|| .burnynng on just lyke a matchh you stryyke to incynerate ||

HDI 2005- A look at the info that concerns us. [the interesting bit at the end]

alright, i came across this statistics which definitely turned me on and initiated my geographer's mindset. you can find this very useful piece of data at : http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_HDI.pdf

are you ready for some of the observations that i picked up?(note:some of the patterns i identified may be region-centric,its a natural thing for me to be involved in our region and especially our most beloved country cos that's the way singaporeans behave..being self-centred;EGO as always)
individual indicators:
1. ppl always look for top 5, top 10 or top 25's. and u got it, we're top 25 on the human development index(HDI). that means we're number 25, cos we're asian u see. that's the way it is. so ra-ta-ta-ta-ta. the HDI corresponds to a figure of 0.907, with the Republic of Korea(28th place) having some catching up to do(of 0.006).
2.life expectancy at birth for singaporeans stands at 78.7. this is where numbers start to jumble and positions dun belong anymore. thankfully, this isn't all that bad. its quite a respectable figure, as singapore's life expectancy would lie between two other small countries, Belgium and the Luxembourg. notice that singapore always finds some similarity to countries that are surface area-challenged. all i did was to demonstrate this.
3. contrary to widely-held beliefs, singapore's literacy rate is nowhere near that 100%, or even that only probable real-life possibility of 99%. in fact, it is a sobering 92.5%, compared to the most other countries that rank 10 places below it, whereas the top 20 are taken to be 99%. however, one does not go around blaming the government. the illiterati is probably the bunch of postwar leftovers as they are probably known, and the other homeless, vagabondaged desperados. this is not meant to demean any group in society, but to acknowledge their existence.very often, they dun exist in our society. that's sad. this number does show that there's still quite a significant percentage of singaporeans who require assistance.
4.combined gross enrolment ratio for primary,secondary and tertiary schools for singapore isn't as impressive as we'd like to believe. it's 87%, which would make it rank 30th approx. this i've not much to say. the system is fairly capable and successful of getting ppl into the schools and providin for education already. even i wished it'd be higher.
5. GDP per capita : USD 24,481,PPP-adjusted. this number is misleading. our media almost never reports on the issue of the growing divide-our rising income inequalities. gini coefficient statistics indicate that the gap between the elites and peasantry is currently drifting apart even further. why our gdp per cap. is controversial and cause for concern. the numbers that make us seem like we all live in a not-bad state of welfare is due to the same situation occuring elsewhere in the world: the top 10% controlling 80% of the wealth, for example. this is the case of the disproportionate pyramids. therefore what im trying to illustrate is that, make no joke about it. most singaporeans never have this amount of income.

Trends:
In 1975, Singapore's HDI was the lowest amongst the current top 25, at a 0.725, which would be around the 100th place by today's standards. ever since, its growth has exceeded international expectations, accruing greater increments than many other countries then. a parallel can be found in south korea, only 3 places below Singapore's 25th.

Singapore amongst Developing Countries(not many people realise this but Singapore is still placed as a developing country.yes, face it we're not developed yet.):
Amongst the developing countries, hong kong is at the top, with singapore being second. we have a registered mortality rate (for up to 40 years of age, from birth) of 1.8. This is a figure truly deserving of our country's status as a biohub. However, illiteracy rates for adults ought to be decreased, as many pacific islands and carribean nations boast high literacy rates despite their lower HDI, GDP etc. surprisingly, 14% of children under age 5 are underweight. despite a eating disorder consisting of mcfodder causing a great deal of preliminary weight gain for the many mcfan denizens? this is truly amazing. but anything can be amazing. the author here was underweight for the first 8 years of his life. for the remaining ten, he has been overweight instead. thus, what we're really saying here is that statistics showing the percentage of underweight kids under 5 do not really matter.

Demographic Changes:
Singapore's current population growth rate is at an all-time low of 1.1, and fertility rate is at 1.4.(thus mortality rate is 1.4-1.1=0.3)this is far below replacement rate of 2.1. 2 for the parents, and 0.1 for the couples that never gave birth. its population growth is expected to slow down, though it will still increase, with ever-greater influx of chinamans and expats. of course u have the 'regional settlers' too. as for urban population, singapore has been a fully urban population centre since 1975. wow.

Of course, there are many more. the list is almost inexhaustible. as u can see, singapore is a good place to live in. it is 100% concrete jungle. heartlands or city areas dun matter cos you're still an urban soul without one. while its not that bad in its reputation on the overall, there are still areas that can be improved on. for example, adult illiteracy is still comparatively high. income inequalities, already wide enough, apparently are still drifting apart. this could practically be the fuel for future social tension to come. personally, it does possess greater destructive power than racial disharmony could ever hope to bring. alright,i was damn bored and decided to give u, the poor guy(or girl) this boring analysis that's far from being one. i'll relate the account of a loser below.
-----------------------------
my sis who's from admiralty sec(a neighbourhood school in woodlands) went to MI for her PAE. so most of her classmates are from the better schools it seems. and there's this arrogant SJI guy who keeps hurting my sister with his elitist comments. i'm like "what the hell man, this guy, you're in Millennia Institute, which is like, duh, the only place for those despo wannabes who wanna go to the JC. its the only place where those pathetic ppl will ever seek asylum and really get it. and so he starts to poke fun of my sister's intelligence and all. you win man. you're from SJI and so that means you're ten thousand times smarter than a neighbourhood kid. WOW. and the reason why i got involved in this is cos when he got to know my sister's brother,which happens to be me, if you did your logical deductions, actually belonged to a true-blue JC! wow! which is like duh, ten times better than that MI shit of urs. and he was like "WAHAHA. ur brother's from the JC eh? which one? YJ??? WAHAHA"
-------------------------------
fuck off man...im sure u suck dicks and drown on semen in ur free time u filthy pimping whore. im like so much better than u asswipe. you'll never come close, gay sji fag. we'll probably see you
1. either staying in MI and living not-so-happily-ever-after
2. going to poly grudgingly cos you are not cut-out to be 'one of us'(the top 25% of the cohorts: say-AWWWWWWWWW~)
3. ideally, landing up in a JC after ur filthy-rich mom and pop decide to contribute funds to make the learning environment (of a select neighbourhood jc)more conducive which is simply bribing. oh man. how funny it would be to see u withering in a place u deemed as purgatory or the like. my sis says you're clever. but, i beg to differ. if u were that smart, you wouldn't be in a place where, u know, u should've been to poly but for some stuck up reason still want to waste an extra year to get the coveted A level cert. so imo, though my sis says u have brains(and since she's from neighbourhood school as u said) i think its not too far off to say the average jc student(elite and neighbourhood ones combined) would probably have more brains. and more charisma.
4. IN HELL. duh. this we'll definitely see you in.

if i knew who this guy was, i'd probably do the world a service but serving him some swipes from me, a cat high guy. i'd then show him how neighbourhood school ppl can have siblings not from neighbourhood schools and who also function as a real ah beng. watch out. so what, if your entire familial legacy consists of SJI and SCGS and vast vaults of wealth? ur human development value probably allows you to shake hands only with friends of the african bloc, ppl who might be living better existences than you muck filter. well i myself might have been in this 'elitist' attitude at times but at least i keep it to myself and acknowledge it isn't the way to go. this guy simply has to learn how to stop hurting people. he simply won't belong. he's gonna get it sooner or later when society fulfils its role. society always fulfils its role.

and im sure he's one of those who'd so very often repeat this line like an election slogan,
"Get out of my elite, uncaring face."

good night.

"plak!";
x 6:51 pm

Comments: Post a Comment