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Tag: alternatives

  • Alternative Return Flights Arranged For Singaporeans In Mecca; May Be Used For Future Pilgrimages

    Alternative Return Flights Arranged For Singaporeans In Mecca; May Be Used For Future Pilgrimages

    Close to 300 Singaporeans who are in Mecca for umrah, a minor pilgrimage, are scheduled to return on alternative airlines, after Qatar Airways’ licence was revoked by Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

    Mr Mustafa Jumat, vice-president of the Association of Muslim Travel Agents Singapore (Amtas), told The Straits Times yesterday that most Singaporeans have settled their return flight details. They also did not experience any major disruptions to their travel plans.

    “Qatar Airways assisted them and directed them to alternative airlines,” said Mr Jumat. Some of these alternatives include Malaysia Airlines, Etihad Airways and Emirates.

    Although the schedules of Singaporeans in Mecca are largely unaffected, their return flight routes will differ, with different stopovers.

    The disruptions started on Tuesday, when Saudi Arabia revoked Qatar Airways’ licences and ordered it to close its offices within 48 hours.

    The move came amid a diplomatic rift between Qatar and a powerful bloc in the Arab world – Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – who are accusing it of supporting terrorism across the region.

    On its website, Qatar Airways indicated that all flights to the four states will be suspended “until further notice”.

    Should the ban continue, Mr Jumat said that alternative travel plans may be required for groups scheduled to go on pilgrimages in October and November this year.

     

    Source: http://www.tnp.sg/

  • SDP Questions The Singapore Education System

    SDP Questions The Singapore Education System

    As this article is published, thousands of pupils would have gone back to school to collect their PSLE results. Some students will celebrate; others will be in tears, crushed in spirit.

    What sort of system inflicts such travesty on 12-year-olds? What sort of education do we have that treats academic performance like a trophy sport: Glory in victory and agony in defeat?

    What values are we imparting to young minds? What happens to the self-esteem and the sense of self-worth when he or she discovers that she is only a ‘Normal’ or ‘Technical’ student?

    And then they can streamed to ‘elite’ or ‘neighbourhood’ schools. The really ‘smart’ ones, who are usually also the richer ones, get extra help in independent schools and gifted programmes.

    A radio DJ yesterday had to sound this caution to pupils: “Whatever score you get, your parents love you.” What kind of society have we built where our children have to be reminded that their score in one exam does not mean that their parents hate them?

    If they don’t do well who have they let down? Themselves? Their parents? The Government?

    This subject is not just a theoretical one, good only for an academic discussion. It affects real lives:

    • 22% of Singaporean children between 6-12 yrs thought of killing themselves. (ST, Jan 2014) Sadly, many actually carry out the act.
    • The no. of children warded for “aggressive, suicidal or hallucination tendencies” at IMH jumped by 35% between 2005-2010. Mental health professionals attribute these problems to academic stress. (CNA, 2 Feb 2013)
    • One in three students say they sometimes think that life is not worth living because of the fear of exams. (FEER, August 2001)

    We must stop doing this to our children. It is not good for them, it is not good for parents, and it is not good for the future of our country. In its place, we must device a system when we educate our children to be creative, compassionate and intelligent members of society with self-confidence and a strong sense of self-worth.

    There are a few ways that we can do this and they are spelt out under the SDP education policy titled Educating For Creativity and Equality:

    1. Remove PSLE. As pointed out, the stress of exams inflict horrific psychological trauma on our children. What’s more, it is not an intelligent approach to assess the abilities of primary-school students on a single exam.

    2. Cultivate creative minds. Build confidence in children by helping them adopt an attitude of independent thinking, willingness to make mistakes, and persevere in the face of failed attempts.

    3. Reduce syllabus, broaden curriculum. The syllabi for existing subjects will be reduced while subjects such as music appreciation, speech and drama, literature, etc. as well as periods for students to collaborate and interact to develop creativity will be introduced to provide a well-rounded curriculum.

    4. Reduce class size. The SDP will reduce class size in our schools to 20 pupils/class from the current 40 to provide students the individual attention they need to succeed.

    5. Scrap school and class ranking. Comparing exam results and ranking students and classes will detract from the real purpose of education which is self-improvement and self-actualisation.

    To read the full paper with other proposals, click here.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org

  • Chee Soon Juan: Policy Alternatives in Parliament Only Possible With The Presence of Opposition Parties

    Chee Soon Juan: Policy Alternatives in Parliament Only Possible With The Presence of Opposition Parties

    Minister Lawrence Wong has called on Singaporeans to be active in seeking solutions to improve Singapore. This seems a curious statement given that many have been suggesting ways only to be met by a deaf ear.

    The SDP, for example, has been coming up with alternative policies. And whenever we launch them, we invite the relevant ministers and their officials to attend (for example, see here, here and here).

    They have consistently declined to attend. And now the Government pretends that there has not been alternative voices coming up with concrete proposals on how we can better manage Singapore’s affairs.

    In addition, following the launch of the papers we sent the documents to the ministers. We even sent our healthcare paper to the Medishield Life Review Committee, saying that the SDP “look[ed] forward to contributing to the review of our healthcare system.”

    In fact, the SDP has drawn up comprehensive policies in key areas:

    Healthcare. The SDP National Healthcare Plan: Caring For All Singaporeans

    Housing. Housing A Nation: Holistic Policies For Affordable Homes

    Population. Building A People: Sound Policies For A Secure Future

    Education. Educating For Creativity and Equality: An Agenda For Transformation

    Ministerial salaries. Ethical Salaries For A Public-Centred Government

    Malay community. A Singapore For All Singaporeans: Addressing The Concerns Of The Malay Community.

    (We will be launching our policy on the economy in the near future.)

    In fact, the Government has been adopting some of the measures that the SDP has proposed. (Read PAP should acknowledge SDP’s contribution)

    Singaporeans should note that even though the Government knew that the SDP had drawn up our policies, it refused to invite us to attend the National Conversation even as it extended the invitation to other opposition parties.

    In the past, the Government accused the opposition of not coming with better ideas to run the country. Now that the SDP has drawn up our alternative policies, it tries to hush them up and continue to paint the opposition as not being constructive.

    This is why Singaporeans despair at the type of politics that the PAP plays.

    In a recent Parliamentary sitting on the debate on constructive politics, PM Lee Hsien Loong said: “In a serious parliament, the Government presents its policies. The Opposition presents its alternatives.”

    Let’s give PM Lee what he wants and get the SDP into Parliament.

     

    Source: http://yoursdp.org