Don't eat if the toilet is dirty

I refer to an article in the Today newspaper "Check out the toilets before you choose place to have a meal". According to the article, we should check to cleanliness of the toilets in the hawker center before deciding what to eat. Some toilets in Singapore do not even have basic necessities like toilet paper or hand-washing soap. This raises the question about how the hawkers maintain their cleanliness even after using the toilet. Without hand-washing soap, how do they make sure that their hands are clean while preparing the food?

This is indeed frightening to think of; a hawker not washing his hand properly after using the toilet and then handling your food. I feel that the food would definitely be dirty being handled this way. Not long ago, there were customers who had actually eaten food which was tainted with faeces and other bacteria. Would the issue of cleanliness of the hawker center toilets turn out to be another case of food poisoning soon if nobody steps in? I should think yes. With the food handled with dirty hands, I am sure bacteria would be passed to the food, causing bad cases of food poisoning to the customers.

Just by checking if the toilets are clean before deciding whether or not to patronize the hawker center is insufficient to ensure that this problem is solved. As a customer, he should report this case to the relevant authorities to ensure that action is taken to solve the problem. The hawkers should also be one of the people who have the responsibility to inform the authorities of the problem at hand. They should care the hygiene of the food they sell and also of the health of their customers. Perhaps the government should step in too, checking hawker centers regularly to ensure the hygiene of the toilets and also the stalls.

Influx, what is happening?

I refer to the article on the Today newspaper "If citizenship is valued ... ". Over the last few years, the inflow of foreigners have been very rapid. As the population of our small country increase, the number of foreign workers increase. Many feel that the influx should be curbed. They feel that public transports and the streets of Singapore have became too crowded and that they are given not enough privileges above the permanent residents. Thus, the government has responded by enforcing some privileges that only Singaporeans can enjoy.

In my opinion, the influx has its pros and cons like many other things. This increase in foreign workers would definitely boost the economy. Like the article mentioned, "A large part of our economy is driven by foreigners". Singapore is such a small country with a rapidly growing economy. Without these foreigners to help us, the growth of our economy would slow down and we might not be leading this rather well off life.

Then again, maybe the government are really biting off more then they can chew. Although the economy is indeed improving due to the help of the foreign workers, there are social problems which encourages the idea of decreasing the flow of foreigners. With the influx of people from all over the world, there are bound to be clashes between the people due to racial differences.

Road deaths decrease, concern still rising

Over the last few years, the government has been trying to reduce the number of road deaths by promoting road safety among the people in Singapore. According to a recent report, all these efforts have not gone to waste. Road deaths have decreased significantly. People have become more aware of road safety and are taking more precaution.
However, the government is still concern about the elderly and also the motorcyclist. According to the article, old folks find that it is very inconvenient to use a pedestrian crossing or using the overhead bridge. This means that older folks have a higher chance of jay walking. This is a serious issue. Old folks are weaker and more prone to injuries. If they meet with a traffic accident, the possibility of fatality is rather high. So, the government has to find a method to solve this problem. In my opinion, I feel that a method to solve the problem is to rethink the positions of the overhead bridges and pedestrian crossings. Although to shift these bridges is going to be a very expensive project, I feel that it is worth it for the sake of the people's welfare. Another method is to install escalators in overhead bridge. Some elderly feel that it is a tough job climbing the overhead bridges. This would help them overcome this problem. I understand that there are already escalators in some of the overhead bridges in Singapore. Finally, the last solution would be the traditional way of education. Education can solve many problems we have Singapore now. Perhaps the community clubs and resident council could arrange talks to tell the elderly about road safety. This would be a long process and that the effect would not be seen almost immediately.
Another concern is about the motorcyclists. The vehicle these people ride provides them with little if not no protection. This means that if they meet with an accident, they would probably be very severely injured. In the article, these accidents are due to the fact that many motorist are unable to see these motorcyclists well and thus hit into them. So, the article mentioned about a possible method which is to ask the motorcyclist to wear more bright and visible colours. This is definitely a rather good idea. However, getting so many motorcyclist to wear bright colours is going to be a big challenge. Of course, I would suggest the use of education to solve this problem once more. By educating the motorists and the motorcyclists to be more aware of their surroundings, I am sure many fatal accidents can be prevented.

National Identity

National identity has been an issue the government has been concerned about. They have many programmes to try to teach the younger generation about the importance of national identity.

National identity is indeed an important part of building a strong and united nation. National identity is very important especially in times of crisis like economy downturns. In such times, only if the people stay united, then will they make it through these events.

As mentioned earlier, the government has been trying to teach the younger generation about the importance of national identity. For example, there is the annual N.Emation, in which the students of different schools create an animation which would expresses what they feel about total defense and the country. These videos usually show the importance of unity as a country and nation.

However, has all these efforts the government put in paid of? Has people come to posses this important trait - national identity? Perhaps yes. according to a survey done, about 97% of the people surveyed said that they are proud to be a Singaporean and another 98% consider Singapore as their home. These data shows that Singaporeans posses a sense of national identity.

Singaporeans, Bad Drivers?

I refer to the article on the TODAY newspaper "Are We A Nation Of Bad Drivers?" (january 16-17 2010). In my opinion it is somewhat common knowledge that Singaporeans have bad driving habits. However when the the TODAY paper surveyed 100 people, only 50% of the people surveyed said that Singaporeans were bad drivers.

Singaporeans indeed have bad driving habits. For example, many drivers speed and overtake other cars without signalling. This might result in fatal accidents happening. It is as if Singaporeans treat the roads and highways as a giant race track, racing each other every where they go.

So, what is the problem? Does the government has poor control over the roads of Singapore? Perhaps not. In the article, Mr Richard Tan, the manager of the SSDC, mentioned that the training they offers emphasizes a lot of safety. Maybe it is the attitude of the drivers. Singaporean drivers do not really care about safety rules as they probably think they are invulnerable. Also, they do not care about others and are very inconsiderate.

This inconsideration which Singaporeans posses perhaps have been in us ever since we are young. These are some of the more usual inconsiderate actions we see in modern day youths - not letting up their seats in crowded public transports, not giving way to others on escalators. If we educate these children properly from young, maybe we can gradually and slowly change this trend of bad drivers in Singapore.

Revamped Blog !!! ><

This blog has been REVAMPED slightly... New application has been added and Mousehunt pictures has been posted too. There would be more changes to improve on the layout of the blog. Possibly just more applications or maybe even a new skin claps, claps.


Note: the MouseHunt pictures are place in no particular order

Casino more harm than good

I feel that the casino in Singapore should not be built. Although it would be able to generate jobs for the people, allow a boost in tourism in Singapore and help our society earn revenue, think about all the problems that come with it. The casino would cause an increase in the number of people addicted to gambling. Because Singapore currently do not have a casino the problem of gambling addicts are not so obvious yet. However, gambling addicts already exist in the society. People are getting addicted to betting on horses, football, 4 digits, toto etc. So, with a casino so close to them, they need not leave the country just to gamble. This would cause an increase in the number of people getting addicted to gambling.

The government is broadcasting advertisements on television to remind people about the negative impacts of gambling, allowing the families to restrict their family members from entering the casinos etc. However, would all this be useful to prevent the rise in gambling addicts among the citizens? With a casino in our own country, it is impossible to stop or even minimise the negative impacts of gambling. Take a look at Las Vegas, it is now known as The Sin City. This is because of its casinos and the prevalence of crime. It is impossible to open a casino without corrupting the moral fibres of the citizens.

When the number of gambling addicts increase, the government would soon be forced to have to
provide counselling to these people. A lot of resources has to be wasted, a lot of money has to spent. Despite all these efforts, it will still be very difficult for the gambler to kick his habit.

Although there are some of good the casino would bring to Singapore, it is not worth sacrificing the well-being of the people in Singapore just to earn more revenue.