Sunday, April 29, 2012
Reflective Journal 5
Reflective Journal 5.
I feel that SES has been a new subject that has progressed and improved a lot over the past weeks and months, in terms of curriculum and assessment methods.
The curriculum has been very rewarding and fulfilling, most importantly, applicable to our future life in terms of work or just understanding what people from other races and countries think and feel. It cultivates a sense of cultural sensitivity which is an indispensible skill in the 21st century. Like the western ideologies and perception of self, China’s Confucianism and their community above self mindset. It gives me a whole new perspective of the world and to see countries like America and China very differently. All I thought in the past about America and China seemed irrelevant and superficial, whereas, SES made me think much more than the Statue of Liberty of America and the Great Wall of China. More about its history, its ideologies, it people, how they live their lives and how their minds think. This would really help me in the future where I can work with people from all over the world more effectively by understand how they feel and think.
SES, I feel is a subject that foster a sense of global awareness, the need to know and understand what is happening on the other side of the world as life do not merely revolve around us and it takes collective wisdom to drive the world to greater heights. Therefore, collaboration between [people from different countries is very important. Both sides have their own values, ideologies and perception. It is whether we can reach a compromise amidst the dichotomy to obtain a best possible panacea.
SES also shows us disadvantages in a potentially flawless system or country. Like the US, it has always been a delusion that America is the best country on Earth and will be perfect. The truth is that there is no perfect system and in fact, policies and system in US have been also been in the eye of many critics and have been blasted or criticised many of times. However, systems will always improve and become better, evolving into something far better than what is originally is. This conveys a point that all policies and systems will always have their flaws and advantages, like the liberty rights and the abuse of it. Our focus should be more on how to change and better improve the system so that more people can benefit from it.
The leaning process, making our own notes, coupled by readings and online sources allows me to better understand the tutorials. Because when we browse through all the sources and then compile all of its essential materials, we would focus on the main points and also indirectly gain summarization skills, not to mention, trained to sieve out the main points to put in and strengthen our argument. Also, with the teacher’s help of giving the context of some tutorials, it helps us to better understand it. These skills can be also very important for us as we will be exposed to many readings and sources. So when given a question, we would not beat around the bush nor give irrelevant points, thus going straight to the point and summarize what is needed not what is surplus and irrelevant. It also trains us in crafting sound arguments by quoting at least two or more concrete evidences from credible sources to be more convincing for others to believe.
I see the transition from Social to economics, from perception of self to globalization. I must say that the transition is very smooth and apt, it gradually steer us to realize the interconnections between society and the economy, and not a waterfall that abruptly changes our scope.
SES for me has not been peaches and cream, certainly not easy at all! Firstly it is the assessment methods. We have to prepare all questions at the start which was really demanding, not to mention my crazily busy schedule with Track and Field. However, it has improved as the class discussions is now split into different register number which I think is very useful, lightening our workload and so that we can have more focus and emphasis on our own question and not giving a half-hearted work for all.
In conclusion, I find SES a very rewarding subject that well equip us skills of the 21st century, such as Cultural sensitivity, Summarization skills, global awareness etc..., thus should be carried on. However, being a new subject, it stills has a lot of room for improvement like assessment method etc.. Therefore, I look forward to a better SES lesson in term3!
( 775 words )
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Reflective Journal 4: Reflect on the societal problems faced by China and America
China and America both face societal problems, in fact every country does. The only differentiating factor is how significant these problems are to the world. China and America are world superpowers dominating almost every other country in the world. They draw connections to many other countries in terms of partnership or collaboration, making societal problems in both countries more harmful and detrimental to the welfare of the entire world.
An example of China societal problem is corruption. In recent years, many Chinese officials and bankers have escaped prosecution by fleeing abroad with large sums of money. The Ministry of Commerce estimated around 4,000 corrupt officials have fled China with approximately $50bn. This does not merely have detrimental effects on the economy due to large amount of losses, but also reflects on an inefficient and greedy government that covets the countries’ assets. This then makes it very hard for the people to trust the government again, such as management the taxpayers’ money, because trust is like paper, once crumpled, it can never be perfect again. We don’t see the Egyptians giving Mubarak a chance after his doings. Even worse, the people may start to resent the government and may pull strikes to oust the government out, like in the Middle East. Surely, we do not want to repeat that devastation. Regarding this problem, I feel that there should be stricter legislation and constant monitoring by the UN and not increase the pay of officials. Increasing pay is just a temporary solution and has no guarantees, we may end up allowing these criminals to escape with more money, like Allen Kagina (URA) earns 28million yet is URA most corruption institution and Kale Kayihura earns 2 million, police 2nd most corrupt member. Stricter legislation includes the government to give an account for every sum of money they take or use, and worsen the punishment for these criminal acts. If we compare it to the past whereby embezzlement by officials was the worst crime a person can ever commit (worse than murder), the punishments are very scary, like mutilation by five horses, killing the whole family, skinned and burned alive(as learnt in China studies). This could evoke fear in the officials, making them think twice before indulging in corruption.
Another problem of China is their strong media censorship. China launched its great firewall, Golden Shield of China in 1998 to monitor and censor web materials that they feel will take a toll on their people’s mindset, making them go against the government. China then went on to block Twitter, Facebook, Google, YouTube etc… With all these international platforms, to interact and engage with other online users around the world, gone, the PRCs have lost much connection with the world. What China does instead is to re-create their own copycat network which the government will control what the people will see and will not. This form of isolation of information renders the people incapable of obtaining information outside their oppressive circle. This is very dangerous. Similarities can be drawn between the current situation in China and the Qin dynasty where none were allowed out of the country’s border. Other problems faced during the Qin dynasty also included that of constant invasion, as the people were unaware of the invader’s existence, until they were under attack. Similarly, present day China may lost touch with the world and may not be able to cope if ever faced with outsiders, and collaborations between countries may be in jeopardy. The government’s purpose for this oppression is very simple - controlling information makes controlling people easier. Therefore I propose that the government reach a compromise. Having the PRCs totally eradicated from the international circle may not be too ideal, may escalate to resentment and people not able to keep up with times. I suggest that government censor at most 60% of the information, still allowing the PRCs to have connection with the world, at the same time, will not cause the government o lose their power. Realistically it is impossible for China to free all information, so a compromise is better than nothing.
America tend to resort to violence very easily, feeling justified to use violence as a precaution, “safe than sorry” mentality. One million dead in Iraq, seems to be justified by the Americans who claim to feel threatened by weapons Iraq “contain”, without actual proof, although some speculate it is just a ploy to gain access to Iraq’s oil wells. They also feel justified breaking a 84 year old man neck just for clenching his fist. They claim he was a “threat”. This may escalate into Americans being violent for no apparent reason. Recently American troops were arrested for murdering Afghan civilian for fun and collecting trophies such fingers and skulls. Such signs do not come overnight but over a long period of frequent usage of violence. Therefore I feel that an effective way is to use campaign for “动手不动口”, a form of Chinese value.
Words: 833
An example of China societal problem is corruption. In recent years, many Chinese officials and bankers have escaped prosecution by fleeing abroad with large sums of money. The Ministry of Commerce estimated around 4,000 corrupt officials have fled China with approximately $50bn. This does not merely have detrimental effects on the economy due to large amount of losses, but also reflects on an inefficient and greedy government that covets the countries’ assets. This then makes it very hard for the people to trust the government again, such as management the taxpayers’ money, because trust is like paper, once crumpled, it can never be perfect again. We don’t see the Egyptians giving Mubarak a chance after his doings. Even worse, the people may start to resent the government and may pull strikes to oust the government out, like in the Middle East. Surely, we do not want to repeat that devastation. Regarding this problem, I feel that there should be stricter legislation and constant monitoring by the UN and not increase the pay of officials. Increasing pay is just a temporary solution and has no guarantees, we may end up allowing these criminals to escape with more money, like Allen Kagina (URA) earns 28million yet is URA most corruption institution and Kale Kayihura earns 2 million, police 2nd most corrupt member. Stricter legislation includes the government to give an account for every sum of money they take or use, and worsen the punishment for these criminal acts. If we compare it to the past whereby embezzlement by officials was the worst crime a person can ever commit (worse than murder), the punishments are very scary, like mutilation by five horses, killing the whole family, skinned and burned alive(as learnt in China studies). This could evoke fear in the officials, making them think twice before indulging in corruption.
Another problem of China is their strong media censorship. China launched its great firewall, Golden Shield of China in 1998 to monitor and censor web materials that they feel will take a toll on their people’s mindset, making them go against the government. China then went on to block Twitter, Facebook, Google, YouTube etc… With all these international platforms, to interact and engage with other online users around the world, gone, the PRCs have lost much connection with the world. What China does instead is to re-create their own copycat network which the government will control what the people will see and will not. This form of isolation of information renders the people incapable of obtaining information outside their oppressive circle. This is very dangerous. Similarities can be drawn between the current situation in China and the Qin dynasty where none were allowed out of the country’s border. Other problems faced during the Qin dynasty also included that of constant invasion, as the people were unaware of the invader’s existence, until they were under attack. Similarly, present day China may lost touch with the world and may not be able to cope if ever faced with outsiders, and collaborations between countries may be in jeopardy. The government’s purpose for this oppression is very simple - controlling information makes controlling people easier. Therefore I propose that the government reach a compromise. Having the PRCs totally eradicated from the international circle may not be too ideal, may escalate to resentment and people not able to keep up with times. I suggest that government censor at most 60% of the information, still allowing the PRCs to have connection with the world, at the same time, will not cause the government o lose their power. Realistically it is impossible for China to free all information, so a compromise is better than nothing.
America tend to resort to violence very easily, feeling justified to use violence as a precaution, “safe than sorry” mentality. One million dead in Iraq, seems to be justified by the Americans who claim to feel threatened by weapons Iraq “contain”, without actual proof, although some speculate it is just a ploy to gain access to Iraq’s oil wells. They also feel justified breaking a 84 year old man neck just for clenching his fist. They claim he was a “threat”. This may escalate into Americans being violent for no apparent reason. Recently American troops were arrested for murdering Afghan civilian for fun and collecting trophies such fingers and skulls. Such signs do not come overnight but over a long period of frequent usage of violence. Therefore I feel that an effective way is to use campaign for “动手不动口”, a form of Chinese value.
Words: 833
Monday, February 13, 2012
Reflective Journal 3
I believe that history will always cast a shadow to the present. America and China are very rich in history which I believe have strong association to America’s and China’s perception of self, also, these perceptions have shaped the societies over the decades which affects me in my life.
A period in China history, ‘Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Era’, many philosophers and idealist sprung out to offer more ideologies, some of them include Confucius, Lao Tzu etc… China’s infamous Emperor Qin, who unified the diversified parts as one, however, he killed such philosophers and idealists and burned the analects. This was because he wanted to control the people’s thoughts and mindset, not allowing any other ideologies to go against him. Therefore, as people fear for their lives, they all obey quietly and follow commands, daring not to question the system and ideas. We can observe that the conforming oppression was present a very long time ago.
I feel that this way of treatment in the olden days have had its effect in the society of China today. Also, since most of our ancestors originate from mainland china, meaning that these ideas are passed down from them to us, this generation. We as Chinese are also affected by such stiff and obeying mindset originated from China. ‘Stiff’ refers to inflexibility and not to think differently and question existing rules and systems critically. An example is school, where students conform to school rules very strictly. Such as attire, all badges must be present, school pin on left collar, socks above ankle, hair not touching eyebrows. How many students would go against this regulation and argue with the disciplinary masters that it is their rights to wear whatever they wanted? Realistically no one would. This is because we as Chinese who hear by rules are afraid to question the system and declare our rights as a form of support because we are afraid to get into hot soup and actions like this would only spell trouble for us. Another example would be stringent law in Singapore, which includes banning of chewing bubble gum. This law may seem ridiculous to most, but why haven’t anyone successfully challenged it yet? There must have been feedbacks but there was neither effect nor change, meaning to say that people had just accepted it or merely withdraw their argument due to the punishment that awaits them. We could have argued that it is our rights to chew whatever we what and that the system in a way has violated our rights. I feel that the constriction Emperor Qin gives portrays an image that power and authority is not to be questioned and drastic punishment will be given, is passed down from generations to generations. Therefore, I think that China’s conscious of self has apparent effects on the students, society and law around us.
America broke free of British colonization and achieved independence by the American Revolution in the 1970s. The Declaration of Independence of 1776 was introduced, claiming that people have inalienable rights. America did have rights to resist Great Britain. America’s belief on freedom, rights and liberty has certain relevance to the Enlightenment belief that reason should guide all human affairs. I feel that as every indivisual reason differently, it should be an indivisual’s reason that guides his or her acts and not the government’s, kings’, emperor’s reason that guides the people action. Therefore America has developed strong perception in liberty and rights.
The American conscious of self, freedom and indivisual rights, has also have its effect on our lives. I would say that the influence of such American conscious of self is spread through American media, pop culture and law. For media, Facebook became a medium where we get to update our status and post what we like, what we feel without any constrains or rules. With Facebook’s growing popularity, most Singaporeans would have an account and through it, obtain freedom of speech, where there is no rules and regulations, a huge relief more individuals dying to voice their opinions without having to get into trouble. America’s pop culture has been rather well-received and the song choices and lyrics tell us a lot of the beliefs of the society. Songs such as ‘Its my life’ by Bon Jovi clearly shows the freedom and rights we all should have, after all, it is my life! As we listen to such music, we would understand more and start to have our own opinion instead of what others tell us to do, like law and rules. Lastly for law, an example would be an indivisual’s rights to carry arms and guns. The rationale is the indivisual rights and liberty to be prepared to defend oneself. In Countries like Singapore, having such weapons would mean jail, fine and arrest.
With such examples and evidences, these clearly show the apparent contrast in the beliefs of both sides and how it has affected us, shaping our mindset, making who we are today. The background that we originate from would probably define what mindset we possess and what is right to us may not be right to them in their society, just like how the Chinese and Americans and deferent perceptions of self. However, through factors like media, pop culture, we are partially influenced by the other perception of self and I can say that Singapore have achieved a good mix that bring an appropriate compromise between the two styles.
(910 Words, Sorry for the exceed)
A period in China history, ‘Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Era’, many philosophers and idealist sprung out to offer more ideologies, some of them include Confucius, Lao Tzu etc… China’s infamous Emperor Qin, who unified the diversified parts as one, however, he killed such philosophers and idealists and burned the analects. This was because he wanted to control the people’s thoughts and mindset, not allowing any other ideologies to go against him. Therefore, as people fear for their lives, they all obey quietly and follow commands, daring not to question the system and ideas. We can observe that the conforming oppression was present a very long time ago.
I feel that this way of treatment in the olden days have had its effect in the society of China today. Also, since most of our ancestors originate from mainland china, meaning that these ideas are passed down from them to us, this generation. We as Chinese are also affected by such stiff and obeying mindset originated from China. ‘Stiff’ refers to inflexibility and not to think differently and question existing rules and systems critically. An example is school, where students conform to school rules very strictly. Such as attire, all badges must be present, school pin on left collar, socks above ankle, hair not touching eyebrows. How many students would go against this regulation and argue with the disciplinary masters that it is their rights to wear whatever they wanted? Realistically no one would. This is because we as Chinese who hear by rules are afraid to question the system and declare our rights as a form of support because we are afraid to get into hot soup and actions like this would only spell trouble for us. Another example would be stringent law in Singapore, which includes banning of chewing bubble gum. This law may seem ridiculous to most, but why haven’t anyone successfully challenged it yet? There must have been feedbacks but there was neither effect nor change, meaning to say that people had just accepted it or merely withdraw their argument due to the punishment that awaits them. We could have argued that it is our rights to chew whatever we what and that the system in a way has violated our rights. I feel that the constriction Emperor Qin gives portrays an image that power and authority is not to be questioned and drastic punishment will be given, is passed down from generations to generations. Therefore, I think that China’s conscious of self has apparent effects on the students, society and law around us.
America broke free of British colonization and achieved independence by the American Revolution in the 1970s. The Declaration of Independence of 1776 was introduced, claiming that people have inalienable rights. America did have rights to resist Great Britain. America’s belief on freedom, rights and liberty has certain relevance to the Enlightenment belief that reason should guide all human affairs. I feel that as every indivisual reason differently, it should be an indivisual’s reason that guides his or her acts and not the government’s, kings’, emperor’s reason that guides the people action. Therefore America has developed strong perception in liberty and rights.
The American conscious of self, freedom and indivisual rights, has also have its effect on our lives. I would say that the influence of such American conscious of self is spread through American media, pop culture and law. For media, Facebook became a medium where we get to update our status and post what we like, what we feel without any constrains or rules. With Facebook’s growing popularity, most Singaporeans would have an account and through it, obtain freedom of speech, where there is no rules and regulations, a huge relief more individuals dying to voice their opinions without having to get into trouble. America’s pop culture has been rather well-received and the song choices and lyrics tell us a lot of the beliefs of the society. Songs such as ‘Its my life’ by Bon Jovi clearly shows the freedom and rights we all should have, after all, it is my life! As we listen to such music, we would understand more and start to have our own opinion instead of what others tell us to do, like law and rules. Lastly for law, an example would be an indivisual’s rights to carry arms and guns. The rationale is the indivisual rights and liberty to be prepared to defend oneself. In Countries like Singapore, having such weapons would mean jail, fine and arrest.
With such examples and evidences, these clearly show the apparent contrast in the beliefs of both sides and how it has affected us, shaping our mindset, making who we are today. The background that we originate from would probably define what mindset we possess and what is right to us may not be right to them in their society, just like how the Chinese and Americans and deferent perceptions of self. However, through factors like media, pop culture, we are partially influenced by the other perception of self and I can say that Singapore have achieved a good mix that bring an appropriate compromise between the two styles.
(910 Words, Sorry for the exceed)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
SES journal 2 - Google and Lenovo
This week the topic is about Google, where we get a sneak peak at workers working for google and how they are treated by the company. Also we discuss about the advantages and disadvantages of such working environment, whether it is really beneficial or actually a bane to the company. We also get to look into Lenovo, China’s Multinational Corporation, and China’s style of management.
The lesson kick-started with a video about Google’s employee’s life in its company. Incentives were offered such as free bus rides to work with internet connection, free scrumptious meals, gyms, spas, massages, subsidized child care, paid maternity leave, a whole lot more of materialistic benefits. However there are actually more important principle’s of Google’s way of management which includes the 20 percent rule, having their ideas actually listened and implemented and also, their own way to produce results. The above has already made some individuals including me to mouth water and have thoughts of working for this large corporation.
I think that Google is a result oriented company where it controls the product more than the process, to put it simplistically, they don’t care what you do or how you do it as long as you produce the good, effective results and meet deadlines. The process I am talking about is the employees’ way of working together to work and how they spent their working days and working times. However, Google did implement measures to help the employees with their work. They put up relaxing facilities and good incentives like subsidized child care or spas for them to really relax and think. I suppose Google feels that when a person is at ease, they can exert their creative juices and can think of a lot more innovative ideas than sitting in a office table for twelve hours and cannot think of much creative projects.
According to PRCs’ testimonial in class about the Chinese workers, China conventional way of management is actually stifling creativity and innovation critical for being the top economic super power. The workers only do what they are told without thinking or questioning. The employees are rather afraid of their bosses and are not comfortable with debating or arguing with the boss or even to raise a suggestion. China is currently still copying products from the west , being a future economic super power, China needs to innovate and create products themselves.
This may come from the influence of Communism where there is a 1 party rule and also about values of Chinese morals like respect and humility. There is also speculation that the China’s way of upbringing and their education system may teach them to listen to teacher and follow what is in the textbook and not question the sources, question the methods and think of new ways.
Having reflected on the working culture and management style in Google and Lenovo, I would like to talk a bit more about Google’s way. Miss Yeo’s said something like, “Most employees don’t spent 100 percent of their time working, and even teachers don’t!” I started to think twice whether these incentives are really that great or it is already there but google is smart enough to package this whole delusion into a nice present for us gullible people to receive. True enough most people do not spent all their time working, even students don’t spend all their times studying too. Having this 20 percent rule is in fact rather redundant. Also, people are not going to think of creative ideas by sitting in an office room but rather, when heir having their life, or relaxing, they can come up with innovations far more creative.
I felt that the whole point of having this topic as a discussion is to question Google’s methodology and whether it has attributed to its success. Why is Google so successful then? Google, starting out as a small company in 1996, has already achieved the most popular search engine in the world, 2.5 billion searches a day, it slowly moved on to make online productivity software, google docs, gmails etc… Partnerships with other corporations soon followed such as the development of android’s operating system, which is competing fiercely with apple’s OS. Some even say that google may have a chance to overtake apple, their prospects of this would be a tinge higher now due to the departure of apple’s mastermind Steve Jobs. The company's mission statement from the outset was "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". They now have far beyond exceeded their mission in becoming one of the world’s most important tools and indispensible to most people on this earth whether it is checking information on the search engine, checking out the world with google earth or just simply browsing the web with the “self-acclaimed fastest browser in the world” --- google chrome.
There is a question I always wanted to ask, “Is google that great?” Compared to other companies and search engines like Yahoo, BING, ask.com or MSN, is Google really that superior? How is google able to stand out among the other companies and become the world’s top search engine? If I walked on the street and asked strangers for their preference of search engines, I can assure that at least 70% of the people’s choice would be google. This google-mania has even reached the extend that most people will type in “google.com” just to check their wifi or internet connection and not other websites. Other just uses it as a verb! “Lets google this”, or “you can google that!” 89% of smart phone owners uses google search on a daily basis. In http://www.quora.com/How-many-people-use-Google-world-wide, the statistics clearly show how much more people uses google than other companies like yahoo. Google and yahoo’s function is almost the same, useful sites for emails and information etc... For companies that perform almost the same function yet to have such a big margin in terms of popularity, something is definitely wrong here. Is it that GOOGLE is a catchier name that YAHOO! Or is it that “Googling” has been such normality in the previous generations and well liked that it is passed down to the younger generations? Or is Google’s method really that great?
The lesson kick-started with a video about Google’s employee’s life in its company. Incentives were offered such as free bus rides to work with internet connection, free scrumptious meals, gyms, spas, massages, subsidized child care, paid maternity leave, a whole lot more of materialistic benefits. However there are actually more important principle’s of Google’s way of management which includes the 20 percent rule, having their ideas actually listened and implemented and also, their own way to produce results. The above has already made some individuals including me to mouth water and have thoughts of working for this large corporation.
I think that Google is a result oriented company where it controls the product more than the process, to put it simplistically, they don’t care what you do or how you do it as long as you produce the good, effective results and meet deadlines. The process I am talking about is the employees’ way of working together to work and how they spent their working days and working times. However, Google did implement measures to help the employees with their work. They put up relaxing facilities and good incentives like subsidized child care or spas for them to really relax and think. I suppose Google feels that when a person is at ease, they can exert their creative juices and can think of a lot more innovative ideas than sitting in a office table for twelve hours and cannot think of much creative projects.
According to PRCs’ testimonial in class about the Chinese workers, China conventional way of management is actually stifling creativity and innovation critical for being the top economic super power. The workers only do what they are told without thinking or questioning. The employees are rather afraid of their bosses and are not comfortable with debating or arguing with the boss or even to raise a suggestion. China is currently still copying products from the west , being a future economic super power, China needs to innovate and create products themselves.
This may come from the influence of Communism where there is a 1 party rule and also about values of Chinese morals like respect and humility. There is also speculation that the China’s way of upbringing and their education system may teach them to listen to teacher and follow what is in the textbook and not question the sources, question the methods and think of new ways.
Having reflected on the working culture and management style in Google and Lenovo, I would like to talk a bit more about Google’s way. Miss Yeo’s said something like, “Most employees don’t spent 100 percent of their time working, and even teachers don’t!” I started to think twice whether these incentives are really that great or it is already there but google is smart enough to package this whole delusion into a nice present for us gullible people to receive. True enough most people do not spent all their time working, even students don’t spend all their times studying too. Having this 20 percent rule is in fact rather redundant. Also, people are not going to think of creative ideas by sitting in an office room but rather, when heir having their life, or relaxing, they can come up with innovations far more creative.
I felt that the whole point of having this topic as a discussion is to question Google’s methodology and whether it has attributed to its success. Why is Google so successful then? Google, starting out as a small company in 1996, has already achieved the most popular search engine in the world, 2.5 billion searches a day, it slowly moved on to make online productivity software, google docs, gmails etc… Partnerships with other corporations soon followed such as the development of android’s operating system, which is competing fiercely with apple’s OS. Some even say that google may have a chance to overtake apple, their prospects of this would be a tinge higher now due to the departure of apple’s mastermind Steve Jobs. The company's mission statement from the outset was "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". They now have far beyond exceeded their mission in becoming one of the world’s most important tools and indispensible to most people on this earth whether it is checking information on the search engine, checking out the world with google earth or just simply browsing the web with the “self-acclaimed fastest browser in the world” --- google chrome.
There is a question I always wanted to ask, “Is google that great?” Compared to other companies and search engines like Yahoo, BING, ask.com or MSN, is Google really that superior? How is google able to stand out among the other companies and become the world’s top search engine? If I walked on the street and asked strangers for their preference of search engines, I can assure that at least 70% of the people’s choice would be google. This google-mania has even reached the extend that most people will type in “google.com” just to check their wifi or internet connection and not other websites. Other just uses it as a verb! “Lets google this”, or “you can google that!” 89% of smart phone owners uses google search on a daily basis. In http://www.quora.com/How-many-people-use-Google-world-wide, the statistics clearly show how much more people uses google than other companies like yahoo. Google and yahoo’s function is almost the same, useful sites for emails and information etc... For companies that perform almost the same function yet to have such a big margin in terms of popularity, something is definitely wrong here. Is it that GOOGLE is a catchier name that YAHOO! Or is it that “Googling” has been such normality in the previous generations and well liked that it is passed down to the younger generations? Or is Google’s method really that great?
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Reflective Journal entry 1
A new year has just come less than 3 weeks ago, I suddenly feel so lonely and new. Facing the new faces in class, new teachers teaching us, new environment of learning, new subjects to learn. One of this little NEW subject is SES (socio-economic-studies).
Last Thursday was our first SES lesson which was the introductory lesson. I have been told that it is a new topic adapted from the subject PPE taught to the BSP classes. Upon hearing that there were neither exams nor tests, I was very relieved as I thought it may be a slightly less taxing, to think I was real wrong. The other requirements are rather high, writing 800 words for a reflective journal has never been my kind of thing, let alone the 1000 we need for our term paper. I have been told that the subject SES focuses governments, economies, people and societies. However, i am the weakest at the humanities area which adds a big boulder on my shoulders. Not to mention we are not allowed to use scripts and have to memeorise more than around 500-800 words for our class presentation. Not to mention other subjects are getting harder and more in depth as well, training everyday, I am starting to wonder if i can survive sec 3...
Learning a new topic is never easy, getting good grades for it would be a step higher. However, after feel do not feel that uncomfortable with this new topic as i think that other subjects may have some form of relation to it. My impression of this topic is very much something like current affairs we have during our lower secondary years. Both subjects require us to have good knowledge about the world affairs and situations, following a engaging class discussion which everyone would give their opinions and suggestions to that particular piece of news. This subject has also very close relation with the subjects IHC as both subjects talk about social studies and about governments, people and societies. Another subject would be AAT last year, whereby we, again, engage in a class discussion to share our views of the topic given in the Socratic seminar, we are also required to write our AAT journals which would be graded according to how critically we reflect and think. Having said that, I feel that this topic isn't that bad and that new to me after all.
Actually I do believe that this subject is very important. Like current affairs or AAT, it trains and stimulates a good discussion where we can improve our interpersonal skills and boosts our self-esteem as well. Also, it encourages everyone to speak up in their own opinion and because it is a graded discussion, the quiet ones would be forced to speak up for their own good too, who knows they be a hidden gem with great potential of commutation and also good thoughts and points that is can be shared with the class. This subject also has every relevance to the world and the society, more importantly, our country. It broadens our horizon and let us become more aware of the events going on around us and how much it affects us. Through readings and references, we are also able to improve our vocabulary by reading either books or online sources, increasing our language standards to a certain extend.
What I like most about this topic is that there is NO test!! Just kidding, what I really think is important and significant of this new subject that I never came across is its “freedom”. This “freedom” that I am referring to is that we are able to say what we want, what we feel, what we think and there will never ever be a wrong answer as this subject is based on different people’s point of wheel and therefore, (unless our argument is really that nonsensical) we will never get marked wrong or marked down because of what we think and I think this is the best part of the lesson, able to freely express our thoughts on the topic given.
I believe that this new subject can really help me and also my classmates. it allows us to be well informed citizens of Singapore and also students who are keeping up with what is going on in this world and also, able to boost our self-confidence by giving speeches or starting discussions which I am very sure it would be useful in our alter life. I may face problems after a few lessons or may not like this subject but nonetheless, after the lesson introduction, I now know what to expect for Socio-Economic studies in Sec 3. I know that it will not be easy but I suppose I can survive it and if possible, excel in it the best that I can.
Last Thursday was our first SES lesson which was the introductory lesson. I have been told that it is a new topic adapted from the subject PPE taught to the BSP classes. Upon hearing that there were neither exams nor tests, I was very relieved as I thought it may be a slightly less taxing, to think I was real wrong. The other requirements are rather high, writing 800 words for a reflective journal has never been my kind of thing, let alone the 1000 we need for our term paper. I have been told that the subject SES focuses governments, economies, people and societies. However, i am the weakest at the humanities area which adds a big boulder on my shoulders. Not to mention we are not allowed to use scripts and have to memeorise more than around 500-800 words for our class presentation. Not to mention other subjects are getting harder and more in depth as well, training everyday, I am starting to wonder if i can survive sec 3...
Learning a new topic is never easy, getting good grades for it would be a step higher. However, after feel do not feel that uncomfortable with this new topic as i think that other subjects may have some form of relation to it. My impression of this topic is very much something like current affairs we have during our lower secondary years. Both subjects require us to have good knowledge about the world affairs and situations, following a engaging class discussion which everyone would give their opinions and suggestions to that particular piece of news. This subject has also very close relation with the subjects IHC as both subjects talk about social studies and about governments, people and societies. Another subject would be AAT last year, whereby we, again, engage in a class discussion to share our views of the topic given in the Socratic seminar, we are also required to write our AAT journals which would be graded according to how critically we reflect and think. Having said that, I feel that this topic isn't that bad and that new to me after all.
Actually I do believe that this subject is very important. Like current affairs or AAT, it trains and stimulates a good discussion where we can improve our interpersonal skills and boosts our self-esteem as well. Also, it encourages everyone to speak up in their own opinion and because it is a graded discussion, the quiet ones would be forced to speak up for their own good too, who knows they be a hidden gem with great potential of commutation and also good thoughts and points that is can be shared with the class. This subject also has every relevance to the world and the society, more importantly, our country. It broadens our horizon and let us become more aware of the events going on around us and how much it affects us. Through readings and references, we are also able to improve our vocabulary by reading either books or online sources, increasing our language standards to a certain extend.
What I like most about this topic is that there is NO test!! Just kidding, what I really think is important and significant of this new subject that I never came across is its “freedom”. This “freedom” that I am referring to is that we are able to say what we want, what we feel, what we think and there will never ever be a wrong answer as this subject is based on different people’s point of wheel and therefore, (unless our argument is really that nonsensical) we will never get marked wrong or marked down because of what we think and I think this is the best part of the lesson, able to freely express our thoughts on the topic given.
I believe that this new subject can really help me and also my classmates. it allows us to be well informed citizens of Singapore and also students who are keeping up with what is going on in this world and also, able to boost our self-confidence by giving speeches or starting discussions which I am very sure it would be useful in our alter life. I may face problems after a few lessons or may not like this subject but nonetheless, after the lesson introduction, I now know what to expect for Socio-Economic studies in Sec 3. I know that it will not be easy but I suppose I can survive it and if possible, excel in it the best that I can.
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