11th Commentary - Unlicensed Drivers

This commentary is on the article entitled "Beware! Unlicensed driver onboard", dated 19th March.

The article reports that even though driving without a license is a traffic offense, there is still quite a number of teenagers who drive without passing the driving test. To me, this is quite surprising, and can be a very dangerous trend, as these underage people have not even taken the driving test, and would not know most of the procedures on the roads. With no experience, these people may cause more harm to others than to themselves, as they may cause an accident which could have serious consequences. Apart from endangering human life, they would also cause damage to the vehicles, which can take quite a large sum of money to repair.

The point that makes the situation worse is that some of the parents of these teenagers know about it, and let them do it. In the article, these parents claim that their child was responsible enough and could be trusted to drive well enough and not cause accidents. In my opinion, no matter how sure these parents may be of their children, the fact that these teens had not undergone any proper training would mean that they may not know everything that they need to know to drive well. Because of this, they may panic during critical situations and do the wrong thing. Some of the parents do claim that because their children do hot have the experience, they would be more careful when driving on the roads; I think that even so, it may still not be enough, as the teenagers may overestimate their capabilities and become complacent over time and reduce their vigilance while driving.

Thus, I feel that parents should not allow their children to drive if they have not obtained their driving license, as doing so could endanger the life of countless others, cost much damage, and could harm oneself. Parents should encourage their children to be patient, and just be observer for the time being - they would get their chance to learn how to drive soon enough. The teenagers should also remind themselves that what they do is against the law, and that their selfish actions of wanting to drive may bring harm to others. Therefore, they should not drive if they do not have the license to do so.

10th Commentary - The morality of organ transplant

This commentary is on the given article on organ transplant, entitled "Brain-dead is dead - but maybe not for loved ones"

The issue in question is the morality of the use of organs from people who are brain-dead. This is due to the change in the human organ transplant act (HOTA), allowing the use of the organs of brain-dead patients. People who are brain-dead are actually alive, in the fact that their hearts continue beating. However, they require the use of life support to remain in that state. So in a sense, these people are almost as good as being dead. That is probably the reason for the organ transplant act to allow the use of organs from such patients, if they had not opted out of the program.

I, however, feel that it is not right for doctors to take the organs from brain-dead patients. This is due to the reason that these people are not dead - close to death, but not truly dead. I believe that the family members of such patients would feel the same way - as long as the patient is still breathing and has a beating heart, he or she is not dead. Furthermore, taking the organs from these patients gives one a feeling of cruelty, as the patient is already in a very sad state, and people still want to take their organs - it just does not seem very respectful to the patient. I really think these people deserve more respect. Moreover, the taking of the organs from these patients could cause the family even more grief, as they would need to accept that the person was technically dead, even though their heart has not stopped. I feel that the patients should be cared for well, and not thought of as a source for organs.

If doctors need organs, they should just continue using organs from the dead who agreed under the program, not the almost dead. I think it is more respectful this way.

9th Commentary - Political upheaval in Asia

This commentary is based on the articles "Thaksin dissolves Parliament, calls for snap polls on April 2", "Arroyo declares state of emergency after foiled coup bid", both dated 25th February 2006, as well as other related articles from more recent dates.

The main issue of this two articles is about the political chaos in the countries of Thailand and the Philippines.

In Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin has been called to step down by his political opponents, and a large number of other people. This issue arose after the sale of Shin Corp stakes owned by Mr Thaksin to Temasek. However, it seems to me that the issue of the Temasek deal is not really the cause of the uproar, but something like a catalyst for people who had reasons to want Mr Thaksin to step down for different reasons of their own to use. Such protests show high levels of disapproval of Mr Thasksin's rule, yet it does not show the whole story, as articles do state that he still retains much support from the rural poor. This would then make it seem to me like a divide between the urban population and the rural population. Furthermore, the entire issue can also be seen as a political move by the opposition parties to rally support against Mr Thaksin and his party. But no matter what the cause, it is necessary, in my opinion, that Mr Thaksin solves the problem as quickly and as peacefully as possible. Such actions are not easy to make either - the oppositions' boycott of the elections could cause even more chaos. Such chaos would definitely be bad for Thailand, not only politically but possibly even economically, as trade needs stability to function well. The chaos may even bring harm to the entire region. Thus, it is important that the situation is stabilized quickly.

The same can be said for the political problems in the Philippines, where President Arroyo continues to struggle against attempts to remove her from power. The chaos there can be said to be much worse than that of Thailand, as the situation has been worsening for some time, with coup attempt after coup attempt. The declaration of state of emergency has caused some parties to feel unhappy, so Mrs Arroyo needs to be cautious with her actions, in order to prevent worse problems. So far, it does seem that Mrs Arroyo has managed to keep a stable hold on her power, but if the people continue to be disgruntled by her rule, the situation could worsen, and that could be very bad for the already weakened economy. Thus, it is vital that Mrs Arroyo takes the right steps and re-stablize both the political and economic situations in the Philippines.

The problems in the two countries are similar and yet different in many ways. But overall, regaining stability is probably the most important thing for both countries, as chaos, if unchecked, can spread. That would be very bad for the region.

8th Commentary - Bird Flu: A Global Threat

This commentary is on the article “Bird Flu: the heat is on”, dated the 22nd of February 2006, and other related articles. These articles discuss the problem of bird flu, and what some countries are doing in their efforts to halt the spread of the bird flu.

Bird flu is becoming an increasingly worrying threat to the world, as it has spread through many countries in Asia, and now even parts of Europe. It is fortunate that the number of human cases of the bird flu is still quite low. However, even the scientists are not certain about when the situation would become worse, or if a vaccine can be created in time to stop the bird flu from causing a pandemic that could affect the entire world. The scientists are doing a lot to try to create the vaccine, and from the articles, it was also reported that some tests had positive results, while others did not.

The governments of the various affected countries have at least taken steps to prevent the bird flu from spreading. The effectiveness of these measures, however, does vary from country to country, and this may cause problems, especially if the measures are not fast enough to stop the spread of the bird flu. From the articles, it would seem that Vietnam, which was very badly hit by the bird flu, has managed to contain the bird flu, as it was reported that there had been no new cases of the bird flu in either birds or humans since December 2005. This is a positive sign, as it would show that the bird flu could be stopped before it became a pandemic. It is my hope that the other affected countries can do so as well, and that not too many people would die from this illness.