Winter Valley (2015 Korea)
by
K. Song
Winter Valley
Posted by Focus Pacific on June 2nd, 2025
Jian Zhi
Posted by Focus Pacific on May 26th, 2025
Jian Zhi
by
Wang S.
The art of Chinese paper cutting (jian zhi) is considered one of the oldest forms of folk art in China. Created in Baoji about 2,000 years ago, the art has gradually become a mixture of Chinese people’s spirit and Chinese culture. Jian zhi is generally created for festivals (especially for the Spring Festival) and is placed on walls, windows, and even lanterns to bring joy and luck.
Jian zhi features a diverse range of exaggerated figures and objects. For example, a fish may be bigger than a boat to make the fish, not the boat, the focus on the piece. A traditional way to make jian zhi is to fold the paper and then draw lines on one side, which are to be used for cutting with a pair of scissors. This means that jian zhi pieces are always symmetrical. However, the artist sometimes places some Chinese characters on their work. Because these characters are not symmetrical, the paper needs to be opened, and a knife is used to carve the required character. In this way, the art consists of different techniques and requires the creator’s ability to both cut and carve. Even a small mistake could ruin the whole work.
(Image source: http://img4.imgtn.bdimg.com/it/u=2725856005,1714543105&fm=21&gp=0.jpg)
In terms of tools, the scissors are most commonly used, but there are many other tools, including pencils, knives, brushes, and synthetic dyes. Jian zhi pieces sometimes need to be colored because of their themes. Here an electric iron may be used to press wet (dyed) paper. In this regard, jian zhi is not as easy as some people think. It requires many techniques and skills that require years of training and practice.
Chinese paper cutting is an important part of Chinese culture, particularly because its themes always derive from Chinese folk stories and show people’s sentiments. Jian zhi is clearly a form of Chinese art worthy of being preserved and promoted.
Ozone Layer Depletion
Posted by Focus Pacific on May 24th, 2025
In the list of the most hazardous global environmental concerns, the problem of ozone layer depletion can be viewed as a worldwide concern since 1970s. It mainly refers to two different kinds of depletions which are correlated with each other. One is a steady decline of about 4% in the total volume of ozone in the Earth’s stratosphere which is also called as the ozone layer and the other is springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone around Earth’s Polar Regions which is of much higher level. The second phenomenon is also called as the ozone hole. Apart from these stratospheric phenomena, there are also various other springtime polar troposphere ozone depletion events.
The ozone layer forms an invisible layer of protection around the planet Earth protecting us from the harmful rays of the Sun. Depletion of the Ozone layer of the atmosphere is mainly caused due to the pollution of Chlorine and Bromide found in Chloro-floro carbons commonly referred as CFC’s. When these toxic gases reach the upper atmosphere, it makes a hole in the ozone layer. The biggest and the most threatening of such holes are above the Antarctic.
So, how to resolve this problem? The best can be done through the government of all the nations who must take strict steps to ban the usage of CFCs in industries and consumer products and protect ozone layer which prevents us from harmful UV radiations.
Alex Tan
Restoring LB’s glory
Posted by Focus Pacific on May 18th, 2025
It was October last year when Given Grace Cebanico, a computer science student at the University of the Philippines Los Banos was raped and murdered just outside the school campus.
The tragic event caused such an alarm. The townspeople forced their officers to impose stronger security ordinances – more security guards, more CCTV cameras and stricter curfews.
Barely a year later, news of a student at Batong Malake National High School being raped and killed broke out and spread throughout the city. Soon enough, residents grew afraid to step out of their homes at night, their main reason being “it’s no longer safe.”
(source: http://www.bukidresort.com)
But let’s face it: No city is truly safe these days. Those crimes captured on CCTVs from all over the country and broadcast on primetime news programs are just one proof of this fact.
What is to blame for this growing trend? Poverty? Corruption? Greed?
Safety, above everything else, begins with discipline. A little discipline goes a long way. If more people had restraint, then crime rates in the Philippines would decrease. That way there would be less stealing, less murders and fewer victims.
Also, choose who you trust wisely. This is an essential tool in building a safer place for future generations. Citizens should be responsible enough to maintain that trust.
Lastly, there is the matter of conscience. Know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. Safety cannot be achieved if we ourselves are the perpetrators.
In the end, it all comes down to our ignorance. As citizens and as individuals, we all must make an effort to make our city safer for the better of us citizens. After all, it won’t hurt to try.
Tina Magpusao
Coming clean: Drug and alcohol testing in the workplace
Posted by Focus Pacific on May 13th, 2025
Coming clean: Drug and alcohol testing in the workplace
Drug testing in the workplace is a comparatively new situation that is observed to exist globally, relocating all around companies operating in developing countries. Others state authoritatively that it should be carried out because it is a practical way of controlling drug abuse in the workplace. Arguments occur in the workplace drug testing. The problems cover from privacy questions to duty every individual has to perform. This topic is to be covered with questions like whether examination results exactly serve an indication of substance abuse in the workplace or if they primarily manifest activities outside of the workplace.
The initial debate in favor of Workplace Drug Testing involves most to “safety-critical” business occupations like medicine, transport and construction where disabled senses and discrimination can have impactful outcomes. In addition, advocates of Workplace Drug Testing claim that employers have a “duty of care” to produce a secure working environment.
The justification and opposition are immeasurable. Oppositions of the benefit of Workplace Drug Testing do not argue that it can display only use instead of the influence of presentation, nor can it recognize between use and abuse. Workplace Drug Testing lifts a variety of moral concerns, including the privacy of personal information and whether an employer has a freedom to know what employees do outside of working hours. Moreover, Workplace Drug Testing is not totally reliable, resulting rare “false positives”.
R. Soriano
