The End

This will be my last post for my communications blog. Indeed this is an innovative way of a “homework”, its like homework as we have to do it at home naturally and it is more of like a review of what we have learnt every week. As i do not have a blog on my own, i still find it difficult to sometimes express myself in words as i am better at expressing myself with words. But it has been a good experience for me to set up this communications blog to learn how to express myself better and also learnt new stuff from my other friend’s blogs.

Lastly, good luck to all for the final exam and project. Cheers. =)

Globalisation of mass media

Just a short reflection on how the globalisation of mass media has affected me.

Without the globalisation of mass media, i will not be able to watch and enjoy the different movies that are shown in the cinemas every week. If i remember correctly, we only started having exports of movies from the U.S. about the 90s. We only have local television programmes and maybe some programmes from the other Asian countries but they are very limited. Only till the late 90s when we start having more U.S. TV shows and movies shown on television. The first few that i remember would be the “Friends” season and “Buffy the vampire slayer” season. Ever since i started watching them, i grew more attached to the shows and make it a point to watch them every week. As the media companies in U.S. have very strong domestic roots, they are able to export their products overseas to gain more popularity across the seas.

TV shows became movies and more and more movies are screening in the cinemas. I realise the majority (90%) of the movies i watch are American movies from the Century Fox productions or the Warner Brothers productions and i only watch local production like once a year if they happen to have a good movie. Growing up and watching all the different movies definitely have an influence on me like in terms of language or even their dressing,

Aside from the U.S. products, more and more Asian products are being exported in during these recent years. Like all the different Japanese, korean and Taiwan dramas. So with the globalisation of mass media, we are able to enjoy the different shows and movies from different cultures and countries and appreciate their productions even more.

The Leap Years

This year is a leap year and it gives me more of a reason to watch the local production of “The Leap Years”. Well, the movie did not leave a big impact but it is still a good show afterall, quite worth the watch though.

Synopsis of movie: Li-Ann ‘s (Wong Li Lin) birthday fall on the 29 of Feburary and on her 6th birthday (24 years old), she met the man of her dreams, Jeremy (Ananda Matthew Everingham). Since their first met, they made a promise to meet on every Feburary the 29th and this was a start of how Li Ann had to overcome all the twists and turns of fate to have the love of her life.

The movie started off with the young Li Ann going in to a chinese temple to have her love life told by a fortune teller and also how she tried to uncover her fate bit by bit by going to the fortune teller. This shows the tradition of Chinese and alos relates how much Chinese depend on fortune tellers sometimes to tell us our fate. I feel that the director is trying to convey the message that we can know our fate beforehand but it is up to us how we want to control that fate.

Subsequently , the scenes jumped from Li Ann’s present state of 48 years old to her reminiscing about her past 24 years of life since she met Jeremy. The scenes of Li Ann’s present state were always potrayed as foggy and blurry while her past states were always in clear light. In my opinion, the director is showing us that Li Ann treasures her past memories and she always remember them in crystal clear and in clear light while her present state is foggy and blurry as her husband, Jeremy, is unconscious at the hospital and she is unsure of her future.

The director also made use of music to help intensify the emotions and mood of the diferent scenes. If you take note of the lyrics of the songs sang during the differnt parts of the leap years, you will realise that the songs complement the storyline during that leap year. Foe example, the third leap year, Li Ann wanted to forget Jeremy and lied to him that she was married, the song payed was “scars” and the lyrics clearly emphasized what Li Ann was feeling and how hard it was for her to let go and the scars that was left behind.

Aside from songs, the director also used quote from famous people like Albert Einstein before the start of every leap year to let the audience have a rough idea of what would be happening in the movie. For example, during the fourth leap year, the quote was “In three words, I sum up what I have learned in life: Life goes on”. As the previous leap year was Li Ann breaking up wiith Jeremy, we could anticipate that she will move on from her life and stop waiting for Jeremy. So the different quotes act as a link to the different leap years part.

After watching the movie, i feel that the director has successfully communicated her message – true love is worth waiting for – to the audience. Well, at least i felt that way. Through the 4 leap years that Li Ann had to go through and also the last scene when she explained what the fortune teller once told her – you must be patient. Indeed, she was patient enough to wait 16 years for a love unreplaced by anyone.

Where I belong to

(This post is entirely based on my own opinions and perceptions)

Individualism or collectivism? I feel that i am in the middle, a bit of both as i grew up in a very chinese environment which is a collective culture but due to the different aspects of influence when growing up, i am becoming more of an individualist.
I grew up in a traditional Chinese family where my parents cultivated certain thoughts and culture in me. One is to maintain the harmony in the family and not quarrel with my siblings and the older siblings should always give in to the younger siblings. I also feel that i have a duty towards my parents as they took care and supported me all the way to university and i should support and take care of them in future when they are old.

My parents have taught me to be thrifty since young and not to spend money unnecessarily as earning money is not easy and we will experience it when we grow up. But as i start working and earn money, i tend to spend more on personal items that can satisfy me. Like a gucci bag for example, I do not really need a expensive bag but it just satisfies me after buying it. It is like a form of self indulgence to reward me at the end month with my pay check. I believe that majority of traditional Chinese families have parents who want their kids to be obedient and listen to them all the time, but it is quite difficult to have kids listening to their parents all the time now with a more open society. I also had this problem where i had to break the barrier in my parent’s old thoughts and let them know that we are no longer the same kind of children in their generation and need our own freedom, thoughts and speech. So i feel that it is not only us who are struggling to find out who we are but also our elder generations who are trying to, they are caught in the old culture but have to try to adapt to the new culture.

In the past, people are not so concerned with our own comfort and social recognition but only want to bring the money home for the family so they can have proper meals. But now, majority of the youngsters want comfort where they go dine in expensive restaurants, watch shows in theatre instead of home and also drink coffee in cafe instead of coffee shops. They want social recognition by dressing up in the latest fashion and publicizing themselves in blogs. The change in culture is also brought about by our progression of our society –  we are no longer the village but a prosperous city.

As our country now is a mix of both East and West, it is difficult to truly identify which culture you belong to. I feel that as long as we keep the cultural values important to us and not forget them, we will be able to have our own identity.

This is Singapore

(Clip took from YouTube)

I came across this very Singapore clip in youtube. There is no songs or lyrics but only an accompanying music for this 4 minute clip. I wanted to post this clip as it is really very Singapore and we can relate to it immediately after watching it. It also displays the Singapore culture to a certain extend. Some might find the clip quite boring as its just the different scenes that represents Singapore throughout the 4 minutes, but  i feel that it makes us remember what we forgot as we are progressing too fast.

It started with the different high rise buildings in the CBD area, to show the growing development of Singapore. After this scene, it jumped to a scene with a man fishing in a lake. I feel that this shows the contrast between our fast development and yet there are some parts in Singapore that has the slow pace of life. Another scene shows a man cycling on a trishaw which is our mode of transportation in the olden days (60’s and 70’s) then following is a scene with all the cars and buses zooming pass. This is another contrast to show the development and efficiency of Singapore, where we no longer use trishaws and rickshaws but cars, buses and MRT for our transportation.

The clip also showed some iconic representations of Singapore, which is the HDB flats and Merlion. The HDB flats are symbolic to Singapore due to our limited land space, which is not a problem faced by many other countries. The Merlion is another symbol of Singapore as the head represents the beast that once roamed the ancient island state and the fish body represents the Singapore’s origin as a prosperous seaport. The Merlion has been an icon since Singapore became independent and is definitely one of our most symbolic item.

Towards the end of the clip, it feature some old shop houses with the very old sign boards still hanging along Clarke Street. I feel that the message that the director wants to put across to the audience is to keep our culture despite us progressing economically and socially. I couldn’t agree more that our society should try to maintain and keep certain cultures to not forget our origins. Cultures play a very important aspect in our lives but i feel that we are progressing more towards a Western culture which is something that cannot be prevented. However, we should always keep our own culutre within us to remember who we are.

my group members

Through the projects meeting that i went through, I agree that group synergy is very important for a group. With the right attitudes and direction, the group is able to move together in cohesion and provide the best for the group. Within my group, we all have a clear idea what we want (which is to score and do well for this project) and we all try to put in the best effort to make things work.

The group socialisation in my group has influenced me to put in more effort for every meeting that we have. As the rest of my group members are very hard working students and I know that they all want to score for this project, I feel that i have a need to contribute more during meetings and not pull the group dynamics down.

There are different task and maintanence roles taken up by individual groups members so that my group functions well as a whole. Majority of my group members are opinion and information giver. Everytime during meetings, all of them will prepare something to contribute. Throughout the meeting, they will further add in their own opinions and also elaborate and stress on information that they think is important. Sean, our group leader, essentially acts as the coordinator and orientator as he is always the one who schedules the meeting timing and venue. He will also make sure that the meeting is conducted in an effective way to not waste unneccessray time. All of us are contributors in the group as everyone speaks their own mind during the meeting and provides valuable information to help the project.

As well for maintanence roles, all i can say is that we all play a part as encorager, harmoniser, compromiser and standard setter. We all have fun and laughter, sometimes even crack stupid jokes, during the meetings. Besides, each of us will also encourage the others to speak their mind as we often laugh and joke together. The harmonious realtionship that we have in our group makes every one feel at ease and be able to speak freely. We all do play a part as a compormiser as we will give in to each other’s ideas and even if we do not agree, we will discuss as a whole as to why we do not agree to this idea.

To conclude, I would like to say to all my group members that it has been a joy working with you guys as we always have fun and laughter in our discussions. Although there are times when we really talk crap but we always end up having quality work done. Despite the long hours of meeting, we never give up and try to work things out. I am proud and happy to have you guys as part of the team.

From strangers to family

Synopsis of movie:
Shi-Jie (Jay Chou) is a brilliant martial artist from the Kungfu School. The master of the school adopted him as a baby, when he was found abandoned in the woods. His remarkable kungfu skills stem from his innate intuition and ability to read his opponents moves. One day, he encounters a group of youths playing basketball and shows off how easy it is for him, with his martial arts training, to do a Slam Dunk. Watching him was Chen-Li (Eric Tsang), a shrewd businessman, who decides that he would exploit Shi-Jie to make some money. Under the guise of helping Shi-Jie to find his family, he recruits him to play varsity basketball at the local university.

(Information taken from http://www.gv.com.sg/moviedetails/gv_moviedetails_2561.jsp) 

I am going to use this movie, Kung Fu Dunk, to illustrate the interpersonal relationship between Shi Jie and Chen Li.
They first form their relationship through similarity, where they both met each other in a park with the same situation. One was kicked out by the master and had no place to go but the park; and another was poor and had nothing to do but can only stay in the park to read newspaper. Next was complementarities and exchange, Shi Jie had perfect shooting skills and was able to perfect every flying dart and basketball shot while Chen Li had a business mind where he knew how to market Shi Jie so he was able to make money out of him. They were able to complement each other with their different abilities. There was a process of give and take in this relationship. There was reciprocity and likingbetween the 2 of them. Like how Chen Li cheered loudly for Shi Jie during competition.

After the relationship forming process was how they maintain their relationship. Through the movie, I assumed that Chen Li was just making use of Shi Jie to make money out of him, like forcing him to join the competition to gain publicity. But through one scene of self disclosurefrom Chen Li, he disclosed how much he cared for Shi Jie and will not sell him out to the opposing group. He will not give in despite the amount of money given as it is his dream to see Shi Jie succeed in his basketball life. This self disclosure has strengthen their relationship and increased their trust between each other.

They also had conflictswhen Chen Li forged Shi Jie’s parents handwriting to bluff him into playing the game. But it was quickly resolved when Chen Li explained his motives behind it and this shows that explanation and acceptance is important in maintaining a relationship.

Through their different experiences that they went through together, Shi Jie and Chen Li became close as father and sons. Even when Shi Jie’s biological father went to find him, he still refused to go back with the father and choose to stay beside Chen Li.

I feel that this forming and maintaining of interpersonal relationship plays a big role in our life. It applies to every aspect of our life and this is how everyone make friends, lovers and even with family members.

It’s still the Chinese New Year

The traditional Chinese New Year (CNY) festive season last for 15 days and the greetings are suppose to last for half the month. But it is only the eighth day of the Chinese New Year but it seems that the festive season is over within the first 2 days. I guess this has a big part to do with the government allocating only 2 days of holiday to this festive season. We start getting influenced by our government telling us that we only have 2 days for the CNY and we tend to do all the necessary things over these 2 days (like going to relatives house or even going to temples to pray). We will then have the mindset that CNY celebration only lasts for 2 days and we all have to get back to work or school after that. As time gradually pass, this mindset will become a part of our culture and perception that we Singaporeans Chinese celebrate CNY for 2 days only unlike the traditional Chinese.

I still remember that my perception of CNY when i was young – it will be a fun day where I get to wear new clothings, receive hongbaos from my relatives and spend the day eating all the goodies and playing with my cousins. But my perception of this yearly festive season starts to change as i grow older, this could be due to the different elements that influence my selection of information about CNY. The holiday becomes more of a chore as i need to help my mum prepare all the necessary stuff for the big day (like the cleaning up of the house, shopping for food to prepare on the day, helping my younger siblings buy new clothings and many more). I did not have to do any of this when i was a kid, but i guess this is just part and parcel of growing up. You have the obligation to help your parents when you are old enough to help them. Besides, the CNY celebration gets more stale every year with the same relatives asking you the same old questions every year. When you are younger, they will ask about your studies, then it is about your relationship then about your working life. And if at a certain age you are not married or attached, they become even more worried and start asking when you will get married. Aside from the questions, you will just glue yourself to the television majority of the time unless you have something else to do (which might be gambling; which is only allowed for the young kids during this time)

As the younger generation start the trend of “escaping CNY”, more and more young couples choose to go on a holiday during this time of the year. This is so that they can avoid giving out the hongbaos. But it is really a traditional festive season that have lasted for decades and decades and it is only right that we as Chinese make a point to celebrate it. If not the CNY will only be deem as just another holiday and not be given any importance which is what CNY feels to me now. My perception of CNY now is that it is just a holiday for me to rest and see some relatives that i did not see for the last year. I guess that new trends and experiences can really change and influence one’s perception.

Let the eyes do the talking

How many times have you been upset with your boy friend or family members and simply wished that they know what you are feeling now and reach forward to say comforting words. But they often do not notice until you start displaying some forms of actions that show your emotions, like crossing your hands or keeping quiet for a long time. These actions are often in the form of non verbal communications and tend to be noticeably only if the person understands your different cues.

One real life example that i will be discussing is the classical quarrelling scenario with your boy friend. First is the kinesics, which is the study of body movements. You can observe that when a girl is angry, she tends to display her emotions by crossing her hands or stomping her feets which is a form of regulators. Affect displays are also another category of kinesics that they couples will display when quarrelling; both will show signs of unhappiness in their face expressions, the girl might even be crying and the guy will throw up his hands in frustration.

Paralinguistics which is the study of vocal non verbal cues is also shown in this scenario. The qualities of their voices can give us a clue to their quarrel as their volume and tone of speech will start to change. Their volume will tend to be louder in order to vent their emotions and the pitch of their voice will also be sharper. They will not converse in their usual form of tone. Silence is also one very important form of cues as they allow us to decipher the meanings between their lines.

Haptics, study of touch in non verbal communication can be related to this example. We seldom see couples standing far apart from each other or not holding hands when walking together. If the couple is not holding hands or turning their backs on each other, we can infer from their body actions that they are having a row.

Non verbal communication definitely plays a big role in our interaction and it is amazing that how much information you can obtain about the others by reading the non verbal cues that they are giving out.

Cloverfield

Movie Review: Cloverfield

Cloverfield is the first movie i watched in year 2008, but sad to say it was a disappointing show for me. In a nutshell, this movie was about a group of friends trying to escape and save each other when a monster suddenly attack the New York city at midnight. The story line is a very simple one that we can find in many other movies where monsters start attacking and people running around for their lives. But this movie was not like the “usual” ones that i have watched before. The story line might be similar but the way of shooting and directing as very different.

The thriller for this movie caught my attention and prompted me to watch this movie. The thriller was very captivating and intriguing with the scenes jumping here and there and people screaming for help and also the statue of liberty’s head falling off. The thriller was done in a video camera form but i never expected the entire movie to be shot with a video camera. This was the downfall of the movie as the whole movie was very jumpy, blurry and giddy. I was already feeling uncomfortable half way through the movie and had to close my eyes during parts of the movie so as to complete the whole movie.

Although the movie was a simple show, the effects of the show was good. The scenes when the long bridge broke and the head of the statue of liberty fell was very realistic. It definitely brought a slight fear to me that what will happen if that really happen with the rise of terrorism. This is something that might just happen with us least expecting it. The directors also added screams and fears of the actors to make the whole show feel even more realistic.

I also felt that using a video camera to film the movie was a unique way to portray the movie as compared to the usual movie. Using a video camera also gives it a more human touch and I felt more connected to the show. I guess the directors wanted to use video camera to give the audience a different feel towards the movie and also to engage the audience more deeply into the story line.

In conclusion, I feel that the movie is not really very special except for the different filming effects. I will not recommend this show to my friends unless they are able to take the movie-sickness.