Cultured Singapore

-credits to www.talkingcock.com

Geert Hofstede defines culture as the "collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another..includes systems of values and values are among the building blocks of culture".

This made me think about Singapore's culture? What is it exactly? Do we even have a culture? Many people have the misconception that Singapore does not have a bona fide culture ironically, due to our culture diversity.

I beg to differ. I feel that owing to the fact that Singapore is a cosmopolitan society where people of different races live harmoniously and interaction among different races is high, our culture is, as the Singapore Tourism Board has painstakingly been promoting- unique! It is not the "leeching" off of other countries with rich cultures as some people perceive it to be, but the fusion of the cultures of various ethnic groups such as the Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian races, and making it our very own.

As reflected by the comic, we have come up with our own language- Singlish! Our own colloquial/creole language(a stable language that originates seemingly as a nativized pidgin) fundamentally English due to the British colonialization, but now loaded with substantial influences from the languages of the various ethnic groups. Interestingly, a book- The Coxford Singlish Dictionary as well as website has been created and dedicated to celebrate our culture as well as to aid non Singaporeans in understanding us better, as well as to increase effective communication between Singaporeans and the world(tourists for instance).


Similarly, thanks to our multi-racial society, we have the privillage of having and being exposed to all kinds of different cuisines and foreign delicacies that have been "localised" and invented new "fusion food" to call our own. For instance, from the above comic strip, "Supperman" the Chinese superhero is shown ordering roti prata- a local favourite created by the fusion of local Malay and Indian culinary skills.

"Rojak" is another food that Singaporeans have come up with that i feel represents us. It is a fruit and vegetable salad dish. The term "Rojak" is Malay for mixture, and also used as a colloquial expression for an eclectic mix, and in particular is often used to describe the multi-ethnic characteristics of our Singaporean society.


A sub culture prevalent in Singapore is our tendency to be "kiasu" or the fear of losing out to others. This word is often used in describing our social attitudes, our constant fear in losing out in our highly competitive society- the pressure of having to do well not only in exams but other non-academic achievements as well, in order to compete in our increasingly competitive and stressful society. Growing up with this mindset and belief that if they do not be "kiasu" brought on by teachers, parents as well as society in general, causing these students to become ambitious businesspeople, with the desire to be on top in terms of wealth and prestige, regardless of whether the most prestigious careers are aligned with what they really want.

Another pervasive Singaporean phenomenon, is the use of tissue packets to "chope" or reserve seats in food courts or hawker centres. This use of an artefact to "mark one's territory" is a social cue that Singaporeans (not all) have adopted to ensure that they have a space to sit and eat due to lack of space at crowded eateries. Even though I understand this logic behind the "choping" of seats, I still find it kinda weird at times and wonder if this kind of culture should be encouraged.



Imagine you are a tourist happily walking into a food court to try some local fare and you see this strange scene.

You then shrug it off and take a seat, thinking that Singapore is such a clean, well equipped place that free tissue paper is provided even at public food courts...until some auntie returns with a tray of food, gives you a killer look, points at the packets of tissue and chases you away.

Talk about culture shock.



No too long ago, the Singapore Discovery Centre introduced these interestingly designed tissue paper packets as tribute to this local phenomena.

I don't know if I should laugh or shake my head.

Should we really reinforce this kind of culture?

Suffering from groupsmell!

Have you ever thought about speaking up in a meeting or some other type of group setting and decided against it because you did not want to appear unsupportive or disapprove of the group's efforts? Have you led a team in which the team members were reluctant to express their own opinions? If so, you have probably been a victim of "Groupthink".

The term "Groupthink" was coined by Irving Janis in 1972 when he was researching why a team reaches an excellent decision one time, and a disastrous one the next. What he found was that a lack of conflict or opposing viewpoints led to poor decisions, because alternatives were not fully analyzed, and therefore groups did not gather enough information to make an informed decision.


" Ehh, where should we have lunch later? The cafeteria or Megabites? ".

" Err...Megabites lah! The cafeteria's too smelly!".

"Yeahh!(all chorus) The cafeteria stinks man!". [ pun not intended (: ]

This is just an example of groupthink(at a low level) that my friends and I tend to engage in, when deciding where we want to have lunch in school. I am sure most of us if not all have experienced this! (:

We have the tendency to hold shared stereotypes (that the cafeteria's ventilation is horrible and that we do not want to reek of oil and food smells.) However, we sometimes fail to remember that not everyone in our group like the food served in Megabites, or, find it too pricey because we stick to our own perceptions and prejudice's and simple refuse to change.

This is when self-censorship - individuals within the group who hesitate to speak up as they know they will encounter disapproval. This then leads to illusion of unanimity whereby the doubting member believes that everyone agrees with the group's chosen action/ideology(in this case that the cafeteria reeks) and thus, should a dissenting member speak up, he/ she will be severely sanctioned as other members place pressure/put dissenters down.

Therefore, in this case a mind-guard / devil's advocate(someone to look at things from a different perspective) will be extremely helpful event and "protect" leader and key members from negative information.

In addition, according to Fisher, groups that never experience conflict are not working at capacity. A healthy group is noisy, inhibited and not governed by norms of politeness and have frequent disagreements , arguments and constant interruptions.

Hence, i feel that my group should thus come together to take advantage and hopefully acquire idiosyncrasy credit- a kind of symbolic currency earned through behavior. As, only from such interaction and "thrashing" of opinions, can efficient task dimension(groups which are formed to reach a decision) occur, instead of us always wasting precious time trying to decide where to eat.

What do you think? (:

Inspirational nuggets.

"He who laughs last didn't get it."
- 'Helen Giangregorio'

"Let your imagination release
your imprisoned possibilities."
- Dr Robert H Schuller

"Even if you're on the right track,

you'll get run over if you just sit there."

- William Penn

"Men have died from time to time,
and worms have eaten them, but not love."
- William Shakespeare

I love quotes. I think that quotes are a brilliant way of communicating. Don't you think that quotes are a form of language? Well, I do. I feel that they not only serve as a vehicle for one to get one's idea across in a intelligent and sometimes witty manner, but also causes one to think further, make sense as well as find meaning to it. Hence in a sense, quotes are peoples' take from a psychological perspective(locates communication in the human mind and see the individual as both the source and destination for messages).

Most quotes are written by famous people such as philosophers, celebrities, scientists as they are looked up to and hence the words of such people are perceived to carry a certain weightage and wisdom as compared to normal people like you and me. Many people thus, look to quotes for inspiration as well as for enjoyment. I feel that the reason why quotes are personal, is that they are feelings and emotions of people, both famous or not, and at some point of time, people find that they can relate to.

On an interesting note, www.coolquotes.com has also come up with weekly contests to encourage people to share their own quotes, and publishes the 3 "best" quotes on their website.

"CoolQuotes Submitted by Users" contest:

1st Place: "If pro is the opposite of con, is progress the opposite of congress??" Author (Brittany C. ) Submitted by Brittany C.

2nd Place: "Dwell on the here and now, before it is there and gone." Author (Aubrey Charasz) Submitted by Aubrey Charasz

3rd Place: "Friendship is like a seed, which when planted in a heart blooms to fill a need." Author (Unknown) Submitted by Melville Paul


People study quotes for instance, Literature students study Shakespeare's or Plato's work to gain insight on other people's perspectives and to learn from them. Quotes also fuel discussion as people's mental sets vary, they might disagree with a certain quote or it may inspire them to think, reflect on the words of wisdom and may even impact their lives as they remember a certain quote that strikes a deep chord.

That being said, sometimes quotes are exclusive to a certain culture as quotes are made by people from all over the world, certain famous quotes that we look back to (taken from different eras) are sometimes difficult to understand as colloquial language or slang is used, hence people from different cultures will not be able to understand such quotes and sayings. Successful communication in a sense, is not present as there is no "meeting of the minds".

However, as time progresses, mankind has collected many categories, types of quotes by people from all over the world ! Some are light hearted and just meant to poke fun at people or circumstances in life, whereas others are philosophical and serve to inspire people. There is a quote for almost any feeling! The internet has also mad things easier for us as people have categorized and sorted the many different quotes available and people can search for a quotes to match their various feelings at different point of their lives. Furthermore, critiques and explanation of quotes, interpretation of quotes can be found on some websites to aid people from different cultures or people who just don't understand a quote as it may be too intellectually deep.

All in all, I feel that quotes are like little nuggets of wisdom and information that we should all consume every now and then! (:

AwoMEN!

“Why Mom and Dad? Why do you say ‘Amen’ at the end of the prayer?”

The question came from 8-year-old Isaac Romer of Lorena early this spring.

In response to Isaac’s question, Dad (the Telegram’s Paul Romer Jr.) offered this explanation: “It’s what you say when you agree with what was said in the prayer.”

But Isaac wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to know what people said when they disagreed.

His parents couldn’t answer. There was an awkward silence, Mrs. Romer said, until one of the other three children changed the subject.

Silent for the remainder of the evening, Isaac’s brain was still pondering the subject. The conclusion he came to was this: “Awomen.”

“To him, it made perfect sense,” Mrs. Romer said. “The opposite of men is women.”

Isaac clearly remembers when and why he started asking questions about “Amen.”

“My sister prayed that I would start liking Barbies,” Isaac said. “And I don’t.”

-

Come Sept. 21, Isaac’s “Awomen” solution will be the subject of a Pickles comic strip.

How that came to be is the result of some coincidence, a blog and Granddad.

The blog belongs to Romer Jr., a lover of words and professional writer. He logs his family’s accomplishments, discusses his views on religion and life and shares funny stories and memories.

The coincidence is that Granddad (Paul Romer Sr. of California) is a childhood friend of Brian Crane of Nevada, the creator of the nationally syndicated Pickles comic series. (Romer Sr. was unavailable to comment because he’s on vacation.)

“We lost track of each other,” Crane said. “But we knew each other from kindergarten to middle school.”

The comic strip artist sought to re-enter Romer Sr.’s life after stumbling across Romer Jr.’s blog.

“I do routine Internet searches on my name and Pickles to determine if there’s been any illegal use,” Crane said. “I found that my name mentioned in (Romer Jr.’s blog).”

In one of the entries, Romer Jr. had shared a story about how the senior Romer and Crane “used to make hand shadows on the wall when they were kids.”

“That made me want to call (Romer Sr.),” Crane said. “So I emailed (Romer Jr.) and asked him for his dad’s current contact information.”

During Crane’s attempt to get in touch with Romer Sr., he became a semi-regular reader of the junior Romer’s blog, which is where, of course, a full account of the “Awomen” conversation is located.

“I asked the family for permission to use it as an idea for my comic strip, and they agreed,” Crane said. “With 365 strips a year, I’m always looking for ideas. You name it, and I look there. The Internet, conversations, sidewalks - they’re all places for ideas.”

(http://www.temple-telegram.com/story/2008/09/14/52277/)

This is a perfect example of how technology has contributed significantly to, and enlarged the means of communication, as well as broken the molds of traditional two person face to face interaction.

Thanks to the internet, people can now not only communicate across borders but at the comfort of their homes. Old friends can now get in touch with each other at such convenience. The amount of information available on the internet is limitless and effortless-just a few clicks a way.

Isn't it just amazing how through sheer coincidence one can get inspired?

I never cease to be enlightened and pleasantly surprised by the things/ information I learn from the internet.

For instance, from the article, it struck me how at such a young age children are already wary of gender differences, the different feelings, likes and dislikes that are associated with people of the opposite gender.

“The opposite of men is women.” Although it seems innocent enough, I find that it is a strong statement coming from an 8 year old!

Why is it that we have such preconceived, one sided views? Are we conditioned to think this was by our parents?Friends?Society?

Is it wrong to have such a perception?Because in reality, the gender imbalance is present whether we like it or not.

Recently, we were given an article to read for English class title "Gender Blur" by Deborah Blum. In her article, she raised many interesting points of discussion as well as facts that really intrigued me.

Firstly, the fact that early differences in childhood shape the adults that we become. The writer's parents gave her both a Barbie doll as well as a softball to offer her different opportunities to develop.

Some parents recognize the importance of not shortchanging his/her child and stereotyping his/her child's playing habits, likes and dislikes just to fit the social norm and what is conceived as "correct" and "normal".

But how about the other majority of parents?

Beneath our physical exteriors are we really that different from the opposite gender?

Does nurture play a bigger role than nature?Are we just "programmed" by society and the media to have such mental sets?

In the article, research was carried out on 3 year olds about friendships. After interviews with 3 year olds, it was found that about half of their friendships are with the opposite sex. However, by the age of 5, thats drops to 20%. By age 7, almost no boys or girls have, or will admit to having best friends of the opposite sex.

Hence, as Blum suggests, is there some interesting science that suggests that the space between boys and girls is a normal part of development; there are periods during which children may thrive and learn from hanging out with peers of the same sex?Do parents, society or culture at large reinforce such separations?

Do you agree that it is nurture that brings about this ideology or the fact that physical appearance affects our relational formation and development as it is a fact that physical appearance has its biggest impact in the early stages of a relationship but its impact diminishes with time?
Do men and women communicate differently due to stimulus generalisation( communications and action based on how the person is similar to others)?

Mamma mia! mania!

I caught Mamma mia! at the theatre today and it really struck me how music as a medium is so effective in portraying emotions and ideas across.

Personally, I feel that Abba's music especially has a timeless quality and of a genre that can strike a chord with people both young and old. In addition i came across an article in the Straits Times whereby local composer Dick Lee was interviewed and he said that Abba's music is "excellently crafted pop- sophisticated yet deceptively simple".

I agree with him that this is one of the main reasons and still continues to live on and impacted the world is through their lyrics(vehicle through which they transmit, send their messages and ideas about life or basically anything under the sun) are extremely successful as their lyrics are catchy, simple and easy to sing. Moreover, as DJ Joe Ng so aptly puts, Abba had an "incredible grasp for pop arrangement...They really knew how to construct good tunes that get under your skin and there by having smart grooves, rifts and lines". Thus, making their music appeal to a wider audience.

This is done ingeniously as the more successful music/bands tend to be the ones that a wider audience can relate to.

But what really amazes me is the fact that throughout the entire movie there was really a song for every possible emotion and feeling! So much so that the Mama mia! movie producers/ scriptwriters managed to use and find a song to fit in practically all of the scenes! Be it reminiscing about one's daughter growing up and getting married, ( Slipping through my fingers) , finding a vision/ facing struggles in life (I Have A Dream) , relationship problems (The Winner Takes It All/S.O.S etc) you name it Abba has it. Their songs are so universal because the subject matter(s) of the lyrics all pertain to our lives and are what most people face at some point of time in our lives.



For instance, the song " The Winner takes it all" is performed in the Mama Mia! musical by the character of Donna (played by Meryl Streep) In the context of the musical, the song is used when Donna professes how much she loves Sam, but she cannot forgive him entirely as he was engaged and had to leave her to get married to his fiance.From this one can more or less infer the emotional hurt that Donna feels due to Sam leaving her to get married to someone else.

She also, believing him still married, says "the rules must be obeyed" meaning she couldn't be with a married man. Through the lyrics, one can try to guess what she feels.

From, " The gods may throw a dice /Their minds as cold as ice " and

"The loser has to fall/It's simple and it's plain/Why should I complain".

We can infer how she blames cruel gods for her misfortune and suffering and that she has no choice but to surrender to fate and stop complaining.

The aforementioned scene really struck me as i felt Meryl Streep's delivery was very powerful and I could completely relate with her feelings of melancholy just through the song.

Similarly, from the scene above, one can comprehend and relate to Donna's surprise, sadness but also the joy of her daughter growing up and getting married.

From both the scenes, we can see a number of things that contributed to the success of the poignant portrayal of emotions. Firstly, the lyrics(nuggets of information) so the audience understand the background situations/ feelings of the character(s), secondly the fact that the actors/ actresses have strong vocals to stir audience's hearts as well as non-verbal communication such as hand gestures/ actions which help express thought or to emphasize speech.

Hence, I felt that Abba's songs integrated with the good quality singing voices of the actors and the movie plot have helped developed " Mama mia!" better, making the delivery complete and successful.

Doesn't it just blow your mind how a humble tune can not only provoke deep emotions and feelings( be it positive or negative) but can also be a source of strength to spur one on during trials and tribulations? I sure do. How about you? (:

Amaze-ing corn job

-The Straits Times 12 September 2008

Please go to:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1463340938/bctid1786874697 to see the clip of their emotional reactions!


Talk about extreme extravagant gifts.

Contrary to the saying "It's the the thought that counts" I find that people tend to focus on the price or the size of the gift and often forget the excruciating effort and thought process the giver has to go through in order to prepare the "perfect gift" for their loved ones.

I have to admit that when I was a kid and what I looked out for when opening my birthday presents, was the size of the gift. Like most kids, I had the preconceived misconception that "bigger is better". However, on my 8th birthday, I became wiser.

When my aunt pressed this small box into my hands, you can only imagine my dismay! I wanted a big box! As big boxes usually translated to large objects like a bicycle or roller blades for example. But lo and behold when I unwrapped the package, I found to my surprise, a really pretty necklace. Etched on the pendant, was a little bear reading a book. I was extremely delighted and gave my aunt my little version of a bear hug. She kept in mind that I was(still am) a bookworm and went to the trouble to find something that she thought I would love.

After that incident, my perception has completely changed and now, I am a firm believer that good things come in small packages!

Through my personal experience, I have shown an example of how easy it is for messages to be interpreted wrongly as well as the various tricky interpretations due to our individual characteristics and past experiences (for instance, I interpreted big presents to things of large physical value to be more expensive and thus better) .

You see, I feel that although what Glen Fritzler did for his parents was indeed creative and no less extravagant, I believe his parents were touched not just due to the fact that their faces grace their corn maze, but the message of his love and appreciation for his parents communicated through his act of going to the trouble and effort to make his love shown-literally.

By first having to do research on professional maze designers, choosing an appropriate one, planning the time, coming up with a hefty sum to having to keep the lid on his surprise by not telling his sister must have taken much self control. If it were me, I think i would have to try extremely hard to contain my excitement and not burst telling everyone!

Hence, this is yet another form of successful non-verbal communication.

"They sure did pull the wool over their folk's eyes, what a corn job".

What do you think? (:

Shark Attack!

Protestor hooked on her protest against shark cruelty

(http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Shark_protestor_hangs_own_skin_on_hooks&in_article_id=292341&in_page_id=34&expand=true)

Alice Newstead suspends herself to the ceiling using shark hooks

-The scars of her protest

" LONDON (AFP) - A woman was suspended from the ceiling of a London shop by hooks put through her skin, in protest Wednesday against the practice of slicing fins from sharks and throwing them back into the ocean alive. " (Wednesday, September 3 2008) http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080903/wl_uk_afp/britainanimaldemooffbeat
This article caught my eye because it looks so insanely painful and I salute her (Alice Newstead) for her high pain threshold just to stand up(in this case hooked up haa) for what she believes in.

Her unorthodox method of attracting attention to portray her beliefs is indeed encoded in a clear, obvious manner , just short of screaming "LOOK AT ME!"(keeping in mind the fact that her method is a form of non-verbal communication). Some may find her form of protest too extreme and even offensive but I find that it is successful to a certain extent, as it did cause some furor and might have caused some people to think twice before buying/consuming shark meat related products.

Her use of her body as a vehicle/canvas to tell the world what she believes in, is very personal and proves that this issue is something close to her heart and that she is extremely serious about. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words and sometimes, more often then not, people need wake up calls pertaining to matters which they are usually indifferent about.

By literally portraying how sharks are caught- (they are usually pulled from the water, their fins are sliced off, and they are kicked back into the ocean, so they sink to the bottom and suffer a slow death) I feel that she has managed to convey the severity of the issue, create an impact and educate the public to an extent that shark killing is extremely cruel and a stop should be put to this.

However, as people have different mental sets like beliefs, values attitudes and feelings for instance, messages are decoded/interpreted uniquely by each individual and sometimes what we want to portray is perceived differently and communication in this sense fails. For example, Asians may not perceive consuming shark's fin is wrong/cruel as shark's fin is considered a delicacy and shark cartilage has medicinal properties that they believe strongly in. Therefore, some Asians might be offended as it is in their culture to value such beliefs. Similarly, parents of children who happened to walk pass her display may be outraged as such an extreme, very visual display can cause trauma to young children.

Hence, from a social constructive perspective, she should have considered these factors beforehand to improve communication and to bring her point across better as she might have to take responsibility and face the repercussions of her actions(a lawsuit maybe?)Furthermore, I do not doubt that people will become more aware due to her radical display, but will this really stop people from consuming shark's fin soup per se? I know for certain in Asia and Singapore especially, shark's fin soup will stay on our menus for a long time as its the norm to have for wedding dinners and most people really like it!

That being said, I have to admit that Alice's radical display is interesting as it's not often that you can find someone who goes to such great lengths just to defend his/her beliefs!:)

What do you think?How do you feel about her protest?Is it an effective way of communication?