The Bus Strike In Singapore Essay Example for Free

The Bus Strike In Singapore Essay Fundamental lessons which we can all learn from the bus strike (Singapore) Against the backdrop of the now famous bus strike, there have been efforts undertaken by the following parties: The Singapore Government calling on all parties to voice their grievances through the appropriate channels and a flurry of measures adopted by SMRT in response to public and government sentiment. Whilst the reactions and actions undertaken after the strike are laudable, one can’t help but express concern that the underlying issues of wages, worker’s living conditions and a clear lack of communication channels between all relevant parties have surfaced only via the drastic action of a strike. Indeed, all parties involved have to clearly reflect on the events of the past week and do their utmost to prevent future occurrences of such incidents. Complacency setting in Citing how strikes would affect workforce productivity and deter potential investors, the Singapore Government has long taken a dim view towards strikes and strikes have been few and far between throughout the annals of Singapore’s history. This has and still must be the key driving policy: A zero tolerance towards illegal strikes. In an attempt to maintain the welfare of general workers in Singapore, the National Union Trade Congress, businesses and National Employer’s Federation had been established. Tripartism was vaunted as the the way to progress and to cultivate the symbiotic relationship between businesses, employers and employees. Indeed, the system of tripartism saw much success till the early 2000’s where there were troubling signs of complacency setting in and cracks slowly but surely emerging from the system. This was further compounded by the fact that there was a massive influx of foreign workers as the Government sought to open its doors to foreigners to maximize economic growth. It would be naà ¯ve to conceive that the strikes were one-off actions or actions taken by an irrational group of foreign workers. Conversely, it is clear that the issues stemming from the strike ie. low wages, poor living conditions, lack of proper communication channels between businesses and employees alongside with an inability to manage the influx of foreign workers were long drawn. Therefore, it is illustrative that complacency had long set in between the relevant parties and the event of a strike or any forms of dramatic action were only a matter of time. An overall reflection Whilst I am in unequivocal agreement that a firm stance should be undertaken against the workers for taking the law into their own hands, there must be similar punishments meted out to SMRT as well for failing to take into account the welfare of its foreign workers and to serve as a strong deterrent for businesses not to mistreat its workers. When profits should not be at all costs It has been a long accepted norm in Singapore that a company should be primarily judged on its financial performance and has a responsibility to its multitude of stakeholders for fulfilling that responsibility. Nonetheless, the profit at all costs model has come under siege and this is inherently inferred from none other than SMRT. Relationship between grow at all costs and severe ramifications Admittedly, it would be an uphill task to draw a direct co-relationship between pursuing profits at all costs and the recent spate of events that had besieged SMRT. Having said that, one can look no further than how the incidents of trains breaking down due to inadequate maintenance and the recent uproar over wages of workers seem to connote some conclusions about a continual focus on increasing profit margins each quarter. Statistics have shown that the under the tenure of then SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa, profits at SMRT had saw a steady increase quarter after quarter and everyone (from savvy investors, government and the general public) were duly impressed. However, the aftermath of the slew of incidents that have occurred (MRTs breaking down due to improper maintenance / lack of empathy for staff as evident by the strike) suggested that all was not well in the quest for grow and profit at all costs. How SMRT should not get away with a mere slap on the wrist It is indicative that all is not well at SMRT. There is a clear lack of communication between its staff, the upper echelons of the organization and a lack of distinctive and definitive direction being undertaken. Clearly, SMRT needs a wake-up call and the onus is on the Government to adopt a hardline stance against the company. Whilst some commentators have suggested heavy fines, I am of the belief that more drastic measures needs to be undertaken in the form of the government stepping in to perform the role of the company or possible suspensions in operations of the firm if the need arises. There would inevitably be some trade -offs in the form of services being affected in the short term but it would send a strong message to SMRT to step up or be replaced entirely either by the government or in the form of another private company. Aftermath of the strike In sum, the recent strike has revealed the stress points of tripartism and the relevant parties would do well to address them to prevent such a scenario from happening in the foreseeable future. With swift action being undertaken against the perpetrators of the strike, one can’t help but wonder whether SMRT should similarly be punished or be allowed to get away scot free?

Success: You can do it! Essay -- essays research papers fc

You can do it! -SUCCESS- Success is to fulfil a goal that you have set for yourself. Achievement of success involves five components: realisation, confidence, motivation, action and perseverance. Step one is to realise your goal and how to achieve it. Step two is to have the confidence to take the steps towards your goal. Step three is to find motivation to keep you on the path towards you goal. Step four is action, the first physical step you take in the process for success. Step five is perseverance. On the road to success, you will most definitely come to setbacks and struggles. The only way to conquer those things and achieve your goal is to have strong perseverance. As David Brink said, "A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him." Step 1 – Realisation To start your journey to success, you will first have to realise what your goal is and what you will need to achieve it. Ross Perot realised his goal was to start a data processing company. He realised he needed to borrow one thousand dollars to start it. I have realised my goal to become a great filmmaker. I realised to achieve that goal I needed to get experience in the film industry and needed to do a Film and Television course at university. A lot of people have failed to achieve their goal because they have failed to realise clearly what their goal is and what they needed to reach it. You must not make hasty, unsure decisions. Realisation involves careful investigation. Step 2 – Confidence â€Å"Confidence is the door to success† (Mary O’Hare Dumas). If you do not have confidence in your goal and believe you can reach it, you will fail before you even begin. To achieve your goal you are going to need to depend on other people, whether it is for funding or moral support. If you do not show confidence in your goal, no one will have confidence in you. They will not want to support you and you will not be able to accomplish your goal. You also need confidence in yourself. If you lack confidence you will become discouraged and this will make your goal impossible to attain. I am confident that my goal is achievable and am thinking positively which will keep me encouraged. Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, Britain’s greatest naval hero, knew confidence. His confidence in his ability to win any naval battle caused him to not lose... ...backs, you must persevere. When you come to an obstacle, you need to re-evaluate your plans to achieve your goal and consider revising them. The key of success is not to give up when you approach a problem, but work out a way to get past it and achieve success Realisation, Confidence, Motivation, Action and Perseverance are the ingredients for success. You need to: realise what your goal is and know clearly what you have to do to achieve it; be confident in the fact that it is achievable for you; have a motivation to fuel your efforts on the path to success; put your plans into action; and persevere when you hit setbacks. If you follow these guidelines, you will achieve personal success. Bibliography Brown, J. 1996, The life and times of Lord Nelson, The Book Company Pty Ltd, Sydney Miller, N. 2000, Broadsides – The age of fighting sail, John Wiley and Sons Inc, New York quoteland.com - Quotations on every topic, by every author, and in every fashion possible (online) retrieved via the Internet 18 February 2002, http://www.quoteland.com Perot '96 - Ross Perot: Biography (online) retrieved via the Internet 18 February 2002, http://www.perot.org/hrpbio.htm

Freedom

Freedom. We all dream about it. We all wish we could break free of the rules, laws and constraints we are all chained down by. The uniforms, taxes, laws and harsh, judgemental opinions: All these keep us in order, organized and running smoothly like a well-oiled machine. But sometimes what is best for people is not the strict guidelines and controlling regulations, but the shattering of the barrier to insanity and liberation, the spreading of wings and freedom of flight that we can only ever experience in dreams. Freedom, however, can have many different definitions.To be able to do anything they want without the fear of trouble, fines or cruel, judgemental opinions, or maybe just to be able to walk to the park alone. There are numerous levels of freedom and everybody’s opinion on where they are on those levels can depend on their upbringing, cultural background, age group and environment. Some cultures, for example, are considered to be stricter than others in certain, or all aspects of their children’s lives, even to the extent of an arranged marriage. There are many reasons for why children should be allowed some freedom, however, but still be on a loose leash.We all need to go through the childhood stage, with we need room to explore the world and take risks in a safe environment and manner. Parents just need to find a balance between the two, letting the child make some of their own decisions, but also letting them make small mistakes as to learn from them. Though some teenagers of this generation feel as if they need more freedom, most of them do not. Teenagers do not know the real meaning of freedom and have not learnt to savour it as those in the work force have. They do not know what it is like to have to fend for themselves, and have others depend on them to live as well.To have just one day where all that responsibility, and the responsibility of sticking to laws and restrictions, is lifted off their shoulders, would be the feeling of t rue freedom. Parents restrict their teenagers from doing some things and going to certain places because they want their children to be safe, but to enjoy and savour the freedom they have now before they are released into the â€Å"real world† and never to experience it again. Teenagers of this day and age have quite a bit of freedom in many aspects already compared to their parents and other older generations.Being a teenager myself, I can see why some others would like more, and feel as if they are deprived of, choice and freewill, though I understand that the restrictions placed and reinforced upon by the parents are only for our benefit. As our parents, they would have decidedly more knowledge of the world and its dangers due to experience, as they have been where us teens are today. The world, however, is changing, and with a new generation comes new experiences. There are many choices in life, and if we do not make mistakes, we would not be able to learn and grow as peo ple.Independence is a crucial lesson in life, and can only be achieved through self nourishment and exploration of both ourselves and the world around us. Though parents may think that by restricting their children from going out and contributing to certain events is to protect them, they may be actually shielding their children from the real world, feeding their children lies when the society they live in isn’t as innocent. Totally shielding that child from the events of the world would be unfair to both the parents and the child. Gradually exposing them to the world however, would be a nicer alternative.The shock of finding out how different the real world is compared to their thoughts and filtered knowledge would be extremely unfair as they would discover all the experiences they did not get to participate in, and feel as if their childhood had been wasted. This shielding of children may also have prevented them from having a social life. They may have been kept at home, q uietly reading, or studying for a test coming up in a couple of weeks, while their friends were out having fun and experiencing and contributing to the memories that they will be able to tell their children when they have grown out of their teenage years.Being kept at home, it would make sense that they would have a quieter and less outgoing personality, and that new experiences would not be as happily welcomed as they would by those who had had the chance to understand and gain knowledge about it. On the other hand, quite often teenagers who are kept at home, but who have knowledge of the outside world, become rebellious and disobedient in order to try and experience new things with friends and also to be socially accepted and to fit in.However, this creates tension and mistrust within families, and therefore harsher restrictions on their freedom, causing other, more forceful forms of rebellion. Freedom is classed on so many different levels, that sometimes, even walking home witho ut the threat of death is a dream. With countless different definitions of â€Å"freedom† each and every person would have a varied view on liberation and different levels on where they feel it. Teenagers need time to explore and experience, but on he other hand, they need to be able to do this in a fairly safe and comfortable environment. Lack of freedom hinders the growth and development of personalities and the teenager’s ever going search to find themselves, and who is going to make their mark in the world in the near future. Freedom is a part of life that shapes and moulds the clay of the future of mankind into the people who will one day run the world. And in freedom, we fly. Freedom Freedom. We all dream about it. We all wish we could break free of the rules, laws and constraints we are all chained down by. The uniforms, taxes, laws and harsh, judgemental opinions: All these keep us in order, organized and running smoothly like a well-oiled machine. But sometimes what is best for people is not the strict guidelines and controlling regulations, but the shattering of the barrier to insanity and liberation, the spreading of wings and freedom of flight that we can only ever experience in dreams. Freedom, however, can have many different definitions.To be able to do anything they want without the fear of trouble, fines or cruel, judgemental opinions, or maybe just to be able to walk to the park alone. There are numerous levels of freedom and everybody’s opinion on where they are on those levels can depend on their upbringing, cultural background, age group and environment. Some cultures, for example, are considered to be stricter than others in certain, or all aspects of their children’s lives, even to the extent of an arranged marriage. There are many reasons for why children should be allowed some freedom, however, but still be on a loose leash.We all need to go through the childhood stage, with we need room to explore the world and take risks in a safe environment and manner. Parents just need to find a balance between the two, letting the child make some of their own decisions, but also letting them make small mistakes as to learn from them. Though some teenagers of this generation feel as if they need more freedom, most of them do not. Teenagers do not know the real meaning of freedom and have not learnt to savour it as those in the work force have. They do not know what it is like to have to fend for themselves, and have others depend on them to live as well.To have just one day where all that responsibility, and the responsibility of sticking to laws and restrictions, is lifted off their shoulders, would be the feeling of t rue freedom. Parents restrict their teenagers from doing some things and going to certain places because they want their children to be safe, but to enjoy and savour the freedom they have now before they are released into the â€Å"real world† and never to experience it again. Teenagers of this day and age have quite a bit of freedom in many aspects already compared to their parents and other older generations.Being a teenager myself, I can see why some others would like more, and feel as if they are deprived of, choice and freewill, though I understand that the restrictions placed and reinforced upon by the parents are only for our benefit. As our parents, they would have decidedly more knowledge of the world and its dangers due to experience, as they have been where us teens are today. The world, however, is changing, and with a new generation comes new experiences. There are many choices in life, and if we do not make mistakes, we would not be able to learn and grow as peo ple.Independence is a crucial lesson in life, and can only be achieved through self nourishment and exploration of both ourselves and the world around us. Though parents may think that by restricting their children from going out and contributing to certain events is to protect them, they may be actually shielding their children from the real world, feeding their children lies when the society they live in isn’t as innocent. Totally shielding that child from the events of the world would be unfair to both the parents and the child. Gradually exposing them to the world however, would be a nicer alternative.The shock of finding out how different the real world is compared to their thoughts and filtered knowledge would be extremely unfair as they would discover all the experiences they did not get to participate in, and feel as if their childhood had been wasted. This shielding of children may also have prevented them from having a social life. They may have been kept at home, q uietly reading, or studying for a test coming up in a couple of weeks, while their friends were out having fun and experiencing and contributing to the memories that they will be able to tell their children when they have grown out of their teenage years.Being kept at home, it would make sense that they would have a quieter and less outgoing personality, and that new experiences would not be as happily welcomed as they would by those who had had the chance to understand and gain knowledge about it. On the other hand, quite often teenagers who are kept at home, but who have knowledge of the outside world, become rebellious and disobedient in order to try and experience new things with friends and also to be socially accepted and to fit in.However, this creates tension and mistrust within families, and therefore harsher restrictions on their freedom, causing other, more forceful forms of rebellion. Freedom is classed on so many different levels, that sometimes, even walking home witho ut the threat of death is a dream. With countless different definitions of â€Å"freedom† each and every person would have a varied view on liberation and different levels on where they feel it. Teenagers need time to explore and experience, but on he other hand, they need to be able to do this in a fairly safe and comfortable environment. Lack of freedom hinders the growth and development of personalities and the teenager’s ever going search to find themselves, and who is going to make their mark in the world in the near future. Freedom is a part of life that shapes and moulds the clay of the future of mankind into the people who will one day run the world. And in freedom, we fly.

Discrimination aginst Muslims After the Events of 9/11 Free Essay Example, 1000 words

Al’ Qaeda is not endorsed or promoted by most Muslims. When the terrorists hijacked those jets they also hijacked a religion. The hateful, violent, holy war against the United States does not appear in the Quran or any traditional Muslin literature. Islam is, by and large, a peaceful religion that shares much of its earliest origins with both Christianity and Judaism (Patheos Library). However, after 9/11 Muslims of all races, creeds, and colors were made to feel like terrorists, refused service at businesses, and were beaten, threatened, and sadly many mosques, Islamic temples of worship, were vandalized or burned (Ali-Karamali). Unfortunately. Many of these sentiments are still being expressed today 13 years later. Most people until 9/11 people did not have any real isses very often about Muslims, overseas or in this country. There were other racial tensions throughout the years. There were no specific issues, no violent outbursts, and relations would have seemed civil and not discriminatory. However after 9/11 it was as if these people, all Muslims, were responsible for the terror attacks, as well as, everything else that was not going â€Å"great† in the United States. We will write a custom essay sample on Discrimination aginst Muslims After the Events of 9/11 or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page