Monday, May 24, 2010
Xinfang
The exponential rate of new media users allow people to communicate and exchange ideas effectively within split seconds. New media includes internet, interactive television networks and multimedia information services. It helps to increase the interactive mass media and ease our hunger for knowledge. For instance, social networking website, Facebook allows their users to post as and when they want to, there is little censorship. Statistics show that there are up to 500 million facebook users each day and is ranked the world's top three search engine. With such accessibility, people are expose to the convenience of information and know what is happening around them, hence they would not be ignorant. However, there are bound to be unreliable information in the internet. Certain views and opinions can be biased. It is dangerous by the speed of how new media helps us to exchange information, there can be a negative influence. For instance, sensitive issues such as racial biasedness can lead to detrimental effects such as the instability of country. It might stir up conflicts and unhappiness among people. Hence, provided that new media has a high degree of censorship and yet not reducing any neccessary information, it have changed our lives for the better.
NEW MEDIA V(^.^)V
Have new media changed our lives for the better?
New media is the combination of traditional media like photos, videos, words or music with modern technology. New media has not changed our lives for the better as it has affected our ability to communicate with other people face-to-face. With the recent trend of blogs, more and more people, especially youths, are becoming less and less adept at communicating in person as most of their interactions with others are on the computer through blogs, MSN, or social networking sites like Facebook. Before the advent of new media, most of the communication was done face-to-face or through phone calls. This helps us develop our ability to interact with others personally as it was one of the few ways to communicate with others before new media was introduced to the society. Even, with phone calls, you could not see the person, but it was at least possible to hear their voice and the way they speak. Our experience in dealing with people will be enriched through understadning the way people act and look in different situations. However, with new media, majority of the interactions are done voice-less and without actually seeing the person, and this does not allow us to effectively judge situations when talking to others in person. This form of communication is done behind the safe confines of the computer, where we do not have to learn how to effectively talk to others in person as no words are exchanged, only typing is used. Thus, a problem arise, especially for adults who are working as they have to interact with others on a daily basis, and hold business meetings and entertain customers. If they do not possess good communication skills, it is likely that they will lose the deal and this has a negative impact on their career. Especially for entertaining clients, good socializing skills are required to curry favour with the client and clinch the deal. Large business networks must also be established through communication. Thus, if all we do is type on the computer without communicating through more traditional means, we will not develop the skills required to communicate effectively in person, and this can prove to be disastrous as we are unable to express ourselves once we leave our seat in front of the computer. Thus, new media has not changed our lives for the better as our ability to communicate might be impaired if we only communicate through new media.
New media is the combination of traditional media like photos, videos, words or music with modern technology. New media has not changed our lives for the better as it has affected our ability to communicate with other people face-to-face. With the recent trend of blogs, more and more people, especially youths, are becoming less and less adept at communicating in person as most of their interactions with others are on the computer through blogs, MSN, or social networking sites like Facebook. Before the advent of new media, most of the communication was done face-to-face or through phone calls. This helps us develop our ability to interact with others personally as it was one of the few ways to communicate with others before new media was introduced to the society. Even, with phone calls, you could not see the person, but it was at least possible to hear their voice and the way they speak. Our experience in dealing with people will be enriched through understadning the way people act and look in different situations. However, with new media, majority of the interactions are done voice-less and without actually seeing the person, and this does not allow us to effectively judge situations when talking to others in person. This form of communication is done behind the safe confines of the computer, where we do not have to learn how to effectively talk to others in person as no words are exchanged, only typing is used. Thus, a problem arise, especially for adults who are working as they have to interact with others on a daily basis, and hold business meetings and entertain customers. If they do not possess good communication skills, it is likely that they will lose the deal and this has a negative impact on their career. Especially for entertaining clients, good socializing skills are required to curry favour with the client and clinch the deal. Large business networks must also be established through communication. Thus, if all we do is type on the computer without communicating through more traditional means, we will not develop the skills required to communicate effectively in person, and this can prove to be disastrous as we are unable to express ourselves once we leave our seat in front of the computer. Thus, new media has not changed our lives for the better as our ability to communicate might be impaired if we only communicate through new media.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
4. Opinion: Changing Family structure
Summary:
- The author asserts that the structure of a modern family greatly differs from the traditional one and feels that this change is not necessarily better
- Whether it is the "parental and educational functions", "economic function" or the "recreational function", the author notes that the modern family is not as united as the traditional one
- Functions of the modern family are now shared with external agencies
Thoughts:
While I agree that marriage does regulate the sexual impulse of people, I feel that illicit sexual behaviour is actually not uncommon now. Pre-marital and extra-marital sex relations are not only increasing in western societies but also eastern societies, which are prided to be traditional and conventional in their thoughts and beliefs. Despite the introduction of sexual awareness lessons and discouragement of pre-marital sex in schools, youth today still indulge in sexual activities in Singapore even if they are underaged. This point had been highlighted in numerous articles and surveys in our newspapers.
The author also noted that the modern family is not as united as the traditional one. With the rapid and constant advancement of technology, we now seek the pleasure and entertainment that modern recreation provides, often alone or with peers. Today's emphasis on education and careers leads to people leading their individual lives and segregates each other despite being a family. I agree with the author that this has affected the cohesion of family.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
What are the pros and cons of females being active in the workforce?
Being active in the workforce means that a huge proportion of time and efforts are put in working. This means that less time would be spent in taking care of the family and there would be a strain between work and family. So, should women be active in the workforce?
In my opinion, I feel that capable individuals should be active in the workforce. This includes the women. Having an effective workforce means that the workers must have well-polished skills and hence help the society in the improvement of the economy. For example, European Union women have filled 6million of 8 million new jobs created since 2000 as stated in the article. Thus, in this case, having females being active in the workforce is beneficial since it helps the country's economy.
However, if there's is a sudden surge in the number of capable women in the workforce, some people would worry about the domestic affairs that women are supposed to take charge of are now left unattended. Various issues such as low birth rate due to the reluctance of having children pose a problem to the society in a long run. Indeed, I must agree that such problems are causing much headaches to developed countries with low birth rate. However, I feel that such problems can be solved if the government are able to come up with effective meausures to curb such problems. For example, the policy set by Singapore government about low birth rate have worked out quite well. Hence, I believe that women should still pursue their career with much fervor as it is important to focus on what they really want.
In my opinion, I feel that capable individuals should be active in the workforce. This includes the women. Having an effective workforce means that the workers must have well-polished skills and hence help the society in the improvement of the economy. For example, European Union women have filled 6million of 8 million new jobs created since 2000 as stated in the article. Thus, in this case, having females being active in the workforce is beneficial since it helps the country's economy.
However, if there's is a sudden surge in the number of capable women in the workforce, some people would worry about the domestic affairs that women are supposed to take charge of are now left unattended. Various issues such as low birth rate due to the reluctance of having children pose a problem to the society in a long run. Indeed, I must agree that such problems are causing much headaches to developed countries with low birth rate. However, I feel that such problems can be solved if the government are able to come up with effective meausures to curb such problems. For example, the policy set by Singapore government about low birth rate have worked out quite well. Hence, I believe that women should still pursue their career with much fervor as it is important to focus on what they really want.
Wominnovation/ Eunice Chng
Firstly, I agree with Yaksh's point about the invention of the pill due to technology that has helped women a lot. However, I would also like to add on that the article also mentioned that technology now allows parents to determine the sex of their embryo early in a pregnancy and thus having the option of aborting females in countries where the male offspring is of a higher value. In this case, such innovations that technology has brought about is definitely not beneficial to women because the number of live female births is way below the number of live male births. The example given in the article is China, whereby at least 100 million female lives have been lost in the recent decade due to this form of technology.
On the second point of micro finance, agreed. I would just like to add on that the article mentioned the invention of scooters, thereby increasing the opportunities and productivity of women which adds on to the initial point. The scooters provide a safe and reliable way for women to travel for education and work so it acts as an enhancement.
Firstly, I agree with Yaksh's point about the invention of the pill due to technology that has helped women a lot. However, I would also like to add on that the article also mentioned that technology now allows parents to determine the sex of their embryo early in a pregnancy and thus having the option of aborting females in countries where the male offspring is of a higher value. In this case, such innovations that technology has brought about is definitely not beneficial to women because the number of live female births is way below the number of live male births. The example given in the article is China, whereby at least 100 million female lives have been lost in the recent decade due to this form of technology.
On the second point of micro finance, agreed. I would just like to add on that the article mentioned the invention of scooters, thereby increasing the opportunities and productivity of women which adds on to the initial point. The scooters provide a safe and reliable way for women to travel for education and work so it acts as an enhancement.
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