Friday, 28 December 2012

Viewing & Listening Task 2


Watch 5 news clips (eg: from either Channel 5 News, CNA News, BBC News) and do a summary of what you have seen / learnt.

The first news clip that I watched from channelnewsasia.com is ‘Residents complain of rat problem at Golden Mile Complex’. Residents of Golden Mile Complex have complained of rat problems on their premises, days after a similar incident was reported at AMK Hub. A resident interviewed by Channel NewsAsia said he has caught two rats in his home in a week. The resident, Mr Wong, said that he usually spots the rats around 5am or 6am. Golden Mile Complex's management had earlier sent out a circular to its residents saying that the rat problem could be due to unhygienic food preparation or disposal of food waste by shop operators or occupiers on the building's lower floors.

The second news clip that I watched is ’13 students wrongly issued eligibility forms remain uncontactable’. Of the 95 Normal (Academic) students wrongly issued eligibility forms for the inaugural Polytechnic Foundation Programme (PFP), 13 remained unreachable by phone as of Thursday, but emails and hardcopy letters to all affected students have been sent. The system had double-counted grades for subjects that the affected students had sat for at both the actual N-Levels and the school-based preliminary examinations, although each subject should only be counted once and only the better of the two grades should have been used.  As a result, the aggregate scores on some students' PFP forms were reflected as better than their actual aggregate scores. It also noted that the examination results themselves were correct and only the computed aggregate scores used to determine the eligibility was wrong in some cases. The PFP is a one-year programme that prepares eligible N(A) students for entry into the relevant Polytechnic Diploma course. N-level graduates under the PFP will not sit for the O-Levels. The programme admits the top 10 per cent of each year's N(A) cohort.

The third news clip that I watched was ‘Youth Vision for Singapore’. Being stress-free", having less competition and evolving as a gracious society, these were the themes of a dialogue session between polytechnic students and Mr. Lawrence Wong. 150 teenagers from Singapore's four polytechnics shared their vision for the future with Mr Wong on Thursday afternoon. Participants said they wanted a less competitive Singapore in 20 years' time, complete with a more gracious and open-minded society. Mr Wong however reminded them to be mindful of the consequences to their choices, pointing out the need to consider the broader environment. Some participants also suggested a four-day work week to encourage greater work-life balance. Mr. Wong admitted that the idea was enticing, but said businesses would suffer. Students echoed their displeasure at the disparities between polytechnic and junior college students in terms of transport fares and admission rates for courses as well as for local universities. Mr Wong responded by saying that the government is reviewing transport subsidies and urged the students to wait for the review to be completed before taking the issue further.

The fourth news clip that I watched was ‘Singaporeans are least positive’. A poll said Singaporeans are the least positive, after the same poll found Singaporeans to be the world's most emotionless people. Last year, international pollster Gallup measured positive emotions of 1000 people in 148 countries and areas using five questions. They asked people questions such as whether they experienced a lot of enjoyment the day before the survey, whether they felt respected, well-rested, laughed and smiled a lot, and did or learned something interesting. The poll found Singaporeans to be less positive than those in Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan. 

The fifth news clip that I watched was ‘9 arrested for operating and gaming in illegal gambling den’. Police have arrested nine people for operating and gaming in an illegal gambling den at a shophouse along Geylang Road. Officers from Bedok Police Division raided the shophouse and arrested six men aged 46 to 59 and three women aged 32 to 36. Thirteen modified computers, four jackpot machines and cash amounting to about S$1,214 were also seized. The 58-year-old suspect and six others will be charged in Court on 24 December. Two female suspects will be charged in Court on 22 December. 


No comments:

Post a Comment