Good or bad? You decide.

In today’s society, almost every form of communication depends on the use of computers and computer network. Basically, this form of communciation is known as Computer Mediated Communication (CMC). Take a closer look at your lives as well as all those around you, communication seems to be tied to the use of computers or computer network. One fine examply would be this blog  that I’m blogging on, isn’t this a form of CMC, for us to express our views on certain issues base on our understanding of what we have learnt in our communciation lessons and for our lecturer to assess our understanding on the subjects as well as for our peers to comment on the different entries. Isn’t it true that CMC has ‘invaded’ our lives and unknowingly began to become an important part of it?

One undeniable point is the convenience brought to us through CMC, like assessing information on the various websites with just one click and being able to communciate with a loved one/friend who is in the other side of the world. True enough, CMC has brought about many benefits as it evolves from the traditionally text-based to the inclusion of multimedia and taking place on virtual platforms (cyberspace).

As the saying goes, there’s always two sides to an issue. Taking a viewpoint from another angle will actually make us realized the adverse effects or impact CMC have or might bring about. True that information may be easily assessed by an individual but it also meant a higher risk of losing important information unknowingly to a third party who is not supposed to know about it. Will Edison Chen’s scandal photos incident make a fine example?

Well, this is just one of the many points to note but i thought this is one that is really an issue that we should consider.

Mass media is not all so powerful but we cannot deny that it affects our perception on a particular issue to a certain extent.

The agenda-setting function of media raise the importance of a certain issue in public’s mind through repeated news coverage. Take for instance, the escape of JI detainee, Mas Selamat. The media attended to this issue over others and thereby altering the standards by which people evaluate the issue. Through the news report, the public learnt of his escape but did not panick as they were also informed that Mas Selamat was not known to be armed. However, as the news followed up with this issue, about the fruitless islandwide searches of this detainee who escaped last month, it raised public awareness. Although it has been constantly reported through different channels of media that Mas Selamat is not armed and that islandwide searches are still going on, coupled with stricter controls over at checkpoints and any other exits of Singapore, the ability of the media to influence or to assure its audiences is subjected to a convergence of different factors.

Media influence is dependent on many factors, such ass the volume of news covergae on the issue, and in this case as we can see, there is high coverage of this issue on different channles of media. In addtion, the effect or impact of other issues link to this escape is another point to consider. The greater the impact of the interconnected issues, the higher the influence the media has on its audiences and the more successful the gatekeepers (those who select the issues they feel are more worthy of covergae) in achieving their agenda. On top of that, the extent in which it affects the audiences, directly or indirectly, is another important factor in which the extent of media influence depend on. the more directly it affects the audiences, the more attention is paid to this issue.

Hence, while the moderate effects models (agenda-setting function) is rather influential, audience are not exactly passive. They filter and evaluate all the infomation available and make their own decisions and take their own stand, instead of responding to the media in the desired way.

Well, this issue has definitely become the topic of discussion, from how the detainee managed to escape from the supposingly highly secured detention centre to where  exactly has this man escaped to? Despite the repeated assurance that he is still in Singapore (which certainly meant easier search), it is up to the audience to decide, to believe, or not to.

Hmm?

Us.

It’s amazing what was actually going through our minds during relational formation and development, maintenance or disengagement, whether consciously or not. After the lecture on interpersonal communication, I thought a lot about “US”, me and my boyfriend

It’s been more than a year since we first met at our former workplace and I must admit, he is rather good-looking though not exactly a heart-throb. There are many who thought otherwise, but because judgements of physical attractiveness are influence by cultural norms and socialisation, it becomes very subjective. The most important thing is whether that’s my cup of tea. And, isn’t it better this way that others don’t feel attracted to him?

Also, I could not agree more about our tendency to form relationship with those we perceive as similar to us, whether is it in terms of attitudes or social preference. Take for example, we both love going for karaoke sessions and our thinking towards most issues are very much alike. However, there are also some dissimilarities, or rather differences between us that complement each other very much attracted me to him and vice-versa.

But, the most important aspect on our get-together would have to be the unlimited opportunity for interaction and reciprocity. I can’t believe in the first place either, how near we had been all these years as he lives just one street across my block but we have never once met before. Or maybe we had but we past each other, unnoticed. I think I will never stop being amazed by how we waited for 20 years for me and 24 for him to meet each other, whom we believed is destined one. Haha. Alright, shall stop boasting endlessly about the outrageously sweet meeting and get-together of ours =P Yes, and so I thought being in the same workplace and living so near each other gave us many chances to get to know more about one another. And I could remember, i baked him a birthday cake on his 23rd birthday and that, i think, has got to be what brought us very much closer together. I baked it for him because I was hinting to him about my fondness of him and he, reciprocated by initiating the many many dates that follow.

And so, we embarked on our journey of love together. It’s been almost a year (another 6days to our first anniversary together) now and our feelings for each other is still going strong. This would not have been possible without proper maintanence to keep the flame burning. On my part, because I understand he has many commitments at work and outside, I always try my best to give him enough space and time to attend to those imprtant issues (intimacy vs. distance) and try to be as understanding as I can towards him having very little time to spend with me. Him, on the other hand, is not quite able to identify my needs (ok, don’t let your mind run wild with the word ‘needs’) and needless to say fulfil them. As a result, there was a period of time when small conflicts arise and caused much unhappiness between us. The good thing is that, at the end of the day, everything is resolved and we are still as sweet as ever. And i thought that was possible only because we had effective communication between us and know how to please the other party.

Although we are still together, and I believe we WILL always be, I do not deny that there were times when I thought of ending our relationship. You see, girls are naturally get jealous more easily and often read too much into things. Therefore, for that one time when he appeared to have a date, or I’d say appointment with this other woman from our former workplace, and this dat, being one that I’m not informed of (actions that undermine trust), I kicked a big fuss out of it. Well, I had never expect or request him to report to me his whereabouts but that does not mean I do not mind him going out with other female friends, especially one that I heard he was once interested in. It turned out that the lady needed a favour from my boyfriend on some car issues. But at that point of time, I did had the impulse to end this relationship. not just because of this one incident, but the accumulated unhappiness I have in me for his lack of time for me and not being thoughtful or caring enough towards me (boredom/disassociation) This might be so, but I have come to terms with it after talking to him (openness vs. closeness) and doing much thinking on my part, that we will both work harder and put in effort to make our relationship work. Things improved so much after that, especially with the occasional wonderful surprises he had for me (novelty vs. predictability) and yes, getting better!

I know nothing is forever, and people often say forever is a lie, but I want to choose to believe that ‘forever’ isn’t a lie, and it a promise between us that will never be broken =)

I love you dear

Sneak peek at our project

The above video is just a short 8-minutes extract of the film “Just Follow Law”, starring Fann Wong and Gurmit Singh but in this short video, I thought it very much reflected language-based barriers in communication and how language and words can be used to convey different meanings.

Language-based barriers such as the use of slangs in their conversations, actually unintentionally excluded a part of the audience, and in this case, audience who do not speak or understand the dialect, Hokkien. Although the usage of this dialect is very common in Singapore, still there are a handful of us who do not understand, myself included. Despite the fact that there is a possibility to eliminate this language-based barrier which might lead to miscommunication or audience not understanding or getting the messgae that the film wishes to bring across, it is the use of Hokkien that brought about the humour element in the film.

Since the use of Hokkien seems is necessary to make the film more interesting, to avoid having “lost” audience like me, here comes the subtitles. With the subtitles, audience are able catch what the characters are trying to say even if they do not understand the language in which they are conversing in.

This film was screened in cinemas almost a year ago but I still find the use of words to convey different meanings very interesting. Take for example, in that short 8-minutes extract above, it may not occur to you that the meaning behind those usual words you come across when composing or replying an email to be important, or rather, you do not pay much attention to it. But this film actually brought this point up in a very interesting way. “C.C” means cover ca-ching or cover backside, and “B.C.C” means better cover ca-ching or better cover backside. Although I do not know the actual meaning of such abbreviations, this local film definitely has “enlightened” me on it, even though it’s actually somewhat a distortion to the real meaning of the abbreviations. The usage of words, or rather, the abbreviations in this case, can actually convey different messages to the audience.

In the above clip, towards the end of the 8-minute video, there’s also effective use of silence to intensify the strained relationship between the different department heads and eye contact between them further bring out the tense situation at that point of time. Coupled with appropriate sound effects, it makes it very clear to the audience that the characters are not on very good terms with each other and that any misuse of words at that moment may lead to a dispute between them.

I enjoyed watching this film, till date I’ve watched it for about at least 5 times and every time I watch this film, it never fails to put a smile on my face with the humourous conversations and creative visual effects.

A Leap of Love

This is one of the few books that I’ve been reading for the past weeks. A Leap of Love: A Novella by Dr. Catherine Lim. It talks about a young Singaporean girl, Li-Ann who puts her faith on an Irish tradition that she has the right to ask for anything from a man and he cannot refuse it, and invited the man, Jeremy Lee, whom she met for the first time at Blue Paradise Cafe and believes is her Mr Right, out for a date. He agrees and they spent an unforgettable night together before Jeremy returns to Canada. His commitment to return on every 29th February embarks us on a journey through their love.

Personally, I thought this is a really nice book and I simply can’t wait for the movie to be screened in the cinemas. There is effective use of elements that captures the reader’s attention because there is very little use of bombastic language and this makes the message that the writer wishes to convey easily visualized. Perhaps it is also due to the fact that us readers can relate the content to familiar material and thus enhancing our interpretation of the characters’ emotions. On top of that, because the story spans over a period of 12 long years, there have been appropriate triggers that assisted us in the recall of the past events mention ed in the earlier part of the book. For example, the reminiscing of their first date as Li-Ann anxiously waited for Jeremy’s appearance on their second promised meeting.

The film based on this book will be screened on 29th February. Having read this book, I will definitely want to catch this movie because reading the book alone touches me. I guess the book and the show will appeal to many singles out there, to never lose hope. Although I’m not single, but everyone, including myself, was once, single and I thought I was able to very much relate my feelings then to Li-Ann’s during the beginning of the book, when she was so convinced that when the right one appears, she will know, and her heart will know it too (she had many suitors but none of them makes her feel that they were THE ONE).

To all singles out there, the best always come unexpected and when it comes, you know it’s worth the wait. Li-Ann knows it’s worthwhile too (:

Simple plan

Had my reunion dinner with my boyfriend’s family on 30th Jan at a restaurant serving his hometown delicacies, a Heng Huat restaurant. Nope, the focus isn’t on the occasion but rather the dishes.

I remembered when the Yu Sheng, a so-called must have dish for Chinese reunion dinner and usually the first dish, was served, the waitress said an auspicious phrase after adding in each plate of ingredient. Nian nian you yu (meaning wishing you abundance for the year), tian tian mi mi (meaning wishing you sweetness for the year) for the honey, sui sui ping an (means wishing you safety for the year) for crushed peanuts, da ji da li (means wishing you prosperityfor the year) for pepper and spices which was contained in a red packet with the word ji (prosperity) and lastly, pian di huang jin (meaning wishing you good fortune) for the small pieces of crispy yellow crackers. Of course, not forgetting wishing us Happy Lunar New Year in advance.

We have scripts for all kinds of simple actions, allowing us to act without having to think much about what to do next. For the waitress, this is what allowed her to effortlessly serve the so many tables during this festive season. Although this wasn;t the first time I encounter such way of serving the customers Yu Sheng, but this is the first time i truely understand how these waiters and waitresses handle their job well despite the many other things they have to face and to remember. It is because they are performing tasks which are familiar and well-practiced.

Interesting.

First.

According to my mother, I used to love to watch tv commercials when I was young. All she needed was a tape recorded with a few hours of commercials to keep me occupied while she was busy with household chores. In fact, that one tape could last the whole day, she only had to replay it over and over again and I’ll sit there watching quietly.

It’s amazing how nonverbal cues used in such commercials could attract such a young child who knew nuts about what the tv commercials were about yet so engrossed in watching them.

“Still nothing as powerful as TV” -taken from a Medicorp TV commercial.

Update (29/01/08)

Was watching these anti-smoking commercial just moments ago and it really reached out to me. It’s about this smoker who died of lung cancer, reminiscing how blessed he was with his wife when he was still alive. I thought this ad would somewhat changed smokers’ decision to continue smoking or potential smokers to not take up this unhealthy habit. The last sentence of the ad was especially thought-provoking, that “Smoking takes away more than you think.”

Indeed.