Moji Motions

Nationalism is the idea that a person's nation is superior to all others. It is the emergence of a group identity based upon a shared sense of history, cultural, ethnic, or linguistic ties. The difference between nationalism and patriotism is the feeling of superiority; in the eyes of nationalists, loyalty to and pursuing the interests of the nation are more important than anything else. States often curate nationalism by incorporating nationalist ideas in school curriculums, national symbols, monuments, etc.

For the purposes of the debate, 'radical environmentalism' refers to the use of aggression or disruption (e.g. vandalism, sabotage, civil disobedience) in the name of environmentalist campaigns. An example of 'radical environmentalism' was when members of the Just Stop Oil campaign vandalized Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in the National Gallery and subsequently glued their hands to the wall in 2022.

In percentile-based scoring system, students get score based on their percentile: A certain percentage get HD, another get DI/CR and another get PA/NN. For example: 90% percentile get HD, 70% percentile get DI, 50% get CR, 30% get PA and the others get NN. However, in performance-based scoring system, students get score based on their performance. For example: Score 90/100 means A, 80/100 means B, etc, ...

(1) Phan Thanh Giản was one of the foremost mandarins of the Nguyễn court. He played a key role in negotiating the Treaty of Saigon with the French in 1862. The treaty had 12 clauses, the most important being : Art. 2- Đại Nam (the country’s name then) allows French and Spanish missionaries to preach and the Vietnamese to practice the Christian faith freely. Art. 3- Đại Nam cedes to France the three eastern provinces of Biên Hòa, Gia Định and Định Tường and the island of Poulo Condor (Côn Đảo). Art. 8- Đại Nam agrees to pay France 4 million dollars worth of silver over 10 years as war reparation. Art. 11- France will return Vĩnh Long Province to Đại Nam once the three eastern provinces have been pacified. (2) Phan Thanh Giản was later recalled to Huế to get instructions to conduct an extraordinary embassy to Paris and negotiate the return of the eastern provinces. In Paris, after intense discussions, French Minister of the Navy and the Colonies Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat opposed the return of Cochinchina to Vietnam, and with the threat of resignation of the whole cabinet, forced Napoleon III to order the cancellation of the proposed agreement in June 1864. Thus the Saigon Treaty of 1862 remained in full effect. Because of his main role in the negotiations, Phan Thanh Giản was blamed by the Vietnamese people and the Huế Court.

The successful tuition fee model refers to a system where students only pay their tuition fees for university if they achieve the expected outcome of the course they undertake. The expected outcome will be determined by the average pay of recent graduates, or by the average ranking of the universities graduates attend for postgraduate education. E.g. if the average pay of a graduate is VND 10,000,000; and a graduate earns VND 8,000,000, the graduate is not required to pay their tuition fees.

The landlocked and mountainous Laos aims to become the "Battery of Southeast Asia" to boost its economy and escape its prolonged poverty by exporting hydropower electricity harnessed through its dams on the Mekong River system to its richer neighbours. The development plan was financed through loan grants from China and currently has 16 hydropower stations, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, as downstream (Lower Mekong) countries, are protesting against dams built in China and Laos (Upper Mekong) for contributing to the prolonged drought conditions in the entire Indochina region.