Philip Jong

In June 2024, the Government of Ontario abruptly announced the permanent closure of the Ontario Science Centre at its current location in the city of Toronto (where I live). The news followed plans made by the provincial government in April 2023 to relocate the center to Ontario Place, presently closed in part for redevelopment, to be reopened in 2028 as part of the city’s waterfront revitalization. Originally named the Centennial Museum of Science and Technology, the center was initially set to open in 1967 during the Canadian Centennial celebration. However, construction of the center was delayed such that it was not until September 1969 when the center was finally open to the public. Unlike most other science museums of the time, the center chose a predominantly interactive approach to science education by utilizing a combination of hands-on exhibits and live demonstrations to engage visitors about science. Aside from the many permanent displays and galleries (the planetarium being the most recognizable), the center had also featured a number of traveling exhibits since its opening which frequently explored the role of science in arts and popular culture. Unfortunately, despite undergoing significant capital renovation between 2001 and 2007, the center gradually fell into a state of disrepair due to continual structural decay in both the main facilities and the surrounding structures. The decision by the government to now close the center was based on an engineering survey of the center’s roof revealing that some sections of the roof were structurally compromised and were thus at high risk of collapse from accumulating snow during winter. The unexpected closure of the Ontario Science Centre was met with public outcry. Opponents of the closure claimed that the decision was politically motivated. Proponents of the closure, on the other hand, argued that it would be a waste of public funds to repair a facility already destined to be relocated. I have many fond memories of visiting the Ontario Science Centre both as a child and as an adult. Regardless of the center’s future, it is tragic that the center did not receive a proper farewell from the public which it so well deserved.

The desire for attention has led to the emergence of a new form of maladaptive behaviors among self-professed influencers on social media in recent years. Colloquially dubbed main character syndrome, it describes the distorted behaviors of influencers who fantasize themselves as the protagonists of their own life stories that are being played out publicly in front of an imagined audience. They act as if they are the star of their own shows and people in their lives exist solely as supportive cast of their performances. They romanticize (manufactured) struggles of their lives so to seek validation from others for their (faked) triumphs. While these influencers may also exhibit traits of narcissism, their behaviors are largely performative only to benefit the specific narratives they want to shape. Recently, a number of social media influencers with this syndrome are being called out for acting out in public while ignoring basic cultural and social norms. Their actions are often racist, misogynistic, or culturally insensitive and are deliberately made to provoke individuals whom the influencers regard as the antagonists in their twisted narratives. They ignore criticisms of their wrongdoings but are blinded by false approvals from their fans who are motivated to cheer them to continue their self-absorbed behaviors. A few of these influencers have even been arrested for public nuisance and harassment because of their actions. For these individuals, the toxic main character archetype they have adopted has grown beyond the social media persona which they initially imitate to become a part of their self-identity which they now use to reinforce their fictional lives.

Artistic creativity has long been a defining trait of the human species. Since the advent of civilization, the creation of art has been a measure of human spirit and imagination through which human intellect is expressed. In a painting, for example, a painter’s creativity is conveyed solely through a deliberate application of pigments on a canvas by the painter. With recent advancements in artificial intelligence, however, a new form of generative art has challenged the conventional paradigm of artistic expression when a computer algorithm can now be used in part or in whole to create the artwork. Artificial neural networks employing different models of machine learning, such as those used in DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, are being trained to develop complex algorithms with which an artist can use to direct with ease the creation of a generative image. Because the resultant artwork no longer uniquely represents the artist’s vision since it can be perfectly replicated or regenerated, critics are calling into question the originality of generative art in how it degrades the essence of artistic creation. On the other hand, proponents argue that generative algorithm is merely another tool akin to a paintbrush which an artist can use to paint on a digital canvas. While generative art will unlikely herald the end of human artistic creativity, the utility of its practice needs to be weighed carefully to ensure that it will not stifle or trivialize artistic endeavors that have historically defined human culture.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 marks the end of the longest reign of a British monarch. For many Canadians, the Queen’s passing has reignited the longstanding debate on the relevancy of the constitutional monarchy in Canada. Her reign, which lasted for 70 years, heralded a period of remarkable but also turbulent transition for the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Yet, in the later years of her reign, the Queen had stood as a symbol of stability and resilience in an increasingly divided world. She was most admired for keeping a sense of duty above all else and for humanizing the otherwise detached monarchy while modernizing the institution from the fallout of colonialism that once defined the British Empire. For Canada, the monarchy is deeply embedded in the country’s constitution that governs its parliamentary and judicial systems. Abolishing the Queen (or now the King) as the head of state would require fundamental changes in the constitution that are unlikely to happen in the current political climate. While the rise of nationalism over the past decades in Canada will continue to champion republicanism as a replacement, it may be mere indifference toward the monarchy among most Canadians that will dictate its fate in this country for the foreseeable future.

In June 2022, Canada experienced the highest inflation rate recorded in almost four decades. The pervasive inflation has resulted in higher prices of almost all consumer goods and services including food, gas, and rental. It mirrored the inflation surge also observed in many other countries around the world since last year. Economists theorized that the current inflation was caused by a combination of global supply shortages secondary to manufacturing slowdowns during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, volatility in the international energy (particularly oil) market, geopolitical instability from war in Eastern Europe, and even a paradoxical consumer demand increase as the world emerges from a protracted period of economic downturn and high unemployment due to the pandemic. So far, counter-inflationary monetary policies taken by the Government of Canada have not been sufficient to ease the varying economic pressures that are driving up the inflation rate. Not surprisingly, low-income, underprivileged, and marginalized populations have been impacted the greatest by the current inflation. As a Canadian, I am shocked by the rise in the cost of living over the past months which I have not witnessed before in my adult life. Aggressive economic measures are needed immediately to quell the perfect storm that is now fueling the inflation crisis in Canada.

Modern celebrity culture first took shape in the 19th century in the US when societal elites sought to gain social prominence and publicity among the general populace. Over time, it expanded to include individuals who aspired for influence in the public eye by overtly allowing their own personal lives to be exposed for mass consumption. The rise of mass media during the past decades has propelled celebrity culture into the public consciousness by constantly bombarding us with the latest celebrity gossip in the endless news cycle. Despite its popularity, critics have long contended that it is a toxic culture perpetually fueled by the maladaptive behaviors of celebrities and their followers. For celebrities, influence is not attained by being a positive role model whose moral virtues inspire their followers to be better. Rather, these celebrities often confuse greatness with notoriety and seek only to achieve the latter through manufactured drama and spectacle ("famous for being famous"). For their followers, celebrities are seen as legitimate targets of public scrutiny and criticism merely because of their fame. Worst yet, these followers are quick to invoke cancel culture to take down celebrities so to shame them into disrepute. Social media has further diminished the boundaries separating these groups, providing a direct avenue through which the toxic elements of the culture are amplified. Until our obsession with celebrity culture can be curtailed, it will forever threaten to erode our common decency and mutual respect toward each other.

The recent discovery of large numbers of unmarked graves, mostly of children, at sites of former residential schools in Canada has reignited the nation’s attention on the tragic history of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Amended in 1894, the Indian Act mandated the compulsory schooling of all Indigenous youths, mostly in residential schools, with the misguided goal to assimilate them into the dominant Christian and Euro-colonial culture. Funded mostly by the federal government, these schools were largely administered by churches in many provinces where they were nominally operated. More than 150,000 children were forced into the system until the closure of the last residential school in 1997. Displaced from their families, these children suffered from both physical and mental abuse while being deprived of their ancestral heritage. At least 6,000 children died from malnutrition and disease, particularly tuberculosis and influenza, in residential schools due to poor living conditions. Bodies of these children were not returned to their families but were simply buried in large grave sites on school grounds. In 2008, the Government of Canada finally issued a formal apology to the Indigenous communities over the utter failure of the residential school system. The landmark findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015 further concluded that actions taken by residential schools amounted to cultural genocide to systematically extinguish the spirit of the Indigenous people. More recently, discovery of these grave sites has sparked widespread public outcry across the country demanding the removal of public monuments and statues of historical figures considered to be key architects of the residential school system. Over a century later, it is time for all Canadians to rise up to confront the country’s tragic legacy and to make amends with those who had been wronged by it.

The World Health Organization identified vaccine hesitancy as among the top threats to global health in 2019. Simply speaking, vaccine hesitancy refers to the reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated against vaccine-preventable diseases despite availability of effective and safe vaccines. Even before the introduction of the first vaccine in 1796, opposition based on religious grounds already existed for centuries earlier against the practice of variolation used to induce immunity against smallpox at a time when the disease was endemic and highly lethal. Nowadays, resistance against vaccination is mostly rooted in systemic misinformation and public mistrust over ethical, political, or medical pseudo-arguments. Social media on the internet further gives rise to a platform by which anti-vaxxers can spread vaccine falsehood that ignores current scientific evidence. In recent years, inadequate vaccination has led to a resurgence in measles, pertussis, and other contagious diseases around the world. The current COVID-19 pandemic has reignited the dangers of vaccine hesitancy, as countries race toward mass vaccination to attain both host and herd immunity in order to protect their populations. While working as a frontline health professional, I had been personally confronted by anti-vaccination protestors who sought to spread false anti-science rhetoric about vaccines to the public. Until more is done to combat vaccine hesitancy, we will remain at risk of undoing the progress in global health we have achieved with vaccination and putting ourselves at risk for another pandemic in the future.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (or COVID-19) as a pandemic. First identified in China, the disease has now been registered in more than 200 countries worldwide. At least 12 million cases have been reported so far, resulting in over half a million deaths. The pandemic has exposed both inadequacies and inequalities in healthcare in countries that did not respond expeditiously to this global health crisis. In addition to unparalleled social and economic impacts, the pandemic has also unmasked great cultural injustice (including racism and xenophobia) and even greater political divide. While many countries have succeeded eventually in mounting public health measures to “flatten the curve” to slow down regional spread, a few countries are still failing consistently at present to implement similar strategies (such as diagnostic testing and contact tracing) in time to control the outbreak. As a health professional myself, I feel strongly that a continual and coordinated federal, provincial, and municipal public health effort is mandatory for Canada where I live in order to maintain the success that the country has achieved thus far in limiting the impact of this pandemic on Canadians. Until a vaccine or cure becomes available, COVID-19 will continue to be among the greatest global threats—health or otherwise—that humankind has ever faced to date.

Increasing reliance on social media to resolve interpersonal discourse has led to the rise of cancel culture. In its most basic display, individuals of high social stature are being called out in public for a seemingly questionable act or opinion made in their past and are subsequently boycotted by the general populace until they are shamed into contrition for the transgression they have allegedly committed. It is an escalation of the current call-out culture, solely aimed to bring its targets into permanent disrepute. While such act might be rooted in social justice that has rightly exposed the immoral behaviors of certain public figures, its frequent misuse has also served to amplify the already toxic and mob mentality of the growing net (or internet) generation. Further, critics question both the fairness and the effectiveness of this new form of cultural boycott, arguing that it is often disproportionate, petty, impossible to defend, and easy to manipulate. Celebrities who received such backlash have rarely suffered any long-lasting consequences. Worst yet, some instigators seek to leverage the resultant drama to boast their own notoriety, thus delegitimizing any effort by genuine victims to call for public justice. As it exists now, the cancel culture cannot be seen as a form of social activism—to promote positive changes through moral behavior modeling and to resolve civil discourse through mutual tolerance and respect.