Assignment 4 - Education not a sure way out of poverty ( Christine Yep and Joycelyn Chuah - 4C)

Summary: 
Based on in-depth interviews with 88 children in two high-performing academies on education and how academics affects one's social level in the society, results showed that most people have the mentality that good education brings about one's success in the future. Even though hard work is said to be the key factor towards work success, the choices of these pupils are clearly restricted by their family back grounds as well as the wide economic forces. Once the children start schooling, they are academically sorted and poorer children tend to be likely to get GCSE results that are as good as their wealthier classmates. Inevitably, a child's choices depends on their parents' education and work. Thus, even though with hard work, education may not be the best solution to bring one out of the poverty cycle. 


Reader Response:
No, we do not agree that the author's view is applicable to Singapore. In our country, there is definitely no separation of social classes based on one's family background.  Every child has an equal opportunity to attain education as entry to schools is based on meritocracy and not his background. Students are strictly streamed into schools and classes based on their academic abilities and it does not matter how rich or poor his family is. Education can thus be a solution to poverty and can in fact be a route out of poverty for the children they come from poorer families. So as long as they work hard and attain good results, they will have a chance of getting into good schools and obtaining a good job in future, to allow them to escape poverty. Also, no child will be denied of education due to their financial status as the Singapore  government provides great financial assistance to the students. For example, there is the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) which provides students from lower income families with free uniforms and books, and also subsidies majority of the school fees, allowing every child to attain education regardless of the family background and have a chance to escape poverty.

Assignment 3: Putting a price on the value of art Joycelyn Chuah & Christine Yep 4C

Summary:
Enjoying the arts boost the economy. The people who are more attracted to the arts are highly educated and mobile which helps go increased consumption and increase the local tax base and bring employers to the area.Being in a more artistic, lively cultural place during leisure time allows people to be smarter at work and gives them ideas. Thus, in order to survive in the world, the citizens and their workforce must be prepared with the creative skills required to become accustomed to the environment.When a place undergoes art and culture development, it is likely to attract talents and raise income. The arts brings things together and is self-amplifying. Value of art should not be measured in economic terms, but we should understand the financial impact it has.

Reader Response:
Yes, I feel that arts subjects should be given as much curriculum time as the Science and Math subjects. It is an equally valuable and important aspect of education and should definitely not be neglected. Firstly, art brings about a positive economic impact. As quoted from the article, "arts and culture in the US generated $135.2 billion and supported 4.1 million jobs in 2010." Many people have thought that being in the art industry does not generate much income, and one would not be able to go far in this career, but these statistics have clearly shown that it is not the case. Also, art brings about many other positive impacts. "Does it make non-arts companies more innovative? Are people smarter at work because they're in a more creative, vibrant cultural scene when they're not at work? Does it bring ideas to them? My hunch is that the arts do have these kinds of positive effects." Michael Rushton said. Skills that one can learn from art can be applied to daily lives, even if they do not work in the art industry. Thus, I feel that art should be given the same curriculum time as Science and Math subjects.

Sexism in sports- Christine Yep and Joycelyn Chuah 4C

Summary

Sexism is still prevalent in sports as it was not until 2007 that organizers of tennis tournament Wimbledon paid male and female champions the same prize money. Women were also banned from the pavilion of Lord’s cricket ground until 1999 and golf’s Open Championships is played at courses where there are no women members. Also, women’s soccer is considered inferior to men’s football. The idea of women boxing was not entertained until 1997, and female athletes are not exempted from female stereotyping, mostly appearing with husbands, children or boyfriends, which follows the ‘stay-home mother’ stereotype. Furthermore, female athletes earn fifteen percent less than men for the same hour’s work. Finally, Marylebone Cricket Club only recently relaxed a 212-year ban on allowing women to enter the pavilion, and that was only because it would not be allowed to apply for National Lottery funding if it did not do so.(148W)

Reader's response 

Yes, I do. Many female athletes struggle to gain equality with male athletes as sexism is very much prevalent in many sports, though there has been slight improvements made with efforts by the government.  However, many women are still victimized and continue to fight for equal rights as male athletes. In the article, it was mentioned that  boxing’s “ring girls" have been around for decades, but the idea that women could actually box themselves was not entertained until 1997, when the British Boxing Board of Control sanctioned its first female bout.  It sends a message loud and clear to people- that sexiness rather than athleticism is ultimately valued in women. Also, female boxers face other issues such as their pay, media coverage and the number of rounds they have as compared to men. ‘Your average male boxer earns between $6,000 and $15,000 per fight. A woman is lucky to get $3,000. Women are also seen as the warm-up act. They fight 10 two-minute rounds, whereas men are considered better value because they go 12 three-minute rounds. Female boxers also rarely receive any media coverage " says chairman of the Women’s International Boxing Council. I think that the government should have stricter laws and regulations to ensure fairness to female athletes. They should receive the same pay, have equal opportunities in competitions and equal media coverage as males. Female athletes put in the same amount of hard work and they deserve to be equally respected and treated as male athletes. (244w)

Bitcoin (Christine and Joycelyn) 4C

 Summary:
One bitcoin cost around $9 in 2011, then rose to about $14 and it is worth around $880 in 2013, it is on the brink of respectability. Its appeal comes from the fact that it does not physically exist and each bitcoin is just a string of numbers. A decentralized network of computers ensures the authenticity of bitcoin and issues new ones by doing complex calculations instead of a bank, allowing bitcoin to be traded peer to peer, bypassing credit card companies and payment processors. It’s digital cash, offering the same relative anonymity and freedom as a paper sack of bills. Many of bitcoin’s hard-core fans see the currency as a revolutionary step toward this anarchocapitalist wonderland. However, even with government regulation, the promise of bitcoin seems to end with helping online retailers avoid credit-card processing fees. Bitcoin is mainly innovative in the way of credit default swaps: new ways to gamble with money. 

Reader's Response:
I agree to a large extent that bitcoins cannot last as a currency. Bitcoins, because they are not widely regulated or under government scrutiny, are mainly used for illegal purposes. In January 2014, U.S. government agents arrested Charlie Shrem, the CEO of Bitcoin exchange BitInstant, charging him with laundering money for customers of the online drug bazaar Silk Road, which has already been shut down. Law enforcement is trying to stop the use of Bitcoin on such sites—where people can conveniently buy drugs, guns, and illegal pornography. Bitcoins are so widely used for illegal purposes as they are a source of secure payment mode. When one performs a transaction, the Bitcoin software performs a mathematical operation to combine the other party’s public key and his own private key with the amount of Bitcoins that he wants to transfer. It is practically impossible, even with the most powerful computer, to ascertain the code of someone’s private key from his public key, due to encryption. Thus, to prevent illegal crimes from happening, the government should not consent to regulating bitcoins as a currency.
Although people are willing to trade in their government-issued money to obtain Bitcoins, it will not last as a currency because it will pose challenges to the global banking system.