Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! has proven to be a great hit in Singapore. It was the leading movie in the box office the week the movie was released.

In this musical film, it features Sophie (Amanda Seyfried)was brought up single-handedly by her mother, Donna (Meryl Streep). In westernised countries, this is a rising phenomenon today. This is probably attributed by their culture, where the people are more liberal.

Besides that, low context culture has also played a major role in the long separation of Donna and her new husband, Sam( Pierce Brosnan). Previously, this couple broke up when Donna learnt that Sam was engaged. When Sam left, Donna assumed that Sam will not come back for her and was just playing with her feelings. However, Sam had gone back to England to broke off his engagement with his fiancée. When he returned to look for Donna, through someone else's words, he knew Donna was seeing someone else, thus assume that Donna has already given up on their relationship which led to the deep misunderstanding.

If one takes a look at the weekly box office results or the movies currently available in cinemas, rarely will you see a local film on the list. Most movies are overseas films and which are the main sources for the movie industry. The rising of foreign films in Singapore movie industry reflects media globalisation in Singapore, where the market is open to commercial programme providers.

The main purpose of this film, 'Mamma Mia!', was to provide entertainment. In the process of watching this movie, we learnt about the American culture. As mentioned in the cultivation theory, messages from this movie, will not influence us audiences' attitudes directly, instead, it will be cultivated indirectly.

Overall, I feel that Mamma Mia! was a entertaining and comical movie. It's worth the time and money to watch!

The Recession Blues

After months of agony of hearing or reading one bad news after another with regards to the economy, the Ministry of Trade and Industry finally announced that the economy shrank in the third quarter, and faced a decline of 0.5% as compared to last year's figures last Friday. For the last two quarters, there has been a contraction in the local economy, making this the first technical recession in Singapore since 2002.



Ever since the fall of big names financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG, many investors are starting to panic. It is only now that Singapore is feeling the impact of the global economic downturn. However, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Mr S. Iswaran stated earlier that Singapore is in a better position to withstand the real economic effects as compared to the period of 1997. This is due to the re-structuring of the Singapore financial system which our our central bank, Monetary Authority of Singapore, has adapted and managed.

Singaporeans will definitely feel the pinch now that recession has set in. Many people are worrying about clearing the bills and providing the basic necessities for the family. I've also heard of people who have received a lower paycheck and many, especially in the manufacturing sector, have been retrenched. The group that will strongly be affected would be the middle income families, especially when prices for commodoties, electricity, water and transport have increased.

I guess Singaporeans should cut the habit of spending in excess and save more to ensure survival. In time of crisis like this (which I forsee will last till up to two years)it is important that Singaporeans manage their finances well. Measures could be made by using public transports, eating homecooked meals and switching to fans instead of air-conditioners.

So what have you done to save?

Source: The New Straits Times, http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_288879.html

Goodness Gracious Me!

"Kids mirror adults. That's why we need to behave well before we can teach our kids manners." This is a quote taken from The Straits Times, page B12, 4 Oct 08 issue.

In the full page article, it mentioned that Singaporeans need to brush up their social graces. It seems like it is a phenomenon in Singapore at foodcourts to see patrons leaving the table with dirty trays, drinks spilled and food scattered on the table.

Typical Singaporeans in general has this perception that they are patronising the food court to fill their stomachs, rather than cleaning up. To them, the job of cleaning up belongs to the cleaners. Thus, The Straits Time has come up with the 'Goodness Gracious Me!' campaign, in hope that Singaporeans would learn to be more gracious and civic-minded towards others. The underlying purpose of this attribution is to improve the well-being of the locals, through how people behave and relate to one another.



As seen above, a gracious society covers culture, heritage, education and civics. To start of, education plays an important role. The first picture shows that the mother teaches her son to be 'gracious' by actually not clearing their mess so that the cleaner can do their job to clean up the tables. Children see their parents as role models, and thus often model after their behaviours and actions. As such, it is not surprising that Singaporeans are not as gracious as expected.

The environment also acts as a non-verbal stimulus. All it takes is probably for a few person to take initiative to clear their own trays and food, leaving a clean table for the next diner, to start the ball rolling. There is then a high chance that others will follow suit. For example, at IKEA restaurant, customers are encouraged to clear their own tray. There are some initiative customers who do that but majority still doesn't. Perhaps, IKEA restaurants need to have more banners placed at a more prominent place so that more people will get to see it.

Whether this campaign to work towards a more gracious and civic-minded society, depends a lot on us. Furthermore, with the integrated resorts coming soon and a expected increase in the number of tourists to Singapore, there is certainly a need for us to work on that. Ultimately, how these tourists view Singapore is based on our attitude and character. Everyone should play a role to help preserve the good reputation of Singapore!

Relationship

I'm sure by now, most people would have heard of the Singapore blogger whom allowed her previous boyfriend to take nude photos of her.

If you hadn't, this is the aricle.
http://www.asiaone.com/Digital/News/Story/A1Story20080925-90005.html

The different perception they have towards this issued was mainly the first factor which had lead to their break-up. It is obvious that a satisfactory solution was not found even as their differences began to amplify. Their differences in their priority, for the girl she just wanted her privacy back while her boyfriend is only concern about the profits that he had made from allowing netizens to view her photos, has lead to the blogger's frustration to escalate (dyadic process).

As her boyfriend constant refusal to talk and discuss about the issue, indicating his desire to avoid communication and interaction with her, using negative identity management, it eventually led to the termination of their relationship.

At this resurrection process stage, both parties has already cut off all connections with one another and her boyfriend has already changed his number. Also, it seems that the blogger bemoans over this issue.

By now, her perception that of thinking that it is usual for a couple who is in love to have private moments, in this case her nude photos, would have changed. While technology progresses rapidly, her naive perception that digital cameras and handphone cameras are there for taking picture of almost anything, including her own nude photos to keep, has led her to become a prey of technologies.

Besides that, she should have known that these were against the laws in Singapore, whether or not the photos are publicised. Also, i feel that it is not necessary for them to take the photos so as to be able to share private moments between themselves personally. Things that you feel you would like to remember, endearing it in your heart is enough. If something is really important to you, you will not forget it, even if there are not photos. Perhaps, between this couple their relationship has progressed too fast, allowing little time for the experimenting and intensifying stage of the Knapp Model of Relational Development. Apparently, the girl has still not known her boyfriend well enough to be able to guess that her boyfriend would betray her one day in exchange for monetary gains. Prototypes of the guys would probably be developed by the public, labeling him as a jerk.

While this couple felt that having explicit and sexual photos of themselves taken and shared between themselves would perhaps, strengthen their relationship, I would beg to differ.

There are also other relational maintenance methods besides photo to share, that can improve and strengthen your relationship. For example, little surprises that my boyfriends gives me occasionally and many little things that he does for me to show that he love and cares for me, does indeed make me feel loved and so thankful to be with him!

Agree?

Marriage

http://justwoman.asiaone.com/Just%2BWoman/About%2BMe/Well%2BBeing/Story/A1Story20080917-88291.html

Marriage-the milestone for the countless dates we go through in relationships. It is easy to walk down the aisle, say the marriage vows and pledge to stay loyal to your partner and love and care for him/her no matter what the future holds for them. However, is it as easy to maintain, to keep the relationship going?

One important factor to keep the marriage going is of course, communication - both verbal and non-verbal.

In my opinion, the quality of verbal communication is more important than the quantity. Of course, the quantitative aspect should not be neglected too but more often than not, the hectic working schedule of the couple, assuming that both are employed, will reduce the time spend together and communication. Therefore, I feel that the time spent together should be maximized by improving the quality of communication and adopt an orientation of stimulus discrimination to show that you do care about the other party and you are special to him/her. In the long term, as the relationship grows stronger, dyadic consciousness will be developed and one would not see him or herself individually, but instead, as a couple.

Besides that, non-verbal plays an important role in sustaining a marriage. Kinesics, paralinguistics, oculesics, haptics and proxemixs can show your love and affection for the other party. Little gestures like a smile, winking at your partner, giving him/her a little peck on the cheek or even a little hug, does talk a lot on how much he/she means to you.

With the love and understanding of each other, as in the article, I believe that its possible for marriage to bind not only the two souls, but also the two families too. To love someone, I feel that one must accept his/her partner’s shortcomings, love his/her family. With the acceptance of the weaknesses and their family, frictions can then be minimized and relationship will be improved. While it may sound easy, to really to be able to do it, it really isn’t that easy. How much you love a person can determine to what extent you can accept their shortcomings.

Personally, I feel that marriage will certainly give me a sense of security being with my partner. Of course, that is not the only reason to get married. While some may feel that after marriage, they do not have as much freedom as before or will hinder their career pathway thus wanting to delay marriage, however, to me, marriage would allow me to spend more time with my partner alone and at this stage, the understanding of each other would reach another higher level. As much as I will like to have my own freedom, I desire to be able to spend as much time as possible with the one I love and that is one of the plus points of marriage! Don’t you think so too?

Maggots and feathers in food. Raining rats in restaurant. What else?

Take a look at these:
http://www.soshiok.com/articles/10852
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=34212
http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/singaporeseen/viewContent.jsp?id=33949
Doesn't it makes you lose your appetite?

First, maggots in your sauce. Then, feathers in your chicken. What's next?

Rat's actually falling from ceiling of restaurant! Not one, but MORE THAN A DOZEN of baby rats.

These simply kills my appetite. I think that its just disgusting.

I think that the fact that such issues are actually mentioned, it gives people the perception that the hygiene standard in the prepartion of food and cleaniness of food outlets in Singapore. In just a short period, there isn't one, but at least three complaints about the quality of food and the cleanliness of the food outlets.

It seems to me that not much actions has been taken from the respective authorities. The batch of curry sauce affected from Mcdonald's has been called back. Is it really a case where someone tries to tamper with the sauce and let Mcdonald's reputation be be affected intentionally? Or was there issues with the food quality control over at Mcdonald's supplier's side? For this case, due to lack of evidence, we probably cannot just conclude there the problem lies with Mcdonald's curry sauce.

However, much as we can deny Mcdonald's responsibility in the issue of finding maggots in their curry sauce, what about the rats that fell from the false ceiling of one of the Mcdonald's branch? It just points out clearly that the required standard hygiene and cleanliness of the fastfood restaurant is not there. For this, I feel that NEA should take some actions against them and ensure that the same incident will not happen again. Also, NEA should re-emphasise the importance of having a clean cooking and dining environment at all times and alert stall holders to be mindful of these always, through multiple channels such as sending NEA personnel to remind them or introduce campaigns to further encourage them Imagine if NEA only takes action and investigate only after something serious happened just as in the case of a child who died from consuming poisonous milk powder mentioned in the news today. Wouldn't it be too late then?

Well, finding feathers in your chicken may not be as bad but I still wouldn't like it. It probably ruin my desire to eat the same food again without being cautious about possible feathers in it. I can't speak for others but for myself, whenever I go back to the same place, I can't help recalling the incident. Its just like a cognitive process in me, where my brain will choose to remember this particular issue unconciously. But, it wouldn't be as bad as finding rats falling from the ceiling and landing just inches beside me for sure. I swear if that happens to me, I wouldn't go back to the same outlet anymore unless there is really a need to.

Enough said, but do hope that it wouldn't happen to me. I'll probably faint to find ratS joining me for my lunch!

Drunk Driving

Referring to Monday's yahoo news, you would realise that 2,577 drink drivers were caught for drink driving since just the start of the year! This would average up to around 10 drink drivers caught every day.

This statistics may goes to show that amongst us, there are many irresponsible who not only neglect their own safety, but also endanger the safety of others. Despite constant reminders to not drink drive by putting up ads through the media such as the newspaper and television, it does not seem to make any significant impact. From a psychological perspective, it seems that through this linear model of communication, viewers do not register this important responsibility in their mind. This perhaps got to do with their mental set of source and they not having experience in the consequences of drunk driving.

Teenagers are the main group that is responsible for the high number of drunk driving cases. Hence, I feel that there is a need to target the institution, in this case mainly the secondary schools, junior colleges and polytechnics, where these teenagers spend a large amount of the time in, to have the responsibility to educate them. As these adolescents are not matured enough to understand the effects of consequences, perhaps the one-way communication of informing them about the results of drunk driving will not be as effective then.

Besides that, perhaps the government and traffic police can organise talks to remind the community of the down-side of drunk driving, and through logos and pathos, hope that it will deter them from doing so. Parents can then also constantly remind and keep their children in check and play a part in the role of deterring drink driving.

Do you perceive drunk driving as being cool? Even if it is, I feel that we shouldn't do it at the risk of putting other's safety at danger and needless loss of lives on our road. These people are innocent, don't you think so? I certainly wouldn't like to be involve in one!