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Reports of dog attacks and irresponsible dog owners have hit the newspapers once again – why does this problem never go away?

I was invited to write this blog because 65 of Singapore’s 55,220 dogs (that’s 0.12% to be precise) were involved in dog attacks in 2009. The media has now latched onto this and Singaporeans are up in arms. Make no mistake – I think 65 dog attacks is something we need to look into. But let’s not sensationalise the issue or perpetuate a senseless witch hunt.

Several people have written to the press, calling for stricter dog laws and harsher penalties against errant dog owners. Some have advocated targeting specific breeds such as the Rottweiler, Doberman, German Shepherd – the so called “dangerous breeds”! In my view, there is little sense in this approach since the statistics show that the smaller, “gentler” and “milder” breeds are just as likely to be responsible for such attacks.

So what do we do?

In my experience, dog attacks occur for two reasons: poorly trained dogs and poorly trained owners. Harsher penalties address neither of these causes – education does.

We should mandatorily educate all current and potential dog owners on their legal and social responsibilities. They should all be made to attend a comprehensive course (online perhaps?) to educate them on key issues of responsible dog ownership. They should complete this course before they are allowed to license their dog and would then have little excuse for ignoring their responsibilities.

We should also require all dogs to be obedience trained. Dogs must then undergo a nationally administered basic obedience test with their owners, to prove that both owner and dog are a competent team. There is no sense in training the dog if the owner is incompetent to handle it. Educating dogs and their owners must go hand in hand.

As a volunteer dog trainer for the last 12 years, I have seen my fair share of problem dogs and irresponsible owners. Almost every time someone walks into our Club with an aggressive, uncontrollable or a “problem” dog, we inevitably found that the owner simply never understood how to handle his dog properly. If both he and his dog were properly educated, there would be no “problem” dog to speak of.

There is little doubt that a problem exists – a serious one. The statistics show that the traditional approach of increasing penalties, and targeting specific breeds of dogs has not worked well for us. Quite simply, this is because the problem lies more with the owners than the dogs. Unless and until we force dog owners to understand their responsibilities and to behave responsibly, the problem is not going to go away.

I say resist the traditional knee jerk “we’ll fine, jail and cane you” approach and give compulsory education a chance. You may not get results overnight but the eventual returns will be well worth the investment.

Kabir Singh is president & director of training at the German Shepherd Dog Club of Singapore.

From the moment we open our eyes in the morning, to the quiet time we have just before bed, we consume, consume and consume.

There is this quality we have, besides intelligence, no other animals or plants have: GREED

It’s not about going back to the stone-age, to go around hugging trees or treat stray cats better than our fellow humans, but rather, the excessive consumerism that is ever so conveniently projected in our lives these days; confusing the difference between a Need and a Want.

It’s all about being Environmentally Mindful…

Mindful when we next go to the shopping mall/supermarket;
Mindful when we use the next straw or plastic stirrer;
Mindful when we celebrate festive occasions (from catering to decorations).

We are just one of the 6.6 billion humans living on Earth right now. All the plants and animals can survive without us BUT not vice versa. We have been walking upright since only 200,000 years ago, yet the Earth is 4.5 billion years old.

We are practically ‘new arrivals’ on this planet, but look at what we have done to it despite being only present 0.13% of the time since the formation of earth…

I think we should all Pause and Contemplate…

Youths nowadays are pretty tired of the ‘Green-wash’ that is sometimes portrayed by some environmental groups in Singapore. We do get feedback from them that ‘It’s NOT FAIR’. Why must they ‘face the music’ for all the environmental woes when their parents/teachers/adults are actually the ones who caused all these.

There are some half truths this…

For one, the environment is shared by all, regardless of age. That is why we sometimes stop “telling” the youths what to do but rather get them to suggest what they want to do. Getting the youths to realized that humanity is one; we all share a common environment and pointing fingers and feeling a sense of hopelessness is not going to help. As the movie “HOME” rightly portrays; it’s too LATE to be a Pessimist. It’s only through hope and positive thinking are we able to influence more people to change lifestyles. 

Re-nurturing the Kampong Spirits is of great importance in this respect. The feeling of interconnectedness is Law of Nature is certainly very much embedded in a Kampong environment. This is an environment where our ‘Wants’ are sometimes put on hold for the common good of the community. In modern, fast paced societies like in Singapore, we sometimes just need to pause for a moment to rethink the fundamentals. Basic stuff like what is a NEED and what is a WANT. Kampong life is about going back to basics, appreciating simplicity and the group spirit instead of the “instant gratification” phenomenon which is very prevalent in society these days.

In a kampong environment; daily practices like reducing and reusing is very much a common practice as sharing with our neighbours and friends are very much an ingrained quality of the kampong spirit. Many people still think just Recycle is sufficient to solve resource problems, but in fact, recycling is the least important among the 3Rs as any form of recycling still continues to use energy, water, chemicals and has a larger carbon footprint than Reducing and Reusing. In fact, many environmental movements have added 2 more Rs even before we start to practice the conventional 3Rs. That is to Rethink and Refuse. Rethink our consumption habits and Refuse what we do not need.

Increasingly, many affluent societies have shown that material wealth does not equate to mental well-being or happiness. In fact, there is a new thinking that maybe countries should be measured in terms of the Gross National Happiness (GNH), instead of the conventional Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the United States, experts have showed that their happiness index peaked during the 1950s; around the same time this craze over excessive consumption caught on. Americans are faced with over 3000 advertisements a day compared to 50 years ago (www.thestoryofstuff.com) and 2 very powerful tools subliminally infused into most modern societies are Planned Obsolescence and Perceived Obsolescence. So increasingly so, not only is the kampong spirit diluting, we are increasing living in an endless rat-race to mindlessly consume to feel happy.

A personal 10 step for a good life that won’t cost the Earth: 

1. Take a Walk (exercise, better health, psychological benefits from green space)
2. Enjoy the finer Things (Finer often means simplicity; think out of the box)
3. Have less, Do more (materialism doesn’t equate happiness; earn less-spend less!)
4. Time is not money (It’s much more valuable! Keep a diary)
5. Think Positively about the future and make plans
6. 5 Rs – Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
7. Cut down Dirty Energy (energy audit, voting with our plugs)
8. Live authentically (be mindful of the ‘herd mentality’)
9. Get Creative (make music, art; it’s meditative and develops self-awareness)
10. Eat Well (We used to eat less meat(50% less) and less qty; greenhouses gases from our food can be as high as our exhaust pipes!

The writer is Howard Shaw, Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council.

From the diary of a BlogTV producer:

The HDB block that I live in is currently undergoing the lift upgrading programme. Because of the construction works going on, they’ve shut down two of the three existing lifts and built a new lift about a mile away from the original lift. Why they did that is a mystery and another gripe for another entry.

Anyway back to the offending lift. Because there is only one lift in service, I’ve seen a lot more of my neighbours recently than I have in the past 22 years that I’ve stayed in this block.

It’s funny, really. Just the other day, I went into the lift with two other guys. The first guy, let’s call him Neighbour A, lives on my floor, at the flat nearest the lift. He pressed the button for our floor.

The other guy, named Neighbour B for the purposes of this article (and also because I don’t know his name too) didn’t press anything, so I realised then that he had to be staying on the same floor.

When the lift doors opened, all three of us turned and walked in the same direction! As I had expected, Neighbour A went into the first flat, whilst Neighbour B and I continued on, with my eyes boring holes into his back. I bet my bottom dollar he probably was wondering whether I was a crazed stalker and I had half a mind to yell out, “I’m not a stalker! Just a very curious BlogTV producer!…Where do you come from?”

Non-Singaporean Neighbour B ended up entering the flat next to mine, unharrassed. I realised all 3 of us didn’t even know each other (not even names) and we probably never will bother to. This lack of neighbourly ties, in stark contrast to the kampung days when everyone knew all their neighbours and pet chickens, is precisely the sort of thing that the older generation (and the latest campaign promoting better neighbourliness) go on and on about.

And as the Chinese saying goes, “远亲不如近邻” (the far relative cannot compare to the neighbour nearby). No matter how many friends or relatives you have on the outside, if you don’t make friends with your neighbours, you can’t count on them in times of need.

My neighbour’s home, two doors away (in between Neighbour A’s and B’s), was recently broken into. It was a scare for my family, simply because it was so close to home (literally) and it could have been us who were targeted. What made it worse was, we had walked past their flat when we went for and came back from lunch and hadn’t noticed anything suspicious or amiss.

So I think, just to be on the safe side, I’ll smile at Neighbour A the next time I see him. Who knows, I might need his help in future and he IS big and burly.

To Neighbour B though, I would like to say this to you: Please stop smoking with your windows wide open at 1am whilst watching football on your laptop at top volume. I would like to be able to breathe fresh air and get some beauty sleep. Thank you very much.

This BlogTV producer requested for anonymity because in her words, “I don’t want to stir up any trouble with Non-Singaporean Neighbour B in case anyone says I’m country-ist.” However, if you think that you are Neighbour A, please drop us an email at blogtv@blogtv.sg with your name and contact number so that she may call you in times of need. Like when Neighbour B starts stalking her home.

In Singapore, Members of Parliament (MPs) are responsible for debating on bills that once passed, become laws that affect local society. They also form the connection between the community and the Government, thereby representing the population in governmental policies. MPs hold Meet-The-People (MTP) sessions to gain feedback regarding a variety of issues ranging from subsidies to difficulties with the bureaucracy. Thus, they are impetuous and critical voices of the people and provide a diversity of views to secure the needs of the population. Especially important in the top-down political atmosphere in Singapore, MPs bridge the people-government chasm perceived to be debilitating to a true democracy.
On the subject of their day jobs (i.e., the occupation they hold outside of their parliamentary appointment), a quick search on the Singapore Parliament Website reveals most MPs who are not ministers hold managerial and executive positions in both public and private sectors. Dr. Ahmad Mohd Magad, MP of Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, is the Managing Director of II-VI Singapore Ptd Ltd. Mdm Halimah Yacob, MP of Jurong GRC, is the assistant Secretary-General of the NTUC Women’s Committee. She is also a member of several committees and Board of Directors, such as the Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital and Medifund Committee. There are also a number of MPs in the legal profession – the MP of Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Mr. Christopher de Souza, is a partner at Lee & Lee. Other notable professions MPs hold include medical practitioners (Dr. Lily Neo, Jalan Besar GRC), lecturers (Ms. Sylvia Lim, Non-Constituency MP), and writers-in-residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Ms. Irene Ng, Tampines GRC).
The debate on whether MPs should retain their day jobs stem from several concerns. Foremost, a Member of Parliament is a person actively involved in political processes of the state. Their non-parliamentary occupations should not distract them from their duties and responsibility to the parliament. An MP is also expected to be present for the people and be invested in the common interest of the populace. Also, there is fear that MPs in the private sector may abuse their power for corporate interests.
Judging from the MPs’ day jobs, there is sufficient reason to believe they can manage their responsibilities, corporate or civil. We see most of the occupations held by MPs are related to their parliamentary duties in that they reflect the MPs’ capabilities of management of resources, financial prudence, social-political knowledge and exposure to the community. In that aspect, these occupations have merit in honing our MPs’ leadership and serve their exact purpose: to paint a realistic picture of Singapore and making suitable laws to better our society. Practically speaking, the high ranks our MPs attain in the corporate world are at the very least an indication of their abilities to lead, communicate, conceptualize and work within a hierarchy.
  Graft fears should be minimal in our legalistic society. With a government that prides itself on its anti-corruption stance and its leaders’ moral integrity, MPs have very little room for criminal endeavors. Conversely, they have more incentive to stay clean – according to the Ministerial Statement on Civil Service Salary Revisions, MPs draw a monthly salary of SGD$13,200 for their parliamentary position. This is a considerably high wage, similar to those of top executives and professionals. The nature of an MP’s parliamentary duties also makes it difficult for an MP to shirk his responsibility to his constituency. If the people are unhappy with their representation, they will voice their displeasure through votes in the next election and usher in a better candidate for their concerns. This self-renewal nature of politics ensures MPs function properly and efficiently.
From the process of garnering grassroots feedback to legislating bills, MPs require sensitivity to the local opinions and sentiments. A day job enhances this sensitivity by attuning the MPs to a larger slice of the Singapore pie. Regardless their jobs as doctors, lawyers, directors, CEOs and academics, the MPs gain deeper understanding of the Singaporean psyche and make laws more relevant. In fact, these non-parliamentary jobs should be encouraged as a natural, integral and useful part of sourcing for the response of the people. Quitting their day jobs is tantamount to cutting off one aspect of being a Singaporean who is affected by policies – MPs cannot afford this sort of insularity. Day jobs keep MPs grounded to the community so they can remain a strong medium for transmitting information to and fro the two sides of the chasm. For that, we should be glad for the MPs’ moonlighting.

Lin Jiasheng is a Secondary 4 student at Hwa Chong Institution and he shares his thoughts at http://scherzophreniac.blogspot.com

World Kindness Day is on 13^th November 2009. So, it is apt that attention should, once more, focus on the Singapore Kindness Movement. The big question to be asked, first, of course is: is Singapore an essentially unkind society?

 The short answer, unfortunately, is yes – and I shall tell you why. Singapore is a country built on competition. It is a nation that has raised competition to be the apex of all human endeavour. Were there Ten Singaporean Commandments, the first would be: Thou Shalt Win (At All Costs). Here, in Singapore, the only thing that matters, really, is that one should “win”, no matter what it takes to do so. In a culture where the only success is to be “No.1”, it seems necessary, to the people, to step on everyone else to get there. People brought up to believe that “winning is all”, become people who will do anything to win. This creates a fundamentally unpleasant attitude towards other people. You see, in such a “winner takes all” culture, other people are not seen as one’s fellow citizens, of a shared nation, but as one’s COMPETITORS. It is a small step from the word “competitor” to the word “enemy”. Thus, true Singaporeans don’t love their fellow man, they compete with them; fight with them; trample on them. They come to be people who only think of one person: themselves – no-one else is considered, or even considered worthy of being considered. No-one else matters, but “me”.

 Singapore is a nation of people each of whom has the same thought running through their heads: “me, me, me”. There is no room for thought of anyone else. The consequences are clear. Singaporeans won’t do even the most basic of kindnesses for each other. They slam doors in each other’s faces, instead of holding them open. They get on trains, or into lifts, before others have got off. They steal each other’s taxis, getting into cabs others have called. They jump queues and get angry if challenged (which rarely happens). If offered a seat, on a bus, or a train, they will almost always fail to say “thank you”, but will sit in silence. Unbelievably, they even attack their fellow Singaporeans online, for doing well, in any endeavour. The list of poor behaviours could go on forever – but there is no need, for all the behaviours share one thing in common: a lack of thought for anyone else. Here, no-one considers the feelings of others.

 Now, how are we to change this? How are we to make a kinder society? The Singapore Kindness Movement is a start. At least, it might prompt people to reflect on the issues and begin a process of personal change. However, I think it is too late to expect adults to change their ways, significantly. If Singapore is to become noted for the kindness of its people (which would, after all, be a lovely thing, wouldn’t it?), the efforts must begin in early childhood. Singapore’s children need to be taught to think of their effect on others; they need to learn to consider the feelings of others, just as much as they do their own. Parents can help with this, but schools should take on much of the burden. The instilling of kindness, as a desired attitude, could be woven into every lesson, in every school, in the land. It should begin with the teachers…perhaps they can be kind to their students. Every time they do so, they are teaching the children about kindness.

 Perhaps, too, if Singaporeans could learn to compete less, with each other, and appreciate more, each other’s achievements, then a greater consideration for each other, might grow in their hearts. If Singaporeans can accept that other Singaporeans can win, too, and that that is something to feel pride in, rather than resentment of, perhaps the essential attitude of Singaporeans towards each other, might be changed for the better.

 Kindness is a very important quality of a people. A kind person makes the lives of every person they ever meet, better. Of course, the opposite applies, too: an unkind person, makes the lives of everyone they meet worse. So, the Singapore Kindness Movement does not represent a trivial idea. It represents something fundamental to the quality of life, for everyone living in Singapore. If Singaporeans are, on the whole, unkind to each other, then it makes Singapore an unpleasant place to live in. Thus, it is important, for every Singaporean to begin to think in terms of how they can be kind to others. At each and every interaction, with other people, thought should be given to how they might show kindness, in that moment. Were all to do this, Singapore would quickly become one of the world’s most pleasant places to live in.

 Of course, it takes two people to be kind: not just one. By this I mean, whenever anyone shows a kindness to another, that other should say: “Thank you”, for the kindness shown. Should they not thank their benefactor, they would be greeting a kindness, with rudeness…which is just another variety of unkindness. So, there are two parts to this: being kind to others – and being polite to those who are kind to us.

Be kind!

Valentine Cawley believes he has been given many gifts as a child. Hence, he has tried being an actor, a writer of two books, a government physicist, at age 17, the founding editor of an Arts magazine, at 22, and a performance artist. However, he believes his greatest achievement is to have fathered three sons.
He writes at http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com

I am familiar with bus and train rides since it was a staple form of transportation for me when I was in school and right up till a few years ago.

From hanging on the the doors of rickety bus number 72 as a teenager, to being jostled – while standing in front of a strapping young man who had miraculously fallen asleep at the sight of a pregnant woman - in the MRT while I was 6 months pregnant, I have experienced it all.

I have in the past three years acquired a car after resisting it for so long for the simple reason that travelling in the MRT/bus during peak hours with two pre-schoolers in tow was just not practical! We tried, yes we tried. Mommy, daddy, and two children under 6 make for a disaster in rush hour traffic.

Dirty looks? Check.
Sudden “blindness”? Check.
Pushing and shoving? Check.

And mind you, we take the train from Sembawang station. Never mind the fact that there was never any available seat, what constantly broke my heart was when my three-foot-high 3-year-old son got whacked in the face by other commuters’ bags. And they come from all directions, you just can’t protect your kids! And then, there is the whole saga of getting off the train. Between the people who were permanent fixtures by the door, and those who were rushing in despite the fact that you are trying to get out, every morning you thank your lucky stars that you manage to get out in one piece. I still have nightmares about my days on the MRT with my two kids!

Since acquiring our own little set of wheels, we have to contend with crazy traffic, but we don’t have to contend with rude and ungracious commuters. So pardon us if we prefer not to take the public transport.

If you ask me what would make me leave the car at home and venture into the realm of public transport again?

1. Shorter waiting time:
This is especially so for connecting buses. What irks me is when I get off the MRT in plenty of time to get to where I need to be, but because the connecting bus takes forever, you end up being late. And then you have about four of the same bus back-to-back. Where is the sense in that I ask you?

2. Better bus drivers or bus captains as they are now called:
In my many years as a bus commuter, I can safely say only about 15 percent of the time have I experienced really good bus captains. The rest of them make me wonder if they go through any form of training before they are let loose on the roads. From speeding to sudden stops, bus rides are not much fun.

3. Better inter-connectivity
I’m sure the brains behind the transport system have it all worked out, but given that we are a very small island, it still isn’t all that straightforward to get from one place to another. Case in point – try going from Sembawang to Hougang – the journey cannot be made without at least 2 bus changes and an MRT ride. Throw into that mix a pair of pre-schoolers – I’m sure you’d understand too if I decide to flag down the nearest cab if I didn’t have my own set of wheels.

So yeah, unless I am out for a leisurely outing, it will take a whole lot more improvements before I decide to take public transport in rush hour or any other time of the day for that matter.

Hafizah Osman is the editor of Family.sg and she blogs her parenting experience on mommyfizz.wordpress.com.

I was walking along a bus interchange when a banner caught my eyes (apparently, that was the only banner there). It says something like “Take Public Transport, Go Green, Save the Earth”.

 So, one morning when you woke up at eight and you are supposed to be in the office by eight-thirty, we should still heed the advice and go green? I mean, who will care about the environment, when the main concern is about making sure that you don’t get a pay cut from being late for work? But seriously, the thought that comes to you should be: The bus is surely going to be too crowded. I won’t be able to get in. I’ll better take the cab.

 To be frank, LTA is setting a large goal by aiming to increase the public transport usage to 70% by 2020. Didn’t Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar and Adam Khoo mention about setting challenging but realistic goal? Oh, they drive.

 If I can wait for less than twenty minutes for a bus, and still manage to squeeze into the crowded bus, and reach my destination in one piece, then yes, 70% of the population is willing to sell off their cars and take the bus. But every day, we hear complaints about buses that take forever to come, buses that are too crowded and buses that brake like they are training for the next Formula One race.

 So this is just like getting a baby to drink from an empty baby bottle.

 From my understanding, if you want me to take the bus, you must at least provide me with a bus that brings me to my destination in time. But is the Government doing enough? Newspapers report that the Public Transport Council fined the two main bus companies for $200 and $500 respectively for being late or overcrowding. I think the bosses in the bus companies should be thinking, “We are fined? That is fine… ”

 I have always expected high-ranking executives to be solutions-oriented. Apparently, all the complaints I have seen made to them were slapped with excuses of “unpredictable traffic”. So, what happened to those complaints made in the bus interchange? The buses were unable to move out from the parking lots? And how about the overcrowding issue? COE is too high and bus companies are waiting for COE to drop?

 So, stop asking us to take the bus, when you cannot even provide one that works for us. And stop comparing us with other countries. There, the cost of a car is so much lower. If LTA wants to achieve their goal, stop giving us excuses and start planning solutions.

Low Kay Hwa, a twenty-four-year-old novelist who just completed his NS about a month ago, has written seven novels. About 27,000 copies of his books have been sold, with readers from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. Check out his company’s website at www.goodybooks.com