Name: Jason
Title of article: Taxpayers should not fund the policing of casinos
Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/STIStory_484043.html
Author: Tan Jiaqi
Date: Jan 30, 2010
The article:
I REFER to Thursday's report, 'Special training for police unit fighting casino crime'.
I am puzzled as to why the Singapore Police Force is setting up a unit, funded by taxpayers, to investigate crimes and fraudulent gambling in the casinos in the integrated resorts. The police should preserve law and order, and enforce the property rights of common citizens. Taxpayers' money is used to fund the force because all citizens stand to benefit from law, order and property rights.
A police force in any country is funded by taxpayers' money because the public at large stands to gain more than any individual.
However, the only beneficiaries from the prevention of fraud in casinos are the casino operators, and there are no visible spillover benefits to general law enforcement from police officers being trained to detect fraudsters in casinos, because the casinos are a specialised setting.
If the police did not have a casino crime unit, the only losers would be the casinos themselves, and being profit-seeking organisations, they would naturally pay for detection of such fraud, such as by training their own investigators to detect fraudulent gambling.
In other words, enforcement of honest behaviour in casinos is not a public good, from an economic point of view, and the casinos can pay for it because they are the only ones who stand to gain from preventing fraud. Public funds are being used unfairly to pay for the protection of private interests of the profit-seeking casinos. This injustice is exacerbated by the fact that casinos typically earn outrageous profits, and it is only right that they pay to protect their own interests.
My own idea:
The main idea of the author is that police should not be special trained for crime and fraudulent gambling in casinos. The reason is that the interest of the casinos is not related to all the Singapore taxpayers, the government should not use the money from public to benefit the casino operators, which is obviously not fair.
However, I cannot agree with the author. First, the crime in casinos is in charged by Casino Crime Investigation Branch (CCIB), which is a department of the government. It is just like any other police station. For example, if there is a crime in a shopping mall, can the police just stand by because it is just related to the interest of the owner of the shopping mall? Of course not! The CCIB is also doing the same thing---to investigate crimes. Second, I think to maintain a non-crime atmosphere in casinos also benefits the public. If the casinos are very fair and safe, then it can attract more visitors. And the other industries like hotels, restaurants, and transportations can also get benefits.
In conclusion, I think it is necessary to build a strong police team to take care of the coming casinos. The whole Singaporeans can benefit from it.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Reflection on Forum Letter —— Wendy
article title: Housing prices: Worry over impact on retirement savings
source from : http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_483959.html
author: Kang Choon Tian
date of article: Jan 30, 2010
WITH prices of new three- and four-room flats reaching between $250,000 and $330,000 in some areas, I wonder how much a buyer will have in his CPF retirement account after paying for the flat in 20 to 30 years.
I took a loan of $80,000 some 20 years back and the interest came up to $70,000 when I had finished paying for my flat.
The Government should look into this or Singapore may end up with many retirees with little in their CPF account, assuming an average household income of $3,000 to $4,000. Since HDB flat buyers may use 30 per cent of household income, they may be able to service their loans, but little is left for retirement. Besides, along the way, husband or wife may lose their jobs.
Buyers are allowed to take up to a 30-year loan. By then, their earning power may also diminish when they reach 60, assuming they bought their flat in the early 30s.
Since there are many in this income bracket, I hope some financial experts will be able give their take on this important issue or Singapore may end up with many retirees with little to live on. Many buyers are not aware of the final price of their flat, including the interest over 30 years.
Own view
I REFER to the Sunday forum ‘Housing prices: Worry over impact on retirement savings ’.
The author complained about the high prices of flats and showed his worry about the Central Provident Fund after when citizens retired from their work.
His analyze sounds quite logic and reasonable. However, I cannot completely agree with him. According to the data he shows at the beginning, each flat worth about $300,000 dollars on average. To tell the truth, it is quite cheap to a person work in Singapore , comparing to a person who work in china and wants to buy a flat in big cities like Shanghai or Beijing. Let us take an example, here in Singapore, I got to know that undergraduates can get a monthly salary of $3000. While in Beijing ,a postgraduate may get 5000 yuan for a month, and every the flat will cost absolutely over a million yuan. By the way , a undergraduate cannot find a job there. So life is not so simple ,not only in Singapore but everywhere
I could not make a good estimation about how much a couple will spend on their life and how much they will save in their CDF. The author said that the interest almost reach the amount of the loan when he finished his paying. But as far as I know, in the CPF, Singapore government contributes an amount of 14.5% of the citizen’s salary while the citizen himself contributes 20%. If the author think that citizens take the specific 20% to pay for his flat. Can we think that the specific 14.5% from the government just makes up for the cost on flats? And the high loans will be used as banks’ investment on urban construction in Singapore. Those HDBs are built by the government. It charges for the flats and pays for the CPFs. I think the government aims to make a balance between the struggle for life and social welfare.
We should see the positive side that government pays much for your retired life, rather than complain that they cannot accumulate CPF because of the expensive flats.
source from : http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/OnlineStory/STIStory_483959.html
author: Kang Choon Tian
date of article: Jan 30, 2010
WITH prices of new three- and four-room flats reaching between $250,000 and $330,000 in some areas, I wonder how much a buyer will have in his CPF retirement account after paying for the flat in 20 to 30 years.
I took a loan of $80,000 some 20 years back and the interest came up to $70,000 when I had finished paying for my flat.
The Government should look into this or Singapore may end up with many retirees with little in their CPF account, assuming an average household income of $3,000 to $4,000. Since HDB flat buyers may use 30 per cent of household income, they may be able to service their loans, but little is left for retirement. Besides, along the way, husband or wife may lose their jobs.
Buyers are allowed to take up to a 30-year loan. By then, their earning power may also diminish when they reach 60, assuming they bought their flat in the early 30s.
Since there are many in this income bracket, I hope some financial experts will be able give their take on this important issue or Singapore may end up with many retirees with little to live on. Many buyers are not aware of the final price of their flat, including the interest over 30 years.
Own view
I REFER to the Sunday forum ‘Housing prices: Worry over impact on retirement savings ’.
The author complained about the high prices of flats and showed his worry about the Central Provident Fund after when citizens retired from their work.
His analyze sounds quite logic and reasonable. However, I cannot completely agree with him. According to the data he shows at the beginning, each flat worth about $300,000 dollars on average. To tell the truth, it is quite cheap to a person work in Singapore , comparing to a person who work in china and wants to buy a flat in big cities like Shanghai or Beijing. Let us take an example, here in Singapore, I got to know that undergraduates can get a monthly salary of $3000. While in Beijing ,a postgraduate may get 5000 yuan for a month, and every the flat will cost absolutely over a million yuan. By the way , a undergraduate cannot find a job there. So life is not so simple ,not only in Singapore but everywhere
I could not make a good estimation about how much a couple will spend on their life and how much they will save in their CDF. The author said that the interest almost reach the amount of the loan when he finished his paying. But as far as I know, in the CPF, Singapore government contributes an amount of 14.5% of the citizen’s salary while the citizen himself contributes 20%. If the author think that citizens take the specific 20% to pay for his flat. Can we think that the specific 14.5% from the government just makes up for the cost on flats? And the high loans will be used as banks’ investment on urban construction in Singapore. Those HDBs are built by the government. It charges for the flats and pays for the CPFs. I think the government aims to make a balance between the struggle for life and social welfare.
We should see the positive side that government pays much for your retired life, rather than complain that they cannot accumulate CPF because of the expensive flats.
ST forum: Why DFS needs Mandarin speakers
Name:Alex Time:30/01/2010
MISS Abinaya Puspanathan ('No Mandarin? Sorry, no job'; last Saturday) wrote that she found the requirement by Duty Free Shopping at Changi Airport - for sales associates to be proficient in English and preferably Mandarin - bizarre, when the airport serves tourists who speak a variety of languages.
Indeed, Changi Airport serves tourists who speak a variety of languages. When we recruit, language proficiency depends on the type of shop and the terminal.
In some shops, revenue generated from Chinese nationals can be as high as 50 per cent. With such cases becoming increasingly common, being able to converse in Mandarin is critical to the sales associate's effectiveness on the job.
The dramatic growth of the spending power of Chinese nationals is a global trend that cannot be ignored.
DFS is in the front line of providing the best customer experience possible, and being able to communicate in our customer's language is important.
The intent of our advertisement was not discriminatory. We were stating a skill set, in this case Mandarin, which was preferable, given the circumstances.
Keith Tam
General Manager
DFS Changi Airport
Reflection: this is an article answering the question raised by a reader. It clearly explains why DFS needs Mandarin speakers. As a foreign student who needs to go home and come back several times per year, I think it is reasonable for the sales associates in DFS at Changi Airport to be mandarin preferably. Chinese tourists actually occupy a large percentage of the consumers of Duty Free Shopping at Changi Airport. This phenomenon can attribute to two main reasons. Firstly, more and more Chinese people have considered Singapore as a marvelous place for traveling, studying and working. In 2007, nearly 1.1 million Chinese tourists came to Singapore according to Singapore tourism board. Secondly, compare to DFS at Changi Airport, some goods are relatively rare and expensive in China. However, other languages are also important, like Malay and Tamils. We also need the sales associates who can master these languages. What I really want to talk about are the annoying comments of this article. In order to avoid misunderstandings, the author has clearly announced that the intent of their advertisement was not discriminatory. However, there are still some people cannot realize it. Some of them are just like crying babies keeping complaining about this issue and even using some ‘impolite’ words. It is quite ridiculous and unbelievable that they can easily shout out these things without using their eyes and brains to do some basic observation and consideration. Maybe this is their nature. I believe this decision is made by the managers of DFS at Changi Airport according to the market requirement. They are businessmen other than politicians. So I do not think this is a problem related to discrimination. Once I thought Singapore was an open-minded country when I heard Singaporeans laughing at the excessive conservation of Malay in Malaysia. Now I know it has nothing to do with open mind. These people just felt angry because it was inconvenient for them just like what they do today. As for some Indians, I do not want to talk about them in order to be polite. Just paste one ‘comment’ of them.
“When India becomes superpower, we shall open our gates wide to many Indians and become the majority race in Singapore. Then advertise for jobs asking for Tamil/Hindi-speaking preference for almost every job like what the Chinese are doing and tell them to go learn a whole new mother tongue if they want to be hired and see how they like it. We shall also dominate TV programmes and movies with Tamil/Hindi subtitles, signboards, telephone assistance, etc... Bilingual will no longer refer to English and Mandarin. We'll continue to call Singapore a multi-racial country but will totally marginalize the Chinese in every area like what they're doing now. But then again, Indians are not stupid people like the MONOLINGUAL Chinese. Indians have the foresight to have learned English besides their mother. They don't expect the rest of the world to speak their mother tongue like what some arrogant pigs are telling the rest to do.”
MISS Abinaya Puspanathan ('No Mandarin? Sorry, no job'; last Saturday) wrote that she found the requirement by Duty Free Shopping at Changi Airport - for sales associates to be proficient in English and preferably Mandarin - bizarre, when the airport serves tourists who speak a variety of languages.
Indeed, Changi Airport serves tourists who speak a variety of languages. When we recruit, language proficiency depends on the type of shop and the terminal.
In some shops, revenue generated from Chinese nationals can be as high as 50 per cent. With such cases becoming increasingly common, being able to converse in Mandarin is critical to the sales associate's effectiveness on the job.
The dramatic growth of the spending power of Chinese nationals is a global trend that cannot be ignored.
DFS is in the front line of providing the best customer experience possible, and being able to communicate in our customer's language is important.
The intent of our advertisement was not discriminatory. We were stating a skill set, in this case Mandarin, which was preferable, given the circumstances.
Keith Tam
General Manager
DFS Changi Airport
Reflection: this is an article answering the question raised by a reader. It clearly explains why DFS needs Mandarin speakers. As a foreign student who needs to go home and come back several times per year, I think it is reasonable for the sales associates in DFS at Changi Airport to be mandarin preferably. Chinese tourists actually occupy a large percentage of the consumers of Duty Free Shopping at Changi Airport. This phenomenon can attribute to two main reasons. Firstly, more and more Chinese people have considered Singapore as a marvelous place for traveling, studying and working. In 2007, nearly 1.1 million Chinese tourists came to Singapore according to Singapore tourism board. Secondly, compare to DFS at Changi Airport, some goods are relatively rare and expensive in China. However, other languages are also important, like Malay and Tamils. We also need the sales associates who can master these languages. What I really want to talk about are the annoying comments of this article. In order to avoid misunderstandings, the author has clearly announced that the intent of their advertisement was not discriminatory. However, there are still some people cannot realize it. Some of them are just like crying babies keeping complaining about this issue and even using some ‘impolite’ words. It is quite ridiculous and unbelievable that they can easily shout out these things without using their eyes and brains to do some basic observation and consideration. Maybe this is their nature. I believe this decision is made by the managers of DFS at Changi Airport according to the market requirement. They are businessmen other than politicians. So I do not think this is a problem related to discrimination. Once I thought Singapore was an open-minded country when I heard Singaporeans laughing at the excessive conservation of Malay in Malaysia. Now I know it has nothing to do with open mind. These people just felt angry because it was inconvenient for them just like what they do today. As for some Indians, I do not want to talk about them in order to be polite. Just paste one ‘comment’ of them.
“When India becomes superpower, we shall open our gates wide to many Indians and become the majority race in Singapore. Then advertise for jobs asking for Tamil/Hindi-speaking preference for almost every job like what the Chinese are doing and tell them to go learn a whole new mother tongue if they want to be hired and see how they like it. We shall also dominate TV programmes and movies with Tamil/Hindi subtitles, signboards, telephone assistance, etc... Bilingual will no longer refer to English and Mandarin. We'll continue to call Singapore a multi-racial country but will totally marginalize the Chinese in every area like what they're doing now. But then again, Indians are not stupid people like the MONOLINGUAL Chinese. Indians have the foresight to have learned English besides their mother. They don't expect the rest of the world to speak their mother tongue like what some arrogant pigs are telling the rest to do.”
Sunday, January 17, 2010
A Helping Hand for Haiti
Student’s English name: Jason
Article title: A Helping Hand for Haiti
Source of article: The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/opinion/17clinton.html?hp)
Name of article writer: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
Date of article: Jan 16, 2010
Summary:
On 12 January 2010, the magnitude 7.0 earthquake ravaged Haiti. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were asked to help with American relief efforts in Haiti. They witnessed many disasters during their political career and they also dealt with them very well, including 9/11, the tsunami in America, and in South Asia. And now, with the advanced technology and help from other organizations, they were confident to help Haiti recover from the disaster. First, they will raise funds to help those hurt, homeless and hungry people. Then, they will help rebuild the infrastructure, create jobs and make Haiti even more prosperous than before. With the support from Haiti’s government, the unity of Haiti’s people and skills and knowledge from other organizations, they believed that Haiti would be its best.
My own idea:
Disaster is horrible, but as long as everybody gets their efforts together, there is always hope. Wherever a disaster happens, help from all over the world will reach there. It reminds me of the earthquake in Sichuan. Food, water and first aid supplies arrived there from all over the world, even some small countries in Africa and Asia. I can still remember how all Chinese people raise money during that period and I think crisis is also the best time to show a people’s unity and harmony. With the help from everybody, we can come over any disaster.
Article title: A Helping Hand for Haiti
Source of article: The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/opinion/17clinton.html?hp)
Name of article writer: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
Date of article: Jan 16, 2010
Summary:
On 12 January 2010, the magnitude 7.0 earthquake ravaged Haiti. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were asked to help with American relief efforts in Haiti. They witnessed many disasters during their political career and they also dealt with them very well, including 9/11, the tsunami in America, and in South Asia. And now, with the advanced technology and help from other organizations, they were confident to help Haiti recover from the disaster. First, they will raise funds to help those hurt, homeless and hungry people. Then, they will help rebuild the infrastructure, create jobs and make Haiti even more prosperous than before. With the support from Haiti’s government, the unity of Haiti’s people and skills and knowledge from other organizations, they believed that Haiti would be its best.
My own idea:
Disaster is horrible, but as long as everybody gets their efforts together, there is always hope. Wherever a disaster happens, help from all over the world will reach there. It reminds me of the earthquake in Sichuan. Food, water and first aid supplies arrived there from all over the world, even some small countries in Africa and Asia. I can still remember how all Chinese people raise money during that period and I think crisis is also the best time to show a people’s unity and harmony. With the help from everybody, we can come over any disaster.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
China dismisses Google’s threat to quit by wendy
1) Wendy
2) China dismisses Google’s threat to quit
3) Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f03470e8-00cd-11df-a4cb-00144feabdc0.html
4) Kathrin Hille
5) 14th Jan 2010
Summary:
After Google threats to shut down Google.cn and their offices in China, the Chinese government shows their attitude to the world------no compromise, to “guarantee internet security”. In 1999, Google was launched in China. At that time, its corporate mantras was: “Don’t Be Evil”. Since then, it has been dealing with issues about the internet censorship as required by China. “In 2006, Google blocked some certain websites in return for being able to run a local Chinese service.”
Somebody say that “ the ending of the self-imposed censorship of its Chinese search service marks a reversal of one of Google’s most controversial decisions.” However that means we lose the second search engine and Google loses one third of the whole Chinese market.
Own views:
Even though I feel quite pity about this, but I believe this decision is made by considerable consideration. As we know, the Chinese government has been censoring information that will do harm to harmony of the society. It blocked Google , Youtube and some other websites for several times. And Chinese regulators criticise Google for making pornography available through its search engine. Google feels quite restricted in China and can hardly make big profits. On the other hand, China has been worrying about the news on Google. For example, “Tiananmen”, the Beijing square that was the site of the 1989 crackdown on student protesters as well as other historical events, was at the top on Wednesday of Google.cn’s. To tell the truth the fact is never exposed to the public in China , and the information on the website was not 100% true.
So maybe this is a favorable choice for both sides. And this event “underscores the lengths governments will go to to really close the internet.”
Users may feel a little inconvenient , but it doesn’t matter. We still have Baidu ,Yahoo and many other search engine, and we will also looking for Google’ s performance in the whole world!
2) China dismisses Google’s threat to quit
3) Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f03470e8-00cd-11df-a4cb-00144feabdc0.html
4) Kathrin Hille
5) 14th Jan 2010
Summary:
After Google threats to shut down Google.cn and their offices in China, the Chinese government shows their attitude to the world------no compromise, to “guarantee internet security”. In 1999, Google was launched in China. At that time, its corporate mantras was: “Don’t Be Evil”. Since then, it has been dealing with issues about the internet censorship as required by China. “In 2006, Google blocked some certain websites in return for being able to run a local Chinese service.”
Somebody say that “ the ending of the self-imposed censorship of its Chinese search service marks a reversal of one of Google’s most controversial decisions.” However that means we lose the second search engine and Google loses one third of the whole Chinese market.
Own views:
Even though I feel quite pity about this, but I believe this decision is made by considerable consideration. As we know, the Chinese government has been censoring information that will do harm to harmony of the society. It blocked Google , Youtube and some other websites for several times. And Chinese regulators criticise Google for making pornography available through its search engine. Google feels quite restricted in China and can hardly make big profits. On the other hand, China has been worrying about the news on Google. For example, “Tiananmen”, the Beijing square that was the site of the 1989 crackdown on student protesters as well as other historical events, was at the top on Wednesday of Google.cn’s. To tell the truth the fact is never exposed to the public in China , and the information on the website was not 100% true.
So maybe this is a favorable choice for both sides. And this event “underscores the lengths governments will go to to really close the internet.”
Users may feel a little inconvenient , but it doesn’t matter. We still have Baidu ,Yahoo and many other search engine, and we will also looking for Google’ s performance in the whole world!
Avatar: depression in imperfection By Vera
Name： Vera
Article title：Avatar is causing depression
Source of article: Strait Times (URL:http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Lifestyle/Story/STIStory_477251.html)
Name of article writer: It does not mention
Date of article: Jan 14, 2010
SUMMARY:
Reported by entertainment media on Thursday, the perfection of an idyllic planet populated by perfect blue aliens from the hugely successful movie Avatar, is causing ordinary people to become depressed. It is said that the detailed visual realism could be leading viewers to become particularly attached to the idea of the world.
MY PERSPECTIVE
As I see it, never could the director of Avatar, James Cameron, expect this situation to happen. The glamorous visual effects in Avatar bring people fascination, together with depression. In the movie, the ideal planet Pandora, created by advanced CG technology, fascinated countless audience with its unique imagination and marvelous visualization. Outside the cinema, there was no way to find another place as breathtaking as Planet Pandora. Frustrated by reality, Avatar fans began to lose faith in our living world. Being a fan of Avatar myself, I totally understand the people in depression, but I feel unnecessary to indulge oneself in a virtual world like this. “In the life certainly does not lack America, only is lacks discovers the beautiful eye.” Reality is not as splendid as Pandora, but we can enjoy our living here, as long as we are keen to discover the hidden gifts everywhere.
By the way, this might be a lesson for movie directors to learn. Sometimes, it is not always preferable to make films as fancy as possible—what would the audience feel if you show them every detail in a wonderful castle and then tell that it is only a mirage?
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Article Review from Alex
Name: Alex Article title: White House backs Google
Source of the article: The Straits Times Name of the article writer: AFP
Date: 14/01/2010
Recently, the American search giant, Google, is threatening to exit China over censorship. It has undoubtedly aroused many arguments all over the world. On Wednesday, the White House gave its opinion that it would support the freedom of internet.
This attitude was shown in the report which was given by the White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. In this report, he emphasized the importance of the 'right to a free Internet' which President Barack Obama and the administration deeply believed in. Furthermore, a response from China for ‘a wave of highly sophisticated cyber attacks’ was also requested in this statement.
After reading this article, I realize this is an ‘old quarrel’ over a new issue. Although this problem is caused by the filtering of internet search, the core argument of it is also about the free human rights. This is quite a controversial topic between China and America. The result is predictable: Google will pull out of China; Uncle Sam will successfully perform his role of freedom fighter; China will gradually fight its own way though many obstacles. However, who will be the actual winner in this war? Maybe time will tell. Barking dog seldom bites, moreover it is barking in someone else’s yard.
Source of the article: The Straits Times Name of the article writer: AFP
Date: 14/01/2010
Recently, the American search giant, Google, is threatening to exit China over censorship. It has undoubtedly aroused many arguments all over the world. On Wednesday, the White House gave its opinion that it would support the freedom of internet.
This attitude was shown in the report which was given by the White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. In this report, he emphasized the importance of the 'right to a free Internet' which President Barack Obama and the administration deeply believed in. Furthermore, a response from China for ‘a wave of highly sophisticated cyber attacks’ was also requested in this statement.
After reading this article, I realize this is an ‘old quarrel’ over a new issue. Although this problem is caused by the filtering of internet search, the core argument of it is also about the free human rights. This is quite a controversial topic between China and America. The result is predictable: Google will pull out of China; Uncle Sam will successfully perform his role of freedom fighter; China will gradually fight its own way though many obstacles. However, who will be the actual winner in this war? Maybe time will tell. Barking dog seldom bites, moreover it is barking in someone else’s yard.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
let's get started!
Hey Yo！
Welcome to Four Leaf Clover's Blog!
Visit us often, and it will bring you good luck!
Em, IT IS TIME TO GET STARTED......Let's read some news... See you soon.
Vera
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
