Mating Season

Streats Pg 17 - April 27 2006
Japan Govt funds speed-dating parties

In a bid to reverse current demographic trends leading towards a shrinking population in Japan, its Government has decided to start funding social gatherings, speed-dating parties to be exact, to encourage Japanese people to find a suitable life-partner, settle down and have kids in order to help the country deal with its problem of a shrinking population.

Many professionals cite the reason that they are too busy with work to even bother dating and most of them are too shy and don't know how to make the first move. Now with such functions available, one no longer has to worry about any of the above issues anymore.

Strategies such as this are not uncommon all across the world. Many companies provide similar services as to what the Japanese Government is funding. However many people still remain quite skeptical about such services

I myself believe in divine appointments and opportunities. I don't believe I should ever resort to setting myself up with dating agencies and their fancy lunch-appointment-dating-games. But if it is going to be able to help the country increase its population and solve the other problems an ageing population and shrinking population brings about then I suppose it is a stepping stone to solving the issue. Let's hope it is not a stepping stone that is on its own.

LTA warns Crime Library

Streats Pg 8 - April 20 2006
Crime Library asked to remove flyers

Crime Library has recently been warned by the Land Transport Authority that they are no longer allowed to put up notices for missing people.

Over 80 cases out of 143 of missing people have been solved because of these notices and now that the LTA no longer allows the Crime Library to put up their notices, I really wonder what kind of hope distraught family members would have of finding their kins who have gone missing.

It has been reported that many people often tear away their notices and put up their own advertisments but the LTA does nothing about it. The LTA has even provided advertisment boards at selected MRT stations for the general public to post notices. However, when it comes to something important like finding a missing person, LTA has failed to deliver.

An LTA spokesman stated that the advertisments "mar the streetscape and causes damage to the street furniture". I believe that this can be easily addressed by providing a proper noticeboard at bus stops so that important notices like the ones from Crime Library can be put up. I believe that LTA has to get its priorities right, at the moment everything they say sounds really warped.

Long Live King Eric?

Streats Pg 50 - April 20 2006
Football's guardian

Eric Cantona, arguably one of the best footballers English Football has ever seen sensationally spoke up of his regret for "kung-fu kicking" an opponent team supporter after he was taunted with rude personal remarks.

The French maestro was then later sentenced to 10 months of suspension from the game.

Today, a successful actor and Manager of his country's beach soccer team, Cantona has revealed that the only reason he did what he did was because he wanted to protect the beautiful game he loved so much.

King Eric, with all due respect, I think that is just a bunch of bull.

As a professional sportsman, you will be thrusted into the limelight very often. You are expected to conduct yourself well and not succumb to the heat and pressures of a footballer's life. After all, professionalism is very important, no matter what trade you are in. Because of your fame and popularity, you are expected to be a role mode for young aspiring footballers. And by the way, footballers are paid to play ball, score goals and win championships. Kicking a supporter was never in the job description.

Anyway I would like to wish the man all the best in his filming career and that beach soccer thing he's got going on. Thank God he's not a footballer anymore.

Large number of students performed "far below expectations" in SAJC for PW

Streats Pg 8 - April 20 2006
JC to look into Project Work woes

JC 2 students in St Andrews Junior College, received a rude shock upon receiving their GCE A-Level results for the subject Project Work. Only 41.4% of SAJC students received the top two grades, compared to the national average of 77%.

This prompted students into setting up an online petition, protesting against the outcome of their results. Many cited the reason lack of proper guidance from tutors.

This major boo-boo in one of the world's best Education systems has got me thinking whether it is entirely fair to assess students based on exercises like this one. Mind you this is not a minor subject or exam, it actually makes up 10% of University Admission Criteria. If poor guidance was the genuine reason behind this escapade, then are we not undermining the future of our students?

JC students have always been labelled the creme de la creme of Singapore. They are often touted as future leaders of the Nation. If it is true that we have a potential SM Goh sitting in that class that was awarded poor marks due to incompetent teaching, this present Education ministry is guilty of not only shortchanging that individual but also the nation of Singapore.

African Protests Against “We Toil Like Negroes” Billboard

Racism rears its ugly head, this time in Russia

It is indeed unfortunate that a problem that mankind has been trying to eradicate over the past few decades has surfaced again in Russia.

Members of the African community, especially young students, are unhappy about a billboard slogan that read "We Toil like Negroes" which was making referrence to black people working as slaves.

The saddest thing about this is that the offense was not committed by an individual but by a company rich enough to afford advertising space on a billboard. Now there is a saying that goes "With great power comes great responsibility". This company obviously did not practise the 2nd part of that phrase. Just like the Danish media, they have committed an act that was inconsiderate and foolish.

For all of mankind's great exploits, he has still been unable to learn basic values such as the importance of respecting others. I wonder how the people from the company which put up those advertisments would feel if an advertisment with derogatory remarks about them and their family were put up in public.

Man Fails to Remember How 10-cm Nail Got in His Head

Russian man managed to survive a night with 10-cm nail in his head



Russia has never failed to surprise me. Firstly they came up with Stalin and vodka, and now they've gone one better and produced a man who managed to survive a night with a 10cm nail in his head!

The man from Western Russia was brushing his hair after a party the previous night when he noticed a metal dowel sticking out of his head. The man reacted very calmly and went straight to the doctors to have the nail removed.

The amazing thing is this man does not remember a single thing about how the nail managed to find its way into his head! Normally, one would at least feel a painful sensation when something as gruesome as this happens.

This incident sort of reminds me of how in life we can get wounded by people or certain events and not know the extent of the damage until one day when we're "brushing our hair" we realise we are hurt. Very often, the hurt could be an emotional or psychological one. I suppose it is inevitable that we will sometimes fall victim to unkind words or unfortunate incidents. Point of the matter is we remain calm and steady and react to deal with the problem just like this cool Russian dude did. He survived a rusty nail, I'm pretty sure with a little grit and determination we would be able to survive rusty emotional/psychological nails that are stuck in our hearts or heads.

Bring out the vodka!

US to bypass new UN Human Rights Council this year.

US not running for elections to participate in new UN HR Council, citing reason that council is flawed and that enthusiasted members of the UN deserve more privilege of running for council than the US.


The yank has done it again. This time round, snubbing the international community when it needs her.

I wonder which nation was it that had a really flawed reason and method of invading Iraq and Afghanistan. But yet this nation demanded unconditional support for her "fight against terrorism" and her leader even famously quoted, "Either you are with us or against us". After invading Afghanistan and Iraq, promising the people that their lives are going to be changed and peace and prosperity will come, they have only fulfilled 1 promise. Indeed the lives of the people have changed, it took a turn for the worst. 3 years after "shocking and awe-ing" Iraq, the country is in even more turmoil and they don't look like they'd be restoring peace successfully anytime soon

Coming back to the matter on the participation of the US in the new HR Council, I feel that the US has to stop behaving like a spoilt kid and start working TOGETHER and not against the international community if it intends to stay a giant in the international community. That is the ONLY way she is going to earn the respect and cooperation of countries all over the world, but again they are the US, they can impose sanctions on anyone, anytime and anywhere just to make people comply. If you are lucky, there is an alternative. VP Dick Cheney might be able to take you hunting.

A Dark Day Revisited

Hollywood reckons the world is ready for movie about 9/11. - Newsweek

On September 11th 2001, the entire world came to a standstill as terrorists attacks paralysed the city of New York.

5 years after that fateful day, Hollywood has made a film simulating what happened to the Twin Towers as well as the Pentagon.

Many believe that the world is NOT ready for a film that has a theme that is emotionally charged and has the potential of tearing at emotional scars and wounds that have not healed completely.

However I believe that this does not make sense at all because since 9/11, there have been heaps of documentaries and even a drama series made to document the events of that fateful day. These shows contain the footages when the two planes crashed into the Twin Tower. Did they not remind its audiences about the pain that was caused by the attack?

I believe that through this film, more good than harm can be achieved as it raises the awareness of the imperative need for social, religious and racial harmony. We live in an age where a small misunderstanding between different groups of people could spark off WWIII, hence I believe it is important that the media work together with non-governmental organisations in their pursuit for world peace. If people are aware of the dastardly motives of terrorists, they would be careful not to believe the lies they tell but would be more concern in making sure the terrorists would not be able to carry out whatever he's planned. I believe that this film is a big step humanity is making towards fighting terror. We definitely need more than bimbotic speeches at pageants that "promote" world peace.

400 Chinese students hospitalized with unknown flu

Mystery flu virus hits chinese students in Henan province



Surprise surprise, once again China has fallen victim to an epidemic. Honestly, I don't know if I should feel sorry for them or should I say shame on you!

In 2003, SARs rocked the Asian world, then it was the ebola and nipah virus in pigs, then came the bird flu and now this! If my sources are correct, all of these viruses originated from China due to the poor hygiene and sanitary conditions in the provinces. Farms have become hotspots for the spread of viruses and because of globalisation, these viruses have managed to find its way out of China into other countries.

It is true that with such a huge population, the government is unable to monitor every one and every part of the country. But I feel that the basic measures to prevent outbreak of epidemics are not even taken. Investigations done by NGOs have shown that conditions in agricultural estates are apalling. Just because the chinese garment industry managed to get away with its chinese sweatshops in the past, they think they can do it with animals too. With the kind of space alloted to the animals and the kind of food they are fed, it is no wonder that diseases and viruses have been coming out of the provinces of China.

Now it's not entirely the fault of the chinese people, and that's why I mentioned earlier on my dilemma, if I should actually feel sorry for them. Most of them are living in poverty and hence cannot afford to maintain the farms properly. I think this is where the government MUST step in if it wishes for China to become a super power in the future. Look at the current super powers, other than invasions on other countries, you don't hear of new virus strains coming out of these countries. You have to be healthy in order to stick your nose into the businesses of other nations. If China wants to live up to all this hype about how it's going to emerge as a giant soon, then she'd better start cleaning up before it all becomes too much for her and the rest of the world to handle.

Gunmen ignore Hamas plea for calm.

Fatah Gunmen defies ban on display of force in Gaza City

Fatah gunmen have ignored orders from the new Hamas-led government to stay off the streets after 3 people were killed on friday after a car bomb went off.

After ousting the ex-Fatah government, the new Hamas government has been unable to stamp its authority in Palestine, attracting heavy criticism from its predecessors, with accusations that the Hamas government seems to have "forgotten they are now in power".

I could not help but notice the irony in this article. Hamas, a group known to resort to violence has called on others to exercise peace? It's almost similar to getting Bush Sr and Bush Jr to do a waltz with Saddam Hussein!

In her past exploits, Hamas has never really respected or submitted to authority, governing itself the way it deems fit. Never before has a Muslim Militant group trained female suicide bombers until Hamas began to recently, against the wishes and orders of senior religious figures and clerics. So how can it now expect others to actually obey and respect what they are saying? Prime Minister Haniyeh certainly has his work cut out for him if he really wants to gain the respect of not just the international community but also his Islamic "brothers".

Debates have been raging since Hamas won the elections in January. Many believe that a resolution for peace in the Middle East, particurlarly Israel and Palestine is never going to come to pass as long as Hamas is in office. Until today, many members of the international community refuse to recognise the newly elected Hamas government. My heart goes out to the people of Palestine who really desire peace. But as for Mr Haniyeh and the rest of his posse, all this violence and bloodshed is just another day in the office.