You don't know me.

I think I was about 10 or 11 when 'You've got Mail' aired in cinemas. It was a comedy cum love and yes, a very good example of the 'various advantages' in the virtual world.

The movie overview: Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks are rivals in the real world as they are competitors in business. In the virtual world, they interact well with one another through the use of emails and screen names. And then, predictably, they fall in love and period.

Ahhh...the beauty of the internet. MSN chat, Skype, Facebook-these are the things we heavily rely on in this technological age. Not only we as teenagers use them but hey, our parents are also part of it. Not for mine, my cousins at least. When I went over to Beijing where my uncle was based, he would chat with my cousins everyday via MSN and they would 'report things like any mischief ' and webcam him to say good night. What a very sweet way to keep in contact!

With websites like Faceboook helping us to keep in touch with people we barely know(yes, as long as we remember that fellow as our primary school classmate, then she's on our virtual friend list), it is also a portal for our parents and aunties or uncles to 'spy' on us. A friend of mine commented that if his dad ever added him on facebook, he would reject him because 'I don't wanna be controlled even online'. It was then I realised that as much as online portals make much more convenience than before, it was also a clever(could be misleading as well) way to find out alot of things about someone you might think you're close to.

I know of many friends who seem very quiet when interacting with them face-to-face. But when they go online, it's as if that person you're talking to is not them. Scary! Like what we've learnt in class, people take on different personas online and really, it's hard to tell which 'face' of that person is their true self. Then again, for them, having an online persona is their way of expressing their feelings and thoughts that they might not have the confidence to talk about in real life. In a sense, the virtual world allows them to 'escape' from reality.

Of course, not all's grey or rosy in the virtual world. Not grey, because it allows us to find out more about someone we might not dare to interact with in real life. And not all rosy because virtually, we can use it to deceive. I mean, when our lecturer told us about the case of the father and daughter meeting up after chatting online, it made me wonder how much of influence the internet has on us. I did find it funny though, just imagine how the two reacted when they saw each other! LOL.

All right, just a cartoon ad to laugh about. I personally am very much in love with all things Peanuts.

Connected globally

(Tell me if everything you've learnt or 'copied' is from the media. I dare say, 70% of what and who we are today is based on the influence of the media. Just my own lil thought though)

And so, staying connected to the world should be at the top of our game. This is more so for the mass media, where whatever information we receive and take in, is through them. Connectivity, that's the word.

I remember when I was in secondary school, dramas such as Smallville was the rage. The girls in my class would sing the Remy Zero theme song and the teacher would shut them up. LOL. For most of my secondary school life, I alternated between one new US drama serial over another and that continued into my poly education. Local dramas, on the other hand, were getting less attention on my radar.

Simply put, they have never appealed to me. Of course, not all local productions are bad. In fact, there are some pretty good ones. In 2003, I watched a play by Kumar(sg's most famous drag queen), Emma Yong, Hossan Leong and Chua En Lai. Titled 'Cindere-LAH', it garnered a full-house seating at the Raffles Hotel and gave everyone comic relief.

Surely, like most Singaporeans, I support local movies like Money No Enough & I Not Stupid. Yes, they do provide lots of laughter, however, if you realise, for films like these, they centre around the same, old storyline, with lots of singlish. Tell me then, how do we compete with hollywood films? For local movie 'Homerun', it was actually based on an Iranian film. I watched it and found it so much better than our local adaptation. Call me skeptical, but for me, local movies and programmes lack the originality and creativity when it comes to media. Like my dad always says, 'Everything also copy...where's the catch?'

Moving on to print media, I personally prefer reading overseas magazines(fashion ones i mean). Teen Vogue, my bible for the latest trends and best buys, keeps me wanting to come back for more. I diligently buy the monthly issues, though the 8 dollars I pay pinch a little. The preference I have for them over local magazines is unexplainable-maybe I just feel they provide me with better information in the fashion sense.

It's interesting. Because here I am, at the other end of the earth, consuming a US magazine and getting the best from it. Globalisation of the mass media is just so amazing, we get linked to other parts of the world without needing to get there to consume its contents.

Cultures and such...

Hi!

Catch of the week;

Thought you guys might like to ponder over this:

" Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit."(by Jawaharlal Neru)

When we talk about interculture, it pretty much depends on our way of life and the different beliefs, cultures and values we adopt. It also tells how we people behave and perceive the world around us.

In the local context, things like kiasu-ism and singlish depict our lifestyle and what truly makes us Singaporeans. Believe it or not, much as I choose to deny that I'm not among the herd, a part of me still displays involuntary acts of 'the typical Singaporean syndrome-singlish, kiasu, kiasee, and whatever you can think of!' Well, we know that culture is learned and shared, so whatever we do is dependent on how people around us present themselves. Oh my, now we know 3/4 of the nation is guilty of the above.

Lately, I came across this Romancing Singapore campaign, which provides initiatives for singles to interact. It has been around since 2002 and is a social platform, as well as a marketing strategy for businesses. Not bad, considering the many benefits it offers like movie marathons, island-wide treasure hunt etc.(yearly event) Being in a collectivist society, we are prone to always thinking about others before self, adhering to what society expects of us. Even for something like marriage, we have to cater to the likings of our parents and goodness gracious, following what the government says when they encourage more people to get married and give birth(of course, not forgetting the benefits that comes attached to it). This, I can never understand why.

All I know is, Singapore has changed from a country with traditional mindsets, to one that is open to new ideas and very much westernised. Though this may seem the case, our mentality towards certain issues like filial piety is still highly ingrained in us. Any forms of rebellion acts are frowned upon. Being Asians, it is our culture to value these despite which nationalities we call ourselves to be or claim to be 'western in thinking'.

Anyway, culture does allow us to widen our horizons. In Singapore alone, we have the 4 different nationalities and each have their own uniqueness, couple them with a touch of Singaporean-ism and tada, we have a multi-lingual and multicultural Singapore we can truly call our own!

My homies

Hello there!

Here are some pictures to 'jumpstart' this entry on group communication. What better way to show than photos with my friends:)

My closest bunch in Ngee Ann poly. We were at Island Creamery after the Graduation Photo Shoot. Enjoying our get-together after-school sessions...like we always do.

With my teammates from NZ, Aust, South Africa on the 1 month Taiwan trip in Dec 2008

The Mauritian darlings, whom I built good friendships with in Taiwan.

Ok, now for the serious stuff.

Here is a brief overview: Our tendency to form groups is a pervasive aspect of organisational life. As well as formal groups, committees and teams, there are informal groups, cliques and cabals. So now, I'll touch on group communication in a clique(something more personal for us to relate la).

It's innate in us to identify ourselves with a particular group-think mod, edgy, the hippies, the athletics and the geek chics. Even from kindergarten, we see young children being in different cliques. And of course, communicating in their own little 'lingo' that no one else understand but themselves. Being in a group provides that sense of belonging, identity, a haven for one to seek advice, divulge secrets, plan work together. There's so many possibilities and benefits of being in a group(or in the case of the extreme, not too beneficial). Overall, group communication is essential in life-to get work done, to make friends, for socialisation.

Let me share a personal example of group communication that has lost its 'vitality'.

That is, 'phasing out with my secondary school clique'. In case you're thinking we do not hang out anymore, we actually still meet up on birthdays and special occasions like christmas(they celebrated my birthday last year and gave a surprise treat). As taught in class, I consider myself a marginal member. Not that we don't find enjoyment in each other's company, it's just that along the way after secondary school life, we made new cliques and the attachment we had back then became less significant. A weak attachment, bluntly speaking. It's hi, bye after each meeting and we go back to our own poly and jc cliques.

Then, let's sidetrack back to our hang-out cliques. It all starts with getting to know each other, then self-disclosure(recap of interpersonal communication). For me, the friends I hang out with are my pillars of strength, influence, comfort and happiness. We do think alike and analyse towards the same perspective(you could say we have the same behavioural standards after a long time together).Even our criticisms and style of doing things are almost the same. Interesting, but scary though! Hurhur.

Though group communication may seem hard to achieve(hey group communication is the root of miscommunication amplified as compared to interpersonal ones), it actually shows how well we interact with the different parties and understand them. Basically, it shows the closeness of the group. Once group communication shows signs of flaws, then you'll know it's unsuccessful.

As what Franklin Roosevelt said, " Be sincere, be brief, be seated." Now, that's what I call good group communication. How about you?

Say it with Love!

And so, we just had Valentine's Day yesterday. How timely for a blog entry on love!

Walking along Orchard Road felt somewhat stranger than usual. The whole stretch was crowded with people(and may I emphasize, ladies with roses in their bags and cuddling stuffed toys). Walking amidst them with a textbook in my hands felt out of place. My day was spent doing math practice and meeting up with a girlfriend. In my own words, it was just another ordinary weekend.

I do admit, I have this skeptical thinking when it comes to Valentine's Day. The overwhelming or overplayed atmosphere, factoring in the 'commercialisation' of all-things lavish and perfect has got me thinking. Expensive dinners, being presented with a bouquet of flowers and an exhange of valentine's present is EXPECTED. It acts as a sort of checklist for the ladies to gauge if their other halves love them.

Then, why do people go on the search looking for that special someone-unrelated at first, yet they all in love and spend the rest of their lives happily together. It's human nature, I guess. We were made to interact with other people and establish some sort of personal relationship with them. This is where the expressing of love, jealousy and arguments settle in.

As we know, differentiating, where communcation is starkly marked by overt conflict, is common in couples. How then, would we resolve these differences? Mutual give and take, perhaps? Now, if only things were THAT EASY. Boo hoo.

As the common folk saying goes, the power of love changes someone. In our hopes of searching for that perfect someone we have in our subconscious minds, we wish that person to cater to us and vice versa. Isn't loving someone about giving and taking and changing for the better? Surely, we do know what we want our other halves to be. May I say, it was sort of ingrained in us since young.

Parents would advise their children on the 'correct type' of people to look out for when choosing a partner, whether that person is compatible in terms of education, personality and maybe to a certain degree of looks. Sadly, this has become what many parents of today set their standards on their children's future partners on.

You see, people have the tendency to fall in love with someone whom they associate with their parents (I read this from Mind your body in the Straits Times this week. Very interesting and something new to me). Same angular facial features, about the same height and heck, even the resemblance in personality. Oh and let us be honest about this, money does matter in interpersonal relationships(on closer development, the status factor might come into play).

Simply put, Valentine's Day is the day when couples put their differences aside, show the other party how they feel towards each other and spend the day fruitfully when they are not able to do so on normal occasions. Valentine's Day, as the definition states, a day for the exchange of tokens of affection. So it doesn't seem wrong afterall, for ladies to expect gifts from the gentlemen on this so-called romantic day.