Topic Reading-Vol.1975-9/7/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Xi explores second 'Golden Decade' of BRICS cooperation

What is BRICS? It is an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. These countries have newly industrialized or rapidly developing in their respective region. Because of their size of their economy and population, and the speed of development, their influence on their regional affairs is significant. Combined, these countries represent about 40% of the world population, nearly a quarter of the gross world product.

They’ve held annual summits since 2009. This year, China was the hosting country and chose Xiamen, or Amoy, to host other four leaders. Though agreements announced after the summit seem somehow political and diplomatic, direct and intimate meetings among Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Narendra Modi, officially and behind the doors, might have produced more significant and impactful outcomes.

Enjoy looking at the executive summary of the summit, and think what else might have agreed or disagreed.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2017-09/04/content_31557550.htm

Topic Reading-Vol.1974-9/6/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The Inauguration Day letter Obama left for Trump

It is customary for an inaugurated president to receive a private letter from the outgoing predecessor in the U.S. But such letters usually haven’t been disclosed to the public until sometime after another president was inaugurated.

Now, a memo from the former president to the new president was revealed only less than nine months from the day it was handed. There are four main pieces of advice in the letter and each piece of advice is filled with carefully and thoughtfully chosen words, and some of them turned out to be foresightful.

Aren’t you interested in reading what the most powerful leader, or one of the two leaders now, in the world wanted to say to his successor?

Enjoy reading the memo and think if any of the advice in the letter has ever been respected by the receiver of the letter.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/09/03/politics/obama-trump-letter-inauguration-day/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.1973-9/5/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

'Make and big song and dance and get publicity' to become a British citizen

While the majority of the Britain citizens voted for a departure from EU, there are always some people who wish to live in the UK permanently or as a citizen.

If you were born outside of the UK, and neither of your parents is a British citizen, the chances to get citizenship are slim. But there are ways to apply for citizenship or a permanent residence permit if all the requirements are met.

One of such requirements seems to need an interpretation; like if you are of good character, for example, you don't have a serious or recent criminal record, and you haven't tried to deceive the Home Office or been involved in immigration offices in the last 10 years. If what “good character” indicates “have no record of doing any wrongdoing,” that doesn’t sound so difficult.

Also, any application is examined and judged by humans, with the assistance of computer and database, of course, campaigning and petitions by social media may be a great help.

Enjoy reading and thinking what requirements your country has to grant citizenship to foreign applicants.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/41107649/make-and-big-song-and-dance-and-get-publicity-to-become-a-british-citizen

Topic Reading-Vol.1972-9/4/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar near 40,000

Rohingya crisis again. It was October 2016 when a large number of Rohingya tried to flee to Bangladesh from the crackdown by Myanmar’s military forces that were seeking a group of Rohingya attackers who were believed to have killed nine Myanmar border guards.

It is estimated that about one million Rohingya people, mostly Muslims, live in Myanmar. None of them is entitled to a citizenship, freedom of movement, state education or civil service job in the country.

This time, at least 71 people, including 12 members of the security forces, were killed after Rohingya militants attacked border police in August. As the military forces approach, more and more Rohingya rush to cross the border to Bangladesh. But Bangladesh has already the highest population density in the world if city states or small-island states are excluded. There isn’t much room left for refugees.

It seems that a large-scale genocide is going on for the purpose of ethnic cleansing in a country where most of the population practices peaceful Buddhism, and whose de-facto leader is a laureate of the Nobel Prize for Peace. Why?

See the video and photos, and read the article, and think what the world can do to stop such ruthless use of military force.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41120170

Topic Reading-Vol.1971-9/3/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

What if companies printed their own currencies?

Do you remember all the faces on the bank notes and how much do they value respectively?

Banknotes are generally legal tender, payable to the bearer on demand, and are usually issued by central banks. Since they are often intended to reflect the culture, history, and personalities of the issuing country, the graphic design is essential to represent the right and proper image, not to mention to prevent counterfeits.

While plastic cards, online currencies, and mobile payments are becoming more popular day by day, the circulation of bank notes still shows the power and influence of the economy.

But what about “corporate notes” issued by major corporations, such as Apple, Google, Facebook or Exon-Mobile with their founders or leaders faces printed? A graphic designer came up with several of such “what-if bank notes” designs for fun.

Enjoy reading the article and seeing those images, and think who deserves such honor to be printed on corporate notes and held in wallets.

By the way, when do you think China will have a new character on their bank notes?

(Currently, all of their bank notes, regardless of the value, show Mao Zedong)

http://edition.cnn.com/style/article/jade-dalloul-brand-currency/index.html

Topic Reading-Vol.1970-9/2/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

What should schools to put first? Discipline or creativity?

Is that a matter of preference or priority? It seems that people’s preference on what should be emphasized in schools reflects aspects of culture, ideology and social order.

A recent research conducted in 19 countries shows that countries like Spain, Germany, and Canada prefer emphasizing creativity and independent thinking on education while more people in the UK, Kenya and Nigeria want to prioritize teaching academic basics. Interestingly, the US and Japan are pretty much evenly divided while China wants both aspects taught equally in schools.

The study also finds that such preferences seem to stem not just from the cultural background but also from the political stance. For instance, liberals seem to want students to develop creativity but conservatives think skills are more practical.

Another interesting finding is that the higher the education budget or weight is in a country, the lower the cost to keep the society in order.

Enjoy reading and thinking what priorities you’d set for education.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-41082408

Topic Reading-Vol.1969-9/1/2017

Dear MEL Topic Readers,

The mind games of online reviews

When you plan a trip whether on business or for a vacation, how do you usually get information of the hotels to stay in, places to visit or restaurants to eat at? Do you only look at the websites that are provided by those sites, or also check the ratings and comments that are posted by the reviewers?

More and more people seem to depend on such ratings by people who have never met before, to choose, book or purchase something via their smartphones.  

But how reliable those ratings are? There seem to be three problems rating reviews and they are; overrated ratings, overrated critics, overrated other reviewers.

Enjoy watching the video and think how you are managing information technology to you job.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170828-the-mind-games-of-online-reviews