Human Organ Transplant Act. From the surface of it I would say that legalizing human organ transplant (HOT) would be a great help to many people's lives, especially those who are in desperate need for their organ to be transplanted, eg. liver, kidney.
Imagine that you are terminally ill due to...for example liver failure. You are in desperate need to have a liver tranplant. But so does other patients (who are not at all patient) who shares the same ward with you. To find the right person (since not anyone's kidney can be transplanted to you), you have to wait from a few months to even a few years. And during the period of waiting you will be either suffering, or too weak for the transplant, or give up hope, or dead. The best way, obviously, is to buy a liver from a willing person. But since life is so unfair, it is illegal. So what should you do?
This is what many patients face when they are waiting for a donar to donate their organs to them. This is also the reason why HOTA is debated so much, because people feel that since by legalising it it will bring so much joy to these people, why not? As said before, from the surface of it it looks as though it is very "nice, good, cute and sweet", but this is based on everyone does not have any "tricks up his sleeves" and all the people in the world is not greedy.
Firstly, if HOT is legalised, there WIll be incidents where the poor will be exploited by the rich, who simply uses a small portion of their salary to buy organs from the poor, who even needs that small portion of salary. Also, there will be a rise in black market trades where human organs will be sold at high prices as though they are pieces of meat sold at a butcher's shop. You might be surprised at how willingly poor people of third-world countries will sell their organs for money, due to the fact that they are so poor that selling organ is the last possible way to maintaining a living.
Also, there will be people who are deeply influenced by Mammon and decides that they shall make use of ignorant or desperate third-world poor people as their "harvest" and reap a gigantic profit from the rich people who need the human organs. This can result in a chain of events where poor people may just be kidnapped on the streets and forcefully have their organs removed (and die in the process) so that these Mammons can reap their reward. This can be very scary where people just literally disappear on the streets and people did not even realise that they were gone. There are already live examples of such events in the US, where there is this doctor who takes away people's organs after they were dead, so that he could sell them to the black market.
I feel that if HOT is legalised, there must be strict rules for such trades. Firstly, the willing traders must sign a contract that claims that they ackowledge that they are having an organ trade. Also, the person who is giving away his organ must be fully aware that he is doing so and that he is comepletely willing to do so. Anyone who were caught attempting to harvest on the organs will immediately face the loop and rope, without any excuse, because kidnapping people and forcefully taking away their organs is morally wrong and there is no reason why anyone would do it. Furthermore, the organ transplant operations have to be conducted in a legal hospital and has to be documented by the hospital.
In conclusion, I feel that is is best not to legalise HOT, as even with precautions and laws involved, there will still be people who will abide the law just for the sake of cashing in more money.
Monday, May 25, 2009
National Service- How can this be amended or improved further to alleviate the problem of dodging?
Once again we bring our attention to NS dodging, where certain NS men-to-be attempt to escape from their "fate" of serving the country AND training themselves for the better.
Firstly, the reason why these men wanted to dodge their NS in the first place needs to be examined. Some people may feel that the NS is too tough for them, and reports of how NS men suddenly collpased during training or getting drowned or got struck by lightning often strike fear in these people's hearts as well. There are also some people who feel that national service is a waste of time for them as they can always use the two years on more "useful" things such as working part-time or further their studies. There are also some who, out of anger at themselves needing to go for NS, blame the foreigners for not needing to serve in national service and yet enjoys the fruits of Singapore's economic success.
But obviously, by looking at these "excuses" the best I can say is "BS" also known as bullsh*t. Firstly, the "danger to self" excuse for dodging NS is just as stupid as saying "I'm afraid to be bitten by mosquitoes in the forest." Of course when you go for national service, you are expected to train your body and mind, it is not as though people are going for holiday chalet or something. The main problem NS-men-to-be have is that they expect national service to be not so harsh.
I feel that there are several things the government can do to improve the current situation where many people just "kiss Singapore goodbye" due to them having to go for national service. One way is the "punishment method", in which the government makes the punishment for dodging NS harsher, so that people will think twice before they decide that they are going to run away from their destiny. Also, when people are punished they tend to remember the incident more clearly, so they will always remember that if they try to dodge NS they will just be faced with harsh consequences.
The second method is the "special case method", which mainly targets those Singaporean talents that have to spend two years on NS instead of having the opportunity to further their abilities. This "special case method" mainly ensures that these talents will have their NS at a later age, or for certain cases, are allowed to not attend their NS. These helps keep Singapore's local talents as there are cases in which some local talents chose the scholarship over NS and in order to prevent themselves from being punished, just leave Singapore completely and become the citizen of another country.
The third method is the "cliched fluff method", in which the government tells the NS-men-to-be how national service is able to help them in their physical and mental development and also rewards those outstanding NS men for their service in the army. However, I don't really think this method will work much as the government is using it all the time and yet there are people who just ignore the words from the government and dodge NS if they want to.
One last point is that a major part is still the NS-men-to-be's own choice. If they choose not to take their NS, there's not much the government can do to really stop them. So the main objective is still to convince the people that they should take NS seriously as it is still the people who will be protecting Singapore in times of need.
Firstly, the reason why these men wanted to dodge their NS in the first place needs to be examined. Some people may feel that the NS is too tough for them, and reports of how NS men suddenly collpased during training or getting drowned or got struck by lightning often strike fear in these people's hearts as well. There are also some people who feel that national service is a waste of time for them as they can always use the two years on more "useful" things such as working part-time or further their studies. There are also some who, out of anger at themselves needing to go for NS, blame the foreigners for not needing to serve in national service and yet enjoys the fruits of Singapore's economic success.
But obviously, by looking at these "excuses" the best I can say is "BS" also known as bullsh*t. Firstly, the "danger to self" excuse for dodging NS is just as stupid as saying "I'm afraid to be bitten by mosquitoes in the forest." Of course when you go for national service, you are expected to train your body and mind, it is not as though people are going for holiday chalet or something. The main problem NS-men-to-be have is that they expect national service to be not so harsh.
I feel that there are several things the government can do to improve the current situation where many people just "kiss Singapore goodbye" due to them having to go for national service. One way is the "punishment method", in which the government makes the punishment for dodging NS harsher, so that people will think twice before they decide that they are going to run away from their destiny. Also, when people are punished they tend to remember the incident more clearly, so they will always remember that if they try to dodge NS they will just be faced with harsh consequences.
The second method is the "special case method", which mainly targets those Singaporean talents that have to spend two years on NS instead of having the opportunity to further their abilities. This "special case method" mainly ensures that these talents will have their NS at a later age, or for certain cases, are allowed to not attend their NS. These helps keep Singapore's local talents as there are cases in which some local talents chose the scholarship over NS and in order to prevent themselves from being punished, just leave Singapore completely and become the citizen of another country.
The third method is the "cliched fluff method", in which the government tells the NS-men-to-be how national service is able to help them in their physical and mental development and also rewards those outstanding NS men for their service in the army. However, I don't really think this method will work much as the government is using it all the time and yet there are people who just ignore the words from the government and dodge NS if they want to.
One last point is that a major part is still the NS-men-to-be's own choice. If they choose not to take their NS, there's not much the government can do to really stop them. So the main objective is still to convince the people that they should take NS seriously as it is still the people who will be protecting Singapore in times of need.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Free Will's a Gamble - IR
The debate on whether Singapore should open a casino has been a hot topic nowadays. The main reason why people are talking about it so much is because people feel that the government is trying to improve Singapore's economy by sacrificing at least some of the Singaporean's way of life. On one hand, by building a casino in Singapore, Singapore's economy can improve, as more people will be attracted by Singapore's IR and sometimes especially the casino, and would want to stay in SIngapore longer. On the other hand, by building a casino in SIngapore, it will encourage Singaporeans to gamble as well, seeing the amount of people queuing up to buy 4D everyday, it is imaginable that they will do the same at the slot machines and the gambling tables.
To start off, I think that there's nothing wrong with setting up the IR in Singapore (which features a casino), since it is able to help Singapore in its economic growth. Based on a survey done around last year, the average number of days tourists would stay in Singapore is around 3 to 4 days. From the government's point of view, 3 to 4 days does not help much in Singapore's economy, since there's nothing much the tourist can spend his money on within that 3 to 4 days. (it's not as though he is going to buy a house or a car in Singapore anyway) With the IR, it is expected that tourists would stay a longer time in Singapore compared to before. (since the thought of throwing money to gain more money simply attracts people.) So the more money tourists throw in, whether its in the casino or the hotel he stays in, the money can help Singapore improve its economic growth.
The main reason why so many people are opposing the idea of the buildup of the IR is because they are afraid that Singaporeans themselves will be attracted to the IR and start gambling, leading a great variety of consequences in which the most simple one is losing all the money and turn to alternative sources for money, such as loan sharks or even stealing and robbery. This in turn affects both Singapore's image and social well-being, since nobody likes a country with thieves roaming about. As a matter of fact, nobody likes a country with casino(es) because they often link casino(es) with bad image and negative consequences.
However, instead of opposing the buildup of the IR like the rest of the people, I would like to question why people want to go to the casino is they know that they will be "losing all their money, causing their family to be harrassed by loan sharks, themselves having low morale and often ends in jail or in grave." Firstly, I would like to separate the types of people going to the casino into 3 types: 1) The optimistic ones: they go to the casino as a form of entertainment and are not bothered whether or not they win or lose money. 2) The lazy ones: they go to casino hoping to win some money because they are simply not bothered to get money through the right method which is basically their jobs, in the same way they hope to strike the 4D. Upon losing money they would often put in more money hoping to get back the money they lost. 3)The desperate ones: they are the ones that rush to the casino and praying to whichever gods they know, because if they still do not return the debts (either from the bank or from the loan sharks), the bank or the loan shark will confiscate/burn down their houses. This type of people are usually the "evolved" form of people from type 2, because of constant put-in-and-put-more-in treatment of money.
So now after analysing the 3 types of people, I would like to point out the the typical casino aims at the first type of people, the ones that come, lose money, and forget about the whole incident and carry on with their lives. Since the government cannot simply put a ban on people type 2 and 3 from stepping into the casino, obviously there are and will be some sneaking inside in order to achieve whatever they want to achieve. I feel that what the people is complaining about is that they are concerned about these types of people who will end up destroying their lives just because of the casino. HOWEVER, I MUST EMPHASIZE that its not the casino that destroyed the people's lives, its THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES that ruined their own lives. Nobody told you to go to the casino, but why did you still go there? Because of your own free will that destroyed yourselves, and now the people expect the government to restrict the people' own free will when ironically everywhere people are talking about freedom of speech and all those freedoms. Its just like if you want to commit suicide, the best the government can do is to save you when you are going to jump/cut and arrange psychologists to help you, but they CANNOT sit beside you everyday to prevent you from jumping/cutting. What people now lack is slef-control. If they know that they will lose control if they start gambling, then don't start at all. The casino is not just built for you to get money, as many people often thought, which result in the stupid consequences that they can always choose to avoid.
All in all, I do object to the idea of the setting up of the IR, because it really helps SIngapore's growing economy a lot. And for those people who think that they need the government to babysit them until they grow old, because they will lose control if the government won't, TOUGH LUCK. Face it, self-control is part of life. If you don't have it, too bad.
To start off, I think that there's nothing wrong with setting up the IR in Singapore (which features a casino), since it is able to help Singapore in its economic growth. Based on a survey done around last year, the average number of days tourists would stay in Singapore is around 3 to 4 days. From the government's point of view, 3 to 4 days does not help much in Singapore's economy, since there's nothing much the tourist can spend his money on within that 3 to 4 days. (it's not as though he is going to buy a house or a car in Singapore anyway) With the IR, it is expected that tourists would stay a longer time in Singapore compared to before. (since the thought of throwing money to gain more money simply attracts people.) So the more money tourists throw in, whether its in the casino or the hotel he stays in, the money can help Singapore improve its economic growth.
The main reason why so many people are opposing the idea of the buildup of the IR is because they are afraid that Singaporeans themselves will be attracted to the IR and start gambling, leading a great variety of consequences in which the most simple one is losing all the money and turn to alternative sources for money, such as loan sharks or even stealing and robbery. This in turn affects both Singapore's image and social well-being, since nobody likes a country with thieves roaming about. As a matter of fact, nobody likes a country with casino(es) because they often link casino(es) with bad image and negative consequences.
However, instead of opposing the buildup of the IR like the rest of the people, I would like to question why people want to go to the casino is they know that they will be "losing all their money, causing their family to be harrassed by loan sharks, themselves having low morale and often ends in jail or in grave." Firstly, I would like to separate the types of people going to the casino into 3 types: 1) The optimistic ones: they go to the casino as a form of entertainment and are not bothered whether or not they win or lose money. 2) The lazy ones: they go to casino hoping to win some money because they are simply not bothered to get money through the right method which is basically their jobs, in the same way they hope to strike the 4D. Upon losing money they would often put in more money hoping to get back the money they lost. 3)The desperate ones: they are the ones that rush to the casino and praying to whichever gods they know, because if they still do not return the debts (either from the bank or from the loan sharks), the bank or the loan shark will confiscate/burn down their houses. This type of people are usually the "evolved" form of people from type 2, because of constant put-in-and-put-more-in treatment of money.
So now after analysing the 3 types of people, I would like to point out the the typical casino aims at the first type of people, the ones that come, lose money, and forget about the whole incident and carry on with their lives. Since the government cannot simply put a ban on people type 2 and 3 from stepping into the casino, obviously there are and will be some sneaking inside in order to achieve whatever they want to achieve. I feel that what the people is complaining about is that they are concerned about these types of people who will end up destroying their lives just because of the casino. HOWEVER, I MUST EMPHASIZE that its not the casino that destroyed the people's lives, its THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES that ruined their own lives. Nobody told you to go to the casino, but why did you still go there? Because of your own free will that destroyed yourselves, and now the people expect the government to restrict the people' own free will when ironically everywhere people are talking about freedom of speech and all those freedoms. Its just like if you want to commit suicide, the best the government can do is to save you when you are going to jump/cut and arrange psychologists to help you, but they CANNOT sit beside you everyday to prevent you from jumping/cutting. What people now lack is slef-control. If they know that they will lose control if they start gambling, then don't start at all. The casino is not just built for you to get money, as many people often thought, which result in the stupid consequences that they can always choose to avoid.
All in all, I do object to the idea of the setting up of the IR, because it really helps SIngapore's growing economy a lot. And for those people who think that they need the government to babysit them until they grow old, because they will lose control if the government won't, TOUGH LUCK. Face it, self-control is part of life. If you don't have it, too bad.
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