Arms trade

Exams are approaching . Everybody is so called "mugging" or "tanking". I, am blogging.

This post will be more on a global issue at large. Hope its a good read. Ill write more on such if i get a good response.

So, I was on this site yesterday -  http://www.globalissues.org

An interesting article from that page- "The arms trade is big business." And after watching ironman for the third time, the message of the movie became clear as crystal.

They say that the want world peace. They say the want to stop war around the world. Then why are they still manufacturing and creating these weapons of mass destructions, and worse still of all selling it off to other countries who may/may not misuse the power. There is a doubt with what is going to happen in the near future.

Arms are fueling poverty and suffering, and is also out of control. 

" The  lack of arms controls allows some to profit from the misery of others.

• While international attention is focused on the need to control weapons of mass destruction, the trade in conventional weapons continues to operate in a legal and moral vacuum.
• More and more countries are starting to produce small arms, many with little ability or will to regulate their use.
• Permanent UN Security Council members—the USA, UK, France, Russia, and China—dominate the world trade in arms.
• Most national arms controls are riddled with loopholes or barely enforced.
• Key weaknesses are lax controls on the brokering, licensed production, and 'end use' of arms.
• Arms get into the wrong hands through weak controls on firearm ownership, weapons management, and misuse by authorised users of weapons.

— The Arms Bazaar, Shattered Lives, Chapter 4, p. 54, Control Arms Campaign, October 2003

"Heavy militarization of a region increases the risk of oppression on local people. Consequently reactions and uprisings from those oppressed may also be violent. The Middle East is a current example, while Latin America is an example from previous decades, where in both cases, democracies or popular regimes have (or had) been overthrown with foreign assistance, and replaced with corrupt dictators or monarchs. Oppression (often violent) and authoritarianism rule has resulted. Sometimes this also itself results in terrorist reactions that lash out at other innocent people."

So should the trade of arms be stopped in order to prevent what is an inevitable war. Not in this decade, maybe. But surely. We all know the reciprocals of arms trade. But should it continue? Leave your comments below!

Signing off,
Just another Singaporean

Why do i go to school?

I was asked this question months back, and until today i can remember my answer to that question. Now i realise how much i have learnt over the past few months, and how much more there is to learn, about society and everything that has to do with it.

Ok, enough on my reflection. The question was- "Why do you go to school' 

Hold on now. Think carefully before you read on, and i reveal the correct answer. Yes, there is a correct answer. Why did i attend school that morning? Why did i forcefully drag myself out of bed at 5.30 in the morning, brushed(i hope) and went to school where for the next 8 hours. The answer i gave, was "to learn something new" That was what i felt. Most of my friends gave "chim" answers, like something that was read of a textbook.

What i want to discuss today is what is the desired outcome of our education system. After researching on the Ministry Of Education (MOE) website, under the subheading "Desired outcome of education" I studied what was written. 

The Key Stage Outcomes of Education

At the end ofPrimary school, pupils should:	At the end ofSecondary school, students should:	At the end of Post-Secondary education, students should:
be able to distinguish right from wrong	have moral integrity	have moral courage to stand up for what is right
know their strengths and areas for growth	believe in their abilities and be able to adapt to change	be resilient in the face of adversity
be able to cooperate, share and care for others	be able to work in teams and show empathy for others	be able to collaborate across cultures and be socially responsible
have a lively curiosity about things	be creative and have an inquiring mind	be innovative and enterprising
be able to think for and express themselves confidently	be able to appreciate diverse views and communicate effectively	be able to think critically and communicate persuasively
take pride in their work	take responsibility for their own learning	be purposeful in pursuit of excellence
have healthy habits and an awareness of the arts	enjoy physical activities and appreciate the arts	pursue a healthy lifestyle and have an appreciation for aesthetics
know and love Singapore	believe in Singapore and understand what matters to Singapore	be proud to be Singaporeans and understand Singapore in relation to the world

What really surprises me is that the the main aim of MOE, under the first three columns of primary, secondary and post secondary is to be morally upright and have good values. But isn't that quite ironic? 

In one week, out of 27 hours in a week, only one hour is "allocated" for character leader education in my timetable. If the whole idea of education in mainly to be morally upright, than how can only 1/27 of the time we spend in school be for character learning. To be honest, i dont think enough time is spent on teaching values but rather on subjects like math and science. Isn't the aims of education and the outcome seen on timetables is contradictory. A problem-solution mismatch maybe? Im not too sure.

So why did i go to school today? The answer is simple. To pass my board exams, (with flying colors of course), getting a job, and eventually just helping to grow this countries economy. I went to school today, so that i can get a job, get married, children, and work for the rest of my life, until i retire peacefully.

Dont get me wrong, thats what i want as well. But its kind of sad to think that eventually everything will just play out like how everyone wanted it. And i think, if that is the outcome eventually, why do i take subjects now such as biology, chemistry, literature, when in the end i wont need them in the future. So that i have a "holistic learning?" 

What do you think? Why did you go to school today, or in the past? Is there something more to our education system than just helping this countries economy? Comment below.

Signing off,

Just another Singaporean.

Social construct part (ii)

Hello once again folks.

For those who read my blog regularly, last week i shared on social construct. The funny thing is that now, a week later, my opinions of social construct and what it means has changed completely. I want to make things right.

So what is social construct? To put it in its simplest form, social construct is a two step process.

Step 1) People see patterns
Step 2) Somebody points it out

It cant get any simpler than that. And something i learnt at the start of this year, is that examples are an excellent way to explain something. So let me explain this using an example. A social construct, in gender, is how people consider blondes dumb. Where did all this originate from? Many believe that it was- Marilyn Monroe.

She was an iconic "dumb blonde", and many believe that thats where this persona originates from, though there is no evidence to support this perception. So basically this is how a social construct works right?

Social construct happens from the young. For example, in gender, how women always need men to save them is portrayed by the original disney princesses. How a knight in shining armour must save all the princesses from witches and what not. (Notice how they many are blonde- Aurora, Rapunzel and Cinderella) This, from a very young age, has taught the youngest in our society that the girls must wait for her prince to sweep her from her feet and save her. All this has to do with social construct.

So now i hope i myself am more clear on what social construct means. Are you? And do you have any of your own examples to explain what this means? Comment below.

Signing off,
Just another Singaporean