An Influential Event

On 28 May 2013 just past 10pm, two military policemen had rushed over to alert us about a traffic accident that had just occurred in the nearby vicinity. I was a combat medic on duty that night, and together with two other medics we immediately rushed to the scene of the accident.

The scene of the accident was a complete mess. There were car parts littered all over the road and sidewalk, an overturned motorcycle and two victims lying motionless on the ground. We would later find out that they were victims of an intoxicated hit and run accident. I attended to the male victim while my other two medic friends attended to the female victim. Given the nature of the injuries, treatment and immediate evacuation was extremely crucial. I did some quick treatment and then activated one of the military ambulances which was on standby, to take the more seriously injured female victim to hospital. Soon after the female victim was evacuated, a civil defence ambulance arrived with paramedics to evacuate the injured man.

Both victims eventually recovered fully, while the drunk driver involved was arrested.

This incident has taught me that as medical personnel, it is extremely important to keep our skills current so that when we have to use these skills, we can apply them proficiently and calmly to achieve the best possible clinical outcome for the injured.

Problem Solution Essay Draft 1

 Because in Singapore politics, the vocal minority are able to express their views over social media, resulting in dissidents spreading hate and deceiving readers, the ministry of education (MOE) should start educating teenagers to be well discerning of false information.

A worrying trend has begun, whereby people content with a particular system do little to air their content, while discontent people take it upon themselves to criticize the system openly, making sure their voices are heard by many. This has led to the terms “silent majority” and “vocal minority” being coined.

A lack of regulation results in a free for all online landscape, where almost anything can be put up leaving the reader to be well discerning of whatever they are reading. However, it is often difficult to cross reference information presented online, resulting in people often believing what they read or watch at face value. The spread of the most ridiculous articles on social media proves that many are often unable to easily discern from false information.

The lack of regulations online as well as a significant number of the public being unable to be well discerning of what they are reading results in the rise of purposefully spread disinformation originating from individuals or groups with vested interests. A well written argument based on false information complemented with professional charts can easily sway many, stirring up their emotions and convincing them to act. This is worrying especially since our political leaders are democratically elected and such disinformation can sway the minds of many impressionable voters resulting in politicians becoming dismissed. One clear example would be the Roy Ngerng saga (1). Ngerng made baseless accusations against the prime minister accusing him of misappropriation of money in an article. This article was shared by many among social media, which garnered him many supporters. Due to the high profile involvement in this case, Ngerng was taken to court and found guilty of defaming the prime minister.

However, this is not all. The nature of the online landscape combined with the vocal minority and silent majority mean that a small number of loud individuals can dominate the online scene, giving the ordinary folk a mistaken impression of the actual reality. Such behaviour is apparent on online forums, news website comments, and all over social media. Online, there are scores of people insulting the government on everything from government policies to politician’s salaries. If one solely looked at the online landscape, they would come to the conclusion that Singaporeans are very unhappy with their government. However popularity surveys and election polls show a much different reality.

The current solution put forward by the Singapore government is the regulation of news websites. News websites have additional perceived reliability due to the term “news” being used, and thus clamping down on websites that claim to be news but are indeed satire or actually merely personal opinion is a right step forward. The government takes the role of deciding if the news reported is newsworthy, and if necessary, take action to remove misleading websites. This is however a reactive approach which does not tackle the root problem, since disinformation and hatred can still be spread in the forms of social media such as facebook posts and tweets which are practically impossible to regulate.

An active solution would be to educate the masses to equip them with skills to be able to evaluate arguments and spot people who are trying to deceive others. Once people are able to appropriately discern for themselves what is true and what may be trying to mislead, disinformation would not get much attention as it does today, and such information be immediately frowned upon. It is only because so many believe false information that these articles and posts are able to gain such popularity. One way to equip the public with critical thinking skills would be to introduce critical thinking classes in secondary school by the Ministry of Education. Critical thinking helps people think and accurately choose from themselves what to believe, through the consideration of a wide array of sources. By incorporating such lessons in secondary school, the public as a whole whom have all been through secondary school would have acquired such skills in the eventual future.

The problem of misleading information of the internet in the form of misleading arguments as well as overcrowding of negativity towards the government should ultimately be solved at its roots, by teaching individuals how to discern what information they come across. However, there might be reasons for why even the government might not want to correct the problem with education. By equipping the masses with such skills, it would become harder to run the government as citizens will become more critical towards their actions, and hold them to a higher standard. In the latest World Press Freedom Index, Singapore ranked a measly 153 (3), and thus giving citizens critical thinking skills might perhaps not in reality help the government agenda.

1. http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/blogger-roy-ngerng-found-guilty-defaming-pm-lee

2. https://sg.news.yahoo.com/10-online-news-sites-must-follow-traditional-media-regulations--mda-103906167.html

3. http://www.straitstimes.com/news/world/more-world-stories/story/lastest-world-press-freedom-index-shows-drastic-decline-singapor

Essay prompt draft 1

Because in Singapore politics, the vocal minority are able to express their views over social media, resulting in dissidents spreading hate and deceiving readers, the ministry of education (MOE) should start educating teenagers to be well discerning of false information.

How content people do not post, and discontent people post a lot.

Explain how people frustrated with something tend to post their views online more than people who are content, giving arise to the vocal minority.

No proper vetting, whatever they want to post can be posted.

Lack of rules and regulation results for a free for all online landscape, where almost anything goes and the reader is supposed to be well discerning. People easily believe what they hear easily. The spread of the most ridiculous news proves that many are often unable to discern from disinformation

Well sounding arguments with false figures can easily sway people. Especially dangerous are those information spread by individuals with vested interests as they can stir up the emotions of many to get them to support their cause.

Current solution 1. Regulation of news websites. For news websites which will have perceived added reliability (due to being news), the government takes the role of deciding if the news reported is true, and take the step to stop it. This approach is a reactive approach, and disinformation can still be spread in the forms of facebook posts and tweets which are almost impossible to regulate.

Proposed solution 1. A active solution would be to educate the masses to equip them with skills to be able to evaluate arguments and spot people who are trying to deceive others. Once people are able to discern for themselves what is true, and what may be trying to mislead, disinformation would not get much attention and be immediately frowned upon. It is only because so many people believe them that they are able to become so popular. One way to achieve this would be to introduce critical thinking classes in secondary school. Critical thinking helps people think and choose from themselves what to believe.

However, there might be reasons for why even the government might not want to correct the problem with education. By equipping the masses with such skills, it would become harder to run the government as citizens will become more critical towards their actions, and hold them to a higher standard.

Reader Response Final Draft

In the article “The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) talks about the ever increasing danger of using the internet. The author writes about how recent news of authorities and large corporations spying on citizens have surfaced. This problem is further exacerbated since the internet is increasingly being used in many areas of our lives, from communication to monetary transactions. Emm highlights the importance of being careful about what information is made accessible to others online as it may reach unintended audiences with malicious motives. Such seemingly harmless information when pieced together or interpreted by the right person can inadvertently reveal a trove of information about a person. Emm states that these attackers are able to target any device able to connect to the internet, and people are complacent when it comes to protecting their handphones due to attacks being rare. People thus need to act with caution to protect themselves these dangers.

The dangers of the online world shared by the author seem to be exaggerated to gain online readership. Although what he presents in his blogpost is factually true, he scares the readers into believing that they are at risk more than they actually are by introducing out of the ordinary situations as commonplace.

One idea given by Emm is regarding the government collecting data from its citizens. Emm writes about how “many feel uncomfortable” about this collection of information. However, for many ordinary citizens who go about their daily lives, the government monitoring their online activities should not be alarming since there is nothing to hide. As long as the government uses these information gathered in a respectable manner, there is no reason to be worried. After all, this data is used to combat crimes and keep citizens safe. Emm misses the point that some of these information collected under the guise of security purposes, are sometimes used to support the government agenda by blackmailing and spying on dissidents. However, such incidences are believed to be extremely rare and used on a very few vocal people, thus this should not worry the majority.

In his blogpost, Emm writes about the risks of posting information on one’s life online lest someone unintended abuses the information for industrial benefit. The common man rarely, if at all gets access to sensitive information for fear of revelation by accident. Even so, little of the information that people work on is actually useful to a particular someone else, and even more unlikely that this information justifies breaking the law and hiring a professional hacker to extract out of the folly of another. It is true that information that a person makes public online poses a possible threat to him, but this is heavily dramatized in the article. For example, few hold a position in key installations where information is so sensitive such that there are hackers plotting and stalking these company’s employees to exploit some information that might inadvertently be revealed. In these companies there are standard protocols on how to handle such data cautiously, aimed at preventing such leaks. It is almost absurd to think that this is a viable way of getting information from company employees given that the party with malicious intent cannot simply wait forever for the information to be leaked in such fashion. Instead, hackers employ other methods to gain access into another company which promise higher success rates such as the exploitation of bugs in their network. Emm’s example is inaccurate to the reality of the situation, and is perhaps written for the entertainment of the reader.

Emm then moves on to the social aspect, discussing the consequence of oversharing by using the example of a boss reading an employee's facebook page. Emm again provides his readers with a scenario that applies to a select few. To the minority population who enjoy such lives of late night parties and partake in questionable content, surely even fewer are foolish enough to make such information available to their colleagues and bosses via social media lest they come under scrutiny. This example is nevertheless able to capture the imagination of the reader by providing great entertainment but perhaps little practical use.

Emm's article is dramatized perhaps to provide a getaway to peoples mundane lives, citing examples which are relevant to a small minority but capture the imagination of many. There is however some truth in what Emm is trying to convey. It is true that computers are being targeted and infected with viruses at a rampant rate. However, the most malicious of viruses are usually to steal bank details, credit card numbers, or to create illegal botnets. These are a real threat to the population and their computers, and thus keeping ones computer protected and avoiding shady sites and dubious links are usually more than sufficient in keeping the average man safe.

Emm, D. (2014, March 21). The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/david-emm/the-perils-of-over-sharing-in-social-networks_b_5005276.html

Reader Response Draft 3

In the article “The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) talks about the ever increasing danger of using the internet. The author writes about how recent news of authorities and large corporations spying on citizens have surfaced. This problem is further exacerbated since the internet is increasing being used in many areas of our lives, from communication to monetary transactions. Emm highlights the importance of being careful about what information we make accessible to others online as it may reach unintended audiences with malicious motives. Such seemingly harmless information when pieced together or interpreted by the right person can inadvertently reveal a trove of information about yourself or what you post about. Emm states that these attackers are able to target any device able to connect to the internet, and people are complacent when it comes to protecting their handphones due to attacks being rare. People thus need to act with caution to protect themselves these dangers.




The dangers of the online world shared by the author seem to be exaggerated to gain onlinereadership. Although what he presents in his blogpost is factually true, he scares the readers into believing that they are at risk more than they actually are. He does this by introducing out of the ordinary rare situations as commonplace.


One idea given by Emm is regarding the government collecting data from its citizens. Emm wirtes about how “many feel uncomfortable” about this collection of information. However, my view is that for many ordinary citizens who go about their daily lives, the government monitoring their online activities should not be alarming since we have nothing to hide. As long as the government uses these information gathered in a respectable manner, most of us have no reasons be worried. After all, this data is used to combat crimes and keep citizens safe.
However, some will cry an invasion of privacy. In any society today, some privacy must be sacrificed to keep the majority of the population safe. All of this is however assuming that the government uses data collected in a responsible way. It has come to light that these information collected under the guise of security purposes, are sometimes used to support the government agenda by blackmailing and spying on dissidents.


In his blogpost, Emm writes about the risks of posting information on our lives online lest someone unintended abuses the information. However, how sensitive is the data the common man has access too actually? It is true that information that we make public online poses a possible threat to us, but this is heavily dramatized in the article. For example, how many of us work in key installations where our work is so sensitive such that there are hackers plotting and stalking these company’s employees to try exploit some information that might inadvertently be revealed? Even in these companies it is standard protocol for the management to properly brief its employees how to handle such data cautiously, thus preventing such leaks. For the remaining people who do not belong in the above category, although there has been news reports about how hackers have gained access into the company network by enticing employees to click onto links, these instances are few and far between. Also, if we take a look at what the majority of people are working on, how much of the information being accessed can be useful to a particular someone else? And would this justify hiring a capable professional hacker to extract that information who targets at ones folly?
Tandem to that, the author talks about the consequence of oversharing. Emm uses the example of a boss reading an employee's facebook page, a typical story. However, how applicable is this in the lives of many? To the minority population who enjoy such lives of late night parties and partake in questionable content, how many from these group are foolish enough to make such information available to their colleagues and bosses? This is certainly a problem which plagues a special few. Surely one who does such things would be more careful with what he shares online, lest he falls under scrutiny.


Emm's article is dramatized perhaps to provide a getaway to our mundane lives, citing examples which are relevant to a small minority but capture the imagination of many. There is however some truth in what Emm is trying to convey. It is true that computers are being targeted and infected with viruses at a rampant rate. However, the most malicious of viruses are usually to steal bank details, credit card numbers, or to create illegal botnets. These are a real threat to yourself and your computer, and thus keeping your computer protected and avoiding shady sites and dubious links are usually more than sufficient in keeping you safe.

Emm, D. (2014, March 21). The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/david-emm/the-perils-of-over-sharing-in-social-networks_b_5005276.html

Reader Response Draft 2

   In the article “The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) talks about the ever increasing danger of using the internet. The author writes about how recent news of authorities and large corporations spying on citizens have surfaced. This problem is further exacerbated since the internet is increasing being used for almost everything, from communication to monetary transactions. Emm highlights the importance of being careful about what information we make accessible to others online as it may reach an unintended audiences with malicious motives. Such seemingly harmless information when pieced together or interpreted by the right person can inadvertently reveal a trove of information about yourself or what you post about. Emm states that these attackers are able to target any device able to connect to the internet, and people are complacent when it comes to protecting their handphones due to attacks being rare. People thus need to act with caution to protect themselves these dangers.

The dangers of the online world shared by the author seem to be exaggerated to gain online readership. Although what he presents in his blogpost is factually true, he scares the readers into believing that they are at risk more than they actually are. He does this by introducing out of the ordinary rare situations as commonplace.

One idea given by Emm is regarding the government collecting data from its citizens. Emm wirtes about how “many feel uncomfortable” about this collection of information. However, my view is that for the many ordinary citizens who go about their daily lives, the government monitoring their online activities should not be alarming since we have nothing to hide. As long as the government uses these information gathered in a respectable manner, most of us have no reasons be worried. After all, this data is used to combat crimes and keep citizens safe.

         However, some will cry an invasion of privacy. In any society today, some privacy must be sacrificed to keep the majority of the population safe. All of this is however assuming that the government uses data collected in a responsible way. It has come to light that these information collected under the guise of security purposes, are sometimes used to support the government agenda by blackmailing and spying on dissidents.

          In his blogpost, Emm writes about the risks of posting information on our lives online lest someone unintended abuses the information. However, how sensitive is the data the common man has access too actually? It is true that information that we make public online poses a possible threat to us, but this is heavily dramatized in the article. For example, how many of us work in key installations such as a nuclear power plant or leading research and development departments where our work is so sensitive such that there are hackers plotting and stalking these company’s employees to try exploit some information that might inadvertently be revealed? Even in these companies it is standard protocol for the management to properly brief its employees how to handle such data cautiously, thus preventing such leaks. For the remaining people who do not belong in the above category, although there has been news reports about how hackers have gained access into the company network by enticing employees to click onto links, these instances are far and few. Also, if we take a look at what the majority of people are working on, how much of the information being accessed can be useful to a particular someone else? And would this justify hiring a capable professional hacker to extract that information who targets at ones folly?

Tandem to that, the author talks about the consequence of oversharing. Emm uses the example of a boss reading an employees facebook page, a typical story. However, how applicable is this in the lives of many? To the minority population who enjoy such lives of late night parties and partake in questionable content, how many from these group are foolish enough to make such information available to their colleagues and bosses? This is certainly a problem which plagues a special few. Surely one who does such things would be more careful with what he shares online, lest he falls under scrutiny.

Emms article is dramatized perhaps to provide a getaway to our mundane lives, citing examples which are
relevant to a small minority but capture the imagination of many. There is however some truth in what Emm is saying. It is true that computers are being targeted and infected with viruses at a rampant rate. However, the most malicious of viruses are usually to steal bank details, credit card numbers, or to create illegal botnets. These are a real threat to yourself and your computer, and thus keeping your computer protected and avoiding shady sites and dubious links are usually more than sufficient in keeping you safe.

Emm, D. (2014, March 21). The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/david-emm/the-perils-of-over-sharing-in-social-networks_b_5005276.html

Reader Response draft 1

         In the article “The Perils of Over-sharing in Social Networks”, Emm (2014) talks about the ever increasing danger of using the internet. The author writes about how recent news of authorities and large corporations spying on citizens have surfaced. This problem is further exacerbated since the internet is increasing being used for almost everything, from communication to monetary transactions. Emm highlights the importance of being careful about what information we make accessible to others online as it may reach an unintended audiences with malicious motives. Such seemingly harmless information when pieced together or interpreted by the right person can inadvertently reveal a trove of information about yourself or what you post about. Emm states that these attackers are able to target any device able to connect to the internet, and people are complacent when it comes to protecting their handphones due to attacks being rare. People thus need to act with caution to protect themselves these dangers.

         The dangers of the online world shared by the author seem to be exaggerated to gain online readership. Although what he presents in his blogpost is factually true, he scares the readers into believing that they are at risk more than they actually are. He does this by introducing out of the ordinary rare situations as commonplace.

         The first idea given by Emm is regarding the government collecting data from its citizens. Emm wirtes about how “many feel uncomfortable” about this collection of information. However, my view is that for the many ordinary citizens who go about their daily lives, the government monitoring their online activities should not be alarming since we have nothing to hide. As long as the government uses these information gathered in a respectable manner, most of us have no reasons be worried. After all, this data is used to combat crimes and keep citizens safe.

         However, some will cry an invasion of privacy. In any society today, some privacy must be sacrificed to keep the majority of the population safe. All of this is however assuming that the government uses data collected in a responsible way. It has come to light that these information collected under the guise of security purposes, are sometimes used to support the government agenda by blackmailing and spying on dissidents. Since there is little we can do about the collection of information from governments and large companies, we would have to resort to using other tactics if we want to hide our online behaviour.

          In his blogpost, Emm writes about the risks of posting information on our lives online lest someone unintended abuses the information. However, how sensitive is the data the common man has access too actually? It is true that information that we make public online poses a possible threat to us, but this is heavily dramatized in the article. For example, how many of us work in key installations such as a nuclear power plant or leading research and development departments where our work is so sensitive such that there are hackers plotting and stalking these company’s employees to try exploit some information that might inadvertently be revealed? Even in these companies it is standard protocol for the management to properly brief its employees how to handle such data cautiously, thus preventing such leaks. For the rest of us who do not belong in the above category, sure that there has been news reports and instances that hackers have gained access into the company network by enticing employees to click onto links which automatically downloads a virus. But if we take a look at what the majority of people are working on, how much of what information we access can be useful to a particular someone else? And would this justify hiring a capable professional hacker to extract that information who targets at ones folly?

Tandem to that, the author talks about the consequence of oversharing. Emm uses the example of a boss reading an employees facebook page, a typical story. However, how applicable is this in our lives? To the minority population who enjoy such lives of late night parties and partake in questionable content, how many from these group are foolish enough to make such information available to their colleagues and bosses? This is certainly a problem which plagues a special few. Surely one who does such things would be more careful with what he shares online, lest he falls under scrutiny.

Emms article is dramatized perhaps to provide a getaway to our mundane lives, citing examples which are relevant to a small minority but capture the imagination of many. There is however some truth in what Emm is saying. It is true that computers are being targeted and infected with viruses at a rampant rate. However, the most malicious of viruses are usually to steal bank details, credit card numbers, or to create illegal botnets. These are a real threat to yourself and your computer, and thus keeping your computer protected and avoiding shady sites and dubious links are usually more than sufficient in keeping you safe.