5 APA Referenced Hyperlinks I Used.

BBC (2015): Dark side of K-Pop. Retrieved: April 17th 2015, from:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13760064

UN (2015): Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved: April 17th 2015, from:
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/#atop

Seoul Beats (2015): Sleep vs. Stardom. Retrieved: April 19th 2015, from:
http://seoulbeats.com/2012/01/sleep-vs-stardom-the-never-ending-battle/

Eat Your Kimchi (2015): Meet Your Kimchi. Retrieved: April 19th 2015, from:
http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/kpop-slave-contracts/

Wikipedia (2015): The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved: April 23rd 2015, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladies%27_Code#2014.E2.80.93present:_.22So_Wonderful.22.2C_.22Kiss_Kiss.22.2C_and_car_accident

All Hyperlinks Used.

EXO Luhan.

Behind The Scenes.

Dark Side Of KPop.

The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights.

Sleeping Habits.

Sleep vs. Stardom.

Krystal Fainting Spell SMTOWN.

EYK: Slave Contracts.

B.A.P Sues Company.

Luhan Claims SM Mistreatment. 

Tao’s Injuries. 

EXO Kris Sues SM.

Ladies Code Crash.

Comments (just in case you couldn’t find them)

Euthanasia:

April 30th 2015:
Such an interesting topic to choose. I definitely agree with you, that Euthanasia should be the persons choice and if society doesn’t see that, it still has a long way to go. I’d hate to see someone i loved in pain and if euthanasia was their choice, who are we to stop them.
Can’t wait to read the rest of your blog (:

May 4th 2015:
Really like the quote you used here ! The use of your hyperlinks is really good as well as they help back up your argument. I didn’t realize so many people in America supported Euthanasia. But with so many people supporting this, it’s mind boggling that so many places still make it illegal. It is so unfair that terminally ill patients don’t have the right to choose. Why do they have to suffer when they don’t have to.
Keep it up (:

May 8th 2015:
In regards to the Brittany Maynard case, it definitely wasn’t fair that she had to travel to a different state when she was terminally ill just because California hadn’t legalized Euthanasia. Cases like these make it more clear that Euthanasia should be made legal as it should be the patients choice and they shouldn’t have to travel so far when they’re so sick.
New Zealand is definitely on the right path, allowing patients that choice. I like how you used the Hippocratic Oath to back up your claim.

Public Transport Should Be Free For Tertiary Students:

April 30th 2015:
Wow. You just made me realize how much money i actually spend on public transport every week. I don’t know whether this is a good or bad thing.
But i definitely agree that public transport for tertiary students should be made free. I mean, we’re already paying thousands of dollars a year for uni. The student concession helps but not by a lot, especially when we factor in everything else we have to pay for.

May 9th 2015:
I want to agree that we should get free transport to get to uni because that would benefit me a lot. But how would the government fund this ? With more tax for everyone else. That wouldn’t be very good for people who don’t get paid much.
If we did get our papers increased, isn’t that the same as paying for our transport? So shouldn’t we just pay for our transport instead of being more in debt later on ?
Great blog, Sam. Will keep reading (:

Death Penalty:

April 30th 2015:
Very interesting topic. I’m not sure how i feel about the death penalty. I’m half half right now. Should we respond to murder with murder ? I’ll follow the rest of your argument to see what your point is. It might help me decide what i think.

May 4th 2015:
The evidence you’ve used really helps to back up your claim. I like how you used statistics from America and NZ. It shows that it’s a relevant issue in more then just NZ. I’m still unsure where I stand on this issue. It’s hard because isn’t killing, in any context, killing ? Why should we be allowed to decide if someone lives or dies. It’s true that the murderer killed someone and made the choice for another but wouldn’t we be considered just as bad if we allowed the death penalty ? I do get where you’re coming from and I’m still in the middle. Good blog. Keep it up (:

Animal Testing:

May 6th 2015:
Really interesting topic you’ve chosen. I’m not sure if where i stand on this because if animal testing was illegal, wouldn’t the next step be testing on humans ? Really good points you’ve made and i’ll have to wait and see where you go with your argument.
A few things you should consider though, is changing your link into a hyperlink to support your argument and i noticed a few grammatical errors, you should check.
Other then that, great blog and i will definitely follow and see where you take this.

Tiger Parents:

May 4th 2015:
I really like the topic you have chosen. I definitely agree that this method of parenting will do more harm then good for the children. It also doesn’t guarantee their children success in the future and they could be doing more damage.
I will say you should be careful and read over your work before you publish as I’ve noticed a few grammatical errors throughout your blog. Also I was a little confused at the start of your post where you stand on this issue so maybe you could make it a little more clear at the start.
But overall, it’s a good blog and topic.

May 8th 2015:
Definitely agree that children need time to play and just be kids. Tiger parents need to realize that without socializing and gaining the social skills kids need, they won’t get anywhere in life. Studying is great for getting a degree but without social skills, what future business will they be able to get. The hyperlinks you use really help to back up your claim.

K-Pop’s Still Awesome.

Through out my research on why K-Pop “slave” contracts should be made illegal as they go against an idols human rights, I still hold strong on my opinion that they should be.

So idols weren’t forced to sign these “slave” contracts. But you have to admit that 13 is a really young age to sign a contract.

This will be my last blog post and I hope I was able to bring forth good points that helped you decide where you stand on this issue. But if not and you’re not that bothered by this aspect of K-Pop, I at least hope you’ll be willing to give K-Pop music a go and see if it’s for you.

Thanks for reading (:

But Didn’t They Choose This Life ?

One of the many arguments that says that slave contracts don’t exist is that idols chose this life. And I suppose in one aspect, it’s true, as they signed it knowing what they were getting themselves into.

However, after you’ve dreamed of being an idol from such a young age and you’re recruited and signed on with a company to be a trainee at 12 or 13, that life is all you know. So you think nothing of it when you sign this “slave” contract. Yoona, from Girls’ Generation signed her contract with SM and it was for 13 years ! Ridiculously long for a contract, if you ask me.

Evidence Continued…

Continuing from one of my earlier posts about idols’ hectic schedules and why “slave” contracts should be made illegal as they go against idols’ human rights, there was a case in 2014 where 2 members from a girl group died as a result of their hectic schedules.

Ladies Code, who were on their way from one schedule to the another and their manager, Mr. Park, was reported to have been speeding down the highway, going 137km/h in a 100km zone. The roads were slick from the rain and the van crashed, killing EunB instantly and Rise later died in the hospital. Mr. Park was racing to get the girls to their next schedule in another city. He has been sentenced to almost 2 years in prison for the deaths of the 2 girls. If their company and manager hadn’t packed their schedule so much, Mr. Park might not have been racing to get them to their next schedule and the girls might still be alive today. I’m not saying this excuses the manager for his part in the girls’ deaths because he knew how slippery the roads were and he had a choice to drive slower.

Cases like these make it easy to see why “slave” contracts need to be made illegal. This shows us that these contracts go against idols human rights under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 23, “Everyone has the right to just and favorable conditions of work.”.

Evidence Of Slave Contracts.

2014 has been a big year for the K-Pop industry, in terms of “slave” contracts. From EXO, to Ladies Code, to B.A.P, it has been a year of idols suing and leaving their companies. From cases like these, it’s easy to see that these “slave” contracts do exist and they should be made illegal as they go against idols’ human rights.

EXO is one of the most successful boy groups today. With 12 extremely cute members, who can sing and dance, it’s no wonder they’ve become so popular. Their group is made up of 8 Korean members and 4 Chinese members. They’re also my all time favorite group so I guess that’s why they’re one of my examples. EXO is under SM Entertainment, who has a history for not only pumping out really successful artists, but also for their bad treatment of their idols.

EXO has since become a 10 member, almost 9 member boy group. What I mean by this is in May 2014, Kris sued SM, in October, Luhan also sued SM and in April 2015, Tao is reportedly leaving EXO. These three are Chinese members and their court hearings are still in progress.

Kris and Luhan claimed that SM discriminated between the Chinese and Korean members. Treating the Korean members better by giving them more money for promotions and scheduling more appearances for them. Luhan said he experienced over-exhaustion and a lot of health issues and the company wouldn’t allow him the proper rest.

Tao’s alleged leaving is based on the fact that he has endured a lot of injuries since EXO’s debut and hasn’t been allowed the necessary rest to properly heal these injuries. A lot of his injuries didn’t properly heal and with no proper rest, his injuries would act up again and get worse.

Human Rights Continued.

“Everyone has the right to equal pay for equal work.” From the Universal Daclaration of Human Rights, showing us why “slave” contracts should be made illegal as they go against idols’ human rights.

Some “slave contracts” have what they call, a break even point.  This is where a company keeps their idols in a constant state of debt. A lot of the time, these “break even points” aren’t transparent. So say the company puts $500,000 into your training and once you debut and have made a lot of money, enough to pay them back, you’re still in debt. Why? Because now, they’ve put a million into your debut, from your changing hair, to your outfits, to transport, to choreographers and etc. So now you have more to pay back.

These “break even points” aren’t transparent so you don’t even know how much you still owe your company. You don’t even know how much your company spends on your promotions, so they could say they spent a million dollars, they could have just spent ten dollars and you wouldn’t even have known. The most recent case of this is from the popular boy group, B.A.P, who have sued their company, TS Entertainment. Their contract was a 7 year contract and they claimed it was unreasonably long, where the company would invade their privacy, exploit their basic human rights and there was an unfair distribution of the profits the group made during their time in the K-Pop scene.

They were unfairly paid for the work they put into their career, which goes against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the three years that B.A.P has been promoting, they only received about $16,000, for 18 singles, and several concert tours,

Human Rights ?

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, under section 23, it’s easy to see that these “slave contracts” go against these human rights.

It says,
“Everyone has the right to just and favorable conditions of work.”,
“Everyone has the right to equal pay for equal work.”

And some K-Pop contracts go against these rights. Firstly, we’ll look at the first one.

We all need our beauty sleep. To keep from getting sick or going crazy. We’re all use to at least 6 hours of sleep per night, 8 if we’re lucky. But for an idol, they’re lucky if they can squeeze 2 or 3 hours in.

The life of K-Pop idol is hectic. Their schedules usually start at 5am to 1 am the next day. Their managers and company jam pack as much into one day as possible. Sometimes with more then 3 concerts or meet ups a day and sometimes these schedules are in different cities.

These hectic schedules only allow idols a few hours of sleep as they have to be in “music mode” 24/7. Going from schedule to schedule. Performing at music shows every night during promotions is the norm. As a result, idols sleep wherever they can, whenever they can. Whether that’s on a couch, on the floor of their waiting room or in the bathroom. It’s horrible for their health and usually results in hospitalization for sleep deprivation. There have been many cases of idols needing medical treatment for working so much. One of the many cases is Krystal from f(x), a girl group under SM Entertainment. There have been many cases where she has fainted on stage or fainted while getting off stage.

It’s crazy that idols are pushed this far. But for many, it’s a reality for the career they have chosen,.

Treatment Of Idols.

K-Pop “Slave Contracts” need to be made illegal as they go against the basic human rights idols.

A lot of the time, idols sign onto companies when they are 13 or younger and begin their training process. Once they are ready to debut, the must sign a contract and this contract puts them at their companies will for however long the contract lasts for. They allow their companies to treat them badly and there are many examples of this, but we’ll get into those later.

There are 3 major entertainment companies in the K-Pop industry. SM, JYP and YG. Because of this, there’s more news coming from these companies and their treatment of their idols. Whether it’s an injured ankle, an injured waist or sleep deprivation, they still make their idols perform. They sometimes allow them rest, but only when it becomes critical.

This is especially true for SM, when EXO’s Luhan had to take a temporary hiatus from promotions in 2014 because of health issues. There have been many cases where SM has not allowed their idols to take the necessary breaks to recover. This is extremely bad treatment of idols as it doesn’t allow them the proper rest, which results in more injuries or existing injuries to worsen.