Critical Reflection

At the beginning of this ES1102 module, I labelled this module as a time consuming module. I had this notion due to the fact that I attended ES1000 and it was not useful for me. However, my mind and attitude towards the module changed as the weeks went by. I started to enjoy my weekly lessons and found that they are generally useful for me to improve my English.

We had been taught on different skills, summary writing, paraphrasing, writing of reader responses as well as writing of essays. Essay writing was never a foreign work for me, since we do write essays when we were in junior college. However, for our essay assignment in class, we were told to write an essay with no specific questions given but just a general topic of Globalization. This allows us not to be restricted and to think out of the box to come out with our own question by doing research for it. I feel that this part of the module had been essential for us in allowing us to think more and to do something that was different. In addition to the writings work, I had also been taught on how to reference well with the APA style. This was useful for me as I can use this skill in my other modules as well.

Apart from the assignments that we had in class, we had a blog, which we would post our assignments onto it. The blogs has given a platform for us to learn and communicate with our classmates. The blog had also given an opportunity to interact with my classmates through commenting on their blogs and to learn from one another through the feedbacks given. I strongly believe that it is crucial for us to learn from one another, as learning is more than just the tutor and myself. The blog also serves as our English portfolio where we could look back to see how we had improved through out the whole semester, this is beneficial for us as it would allows us to look back and learn from our mistakes.

Through the different assignments that we had in class, I realize that I am still prone to making a lot of common grammar mistakes in my writings. I feel that making grammar mistakes is a major taboo when it comes to writing good essays. Even with a good content and organization in my essay, having grammar mistakes would clearly show my poor proficiency in my language. I had been doing grammar assignments online and the grammar quiz provided by the course to improve my grammar. I feel that through practices, my grammar mistakes can be further reduced in the future. 

In conclusion, this module had been a beneficial and enjoyable one for me and I had learnt and improved a lot for my writings. I feel that English and writings is a long term learning, even with a closure of this module, I will still need to read more and learn more to further improve my language proficiency.

Reflection on Oral Presentation

I feel that oral presentation should be a component added as one of the official grading component in ES1102.

Being a shy individual, presenting had always been my biggest fear. Even though this presentation was not graded and it was to people that I am familiar with, the fear still sets in me. What’s more when it comes to a graded presentation and to people that I am not familiar with. Thus, I am truly thankful for this opportunity to present and express myself to my classmates since presentation skill requires a lot of practices for it. In addition, I feel that this oral presentation was not only about being a presenter; it had also given me the chance to be an audience and to learn from my classmates.  

Unlike other modules in school, there weren’t many opportunities for us to present. If oral presentation is added to the future ES1102 classes, I feel that it will definitely be beneficial for everyone. Moreover, presentation skill is not only important for our future modules, but it is also a vital skill that we will need for a lifetime when we move on to our career.

In conclusion, I had learnt a lot from this oral presentation in terms of presenting skills from my classmates, and I will futher improve myself to be a better presenter in the future.

Essay (Final Draft)

“Is Singapore government doing enough to address the issue of climate change?”

Title: Singapore addressing the issue of climate change

Goldin mentioned in his TED talk (2009) that due to the globalization, several problems have evolved; one of the many problems that he had mentioned was global climate change. According to definition of climate change from the dictionary.com, climate change is the result of an increase in the average temperature and rise in sea levels. Climate change leads to changes in the rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures in some areas and a change in biodiversity. Most countries are now suffering as a result of this phenomenon. One of the main causes of climate change is the increasing amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, emitted through human activities. With globalization, countries undergo industrialization and development, leading to an increase in fossil fuel combustion, which generates large amount of greenhouse gases.

Singapore is a very small country, and we are more susceptible to changes such as the changes in the weather conditions, or even changes in biodiversity. According to the National Climate Change Secretariat, Singapore’s temperature had increased by 0.2 degrees Celcius since 1948 and mean sea level of the Straits of Singapore has also increased since then. Singapore’s carbon dioxide emission is less than 0.2% of the world’s carbon emission. However, it is still important for Singapore to have measures to lower the carbon emission to reduce the effects of climate change even though it is not so significant globally. This is because climate change is not a problem that can be solved by one country; it requires all the countries to come together to play a part in helping to address this global issue. Singapore government has come up with several solutions to address the issue of climate change. However, some are not effective and other solutions need to be implemented to deal with climate change.

One of several solutions that Singapore government has come up with to address the issue of climate change is to switch from using fuel oil or coal to using natural gas as the main fuel for electricity. According to the Natural Gas and Environment Organization, natural gas emits a lesser amount of carbon than fuel oil. The power sector emits a larger amount of carbon dioxide in Singapore as compared to other sectors. With the use of natural gas, there will be significant drop in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted.

However, this solution is only effective to a certain extent. It is effective as natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and it generates far less carbon dioxide as compared to oil or coal. It is not very effective in the long run though as natural gas is a non-renewable resource. The use of natural gas will not be sustainable for a long period of time to generate electricity.

Transportation is another factor that causes carbon emissions in Singapore. The Singapore government has come up with several policies for transportation sector to lower carbon emissions. Private cars contribute the largest share of carbon emissions by the transport sector at 35%. Thus, there’s a need to lower the number of private cars in Singapore. The government has a vehicle quota system, which limits the number of private cars on the road. In addition, all new potential cars owners have to bid for the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) in order to purchase a new car. I feel that this policy is not effective. According to Png (2012), people are driving more when COE prices rises. When people are driving more often, it would contribute more to the carbon emissions in Singapore. Clearly, the increment in the COE prices, does not help to lower carbon emissions.

Apart from the implementation of the COE, since 2013, Singapore has been promoting the use of green vehicles in Singapore. These green vehicles generally emit less carbon dioxide as compared to the normal vehicles. The Singapore government came out with Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle (CEV) Scheme to encourage Singaporeans to purchase green vehicles instead of the normal vehicles. CEV works by giving rebates to users when they buy cars that emit lesser carbon dioxide while cars that emit high amount of carbon dioxide would be charged. In addition, since taxis in Singapore generally travel a higher mileage, taxi companies will receive higher rebates to encourage them to make the switch.

I feel that this scheme is effective to a certain extent. According to Heitmann (2012), the implementation of this scheme set a new direction for Singapore to head towards a greener city with less carbon emissions. In addition, car companies would be motivated to produce cars that are more fuel-efficient to meet the demands from Singaporeans. However, this scheme might not be effective to all Singaporeans as only certain models of the cars are considered to be green. These models might not be attractive to all Singaporeans and some might not make the switch. This scheme will be much effective in the long run, as more car companies come up with cars that emit lesser carbon dioxide.

Transportation in Singapore includes public transport like the buses and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), and they contribute a lower proportion of carbon emissions in Singapore as well. I would suggest that the Singapore government lower the public transport costs to promote private cars users to switch to taking the public transport. I feel that this would be effective since a lesser number of private cars on the road would significantly decrease carbon emissions.

In conclusion, I feel that Singapore is not doing enough to address the issue of climate change even with the different policies and schemes that the government has. The government can improve the current policies to further helps to lower carbon emissions in Singapore.

Reference:

Axel C. Heitmann. (2012, March 30). More 'green' cars please. (n.d.).
Singapore Business Review.
Retrieved April 16, 2014 from http://sbr.com.sg/hr-education/commentary/more-green-cars-please

Ivan Png. (2012, August 2). People drive more when COE price rise.
The Straits Times, pA30

Land Transport Authority (LTA). (2013).
Tax Structure For Cars
Retrieved March 7, 2014 from http://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/owning-a-vehicle/costs-of-owning-a-vehicle/tax-structure-for-cars.html

National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS). (2013).

Impact of Climate Change on Singapore

Retrieved March 7, 2014 from https://app.nccs.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=160&secid=157

Natural Gas and the Environment NaturalGas.org. (n.d.). NaturalGasorg.
Retrieved March 7, 2014 from
http://naturalgas.org/environment/naturalgas/

Essay (Draft 3)

“Is Singapore government doing enough to address the issue of climate change?”

Title: Singapore addressing the issue of climate change

Goldin mentioned in his TED talk (2009) that due to the globalization, several problems have evolved; one of the many problems that he had mentioned was global climate change. According to definition of climate change from the dictionary, climate change is the result of an increase in the average temperature and rise in sea levels. Climate change could lead to changes in the rainfall patterns, extreme temperatures in some areas and a change in biodiversity. Most countries are now suffering as a result of this phenomenon. One of the main causes of climate change is the increasing amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, emitted through human activities. With globalization, countries undergo industrialization and development, leading to an increase in fossil fuel combustion, which generates large amount of greenhouse gases.

Singapore is a very small country, and we are more susceptible to changes such as the changes in the weather conditions, or even changes in biodiversity. According to the National Climate Change Secretariat, Singapore’s temperature had increase by 0.2 degrees Celcius since 1948 and mean sea level of the Straits of Singapore has also increased since then. Singapore’s carbon dioxide emission is less than 0.2% of the world’s carbon emission. However, it is still important for Singapore to have measures to lower the carbon emission to reduce the effects of climate change even though it is not significant. This is because climate change is not a problem that could be solved by one country; it requires all the countries to come together to play a part in helping to address this global issue. Singapore government has come up with several solutions to address the issue of climate change.

One of the several solutions that Singapore government had come up with to address the issue of climate change is to switch from using fuel oil or coal to using natural gas as the main fuel for electricity. Natural gas emits a lesser amount of carbon than fuel oil. The power sector emits a larger amount of carbon dioxide in Singapore as compared to other sectors. With the use of natural gas, there will be significant drop in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted.

However, this solution is only effective to a certain extent. It is effective as natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and it generates far less carbon dioxide as compared to oil or coal. It is not very effective in the long run though as natural gas is a non-renewable resource, it will not be sustainable to use natural gas for a long period of time to generate electricity.

Transportation is another factor that causes carbon emissions in Singapore. The Singapore government has come up with several policies for transportation sector to lower carbon emissions. Private cars contribute the largest share of carbon emissions by the transport sector at 35%. Thus, there’s a need to lower the number of private cars in Singapore. The government has a vehicle quota system, which limits the number of private cars on the road. In addition, all new potential cars owners have to bid for the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) in order to purchase a new car. I feel that even with this policy, it is not effective. According to Png (2012), he mentioned in his article that people are driving more when COE prices rises. When people are driving more often, it would contribute more to the carbon emissions in Singapore. With the increament in the COE prices, it does not help to lower carbon emissions.

Apart from the implementation of the COE, since 2013, Singapore has been promoting the use of green vehicles in Singapore. These green vehicles generally emit less carbon dioxide as compared to the normal vehicles. The Singapore government came out with Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle (CEV) Scheme to encourage Singaporeans to purchase green vehicles instead of the normal vehicles. CEV works by giving rebates to users when they buy cars that emit lesser carbon dioxide while cars that emit high amount of carbon dioxide would be charged.

However, I feel that this is also not effective. Even though with the increase in the government’s efforts to implement new schemes to encourage more car users to buy green vehicles, these vehicles are still not popular in Singapore. These vehicles are generally more expensive even with the rebates given, and Singaporeans have limited awareness of how these green vehicles work and are doubtful about them. Thus, they would prefer to buy the normal vehicles instead.

Transportation in Singapore includes public trnasports like the buses and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), and they contribute a lower proportion of carbon emissions in Singapore as well. I wouuld suggest that the Singapore government lower the public transport costs to promote private cars users to switch to taking the public transport. I feel that this would be effective since since a lesser number of private cars on the road would significantly decrease carbon emissions.

In conclusion, I feel that Singapore is not doing enough to address the issue of climate change even with the different policies and schemes that the government has. The government can improve the current policies to further helps to lower carbon emissions in Singapore.

Reference:

Ivan Png. (2012, August 2). People drive more when COE price rise.
The Straits Times, pA30

Land Transport Authority (LTA). (2013).
Tax Structure For Cars
Retrieved March 7, 2014 from http://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/owning-a-vehicle/costs-of-owning-a-vehicle/tax-structure-for-cars.html

National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS). (2013).

Impact of Climate Change on Singapore

Retrieved March 7, 2014 from https://app.nccs.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=160&secid=157

Essay (Draft 2)

“Is Singapore government doing enough to address the issue of climate change?”

Goldin mentioned in his TED talk that due to the globalization, several problems have evolved; one of the many problems that he mentioned was global climate change. Climate change is the result of an increase in the average temperature and the rise in sea level. Climate change could leads to changes in the rainfall patterns; extreme temperatures in some areas and it might also cause a change in biodiversity. Most countries suffered as a result of this phenomenon. One of the main causes of climate change is the increasing amount of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, emitted through human activities. With globalization, countries undergo industrialization and development, leading to an increase in fossil fuel combustion, which generates large amount of greenhouse gases.

Singapore is a small country, and we are more susceptible to changes. Singapore’s temperature had increased by 0.2 degrees Celsius since 1948 and mean sea level of the straits of Singapore had also increased since then. Singapore’s carbon dioxide emission is less than 0.2% of the world’s carbon emission, however, it is still important for Singapore to have measures to lower the carbon emission to lower the effects of climate change even though it is not very significant. This is because climate change is not a problem that could be solved by one country; it requires all the countries to come together to play a part in helping to address this global issue. As a result, Singapore government had come up with several solutions to address the issue of climate change, however, they are not sufficient.

Singapore had switched from using fuel oil or coal to using natural gas as the main fuel for electricity. Natural gas emit lesser amount of carbon dioxide as compared to fuel oil. The power sector emits large amount of carbon dioxide in Singapore; with the use of natural gas, there will be significant drop in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted. However, this solution is only effective to a certain extent. It is effective as natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and it generates far less carbon dioxide as compared to oil or coal. It is not very effective in the long run as natural gas is a non-renewable resource, it will not be sustainable to use natural gas for a long period of time to generate electricity.

Transportation is another factor that causes carbon emissions in Singapore. Singapore government has several policies for transportation to lower the carbon emissions. Private cars contributed the largest share of carbon emissions by the transport sector at 35%. Thus, there’s a need to lower the number of private cars in Singapore. The government has a vehicle quota system, which limits the number of private cars on the road in Singapore. In addition, all new cars owners have to bid for the Certificate of Entitlement (COE) in order to purchase a new car. However, I feel that even with this policy being imposed in Singapore, it is not effective. According to a newspaper article by an economist (2012), he mentioned in his article that people are driving more when COE prices rises. This shows us that when people are driving more often, it would contribute more to the carbon emissions in Singapore. Even with the higher COE prices, it is hard to lower down the usage of private cars.

Apart from the implemention of the COE, in 2013, Singapore had been promoting the use of green vehicles in Singapore where these vehicles generally emit less carbon dioxide. The Singapore government came out with Carbon Emissions-based Vehicle (CEV) Scheme to encourage Singaporeans to purchase green vehicles instead of the normal vehicles. CEV works by giving rebates to users when they buy cars that emit lesser carbon dioxide while cars that emit high amount of carbon dioxide would be charged. However, I feel that this is not effective. Even with the increase government’s efforts to come up with such schemes to encourage more car users to buy green vehicles, these vehicles are still not popular in Singapore. These vehicles are generally more expensive even with the rebates given and Singaporeans have limited awareness of how these green vehicles work and are doubtful about it. Thus, they would choose to get the normal vehicles instead.

Transportation in Singapore includes public transports like, the buses and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and they contribute a lower proportion of carbon emissions in Singapore. I would suggest Singapore government to lower public transport cost to promote private cars users to switch to taking the public transport. I feel that it would be more effective since with a lesser number of private car users on the road would significantly decrease carbon emissions.

In conclusion, I feel that Singapore is not doing enough to address the issue of climate change even with the different policies and schemes that the government has. The government can improve the current policies to further helps to lower carbon emissions in Singapore.

Reference:

1. National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS). (2013).

Impact of Climate Change on Singapore

Retrieved March 7, 2014 from https://app.nccs.gov.sg/page.aspx?pageid=160&secid=157

2. Land Transport Authority (LTA). (2013).
Tax Structure For Cars
Retrieved March 7, 2014 from http://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/owning-a-vehicle/costs-of-owning-a-vehicle/tax-structure-for-cars.html

3. Ivan Png. (2012, August 2). People drive more when COE price rise.
The Straits Times, pA30