11_Brydan+Lim

Brydan Lim

I do not agree with the statement that teachers should be replaced by robots. Robot teachers have many disadvantages than a normal teacher. For example, robot teachers can teach but however they cannot answer a student’s questions, causing the student having to find out the answer himself. A teacher can joke around, laugh with the students, play with them. But however there is some limitations to the robot teachers, they cannot do certain things that a normal teacher can do. Another example is that a robot teacher cost e much more than a normal teacher. One robot can cost more than a few thousands. Therefore, I do not agree that teachers should be replaced with robots as the students would have a harder time learning.

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Term 1 Assignment 4: Rebuttals
1. It has been argued that being able to tell lies occasionally is important to maintain a healthy relationship. However I do not agree. Lying occasionally in relationships may result in relationships being broken. According to a survey, conducted by the Josephson Institue of Ethics in California, about 63% of the people who participated in the survey said that they told lies to their spouse and even though it was only done occasionally, it resulted in a divorce or they had troubles maintaining the relationship. Although, it may be a small lie, it might result in even bigger problems. According to a website survey conducted, out of the 2 thousand over people who participated in the survey, about 80% of them admitted that after their spouse found out about them lying, their relationship was pulled apart and that twenty percent of them divorced their spouse after finding out. Being honest in a relationship helps to bring each other closer but one lie even though it is once occasionally, can jeopardise the relationship that was built over the years. Therefore, we must stay honest to our partner so that our relationship can last. - 7/10

2. It is argued that it is better to be a student in our parents' generation. However, I do not agree. Being students in this generation has more benefits than students in our parents' generation as nowadays, we have better technology in school such as computers that helps us enrich our learning. We get information in less than a few minutes on the internet whereas in the past, our parents had to take days to read a book for information. We also have better communication with our parents. Parents in the past, may not even care whether their children do well in schools as they do not know the importance of a good education. Therefore, our parents who have experienced that encourage us to study harder as they have gone through what it is like to not have a proper education. We also have one of the best educational systems in the world compared to the education system in the past. Many students from overseas are sent here to study as the educational system is better. Students in the past also faced more stress than us. For example, they will be stressed whether their parents have the money to send them to school. Students nowadays are more fortunate as the only thing they have to focus on is studying. Therefore, it is better to be students in our generation. -6.5/10

3. It is argued that organ trading should be allowed in Singapore. However, I do not agree. Allowing organ trading can lead to many issues. For example, the Ministry of Health states that it should not be allowed as people who are in need of money, like wanting to pay off their debts, sell their organ for money but however they may not have considered that selling their organ might result in health problems. Martin Wilkinson, a professor at Keele University and former chairman of the New Zealand Bioethics council said that organ trading should be strictly banned throughout the world because it may cause issues like high crime rates. For example, India had a legal organ trading market in the past but after many issues like the United States' criticism that India did not care about its people. India decided to put an end to this and banned organ trading. Therefore, organ trading in Singapore should not be allowed. -6.5/10

Term 1 Assignment 5- Discursive essay
Like the sound of the levers of jackpots or the dice shaken or even the marble rolling? Well, now you can hear it even without Singapore! Allowing casinos in Singapore has both positive and negative effects but the evidence shows that the positive effects outweighs the negative effects. Therefore, allowing casinos was a correct and wise decision.

For example, after opening its 2 casinos, the unemployment rate in Singapore has already decreased. Mr Leong Wai Ho, an economist with Barclays Capital says that," Singapore's decision to allow integrated resorts with casinos to be built here has changed the country forever and it is already reaping the benefits. Given that the integrated resorts began hiring well before the opening of the properties, they clearing had a strong role to play in pushing down unemployment to 2.1 percent.". This shows that the number of people with no jobs has fallen.

Another example is that the opening of the casinos has boosted the number of tourists coming to Singapore. Warwick Bartlett, the chief executive of Global betting and Gaming Consultants(GBGC) states that Singapore does not have to worry about competition for the time being because currently there are large numbers of tourists from the likes of Taiwan, Korea, China and India visiting Singapore casinos. This shows that more tourists are coming due to the opening of the casinos Singapore has to keep on upgrading the tourist attractions to attract even more tourists, so as to increase the country's revenue.

Another important reason is that the opening of casinos has increased the revenue for Singapore. Derek Da Cunha, author of Singapore places its Bets says," Most of the visitors are tourists while a small part of them are Singaporeans and PRs.". This allows Singapore to have even more money to build better facilities for Singapore. It is good that only a small percentage are Singaporeans as that proves that opening the casinos did not increase the number of gamblers in Singapore by a lot.

Some may argue that having casinos in Singapore has increased the number of gamblers in Singapore. However, there are measures in place to minimise this. The government knowing that this will happen, has imposed a levy that Singaporeans have to pay when entering the casinos. This makes the people think twice before entering the casinos. The government has also come up with a system that allows family members to ban their relatives or family members from entering the casinos for life though the exclusion orders.

Some might also argue that having casinos will lead to a higher crime rate. However, this arguement is not a valid consideration. Singapore has a powerful police force patrolling the streets day and night ensuring the safety and security. Even though there are a few cases resulting from the opening of casinos, the police caught and dealt with them with harsh punishments, making others think twice before doing it. Therefore, I do not agree that the decision to open casinos is incorrect.

Therefore, I conclude that the opening of casinos was a correct and wise choice. It has boosted tourism, increased revenue and reduced employment rates. The government should continue to implement measures to keep Singapore safe and control social problems created by gambling addiction while making more revenue for Singapore. - 18/30