UNDERSTANDING MUMS AND DAUGHTERS (The Sunday Times 21 May pg32)
A mother and daughter relationship is very special and different from any other. However it takes effort for that bond to be made closer. Most mothers tend to have the mentality that they need to know everything that is goings in their daughters' lives to get closer to their them. On the other hand most daughters do not tell everything to their mothers. Firstly it is impossible to totally come clean to anyone and there is a possibility for not wanting their mothers to worry unneccesarily much as not telling will not make much of a difference. However the point is no matter what there will be secrets and mothers have to understand that this is part of growing up. Daughters and sons in fact should also learn to open up more to their parents to ensure them that we want them involved in our lives.
CHINA'S THREE GORGES DAM COMPLETED (The Sunday Times 21 May pg1)
China's dam project is one of the biggest in the world. However it's usefulness is still in question. China's economy and energy usage is growing at a breakneck pace and the amount of electricity produced by the dam will only meet two percent of the country's energy needs by 2010. In addition the dam will slow down the river's flow causing erosion problems. Most worrisome, such an enormous dam might be a terrorist target. Hopefully the government will be able to find a solution to the adverse effects the dam will cause especially with sacrifices that have been made such as villagers forced to be relocated and a hundred deaths caused by building the dam. But there are its benefits, definitely more job opportunities. Other than that we will only know what will happen next when the dam is in full operation at 2008.
MAD ABOUT CARS (Straits Times 13 May pgS2)
Singapore is no longer the most expensive place in the world to buy a car. However i believe it is just a ploy for the government to earn more money. With more people driving cars, more road tax can be earned. Thus I firmly believe that maintaining cars are still expensive.
I have always thought the government was trying to curb the number of cars present in Singapore to avoid further jams and to protect the environment.Right now I am not too sure perhaps right now the government is focusing on improving people's effiency and standard of living.
Therefore I am not too concerned about COE but the maintainence costs. As for the enviroment, I'm am sure the government would find a cleaner fuel- natural gas.
ONLINE TEEN-TILLATIONS (Straits Times 13 May pgH12)
Online sex once a domain of adults are now increasingly engaged by teens. Although I understand many teens do it due to curiousity or for some harmless fun, there is a high possibilty that they will get into trouble. Paedophiles have been experienced long enough and would know how to crack such tough shells.
From the article I have read that online sex is how some people regain their self esteem as they are able to have any image online. It will only further aggravated their situation as they are hoping to be someone else and will not make use of the time to appreciate themselves.
Teens might also become addicted to online sex probably due to the thrills that it provides. This is really dangerous and will only instill unhealthy thoughts in young minds.
HOLLYWOOD: THE REVENGE (New Scientist 11 March pg42)
Many companies are coming up with new ways to stop the increase of piracy. With advanced technology, programs have been installed in many pirated dvds and when inserted into dvd players, crashes will occur. Such an action will then deter a person from owning a pirated dvd.
In my opinion, piracy should be stopped as it discourages the creativity in the artistes. The decrease in sales of their dvds due to cheaper pirated ones would cause harm to their jobs.
In addition dvds are now much more affordable and we should be willing to pay a little more to appreciate the effort the artistes put in. As a result they would be motivated to create more quality films. This is because if may were to accept pirated goods, film's quality would be compromised to achieve a cheaper price.
TEACHING CHILDREN GOOD MONEY HABITS WILL HELP IN THE LONG RUN (Straits Times 8 May pg33)
Children should be taught the value of money at an early age as that is when they are most susceptible to their parents' influence. Teaching children the value of money is important as they will grow to become more sensible. One example is when children are taught to save up their allowance to buy something they really want. This teaches them patience as they will learn to curb their unneccessary wants for a certain cause. Children will also grow to learn the difference between neccessities and what is not required.
However is a tendancy for parents to offer monetary rewards for certain achievements of the child such as achievements for tests. Although this may motivate the children to study for the wrong reasons, they have learnt that money is earned through hard work and will thus spend more carefully. Good money habits are essential for the future and its important that these habits are instilled in them from a young age to put them in good stead for their futures.
