Financial literacy among youths

Financial literacy and financial management are very important life skills that all youths should have, in order to successful plan for their future and manage their money well.

Nowadays, many students spend a lot more than they save, and sometimes even exceeding their pocket money. Youths are easily tempted by the latest tech devices or fashion, and would spare none of their money in getting them. They do not care about how much they spend, as long as there is always more pouring into their pockets. Youth nowadays do not appreciate the value of money and do no know how to treasure it. They are extravagant, and spare no thoughts for the hard work of their parents to bring in money for the household. Many do not even know the virtue of saving. After all, they feel like they can spend all they like as long as there is more coming to fill their wallets.

Managing your money is especially critical in society today. There are just so many ways which money is spent today: bills, loans, fees, education, mortgages, insurance are just the many necessities which require the spending of money. Inflation runs at 3% annually and the cost of everything is just rising. However, there is only one main source of income, from salaries. Hence, youth should get to know the importance of saving.

Money management should be a skill cultivated from young. Youth should target to set aside a portion of their pocket money every week and start a savings account. If they start saving from young, they would grow up with this habit. Good management of money would be rewarded with a comfortable and carefree life in future. Extravagance and poor management of money would lead to loans and debts. Sadly, due to a lack of financial knowledge, many youths are starting to have debts after graduation.

With society becoming ever so materialistic, I think that financial education is all the more important. With good management of money, life would be much smoother. Hence, I think that schools should educate their students with financial literacy.

Dialect in Singapore

"Ay ah seng, le jia pah buay?"

"Jia pah liao."

"Le kia lit hoh boh?"

"Wa kia lit jin hoh!"

This might be the typical sort of conversation that you may hear at your local coffee shop. Today, I am going to discuss the topic of dialect in Singapore.

Many people feel that dialect is something of the "old world" which is spoken mainly by the older generation in Singapore. Of course, it is typical to see the older generation conversing in dialect. However, dialect is dying out among the younger generation of Singaporeans, who are mainly English-speaking. Many of our youth do not understand their own dialect at all, and some don't even know their dialect group.

I recall an incident which my uncle told me about:

He was conversing with his friend in Hokkien and they laughed at a joke. His friend's son happened to hear the whole conversation. Mystified by the laughter, he asked my uncle, "What are you talking about? What language are you speaking?" My uncle was puzzled and replied, "I'm speaking in Hokkien. Don't you know it?" The boy shook his head. When asked what dialect group he was from, he could not reply.

This is especially saddening to see that many youth nowadays do not even know their roots. Most youth today disregard dialect as old fashioned and spoken only by the older generation of "uncles and aunties". However, my views are not with them.

I think that dialect is especially important. It gives us a sense of belonging and culture. It also tells us of our roots. Even if someone does not know how to speak it, they should at least know of their own dialect group. Dialect makes us unique in many ways. It tells us of our diversity of culture among Han Chinese. It helps us to appreciate our roots and how we came about.

Different dialect groups have different cultures. An example can be seen in cousines originating from different dialect groups. Hokkien mee, Teochew porridge, Cantonese dim sum and Hainanese chicken rice are just examples of the diversity of cultures.

Even the dialect spoken has its own beauty in it. It makes Han Chinese characters more meaningful and interesting as they have many different pronounciations. For example, the character " 人" is pronounced as "ren" in chinese but it has a totally different pronounciation in Hokkien as "lang" and in Cantonese as "yan". Each of the dialects are unique in their own way.

My dialect group is Hokkien and I love the dialect. Although Hokkien is stereotypically thought of as "choh loh" (rough) compared to other dialects and sometimes even uncought and impolite (many swear words in Singlish are from Hokkien), I think it is a beautiful dialect and unique in its own way. I like Hokkien songs as well as shows. It is interesting as the meaning of sentences in Hokkien is usually understood by sound rather than words. I think Hokkien is very meaningful as it is the language of my family and it is commonly used at home. My relatives also converse in Hokkien.

In conclusion, I think that Chinese youths nowadays should at least know their dialect groups and understand their own cultures. Nevermind if they do not understand it, at least they know of their roots.

Just for fun:

E-learning Task 2: Children in the Darnkess

Complete the template provided in Annex A, focusing on (1) Point of View; (2) Situation and Setting; (3) Language/Diction; and (4) Personal Response, and post your response to Task 2 on your blog. This template is based on John Lye’s ‘Critical Analysis of Poetry’, and you can make reference to this in Annex B when in doubt.

Steps in Analysis
	Point	Evidence	Elaboration
1.	Point of View	- 3rd Person POV - Hopeful tone: repetition of “could”	- Shows that the speaker is not directly involved in the situation but rather is reporting about the matter - As if he is trying to help them, hoping that they have a better future
2.	Situation and Setting	- Children fighting in wars as child soldiers: “would someone teach them to fight” - These children have no choice and are forced into it as they “are not free” - Some of them are killed in wars: “Will a war consume them” - Children living in a bleak world: “there shines no light” - Speaker feels compassionate toward them and wants to give them a chance	- These children are forced into fighting wars against their will - They cannot escape this life of theirs - Some of them are killed in wars - Children are indeed in a hopeless situation with no hope of freedom - Speaker hopes that we could educate them and give them a chance
3.	Language/Diction	Figurative language used - “darkness” and “light”: metaphors used to contrast their lives with other free children - “darkness” : the bleak lives of the children where there is no hope of escape - “chalk and blackboards”: metaphor for education - “door”: symbolises the children’s freedom - “key”: the struggle for freedom - “light a candle”: brighten up their lives, give them a new chance and education - “no flight”, “no light”: children cannot escape; light represents hope, shows that there is no hope	- Use of metaphors helps reader sympathise with these children who are less fortunate than them and are going through suffering - Lets readers empathise with these children in their struggle for freedom - “simply light a candle” - Poet wants us to help brighten up their lives
4.	Personal Response	This poem evokes a sense of bitterness and hardship through its good use of figurative language. It helps the reader to understand in clear detail the suffering of the child soldiers. It also reaches out to the readers for them to take action to help these children. This poem has enlightened me on the suffering of child soldiers and helped raised my awareness for them. This poem also evokes my sympathy through its bleak descriptions of hardships faced. I feel that these children are treated brutally as they are forced to become child soldiers, much against their will. They evoke my sympathy as they are not given a chance and have no childhood. They do not even receive education and some even die in wars. I think that humanity has to do something about this to stop forcing children into child soldiers as every child has his own right and dignity to live the life that he wants. This poem touches on the brutality of mankind in this world. We dominate over our weaker ones and force them to do things at our command. The ugliness of mankind is also portrayed as innocent children are sent to fight in wars, in which many of them perish brutally.

E-learning: Task 1 Children in the Darkness

Based on your understanding of the selected poem, perform extensive web research and write a report detailing the conflict represented in the poem(s) of your choice. Bear in mind that this piece of background information will allow your blog audience to further understand the poem as well as your analysis of the poem in Task 2.

The poet was in Vietnam in 1967 - 68 and again in 1969. He had witnessed part of the Vietnam War. He goes back often because he feels that his soul lives in Vietnam and he goes back to visit it from time to time.

He was sitting in his hotel room in Saigon just before Christmas 2009. At that time, he looked at the TV and the news was on. He could not understand what the news reader was saying but in the background there was a photo of a small boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle. This poem flowed out of him in an instant and he typed it down.

This poem shows the plight of child soldiers who are forced into fighting a war. These child soldiers have no freedom and they have no childhood. Their life is bleak and many lose their lives fighting in wars. The poem shows how cruelly these children are treated. They are not given education but instead are used as weapons of war. These children hate their lives, but there is no escape for them.

The second "Black Thursday"?

Well, it has been a horrible week for investors. The US markets plunged and ended the week horribly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid over 5.5% for the week. This huge plunge sheds all the gains so far this year.

Especially on Thursday, where the Dow lost over 900 points in a matter of minutes. This is the largest drop in the history of the Dow in a single day. The reason(s) for the huge fall are still being debated. The Greek crisis? A trader's mistake? Or a computer glitch? The market slide then caused investors to lose confidence and this sparked a huge sell-off in the markets.

I do indeed feel rather shocked by this sudden event. Although it is probably not a single person's fault or the fault of anyone, many people have been severely affected by this. Investors and traders would have lost a lot of money in the sell-off and this would affect them greatly financially. Therefore, I sympathize with them and I hope that the markets would recover soon.

2nd Insight Series 2010

Democracy in a brave new world

A summary of the event:

I attended the seminar entitled “Democracy in a brave new world” some time ago. It was a seminar about democracy in our world and how different political parties campaign for support to govern a country. Mr Baey, the MP for Tanjong Pagar gave his speech first, followed by Dr Cherian George. Both talked about their views and perspectives about politics and democracy in governing a country. Mr Baey stated that a government should be fair to all citizens and treat everyone equally. Minorities should also be represented in parliament so as for them to have a say in a country. A government should also promote racial harmony in a country so as to avoid social segregation but instead forge unity between peoples of different races. Dr George stated that politics is not as simple as it seems, but rather the government has to do a lot to govern a people well. One of these ways would be to have a revolution. Another would be justice and democracy. The event was interesting and it finally came to a close when the guests of -honors left.

My personal views and reflections:

I feel that democracy is very important in today’s modern and fast-changing world. In order for a nation to progress, change must take place. And in order for change to take place, there must be democracy. In a capitalist and materialistic world today, we constantly seek to improve and progress forward. In order for a country to progress, new people must have new ideas on how to lead it. Democracy is something rather new to the 21^st century. In the past, there were monarchies and dictators who wielded absolute power in a country. Although they were not entirely bad, an autocratic ruler would not let as country progress like a democracy would. For new initiatives to be passed, the ruler must first accept it. This means that the country would only improve if the ruler puts plans into actions. Everyone relies on a single person or a small group of people to make decisions for the country. In contrary, democracy offers an equal chance for all to suggest their ideas to improve a country. The country would not only be ruled by a single person or a royal family, but by a parliament of people elected by the common people. This therefore gives a chance for the common citizens to express their views by supporting a political party. If a particular party is ineffective, it would most probably be out-voted in the next elections and therefore change in a country will occur. In conclusion, democracy is important for change to take place.

I felt that it was a meaningful experience for me to attend the seminar. I have indeed gained a lot more knowledge about politics and the idea of democracy from this experience. This seminar has also broadened by views on politics and the importance of democracy in order for a country to progress. Overall, I feel that it was indeed an eye-opening experience.

Casinos - Boon or bane?

2 casinos, namely Resorts World Sentosa and Las Vegas Sands have recently opened their doors for business in Singapore. This is the first time that Casinos have opened in Singapore. Many were excited by the openings and flocked to the casinos, others were skeptical. Overall, theses casinos have a great impact on Singapore. But the question is - are they boon or bane?

The biggest effect the casinos have on Singapore is undoubtedly its economic effects. The prime reasons for the building of these casinos were intended as a source of income as well as to create more jobs for the economy. However, these effects are not 100% pro, there are its flipsides.

Let me start with the positive factors first. These casinos are going to be a good source of income for the economy. The opening of the casinos here would attract more tourists to Singapore. This would help to boost the tourism industry. The casinos would also be a source of income for Singapore's economy. This could help boost the economy and spur more growth. The creation of jobs would also benefit the population.

Now to the negative factors. Though this would boost the economy, there are certain drawbacks. People could become addicted to gambling and hence incur huge losses from it. This would drive them into debt and perhaps even crime. They would use up their hard-earned savings on gambling. This could lead to problems with their family members and also have a great effect on their jobs.

In conclusion, considering the economic gains and social problems that the casinos would bring, my judgement on the casinos is that they have both pros and cons. I think that the casinos would be a good thing for Singapore if people can control themselves and gamble in moderation. Despite the social problems, these casinos would greatly benefit Singapore economically.