Convenience or Disruptions?

It is undeniable that the rapidly advancing technology brought about great convenience and better communications for the majority, however, there are also negative impacts which many seemed to have overlooked.

As mentioned in the article from Digital Life published on 24th June, it is proven that although gadgets bring about much convenience to our daily lives, they also tend to bring about some disturbance and disruptions.

Gone were the days whereby we relied and depended on telegrams, cave paintings and smoke signals to communicate with one another. As technologies are being developed at an overwhelming rate and well adopted by societies, the services offered also becomes increasingly affordable. Young people now are relatively tech-savvy and relied heavily on technologies in helping them to communicate with their peers as technologies offer them faster and more innovative modes of communication.

Technologies have brought about so much convenience that many people have also conveniently forgotten their own identities. With wireless broadband becoming so common and readily available on mobile phones or computer, it is not strange to see people logging onto the much craved for facebook or twitter just to poke their noses into the lives of their friends or of their favourite celebrities. And with SMS(Short Message Service) and 3G (3rd Generation) services becoming relatively cheaper, it is also not surprising to see people constantly thumping on the keypads or looking into the cameras of their phones, and then neglecting the feeling of those around them. Very often when one is doing either of the mentioned examples, we tend to forget our location and will also tend to overlook a lot of factors, which explains why people who are not ‘sucked’ into another dimension may have issues with these seemingly unconscious people.

Therefore, as much as we indulge in the convenience in which technologies have brought us, we should always carry with us a conscience and gracious mentality that not everyone can be tolerant of such behaviours. Although mobile communications save us time, we should always try to be sensitive towards how others may feel when we yak sweet-nothings to our partners next to someone who may be sitting or standing beside us or when we inconsiderately drive our attention away from something which we should be giving out full attention to such as meetings and lectures. With gracious attitudes and great technologies, the world can surely be a more ideal place to live in!

Media too violent ?

http://euintrotomm.blogspot.com/2009/04/witnessing-media-violence-and-its.html

While the blogger seems to suggest that the mass media has only negative impact on the majority with its somewhat violent contents, I tend to see things a little differently from him.

Although it is agreeable to a very large extent that the mass media has a great ability to cause major influences and impact to the lives of many, it should also be noted that there are many factors dependent on individuals as well to allow for such influence to affect one.

I feel that kids are most likely to be the victim of media violence. As they are still relatively young and tender with limited ability to judge between right and wrong, kids are usually the most vulnerable ones. However, I feel that with adequate supervision and guidance from accompanying adults when they are exposed to such violent content, there should not be any serious consequences. In fact, with the help of adults, kids may even be able to learn that violence should be avoided, and thus this may also result in a latent manifest.

As for adults, media violence can allow one to release his or her anger suppressions. In today’s stressful environment, it is not surprising that many often found the need to vent their anger on something. Some may indulge themselves in violent contented games such as Diablo, War Craft and etc or even violent movies to relieve their stress levels, and although it may not be ideally realistic or that it may be quite a sadistic way or anger management, I feel that it at least helps one to release their inner anger or suppression. Long term suppressions are often unhealthy and can lead to serious psychological problems. Hence I feel that as long as one is conscious of their own actions and do not go overboard in indulging in such violent contents over an excessive extent, I have not objections to media violence.

At the same time, I feel that the media can also help by coming out with different ratings for the different level of violence content. I am glad that Singapore’s MDA (Media Development Authority) is contributing to make our media exposure/experience better for all by coming out with a scheme that rates media contents from PG (parental guidance), NC 16 (No Children under 16), M18 (Mature 18) to R21 (Rated 21), which is believe to help consumers know which contents are more appropriately catered for them. Hence, with the help of this, and the help of our own conscious minds, media violence may not exactly be a totally bad thing after all.

Personal View: Cultural Indifferences

One of the street hawkers in Jinan, Shandong.

About one year ago, I was sent to China on a school's internship programme, and was to stay there for two and a half months. Although the trip can be concluded as pleasant, it wasn't a trip which was easy right from the start. There were a lot of things to get accustomed to during the first two weeks as the culture over there differs vastly back here at home.

I received my first cultural shock within minutes of my touch down in Beijing International airport. While I was queuing at the immigration counter to get my passport stamped, a few Chinese men came along with big bags and conveniently shoved me away just so that they could get to the other end of the queue. I was greatly agitated, but I reminded myself that since I wasn’t at home, I probably should not create a fuss out of “trivial” matter like this. And so I tolerated this nonsense.

For the next few days, I continued to observe the culture over here. The people here spat, used the toilets without closing the doors even though there were doors attached to it, dined at the roadsides, allowed the ringing of their cell phones in theatres and spoke at the top of their voices everywhere. I was greatly disturbed, I grumbled, I complained and thought how uncivilised these people were. I condemned their ethnics and behaviours, and compared everything back to Singapore. I refused to eat at the roadside stalls and to use the toilets until I got back to the hostel. However, 3 weeks later, my perspectives changed. I settled down and adjusted to how things work over here, and to my own surprise, even enjoyed dining at the roadside stalls!

There was another occasion whereby I nearly landed myself in hot soup, when I conveniently addressed the waitresses at the restaurants as “Xiao Jie” (Miss or 小姐). I never knew that to them, this term actually meant prostitute, but back here, everyone and anyone address an unknown lady by that term. One of the waitresses I called glared at me but after figuring out that I probably wasn’t local, she continued to do her task. Then there was this taxi driver which I remembered vividly. Back there, you are supposed to address them as “Shi Fu” (师父or master), if you call them “Shi Ji” (司机 or driver), it meant you have no respect for them. And so this driver that I came across, refused to answer anything which we asked him unless we call him by “Shi Fu”. It’s probably hilarious, but I guess these are how things work.

Culture is probably a difficult thing to understand. Nobody would be able to really understand its beauty unless being put through it to experience it. Ethnocentrism is inevitable. I learnt from my mistake and think that no one should jump to conclusion or judge a culture based on person views. There is always two sides to every story, and it applies to all cultures too. We should practice cultural relativism and learn to be more accepting of things which are relatively new or foreign to us.

http://www.buckinghamshireadvertiser.co.uk/south-buckinghamshire-news/local-buckinghamshire-advertiser-news/2009/04/09/woman-falls-victim-to-10k-net-dating-scam-82398-23344506/

http://inwent-iij-lab.org/Weblog/2009/03/13/dating-scam-epidemic-hits-ghana/

Has true love extinct? Well... while i personally do not think that it has extincted, i do think that it is becoming seemingly rare and scarce.

While it is already extremely hard to find true love in our real-live societies today, i wonder why would people think that the virtual world offers brighter and more promising hopes of finding their other halves there. While it is true that some people do find their true loves from the net, but how often does such lucky incidents occur? Definitely not to everybody. In fact, i think the net should be the last place that one should seek for true love for dangers and many uncertainties lurks in the vast and open net.

It is easy for any scammers to pose as genuine, forlorn, lonely and harmless people seeking for true love. Theses scammers are highly intelligent people who preys on sincere and lonely people who are very vulnerable to their acts of lies.

These love cheats first bait themselves by putting their fake profiles online, making themselves look like a good catch and at the same time, as worthy as possible. They usually target victims from more well-to do backgrounds by getting their preys to reveal as much about themselves as possible. When victims reveals about themselves and when these hunters manage to eye their targets, they launch their first attacks, often by using honeyed words to hook their preys. And when hooked, these hunters are quick to see through the love fools and are often able to identify their relational needs such as companionship and etc. The scammers will then seize opportunities during appropriate times(kairos) to initialize a relationship and some time later, proceeds to make empty promises to their preys' short term needs which can be fulfilled easily.

For fulfilling some of the promises they have made, they intensified their "relationships" with the love victims and during the initial stages, they will put in effort by spending much time to bond with their preys, making sure that they are falling into their planned deception and will also, try anything to make their "relationship" as smooth going as possible and to make their prey feel that they are a heavenly match, so much to the extent that the victims start acknowledging them, and that is when these devious people know that they have succeeded and to proceed with their next plan.

While into the 2nd stage of their "relationship", these scammers injects problems into their relationship, such as coming out with scenarios such as needing money to cure their poor ailing family member or money for whatever other reason they they could think of. The susceptible victims, who have been made to believe that their love is genuine and are already on the track usually do not hesistate to help. They will draw out the large sum of money requested by their "lovers" and give it to them. After achieving their goals, many of these love hunters disappear for good, hence terminating the planned relationships and tarnishing the beautiful dreams for many of these love victims, many times causing the worlds of these people to fall apart.

However, there are also some scammers who are more subtle with their approach when it comes to ending their "relationships". They will upstage a series of events such as such as differentiating, circumscribing and avoiding the victims eventually before totally terminating their relationship totally. Call them the hunters with slightly some conscience left in them or call them the smarter or more scheming people, because by doing these, the love hunters will still make their victims feel that their relationship was real, and hence they weren't cheated of their feelings and money and usually, these victims will not persue the incident or ask the cheats to return the money.

Many of these victims are coming together to form groups to share their experieces with people so that they will not fall victims to these scammers again. They also provide support for new victims by giving them assistances to walk out of their shadows or trauma. While it is true that it is becoming hard to find true love in our societies today, i wonder if we should still turn to the net to help us find one with the threat of these love hunters lurking around, waiting to pounce on our weak and vulnerable hearts.

New Age Couples

I refer to the article published on 29th May 2009 on The Straits Times Urban Section. The article basically talks about how well the society is accepting the “New Age Couple”, as more women date younger men today.

As the society evolved to what it is today and with women no longer being confined to homes and having the opportunities to widen their social circle, the insights of these women grow as well, hence it no longer so much of an issue to date younger men, as compared to before.

Today, women get more choices as they choose their partners. The relational formation and development for each woman differs as each has different criteria to cater to individual’s needs and desires.

There could be many reasons behind, when a woman chooses to engage herself in a relationship with a man who is younger than her. Physical appearance of a more youthful guy may be the first sign of attraction, and the idea of beauty is generally different for everyone.

However, a relationship may also spark off due to similarities which easily connect two parties together. With attitudinal and social preference similarities between couples, communications among them become easy and hence allow them to forget the age issue and often result in a smooth sailing relationship. There are also certain kinds of women who enjoys activities which men her age will not be able to appreciate, such as visiting to manicures or doing extreme sports, thus they also find younger men who is more opened, appealing to them.

A well known saying quotes “opposite attracts”. With a age difference, perspectives and opinions differs among the two individuals as well. Dissimilarities and complementarities also become a tendency to form relationships and are common these days. People find it more exciting to discover something new from their partner from time to time rather than being bore to death by things which they themselves already know or share the same views with.

Then, many may fear the issue of an age gap as it may bring about communication barriers in a relationship. However, as such relationship becomes more common and accepted in society, these couples have more chances to interact between one another’s social circle (shared social contacts), and hence allowing the partners to understand one another better and bringing them closer to one another(proximity). With the eliminations of the intimidation, uncertainties and insecurities, the couple finds it easier to get along.

Lastly, women would consider younger men due to the fact that they find them more
conscientious and appreciative towards them. The men reciprocate their feelings and this serves as a form of validation towards a relationship. Many women value this point as they believe it is vital throughout the course of a relationship in order to keep a relationship burning.

However, due to age differences, conflicts may become inevitable due to different perspectives and opinions of these couples. True that it may be fresh and exciting during its initial stage, but whether one can accept the subsequent differences that surface will be another issue altogether.

Angels and Demons; Great Movie or Controversial Movie?

The mega movie blockbuster of the month. Angels and Demons, has finally opened in Singapore. The movie did not fail to captivate majority of the audiences with its fresh and unconventional storyline. However, the blockbuster which also revolves around a dark, conflicting and disturbing storyline, has caused a controversy among the catholic community globally. The catholics are coming together to boycott the movie.

As depicted by many sources, the movie that is based on a fictional storybook written by Dan Brown, and has many portrayals that strayed away from the real and original facts of the catholic’s culture and history. The way the storyline is communicated through the movie (script) has offended the Catholics as they perceived the movie as a lack of respect for their culture, and also an intention to stir confusion and conflict among the interest of the Catholic community.

While the group of staunch Catholics (organisation) decided to defend their interest and perspective, other groups of audiences are willing to accept the storyline as they chose (selection) to maintain open minds and take the opportunity to be exposed to a different and unconventional thinking. This is an example to how different people react to things due to the selection they choose, their cognitive schematas and the kind of organisation/environment that they are exposed to.

As much as many may disapprove with the storyline and morals of “Angels and Demons”, one cannot deny that it is a good and successful movie which has managed to communicate and reach out to the audiences. Apart from using the most common way to communicate with audiences by using verbal communications, the director has also made use of many nonverbal communication such as creating Objectifs or artifacts, kinesics and physical appearances to create suspension and to arouse the curiosity of the audiences. At the same time, these unspoken lines also gave inklings to the audiences as to what is happening in the movie. Nonverbal communication which is receiver orientated, often enables audiences to interpret and derive at different conclusions, and hence evokes discussions among. A much discussed movie is usually a well received movie, thus the need for nonverbal communication as I feel it is part of what makes a movie successful. The director and writer of the movie have made use of the tools of communication to make the movie work out well for them.



However, due to the lack of research on the theme that revolves around the Catholics, many have alleged the movie to have defamed the beliefs that the Catholics have upheld. It has caused disapproval and misunderstanding within the community, which then led to a controversy and a boycott among the community. Religion is a sensitive topic and always will be. For the mass to accept such storyline, adequate researches will have to be done in order for people to come together to approve and support the movie.

We can do better.

Animal abuses have sparked a new level of concern among the public over the recent years.

Although more (education, campaigns and etc) is being done to educate the mass public, it is ironic that we do not see the cases of animal abuses ceasing. Could it simply be the fact that people are becoming ignorant or the fact that people are oblivious to the happenings in society today?

In my opinion, the rise in animal abuses is caused by 2 factors, the media and the society. Due to the amount of stress level in society today, people are taking out on these helpless animals. To make matter worse, these abusers usually get away scot-free, due to lack of evidences or unwillingness of witnesses coming forward to identify them. The ignorance of people will indirectly cause the offender to repeatedly commit these immoral acts. Perhaps if the government is willing to impose a heavier fine on the offender and reward witnesses, it may help make the situation better. I also personally do not think the current jail term or fine imposed on these offenders are harsh enough to make them realised their wrong-doings.

People also often make haste decisions after watching shows that portray extremely adorable pets and how joyous it is of owning them. Shows often do not emphasize on the workload and responsibility that comes along with it, and when pet owners come to a realisation, many regret and eventually turn to the SPCA (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) for solution, but there’s only so much SPCA can do. The dogs are given a limited period to live. If they do not get adopted within the given time, they will be put down, depriving them of their rights to live on. Is this not cruelty to the animals who have done nothing wrong? Hence I think the media should review the way they communicate with the audiences, and to revise the contents of their show so as to convey a message to audiences that, although pets can be a bundle of joy, one should always consider the trouble that comes along with it, and I must complement the movie, Marley and I for successfully bringing message across.

If we all work together, we can give these animals better lives. They too, have a right to live well, and it is our right, to make the world better.