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Facts from the UN’s HDR 2007/2008

Posted by: gimster on: February 25, 2008

The following are ‘Global Political, Economic, and Social Facts’ extracted from the UN’s Human Development Report 2007/2008 by the Infoplease website.

In the last two decades, political and civil rights have improved substantially throughout the [...]

The Story of Stuff

Posted by: gimster on: January 1, 2008

This website was made known to me by Mr James Ho.
3 teaser videos:

You can download the whole video (about 20 minutes) to view offline, but you’d lose the interactive features that you get when you view the video on the website itself.
Good Oral [...]

WE LIVE IN SINGAPURA the MTV version

Posted by: gimster on: May 11, 2007

Update (May 15, 2007)
The Shockwave version of the same video is clearer and has the options to turn on the animator’s commentary (supertitles) and turn off the subtitles. View it on the animator’s page here. Or download it here.

Quote of the day

Posted by: gimster on: February 8, 2007

‘If we can’t criticize religion anymore, there will be no women’s rights, no birth control and no gay rights.’
Philippe Val, publisher of French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which reprinted the Danish cartoons that provoked a Muslim backlash a year ago
Source: Time.com

Frank Furedi and the Culture of Fear

Posted by: gimster on: June 13, 2006

The most recent comprehension exercise my students had to do was based on a passage adapted from this article by Frank Furedi, entitled 'The Market in Fear', first published in Spiked, 26 September 2005.
Frank Furedi
I had told my classes that I will post some background on the passage on this blog. The article from which [...]

Language, power and language education policy

Posted by: gimster on: April 20, 2006

Guardian Unlimited ran a report yesterday entitled ‘China to Train U.S. Teachers in Chinese‘:
The initiative will bring more than 150 guest teachers to U.S. high schools from China and immerse nearly 600 American teachers of the language in Chinese culture through summer institutes there, organizers said. It will also provide financial aid to nearly 300 [...]

Policy implications of population ageing: Online references

Posted by: gimster on: April 16, 2006

General resources
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Ageing and Employment Policies. http://www.oecd.org/document/18/0,2340,en_2649_34747_27765586_1_1_1_1,00.html
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. Definition of Social Security. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/wp/wp-hw/vol1/p1c1s2.html
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. Social Security Systems in European Countries. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/wp/wp-hw/vol2/p1c1.html
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. Social Security Systems in Asian and Oceanian Countries. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/wp/wp-hw/vol2/p1c2.html
Ministry of Health, Labour and [...]

Rules of political rhetoric for the new media in Singapore

Posted by: gimster on: April 15, 2006

It seems that there are a few similarities in the rules of rhetoric for writing in GP and political propaganda in Singapore. In this (free) article on the Straits Times Interactive, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang explains why the streaming of explicit political content through podcasts or videocasts is [...]

Birth demographics

Posted by: gimster on: April 14, 2006

Discussion of population ageing often involves references to birth rates. This post aims to clarify some important concepts related to birth demographics.
Here's map showing the natality rate in each country:

Click on the map to view it at full size at its source.
Some notes on the map:

'A' in the map legend means 'to' in Italian.
'Birth rate' [...]

Is Singapore socialist, capitalist or something else?

Posted by: gimster on: April 13, 2006

Found this post by way of one of Mr Miyagi's posts. Wish I had watched the documentary mentioned in the post, but it does pose some interesting questions about the ideas underlying how Singapore is run. The author of the blog, Andy Logan-Tam, also suggests links between the dualistic nature of our government in having [...]

‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling

Posted by: gimster on: April 8, 2006

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And [...]

Quote of the day

Posted by: gimster on: April 7, 2006

'It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them.'
Mark Twain, 'Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar' in Following the Equator

‘Internet used to push fast food to children, say campaigners’

Posted by: gimster on: March 27, 2006

A deal between McDonald's and Microsoft to produce a branded version of the popular MSN Messenger program containing advertisements for special offers at the hamburger chain has prompted complaints from consumer groups and MPs. They claim the so-called Theme Pack pushes junk food advertising to young people when Britain is struggling to deal with childhood [...]

Some ideas on how to make Singapore (or any city for that matter) a great city (in which to live, work and play?)

Posted by: gimster on: March 26, 2006

'The secret to a thriving city is not what you may think' – csmonitor.com
Attracting and keeping people in urban environments is less about projecting an image of "cool" and more about providing the basics that encourage and support a strong middle class: jobs, schools, churches.
'The Rise of the Ephemeral City' – metropolismag.com
In affluent parts of [...]

Consider… ageism, intergenerational differences and work ethic

Posted by: gimster on: March 26, 2006

Been snooping around a blog shared by 3 of my former students:
http://sugar-puff-honey-crunch.blogspot.com/2006/03/just-ranting.html#roxy
Do you agree with weiwei?

The paradox of hunger and growth in Asia

Posted by: gimster on: March 22, 2006

The latest issue of TIME contains an advertisement by the United Nations World Food Programme comprising a powerful image of a fork and a spoon placed left and right of a scummy puddle on muddy ground (which unfortunately I was unable to find on the Web to link here) and the sobering revelation that ‘Asia may have [...]

What older women want?

Posted by: gimster on: March 22, 2006

On my 80th birthday, I told my readers not to send me sachets or body lotion or any of those things people send to old ladies… what we really want is sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll
Quote found in today’s Life section of the Straits Times; Attributed to American columnist Liz Smith. An attempt to [...]

Civil liberties v Policing

Posted by: gimster on: March 22, 2006

‘Australia to adopt anti-terror law “as terrifying as terrorism itself”‘ – Channel News Asia
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/181996/1/.html

Failure of leadership? – Undermining transparency

Posted by: gimster on: March 20, 2006

‘Video shows Bush got explicit Katrina warning – President, Chertoff were clearly told of storm’s dangers numerous times’ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11627394/

Social trends

Posted by: gimster on: March 15, 2006

Information on current social trends is easily accessed on the web for several countries:

Singapore
The United Kingdom
Australia

The information is organised into categories, such as population, households and families, education and training, labour market, income and wealth, expenditure, health, social protection, crime and justice, housing, environment, transport, lifestyles and social participation.


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