China surgery probe after death of TV personality

Story:
Last week, Wang Bei, 24, a former contestant on "Super Girl" -- China's smash-hit answer to "American Idol"died during a surgery to amend her facial-bone. This incident has sparked concerns about the dangers of going under the knife.


Wang died in an anaesthetic accident as during her surgery, her jaw suddenly started bleeding during the procedure, blocking her windpipe and causing her to suffocate. Wang's mother was having the same procedure at the clinic when her daughter died. Her death has fuelled concerns about the dangers of plastic surgery in a country where three million people go under the knife each year, according to figures published by state media.

Comments:
It is unfortunate that Wang died at such a young age and unexpectedly. I feel that the topic of plastic surgeries is arguable. Although it was said that "God creates us in His image - Genesis 1:27", commonly Gen Y are unhappy with the way they looks. It's either we have too big or small noses, high or low nose bridge, single eyelids, etc. A common dislike are their jaw lines and nose. I feel that we are who we are, and if we want to go under the knife to feel better, we should go through counselings and seek advices before making the final decision to go under surgery or not. 

-Claire

Man in wheelchair ignored by cabbies

Summary: Wheelchair-bound father ignored by taxi drivers. Singaporean taxi drivers have been constantly avoiding to give rides to wheelchair bound people and the elderly. Reason? They claim that these people lack the money to pay up for their rides, and are also a hassle. This particular Singaporean that shared said that her father was constantly late for his dialysis treatment despite preparing to get into a taxi 2hours before his treatment. The taxi drivers would give excuses like "Sorry, I'm going for my break now" or "Oh, I'm not going that way" just to turn them down. On one particular incident, her father was just about to get onto the taxi, when the taxi drove off, almost making her father fall, thankfully the other taxi driver behind them came forward to help. This proves that there are some kind taxi drivers too. Some other taxi drivers in the queue of taxi stands would also just drive off when they notice handicap people that are next in the queue.

Comments/Views/Thoughts:
I find that taxi drivers should treat the sick, handicap and the elderly with respect. On the forum thread itself, one taxi driver posted that the reason why they do not pick up these people is because they are normally rude and also poor. He believes that these people should not take advantage of their sickness and disability to cheat off these drivers to give them a free or cheaper ride. However, I believe that he should not categorize or group disability with poverty. Singapore is supposed to be a class-free country, everyone should be treated equally. It is not only the sick that would cheat or claim to have less money to pay up, but even the young would also do the same. If the taxi driver really is in going off or going for a break, he should not even be in the taxi queue, he should be by the side of the queue, asking people who is heading in that direction and then offer them a ride.

Murder suspect's first job in Singapore

Summary :

The indonesian maid named Nurhayati arrived from Indramayu in West Java last month. It's her first job in Singapore. The 24 years old maid is now charged with allegedly killing Linda Lee Yee Lin, 12, which shared the same room as her. Linda is born with spinal defect which affects her legs and speech.

comment:

There's many cases of maids being abused by employers. There's only minimum cases of maid abusing employers such as using black magic. Some human beings having such horrible heart which do those horrible deeds. This is somewhat similar to the case of rabbit crushing. People of this society have been doing much evil deeds. Parent should spare more time to take note of the situation. If they have maid and they do not trust them, they might consider to install CCTV in the house. If possible engage their relatives to help take care of their children. Parents may consider to switch from full time job to part time. This could help prevent unfortunate events from occurring.

New Zealand mourns 29 perished coal miners

Summary:

This article writes about the recent happenings of coal mining explosion in Greymouth, New Zealand. This has been one of the worst that has happened since 70 years ago. Flags flew at half-staff in memory of the 29 miners trapped nearly a week ago. There was a second explosion in the Pike River Coal mine on Wednesday. Police said there were no survivors.

The 29 miners were trapped in the 1.4-mile main tunnel last Friday night when methane gas caused a massive explosion in the mountain. Two other miners working away from the coal face narrowly escaped and walked out of the mine.

On Wednesday, rescue teams had to haul after reviewing the gas levels that had stopped them entering earlier when the second gas explosion occurred. Some miners' relatives were brought to the site to allow relatives' to understand the situation - why rescue was put to haul. Rescue teams sent robots and electronic devices to explore the mine but found no signs of any survivors from the initial blast.

New Zealand's worst mining disaster happened in 1896, when 65 miners were killed by gas in the Brunner coal mine. Around 200 people, including one of the survivors, miners' families and the mine company's senior executives, attended a church service on Wednesday night to mourn. The New Zealand stock exchange said the market would open five minutes late as a mark of respect for the disaster.

Authorities are believed to be looking at pumping inert gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen in the mine to put out any fires before making any attempt to recover the bodies. This disaster was declared as a national tragedy.

Both blasts were believed to have been caused by explosive, toxic gases swirling in the tunnels dug up to 1½ miles into a mountain that had also prevented rescuers from entering the mine to search for the missing. Officials said the second blast could not have been prevented and was not a result of any of the rescue activities.

The second blast came hours after the first progress in days for the rescue attempt, when a drilling team broke a narrow shaft through to the section of the mine where the missing workers were believed to have been. And two robots crawled their way into the tunnel, giving authorities their first view of the inside of the mine.

Police superintendent Gary Knowles said after the initial blast, entering the mine was far too risky because of high gas levels and evidence of a smoldering coal fire underground that could have been the ignition source.


Comments:

My heart sank upon reading this article. This article teaches me not to take things for granted. It's too late to regret yet it seems that we always takes things for granted.

It is unfortunate that such accidents happen. This disaster has caused not only stress to the miners' family members, it also affects the country. I feel that the gas level must be so high and unacceptable, rescue works had to put to an haul. What's worst was, because it is an enclosed area, the gas is trapped inside. Thus chances of the gas level lowering to the safe level is very slow. What's worst is the miners were not connected to any fresh air or water.

To wrap up, I feel that such disasters are unavoidable as I believe that safety measures had been applied. Everyone has their role to play, and disasters like these are uncalled for. However, when such disasters happens, we should embrace ourselves and react appropriately.

-Claire

Bunny-crushing videos stir outrage online

Summary :

Recent outburst of crush fetishists. In the news, it was came to light that they are paid to do all this cruel job to satisfy the animal-crushing enthusiast. Search reveals that this group of people finance the videos. There's a recent video of attractive young women crushing small animals. The first one was a kitty getting crush by killer heels. This recent one was crushing a small rabbit.

comment:

Recently nasty things have been happening all over the world. Such as the Cambodian Stampede, NZ miners died, slashing cases. I think that they should treasure the life of all living things. Life is very fragile. These group of cruel people should be nail down as soon as possible to prevent further threat to other animals. All this act is too cruel. The government should do something to stop anything like this from happening again. Jail terms should be included. All this shows the ugly side of human beings. We are horrible people that inflict harm on small animals and make us feel superior. All this act must be put to a stop. Even if they wanted to earn extra money, this is not a way to earn by killing other living things. Likewise killing or slashing of people. We must learn to be nice to everyone.

Kan confers with Lee on North Korea

summary:
23rd November, North Korea attacked dozens of artillery shells to South Korea and two South Korean marines were killed and 15 others civilians were injured.
Prime Minister of Japan, Naoto Kan and Prime Minister of South Korea, Lee Myung Bak, agreed to their couturiers and America must work closely to confront by with the incident. Japan strongly supports the position of South Korea.
Kan called for action from the international community. including the U.N. Security Council.

comments:
This news was surprised me. South Korea is the most nearest country to Japan and that country was attacked by North Korea. And Japan afraid of North Korea. Between North Korea and Japan, there are lots of problems and diplomatic relations is very bad. The Korean War finished on 1953 but in reality it is not finish. The situation of those countries is cease fire. I think that always the border of two countries is tensing. Japan also watches for North Korea but Japan can't do anything to North Korea because we can't use any arm with security treaty so we need help of America. And South Korea also needs help of America. South Korea, Japan, and America need to coorerate and deal with North Korea.

-Yuno
X100042

Student posts O Level paper on Twitter

Summary: STUDENT Xavier Ong took a picture of his O Level Social Studies examination paper with his camera phone and posted it on Twitter. In the tweet, Xavier wrote, 'Do you dare bring a phone into examination hall and take a picture?', challenging other students to follow suit. Having such attention has only made this teenager's resolve stronger to make more controversial comments. He admitted that he posted the picture as a publicity stunt and even released a video explaining how it all happened. At the end of the day, he hoped to gain more twitter followers after this incident.

Comment: To me, this teenager simply shows how foolish he is. Of course, to some people, it might not be wrong as he only took a photo of the cover page, but it shows that the invigilators didn't do a good job invigilating during the examination. In addition, he claims that he was just trying to have a small publicity for himself. It shows how lonely his life is. What was he thinking? Posting a photo, just to get more followers on Twitter. He might get followers, but they're just out to criticize him on his foolishness. This has got to stop. It's bringing the school's or all the invigilators' reputations down.

Nor Atiqah
103924B

Malaysians gamble ‘S$3 million daily at S’pore casinos’

Story: Singapore's integrated resort (IRs) has been attracting 3,000 Malaysians board buses daily. And they travel here to gamble, approximately S$3 million a day.

Datuk Tee Siew Kiong, central committee member of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA, has asked the Government to take measures to control the flow of these Malaysians to the IRs. Other Malaysian politicians are also concerned by the number of locals traveling to Singapore to gamble.

It was noted that Malaysians spend a minimum of S$1,000 which is equivalent to S$2.9 million a day, or S$83 million a month.

Mr Tee added that from the information he received, 30 buses make the daily round trip, with seven of those being buses from Singapore, the report said.


Comments: As a Singaporean, I feel that the IR is essential as it helps bring a higher revenue for our Country. I feel that it is one's own responsibility to take care of the amount spent on gambling.

Due to the IR, there will be an increase chances of bankruptcy, loan sharks, etc.
Having counseling and help lines are not the most effective ways to help gamblers as it is an optional and individual preference.

I feel that the IR should have a background check on the visitors if they were bankruptcies or were in any form of debt. Also, to ensure that visitors do not leave the IR "empty-handed", there should be a deposit of S$1000. This is to help facilitate visitors that are unable to manage their cash flow.

Thus, this will help decrease the chances of having gamblers going bankrupt easily.

-Claire

Teen slashed in AMK

Summary: The article writes about another incident of youth violence. This time round at Block 448, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. The victim, who left a blood trail from outside a 24-hour restaurant, where the attack took place, was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. The New Paper reported on Friday that the two youths had got into a loud dispute and a shoving match before the victim was knifed.

Comment: This incident happened after two other incidents of slashing at Downtown East, and also Bukit Panjang. As a 17-year old myself, I feel worried after reading such reports as it involves teenagers. I really think that it is stupid for the teenagers to be a part of a gang, and start slashing others from another group. However, we cannot totally blame teengers for being a part of those gangs. They might be having problems with their parents who might be too busy with their career, and teenagers feel left out, then decide to join those groups. Maybe you'll feel a sense of belonging, but you don't have to be a gangster. This is where choosing the right group of friends comes in.

Nor Atiqah
103924B

China's inflation rate hits a two-year high

summary:
China's inflation rate has increasing two years and rises in food prises, despite the government's efforts to damp price rises. In September, inflation rate was 3.6% and October was higher than 4.4% so the government needed to control price rises. Beijing introduced raising interest rates and curbing bank lending to reduce rapid economic growth and rises.

comments:
Chinese economic growth rate is remarkable and also china has problems because of high economic growth. This problem is one of its. I think this problem is little bit similar to past of Japanese economic condition. After world war 2, Japanese economic had been growing up but also has a problem about high inflation rate in the 1980s. It called bubble economy. This problem occurred to because of Plaza accord. The low interest rate had been long term so fund concentrated on stock and land. I think this is the best choice to China introduced raising interest rates.

-Yuno
X100042

Indonesian minister heads to Saudi over maid torture

Summary: This article writes about an Indonesia maid who worked in Saudi Arabia.
The victim, Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa is only 23. She suffers from multiple injuries as a result of physical abuse by her employee. It was noted that it is common for such abuse to occur to migrant domestic workers. Indonesia's women minister, Linda Agum Gumelar made her way up to Saudi and will leads a inter-ministerial team to ensure that justice is fought for.


Comments: Upon reading this article, my heart sank. The victim is only 23 and she is scarred in her heart. Having to recover from such traumatic event is not easy.
I feel that human rights should apply throughout the world.

No doubt all of us speak different language, believe in different religion, however no matter how much we feel that a certain gender is more superior than the other, physical abuse should not be common, or even happen.

We should respect one another be it gender, race, religion, etc.
During dispute, a real man talks things out.

In conclusion, I hope that the Government will give a strong sentence when the culprit is arrested. Thus, drawing a clear line on human rights.


-Claire

young thugs need to feel the fear now

summary :

The recent cases of slash and gang related matters. Police have step up measures on patrol and stay vigilant to those that' hanging around at common areas. They have taken down the particulars of those suspected of engaging in street gangs and their usual hangout such as malls etc. Police are able to tell between the innocent and gathering of wayward youth. They require more helps from the neighborhood alert them should any known associates of gangs is observed.

comments:

The ministry of states should have take actions earlier not until when lives are taken away from us. However, they can still increase regular patrol at those places which encourage people to gather. They should also continue taking down those people that gather at void deck regularly to let them know their under watch and they can't do anything illegal. They should try to track down more of those gangs so as to discourage them to recruit more youngsters. They should also put teachers on patrol outside school gate during dismissal hours. Rise awareness of what will happen to youth that join these gangs. The community club can also open a club that allows volunteers to join and help in the patrol. Parent should also help to show more concern to their kids to find out if they're engage in this type of activities. Police should also seek help from those in the ex-gang society so as to track them down earlier.

-Chen Miaoxin

101638R

Sleep deprivation can ruin your health

summary :

In the recent years, it have been revealed that singaporeans are deprive of sleep. lack of sleep can affect us in many ways. it can trigger psychiatric illness such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. it cause people to have hallucinations and paranoid thinking especially those with known case of histories of psychiatric conditions. lack of sleep also cause people to be more prone to being easily irritable and unable to concentrate. some lack of sleep problem is because of sleep disorder such as insomnia , etc.

comment :

In my opinion, lack of sleep can cause many health issues and mental issues too. Recently a man made the headline as he died due to lack of sleep. He had to work 4 jobs in order to support his family. He died of exhaustion. Lack of sleep cause people to be easily irritated, this cause them to easily agitated. When they become angry, this increase conflict among people. Perhaps this recent cases of slashing might be cause due to fatigue and then they got easily agitated. If those that is suffering from insomnia should seek help to cure themselves. We have to prepare a time management table so as to allocate sufficient sleep everyday and hours to complete our work. I believe that in the end, the time is ours to be use wisely.

-Chen Miaoxin

101638R

Toyota plans green-car blitz

summary:
Toyota is planning to sell a plug-in hybrid car in the U.S., Japan and Europe in 2012. Toyota is also planning to sell an electric vehicle in 2012 in the U.S., Japan and Europe and considering in China. But after success of the Prius, how does Toyota let hybrids car (gasoline-electric hybrids) succeed.

comments:
I think that these new plans of Toyota are very good plan because these days environmental pollution become a big problem in the world and we need to do some provision for this problem.
I think a lot of people will buy hybrids car because people in the world are knowing this big problem but I don't know these new types of car succeed more than Prius. In this case, I think Toyota doesn't need to worry about success or not success because whatever this new plan will success or not success, it is good for environment. In the future, I think we won't use a lot of gasoline and there will be only ecological car.


-Yuno
X100042

Hong Kong man sues Singapore doctor

Summary:

A Hong Kong man has sued a Singapore doctor due to a misleading operation consent form. The Hong Kong man named Mr Li has claimed that the doctor who was responsible, Mr Looi had performed an additional operation without his consent. Mr Li had suffered severe injuries on his right hand due to a case of robbery in Hong Kong. As Mr Li's friend had recommended Mr Li to seek consultation from Mr Looi, who was supposed to be a Specialist in the field, Mr Li went to his clinic. Mr Looi said that Mr Li would have to go through a 'simple operation', and would make the scar on his right hand smaller. After the operation, Mr Li said that his condition got worse, his fingers felt numbness, loss their sensation and then he became unable to stretch his fingers. Therefore, Mr Li decided to sue Mr Looi, as he claims that the operation was carried out without his consent, and also making his before operation condition turn for the worse instead of for the better.

Comments:

Operations should be carried out only if the patient seeks consent to it. Also, patients should be more wary to know about what they are signing before they sign the consent form which means agreeing to the operation. Since Mr Li's friend recommended Mr Looi, Mr Looi should have been a great doctor, it is shocking to see how an operation would ruin his future and might also take away his doctor's license. Being a doctor is tough, one wrong mistake and it might ruin someone's life.

-Melissa
103421A

Abortion On the Rise in BangKok

Summary:

Bangkok's foetus abortion rate has been increasing. 46.8% of the women that had been through an abortion surgery are under the age of 25. According to the government, it is illegal to undergo abortion, only those under the age of 15 that were raped, or ladies that have terminal illnesses or serious sickness that must have an abortion. Abortion for foetus that are about 3 months in Bangkok are worth about SGD$216. The girls that went through abortion did not want to allow their parents to find out about being pregnant, thus they decide to go for an operation. They also shared their experiences, and want to spread the word about having protected sex and not unprotected sex, which might result into pregnancy. They found the experience slightly painful, but after a few hours the foetus would be out and they would have successfully aborted the foetus.

Comments:

I find that teenagers be it in Singapore or Bangkok(Thailand) are all very curious and want to try out sex. However, it is silly that we would feel ashame to be pregnant, knowing that sex without protection may result in pregnancy. If a couple were to engage in these activities, they should be prepared and get ready to start their own family, otherwise just stay out of the sexual activities. Foetus are considered a living life, aborting it just means killing another life. Going through abortion also requires money, which is quite a big sum to young teenagers. Thus, I find that educating teenagers and young adults that are just overly curious about these activities is very important. We should not wait till it is too late and instead work together to keep abortion rate lower and sexual activities among young adults and teenagers to the minimum.

-Melissa Tan
103421A