Does the baby bonus truly equate to bonus babies? (Social Commentary 2)

Imagine a land scattered with jam-packed old-folk homes while the remaining of the working population slog their guts out to salvage the wreckage. Believe it or not, this is where we are headed unless the situation improves. Singapore has been plagued with a devastating baby drought with an all time low total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.28. In 2001, the government introduced the Baby Bonus Scheme to combat the baby dearth among citizens. Yet, the number of citizens born yearly has merely risen by 129 despite the record funding of $230 million. Thus, it is evident that the baby bonus has had little impact to raise the TFR so far due to reasons discussed in this commentary, namely the mindset of the society and the difficulties in maintaining a balance between work and family.

In spite of these, the Baby Bonus Scheme does help settle the worries of couples who find the financial burden of raising a child too heavy to bear. These monetary rewards given out to parents can be used to subsidize the child’s early years of education or medical needs. Indeed the bonus cannot be thought as merely a monetary incentive but rather, it helps to speed up the decision of couples of whether to have a child. The scheme also provides subsidies for childcare services. For example, government childcare subsidy is available for children below the age of seven years attending licensed childcare centres. Subsidies encourage working parents to send their children to childcare centres so that they can continue working. Thus, the Baby Bonus Scheme resolves the financial worries of couples, increasing the TFR.

However, the decision to have children is a multifaceted one. It is deeply influenced by other factors and not financial issues alone. Unless this plethora of issues is tackled, the TFR is highly unlikely to see much increase.

Firstly, there is a higher need in the change of the society’s mindset. As Singapore modernizes, its citizens become more educated and women are able to become more independent. They develop a deep passion for their career and a sense of satisfaction when they succeed. In fact, Singapore has witnessed a sharp increase in the percentage of working mothers from 45.6% in 1986 to 54.3% in 2006. Consequently, women tend to be unwilling to compromise their passions to raise a child. On the other hand, there exists a heavy expectation for women to take up their culturally assigned roles as caretakers. This mindset even manifests itself in the law when comparing the short paternity leave of three days as compared to the three months long maternity leave. As a result of the two conflicting views, with neither willing to give way, couples choose not to have children instead of striking an equilibrium of the time spent raising the child by each parent.

Secondly, the difficulties in maintaining a balance between work and family cause couples to be hesitant to have babies. Working women are especially reluctant to have babies, fearing the insurmountable task of having to juggle between the demands from work to their family-building duties, which require large amounts of commitment. Thus, couples are doubtful of their ability to balance these two important aspects of life. For example, a Straits Times survey in 2004 indicate findings that showed that Singaporeans are “not averse to babies, but just need help balancing work and family ambitions”. Although sending their children to childcare centers presents an alternative, couples often view it as being unfaithful parents and would rather avoid the guilt. Thus, faced with the difficulty in juggling work and family, unconfident couples choose not to have children.

In conclusion, other prominent factors have been shown to affect the decision to have children. Thus, the Baby Bonus Scheme is limited in its impact and presents a too simplistic solution to resolve such a personal and complicated dilemma. However, at the very least, we can be assured that Singaporeans are putting much serious consideration into this issue. After all, the very future of our nation is at stake here.

ERP- Question 1a

Recall a time when someone you love was ill, and how that affected you and your relationship with them.

Teary-eyed faces filled with anguish and sorrow and desperate prayers hoping for a miracle- the common sights and sounds at funerals where relatives and friends gather to express their heartfelt feelings to the deceased. Ironically, these are usually the times in the ‘lifetime’ of the deceased that he is most appreciated and loved for as many fail to cherish their loved ones until it is too late. Cherishing someone while you still can is indeed an important lesson that could spare you from lifetime regret. Lucky for me, I learnt this lesson well before it was too late.

That fateful day, I trudged home from school after a tiring day, unaware of the shock that awaited me. Opening the house door, I sought the familiar aroma of Mum’s cooking but it was missing from the house. Something was definitely wrong. Then, I saw Mum lying on the sofa. Barely recognizable, she was as pale as a ghost, with her hair in a mess. Immediately, I rushed to her side, only to be told not to get too close. Mum was running a high fever. My first instinct was to phone Dad but soon I remembered that he was overseas on a business trip. I was utterly at a lost.

 I could hardly remember the last time Mum was sick. In my eyes, she was a superwoman, always being able to tirelessly keep the house spick and span while never failing to offer her selfless care to me. Yet, the sight before my eyes was the unimaginable truth. It was time for Mum to take a long break.

The following days were a nightmare. I found myself having to force my heavy eyelids open long before day broke to fix breakfast for Mum and I. Furthermore, for the first time in my life, the fatigue did not end along with the school day. It was merely the beginning. Back at home, I was faced with a seemingly insurmountable task of completing a never-ending list of chores.  Never had I imagined that taking out the trash or mopping the floor could be so exhausting. Yet  all fatigue gave way when it dawned on me that I had taken all the hard work Mum put into keeping the house at tip-top condition for granted. Guilt began tearing at my heart as I recalled all my dirty and untidy habits, not forgetting the occasions when I threw ugly tantrums at Mum. No matter how much my heart yearned that those incidents never took place, knowing them to be irreversible, I realised I had to look ahead.

With plenty of luck and sweat, I managed to survive through the entire week as Mum’s fever slowly but steadily subsided. Eventually, life went back to ‘normal’ but that week had changed my life and my relationship with Mum. I began taking the initiative to help lighten Mum’s load of housework in any way I could.  Although it meant more work for me, doing housework together allowed us to understand each other better. Furthermore, I began reminding myself to thank Mum every chance I had. I had realized the importance of reciprocating Mum’s unconditional love to foster a two-way relationship.  Until this very day, the memories and the lesson learnt on that fateful day are still vivid in my mind- cherish your loved ones.

Commentary test

Question 1

The article raises the central issue of the large controversy on human cloning, giving the readers a both sides of the argument without making a clear stand on the issue. His points that are against abortion include the possible rise of body-part merchants in our society and the fact that it is unlikely that anyone could succeed in cloning a human being. His points that support abortion include the fact that human cloning would ultimately become accepted in our society.

Question 2: Cloning- should it be allowed?

In 2003, Democratic senators Edward Kennedy, Dianne Feinstein and Tom Harkin announced a legislation making human cloning a crime punishable by law while allowing medical research to continue. The issue of human cloning has been a large global controversy with no clear foreseeable resolution. However, this legislation represents a large step of progress in the cloning debate with the government of US making a definite stand on the issue. The article that I will be discussing in this commentary is “Law war: Attack of the clone debate”. This article provides the reader with two points of view on the topic of human cloning but it does not make a clear stand on the topic. Therefore, I will do the honours by stating my own stand. I agree with the legislation set by the US government because human cloning goes against human ethics and there are still pressing worries of the possible perversion of this technology.

I believe human cloning should not be allowed to be carried out because it goes against human ethics. Using a religious perspective, human cloning is unethical. For example, in the Bible, Psalm 119:73 says, "Your hands made me and fashioned me." As such, Christians see human cloning as playing god because of their belief that man could only be created by God. Many religions view human cloning as an insult to their deities due to this same reason. I feel that we should respect the views of these religions even if we might not believe in them. After all, they are still part of our society.  If this perspective still cannot satisfy, let me present to you a philosophical perspective. Even in the controversy of abortion, whether an embryo should be considered as a human being is highly debated. Many philosophers, who believe that an embryo is a human being, say that the act of extracting stems cells from the embryo in therapeutic cloning is equivalent to the murdering of a human being. What makes this more inhumane is that it is an act of killing a human being to cure another for his or her own selfish needs. Therefore, to prevent the ethics in our society from further degradation, human cloning cannot be allowed to be carried out.

Although the ethical issue of human cloning is quite apparent, some still choose to argue that human cloning should be allowed to be carried out. These people believe that human cloning could offer a new method to preserve and save many lives. For example, a bioethicist, Jacob M. Appel of New York University, argued that "children cloned for therapeutic purposes" such as "to donate bone marrow to a sibling with leukaemia" could even be viewed as heroes in our society.

 I believe human cloning should not be allowed to be carried out because there are worries that instead of being a beacon of hope for a new cure, it is possible for the perversion of this technology to occur. Scientist and lawmakers worry that a black market selling human organs might emerge from the exploitation of human cloning technology. This can happen when merchants illegally carry out mass reproductive cloning to sell the organs of these clones. Although this seems like merely an overly imaginative fantasy, it is highly possible due to the high demand for organ transplants even in Singapore itself. In fact, there are about six hundred medical patients in Singapore waiting for a kidney, with an average waiting time of nine years. For example, Mr Tang Wee Sung, executive chairman of retail company CK Tang, offered to pay two Indonesian men twenty thousand dollars for a kidney to cure his medical condition. As shown, it is indeed possible for a black market of organs to arise that will not only lead to mass murder of clones, but even the exploitation of human life fuelled by money. All human life is sacred and in the future, human clones are no exception. Therefore, before these pressing worries have yet to be settled, human cloning cannot be allowed to be carried out.

In addition, this counter argument is only based on the huge assumption that human cloning will be possible to meet expectations. According to Dr. Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, it is unlikely that scientists will succeed in cloning a human being.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate my stand stating that I agree with the legislation set by the US government. Let us not let Ira Levin’s chilling novel “The Boys from Brazil” truly become a reality in our society and keep it as it is meant to be- fiction.

Why do I believe human beings are willing to do good to others?

Doing good to others is defined as a sacrificial act of kindness often done without the expectation of any returns in the short term. The rationale of this action has stumped even the great minds of legends such as Darwin and Thomas Henry. I believe one of the many reasons that human beings are willing to do good to others is to express sympathy or support. For example, people choose to donate money to beneficiaries because they feel sympathy for the needy. Sympathy is an important part of human nature and people choose to express it by filling a need in the lives of other people either through the donation of money or simply by providing manpower. Showing support is almost equivalent to expressing sympathy, but in a smaller degree. The article “The Evolution of Goodness” shows that worker bees sacrifice their lives for those of their blood relatives. This can also been seen as a form of showing support to their blood relatives. 

McSpicy

A $40 million makeover of Orchard Road planned by The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has recently been completed. This includes the decoration of Orchard Road with aesthetic features along the theme of nature such as flower totems and flowery glass panels. Set to entice more customers to Orchard Road, the makeover was expected to be the biggest event happening in Orchard Road. Not falling short of this expectation, it did not disappoint. Or rather, it happened to be the event in Orchard Road to attract the largest amount of relentless criticism from both Singaporeans and foreigners alike. I too am not an exception. Although it might have helped in beautifying Orchard Road, I disagree that it was the right decision to conduct this makeover because it affects many businesses in Orchard Road.

Commentary on Orchard Road Facelift

A $40 million makeover of Orchard Road planned by The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has recently been completed. This includes the decoration of Orchard Road with aesthetic features along the theme of nature such as flower totems and flowery glass panels. However, this has invited much critism from the public as to whether it was the right decision to conduct this makeover. Although it helped in beautifying Orchard Road, I disagree that it was the right decision to conduct this makeover because it affects many businesses in Orchard Road. 

The $40 million makeover of Orchard Road affects many businesses in Orchard Road. The main purpose behind the makeover was to attract more visitors to Orchard Road in the hope of improving the businesses set up in Orchard Road. However, instead of doing so, the makeover has even disrupted certain businesses. During the construction works at Orchard Road, many businesses saw a lost in customers. For example, Mr Yeo Tiong Lay, who has been selling ice cream at Orchard Road for three years, noticed that the number of customers had declined because his stall was blocked from the view of pedestrains across the road due to the construction works. Also, there was a drop in the number of cusomers as most wanted to avoid the unbearable noise pollution from the construction works. Even after the makeover was finished, the decorations bring inconvenience to pedestrains and even block some stalls from the vision of window shoppers. These caused businesses to suffer from the lack of customers which defeats the intended purpose of the makeover. Thus, it was not the right decision to conduct this makeover.

However, the makover helped in beautifying Orchard Road. Orchard Road is the main shopping district of Singapore and is frequented by countless of visitors and customers every year. Thus, it is important to constantly improve the quality of our shopping district to ensure that shoppers are satisfied. Through the makeover, Orchard Road has become more beautiful and vibrant, improving the quality of our shopping district. For example, the flower totems and glass panels complement the lush greenery to paint a refreshing and peaceful picture of Orchard Road. This is important to keep up with the global standards of shopping districts, whereby there is a huge demand for the good quality shopping districts. 

Even though the makeover helped beautify Orchard Road to a certain extent, the main purpose of the makeover was not fulfilled due to the sharp decline in the number of customers. Especially during these trying times when keeping up the economy is our top priority, the makeover is certainly not a wise decision. Therefore, I disagree that it was the right decision to conduct this makeover.

Scrap the CCTs

As a third year student in Raffles Institution, I believe that Raffles Institution should not scrap the CCTs. CCTs give students the opportunity to revise what they have learnt from the lessons. Although the End of Year Examinations can also serve this purpose, CCTs are very important in keeping track of the students’ progress frequently. This is so that teachers can understand the capabilities of his students and help students who have done poorly in the CCTs to improve. This greatly increases the effectiveness of teaching that will ultimately benefit the students.