Egypt to have at least 64 women MPs after election (Sandi)

Even though Egypt has guaranteed that out of 508 parliamentary seats, 64 of them would be for women and that in terms of the process of women's rights, i think that this a positive but small development in the Egyptian's government part. I still cant help but to feel sceptical about this issue because Egypt is a country where political expression is limited. Firstly, potential candidates must meet strict criteria in order to participate in the elections process and secondly,the strongest challenger to the ruling government is the Muslim Brotherhood which is tolerated but officially banned by the authority.

When freedom of political expression is not there in the first place, or like what Gamila Ismail, an independent, has pointed out, when the electoral process is not transparent, I start to question what really motivated the government to do so and the political context in which it was taken in. The government could be like what Gamila Ismail said, that it wants to boost its image abroad by using the increase in women participation in election as a tool.

If the government is really trying to address the longstanding under-representation of women and bring Egypt in line with levels of female parliamentary participation elsewhere in the Arab world and boost its image, then why should it has only 64 out of 508 seats reserved for women. My sentiments are the same as The Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, non-government organisation, that the proportion is too low. I feel that the seats should be freely contested and there would be no quotas regardless of gender if the government really appeared to be that open-minded.

Egypt to have at least 64 women MPs after election (Cheryl)

I feel that this is something new, for the first time, egypt boosting women's profile in the male-dominating society by reserving at least 64 parliamentary seats for women who participated in the election.

Despite some comments that there is no need for women to strengthen the party which is already full of important and brilliant men, and women being a burden to the party, i still feel that it is not a bad thing to allow women to be in the party. It can prove to others that even though it has always been the men who had been managing the party well, women can do the same too and might even do it better.

This might also be a chance to prove to those who have the traditional mindset of "women are weak and should stay home to be just housewives, leave the rest to men" that women can do what men are doing now and do not underestimate women as whether it is men or women, we are all equal.

As quoted from the article, "The large size of the constituencies reserved for women is a financial and physical burden for the candidates," the NGO said, resulting in the "sidelining of social groups that are more in need of political representation." I feel that the NGO is prejudiced. Like i mentioned earlier, women should be given equal chances to fight for their rights. I believe that there is nothing that men can do which women cannot do.

Egypt to have at least 64 women MPs after election (Wei Sheng)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1095560/1/.html

Being a male dominated society, Egypt is beginning to be more open-minded and see the fact that the country's prosperity is far more important than which gender is doing the work from. Beginning from Egypt establishing its first women's quota system in 1979 of 30 seats, to now - 31 years later, the seats are twice or even more as much available for the women.

However, there are some of the people who felt that this implemented idea is not successful. This can be seen from the source that a lady, Osmane who is a long-practising accountant claimed that she has been a party member all her life commented that 'the party is already very strong and full of important and brilliant men. It does not need women to strengthen its position.' I find it quite perplexing as someone of the same gender who would claim these kinds of saying, however she probably has an idea that probably the males could do it better as of now.

However, there are also people such as Gamila Ismail, an independent who has refused to join the list reserved for women, felt that the regime actually cheats women and uses them to boost its image abroad. She also said that women will participate fully in the political aspect when men do too, however they are unable to to participate in this regime as there is an electoral process that is not transparent.

Egypt to have at least 64 women MPs after election (kah jing)

Egypt, one of the many countries that still considered a male-dominated society, will have a historic milestone where women of Egypt will have a higher profile in life. This is held true by the guarantee of 64 out of 508 parliamentary seats being contested in its election. This is a big step from the previous 8 seats that women Mps currently hold, and only 3 out of the 8 were elected, the rest were appointed by the president.

This for me shows that no matter how many time we back track, bad economies, natural disasters and public unrest, the world still makes advances forward, and this is certainly one of them. Another step forward away from the male minded world that was in the past, many women all over the world will be delighted about this, no matter if they affect them or not.

This is also true for men, the stereotype of men still being such “jerks” to girls is slowly breaking off. Of course it cannot be completely be eliminated, but I’m sure that the changes can clearly be seen.

One example is the government in Finland. Around 50% of the cabinet are women. And few if not none of the men sharing the cabinet with them don’t mind at all. In a sense, we understand the advantages of having women around us. Being less rash is one of many examples.

MHA to review gangs, youth violence laws (Sandi)

The recent spike of youth and gang violence cases is alarming and frightening at the same time. Just when we thought that the downtown east incident would served as a wake-up call to these gangs,cases of another slashing and attacking starts to pop out, from bukit panjang to even Ang Mo Kio but what is the real reason behind this spike of gang violence?

Ministry of Home Affairs would be reviewing the laws to give more power to the police and more sentencing options for these youths and this would take 6 to 9 months. Like what Kah Jing said, the government is doing already doing their best and even though during this period, there might be incidents occurring, the government is already stepping out, setting more police posts in bukit panjang where it is infamous for its gang activities. It gave me a sense of security that the government has come forward and said that they are taking actions now, rather than having this issue solving by itself.

I agree that the current legislation is already sufficient, that it has been efficient for several of years. So, the problem does not lie with the legislation but with the youths nowadays that join these gangs. Yes, there are avenues for one to seek help to quit the gang but who dares to go and seek help, knowing that there might be someone watching over you, threatens you to stay in the group or else.

Like what Minister State for Education and Home Affairs, Masagos Zulkifli, said "we also have to be forward looking - to look at the kind of trends our youth go through, the environment they live in. " Only then, can we understand the root problem of the spike in youth violence.

MHA to review gangs, youth violence laws (Wei Sheng)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1093798/1/.html

I feel that the recent Downtown East incident and a couple of incidents that later occurred have been a wake-up call to the public as well as the government. However, the article stated, 'Minister of State for Education and Home Affairs, Masagos Zulkifli, said the review would take between six and nine months.' With what the source had said, I feel that this situation needs to be taken care of immediately as more problems would arise indefinitely, however the review requires between six to nine months. Probably because I do not understand how the whole politics issue works about, I feel that the review is too long of a time. In this six to nine months period, numerous incidents may occur.


However, I may need to applaud the Minister as, 'he cautioned against over-using legislation and oversimplifying the solution to the recent problems, which are multi-faceted and need customised solutions.' I feel that most of the parents felt that problems that their child experience is nothing and they would all go through a rebellious stage, and that is how parents oversimplifies the situation, however this may lead to undesirable consequences such as their child joining a bad company. In conclusion, I am still glad that the government sector is trying their best to address this situation.

MHA to review gangs, youth violence laws (Cheryl)

I feel that the government should not overlook or underestimate how much impact gangs and youth violence have on others. The recent Downtown east murder case, and the armed rioting at Bukit Panjang has proven that the government should take serious actions against youth violence and secret society activities.

The Downtown east incident and armed rioting at Bukit Panjang has traumatised many out there, and after the 2 incidents, i started to wonder if Singapore is still a safe place to stay at. Children have to take more caution and even adults have to be more alert ever since what happened at the Downtown east and Bukit Panjang. It seems to me that the police force are not doing their job well enough. I agree that the government should come up with measures such as reviewing gangs and setting youth violence laws, as mentioned in the article.

It is important that a country is a safe place for its citizens to stay at, as it does not concerns only one person, it concerns the country as a whole. Therefore, it is a need for the singapore government to implement measures to address youth violence issues.

MHA to review gangs, youth violence laws (Kah Jing)

It is trend for groups doing local news to be reviewing an article related to the alarming incidents of gang violence in Singapore, our group is no different. However, our article may see the outcome of the incidents rather than the incidents themselves.

The article that we have chosen showed that now the authorities are responding, such as intensifying checks at the youth congregation hotspots during the current school holidays. But this is the short term measure for the incident.

The long term measure in the review of laws so that not only police but also other institutions are given more power to deal with gangs and youth violence, be it in action or taking root in the society. However, the typical disadvantage of such a review is its long duration. This review will take, as quoted by Minister of State for Education and Home Affairs, Masagos Zulkifli, “between six to eight months”. This six to eight months may be short in the long term view, but it may be too late to prevent such incidents from manifesting, which can already be seen in the recent weeks.

Can the short term measure of more checks stalk enough time for the changes in laws to be implemented, I do not know. However I do know that from the article, the Singapore authorities are doing their best in a calm and sensible manner.

UN chief's silence on China rights draws critics

From my point of view, after reading the article, i do feel that the act of silencing the case of jailed Nobel Prize winner Liu XiaoBo by UN chief Ban-Ki-Moon is wrong. This is because, as mentioned in the article, UN chief Ban did not hesitate to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, when he should have done the same for Liu Xiao Bo.

I agree that the silencing of the Liu XiaoBo case by UN chief Ban can be linked to his personal ambition. This is supported by the fact that he has to go through an reelection next year, which puts him under huge pressure as China is becoming more and more powerful. He could be trying to win China's favour for his reelection by silencing on the Liu XiaoBo case.

This is a disappointing and biased act especially when it is made by the secretary general of the United Nations and i think that he did not display the human rights leadership, a secretary general should have.
In conclusion, i think that everyone should be treated equally.

UN chief's silence on China rights draws critics (Kah Jing)

This article proves my point that the United Nation does not have the power to do what it was suppose to do. And this is because the nations within the United Nations have to think about themselves first before the world. This may seem selfish, but it is reasonable.
For this case, the UN chief Ban Ki-moon did not raise the case of jailed Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. From the Human Rights Watch (HRW) perspective, the UN chief has neglected one of his primary duties and showed favouritism. This can be seen as he did not hesitate to demand the release of Aung San Suu Kyi but did so some two days later for Liu Xiaobo. The reason? Because China is the next world leader, with its growing economic power. China is also 1 of the 5 permanent members in the Security Council of the UN that has the power to choose the next UN chief after the current UN chief finishes his/her 5 year term. Ban Ki-moon’s term will end next year, in 2011.
For me it is understandable that he hesitates on the issue of Liu Xiaobo, and I do believe that he has done something about it, no matter how small, behind closed doors. Because this situation must be done with great care and caution, so that Ban Ki-moon can impact the release of Liu Xiaobo, without compromising the potential of him being re-elected during next year’s UN chief election.

UN chief's silence on China rights draws critics (Wei Sheng)

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20101102/tap-china-rights-un-ban-8d4ea94.html

After reading this article, i feel that UN chief's Ban Ki-moon is facing enormous pressure with the two problems that is facing agaisnt him, one would be the Rights group that criticized him on his failure to mention on the case of the jailed Nobel Peace Prize Winnter, Liu Xiaobo. The other problem would be his reelection which there is a possibility that China's president, Mr Hu Jintao has a important part in it. I infer that China's president could have pressurized the UN chief's Ban Ki-moon to choose if he either ones to play a part in the human rights or be reelected again next year.

In addition, Mr Ban's spokesman stated that Mr Ban did not raise a question or suggestion on human rights when he had the discussion with China's president. Then, there was a contradiction that the UN released a statement saying that Ban did discuss human rights 'with other Chinese leaders', which led me to be very puzzled as to what was going on.

Furthermore,almost 40 people have been detained in China after Liu Xiaobo had been detained. Liu Xiaobo is a pro-democracy activist thats currently serving an 11 year jail term for subversion. He was then awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 8, according to the Human Rights In China group. I feel very angry by the fact that Liu Xiaobo was just standing for his own rights and should not be convicted for subversion, furthermore the jail term consists of 11 years.

UN chief's silence on China rights draws critics (Sandi)

This whole episode started when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiao Bo who is known as one of China's leading dissidents. The reason why the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to him is because the Nobel Foundation recognises his effort in pushing for both China's own constitution and human rights in China in a non-violent way.However, China condemns this action, saying that it would be an insult to the Nobel principles and perceived this to be a threat against it.Currently, he is serving an 11-year prison sentence for "subverting state power" which comes after calling for a political change in China and lots of human rights organisations and western countries are calling for his release.
Being an big activist of human rights, United Nations have the obligations to discuss with this problem with China. A great opportunity came but the chief of United Nations, Mr Ban Ki Moon apparently did not do so, just a few days after demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, who is currently detained in Myanmar. Observers are largely disappointed by the lack of effort coming from Mr Ban Ki Moon.
I do agree to that Mr Ban Ki-Moon's silence about the detain of Liu Xiao Bo has got to do with his re-election next year. China, one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, has the power to kick Mr Ban Ki-Moon out of his position. But even so, I feel that Mr. Ban Ki-Moon should still push and stand firm for the human rights principles regardless of what country is he facing with or else we can see a disparity of how he is handling with different countries and its not fair.
I also agree that the way China handles this matter definitely would have an impact to the rest of the countries and that now it would be more difficult to impose universal human rights. The importance of promoting universal rights is because that no one is different from the rest and that everyone should be treated equally.

Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20101102/tap-china-rights-un-ban-8d4ea94.html

Lady Gaga Got 1 Billion Views on YouTube—Is That Even a Big Deal!? (Cheryl)

Source taken from: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/ask_the_answer_bitch/b207481_lady_gaga_got_1_billion_views_on.html

A billion views on Youtube may only appear to be as a big deal to Gaga herself, as she once mentioned that she is hungry for fame. Which also explains the name of one of her albums, The Fame Monster.

I do not deny that she is influential in some ways, as there are many of her fans out there who idolize her, imitate her and think that she is really 'cool'. However, I do not think that by getting a billionth hit on Youtube makes Lady Gaga the most powerful person in music.
I feel that what attracts visitors to her videos are the content of her music videos which mostly do not make much sense and the catchy tune of her songs. She dresses up looking really weird in her music videos and the lyrics of her song do not make sense sometimes. It might seem really 'cool', unique and interesting to some that they would like to 'check it out' on Youtube but I find that all to be just signs of attention seeking and Gaga's hunger for fame.

All in all, i do not think that a billion views on Youtube makes Gaga the most powerful person in music and it is not a big deal.

Lady Gaga Got 1 Billion Views on YouTube—Is That Even a Big Deal!? (Wei Sheng)

Lady Gaga has indeed become one of the prominent icons in the music industry, however, i do agree with what the writer has written for the title of this article. Lady Gaga has achieved a billion views isn't really considered a big deal. This could be infered that people do know about Gaga, but not necessarily their fans, even though there are a billion views, people may just be watching her video just to kill time and forget about it, almost instantly.

Furthermore, i do not agree with what J.P. Clement, head of The Marketing Distillery has stated. He stated that,'If by power you mean popularity, then, yes, this is a major deal.' From what i feel, this is not considered a major deal. As what i have just stated, viewers of the videos may be influenced by many factors such as friends and families, however they may not be fans of Lady Gaga. Viewers are able to comment on each and every video in Youtube, both positive and negative comments. So does this even mean that viewers who viewed the video and posted negative comments, are fans or supporters of Gaga?

Lady Gaga Got 1 Billion Views on Youtube - Is That Even A Big Deal? (Sandi)

It may or may not be a big deal to you , depending on which side are you standing on. It would be a big deal to someone who turns out to be a hard-core "monster", a term which Lady Gaga uses for her fans as it assures them that the idol they idolises so much is doing the right thing or to someone that works for the recording company that has Lady Gaga under their label because this shows that their star is in hot demand.  It also would be a big deal to the sponsors who has a sponsorship with Lady Gaga. For example,

Some of Gaga's videos have ads; "Alejandro" has a commercial for Virgin Mobile and more eyeballs on said video could equal more ad dollars.

But first of all,  Let's take a look at what kind of people usually falls under the "Monster" category in Singapore. Teenagers to young adults, from the young tender agn of 13 to 22, boys and girls but cause of the strong competitive hallyu wave or Korean wave that is currently on-going and that people here listen to wide variety of music, there isnt a much strong base of  hard-core "Monsters" in Singapore. So, its not really a big deal here in Singapore.

Furthermore, using youtube as an engagement of power is not neccessarily accurate. People who might not be even Lady Gaga's fan, would also view her videos as they might feel curious about her. For example, when they heard that Gaga is wearing a pair of sunglasses that is made entirely of burning cigarettes, they would feel curious and watched the video themselves and after watching the video, they might not be a fan of Lady Gaga in the end.

In conclusion, it's a really impressive feature for any artiste to achieve 1 billion views on youtube but if we really look into the details like who are watching the videos, then it might be not a big deal after all.

lady gaga got 1 billion views on youtube - is that even a big deal (Kah Jing)

I personally do not follow the entertainment scene that much, therefore the fact that lady gaga having a billion views on youtube has no much impact on me.
The article states that this billion-hit mark may translate into a small financial upgrade for gaga, however i do not think so. Some people may not feel that this so called achievement for gaga is just a question of when and not if. Her extreme character is like a magnet of unexpected news and amazing things to happen; and this is very attractive. For some people, lady gaga is the symbol of confidence, for others it is just wanting more of that all out weird fashion style that she has, either ways, for all of them, it is worth following.
For me I am not attracted by gaga as I only see it as trying to hard to be different, but there are others that feel that because lady gaga dares to be different, she deserves the fame and attention. So what is my final say on this article? A round applause for her and that’s about it

Team Singapore returns from New Delhi with 31 medals (Wei Sheng)

Singapore has attained remarkable results as compared to the previous Commonwealth games which was held in Australia, Melbourne during 2006. During then, Singapore was placed 11th, achieving 5 gold, 6 silver and 7 bronze medals, which totals up to 18 medals. However, Singapore has now attained 11 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze, summing to an outstanding figure of 31 medals, thus achieving almost twice the amount as compared to the previous Commonwealth games.

Furthermore, I believe that this remarkable results is able to push more athletes to aim higher and attain more unimaginable results. Such example would be from one of the atheletes, forty-two-year-old Gai Bin who has scored 3 gold medals, said that he has his eyes on the Olympic Games, I believe that people like him are able to motivate the younger generations to aim higher despite his age.

I believed that the Olympic Pathway Programme (OPP) that was launched previously was successful as it has shown outstanding results from the athletes who went for the Commonwealth games in New Delhi. In addition, the OPP is currently selecting a second batch of athletes in preparation for the 2016 games, which i believed that Singapore will be able to soar to a greater height as compared to before.

Team Singapore returns from New Delhi with 31 medals (Cheryl)

Singapore, most of the time known as the little red dot on the map, returns from the commonwealth games held in New Delhi with 31medals. 65 athletes done the country proud and achieved a record of 31 medals consisting of  11 gold, 11silver, and 11bronze. I believe that it was not an easy feat and that great efforts and time were contributed by the participants, coaches and instructors.

Through the Commonwealth games, athletes pushed themselves to their limits and gained a whole new experience, outside of their home country, where they were trained strictly to have discipline, teamwork, leadership qualities and others.  In addition, the commonwealth games encourages and gives chances to those who have a passion for sports to step forward, and to excel. As mentioned in the article, participants have out-performed themselves and some have even set their sights on the olympics, which I feel that it is something that is very commendable.

In conclusion, I feel that Singapore has proven herself to be more than just a little red dot on the map and should continue to move forward globally.

Souce taken from :  http://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna/cgi-bin/search/search_7days.pl?status=&search=commonwealth&id=1087312

Team Singapore returns from New Delhi with 31 medals (Kah Jing)

It is amazing how Singapore has grown in strength in terms of sports. We may be weak in soccer; but Singapore has proven that she can be competitive in shooting, table tennis and sailing, and she is growing in others sports as well. This can be seen during the recent Commonwealth Games, when Singapore did her best since first participating in 1958. This may not be Olympics, but it is enough to show that Singapore had switched to a higher gear to groom local athletics effectively. Now some people may feel that Singapore’s success in such Games are mainly due to foreigners, such as table-tennis paddlers from China. Maybe these people do not realise that local Singaporeans play a major part in these Games as well. For example, our Sailing and Shooting teams, consist of mainly Singaporeans, have been very success and competitive in the international arena.
It still remains to be seen if Singapore can be globally known as a country famous of any kind of sports. But I can confidently say, Singapore is on the right track.

Team Singapore returns from New Delhi with 31 medals (Sandi)

Team Singapore has excelled in this year's Commonwealth games which was held in New Delhi, India. Commonwealth of Nations are nations who were previously under the British Empire, participates this multi-sport event that happens every 4 years.  This year's performance was the best so far since Singapore first participated in the Commonwealth Games in 1958 with a record haul of 31 medals. 11 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze, ranking at the eighth position.
While the table-tennis team met with the expectations that were set for them, Singapore's shooters also took the centre-stage as they outshine themselves with 14 medals and fellow shooter Gai Bin was Singapore's most medalled athlete in this year's Commonwealth Games, bringing home 7 medals. However, things were not rosy for the swimming team as they were disqualified from the finals after failing to submit their entry for the event on time due to traffic delays.
Due to the athletes' stellar performance in this year's Commonwealth Games, a reward of S$1.88 million dollars were given out to them. The biggest recipient was the table-tennis team winning S$920,000. The shooters won themselves S$780,000 while the shuttlers earned S$120,000. Singapore gymnasts fare well in the competition and won two medals to earn a total of $60,000.
Team Singapore definitely deserve these rewards as they have been training real hard to accomplish the marks that were given out to them as a way to boost the sports scene in Singapore. This is a very good and effective method to incentivise athletes to do well since the rewards are very eye-appealing. Another way to improve the sports scene in Singapore is to train younger generation, those with potential, as soon as possible as it takes time to master a sport.