Such you-are-gonna-be-dead movies are pretty much the “in-thing” in our cinemas these days isn’t it?

Look at the list of words below:

Coral Reefs

Al Nino

Natural Disasters

Rainforest

Pollution

Glacial Melting

Air Quality

These are the phrases that can be found in a typical environmental site. Alas! One glance at the list of words, and out I escape from the site. I have heard and learnt enough of these in school, to see them at home again.

I think news of how global warming is to impact our life is now cliched. I hear it so frequently that it scares me. Yes, I am concerned of its impacts and how my grandchildren and myself might face the tragic effects of global warming. But hearing the word “global warming’ resonating in my head is clearly not working. Google “global warming” and you will find yourself gaping at 30 million sites to savour. Yeah you got me right- 30 million. The media has spent so much attention on educating us on the effects of global warming throughout all these years. Such influences are called Cultivation Theory (by George Gerbner).

There are 2 outcome of people from such media cultivation.

1. One is environmental activists who volunteer enthusiastically to rally the public support to be environmentally conscious

As shown on the papers today, which can be found HERE, activisits worldwide staged events to rally public support for being environmentally friendly.

Other activists’ activities includes..

An activist who wants to remind others the impact of Global Warming

2.   The other outcome of people are individuals like me who feel that the news of global warming is exaggerated, and are jaded by it.

As shown from a poll earlier this year from this site, a record-high 41% of Americans today feel that the seriousness of global warming is over-exaggerated. This represents the public skepticism on the media reportings on global warming.

But despite differing outcome of attitudes towards global warming, the message is finally embedded in our heads- that we ought to be environtmentally friendly to save the earth!!

So how did the media ever allow that message to ever sink in our head?

 This is done with the media communication theory known as Agenda Setting Function

The intense and massive coverage of the impact of global warming such as how our biodiversity is shrinking, the further death of endangered species, or the rapid melting of the glacials, are certainly making us feel guilty for our environmentally unfriendly behavior. Increasing our consciousness on our carbon footstep, a.k.a knowing the  impact of how many penguins are to die on behalf of the tons of paper you waste daily, shows the success of the message transmission from the media.

Like any other news, such tragic impact of global warming is supported with images to haunt your memories:

Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

The 2009 Victorian Bushfire in Australia

I hope the message that I am trying to convey is sinking in deeper into you now! Will you be more environmentally friendly from this moment on?

If that’s so, my Agenda Setting Function is probably starting to work on you!

But don’t be a victim of the media!

P.S this is my last entry in this blog!! Thanks so much for the support you gave me during my brain-blurping moments in the past few weeks! And would you do me one last favour? Do help me comment your BEST for this entry! Thanks!!

Culture, like a picture, cannot be described in a moment. You need to experience it to know it.

All of us, if not most of us, enjoy residing in Singapore. Better still if we’re a Singapore citizens. So what makes our stay in Singapore such a uniquely Singaporean one to foreigners? I would say that our Singapore culture is a very distinctive one such that you would surely recognise another Singaporean when you are in a foreign country.

If you’re given a chance to name one culture Singapore has that makes us unique, what would it be? I personally would answer: “KIA-SU!!”

Our Kia-su culture can be interpreted by our following behaviour:

The long queues we have here for doing the “in-thing” like..

Queuing for our favorite donuts last year..

What's all the hype that i'm missing out? Lets join them!

Or queuing for our seasonal ToTo or 4D tickets at the top winning outlet, Yishun..

Toto queue up to 300 people at 3pm

Bird eye-view of the Toto queue

Or the “wanna-be-number ONE” attitude we have in the

MRT scene where everyone is always so ‘kan-chiong’ and ‘kia-su’ to be the first to leave the train

Even in the library where people charge forward to find the best seat

So what exactly is Kia-Su?

Kia-su is the unpleasant side to Singapore’s culture and is refers to the behavior where one is usually self-centered who wants to have the best of everything and is cowardly afraid of losing out.

Like this culture or detest it, if you’re a Singaporean or is someone who has been living here for a few decades, this culture can be found in you. Culture is learned and unless you unlearn it, it would be difficult for you to embrace other culture. I personally find the culture of Kia-suism a relatively individualistic one. Think about it- when you use your tissue to “chop” (reserve) a seat in the hawker centre, you do it for your benefit. When you push and run into the MRT train for a seat irregardless of how others around you feel, aren’t you also being self-centred? Such selfishness is a hint of the individualistic culture that we have in the Kia-su culture.

This lady is the groundbreaker of "choping seat" with a tissue packet

Singapore being an Asian country, traditionally has a collectivist culture where the people conform to the society, with the readiness to conform to the people surrounding them. So how did we steer to the individualistic culture like Kia-suism??

 Rise of Kia-sui’ism

Many believe that Kia-suism attributes to the behavior of our local government. Even the most ignorant Singaporean would be able to sense the non-verbal message that our newspapers have for us every morning. All our government organizations strive for excellence and always seek to be the best in the geographical region for their activities. I personally feel that the media places a large emphasis on our nation ranking on every aspect. In almost every ranking that Singapore is involved, the result would be highlighted conspicuously. Take the example of this week news titled “Pensions: Singapore ranks low” about how poorly we fare in our handling of tough policy issues. Click HERE for the link. Even from the heading, one can already feel how self-conscious Singapore is with regards to her ranking.

 It is thus even less surprising to realise that Kia-suism is bred from our nation’s education. For years, Primary school students are categorised into EM1, 2 and 3 based on their academic performance. I think the government has a kind intention of wanting to drive its citizens to their best capability but the result is not ideal. We are all human beings. None of us like to be classified to the less popular or ‘lousy’ group. Even at a young age of 11-years-old, children are already taught not to excel for all that they do, and never to lose to others. Thus when such social stratification is done at such at the budding age of a child, it is natural that such a “never lose” attitude and behavior will be programmed into the mind, which in turns creates the uniquely Singaporean culture- Kia-suism.

I therefore firmly believe that the influential people around us- our family and nation-rulers are capable of instilling our individual culture. And that we as Singaporeans will always be as kia-su as ever, even with public awareness like the famous PCK music video rap as broadcasted at all MRT stations.

What is your experience with kia-su Singaporeans? Do you think we can change for the better?

CREDITS:

http://sheylara.com/2006/02/08/kiasu-singaporean-wannabe/

WARNING: This entry may result in a brain casualty. My apologies.

You’ve been warned. That’s good!

Now that you have been warned, your body system will be performing a  ‘group communication and coordination’ to lead you to your path to success! =D

“WHAT? What is this Kelly talking about this week?

She must be going ‘koo-koo’ with the stream of examinations around the corner…”

Fear not. I’m still sane. I’m refering to the coordination of your nervous system where your sensory organs make sense (encode) my message and translate it to electric signals that will be transmitted to all parts of your body. The communication of neurons do not end here.. The nervous system will then communicate with your endocrine and muscular system to ensure that you are now physically relax (since i will not be boring you with dull and lifeless facts) and the list goes on… till my message finally ‘sinks in’, a.k.a. success of information transfer.

So look! From the above, we can observe that even our body portray group communication and team-work to function cohesively. Below is a diagram of our body circulatory system to emphasise my point if you’re unclear of what I have been ranting.

How group synergy in your body enables you to achieve success

Everyone needs to be able to communicate well in groups. Long gone the days when you are the only one standing alone on an island…

Running alone brings you no where

Last week, the Malaysia ruling coalition group UMNO won a special election after a string a losses in its polls for the past year. Details of  the article can be found here. All groups like UMNO are created with a common aim and members usually join for a common purpose- to meet one’s interpersonal needs. Most political parties that are formed are typically in groups and not individually. This is to maximise the potential group synergy and power a group can have as opposed to an individual effort. With regards to the news, it was reported that the public was unsupportive of the UMNO group due to the rising corruption rates in the group.

Assuming that the corruption activities made by the group is true, I would say that the root of the problem lies with the group socialisation. Individuals in the group failed to successfully influence each other to best meet one of the group’s aim- to be ethical and accountable for their actions. From there, members of the group failed to distinguish between the individual and group needs- where one should not prioritise oneself so highly in a group.

Every group member has a role.

The role of every member is essential. Should one cripple, the entire group will perish?!

It is possible that the member whose role is tasked to being the procedural technician has failed. The group member of this role was unsuccessful in controlling the procedures of the group, resulting in dishonesty and illegal behavior of group members.

Therefore the corruption phenomena in the group might be accountable by the failure of the group-think symptom (to be ethical and accountable). It is also possible that a new group aim was developed with time- to satisfy personal needs irregarless of the ethics and law. O.O

But whatever it is that motivates the UMNO group these days, I certainly hope that the outcome will be positive for the people under their control.

Groups may be formed to satisfy the needs of the group members and we should refrain from intervening in their matters. But I strongly believe that if the group behavior affects the society, more attention and regulation ought to be made to the group. Groups today are not as simple as it appear. A group created today may be perished tomorrow. What do you think?

Broke up with someone? Unrequited love? Love someone who only has eyes for everyone but you?

Have you recently swore never to fall in love again?

Think again. Love is all around us and you would be a fool not to love again.

Comms playlist link

Listen to the playlist of songs above. What do they have in common? All of them are with regards to our feeling of love isn’t it? All of us are born to love. Composers of music are well known to express their affection with their songs; as reported in the article ”love is one of the most frequent subjects of songs“.

The intellectual felt it:

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

                                                                                                                               Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals (1929) ch. 19
                                                                                                                              British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)

The comic writers felt it..

Even the animals felt it..

So why hadn’t you??

The most recent marriage that was highly publicised in our local news is the marriage of local Mediacorp Artise Fann Wong and Christopher Lee.

So what made their relationship such a success?

Below are my intepretation of their relationship development over the years:

1. INITIATING

Wong and Lee met in 1995 at a TV programme and that is where it was the proximity factor that made it possible for them to know each other’s existence. The physical appearance of Wong and Lee was also a contributional factor for their relational formation given that both of them are attractive, giving the other a positive impression.

Proximity matters in relationships

Does first impression determine the outcome of the relationship?

2. EXPERIMENTING 

With more encounters with each other, they started to interact by exchanging information on their cultural, social and psychological information. It is likely that they have similar attitudes and values towards issues, that made their casual conversation enjoyable and fulfilling. Since both of them were both actors and actress of their workplace, they were both almost equally competent with each other. This increases the likelihood of their understanding for each other hectic work and meanwhile accounting for their common goal in life. However in reality Lee was born in Malaysia unlike Wong who was born in Singapore. Thus it is likely that both enjoy a relationship where the other is slightly dissimilar in background.

Also, both must have reciprocated to each other’s communication. I am certain that when Lee disclosed information about himself, Wong would also have shared hers. This would have made the dynamics of their relationship possible. If one of them did not reciprocate to the other, their relationship might have stalled and not move on to the third stage.

3. INTENSITY

This is the stage where their relationship starts to develop signinficantly and with physical contact. By now, both would have increased committment to their relationship and more self disclosure. At the self-disclosure stage, they would share information  that is unknown to others. This is a test of trust and commitment in the relationship which ultimately makes their relationship more special than with others.

Meanwhile, not everything are all rosy. Conflicts can still occur due to the difference in each other’s perception. Wong and Lee’s conflict was rather serious when they both avoided each other for 2 months as mentioned in the video below (time 3:18). But as proven by their marriage, these conflicts faced strengthened their relationship.

Not all conflicts lead to DOOM-day. Be optimistic

 4. INTEGRATING

In year 2000, both of them declared their relationship and start coupling their individual characters into a relational unit.

Fann & Chris being seen together openly when their relationship stabilised

5. BONDING

In May 2009, Wong and Chris are officially a couple when they register their marriage. This formalises their obligation and commitment to each other.

Fann & Chris on their R.O.M

As you can observe from the entire process above, the formation of a successful relationship can only be attained with patience and commitment.

It is never too late to start loving the people around you. Love can strike us as quick as it can steathily seep away from us. But whatever it is, never be jaded by it or to give up hope in it. The wonders of love is waiting for you to be explored.

Nothing can feel warmer than to be in the arms of your love

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

http://www.touchetoon.com/

http://juskawaime.wordpress.com/category/fannwong/

http://fannaticfannclub.com/

http://quotationspage.com /

One of the basic instincts of human beings is to communicate. We communicate to persuade and to bring our message across successfully. But sadly, not all of us are successful communicators. Miscommunication still prevails in our life. Communication consist of both our verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication refers to the language and words used. Non-verbal communication on the other hand is anything other than words (non-linguistic). Non-verbal communication includes one’s body language, voice and environment.

The interview of The Straits Times with Miss Singapore 2009 Ms Ris Low -that is shown above- came under much criticism lately for her poor command of English language. But aside from her verbal communication, much of the problem lies in her non-verbal language. Although I do sympathise with her for stream of harsh criticisms received, I will nonetheless also add into the discussion of the mistakes she had made- only this time with the focus on her non-verbal communication. Her communication might have been atrocious but within it is much valuable lessons for us.

Ms Low did not start the interview on a good light with her self-introduction. The paralinguistic aspect  which is her vocal non-verbal communication, was negatively projected when she spoke in a very slow and steady voice. The situation worsened when her eyes looked up to the ceiling at time 0:29, which is the oculesics aspect of communication. This gives the audience an impression that she was uncertain about her background- which is very unusual given that such casual matters are usually said without much of a thought. Our first impression of Ms Low was thus dampened within the first 15 seconds of her interview which is much to her disadvantage knowing that one of the tendencies of human perception is that we have a persistence of first impression. When the first perception that Ms Low gives us is negative, we would colour the subsequent behaviour that she would have in a negative light too. Her new behaviours are hence unfortunately seen as temporary.

In the view of the public, she was also perceived arrogant possibly due to the unsuccessful use of multiple channels of non-verbal communication. At time 1:32 she exclaimed that the “fashion sense is about ME!”, where her pitch rose while she tilted her head upwards and simultaneously rose her eye-brows and eyes. This is a combination of paralinguistic, kinesics and oculesics communication. This left a deep impression on the viewer’s mind while was further imprinted when she repeated the idea for another 2 times (paralinguistic). The result of the careless use of non-verbal communication was that the audience perceive Ms Low as an uncongenial and arrogant individual.

Throughout the interview, Ms Low also punctuated it with paralinguistic vocalics with words such as “erm” which was distracting and annoying to listeners. With the accumulation of accidental and unconscious non-verbal communication that Ms Low made, it is unsurprising that the society misunderstood her intentions and perceived her as an aloof and asinine character. We might have enjoyed mocking at her interview but we should nonetheless all learn from her mistakes and not to repeat them. Ms Low’s mistakes were as realistic as any of us are capable of doing.

TEST YOURSELF!

Look at the picture below and answer the question to see how you perceive the world!

What do you think of the picture above?

(A) Such a terribly messy room. Only pigs live here.

(B) Is one of them injured? They must have been playing too much

(C) Yewks~! Are they lesbians?! Get this picture away from me!

(D) Ohh! I like such close girlfriend relationship! Who are they? Can they be my friends?

There is no definite answer to this question but your answer will show a lot about you:

On how you select the information you see, your cultural background and the way you interpret events around you.

 Confused? Well I am only describing the process that you and I develop our perceptions!

All of us form different perceptions on the same picture like the one shown above. The different perceptions that we have will affect how we communicate and behave to the subject. Take the real-life scenario shown in the video below about how everyone wants a bad boy as their boyfriend.

From the video, we can figure that most people perceive bad boys/ girls as the dangerous and mysterious person with the “X-factor” in them. But what is your perception?

But before you can make your perception, isn’t there a few ways to develop it? 

1. So HOW do you identify an individual as a ‘bad boy’? [selection]

The characteristics that we are likely to take into consideration as a “bad boy” would probably be long messily styled hair and tattoos like the picture shown above.  Although the boy is holding a book, what catches your attention is his multiple tattoos that he is sported with. Our choice of selection in this picture is caused by the frequency of the stimuli- tattoo. The frequency of the tattoo has also resulted in you ignoring other details like him carrying a book. Thus your selection of information is most probably his body tattoos.

    2. Now that you noticed he has many tattoos, how do you organise that selected information?

 The way we organise information is influenced by 3 factors namely..

 If you have been watching plenty of movies that depict gangsters and felonies with a body tattoo, chances is that you will develop the opinion that people with a tattoo belong to the “bad boys” cateogory. You might also associate the boy in the cartoon as a prototype of a ”loan shark” and/ or “rockstar” depending on your personal experiences.

Your thoughts of the bad boy then needs to be organised which can be done by ‘Figure and Ground’. This can be depicted in the video where interviewees might think that “so long he is cool-looking, I want to be his girlfriend!”. Structural principles also influences your thought organisation, which is contributed by your goals and social circle. A young and single marital status girl in the video will have a higher probability of having positive vibes to a bad boy as compared to a married lady in her 40s. Hence it’s only logical that our perception on bad boys will change with time as mentioned by the interviewees.

     3. So you have Selected & Organised the information. How do you interpret them now?

After all the associations and emotions attached to the idea of a bad boy, you would need to add meaning to them, i.e. interpretation. You would have probably liked a bad boy as your boyfriend because you had interpreted his body tattoo as a sign of freedom of expression, and you are acceptable to it due to its popularity in your society? Your interpretation is the most subjective of all among the 3-stage process of perception; distinguising your perspective from others. Thus it is no wonder that there is a variety of answers to the question- “Does everyone wants a bad boy as a boyfriend?” Our society is so diverse today anyway.

Now what is your perception of the picture below?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Special thanks to Samantha and Aixin for being my models for this blog!

http://www.razor.tv/site/servlet/segment/main/news/36158.html

In the article  tittled “Why Gen-Y Johnny Can’t Read Nonverbal Cues” by Mark Bauerlein,  Bauerlein asserts that in this internet-savy generation, youths may be skilled with their literal skills but they are certainly not so in their “silent fluency” in face-to-face interaction that can result in miscommunication in many ways.

  

    

 

 

 

Back in 1959, anthropologist Edward T. Hall labeled these expressive human attributes “the Silent

Language.” Hall passed away last month in Santa Fe at age 95, but his writings on nonverbal

communication deserve continued attention. He argued that body language, facial expressions and

stock mannerisms function “in juxtaposition to words,” imparting feelings, attitudes, reactions and

judgments in a different register.

  

   

 

 

 

Above is an extract from the article where Bauerlein discussed about how our physical reaction -apart from the verbal reaction- in a conversation play a significant role in our communication with others. I concede with Bauerlein argument as communication is a harmony of our words and manners that is used to express it. A man (encoder) who says “I love you” to a receiver (decoder) might have been well-receieved online as shown in the cartoon below. But should he meet the reciever face-to-face and says the same phrase in a disgruntled tone with a constipated-looking face, the whole message would have been tremendoulsy different. Hence the channel carrying the message is certainly a fundamental in communication. Communication is not entirely accurate in a virtual environment. Even in the most accurate representation of the communication process -transactional model- that is parallel to face-t0-face communication, miscommunication can still happen.

  

 

 

 

 

This is why, Hall explained, U.S. diplomats could enter a foreign country fully competent in the native

language and yet still flounder from one miscommunication to another, having failed to decode the

manners, gestures and subtle protocols that go along with words. And how could they, for the “silent

language” is acquired through acculturation, not schooling. Not only is it unspoken; it is largely

unconscious. The meanings that pass through it remain implicit, more felt than understood.

  

    

 

 

The excerpt above also reveals that even adults who are able in face-to-face communication in one society may not necessarily be capable in another society. This is due to the difference in the social constructionist perspective between any two countries. The foreigner to a country might not be capable in responding  in a suitable or respectable way in accordance to the country’s culture. Hence miscommunication might occur in this circumstance where there is a contact of people with different communication skills. Hence we ought to be especially careful with our words and mannerism when travelling in a foreign country or conversing with foreigners.

Despite the magnitude of difficulties that we encounter in communication with people both in and outside our society, it is nevertheless crucial that we do not give up attempts to improve our communication skills. The will to communicate with others to bring your ideas across is a basic instinct that we all have. And since speaking is also a characteristic of being alive, it is important that we should constantly find ways to understand more about the process of communication. This is to improve ourselves to minimise the possibility of others misunderstanding us.

The last thing any of us want to do is to have a fatal miscommunication as illustrated by the classic video below!