ya and with conformity humans all learn to live the same way where it is not possible at all as they grow up everybody have different thinking different mindset and different likings if let's say conformity is uh, main aim for all schools then everybody will grow up to be the same nobody will you know uh do something that is out of the norm which may be positive may be negative I don't know but let's just look at the positive side if everybody just conform then there is you know no


extra things that we see in the world and you know maybe apple won't be invented today ya that ends my point


yes I do agree that you know conformity should be part of, the system in the entire globe but it should not be the main aim at all for schools for instance you were saying that okay we focus on the negativity whereby, no crimes and all that will happen but these all should be taught in school as basic values and that shouldn't be uh that shouldn't be part of conformity at all


you know having conformity okay making them follow rules and regulation these are basic things that it should have in uh organisation in a company and in a school per se but uh you know that shouldn't , that shouldn't mainly represent conformity because these are just basic values that you know each human being as we grow up we should learn


okay so I do agree that there are benefits to conformity however despite the merits of it uh it should not be the main aim at all because the school system will just turn into a factory merely producing workers for the economy but not necessary accomplishing their true intent of education which is to fulfil human potential


no matter how varied this this potential could be, each and everyone is unique in their own ways and there are no two hundred percent same person in the entire world , so with conformity then everybody will become the same then we will just be like a factory of workers that just follow the same due and you know go through our daily life like that there is no you know maybe there's no apple there's no samsung there's no oppo that kind of thing so due to these everybody has their own thinking and opinions and way of learning therefore


conformity negatively affects a curriculum and teaching, methodologies in school like not not not accommodating to different talents learning styles and learning abilities which this will not benefit most of the students in education


conformity it should not be the main aim of all schools because it was done thinking which is one of the major intent of education it questions ideas debate moral courage all of which which are needed for the modern world but all of which can be actually encouraged positively in the safe confines of the classroom


yes that ends my point


ya so like what you say social cues are social cues conformity is conformity so conformity can uh you know totally ignore individualism but actually individualism can be the main aim with social cues so that so I strongly believe that social cues are


actually basis of how we grow up as a human being, and it is definitely not conformity at all conformity is you know truly just like following a certain set of rules that is set by the school the government and all that but technically that's not social cues so I still I I agree with you that you know social cues are really important and you know it benefits how we live on


uh with our daily life but that is not conformity at all, according to a singaporean written paper under college affairs in august two zero one nine it states that individualism should be the main aim in school and especially not conformity as it is not wise to always expect students or individuals to conform as this deprived deprives their


uh deprives them from their freedom to express their thoughts and believe to showcase their talents and pursue their own interests when they are deprived of freedom of what's mention it leads to many problems such as purposely going against conformity and commit crimes which lead them towards negativity


schools in singapore whether they are technical institutes polytechnics secondary schools or even primary schools offer a variety of subject combinations as well as co curricular activities , uh as we say CCA to enable us to develop competencies in their niche areas for example our institute of technical education ITE offer a variety of courses on design there are product design space design fashion design as well as architecture design


where these CCAs are concerned these ranged from the different sports to the various performing arts if conformity is the main aim it becomes harder for the potential of individual students to be stretched when students are not provided with opportunities to pursue their individual interests , with individualism being given emphasis schools will then be able to redevelop talents and skills that are


adequately diverse for the economy as the global economy is very


part three debate topic three


okay I agree that most people these days could and should be educated from home


technology has taken over the world definitely as we are using you know we are using so many uh technologies in place right now to be on this conversation , so while there are so many things that you do not need to do in person like how we used to education can be also done from home I believe last time when technology is not in place and you know certain uh other things that are not in place we need to be in person to go to the bank to do certain administrative uh administrative staff


we need to be in person to go and see the doctor but right now it has shown that you know we can even see doctor you know from our home through the technology and we can also use i banking we can also use you know the the different devices like the pin the two FA pin thing to you know


assess our banking information and do different banking services through the phone okay so , uh based on the current COVID nineteen situation right the worldwide health situation it is proven that education did not stop but continue and the learning process has been you know actually more fun than it is in the classroom with the aid of technology


so many news and articles and reports have shown that students are very interested in having zoom lessons from home, I do agree that some parts of the education could be done in school like lab lessons and also lessons that requires more hands on practical experiences


however as much as possible having students being educated from home actually prepares them for the scenarios like the COVID nineteen situation where they need to be away from the viruses and even lock downs of the country didn't hinder the education as well, stating a situation from singapore as students were not prepared to be educated from home before the circuit breaker period a huge amount of precious education time was wasted figuring out a lot of technical issues so


you know as we can see right if let's say that education was already you know uh part of the education was already from home before this entire COVID nineteen pandemic situation then I believe that you know uh it should be a norm for students already and it should not come


as a culture shock where everybody start scrambling for the different uh devices and you know start to scramble uh on you know how do how do I operate these technical uh this this this app or this zoom uh zoom app can I use it on my tablet can I use it on my ipad or can I use it on the laptop will it affect you know uh the other things that I


home ya so if let's say education has already been in place before this entire uh before this entire pandemic right then you know you know when we uh you know when we just enter the pandemic and you know singapore just announce the circuit breakdown uh circuit breaker then we can straight away you know uh go into


what we call the usual norm as we are already uh you know having education that is from home ya I end my point


okay so uh you were saying that uh you know , uh education should only uh should be in school okay uh whereby the uh we whereby if let's say the the students are studying from home they will just on the laptop and you know they will you know maybe dozed off or just not look at the screen


but isn't that the same where you know where we go to school and have our lesson we will also just doze off on a uh in front of the teacher or you know just open the laptop but actually on the side we are doing some Taobao shopping or you know #qoo ten# shopping or watching south korean drama, so uh technically you know with our laptop screen facing us and a teacher is in front technically they cannot see what we're doing as well so it serve no point whether is it in school or whether is it at home where the child where the student choose to be you know doing that that action


okay and you have also said that you know uh students may have uh students will will lack uh will will be lack of social interaction, as well as competitiveness with their peers but have you thought of the negative part of the social interaction and the you know the kind of the stress that ya you know embodies through the


through the the peer pressure in the uh in the academics wise what if, it turns out badly that through the, so much of the social interaction in school that you know , uh student start bullying one another okay and this is not something that is not common this is something that we see all all the uh all the time that you know students are being bullied in school and that is because you know uh you know they are spending so much time in school and also for peer pressure


there are students committing suicide because you know there's just too much stress and you know you are just facing the you know higher ability uh friend in front of you where you're where their uh where their studies is very good and their score is you know uh maybe top three or something and then you are at the rock bottom and then it will you know this kind of


it may be a peer it maybe a positive peer pressure whereby, I can work harder to uh you will be better , but what if it turns out negatively that the that the child uh the the student cannot be able to take it then after that they will just uh you know go go even downwards towards the negative part where you know like what I shared that they will commit suicide and stuff ya so based on an interview with terry curry conducted by chelsea Shelsley


miss curry never expected to be teaching her children at home but after weeks of researching how to home school during the COVID nineteen pandemic she has now selected instruction materials withdrawn her son from his local public school and started math science and history lessons with her seven year old at home


she mentioned that learning from home is a better learning environment at uh it's a better learning environment, where her children will feel less stress as I mentioned just now so that it will not turn negatively towards the suicide and stuff and uh it will give the child uh and it'll make the child feel less nervous about education but instead feel more positive towards it


education from home also creates flexibility towards schedules often more opportunity to discuss cultural heritage and better accommodate to the different learning styles as such more emphasis can be made on weaker skills and aspects and also the subjects okay and which will not


uh you know let the child uh waste so much time learning something that the child already know of, so in the recent months conversation about uh, you know schooling from home has been exploded on social media as well and especially in parenting forums parents are seeking matches with other families for home school ports posting uh advertisements for tutors and public school teachers and facing questions about whether those who can afford to hire extra help


uh you know like exploding in the net the this this kind of discussions are actually exploding in the net, and you know therefore I I feel that you know these highly shows that uh there is a possibility of students being educated from home it must it like what I mentioned in my first point it must not be that uh


you know everything must be from home they are still certain subjects or certain things that require face to face interaction it can be done in school , but you know most of it it should uh it can be done at home ya without the need to you know especially during this pandemic they don't need to be uh outside you know travelling and you know facing the viruses and stuff


so a lot of things actually can be done from home ya I end, my


ya if we refer back to the, question uh with uh refer back to the view it says that education could be from home but it does not state that you know uh it should be entirely from home so it can be in uh it can be


uh both at home and in school and which is why I have mentioned that you know uh you know there are certain lessons that should still be can still be held at school uh whereas like there are certain things that you know they can study from home , so you also mention that you know for the uh for the younger uh students like the primary school and secondary school students although they don't have laptop in school but you know we have went past that that stage and we know that when we are not interested in certain topics we will still you know chit chat with our friends beside and how


uh and you know do other things maybe writing notes or you know like playing with pencils playing with our stationery so how does that not even affect you know uh, the education that we're going through even if it's in school so okay you may say that at home uh they have uh you know they are in front of the computer and they can you know do like uh play game or something but


uh as much as I know of when uh these days when you know technology is so advanced and parents are more educated towards technology on children uh I believe that they have set up the the child the kid friendly you know uh browser for the child so when they are actually you know uh listening to


the, teacher uh from from the screen they are actually you know just focusing on a screen, so why do I say so uh because uh you know there are really really statistics have shown that there are really really more uh parents that uh you know uh they are supportive of having the education from home and you know especially the part of home schooling


so according to colbert education survey from the US government and education researchers the number of students being home schooled has doubled in the last decade, overall if current national growth in home schooling continues and some expect it to accelerate the number of students being home schooled in the US will surpass two million by two zero one eight


they have also surveyed with anecdotal evidence and put together the reasons why parents decide to home school their kids and some of the reasons are uh you know uh when they home school their kids they can make a change from negative school environment okay they can also get higher quality education


they can also improve social interaction, whereby they don't be exposed to the negativity part of the social interaction of the bullying and stuff where they communicate with their parents and interact with their parents at home or or the tutor you know they will get the right values and they will grow up you know positively


okay and they will also uh and home schooling a child can also support a learning disabled child, okay even though you know as uh singapore we are, trying to accommodate as much as possible to you know , get uh children with learning difficulties to come into the


to the mainstream schools but uh without proper uh you know trained educator in it it also uh serve as a uh a very very difficult uh you know, uh uh it's it's very it's a very difficult job for uh mainstream school teacher to be engaging with a child that has learning difficulties so why not with the extra tutor that is in school you know uh it can turn into a home school ya that ends my point


okay uh just now you were saying that uh uh the the view is about the majority right so it's not on the minority so you know uh majority of course uh we go to mainstream schools and therefore uh we should just continue going to school and not uh you know continue and and not having to study from home


yes uh uh students with learning difficulties uh they could benefit the most out of learning from home but it doesn't show that you know , uh students who are typically well will not benefit from home schooling as well like if let's say


if let's say uh the child uh because uh okay uh as per what I have mentioned throughout my points right the survey and the statistic statistics have uh you know, have all clearly shown that you know these are on uh typical mainstream students and they are not on uh students with uh learning difficulties at all so these proof that education can be and you know should be from home


in our quest, to actually, attain all these, to, actually create, places of interest for lots of tourists to come in we are actually


we are actually, not, balancing it with the environment because the demands of the economy when we reach out to, what has been said to to more tourists coming in and to more foreigners visiting singapore because of the places of interest and what makes singapore uniquely singapore but having said that we have


to , it has an impact on the environment so for example when we actually have to for example we actually have to , , build a place specially for the casino for example and that is a place where a lot of foreigners would like to come in and they would like to to spend their time there we had to we had to


the, what we had to do was we had to we had to make space for that we have a huge air conditioning , we had a huge air conditioning system, that that needed to be cool, and we need a space for that as well and we have to ensure that there was enough space we had to


move, the entire expressway, so that, there is space for, just the building of, uh casino and, by us moving it kind off, caused a bit of a disruption in the environment so having said


that, uh the disruption is we affected the flora and the fauna, and so, basically it moved uh the, the living spaces of certain animals and creatures had to be moved and also the water there there's water around the


casino and what has happened is that their natural, , organisms and animals like the fishes and various uh living things living in the water that too had to be moved as well for the route so that


so that there's space for the expressway to have moved, and because of that, there is an imbalance for us to build when we actually try to cater to the economy there is an imbalance when it comes to environment


okay so, thank you very much having said that, in so in spite of, all these measures that, are in place, to actually help us with the amount of


the amount of waste that goes out , we end up actually building more things around the country we end up actually having more new, places of attraction, and we have to to makes


space for those we have to clear out the trees and , the, flowers throughout the entire country having said that because we end up clearing out the trees and the plants and the natural habitats of all the different animals who have lost their homes


we end up, losing our green, and so when we actually, try to put something in place so that it helps with the environment and there is a balance we end up, buying these plants these green these flowers from another country


because we don't have it and and when we end up doing that, we end up replanting, to put it in our own places where we feel that there should be a certain amount of green, and having said that why do we need to do that


when we don't have to, why do we need to do that when we don't have to keep building building building and trying to get ahead of the economy and we are losing our own very own environment we are losing all the trees


all the flowers, all the trees all the flowers and this would, not help, and our environment, having said that as we build the economy and everyone has more spending power


what happens is that everyone would want to buy a car, and, not everyone would want to buy a car that has a low carbon emissions or even get the electric, car, so what everyone does is everyone would end up wanting to buy their own car


having said that the more, affluent the economy is the more spending power people have they end up getting themselves cars to actually get themselves to work, or to get themselves around, and they do not


they due to the convenience they would not really think twice about the carbon emissions and they would not think about, how it pollutes all that or it spoils, the environment how it contributes to the environment


and then having said that so indeed of basically, to, to grow the economy to create more places to of interest to actually create more office, space we have to clear a the natural vegetation we have to clear a


the trees and the flowers and having said that, when we require to put the trees and the flowers we end up actually, buy it from overseas because we don't have it, and the and and these trees, flowers the natural flora and fauna the vegetation they all have got the natural habitat they are all the natural habitat of organisms of animals living and all these animals they end up having


to find new place to stay and it when it becomes a very concrete and when it becomes a very concrete, environment where we are just building building building because we are moving forward, and, we are trying to have a robust economy we end up compromising on the economy


so having said that in summary, it's not all, balanced and, there is definitely consequences due to man-made decisions, when it comes to the infrastructure


of removing, the natural habitats of the of the plants and the animals around us just to make space for new development, back to you charlie jun


so in summary, from from what we have heard both sides uh, we have uh , so as a country what we have done is we have actually, worked very hard to grow our economy


having said that we have also worked, having said that we have also tried our best to work hard, for maintaining our sustainability for maintaining our environment balance by having certain measures in place, and having said that


it would help to create a balance however one of the most important things we need to recognise is that, we, despite how much we can do and how much how many how much measures we can put in place for to sustain


the to try the maintain the same, environment and to have it the to have it as good as, uh what it should be and, but still we cannot deny the fact that it is not possible, completely because


because it's, because it's just it because first of all we we do have to make space and we do and we do want to make space as we move ahead in today's times to build our economy, for more room for more ideas for more for more manufacturing plants perhaps yeah for more


offices space and as we host large foreign, companies in our country where they will love to do business with us as a hub it's important that there is space available for them at their reason and it would


allow these people to come forward, it it, we must also take note that uh it you know in summary singapore does not actually have a lot of natural resources and due to that lack


of, what earlier on when I mentioned that as we keep, building and you know affecting our infrastructure, we we realise that, the flora the flora and fauna the natural habitat natural vegetation is affected and because it's affected it actually


causes us to actually get our natural we have to purchase plants or certain things from our neighbouring countries, and so it is always important that, whatever we have, it's very important to preserve it


preserving it and sustaining it is important because we do have a you know we do have a small restricted space as it is singapore is not that large and the fact that it and that we do not have a lot of resources we do have key points like we maybe we do have a important


the basically we do have like a a very good port a very good harbour but having said that , we need to take note that certain things we do certain things we do, can create basically , a negative impact on our environment and


negative impact would mean that the very least that we already have, which is uh in terms of our floral for the our our lush vegetation like you know at certain places which are still not yet developed, the those places are are aight to actually built


new, new housing as well as we invite as we as we to invite you know as we as we invite foreigners we also need to provide a place for them to stay, which is very very natural and so we have to build more, and and


as foreigners move here they love singapore and and we love them too we we need to build homes for them as well so we have to build more homes, while HDB is and so these these places as well, they actually end up being cleared like the forests or that like the small little like


, wood worm forest is a, it's not the we know that that areas which are yet to be cleared out where it's natural green and built to be built for homes and as, as singaporeans themselves they you know they they wish to


to buy new they wish to buy homes and live separately right so we we have to clear out that areas for everybody, we have to clear out the areas to build more homes for everyone to have a home to have a place right uh however having said that we must also remember that uh you know it basically it's also in summary when when


when the economy builds up and everyone has more money they wish to you know commute in a very convenient way and having said that commuting in a very convenient way would mean having cars and because they have cars and then rather than bicycles that were not you know there's emissions carbon emissions from there and they will rather


you know they would rather make it they would rather make it convenient for themself rather than, having bicycles or or uh you know like the old traditional way where you know you just uh walk yeah, so


so it's been a very good the debate and uh having said that we will in that was the summary for the both sides and we will come to a close thank you


okay I, thank you very much so I had basically this house believes that, that, natural disasters are not the result of human activity now this is very simply because there are a lot of it


disasters that are due to the earth's mechanism rather than the man, rather than humans action themselves so for example, earthquakes volcanic eruptions that are due to the earth's tectonic movements and seismic activities now how is it possible


that, we control those tectonic plate movements and seismic activities that handled that , happened right below, there is absolutely no control over that, and it is undeniable that underground mining as well sometimes they do affect and cause instability


but basically, things such as, earthquakes volcanic eruptions they are due to tectonic movements and seismic activities, surely if something is a natural disaster it would not have been as a result of human activity


so we are not responsible for earthquakes volcanoes and tsunamis they have been, there, since the start of time, and we're not sure they could have been there since the cretaceous period when dinosaurs were around


having said that, there have been suggestions that, the recent bush, fires devastating parts of australia were part of a climate change and this yes was caused by us humans so there is a degree where certain things due to climate change


has been caused by humans but however, most natural disasters are not caused by humans, it is possibly a one-off event, that is caused and the forest fires in indonesia basically are caused


due to the fact that they would like to move, collect clear the land, to build, buildings and so, if so basically forest fires they're actually


man-made here and it's not natural disaster it's not, , having said that they two things they are build forest fires take take place because when it's uh in indonesia when it happens it's because uh two things first they would like to


create the soil to be a lot more fertile, having a stronger vegetation, and the, having you know basically vegetation that grows and the other one is clearing out land to build more buildings


so for example you are walking down the road and another natural disaster would mean a good give an example walking down the street seven o'clock everything seems like a normal, morning and all of a sudden your whole through the air there's a blast that sends you all the way down the street you're scared you don't know what's going on


it's so hot your shirt begins to burn, this is what happened in siberia, nineteen o eight it's called the, tunguska event, this event was because of a meteorite


and so that is a natural disaster, right it's a meteorite we cannot control when it actually hits the ground on earth, and so that is definitely one example of, natural disasters are not caused by humans we have absolute no control over that and it is so


so basically this is classified as an impact and it is a impact event that's and it happened in the remote area in siberia and uh but it is also something that is should be highlighted, because it is a natural event and it cannot be caused by


humans having said and moving on, , even though the place took play the even though that meteorite hit us in nineteen o eight it took till nineteen twenty one a full nineteen years until a scientific exploration of the site


it took a full nineteen years, to get a proper evaluation of what, happened, okay and uh and then that's how we knew that it was a it was a meteorite and basically the weather in siberia is very harsh, it also contributed to why it took a very very long time on how you know on the final conclusions of that


basically eighty million trees were flattened that day due to the natural disaster, and, because uh, because of the impact because, basically the impact crater was never found because the object it was said to have disintegrated


basically two three to six miles away from the earth's surface, no deaths were confirmed though three were suspected, after an entire century still not much is known, this event will remains an unsolved mystery now


okay and uh yup, basically uh the world has witnessed numerous disasters of a century and basically the one that I would say that is man-made would be war and


, would be a most and uh other disagreements that could lead to a uprisings yeah mother nature, fair, dish dish dishes out a fair share of damage natural disasters such as volcanoes tsunamis earthquakes


and, they are all horrific in their own right


so having said that , may we have the world has witnessed a lot of natural disasters over these entire centuries and basically we have, a bunch of natural disasters that are recorded


such as the natural disasters will look will, mean that we we will speak about the first one which is the haiti earthquake in twenty ten, a magnitude of seven point zero earthquake that has a depth of eight point one miles rocked haiti


on january twelve twenty ten its epicentre was located just south-west of port-au-prince, with fifty nine aftershocks ranging from four point two to five point nine magnitudes in strength the strongest earthquake to hit the countries in seventeen seventy had led to over two hundred thousand death two million homeless and three million people in need of emergency aid


at least US one hundred and ninety five million have been given with another US hundred and twenty million pledges from different countries along with a large number of aid workers to help the rescue operations cyclone nargis two thousand and eight


the first cyclone in two thousand and eight to hit the northern indian ocean cyclone nargis made landfall in myanmar and devastated the irrawaddy delta, delta region along with its thirty seven townships for two days official figures showed that


eight eighty four thousand five hundred people were killed with fifty three thousand eight hundred missing, an equivalent of a category three or four hurricane on this saffir-simpson scale in led to numerous storm surges and flooding, we had the pakistan earthquake in two thousand and five


the two thousand and five pakistan earthquake that registered seven point six in the richter scale, had its epicentre, had its epicentre in kashmir near the city of, muzaffarabad and occurred in the morning of


october eight twenty four twenty o five and the official death toll was seventy five thousand people with one hundred and six thousand people injured the severity of the damage was attributed to the poor construction of the buildings, over US five point five point four billion in aid arrived from all over the world to help with the relief rescue efforts


and of course we remember, hurricane katrina in two thousand and five, the deadliest hurricane, to hit the gulf coast in two thousand and five it was ranked as the sixth strongest overall


to hit the united states it was also worth the costliest with estimated property damages of eighty one billion dollars then we have the indian ocean earthquakes earthquake in two thousand and four, also known as the sumatra-andaman earthquake it was still estimated to be an earthquake and it was estimated to be a to be at a magnitude of


nine point fifteen and occurred on december twenty sixth two thousand and four, while the earthquake itself lasted for only ten seconds, it caused the tsunami that killed two hundred thousand to three hundred eight thousand people along the shores of indonesia sri lanka south india and thailand with one death even occurring at port elizabeth in south africa eight thousand miles away


from the epicentre, and then in nineteen eighty five nevado del ruiz, volcano eruption, also famed as la mesa de herveo


this stratovolcano holds the distinction of causing the largest single largest volcano the related disaster of the twentieth century the volcano which generally generates, plinian eruptions of swift-moving currents of hot gas and rock called


pyroclastic flows produced an, enormous flow that buried and devastated the town of armero in tolima in november thirteen nineteen eighty five, a what was tragically known as the armero tragedy caused the death of twenty


five, thousand people, and then we have the tangshan and then we have the tangshan earthquake in china, the great tangshan earthquake struck china, eighth on july, twenty eight nineteen seventy six causing the death of two hundred forty thousand people and injured hundred and sixty four thousand more


this was regarded as the deadliest earthquake of the twentieth century it also rocked at both literally, both it also rocked both literally, the not just the earth but


the political scene of chinese party in beijing, the very large seven point eight earthquake hit that area where it was totally unexpected causing the city of tangshan to be obliterated, it had it was caused by the twenty five mile tangshan fault which runs near the city


well we have nineteen ninety three hurricane andrew, and uh how could we forget that this, this hurricane andrew, was formed by a tropical wave that moved to the west coast of africa on august fourteen nineteen ninety two


it became a major top tropical depression by august sixteen, though its intensity was initially prevented by a windshield, during the succeeding days it developed into a destructive tropical cyclone named hurricane andrew


due to the massive construct destruction that caused sixty, five, fatalities and the US twenty six billion dollars in property damages, but this became one of the fifth, costliest hurricane in the US history after hurricanes katrina wilma and ike with the name andrew retired from the hurricane list


okay (ppc) so we also have the, tsunami okay that hit japan on march eleven twenty eleven


this was the and it was due to the seventh largest earthquake in the world, basically this was due to the seventh largest earthquake in the world and it led to fifteen million people dead injured , with, two thousand eight hundred and fourteen people missing


it also affected you know so many different parts of the cities all the infrastructure, and it destroyed a nuclear and it caused a nuclear disaster because, the one of the nuclear one of the nuclear plants in japan


was mode had a meltdown, there was also the it's basically in the, moving forward we also have the, cyclone in


bhola the bhola cyclone which happened in bangladesh eighty five percent of the homes were destroyed we have new zealand earthquake in twenty eleven , so all these and then we have the afghanistan blizzard which was in two thousand and eight it was the worst blizzard in history temperatures fell more than thirty


degrees and, animals and people just froze to death they were not expecting it we were we also have the drought in africa and we also have in twenty eleven we have the north korea famine in twenty in nineteen ninety four


having said that all these and the european heatwave in two thousand and three all these are natural disasters we have the yangtze yangtze river floods in nineteen thirty one as well that killed, three point seven million people, having said that we are done with our debate thank you


so some argue, that, every possible sure source should be exploited, okay, (ppc) but this is because even at the present people in some places they do not have enough energy to sustain their daily livelihoods


now if we go the country level right, if we know that singapore has got a lack of resources so whatever we have we tried to preserve it right and whatever we have sometimes you know in our quest to try and actually grow our economy right we end up clearing once again we are back to this we end up clearing


our, natural habitats for the plants and the animals, quickly and the reports, estimate that one person in five still lacks okay but this is not in singapore but this is just a global stat review okay reports estimate that one person in five still lacks electricity that is about one point three billion


people, nearly forty percent of the world's population three billion people still rely on traditional sources of energy such as wood, coal charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating


given that the present energy needs are still not met and that future needs are going to increase international energy head agency's annual world according to the international energy agency's annual, world energy outlook forecast that global energy demand will


increase by thirty seven percent by the time we hit twenty fourteen, the world does not have leeway to slow down


so world does not have leeway to slow down exploitation, every possible, energy source needs to be exploited to solve the current more urgent problem of, bringing these people and countries out of their energy shortage situation


us, developed countries with higher technology should start using more renewable energy sources leaving developing countries with more fossil fuels to meet their basic energy needs, as developing countries become


more affluent and technologically, advanced they should also use more renewable energy, as seen there is no possible way for exploitation of energy to slow down, if the world still leaves some energy sources untouched the current energy shortage problem will only compound and future will be even bleaker


hence exploitation of all possible resources is justified, back to you Chai-Ren-Jun


while I for while I agree that, basically, we should use whatever is possible but however, I have the view that, even with an increasing global need for energy we should not fully exploit every possible source because there could be a run-out


so, they could no natural resources can be fully exploited, but, it we should not to fully exploit because when we run out of it it's hard to replenish because it takes millions of years, you know at the at the worst right at the at the scenario where it takes millions of years to replace or it takes years to replace like it could be for example millions of years could be oil right


oil and for years could be rubber plantation it takes seventy years for a rubber seed to to fully you know to be a fully grown tree where we can tap on the rubber for it to, for us to use and to make tyres like our


tyres on the road right the cars and the lorries and, transportation, so (ppc) so I am in the view that, well it should not be fully exploited but it should be, aptly used to protect the environment so we use it in bits


and not fully, instead of selfish, careless exploitation of these resources more care could be taken to make sure that the process is more environmentally friendly so for example by environmentally


friendly would mean that, we should you know prevent ourselves from from from the process of tapping up rubber and from the process of , changing it to for it to be a function-able item so that it is a from raw material to some to the tyres


we should ensure that whatever we do we should not emit, harmful gases into the air so either by capturing, the harmful byproduct or by eliminating them, altogether


for instance carbon capture and storage, a process that, captures the carbon dioxide generated from the fossil fuel, power stations and, other energy intense


industrial processes and stores it underground, so back to what I would say okay basically it should not be the it should not be, the the, the key solve when we try to convert a natural resource to to something and we can use it should not be a process where we end up


emitting more harmful gases, and we should use it in batches we shouldn't clear out the whole plantation of rubber but we should use it in batches so that there is room to grow new, rubber trees


so that there is a new group there is a room uh there is room to grow new rubber trees and it would and it would help to actually preserve, rather than, it would help to preserve rather than deplete and that's the whole idea right so


fracking, the process where rock is fractured apart, by the high pressure, water mixture to extract oil and gas can also be carried out more carefully this is to prevent potential-nal


potentially carcinogenic chemicals from escaping and contaminating groundwater, around the fracking site so fracking is done by companies such as uh I mean we have our large companies that we it's the large companies that do it handle it should be done where there is a due diligence and can concern given to


to basically the people around and towards environment as well to protect it and so that uh there is less, uh, less negative consequences over to you Chua-Ren-Jun


okay so (ppc), the, so uh so it's so basically upon hearing all these it is important that, I'm in the view that uh we still need to that we should not fully exploit


every possible resource, because it did, when depletion occurs how do we replenish a natural resource and we have to wait a very long time for, it, so having said that you know we should look at another point which is changing the consumer habits so changing the consumer habits would


mean we should not exploit every single energy resource because ultimately to sustain our energy a reduction in energy demand through improved energy efficiency and conservation is the best and only solution


so while energy sources provide solutions to the worlds and world's energy, grief, it is but a neutral force that requires people to utilise in meeting the goal of energy sustainability


hence it is important to, in is important to instead, what we need to do is we need to correct our use of energy sources so specifically we should use energy more efficiency efficiently and conservatively


however since many have become used to using energy wastefully there is a need for government coordination, to change our consumerist behaviour, this will involve for example


stricter product regulation, as well as public education programmes to encourage people to think differently about the energy, so which means that for example you know basically what we could, do to conserve energy would mean that you know basically in terms of being stricter I would say I would use a our rules


reward, so those who use less energy and when it's at when it's actually in the when it's actually, uh documented and the data is generated on the monthly on the monthly level where it is through bills basically if the person the household has used less energy than the average


they could be rewarded an incentive for perhaps some dollars off their bills, okay and the government should also, so having said that I would put in uh I would put in a reward system okay so the government should be able to use to be able to reward perhaps give like you know


uh some time some mean some some money basically for those households that have a uh that has a uh that had that used, lesser than the average and, this you know basically the government should also address the issue of financing


providing maybe you know uh, and also for example if if certain things that, we used caused us to actually, have a to cause us to actually increase our the usage of energy


the government can actually you know address the issue of financing providing cheap loans to households and small businesses which they can carry out the, necessary improvement works, having said that, for example you know if it's a it's like for example actually we already have that in place


but however we need to do more about it, and uh we need to we need to do more about it and the for for example we have clean tech, it is a division of the EDB the economic development board singapore that offers assistance to businesses that specialise in clean technology and this is a good example of what government of the what the government can do to work towards yup


so in summary as we close the debate for today , I'm in the I, while I do hear that uh every possible shows source should be fully exploited and and the on my end I am in the view that it should not be fully exploited but however it should be it should be some part of it should be preserved and some part of it should be done through


rehabits through alternative sources and through, conserved conservation like to be used more carefully, and this would help all of us in in terms of a, in terms of you know saving the earth, and


saving the earth and the basically not exploiting, totally in full all the energy resources that, the earth has thank you very much


okay uh so the thing is in our so society how well are the demands of the economy and environment balanced


define demands of the economy or increasing productivity for singaporeans, increasing economic growth of the country being highly competitive and to have a cutting edge in the global world, the question requires students to consider if there's a conflict between the environment pursuit and that of economic growth in singapore is there a need to forgo one just for the pursuit


of the others also the question requires, how the government is able to balance uh both economic demand and the environment so that that sustainable development is possible moving forward, yes both have been well balanced economic growth has always been pursued


together with environment concern in order to ensure a level of sustainable living for future generations both are integral to the progress of, the economy and have never been sacrificed for


either goal, singapore has always prided itself as a green and clean city and a garden city, singapore has always been clear on carbon emission standards that cars and vehicles should adhere to admission standards are strictly adhered to if not companies will face the consequence of a hefty fine


the government has also appeal to the highly pragmatic singaporeans to conserve the environment, by paying them to go green there are subsidies available to purchase an electric car and the national park boards have gone so far as to even dish up twenty percent discount for wedding venues held at hortpark


as long as couple have shown that they have taken at least eight environmentally friendly measures for their wedding, the largest and most ambitious, garden project ever attempted in singapore one that stretches over fifty four hectares approximately the size of seventy two soccer


fields gardens by the bay is in itself a testament of how the government try to balance tourism growth and environment concurrently, so baby


okay the next one is, okay investing in green technology has always been a priority of the government as they seek to keep up with the demands of the economy and to be the forefront of any environmental


development, and instance, would be the duke NUS graduate medical school which is constructed using green design and environmentally conscious materials while still being architecturally beautiful


the use of sustainable design elements such as eight storey glass atrium that provides vertical circulation to the whole building and ceramic tiles which contain titanium dioxide, earn the building green mark certification


since the beginning of our nationhood singapore has always, caught has always been caught in delicate balancing act between the demands of economy and the environment, pessimists would argue that in an open economy like singapore


the constant obsession over economic growth coupled by, utilitarian principle seems to deny us from preserving, the environment as it appeared to always involve us having to forego some measures of economic growth causing a dilemma


our existence existential challenges due to our small and vulnerable nature has necessitated our founding leaders to make certain compromise on environmental protection to satisfy the basic human


desire for progress tied by economic growth nonetheless to suggest that singapore has completely forsaken the environment to fulfil our economic desire would be myopic as we must acknowledge that there has been efforts made to mitigate mitigate the environmental


effect and to find a, complementarity, between the economy and the environment therefore it is my view that while singapore tend to prioritise over economic imperatives in decision making and that the demands of the economy and the environment remains well well balanced


undeniably we must acknowledge the, pessimist scepticism over the viability of, ah debby


okay sustain sustainability is the backbone of business this has always been true and for largely obvious reasons, any organisation which is absent of sustainability is destined to


at, some point or another fail, typically this is not a desirable outcome for an organisation, so sustainability is the name of the game in today's society what exactly do we have in mind when referring to sustainability


it can be elaborated on two broad themes economic and environmental, economic sustainability, can be taken, as a meaning a combination of


remaining commercially commercially viable both now and ideally across future generations and, to being able to sustain operations in the face of unexpected and severe events such as the global financial crisis which struck in two zero zero seven and eight


economic sustainability can be viewed through five capitals which include natural capital which comes from our ecological system, or produce capital which comes from our productive activities human capital which comes from our talented talented people social capital which comes from social trust and social interaction and financial capital which comes from


which connects all the previous four capitals to help grow and sustain an economy


okay uh the second topic is uh discuss the views that most natural disasters are the result of human activity


uh yes natural natural catastrophes can cause immense economic and human losses example floods storms earthquakes droughts forest fires and volcanic eruptions are among the most devastating devastating types of natural catastrophes


but some disasters are man-made these are explosions major fires aviation shipping, and railway accidents and the release of toxic substances into the environment however


the distinction between natural and man-made catastrophes is not always as clear cut as you might think some events are wrongly assumed to be natural catastrophes as the following example shows


for example the dam bridge in tesero two mining two mine-tailing basins were located near tesero in the central region of italy the thirty four metre high dam of the upper basin collapsed on


nineteen july nineteen eighty five a torrent of debris and mud, poured into the lower basin causing its dam to fail as well, a two hundred thousand cubic meter mudflow rushed through the stava valley, at, high speed burying two hundred and sixty eight people some database lists the event as a flood disaster but


yet, the disaster was not due to extreme precipitation the demand the dam had been constructed to very low safety standards and was known to constitute high risk the collapse is believed to have been caused by a poorly installed drainage pipe


then a forest fire indonesia in two zero one five, devastating devastating forest fires raged across parts of indonesia, weather conditions there and in large parts of the world were heavily influenced by the climate phenomenon known as el nino conditions were especially dry in the western pacific region


in indonesia fires ravaged forests and bushlands over tens of thousands of square kilometres a dense men mental of haze covered large parts of southeast asia


in some cases for months on end the consequences were dire people people had serious health problems airports and schools had to be closed and public life suffered in general, economic losses amounted to billions property losses alone are likely to exceed


a, billion US dollars yet it would be too simple to attribute this catastrophe exclusively to the el nino phenomenon these fires were started deliberately, to clear the forest due to the extremely dry conditions however the actual area burned was many times larger than originally intended


the catastrophe was therefore caused by a combination of man and nature debby


okay uh and then one of the cases they says is deforestation deforestation is considered one of the most destructive activities people destroy vegetation that protects the stopped soil


and because of that it absorbs excess rainwaters with it with its roots as a result water freely spreads in the region leaving less time for rescue activities another one is maybe building dams building dams, can cause earthquakes because huge water mass that applies pressure on the surface beneath like avalanches in two zero zero six philippines had witnessed one of


most disastrous avalanches uncontrolled deforestation and and this is all because of uncontrolled deforestation and mining around the village, even in china in december two zero one five a massive landslide in southern china destroyed fourteen factory buildings and more than a dozen office and residential buildings sludge and debris some six metres buried deep


buried parts of the hengtai industrial area on the edge of shenzhen's special economic zone around seventy people were killed according to the authorities an artificial dump of excavated soil and rubber rubber has been brought down by heavy rains


the debris has evidently be piled up too high and too steeply and over the years had, grown to a height of over hundred metres without the authorities taking any action even if heavy rains ultimately triggered the disaster it was clearly a man-made incident debby


ah okay the point three is uh discuss the view that with an increasing global need for energy every possible source should be exploited to the full (ppc) I would like


to open this debate, with the saying this is actually a, saudi arabian proverb, which is starts like my grandfather rode a camel my father drove a car I fly a jet plane, my son will ride a camel


this saying is reflective of mankind's current situation, we as a species a a species, have, already consumed one point five earth worth of resources if we continue to consume at our current level of energy consumption earth resources will not last us for long in view of this some says that every possible energy resource


should be fully exploited, to get as much energy possible out of the limited resources but I feel this should not be the case this is because exploitation of certain energy sources, such as fossils fuels will actually fuel the sustainability problem and cause many environmental problems hence instead of exploiting every energy source blindly we should focus


on developing alternative energy sources namely renewable nuclear energy while cutting back our reliance on fossil fuels and also use energy, more efficiently and, conserve conservatively


however I beg to, however I beg to differ


energy sources especially fossil fuels, such as coal oil, and natural gas should not be fully exploited, as this method, is unsustainable, on the surface exploit exploitation may seem to reduce the energy problem


but the issue of sustainability worsens fossil fuels are limited and are expected to vanish soon, the world could still have oil reserves that would fill eight hundred million barrels


but it is getting scarer I mean scarcer, and current estimates suggest we will run out between two zero two five and two zero seven zero, current natural gas deposits fill around six thousand trillion cubic feet that could


with the current level of usage last for about, fifty years coal, has the general reserves, spread all over the earth, if we carried on, using coal at the same time or at the same rate as we do today


we could have enough coal to last well over a thousand years, however as other fossil fuels run out, particularly oil, the use of coal may increase reducing that time span considerably as shown


energy sources are depleting, and will not last long because substitutes of each other, once exploited there will be even less remaining, causing people to be even more frantic in their exploitation of the remaining fuel deposits creating a vicious cycle that will only drive up the prices of these scarce resources


and prevent people who really need from getting it, hence, exploitation is unjustified, furthermore energy sources such as fossil fuels create environmental damage so they should not be fully exploited from exploitation of fossil fuels there has been a huge damage to the environment


extraction process for oil, destroys natural habits while its refining processes requires, the, use of toxic chemicals, mercury contamination


ozone pollution and acid rains them from the burning of coil or burning of coal the burning of such fossil fuels also contribute to global warming, as carbon dioxide, a gas that traps heat below the earth atmosphere is emitted causing a greenhouse effect


hence, exploitation is unjustified


okay, K target use of alternate alternative resources, as such instead of exploiting every possible energy source


fossil fuels alternative energy sources, such as renewable energy nuclear energy should be made to better use this is because these energies are cleaner and more


sustainable compared to fossil fuels, sources such as strong winds heat within earth moving water and solar energy, can provide a vast and constant energy supply


without green gas greenhouse gas and net carbon emissions, they do not generate waste products, such as carbon dioxide and other more toxic by similar products dramatically reducing toxic air pollution nuclear energy is similar and the amount of energy released is about


sixty million times as much, as when a carbon atom burns as seen these energy sources have great potential in generating energy and are better than fossil fuels in the sense that they do not face the problem of scarcity and pose less


of a threat to the environment however they are still not used extensively, still, about eighty percent of energy comes from fossil fuels hence I feel that more targeted efforts should be put into the usage and development of these energy sources instead of traditional resources over to you debby


thank you


happiness is an expensive uh pursuit today, how far do you agree, ya basically I do agree with this uh sentence, as err happiness is uh expensive


pursuit today because uh in our daily life right now we are pursuing different types of uh material , materialistic stuff, whereas uh the higher position or higher living standard you'll go, you will have a more higher pursuit in terms of uh luxury items


so andy do you have any comments or, giving based on my sentence


no in fact if you're talking about cycling you see ah when you started to cycle you will start off with a normal bicycle, right, and eventually as you progressively go on you'll expect to have a more, more uh better bicycle than what you have today you want in terms of speed in terms of the weight


so that you can travel faster and cycle faster or even to reach your destination at the easier pace, am I right to say that, otherwise you'll be cycling the same bicycle for the next ten years and you'll be feel happy about it


I ya I'm not talking about expensive stuff maybe you can gradually gradually upgrade your, ya but ah what I meant is that you can gradually upgrade your your bicycle meaning to say you can upgrade your brakes uh upgrade your brake pads you can upgrade your tyres your rims


these are all as a service as you go buys and you want to do a upgrade, eventually, to make your bicycle look nicer or even to be easier to transport it from one point to the other point, so would you actually do some upgrading works on your bicycle


I is not I I can say that is a this how low-range mid-range and even high-end err range of uh products over there, so basically if you are talking about visiting decathlon uh I'm not so sure whether people are visiting them to pursue or even purchase something this is a relatively on a budget side or some expensive stuff over there


so you are talking about the lower range parts are out of stock how about a higher-end range that is more expensive are they still available


so in any event ah let's say for example you need the items urgently, would you consider getting the higher higher uh priced items or you relatively you like to wait for the items to come in, or for the parts to come in


yes but the thing is you need to wait you see, you have to wait for the items to come in and they they do not know how long will this item to arrive in your stock, and for example today you uh your your bicycle brakes is uh down you need to purchase a new brakes ah you have to find outsource or even find something to replace


and right now the cheaper one is out of stock, are you would you be considering a higher, higher uh a higher price purchase


yes err basically in as I'd mentioned if you start off you will start off with a very basic type of uh equipment that you you you can afford, but, as times goes by your, your definition of how to say you would like to have, more better stuff


into engage into your exercise or even your daily work flow, and uh next thing is that maybe we may have can move forward to your next hobby you mentioned that you are fishing, is your next hobby, so like to check with you how many err fishing rods do you have


at this point of time, since you started off fishing


ya because for fishing I understand err it depends it depends you see err let's say you have right now you are looking into leisure pursuit basically you are talking about a cheap rod definitely it'll serve the purpose but however if you going to down to the, to the sea


I mean in the middle of the deep deep sea itself, you're expected to get a better rod, a better equipment, and all this uh it all and also on top of that you need to hire a, a small boat or a ship, to go to such places


and all these are even higher costs than what you are having now, has per mentioned that you go to the Bedok jetty to do fishing, and, progressively you will still upgrade your your fishing rod


uh it depends on what purpose you want to serve lah let's say if you like you like for going for leisure cycling basically it depends on uh you also depends on the bike that you want also, ya a trail bike or a road bike yourself you need whether it serve your purpose or not it still depends on your on yourself itself


basically it also depends on what you want in your life, err talking about that if you are moving forward


okay what if you are talking about cooking ah and that's another that's another thing you see, even let's say for example you're cooking at home ah, ya if you're cooking at home I don't think it's also err it's an inexpensive stuff


if you you tabulate all the costs are, can hear okay, let's say let's say you are you are getting all the ingredients for example you want to buy buy seafood, if you tabulate the whole costing ah it might not be cheap also you see


previously when you are young maybe or or in the initial stage you would try to take prawns but gradually you will upgrade to take uh this uh maybe uh what's that crayfish and eventually lobster or even crabs, , as you will progressively go on you will upgrade the type of uh seafood that you want to to to have


so eventually this is err you are looking into more and more expensive stuff, or expensive uh seafood that you want to devour on, so basically and uh as I can say ah if you looking into that as time progressively you want to also to


upgrade yourself or even uh you want to have a better, better food for yourself these are all costs you see, and in fact cooking at home is not as cheap as uh before, it's sometimes equivalent to the things you can get outside, for example I do baking okay I'd like to do up with uh maybe butter cake


the total costing ah in getting all the ingredients ah is more expensive than what I get from one cake shop itself, at four-fifty, I mean that is say using let's say you're you're doing cooking cooking is not as, ya can, so cooking is also not a very cheap err or leisure kind of uh pursuit today


yes that I that I for that I agree, but uh maybe andy come I ask you one question ah how you celebrate your kid's birthday, how you celebrate your kid's birthday


no no not your birthday ya your kids' birthday


are you sure your kids don't demand a new toys or new stuff from you


yeah that's your point of view but what about your kids you mentioned that err they want they already have some a few lego sets but the thing is they want more, you see and this more itself, err what is the latest uh lego set that you have bought for your kids


and how much does it cost compared to previously, yeah, the the the most recent last one


but I uh uh as what for what I what I think is that err basically I still ending with err happiness is still an expensive pursuit today in compared to the olden days because number one the, the standard of living is higher


and the prices of each item is going up, and people have different perspective in items as they'll as their age progressively increase, and basically these are the few things that I mentioned, that to support my statement of uh this happiness is a expensive pursuit today


yeah, that ends ah with my debate on this topic, andy maybe you can do a summarization on this, on why you disagree yeah


diligence is the key to, a debate debate topic two


diligence is a key to success okay, so basically I do agree with the diligence is the key to success basically uh in everything you do diligence uh due diligence is being is required so


you are must have some perseverance uh with the things that you do to uh to get you to the things that you want also, uh for example if you are to you are working right now diligence the key whereby you can fulfil all your means in terms of uh your work and also in terms of your your goals


so in short I feel that the diligence is required in everything that you need to do today, to the and is a key, work to your success in fulfilling every goals that you, you've planned for, andy what's your take on this


not and I don't think doing more will achieve higher but the thing is doing more will still stay put to your position and uh you have still holding your position to continue working, because right now company is very demanding nowadays uh with the COVID situation and the pandemic


a lot of uh cost-cutting is already in be in place a lot of staff has already been retrenched at this moment, so doing diligence is not the not a full I mean of course is a key thing right now to fulfill all your requirements towards to a company


and from that itself you're still stay put to your position, rather than being get the retrenched because of uh did not perform your diligence in your work itself, ya, so I still agree on diligence is the keyword to success ah


ya but because you are being paid for for what you have been doing, in let's say for let's put aside uh being chopped off or even being retrenched ah at the side, but basically if you do your due diligence in in committing into every individuals uh opportunities or even uh sales lead or whatever


eventually you still get your your goals you you if you'll get your this uh, sales order from the customer itself, so diligence itself basically you need to follow up closely and uh ask a lot of questions and from that itself uh if you don't do all this stuff do you think the the the your your plan will actually work


and things will come in smoothly


uh I still don't see your point against mine because uh basically in terms of uh diligence-wise it is err, is something that you have to do in that it's a process is a process that you'll ultimately reaches your goals, I mean let's talk not talk about work let's talk about studies


for our kids itself, do you think playing on diligence is the keyword to success, for example, let's say they are taking uh err this uh end of the year or school leaving examinations, so do you think that diligence itself is the keyword to success or if you don't do any religions uh or even to that you don't persevere on anything that you do


will your results get there to the to the optimum goal that you want to go for another school I mean which is the, the secondary school or even uh in the JC or a university that of your choice


of course diligence is not the full portion basically err you need to have some hard work and also on your self motivations, but uh diligence is only one portion of it but it also plays a part in making our way to success, so for example a child itself who is taking err a leave school-leaving examination


if he don't have such diligence being built-in in place for him, basically he have no idea on where to go and uh is like going towards to uh objective without any goals or any, any motive, he will just passing on on whatever that is and proceed on what he thinks that he feels right


so, for diligence itself err I understand it's not a whole whole portion that will you will lead you to the key to success but however it is also a main thing that you must have, to lead to uh this success itself


err I still I still really don't agree because all these are rich people's is how many percent of the of the populations, , if you are talking about those rich, rich uh rich personnels


okay you see ah those rich personnel is only five percent of the total per uh five to seven percent of the total populations , in meaning to say a ninety ninety-two to ninety-five percent ah is still is still a normal household err I mean is a very normal persons that he need to work his way up


rather than uh having the the a lot of money being inheritance by the I mean forefathers or even uh the parents itself, so I don't agree with those the uh the statement that you have cause this only applicable to five percent of the population,


it's from the statistics, it is from the statistics you see in the whole world itself the rich I mean the rich only comprises of five to seven percents, okay about fifty to fifths uh fifty to sixty percent is the middle class, and the rest will be the lower income


if you go into work into any statistics of any country you can see the population of the rich people does not exceed five uh ten percent


that is the minority


but andy please remember that here is the five five to seven percent of the people that is uh on the top, instead of, and uh drive if you are talking about driving a good BM or driving a sports car uh I mean and give you the, diligence of getting anywhere or none gone none


not getting them to anywhere basically I still believe that a key success is still up to in the individual, because if you don't have such thing being inherited in your personality basically you won't get to anywhere


but as I as I mentioned it is not a main main key but it is still a contributing factor to your success


but I still don't agree with you because you see, if the business is being passed down inherited from the forefathers or even from the parents, if you don't have that kind of due diligence basically your business will go go bust, it's when it is onto your hand


if you are someone that actually you have no directions no due diligence nothing in your mind you just take over the business and you're a money spender, basically your business will not last, right, so in uh in short key the key success also diligence is also inside one of the factors


contributing the key success, if the business until today is still surviving I can say that it's a, diligence from this person contributing to the business, otherwise the business will go, go I mean go berserk long long time ago


if you if if they had, if he have the mindset, if he have the mindset ah to in terms of uh getting peoples it's also is his due diligence to get people in, for this uh kind of intelligent people to bring in or those uh smart people in into the business to help him his business to grow


that is also one of his goals itself, so I this for this instance diligence is also playing a part, rather than if you are talking about just being passed over I just take over the business I just don't care anything I've employed all the people I got no plans nothing, then


eventually I can say the business will definitely fail


yes if you are have a strong backing, but if you have a strong backing or no matter how much fortune you have right it will still eventually use up


if you don't keep continuing growing back the amount, or even getting err you don't grow your money, basically the money will be depreciation ah depreciated over years, yeah so you don't say you have this let's say you have a strong background then this strong background itself


will eventually be exhausted, when times comes, if you do not play a part in any due diligence in terms of your working or even in terms of your attitude or in terms of what you pursue in your life


so do you still agree with me


yes the but being being said being said that you still need to play a part in terms of due diligence towards to a company that you are because they are right right now they are paymaster of your salary, so even in the in one day if you are being chopped off our being retrenched


basically this uh diligence itself will bring you to another place definitely, even in you in the life you join another company, you play a part in this diligence itself, you will still be able to climb up the corporate ladder although it might be now it might be a few years down the road


but eventually you will still be there, definitely ya, so in short I still, emphasize on diligence is still one of the key factors to your success


then you have to take it out and go to the next err next platform or even next company to perform the due diligence, so that you will have can have a chance to climb up the corporate ladder, yes so in short , for in the final call itself diligence still play a part in the key to success


consider the view that efficient government is more important than democracy, okay for this uh statement itself I, I strongly agree that uh considering the view of that efficient government is more important than democracy because ah efficient government basically they knows how to plan forward in the next five to ten years and progressively they will carry out all these plans


but let's say if you are talking about democracy a democracy itself let's say in in the event uh they have different views, yup, okay err if, they have very different views is difficult for the government to proceed further, so I'm I myself will think that uh efficient government is more important than their democracy I do agree with this statement definitely


the front part is that uh, okay, efficient government will have a good plan for the next three five to ten years basically all these are being planned and laid down on the papers itself on what they will be going to do next


but if you are talking about democracy uh basically all this plans might not become in place, they've may they may have good plans but they'll all they'll be changing here and then when they progressively move out to over the years, so in short I believe that uh this is uh in view of the efficient government is definitely more important that democracy


ya, so what's your view on this


no I do agree with you on, talking about for PMD cases err because there has been uh too much of uh reported accidents in place whereby the PMD riders are injured the part the pedestrians


causes a threat uh poses a threat to them this group of people, whereby they are moving off very fast, so in terms of efficiency , lay out by the government itself they have no choice but eventually to ban all of this PMDs uh


the these vehicles on the road itself to ensure the safety of each individual residents, so effectively they take into consideration of what ah is the cause, and effect, and they have actions


by means of uh banning this uh PMDs, can you can see that the government is if let's say you have a efficient government all this thing can be, it can be done within a very short period of time, however if you don't have a efficient government in place basically this uh this issue will will drag on and on and sometimes it's moved from years to years


and from this instance itself was I mean I mean the the PMD cases that you are talking about recently err I think for last year itself, everything happens so fast there's no chances of this PMD riders err to react on this uh new rules being laid down by the governments


and this shows the effectiveness of the government, in terms of uh things things on err on the PMD cases on our issues


ya but you see uh any policy that being passed down or by-laws that have being passed down it cannot uh serve and help make everyone happy, but of course if you have taking into the seriousness of the accident cases being reported day after day, they have no choice but to ban these PMDs on the roads


and on top of that all this PMDs they are being compensated, right, and the amount of uh x amount being one or one PMD being registered with the government they will pay you x amount, for for returning the PMD to the government, and you can use this x amount to purchase a bicycle instead of using a PMD


so these are the things that they're already in plan and uh if you do do not have a efficient government that have uh all these plans on hand basically it's difficult to make a by by-laws or even even this policy to works, uh as I mention of the any policy there are giving is being passed down it will not satisfies all the people or even all the residents in the country itself


so definitely they have put all this into considerations, and uh only a effective government have all these points in view, to satisfy and also to pass down all these policy, rather than err if you were talking about democracy


basically all this might not be a bit will be even more messier


okay you see ah for your PMDs ah is being introduced on a road I think one two years to three years back, so basically we do not have such infrastructure being built on the roads itself, if you were talking into taking into consideration to build a special path for PMDs uh riders to ride on the road itself it will takes another three to five years to complete the whole project


so taking into consideration of three to five years how many more all accidents will this PMD drivers would like to would like to will cost eventually for every day, so taking taking for that itself err to three to five years to build the whole infrastructure is difficult and it will be a costly amount to the to the government itself


so in short they have to terminate such a policy or carry out these such policy immediately, so that the you do not face any more issues in the near future, and all this are the elderlies and the young young childrens can be safer from those reckless uh PMD drivers on the road itself


and as were mentioned earlier err compensation has been made on these PMD riders, every PMD they bring in they'll have a x-amount compensation being paid to the riders itself, and you talking about livelihood of this err


those uh food delivery, riders itself err, they can actually take the amount of money to purchase another mode of transport, meaning to say a bicycle, as as per mentioned earlier by you cycling is one of your hobbies


so cycling if you if you like consider buying a bicycle I don't think will be that expensive, and x-amount of compensation will eventually cover the whole thing, yeah, so that everything in place if uh we do not have a efficient government all this plans or this policy will not be being carried out so smoothly and fast


if they're they're taking into consideration like err, people are human democracy uh they don't want this to be done they want that to be done in taking views into every of uh every components, it will be difficult for them to pass on this uh policy, to the people itself


because right now uh the main and I believe the main err, with main point that they are focusing on is safety of the, of the people, that is uh using the road or even uh pedestrians, ya, so in in view of our efficient government this is what they have can do


and then can execute, when in times to come for such incidents, you have any other points or views pertaining to that


okay taking into considerations of uh having a threat on the road itself it's not only uh having a threat, on the road to the road users, there's another cost of the PMD itself whereby it's being it exploded during charging, and there are so so many cases of uh fire coming fire uh breakout from PMDs


in uh HDBs flats and also in some of the public areas that causes uh a threat to to people's life too, too, so these are the point these are the stuffs that the government takes into consideration


in terms of uh banning such uh the PMDs on the road itself or even the whole of or or the country itself, so, there is uh many many points and many many views err to take before they can put it up into such a policy, and they are also consider many points


in terms of our livelihood in terms of err whatever stuff that uh people might be angry of because of the by-law being passed down, and uh with a short time short period of time they have to make ways or make other plans, to to to own their own livelihood


so, taking into consideration of everything I believe that a efficient government ah uh have all this things in hand, or in place before they pass down the laws itself, but we thought all without an efficient government over here


this will be a again drag years over years, and how many casualties will there be, eventually per year, and how many house will be burnt down, because of uh unauthorized uh and those uh unauthorized e scooters


so these are the the things that they consider I mean the factors that they consider before they pass down the by-laws, ya, so my take over here it's still uh efficient government is definitely more important than democracy


there are many puke many different people's uh views on difference different perspective, but eventually it boils down to what are the main concern and what are the main purpose of main objective the government want to achieve, for this PMD case, I think safety will be a main priority


on hand, that's why they come up with such uh laws to ban PMDs on the road


okay but as you mentioned


okay thank you


happiness is an expensive pursuit today how far do you agree


so I can start or, happiness is uh uh not a expensive pursuit


today how far do I agree okay I do not agree because , we we don't spend much when we are actually at home and uh we can actually enjoy happiness without any uh


expensive luxury stuff in order to gain this uh choices or this uh statement we can always do cheap things, to gain the happiness example cycling is a very uh simple and uh enjoyment a hobby that you can also have the as uh the happiness or pursuit and uh I I I hope


you agree with what I actually opposite


uh for me I disagree with yours your uh opposites I mean your proposition , uh to be frank I'm still using a thirty years old bicycle since nineteen ninety-two so this has been purchased in the year which is very cheaply and what you need to do is a four dollar fifty cent spray uh spray can actually refresh the


whole look of the bicycle for me simple is easy doesn't mean happiness will will need to pursuit a expensive stuff or or, and anything that will make it to become a happiness for you that's why I'm disagreed with your statement


ya agree uh but uh no no no I never agrees , to to upgrade it it doesn't need to pay a lot okay and uh you can always


use the recycle uh item which is from another uh parts uh or from another physical item to replace it , and right now people are all going for economical, stuff uh especially you can see long queue in decathlon all are actually getting in to to buy stuff which is at a lower price so expand as to pursuit your happiness through this expensive stuff is uh is not a good I mean I I'm not I'm not agreed to it


I I still felt that uh, the everyone going there is for a low budget range so the stuff there I mean the the clothing or the parts is always sold out especially all those cheap one the expensive one are always available I can I can I can let you know right now everything is out of stock


even all different outlet, yup those those uh higher price, vehicle or the the the bicycle are s definitely available but


it is not a is yeah heard


uh I I believe, uh right now people will tend to source for cheaper price and also getting stuff that is more less expensive comparing to expensive pursuit err


yeah agree


uh for me, no because if you purchase a high price you definitely need to go back to the high price shop floor to repair and uh for those uh neighborhood repairing shop


they will not pick up uh stuff I mean if they wanted to pick up the job that is suitable uh to repair that that high-end bike because those people that can afford a high-end bike they are always very particular about structures so it's still


it's still about the, , the different level different level of pursuit and uh happiness can still begin with a normal uh, item rather than an expensive item


I started off fishing since young so the the first fishing rod that I have is about twelve dollars only and uh when I was actually visiting a shop and pick up a rod that I wish I almost broke it because the fan was just above


which costs hundred over dollars that's why , at this point of time fishing is from jet Bedok jetty and pursuing this expensive uh hobby right you can also do it in a normal way which is uh less expensive


uh people can engage a boat to get uh get offshore fishing which is about four hundred or six hundred dollars per per day , you can always go to a jetty bring your children to enjoy uh to to enjoy this happiness without even paying any amount it's just about using a two dollar fifty cents uh uh which is called the sabiki


they can actually jig fishes from the water without even putting a bait so this kind of enjoyment when when the when the fish is on the ground the children start to snatch and pick up the fish into the uh container that you have so so this time


you do you think that uh you need an expensive pursuit or a uh, a simple uh normal way of fishing style can actually ah enjoy this happiness also


yeah so


so so for this as I as I classify is an expensive hobby but it he can still choose the hobby in uh expensive way or the normal way agree that uh people with uh higher passion will


go for the err, trip which can cost you uh five thousand US dollar or maybe uh to maldives to enjoy game fishing and a tackle which costs you two thousand per set and this, this kind of enjoyment you don't enjoy with family


happiness build-up are for with family and rather than okay you may have friends to to to go together with you for this trip but are they your family member no you'll only have their only one day have


happiness happiness can, , happiness can buy uh using money doesn't call happiness, done


so I I will still find that choosing happiness with a expensive stuff uh it it's for for temporary after you gain this happiness you will put that happiness aside, when you are doing a normal pursuit right uh or you you have a a lower rate one uh and you you enjoy it by as example


I like building uh I like my bicycle a lot which is thirty years I start to think that I must rebuild it so I go and buy a four dollar, fifty cents spray to do it over the weekend first thing you need to do is dismantle the whole bicycle


dismantle the whole bicycle the next challenge will be fixing up the next the bicycle and I give myself a target once I remove today I want to complete by next week because I don't want, my uh my this uh whole project become a unhappiness for my family cause I actually mess up house so


with that one week I fulfil my promise I complete all the uh cleanup the maintenance the oiling the uh installing, and now I'm very happy with the thirty-year-old


bike, I can bring me from Tampines to Eunos within seven kilometer at ten minute only so, what do you think if you buy a very luxury vehicle or a luxury uh mountain bike you put it at home, would you want to cycle on the road or you want to go trail singapore got how many trail that can allow you to go and try your high-end bike


yeah we're we're we're still hearing you, still still still for me I I felt that err


happiness doesn't need to have a expensive stuff lah uh you don't need you don't need to enjoy uh, five-course dinner during birthday you can eat like you say you enjoy, cooking at home and why why don't you go out and eat when you you can pay for it


!aiyo! I lost we lost him again


!hey!, , I know what you want to say , !wah! you got a lawsuit


yeah, okay I I understand what you have say but uh cooking at home is actually to cut costs spending thirty dollars, per day I think you can cook two meal but if you were to you were to


go out for a lunch a thirty dollar for a family of four or family of five is never enough, in restaurant so why cooking at home is a is a better choice for me it's uh an


enjoyment where you actually do the cooking with your family and you will have that type of happiness, which you won't you cannot use money to purchase , okay, ya so so I still find that err


happiness can do it in a low uh low-cost pursuit, my birthday is very simple my kids' birthday ah


I recycle all those stuff from year uh, year one year old until seven year old, I can use the the crops which is, err one year old and I reuse it in seven years old I I I I will I will


have those err happiness for them which is at a lower rather than, a hype also I can buy them uh high-end bicycle I also can buy then high-end uh lego, uh but for me I will ask them is it a must to have so many


yeah and uh why why do you need to have a lego where you already have a few set, and you still want to build more unless you are you are having a a, a showcase that you can actually display all these items, when when when my children also tell me that he wanted they wanted to own a dog


a pet so so I say I already have so many to feed on unless you all want to contribute me to feed yourself first then I will contribute to feed the other animal, so I I will still find that happiness doesn't need uh to do expensive stuff


right, right now


the the last the last last last lego set was when I'm traveling in philippine where there's the lego was like twenty, twenty percent ah twenty percent price , this still last year before the the christmas


because I bought it at the lowest price, in in the mall and and I wrap it up and keep it until christmas, , so so is is it can be done you see I still fulfil the happiness where I'm still using the


the lowest uh cost to do it it's about uh it's about how you plan


uh for the past fifty minute yeah okay I still disagreed


, diligence is the key to success what is your view


due diligence I still, okay for me diligent you can do your diligent to fulfill the job, but when you actually commit full diligent or full uh commitment and


this this uh doesn't lead you to achieve the, the err career advancement so what's the point of, diligent you if if let's say your position is already uh stagnant where you are at the most level


and you're performing all the diligent that you need to in order to make your company succeed, and with that diligent, do you think , by doing more you can achieve higher


, you agree that the pandemic is uh due diligent but when you perform your due diligent and you are the lucky one , no if you if you are in your uh you are still performing and and uh contributing your diligent to the company and when you are actually putting all your hearts to help the company get you


into maintaining at this position but, at the last when they need to have a headcount chop or headcount reduce if you are the chosen one, are you still thinking that diligent will lead you to the succeed


[orh] I I I still felt that uh you don't need to do so much right now because everybody is so uncertain, even even in the company uh you contribute eh do you think that, err your your so-called activity is being realized by the top top management whatever you do is only


the level that is monitoring you will know that what you have contribute when, your bosses are the selected one to be gone during the ah selection let's say they really need to execute the


this retrenchment and, you are not chosen one but the boss being choose chose ah decided to leave , will will there be another person to know what you have done, so my my feeling is you need to follow the wind and


don't need to really do, to stick to your diligent in order to succeed, where where now a lot of people are actually also just stay in the path where, the wind blow and maintain


don't need to do too much okay, yup done so you you can you can consider my uh so-called point of view saying that uh putting full effort will not lead you to the best uh position


and err, the person that is viewing you, may not always be there to be uh helping you or lifting you and support you, and so tell me do you think my debate is err I mean reasonable


, for,


right right now if the children are able to pursue yes but if


diligently based on that in order to success , you you see whatever they can err the efforts that they put in all the things that they do uh is, within their mean or I'm I'm okay but if if


due to diligent and uh that is the only key to success I I disagree, they you can have you can be coming from a rich family and you don't require to, stay put in singapore to do the due diligent or


or stay put in in this country to do the diligent or you can proceed to other country to pursue, and by doing that what you need to have, you only need to have enough, cash flow to to pay for the school fees


and uh whatever those those thing that can be afforded do you think diligent will will will come in, by paying uh with cash should be able to be the success to the key already the key to the success sorry


I I still disagree right now many children rely on parent


so the parent will only need to be rich, you can see how many ferrari riders or drivers that I mean those those are high-end vehicle owner the person that step out from the car are twenty odds youth or maybe thirty youth so do you think


they are ready uh having uh they are, they have this kind of uh success in their at that kind of age so so when your


but a lot a lot of them don't need, to have this type of a diligent in order to , be success,


how how how how do you achieve the how do you achieve the five percent how do you err conclude that this five percent only


yup done so


you you can see right now all luxury vehicle are very common on the road and uh, you seriously all the drivers are all youth and we talked about the latest err, bad accident that happened in the CTE where the whole BMW went into the do you think


that one is uh uh a person that can err, err I mean that that's M M series err vehicle do you think is a is a high I mean err age that can own that, how how he he do it do you think he will we have the diligent


or he has the background where uh that, the mountain is supporting him err in order to to achieve this uh luxury vehicle, so, what what what come to the end the moral is uh diligent err doesn't make him success


he he don't he didn't need a diligent to to reach there but now he's in the heaven already


agree but err diligent bro really don't don't it's not a real real key to the success seriously many of the children are still


you need to you really need to uh consider about how how children really are relying on parents do they really need to have their own due diligent , a lot are still uh being, push uh to go and uh I mean pursuit some of them drop off earlier than than me I mean


those those hard what what what they want to do they are so if if they have that diligent ah , they can also uh okay I quote an example, the one of my uh friend uh actually uh doing


the what kind uh what's that they're into a shoe business you don't need to have a a a education, to to get this kind of success but what he need to do is is pass down by the family okay the family have already started this


when when he took over, he just sit in to get the business, okay so diligent wise, is is for me as long as you can you have uh uh you are born in the rich man ah rich man family you just take over the business and you will be able to get the success already


uh what what what he needs to do is to employ more more people that is able to help him success


ah for for for me I felt that it


okay but but uh no but the, the thing is as long as you have a strong backing err this diligent won't won't need to be there in order to make him to that level


as long as it's uh it's about it's about your life lah