4S1 blog

January 28, 2010
Was justice served by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Although Japan collectively is to be blamed for starting the war, it was an injustice to kill the civillians in the two cities as they are innocent. The common people did nothing wrong and yet were made to pay for the crimes of the generals and politicians who supported the war.

It is worth noting that the war would have dragged on without the atomic bombings as nationalistic pride would motivate those military officials and politicians to continue fighting, hence resulting in larger casualties and damages.

Therefore, while the bombings were considered a necessary evil that brought justice to the countries occupied by Japan, they were unjust to the Japanese civillians.

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January 28, 2010
"Justice is about restoring the balance of the moral order of things."

This definition of justice is sufficient but idealistic because it is often difficult to measure or quantify the "imbalance of moral order" and thus the fair compensation.

It also subtly assumes universal moral standards always exist, which is questionable. What one party perceives to be right may be wrong for another. In other words, value judgment can be subjective.

For example, recently some Muslim groups in Malaysia have cast the use of the word "Allah" by Christians as a surreptitious effort to try to seduce Muslims away from Islam, and attacked some churches. On the other hand, church officials assert that the wrod has been used for centuries to refer generally to God.

Casino in Singapore

(With reference to "Don't slay the goose that lays golden eggs" by Aletheia Chan, 15 Sep 2004)

I beg to differ from the view that "the presence of a casino will erode Singaporeans' will and drive to work hard, and will, instead, divert their attention towards gambling skills and other sleight of hand". We should not jump to such conclusions too quickly. For instance, does the presence of churches make everyone a Christian?

Googlary = Google library

In today's digital world, it is not surprising that books and information have gone electronic. Google and the Internet has indeed replaced the conventional brick-and-mortar libraries.

First of all, search engines bring information to our fingertips while searching for books in a library can be very time-consuming. Even with library catalogues to help, one may still have to face the disappoinment upon learning that the books of interest are currently on loan.

Furthermore, online content is certainly richer than those on paper. While books can only have static text and pictures printed in it, webpages can also support videos and interactive media. If a picture is worth a thousand words and a video consists of many pictures often accompanied with audio, then videos can get a message across better.

Is Science a Menace to Civilisation?

Albert Eintein once remarked that "science is nothing more than the refinement of everyday thinking." Indeed, science is the systematic recollection and study of the observations man has made about nature. Scientists not only test out hypotheses to predict how certain things behave, but also apply the knowledge that they have accumulated for the good of mankind. Modern technology has greatly improved our standard of living. Without science, we are cavemen; therefore it is ironic to condemn science as a threat to civilisation.

Advances in medical technology have saved many lives. New research has brought about cures for previously untreatable ailments. Vaccination has protected people from becoming infected by certain diseases, like polio and smallpox, and thus limiting the spread of diseases. Furthermore, early detection of chronic illnesses such as cancer increases the chance of survival. Even when science fails to cure a patient, especially in the case of AIDS, it can still prolong his life with drugs that slow down the growth of viruses. Although there may be concerns regarding medical ethics, the fact remains that strict regulations are in place and medical science has well served its purpose to improve health, hence we should be thankful for it.

With the birth of information technology in the late 20th century, we have enjoyed greater convenience. While mobile phones let us contact people from afar, the Internet has allowed us to communicate with one another across geographical boundaries at a cheaper cost. Rather than writing manually or using a typewriter, the word processor enables us to make corrections more easily and even checks for spelling or grammatical errors.

First post

Please note that this blog is set up for my English assignments in school, rather than for my personal use. Thank you.