According to an article from today online by Amanda Lee the government in Singapore wants cycling to become a more “viable transport option”. Currently, cycling makes up one to two percent of Singapore’s transportation possibilities. There are a few factors that influence the popularity of cycling. On October 22nd a book was published written by Singapore’s Center for Liveable Cities (CLC) and the United States-based Urban Land Institute (ULI). The book contains ideas and important measures which make cities more “bikeable, walkable and people-friendly”. One of them is to keep motorized traffic slow in pedestrian areas to encourage cycling, says Dr Park Byung Joon, who is an expert of urban transport management. Another point is to make street crossings a priority. What is also important is that the walking and cycling paths are more appealing and society feels comfortable. Cycling should be more convenient and an easy, fast way to travel from A to B. But what has to be ensured is that these cycling paths and sidewalks are safe. A way to do this is by enlarging the traffic lanes. This can also prevent cyclists, pedestrians and drivers from getting into conflicts. By 2030 Singapore is planning on creating a 700 km long cycling network to connect homes and neighborhoods. This should encourage people to get out their bikes and cycle for a healthy environment and a beneficial society and economy.
What we have to say about this:
This article only shows that the government of Singapore wants to change Singapore’s transport habits, but not why it’s important to do that. Singapore has one of the highest level of pollution in the world, which is mainly caused by motorized vehicles. This strongly affects human health. These particles are fine enough to settle down in our lungs and cause serious health problems. The amount of people with asthma problems and lung illnesses has risen by 20 percent in the last few years. In general Singapore has a bad reputation for not taking care of their environment.
Another big factor that contributes to the bad air in Singapore is that their population rate has rapidly grown in a matter of only a few years. Nearly 90 percent of their forest has been cut down and their pollution is enormously high compared to the rest of the world. So, in order to manage this problem, getting people to use their bikes more often is a good solution.
Compared to Basel, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in Singapore is more than three times as high. Even though Singapore is a bigger city than Basel and has many more people, this is still an outrageously big difference. A possible reason for this is that Swiss people pay more attention to their environment. There are plenty of organisations (for example Greenpeace) in Switzerland, which try to preserve nature, to prevent firms from cutting down forests in order to build new highways and housing developments, or just trying to keep the country clean. This has a great impact on the Swiss environment.. This is also a reason why Switzerland has one of the best reputations in the world in terms of cleanliness and pollution. Here, our pollution levels are regulated by strict laws. In Basel for example, it’s against the law to drive a motorized vehicle within the inner city. To compensate for that, there are parking areas for bikes at basically every corner.
In Switzerland about 70% of the population own a bike, whereas in Singapore the number of bike owners isn’t even registered. The reason why we cycle more also has to do with cultural differences. In Singapore cycling used to be a more important mode of transport after World War I, but lost it’s appeal after the 1970’s. During this time the people in Singapore got wealthier and were able to afford private vehicles. So biking was a “lower-class form of travel”. The focus was then on building better and wider highways for motor transport. At the same time Europe began paying more attention to health and the preservation of nature. This explains why we have a bigger cycling community.
About 30% of pedestrians and bus commuters would be ready to switch to cycling in Singapore, which would have a positive effect on the air pollution. We personally think that it is a very good idea to invest in Singapore’s cycling infrastructure.
(M.S, A.P, J.G, S.G)
In a New York Times article written by KJ Dell’Antonia entitled “When the Message on Marijuana Is Still ‘Just Say No’” the marijuana consumption of teenagers in the US and the fact that the use of marijuana has changed are discussed. As known, marijuana is legal for medical use in already 23 states, of which two, namely Washington and Colorado, have legalized it also for recreational use for people the age of 21 and over.
The author says that the perception of marijuana legalization depends very much of the family situation. If the parents smoke or smoked “pot”, then they might perceive the idea of a free-for-everyone consumption differently than a family where none of the members have ever consumed marijuana.
The fact that in a lot of States marijuana is used as medicine doesn’t mean that it’s good for everyone. In fact the effects of marijuana on a developing brain aren’t fully clear yet. Often young smokers have bad memory, which leads to bad school performance, but we have to remember that teens that are already struggling with brain function problem may more likely start consuming marijuana.
When teachers find out that a student smoked or even brought along marijuana to a party, they might be thrown out of a team or band. In almost every high school there is a no-tolerance policy concerning marijuana and it’s still illegal in every state for teenagers.
A conviction due to illegal marijuana consumption can have big consequences on the later life. For example, one may not get a visa for some countries or may be disqualified for some jobs or not get admission to some colleges. The police often look the other way when the suspected teenager is white, but in case of a black teen or other minority children this often isn’t the case.
In the article it is said that the most important thing for parents is to have open and ongoing conversations with their children. The parents should also respect the perspective of their children and also talk about the perspective of other families. A Colorado Hospital worker tells us, “Have conversations, not lectures”.
What we have to say about this:
Marijuana is the most commonly consumed illegal drug in the world according to US government statistics. Not only in America, but also in many other countries the legalization of marijuana is a frequently discussed topic. Many people have different opinions about this issue partly because the effects of the drug on the brain and body haven’t been studied in detail yet. Especially teenagers are vulnerable to this because of the fact that their brain and body haven’t fully developed at this point of age. A widely spread myth is that marijuana a can cause schizophrenia. It has been proven, however, that this is only the case if the consumer already feels a certain degree of schizophrenia. In other words, the drug enhances emotional feelings and this has an impact on how the brain works.
As mentioned in the article the consumption of marijuana is legal in 23 States for medical usage and in two States even for recreational use. The US is one of the only countries were the state shows such a tolerance.
The legalization of cannabis is discussed in many countries, so what is the situation in Switzerland, or, more specifically, in Basel? The article released by the “Basler Zeitung” shows that the drug is quite popular in our city. At the moment one would receive a fine of 100CHF when 18 or over if caught smoking pot. If a teenager gets busted, he will attain help from the State in form of self-help groups and will be registered in the police file. This file will be erased if no further illegal actions are committed until reaching the age of 18. But due to the common use of marijuana here there might be a penalty free use in Basel in the future.
An important point that is mentioned in the article is is the attitude of the parents and family. Parents shouldn’t hold lectures about how bad the consumption of marijuana is, but instead hold ongoing conversations with the child. They should also let the teens make their own experiences. This is because the parents often are too strict and achieve the exact opposite of their intentions.
A sad thing in the US is that adolescents of minority families often receive a more severe penalty than white teens, who often get away without having to face any consequences. We think that this discrimination shouldn’t be the case in the 21st century anymore. The penalties in Switzerland are the same for every race, but still areas where a lot of migrants live have a higher density of police forces.
If you compare the laws of the US to those in Switzerland, the main difference is that the consumption of marijuana is illegal here, even though it’s often tolerated. In our opinion the usage of marijuana should be legal because most of the consumers who are high have a higher self-control than than people who are intoxicated with alcohol. Moreover, there is no reported death caused directly by cannabis. We think it is important though to remember that that the effects of marijuana haven’t been fully understood yet and consumers should be mindful, because it often leads to harder drugs. Since everyone can make their own choice whether or not they want to consume cannabis, we believe Coffee Shops like in Amsterdam would be sensible because regulated and controllable. (ol, lu)
We have chosen an article from the Times of India entitled „Turn Your Whole Life Into A Celebration“, which was published on October 21st by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. The article deals with a cultural and religious issue. It compares the way Indian culture is celebrated nowadays to the way it was celebrated in the past. The author attempts to show this with the help of the festival Diwali, which started a few days ago on 23rd October. This festival celebrates the good that prevails the bad, for example the negative things in ourlives. The bad doesn’t necessarily have to be caused by demons, like the story in which the Hindu god Krishna eliminates the bad in form of the evil king Naraka Chaturdashi. The text states that bad can also enter people’s lives in form of desperation, depression and frustration. It then goes on to compare the differences that Indian celebrations and rituals are approached between the past and present day in India. Not only the number of celebrated festivals has gone down due to people being “too busy”, the attitude and way they are celebrated has changed too. Festivals are viewed as holidays; people get up late and eat a lot. The author reminds us that in the past festivals were celebrated more frequently and very differently, being days of activity and coming together as a community. The author wants Indian people to remember the true meaning of festivals and to approach every day in a celebratory way in order to gain positivity and forget about seriousness in life.
What we have to say about this:
The main issue the article wants to show us is the real meaning of festivals/rituals and the way in which they are celebrated today. We think that this issue is quite present here in Basel, too. We might have a different main religion and mentality here, but we still have traditions and an idea of what they mean. In India festivals have a different meaning compared to the festive days that are celebrated here. Festivals in India are more numerous, unique and colourful than the ones we have in Basel. They are supposed to celebrate life and community. They are celebrated differently according to region and each of them takes place to celebrate a different legend from Hindu mythology. The example given in the article is the festival of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Light. Diwali celebrates the Victory the Hindu God Krishna over the demon Naraka Chaturdashi (There are other legends too but we chose this one as it is mentioned in the article) light and positivity overcoming darkness and negativity. Indian people celebrate by cleaning their homes, wearing their best clothes. They also light many lamps which are called diyas inside and outside. Fireworks are set off and feasts and sweets are eaten too. The festival usually consists of five days, although changes in its length may occur in different regions. Diwali is considered one of the important festivals in Indian/Hindu culture and it is a holiday in many countries outside of India, for example in Mauritius and Singapore. One of the most important festivals that can compare to the ones in India here in Basel is Fasnacht, which takes place annually in February. It basically is a festival that is supposed to chase the winter and evil spirits away. It is not religious, but it’s celebrated by many people all ages so we thought that is a better comparison than religious occasions like Christmas or Easter. In Basel, Fasnacht is celebrated during three days: It starts with the Morgestraich, the first parade that starts at four o’ clock in the morning. There then are many colourful parades over town, people dress up and there are many parade floats with Waggis on them. A Waggis is a type of costume that is supposed to represent a Frenchman from our neighbouring French province Alsace. During the parades the Waggis hand out sweets and goodies, flowers and leaflets with rhymes on them that criticise or make fun of political or social issues in a sarcastic, funny way. Very loud music is played by different groups that take part in the parades. Fasnacht is celebrated differently throughout Switzerland, but the Fasnacht in Basel is considered the most special, since it plays such an important role here and brings people together. In conclusion, both India and Basel each have their own festivities that are celebrated very differently. We can see a link between Diwali and Fasnacht, since both of them are here to chase bad things away by coming together and having a great time. We think that celebrations like these two are important for us to be less serious about life and having fun, coming together to celebrate and enjoying the moments we can share with each other. /M.P./ M.A./ S.H./.
In this BlogSpot Article called ‘’In search for a home’’ dating from the 5th of December, 2010 the anonymous female author says that celebrating festivities of other religions is important. It helps us to learn about the joy of other people.
She grew up in India, from where Diwali, the festival of lights comes. It has always been her favourite festival and she longs for its preparations.
She has moved to many other countries and had to realise that all of them do not celebrate Diwali as they do in India. Then she moved to Fiji and to celebrate Diwali there. During the preparations in the weeks before Diwali, the author has the feeling that the Diwali of her childhood has returned. This does not only happen because the stores in Suva begin to sell traditional Diwali decoration and food, but also because of the special atmosphere. The author is invited to a party in the evening and everything there reminds her of the Indian culture. She realises that there is one important thing to be said about Fiji: this small island country is not only working to maintain the old traditions, but also trying to incorporate new and different ones into its culture. She is excited that the other women were also dressed specially for the Diwali festival, she thinks that everything is perfect. It is not a religious event and people that are not Hindus celebrate, too. The author is happy because after a long time, she isn’t the only one who is celebrating and therefore it is also more significant for her. She describes the day to be just like in India. The praying instruction on the radio which she follows is something that does not even occur in India. And in contrast to her past Diwalis in the States she is actually performing the prayers and not just doing them virtually. A few months later, her idea that celebration unites people is confirmed because of Christmas greetings in a Hindu Shop.
We see that the people in Fiji are open to the different festivities of the various religions in the country. It is not strange for them to celebrate a festivity of another religion. On the contrary, they have many different celebrations of various religions during the year. It seems like the Fijians are able to fuse the traditions of many religions together.
Another important point that comes up in the article is that people in Fiji are actually very open. The people in Fiji have different origins: some of them are Indian, like the author, or they are indigenous Fijians but there are also other ethnic groups. Consequently there are a lot of different cultures and traditions on this small Island.
They let each other take part in the festivities of different religions without excluding those which do not have the same religious believes. We think this is an important point because it shows the attitude of the different “ethnic groups” living in Fiji towards each other. The Indians in Fiji are a good example for this tolerant attitude because they let other people join their Diwali celebrations and also try to incorporate their traditions in Fiji’s culture. On the other hand we assume that they are also interested in participating in other religion’s festivities. So there is a lot of interaction between the different cultures and they like to share their own traditions and also learn about the others.
Celebrating together and sharing the joy of festivities like Diwali connects the people from different religions and brings them closer together. The important thing about these holidays isn’t just the fact that people learn about the different religious backgrounds. It also creates a positive atmosphere and enriches the every-day life of the insulars. More importantly, it also helps to reduce conflicts between the different races since in the past there were a lot of tension between the ethnic Indians and the indigenous Fijians. But now they show interest in one another’s cultures, which means they learn more from each other and therefore have more understanding for the different cultures. This leads to more tolerance between the cultures. Other opinions are accepted.
We can find more positive than negative aspects in this behaviour. For example, one can learn a lot about the mentalities of others, it also leads to more social cohesion and a better atmosphere in the country. But we think that the festivities might lose their original meaning. So we could understand if some religious people did not like the fact that others celebrate their holidays without knowing what the actual religious meaning of the rituals is.
If we look at Basel we see that there are hardly any religious festivities where people from different religious backgrounds celebrate together.to Basel, we hardly have any festivities with different religious backgrounds, which we celebrate all together. Maybe this is because in Basel we do have different religions, but most religions are practices by minorities. The majority is Christian. By contrast, there is not main religion in Fiji. Hence the locals naturally have more contact with other cultures. Another reason could be that we might be more reserved and do not want to have such an interaction with other religions. For example we and most people we know do not celebrate Hanukah. (Z.K., S.W., V.B.)
According to an article by Naomi Lindt entitled “Expanding the Cultural Realm in Singapore” published on 10th June 2011 Singapore has always been the “cultural desert”. It is known for its efficiency, modernity, tidiness and order, compared to the chaotic rest of Southeast Asia. Now Singapore wants to change its image from a sanitized mall culture to a new authentic one, famous for its art and architecture. The government is trying to support local artists and architects and has invested more than a billion dollars during the last 20 years to turn Singapore into a “global arts city” by 2015.
The country has grown in many cultural aspects. It has founded new cultural institutions, has built museums and has organized several art events. For example, they arranged the Art Stage Singapore, an event that is similar to Art Basel.
It’s not only the visual art that is evolving, however. Local fashion designers own their own boutiques and have created their own fashion labels. Instead of selling all kinds of well-known international brands, Singaporean young fashion designers are making a name for themselves by successfully inventing their own clothing lines.
The Singaporeans are heading towards a bright cultural future in terms of experimenting and creating new things and making progress in the fashion industry. More and more citizens are buying local. They have noticed the great potential of their country, which is still developing when it comes to cultural issues. They have realized that “what makes Singapore special is what Singaporeans make and create.” With this mindset people in Singapore are helping to change society. They are also preparing the way for a better future for themselves and their country
Singapore is generally known for its modern architecture, its malls and its high international rankings with regard to education, healthcare, and economic competitiveness. But what Singapore is missing is culture. There are a few reasons why Singapore has never really developed an authentic identity. One of the reasons is its history. From 1826 to 1963 Singapore was a British colony. During this time an independent culture didn’t have the chance to emerge. Most British habitants didn’t really care because they weren’t planning on settling down for good.
Since their independence, Singapore has been creating an identity of its own and has produced a culture of its own. A factor affecting this process is that 42% of Singapore’s population are foreigners. There are 4 different official languages. English is the first official language, even though 20% of the population doesn’t even speak English. With such a multiracial population there are also many different religions. So creating a consistent culture for all of Singapore’s population is very difficult.
What we have to say about this:
The article above describes how people in Singapore and the government are trying to achieve this goal. A problem that seems to be coming up is the restrictions imposed by the government. During an art exhibition, artists were afraid the “Media Development Authority” would show up if they discussed controversial topics like the death penalty, immigration and national identity. Now to understand this we have to find out who this authority is and what it stands for. The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) explains their purpose on their website: “The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) promotes and regulates the media sector so as to contribute towards economic growth and help foster a cohesive and inclusive society in Singapore “. So on the one hand they promote the means of communication within Singapore but regulate and censor Television, Radio and Newspapers/Magazines and other ways of communication. It seems that an art exhibition that thematises controversial topics was seen by the MDA as a provocation, making it necessary in their eyes to step in. There are other companies working for the government controlling the media.
Compared to Switzerland Singapore is a very young state. Founded in 1291 Switzerland has had 700 years to establish its own culture. We can see this in our daily lives; in Basel traces of our ancestors are everywhere. We see them in the old buildings dating back to up to 800 years and in the variety of museums. The first public museum in Europe was opened in Basel in the 17th century. But what is similar to Singapore is that Switzerland also has four official languages. So culture in Switzerland really depends on where you are. The different regions were mostly influenced by their direct neighbors, France, Germany and Italy, with whom they share the language.
In Switzerland there is the “Federal agency for culture”. This organization generally just supports Swiss culture within the legal framework of Swiss laws. But it doesn’t specifically control it as much as the Singaporean government does.
To sum it up we can say that the culture in Switzerland differs a lot from the growing Singaporean culture. Just the fact that these two countries are located in completely different parts of the world reinforces this.
We personally hope that Singapore will succeed in developing a thriving culture of its, because it is important for a country and its people to have its own identity that unites them and at the same time remains authentic.
In the New York Times Article, written by Kirk Johnson, Ian Lovett and Michael Paulson, “2 Die, Including Gunman, in Shooting at Washington State High School“, the tragedy of a State High School located in Marysville, Washington is reported. It includes interviews of friends and family members who knew the 14-year-old gunman.
Schools in the US know, that shootings aren’t impossible, as the past has shown, and are likely to happen anywhere. Because of this many schools are prepared for a lockdown in the case of an emergency. In order to perform such a lockdown the schools have to train for a worst-case scenario. This had the result that many students and even teachers didn’t take the alarm seriously on Friday 24th October 14 as the gunman opened fire at 10:39 a.m., which resulted in one death and four serious head injuries. The motive of the shooter isn’t clear yet.
As already mentioned the shooter was 14 years old and was called Jaylen Fryberg. He was a very popular freshman and even played in the high school football team. Eyewitnesses described Jaylen as a funny person and everybody loved him, but close friends reported, that they had seen a change in his behavior. The days before the shooting he was really quiet, which wasn’t normal. Others told the reporters about how scary it was and how extremely shocked they were.
After the tragedy, candles were lit and a lot of the people attended the church ceremony wearing school colors. After a minute of silence the local pastor spoke out the wise words, that the most important thing to do in cases like these, is to love and support each other.
Every now and then, US schools are affected by shootings. This is partly the reason why more and more citizens are against the current gun laws, which allow everyone in Washington at the age of 21 to buy a gun if they receive a license from the city police chief. There are many motives for these shootings. often the students who tend to use this kind of violence have some connection to guns. In Jaylen’s case, he was an avid hunter and gun enthusiast.
Normally the trigger for these kinds of actions are often social and mental issues. But in this case here, the shooter didn’t just aimlessly shoot at people. It was a planned killing of the four victims, which he invited via SMS to the cafeteria. This distinguishes this situation from other school shootings. In an article published on People.com, it is mentioned that Jaylen had lived in a block on the Tulalip Indian Reservation since he was born. The book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” shows, with what social matters a Native American living in a reservation is confronted with. It is also known that Jaylen had a fight over a girl, which might also have been a reason for his dreadful act.
But has something ever happened in Switzerland? In the Swiss history there has never been a school shooting. An article published in the Swiss newspaper “Tagesanzeiger” lists all rampages in Switzerland, but nowhere a school shooting is mentioned.
One reason for this is the much smaller population a fact that explains why people here get more support and why the standard of living is higher. Another reason is, that in Switzerland you are not allowed to have a gun of any kind in your house, with exception to soldiers, who don’t have ammunition. The criminal rate is much lower here. The reason for this is, as already mentioned, the much higher standard of living.
But still there is a chance for such terrible events to occur in Switzerland. Like in many countries, this topic is getting more and more attention. The reason for this is partly the rise of social media, which makes it easier for young people to bully someone, because you don’t have to be directly confronted with the victim. It is even possible to do this anonymously.
The good thing in Switzerland is that it’s almost impossible for the offender to get his hands on a firearm, especially if he’s still under aged.
We believe that cases of amok, such as the one that in Marysville, are terrible and should be prevented by trying to stop cyber-bullying, which is very difficult though, because children tend to have bullied the weaker ones for hundreds of years. We also think that the gun laws in America should be stricter so that it’s not so easy to get one’s hands on a gun, which, as we have observed, can lead to the death of innocent human beings.
In the New York Times article of the 23rd of October entitled “Doctor in New York City Is Sick With Ebola” the journalist Marc Santora tells us about the circumstances of New York’s first Ebola case and how the authorities have dealt with it up to this point.
The article can be divided into two main parts, one of which is the whole story behind the Infection of Doctor Craig Spencer, the other being significantly shorter and about the situation of Ebola in the US in general.
Marc Santora begins with the main point of the article, namely that doctor Spencer has been diagnosed with Ebola after treating the disease in Liberia himself and that government officials have been doing everything humanly possible to determine if there is a possibility that the disease has already spread further.
He also states the “crowded metropolis” had been preparing for this case for months by studying how other cities had handled similar situations. He then continues by telling us how the infection was noticed and under what conditions Ebola can spread.
Also, he mentions where possible transmissions could have occurred and who was quarantined excluding Dr. Spencer himself. Transmission is still unlikely due to the fact that Ebola is transmitted via bodily fluids.
Marc Santora then goes even further into detail, saying that the government believes that it is improbable that people who were in contact with Craig Spencer have Ebola that originates from him. He then adds that the necessary precautions were taken and that Mr Spencer did everything correctly after his return from Liberia.
Finally the author puts the first case of Ebola in New York in a bigger context by giving different facts about Ebola and saying that earlier mistakes can be avoided and the risk is minimal.
What we have to say about this:
Since the outbreak of the very deadly Ebola Virus in western Africa, many people have been concerned about how the disease could spread. The case discussed in the article is not the first case of Ebola in the United States, however it is the first in a major metropolitan area. The first case was a man travelling from Liberia who fell ill in the States and transmitted the virus to two of the nurses who were treating him in Dallas, Texas. Due to this sequence of events the world closely followed how the United States medical infrastructure would handle the first case in a major city like New York and how they would stop it spreading in such a densely populated area. As mentioned in the article, the patient from New York was an aid worker who returned from Guinea.
This raises an interesting question about how aid workers in general should be treated after returning from areas where they could have possibly contracted Ebola. The safest and most secure way to ensure that returning aid workers couldn’t spread the Ebola Virus if they had caught it would be to quarantine them for about three weeks. Since it takes a maximum of 21 days for someone infected with Ebola to start showing symptoms, three weeks would be long enough to ensure the virus couldn’t be spread. However, subjecting returning aid workers to a rather long quarantine upon return to the United States might not be the best idea. A mandatory quarantine could actually deter people from signing up to go and provide desperately needed help in countries where the virus is still spreading. It could also mean that the health workers that do contract Ebola won’t receive the same level of medical care, if they for example had to spend their three weeks quarantine somewhere overseas. Another possible unintended side-effect of a quarantine could be that certain returning aid workers would simply lie about what they were doing in Western Africa. If people did this, the authorities would have more difficulty monitoring potential sources for an outbreak.
To our knowledge, there hasn’t been a case of an aid worker returning to Switzerland carrying the Ebola Virus. This doesn’t mean that the Swiss authorities shouldn’t be considering what they would do if this situation arose. Someone travelling from West Africa with Ebola will still remain a possibility for the near future.
One could also ask the question whether anyone should be allowed to travel in to or out of regions affected by a very dangerous disease. Some countries have considered or even implemented bans for flights to the affected regions. When it comes to this issue there is probably a slight difference in mentality between Swiss and American people. When you compare the media coverage of the two countries it seems that people in the United States are more fearful of an outbreak than the Swiss. The wide-spread media coverage of the patients being treated in America has probably led to Americans greatly overestimating the danger of this outbreak. This is not the first time that the US media have blown an issue out of proportion. It seems that Americans are more easily influenced by their media in general. Here in Switzerland things like Ebola don’t get the same kind of sensationalist news coverage as they do in America. This might be the reason that the Swiss seem calmer and more reasonable when faced with a crisis like the Ebola Virus. However, considering Switzerland’s rather conservative foreign policy in general, we could imagine that if things got really bad and Ebola was wide-spread across the world, Switzerland might be one of the first countries to restrict travel to affected areas.
We think that all of this illustrates a difference in culture between the two countries. Namely that Americans rely more heavily on media coverage for their information. This is probably not a good thing considering that media, especially in America, can be very misleading. In America it seems that news agencies seem more focused on being first than being right. This pressure to report things as fast as possible leads facts being widely reported without any context. We don’t really see it in this article but you could definitely tell certain news outlets were more focused on spreading the news that a potentially deadly disease had reached America than providing a context, for instance by explaining how unlikely it is for someone who hasn’t been to western Africa recently to catch it. We are of the opinion that this way of reporting the news is damaging and only spreads panic and that it is something that we shouldn’t make a part of our culture. (M.C ,M.H)
An article by Lauren Wilson entitled „Australian poverty rate hits 13.9 per cent, ACOSS report shows“ published on the website news.com.au on 12th October 2014 discusses the reasons for the increasing poverty rate in Australia. Today, Australia has more than 2.5 Million inhabitants who live below the OECD poverty line. These 19.9% of the population live with less than 400$ per week if they are a single adult or with less than 841$ per week if they are a couple with two or more children. The executive chief of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) says the findings highlight the need for a national plan to tackle the problem of poverty. She also mentions that such a rise of the poverty rate is unacceptable. In addition, she emphasizes that the community has to be confronted with the problems if there should be any improvement.
According to the report, the worst situation is found in the island of Tasmania with 15% of people living in poverty. Directly behind lies Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and last in line is South Australia with 11.7%. It is also mentioned that women are more in danger of living in poverty than men. We also learn that a half of all the recipient of welfare live below the poverty line set by the OECD.
What we have to say about this:
According to the statistics, Australia has had a continuum economic growth since 1992. In 2008 the national unemployment rate decreased to only 4 percent, which was the minimum for over 30 years. Australia has a well-developed education system, a good health system and in general people have a high standard of living, even though there are more than 2.5 million Australians out of 23 million inhabitants living below the OECD poverty line today. In the past two years the national poverty rate rose to 13.9 percent. For the Australian children the situation is even worse: 17.3 percent of kids across the island live in poverty and as far as single parent households are concerned more than one of three is poor. And the unemployment rate in Australia is about 6.4 percent in 2014. So what happened?
In 2009 the financial crisis hit Australia. More than 300’000 people lost their jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 5.59 percent. In Switzerland the unemployment rate rose from 2.5 to 4.5 percent. After the financial crisis the rate decreased very fast in Switzerland and two years later was almost as low as before the crisis. On the island the rate only decreased to 5.3 percent and stayed constant in the following years. Since the beginning of the year the rate has risen and in July reached a rate of 6.3 percent, which is the highest in 12 years. More than 1.5 million Australians don’t have a job today.
Unfortunately there’s not a real system to support the unemployed in Australia. Compared to Switzerland the unemployment benefit is extremely low. With the budget of a welfare recipients a normal live is nearly impossible and for a lot of people it means living in poverty.
But the main reason for the rising unemployment rate and the increasing poverty rate is the high population growth. In 2013 the Australian population grew about 1.7 percent. 60 percent of the growth was due to immigration. The Swiss population grew in the past year about 1.1 percent and only grows because of immigration. A lot of people come to Australia to work there, but then can’t find a job. But not only immigrants are suffering because of the lack of job offers. Also teenagers between 15 and 24 years have problems finding a job. About 18 percent of them don’t have a job.
The Australian economy is growing and every year there will be new job offers but the problem is that the economy doesn’t grow as fast as would be required to satisfy the demand for new jobs, a demand caused by the growing population. And because there is no real system to support the unemployed a large part of the population lives in “poverty”. (Gr, Ma, Jo, Ni)
According to an article by Sam Boyer entitled “School absenteeism in Auckland horrifies police” published on 25th September 2014 the police in New Zealand visited three different schools; the Manurewa high school, the James Cook High School and the Alfriston College. During their expedition they made a shocking discovery: Of the 4586 students that should have attended schools, 321 were absent! This corresponds to about seven percent of all students.
This generation of students doesn’t seem to fully understand the importance of education for their personal development and professional careers. They don’t take school seriously as they used to. The percentage of teenagers playing truant increases from year to year. In “The New Zealand Herald” it is written that only one year ago the percentage of the high school students who didn’t attend school regularly were just 3.9 per cent. Now there are nearly twice as much. The police and the teachers are asking themselves why such a high number of teenagers aren’t quite interested in attending school anymore and what they’re actually doing during their absence. In the article it says that some people suppose that the high school students are probably involved in youth crime like burglaries, shop-lifting, vehicle crime and so on. In this neighbourhood students take part in criminal activities even at primary and intermediate level. Of course it isn`t clear whether or not the presumption are true. However it is possible since the number of youth crime is rising. Nowadays even children of the age between 12 and 15 are committing criminal offences. It’s clear that action has to be taken which means that for example punitive measures will be taken if parents aren’t able to control their children and if they fail to teach them certain manners. Teachers hope that these operations will reduce the amount of the truant children.
What we have to say abou this:
We assume that the population’s opinion about youth crime in New Zealand isn’t any different from ours in Basel. It’s seen as something bad that we should try to reduce as much as possible. As we’ve seen in the article youth crime also leads to truancy and since education is essential for young people, New Zealand has taken certain measures. These include a Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP) that is the same all over New Zealand. This is a plan to reduce youth crime and help those who offend to turn their lives around. Government agencies work together more closely with schools, parents etc. to stop problems before they become an issue. It also aims at helping the people behind the statistics because they don`t offend without reason. There are often personal problems behind their actions and in order to prevent them from reoffending the government takes care of their issues. If an offender is caught, the police either just warns him or he gets a youth justice coordinator who stands in for his interests during the family group conference where it is decided what’s going to happen with the offender next. If they can’t agree on a fair punishment a punitive measure will be defined by the youth court. This method is used for every crime except murder. The success rate of the YCAP is 90 per cent.
In Basel there isn’t such a complex system. A few years ago, youth crime wasn`t even recognized as a serious problem that needs to be solved. Now there are seven youth workers called “Jugendsachbearbeiter” that take care of these cases. They are spread over three different police stations in Basel-Land and their job is to deter crime by correctly informing students about offenses and to identify young criminals in cooperation with the youth advocacy as well as the police. Meanwhile they have a special daily journal in which they collect all probable youth crimes so they’re able to conduct investigations very rapidly in case of increasing crimes in a certain area. They also need many connections to people that work closely with children and teenagers because they seek contact with persons directly involved. Adolescents who commit a crime in Basel are then sent to the youth court and if necessary to a psychologist.
Now we’re going to look at the results of these two methods. In New Zealand, youth crime has decreased by about 34 percent over the last twenty years. The ministry of justice announced that only a fifth of all the offenders appeared a youth court. That’s because the police is looking for alternative methods to punish young people since they think it’s too harsh to immediately handing them over to the criminal justice system. One of these alternatives is for example the YCAP that we`ve talked about about. This decline of teenagers appearing at the youth court is shown in the following statistics that we’ve found in another article. In 1997/98 there were about 900 adolescents taken to a youth court while in 2011/12 that number had decreased to 189. By contrast we see a slight increase of youth crime during the past ten years in Switzerland. But since 2011 this value has decreased again. So this means that even if youth crime is still a problem it’s apparently in decline in Switzerland and New Zealand thanks to the success of the actions taken.
In the article “The Growing Epidemic of Police Violence: Is It Time to De-Militarize Police Forces?” John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford institute and author of ‘A Government of Wolves’, tells us about the increase of police brutality and how the problem can be solved in his opinion.
The author of the article begins with the important question, that he hopes to answer, namely “how long will the police be able to get away with its ruthless tactics, before the people say ‘stop’?” He continues by giving us two examples of the police overreacting, where either humans or their pets were severely harmed through police wrongdoing. Further he explains that the source of the problem is the attitude of the “Special Weapons and Tactics”, in short SWAT, because nowadays these trained-to-kill teams are involved even in harmless situations. He also states that general mentality of the police department has changed from protecting the population from the bad guys to fighting an all-out war against crime.
The author then continues by giving us another two examples where instances of the police overreacting has led to casualties, this time focusing more on the “shoot first, ask questions later” aspect, followed by an explanation why he thinks that this is the case today. His explanation is that police officers are trained to use excessive and even deadly force and to report their actions in such a way, that there isn’t any doubt that the officer dealt with the situation correctly and thus avoiding legal complications.
To finish the article Mr. Whitehead states that the problem can only be solved if the police get rid of their violent mindset and that the people themselves need to take the initiative.
What we have to say about this:
This article shows quite well that instances of police brutality aren’t uncommon in the USA. There always seem to be fresh reports in the media about the police overreacting to harmless situations, or police brutality. It’s also frequent that police forces use excessive or even deadly force under circumstances that do not warrant it. Many people are of the opinion that police officers abuse their power, for example through overuse of their tasers or their pepper sprays. In Basel the use of SWAT team equivalents is nowhere near as common. Most situations in our local area are dealt with in a very low-key way instead of the large-scale police operations that seem to occur in the United States on a regular basis.
The differences in the way that police forces conduct themselves results in a major difference in mindset between Americans and the people in Basel and the rest of Switzerland. For instance when we get pulled over by a police officer, we don’t usually have any concerns about the officer treating us unfairly or even physically harming us. The thought that a member of a police department would harm us when we interact with them never really crosses our mind. This is probably due to the fact we do not hear about these sort of things happening near us. We are of the opinion that things like this just don’t happen as often where we live. When the people of America regularly hear about police wrong-doing in the media, they develop a deep mistrust of the people whose job it is to protect them.
This mistrust leads to some serious negative consequences. If the population don’t trust their local police force, it makes the jobs of those police officers much harder. People are less likely to cooperate and more likely to avoid any interaction with law enforcement if they can. This reduced cooperation caused by the general mindset of the people could therefore hinder police investigations and lead to more crimes remaining unsolved.
We also get the sense that people feel helpless when dealing with the police in America. People do not dare put up any resistance or protect themselves from them out of fear of facing more severe consequences. And even when people are wronged by police officers, the officers themselves very rarely face any consequences. Many instances are reported in such a way that the officer himself is absolved of any wrong decisions. Officers feeling that they are untouchable because they think they can get away with anything, is probably what leads to these cases of police brutality in the first place.
We also have the same opinion as the author of the article when it comes to the mentality of law enforcement in general. We think there is a huge difference between Switzerland and the US when it comes to this aspect. The “shoot first, ask questions later”-attitude is not prevalent where we live. It exists in the US partly because every citizen has the constitutional right to carry a gun and that police officers need to protect themselves if they have to. But it seems that within the police force a culture has developed, where police officers try to avoid all risk by using excessive force, even in situations that do not warrant it.
To summarize, we think there is a very stark contrast between the police force in our local area, where people do not feel threatened by the law enforcement and the US where an increasingly aggressive and militarized police force has led to the general population fearing the people employed to protect them. (M.C, M.H, L.B, O.M)
According to an article of the New York Times dating from 5th of September 2014 entitled „Nigeria in the time of Ebola“ there have been a number of new Ebola cases in Nigeria. Patrick Sawyer, for instance, who fled from Liberia to Nigeria in the hope of getting better medical treatment contributed to the spreading of the disease. He died five days later. Meanwhile others have been infected. One of the nurses who treated P. Sawyer and who was infected by him managed to escape from a poorly guarded Isolation ward. She is believed to have infected another 20 people.
People living in Nigeria use an intimate physical way to welcome each other; shaking hands is just the first step of greeting people. This is a serious issue because manners mean a lot in this country. Since Ebola is transmitted by physical contact the measures taken to prevent the spreading of the disease creates an awkward situation for the local population. The fact that people no longer shake hands indicates how serious the situation nowadays is with Ebola in Nigeria. It is understandable that this deadly virus with no known cure tends to cause panic is understandable, given the number of stories about the disease coming out of West Africa. Due to this fact, a lot of quack cures, as well as traditional herbal remedies from folk doctors have become popular and widespread. For instance, it is said, that drinking and bathing in salt water is a way to avoid becoming infected. This has caused at least two deaths and approximately 20 other people who had to go to the hospital. Besides these rare cases, most people remain calm but careful at the same time.
What we have to say about this:
It is noteworthy how the government of Nigeria has taken an atypically responsible approach. Usually the people of Nigeria distrust their government. The government is believed to be corrupt and incompetent, illustrated by the ineffective fight against the Islamic rebels of “Boko Haram”. Most of the people simply hope, that they are not going to get infected, use disinfectants and try to live their life as before.
Nowadays it is important to be aware of the the events happening in the world. Due to globalization it is certainly possible that Ebola occurs in Western Europe, and everyone should be informed and should know what Ebola is. It is interesting to get to know other countries and cultures, which are different but where English is spoken. This is the reason why we have chosen an article about Nigeria, a place we barely know. And since Ebola is a current issue worldwide, it is absolutely worth discussing and commenting the facts mentioned in the article. The author Adewale Maja-Pearce basically compliments Nigeria on its swift reactions to the spreading oft the virus to this country. But exactly these reaction had a big influence on the population of Nigeria.
Imagine how all these people must have been shocked and confused, as they were told to suddenly abandon the traditional system just because of hygienic safety. We don't believe that they could simply drop their elaborate rituals and traditions at once. Indeed, the article talked about awkwardness in social relations, but it didn't seem like a big affair for them to handle according to what is written in the article. Many people probably only followed the advice because it was given by their religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim. They did so because they are profoundly religious and not because they understood that safety comes first. That's why the authorities made a right decision, using the churches and mosques as transmitters. Nevertheless, traditions should not be given up during in these difficult times and they probably won’t because it is very difficult to lay down the old traditions. The risk of spread is still acute and it is impressive to see that the people are trying to avoid an infection. However it is bad that the infected don't trust the medical institutions. There have been violent riots because of the isolation of infected people. Here we see a big difference to the people in Europe, who would certainly trust the medical health facilities. Maybe this has to do with the infrastructure because in Europe it is much more developed than in Africa. In Nigeria and elsewhere in Africa traditional healers challenge the authority of the medical institutions. This an issue since people in Africa have to decide whom to trust. In order to decide properly some basic medical knowledge about diseases is needed. Unfortunately education in Africa is not as good as in Europe and not all the inhabitants of Nigeria are able to afford a proper education.
The situation with Ebola can perhaps be compared with HIV which also first appeared in Africa before the disease spread to developed countries. Nowadays medicines are available to treat HIV and information campaigns have been successful to avoid a further spreading of the disease. Ebola crisis will soon be under control thanks to the experience of HIV. This is absolutely necessary if more misery in Nigeria and elsewhere is to be avoided. (Fe, Ch, Ke)
The article we chose, “Gay culture gaining momentum in Singapore” by Tom Benner, published by Aljazeera on 3rd of June 2013, is about the gay community in the city-state and island country Singapore. According to Singapore’s Penal Code homosexuality is illegal and can be punished by two years in prison. This rule was made many years ago, back when Singapore was still a British colony. Still, gay culture in Singapore is growing and has gained more advocates over the last few years. On the other side Christian conservatives fear the loss of the traditional Singaporean family. They are committed to keeping up the law against homosexuality. In the words of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong: “These are not issues that we can settle one way or the other, and it's really best for us just to leave them be, and just agree to disagree. I think that's the way Singapore will be for a long time." As the statement shows he is trying to stay neutral in the battle between gay rights advocates and religious and social conservatives. But Singapore’s gay community and their supporters do not think this is enough. They demand to be treated equally and are increasingly gaining attention.
One effort to support the community is made by "Pink Dot Sg" which is a yearly festival for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Last year’s event was attended by over 15'000 people. In addition to this, the magazine “Element” published its second issue this summer. It’s the first national gay lifestyle magazine. Due to the law against gays its only accessible online, on a US server.
Even though the issue of homosexuality has been discussed for several years, same-sex relationships are a taboo and are still not really accepted by most of the Singaporean population. We found some possible explanations for this disapproval and we’re going to take a closer look at two of them and compare Singapore’s mentality to the one in Switzerland.
What we have to say about this:
Our first point is the history of Singapore. It all began with the colonialisation by Britain. Since the introduction of British rules in 1819, Singapore’s laws didn’t change much until October 2007. Although the people in the UK now accept homosexuality, the criminalization of same-sex relationships is still found in many older colonies such as Singapore. Before 2007, homosexuality or other forms of sexual behavior that didn’t serve the purpose of building a family unit, were punished with imprisonment for life. After reviewing this section of the law in 2007, oral and anal sex were legalized for heterosexuals and female homosexuals only, meaning that homosexual relationships between males are still not legal.
The other aspect we thought which has a strong influence on this matter is religion. One-third of Singaporeans are Buddhists, which have the largest following. Buddhism teaches and expects a certain behavior from you, which is embodied in what is called “the Five Precepts”. The third of these Percepts is about sexual behavior, which forbids relationships between people of the same sex. This means as a gay person being sexually active means breaking the third Percept.
In Switzerland homosexual acts are legal since 1942 and since 2000 you’re punished for discriminating a person because of his or her sexual orientation. In School we learn the main things about sex, such as how to protect ourselves from sexually transmitted infections and diseases (for example Aids).
Sexual education in Singapore teaches the kids that pre-marital sex is not desirable because of the possible risks. Teachers promote abstinence before marriage.
In general, sex has always been a very sensitive issue in Singapore, which people don’t like to speak about and it is very rarely mentioned in public. Of course there are differences between the different communities and its people and everyone has his or her personal opinion on it. Singapore even has had a reputation of being conservative and serious for a long time. A study in the year 2003 accomplished by Durex, a condom company, showed that Singaporeans have the least amount of sex. Thus it doesn’t come as a surprise that that walking around naked in your own home is illegal in Singapore. But now times are slowly changing for the better. Although homosexuality is still illegal, lots of Singaporean gay clubs are becoming more popular and raising support for same-sex rights in Singapore.
As you can see, things are still quite controversial in terms of homosexuality in Singapore, whereas in other countries it is not much of a problem anymore. However, we see the possibility of conditions becoming better for homosexuals in Singapore, although there will always be people against it. Unfortunately there isn’t much we can do about that.(Sa, Al, Ma, Ju)
This article from BBC Asia entitled “Is Fiji on the road to democracy” published on the 16th of September 2014 is about the recent election in Fiji. Since 1987, four coups have taken place in Fiji, because of ethnic tensions. Mr Bainimarama wanted to stop these tensions and therefore made a coup too, in 2006. He overturned the civil government arguing they were corrupt. Furthermore, he preferred the Indigenous Fijians in comparison to the ethnic Indians. Australia and New Zealand as neighbouring countries of Fiji put the new military government under pressure to hold a vote to install a civil government. Consequently, Frank Bainimarama stepped back as Fiji's military chief in order to participate in the polls as a candidate. He wants to keep his power but this time as president elected by the population.
The current election in Fiji doesn’t happen without manipulation. The government has imposed some requirements for campaigning. For instance, only parties, which receive money from outside can for example participate. The voters are also influenced by the press, which is not free at all since the incident in 2006. According to Amnesty International, there is a lot of self-censorship and fear because of the strict laws such as the ban to criticise the government in public. Officially, there has been no more censorship in Fiji since 2012.
What we have to say about this:
The central question of this article is if Fiji is on the road back to democracy. It is said that this long-awaited vote is very important for Fiji’s way towards a more democratic country because it is the first time since the coup of 2006 that people have the opportunity to vote for a new government. But there are observers who think that the vote won’t bring Fiji back on the way to a democratic system. The government has to make rearrangement before this can happen because the fundamental institutions have suffered during the years of suppression. The article also mentions the doubts of certain experts.
In a democracy, all citizens can decide what happens with the state and the government. In order to use this opportunity wisely, one has to be able to make up one’s own opinion. This is only possible if every argument and point of view can be made public and therefore reach the people who can then decide what they agree with or don’t agree with. Thus freedom of press, which is still an issue in Fiji, is crucial for opinion formation and consequently for a democracy.
Corruption is also a problem in Fiji that is a bar to a free democracy. This can’t be solved overnight because the people who are in charge don’t want to give up their powers. In addition, Fiji has been a corrupt state for a long time and this way of governance is engrained in the minds of the citizens. It is a hard and long process to change the way of thinking of a whole nation. So just one democratic, non-corrupt election is not enough, but it is a step into the right direction.
Now that Mr Bainimarama has been voted in, a lot of observers from other countries are wondering about whether he is the right person to bring Fiji back to democracy. These doubts are not unfounded because Bainimarama is one of the most influent military leaders of Fiji. This means that he is used to ruling by decree and he is also used to having a lot of power. Experts therefore think that he might use his political influence in his own favour and this would obviously not lead to a fair and democratic system for Fiji’s population. As we know the person that leads a country contributes a lot to the democratic future of this country.
This election is the first in which the whole population can participate. There is no regard to races. In this poll, all persons are at the same level. But this does not mean, that also in daily life all people are seen as equal. This democratic election does not solve the problems and tensions between the different races. It is crucial for a functioning democracy that the people belonging to the same population can work and form a nation. But in the past many conflicts appeared in Fiji due to racial tensions.
In Switzerland the democracy has been developed over a long period of and it is valued by most people. By contrast, Fijians didn’t come up with the idea on their own, there was also pressure from other states and it is a fairly recent change. Hence mentality of these people is different from ours since they didn’t establish it entirely out of their own will.
Racism is still a big issue in Fiji because for long time, the people were not equal in front of the law. In Switzerland there are also different cultures between the people living in the German, Italian and French speaking part. But they all have the same rights and there are no conflicts between them anymore. Therefore Switzerland is based on a system of collaboration despite the different cultural backgrounds. In contrast to Fiji which still has to overcome racism in order to form a unity. [S.W. Z.K. V.B.]
We have chosen an article from the emBODYindia’s tumblr page, which was published 23rd September 2014. EmBODYindia is a movement lead by a group of Harvard students that has dedicated itself to changing the way women’s bodies are viewed in India. It deals with the general problem of the way women`s bodies are looked at in India, and discusses it with the help of an issue surrounding Indian actress Deepika Padukone. Padukone dealt with being judged by the Times of India, whose article we looked at too when doing our research. The article starts out by describing the way men look at women in India when they are in public. They are sexualized no matter how they behave or how revealing they dress. It then goes on to criticise the way the Indian media, especially the Times of India, handled the issue. Deepika had expressed her feelings saying she felt violated about the way she had been portrayed in a video published a year ago. The video showed her attending a premiere, wearing a low-cut dress that showed a little bit of cleavage. TheTimes of India addressed the topic in their article “Dear Deepika, our point of view”. This article suggests that they did this in a very shaming manner, for example asking sarcastically whether they needed permission to publish further public pictures of her, printing a picture of her with her cleavage encircled and arrowed thus asking for sales and attention for their paper. The way the article is written worsens the portrayal of women’s bodies in the Indian media and emBODYindia asks how women’s bodies can be respected on a larger scale if it isn’t the case in the Indian media. Finally, the organization discusses the wrong idea of ownership of a woman’s body. It says that in India “[g]irls, like property, are still chattel on the marriage market. On the streets, women are leered at like wares on display”. The article calls for Indian women, men and institutions to fight for women’s respect and equality.
What we have to say about this:
The main issues of this article are women’s body rights and how women are constantly being sexualized against their will, just based on their appearance in the media and everyday life. We want to explain why this is so visible in India by looking at their culture and social standards. We also want to look at our mentality towards this topic in Basel and compare the two with each other.
As far as India is concerned, we believe that this isn’t a religious, but more of a social/cultural issue, originating from the patriarchal system. This means that the father is usually viewed as the head of the family. As a result of this, sons are seen as more valuable than daughters since they are considered capable of earning money, carrying on the family line. They stay with their original family and take care of their parents when they grow old. Girls on the other hand aren’t considered of earning money and leave their family once they get married. Even if these facts might not be totally accurate as of today, these ideas might still influence the mentality towards women. The Indian constitution provides the women with the same rights as the men, but this mentality might influence the way that women are treated.
Here in Basel or Europe in general, there are similar ideas about women, although they aren’t quite as apparent today. The idea that men are “breadwinners” is a common one here, women are traditionally considered housewives. This system is an old one, but nowadays it’s a pretty lose one. The difference here is that we generally consider women as equal to men, especially in the business world. An example is the Swiss Federal Council (Bundesrat), which has equally as many women as men.
So is there a ”dress code” for women in India? We found out that in Hinduism, apart from signs for being married like the bindi or bangles (which have become fashionable among all women, married or not), there are no dress codes. The traditional sari shows the midriff, which was mentioned as being sexualized in the article. So again the sexualization of women’s bodies based on what they wear is also a cultural issue. We assume this might be because of western standards influencing Indian mentality, but we can’t be sure. The important thing to us is that women and men are not looked at in the same way. This becomes very apparent in the way women are judged by what they wear or how they behave. If a woman shows some cleavage, she is “asking” for attention. The sad thing is that when we think about that issue here in Basel, we find it quite similar. Women are objectified based on what they wear and men usually aren’t. The cause of this is religion. In the Bible women are told to dress modestly and although Christianity isn’t important as a religion to most people here, it is as a mentality. In conclusion, we think that gender inequality should be globally recognized and fought against, by both women and men. We might have to start with a campaign like emBODYindia, (which we support thoroughly) but we can and will make a difference by just recognizing, addressing and trying to change the issue. (M.P./ M.A./ S.H.)
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