allows you to compassionately approach challenges, in a way that makes it easier to productively root them out, yes


part two, debate topic two


uh my life my choice, uh, I agree that we live life, based on the very choices we actually make, so there was this quote by robert


burnett where he said that your life is the sum result of, all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously, if you can control


the process of choosing, you can take control, of all aspects of your life, and you can find the freedom that comes, from being in charge of yourself, so


I feel that when it comes right down to it, almost everything is choice, every single minute, we have choices in life, this is both a great truth and a hard lesson because


it reminds us of, our own power not power over others but, the hidden untapped, power to be our very best, and live out our dreams


uh, we are born with the power to manifest our future, and, I think it isn't fate that determines our future


our future is determined by the choices, we make, or don't make or, uh leave for others to make for us, so if we don't like uh present uh situation we are living we can always create a new one


and this power is ours, future success is not the result of just, one monumental decision, it is actually


the result of a, continuous series of choices every single, day, those choices don't just impact the moment, they actually echo throughout our professional and personal lives


, so some may say, that, we don't choose our circumstances, however we have, actually more power over, uh our circumstances than we actually care to admit even if circumstances are thrust upon us


we choose how we respond to them, so some of the most inspiring stories are of those who, overcame and chose to become successful, yup I will pass


to the opposition


my life my choice, I think it's important to for us to live life by making our own choices


so that, we can learn the skill of decision-making, if we continuously let others decide on our choices in life we may never ever pick up this important skill


and bad decision making is an essential part of children's road to maturity the problem arises however if the children poor decision making continues


uh this usually occurs when you know our parents don't hold their children responsible for their poor decisions, instead bailing their children out of the trouble their children get into these children learn that


they aren't responsible for their decisions and can continue to do stupid things without the fear of consequences, without parents making decisions for the child the child will most likely make the wrong decisions


, however parents should let their child make decisions for themselves when it is the right time to do so I think decision-making, is an important skill and allowing young people to make their own decisions is part of the maturity process


however uh, bad decisions do affect this maturity so parents must be diligent in what and when they allow kids to make their own decisions


, good decision-making skills means, having a healthier lifestyle, and living in a world where you're responsible enough to make your own decisions the proper way


you know kids have become so dependent on their parents, that they need them always to do everything for them, on the other hand it is important for kids to learn to make decisions which means that parents should let their children make decisions


for themselves but only when they're ready and only for things that are not too important parents should allow their children to make decisions on their own so they learn how to make them if


parents never let their children make their own decision, then the children will never be able to make decisions later in life due to this lack of practice if


they do not develop skills in decision-making, when they're young children will greatly suffer and as a teenager parents should let their children make decisions for themselves to see


what the world is like in their own hands and for them to experience what is really out there in the world by letting them make their own decisions


, part three debate topic three


so the world uh would be a better, place if, more political leaders were women, because I feel that women in government tend to work in more collaborative and bipartisan ways


, women employ a more democratic leadership style compared to men's more autocratic style and women are also, more effective at building coalitions and reaching a consensus


, now leader leaders have teams around them and the most powerful thing a leader can do is to ensure that their collective performance is stronger than any individual


and, I think that male leaders are too focused on their own goals, their own needs, and so more likely that they will hang onto their own personal power I think that women's uh political leadership will actually bring about


a more cooperative and less conflict a less conflict prone world women are usually seem to uh they usually seem to focus on ways on how to bring global peace


rather than to go for rather than to go for war, and if you put women in leadership they have a degree of tolerance and understanding that allows them to persist even when teams even when things seems to be very bad


and unlike men, they have the power and, the emotional inclination to hold onto hope, when it comes to negotiating with uh former enemy countries


I think uh the world would, be a better place if, uh more political leaders were women, because , women seems to be better at at handling health crisis such as the coronavirus


and actually germany chancellor angela Merkel, uh actually began her march eighteenth speech to the german people by by acknowledging their pain that they have experienced because of this virus


she said and I quote the coronavirus is currently dramatically changing our lives our understanding of normality of public life of social togetherness all of this is being tested as never before


, then uh she actually called on germans to, work together to keep each other safe, and meanwhile around the same time uh president donald trump was actually uh you know telling the media and the democrats that they were overhyping the situation and promising that there's a


the virus problem will actually go away and uh trumpeting his own performance in dealing with this uh crisis uh ya so on march eighteenth the same day that uh


uh angela Merkel actually gave a speech, uh donald trump actually said that uh that he has always treated the chinese virus very seriously and he feels that he has done a very good job from the beginning


, so now indeed female leaders around the world, uh from angela Merkel to jacinda ardern of new zealand to uh #chai ying wen# of taiwan have actually won praise for their handling of this crisis


uh they along with other women in power around the world, haven't just communicated effectively with their constituents uh during this unprecedented, public health disaster they have also responded swiftly and decisively uh managing to keep this case counts and deaths


in their country lower than those of their neighbours, germany for example, uh had about a quarter as many deaths as france uh as of late april although both countries were actually uh both hit hard by the virus


so woman leaders may share some traits that make them particularly well-prepared for these moments for example they don't face the same pressure to appear hyper-masculine and tough in the face of this pandemic


uh and this is a this is a pressure that may drive trump and other male leaders like uh #jair bolsonaro# the brazilian the brazilian president, to downplay the seriousness of this threat


so men definitely are going to take more of the heat if they're perceived as weak at a time like this whereas women may face less judgment, if they admit their own and others' vulnerability to this virus and call on their constituents for help


so I'll pass baton on to the opposition


okay


okay hi good afternoon everybody so uh happiness is an expensive pursuit today I agree to this statement to a certain extent because basically right now uh people are more educated in the current uh


so the expectation of happiness is also higher , in the past probably when we have a bowl of rice with some soya sauce we are already very happy maybe that is talking about thirty years ago right now in order to be happy the expectation is higher when expectation is higher you will also need money to actually sustain


that kind of uh happiness the level of happiness it is it's equated with an amount of money in the current society


okay however when I have a report over here by christopher patterson which is a psychology that actually mentioned something about two thousand and fifteen uh a report in two thousand and fifteen saying that happiness comes in three different segment


okay happiness comes in three different segment uh a pleasant life as well as a good as good life as well as a meaningful life these are the three different aspect, so in order to be able to meet the biggest aspect of pleasant life you are you should be able to enjoy daily pleasures what would do we mean by daily pleasures daily pleasure basically means that being able to have access to food


sometimes food is just not enough we need good food in order to make us feel better to have the accessibility to do what you like for example by just as simple as uh walking in the beach if you are unable to meet your basic needs or to be able to


have better food going walking on the beach becomes a luxury, so it comes at an expensive price also so we also have people you know when you have a bag a bag is not enough you need expensive bags to make you happy for example the luxury brands [dah] in order to make you happy


so the next part is also talking about good life which is recreational pursuit , nowadays when uh we are talking about recreational pursuit sometimes you know maybe at this point of of life you think that jogging is a very happy thing to do


that or something that is of a higher level to suit your social status so all this comes in at a cost uh a membership uh the golf uh equipments all come at a cost


so lastly also they talk about meaning meaning life, so in order to have that uh meaning life basically means that benefiting others in terms of , adding value life to other people how do we do that in order to do that you will also need to be able to reach uh to be self-sufficient you should be able to be be happy in order you in order to add on this happiness to others


so this also come at a price ya


uh #chee boon# I think that is a very nice story to tell and I think that is a one time story that we are hearing that uh , uh people who doesn't want money and and uh happiness is not uh a an expensive pursuit uh we all know human are never enough so when you are happy at something today tomorrow you are happy you will need uh you'll be


you will need more to be happy so certain things you may need more to be happy that would equate to money for example to according to a GDP report , that is uh run by this professor richard layard in two thousand and thirteen he did a study of uh happiness which GTP the the GDP in that country actually equates to how happy the citizens are in that country


, uh with zero being the worst life possible and ten being the uh possible life uh that a person can have, uh he surveyed hundred fifty countries uh over a period of two years twenty ten to twenty twelve so apparently the lowest GDP country for example is the africa area


uh they are only uh hitting a happiness rate of four point six whereas countries like australia new zealand sweden switzerland they are hitting a happiness uh uh grade of seven-point-one to nine itself on different countries


so with this report it does tells us that when you have a higher GDP level , uh you are actually happier so higher GDP also equates to more money with more money you'll be a happier person according to the report


okay (ppc) okay ya, thank you #chee boon# for bringing out this uh comparison and you mentioned about the example of malaysians who are uh uh uh earning one thousand Ringgit versus five thousand ringgit people are happier


when they are having one thousand Ringgit but uh, may I where do you get the source and also let's say if a person who are not able to meet to their basic necessity how can one be happy everyday I will be thinking of one thousand dollars is it enough for this month I will need to think of oh this month I may not have enough money for the rest of the of the week


I may not have enough money to to pay my children's school fees I may not have enough money to pay for my mum's medical fee at the end of the day this lead the basic needs of human becomes a worry with all these thing becomes a worry how can one be happy that's my question back


okay uh thank you #chee boon# for that so uh I would like to bring you to the first point that I've mentioned that while people are more educated now so the expectations of happiness is also higher


so when we say that uh the expectation of happiness is also higher that also equates to more being more expensive in terms of psychologically okay, so right now for example maybe a certain things that I will do for maybe three days in the past and actually already very happy let's put an example uh being over going for overseas trip


last time maybe when I go to JB one day I will be very happy about that one day trip already maybe now uh if I ask you to go for a JB one day trip you will tell me that oh it's just JB nothing to be excited about, also now maybe now you uh you are getting slightly more affluent now I'm getting you to go to a Bangkok three day trip ya you are very excited about it


but maybe two years down the road you are telling me Bangkok ah if I tell you Bangkok you will tell me that stop wasting my time, so at the end of the day it is an expensive pursuit in terms of mentally people expectation of happiness is also much higher compared to maybe ten twenty years ago so at whole I still feel that happiness is going to be an expensive pursuit in terms of uh psychologically and also monetary


hi good afternoon everyone uh today we are talking about whether is diligence the key to success uh maybe first thing first we can talk about whether, uh what diligence actually meant


so diligent means that a person is being careful persistent uh in working and putting in persistent effort to make things work this is based on the uh definition in Wikipedia so uh success


uh involved persistent and cannot be achieved overnight so at the end of the day this particular educator doctor samuel johnson said that great work are performed not by strength but by perseverance so I believe that diligence is the key to success


okay so #chee boon# you mentioned something about uh personal goals for example health success , so in order to for someone to achieve health success a person needs to be diligent in for example working out for example eating healthily consistently


so then one person will be able to reach their health success goal it cannot be one day I decided like uh I today I decided to work out but uh I decided to work out a week later that is not being diligent enough to ensure you meet your goal


for example eating healthily I cannot be saying that uh once a week I eat salad one time and I I am being I uh then I will be able to be successful in my health goals already that's not possible, so at the end of the day someone still needs to be diligent and that will be the key to success to ensuring that you meet your health goals


for example if maybe I'm diabetic okay for example if someone is diabetic uh I need to be very careful in terms of what I eat and how I eat I cannot be saying that today I decided that oh I think I'm feeling good so I decide that I will only


eat uh or I can eat a lot much more than uh compared to what I I I usually do so consistency and the diligent is important for us to to be able to achieve what we really want example in terms of health success that is also very critical


so let me put, okay


okay so at the end of the day I feel that diligent is still the key to success let me give you an example this example is actually from the uh from uh a website uh by Kumon Kumon educator , so at the end of the day if a student wants to be a doctor okay he will also need to be diligent enough to actually uh put in eighty hours during uh of uh training a day a week sorry at the hospital during his residency this is a very good example


so let's say if you say that diligent is not the only key success then why do a doctor needs to spend eighty hours a week to actually uh mentor his uh uh uh uh uh consultant doctor to be able to complete his uh uh residency attachment


okay so when we talk about education that you just mentioned #chee boon# so maybe I can give you another classic example uh albert einstein the one that is actually very famous in physics that he came up with a lot of equation


so he during his initial stage of life he actually fail every single entry exam but he actually took the diligence to ensure that he retakes his exam, so that he can actually get into college even after good uh graduating from college he couldn't secure any employment for a good three years but he actually persevere at every level of his life


and subsequently he managed get nobel a nobel prize in physics at the later part of his years so this is actually a very classic example that with perseverance, or with diligence someone can be successful given that you have the right even if you don't have the right environment uh so per se as you've mentioned someone can also make use of


the environment like what einstein did to his best advantage so with this definitely diligence is a key in order for you to be able to be successful by making, uh the best of the environment that is uh good to advantageous to you that also needs diligence to look at and plan how you would like things to work in your advantage


okay so uh I think the question was at the end of the day today's debate topic is diligence is the key to success it doesn't mean that it is the only key to success uh perhaps that will be uh a clearer


explanation of today's topic but let's say back to the einstein example so you said that he has intelligence and creativity that's no doubt we all agree that he has a very high intelligence of hundred sixty in uh IQ as you mentioned


but let's say one day he let's say let's bring back to to to to him again let's say he doesn't have the diligence, he although he has the intelligence and creativity I'm sure he will not get the nobel award in physics even though he has he has the intelligence and creativity but without the diligence so at the end of the day diligence is still a key to success


uh in everyone's life I need to put in the the necessary effort and diligence to make sure things work a lot of things uh in life cannot be, a one time effort or a effort that is not uh that is not enough


to make things work even though you have other very strong uh trails in life you can be very intelligent you can be very creative you can be very eloquent but without diligence, things will never work out uh in terms of being successful thank you


so at at the end of the day when you said selling bags are if the if the person the the marketing people who are diligent enough they will not be ending up selling bags in in a secluded island already so this is being diligent to ensure that there is market share that is enough avenue for you to sell


the the the goods, okay okay so at the end of the day okay okay can, ya twenty minutes


part three debate topic three


I think we cannot lah ha we start seventeen lah , , okay


okay good afternoon everyone so today we are talking about, effective government is ah is more important than democracy I do agree uh on this statement to a certain extent because at the end of the day uh effective government will provide people with high standard of living and quality of life so let's look at uh


uh example that uh the uh nearest example would be malaysia , so at the end of the day we all know that the the administrative of the government is not as strong even though there's democracy let's look at the things that are that is being built in malaysia sometimes an overhead bridge can takes you know three years to complete whereas singapore you can see that is completed within months


so uh with this you will actually add quality of life to their citizens when the administrative of government is strong, to you #chee boon#


okay if we look at the different government at the end of the day you if we look at malaysia at as at the uh as a example once again so we have seen that for the uh recent two years okay the prime minister and the whole government has changed at least three times


for the very first time it was actually uh the the previous prime minister Najib that was actually for a certain period and uh the discussion between singapore to build the rail the rail between JB and singapore was actually in talks and it was actually pretty good


so when you change to the the next prime minister which is Mahathir this talk the talk actually stopped at the end of the day so and then now it changed to the newest prime minister uh Muhyiddin and then the talks came back again


so if you look at to make the life better between malaysians and singapore it could have already be been done so much earlier if the malaysian government is stable and is effective but because of this inefficient of malaysian government


the whole project actually stopped which in terms affect malaysians and singapore where where we could actually enjoy a better way to commute, uh between these two countries much earlier but with an efficient government like that which uh changes and postpone things that they deemed fit at the end of the day who suffers it will be the citizen who suffer so at the end of the day efficient government is much more important than the democracy thank you


okay but at the end of the day if you mentioned that that ten countries about them being efficient government at the end of the day we all know that efficient government means that your political stability in your country is there so meaning to say that for example


uh if a government wants to plan ahead maybe thirty forty years ahead for the country, the the government cannot allow too many democracy going on for example the government changes every five years if the government changes every five years uh because there is democracy that are allowed to the people


at the end of the day the plans that is been planned by the first government will have already been changed so at the end of the day the government cannot be effective if I'm changing, plans every few years so for example if I'm planning now for maybe five years later for singapore to have


maybe ten years later to have singapore to go green okay now we have democracy coming in okay five years later we are changing our government, so perhaps the new government will look at !hey! no I don't believe in going green let's go back to to to to you know burning coals so at the end of the day with this democracy in place it will cause the government to be not efficient


so at the end of the day if the if the government is not efficient the quality of life of people will be affected so at the end of the day I will still think that efficient government is more important than democracy, so another example will be hong kong we have a lot of democracy going on but the government is not effective the government is not strong so at the end of the day you will see that is a lot of protests going on and on week after week who suffers at the end of the day it's the general public like you and me


so at the end of the day uh if fit effective government is still more important than democracy we can have democracy all all you want but at the end of the day the quality of life of people will not be at the tip top condition thank you


okay so back to my point that at the end of the day if a government needs to be efficient


a government needs more than a certain number of years to for for singapore to plan ahead for example let's take singapore for example now we are actually looking at the at planning singapore maybe forty years down the road so if you are talking about democracy if we allow democracy to be fully in swing


in the country meaning to say that a country can uh a government can change hands maybe in a year in the two uh in in one year in two years, so what happens to the project that is being planned by the by the past government malaysia was a very good example


for uh the the even for the high speed rail from singapore to malaysia initially was on it was talking running very smoothly the talk was going very well, and the the the planning was actually in place uh of by the first government that has been running malaysia for the past ten years suddenly democracy come in place and it changes government


and the part in then the government decide that we should not building anymore and the most recent government has not said anything about it, so at the end of the day it's still the quality of life that will be impacted if let's say democracy is in place more if that rather than an efficient government and also at the end of the day uh let's look at the the most recent uh situation about COVID nineteen alright


so singapore has a very efficient government no doubt so you see at the end of the day we know where was the problem and we quickly arrest it so sad there are certain countries they're still battling with COVID nineteen, so a very good example is US there's so much democracy going on in the united states


let's see what happened to their COVID nineteen cases is in millions the percentage of people are getting infected versus the percentage of people are being infected and quickly arrest is actually a huge difference so at the end of the day if there's so much democracy going on


the quality of life and and and uh uh for their people is definitely being affected thank you


so at the end of the day there was there's so many democracy going on in united states for example you can see that uh people are going out to to protest saying that COVID is a fake thing that you are telling me that COVID is because you wanted to put down my rights as a human being


so at the end of the day uh democracy is efficient government will be more important than democracy, thank you yes it is


part one debate topic one


okay so right uh hi everyone happiness is not an expensive pursuit today happiness is never an expensive pursuit not in the past today and will not be in the future so first of all right we have to understand what is the meaning of happiness


so basically right happiness is, as defined by Wikipedia it's used in the context of mental emotional states including positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy so it'll also used in the context of life satisfaction subjective well-being and also flourishing and well-being


so as what uh calvin has mentioned earlier right so the state of happiness is not only defined by the societies it's also defined by our belief system, the state of mind the culture the religion the environment and also it's constant changing uh one person can be happy now but on the other and another moment right he might still not be satisfied with what he has achieved which he thinks is his happiness in the past


so money can't buy happiness and there's a good reason for that so because basically it's free so access to this is abundantly available commodity easily gain by making a conscious choice to find joy every day regardless of the day


okay so right uh to actually uh counter what calvin has say regarding the jogging golf, so uh from examples that calvin has stated right it shows that happiness is not an expensive pursuit at all because right whether something is expensive is really subjective nobody can actually define what expensive is


to some people jogging is


more positive to focus on you know uh for example you know you probably you will find ask yourself you know why last time having maybe like uh even KFC is a luxury for example and but now right even going to some like Atas restaurants uh you might feels that it's still not good enough


so we must uh we must always uh know that there's always something for which is to be grateful regardless of the size of a challenge so this is also a great time to actually count our blessings by thinking positively and then to think what happiness really means to us


so I would I would like to maybe uh tell a story so you know there there live a like happy cobbler you know of someone who make the shoes, who pass his day working and singing from morning to night, so then comes a very rich neighbor and he was a banker so one day he actually tell this cobbler how much a year do you earn and the cobbler replied I earn enough to make both ends meet but funny enough like


to this banker right was thinking like oh you know oh this cobbler like really barely make ends meets you know he makes a few pennies from making shoes and then why is he still so happy, so and to himself right he actually apologise to the cobbler he said oh I'm sorry uh you must be in great distress said the banker


at but then uh I'm then the cobbler said oh I'm used to this kind of lifestyle so the next day right the rich cobbler actually came and then past ten thousand dollars in a bag to the uh to the cobbler, and the cobbler is so happy you know the cobbler so surprised and keep the money so at first right and and then in this case right so the the the rich man he tell the cobbler you can take this money and then in terms of bad times you can use it


and then uh when the cobbler take this money right because this cobbler, he stays in quite rundown place he got no safe so he become very troubled he do not know where to keep the money and then right he he didn't sleep very well and then scared that you know his money get stolen anytime


he cannot even devoted himself to work you know because he cannot sleep well he cannot rest well he cannot work well and then he feels his life so miserable so this story right truly explains whether and tell us whether happiness is actually , an expensive pursuit today which is actually not in case in fact in in in fact right money or wealth can be a problem for a sadness today


okay so right thank you calvin so, from what calvin says right we he mentions about the countries that actually relates GDP to happiness however these are also the very few countries that equates of that and it is not really conclusive of everyone and probably the majority of the people


who actually uh whether they are developing countries or the first world countries so and then there's also a a lot of research on relations between happiness and wealth that it is much more positive than we may think so for many of us right a certain increase will obviously make us happier by improving our quality of life you know


probably better healthcare housing clothing more leisure time and overseas trip or whatsoever however right these studies do not include whether the happiness is a it even a long-lasting happiness or whether the happiness comes later right with more agony to follows up okay and then


so a US studies actually found that right one, a household income reaches seventy five thousand dollars USD any additional income right actually doesn't increase any emotional wellbeing and after all right happiness is all about emotional wellbeing due to the difference in spending power right for example like the uh the number which is


that maybe lower for some ~out southeast asia country like malaysia so uh to put in context right for example, a one thousand dollars Ringgit salary increase will make someone earning five thousand dollars Ringgit much happier while it would register you know barely register for someone earning a fifty thousand Ringgit so what is the reason


state the reason is the human tendency to get used to things that once make us happy right whenever we do something often be it driving a ferrari you know flying a business class you know eating fresh sushi or or even wearing designer clothes right it's ability to lift our spirits, diminishes over time and over time right does this happiness actually becomes you know uh more troubles to follows you know and even the excitement of becoming a millionaire would eventually went off


we cannot say that you know uh you know money can buy everything but we can always see that how you know millionaires actually becomes you know , we have a lot of examples of millionaires who who cannot even uh uh take the fact that you know over the time their business collapse or whatsoever but then right


if let's say these people right without a certain financial backing right you know they might not feel the way the end, ya ya yes ya ya it's not it's not not you know ya up up right so up ya


okay uh thank you for calvin so uh the the this this this is actually a business news by mark richmond you know actually published in the star dot com you know, dot malaysia so regarding to our questions right whether like what how would people be happy if let's say they have do not have money to pay for their basic necess~ties necessities you know like even schoolings food drinks and all these and to all these right I stroke I truly actually agree with you that you know all the all the basic necessities


must be met before someone can even survive but then we have to boil down to the question you know of this whole debate is is happiness is an expensive pursuit so, most important thing we have to understand what is happiness and what is an expensive pursuit


so to some people right expensive pursuit is very subjective so I'm not, in this question right we are not debating whether happiness cost money basically everything cost money but it's about happiness is an expensive pursuit so in individual eyes right expensive is very subjective


to some people you know by by by even flying the first class it is it's you know in a in a in a in a airplane is actually not an expensive pursuit but for some right they might have to you know make a few months of their income in order able to pay for one trip


so what I would like say here is that happiness does cost money but as it as uh happiness whether it's an expensive pursuit it's really subjective, and then it also depends on the person's level of income at the period of time, so look do by doing certain things it might be an expensive pursuit for me in order to gain my happiness at this period of time however for calvin yourself right do it by doing the same thing as me might not be an expensive pursuit to your own life at your level of income at this period of time and this both the factors changes with times thank you


okay so thank you calvin so as already what you say just now so for a person right, who actually used to spend a three days in Batam is consider you know they considered happiness a source of happiness however for some and then after a while right these people start to feels you know


uh by evens they have to actually increase their Batam trip to probably like seven weeks okay okay seven weeks right but then you've realised that they are still not happy enough, they so basically what is the point so to say like back to the debate question is happiness an expensive pursuit


and happiness does not derive from monetary wise or you know whether how expensive it is it actually boils down to own self spiritual and emotional quotient you know how you actually view happiness otherwise right you know as time goes by right even with a hundred days in Batam


you will not be satisfied because it's all boils down to personal you know spiritual being we all live in a consumerist culture we believe that spending our money on material goods is the key to actually by to a more satisfying life however I believe that our experiences help us to both greater satisfaction from our lives and help us to learn and develop and grows and as an individual


so in the end I would like to conclude that happiness is not an expensive pursuit today thank you, twenty one O eight, stop ah so press the red press red ah


part two debate two topic two


okay uh thank you calvin so right , the debate today is whether diligence is the key to success, so from my point of view right diligence is not the key to success diligence is one of the many keys to success but diligence is not the key to success is not the only key to success


so calvin has actually uh pointed out you know what it means by diligence so it's basically you know the about the quality of working carefully with a lot of effort to achieve a desired result but then we also have to look from the point of what is success, so basically uh Wikipedia actually define success as being achieving of the desired results or something or or someone that achieved a positive results and then what is a positive results and in from our point of views right there are actually many different kinds of success so there can be a success in your family connections and relations


success in businesses personal success like setting goals for self-improvement and a commitment to a lifelong learning health success including mental health physical health diet legacy success so what actually contribute to success is not just uh


you know about being diligence there are actually many ~s uh factors that contribute to success and success is a multifactorial connotations which is not the only determine but only one factor such as diligence alone


okay thank you calvin so uh based on what calvin has says uh maybe I point out to his call on fitness and a lot of us right knows that actually, fitness alone right diligence is not good enough for success okay uh our and also success is defined by the individual as by what is success


okay and studies have shows that right genetics genes actually plays a strong role in fitness over everything beside just be diligence that's we are talking about maybe for example fitness at the moment so we know that actually genetics have a large influence over strength muscle, size muscle fibre composition so on so forth endurance even


so it's not about whether diligence if let's say we talk about diligence right for example let uh let's say olympics are we got are we are we saying that you know all the all the all the athletics you know on the track and fields they're not diligent enough, you are not strong enough but then at the end of the day right what define their success their success is to probably get the top three medals gold silver and bronze and some for some of them right


silver and bronze medals are not even good enough as defined by them as a success but they are diligent enough and all the all athletes you know uh trained twenty four hours a day you know throughout the whole year just preparing you know for one day of a success but then are we can we actually define that diligence is due to that


success of the diabetics is a successful control of the disease or is it a successful cure the disease and we know that you know diabetics there is no cure so by being diligent it probably would only have a good control of the disease and there are also many patients with diabetes


but yet they are even with uh they're careful control of their diet and everything it might not seems that they have a good control of the disease as well and, also we also have to point out that , each of these success factors that contribute to success right is critical to the achievement of the best life possible for every single person


so uh by systematically improve implementing more of these two success factors in your life you can put your foot on accelerator on your career on your health or anything that you are looking forward to but definitely diligence is not the key to the success there are many factors that contribute to it thank you


oh oh okay wait ah


okay uh okay so back to the point where whereby uh calvin talks about you know


with diligence and about the doctors training the trainee doctors uh to prepare, him to be a resident or whatsoever so maybe I'll it on this point right I'll ask everyone uh what do you think is being a success and who defines diligence and success who can say that uh you are diligent enough and you're not diligent enough for for example


in your life right for both of you have you come across a person who you think that they are diligent enough but yet they do not achieve what they themselves defined as a success, first of all we have to understand that diligence the the idea of diligence and success is really defined by a lot of factors it can be religion it can be culture it can be education it can be political issues or political related as well you know like in singapore


what the governments set the education system as, the government set education system at as everyone has to go through primary school, and then secondary school and preferably you go to diploma or ITE or you know a higher tertiary educations, but from this point of view right if we put our mindset which is set by our singapore government in these settings and we bring across to like


maybe malaysia philippines right whereby most of the childrens or majority a large proportion of the people don't even have a very decent primary education in this case right are we to say that they are not diligent enough, uh that's why they couldn't achieve whatever you know what we defined as a success so at this point of view right I would like to say that diligence is not the key to success it really boils down to environment the situation they are in the culture the politics


and access in an environmental as well to define whether the person is successful or not or whether the person is diligent or not thank you


okay thank you calvin so uh back to the question on albert einstein uh so we have to understand the whole question debate question is is diligence crucial and the only key to success


we have to understand that you know for example the for example albert einstein, is diligence the thing that push him to success, we have to ask ourselves again or maybe even for us right for our whatever we do today is really diligence the only key to success and what define success okay based on lifestyles live science dot com right it states that actually albert einstein has an IQ of about hundred and sixty


so and then for hundred and sixty right you actually put albert einstein right in the top ninety nine point nine nine eight percentile of you know the whole population of who whoever had actually taken the test before, so we have to ask ourselves like in the first place right is albert einstein even a genius


to start with together with his perseverance or diligence in order to achieve what we have today and most importantly also is about the positive mental attitude diligence is just part of the positive mental attitude that one should have you know besides being intelligent and creativity


okay based on one of the studies you know he said it actually says that creativity is actually a wonderful way to makes things start moving forward in life, imagine like you albert einstein maybe he has the IQ of maybe below hundred okay and then he is not even creative enough he cannot think enough in that but he's very diligent he's probably end up being other like doing other side jobs like maybe constructions you know he's very diligent he just you know building blocks every day or he can just


do a cleaning everyday and then clean toilets everyday and then he could become a very successful toilet cleaner and just besides being like a scientist so what differentiate between two people who have the same diligence but yet a different kind of lifestyles uh social status and everything is all about other factors that throw in as well


ya so what albert einstein has is actually intelligence and creativity and creativity is something that requires you to continue look for better faster easier cheaper things to get ways done and it's not just diligence itself alone thank you


okay so thank you calvin so back to just now calvin right just what have calvin said is that you know without without diligence a lot of things cannot be achieved you know even we have other things but then back to the question again, the debate question is diligence is the key to success so we have to understand is diligence the key to success because we are talking about whether is it a main factor to actually contribute to the success


I would for example I'll point out for just take an example let's say uh uh maybe let's say you know let's say #pulau pulau ubin# okay let's say we we have we are going to #pulau ubin# and then if let's, say we have a we have let have we have a luxury brand like Gucci opening up a you know shoe store in #pulau ubin# so is this business going to work let's talk about diligence okay let's say you know we have like we have like uh online selling in #pulau ubin# just to sell Gucci bags but then


no matter if let's say the the the the the shop assistants you know or shop attendants is very hardworking very diligent you know and the team is very diligent they are trying to sell this in a secluded island, is it really going to work and who is going to buy so sometimes a lot of things is not only about diligence okay and are other things is even like contacts so


one of the best way actually for success right one of factors is also like you know for example widening circle of contacts okay you you can find that every major change in your life is accompanied by a person or persons which even is like either opens or closes doors for you, so the possibility of the best life or success for us is will be determined by number of peoples we know and who is willing to help you and or and then this network is actually one of the very important key to success as well so back to the question again


is diligence the key to success, if I'm very diligent I work everything carefully and do I still achieve a success if I do not have environment uh I I I don't have an advantage over the environment I don't have an advantage over my skills my contacts so on and so forth thank you


part three debate topic three


okay so thank you calvin so , for my point of uh view right efficient government is not, important than democracy in fact both having both an efficient government and democracy are equally important okay first of all we have to


understand what it means by democracy and what is means by efficient government let's talk about uh uh that civic federation actually define efficiency in government okay as a result of a balanced budget, uh rationale spendings and elimination of waste duplication so streamlining government ensures that every single dollar spent is needed most that means there's no waste of resources and then we also have to talk about democracy democracy is actually a form of government in which


the people have the authority to choose their governing legislation, so who people are and how authority is shared among them are the core issues for democracy theory development and constitution, we have to understand that


we'll have to learn that democracy and efficiency goes together by no nobel rule so democracy is not so much is not so much, of a form of government as a set of principles other form of governments may equally efficient okay many forms of governments are more efficient yet uh knows better ways of integrating purifying administrations then we had yet learn and more successful methods of departing the drill and order


to the wrestlers and underdeveloped people that we are likely to hit upon ourselves so uh and back to calvin what he says about Malaysia so it he says that you know even though Malaysia the democracy it's not really there but then


he says that Malaysia has an efficient government so my question is who define the efficient government, and what makes us think that efficient government is more important than democracy aren't aren't there other like republicans or communist countries in the world which have more efficient government as well rather than just being efficient government is the way over democracy thank you


okay so uh thank you calvin so uh let's take a look okay, first back to Malaysia again so when we looking at Malaysia right sometimes is not whether an efficient government or a democratic uh or a democracy in the country actually defines what is happening because uh after all we have to understand that


they have their viewpoints and also uh other things actually comes into play which are more sensitive like religion culture, so on and so forth uh okay let's not talk about uh and uh adjust the specific examples or on this because this is really a a very restricted issues about just uh uh a a line like this okay


my question is my my my stand is I want to reiterate again I'm not saying that efficient government is more important to democracy I'm not saying that democracy is more important than government I would say that both democracy and uh both democracy and


uh efficient government are equally important and at the same time, in fact the type of belief system in the government be it democracy republican, communist are equally important in an efficient government okay uh let's take a look at uh okay I would like to quote


give me a minute ah I would like to quote uh based on uh the most innovative in a rank in the world, err and also the most uh uh the best economies in the world okay so uh this is a this is a GDP in terms of GDP ou~put uh outputs and uh productivity metrics


uh two zero one nine so we actually sees like I'd probably just go through the the the first top ten of the ranking so uh these are the like germany south korea singapore switzerland sweden israel finland denmark US


france so out of these ten countries I mean the list goes on and on like a top hundred but I would I wouldn't want to go into that but we can see from all these ten countries right, they are all rank as the most efficient government in terms of economies GDPs you know productivities uh even securities you know uh in two zero one nine


and these ten countries are all democratic countries, so my point is democracy and efficient government are both equally important and set aside of point right so let's not even talk about democracy and uh efficient government even the type of


belief in the system communist like china it doesn't mean that you know the efficient government is more important than the belief of the system thank you


okay thank you calvin so okay back to #hong kong# again uh as what calvin has state as example right so we have to understand that #hong kong# right, it's not a fully democratic country


it's a it is a very it's a very ambiguous example that he used #hong kong# uh as as a example of a democratic company uh uh a country because we have to understand that there are two it's a two system principles in #hong kong# government to be administered over areas of government except you know foreign relations and military separate from them the chinese


uh government so uh it's definitely not an example to to demonstrate that you know uh efficient government versus uh whether you have democratic because in the first place #hong kong# itself has a lot of restrictions and red tapes in the in in in running the


the whole area it's not even considered a country #hong kong# it is probably considered like uh a new territory or area or something like that, okay so uh back to democracies right so uh if let's say we uh from here right we're saying that efficient government is more important than democracy and then we have to understand as well as in like in a democracies like there are also many different type of democracies it's at it's


it's it's just a it's a just a just a different type of beliefs it's like singapore do you strongly believe that, singapore has a full democracy and do we believe that if having a full democracy right you know it will not be as important as having a efficient government and how can we assure that you know like the efficiency of the government supersedes or is


is not like part of what a set of belief is supposed to be for example let's say we we said china, so china is a known communist country so can we truly says that know china is not efficient in it's government if china is efficient as a government right you know based on all the statistics we have seen so far you know over it's


the productivity GDP country growth right then how can we also say that you know democracy is not as equally as important compared to the efficiency of a government thank you


okay thank you calvin so uh would like to share right I I don't think if using malaysia is a very good example itself because malaysia, itself is a very complicated country uh they have like even democratic attacking democratics and then they have the people in the main ruling party suddenly become the


opposition party and then the next morning become the ruling party again and then it's like so confusing I think they confused themselves so I I I seriously don't think that malaysia is a good example let's talk about singapore right and singapore as we say right is actually all a democratic country and that's comes efficient government if we do not have a democratic country right how can we have efficient government


and and that's boils down to, malaysia okay you look at malaysia it says a democratic country but because it's not democratic enough you know like do you think it's really a democratic country like you know the minorities of the races might not have the sames words they should have you know in


in in the in the in the governing parties and on even the country matters you know like it in fact most of the chinese in malaysia they don't even have a voting right so and and that's explain why the efficiency of the government is not there


so democracy is and I will still uh touch on point that democracy and efficient government equally important just imagine if you are in the majority and then you probably think that efficiency that matters because you are in the majority since you are in control, however the minority right therefore will have a different view because they are hoping for a fair system


so but if majority always has control and minority always has no input like what is in malaysia in this, particularly like hypothetical scenario okay this is a very clear hypothetical scenario because many democracies have safeguards to protect the minority for example you know the constituency democracy of US has three branches of government to protect the minority from the majority so


takes example like US as what you stated just now right so the united states is both a democracy and a, republic democratics and republics are both forms of government which the supreme power resides in the citizens so the word, republic refers to specifically a government in which the citizens elect representatives who govern according to the rule of law and then the democracy refers to the same kind of representational government or it can refer instead to what is also known as a direct democracy in which the citizens themselves participate


in the act of governing directly so in this instance right, may I ask everyone that does united state has an efficient government in the eyes of yours as a non US citizens, or do you think that the US citizens on the other hand think that they have an efficient government thank you


part one debate topic one, okay to what extent can education improve the lives of people, , I feel that poverty rate around the world can be decreased by half or more than half if all adults at least complete their secondary education


in singapore education is compulsory so students, who are, students who are not able to cope with our education system , uh there are other avenues for them to continue their learning, in this way a young adult attains at least a basic education


I think education helps to reduce inequalities and achieve uh, uh gender equality uh it also empowers people everywhere to live more healthy, and uh you know promote a


promotes sustainable living


okay it could be, it it also uh, you know if if they they need uh, if there's not enough insufficient uh


, uh guidance from home or financial, uh, you know difficulties, or you know things like that, uh it could be also one of the reason


it uh learning in school education helps to reduce you know uh, uh, uh it it empowers them so it it's like a happy every uh you know like people living more healthy


okay err because it encompass character building as well, so character buildings value social interaction and behaviour okay and also skill training et cetera


okay actually because in in singapore we have four uh you know multiracial society so , uh, having err bringing up in one family we only have, , certain group of people in their own values so they need to come to the society to


uh learn a different values, and to respect each other, so in that sense like education is a, uh uh it, it's


they are not uh they are not exposed to all that, now our kids are all exposed to all this, and, this is where education comes in to, uh teach them how we can you know uh what are the, uh uh


how we don't , attack people uh via Facebook you know through comments, okay so this is bad education comes in too


uh because our our our kids are, uh, exposed to a lot of things online, and uh, new technology, , yeah things like that so it


to try educating them with the technology and they will follow suit with whatever this group of people are doing


because uh those as as uneducated ah, uh or not much I won't say uneducated not much of a uh, uh, knowledge okay once they get hooked to this


uh can can we say that as a competition uh survival of the fittest you know more than education because


if it is a if it is lacking in our generation as in this generation now then that's when education has to be there to to teach them uh what are sharing what are sharing, what are uh


you know uh, compassionate be compassionate show empathy so we have to teach them all that, this is apart from academic uh education


yeah I mean if it whether they they are uh willing to learn, uh, accepting it then that is another aspect to look at, right , it is important to educate or or rather education is important uh


, for the general public, uh in order to have uh uh, to raise both uh social and economic condition or in in singapore


okay uh be in in singapore if you take uh academic uh in singapore our education system in such a way that uh, , uh if our students are not able to cope with our system, uh we have other avenues you know like for example to continue their learning for example


err, ITEs and then NITEC and then they also have they can go to polytechnics or they take skill future if they are above twenty five and above they they have lifelong learning for skill future so education doesn't stop just like


at, it takes place anywhere at anytime at any age


so , it it they they uh because education doesn't only applies to academic it applies to, skill training learning a skill uh attaining


uh, you know uh knowledge attaining knowledge right so uh, they they uh as what I said uh dropouts ah, and uh


to uh to to obtain whatever their objective is in that way


uh okay we we, we do have uh in schools ah they do have different uh, uh like uh, uh, shall I say CCA groups okay so if you are skillful in certain area


you, learn that skill and then you tap on the knowledge and just you move on, so, as what I said other avenues lah instead of academic academically stronger


you become uh skillful and talented in other areas


yeah but that that not that's not only the educated ones right it's also the you know any any individual


I can only do crimes which are uh if I'm doing a crime ah, uh, I can only do a crime limited to my knowledge so which is pick pocketing but if an educated one he can do the same pick pocketing in a different way maybe uh more digitally they know uh


, instead of saying okay it is up to an individual already that's more as in they are


, they use what do they use their education for


okay it is the lack of


education okay as I say, as I say education is not only academic okay if they are not educated, about the world about what's happening that economic uh uh, uh, behaviour or uh the social behaviour or the even the geographical uh situation


ya, geographical situation then they they are not uh you know they they are uh for example ah uh I'm talking about farmers again but they don't have farmers in singapore though but


you know if if it's if they don't look at the weather condition and they grow something that is uh that will affect uh during hot weather, uh, and then there goes their economy right, they lose their profit


, thank you sir thank you sir


you know uh addressing to one country uh because ya, I I okay I feel that the uh education band, uh, uh develop uh anxious to developments ah like benefits like infrastructure better living standard good politicians leaders to form a good government so but when a good government is formed


it uplifts uh it uplift society okay and it helps to raise both social and economic condition so for example as what they say the wealth distribution so people they don't have a reason to go out of the country


they stay in the country that they are in and they apply their knowledge to the country, okay so that's that's one reason and in singapore we have our self help groups ah like SINDA Mendaki CDAC uh who helps their


respective communities uh to raise the level of education by providing providing guidance to in their education so, uh this is a, part they play in their respective uh communities


it does it does because they they think differently their perspectives are different okay they think uh, , uh they they are no longer in that uh small world within themselves


uh you know they breakthrough walls


it's one reason, it's one of the reason to be better off


been, been mentored right so mentored they also, on the job training okay all these are also education right


okay all these are also education right in a way they are learning, okay they they're learning uh uh uh instructional uh way to do certain things so that's also education right so as I said not academically but uh by on job training


no no not not really not really


can I think it's twenty two minutes already right, , K it's twenty two minutes ah


part two debate topic two, okay an education is no longer necessary for, success, I'm a strong believer of chasing your dreams education will help us


as, individual okay uh, prosper, within our competitors such as, full of equally that uh you know uh qualify, uh or more talented group, err but, having a degree


alone, I it's not sufficient, okay does not guarantee, success, okay I think having having a degree or or having an education alone does not, guarantee a success uh you need more than that uh as in


you know uh perseverance skill, patience and uh, you you should you must, have a a a, how do I say you must be willing to learn


you you do not need a okay I'm taking education as a, uh, for for in singapore it's like a a shall I say it's a degree okay it's a common uh


previously it was like O level everyone should have a whole O level okay but now it's like, most of them, are having a degree


okay and also like okay for example, uh you can determine your life your future, uh, uh through education but attaining an education may not be essential


for success, okay it it can be a little easier, , for whatever job you're applying for and all that but then if you don't have a passion in that, you know, you you you you cannot succeed so you may gather a lot of knowledge


uh, uh going through uh uh for a particular job, but them that, alone or even uh if you go for an interview they do need uh even though you have a degree in certain uh, uh uh


uh skill or certain uh, area you need to


yeah I agree because these are specialized uh, uh, uh area so we don't look at the specialized area of course those areas you cannot you know you cannot be having a, uh uh, uh a layman during a surgery right, uh, okay so we we shall not touch on that okay we will speak we'll talk more on uh a basic education for a a layman


okay okay okay


you see ah, uh he he he wasn't, uh uh uh, graduate okay I believe he was a drop out but they are wealthy entrepreneurs


okay they they are like a role model, but, you know uh, as what you say like okay bookkeeping accounts you can always appoint someone who have already learned that


I feel that you know uh, he focused on the main job which is


bringing up his company to whichever level you wants and then, the err, he has to trust his staff right he's needs to trust, so trust doesn't need education


see when when uh your mind is trained to do uh what you need to do then you are no more human okay it's a human instinct to make mistakes or to be greed uh or to to uh


to have more than what you have right so, but I also agree not every dropouts, of school end up be becoming a billionaire okay uh you know you you and uh


not all of them are successful there are people who, who uh you know joint bad company mix around with wrong people and end up uh in jail and all that or or the whole life is shattered, okay but


what I'm trying to say is not, education not own uh is not the only thing, uh to be successful, okay there are other areas as well


I I nevertheless I agree but I do believe that education isn't absolutely necessary for success, in general okay it it's not the only thing, uh, it is also important but it's not the only thing


okay ah personal experience uh my


yes yup I did I did okay for example uh simply put ah my father my father is a tailor uh he does not have any he's has never gone to school he, err


he has never gone to school he picked up tailoring, as a, you know after retirement this is what he is going to do okay so he he took up tailoring classes uh


, at the age of say about, in his thirties and, now he's about seventy uh he does not depend on any one of us, uh this


~ers uh, and you know it's depend he's independent so, you don't need be education in order to be what it is now


yeah is at as what I said I'm talking about academic education, as in uh, not skill okay it


ya but he was not he as never attend uh you know stepped into a school during his younger days


I agree that that, education is more on skills training uh


you know uh ya more in that rather than uh, uh academic it doesn't have to, go to you know O levels PSLE O level, poly degree you know he doesn't have to go to our systematic education system


uh


a stepping stone for success okay


okay in general education, in general okay


in conclusion ah it is more passion, endless hours of practice, perseverance, and your willingness to learn


it's your own , how do I say it's your own , your, character building also right how you are brought up, if you if you if you aren't if you are uh a lazy person okay you you will not


you just don't have the passion, see don't have any passion, err, or you don't want to persevere, uh then whatever education is given to you is waste right


is reluctant to use it, it, , yeah so you have to wait until survival, err no option then you use


okay so he is not actually putting his education uh a perspective right he is actually uh, using it uh


there's always food on the table, , he can just sit there and rot, ,


, , but that is not how we go through in life you know you cannot just uh you know sit there and uh


ya but that basic education did not teach him to persevere, uh did not teach him to move on, uh it did not teach him to uh do something with his life and not wait


until the uh you know the doomsday


so in other words we have they they have the essentials in hand uh through education


so in other words there are careers that uh that really don't need uh academic education right I'm talking about academic education ah, to be successful in okay so if you are if you are, more technology uh tech


uh you know uh, more uh tech-savvy you know ya tech, savvy and all that you improve or or succeed in that way right, and uh as in not uh I'm not talking about academic but more as in skill training you know in that that sense in order to improve yourself


okay so that comes the lifelong learning using your skill future uh ya learning at anywhere anytime at any age things like that okay twenty minutes already,


part three, part three debate topic three, okay the solution to the problem of crime is education okay I feel education reduces crime rates


err, it discourages uh potential crimes taking place it discourages ah not totally reduce but there are crimes which are, uh, done in a higher level, uh with education


but, in this uh, uh, it raises awareness to the public in uh you know to the public , and also uh the importance of, staying alert outdoors outdoors means you know uh among others


uh whichever uh uh, online things you buy on, online you know, and then it also uh, like uh, can be society's solution to lower crime rates


okay uh, problem


yes,


, okay for for example okay , overall education does got uh


encompasses character building value social interaction behaviours skills training right, uh, uh all these, are education but as what you say uh


the characters, uh finders keepers that, comes along with a an individual's character, okay uh for example uh if if I find something and I don't have that uh the the tendency of me keeping the thing is higher


right uh and at the same time, when I'm told uh what is a moral value what is a a, do show empathy to people who lose their things uh I do not, I should not take it because the person who lose it


uh will be suffering more, you know all these are been taught to you, you apply it and you, , you ensure that uh you know you don't , you know you you give back to the person who


okay in general ah when you do not have certain things in life uh you tend to uh like greed for it look forward for, owning it you know things like that for example if a child, uh doesn't have a uh uh


uh fascinating pencil, okay, tendency of uh feeling to own it is there okay uh so that one is I I feel that that is like a


is individual, okay you can't say it's wrong to feel that way, can because that person doesn't have, that particular thing okay but, this is where education even from school, and, and at home uh teaches you the moral value that you should not take it yeah it's okay to feel that way but it you shouldn't take that because it doesn't it's not yours anything that doesn't belong to you uh do not touch it


so that's where that's where greed takes in okay education has taught you that, uh, you know these are wrong for example ah uh, I, I'm if I am learning a, uh uh IT uh, a a degree in the IT okay I'll be I one of my topic might be uh


uh how to hack, if I lose my password how do I uh help my customer to hack the computer computer and uh, uh get retrieve the password that's hacking right so as an individual


I don't want, I may want to venture into a new area, instead of uh helping my customer to, hack the computer and retrieving their password I want to do it without their knowledge


err and retrieve whatever uh, information I want uh, it it's like a I'm venturing I'm looking into new areas okay so that's where greed takes in


so education has taught you good things, but how you apply is an individual's uh, uh perspective


yes so do you need to be educated or


okay but then I want to look into the


might probably want to learn how to educate that uh vulnerable people, uh, you know to be aware of, cyber crime you know things like that


uh I was mentioning to you , uh, uh greed of the, the, I want to learn more I want to find out more the venturing or the eagerness to learn more okay for example my mom uh


uh, she wasn't educated, but, we taught her how to use Youtube so, uh, she gets a little hooked onto Youtube so she start watching you know comedies dramas uh songs


and uh, you know she'll be watching until two AM and there was once I actually told her, err, mom can you switch it off and sleep and she just looked at me and she said ah tell your children to stop and I'll stop


you know something like that so I feel that she the moment she learnt she gets hooked onto it and she started going to not only Youtubes and all that she started venturing being more adventurous, started looking at uh countries with a unique uh places where she uh told us


uh she went through google and she found uh churches which are very unique uh she told us and we actually visited that church, you know that's, why I'm bringing up this is because this is how


uh people get hooked on you educate them you, you become uh more adventurous, and you want to see more so same, uh same thing if if you are an IT uh IT savvy uh you learn about hacking you want to do a bit more


uh the tendency of feeling that way is there I want to see I want to hack , uh for example, ATM ATM machine and I want to see what kind of reaction people gets


okay and then when we when I do that ah, I yes I have affect people like uh you know uh public and then, singapore has


err uh, uh how do I say an opening for maybe advance in hacking they teach you how to prevent this, hackers


yeah because uh or can I say her world is smaller uh the person who


and places of interest


ya so he thinks of uh uh you know he's thinks at his level


it also they they are in an environment it depends where they are so in that environment may bring them back to whatever they are doing, they are aware they


no uh wait those who are uh if you if you are educated it aware uh it give them an awareness okay if I do this I will be, prison for this purpose uh you know prison for this reason for how many years you they are aware okay so


in in in schools , okay yeah I and I agree with that


yeah I agree with that


so then uh street smart are they can can we say that a street smart


okay for example you you were saying about the, uh, a crime uh maybe robbery okay so this person who doesn't have uh, that particular uh stuff, or or not in uh money okay he has insufficient money he goes out to steal


right, because it's more as a survival if I look at it that way that that kind of small crime okay the blue collared crime is more as, as , he's using it in a wrong way he's using his education in a wrong way


uh in instead of saying lost touch , survival I want to uh


uh or greed can I say greed ya greed and uh, he knows that uh if I if I uh if I do this I will hurt people, uh I it's not right to do that he knows


okay that education system has uh taught him that this is not right, but yet he does is more on his own uh greed, so in other words the solution to the problem


crime is education, so education does reduces crime rates right, ya education


ya so care care education includes character building and, , uh moral values and all that


looking at it okay, , twenty minutes , , okay


but if school is so it uh if the school is working why are there many dropouts why is it people are not, happy in school


okay but schools also is a place where there's bullying there is uh, unhappiness so much so that there's students are unable to cope with all the problems including social behaviours so they prefer to be out of the system and where they do home education rather than


uh schools


okay I think it's a matter of perspective because long time ago you talk of farmers and and coolies all these people


they have no proper education but they are still able to survive because of their personal experiences, upbringing knowing the different between right and wrong, and and how does education really help improve the lives of people


but it's also a sorry but it's also a


a place where the wrong behaviours are enforce, doing the wrong things whereas if it's a proper upbringing by parents but in the family environment don't you think the grew up being gracious being uh able to accommodate one another uh even things like hardworking and all these things or the traits of a good person


isn't it, done through upbringing


compelling people now and compelling people when they were not educated personally I feel they are more, better they are better behave more, considerate than current situation where people are being educated when you talk about education in terms of like social media hand phones all these things seems to be a big distraction which was not available long time ago where there was no proper education for these people but they show a lot of considerateness and uh they're more considerate rather


okay, I give you two examples of people who are educated, those who walk along the streets, they are so focus on their hand the smart phone they're more interested in reading or listening to music than seeing whether they are walking safely whether there are cars around


these are educated people the those are not educated generally don't carry this kind of devices they walk happily uh I mean they're they're focused on what they are doing, another place is at food areas, food places people are while eating they're always on the phone


but you compared these people to the, uneducated they will enjoy food they will enjoy the company of people rather than ah get fixated to the handphone


, no but but honestly if you look at people around the educated ones are always, fixated to the phones


not uneducated does not mean lack of knowledge, they have good upbringing, they see things around them, they can visualise that or they can learn from one another the better behaviour and they don't have ill intentions but the educated ones


seem to have a lot of, ah Kiasu Kiasi jealousy greed all coming in, competition to a certain level is good


but when they become greedy is beyond competition they want it all for themselves, as as, as compared to the people who are not, gone through the education system again I'd like to bringing the farmers whatever they have they share with the rest how many of them do it now are because they are well educated it is still at the end of the day it still character and value system that has been passed on through the families


okay okay, we can teach them, but are they willing to learn and do what is


right, I mean I'm I'm talking about examples around us


okay if if we talk about education, is everyone given the equal, uh opportunity to study to learn the world but especially the very good ones or the weak ones for a average learner no problem because teaching is targeted to the average learner but those who are very weak and those who are very


intelligent, does education really help them


okay uh agree whatever you said but there are varying


okay there are some very high flyers very intelligent people very uh, enterprising people who feel that singapore's system it does not benefit them, so they drop out they do things on their own and they do well at whatever they are doing example the the Creative technology guy mister Sim


#sim hang wu# or or something like that, even the Razer CEO, the system doesn't really help them so in order to really excel they leave the system to do things on their own


okay okay because schools are generally targeted to the to the middle, ability people so there's no real challenge to, to be more enterprising willing to try new things and all those stuff


so does education really help to spearhead, in in these areas being enterprising people


coming back to, education improving the lives uh the those of well educated somehow the brain also works in a funny way they try to do things to outsmart one another or to cheat or to


do wrong things and and they are and they think they are clever enough to hide all the trails for example the white collar, crime, these people when they do all these things because they educated they think they're very smart they will be able to cover all the trails


no but you talk white collar crime, is only by educated people, the not educated will never do the white collar crime I mean research has shown ah their crime is ah pickpocket theft where where there's no technology involved but when you talk about technology and white collar crimes


is usually the educated


so that so the educated people try to use their mind to do this kind of illegal stuff it it encourages them because they think they are clever


okay this is where this is, okay this is well the character, the the value system and the upbringing comes in, so so so


I mean educated and none educated both have go through this kind of stuff, but does education really help, uh okay just now you was you started off saying poverty is poverty is is education the the cause of poverty or or rather the lack of education the cause of the poverty or is it the distribution of wealth that causes poverty


okay you have a very good point you have very good point agree I agree, but then okay I give you another example, in india, like I mean I know a little more about india than other countries in india there are a lot of graduates


but, that does not show or prove they are, in uh there's no poverty even among graduates, there are so many people who are graduates yes yet there is poverty, so is, does education help better the poverty or or reduce property or is it because of the distribution of wealth the rich is richer the poor is poorer


no I'm just giving you an example


okay


okay I understand the self-help groups focused on education


but, focusing on education alone, does it really make their life better, at home, in the long run, are are they having a better standard of living


okay okay, they definitely education is the training of the mind, alright but, being educated does it mean they are better off in terms of finance finance and other things


okay like in singapore we got many foreign workers from many countries, whether they or not I don't know but when they come and work in singapore a lot of them, do things that they have never done before, but yet on the job training and and being mentored by someone some experience


person they are able to do the task so how does education helped these people without education they are still able to do with with all these, uh comp, mentored mentored uh what's the other one I was saying on the job training


and and and also common sense


if, but if addict but if education means more of becoming a literate then does that mean illiterates are cannot do cannot is not of not of use to to the world


, no no no I mean I'm discussing for for the, , I'm discussing for the sake of discussion but but there's always two sides to a coin


okay the willing to learn and all these thing is actually education as what as you said earlier education, is a training of the mind, be able to think critically, and work collaboratively with other people so whatever you do


you need to have this basic training basic way of thinking in order to sustain whatever you do so definitely you need education, that tells you to to analyse things, so that you are able to succeed in life


okay okay the, okay the minister of the previous minister of education mister Ong actually mention that degree is not essential even to become a politician you can become a politician


, you can become a politician without a degree how how in reality it works, is another thing but the emphasis now is towards, uh skill based training which is also education so it there is okay like just now you mention about


farmers farmers need to have some form of education in the sense be able to, uh know the importance of sun, importance of the crops, the weather in order to grow healthy crops


and and whether whether meaning if the as if there's during the thunderstorm they must know how to react what to do all these thing is actually the training of the mind either by reading or through experiences


okay !hey! I'm in and in some jobs yes, but jobs like doctor lawyers engineers you need to have specific education you need have specific qualification


diploma degree certification or whatever in order to do that job, you cannot be doing that job so without this, ah qualification education qualification on all these things that doctor the doctors lawyers engineers will not be able to do the specials jobs they're they're trained in


okay when you talk about, okay if you talk about layman layman give me an example of a layman's job when you talk about


business okay, business also they need to know the, book bookkeeping skills, they need to keep records because auditors will check they need to uh be able to manage the workers, of course for all okay


ya by then you see you get pick you hire someone to do that job


and if you don't know anything about that stuff, they can have they can do hanky-panky and they can cheat you of millions, even though you engage people you still must have some basic knowledge of how things should be run


no trust is one thing no trust is one thing


remember the white collar crimes ah, are carry out because there's too much trust of someone, so so education ah you need everyone to be to as I said education is a training of the, mind the mind


they must know what is they are supposed to do what they should have an overview of everything, , ,


, yeah I agree, , not ya agree agree but


okay I'm, okay I'm going back to farmers again farmers no I mean


when you compare education non educated ah farmers seems to be people seem to assume that farmers don't have uh are not smart enough to do other things assume doesn't mean they are not okay I'm sure a lot of farmers are smart the modern modern farmers are smart but if the farmers if they are only depend on


hard work, and keep on doing the same thing over and over and over again it doesn't mean ah that they are successful, doing uh practice makes perfect but you practice wrongly everything will be wrong all the time so you want when you practice was actually practice the right thing education here helps these


people to improve the way of living whatever they were farming if things are old-fashioned and all these thing, the education helps them to face some success


no it may be not the only thing it is the basic, foundation you need education


and after education, sometimes who you know, where you are, uh luck and all this, thing makes things better, I think with this


topic ten minutes are more than enough


okay I beg to differ, tailoring is a, skill is skill a trade there is education as you said education is


lifelong process, in singapore especially we talk about continuous learning which has been supported by government, so when he was working doing something in order to, have a wonderful world life and after retirement he started to learn how to sew


that itself is education, okay here okay I'm not I'm, see when you say education is no longer necessary education as I keep saying it's a training of the mind you need to be educated in order to think say if your father is not educated he would not have that inspiration to go and


pick up a skill because of his, okay because he has not stepped in the school he decided to go into a school where talent tailoring is taught, and then he was taught the right way of


tailoring from scratch to where he is now without this training both in terms of, values and and motivation and inspiration and all these thing he wouldn't be where he is now he can say oh education are important I can just go sit shake my legs and all this thing so here even in in in tailoring there is education involved


and and he is probably a very hardworking man because he knows, what will happen if he's not uh independent, so there is education so because of this education ah he's now experiencing success and being independent and not relying on anyone else


okay but but here I think I think we need to be clear what is education, although I contradict whatever I said early on ah but education ah is a stepping stone for success


if you are not educated you may not know what exactly to do or what to do, and you might be lost in the, in the daily, chaotic situation, in in in general


you even hawkers most of them are educated the whatever education that they went through has helped them to be successful hawkers, he make


okay all these thing is taught through education, how to succeed in life, how to succeed in life


no but a person who's, , a person who is lazy doesn't mean he is a failure, he has the the foundation to pull him through he may be, lying around sleeping and whatever time to ha no but when the time comes for survival he will know what to do


no no when when things are when things are comfortable when when he does not need to push himself, he knows if there's a need to push himself he will do at other times it's just taking that things easy because he knows


err, there is always food on the table


no he is very confident that his, education his knowledge his skills is very confident will bring him through when there is a need when there's a when there's no need he just take things easy


no no no to a third man okay it looks like he's sleeping and rotting but, to him it is there's no drive but when the time comes he will be able to do what is necessary to survive


but but he has either the basic education ah to support him as and when necessary


no but you see if you look at your own fingers ah no two fingers are alike, but, they are able to do what it there's necessary to be done


so people can be of different kind of people there are some hardworking people there are some lazy people but, given a an opportunity to do something they would probably, be able to do because the mind is they are alert they know what they want they know what


to do when when needed when it be so so why waste, energy why waste strength why waste effort when they are comfortable everything is is good for them


they have the necessary education to support them, but but because there's no need to push themselves that there's always


food uh bread on the table there's always uh a car to go, everything is is laid back every sorry everything is laid there for you,


no no no because I'm I'm referring to uh , my my nephews, education have put them in in a good place but because they are, are they have everything they want


they don't see the need to go and, uh, go and torture themselves, and crack their heads and and and put in the, the pressure cooker facing the bosses and all these thing so they are they comfortable with what they are and the the parents are


okay with them


you need to be tech-savvy right ah, so so you need education right


part three debate topic three


oh oh okay I agree to most, of your uh (ppc) suggestions or comments on uh


solution of the solution to crime is education however because they are educated or highly educated, they think differently this they start they start becoming greedy they start trying to do it they has tried


I mean when you look at movies or in real life they always try to say things or I can do in a different way I can do things , and not been caught, so they would try to figure out how to steal from the banking system


without physically going to the bank to steal through technology so they are using education for crime okay I mean as I said there's always two sides to a coin, it oh it uh


crime can can be prevented if they have good value system good character and knowing that because long long time ago nowadays I don't know how how many people do that long time ago we always say don't take things that does not belong to you


so you you it whatever is not yours, is not yours, what whatever is yours that belongs to you, but, the same concept is seldom seen or heard now, now, there's this phrase that I'm hearing finders keepers


you you know finders keepers so when they find certain things of course, in in despite all these things we see taxi drivers, returning the money to the police station uh people finding this and that they returning so the value system for these people is their rather is because of education or not I'm not sure but the value system is there they know


what is the right thing to do what is not right thing to do but okay sorry


okay honestly I'm not sure how much of this good value systems


are taught in school generally, if if you come from a well, brought up, homes the parents will always talk about this but nowadays, because of


economic situation both parents are out of home leaving, the the the kids, under a helper, so so, morally there's no one to teach them what is right what is wrong


because parents are working our grandparents to for grandparents there are some grandparents who always will tell him this uh do the right thing you shouldn't do this you shouldn't do that but a lot of grandparents, the main focus is to pamper the grandchildren


okay we are talking about basic level taking pencils small small money but those who doing the the white collar crime the commercial crimes they are greedy


they do not want to be rich they want to be super rich so in what way does


okay but it's here the the solution to the problem of crime is education the solution okay


nowadays there's uh there's a lot of scams happening around us, and who do they target, the poor the fragile the old uneducated, and all this


no no but but the people who are, kind of crime, because they are hurting the the young and the old the sick


okay educating people to create an awareness, is wonderful but the people committing the crime are the educated ones


so the more you train the the elderly for example to be safe to safeguard their their valuables they will find another crooked way to swindle these people so is the educated one


it is the educated people who, who is losing signs of consciousness, and who wants to, uh get rich fast it it seems to be money is making the world spin not education


, okay I going back to your mom okay your mom is not educated


so when you teach her Youtube and all these things she gets excited with the the music the videos the movies and on and the lifestyles and everything, so because she's not educated because her her focus is just to spend time to help her to sleep and or whatever reason she is doing things that assessor whereas an educated person


thinks differently because he's is educated, he thinks he's a he's a genius, he wants to do many things that can make his life better, legally or illegally whereas your mum who you


claim is not educated her, interest is different, no because she is she's not educated I would say she is generally very innocent and naive and she wants and she got excited by by the world around her in terms of music Youtube she so she get excited she she gets she wants to know more about these things


whereas who someone who's educated and who thinks he knows a lot of things he wants to outsmart the system I give you another, , so so so because of education ah he's able to commit more serious crimes


give you another example those who are prison the prisoners when they go into prison they are, uh brainwashed to to do the right things and and differentiate what is right and wrong, but


how many of these people, uh, come out feeling, that okay thank you, thank you how many of them because so


so most of them will think oh I made this mistake I make that mistake the next time I'll not do all these mistakes


yeah because they are educated, for those who are not educated they're generally more innocent


okay these are this is that value system but education is successful, when the value system works in tandem education system where


the one all the value system and the character traits have disappeared because of greed and uh wanting to be better than others that's where it fails so character must come in tandem with, education


although during education process includes uh, character building and and value system, however the the focus sometimes is on learning and passing exam


it it in schools in singapore is more of more on passing and and and when when they when they passed when they get uh nine, O level passes and all these thing they think they have achieved all okay


again again I'm again I must specify majority of them are commoners, average people who don't have these kind of thoughts, it is people who are, one grade higher than the rest they are actually very intelligent but the results are not shown on paper but they're very smart people they are the one who want to beat the system


uh, uh


and to steal from the, less abled people, is without concern


because he has lost touch in what is right what is wrong, and because he'd


I think greed is a better word


the greed come when he lose conscious of his own behaviour, education in tandem with character building education alone


without character building without value system uh it doesn't help, okay because because there are a lot of highly educated people who got no EQ


because EQ is actually values they don't care about how you feel they don't don't care whether your family can cope with all this and that to them is just do it, this is uh another


uh another way looking at this problem luckily for us the is almost, end of time


debate topic one


as for me I feel like there should be restrictions for the, to enjoy arts in society is because there's no restrictions in terms of the, type of art that was displayed arts ost their dignity they once had the dignity that


it is due to the rise of conceptual are also lack, contemporary art that made this arts uh lose their dignity


the arts left in the galleries which creates a false culture, uh, are also on the rise, nowadays paid in arts exhibitions such uh, art pieces such as just a piece of banana is known as art and can be sold for millions of dollars


this, society made it so acceptable that such art is, considered valuable whereas it's actually not, as, it kind of like downgrades the actual, pieces of arts that are supposedly costs


like millions of dollars and like has a significant value


for me the other restrictions is not just based on the , uh on the way you enjoy, the view of art but also like, restrictions for in places such as the arts exhibition like there are rules and, , rules and regulations exhibitions for a reason


and it's important to obey such restrictions, one of the restrictions of such is like touching the art pieces


obeying the rules of not touching the art pieces is very very important, although some art, exhibition does not include any borderline on the floor around the paintings, and displays it doesn't mean that anyone, like, that doesn't mean you can just touch the art pieces and so and


the displays first, where upon touching the art piece, uh, the moisture and the bacteria from the finger can actually ruin or damage the art pieces, although restrictions are set for different ripper, purses