It has become part of our daily life that we hear about the rapid rate of carbon dioxide increment in our air and that the artic glaciers are melting faster than before. Countries are coming together to solve the problem of global warming and our governments are encouraging us to go green. However the question is: “Is our current hype over environmental issues unnecessary?” I do not think so. In my opinion it is necessary to start doing something but at the same time we should not be over exaggerate the situation.
To completely ignore the environment issues is wrong. It is a fact that the environment has been worsening due to the actions of man and that it is affecting our lives. It poses dangers to our future too. The author of article in The Straits Times, “Saving the World”, said that “If we do not have a good way to fix a problem, it might be better to focus on something else first. After all, when you do not know where the next meal is coming from, it is hard to worry about what global temperatures will be 100 years from now.” I feel that 100 years later, we still might not be able to see how bad environmental issues can turn out to be. So are we going to say the same thing again and focus on something else first? Shouldn’t we be taking actions and preventing things from getting worse instead of waiting till the future and regret in the end?
The problem comes in when the mass media tries to exaggerate the situation. From the article of “The truth about the environment”, the author has said that “environmental group need to be noticed by the mass media. They also need to keep the money rolling in. Understandably, perhaps, they sometimes exaggerate.” Indeed, the media plays a big role in educating and informing the masses about environmental issues. However, by exaggerating the situations just to increase profits is going against their professionalism. We should be telling the truth to the public and at the same time encourage the public to play a part in saving earth.
In response to Jinyi’s post, I do agree with her that it needs great cost to move everyone from earth to another planet light. We should not be standing around to wait for the scientists to come up with a solution. We need to conscientiously raise environmental issues in order to raise awareness of the dangers that we will soon be facing. Individuals have a choice to save the world or to be selfish beings and to wait for others to do something. So the challenge is how to spur the urgency in people without exaggerating facts.
To sum it up, I disagree that the current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary. We should still raise awareness in people.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Friday, May 9, 2008
The current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary. Do you agree?
I disagree that enviromental issues are covered extensively. Like what Lichun has mentioned in her post, if there is no publicity about the concerns about global environmental issues, no one would be actually concerned about our earth. In other words, the inhabitants of earth would be kept in the dark without knowing the threats and dangers that their mother earth is facing.
Rapid industrialisation, has benefitted us greatly in our quality of life. However, this has induced an array of problems e.g. Global warming due to excessive contribution of greenhouse gases. These problems will manifest itself so rapidly that its full magnitude would be difficult to be dealt with. Quoting statistics from an article in The straits times by Janadas Devan, the concentration of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere has grown from about 270 parts per million(ppm) in the industrial age to about 370 ppm now. Most climate change models specify concentrations above 550 ppm as life threatening and with carbon emissions increasing by 3 percent annually, concentrations of carbon dioxide molecules would reach 1,100 ppm by 2100, which is double the 'dangerous' level.
Year 2100 or looking in the short term, 2050, is not far ahead. We must take immediate actions to save our earth now if not, human race would be wiped out soon due to adverse climatic changes that are already showing their symptoms e.g. prolonged drought in australia and the recent cyclone in Myanmar that claimed 100,000 lives to date. Adopting Bjorn Lomborg's view to focus on something else if we do not have a good solution to a problem, we can view the current global crisis in a different light- that is to find alternative places to live in if our earth becomes unsuitable for life forms to flourish. Sourcing another planet with living conditions akin to earth is a great solution to the long term consequence of environmental problems happening concurrently. However, to move everyone from earth to another planet light years away would incur great financial costs which the poor cannot afford. And the current technology has yet to invent a spaceship that can house the masses. Hence instead of waiting in vain for these naive solutions, I wish to place great emphasis for the need to conscientiously raise environmental issues in order to raise awareness of the extinction our dear planet is facing.
We should not be easily complacent and assume the same calm and peaceful situation to continue to prevail. According to Straits Times sep 15 2007's article SAVING THE WORLD by Bjorn Lomborg, He does not see any point in worrying for our future as everything was smooth sailing then- food was becoming more plentiful and affordable and the proportion of those going hungry is expected to drop below 4%. He expected this postive trend to continue. However present statistics have greatly refuted his claim. According to http://www.bread.org/learn/hunger-basics/hunger-facts-international.html, 854 million people across the world are hungry, up from 852 million between 2006 and 2007. Addtionally, the current big question of "should we sacrifice food to satiate the needs of industrialisation?" has sparked off an intense discussion if the switching of cultivating crops for food to biofuel should be stopped. The shift focus of producing crops for food to biofuel has created a new population of poverty. According to Times magazine Clean Energy Scam, those who used to be able to afford food now fall into the poverty category as production of food crops declines.
We cannot overgeneralise the trend for the future as the world is too fragile and susceptible to freak disasters mentioned above. Therefore i strongly disagree that the current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary.
In conclusion, there is a great need for the extensive raising of environmental concerns to the public. Only one species can save our mother earth, and that is us.
I disagree that enviromental issues are covered extensively. Like what Lichun has mentioned in her post, if there is no publicity about the concerns about global environmental issues, no one would be actually concerned about our earth. In other words, the inhabitants of earth would be kept in the dark without knowing the threats and dangers that their mother earth is facing.
Rapid industrialisation, has benefitted us greatly in our quality of life. However, this has induced an array of problems e.g. Global warming due to excessive contribution of greenhouse gases. These problems will manifest itself so rapidly that its full magnitude would be difficult to be dealt with. Quoting statistics from an article in The straits times by Janadas Devan, the concentration of carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere has grown from about 270 parts per million(ppm) in the industrial age to about 370 ppm now. Most climate change models specify concentrations above 550 ppm as life threatening and with carbon emissions increasing by 3 percent annually, concentrations of carbon dioxide molecules would reach 1,100 ppm by 2100, which is double the 'dangerous' level.
Year 2100 or looking in the short term, 2050, is not far ahead. We must take immediate actions to save our earth now if not, human race would be wiped out soon due to adverse climatic changes that are already showing their symptoms e.g. prolonged drought in australia and the recent cyclone in Myanmar that claimed 100,000 lives to date. Adopting Bjorn Lomborg's view to focus on something else if we do not have a good solution to a problem, we can view the current global crisis in a different light- that is to find alternative places to live in if our earth becomes unsuitable for life forms to flourish. Sourcing another planet with living conditions akin to earth is a great solution to the long term consequence of environmental problems happening concurrently. However, to move everyone from earth to another planet light years away would incur great financial costs which the poor cannot afford. And the current technology has yet to invent a spaceship that can house the masses. Hence instead of waiting in vain for these naive solutions, I wish to place great emphasis for the need to conscientiously raise environmental issues in order to raise awareness of the extinction our dear planet is facing.
We should not be easily complacent and assume the same calm and peaceful situation to continue to prevail. According to Straits Times sep 15 2007's article SAVING THE WORLD by Bjorn Lomborg, He does not see any point in worrying for our future as everything was smooth sailing then- food was becoming more plentiful and affordable and the proportion of those going hungry is expected to drop below 4%. He expected this postive trend to continue. However present statistics have greatly refuted his claim. According to http://www.bread.org/learn/hunger-basics/hunger-facts-international.html, 854 million people across the world are hungry, up from 852 million between 2006 and 2007. Addtionally, the current big question of "should we sacrifice food to satiate the needs of industrialisation?" has sparked off an intense discussion if the switching of cultivating crops for food to biofuel should be stopped. The shift focus of producing crops for food to biofuel has created a new population of poverty. According to Times magazine Clean Energy Scam, those who used to be able to afford food now fall into the poverty category as production of food crops declines.
We cannot overgeneralise the trend for the future as the world is too fragile and susceptible to freak disasters mentioned above. Therefore i strongly disagree that the current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary.
In conclusion, there is a great need for the extensive raising of environmental concerns to the public. Only one species can save our mother earth, and that is us.
Environment
Application Question:
- The current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary. Do you agree?
According to Bjorn Lomborg in "Saving the World", the current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary. Rather, he felt that we should stop worrying about the future and instead, quit panicking and start thinking calmly to ensure that we focus on the right issues. According to him, we can afford to do so because worldwide incomes have increased more than threefold and these positive trends are expected to continue.
On the contrary, I can only see that increasing worldwide incomes would mean that current hype of environmental is necessary. With incomes rising, people would also become more busy with their work and industries would become more intense with their production. Who would have the time and energy to bother about things like the environment? Hence, a hype would be required to draw attention to environmental issues and increase more awareness in them so that more effort would be put in to tackle them. Therefore, I do no t agree that the current hype over environmental issues is unnecessary.
As Michael Pollan put it in "The Way We Live Now Why Bother?", "If enough other people bother, each one influencing yet another in a chain reaction of behavioral change, markets for all manner of green products and alternative technologies will proper and expand." The environmental issues that we are currently facing are in dire states an d the only way to solve it is to ensure that there is a massive global commitment. Firstly, industries would be required to explore new forms of environmentally -friendly technologies. Secondly, governments would have to introduce new legislations to help restrict carbon emissions, thereby slowing down further deterioration of environmental problems. Lastly, not to forget every individual who have to play their part in saving energy and opting for environmentally-friendlier products.
Therefore, it is important to raise consciousness in people to counter the environmental issues and the current hype seems to be very effective in doing so. For example, the build up in the attention for environmental issues has created a surge for energy efficiency – photovoltaic solar panels have made significant improvements while researchers are currently finding a way to store wind power. Thus, the current hype has created urgency within the people to do something about the environmental issues.
In conclusion, we cannot just "quit panicking and start thinking calmly" because this would not create a sense of urgency within people to boost efforts in tackling environmental issue. So, I do not agree that the current hype over environmental issues is not unnecessary, as it is essential to ensure ongoing environment-saving efforts.
With reference to:
AJC reading package on environment
"Why Green is the New Red, White and Blue" by Bryan Walsh, Time magazine
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Application Qns 4
The authors raised several reasons why they think people today need exercise. Do you agree with them? Justify your answer.
I agree very much with the author that people today need exercise. In fact I feel that there is an increasing need to do so. The way of lifestyle and diet that people are having nowadays are affecting our health greatly. We eat food that has high animal fat, processed sugar and salt, and we sit in the office all day long typing away. This has lead to increasing problems of obesity, constipation hypertension etc.
Yes, prevention is the best possible area for our attention. However, many may ask, so how do we prevent? Eating pills? Many of the people who do not have time for exercise due to work are eating health supplements or diet pills. The side effects of these pills are forgotten at times. It may not be seen in short term but in long term, the effects start to show. Thus I can say that exercising should be the way to prevent individuals from health problems. Like what we always say, prevention is better than cure. We do not wait till we have health problems then we try to use medicine to cure it. We should not be over reliant on the medicine we have.
Like what the author have said, humans have changed from highly active “hunter-gardener” to “homosedentarius”. The modern lifestyle we are leading has caused our body to be metabolically alienated, unable to cope with the sudden change in the environment. Thus we have to start exercising as we have been neglecting it. By exercising, we will be able to get our body in a better state for work and it allows us to start our day fresh and face the day on a happier note. After work, exercising will slow down the pace of your day and relax your tensed up muscles. Isn’t this better than drinking beer at pubs? At least you don’t get hangovers.
To sum it up, we need to start exercising. Also, we should try to change the diet we are having now. Having a healthier diet would help prevent you from getting diseases and thus exercising would complement it. Singapore has launched “The National Healthy Lifestyle Programme” in 1992. Be a part of it!
I agree very much with the author that people today need exercise. In fact I feel that there is an increasing need to do so. The way of lifestyle and diet that people are having nowadays are affecting our health greatly. We eat food that has high animal fat, processed sugar and salt, and we sit in the office all day long typing away. This has lead to increasing problems of obesity, constipation hypertension etc.
Yes, prevention is the best possible area for our attention. However, many may ask, so how do we prevent? Eating pills? Many of the people who do not have time for exercise due to work are eating health supplements or diet pills. The side effects of these pills are forgotten at times. It may not be seen in short term but in long term, the effects start to show. Thus I can say that exercising should be the way to prevent individuals from health problems. Like what we always say, prevention is better than cure. We do not wait till we have health problems then we try to use medicine to cure it. We should not be over reliant on the medicine we have.
Like what the author have said, humans have changed from highly active “hunter-gardener” to “homosedentarius”. The modern lifestyle we are leading has caused our body to be metabolically alienated, unable to cope with the sudden change in the environment. Thus we have to start exercising as we have been neglecting it. By exercising, we will be able to get our body in a better state for work and it allows us to start our day fresh and face the day on a happier note. After work, exercising will slow down the pace of your day and relax your tensed up muscles. Isn’t this better than drinking beer at pubs? At least you don’t get hangovers.
To sum it up, we need to start exercising. Also, we should try to change the diet we are having now. Having a healthier diet would help prevent you from getting diseases and thus exercising would complement it. Singapore has launched “The National Healthy Lifestyle Programme” in 1992. Be a part of it!
Essay question: “What is important is not winning, but taking part.” How realistic is this attitude in the world of sports today? (1997)
In my opinion, this attitude is not realistic at all. In today’s context, where sports have become so interlinked with money, winning has become integral for most people in sports. People are motivated by greed for not only the amount of money gained through winning competitions, but also the fame and recognition achieved.
There is always a grand prize for every competition, and this grand prize can go up to millions of dollars for heavily sponsored competitions such as the Soccer English Premier League. Moreover, winning competitions brings fame which leads you to advertising deals and much more money. In addition, for international sports such as the Olympic Games, winning brings glory to the sportsmen’s countries and is sometimes used as a means to compare the power or strength between countries.
Commercialisation of sports has brought about great emphasis on winning. Sportsmen now play for the money that it brings them and for the hope of becoming millionaires. For example, the famous soccer player David Beckham earned near 6 million dollars a year, not to mention an additional average of around 17 million dollars from advertising and sponsorship. With so much money on the line, who can blame the players for wanting to win competitions? What’s more, the sportsmen are not the only ones who want to win. Punters and gamblers who bet heavily on matches or players want to win too.
Moreover, most sports require long sessions of tough and vigorous trainings, and the main reason or rather the only reason of these trainings is to sharpen their skills to ultimately win the competition. Although sportsmanship is greatly emphasized in schools today, and the phrase “Failure is the mother of success” is commonly heard, who wouldn’t like success at the first shot? Kiasuism- the fear of losing out, in Singapore has proved winning to be of high importance.
Certainly there are things to gain through the process, however, all these situations have made it impossible to see winning as a significant aspect in the world of sports today. It is therefore unrealistic to think that participation is more important than competition.
There is always a grand prize for every competition, and this grand prize can go up to millions of dollars for heavily sponsored competitions such as the Soccer English Premier League. Moreover, winning competitions brings fame which leads you to advertising deals and much more money. In addition, for international sports such as the Olympic Games, winning brings glory to the sportsmen’s countries and is sometimes used as a means to compare the power or strength between countries.
Commercialisation of sports has brought about great emphasis on winning. Sportsmen now play for the money that it brings them and for the hope of becoming millionaires. For example, the famous soccer player David Beckham earned near 6 million dollars a year, not to mention an additional average of around 17 million dollars from advertising and sponsorship. With so much money on the line, who can blame the players for wanting to win competitions? What’s more, the sportsmen are not the only ones who want to win. Punters and gamblers who bet heavily on matches or players want to win too.
Moreover, most sports require long sessions of tough and vigorous trainings, and the main reason or rather the only reason of these trainings is to sharpen their skills to ultimately win the competition. Although sportsmanship is greatly emphasized in schools today, and the phrase “Failure is the mother of success” is commonly heard, who wouldn’t like success at the first shot? Kiasuism- the fear of losing out, in Singapore has proved winning to be of high importance.
Certainly there are things to gain through the process, however, all these situations have made it impossible to see winning as a significant aspect in the world of sports today. It is therefore unrealistic to think that participation is more important than competition.
Application Question 3 - Sports
Sports and business have separate 'codes, interests and priorities'. When they are forced to combine, there is a fear that sports will 'lose its identity. Using what you have learnt from the passage and your own experience, give your views as to why the union between sports and business is 'often an uneasy one'.
Sports and business were initially not meant to be together, however, once coined together. Sports has its own set of principal and so do business.
When sports and business joined, very often, sports will be the one that has to undergo changes. Athletes no longer play a sport because they are very passionate about it. Yes, there might be some degree of passion, but as the athletes evolved from sportsman to 'celebrities', they no longer play for their interests. Instead, they only think about win or lose. Why? Because winning will earn them more fame and money. Take for example, David Beckham. He no longer earns bulk of his income from playing football. He earns loads from endorsements instead. Fans no longer worship him for his skills in football. Many idolise him because he is David Beckham, that handsome guy.
When companies put up huge banners to advertise during a game, it's insulting and disrespectful to the game. Audience's attention will be diverged and it is not fair to the players who trained so hard. Also, athletes now become walking advertisments. They are protrayed as extravagant, using branded stuff, when in actual fact, they may not have even used the brand. Brands are also giving people fake impression that they can only acheive what their idols has done so is they use the brands, which is unfair to the audience and athletes.
In conclusion, business is only making use of sports as another door to earning extra money and sports thus loses it sportsmanship.
Sports and business were initially not meant to be together, however, once coined together. Sports has its own set of principal and so do business.
When sports and business joined, very often, sports will be the one that has to undergo changes. Athletes no longer play a sport because they are very passionate about it. Yes, there might be some degree of passion, but as the athletes evolved from sportsman to 'celebrities', they no longer play for their interests. Instead, they only think about win or lose. Why? Because winning will earn them more fame and money. Take for example, David Beckham. He no longer earns bulk of his income from playing football. He earns loads from endorsements instead. Fans no longer worship him for his skills in football. Many idolise him because he is David Beckham, that handsome guy.
When companies put up huge banners to advertise during a game, it's insulting and disrespectful to the game. Audience's attention will be diverged and it is not fair to the players who trained so hard. Also, athletes now become walking advertisments. They are protrayed as extravagant, using branded stuff, when in actual fact, they may not have even used the brand. Brands are also giving people fake impression that they can only acheive what their idols has done so is they use the brands, which is unfair to the audience and athletes.
In conclusion, business is only making use of sports as another door to earning extra money and sports thus loses it sportsmanship.
The Age of Sports
Application Question: The passage raised several reasons why sport has become globalized and dominant. Do you agree with the author's arguments? Justify your answer.
In the passage "The Age of Sport", the author has attributed the globalization and domination of sports to the new emphasis on individual skills, education, the relationship between mind and body, as well as the need for constant self-reinvention in this post-industrial era.
I do agree that all the above reasons have resulted in sports becoming globalised and dominant. However, I think the crux of the whole issue is the people's obsession in leading a healthy lifestyle. It is not just about the relation between mind and body but more of looking good, especially in this fashion conscious world today. Thanks to the huge splash of advertising worldwide which features lean models, everyone wants to have a tone and lean figure – too thin is considered anorexic while just a little more than lean is considered "fat". Hence, sports seem to be the answer for the ideal figure. Sports is known to be a fun form of exercise, which means is can help to control weight by burning excess body fat and help one achieve a tone build by strengthening muscles.
In addition, there is another way in which people's obsession in looking good has resulted in the domination of sports. This comes in the form of the desire to achieve the 'sporty' look. The idea of a sportsperson perpetuates the image of a person who is fit, active, disciplined and has some exceptional skills that normal people does not. So, more people are getting into sportswear in the hope of achieving this image of a sportsperson, thus making themselves seem more outgoing.
Of course, globalization and domination of sports is not just due to personal reasons. One reason not mentioned by the author is the increasing wealth among people. Many people are getter richer and so are able to afford committing themselves to sports. Sports can be quite expensive. From the cost of sportswear to equipment to probably a trainer, everything can sum up to be a pretty huge amount. In the past, little people are able to fork out so much money to pay for such sports but now, people are not only able to do so but can even afford to try out new sports, hence explaining the ability of sports to cross national frontiers.
In conclusion, I agree with the writer's arguments to some extent because the globalization and domination of sports is not just due to new emphasis on individual skills, education, the relationship between mind and body, as well as the need for constant self-reinvention but more or greater emphasis on looking good and increased wealth among the people.
Friday, May 2, 2008
APPLICATION QUESTION 1
Given the problems that plague the Olympics, do you think that the modern Olympics has lost its purpose?
In my opinion, the modern Olympics has lost its purpose in consequence of the surfacing of many problems. The initial and main aim of reviving the Olympics was to minimize inter-countries disputes by sending youths to participate and compete in sports, meanwhile, promoting sportsmanship.
The modern society now is more inclined towards economical benefits and less of self-fulfillment due to the harsh reality of no money, no talk. The entertainment aspect of sports, together with the spread of the ubiquitous mass media, has led to professionalism in sports. This has resulted in some conflicts, where the paycheck is seen more important than recreational aspects, or where the sports are changed simply to make them more popular and profitable, thereby losing sportsmanship.
Problems arising from the Olympics are due to an increasing acknowledgement of the event as a platform to gain celebrity status and execute political agendas in which they ultimately derive monetary gains. Consequentially, the mindset of “The most important thing… is not winning but taking part” is fading. Sportsmanship is highly valued in this mega event. According to the passage, Sportsmanship is an attitude that rives for fair play, courtesy towards teammates and opponents, ethical behavior and integrity, and grace in losing. In the passage we can see that many problems plaguing the Olympics oppose this very basic virtue. For example, Hitler practises nationalism and refused to award medals to Jesse Owen (a black). From here, we can see that Hitler does not see all as equal and fair in the field of sports.
Another incident was that Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan , part of anti-doping movement at the Olympics was stripped of her gold medal winning performance in the All-round competition of the Sydney 2000 games. She was sabotaged by an Olympic doctor who added banned-stimulant into the medicine for her flu. From this scenario, we can easily conclude that due to self-centered desires, people (besides athletes) resort to doping in order to win themselves fame and recognition or eliminate rivals in this case. They have displayed unethical behavior which is equivalent to that of a pre-foul play.
In the conscientious effort to promote sportsmanship and create a platform for talented sports people to display their attributes, the modern Olympics has also induced a host of other problems that defeats the purpose of hosting one. Modern Olympics has indeed lost its purpose.
Given the problems that plague the Olympics, do you think that the modern Olympics has lost its purpose?
In my opinion, the modern Olympics has lost its purpose in consequence of the surfacing of many problems. The initial and main aim of reviving the Olympics was to minimize inter-countries disputes by sending youths to participate and compete in sports, meanwhile, promoting sportsmanship.
The modern society now is more inclined towards economical benefits and less of self-fulfillment due to the harsh reality of no money, no talk. The entertainment aspect of sports, together with the spread of the ubiquitous mass media, has led to professionalism in sports. This has resulted in some conflicts, where the paycheck is seen more important than recreational aspects, or where the sports are changed simply to make them more popular and profitable, thereby losing sportsmanship.
Problems arising from the Olympics are due to an increasing acknowledgement of the event as a platform to gain celebrity status and execute political agendas in which they ultimately derive monetary gains. Consequentially, the mindset of “The most important thing… is not winning but taking part” is fading. Sportsmanship is highly valued in this mega event. According to the passage, Sportsmanship is an attitude that rives for fair play, courtesy towards teammates and opponents, ethical behavior and integrity, and grace in losing. In the passage we can see that many problems plaguing the Olympics oppose this very basic virtue. For example, Hitler practises nationalism and refused to award medals to Jesse Owen (a black). From here, we can see that Hitler does not see all as equal and fair in the field of sports.
Another incident was that Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan , part of anti-doping movement at the Olympics was stripped of her gold medal winning performance in the All-round competition of the Sydney 2000 games. She was sabotaged by an Olympic doctor who added banned-stimulant into the medicine for her flu. From this scenario, we can easily conclude that due to self-centered desires, people (besides athletes) resort to doping in order to win themselves fame and recognition or eliminate rivals in this case. They have displayed unethical behavior which is equivalent to that of a pre-foul play.
In the conscientious effort to promote sportsmanship and create a platform for talented sports people to display their attributes, the modern Olympics has also induced a host of other problems that defeats the purpose of hosting one. Modern Olympics has indeed lost its purpose.
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