Mass Media At Work.

Boys over Flowers

Mass media is a form of communication through which institutional sources address relatively large, heterogeneous and anonymous audiences physically separated from one another. Fashion preference, entertainment, language and politics are some influences of the mass media.

Boys over Flowers originated from Japanese comic book series, Hana Yori Dango. By stepping into the media industry, it is actually opening up to even more audience aside from the usual comic readers. In this case, it is targeting many viewers in Korea as well as the Asian market. This drama series show how great the impact of the mass media in this case the television can be on the audience and the market.

According to a website: http://popseoul.com/2009/01/07/boys-over-flowers-bring-the-viewers-back/ , the start of the highly anticipated drams, “Boys over Flowers’ helped to bring viewers back to watching dramas. As from January 7th, TNS Media Korea found that 53.3% of all Korean households were tuned into their wide screen TVs on Monday and Tuesday primetime. And “Boys over Flowers” had one of the highest viewership of 28.2%. This is where the Limited Effects Theory comes in. Though according to the theory, audiences are active with the ability to resist media messages, they sought out such media messages according to their own needs, example improving personal identity in the case of deciding what is cool and trendy now from the drama and following it, and strengthening personal relations by knowing the latest of the most watched drama by their peers and not wanting to lack behind others as a result of not watching the drama.

This drama is about a girl named Geum Jan Di who while delivering a student’s dry cleaning saved the life of a student at the most prestigious school in South Korea. Her actions became public and exposes the bullying within the school and to silence the bad publications of the school, Jan Di was offered a swimming scholarship to Shinhwa.

At the school, Jan Di learns of the famous F4 where Gu Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji Hoo, So Yi Jung and Song Woo Bin are the richest and most powerful kids in Shinhwa and South Korea. The F4 were also known to use their power to terrorize weaker and poorer students or those they have taken a dislike to. Jan Di becomes enraged about what they do. When a friend accidentally dropped ice cream on Jun Pyo’s shoes and he demands the girl to lick it off, she defends her friend. Incensed by Jan Di, Jun Pyo declares war on Jan Di.

Jun Pyo who had never been resisted by other students, begins to develop feelings for Jan Di and starts to woo her. By spending time with Jan Di, Jun Pyo is taught that money is all high and mighty and that he has to use his heart to make real friends. The two’s love slowly blossomed.

However when Jun Pyo’s mother discovers their relationship, she doesn’t approve of it due to Jan Di’s background. She does many things to prevent them from getting together. Nevertheless, at the end, both Jun Pyo and Jan Di managed to overcome the many obstacles that awaited them and ended up together.

Such a drama is pretty exaggerated, whereby in reality it is hardly possible for such things to happen. It is mostly all fantasy to satisfy the main audience, female school students who will be glued to such theatrical shows. The fancy cars that they drive and the trips they take to South Pacific in New Caledonia, Waiheke Island, Macau and Jeju Island, fires up the fantasy of enjoying life as rich kids.

Also, the series was a huge hit, creating another Korean wave throughout Asia and the cast members shot to stardom overnight. After the series ended, several of them became the faces of various endorsements and commercial advertisements. This can be considered part of the characteristics of the media messages, where interposed channels are used to transmit messages. The drama is a form of channel to help companies that approach the actors and actresses for endorsement, transmit their message. With the actors and actresses instant stardom due to the drama, they can push forth their products that will be accepted by the audiences, the female majority who are so glued onto their idols. This shows the importance of the medium, thus the Media Determinism. The medium represents the company, thus the drama will make the endorsement products shine with appeal.

Are you a crazy fan of this drama? That may be the work of the mass media.

 

Barriers to Intercultural Communication

Ever been told that you are stereotyping or having prejudices against someone? Or been the victim of these? There are in fact still many stereotypes and prejudices against people whom others think are different from their culture and society. They cannot accept the differences that these people possess.

Culture can affect communication in different ways. As taught this week, there are attitudinal barriers to intercultural communication. These are formed through:
• Stereotypes: generalized beliefs by which we make sense of the world around us, regardless of context or accuracy,
• Prejudices: negative social attitude held by members of one group towards another beforehand,
• Assumption of similarity: refusal to see true differences where they exist between self and others,
• Anxiety and withdrawal: stepping out of comfort zones and
• Ethnocentrism: belief that one’s culture is superior to all others and judge other cultures by one’s own criteria

In our different cultures, we all have our own perceptions of other cultures that we learnt and absorbed from our teachings and surroundings while we grow up. We view other cultures as different from us and that they may not be as superior. All around us, in the media, in schools, our family and our friends, we are slowly forming stereotypes and prejudices against others. It may not be intentional but it noticeable.

Ever seen commercials and one look at it, you realized what and whom they are referring to? What culture they are from and what they are like? The commercial below shows a Macdonald’s advertisement in which shows how two Chinese kids are fighting for the last piece of nugget with chopsticks. Chopsticks, the utensils that Chinese are associated with as they are frequently known to use it. Or when the children starts to fight with their martial arts skills. People believed that since they are Chinese, they would know martial arts and that it is normal, but that is not true. Not all Chinese kids know martial arts. This is a stereotype.

Also, in this other video below, it shows how people have a stereotype about Africans through the cartoon series. They portray them as carnivores and tribal people. It may be unintentional that they portray them in a negative light, but it shows that people are stereotyping them in the early days. It that a right thing to do? I am sure you won’t like to be at the blunt of it.

In addition, prejudices about gays. In our cultures, we haven’t really accepted gay relationships as a social norm yet. But who are we to judge them and scorn them. Culture beliefs represent our understanding about what is true and right and is passed down through generations till it is programmed in our minds and becomes our pattern of thinking. It is hard for us to unlearn it. However, should we be so susceptible to our culture and believe what our culture dictates?

 

Group communication. GO TEAM!

Working in a group, I am sure that everyone has the experience of working together with others. How did you fare within a group? Was it a success or a failure? Want to share your experience?

A group is one that consist many individuals who come together and over a period of time, develop similar behavioral patterns and identities, as well as independence on each other.

 Members in a group usually seeks to influence others to meet their needs and access on how much he or she can benefit from the group, thus deciding whether the group is worth staying in. Is that what you will do too? Well I am sure many will act this way. We are selfish individuals in a certain way. We want to benefit from the group after contributing, or what would be the incentives for us to join a group.

My experience in a team is one that was in Junior College. I was in Touch Rugby. It was one of my loveliest experience. I have never thought I would join a sport that commands lots of training mentally and physically. Just as it is in Moreland & Levine five stages:

1.  Prospective member (where I find out more about the CCA)
2.  New member (when I tried to fit in with all the other players)
3.  Full member (increase in responsibility and yearning to win a competition for my team)
4.  Marginal member (lessening of responsibility as I was leaving the team after 2 years, pinning hopes on the juniors to strive to win)
5. Ex-member (exits the group)

I have been through this stages and I haven’t regret any of my time in the team. Being with all of them, the interactions with them changed me as a person. I was no longer an individual; I was part of the team, part of them. They accepted me as I was and supported me. We shared interdependence; we depend on each other on the pitch. We knew that we would be covered by another team member if anything fails. The sprinters could do their thing and score the goals knowing that we will aid them in any way. We shared similar behavior patterns after spending so much time training together, we knew each other’s well. How each individual will play and the skills of each, and we could form the best formations where everyone in the formation would complement each other in some ways or you could say great team work. There were those who would know where the other will move to or what moves they want to execute without talking and the pass is successful, the goal is scored. Though it is not often that it happens, it occurs once in a blue moon with the best pairs. Collective identity, we as a team would identify ourselves with our different team tees, jersey and pullover. We were proud to be a team.

There were different characters in the team that ultimately binds us together, the energizers, the coordinators, the initiator-contributors who are those members who help the team accomplish our goals and the encouragers, the harmonizers, the followers who maintains and enhance the social climate of the team.

 

They were the best team even if we didn’t bring back many wins. We did our best as a team and loved our time together. I will never forget all of you though we are all separated. Lovess. Drink mud, play touch!!

 

Dil Bole Hadippa

Interpersonal relationship

This week, I watched my first Indian movie which is totally in Hindi. It is called DIL BOLE HADIPPA!! It is a story about a young woman, Veera, who dreams of playing cricket with the best players in the country. She lives with her uncle and works at his dance troupe.

A young man, Rohan, was called back to India by his father to help save his cricket team which has been losing for 8 years. A selection was held to pick the best players, and Veera saw this as a chance to play in the big league. However, she was discriminated by the males at the tryouts as she was a female. Undaunted, she disguised herself as a man, Veer, and entered the team.

Rohan’s father requested that Veera change his son’s perspectives so that he will stay in India and not go back to England. Love blossoms between Veera and Rohan, however, Veera could not confide in him about disguising as a male on the team for fear of getting kicked out.

During the match, Rohan found out about her disguise. Troubles brewed. But there was a turn of events when Veera came back onto the pitch and combined strengths with Rohan, which led them to victory. Rohan urged Veera to come clean about her disguise and everyone was in an uproar due to the fact that she is a woman. In spite of this, Veera gave a speech, urging everyone to give women a chance at fulfilling their dreams. The people applauded her. And in the end, Veera and Rohan got together again.

In this movie, it shows the stages of development in the interpersonal relationship between Rohan and Veera.

Engagement, their first contact was on the dance troupe’s truck, which was an argument. The physical appearance of both individuals gives each their judgment over the other. She in bright colors and improper speech allows Rohan to think of her as a village girl as he called her ‘buffalo girl’. And she thinks him as an English snob due to the fact that he switched from English to Hindi when talking to her, plus he was listening to an iPod, indicating he is westernized. Their frequent contact sparks the start of their relationship.

Management, their relationship was not totally in the open and known to all but the way they interact during the times they are together indicates their feelings for each other. Rohan gets attracted to Veera due to the novelty she gives him. She lets him see the side of the Indian culture that he has never known before.

Dissolution of relationship was due to self disclosure. Veera did not share the fact that she is disguising as a guy, making Rohan feel that he was being played. She had betrayed his trust. The conflict was not resolved properly, which led to them getting hurt. This shows that disclosure in a relationship is considered quite important. What do you think is important is a relationship?

An afterthought, the discrimination of women and disallowing them to pursue their dreams as they are not man is quite obvious in this show. It is unfair to think this way. In today’s society, there should be equity between the genders. Women should not be looked down on, though women are weaker physically. Times have changed and women are rising alongside their male counterparts, mentally if not physically. Equal chances should be given to both genders and we should not harp too much on the conventional thinking of males being superior. Do you think there should still be discrimination against women? Even in workplaces where males have female bosses, will they disrespect her, just because she is a female? I may be biased in my opinion because I am a female, so what will you think about the situation?

 

Kindness?

Kind, are we?

 

We are living in a society where life is moving at a fast pace. We don’t usually take time to notice about what the people around us needs. We tend to take for granted that everything doesn’t matter to us and we needn’t lend a helping hand though it does not harm us to do a little kind deed. Is that what we have really become? Unkind and thoughtless people, who needs to be reminded by our government to be kind and gracious to others. A little effort of kindness a day can make a difference. The Singapore Kindness Movement.

The Singapore Kindness Movement(SKM) is all about encouraging people to show kindness, by inspiring graciousness through one kind act at a time. As our former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong had emphasize the need for Singapore to become a gracious society by 21^st century. With a gracious society, a good economy and a fine government, Singapore will be a better place. There are many factors in a gracious society, (as shown in the website -http://www.kindness.sg/skm/about.aspx) the culture, heritage, education and civic-mindedness.

And SKM’s mission statement is ‘To inspire graciousness through spontaneous acts of kindness, making life more pleasant for everyone.’ Its objectives are: 1. To encourage all Singaporeans to be kind and considerate. 2. To create public awareness of acts of kindness. 3. To influence and raise the standards of behavior and responsibility.

In the video, we constantly see a little girl who is going about Singapore with her mother and she sees these kind acts being done. This is appropriate learning for a child as what children see, children do. At the beginning, the little girl is in a supermarket with her mother, when a lady accidently knocked a product off the shelf without knowing. At 0.03 seconds, a guy whose physical appearance, his hair style and a pierced ear, and his initial unsmiling facial display, indicated to the child and us that he may be a bad and unfriendly person but instead he replaced the product on the shelf and gave the child a smile, a little kind act. This shows that nonverbal cues are frequently use to make initial judgments on people.

Next, on the escalator, people were moving to the left side of the escalator to allow others in a hurry to pass, another little kind act. And to show his thanks, at 0.10 seconds the guy who was in a hurry up the escalator used a hand gesture, a body language to indicate his appreciation for letting him through.

Then, in the library, a guy with a tall frame which may indicate to people at times as a serious person with not much concern for others, reached out to aid a little boy who was trying his best to get a book on the top shelf. At 0.17 seconds, the guy then bent down to smile at the boy showing that he is friendly and wants to help, these are body language and facial displays that complements the action. A little kind act.

Following that, through the restaurant glass plane, the little girl observed Singaporeans who are aiding tourists may be lost and finding directions. At 0.20 seconds, the Singaporean uses hand gestures to indicate the direction repeating what he is saying verbally, ensuring that the message is received accurately. Another kind act.

Lastly, the girl was in the lift with her mother and many others, when they saw a man running for the lift. At 0.22 seconds he was making use of his hands to indicate ‘wait for me’ as known culturally. The people in the lift reopened the doors for the man. And the little girl, at 0.25 seconds utilized a smile, a facial display to show recognition, and the man returned the expression with enlarged eyes and a smile to indicate his pleasure.

These small little acts which needn’t employ a lot of our time and efforts can be done to brighten up someone else’s day. What is actually stopping us to aid others? It is the point of them being strangers? The trouble to do a little act? Or the fear of being laughed at for helping others? Even a smile can be adequate to show your thanks and appreciation towards others or just to be friendly. Little pieces a day adds up to the bigger picture of a gracious society.

One terrible behavior of which most likely to belong to a fellow Singaporean is presented in this video below:

 

The lady who identified herself as a PPS member of SIA can be seen creating an outburst at the KL airport boarding gate. Her hand gestures (body language) and tone (paralinguistic) indicate and complement her displeasure of not being able to board. However, the flight delay was due to the technical error and safety for the passengers, I feel that she should not have vented her anger on that poor staff. Her verbal and nonverbal behavior totally throws Singaporean’s image down the drain. The comments on the video indicate how such behavior is scorned. Therefore there is a need to emphasize on the Singapore Kindness Movement, in the bid to improve the standards behavior of Singaporeans, one objective of SKM.

SO PEOPLE, BE GRACIOUS!

 

RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ONLINE

Article 1:

Australian prison guards demand right to complain on Facebook

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Tech%2Band%2BScience/Story/STIStory_431217.html

Article 2:

Facebook Five want right

to bag the boss online

The Daily Telegraph

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,26085313-462,00.html

If you think anything you comment online is private, think again. What we write online is no longer our privacy. In this day and time, everyone has internet and whatever we write is view by anyone who is interested. We have to think carefully before writing what we want. As seen in this article, ‘a group of prison guards dubbed the Facebook Five has gone to an Australian court to fight for the right to complain about their boss on the Internet.’  The New South Wales state prison authorities are threatening to fire them. And ‘the Public Service Association has gone to the state Industrial Relations Commission to save their jobs’ by changing ‘their employment agreement to protect them from disciplinary action ‘in respect of out-of-work conduct intended to be private’.’

My perception of the internet is that we cannot post any negative comments, especially about our higher-ups or the government as we may offend them and they may take acts against us. This is due to past experience where a blogger said something racist and action was taken against him. Though what the blogger commented was wrong and may cause conflicts, this shows that we no longer have any say in what we want to comment. I do not dare to comment on such stuffs or try not to, to prevent any hard feelings and offending people. Would you dare? However, what these 5 guards did was different from our mental framework, despite the disapproving comments they posted online, they want to win the rights of employees to vent their anger at home or online. A cognitive framework of how things are suppose to occur, scripts, is not really happening. These 5 guards according to framework would have been fired as threatened by the prison authorities, are being helped by the Public Service Association to save their jobs and to fight for their rights to voices their opinions. This is not a social norm. It would be a first where an alteration is sought to exempt employees from dismissal for things they comment or do in after work hours. What a big change in concept that would be, if they succeed don’t you think so? People will be able to speak their minds on their bosses and work.

From what I have organized, I have formed the opinion that prison guards are rule followers due to similarity and person prototypes, from being under the government. But these guards are nothing like that. They dare to voice their opinions. I feel that people should be allowed to say what they feel even if it is just to vent their anger. This is the era of the freedom of speech. We should not be constrained, as it is just our views that we are putting across. What about you? Would you want freedom to speak? Nevertheless, we should have some limitations of some sort. Bosses and friends are looking through your accounts online to see what you are like, so we still have to be careful in presenting our first impressions. Also, to prevent any racial conflicts as we are living in a society with different races and cultures that have different rules and traditions that we may offend if we do not think through.

 

How Come Talk Like That?

Article 1:

How come talk like dat?  

The Sunday Times Prime Page 4

Article 2:

My bigini is BOOMZ

The Lifestyle Page 4

 http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_429193.html.

This article is about Miss Singapore World 2009 is getting scorned by the public due to her mispronunciations in a video interview. Where everyone in the online debate is wanting to have a say in how unsuitable Ms Ris Low is as a representative at the Miss World finals. Also it is on the deteriorating English standards here in Singapore and how we can improve.

Firstly, I feel that Ms Ris Low shouldn’t be put down in such a way by others. She isn’t the only Singaporean to speak this way, many others do, so why is she being laughed at. This shows the ugly attitude of Singaporeans looking down on Singaporeans. Though such behavior towards each other is not kind, it can be said to be a result of social constructionist perspective. Where there are different views on Singaporeans’ standard of English. The older thinking where, due to our focus on mainly academic studies, mathematics and sciences on the young, we tend to neglect the importance of language. Most of us are taught to believe that maths and science are of upmost importance, we have to ace them, whereas we just need to pass our language and that is enough. And as a result to this cultural belief we Singaporeans feel that English is not worth the effort and thus our falling standards. However there is a new trend of believing that English has a great importance in our lives, due to external influences like world related competitions that needs proper representatives to show other countries what Singapore is made of. A different belief is setting in. The conflict of one model against the other and the unwillingness to abandon our old thinking for a new and appropriate belief and way of communication. Therefore, the big deal over Ms Ris Low’s command of language.

Secondly, I feel that such a language problem in Singaporeans is partly our fault, due to our constant usage of Singlish and bad pronunciation to fit into our society. We often do not want to use proper English that will make others feel we are proud and official. We want to fit in with others. It is our social fear to become an outcast that may be the reason for us to prolong the usage of poor command of language and in the end caused it to be in our nature to speak English inaccurately. However, it can also be said to be caused by ‘the lack of rigour and formal, intensive drilling in the basics of grammar at primary and secondary level’. Once the student get to a higher level, they are graded on content rather than language thus, the education system is flawed and is the cause of our falling English standards.

In my opinion, this article is a starting platform (karios) to reach out to the readers (audiences), in attempt to show that Singaporeans should begin to take note about our language predicament. On how we should try to improve ourselves together as a country and not to criticize one of our own for a flaw we all do have. Do you agree with me?