NTU valedictorian F-word slip

23-year-old communication studies graduate Trinetta Chong was addressing about 170 of her classmates and slightly less than 300 post-graduate students at the Nanyang Auditorium, located in the university campus, and concluded her rousing six-minute speech with "We f**king did it!"

-sg.yahoo.com

She said she used the word in the "spur of the moment", and it was not in her script. She said it was a said "in the spirit of the moment", letting the f-word slip out.

She has since apologized for her actions.

There were mix views on this issue. Some netizens say that there isn't a need for such a vulgar word to be said even in such an occasion, saying that she should have used other words to express her feelings. On the other hand, some were rather supportive of her, not criticizing her over her saying a vulgar word.

In my opinion, I feel that she should not have done so. Even though it was a spur of the moment thing, even though she was just trying to express herself, she should have practiced some sort of self-restraint, she should have known that using such words might be offensive for some. By doing so, she is somehow being inconsiderate, not thinking of those who might be sensitive to those words.

I understand that she meant no ill-intention and that it was a spur of a moment thing, but I hope that she would practice more self-retraint next time round.

IT'S NATIONAL DAY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

So today is Singapore's 46th birthday. The high spirits from the celebration is fading and everything is going back to how it used to be. But before that, lets talk about how the parade had gone.

Firstly, about the unique part of this year's parade. This parade was "special" in the way that it is putting up a skit in front of the audience. The 50 minute story was mainly about a boy who was born the same year as Singapore's independence, growing up together with Singapore, telling the Singapore story with his mother. During the musical as it was said to be, many mascots ran around the stage, with the stage lighted up with colours. Music relating to Singapore was played. It was quite spectacular and it was quite interesting to see something new in a parade.

However, the usuals did not fail to impress. There was the parade march in contingents and it was very nice to see so many people on the stage at once. All their actions were synchronized and furthermore, some of the contingents even marched into the crowd. This was rather interesting and I felt it worked really well in bringing the audience closer to the parade literally. The parachuters, the Red Lions, also did not fail to shine and the show put up by the Home Team and the Singapore Armed Forces was also very spectacular. The best was still saved for the last. The fireworks display was very nice and it was a very spectacular sight.

Overall, this year's parade was a success and I would like to say this again HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!

Leadership - What makes a good leader

What makes a good leader? There are indeed many traits to make a good leader. Some of you might say it is oratorical skills. Some of you might say charisma. But to me, a good leader must possess the following few traits to be able to lead his people to success, to be able to gain the support of his people.

Firstly, a good leader must have moral courage. A leader must have the moral courage to make decisions and carry out those decisions based on what is right, and not what is popular among the people. A good leader must be able to make correct decisions, and not be influenced by the opinion of the people as those opinions might not be always beneficial for everyone. By having moral courage, decisions made would be for the better of the people, and might not be always made to please the people. Hence, by having moral courage, a country would be lead to success with right decisions made by the leader.

Secondly, a good leader must have confidence. By having confidence, a leader would be able to trust himself in whatever he is doing. With confidence, a leader would not have to rely of others influence to make decisions. With confidence, a leader would be able to carry out decisions properly, not hesitating to do anything. A leader would be able to gain the trust of the people by letting people see that he knows what he is doing. A leader would also be able to get his message across to his people much more easily if one had confidence. Hence, a leader with confidence would be able to gain the support of the people, and would be able to carry out decisions without fail.

Lastly, a good leader must have honesty. Being incorruptible and honest is important as by doing so, people would be able to trust their livelihoods to that particular leader. Being honest, a leader would not lie to the population, which might make them lose their trust. Hence, by being honest, a leader would be able to gain the support of his people.

In conclusions, in my opinion, to be a good leader, one must have moral courage, honesty and confidence.