Viewpoint 2 - Clash of Civilisations

Hi all,

I was at a competition organised by the JC on the other side of our campus. In the final round(which I didn't get into), finalists were expected to present on certain issues regarding world poverty and hunger in Africa. A particular rival boys school's student impressed some with the way he inserted humour into his speech. Many teachers there were both shocked and amused. It was so politically incorrect, and he managed to make the serious situations into light-hearted jokes.

But then - there were many other participants, and indeed quite a number of the judges, who were looking sort of shocked at this particular boy's descriptions of such internationally sensitive conflicts. This was millions of people who were suffering, who were being tortured, who were dying, how could you ignore the severity of the situation?

This is my topic for discussion today - What are the influences of Western cultures and Eastern cultures in our education today? Let us take a look at this particular finalist. Coming from a greatly Westernised school, it could be said that his education had been along the path of the Western world. Politically incorrect jokes must surely be a feature of the culture. After a horrible day at work, a crowded subway, and enough glimpses of people who are just too serious, surely there must be a light-hearted side to the cruel world. Undoubtedly, politically incorrect jokes satirises the current system. Here, the student must have thought that this would work.

However, there were many schools who were under the influence of the East. People from the East are generally more relaxed. Having been slightly slower in their development, you still see a slight level of ignorance, albeit a peaceful one, of the troubles of the modernised world. Horrors on the other side of the world are merely a far-off nightmare. Thus, these people will attempt to offer aid, to stop this nightmare, thus developing a more emotional side, instead of the cool calmness needed to stop the horror. But when on comes along and coldly and humourously desensitises this situation - It implies a icyness in that particular person, something people in the East hate. Thus, when the student came along with his jokes, the more pro-Eastern were, as expected, greatly shocked.

Ultimately, there is no better culture. There is only the equal clash between them. Thus, it might be better to merge the two cultures, to please both of them.

Cheers,

Darrel

Viewpoint 1 - What is the purpose of technology?

Hi all,

Before we even need to begin on whether technology is right, let us take a very brief look at technology, or more specifically, the development of technology from the Industrial Revolution. Upon the Revolution, the prototypes of many common appliances we saw today appeared. The first modern automobile by Karl Benz could officially chug along on the street in 1885. The first radio system started blaring out announcements in 1897. The list goes on and on.

An interesting thing to note is that at this particular period of time, what is known as Liberalism, or in other words, the main idea behind "Nothing But The Truth", that everyone is entitled to rights, has expanded to a great extent. In fact, this can be most clearly seen from the Emancipation Proclaimation (ie All slaves should be freed) and the sudden desire for equality in race, gender and age.

This leads me to make a sort of interesting suggestion: Was it because of the lost of such servants that technology was developed? By the equalisation of man around the world, it implied that everyone had the right to be free and respected equally. In other words, all servants that people once had would be lost. Man, in a sense, would now have no one else to, in a way, do his dirty work. So what did he do? He put the responsibility on somethng else which were not protected by rights, by something which he could create freely - machinery. Thus we see that instead of black slaves carrying Western masters on a trishaw, you now have these Western masters driving a car themselves.

In fact, technology as a replacement for slave labour now is even more clear, albeit more negatively. Those who were thrilled by the power of electricity, technology and machinery realised soon that the very fundamental weakness was that it broke down very often and was also very cold to them. Thus, we see that maids are now becoming common, for they rarely, in fact, nearly never report sick and they can keep people company.

In conclusion, technology could have been a substitute for slave labour. Your opinion?

Cheers,

Darrel