Transparency

In the headlines recently, Venerable Shi Ming Yi, together with one of his associates is being tried for the misappropriation of funds linked to Ren Ci hospital. This is news that one can easily read in the press.

However, what struck me most of all about this yet unconcluded saga is the apparent harmlessness which started it all. By which I mean in the actions of the Venerable. In loaning a sum of money to an associate through improper channels, he is now being tried for actions amounting to the deception of a charitable organisation. Should the prosecutors have their way, a seemingly benevolent man's name will be looked upon with some disdain always, in the view of the public.

I guess, the point I am trying to make, is that irrespective of our positions or responsibilities, and on whatever levels that we perform our activities and actions, we always need to be transparent and clear in our actions, so that should a time of accountability arise, we can always substantiate the intentions of our actions.

This need not only be subject to the purview of our financial accounts, but also in our words spoken and written and in our dealings with people we meet in everyday life. This is because we live in a society, and no man is an island; like it or not, no matter how isolated we are, we need to be accountable to the people around us. 

When a time of judgement arises, and our actions are put on trial, we can hold our heads high, with no chance of being deemed wrong or judged incorrectly.

$15 million funding for Singapore youth sports development

It is good to hear that youth sports development in Singapore will be given a $15 million funding. A good one-third of this amount will be used to develope 70 of our country's elite athletes preparing for next year's Youth Olympics Games. The remainder will be used to boost some of Singapore's long-term talent development frameworks.

It is very encouraging to see that we are taking the long-term approach and investing in our own youth. As a Singaporean, I am glad to see that the $15 million in funding will be used in boosting local sports at the grassroots level, instead of scouting for foreign talent. Perhaps we can look forward to a day when an Olympic gold medal can be won by a Singaporean born and bred.

That being said, don't expect Singapore's international sporting success to be an overnight affair. Building a successful system of youth development programmes, frameworks and culture will certainly take time, effort and a lot more money.

Here's a link to the Straits Times article on 13 April 09 http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_362992.html

The importance of Add Maths

In today's entry, I would like to emphasize the importance of Add Maths. If you are in your streaming year (sec 2) and considering whether to take up Add Maths, this post is for you. If you are a current Add Maths student, hopefully this post will serve as an impetus for you to do well in the subject. Personally, I feel that Add Maths is a very important subject and here are some reasons why:

1. Add Maths is a definite must if you wanna go into science stream. As long as you intend to take mathematics at the A Level, it is important to have prior knowledge on the subject. E Maths alone is not enough.

2. Add Maths gives you the foundation for many post secondary courses. Even if you go to polytechnic, many of the diploma courses will require you to have at least a decent foundation in mathematics. Most engineering courses and even business courses will require that of you.

3. Even if you don't take it now, somehow, it'll come back to haunt you. For e.g. when I was doing my first three months in JC, students who took maths but had no prior Add Maths background had to come back to school every Saturday for extra lessons. In a sense, there's no escaping it, unless your future academic pursuits are totally non-maths related.

Dr Allan Ooi's suicide note

Many people must have heard about the suicide case of Capt (Dr) Allan Ooi. It is very sad that a bright and promising young man would choose to end his life at the age of 27 because of his unhappiness. Here is an excerpt of his last email before he died. The issues raised here are believed by many to be the main reasons of his suicide.

"My job was terrible - no joy, no satisfaction, 10-14 hours a day of nothing. A prison. One of my own forging, perhaps, by signing a contract with the SAF at the age of 18. Youth was not an excuse, yes, but I refused to accept being deceived into believing things about the nature of my employment that were simply untrue. 12 years of bonded service became potentially 15 or 16, became unbreakable, became stifling to the point of utter hopelessness. How can a bond be unbreakable? How can it be extended at will by an administration, simply by passing a paper? And how can the people subject to this bond not even question it, but instead sit in silent resentment and ultimate dissatisfaction? I was angry, so angry, which stemmed ultimately from a sense of waste and imprisionment so profound that I had no choice but to leave it entirely. To the people within this system, please change it to better benefit yourselves and future generations, instead of creating a self-perpetuating cycle of at best, painful obligation, and at worst, utter dispair.

That was certainly the main cause of my severing of ties. However, it is not the only one. 

I can happily say that I have led a full life, despite it ending at the age of 27. I have many friends, some true friends among whom I value very highly (if you are reading this, you know who you are). Thank you for your love, trust and friendship. Especially those who sought to contact me after I left, long after even, you are truly special people"

It is not very difficult to read the full copy of the email, you can just google it. For me, I first came to know about it through a hardcopy that was circulating around during accounting class. So it's kinda spreading like wildfire.

I would like to end off with a note of advice for those of you out there who are enlisting soon and for those of you contemplating a career in the military. In addition to your normal national service training, you will definitely be exposed to at least a dozen recruitment talks on joining the military service. The compensation and benefits may look attractive, but make sure you know what you are getting yourself into before signing that contract. It's not always all about the money. I'm not saying that taking up a career in the military is bad. But what I'm saying is that you should be 100% certain that the chosen career path is definitely something that you want to do.