No Right to Exercise Rights

Have you ever encounter having certain rights, yet being unable to exercise them? I think most of us have.

Take the example of a pedestrian crossing a traffic light. The traffic lights just turned green, but the pedestrian is unable to cross the road because a slow heavy vehicle is making its U-turn, so the pedestrian has to wait until the driver completes his turning, by which time the traffic lights may already be blinking or turning red. While the pedestrian has the right of way to cross the road, he has to wait in order to preserve his own life.

Take another example of feedback by citizens. As citizens, we often voice our concerns over certain issues, but the law on these issues often still gets passed against our wishes, simply because while we have rights to feedback, we do not have rights to make political decisions.

What about at our workplace? As workers, we have the right to reject our bosses' instructions, but we risk losing our jobs as a result.

All these add up to one point. We must all know whether it is right or wise to exercise one's rights in different situations. Making decisions about exercising rights can sometimes be an advantage and at other times disadvantage. Giving away our rights sometimes help resolve entanglement, and if not exercising our rights makes a vast difference between building or breaking important relationships, let us all learn to make the right decisions.

Saving the Earth is Difficult

Go green. Use fan rather than air-con. Save the earth!

This is easier said than done. For the last two nights, I have been without air-con because it was down, and I have not been sleeping well, very much like a panda with dark rings around my eyes at this time.

In reality, all of us have grown too dependent on conveniences offered by the world, and this dependency has come to the point of no return. We cannot live without conveniences, and all the more so with global warming, because it is quite impossible to do anything enthusiastically without the comfort of air-conditioning these days. Green proponents have suggested slowing down the process by taking actions to go eco-friendly, but in reality, it is quite impossible. What can we really do or how much can we do to save the earth by going eco-friendly?

Take Singapore for example. Once a month, the supermarkets do away with plastic bags, and business is NO longer as usual. This is by no means the fault of consumers. While the green proponents suggest consumers to do away with plastic bags, they appear to forget that near each HDB rubbish chute is a sign that states, 'Please bag your waste before throwing'. How can anybody expect consumers to do away with plastic bags if they are expected to put their waste into plastic bags before throwing down the rubbish chute? Unless someone can offer a better alternative or a solution, propositions to quit using plastic bags are of no use to anyone.

Maybe you have something to say about this? Let me know what you think. Share your thoughts here.

Breakfast @ Toast Box

Wanna have breakfast with me? ;p

Here's my favourite breakfast with ...

Teh Siu Tai @ Toast Box!