired after work.

Besides culture, quality is also an issue. As years pass, the expectation of parents can also post as an obstacle, an obstacle that no amount of subsidies can help. Nowadays, it is not a matter of bringing up a child but how you want to raise them. Education and health are the keys to a parent’s mind when about children. Incentives given by the government can only help when the child is still a baby, the rest lies in the hands of the parents. When it comes to procreation, the most prominent issue would be compromise. Parents want what is best for their children and they feel that the more children they have, the less care and love each of the child will get.

However, did you think of the happiness two children can give you? You may say that the more children you have, the more trouble you will receive. In a scenario when you are upset with one of your children, imagine the support, strength and comfort the other child can give you in time of anger. Besides that, do you not think that you are very selfish? With one child, how much can he give you when you are old as compared to two children? You may say that it does not matter for you. However, the children will be influenced by the parents and may only have one child. You may be able to adapt with it but your children may not. Hence, the point I am trying to put across is “the less you have, the more they suffer.”

While I accept other reasons concerning the low birth rates but I feel that the writer has made a strong point of mentioning the limitations of incentives or money and there are other deciding factors when planning of having a child or more.

English assignment about democracy

"Democracy creates stability in a society"

Before I proceed on answering the question. I would like to clarify on a few things. Firstly democracy. To me democracy is a system of government where the political power is retained by the people and they are exercised either by them or a representative. Next stability. There are three types of stability that exist and they are namely, political, social and economics stability. Economic stability refers to a society that is in a good financial state. Social stability is the peace that is constantly maintained among the people themselves in the society and lastly, political stability means that there is minimum conflict and no corruption in the government. Hence, in my opinion democracy does create stability but does not guarantee it.

The first benefit of democracy in a society is its freedom. When there is freedom, the people are able to voice out their opinion and dissatisfaction. For example, if a minority ethnic group is being discriminated, they will still be able to have a say and voice out their dissatisfaction to a representative who will then convey it to the government. In the instance of Sri Lanka, the Tamils will be more satisfied as their needs are received by the government and this will prevent violence in the society. This will result in both political and social stability as the citizens will be satisfied with their government and there are lesser people feeling neglected.

The next benefit of democracy is that it is time consuming but makes lesser mistakes. This benefit can apply in the election process. In the democratic society, the election process is a very tedious process as the candidates have to go through long rounds of debate and speeches to showcase their talents. However, this will allow the citizens to have a better judgement on their ideal party as based on their performance. This will create political stability in the future as there is a higher probability that the newly elected party is better suited for the people.

However, democracy has its weaknesses too. As said earlier, freedom is an example of a benefit of democracy. This benefit can remain as it is if no one abuses it. However, if the barrier is breeched, it can cause much trouble and instability. For example, recently there was a man who drew racist cartoons insulting Muslims. Their defence is that they have the freedom of speech. It upset many Muslims and cause riots to take place. Thus when someone abuses the freedom given to them, it can cause a lot of mistrust between ethnic group and this would cause much social instability.

Next, citizens from different countries define democracy differently. Some may think of it as a political system or a method of selecting the government. Hence, the problem of democracy is that it can elect dictators during the election process. For example China, they are using democracy as a method of selecting the candidates for their only party which is the communist party of China and this will cause the essence of true democracy to be lost. For some cases, it can cause lost of confidence in the government and may lead to political instability.

As we can see from here, democracy has both its pros and cons. Its results will depend on how the people see democracy as and how it is being applied. It can both bring about stability and prosperity or chaos and instability. In conclusion, democracy can promote stability but whether stability is experienced is largely dependent on how it is used.

Evolution of goodness

In this world, there are many reasons why people do good to each other, however for me, the main reasons would be blood kinship, reciprocity and good faith.


Nonetheless, one reason why humans do good is due to reciprocity. In my perception, the main reason behind it would be the competitiveness of the society. In this fast paced world and where competition thrives, no one wants to lose out in the race. Hence people are getting more stingy when it comes to helping someone out if they got nothing to gain from it. It is just like I scratch your back you scratch mine. People are just looking for the prize they will get in turn for helping. I remember once when I asked my friend to lend me his cellphone but to my surprised he told me that he will do so only if I pay him a dollar. This proves my earlier statement that people are now eyeing only for the prize.



My next reason would be rather contrasting to reciprocity and it is good faith. I personally feel that this is clearly the best way to help someone because it is from the bottom of your heart and it is much more sincere. As I have said earlier, people are getting more stingy when it comes to rendering help when they will get no benefit, hence it is more difficult to find people who would help someone without asking for anything in turn.

One possible reason on why people help each other through good faith is due to the sense of pity. When a person feel pitiful towards someone, he would tend to be more generous in his act and not ask for anything in return. For example, would you have a heart to ask a disabled person for something in return just for donating a dollar.

The second reason would be understanding. One example would be when a someone saw a person in need, he would be able to feel the pain that the other party and he puts himself in his shoes and he would help without hesitation.

Sometimes a person can display both the reasons when helping someone. I remember an incident when I was walking home from Junction 8, while walking home, I saw a disabled old folk selling tissue paper. Upon realising that no one bought tissue paper for him, I felt pitiful for him as he has to stay at the same spot for the whole day, having to sell tissue paper for almost everyday of the year.


My last reason on why people do good to each other is probably the most interesting of them all. This reasons almost put a stop in one of the most important theory ever created, landed many famous scientists in deep heated argument and it would be blood kinship. Like what Darwin has said, our family is not just anyone but are copies of our DNA. Hence when we save our family, we are saving copies of our DNA. However, I do not feel that this is the main reason on why we would save our blood kinship before anyone else. To me the main reason is the connection and bonding between the family members. After being with your blood kinship for a while, you would feel a sense of connection and bonding which is absent in absent even between best of friends. With this connection, the blood kin would be placed in a higher priority.


How can something seeming simple be so complicated? These are just a few of the many reasons why people do good. There are still many more reasons that man have not thought about. The next time when you help someone, please take note on the reason why you are helping, is it for something in return or good faith.

Unequal job opportunities for women

When someone tells you that women are trailing behind man in undertaking managerial posts, what will be the first thing that comes to your mind? If you agree to that question, you are not alone. Despite the booming economy and tight labour market in Singapore, female are still viewed as a manpower liability thus reducing their job opportunities and pay as compared to men.

I chanced upon an article "Job opportunities, pay not the same for women" (Straits Times, March 3, 2007 by Serene Goh ).

This article depicted how female are still trailing behind men in having equal opportunities and pay in Singapore and compared it with the situation in other countries. In this article, the aim of the writer is to raise awareness and understanding of the discrimination faced by the majority of the women in their career.

After reading the article, it is disappointing on how Singapore has fared in a recent World Economic Forum report. Statistics from the report showed that Singapore ranked a miserable 65 out of 115 in instilling gender equality despite women being better educated nowadays.

I am aware that women have lesser opportunities than men in jobs however upon reading the article, I am appalled by the extend and the severity that it is happening. The allegation made by Professor Alan Manning that women continue choosing family over career is entirely false and it is bias and unfair to make such judgmental comments about them.

I understand that when a women is pregnant or is having maternity leave, they would not be able to show up for work and for some of them, they would quit their job to care for their children. Nonetheless, many will still continue working after their maternity leave is over. Hence it is a unfair saying that they are incapable of working after pregnancy.

Also, one's preference on whether to be pregnant or not is strictly personal. We should not deprive capable women from job opportunities just because they have given birth. I personally feel that gender should not be one of the criteria in the allocation of job opportunities. It should solely be based on merit.

With better education, women are now more equipped and just like men, they are equally as capable and in some cases even better as based on a survey recently conducted. However, they would only be able to showcase their capability and contribute to society only if they are given the opportunity to enhance their ability.

By discriminating women and not grant them opportunities in which they deserve. What you did was shunning capable people the chance to showcase their ability and contribute even more in their job.

While I accept that everyone has their own view on why men still has more job opportunities, I feel that the writer has made a strong point that women are not treated fair enough and probably some of the false assumptions people relate women with.

Straits Times(S'poreans lack of social graces a social disgrace)

Even though I am a Singaporean, I actually agree that Singapore lack the social grace. I feel that the culture that we are brought up in has something to do with our attitude. As Singapore is very prosperous, the citizens nowadays are mostly well fed and dresses, some of them will have a selfish attitude and think only of themselves.

I recently experienced an act of social disgrace. I was on the escalator in the MRT station when some old lady just shoved passed me and shouted at me not to block her way in chinese. She really shocked me as how can an old lady be so impolite! She could just say"excuse me" and I would let her go pass.

I feel that we can learn a lot from the Japanese because they are really very gracious. They would even say hi to a person they do not know and this task is mission impossible for most Singaporean.

Hence I feel that if we adopt their culture, then will we be more socially gracious. However it would take a long time to kick off this old habit.