The $40m Orchard Road facelift was a bad decision

The famous shopping destination for locals and tourists in Singapore, Orchard Road, has recently undergoed a major facelift which cost $40 million dollars-but did you notice the difference?

The Straits Times interviewed Singaporeans from students to executives about their stand on the Orchard Road makeover, and many were surprised as they did not even notice anything. I myself think that this makeover was a bad decision by the government and it was a total waste of money.

Firstly, the $40 million makover covered the cost of "state-of-the-art" lighting, power upgrading, landscaping, and repaving works. However, nothing much was really done. The only noticeable difference was the decorative glass panels and potted flower totems. Even so, the makeover should not have cost so much money. A sales promoter The Straits Times interviewed said that for $40 million, the governement should have builte a bridge across the road. The cost was too much for such small and insignificant changes.

Secondly, the government could have used this large sum of money for other more important purposes instead of this useless facelift. This facelift is just a change in physical appearance and is rather unnecessary. The money could have been used for other more beneficial purposes like helping the poor and giving more subsidies to Singaporeans. We would all want more money to spend rather than some decorations around Orchard Road-don't we?

Now, some of you may think that the government is doing this to attract tourists, but i do not think so. If even Singaporeans did not notice the changes, will tourists? Isn't it better if the government offers help to us instead of doing all these non-beneficial measures?

I feel that even if the governement wants to give Orchard Road a makeover, they should carry out useful and noticeable ones like cleaning up the entire place. Furthermore, they should not spend so much money on small and unnoticeable changes. Most importantly, they must carry out cost-efficient changes to save the most amount of money.

Now, I have justified my stand that the $40 million Orchard Road facelift was bad decision by the government. They should have shown more consideration and planning before carrying out this operation. I like to end off by saying that the government is not always right and this is a perfect example.

Students should be allowed to set their own rules

Approximately 9 in 10 students do not like school rules, according to a survey carried out by the Ministry of Education. Why is that so? A very simple reason is that students feel restricted and unhappy with school rules, which take away a lot of their rights. This causes unhappiness and discomfort in school, which is supposed to be a fun-filled environment for learning and interaction.

Firstly, students should be allowed to set their own rules so that they can have a fun-filled environment for learning. When students set their own rules that benefit them, they will not be restricted and will not feel uncomfortable in school. This is beneficial for the students as they can attend school happily and also learn more efficiently than in a uncomfortable and restricted environment with school rules that they do not like. This can also promote creativity in the students. Studies have shown that students learn better and more efficiently in an environment that they like rather than an uncomfortable environment.

Secondly, students are the ones that are attending school in the first place and should have the right to choose the rules. For example, you would want to set your own house rules in your own house. Therefore, students should set their own rules in their school.

I am sure none of you students out there want a school environment with so many rules and restrictions. Imagine going to school one day, and spending the whole day in school with so many restrictions and rights taken from you. You cannot play games in class, cannot talk in class etc. There are so many privileges taken from you. Surely you want to set your own rules so that we can get our basic human rights back. These existing school rules deprive us of our basic human rights! We have to take action to get it back! School is a fun place for us to study and we must set our own rules to preserve our basic human rights.

Let’s take action now to establish a fun-filled environment where we can learn unrestricted and in peace!

What is an exposition?

Exposition is one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description and narration. The purpose of exposition is to inform, explain, analyze, or define.

Types of expository writing

• Sequence writing lists events or steps in chronological order.
• Descriptive essays use the senses of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste to provide the reader with a mental image or feeling about the subject.
• Classification writing uses an organizational strategy to arrange groups of objects or ideas according to a common theme.
• Comparison writing shows the similarities and differences between two or more subjects.
• Cause-and-effect writing, also known as analysis, identifies the reasons for an event or situation.