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Section 377A: Why So Many Arguments Fail (And Only the Democratic One Holds)

Section 377A, Penal Code (Cap. 224). Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years. By the First Schedule of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68), an offence under Section 377A of the Penal Code (Cap. 224) is ordinarily arrestable without a warrant. Introduction 2018 has been a year of much public debate regarding Section 377A, sparked by the Penal Code Review as well as the comments of many public intellectuals including Professor Tommy Koh, Professor Walter Woon and Mr Ho Kwon Ping. For convenience, I shall call the people who want to retain 377A the "Retainers", and the people who want to repeal 377A the "Repealers". The objective of this article is to expose weaknesses in the arguments of the Retainers, espe

Why I'm A Philosophy Major (KI Student)

Steven Hayes is spot on, but scepticism (the view that nothing can be known) is not relativism (the view that we can know things, but competing claims can be equally valid or equally true). I have just recommended this video to Mr Tan Wah Jiam and Mr U. K. Shyam, and I hope that this will be the video shown to JC1 students at the sample lectures next February instead of the old, boring and irrelevant one on Plato's Ideal Forms. ∎

H2 Knowledge and Inquiry Summary

Tomorrow it begins! All the best, everyone!

Analysis of "This I Fear Most" by Ng Yi-Sheng

When I first found this gem of a poem in "A Book of Hims", I knew it would be my favourite for a long time. The poem is so sweet, it's ridiculous. If Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" was a sonnet, this would be it. This I Fear Most Ng Yi-Sheng That I am not a light to guide you home, No shining beacon and no candle flame. That I am but a ragged burden thrown Against the bony shoulders of your frame, And every path you tread into the night I do encumber. That I do mistake That sunny grin for spirit and delight, Though it is worn to better bear the ache. This I fear most. So I command you: should You tire of me, strip me from your back And burn me like a hecatomb of wood. With raging heat, the heavens I’ll attack Until the dark dissolves away like foam. Then step ahead. My light shall guide you home. Analysis "This I Fear Most" by Ng Yi-Sheng is a Shakespearean sonnet about the selfless nature of love and the re

H2 and H3 Mathematics Summaries!

I probably have too much time on my hands. ∎

Why Me?

"I understand you. But why, you? Why?" Why me? Heck, even I don't know why I am like this. I have Gatsby's ambition (which I consciously repress lest it become Macbeth's ambition), Hamlet's struggles, and Curren's powerlessness. I am an individualist anarchist who wants people to be happy — no, other people deserve to be happy and I do not — and therefore must accept the imposition of ethics, law and social norms, for without which other people cannot be as happy. Why, why me? Why am I so different — in such a circumstance where my flourishing will cause invisible man-made institutions to implode upon me? Glass ceiling after glass ceiling: imagine what is to come! Why, why me? Why am I so impotent — can't master Literature after mugging for 1.5 years? Prone to emotional vulnerabilities and panic attacks that cause my grades, my relationships, my actions to tumble upon any infinitesimal external stimulus? Why do I carry these burdens on my

Digital TV, Demystified

At the end of this year, Singapore's free-to-air terrestrial broadcasts will ditch the analogue PAL standard and fully adopt the digital DVB-T2 standard. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has put in a lot of effort to inform, educate and advise the public about making the switch to Digital, but much of their attention is focused on how to switch, not what and why . After getting to know the educational roadshows IMDA has planned during my grassroots attachment at Changi Simei and resolving my relatives' confusion, I think that it is about time to demystify the what and the why of Digital TV using an apt analogy: language. (The qualities I ascribe to the languages mentioned here are for the sake of argument only.) Suppose we have been speaking English all the while. Life is pretty good. English has served us well, but it has two problems: It's long (polysyllabic), and therefore each word takes a long time to say Each word has only one meaning, so

JC2 Midpoint Check

Wow, I can't believe that half the academic year has passed. It has been a perpetual rush; KI IS proposal writing, then a second round of research, writing and submissions, then Block Test 1, then two months to finish all A-Level syllabi, then the Photographic Society exhibition and photo book, then the Hwa Chong Invitational Philosophy Olympiad, and next, Block Test 2 in less than a month's time. Hmm, maybe Secondary 3 was equally hectic, but the stakes are much higher this time. I think I've gotten used to having multiple schedules proceeding side-by-side. It can be dizzying at times, but I think I am actually doing legit things, and that gives me satisfaction? "Legit" is relative anyway; maybe my satisfaction is an illusion. Oh, I almost forgot. SATs (Finished my Subject Tests today, yay!), university applications, personal statements, all sorts of interviews, and whatever comes. Beggars can't be choosers, so if anyone takes in this crazy ass, I

Freedom and Self

The Self , © 2015 Quince Pan I have struggled with the concept of self for quite a while. It is an amusing coincidence that "The Mind and Self in Literature" has come back to bite me at the A Levels. What is the self? Here, I wish to focus not on the physical self, but the mental self. Essence, not existence. Hence, by "self", I mean "personal identity". (Allow me to use these two terms interchangeably because "self" is much shorter and thus more convenient to use than "personal identity".) Common wisdom says that the value of the self stems from its authenticity. "Stay true to yourself," or so they say. But what is a true self? Can we ever know who we are? This view assumes that the self is foundational and constant, so that we can make decisions based on this unchanging standard. This problem can be circumvented by ditching authenticity altogether. "Stay true to your beliefs about yourself." In thi

H2 Knowledge and Inquiry (KI): Should You Take It?

Choosing your A Level subject combination can be quite a nerve-racking experience, especially if you don't have any strong interest in particular subjects. The stakes are high too: it's the A Levels, the culmination of 12 years of formal education. No one wants to screw up and pick the wrong combination that will lead to 2 years of extra suffering. I faced the same problem after I graduated from the High School section. Physics, Math, Literature and KI was the combination of my dreams, but it wasn't a standard combination the College section offered. I made a compromise and chose the closest combination on the standard list: KI, Literature, Math and Economics (KILME). When I tell people I take KILME, they usually respond with confusion or shock. "Harh, simi combi is that?" "You take KI?!?!?!" These reactions are basically caused by the mystery that is KI. It's a phantom subject: one that has no textbook, no published notes,

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Exciting Life Updates

Section 377A: Why So Many Arguments Fail (And Only the Democratic One Holds)

Why I'm A Philosophy Major (KI Student)

H2 Knowledge and Inquiry Summary

Analysis of "This I Fear Most" by Ng Yi-Sheng

H2 and H3 Mathematics Summaries!

Why Me?

Digital TV, Demystified

JC2 Midpoint Check

Freedom and Self

H2 Knowledge and Inquiry (KI): Should You Take It?