Q5: Relevance to today
What can we learn from this story? (How is it relevant to our society today? Do we have our own form of 'lottery' as in the story?)
What we can learn from the story is to voice out our opinions.
We should not be so cruel and do horrible things like stoning others, which was what they villagers in "The Lottery" did to Mrs. Hutchinson.
If we feel that something that we have been doing is wrong, we should stop doing it. Mrs. Hutchinson only knew that holding the lottery every year was wrong when she was the one who "won" the lottery and was going to be stoned. If knew that holding the lottery was wrong right from the start, she should have just voiced out her opinion to the villagers and not keep it to herself until the moment that she was the one that was going to be stoned. If she had voiced out her opinion earlier, the people who previously "won" the lottery would not have been stoned.
We do have our own form of lottery. However, the winner of the lottery would not be stoned or injured. But in our kind of lottery, the winner gets prize money.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Singapore - Saving Our Environment
Have you ever wondered what has the Singapore government done to help save the environment? Well, the government certainly has done some things to help save the environment. There has been many global environmental issues. Thus, everyone should play their part in helping to conserve our resources and save the environment. One more thing: Singapore only has limited resources.
Firstly, the Singapore government has instructed the management of all major supermarkets in Singapore to turn Wednesday into "Bring Your Own Bag" Day. On this day, all citizens who purchase goods at the supermarket must bring their own reusable shopping bags to carry their purchased good. If anyone does not bring his/her shopping bag, he/she would be charged ten cents for every plastic bag used. By doing this, it is said that about ten million plastic bags could be saved in a year!
Next, the government has also encouraged more citizens to reuse, reduce and recycle and not to waste Singapore's limited resources. To encourage recycling, the goverment has organised more campaigns on recycling and placed more recycling bins all around the nation.
Finally, I found out that there is a company in Singapore that recycles food waste. Currently, the local company recycles soya bean waste, spent grains and spent yeast into animal feed. A local food waste treatment plant was also set up to turn food waste from food courts, hotels and factories into compost and biogas. So start to "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" today!
Firstly, the Singapore government has instructed the management of all major supermarkets in Singapore to turn Wednesday into "Bring Your Own Bag" Day. On this day, all citizens who purchase goods at the supermarket must bring their own reusable shopping bags to carry their purchased good. If anyone does not bring his/her shopping bag, he/she would be charged ten cents for every plastic bag used. By doing this, it is said that about ten million plastic bags could be saved in a year!
Next, the government has also encouraged more citizens to reuse, reduce and recycle and not to waste Singapore's limited resources. To encourage recycling, the goverment has organised more campaigns on recycling and placed more recycling bins all around the nation.
Finally, I found out that there is a company in Singapore that recycles food waste. Currently, the local company recycles soya bean waste, spent grains and spent yeast into animal feed. A local food waste treatment plant was also set up to turn food waste from food courts, hotels and factories into compost and biogas. So start to "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" today!
Organ Trading In S'pore. Allowed Or Disallowed?
Last Friday, my class had a current affairs discussion on whether organ trading should be allowed or disallowed in Singapore. The panellists all came prepared with speeches and powerpoints on their opinion to the topic. One of the speakers, Kevan, played as the economist (I think so). His opinion was that organ trading should be allowed in Singapore. However, many of my classmates disagreed as they think that if organ trading is allowed, only the rich would be able to afford to buy the organs but the poor can't as they are unable to pay the costs of buying the organs. Thus, when the poor people have illnesses such as kidney failure, they would not be able to immediately get a kidney as they have no money and would be out in waiting list at the hospitals. By then, these poor people would have already died while waiting for someone to donate them a kidney.
Some classmates also asked Kevan what if the poor wanted to sell their organs just for the money without caring for their health. Kevan told them that the hospital would do a medical checkup on these people first before making a decision if they are fit enough to sell their organs. After Kevan said this, I wondered what if the patients were as fit as a fiddle before selling their organs and their health deteriorated after selling their organs.
Personally, I think that organ trading should not be allowed in Singapore as this might cost the health of the poor people to deteriorate as a result of their need of money to support their own families. Allowing organ trading would also mean being unfair to the poor people as they would have no money to pay the hospital bills for organ transplant. In conclusion, I think that organ trading should not be allowed in Singapore.
Some classmates also asked Kevan what if the poor wanted to sell their organs just for the money without caring for their health. Kevan told them that the hospital would do a medical checkup on these people first before making a decision if they are fit enough to sell their organs. After Kevan said this, I wondered what if the patients were as fit as a fiddle before selling their organs and their health deteriorated after selling their organs.
Personally, I think that organ trading should not be allowed in Singapore as this might cost the health of the poor people to deteriorate as a result of their need of money to support their own families. Allowing organ trading would also mean being unfair to the poor people as they would have no money to pay the hospital bills for organ transplant. In conclusion, I think that organ trading should not be allowed in Singapore.
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