Is flying still safe in today's context?

I refer to the article, 'Spanish crash recalls 1987 Detroit disaster'.

It was a tragic occurrence. It was seen that the plane continued along the runaway far longer than normal, and when it finally laboured itself up into the air, it began oscillating from side to side until it fell sideways onto the ground and disintegrated, resulting in the loss of 154 passengers in total. It was stated that this incident had striking similarities with that of Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in Detroit in 1987. One survivor, by the name of Anto-nia Martinez, 27, said that she would never fly again, as the disaster was simply too devastating for her to accept.

So, is flying still safe in today's context? 

Nervous passengers may have phobias concerning the journey ahead, such as fear for their safety. However, these are all unfounded, as it is shown that flying is one of the safest modes of transportation. Based on statistics, the number of fatal air accidents has been no more than 1 for every 2 billion person-miles flown. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, it is also recorded that they are 1.7 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles for travel by air. Even though there are only 1.3 deaths per hundred million vehicle miles for travel by car, considering the fact that an aircraft carries 100 passengers, this means that passenger miles are 100 times higher, making the risk 100 times lower. Thus, there is really nothing to worry about flying.

Over the years,  much lessons have also been learnt through the aftermath of incidents that involved aircraft carriers. Therefore, passengers can still continue to be assured of air safety, given improvements of overall structural aircraft designs as well as flying safety procedures. For example, after the plight of Air Florida Flight 90, which crashed due to severe snowy conditions, airlines and airports now ensure that aircrafts are properly de-iced before take-off, whenever the weather threatens to create icing conditions. Besides that, modern airliners are also built to prevent ice buildup on wings, engines or tails, as this can cause disturbance in the overall air flow, which can greatly handicap the aircraft while it is airborne. Heated air can be routed from jet engines, or rubber 'boots' can also be used to break off any accumulated ice that are found on the body of the aircraft. Thus, passengers can still get to fly with much ease!

In conclusion, even though incidents, such as the recent Spanair disaster, may have discouraged people to fly to a certain extent, I believe that everyone should still continue to have faith in flying. Safety improvements have resulted from improved aircraft designs, engineering and maintenance, the evolution of navigational aids and safety protocols and procedures - and therefore, we should still uphold our confidence in air safety.  The future may be unpredictable - but without taking the first step to fly, you may never realise how safe, and fun it really is to soar within the sky!

Link to article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4597009.ece

"Democracy creates stability in a society."

Democracy does not create stability in a society. The ideal of having a democratic government to govern a society only brings about a short term focus, which will not provide stability to a particular society in any way. For example, just like Singapore’s government, in four or five years’ time the government will face a new election, and it must think of how it will win that election. Thus, this fact would actually encourage a preference of policies that will bring about short-term advantages to the public, rather than unpopular policies with longer term benefits so that the government stands a chance to win the public’s votes. Stability in a nation involves long-term thinking as the government needs to make accurate predictions of the future so that the society can thrive in an ever-changing world. Thus, if the government only focuses on short-term policies so as to attract votes for their elections, this is definitely not going to be of any help to provide stability in a nation as the government is not getting its attention towards prospective problems or issues that may arise in the long run.

However, democracy does provide stability in a society as it boosts good relations between the people and the government. For example, according to Rice’s speech, she comments that “Democracy has been opening up old, elite-dominated politics to millions… the poor and the disadvantaged and indigenous peoples and minorities. These men and women have at last become active democratic citizens, and they are demanding that their governments work for them.” This means that democracy can provide good relations between the people and the government, and it can also develop mutual trust among the two parties as they can benefit abundantly. Therefore, citizens are able to cooperate, and this will in turn lessen societal instability as people are positive in the path in which the government is taking on.

On the other hand, democracy can also provide stability as it is able to reach an essential consensus, without introducing any form of conflicts. For example, collapsed authoritarian states such as the former Soviet union has disintegrated as their intolerant rulers have failed to build consensus. However, democracy enables people to choose their rulers and way of life, and this in turn promotes stability as the government is able to work without having to worry that consensus is unreached as all of these are still fundamentally built on people’s choice and freedom.

However, I essentially believe that democracy does create stability to a large extent in the long run. The fact that this ideal is essentially built on freedom of people’s choice means that this will in turn lessen the dispute and conflict, which may arise between the people and the government. Therefore, it not only brings about political stability, but also enhances nation’s development in the long run as the government can work on beneficial policies concurrently, in an indisputable way without hurting any consensus as it is the people’s choice.

Touch-Me-Not!

I refer to the article, ‘13-year-old pregnant teen aborted baby’.

A 13-year-old girl, who became pregnant after having sex with an 18-year-old salesman, aborted her baby. On September 11 last year, the salesman took her to a hotel where they had sex, and twelve days later, they had sex again in the same hotel. The following month, the girl found out that she was pregnant, and her mum made a police report, which led to the hearing in court.

From my opinion, I think that teenagers should be wary about the consequences of having sexual intercourse with their partners, and they should also be taught about the importance of having safe sex.

However, all of these worries can be prevented if teenagers abstain from sex before marriage, and this is definitely possible through adequate self-control.

Firstly, I think one of the triggering factors is that teenagers nowadays regard sex as the norm. For people nowadays, love always comes with sex since it is an emotional condition which is meant for self-gratification. Thus, teenagers find no fault in having sex. However, I think that love is something which involves patience and kindness – it is not something which is rude, or something which is for the sake of pleasure-seeking. If an individual regards love as something which is essentially self-seeking, then that person is being selfish as he/she only cares about his/her own feelings – that person doesn’t even spare a thought for his/her partner, who many not regard love in the same manner. Teenagers must also learn that love doesn’t essentially equate to sex – love can just simply be a mutual relationship which can be expressed through care and concern within both parties.

Secondly, I think that another triggering factor is that teenagers don’t treat relationships in a serious manner, and that they treat sex itself as the only way in which relationships between opposite genders can bring about pleasure. Well, liking someone is indeed something which is memorable for everyone as it spices up emotions and passion for a particular individual. This is okay, but essentially, I think that teenagers should concentrate on progression of relationships if they want to be accountable for a person, which means the involvement of proactive and intended sharing of one’s life openly to a person who he/she can trust, or who can be their checkpoint. In this case, this person whom I mention about will usually be someone whom we like a lot. When accountability is fulfilled, both parties will have a mutual trust with each other, and this will strengthen the bond that exists between them, which will lead to the progression of their love relationship to a whole new level. When this happens, naturally people will find pleasure and satisfaction in their love relationship, and will not even consider sex as a ‘must’ towards pleasure!

Well, at the end of the day, I guess that teenagers should be educated on correct attitudes towards relationships so that they have a better perception of it.

Link to article: http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Courts%2Band%2BCrime/STIStory_206487.html?vgnmr=1

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