::Homework Crapbox:: (version 2013 & 2014 & 2015 & 2016)
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So this mee pok stall in Clementi has been getting long queues recently specifically because the mee pok is prepared by a Japanese teenage girl. And as a side bonus, it doesn't hurt that the mee pok supposedly tastes good, too. Btw & fyi, the guy in the green army PT shirt is her Singaporean boyfriend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ehwezCjP0g&feature=player_embedded -
"Lost in Hong Kong" 2015 movie, now showing in GV cinemas :
Trailer #1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42gNEmpCeL0
Trailer #2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1uWQM9cft0 -
Philippines to assist Malaysia in verifying MH370 wreckage
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/philippines-assist-verifying-claim-mh370-091604993.html -
3 cases of police brutality in USA :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBMEOeXwlLk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1FVZEpYiLI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO9x1OXlIsw -
[Psychic] - Guy Bavli demonstrates telekinetic abilities, verified by Stan Lee :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNctiOZPdO8 -
[India] - 4 year old girl raped, sodomized, stabbed with knives and left for dead by at least 2 men
http://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/4-year-old-girl-raped-in-delhi-injuries-horrifying-say-doctors-1230780
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/delhi-4-year-old-girl-raped-found-bleeding-near-railway-tracks/
http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/4-year-old-Brutally-Gangraped-in-Delhi-Battles-for-Life-in-Hospital/2015/10/11/article3074368.ece -
In regard to this article : http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/05/asia/singapore-smartest-kids/index.html
Many people think Singaporeans are only exam-smart because they blindly memorize and regurgitate. While that may apply somewhat to lower levels (eg. PSLE and O levels), it doesn't apply so much to higher levels, eg. A levels*, Olympiads, University levels. And at all levels, standards continue to increase and bell-curves continue to be steeper, due to increasing competition for academic qualifications and jobs, both intra-nationally and inter-nationally in an increasingly globalized context.
*Singapore A levels are, by some standards and for some subjects, already more difficult than international A levels.
In short, it is overly simplistic and wrong to say Singapore students are exam-smart merely because they blindly memorize. Blind memorization alone is increasingly insufficient for A level papers (eg. H2 Chemistry), and absolutely insufficient for Olympiads and international competitions.
If Singaporeans always top the international rankings in mathematics and science, and are truly intelligent instead of blindly memorizing and regurgitation, why then (critics love to use this argument), has Singapore produced no Nobel prize winners?
One major reason (there are others of course), which appears to have been overlooked by almost everyone else discussing this issue, is the exceedingly pragmatic Singaporean culture when it comes to money and career. (This holds true for other countries around the world as well, but especially for Singapore where costs of living continue to escalate amidst increasing competition from foreign talent and rising rentals by greedy REITS, even as the Sing dollar strengthens against other regional currencies... obviously there are unethical parties, organizations and industries covertly exploiting this, which is where all the money disappears to instead of benefiting the population... but that's the topic for another discussion altogether).
Whilst ideally (and arguably), the most brilliant minds in any population should work and contribute to mankind's scientific advancement, but here in Singapore, other than Medicine, almost all the top students (who could have qualified for scientific careers) prefer the hugely more financially lucrative careers of banking and finance, law and other careers more profitable than in Science. The kiasu-ism and kiasi-ism, fear of not earning enough to survive or provide comfortably for your future family in increasingly competitive Singapore, coupled relentless societal pressure (eg. Hollywood glamorized Wall Street financial exploits, the proliferation of Top 10 Richest in Singapore / Asia / the World on the internet and social media), motivates one's greed to be the elite cream of the crop, the top 5% elite stratum of society right at the of society, in this dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, rapidly globalizing Singapore.
In short, this is one of the very real, major reasons, one that has been mostly overlooked and missed, why Singapore hasn't produced a Nobel prize winner. Not that there aren't any Singaporeans intelligent enough to do so, but that most Singaporeans strongly prioritize financial security and career stability over a PhD research career in the Sciences, which pays out a mere pittance of a fraction compared to careers in banking and finance.
Banking and finance doesn't contribute anywhere as much benefit to mankind, as compared to science, medicine and technology; but it's where the money is, and therefore it's where most of the top brains, minds and students in Singapore, choose to go. -
Don't get me started on religion. *shakes head*
In a BBC interview last month, the Dalai Lama suggested that, if his successor were to be a woman, she would have to be attractive, otherwise "not much use." With the breathy, halting chuckle of a man whose joke did not land, he doubled down on his assertion. "It's true!" he stammered, as the interviewer tried to change the subject.
Reception to this interview ranged from shock to anger. For decades, the Dalai Lama has been the most universally well-liked religious figure and public figure in general. How could he say something so inflammatory and backwards about women? Has he always been like this, and we just never noticed?
https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/my-mom-went-on-a-date-with-the-dalai-lama-in-all-his-awkward-glory -
http://mothership.sg/2015/10/this-humans-of-singapore-post-just-demonstrated-why-theres-a-need-for-a-living-wage-workers-rights/
Someone commented : "It's really sad to see this and know that our million dollar earning ministers defend the no minimum living wage with such conviction."
He's missing the real villains here : those MNC CEOs and top level (mostly foreign) executives, those in the banking and finance industry (hundreds of CEOs and top execs of financial investment institutions and banks in Singapore earn way over $10 million every year year). These unethical blokes earn way more than Lee Hsien Loong or any ministers, but they've contributed nothing towards the betterment of society (while PAP has arguably done a lot more good). Instead of minimum wage, all industries (especially those in the banking and finance related) should cut the obscene pay of the CEOs and top execs, and pay the low-wage foreign workers (rubbish cleaners, construction workers, etc) a lot better. Similarly, instead of increasing SBS and SMRT ticket prices, deduct from the obscene salaries of the CEOs and top execs. When she was CEO several years back, Saw Phaik Hwa (who lowered air-con in the MRT to pay herself more) admitted to drawing a $2 million dollar salary, owning 6 supercars (Ferraris, Lamborghini, Nissan GTRs, etc), and never having taken the MRT in her life. CEOs sure as hell don't deserve to be paid thousands of times more than the rubbish cleaners and construction workers, who actually work thousands of times harder than all these useless CEOs (way more useless than PAP, who at least have done some good for the country). -
This is so messed up, with so many (literally dozens of) sides getting themselves irretrievably sucked into this murderous quagmire with no possible happy ending for anyone. Not only will this take many wasteful years in which hundreds of thousands will lose their limbs, lives and loved ones, but it carries the very real risk of military escalation between the superpowers, which will be very bad for the entire world.
[Middle East] - 'Kill Russians', urges Syrian al-Qaeda as Moscow’s embassy compound hit by rockets
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1866950/kill-russians-urges-syrian-qaeda-moscows-embassy-compound-hit-rockets -
An insightful article that realizes that close American and Russian collaboration is the only hope for a semi-happy ending in the Middle East.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/opinion/a-road-to-damascus-via-moscow.html -
After reading the article, also read the visitor comments below the article. Many (if not most) of the so-called Singapore-based companies in these industries that exploit foreign workers, are actually foreigner owned (eg. Malaysia, China, etc) companies with foreigner bosses, who are the ones guilty of exploiting their fellow countryman. It's not that there aren't any Singaporean employers guilty of exploiting foreign workers (of course there are), it's just that many people don't realize *most* of the exploiting employers / companies / bosses in these exploitative industries, are themselves foreigners.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blue-collar-workers-flock-singapore-230028522.html -
You think the Church would care what the difference is?
http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-bi-sexual-and-pan-sexual/ -
[Bangladesh] - Poverty forces thousands into selling their kidneys... a woman abandoned by her husband is even trying to sell her eye so she can afford to care for her babies.
http://www.ibtimes.com/tired-poverty-illegal-kidney-trade-booming-bangladesh-2140810
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/bangladeshs-organ-trade/5455658
http://www.france24.com/en/20151014-bangladeshs-illegal-kidney-trade-booms-donors-turn-brokers -
[China] - A sex trafficking gang bought a dozen mentally retarded young daughters from poor families for Sg$600 each, with the false promise that they would be married to a well-off family, but imprisoned them in a pigsty for months, then sold them to desperate men from poor villages for a profitable Sg$22,000 per sex slave bride.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1867448/chinese-mentally-impaired-women-kept-pigsty-be-sold-brides -
i was shocked to wake up around 5am to find that i actually pee-ed in my sleep i did drink a lot of water before i went to bed.but never happen before leh lucky the urine is not yellowish and doesn't smell. I have also didn't dream that i urinate leh. how ah ?is it a sign of some serious health issue ah ?don't tell me i need to use adult diapers before Lee KILL You ???!!! -
"Sodom and the neighbouring city of Gomorrah were destroyed by God, according to the Book of Genesis, because their inhabitants were riddled by sin and depravity. The final judgement was delivered after angels, disguised as men, were unable to find just 10 righteous people in the cities. However, life in the city appears to have come to a sudden halt near the end of the Middle Bronze Age and was all but abandoned for 700 years, say archaeologists. It is hoped the ongoing excavations by the research team will help shed light on the mystery." - https://sg.news.yahoo.com/sodom-biblical-city-sin-found-095846410.html
Any archaeological research team will be unable to solve the mystery, unless they consider the possibility of extraterrestrial involvement (the so-called 'angels' and 'God' described in the bible). -
[China] - Disgruntled female property client takes female property agent hostage for 3 hours with a box-cutter to her throat
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1826719/chinese-woman-holds-estate-agent-knifepoint-three-hours-row-over
In case you're wondering what a box-cutter to the throat can do, check this out : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1L6jQ0Pfrw -
I've posted on this earlier this year (incident took place in May 2015), but in case some of you missed it...
[China] - Road rage video of man beating up woman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYx79BRoq4s
Article originally from South China Morning Post (which requires a subscription login to access). Google "Man’s brutal beating of female driver divides Chinese public after different car videos emerge". -
Dr House Season 6 Episode 3 "The Tyrant"
Wikipedia :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyrant_(House)
YouTube :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC13NQRMvH4
Polite Dissent episode review :http://www.politedissent.com/archives/3695
One of the most intense ethical dilemmas ever featured on TV. To kill or not to kill, that is the question. As his medical doctor, would you save the tyrant, and potentially kill thousands of lives he would live on to likely take? Or would you kill the tyrant, to potentially save thousands of lives he would live on to likely take? Remember, morality is relative, not absolute. The end *does* justify the means (understand the meaning of cosmoethics), but be aware that the means also carries consequences. -
[Malaysia] - Johor may leave Malaysia, says Crown Prince
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/johor-has-right-to-secede-if-putrajaya-breaches-federations-terms-says-crow -
