Anyway, being the slow me, I only realised yesterday that social sciences is actually a subject at other schools, just not at Dunman High, though we have something similar called ACE - which I forgot what it stood for. Oh! Active Citizenry Education, yep.
So we were supposed to meet at bras basah at 9.10am but then in the end, I ended up being the only punctual one (pat myself on the back). Huiyi ended up being the latest because she slept at 3am the night before. AS ALWAYS.
We had this Q&A session with S.R. Nathan. I REALLLY felt like asking him and question but could not think of any good ones so I just gave up and listened to the others ask him questions. Yep, and my wish to take a photo with him obviously dissolved because there wasn't even a chance to do so!
Anyway, I am quite annoyed by something he said though, "Singapore cannot change the world. We can only react to it." LOL. I wasn't really expecting those words to come from the ex-president of Singapore. I mean, have a little more faith in us! And these words were quickly refuted by the speaker during the breakout sessions.
The session which I went to (with Yunyi) was Who runs the World? Meaning, who takes charge and creates the rules in the world? We dabbled with a few ideas such as the United States and the United Nations. Is UN a world policeman? It would definitely seem ironic to call it so because it does not even have an army. The UN soldiers are mainly contributed by countries and most of the soldiers come from... guess where? Bangladesh! WOW.
And I also find the UN's way of conducting affairs slightly unfair and even, let's say, biased, power-inclined? I mean, we have this 5 big powers who get to literally, have the FINAL say in everything. So long as one of them disagrees, the whole suggested plan will have to be scrapped! Imagine that! Instead of the United Nations, you might as well call it the 5 countries' nations. (LOL. maybe that was too harsh)
But the UN does not not have its merits. I mean, it really does excellent in the philanthropy area! The usual idea is really that of UN = help. right?
But in terms of keeping peace, I guess the effects are really only felt in smaller countries. I mean, the UN can't actually help make peace between the US and China right? After all, they themselves are part of the 5 big powers! It would really be ironic to see them pass a veto on a proposal on themselves, HAHAHA.
The other thing we discussed is US vs China. I guess VS would be a bit inappropriate.
Anyway, I don't really like the idea of having US troops stationed in SG. I dunno why but the idea just kinda puts me off because I mean, this is Singapore. Why do I need other people's troops in our territory? It's kinda intruding?? But then again, this is the government's decision and maybe, there are other issues at stake, so who knows? I cant give a definite judgement based on my own assumptions.
So anyway, the whole discussion was really interesting and cool. Although I did find that the seminar way of teaching is cool, it still freaks most of us out because we aren't used to the style of teaching. haha! So the whole discussion was actually pretty one-sided.
AND I REALLY LIKED THE LAST PART OF MS ANN's discussion! Because she said that we should not think that singapore is not important in the global front. Just because we are small doesn't mean we aren't significant! hehe. I think that that last part really empowered all of us sitting there because it really gave us hope that, hey, when we grow up, we can make a difference. As opposed to the seemingly pessimistic view of SR Nathan, haha.
Yep, and we finally had the final part of the conference where we had all the professors come together and answer questions by us.
There was this part which is really extremely memorable where a student asked if they thought that the recent hype over the general elections were temporary or sustainable. One of the Indian professors, who is a Singaporean answered this as the rest had only lived in SG for a few years. He said that he felt the hype was a mix of both. And then he went on to say that we should not discredit what the government has done as well. We have managed to achieve multi-culturalism to a certain extent, when many other countries have failed. At the end of his short speech/answer, the students applauded. I think that that was when the Singapore spirit really shone from the various students sitting in the auditorium. I could really feel that all the students/Singaporeans there felt proud at that moment, to be a Singaporean :)
After SSC ended, I went to Plaza Sing with Siyun, Huiyi and Yunyi. We walked around Daiso and Spotlight- mainly it was huiyi and siyun who were actually 'shopping'. We then went down to the basement and ate, because we were all so hungry.
I then met up with my parents there for dinner. We initially wanted the Manhattan Fish Market but it appears everyone had the same idea as us, haha! Partially because there was this coupon that they gave out (I had it at home too) which was really worth it! haha! So in the end, we went to the... FOOD COURT. Note the big disparity in food standards. After eating, I went to this bookshop nearby :)
Oh yeah! SMU gave us this book published by them - Social Space. You can go check it out. There are several articles which I thought was really interesting!!
"Of Spatial and Mindset Change" - interview with Tay Kheng Soon
He talked about rubanisation! The idea is actually quite cool, where the urban and rural area come together as one. He also talked about communities as being small sustainable communities.
"The New Way of the Future: Small, local, open and connected" by Ezio Manzini
Very similar to the idea of rubanisation!! He calls this cosmopolitan localism. I really wonder what SG will be like if the two ideas were implemented!
"Improving lives in the base of pyramid, profitably" by Stefan Jacob and Pin Kwok
Mainly about how to tap into the lower class people's 'wealth'. For example providing cheap, but good quality products that are targeted at these people, rather than the usual high-end customers. It will not only benefit the companies involved, but the consumers as well.
"Working on the Rights of Singapore's Working Poor" by Siew Kum Hong
OH THIS IS IMPORTANT. haha! Because it involves Singapore! It addresses income inequality and actually provides a SOLUTION called Workfare Plus! The idea actually sounds pretty good although I am not very sure about what is endowment... lol.
"Tiny Ideas, Big Changes" by Won Soon Parl
This article is cool too because it talks about how citizens can take part in policy making, rather than only small groups of people working along with the government :) It would be really good if SG can implement this!
HAHAHA. I sound like I did a lot of work, hehe! :D
I shall go relax now because I've finished all my homework! YAY. It was a really good idea to start on PW earlier!!! Really kudos to Hannah for speeding us up :D
I shall treasure all my time at home now before FACING SCHOOL TOMORROW D:
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