Singaporeans have come alongside international volunteers to aid Japan's recovery efforts through CRASH Japan, a non-profit Christian disaster relief organization. (AFP photo)

By Daphne Seah

For many people now, Japan's March 2011 earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster feels distant. Yet, after extensive debris clearing, rebuilding and radiation cleanup in affected areas are just starting, according to news reports.

Throughout these 18 months, Singaporeans have come alongside international volunteers to aid Japan's recovery efforts through CRASH Japan, a non-profit Christian disaster relief organization. Former pastor Paul Teoh, 51, is one of them.

Since May 2011, this English Presbytery Mission Committee member has travelled to Japan six times, making "survey trips" and leading volunteer teams. And Teoh's latest involvement is CRASH's Million Cranes Campaign.

Launched early last month, this global movement joins previous campaigns from America and UK, encouraging people to fold origami cranes and selling them to raise money.

Speaking to Yahoo! Singapore from Tokyo, Teoh thinks this is a very good way for Singaporeans to continue helping. He says, "Besides

Social Rehab allows participants to spend a night out with friends -- without the presence of their mobile phones. (Yahoo! photo)

The drinks are flowing, the conversation is scintillating, it's a laugh-a-minute and so far, even though the night's just begun, you're having a ball and can't wait for what the rest of the evening promises.

On your phone, that is.

Let's face it, pretty much everyone has been guilty of this modern-day dilemma in our technology-ridden lives — whether to address the person(s) sitting across from you on a night out, or reply to a recent Tweet (read: insert relevant alternative media platform here) from someone on your list. Maybe it would best be summed up in a Tweet like this: 'Do I Instagram my drink for all others to see or actually talk to my date? First-world problems, lol! # You're doing it wrong, regardless.'

Sound familiar? Brands and a vast array of social media platforms want you to interact on every possible front, in every possible way. Today, you see the most avid users of social media informing their community of every possible nuance and update in their lives.

Complaining can become a habit. (AFP file photo)

Complain—it's something we all do.

We complain about congested roads, high COE prices, expensive housing, hot weather, unreasonable bosses and bad service.

But even though we complain so much, most of us don't know exactly why we complain so much.

Are our lives really that bad? What do we hope to achieve by complaining?

Or, in a strange way, have we come to enjoy complaining as a kind of hobby?

I've come up with three reasons why we complain:

1. We believe that life should be fair, when in fact it's not.

For example, it seems unfair that some people are rich, while some people are poor. Now there's something to complain about, right? After all, it seems like the rich have it so much better than everyone else.

But life isn't fair; some people are dealt better cards than others. And if you think about it, we Singaporeans have been dealt pretty good cards.

We live in a developed country with access to many resources and opportunities. Things definitely could be a lot worse.

Moreover, no

Keyis Ng (left) with his co-founder of Digital Fashion Week, Charina Widjaja. (Yahoo! photo)

He was called "The Next Big Name in Singapore" by CNNGo in 2011 but not so long ago, he was an O-level flop who amassed 36 points for his exam.

Now the founder of a leading fashion lifestyle events and public relations firm, Keyis Ng is blazing a trail on on the Singapore and regional fashion scene.

The 24-year old entrepreneur, who was the first Singaporean to be featured on global trendspotters site, SpringWise.com, says hard work, guts and passion led him to turn his life around.

During a recent hour-long interview at his office in Chinatown, Ng said his parent's divorce when he was just two forced him to grow up quickly. "I'm happy that my Mom and Dad are divorced because if they're still together now, I don't think I will be what I am today. I might still be in school or university studying business, for example. So I won't be doing whatever I'm doing now."

Dressed in a casual blue polo T-shirt and beige pants, he said he spent his early childhood with his maternal aunt in

Education is not just about school. (Getty Images)

So you've gone through 10 or 16 years—or maybe even longer than that—of formal schooling.

You've memorized countless formulas, and you've taken more tests and exams than you care to recall.

You've done thousands of homework assignments and you've sat through hours and hours of lectures.

You've accumulated various certificates, diplomas and degrees.

I guess that means you're educated, right?

Schooling = education?

Schooling has become synonymous with education.

Most people think that if you have a bachelor's degree, then you must be educated. If you have a PhD, then you must be very educated.

In this article, I challenge the notion of what it means to be educated.

Work hard in school so that you can get good grades, so that you can get more educational qualifications, so that you can get a job that pays you well, so that you can lead a more comfortable life, so that you can be happy.

This is a familiar story we heard many times as we were growing up. It's a story that assumes that more

Help your child be happy and successful. (Getty images)

No matter how old you are, do your parents sometimes get on your nerves?

Do you feel like you learn more from your parents what not to do if you want to be a good parent, rather than what you should actually be doing?

I'm guessing that you answered "yes" to at least one of those questions.

Parenting is clearly an awesome responsibility that involves an incredible amount of hard work.

It definitely isn't easy to be a great parent!

Parents have good intentions, but they do make mistakes

Since writing my book, The Happy Student: 5 Steps to Academic Fulfillment and Success, I've had the privilege of speaking to and working with thousands of students and parents.

I also offer a mentoring programme where I work with students to help them maximize their education and pursue excellence.

Through all of these interactions, I've come to realize that, despite their good intentions, parents often do things that confuse, annoy, anger or frustrate their children.

I'm not a parent myself, but I've

MP Lawrence Wong complains about politicising over two recent events. (Screengrab)

COMMENT

Lawrence Wong's outburst online, accusing some of politicising "every activity or conversation", is just the latest in the government's penchant for such accusations.

"Politics is important," Wong wrote on his Facebook page. "But surely we do not want to end up in a situation where every activity or conversation in this country becomes politicised, where our people are polarized by political beliefs, where Singaporeans are set against Singaporeans based on creed or political affiliation."

Just a few weeks ago, Law Minister K Shanmugam basically pointed the same finger at opposition Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Sylvia Lim for the same. Lim had asked about whether the Attorney General's choice of charges against surgeon Woffles Wu had addressed "public concerns about the equitability of the legal system."

Shanmugam replied, asking that Lim should base her position on facts, ""rather than referring to some unnamed lawyers she says know better".

"Because I think

A man and a woman look at a smartphone at a shop. (AFP photo)

Has this ever happened to you?

You're having lunch with a few friends. Midway through the meal, your friends start talking about something you couldn't care less about.

Maybe they start talking about rugby.

But you're the type who can't tell rugby apart from American football, and you don't plan to ever be able to.

Not surprisingly, you feel a sudden overwhelming urge to check your phone.

Maybe you've received a new message or email?

If not, you could play a game of Bejeweled or Angry Birds, or you could watch a funny video.

The danger of smartphones

Most of us have probably found ourselves in a similar situation before.

This example demonstrates how much amazing technology is packed into something so small and portable like a smartphone.

But this example is also a reflection of something much more serious. Something sinister, even.

Smartphones are causing us to become dumb.

The ability to access Facebook, Twitter and YouTube—not to mention everything else on the Internet—using your