RR Tourism by Damien Wee

I do not agree with the writer as I believe that tourism benefits the local people. It brings about economic development, allowing people to have a higher standard of living. When tourists enter a country, they will spend money and this will bring in revenue for the country. The writer stated in the passage that in 2011 alone, the tourism industry created more than 4 million jobs - 11.1% of Philippine's total employment. It was also stated that in 2012 alone, tourism contributed 6% of Philippine's GDP. Whereas in Singapore, tourism receipts were estimated to be approximately $18.8 billion in 2010. These examples show how much revenue tourism can bring in when tourists spend money in exchange for goods and services provided by the local people. This opens up job opportunities for the locals and they will have a source of income to support their families. With more money, locals will also increase their consumption rate, allowing them to be able to afford better goods and services. Through taxes, the government also benefits as they would be able to use the money to improve public infrastructure, which also benefits the locals. Thus, I believe that tourism is beneficial as it helps people to achieve a higher standard of living.

RR Tourism by Tan Han Yu

I agree with the writer that mass tourism threatens to destroy a country's natural environment. Large areas of land, usually forested areas or coastal areas where there is a rich diversity of flora and fauna, have to be cleared in order to make way for the hotels, theme parks, tourist attractions, to accommodate the tourists. In the passage, the writer stated "When coastal areas are converted into beach resorts, mangrove areas and corals that serve as fish sanctuaries are damaged or even completely removed." This shows that in order to make way for the needs of the tourists, it has an adverse impact on biodiversity, clearing the mangrove trees, the corals. The animals living in these environments will also be affected. As the corals are cleared, the fishes will not be able to survive due to the unsuitable conditions, and thus, might lead to the extinction of species. In Singapore, the mangrove forest cover has been reduced from an estimated 13% in the 1820's to only 0.5% of the total land area. Most of the forested areas in Singapore are being cleared due to urbanisation, for the building of hotels, shopping malls to attract tourists. This can lead to loss of many different species of both plants and animals. Thus, I agree with the writer that tourism threatens a county's natural environment.

RR Tourism by Tan Jun Na

I agree with the writer’s perspective that mass tourism can destroy a country’s environment. Tourism has led to climate change and environment problems. The writer states that it has an adverse impact on biodiversity, causing damage in coastal areas that are converted into beach resorts, mangrove areas and coral that serve as fish sanctuaries. Carbon emissions and air pollution will increase, making greenhouse gases rise and contributing to global warming. Global warming threatens agricultural production, fresh water supplies and the survival of native species and ecosystems. The impacts of a warming world are concerning enough when considered one by one, but the view worsens when you consider them collectively; more cyclones, more droughts, more floods. In Singapore, gazette hotel room revenue was estimated at $1.9 million, and we may have to sacrifice our natural habitat to build those hotels to facilitate tourism. Singapore has little land, with a mere area of 719.1km². We have to clear away precious greenery, harm nature, for urbanization to take place. Worldwide, 90% forest, 67% birds, 40% mammals, 5% amphibians and reptiles are lost for the rapid development for hotels for tourists. It is a pity how animal life is lost to build infrastructure for tourists. Thus, mass tourism has affected the environment adversely.

RR Tourism by Ari Lim

I agree with the writer that tourism threatens a country as it causes negative impacts on the environment. Mass tourism causes many natural areas like forests and coastal areas to be converted into hotels and resorts in order to cope with the rising amount of tourists, which brings about a loss of vegetation areas and a loss of biodiversity. The writer stated that “When coastal areas are converted into beach resorts, mangrove areas and corals that serve as fish sanctuaries are damaged or even completely removed.” This evidence is significant as it shows that due to more coastal land being used for tourism related infrastructures, it affects the flora and fauna occupying these areas, which are the mangrove trees as well as the fishes. It destroyed the habitat of the fishes, and thus the fishes may not be able to survive elsewhere due to the unsuitable environment. Hence this shows that due to deforestation for tourism, it may even result in extinction of an animal species. "Forest area in Singapore was last measured at 3.29% of Singapore total land area in 2011, according to the World Bank." In Singapore, due to our land scarcity, majority of the forested land in Singapore has been converted to form urbanised areas. Tourism in Singapore is one of the factor in contributing to more urban areas, as more shopping centres and hotels have to be constructed in order to satisfy the booming tourism industry. As such, we are losing large amounts of forested land, which affects the environment. Hence, I can conclude that tourism causes negative impact on the environment.

RR Tourism by Ong Kan Wu

The first reason why I agree with this statement is due to the fact that tourism Brings negative effect on the country's environment. I agree with the author whereby he said about tourism having an adverse impact on the biodiversity. As tourism causes deforestation as places need to be made way for tourists to live in and also for tourists attraction, causing certain species to lose their homes. This causes one's country to have certain species to be extinct, causing a loss of biodiversity. For example, one of the research that the author made is that' carbon emissions and air pollution also significantly increase, as more air and land-based vehicles are needed to transport tourists from one destination to another' as you can see from this research, tourism brings many tourists to the country and causes more vehicles to travel on roads or more aero planes to travel in air to the country. This causes a huge increase in the carbon dioxide emission and the increase in carbon dioxide emission causes global warming as carbon dioxide traps heat causing a negative effect on the environment.
According to a research that I made,'About 5% of the land in Singapore has been dedicated to serve as natural parks.' Natural parks are common sites for tourists to go and enjoy the scenery. And 5 percent of Singapore land area is quite a lot of space. 'Singapore holds many bio-diverse ecosystems due to its suitable location near the equator. Singapore has already lost most of its natural environment and biodiversity due to rapid development in the last 30 years'. Due to urbanization, including building of infrastructures for tourism, the biodiversity of our county, Singapore has been lost, hence, affecting our environment in a very negative way. Hence, I feel that tourism like the author says, affects the country's environment and hence, this is one of the factor that causes me to feel that mass tourism threatens to destroy a country's culture and environment and affect the local people.

Could teenage love wreck your life?

After reading this article, I agree that teenage love is a prominent factor in the increase of depression rates in teenagers. According to the article, the more interest that an adolescent expressed in romance, the larger their increase in depression as compared with their counterparts who showed no or little interest. This shows that being very involved in romantic relationships at a young age leads to a higher chance of being depressed. I think this is because teenagers are not very strong and mature emotionally since we do throw tantrums every now and then. As compared to adults, teenagers has lesser worries and are not as exposed to a variety of hardships in the society as they are still studying and are still financially supported by their families. Hence, I feel that teenagers are not ready to be involved in intimate relationships yet because they are not emotionally strong. Therefore, teenagers will not be able to handle the emotional distress and will be easily depressed when the relationship does not work out.

Young Love no longer tabboo in China

China has always been a country with strong competition among the young due to the high population in China. Hence, people often seek comfort and relieve their stress with their loved ones. However, teenagers are now doing it via other means such as exercising as they realise that puppy love may bring other troubles and worries to them. They will not be able to focus on their studies, which is extremely important to the Chinese as they depend on their studies greatly for their future