Saturday, February 28, 2009

Stomp! A mass media. Is it good or bad?



Hey people, have you guys heard or came across with the website Stomp before? If yes good for you.

However, if you are unfamiliar with this website. You should check it out!

Stomp is categorized under a mass media tool and a place for mass communication to take place. It is a so called ‘online portal’ for citizen reporting and the prospect was promising. Finally, there is a platform for us Singaporeans to write and report without being bounded by red tape (although I DO suspect there are still some in place). Users, also known as Stompers, are allowed to upload pictures and include stories under the Singapore Seen section, afterwhich other Stompers can view and comment on.



There are pros can cons of course.

In my opinion:

PROS
Stomp Singapore seen can be informative and can become a useful tool to create public awareness over a certain problematic issue such as a report about the dangers of children playing on a 21st story rooftop and the leading consequences. It has somehow played a role as a surrogate parent educator for the public which is beneficial to the society.

CONS
However, there are reports that are overboard, ridiculous and also mostly insignificant. I think it's become more of a hip thing to report something there. Suddenly, everyone's turned into the paparazzi.

So what's your take on this?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

American cultural imperialism.

Have you ever missed the newest episode of MTV's The Real World or the latest American idol season and SIGHHHHH so loudly, start complaining to the person beside you and start rolling on the floor to vent your frustrations?






If yes, it is normal. Don't worry. You are not the only one feeling this way!

Well, Singaporeans today tend to feel this way due to the process of American cultural imperialism which in my opinion is largely a byproduct of an inevitable globalization.

Sometimes I see young people huddling in flurry of baggy combat pants, skateboards, and slang along Orchard road. Be it be posers or kids that want to act cool, I believe that American culture has sipped into them and influence their perception of what's cool, thus resulting in the act above. Previously, skating was not that very popular in Singapore compared to today.





















Popular fast food joints such as McDonalds are practically situated almost every corner of our island. Not forgetting Coca-Cola and Starbucks. We often patronise these franchises originated from America. Then, how can our local food franchises compete against these giants?

Also, I am studying an American degree programme and I feel that there is a need to learn the American culture and pick up their communcation techniques and various slangs as well as jargons. Perhaps this is also due to the American culural imperialism?

So what do you guys think? Should we embrace American cultural imperialism with all our hearts?

Saturday, February 21, 2009

The importance of teamwork

TEAMWORK is defined as a cooperative or coordinated effort on the part of a group of people acting together as a team or in the interests of a common cause

Have you ever wondered what teamwork can do?

Here's a short clip of teamwork at work. I personally think it's pretty hilarious and cool as it's filled with lots of precision as well as creativity.



Notice that the song was sung by only 2 men and not 6?

The song depicted from the video was the famous Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel. As you know Cannon in D is not known to be sung individually but as a group. But why? Because the quality coming out from an individual is definately not as good compared to a group. For example, among men, there are basses, baritones and tenors, and among women, contraltos, mezzo-sopranos and sopranos. With a good combination of each vocal range, the tune will be enhanced and intesified.

Here's an extracted part of the main score sheet in Cannon in D.



Notice, the first 9 bars of the Canon in D: the violins play a three-voice canon over the ground bass which provides the harmonic structure. Colors are used above to differentiate and highlight the individual canonic entries. Hence, to satisfy that harmonic structure, a team of different voices have to work together to achieve that musical effect and create a lastful impact.

In all, the message of this video is to greatly remind us the importance of teamwork and the fundamental value behind it.

However, there are times whereby teamwork fails and individual work triumphs.

What do you think?

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Speed Dating

Today, speed dating is becoming increasingly popular, trendy and fun.

Why?

Due to the concerns about the falling fertlity rate in many advanced Asian countries, it is gaining popularity in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong too. Also, in our modern society, more single people are working longer hours, leaving less time for socialising. Speed dating fulfills that lack of socialising time and at the same time broadens your social network.

What is speed dating?

The basic idea is that an equal number of men and women attend a venue; each person spends between 5 and 10 minutes chatting to each member of the opposite sex, and then decides which people they would like to see again. The organizers facilitate an exchange of details if there is a match.

I managed to download a video from Stomp which illustrates a scenario of a speed dating. Watch what happens during the speed dating with masks event at Traders’ hotel.

During conventional speed dating events, first impressions are usually based on appearance and looks. "People are initially attracted to someone, based on their looks" says the experts. However, in this particular speed dating event, the need to put on masks removes that element. This is good because it prevents the dates to be based superficially but other alternatives such as personaility and style will be taken into consideration as part of first impressions.

This week's com's lesson focused on two types of communication.
1. Interpersonal communications
2. Communication in Relationships

From here, you can see interpersonal communication being utilized in the conversations between 12 men and 12 ladies. Messages are exchanged within a certain time limit and one must select their words properly in order to impress the other party. According to Knapp Model of Relational Development, this process can be catergorized under stage 1 (Initiating) and stage 2 (Experimenting).

And if both parties are rather impressed with one another and feel that there might be a spark or chemistry between them, they may want to proceed further in their relationship which takes them further to a stage 3(Intensifying), stage 4(Integrating) and stage 5(bonding).

On another note, some people stereotype people that turn to speed dating in search for a possible partner tend to be single, CMI(cannot make it) and desperate.

How much do you agree with this?

If you are given an invitation to attend a speed dating event, will you show up? (Assuming that you are single!)

And if you do, will appearance be of importance to you when you meet new people?