Spending alot - but at what cost?

August 25 2008, the Straits Times, Home section, page B10. It only took a glance for me to be attracted to the headline, ‘Living it up – but at what cost?’ This issue has been brought up by the author as a form of awakening to current youths out there. When I say youths, I do not mean under-16s only; I mean the under-30s as well. Recently, youths of today have committed themselves to the highlife, one which offers them various luxuries. However, are these luxuries really necessary? At what cost?

Youths of today have indulged themselves in extravagant gifts and dine in exquisite restaurants. The taste of the first ever payday makes every youth feel that he or she has accomplished a sense of freedom. They start dining out more often, go for regular shopping sprees and even on frequent overseas getaways. However, have they ever thought about other finances? Well, according to statistics, they do not. A lot of youths these days have debts, a whopping 15% of debt cases today are due to youths. Well, I think the youths have all been to keen in treating themselves, and have forgotten of the vital things in life. Being happy is one thing, but being happy is not everything. If the income one gets is not that much, he should be saving for his future and not be treating himself to unnecessary indulgences. To me, as the youths of today seek to live life to its best, they are blinded by one thing, living life to its best itself. They have always aimed for the best quality of treating themselves, but does this mean throwing away the vital essentials of life (money)? I think not.

Money is one thing, not everything. That is why people should treasure the money they earn. They should learn how to manage they income wisely. They should learn how to set aside some dollars for savings, life insurance and most importantly, the basic needs of survival, food, water, shelter and more importantly a family. I am not trying to say that youths of today may not treat themselves to luxurious services. I am just trying to convey that if one does not have the money to do something, he should look at the thing and see whether it is beneficial to him, or whether it is just a waste of his money. Such minor things have been left out by many, especially the ones who have debts. They do thing as though they have all the money in the world and do not think of what they truly need. Simply, they just swipe they credit cards, thinking that what they did is ‘alright’, since they are not losing any (visible) cash. That brings me to my next point of technology.

The technology of today has been created for one purpose; to ease our life. Things such as credit cards allow us to pay up on the spot, without having to look for an ATM and get into the long queue just to withdraw some money. However, this fact has been blinded to some. They do not see credit cards as a help to them, they see credit cards as a necessity. They see it as a means to pay up for things more easily, deluded by the fact that such credit cards hold dark secrets within them; a whole range of ‘interests’ and ‘charges’ or in other terms, an add-up to the amount paid.

All in all, I feel that today’s youths have been blinded by the reality of life. They see life as one to pleasure themselves at anything they do. In fact, it is the complete opposite; one should cherish the life they have, and use what they have with them wisely. Youths should be more spendthrift and manage their income well. ‘What we want, should only be kept at what we have.’

Democracy Creates Stability in a Society

Democracy is a form of government by the people, exercised either directly by the people or through elected representatives. Today, many nation states institutionalize democracy as their political system. Democracy is an umbrella terms that mainly constitutes liberalism, representative government, multi-party systems, equality and most importantly the election and voting process. Many may say that democracy creates stability in a society. However, there are some major factors in democracy that may cause instability in the society.

One huge factor is the fact that, through democracy, the minorities are being oppressed. This can clearly be seen through the election process. In the elections, the winning party is elected by the counting of votes. Thus, the majority would be on the upper hand, oppressing the minorities. This can also bee seen in certain societies which exercise ‘freedom of expression’. In such terms, there is a fine line between what is fine and what is not. When one crosses that line, the minorities would be oppressed. When the minority is oppressed, it creates instability in the society.

Another factor is the election of dictators in a society. The election of a dictator is something that cannot be foreseen. When one is put into power, he may do whatever he wants with the institutions. The people would mostly likely vote for the candidate who did well in the elections. Hence, if the candidate is a dictator, it would cause great instability in the society. This is very plausible as people would not know the true identity of the candidate before he is put into power. Thus, the people would not know whether the candidate is a dictator or not. One very good example is Adolf Hitler.

The democratic process is also seen to be too long for many societies. In a multi-party system, candidates tend to challenge each other. In the context of Singapore for example, there are many Group Representative Committee (GRC) with at least two parties going against each other for each GRC. This takes up quite some time and is not good for the society.

However, this may also be seen to be good for the people. When the election process is long enough, people would be able to spot mistakes in certain candidates. The heated debates between the candidates would also turn out handy for the people as the candidates themselves help spot certain flaws in the opposition. Thus, the people would be able to vote for the right candidate. Apart from that, the knowledge of the people has also played a very important part in choosing the right candidate. In modern context, people are very well educated, they have the brains for them to choose who they think is the right one. Thus, the election of dictators would not be an issue and the problem that the election process is too long would turn out to be good for the society. This clearly shows that democracy creates stability in a society.

Homeland Security

Last weekend, my family and I wanted to visit my grandparents at Johor. However, upon reaching the highly-congested causeway, we decided to detour back home. We were cursing and swearing all the way home. At that time, I did not know why the congestion was the worse I seen. Of course, this was until I realised the breaking news a few days ago. I recalled the epic news of the escape of the fugitive, Mas Selamat Kastari. He was the leader of the JI in Singapore, and obviously one of the most wanted man alive right now. Then, I also realised the fact that the lorry drivers were suffering from even severe congestion. Even more, they did not have the luxury of detouring since it is their job.

Here I am, complaining that the escape of Mas Selamat was overly reacted. However, it was then that I realised the importance of homeland security to this tiny island. Mas Selamat is a treat to the country as he can mastermind several terrorist attacks, being the fact that he was behind the plot of hijacking a plane. That shows how merciless this man is. He poses a huge treat to the society and hence, the authorities have to put up lots of measures to ensure the safety of our nation. That was when I felt that the reaction to the escapade was not overreacted but it was a safety precaution to the people of the nation, like me. I also reflected on the thousands of ‘wanted’ fliers depicting the face of Mas Selamat distributed throughout the whole nation. It shows how the people themselves are of great need to the authorities.

In national security, everyone played an important role. From the authorities to ordinary people like ourselves, we can play our part in staying vigilant and reacting well to such cases. The case of Mas Selamat can be looked at as a training or opportunity to practise out homeland security. This would ensure that anything that happens in the future can be dealt with efficiently.