Cheers and Jeers - The end of the Casino debate

Finally, the the year-long Casino debate/consultation exercise has ended as PM Lee wrapped up the four-day deliberation with a concluding speech, in which, he rallied all Singaporeans behind the decision. Ministers have also given their explanation behind their own decision.

It is said in the Straits Times(Friday, April 22 2005) that "its (Singapore's) decision to say yes to two mega resorts is making other countries sit up". This goes to show how much our Casino debate is being monitored by the interantional community.

Though concrete reasons were given for the go ahead, some anti-casino supporters are still not swayed by it. Well, as I have said in earler blog entry, though the actual debate is over, there weill be still a lot of dicussions going on. We really have to wait till 2009.

I am actually quite surprised that the government had once approached Disney for a deal.
According to the Straits Times(Friday, April 22 2005, page H8) again, Disney requested "a huge 300ha chunk of land and was not prepared to put its own money into paying for it"
Seriously, asking a land scarce Singapore to let up 300ha of land is very difficult and in this case, inpossible as they were "not prepared to put its own money into paying for it". Anyway, I'll leave this matter to hang here as this is already the past.

Back at home (literally), school was a bit tiring today, especially sine we had to go to SHATEC. The "course" ended at about 5pm.

Not in the mood to do any work now although I have lots of work to be done.
Mid-year Exams are round the corner, to be precise, next Wednesdy.... Have to study too....

Stress... Stress.... Had a splitting headache this morning during 2158 class... lucky it stopped before we had P.E.

*yawn*

Decisions, decisionS

First off, from the vaitcan, Habemus Papam! (We have a Pope)
This morning, while many were asleep in Singapore, conclave has spoken and a new pope has been elected. 78-years-old, German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Roman Catholic Church's leading conservative, is elected as the Roman Catholic Church's 265th pontff, in the shortest conclave in modern history. He will take on the name Pope Benedict XVI

In Singapore, the casino debate is still on going. Members of parliament are giving their reasons for their stand on the issue. PM Lee is expected to address the Parliament tomorrow. Many supported the building of the Casino and Integrated Resorts (IR) due to the amount of jobs it will create. Though many cited religious, moral and social reasons, they still gave their approval on the idea based on that.
As mentioned by SM Goh, Singapore already has Casinos, abeit not physically in Singapore. They can be found on cruise ships that dock at our harbours. SM Goh also cited that the public debates even though saw many people being anti-casino reflected the values of Singaporeans. He said that he would be worried if there was no one who had gone against the idea.
One female minister even commented that she had visited Casinos in Las Vegas and had seen many people, especially at the "one arm bandits", with beer in one hand and the lever in the other, not stopping untill he hits jackpot or runs out of money.
This casino debate and sceptics will go on and be here amongst us for quite sometime, untill raw figures can be seen, and that will happen after the Casino and IRs first year of operation.

At school, looks like Mr Sirhan had got his head back together and had cooled off. It is good to hear him joke in class again. Had my chinese oral (mid-year exams) today. Quite screwed in my opinion but not very badly. Was shivering slightly (due to the air-con!!!) and could not think of much things to say.

Back home, blowing my head off homework. less than a week to Mid-year exams. Took some time off to manage my blog. Thinking of listing my blog under BlogShares. Moved my tagboard to another server to prevent the alltag and tag files from depleting my webspace. Shouln't experience any downtime as I have already completely moved it over to the new web server.

School having a blood donation drive on 3 May. And I am one of those who qualify as I am already 16 yrs old. Thats quite crazy. 3 May is "right smack" in the middle of our exams. We have History 2158 and Biology on that day and Additional Mathematics and Chemistry on the next. Coined "Bloody Tuesday" by our Deputy Principal (Student Development), Bro Mike, every "qualified" person is expected to donate........

Being chased to sleep already.... partly because my eyes are so "red" already. So tired after this "freakish" week. Tomorrow have to stay back late again. Friday also.... have to go to SHATEC which is in Bukit Batok, so far from my house.....

Anyway,
*nitez "u'all"*
-_-

Casino

i have no mood to blog any of school related stuff as the teachers have gone crazy, and gave us homework they know we cannot finish... I am not about to go through the horror of blogging this. However, I will turn my attention for now to another matter.....

It is not like me to post any political debates here but the casino debate is currently the "hot topic". Results of the Casino was announced on Monday at 3pm. I must say that I am not surprised at all by the outcome, and well most definately affect us as it is sheduled to be ready by 2009

Singapore will now built not 1 but 2 Casinos. However, it is not a standalone Casino. Instead it will be an integrated resort.

One of them is a $2 - 4billion, 12.2 hectares Marina Bayfront invesment aims at the MICE (meetings, incentive travel and convention visitors) group. This is to be expected as the Marina Bayfront is located near Suntec Convention Centre, the Esplanade ( or in Singaporeans' eyes, "The Durian"), and the CBD (Central Business District) areas.
The other will be located in Sentosa. It will ne a 47 hectares, $2 - 3 billion investment. However, this integrated resort is more for Families and Tourists, and will even feature a Theme Park.
Many Singpaoreans are still against the idea of setting up the Casino. I too used to think that way until I realised what this will bring to Singapore. People are still citing ethnical and moral issues concerning the casino. I cannot deny that it will have an impact on it.
But look at it this way, the casino will not accupy more than 3 percent and 5 percent of the total floor area of Marina Bayfront and Sentosa sites respectively.
From the new resorts it will reap $5 billion in investments, 35 000 new jobs and a $1.5 billion boost to our economy annually.
Yes, this may come at the expense of some of the moral issues but we cannot afford to fall behind. Moral and ethnical issues are important and must be delt with in a Mutli-racial and Multi-cultural society like Singapore, but in this case, the benefits really outweigh the disadvantages.
We must remember, Singapore is a country which has little resources. Our country is going into a developed status. Our primary industry has now been reduced to such a small ratio as compared to other industry. Likewise for our secondary industries. What we depend on for growth is our Tertiary industries... we cannot afford to lose out on this opportunity. If we don't accept this, other countries around the reigion will. Though this Casino issue is "not a matter of life and death" as PM Lee mentioned, but the decision will bare quite a significant consequence.
Singaporeans have to stay ahead and be competitive if not will Singapore be able to survive?? Already, we are losing business to nearby shipping facilities like the two in Malaysia, are we still going to let this chance pass by??
The leaders have to think of the long-term effects and not just the immediate once. Already measures have been put up to ensure that we will not have a rise in gambling problems like addction or any gambling related crimes.

Well, this is just a judgement. The actual success of these 2 casino integrated resort will still depend on the demand, market and the number of tourists in the future. One thing we know, whatever our views maybe now, the integrated resort project will go ahead.... Until it is built and fully functional and we can see the actual profits, the debate will go on.

LasT

Last episode of Gundam Seed today... I mean yesterday.. Its 12am already.. lol
Quite an abrupt ending,
makes you pick up the pieces after that.
geez.. I really like the ending song - Find The Way
Quite meaningful, maybe even inspirational too, if you understand the lyrics.
HaHa.. I set it as my blog song again.

Ripping my hair off..
missed so many Physics lessons because of Nationals...
Now don't even know any shit about the topic.
I know there is a Flemming's right hand rule, but a left land rule too?!
Mid-Year is round the corner, to be precise, about 10 days,
How the heck am I going to score??

Another Chinese test on Monday.
This is getting riduculus.

Oh man! I am really getting worried. especially now we all have to go through the first three months. Dunno why did the Ministry of Eduaction decide to implement the 'no first 3 months' policy later.

Speaking of policies, I guess Singaporeans know what to expect on the Monday announcement on the result of the Casino debate. Quite an obvious answer. If they were to say otherwise -- that is say "no" to the casino idea, I would be very surprised. The revenue a casino can bring us would not permit a "no", especially with the highest bid of $3-$4 billion. Even if Singaporeans are against it, citing moral values, I think the Singapore government will give it the green light.

Anyway, this does not really concern me now... Better get back at my Monday test and preparing for my Tuesday and Wednesday English and Chinese Oral respectively.

cya.

BoRed

Damn bored now... to much homework and stress... at a lost...
Well, today quite ok, so monotonous that you can sleep.
Ms Marah's class after school was quite interesting... especially when we managed to make her tell us something she was hesitant to share. It was about... erm.. cannot say.... we are all "Sworn to Secrecy".. so lets keep things that way -- a secret.
Heard we did quite well in the Nationals Cross Country Championships. Congratulations to all the winners.

Got home quite late. Finished some of my homework, but willl have to stop and settle my files as they still have a file check. Too bad boys aren't known to be very neat.... Don't think those all-girls school have all these... Maybe they have. But I never did ask.

Thought otherwise about moving my blog to Diary-x. Too used to blogger already. Anyway, moving over means I have to rewrite certain parts of my HTML, especially the default style of the blog entries. Also, I have finally found the problem whereby my entries are always on the lowercase and no capital letters at all. I cannot believe I overlooked it all these while. It all because of the layer (div) setting "TEXT-TRANSFORM: lowercase" which I acidentally added.

Hopefully, I will be watching Last Exile and Shaman King tonight, if I have the time and don't fall asleep before that....

:]

MidWaY

its middle of the week already.. starting countdown to midyear exam.
Teachers are restless, students are tired... juz not the right combination.
Mr Sirhan walked out of class yesterday, apparently mad at us, and almost expelled one of my classmates (i'm not putting down any names)
what a vast mood change.. he was smiling today when he was outside our class, but the moment he stepped in, his face changed.
almost 3/8 of the school.. specifically, those in the 6 Uniform Groups had to report to the National Cross Country... seems like SJI is coordinating the event....
Most of them excited.... dun ask why.... they're just sick in the head.

back now.... no homework today.... taking a rare break...

contemplating of moving my blog to diary-x, but that will come later....
got to settle some problems in my html coding first.

nitez all....

SaTurdAy

Whoa!! can't take it anymore! Brain's gonna explode... too many maths sums... didn't expect the diffrentiation and integration sums to be that hard... 6 assignments in all... and i still cannot finish.... seeing dy/dx everywhere now....

went to Orchid Country Club to bowl yesterday, only one week and i forgot how to spare.... played 6 games in total
116, 139, 169, 192 ,223, 193

bowled very badly... coundn't spare especially in the first game... missed all my spares... but finally found back my lines....
missed a perfect game by 3 stupid frames, and worse still i missed the spares in those frames i didn't strike... in the end hadd to settle for a 223.

came home and didn't have the mood to do anything, i never even watch last exile.. fell asleep before that...it's juz too bad.. especially when they are bringing in exile and the silvania was attacked by the guild.

oh yar... today is supposed to be the prince charles's wedding. the affair seems to be have been kept low... never heard of anyhing on T.V the whole afternoon.... but i am not surprised in light of what is going on in the vatican.

going for dinner soon... have to finish my hmwk and get down to studying for another chinese test on monday.... i juz can't wait for this to be over with....

FeeL FunnY

Feel so funny... today wednesday but no training....
"retired" already.... should be concentrating on studies now....

slacking abit today.
tomolo have to go school but no lessons... founder's day.
though the teachers took the chance to load us with homework

trying to finish up my history 2158 project: Is Gorbachev a hero or villian.
honestly, a very difficult question to answer as we weren't told which point of view we were suppose to stand... a russian newspaper reporter or a reporter from a democratic country.

dunno whether will get the chance to watch last exile and kiddy grade tonight...(yep... i am an anime fan..) ... It has been quite a while since i watched it... two, three weeks in fact..

ok... have to go back to my work now....

-_-

mOndAy

It's back to school...

Morning assembly was a very solemn event as we mark the death of his holiness, Pope John Paul II.
The world currently mourns the passing of this world leader, a champion of freedom and an advocate of peace .
His death set forth and put the 1996 document (Universi Dominici Gregis) into motion.
The college of cardinals will meet, and conclave will be opened in 15 to 20 days and prepare to elect a new pontiff.

Though the sombre atmosphere especially for many catholics,
school went as usual.
Photo-taking for classes went on as planned.

The biweekly test was tough... so much so that none of us can guarantee ourselves a passing mark.

Still a bit blur in school after about a week of absence in school due to Nationals... though, now that the nationals are over, it means that us, Sec 4 are now offically retired from the school bowling team.

meeting tonight on MSN with my friends to discuss the chinese project.... wonder what will happen to the history 2158 project.

it has been raining the whole day.. in school and now at home....
but i thought the South-west monsoon (or is it the North-east monsoon? i aren't a Geography student...) should be over by now.

Will be another short week as SJI Founder's Day celebration is on Thursday which means there will be no classes on that day though we still need to report to school.

yeah!!!!!

12th National School Tenpin Bowling Championship

12th National School Tenpin Bowling Championship Ends....
my last year in the b'division

very exciting game today... especially the stepladder finals....
Our very own Lionel managed to clinch the boy's masters champion title.
He defeated Stanly Ong, the defending champion in two games.
first game, 157 to 156, throwing us into the second round
in the second game, intense competition grew as Lionel's Strike and Spares were matched by Stanly.
In the end, Lionel emerged the champion beating Stanly 216 to 214

It was a nervebreaking game for Lionel his teammates.
Our coach, Uncle Ronnie was also worried. he was seen standing up, pacing to and fro when Lionel bowled.
(Although Uncle Ronnie was so relaxed yesterday... flying a kite. Yew Liang was saying he damn pro
he said that uncle ronnie can fly the kite by himself while vic and the rest... bout 4 or 5 of them cannot even get a kite to fly. Below is a pic of ronnie in action.





(pics taken from marian's blog as i wasn't there when he... erm... flew)

Andrew was clenching his fist so hard that he has fingernail marks in his palm.

Over at the girls, it was a show down between schoolmates in the stepladder as the top 3 spots were taking by the Singapore Sports School. Clara Lim emerged the Champion.

The trophy for this years tournament is fantastic.... below is a picture of it... taken by Yew Liang


(pic taken from YL's blog)

the whole team... well almost the whole team went out for Lunch on Lionel's credit after much persuasion to get Lionel to part with the money...
Our captain, Yew Liang only has to gather us and threaten to shout a "magic" word and Lionel will give in....

Anyway... was a long day....
going to study soon... after a short rest...

Day 4

Day 4: team event last 3 games

juz got back....
bowled quite ok today except my last game.
175 197 157

this brings my all events average to about 170.722222222222....
this sucks....
ACS (I) swiped everything.

tomolo masters,
three of our bowlers made it...
have to report to victors superbowl by 9am
too bad our captain isn't one of them

had to return to the alley at 6pm fir the prize giving ceremony
b4 that, went out to eat... Samuel treat 6 of us to ribs at Toni's
cost bout 72 bucks.... Thanks Sam!!

Went back early... Mgs was screaming our ears off..
joined a few of them for soccer
and also frisbee which Yew Liang borrowed from Marian or one of the KC girls.

b4 returning to the ally for the prize pesentation.

anyway,
very tired now.
will turn in early.... nitez