What happened recently

Hmm... I have not really been updating my blog. Think the last update was one month ago - this is what happen when schools start.

So, just an update on a few major happenings recently:

1. Group proposal consider in SMU competition (yay!! was a close shave)
2. Applied for Student Council - went for the SC boot camp
3. Got rejected for SC
4. Applied for OSAC
5. Got rejected for OSAC

Basically, what happened was that I think I got rejected a lot of times. D: But don't worry, I am not actually feeling that sad over all the rejections. 

I guess I wasn't that keen/enthusiastic over SC as some other people, so I thought that they deserved it better than me. I did go in being prepared to face rejection after all. However, it does make me feel a little depressed; this was my second time trying for SC after all. Being rejected twice is not something very nice :( Sometimes, I truly wonder what is lacking in me.

Hmm, mainly right now, I am just hoping that I can get into the pre-u seminar, maybe OCIP, and hopefully smu competition (tough luck to self though). 

Anyway, there was this recent hoo-ha over the Population White Paper.

Hmm, my truthful feelings about it?

7 million doesn't sound good. 

It's already such a squeeze at 5.5 million people, what more 7 million. Although the government promises that they will upgrade facilities, and ensure that there will be 'sufficient space' for everyone, we know that on this island, there is only so much you can fit.

I just read this article by Robin Chan talking about population stability rather than 'indefinite growth'. I agree with him on this point, because the government has always been talking about increasing our population and getting more people in, but they have never actually considered the idea of "when do we stop?"

I think that that is a very important question. The least the government can do is to give us a rough estimate of where the population of Singapore will stop at? Everyone's got to admit that it's got to stop at SOME point. I think that that is very important in crafting our future. This way, we know that our common goal is to achieve this certain amount of population, which we deem as sufficient and sustainable for Singapore's growth. There will be this common consensus.

Although the government say that 7 million is not a target that we will work towards - it's just an estimate, the fact that it's been published kinds of seals it as a 'target'. 

With regards to the building of more homes etc on Singapore, I hope that they will consider the idea of decentralisation seriously. The main reason why it gets so crowded on trains during peak hours is because everyone heads towards the same direction. The business hub is located at the centre of Singapore - so obviously, everyone will go there for work. The residential areas are also located near each other, making all the commuters travel from home to work, and then work to home, of which the direction of travel are mostly the same for everyone.

With decentralisation, it would ease the peak hour 'squeeze' since everyone would be going in different directions. Not everyone will have to squeeze onto one train line that goes in a certain direction.

Having more train lines is not going work when no one WANTS or NEEDS to use them. What we should do is build something along the train line that makes it a need for the people to take the trains. 

Assuming you have a new train line, but there are no offices located along the train line. Who will actually take the train during peak hours? How does that alleviate the issue of overcrowded trains on other lines? Only when you have an office built there, with people working there, then will it alleviate the issue of overcrowded trains, because it would have then DIVERTED traffic away from that train line.

So, more train lines is NOT THE SOLUTION. Stop saying that 'we plan to build more train lines to solve the overcrowding issue... blah' because it won't solve the issue. What will solve it is to spread out the areas for business 'hubs' to achieve a more uniform spread of traffic during peak hours.

Also, (as my parents mentioned to me), why is the government asking some middle-aged men what they think about the 7 million population? Their target audience, and hence the people they should be interviewing, should be US - THE YOUTHS. 

HEY, we are the ones that are going to be MOST AFFECTED by your Population White Paper. (We will be in our thirties in 2030) Why aren't you asking us for our opinions? It need not be done through televisions/very troublesome events. It can be done through simple channels such as the school. Simply have the school allow us maybe say, 1 hour to examine the White Paper, then have us answer a survey that reflects our level of satisfaction with the White Paper being proposed.

Such activities can be easily organised since a survey is already the very bare minimum. As the beneficiaries of the government's future policies, I believe we have a right to have a say in this as well.

It also increases the political awareness of the youths (and perhaps helps in our GP haha).

~

Anyway, Singapore is going to have a new line of COINS. 

The new set of coins are UGLY D:

Our current set looks nicer, and classier!! I will save some of the old coins as keepsake! :)