Article Commentary - Six Months Later, after the Beijing Olympics

This article was written six months before the Beijing Olympics. The article critized the Olympics, and pointed out some things Beijing needed to work on before the Games could really be successful. Now, after the Olympics, many of these things said in the article have not come to pass. Let us look at this article in the light of post-Beijing Olympics 2008

Although I missed the opening ceremony on the 8th of August, I definitely did not miss the closing ceremony held at the 'Bird's Nest' stadium on the 24th of August. It truly was an awesome spectacle, the precision of the the performances, the dazzling fireworks, and all the other tiny details that were generally in place. This Beijing Games has not disappointed us, as it has been able to bring out the best - and maybe the worst about China. Certainly, the Games continued without any major disruptions, barring maybe a few protests. Generally, it was a well conceived and well-executed plan.

Beijing had promised much before the Games. I quote the article - "high quality, cultural, high-tech and green." In terms of technology, the Beijing Olympics was superior to the 2004 Games in Athens, as can be seen by advances in modern technology - in cameras, in lights, in venues. Beijing has attempted to make it 'green', in the sense of making Bejing less polluted, and more appealing. However, the world expects this to be only temporary, that Beijing will go back to being the Air Pollution capital of the world. This remains to be seen. However, since Beijing has succeeded in its primary goal of clearing the smog for the Olympics, there is no reason for Beijing to continue keeping its skies clear.

You can see in the article of several important incidents that Beijing has covered up to make their Summer Olympics perfect. Now, after the Games, we can see that Beijing has indeed tried their best to make the Games perfect, but in attempting to make the games perfect, they have made me really disappointed in them. For one, the lip-synching. Just because the girl with a great voice did not have as pretty a face to go with the voice, they chose a girl with a more attractive face to lip-synch to the original girl singing the song. In fact, this farce was so perfect that no one actually was able to tell until the news was leaked out. Another piece of shameful news that was leaked to the media was that some of the fireworks during the opening ceremony had been recorded. While this shows how much China wants to make their Games perfect, it also shows forth China's paranoia and insecurity.

This article has also said that one of the things that would help China to carry out a successful Olympic Games is to relax. Although China has not 'relaxed', both literally and metaphorically, it is still a common consensus that the 2008 Olympics has been well executed. However, China has had to resort to extreme measures to ensure that the Games remain successful, for example, pulling off 50% of the cars of the road to cut carbon emissions. China will nearly stop at nothing to ensure that the Games that it is so proud to host is perfect. This results in several ethical problems, a few of which are highlighted in the article.

This article has a relatively negative overtone to it. However, this article fails to take into account the major natural disaster that struck China before the Olympics as this article was written before it. I think that China has done quite well in handling this immense disaster, while at the same time preparing for one of the proudest moments in modern Chinese history - hosting the Olympics. This also shows the resilience of the Chinese people, that they are able to pick themselves up off the floor after one of the most devastating earthquakes ever in Sichuan, to host the Games and make this Olympics a successful one. Maybe one of their major motivations is nationalism, which is rampant in China. This would definitely cause the Chinese to be fired up and willing to sacrifice their all for their country

This article is indeed not very accurate in its assessment of China. Although the world can rightfully criticize China; for all her faults, she has her strengths, too.

All in all, while China has many areas to work on, they have still done well. However, as these issues are often ethical in nature, China has to work on its ethics, otherwise, in the long run, a lack of ethics may lead to China's inability to truly become a superpower. Not just an economic and military one, but one that is a center of culture and peace.

Article - Covering Up for A Perfect Olympics - February 08

Covering up for a 'perfect' Olympics

Section:	Asia Focus
By:	CHUA CHIN HON
Publication:	The Straits Times 02/02/2008
Page:	12
No. of words:	961

THE TALK IN BEIJING

Beijing's 'cover-up' of deaths shows its obsession with staging a flawless Games

BY CHUA CHIN HON
CHINA BUREAU CHIEF


BEIJING'S much cherished dream of staging a "perfect'' Olympics ended on Monday when officials finally acknowledged that six workers had died building some of the iconic stadiums for the 2008 Games.

The grudging admission came a week after a British newspaper, The Sunday Times, ran an expose alleging that the city had "systematically covered up the accidental deaths of at least 10 workers, and perhaps many more'' in its bid to finish all construction work in time for the opening ceremony on Aug 8.

At a press conference on Monday, Mr Ding Zhenkuan, deputy chief of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Work Safety, told reporters that the Times report was "not accurate''.

He later clarified that six workers had died since Olympics construction began in 2003.

Two of them died building the imposing "Bird's Nest'' stadium, the main Olympic venue that will host the opening and closing ceremonies, while four others lost their lives at undisclosed Games-related worksites.

Another four workers suffered injuries, though Mr Ding gave no details. Nor did he say why Beijing kept mum on the deaths until now.

Prior to Monday's revelation, Beijing officials had always insisted that the city's safety record for the Games' preparation was spotless.

Assuming there are no other unreported deaths, Beijing's safety record would still be better than that of the Athens Games in 2004, when at least 13 workers died at Olympic-related construction sites.

But this is clearly not good enough for Chinese officials, many of whom seem obsessed with the notion that the Beijing Olympics must be a flawless show from start to finish.

In theory, this spirit is a highly commendable one; a sign of the immense national pride that the authorities attach to the Games.

In practice, however, this usually translates to mean that every morsel of bad news about the Games or its preparations should be suppressed.

But it is precisely this obsession with a squeaky-clean Olympics free of bad news that will result in Beijing having to deal with more media exposes and bad press in the months ahead.

The reasons are obvious: many unresolved problems are in plain sight, and the reality on the ground is often far from the cheery version outlined by Beijing officials.

Peak-hour traffic continues to be a nightmare, the air quality can turn nasty from one day to the next without warning, and the police continue to exhibit a heavy-handed approach to dissenters.

No one expects Beijing to be perfect, of course. Yet, week in and week out, officials in Beijing prefer to trumpet their slogan about a "high quality, cultural, high-tech and green'' Olympics instead of giving straight answers on how they plan to better tackle these problems.

When new Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong formally took office last Saturday, for example, he merely made a bland speech, briefly introduced nine of his deputies and left without taking a question from the roomful of journalists.

The instinctive response from journalists and critics is to ask: What is Beijing trying to hide? What is the real story here?

The Sunday Times' expose on the workplace deaths is a classic example of this.

Indeed, anyone familiar with China's poor safety record, or who has visited the Beijing Olympic construction sites in recent years, would find it hard to believe the authorities' claim that no major accident has occurred there.

According to Mr Li Yizhong, head of China's State Administration of Work Safety, more than 100,000 Chinese died in accidents last year.

At the sprawling Games-related worksites such as the Olympic Green, the main venue for the 2008 Games, tens of thousands of workers can be seen working day and night, all through the oppressive summers and bitter winters.

The complex construction process of futuristic stadiums like the Bird's Nest, so nicknamed for its mind-boggling latticework of steel and concrete, often requires workers to rappel from or climb up steel beams over 50m above ground just to conduct welding or paint jobs.

On my numerous trips to the Olympic Green since July 2006, I've often wondered whether Beijing should hire a team of daredevil mountaineers to build the Bird's Nest instead of migrant workers from the poor countryside.

But construction safety issues are not unique to China or Beijing's Olympic preparations.

Nor are problems like air pollution and traffic congestion. Previous Olympic cities like Los Angeles and Athens have all gotten flak for these problems, but still managed to win over the critics in the end.

So, it's hard to imagine how talking candidly about the problems in Beijing or admitting to the unfortunate deaths at the Olympic stadiums would scare off potential visitors.

Surely, no one is naïve enough to believe that everything will be perfect during the Beijing Games.

Clamping down and dodging the inconvenient issues will only prompt journalists – there will be an estimated 30,000 in Beijing during the Games – to dig deeper for that juicy "exclusive". The army of casual visitors armed with camera phones and opinionated blogs are not to be underestimated either.

But unfortunately, signs are that officials here are still living in a bubble of their own as they fret endlessly over minor concerns.

With a straight face, a government media handler recently asked several journalists, including this writer, whether the foreign media would be upset and start writing negative reports about Beijing if they cannot find proper accommodation during the Games.

The baffled journalists politely told him that would not happen.

There are six more months to go before the 2008 Games. Hopefully, this is enough time to convince Chinese officials to do the one thing that would truly help make the upcoming Games an enjoyable one: relax.

Term 2 EL/SS blog post - Democracy brings stability to a country

Social Studies Democracy Assignment and English Blog Commentary

Democracy Brings Stability to a Country

Democracy is a form of government, in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections. There are several characteristics of a democratic government, all of which are crucial to the success of a democracy. One of which is active citizen participation, either in referendums, or in choosing their representatives through an election. Another key feature of democracy is equality among men, as well as political tolerance, free speech, transparency and the protection of human and minority rights. Another important feature is rule of law.

The key feature of democracy is that every citizen has the right, or even the duty, to have a say in his or her country’s politics. In every election, in all democracies, all citizens of the country have the right to vote. In some countries, such as Singapore, it is even compulsory to vote. The citizens will then vote for a representative that will represent them and speak out for them. This is known as a representative democracy. In a direct democracy, such as Switzerland, the citizens can call for a referendum. They will thus personally vote on their country’s policies. Therefore, as the citizens are able to choose, the citizens will often choose what will benefit their country most, and the entire society as a whole. In this manner, governments are theoretically unable to take advantage of the country and drain the country dry. An example of this is America. In America, elections are regularly held so as to ensure that the government is working for the interests of America. If not, the government will be voted out. Thus, in a sense, the party in power is answerable to the citizens of the country. This contributes to the stability of a country, as the government will work in the country’s best interests, which would be via the social and economic stability of the society, for fear of being thrown out of power.

Another key feature of democracy is that of the rule of law. In every democratic country, there is a set of laws that no one is above, not even the ruling members of the government, not even the President or the Prime Minister. Every citizen has to abide by the constitution. In this way, because of the rule of law, the people in power cannot abuse their authority, for if they do so, the law can bring them to court, and they stand to lose all they have. Thus, this brings stability to a country as the government will not disrupt the social balance as they respect and both fear the law, which keeps the country’s law and order, which yet again contributes to social and economic stability. The government will also strive to run the country in accordance with its constitution. In this way, the democratic feature of the rule of law contributes to the stability of the country. This is seen in Singapore, where no one is above the law, and everyone has to respect the constitution. At present, we can see that Singapore is indeed stable and flourishing. This can then be attributed to the feature of the rule of law in a democratic government.

Yet another important feature of a democracy is freedom of will and transparency. Of course, this freedom is within the law, so as to maintain law and order, and in turn foster stability within a country. This freedom of choice is seen elections, where citizens can choose what is best for them. This freedom is also seen in the freedom of speech, where citizens are able to voice their opinions to provide constructive criticism to the government and society. Transparency is seen as the government being responsible to their citizens, informing them of what their taxes are being used for, as well as consulting the general populace and industry people in policy making. This contributes to the stability of a country as there is balance. This balance is brought about by the diverse view and opinions that are aired by the citizens. These views serve to correct the government’s mistakes. Also, the freedom of the people makes citizens generally more relaxed and happy, and they will not foment riots or dissent, which helps a country maintain social and economic stability. For example, in America, protests are often a method for the citizens to peacefully get the attention of the authorities, and to ask for them to rectify any perceived injustices on their part.

Therefore, if the democratic government of a country in question fulfills and has these features, democracy in that country contributes to their social and economic stability. Without these key features, democracy is often incomplete, and especially when features such as the rule of law are not present, the democratic state will often collapse into an authoritative totalitarian state.

Thus, as long as these crucial tenets of democracy are present, I agree with this statement, that democracy does bring stability to a country.

But will Singapore continue to be a stable society? I believe that Singapore is truly blessed in that the Singapore government, while holding a monopoly on Singapore politics, does not appear to be corrupt. Singapore is essentially a one party state. It would be easy for the PAP to go from a benevolent, if I may say, totalitarian government to a hostile one. I'm not saying that the PAP is a dictatorship. But they certainly do have a very firm hold on much on Singapore society. And so far, results have been good. Singapore's one-party system of government only works to bring stability as the leaders are so far all working more for the good of Singapore and the people, rather than for their own good. At least, this appears to be the case. If the PAP wishes, they can actually bring out policies to the detriment of Singapore AND still win the elections, due to the lack of a credible opposition. It is a miracle that the PAP has not gone the way of so many one-party states in the past.

But if Singapore's leaders in the future become corrupt, Singaporean society will destabilize and our one-party form of government will no longer become viable, as we can see from the case study of Sri Lanka's one party government. Therefore, Singapore should slowly proceed from our present form of democracy, which I believe that in the long run (1oo years) to be unsustainable, to a 'truer', if I may say, form of democracy.

JI Fugitive Manhunt

Title of Article: Fugitive hunt widens
Author: Bertha Henson
Publisher: Straits Times
Date: 29/2/08

It's certainly a surprise, welcome or not, when Singapore's security, which is so vaunted and well-known, finally fails. After all, a system, no matter how good, has to have lapses. Apparently the head of Singapore's JI cell has escaped, and has been successfully evading the police ever since. There has not been sight nor sound of him since he made good his escape. Of course, the army has thrown themselves into the search, not sparing any effort as they noisily crash around, hoping to chance upon our fugitive.

I honestly think that this is a good wake up call for us. As far as we know, we have been able to halt any serious threat to the Singaporean population. However, right now, we have a certain fugitive on the loose who has known to be involved in some very unsavoury activities. It certainly places a blow to our confidence. Maybe not large, or even medium-sized, but there nonetheless.

I think the purpose of this article is to reassure the public that the situation is all under control. As I'm not in any position to know better, I have to accept that this article is true. There are also plenty of assumptions made about the competency of the Singapore Armed Forces. Sure, there have been many manhunts made, but none of this scale, and probably none after such slick prey as our fugitive.

So this would be a good test for us. Is the army actually all we make it out to be? Are we truly as competent as our advertisements on TV and on many billboards say? Or will we fail at this test? Certainly, I really hope that we do not fail. However, I would like to see that we indeed learn from this mistake, as the authorities keep on promising.

The government also tells us to stay calm, and that they have indeed shut off places where our fugitive can escape the country. They also seem to be confident. But, their actions show that this may not be true. We have requested our neighbouring countries to stay alert, and to watch their own borders. This, of course, could also be due to cautiousness. Or, it could be that we do suspect that he has since left the country. After all, this is a serious security lapse, and we do need to keep our neighbours in the loop.

Of course, looking back on this article, right now so many days after the escape of the fugitive, one cannot help but see how our confidence that we will nab the fugitive is lessening. We are even desperate enough to release information on what clothes and shoes the fugitive is wearing. We have searched high and low for almost a week now, and there is still neither sight nor sound of him. At least not any that have been released to the media.

In conclusion, we have suffered one of the most serious security lapses in quite a few years, and there better be steps taken to ensure that this does not happen again. I wonder how all the MNCs would react to Singapore being a hotbed for JI activity?