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Quick Facts:

- Cause: Hong Kong, under the leadership of Carrie Lam, recently announced an extradition bill in agreement with China that allows criminals to be sent to mainland China for trial "to plug loopholes" in the current system. However, this was seen as a politically motivated change that makes it easier for China to purge political opponents, undermining the independence and rule of law in Hong Kong, and homogenizes the Hong Kong with China's "deeply flawed justice system".
- Effect: US Congressional Commission, Britain and Canada (joint statement), European Union have all issued their statements and expressed concerns
- Protest Organizers estimate over 1million have turned up, making it the largest demonstration since 1997 when the territory was handed to China

Link: A parallel to the events of the 2014 Umbrella Revolution. At any one time, there were more than 100,000 protestors on the streets for a 77 day stretch. Was sparked by decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to make changes to the Hong Jong's electoral system, which is effectively tantamount to the Chinese Communist Party's pre-screening of candidates for the future leaders of Hong Kong - a move seen to be an erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy under the "One Country, Two Systems" constitutional principle instituted in the early 1980s.

The result of the events in 2014 bore no fruits, as protests ended without any concessions from the government. Will this protest be any different?

I urge readers to stay up to date with this thread.

The first youtube video is now live! Understand the GP Perspective of Changi Jewel ...

tinyurl.com/GPChangiJewel

EXAMPLE:

Headline: Austria's parliament has removed Chancellor Sebastian Kurz from office in a special parliamentary session.

Has this issue concluded? Yes.
Will I use this example? Yes.

Analysis: Even as the global economy becomes more vulnerable, there are still leaders and politicians who continues to use their authority and power for vested interests - in this instance, political interests of cementing media control and political power for economic favors.

Another way to look at this incident is the high expectations placed on political parties to . A black sheep among the party could potentially tarnish the reputation and credibility of the entire team. In this case, Sebastian Kurz’s own credibility as a leader ruined due to a political scandal of his own party member - Heinz-Christian Strache. This draws similar parallels with Dilma Rouseff, where she was impeached for the acts of her party members in the Petrobras Scandal.

However, this also highlights the increasing intolerance of the people towards any misconduct and abuse of power by their leaders. The repercussions have proven to be increasingly serious, as exemplified by instances such as the 25 year jail sentence for former-president Park Guen Hye, impeachment of Dilma Rouseff, etc.

Please note that there are two very different people involved in this article***

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Yes.
Yes, she just resigned. What does this means for General Paper?

NOT MUCH.

Has Brexit concluded? No. Should we draw any lesson regarding Brexit? Sure, but there really isn’t anything that has been concluded yet. Will I use this as an example for my GP? Highly unlikely.

However, her incident can highlight a whole different issue:

A politician cannot run a country by himself or herself.

“At the start she boasted about not being a creature of Westminster's bars and cliques.
But it meant this very private politician had few true friends to help when things turned sour, and neither the powers of patronage, nor the capability to schmooze or arm twist to get people around to her point of view.
Few of her cabinet colleagues, even now, know her well at all, one saying that "as things got harder the circle got smaller". Another revealed that "there was no trust, and no faith".”

Stay tuned for a more comprehensive update on the GP-politics aspects of this thorny Brexit issue.

Source: BBC

MUST READ

A very good writeup that students should aspire towards - essay uses the story of the invention of VisiCalc as an extremely effective hook to introduce his arguments regarding technology and its impacts and future trends.

The hook used by the author is both interesting and HIGHLY relevant as the story leads to the main point (“how automation changes things”) that the authors wish to highlight.

On a more content related note:

- VisiCalc revolutionized the way accountants recorded and changed numerical data in spreadsheets and records, by automating a mundane and time consuming routine.

“But the real lesson of the spreadsheet is not about how monopolies rise and fall but about how technology changes things. “

“Viewed together, the two technologies (VisiCalc and Jennifer Unit) show that technology doesn't usually take jobs wholesale - it chisels away the easily automated chunks, leaving humans to adapt to the rest.”

“What the spreadsheet did to accounting and finance is a harbinger of what is coming to other white-collar jobs. “

“Algorithms can churn out routine stories about corporate earnings reports more quickly and cheaply than human journalists.
Some teachers use online tutorials to quiz pupils to identify where they are getting stuck before helping them progress.
A doctor can sometimes be replaced by a diagnostic app.
Robotic surgery is increasingly common and can allow greater precision, flexibility and control than conventional techniques.
Law firms use "document assembly systems" that quiz clients and then draft customised legal contracts.
It is hard to conclude this trend won't continue across other sectors.”

However, the author concedes to the fact that the spreadsheets may also have a severe limitation - it is, no doubt, very efficient, but at the very same time, this efficiency could result in small human error being magnified to a dramatic scale.

“investment bank JP Morgan lost $6bn (£4.6bn), in part because a risk indicator in a spreadsheet was being divided not by an average of two numbers but by their sum - making the risks look half as big as they should have done”

News:

Please stay up to date with this new development!

Potential uses:
- If talks go well and a partnership that strengthens military ties and international security, example could be used for “benefits of diplomacy” or a counter point against the use of direct military conflict as a means of conflict resolution
- If talks turn sour, could be used to highlight the ineffectiveness of talks etc. Example could be used depending on the details

Links to past events:
- Long standing South China Sea conflict
- Sino-philippines relations warming due to potential OBOR trade route
- US “freedom of navigation” exercises continues in disputed waters, increasing tensions in the region

Again, always follow the rule: only use examples when developments have concluded!

Source: South China Morning Post, CNA