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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

SKY IS MY LIMIT!

I have a DREAM which I would like to achieve in the near future-get my private pilot licence. It seems costly yet there are ways for one to take to the sky. I just have to join a flying club, put in the training hours and pass the tests(both theory and practical) and obtain the licence!



I did some research on how to fulfill my dream and would like to share it with you now.



Where can I enroll as a member?



1 The Republic of Singapore Flying Club



2 Singapore Flying Club



3 The Singapore Youth Flying Club



Who can enroll as a member?



-The Singapore Youth Flying Club admits only Singapore citizens who are16 and are studying at a local JCs, Polytechnic or schools offering IB or IP .



-The other two clubs welcome all applicants.



How much do I have to pay in order to get a licence?



-Apply for a student pilot licence from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore(CAAS) which
costs $28




-Undergo physical examination at CAAS-approved medical centre costs $150-$200 and one must be between 16-60 years old.



-Next a student needs to clock in 40-70 hours of flight time before he can take the flying test for a private licence.



-$250-$280 an hour of rental for a plane and $25-$50 if a flying instructor is required during the lesson.



-Estimated cost of obtaining a private licence in both flying clubs is $30000-$35000. It includes 60-70 hrs of flying lessons+cost of membership+entrance fee+deposits and fees for 7 ground examinations ($11each)



-As for the Singapore Youth Flying Club, it will be subsidized by the club if you are being accepted as its student. If you are interested, you may want to read up more about it. http://www.syfc.sg/about.htm



How much do I have to pay to maintain as member?



-$1000-$1500 for enrolments and ongoing monthly fees which is around a minimum cost of $80-$100 per month.



How much does it cost in total if I own a private 4 seaters airplane?



-An airplane itself can cost more than $200,000.



-After every 50 hrs of flight, it has to be sent for servicing where technicians will check for faults and change its engine oil and spark plugs.



Having this hobby of flying may sound dangerous, but with the regular servicing of aircraft and all private pilot licence-holders who are trained to check weather conditions before commencing each flight with the pilots who never stop learning, does the sky still look as daunting as it can be? With the knowledge and good control over the aircraft, the risk of flying can be reduced and the maximum enjoyment of flying in the high skies, looking down at people who look so miniscule in their coloured shirts on the ground, as if they were small ants.



As I am still under-age, I will start to save up in order to fulfill my lifelong experience of flying an aircraft on my own! It would be such an exciting and intriguing experience that you won't want to miss it!

Monday, February 22, 2010

OFSMUN Mock Debate Session

So for this week's blog post, it would be on my Draft Position Paper and Speech that I have completed for this coming week's Mock Debate Session for OFSMUN. Well, I would be the delegate of Mexico and this week's topic would be: Measures to protect the cultural identity of indigenous peoples.

So you may be asking what is a position paper? How do you do it? Well, a position paper is quite easy to do and it is well, just your stance on the issue at hand. It is that simple. A position paper is

I have already finished my position paper and speech and here it is for everyone to view:

My Speech:

Thank you Honourable Chair. This delegate of Mexico is extremely for and supportive of the continuous measures in protecting the cultural identity of indigenous peoples found all over the world. We believe that as a country we must protect all of our people, both indigenous and white, both women and men, both children and adults, even if they are still permanent residents. Most importantly, it is these indigenous people that need our help, our continuous support, and our forever loving care for them. We must continue to add measures that will benefit both us and them, economically, socially and in terms of their cultural identity. We must protect their language, their culture and everything that is theirs must be preserved. It is them that allow us to be in this society, in this world where they belong to much earlier than us. We can’t just forsake their culture and forget their people. We must protect their cultural identity and the delegate of Mexico supports this whole-heartedly. This delegate of Mexico shall now yield the time back to the Chair.

As for my Position Paper, it is here:


Forum: Mock Debate Session
Committee: Human Rights Council
Delegation: Mexico


Position Paper :

Being at the forefront of the understanding of the culture of Indigenous people, Mexico has always felt deeply about the preservation of the culture, language and traditions of the indigenous people. Amongst the stated objectives against ruining the cultures of the aboriginals, the rights of theirs to speak the language they like, the right to live the way they like, and the right for them not to be influenced by Mexicans. Furthermore, the aboriginals are the first to live in this world. It is them who allow us to live in this world with them, it is them who allowed us to build homes.

Despite other countries such as United States Of America not signing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Mexico still believes that she is in a position to combat the problem of indigenous people not being able to fulfil their rights to live the way they like, having the right of indigenous families and communities to retain shared responsibility for the upbringing, training, education and well-being of their children, consistent with the rights of the child. Mexico is still believing in their rights, giving them equal treatment, giving others a good role model to learn from.


Keeping in mind that the culture and language of the aborigines are worthy to be preserved and left behind for the people, a victory on this front would be a massive step to preventing the traditions going extinct, or even falling into the clutches of evil. Mexico believes that following debates to better the preservation of the traditions would go on smoothly and that the session would be fruitful and productive.

As for this position paper, it is a must for all delegates of the MUN Conference to have one, This would elaborate on our stance and show the judges our views on this topic. This would better facilitate us in our speech as weel as in our research. This would also give us, as delegates, a chance to better show our position to all those around us, and to garner allies of the same views.

So this is a video on a MUN Conference:



Thank You.

Monday, February 15, 2010

1st Draft of MUNOFS

Hi everyone. As nobody knows, this is the Overseas Family School Model United Nations Congress, where it would be like Clarence's HMCA, that Clarence had showed everyone regarding the ACE presentation. I am currently doing Human Rights of Brazil and this is my first draft that I proudly show to everyone.



On the topic of child labor-->

Thank you Honourable Chair.


Now this delegate of Brazil shall start on the topic of Child labour in Brazil. So how old do children in Brazil usually start work at? It is an unfortunate fact, but roughly four million children between the ages of five and 17 work in Brazil. However hard the government work to cut down the number of underage children working, they had only cut down by a mere 50%! What is that supposed to mean? This delegate of Brazil believes that child labour must be abolished by any means possible in order to allow Brazil to grow in terms of economics and become a developed country. What is the use of giving out stipends out to families in order to make the children less possible to become underage workers when they still do not have enough money to allow themselves to live or even their children?


This delegate of Brazil believes that the poverty of the families in Brazil is the main root to the problem.


This delegate of Brazil shall now yield the time back to the Chair.

Now, on to the next topic of secret and forcible movement of people across international boarders -->

Thank You Honourable Chair.


This delegate of Brazil is extremely alarmed by the fact that between 1,200 and 1,500 Bolivians come to Brazil to work and to live, and this only shows the statistics of Bolivians illegally coming down to Brazil. There are so many surrounding countries around Brazil and this only shows one inconvenient fact. Many people secretly come down to Brazil to get a job illegally. Although so, the Brazilian government has introduced some solutions that have greatly reduced the number of illegal movement of people. Now, this delegate of Brazil feels that this problem must be nipped in the bud, it must stop somewhere, by any means possible.


This delegate of Brazil believes that the main root of this problem lies in the government and not the people.


This delegate of Brazil shall now yield the time back to the Chair.


This would conclude my first draft on the human rights in Brazil. If any of you have any questions or suggestions to how I can spice up my speech, please leave a comment on this blog post.

Thank you.


Saturday, February 13, 2010

Road Jockeys in Jakarta

Hi everyone, sorry for not writing a post for such a long time.


In my last blog, I was talking about the street kids in Jakarta trying ways of making money in the congested traffic. I have left out another service provided by the kids, that is to be a ‘Road Jockey’.


In order to discourage excessive volumes of traffic in Jakarta, under existing laws, all private vehicles using Jakarta main roads (like our CBD areas) during the morning and evening rush hour must carry a minimum of 3 passengers. So the children or adults, also known as traffic jockeys, become paid passengers for short journeys past the police checkpoints. From what I know everytime that I am there, the going rate for a jockey ‘run’ through the police checkpoints is roughly about 2000 Rupiah (which is S$0.38) and they can earn up to S$3-4 a day. Jockeys line the roadside and hop into private vehicles immediately before the 3-in-1 zone begins. After the police checkpoint, they hop out again just about anywhere within the zone.


There was once during my stay in Jakarta, my driver and I picked up duo jockeys-a young mother slinging a baby- in order to enter the restricted zone. I saw my driver paying her 4000 Rupiah when she alighted from our car. This amount of money was definitely meager yet it showed me an interesting yet genuine fact about those who live their lives as jockeys.


When she saw the money appear in her face, she was so delighted that she grinned from ear to ear and said “Terimah Kasih” repeatedly for probably 10 times or more! I could see her joyousness amidst her tired and wrinkled face. It was just a delightful scene to look at that it truly showed how miserable their lives are, as they live their life just like how it is.


There are too many poor people in Indonesia that even a newborn baby also has to earn for his/her own living! When I asked if these road jockeys have liscences or are legally able to do this job, as a road jockey, my driver told me that it was illegal and that if these road jockeys were unlucky, they would be caught by the Municipal Street Superintendents who roam the restricted zone. These Municipal Street Superintendents will then catch this illegal jockeys ,regardless of age and sex, and then this illegal road jockeys will be hauled off to the municipal ‘Social Centre’ in Western Jakarta and kept in bars until a relative shows up with Rp 100,000(around S$14) to set them free. Then they will hit the road again for their poor lives. If a relative does not show up and pay for the fees, then too bad, they would need to stay behind bars for the rests of their lives.


Every time I return back to Jakarta, I am always able to experience my lavish and glamorous life living like a PRINCE in my ‘dungeon’ at the basement of the big bungalow with more maids and drivers, and glamorous cars, which amount to more than that of our own family members. Yet when I step out of the mansion, it is the true lives of what most poor Indonesians lead, lives that are so poor that they can’t even afford a simple meal everyday, a life that is so full of misery and sufferings, a life that is so unbearable that even I myself don’t dare to think about, and yet, this is the lives of what most Indonesians are living. It is such a great contrast from my life that I lead in Singapore and what I see inside the mansion!


We should cherish all that we have and give them back to the society when we are able to. These Indonesians only know one thing that is precious to them, the money. What does this show, you may be asking. Well, when I heard that they cherish their money more than their lives, I was so sad, that it felt like stabbing my own heart with a knife. What are they doing, just living their lives the way it is, they are wasting their time, effort and their lives, this will only lead to the same level of poverty that they were in a few decades ago. The poverty cycle just affects people on Earth too much, and now it is affecting their psychological thinking and thoughts…


What is money to you? That I will be speaking in a few days time…


Thank You!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Jakarta's Street Kids -- Younger and Counting

As I refer to Saturday's "The Straits Times", I found out that under Part C, World, I realise that the main pages is about "Jakarta's Street Kids-- younger and increasing". For me, i felt spellbound by this happening, it seems to me that Jakarta is becoming a slum AGAIN!



I was from jakarta, and when I was very young, I stayed there for a while. At that point in time, it obviously wasn't as technologically-advanced as it is now and obviously not as much street kids as it is now. It was just a few handful of them, waiting for the traffic lights to be red, then grabbing the golden opportunity to get money or whatever they want. They would stand outside your car windows, singing and dancing or even selling itmes. However, my windows would usually be closed, so all I could see was their mouth movements. I still thought that they were showing some funny magic trick with their mouths back then, but it wasn't the case.



I went back just last year, and now it just wasn't the same... At almost every junction and I literally mean every junction, there would be many street kids, sprinting towards different cars, afraid that others would steal their chance, and do those "funny magic tricks" again. I then really understood what they were doing. However, I didn't give any care towards them. I just looked in front, looking at the number of street kids, looking at the traffic lights and looking at the road in front of me. I couldn't care less!



As compared to the past, I could see the mass difference between the street kids, past, present and future :



Past:

1) Lesser street kids

2) Street kids always above 10

3) No infants around

4) Never bang the windows



Present:

1) One whole swarm of street kids

2) Street kids even have 10 years and below

3) Infants being carried by the brothers and sisters

4) THEY BANG WINDOWS!!!



So now what? What is the Jakarta givernment going to do about them??? They say " Officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs have since said that they aim to clear street children from big Indonesian cities by next year".

Let's just sit back, relax and see what will happen. Will the numbers and severity increase or decrease? Let's just see the magic...