Racism

Racism was once the spark of a riot which killed hundreds of innocent people in Singapore some years back. I hope that people would not repeat that mistake. Although they may look different, behave differently and have different beliefs, but tolerance must be exercised to prevent another large scale riot.

I read in the newspaper about an incident when a Malay passenger(the article was written by the passenger) asked a taxi-driver about a robber. The taxi driver then replied, " Must have been a Malay or Indian." The Malay passenger, although offended, decided to let the matter rest. Tolerance is very important. In another case, if you really cannot tolerate the other race, it would be good to keep your commments to yourself.

In a case study, participants watched video clips showing faces of Chinese and Caucasian models with neutral expressions receiving either a painful (needle penetration) or non-painful (Q-tip touch) stimulation on the cheek. The participants were then asked to rate the amount of pain the model felt, as well as their own level of discomfort while watching the jabs. Race had no effect on the survey responses by either Chinese or Caucasian observers. But the same was not true in their brains.While participants watched the videos, researchers used functional MRI to scan what was going on inside their heads. The scans revealed increased activation in the brain regions that mediate the empathic neural response. But when the painful simulations were applied to subjects who shared a race with observers, the neural responses increased significantly more than when the ones being stuck with needles were of the other racial group. This proves that racism still exist but people have learnt to keep it to themselves.

Should the 5Cs be the benchmark of success in Singapore? Why or why not?

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Cash, car, credit card, condominium, country club. These are the Cs that revolve around the life of an average Singaporean. When they get all the 5Cs, they are viewed as a very successful person. Being rich, a person should donate some of his money to the less fortunate. An example of someone who generously donates his money to charity is tycoon Mr Tan Kah Kee(although only C1, cash, existed at that time). He earns a lot of money, but he uses less than half of his wealth on himself and his family. Even when he died, he left all his money to build and maintain schools and did not even leave a single cent for his family. However, philanthropist like him are rare this days.

Thus, I think that the 5Cs are not the only benchmark of success. Being able to contribute to our society is also successful.People should learn from Mr Tan Kah Kee. As the chinese saying goes:" When you help people, you will feel happy." (sorry its not a very good translation). When people do good deeds, they get to experience the real meaning of life, in contrast with someone who never does good deeds and stingily keeps all the money for themselves. He may feel delighted over his wealth, but that joy is only temporary. This miser does not feel the meaning of life. However, one does not need to be rich to do his part. For example, there are many old folks homes in Singapore and those old people area abandoned by their heartless children. It would be very delightful for the elderly folk just to have someone entertaining them, such as performing magic tricks, which happens to be my sabbatical. During the sabbatical, we performed two times.The first performance was at the child care centre near the poolside cafe. The second time was at a kindergarden. Both times, we were greeted with innocent smiles and delightful screams as we approached the climax from each act. It felt very satisfying. The elder folk would be so happy to have someone entertaining them. Hence, willingness to contribute to the underprivileged or the elderly can also be counted as success.

I also think that having a happy and united family can also be counted as success. Nowadays, loving couples might have a big quarrell over something(example money) and break up overnight. On newspapers, arguments leading to divorce are rife and occasionally you even see family members killing each other. Luckily, my family is very happy and united. Couples will occasionally quarrell, otherwise one big, severe argument will break out. Hence, having a happy family is also success.