Gunman kills six at Seattle party, then shoots himself

The Straits Times, Mon 27 march 2006

A man shot and killed six people in what appeared to be almost execution-style shootings, and then he shot himself dead when confronted by police.
I am truely appalled by such gruesome and unjustifiable acts of violence and killings. It was so easy for the man to gain access to a gun and go around killing people. I feel that in countries like the US, the people are having some laws that are just too relaxed. Take this killing case for example, people in the US have so much unconstricted freedom to buy a gun which is such a dangerous weapon, the government should implement stricter laws which require certain restrictions before a gun can be bought, such as age restriction and the use of buying the gun. Even better, the people, civilians, should not even be allowed to own guns excepts for policemen and soldiers. I do not see the need as to why normal civilians should be allowed to own a gun, some may argue it is for self defense but if guns were not that easily available in the first place, the civilians would not need to defend themselves from robbers who also have the same easy access to guns. There are many gun shops all over the US and thus it is not hard to find a place to buy a gun. I believe that with stricter rules implemented on the ownership of guns, the killings and violence cases in the US will definitely see some improvement. For example in countries where guns are not a common tool to be purchased, like in Singapore, crime is much easier to handle as only the police and officers have guns and it is much easier to control the situation if the other parties, civilians, do not own a weapon to fight back. Therefore i believe that guns should not be allowed to be purchased so easily as it would only pose a threat to the people. If people say that guns need to be readily availabe to be bought as a use to protect one's self, then one can also say that guns can be easily purchased to kill.

Changi rolls out part of new train system

The Straits Times, Thurs 23 march 2006

Changi airport has just launched its new People Mover System last week to ferry passengers between terminlas 1 and 2. The train runs much faster than the 16 year-old existing Skytrain and will continue undergoing upgrading to install plasma tvs and LCD screens to be ready for use with the new terminal 3 when it is ready. I am excited to hear of this new train system in our very own Changi airport, our airport is constantly being upgraded and is slowly becoming a very advanced technological hub for air travel. The new People Mover System boasts attractive features such as faster transport speeds between terminals. Also there will be LCD screens available to show passengers onboard flight information which the old Skytrain lacks. The LCD screen are a great improvment as it enables passengers to know of flight and boarding information while inside the train so they no longer need to travel 'blindly'. I believe the new People Mover System will provide much more convenience to passengers and allow for smoother and better air travel transactions. The new People Mover System will eventually operate 24/7 t0 cater to late, late flights, and i feel that that is a really great idea to provide efficient and fair services to everyone in the airport be it late or early morning flights. I believe that in the future, the new People Mover System will become very popular in our airport and will improve the quality of services in Changi Airport and make it much more convenient and attractive, thus attracting more people around the world to choose to fly through Singaore.

Airlines lost 30 million bags last year

The Straits Times, Wed 22 March 2006

An estimated 30 million bags were temporarily lost by airlines last year and 200,000 of those bags never reunited with their owners. I am shocked to find out that there are actually so many luggages lost by airlines each year, it makes me feel really grateful and blessed to know that i have always managed to find my luggage on the luggage belt after each flight. I never knew that there were so many cases of lost baggage in the airports, i usually thought that only a small number of people were the unlucky ones who had the misfortune of losing their baggage, obviously i was wrong. The cause of the increasing number of lost baggage each year is attributed to many passengers changing airlines during a single journey, this causes a mix up in the bags when they are transferred to another aeroplane. I believe that the problem of lost baggage can be solved if we all were very careful. Firstly, people should try and take direct flights if possible and not take flights that need to transit, as baggages might tend to be left on the first plane. In addittion, one should never leave their bags unattended at all times. One never knows if someone might swop baggages or accidentally mistake your luggage for his as they are identical. Nowadays, there are many identical brands and designs of baggages, hence i believe the best way to identify your bag is to label it clearly by fitting it with an identity tag or a personnal mark. This way, it will be easier to identify one's bag and it would not be easy for your bag to be mistaken for someone else's. One should always be alert of one's baggage at all times and never leave it out of sight especially when in a foreign country. If baggage is lost and it contains the passport and daily necessities, the traveller will be stuck in the country's airport with no where to go.

Video Game Therapy

The Sunday Times, 26 March 2006

Video game therapy is becoming more widely used around the world today. I support the use of video game therapy as a form of treatment to some patients as i think it is a creative, unique yet effective way of treatment. A boy who was pronounced brain dead awoke after a month long coma, doctors said that he will never be the same again and will never walk nor talk. Yet today the boy has caught up with his peers in school and even made a speech in front of the whole school, and he owes his speedy progress of recovery to a neuro-feedback training on the Cyber-Learning Technolgy LLC system, which is a form of video game therapy. These video game therapies are quite effective, especially to children because the incorporation of video games taps young people's fascination with animation and electronics to sweeten often long, frightening and painful medical treatments. The video games help to make the patient enjoy the medical treatments and hence lead to the improvement of these treatments. Therefore i believe that such video game therapy is effective and Singapore should also start incorporating such therapies to their medical treatments too. In some countries, schools use the game Dance Dance Revolution, which involves the participant to move about to perform dance steps, to help curb the problem of obesity among students. I feel that this is really a great idea as students not only play, but are in someway exercising and losing weight at the same time. With this method of fighting obesity, more students will be interested and determined to lose weight as it involves a fun process unlike the traditional tiresome ritual of working out till they drop at the gym. Thus i feel that video game therapy is a great new way of treatment and will definitely become more popular in the future.

Blogger gets death threats for DIY abortion guide

The Newpaper, Sat 18th march 2006

A 21-year-old blogger in the US was inspired to post a DIY abortion guide on her blog after a recent signing of legislation in South Dakota that outlaws abortion, with the exception only if the woman's life is threatened if she continued with the pregnancy. Personally, i feel that abortions are acts of cruelty and selfishness. Many people who get pregnant accidentally, mostly those teenagers who engage in premarital sex, go for illegal abortions as they find it the easiest solution to their problem. However i feel that their actions are selfish, cruel and unjustifiable. In the first place, even though the pregnancy was unplanned, the unborn baby is still a LIFE and has the right to live. I think that people who go for abortion are selfish as they do not think of the consequences before they act. If they do not want to get pregnant they should not engage in sex in the first place. Also, abortion is not the only solution to unwanted pregnancy. Even if the person does not want to keep the child, she could at least give birth to the child then send it for adoption, this way at least the baby gets a chance at life. Abortion takes away a life and is not much different from murder, so if one does an abortion doesn't it makes her no different from a muderer. To me, abortion is only justifiable if the pregnancy poses a threat to the woman's life as it takes into account the life of a person. Even for rape victims, even though they do feel dislike and hatred towards the unborn baby as it was the result of an inhuman act, i feel that the unborn babies should be given a chance to live as they are truely innocent and thus should be given the right to come into this world.

Shot while saving brother

The Newpaper, Fri 17th mar 2006

I am quite surprised that even in this day and time there still exists such a strong feeling of love in some people. I also feel glad to know that such love, a love stronger and more important than one's own life, actually does exist. I have alot of admiration and respect for the man who used himself as a human shield to protect his younger brother from being shot by robbers, courage and love like his is rare. If i had been in his shoes, i doubt that i would have had possesed the same courage as the man, and i definitely would not have ever thought of using myself as a human shield. Not many people would have been brave and loving enough to do what the man did, his actions really left a deep impression on me. His actions remind me of GOD dying on the cross for us so that we may be saved, and this incident shows me clearly the message behind GOD's dying on the cross. Just like the man who wanted to save his brother, GOD died for us because of a simple reason: out of love for us, and we should treasure that love. Also, nowadays with so much sin and violence happening around the world(there are even people who murder their own family), it is really pleasant to know that such sweet and sacrificial love still exists. I believe that each and everyone one of us has love and goodness inside us, even hardcore criminals. The only reason i have as to why criminals perform crime and misdeeds is that they themselves have not received any love, and so they do not know how to love and be nice to others. I really hope that the man who shielded his brother will recover soon, to me he is what i call a true hero. Love is truely an amazing and wonderful thing, without it the world would be such a cold, gloomy place. And so as the sayings go: Love knows no boundaries; Love is blind, which is so true.