His face was streaked with tears. His chest heaved as he tried to stifle a sob. I groaned inwardly. Self-conscious, he swiped his sweaty palm at his face and pulled himself together. He even managed a tiny smile. As I rested my head on a soft cushin, he stumbled across the room and settled down next to me. He put his arms around me, intending to share his sorrow, but I had to pity for him. It was kind of hard to sympathise with him. After all, I know him all too well. You could even say that I could see right through him; every thought, emotion, and intention glared like a bunch of neon lights on a dark, starless night. It was not exactly ESP either. I would not be so fortunate as to be bestowed such a lovely, oh-so-wonderful gift. It was not hard to get to know him; he trusted me with all his secrets, but I felt used, I felt like an object to him, inanimate - something to fall back on when no one else would spend the night with him, or sit with him at the dinner table or even watch a couple of old sci-fi flicks with him on boring Saturday nights.

His latest girlfriend had left him. She was wise enough to break the news to him via the telephone. Five simple words, usualy spoken incessantly in soap dramas on the idiot box had left him a blabbering, stuttering fool.

“I’m breaking up with you,” Clarissa had spoken apathetically over the telephone. My sharp ears caught every single word she said in her strangely unfeeling, indifferent tone, which did not change even when Terrence burst into tears, crying out, begging her not to leave him. The only other time I had seen him reduced to tears was when his wife refused to sign the divorce papers.

As I lay there on the couch, dog-weary of the continuous stream of complaints flowing out of his mouth, my mind drfted back to the day when I had first met and fell in love with my beloved (and now, slightly resented) Terrence.

It was a day just like any other. I was strolling around in a pet shop when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a distinguished-looking man walking towards me. He had a brilliant smile, one like a thousand sunbursts. It was that smile that drew my attention. As he approached me, I saw that confident, determined look on his face which, I would later discover, was the quintessence of his personality that got him right up to the top rung of the corporate ladder. With that look on his face, he got pretty much what he wanted most of the time. On that day, he wanted me. I could tell from his expression.
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The life of a diamond: Explosively transported by Earth’s “pipes” to the surface, discovered by an astute prospector, and then chiseled to perfection before being purchased by the consumer. It differs little with organised public transport. From the very first bus service in Nantes, France , thousands (if not more) have been challenged to perfect one of the most important discoveries in the modern world.

Akin to the lasers that labor upon the rigidity of a rough, unrefined diamond, we ponder upon the increasingly tricky issues regarding Singapore’s public transportation. Today, perhaps the most exigent of these is the issue of convenience of public transport against its cost of implementation and maintainance, as Singapore strives towards fully integrated public transport – a system that provides door-to-door public transport services .

As always, perception comes into play. To public transport providers, many forms of convenience have always had some direct relation to costs, more specifically to investment and maintainance cost. With high supply-side costs, sustainable social welfare maximization then necessitates the transfer of a portion of this high cost to the end-user. However, with the Public Transport Council (PTC) managing end-user cost through two variables completely unrelated to convenience – Inflation and Consumer Average Monthly Earnings – end-users do not directly experience the cost incurred by suppliers in providing such convenience. Passengers have little reason to see a positive relationship between convenience and cost.

Yet, while unseen, increasing the number of operational buses and taxis to ensure high availability and frequency definitely necessitates substantial investment and higher running costs. Hidden social costs in the form of air pollution from additional vehicles also cannot be discounted . Moreover, the accompanying facilities are not exempted. The five-station MRT extension line to be built in the Marina South area is expected to cost S$1.4 billion . However, with the government funding such infrastructure development, the public again finds little need to consider the supply cost of wider networks (although taxpayer money is the main source of government funds).
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Night fell softly upon the city of London. All was silent and peaceful. The only sounds to be heard were the squeaking of mice and the barking of dogs. Most of the city’s inhabitant’s were asleep, save those who were mourning the passing of a relative. One such person was a girl named Angela. Her mother had always called her ‘angel’. Always, until now.

The girl was crying.

Her mother lay in a ditch, her face forever frozen in a hideous death-grin, her eyes staring into the starry sky, never to close in peaceful death. She had been touched by the Black Death. The girl cried, for now she had no one to whisper her secrets to, no one to call her ‘angel’. Barely ten years old, she was already alone in the world. Finally, exhausted by her grief, she fell asleep beside the cold, still body of her mother.

Morning came, and Angela packed the few belongings she had. She kissed her mother tenderly on the cheek and made a vow. She vowed never to cry again, to be strong and to make her mother proud of her. She dragged her mother’s body to a secluded spot and buried her, saying a prayer before she left.

She wandered the streets of London, searching for employment, a way to earn a living. She was young and strong, willing to accept any task, no matter how menial. However, no one wanted Angela, a mere uneducated street urchin. Very soon, what little money she had, had been spent. She was reduced to stealing to survive. She grew emaciated as the days passed.
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As we all know, oceans cover more than three quarters of the earth’s surface. It is considered the largest habitat on earth. Oceans provide a large proportion of oxygen we breathe. It also provides 15% of the animal protein we consume. Hence, even small oil spills can result in large-scale effects. One example will be the case on San Cristobal Island. More than 60% of the marine iguanas on Santa Fe Island in the Galapagos were killed within months of a relatively small oil spill in 2001 when a leaking tanker encircled San Cristobal Island.

The biggest spill occurred during the 1991 Persian Gulf War when about 240 million gallons spilled from oil terminals and tankers off the coast of Saudi Arabia. The second biggest occurred over a ten-month period (June 1979 – February 1980) when 140 million gallons spilled at the Ixtoc I well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico near Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico.

As we can see, the effects of oil on marine life are caused by either the physical nature of the oil (physical contamination and smothering) or by its chemical components (toxic effects and accumulation leading to tainting). Marine life may also be affected by clean-up operations or indirectly through physical damage to the habitats in which plants and animals live.

Similarly, oil, tar balls, dead fish and birds all get washed up on the shores and the oil slick interferes in activities such as fishing, sailing, swimming, etc The local tourist industry suffers as well because tourists are not interested in visiting a coastal area where they cannot do the activities listed above. Furthermore, industries that rely on clean seawater for routine operations can also suffer because operations have to be stopped while the water is cleaned.

One may say it would be possible to reduce the severity of oil spills if humans are less dependent on oil. Indeed, the occurrence of oil spills will be greatly reduced if less oil is being transported. However, oil still remains the most fundamental resource today. It will be costly to replace oil with other alternative resources such as nuclear power or hydro-electrical power. Therefore, as long as oil remains the main resource powering the world’s industries, we must find an effective long term solution to oil spills.
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