In this article on page 10, it talks about how the amount of business in Holland Village after the opening of the Holland Village MRT, has not increased but in fact, decreased. Though many people came to Holland Village, only a small number were shoppers. Some shop owners even felt that due to the initial surge of people that came to Holland Village, their regular customers were scared off as they did not want to compete with them to shop there. Shopper say however, that the limited variety of shops and hawker centre stalls are the cause of its decrease as well.
I feel that transport routes are increasing in Singapore and it is easier for us to get around to places. However, because of that, the competition between different shopping areas and eateries are in turn, getting more competitive. People would rather go to a further place with a larger number of shops and stalls that cater to their needs compared to a nearer place where shops are limited and they are unable to get what they want. The transport in Singapore allows them to get to a further place with convenience though it may not be as fast as going to the place that is nearer. But there are downfalls to this system as it would cause more crowds in that area and lead to a traffic congestion due to the amount of cars travelling on the same road.
A wide transport network may be good or bad for a city, it's just the level of importance that you place each benefit or problem.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Communications
Communication
Over the years, the level of technology is getting more and more advanced. People are developing new ways to keep in contact with one another through the social media. Technology has broken down the barriers to communications globally, also allowing communication to take place in a fraction of a second. There are many impacts due to this advance. People who use the internet excessively will suffer from the inability to focus on an activity for at least 15 minutes and it can even cause depression.
Transport
The transport system in the world is also becoming more advanced. For example, in Hong Kong, there is a underwater tunnel known as the Cross-Harbour Tunnel that crosses the Victoria Harbour and other tunnels can even go through a hill. In a busy city like Singapore, transport plays an important role in our daily life, be it for the running of businesses or simply just to go from one place to another. When a problem in a transport system occurs, many people will be affected. This was what happened when the circle line in Singapore was disrupted at 6 am on a Wednesday, affecting roughly 1,400 passengers. Buses were deployed to lessen the impact of the train disruption, but commuters say that the situation could be handled better as the bus drivers were not told on where to drive the affected commuters.
I feel that as the improvement technology makes things more convenient for us, we must not rely on them too much as there is always a weak spot in a transport route or negative impacts of using communication networks excessively.
Is transport and communication just playing a part in our lives and making things more convenient for us or are we getting lazier and relying on it too much that we make transport and communication our life?
Over the years, the level of technology is getting more and more advanced. People are developing new ways to keep in contact with one another through the social media. Technology has broken down the barriers to communications globally, also allowing communication to take place in a fraction of a second. There are many impacts due to this advance. People who use the internet excessively will suffer from the inability to focus on an activity for at least 15 minutes and it can even cause depression.
Transport
The transport system in the world is also becoming more advanced. For example, in Hong Kong, there is a underwater tunnel known as the Cross-Harbour Tunnel that crosses the Victoria Harbour and other tunnels can even go through a hill. In a busy city like Singapore, transport plays an important role in our daily life, be it for the running of businesses or simply just to go from one place to another. When a problem in a transport system occurs, many people will be affected. This was what happened when the circle line in Singapore was disrupted at 6 am on a Wednesday, affecting roughly 1,400 passengers. Buses were deployed to lessen the impact of the train disruption, but commuters say that the situation could be handled better as the bus drivers were not told on where to drive the affected commuters.
I feel that as the improvement technology makes things more convenient for us, we must not rely on them too much as there is always a weak spot in a transport route or negative impacts of using communication networks excessively.
Is transport and communication just playing a part in our lives and making things more convenient for us or are we getting lazier and relying on it too much that we make transport and communication our life?
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Exam Paper - with regards to esther/jessica's post
I was browsing through everyone's blogs when Esther/Jessica's reflection on the exam paper caught my eye.
Here is the link to their post : http://www.geoggies-in-trainingestherandjessica.blogspot.com/2012/04/exam-paper.html .
As mentioned, the examination was indeed a test of how much we understood and how well we could apply the knowledge learnt so far, instead of how much one could regurgitate from her memory. There were some unexpected moments such as when the paper required of us to illustrate population pyramids and a settlement type.
Ms J provided great advice when she asked us to focus on population pyramids and to know it well, however, I felt that I overlooked the depth of how much we needed to know about population pyramids. I studied and understood population pyramids as a graph, in an analytic manner. However, I never expected to be asked to draw it. It is not something way out of our capabilities or a task too much to ask from us, thus I feel really regretful and complacent about not learning how to actually draw a population pyramid. Out of the 2 marks, I can only hope I earned 1 sympathy point for the columns and numbers I drew from my vaguest of memory.
Still, the biggest question that was boggling the entire Secondary 2 level in general was the last question. Esther/Jessica stated it was something along 'why farmers diversify their crops'. However, if I recalled correctly, the question asked for the ways in which and why farmers diversified agriculture/farming. To put it simply, we had to explain how farmers categorized agriculture/farming types, and why they did so.
My answer was that farmers did this to differentiate the various farming styles across the world so as to allow for proper planning before beginning on a certain type of crop cultivation, and they accomplished this by identifying each farming technique's purpose, input and output. I was rushing to complete my paper and thus I don't recall the full answer, but I continued explaining on how when farmers understood the different types of agriculture, they could select a specific farming style to follow based on their purpose and one that was within their budget/capabilities. The farmers would be able to gather needed resources and labour to begin his farming project as well.
This is a wide question that is sure to have many varying answers, thus I feel that it is open to one's own opinion. My answer might not be 100% correct, it is just my point of view on why farmers diversified agriculture.
Whatever it is, I hope that the test paper had sent many questions running through your minds and had ignited your curiosity to find out more about geography. It certainly taught me how there is really so much more to Geography than just a textbook/test paper, Geography has no limits and is all around us. Memorizing facts won't help, embracing the understanding Geography has brought to humanity and applying it to real-life situations is what lies in these type of questions (the question mentioned above) that sift out people who memorize texts from geoggies who understand the meaning behind those words. There is a difference.
Here is the link to their post : http://www.geoggies-in-trainingestherandjessica.blogspot.com/2012/04/exam-paper.html .
As mentioned, the examination was indeed a test of how much we understood and how well we could apply the knowledge learnt so far, instead of how much one could regurgitate from her memory. There were some unexpected moments such as when the paper required of us to illustrate population pyramids and a settlement type.
Ms J provided great advice when she asked us to focus on population pyramids and to know it well, however, I felt that I overlooked the depth of how much we needed to know about population pyramids. I studied and understood population pyramids as a graph, in an analytic manner. However, I never expected to be asked to draw it. It is not something way out of our capabilities or a task too much to ask from us, thus I feel really regretful and complacent about not learning how to actually draw a population pyramid. Out of the 2 marks, I can only hope I earned 1 sympathy point for the columns and numbers I drew from my vaguest of memory.
Still, the biggest question that was boggling the entire Secondary 2 level in general was the last question. Esther/Jessica stated it was something along 'why farmers diversify their crops'. However, if I recalled correctly, the question asked for the ways in which and why farmers diversified agriculture/farming. To put it simply, we had to explain how farmers categorized agriculture/farming types, and why they did so.
My answer was that farmers did this to differentiate the various farming styles across the world so as to allow for proper planning before beginning on a certain type of crop cultivation, and they accomplished this by identifying each farming technique's purpose, input and output. I was rushing to complete my paper and thus I don't recall the full answer, but I continued explaining on how when farmers understood the different types of agriculture, they could select a specific farming style to follow based on their purpose and one that was within their budget/capabilities. The farmers would be able to gather needed resources and labour to begin his farming project as well.
This is a wide question that is sure to have many varying answers, thus I feel that it is open to one's own opinion. My answer might not be 100% correct, it is just my point of view on why farmers diversified agriculture.
Whatever it is, I hope that the test paper had sent many questions running through your minds and had ignited your curiosity to find out more about geography. It certainly taught me how there is really so much more to Geography than just a textbook/test paper, Geography has no limits and is all around us. Memorizing facts won't help, embracing the understanding Geography has brought to humanity and applying it to real-life situations is what lies in these type of questions (the question mentioned above) that sift out people who memorize texts from geoggies who understand the meaning behind those words. There is a difference.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Central Provision Fund
In lieu of managing Singapore's aging population, instead of just learning about the surface facts of various methods used to tackle this problem, I decided to find out more about one particular measure in depth. This simple yet effective scheme aims to encourage financial planning in Singapore - the Central Provision Fund (CPF).
CPF, in a nutshell, helps people save up money from the moment they have a stable income, such that they will have enough money for their retirement and other expenses (resulting in the government having to subsidize less people). However, there is much more than that. How much one contributes to CPF varies with age. An employee 50 years of age and below contributes 20% of his monthly income and gradually reduces to only 7.5% of his salary once he reaches 65 years old. For employers, they contribute 16% of their income and gradually reduces to 6.5%
CPF is a stat board which can be split into 3 different categories : Ordinary account, Special account and Medisave account. The ordinary account of CPF can used to purchase houses and for investment purposes, the Special account is reserved for old age and retirement while the Medisave account is used for hospitalization expenses or medial insurance.
The interest rates for ordinary account is 2.5%, 4% for special account and 4% for medisave. This shows that the government prioritizes adequate money for health care and retirement over investments. In my opinion, it is reasonable as more money is needed for retirement to ensure that the elderly of Singapore are independent, living blissfully without having to worry about their houses not being fully paid for. In addition, as people get older, visits to the doctor will increase and so will hospital bills. The higher the interest rate allocated to Medisave accounts, the more money is saved and reserved for medical expenses, thus reducing the amount of funds the goverment directs to help the needy/elderly with subsidies.
I have noticed that there have been quite a few negative reactions to the scheme, especially towards the fact that when one uses money from his ordinary account to invest, the profit earned + the original amount withdrawn all goes back to CPF. In other words, the money will be 'stuck' under CPF until one reaches the age of 55, when a certain amount of money can be withdrawn. Or, at 62 years old, the government will allow a certain amount of money to be withdrawn monthly to prevent people from splurging/gambling, using too much money at once and having no savings left for necessities.
CPF, in a nutshell, helps people save up money from the moment they have a stable income, such that they will have enough money for their retirement and other expenses (resulting in the government having to subsidize less people). However, there is much more than that. How much one contributes to CPF varies with age. An employee 50 years of age and below contributes 20% of his monthly income and gradually reduces to only 7.5% of his salary once he reaches 65 years old. For employers, they contribute 16% of their income and gradually reduces to 6.5%
CPF is a stat board which can be split into 3 different categories : Ordinary account, Special account and Medisave account. The ordinary account of CPF can used to purchase houses and for investment purposes, the Special account is reserved for old age and retirement while the Medisave account is used for hospitalization expenses or medial insurance.
The interest rates for ordinary account is 2.5%, 4% for special account and 4% for medisave. This shows that the government prioritizes adequate money for health care and retirement over investments. In my opinion, it is reasonable as more money is needed for retirement to ensure that the elderly of Singapore are independent, living blissfully without having to worry about their houses not being fully paid for. In addition, as people get older, visits to the doctor will increase and so will hospital bills. The higher the interest rate allocated to Medisave accounts, the more money is saved and reserved for medical expenses, thus reducing the amount of funds the goverment directs to help the needy/elderly with subsidies.
I have noticed that there have been quite a few negative reactions to the scheme, especially towards the fact that when one uses money from his ordinary account to invest, the profit earned + the original amount withdrawn all goes back to CPF. In other words, the money will be 'stuck' under CPF until one reaches the age of 55, when a certain amount of money can be withdrawn. Or, at 62 years old, the government will allow a certain amount of money to be withdrawn monthly to prevent people from splurging/gambling, using too much money at once and having no savings left for necessities.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Wet Rice Cultivation
The Process
Seeds are planted out by hand in rows in fields that are puddled. The water levels in paddyfields are maintained a few centimeters deep so as to prevent weed growth. The toil of the workers are lessened if the water is due to flooding during the rainy season or by natural means. Irrigation using canals or wells also helps. The lack of rain often leads to drought, while flash floods can damage the crops. The grains are harvested approximately 30 days after the rice plants have flowered. Previously, a sickle is used to harvest the rice plants but now, mechanical harvesters are becoming more popular. The harvested grains are then threshed to remove the grain from the stalk. Previously, animals would trample on them or by hitting the stems on a hard surface but now, threshing machines are becoming more popular.
A picture of a rice farmer clearing grass to create space for the rice paddy field.
A picture of neatly arranged wet rice plantation.
A picture of a worker observing the work of the threshing machine.
A picture of terracing on sloping land to help irrigation based on the law of gravity and it also helps prevent soil erosion.
Problems faced:
Floods are mostly good as it provides water for the rice crops but sometimes when it is too strong and not irrigated properly, it would destroy the rice crop. Shortage of land due to the inability to house the large families of the farmer. Little use of machinery as there is little capital as an input. Abundant manual is needed or hired labour as most of the methods of wet rice cultivation is through manual labour. Too much fertilisers would contaminate the water and cause eutrophication.
Seeds are planted out by hand in rows in fields that are puddled. The water levels in paddyfields are maintained a few centimeters deep so as to prevent weed growth. The toil of the workers are lessened if the water is due to flooding during the rainy season or by natural means. Irrigation using canals or wells also helps. The lack of rain often leads to drought, while flash floods can damage the crops. The grains are harvested approximately 30 days after the rice plants have flowered. Previously, a sickle is used to harvest the rice plants but now, mechanical harvesters are becoming more popular. The harvested grains are then threshed to remove the grain from the stalk. Previously, animals would trample on them or by hitting the stems on a hard surface but now, threshing machines are becoming more popular.
A picture of a rice farmer clearing grass to create space for the rice paddy field.
A picture of neatly arranged wet rice plantation.
A picture of a worker observing the work of the threshing machine.
A picture of terracing on sloping land to help irrigation based on the law of gravity and it also helps prevent soil erosion.
Problems faced:
Floods are mostly good as it provides water for the rice crops but sometimes when it is too strong and not irrigated properly, it would destroy the rice crop. Shortage of land due to the inability to house the large families of the farmer. Little use of machinery as there is little capital as an input. Abundant manual is needed or hired labour as most of the methods of wet rice cultivation is through manual labour. Too much fertilisers would contaminate the water and cause eutrophication.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Mixing land use
Implications of a growing human population
As the human population increases, the need for certain resources increases as well (e.g. the land and water)
Increase in human population leads to the growth of urban areas. There will be more high-rise buildings to support the amount of people leaving in one area.
However, there is still a problem pertaining to the lack of space for housing, offices, schools, recreational activities, government buildings, tourist attraction. The conflicting uses of land result in the government setting priorities. For instance, if the government wants to concentrate on a certain aspect (Education) then the land that is initially used for schools will be expanded and focused on. Depending on the needs, different amount of land is allocated differently. But, there are some cases where the area is very concentrated and has many activities going on there.
Mixed land use is apparent in the One-North area (Buona Vista)
One-North is currently undergoing a development to house various facilities. For instance, there are houses, media industries, schools, businesses industries, transport system.
Although to some people, mixing the various facilities together in one area may not a good idea as in many cities, creating a mixed land use area requires a lot of construction, reconstruction, installation. For example, old buildings, offices and the transport networks have to be redeveloped and it is very expensive. Locating residential areas close to other functions such as industries/shopping areas may result in the traffic congestion, air/noise pollution because of the increased amounts in human and vehicle traffic.
However, I personally feel that it is beneficial towards many people because a mixed land use encompasses several facilities located within a short distance between one another and it allows people to enjoy the convenience of having their working area/schools close to their homes. Besides, a variety of activities can be carried out and meet the needs of many consumers, (e.g. shopping/ recreational complex) thus maximizing the land use in an urban area.
So, what do you think?
Sunday, January 29, 2012
What affects Birth Rates and Death Rates?
There is a total of about 196 different countries in the world and all of them have varying Birth Rates(BR) versus Death Rates(DR). What exactly affects the BRs and DRs of the different countries? First things first, in general, less developed countries (LDC) such as China and India have much higher birth rates compared to already developed countries(DC) such as Singapore. The most obvious difference would be that LDCs tend to be more rural, in the way that they generally do more farming and mass rearing of animals while in DCs technology is everything and majority of the jobs are not physically, but mentally-tiring.
In LDCs, since they need more manpower to work in their fields, families would often be bigger so that more children can provide help. Another reason for high BRs in LDCs would be because the people there (especially the women) lack proper education relating to sexuality and thus contraceptives preventing unwanted pregnancies are not used. These women then become very family-orientated, putting their focus on expanding their families and caring for them instead of securing a job. Religious beliefs or status quo also encourages the people to have big families. Furthermore, besides due to high infant mortality rates, the most common would be the preference for male babies who carry on the family name and are physically stronger. The parents might have many daughters while trying for a son.
Although the BRs in LDCs are very high, the DR is comparable. The DRs are also very high in LDCs due to the lack of proper medical care. These countries are very poor and thus there is very minimal medical infrastructure and personnel available. Even when available, the hospitals are very widespread and patients would have to travel long distances to seek medical help. In addition, medical costs are really expensive and being simple farmers, most rural people in LDCs cannot afford medicine. Also, hygiene is another big factor. Most streets of LDCs are very filthy and are unsanitary. Germs and bacteria thrive in these conditions and diseases are spread very quickly. If a very serious and infectious disease is contracted by one human, it may very well wipe out a whole city within a few weeks.
In DCs, however, people are most focused on their jobs/careers and thus spend much less time focusing on family matters such as marriage and caring for babies. As a result, most couples nowadays marry late in their 20s or even in their 30s. Since older women are less fertile as they age, marrying later will result in less children, which leads to an overall low birth rate for the country. Singapore is an example of these kind of DCs where birth rates are very low. The government is trying to boost birth rates by encouraging couples through baby bonuses and special treatment for the pregnant or babies.
Following the low birth rates, low death rates are not far behind for most DCs as well. This is due to medical technology being very advanced in modern society. The elderly live longer as they receive proper medical care which is both convenient and non-expensive, as the government subsidies for the elderly.
Although the BRs in LDCs are very high, the DR is comparable. The DRs are also very high in LDCs due to the lack of proper medical care. These countries are very poor and thus there is very minimal medical infrastructure and personnel available. Even when available, the hospitals are very widespread and patients would have to travel long distances to seek medical help. In addition, medical costs are really expensive and being simple farmers, most rural people in LDCs cannot afford medicine. Also, hygiene is another big factor. Most streets of LDCs are very filthy and are unsanitary. Germs and bacteria thrive in these conditions and diseases are spread very quickly. If a very serious and infectious disease is contracted by one human, it may very well wipe out a whole city within a few weeks.
In DCs, however, people are most focused on their jobs/careers and thus spend much less time focusing on family matters such as marriage and caring for babies. As a result, most couples nowadays marry late in their 20s or even in their 30s. Since older women are less fertile as they age, marrying later will result in less children, which leads to an overall low birth rate for the country. Singapore is an example of these kind of DCs where birth rates are very low. The government is trying to boost birth rates by encouraging couples through baby bonuses and special treatment for the pregnant or babies.
Following the low birth rates, low death rates are not far behind for most DCs as well. This is due to medical technology being very advanced in modern society. The elderly live longer as they receive proper medical care which is both convenient and non-expensive, as the government subsidies for the elderly.
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