Self-reflection

After looking through the past blog entries, I found that blogging has made me gain interest and attention in international affairs. This interest helps me to gain better understanding of my surrounding, the world I am living in. With the blogging method, it forces me to think and understand what is happening and try to come out a conclusion of the matter.

Keep myself updated with international affairs helps me to perform better in school. For example, I could quickly link the knowledge I just learnt in Macroeconomics lesson to the current happenings. It helps me to understand and apply the knowledges easily. Also, it allow me to look matters in a big picture.

I am glad that I found a new interest that helps me to do better in school and live better!

Done by: Yang Xin Yu

Self-Relection

Out of the 4 articles that i have done, 'Singapore splits on Mother Tongue weighting' affects me most personally.

Even though I disagree that Mother Tongue weighting should be reduced considering today's society, but I personally think that it should be reduced. Mother Tongue language has always been an obstacle to me. The exams standard of Mother Tongue has always been very high and those who are weak in that subject have to compete with those who excel in the subject. Therefore, the moderation does not help much.

However, I also think that Mother Tongue weighting should not be reduced as in today's society, we need Mother Tongue to communicate with the people in China. Most of the business in Singapore now works with the business in China.

The other three articles did not affect me much personally as I have never given them much thought. How Singapore can stay forever young, plagiarism and animals reducing are not in my thought the most. However, plagiarism and animals reducing have been in my thought some time in the past. I had read articles about animals reducing in National Geography when I am in Secondary School and had given some thought. Though, animal reducing does not affect me much personally as compared to Singaporeans split on Mother Tongue weighting.

Done by: Shirley

Opinions on the article 'Self-reflection may lead independently to creativity, depression'

Quoted from the article, 'self-reflective rumination--a focus on the self and one's feelings'.

This is an interesting discovery, one which would help mental health institutions to categorize patients with depression. Self-reflection is a generally welcomed habit that allows the individual to improve his/her actions and behavior by reflecting upon his/her actions and sorting out feelings. This article could give us an insight about the possible harms that self-reflections brings us, making it a must to balance self-reflection with other individual needs. An example is seeking knowledge and new experiences.

In my opinion, self-reflection could be based on both external and internal factors, and self-reflection has varying degrees as well. External factors can include negative feedback, such as quarrels, scoldings and ostracization among peers. These external factors prompt the individual to reflect upon his/her actions so that he/she will face greater acceptance among the society.

Internal factors could be based on personalities formed, which could also be influenced from parents when the individual is young. An example is where the parents force a child to properly think about his/her actions before allowing the child to eat a meal.

According to the factors, self-reflection could be deeply-instilled within an individual-or not. This degree of self-reflection will in turn determine how much influence self-reflection has on the person's depressive symptoms.

According to my knowledge, an individual may be tested for how strongly he/she does self-reflection. Multiple Intelligences, a concept conceived by Howard Gardner, are seven distinct ways to demonstrate intellectual ability. They are: Visual/Spatial, Verbal/Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Musical/Rhythmic, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal Intelligence.

People who are prone to self-reflect a lot have high scores in the Intrapersonal Intelligence. Intrapersonal Intelligence is the ability to self-reflect and be aware of one's inner state of being (http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm#Intrapersonal%20Intelligence).

Referring to the article, the experiment Paul Verhaeghen, PhD, Joormann and their colleagues does show some evidence that their hypothesis is correct. I agree with the hypothesis as well, that self-reflection may lead to both depression and creativity. This is with regards to how the mind works, and with everything there are usually strengths and weaknesses. Depression may be causing by self-reflecting too much too.

I disagree though, regarding the view 'people most likely to have the blues are also those most likely to express them' suggested by Joormann. Self-reflection is but a possible avenue for discovering creativity, and besides, external factors do determine if people are encouraged to express their ideas in the first place. Therefore, this view is too narrow.

On a personal note, this article presents an intriguing perspective on the risks of relying on self-reflection for managing oneself. This article may encourage individuals to look out of themselves rather than focusing inwards for generating ideas. Ironically, it may also prompt educators to emphasize on self-reflection for creative writing, at the expense of the potential risks of doing so.

By: Kwee Peng

Self-reflection may lead independently to creativity, depression

I do not agree that Self-reflection may lead to creativity.

Creativity is not easy to be captured unless one is born with that talent. If creativity can be nurtured so easily, there would be no “born” creative people in this world as everyone can become creative after going through courses.This is proven by “The researchers found no direct link between depression and creativity.”

As for depression, I agree that Self-reflection may lead to depression.

Self-reflection after solving some issues or self-reflection when a problem occurs is good but those people that think too much during self-reflection would generally lead to depression. As people think too much, they will assume a number of things. As time goes on, their assumption would deepen and it might lead to wrong thinking of things.

Therefore, I suggest those people that are doing too much of self-reflection to consult psychiatrist before the matter get too serious.

By: Winston

Ocean Rish could Disappear in 40 Years & 2010 Year of Biodiversity

Aquatic animals, land animals, birds and plants species are getting extinct one by one or at the verge of extinction.

This is due to human activities and natural disaster. Human activities include deforestation for globalisation. Deforestation cuts down the tress in the forest. This causes many animals to lose their homes and food supplies. Therefore, many animals die and some are at the verge of extinction. The burning of trees also causes global warming. Global warming causes the sea ice to melt. The melting of sea ice causes artic animal like the beluga whale to be unable to hunt for its prey. The emperor penguins are also unable to mate to produce more offspring. If this continues, they may all face extinction.

Natural disaster includes storm, earthquake and drought. It is the natural disaster like storm that destroy the nesting habitat of the leatherback turtle. Drought has caused quiver trees to lose its population. If nothing is done to prevent the loss of population of quiver trees, it will soon face extinction.

Proctecting the endangered species are important because if they become extinct, we can never reproduce them. In order for them not to go extinct, everyone should play a part in protecting them.



Done by: Shirley

The fishes are reducing in numbers due to many reasons. Two of the most important reasons are human consumption and the destroyed environment by human.

While fishing, all kind of fishes will be caught in the net. This will reduce the number of fishes that do not breed as fast. These kind of fishes will extinct easily. A selective fishing will reduce in harm to these fishes. Fisherman may detect and fish for those breed very fast for human consumption. Also, man can open fish farms to breed fishes which people has been doing so a long time ago.

The biodiversity of the sea is reducing in a very fast speed due to pollution and environmental changes. Oil splits and wastes water from factories released to the sea in killing marine life every second. Also, global warming caused the ice at poles to melt. Tons of fresh water has mixed with seawater. This greatly affected the marine life as the salt level in seawater has dropped and it affect the water temperature. Many marine life are fragile and unable to survive in such conditions.

So I suggest people should start thinking now about how they can save the world by individual actions and act today.

Done by Yang Xin Yu

Opinions about Environment with reference from 2 articles

The 2 articles referred to are "Ocean fish could disappear in 40 years: UN" and "2010 Year of Biodiversity Tries to Rein in Runaway Extinctions ".

These 2 articles are similar in that they are both about initiatives started by the authoritative global organisation, the United Nations. The articles also focus on measures and problems related to serious environmental problems. Notably, both articles emphasize on drastic consequences if pressing issues are not resolved in the near future.

Based on these 2 articles, the world has little time in reversing harmful practices in hope of a sustainable environment. Ocean fish population is continually battered by huge fishing fleets, pollution, among other factors. Statistics included shows that millions of people worldwide depend heavily on fish, whether financially or for nutrition. Moreover, an extinction of ocean fish would affect the biodiversity of the ocean ecosystem, causing collapse among other populations.

In this manner, the article "2010 Year of Biodiversity Tries to Rein in Runaway Extinctions " is more of a macro version of the other article mentioned above. This article warns us that as Global Warning ensues, plants and animals worldwide have little choice but to perish under drastic environmental conditions. There are still things we can do to reverse the trend, and one way is to support the 2010 Year of Biodiversity.

Past the deeds we have done, perceptions play a bigger role in causing environmental disorder than the motivation of money. Subsidies are one cause of depleting fish population, as fishing fleets can earn larger profits. This stems from the governments' viewpoint that productivity is more important than environmental health. Pollution is also allowed in many countries, because of the perception that motor cars and factories are more important than environmental health.

Another facet of this issue lies in myopic views. Some people assume that environmental damage is restricted only to the organisms directly affected. They assume that organisms are isolated from the food chain, while forgetting that human beings are part of that food chain. One example is the interview of some Singaporeans after an oil slick occurred off Singapore's coast. Some claimed that the oil is on the surface of the water, thus not affecting the fish swimming underneath.

Green technology has been developed in recent years, although environmental destruction is still happening worldwide due to oil exploration, mining, among others. Green technology can replace only a portion of pollution-causing industries, thus we need to scrimp and save unique resources. The economy is recovering and it has been likened to the Great Depression in the 1920s. Since after the Great Depression, countries used pollution-creating industries to accelerate economic growth, we can start using green technology to do the same instead.

The United Nations (UN) is setting a good example for all countries to follow, in environmental terms. Following this example, countries could start their own initiatives and green policies, like the Singapore Green Plan in Singapore. Global organizations take greater consideration and time compared to individual countries, and feasible plans may be too superficial, due to the need of agreement from various countries.

Strive forward while thinking of our future generations, that is how we can save our planet.
Support World Environment Day!!

By: Kwee Peng

2 article: Ocean fish could disappear in 40 years: UN; 2010 Year of Biodiversity Tries to Rein in Runaway Extinctions

Ocean fish could disappear in 40 years: UN

After reading this article, I agree that Ocean fish is slowly reducing in number as the consumption of fish by human is countless. If human does not reduce the consumption of fish, in many years later, all the fishes would be be fully consumed. And also due to the recent oil leak, many fishes in the sea have died due to the oil that prevent the sunlight and oxygen to reach the fishes. This would eventually decrease the number of fishes in the sea. Therefore, I suggest that people should breed the fishes before they consume as this would allow the new breed fishes to replace those that have been consumed. Example, in a fish breeding area, there are 1000 fishes. People should breed the fishes until there are 2000 fishes and they can consume 1000 fishes as the remaining number of fishes goes back to 1000, and they continue to breed them. This will eventually reduce the loss of fishes.

2010 Year of Biodiversity Tries to Rein in Runaway Extinctions

After reading this article, I can suggest that most of the problem is caused by global warming. Ice melting at the north and south pole had caused the polar species unable to survive. Ice melting also causes the rise of sea level and increased storm activity due to climate change which causes the leatherback turtle habitats to be destroyed. The rising in sea water temperature had causes the sea lives to be loss. As sea water temperature is high, it reduces the oxygen level and therefore, fishes are unable to survive. Increase in CO2 had caused the plants to die as the plants do have enough oxygen for their processes. Therefore, I suggest that if people want to solve these problems, they should think about how to reduce global warming. People that drives car should sometimes think about how much harm had they caused to the earth. Public transport should be taken instead of driving as it reduces the number of cars on the road, which will reduce the emission of CO2.

Both the article talks about the extinction of animal, plants, and fishes life. I suggest that people should really start thinking about how to solve these problems and also they should know how much harm had they caused to the earth.

By Winston

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious act of offense in school. As the passages mentioned, it is a way of cheating and stealing. many student do not know how serious it is and thought their teachers will not find it out.

Copying is okay but never pretend it to be ones own work.

To me, I find that human has always being copying others. For example, babies learn how to walk and talk by coping the adults. Teenagers is growing up and maturing by copying adults way of act and behavior. So I always think that humans grow and evolve through copying. like what William Ralph Inge said, Originality is undetected plagiarism.

However, if one take copied work as if there own, then things turn ugly. I believe students could learn though copying and referencing other people's work, but plagiarism is morally unacceptable。

Done by Yang Xin Yu 100622Y

Upon reading this week's article, I have more knowledge on what plagarism is about. Allowing everyone to know about plagarism would teach every individual to acknowledge the actual and primary source from which the information has been obtained.

As students and individuals grow older, this would be more important to them. Nowadays, in secondary schools project work has been introduced and thus being aware of plagarism has increasingly become important for students. Before this scheme was implemented, many students who had to undergo the 'O' level examinations were unable to make bibliographies.

Done By: Palwinder Singh Johal