Global Issues

Grand spectacle closes Beijing's Olympics: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/08/24/olympics.close/#cnnSTCText

With the closure of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, international publications, including our local newspapers, sought to reflect upon the impact the Olympics has had on China. One of these articles written by CNN, “Grand spectacle closes Beijing's Olympics” seemed to praise Beijing’s achievements, albeit with reservations.

The Games started off with a bang with the extravagant Opening Ceremony that made our own National Day Celebrations held the day after pale greatly in comparison. With all the dancers and musicians performing in near-perfect synchronisation, it impressed the international community, despite certain scandals which included the lip-synching of the national anthem by a better-looking girl in order for China to literally put their best face forward. Needless to say, the world was captivated by the dazzling pyrotechnics and “grand spectacle” the hosts had put up. Yet, there were other factors that were blasted by the international media and local reporters alike, about “China’s stance on free speech and political protest”, pollution and human rights as suggested by the article, which were not in the Olympic spirit.

The Chinese government designated 3 protest parks, and despite being far away from the event venues, activists viewed this as a positive sign toward a gradual development of free speech and political protest. These were eventually revealed to be for ceremonious purposes only, as all 77 applications to protest in the parks were disapproved.

China’s emergency pollution controls which shuttered many factories and traffic restrictions such as banned vehicles on the roads during the Olympics, coupled with the rain, brought down the smog, and reduced air pollution to an acceptable state for long distance running events. Algal formation and chemical discharge has also greatly decreased as chemical pollutants were disallowed to be discharged into rivers during the Olympic season. Fishermen were also hired to catch algae near the sailing locations. These, by and large, are largely unsustainable and are costly short-term measures that will not be effective in reducing pollution in the long run while maintaining economic opportunity. In fact, it may have adverse effects, as the factories that have been temporarily shut down may operate for longer working hours in the future to recuperate the losses.

Throughout the torch relay, Tibetan protesters fought for human rights for Tibetan exiles such as the Dalai Lama, for independence, and against government repression. The Chinese government reacted in force, and it resulted in the death of several police officers and Tibetan protesters. Many countries disapprove of China’s treatment of Tibet and the dealing of the Tibetan protesters by using authoritarian methods. The children dressed in 56 ethnic Chinese costumes depicting the various races of China were also seen as a misrepresentation of the political and social state of the country, as all the children were Han Chinese.

Despite all this criticism, China has done a good job in hosting the Olympics, which was generally free of doping and cheating scandals. Despite the Szechuan earthquake, the Chinese people showed their resilience to bounce back and contribute to the Olympics, with a staggering number of Chinese volunteers stepping forward to make their country more hospitable for athletes and officials. China has also proved that they are able to handle the logistics of such a large-scale event despite earlier doubts that the proposed venues would not be completed before the Olympics, allowing for a record number of records to be broken. China has also done well under pressure of being the host country to come up tops in the gold medal standings.

Perhaps the other countries should put aside their ideals of liberalism and judgments aboupolitical system of China in honour of China's greatest efforts and in celebration of sporting excellence. Besides, a true judgment must be postponed and can only be made after the Paralympics have been completed, when normal life resumes for the Chinese. Till then, I rest my case.

"Democracy creates stability in a society."

Democracy is a form of government, in which supreme power is vested in the people, exercised through a system of representation, involving free public elections. Based on the political ideology of Liberalism, it offers many tempting prospects of meritocracy, free market and enterprise, individualism and political equality. Does this system of government and leadership breed stability in a society, in its social, political and economic aspects?

Important criteria for a democracy are economic freedom, and equal economic opportunity through meritocracy. While Singapore is not a true-blue democratic state, it has adopted certain characteristics of Liberalism and democracy into its way of government. Through the free market, the situation of a greater demand than supply allows the economy to skyrocket and grow exponentially in booming times. Entrepreneurs can easily break into the market and the forefront because of free enterprise. In addition, Singapore also believes in capitalism, Singaporeans are encouraged to have private ownership in areas such as housing, encouraged by government schemes such as the Housing Development Board blocks which are heavily subsidized with taxpayer’s money. Meritocracy ensures stiff competition between skilled labour which increases the standards of potential and current employees as they continue to take up new courses and diplomas for self-improvement to remain marketable and competitive in the labour market. This certainly propels the economy forward and ensures economic stability.

On the downside, in Sri Lanka, a democratic state, the prejudice of the Sinhalese majority against Tamil minority, together with the passing of the National Language and University Admissions Acts, are in detriment to the Tamil population. While the state should not be granted total autonomy of the economy, there is a grey area of how much of role democratic states should play in their economy, because such a system of inequality of wealth exists, be it because of past discrimination or other unfair practices before the inception of the new government policies. A society needs to have political tolerance, free and fair elections to call itself a democracy, things that Sri Lanka is still struggling with. This, however, is not a failing of democracy, but rather the failing of a failed democracy.

Economic stability and growth should be evident in successful democracies, with the government minimizing damages and preparing reserves for the country during economic depressions, like in Singapore, where the government hands out, among other handouts, GST rebates to cushion the impact of inflation of global food prices as is happening now.

Moving on, the political aspect of ideal democracies can be generalized by political equality and multi-party systems. Multi-party systems offer a variety of viewpoints on issues, and offer voters more choices. A healthy discussion, debate and the constant questioning of the implementation of policies from even blue-collar workers allows every citizen to exercise their political rights and rights to freedom of speech and expression. In addition, this also allows the government to receive feedback and fine-tune its laws and bills. Regular elections are carried out, and every qualified voter is given equal power and rights.

There are two main problems here though. In a complete democracy, citizens should be allowed to decide whether to exercise their vote as part of Liberalism. Democracy, however, is dependent on active citizen participation for success. In countries such as the United States of America, the 2 main parties, the Democrats and Republicans, have their own party nominations in the run-up to the actual presidential elections. This long, tedious process leaves citizens, confused and tired, and may eventually not exercise their vote, because they may feel that their vote is insignificant to the large population as well. If there is no active citizenship, the ideal behind democracy of granting the majority’s wishes crumbles, and while it still remains to be a democracy, its practicality and application can be questioned.

Another common problem is the objective of political parties. While we all wish that politicians have the nation’s best interests at heart, there are instances where we nevertheless have to put in place checks and balances, which is one of the major strengths of a democracy. In a democracy, the ruling party which forms the government is often the victim of the opposition parties’ criticism and attacks, with even lower and middle-income citizens participating in their condemnation as well. These may be sometimes be unjustified or insignificant, and is a hindrance to the more pressing problems of society. This, as previously stated, however, are examples of failed democracies, for a society must have fair elections, accountability of appointed officials and transparency of happenings and transactions to qualify as a democracy.

The social aspect is also closely interlinked with the political and economic situation that is being faced. Democracy promises political tolerance, and that minority rights must be protected. This, however, is often not put into practice, like the many other ideals of democracy that are not practical in our materialistic and corrupt society.

In Switzerland, because of their system of Direct Democracy, many political decisions require referendums for approval. The public may not necessarily be able to identify the most major and important needs and the best solutions to address them. In this small, contained, self-indulgent society, citizens are often not willing to adapt and be open to change, leaving the government powerless, unable to effect tax increments, taking share of asylum seekers. While this does not provide substantial economic growth or radical political changes to society, their people still lead happy, peaceful and stable lives.

In addition, different cliques and groups in a single society may have conflicting wants and needs, and while there is supposed to be little discrimination between groups, in a power struggle, numbers mean strength, and the smaller minority groups often get muscled out, for example how the homosexuals are still not openly embraced in the Southern states of America and many other countries worldwide.

In the end, it boils down to a battle between realism and idealism. The ideals of democracy are ambitious and tempting, but largely impractical in our society. While democracy ideally brings stability to a society, it is because of public acceptance and satisfaction with its situation and decisions.

Due to human nature, democracy is largely unfeasible. The method of attaining stability, is unimportant, but it is the people – the leaders and the public voters, who really matter. Therefore, democracy does not create stability.

Teenage and Social Issues

Dealing with death in your youth
by Jessica Lim
The Straits Times (Youthink) 25/02/2008

This article is about how youths are often unable to deal with death, and how grieving and mentioning death has become an "abstract phantom". After Heath Ledger's death, teenagers "bawled their eyes out", yet when five youth she knew lost a parent, they kept silent. She says that this vast contrast shows how they have stowed away their emotions, unwilling to face reality, instead, diving into denial, guilt and shock. The author said that she herself had problems dealing with her father's death as well, until two years later, after unveiling her well-buried emotions and dealing with them. Death remains a taboo topic, one that many teenagers do not know how to approach, even though death is part and parcel of living.

I, too, believe that teenagers are often unable to handle such touchy issues. Blessed with a pampered life, we are exempt from many obstacles we may otherwise face; obstacles that could shape our character, give us greater resilience and the ability to deal with pain, suffering and loss. I am not implying that a blessed life is of detriment, however, it does make many teenagers complacent of their situation, captivated by the luxuries of life, and we stumble, hesistate and feel depressed at the smallest and most insignificant situations. We indulge in the newest technologies and cool gadgets and derive our joy from them, and with weak emotional foundations, we plunge into severe depression only after having failed our Maths CCT.

When it comes to the crunch time, when we lose things of great value, that we take for granted, such as the loss of a loved one, we clam up. We are inevitably shocked by the great loss, and similarly are at a great loss at what to do as well, with a lack of experience and wisdom in such affairs, as it is rarely talked about as a taboo topic. Teenagers may feel that it is wrong to freely express their emotions, and they put on a mask and a facade, stowing away their true feelings and putting on a deceptive happy smile. This in fact, is even more destructive, as by hiding one’s own emotions, one is just denying the impact of the death, delaying the outpour of emotions and encouraging sudden recurring outbursts of such sadness and anger as one is unable to bring a proper closure to the matter.

For instance, I was at a loss at how to react to my father's recent stroke. This was out of the blue, and before this I presumed that my dad was in the pink of health, despite frequent snacking and a lack of exercise. I decided to keep it to myself, and hide all my concerns and worries, believing that it would be best to stay or appear strong amidst the chaos within my family, refusing to express any crack or weakening in my mental and emotional state. Needless to say, I was very affected, and I lacked concentration in my daily school life and was less conscientious in my work, and did not have the courage to confide in anyone, to reveal the storm brewing underneath the surface. In order to prevent and discourage us from running away from our problems and subsequently negatively influencing all other aspects of our lives as above-mentioned, the author instigates us to be more open about death and other matters.

On another note, the commentary has a limited point of view takes a clear slant towards teenagers being weak-hearted and pitiful. It does not consider examples of positive responses and reactions of youth towards death, and generalizes that youth are "ill-equipped- as they should be”.

My personal belief, however, is that these incidents are all part of a course of self-discovery, and it is only when we experience it ourselves and deal with it as we mature, that we may truly learn it for ourselves, just as the author has mentioned her experience of facing the death of her father. It is not something you can learn and be equipped with within a moment of time, but something that can only be learnt through trial and error, through first-hand experiences and through self-reflection. (It is like how only after Oedipus goes through pain and suffering is he finally enlightened.)

Teenagers do deal with such pain and loss, but many do it in the wrong ways, be it clamming up, or over-reacting and even 'emo'-ing, harbouring suicidal thoughts and self-inflicted pain through the slashing of wrists. That, perhaps, would be something more dangerous, and to educate teenagers about the foolishness of these acts would be a much higher priority.