Habits are formed when a person does an activity on a regular basis until he does it without thinking or cannot stop doing it. We need habits to survive. They regulate our social lives, help us to maintain our health, and allow us to act without reflection when we must. Everyone has habits and are constantly forming new habits everyday. Our body and mind has hundreds of habits to perform and they are all done subconsciously, unless the habit has created discomfort. So is habit forming right or wrong? This will depend on the type of habit the person is forming. Habits are either good, bad or neutral. It is wrong to form a bad habit, knowing it is bad. But if the habit is good or neutral, I think there is nothing wrong. In fact , forming good habits can be beneficial to the person. But bad habits, vices, which are harmful , can cause a person’s downfall. Habit forming also becomes harmful when a habit becomes an addiction. An addiction can be described as a bad habit that is especially difficult to change.
         What can be defined as good habits? Good habits are habits that help us have a better lifestyle and be a better person, improve social relationships, education and employment. One example is reading newspapers and magazines. Reading will improve our language and reading newspapers and magazines will keep us updated with current affairs. We need to know what is happening around us, not only in our own country, but all around the world too. Exercising is also a very good habit. It not only keeps us fit and healthy , burns off excess fat and keeps our heart in good condition, it also helps relieve stress from studies or work. These habits are beneficial to us.
        Forming bad habits like smoking or taking drugs are definitely destructive. Habits like these cause at least, a little amount of addiction, especially if the habit is enjoyable to the person. An addiction is like a dependence. A habit becomes an addiction when the body needs to perform a particular activity not part of routine but as a necessity for it to continue working properly. You end up doing more than you intend, trying unsuccessfully to stop, neglecting other responsibilities , doing it more while enjoying it less, yet feeling restless, irritable, and depressed when you stop, feeling unhappy after doing it, and doing it again to relieve that feeling. Breaking an addiction can have some serious short- term and sometimes long- term side effects, for example, withdrawal symptoms. These effects can not only be harmful but can also make it harder to break the habit. We can get addicted to smoking which leads to lung and throat cancer, and in turn can cause deaths. Smoking addicts will feel uneasy when they have not smoked a cigarette for a period of time. Smoking not only affects the smoker’s health; it also affects the health of the person around him. Nowadays, lots of people smoke, but there is an evergoing campaign on telling people not to smoke and  educating people of the harmful effects of smoking. Drug abuse, a serious crime, may cause death too, and arrested drug addicts and drug traffickers are sent to either jail or rehabilitation centres. Drugs can really wreak havoc on a person’s life and are highly addictive. People always use relieving stress as an excuse for taking drugs, but little do they know they are playing with death, as they can die form a drug overdose very easily. And kicking the drug habit in a rehabilitation centre is such a painful process that the amount of suffering cannot be described. We can also get addicted to alcohol. These are destructive habits. They can get you into trouble, and can make a mess out of your social life. People avoid you, get disgusted by your habits and attitude. They might even think that you are a bad influence on them, so they stay away from you, and might not even acknowledge you as a friend.
         There are also bad habits not as serious as those above, but forming them is  still wrong. One bad habit is swearing. This bad habit gives other people a bad impression of you. What would you think of a person who swears every now and then? He would be seen as vulgar and unruly and in worst cases people might think he is a ruffian or a hooligan. Some vulgarities are also very insulting and many people may be offended. Another common bad habit is addiction to coffee. Working people have a lot of work to do, and when they feel tired or sleepy, they drink coffee, which contains caffeine, to perk them up. After some time, normal coffee has no effect on them, so they start taking double shots. It gets worse and if they do not drink coffee, they might end up sleepy and tired the whole day. From then on, it would be very difficult to kick the habit.
          Neutral habits are habits that do not really benefit the person, but do not cause him harm either. We do not purposely form these habits because normally, they form by themselves. Habits like scratching the head when in doubt or cracking fingers make no difference to the person’s life. These actions often show what the person is thinking and are very common habits that people accept them readily, not even giving them an extra thought. We will not be better off without these kinds of habits, and there are no disadvantages of not having them too, but forming them is sometimes inevitable. These minor habits are harmless; there is absolutely nothing wrong in forming these kinds of habits
         What are the positive effects of habits? If the habits are beneficial, one is that people will think well of you, because they have a good impression of you. Another is that your life will be much happier, being healthy and energetic. Knowing your life is not meaningless will also give you a reason to be happy. 95% of  what we do from one day to the next is in repetition. We should now be able to see, that since habits governs so much, all we have to do is force ourselves to do the thing we want and need to do, on a regular basis. This automatically becomes a habit of  choice and something that can be constructive.
         There are many negative effects of habits. Serious bad habits will cause you to get into trouble with the law and even risk death, either by sentence or accident. Less serious habits may cause you to lose your friends and respect. You give people a bad impression of yourself and they will avoid you. We should not let ourselves be run by routines. Routines or habits enable us to do things without having to think too much about them. The danger is that habits are too convenient. You may know people who appear to live their lives entirely by habit. We should be more creative in our thinking.
         Everyone will surely have habits, be it good, neutral or bad. What type of habit a person will form will depend very much on himself and his circle of friends. If a person’s friends are all smokers or take drugs, because of peer pressure, he might become a smoker or drug addict too. Habits can make or break you. Make habits that are useful and healthy and realize that it can produce tremendous amount of opportunity and success. Habits grow depending on the level of enjoyment or necessity it can thrive on and grow out of control. When it goes out of control it can be difficult to stop. But if you remove it piece by piece and at a greater rate than the growth, it can be placed under control. There is nothing wrong with forming habits, it is the kind of habit you form that really matters.
 
 

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      As the twentieth century draws to a close, we can now take a step back and take stock of the vast changes this century has brought to the world. The twentieth century has heralded the explosion of mass media and enabled communications and the transmission of information to a degree mankind had never before imagined. Acknowledging this, our minds sound the alarm bells: Has mankind allowed technology to alter his life so much that he has forgotten the finer points in life? It is often argued that the advent of the mass media has undermined the appreciation of the Arts. However, more often than not, this increased ability for communications and the transmission of information that the mass media has entailed has more than made up for this and has instead helped the appreciation of the Arts.

     The mass media provides a means of communications, serves as a source of information and provides entertainment. In the past, when people desired entertainment, they would usually play a musical instrument or if they were well to do, would patronize the Arts scene, such as the opera. Today however, more often than not, we could expect to find the modern urban dweller slumped in front of the television or glued to the computer screen. Such are the forms of entertainment and pastimes of the modern people. Perhaps however, the picture is not as bleak as we think. In fact, increasingly, people are beginning to find such pastimes or forms of entertainment meaningless and are searching for more effective and enriching methods of relaxation. The answer has largely been found in the Arts and culture. Thus, the confusion brought about by the mass media has people seeking refuge in the Arts.

      The arts of the past was confined to limited geographical boundaries. Television has enabled the Television Corporation of Singapore’s “Showbuzz” to send a lucky viewer to the Sydney Opera House to watch the Bee Gee’s one-time only concert in 1998. In the same year, the newspaper enabled tour operators to advertise tours to Beijing’s Forbidden City to watch the staging of Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot”. By accessing the SISTIC website, one can find out the majority of Arts-related events going on in Singapore. Indeed, the advent of e-commerce has enabled the purchasing of tickets to such Arts events to be carried out in a hassle-free manner. This is especially successful with the people of today who are pressed for time, yet desire for something more meaningful in their lives.

      It is often said that the Arts scene is a very elitist and snobbish circle. Many a time, the common man-in-the-street is discouraged from appreciating the Arts, as they are afraid that they do not know the proper etiquette required in venues such as concerts halls or theatres. The National Arts Council attempted to break down these barriers when the “Life!” section of “The Straits Times” ran a cover story on the Arts and provided pointers on proper concert-going etiquette for the layman. By making the Arts more accessible to a greater number and more diverse group of people, the mass media helps to encourage the appreciation of the Arts.

      Critics of the  mass media often point out that with mass media, people tend to watch pre-recorded concerts on television, over the radio or the Internet in the comfort of their own homes, choosing to avoid the trouble of having to go to the concert hall. This in itself is an alternative method of appreciating the Arts. Furthermore, the mass media allows the common man with an insufficient budget for the Arts (which can be expensive!) to appreciate the Arts vicariously through its portrayals by the mass media. In addition, anyone who knows even the slightest thing about the Arts knows that nothing beats listening to the brasses reverberate through the concert hall in the midst of Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”, or feeling a tingle up your spine during the staging of Hamlet’s mad play. Or exploring the different dimensions of Michaelanglo’s  “David”. Or examining the vibrant colors and swirling brushstrokes of Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night”. Neither a picture on print or computer screen, nor a programme on television can substitute any of these wide-ranging experiences, nor can they provide the same emotions. The mass media instead of replacing, will only serve to entice people to see, hear and hopefully participate in the real thing, thus leading to a greater appreciation of the Arts.

      While the Internet has seemingly caused people to be drawn into the black hole of the cyberworld, as portrayed in movies like “The Matrix”, that is perhaps a rather bleak and unrealistic picture painted by the imaginative world of the Arts afterall. In reality, the Internet has enabled like-minded people to join discussions and special interest groups or “fan clubs” of sorts to indulge in the areas of their liking. Often, it is much easier to find someone with the same interest as you have on the Internet than in your own daily life.

      In conclusion, we see that the mass media can undermine the appreciation of the Arts in certain ways. It does to a greater extent help the appreciation of the Arts. Furthermore, the undermining of the appreciation of the Arts is not merely based on the influence of the mass media, but more, due to the general changes in the world view and attitudes, with life becoming generally more rushed and the pursuit of the material more important. As the mass media is a neutral entity, it cannot, on its own, help or undermine the appreciation of the Arts. It is the attitude of the people using the mass media that counts most. As such, if a person is determined not to have anything to do with the Arts, neither the existence nor non-existence of the mass media will be able to do anything to encourage him to demonstrate an appreciation for the Arts. Conversely, if he is determined to be involved in the Arts scene, he will find ways to use the mass media to his advantage, for the appreciation of the Arts.
 

CYNTHIA CHANG 98A02 GP GRP 1A1
 
 
 
 
 

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      We all face challenges in our daily lives. Some challenges may be small and easily overcome while others may be big and thus take a longer time to solve. Challenges would thus be defined as the difficulties faced by people during their everyday lives.

      One of the challenges faced by the intellectually disabled in Singapore is the social stigma that is associated with being intellectually disabled. Most people though they do not openly admit it, do feel uncomfortable or even fearful of the intellectually disabled. What they don’t realize is that the intellectually disabled have emotions too and their actions may indirectly hurt them. It may lower their self-esteem and undo what people have been trying to instill in them, a sense of self-worth which would help them to get into the world. However, it would be wrong to blame the people since xenophobia is common in man. One possible solution would be to educate the people about the intellectually disabled and explain to them that it is different from being mentally ill. This would help to reduce the barriers between two parties.

      Another challenge for them would be to control their impulses. Being intellectually disabled does not make them any less of a human being. They still experience human emotions and desires. However, unlike most people, they lack the sense of judgement and control needed to keep such emotions and desires in check. A 27-year old intellectually disabled man was charged for molesting a 3 year old child.  Normally, we would approve such an action; however this is not a normal case and the accused in this case does not know the seriousness of his action. On this issue, there is no clear distinction of right and wrong. To say that he is guilty would be equivalent of making him take responsibility for actions which he has little control over. To say that he is not guilty would him free from all responsibility. Remember that he has been put under probation before and that obviously did not work. This shows that there are still kinks to be worked out in the law. Perhaps with more experience gained, fairer treatment will be given to the intellectually disabled.

      Another challenge they face is the getting of jobs. Few companies would be willing to hire intellectually disabled as staff. The few companies that hire them would probably be special non-profit welfare operations and some mainstream companies. This can be attributed to their low intellectual function which makes them a liability for mainstream companies. Even if they are hired, there is a high chance that they will face discrimination and not be given equal opportunities. Especially during an economic downturn like now, the first to be retrenched would be the intellectually disabled. However, there are certain areas in which a person who is intellectually disabled has managed to make a name for herself in the field of fabric design. An example would be Tan Mih Chih, a 24year old lady. She and 15 other disabled people have been learning a special weaving technique from Japan which not only gives meaning to her life but also provides a means of making a living. Being good at this also helped to build up her confidence and independence. This shows that with proper training, the intellectually disabled could be as economically useful as a normal person. Another possible solution to help integrate them into the working world would be to provide them with more adequate training in self-confidence which would make them more attractive for companies to hire as they would be considered more of an asset than a liability. Still there exists the air of discomfort which can only be resolved with understanding that comes with education.

      Another challenge which the intellectually disabled in Singapore face is financial difficulty. As they grow older, the intellectually disabled are more susceptible to medical problems. They also grow older because of genetic and physiological factors. With more medical problems, they will need more money to pay for their medical treatment. Since most of them either do not have a job or rather have a job that does not pay well, they face difficulties in paying for their medical. Their medical condition also make them more of a burden to their families, both financially and physically.

      In conclusion, the intellectually disabled in Singapore face challenges but no more than the intellectually disabled in any other countries. However the challenges they face can be reduced if they are given support from the people around them. We cannot expect them to perform to their maximum potential unless they are given more opportunities and training, in order to reduce the disadvantages which they face.

Lim Yu-Wen 98S19
 
 

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