1 child policy-Josiah

Reflection(26/1/2015)

Given the dwindling population growth, singapore will face the crisis of a ageing population. If I am the only child,what used to be done by parents will have to be done by me all alone which increases the burden on the future generations as the cycle continues. With the disinclined population growth caused by lower birth rates there will be more and more people who are old, this might result in a manpower shortage as death rate increases with ageing population and birth rates continues to decline. In the future society's advancements may eventually come to a stop hindered by the lack of talents due to the dwindling population growth which affects a country's prosperity.

We have to prevent these by managing the number of deaths and births in Singapore. We have to ensure that the population does not age and decline so as to ensure that the country always have enough people to function. We can also encourage birth by providing financial aid and benefits to both the parent and the child for example the Edusave which financially helps the parents who are nurturing a child acadamically.

We must also not overlook the problems as to why people are hesitating to have children, as we have to respond to the root of the problem instead of the effect of the problem. Only by doing so can we truly prevent a such a crisis.

1 child policy -Xinhui

Reflection(26/1/2015)

I think Singapore face similar issue about our population but unlike China, we have too little newborn babies. Birth rates in Singapore has been dwindling as our ageing population has been increasing by the day. The Singapore Government is trying to encourage more couples to have children by providing bonuses and subsidies. Furthermore, every SG50 baby would have a bonus baby package and a special birth certificate, spurting more couples to give birth to a new baby in conjunction with Singapore 50th year, the year of 2015. Many couples refuse to have more children because of financial stress they may face. Singapore economy may sooner take for a downfall because of short of manpower, and our Government would have to recruit more foreign talent, causing unhappiness among many Singaporeans, and causing them to lose faith and trust in our Government. I thought maybe we should reflect on ourselves why our Government have to recruit foreign talents instead of reapproaching the Government about this matter. Maybe we can have more children so that our Government do not need to recruit foreign talents? Or maybe we can stop more Singaporeans from migrating overseas in search for better future? Although the Government have provided couples with subsidies for their children, it is still not enough, because 1 million dollars is the average to raising a child. Hence, youngsters nowadays would have to solely provide for many ageing family members, causing them to have financial and mental stress. Thus, they would also not want to have children because they are worried about having heavier financial burden. I think the Government can provide couples with more subsidies like medical fees for children, and more yearly allowance for students, which can reduce parents financial stress, and spurr them to have more children.

Reflection-Josiah

Reflection (19/01/2015)

Base on the Little India riot I can say that the fatal accident might not be the truth cause of the riot but 

instead it is just the smokescreen of a wider picture. I realise from the video shown today that we are prejudice against foreign workers and might have even gone to the extent of discrimination. It is unfair of us to judge them base on what we see in our daily lives when we ourselves do not know them well enough.

Their living conditions and treatment locally should be reviewed again, are they treated fair enough? Maybe we can start by having an open mind to accept people from different backgrounds and not draw a line between us,after all we are living on the same piece of land for now.

If we don't try to accept them and allow them to blend into our society it will only make everyone's life harder as we spent time guarding against the workers and as they try to find own way in this foreign land.

Poverty- Xinhui

Poverty

I think poverty is very common in the world, especially in third world/ developing countries like Africa. In singapore, poverty is commonly found too, and the Singapore Government has been stressing on the widening difference between the rich and the poor. However, Singapore Government has implemented different taxes on how much one earn per year, a fair tax amount to pay. I think other countries should implement this method so that the rich and the poor would be charged accordingly, and the rich and poor would not widen.

Cid lesson

I think what we see may not be what is true,and it may not be the fact. Thus, we should not only believe what we see but know more about the background.

Poverty-George

Poverty

I have visited many countries till now, and poverty is frequently seen. Even in richer countries like Singapore, you can see it, just different form. My perspective and thoughts about poverty may be bias and one sided, but hey, everybody has freedom of speech. The definition of it is people lacking money and basic necessities, such as food, water, clothes, shelter etc. It is often seen in China, America, and Cambodia, countries which I visited. In the past, all I feel is pure pity and the desire to help them. But now, after being exposed to many things, I'm starting to have second thoughts. I feel pity, sometimes. I can even empathize with them. I have many thoughts, but one remains constant. What is the best way to help them? Of course, you can easily donate them a generous amount. But what happens after they spend it? What do they spend it on? Some may just buy drugs, some may buy food, while others may give the change the others. There's a lot of people in the world, and it is impossible to help them all, but with every one assisted, there will be one lesser in need of help. But we humans will not stop there, greed can be both black and white, and we always will want to be better, so is there a better way to help the people? Inspiration is a very powerful thing, and if it influences people, it changes their lives. You can influence them to find a job, raise a family, or by just using a few sentences, destroy their lives. I'm talking about many different things, but these can help poverty. Being in poverty can be caused by squandering money on drugs, gambling and unmoral-full acts, or being born in a poor family, which may be caused by the above conditions. Another major problem is that no matter how hard these people work, they do not get much in return. In rural India, no matter how hard the farmers work, due to inflation and the always fluctuating prices. Some may also encounter corrupted landlord, who over taxes them,and may not even have enough to survive on their own. Thus, that gives a new and different definition of "what you give is what you get" which in this case, they give their heart and soul and everything to the crops and farmwork but they themselves get nothing. They scrimp and save every single grain of rice and every single cent,whereas we care about a entirely different thing. That is the difference between the rich and the ones in poverty. We should be grateful that we, if not most of us were at least born in a well-doing family and help others in need, instead of being selfish and tending over our own matters when people out there are suffering.

Poverty-Ya Wen

Poverty

During our CID 2 lesson: A picture paints a thousand words, Ms Huang showed us two pictures. One of which is a man holding a board, saying what he has lost and begging for money. The other one shows a lady carrying an infant in her arms and standing beside a man, asking for money. We had to make a choice between the two of them to see which one needs our help more. At first, I looked down on the man in the first picture as he is healthy and fit, which meant that he should be able to find a job easily in this society. Yet, I was disappointed to see him sitting on the streets, telling. Everyone what he has lost and begging for some money from passers-by. I wanted to help the lady int  he second picture but a thought flashed across my mind and I hesitated. As what my classmate has mentioned in class, she might be in a syndicate who cheats money from people on the streets. With this thoughts in mind, I decided to not help them first, just in case what I thought might be true. Sure enough, Ms Huang later reveals that these were true, except that the man in the first picture was an orphan since young and is living a tough life now. Still, I hesitated. It's not as if with one arm lost he can't find a job. Thus, I still stood at my point of not donating. After this lesson, I learnt that we should not be so gullible and be fooled by what we see. Sometimes, there's more than meets the eye.

Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; commonly known as being poor. Poverty is a common sight in many countries. Up till today, there are still people who are poor and are struggling to find shelter, feed their kids and find warm clothing. Unfortunately, poverty is often an invisible problem. The voices of the poor are seldom heard. Many people nowadays just care about themselves and they forgot that out there in the world, there are people who are still begging in the streets, leading a tough life. A research have shown that Singapore actually holds the highest poverty rate in high income countries. It's terrible to know that Singapore is a rich country in the world, our government has one of the highest national reserves and surpluses in the world, and we have the highest national reserves per capita in the world, but not to forget, we also have the highest proportion of poor among the developed countries and the countries in our region! This has caused a great problem to us as increasing numbers of Singaporeans are complaining that they would not be able to pay for that extra in life. With this said, I just hope people can perhaps lend a helping hand to these people, and together we will create a better world for each and every one of us to live in.

Poverty-Emma

Poverty

Poverty is general scarcity or death, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.

Absolute Poverty or Destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health and education. Relative poverty is defined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live.

Singapore is one of the few richest countries that are doing very well in the business and economy, but it is sad to still see many poor people living on the streets and people begging for money. Whenever i go crowded places with my mom like temples and shopping malls, it is disheartening to see many elders selling tissue papers and begging for money, or old folks picking up crushed cans to sell. I would usually feel really sad after seeing them. I feel that we should our cherish whatever we have and not ask for more, It is really hard on our parents to pay for everything including bills as other stuff and we as their children should not always ask for more. We should we grateful that we are not like some children in other countries who might not even have a roof over their heads. We also should not be picky over food as some people might not even have sufficient food or water for themselves. We should also be grateful that we have a chance to study and treasure all our lessons we have in school, although paying attention is hard in class, we should all try and make an effort in learning. I hope that more people can further sympathise and understand the hardship of many beggars and maybe donate to them. The government can also help in raising awareness to the public about these beggars and maybe implement more donations to help fund them and thus we can become an even better country and society.

Poverty-Josiah

Poverty

I wanted to help the woman with the baby at first as I thought of the pitiful state the baby was in. When I realised that they were from a organisation I felt cheated I should have helped the man who really needs help instead. What first came into my mind was that the baby is innocent,I was stupefied when I was told that they tend to feed the baby with vodka so that he would be asleep which would facilitate the begging process. They should not have gone to this extent as the baby is just a defenceless toddler they should not have use him which could have caused emotional and physical harm.

Singapore manages poverty issues rather well as beggars by the road side is not a common sight. Senior citizens can count on CPF savings when they retire and people who are financially handicap can seek assistance from the government. Although poverty might not be in the extreme cases but jobless people is not uncommon in this city of high living standards. They might depend on others which would then cause financial difficulties. Employment availablities might be more open towards uneducated individuals so as to help them with living, if Singaporeans can be more humble towards the kind of job they are doing and lower their expectation they might be able to get a job and live.