Saturday, 15 March 2014
Youth and Media
Link to article on youth and media
Summary:
This article is about how media such as internet and television influences the youth. The youth may learn valuable lessons such as racial harmony, cooperation, kindness through media; for example, by watching certain shows. However, it was proven that although media may seem beneficial, it may leave a bad impact, such as violence, if exposed to it for long periods or if the youth uses media in wrong forms.
Opinion:
I feel that media is a very strong source of impact for youth. As their thoughts are not mature yet, they will be easily influenced by whatever they see or hear in media. Thus, parents should track their child's use of media so that the youth will not be led to the wrong direction.
China's Poorest Beat Our Best Pupils By: Sherman
Summary:
British schoolchildren are lagging so far behind their peers in the Far East that even pupils from wealthy backgrounds are now performing worse in exams than the poorest students in China, an international study shows. The children of factory workers and cleaners in parts of the Far East are more than a year ahead of the offspring of British doctors and lawyers. Researchers said the study, which looked at the performance of 15-year-olds in mathematics, showed countries to could overcome traditional social class divides to raise education standards among relatively deprived pupils. The report was published as a senior European Commission politician attacked the standards of British schools and warned that UK politicians must improve the education system before focusing on changing the country’s relationship with the EU. Overall, the UK was ranked just 26th for maths, 23rd for reading and 21st for science while China’s Shanghai district was the top-rated jurisdiction in each subject. The study assessed how students would be able to use their maths knowledge and skills in real life, rather than just repeating facts and figures. As part of the study, children were asked to name their parents’ occupation to determine its effect on pupil performance. Across the world, children whose parents work in professional careers generally outperform those in elementary jobs such as caterers, cleaners, factory workers and labourers. In the United States and the United Kingdom, where professionals are among the highest-paid in the world, students whose parents work as professionals do not perform as well in mathematics as children of professionals in other countries — nor do they perform as we as the children in Shanghai-China and Singapore whose parents work in manual occupations.
Opinion:
In my opinion, I believe that it has to do with the Chinese culture of discipline, hard work and not loosing face that fuels the academic performance of chinese kids. Many Asian children have very strict parents therefore urging them to study even harder. As the typical Chinese parent always says, without good grades, you are never going to be successful. Therefore, I believe that since all children want to be successful in life, they will all then study hard and achieve their goals.
British schoolchildren are lagging so far behind their peers in the Far East that even pupils from wealthy backgrounds are now performing worse in exams than the poorest students in China, an international study shows. The children of factory workers and cleaners in parts of the Far East are more than a year ahead of the offspring of British doctors and lawyers. Researchers said the study, which looked at the performance of 15-year-olds in mathematics, showed countries to could overcome traditional social class divides to raise education standards among relatively deprived pupils. The report was published as a senior European Commission politician attacked the standards of British schools and warned that UK politicians must improve the education system before focusing on changing the country’s relationship with the EU. Overall, the UK was ranked just 26th for maths, 23rd for reading and 21st for science while China’s Shanghai district was the top-rated jurisdiction in each subject. The study assessed how students would be able to use their maths knowledge and skills in real life, rather than just repeating facts and figures. As part of the study, children were asked to name their parents’ occupation to determine its effect on pupil performance. Across the world, children whose parents work in professional careers generally outperform those in elementary jobs such as caterers, cleaners, factory workers and labourers. In the United States and the United Kingdom, where professionals are among the highest-paid in the world, students whose parents work as professionals do not perform as well in mathematics as children of professionals in other countries — nor do they perform as we as the children in Shanghai-China and Singapore whose parents work in manual occupations.
Opinion:
In my opinion, I believe that it has to do with the Chinese culture of discipline, hard work and not loosing face that fuels the academic performance of chinese kids. Many Asian children have very strict parents therefore urging them to study even harder. As the typical Chinese parent always says, without good grades, you are never going to be successful. Therefore, I believe that since all children want to be successful in life, they will all then study hard and achieve their goals.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Gradual erosion of Asian Culture- Yenyuen
SUMMARY: Among Asians,
there is an ongoing debate about how western culture is slowly entering Asian
culture. The older generation and the conservatives are upset as they have
exercise a lot more influence on the lives of young people compared to the role
of parents and other society leaders in the West. The most controversial area
of the erosion of Asian culture is that Asian Women are beginning to entering
into relationships with Western man as they find them more attractive and cool.
Western men too, find Asian Woman attractive. This shows that people are moving
up in the social ladder. Moreover, Asian Woman are beginning to follow Western
fashion despite the fact that it does not look well on them. They argued that
it is a form of self-expression and not because they are not proud of
themselves.
OPINION: Personally, I
feel that this will slowly erode Asian Culture to a certain extent. Technology
and communication have allowed people to learn from other end of the world and
it is no surprise that young Asians are beginning to follow Western fashion
trends since it is more fashionable. During Chinese New Year, the Chinese are
not allowed to be dress in black as it represent evil. However, due to fashion
trends, Asian teenagers neglected the practices and instead, dress in black to
look more fashionable. They may also argued that it is their freedom to dress
the way the want when they have been suppressed for generations. Thus, I concluded
that the western influence will slowly erode Asian Culture to a certain extent.
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Bilingual Chinese Singaporean by Sherman
Summary:
Mr. Lee Kuan Yew showed an increasing trend that show the fact that Singaporeans are no longer interested in their Chinese Language. He believes that many of them has made the wrong decision because they may get as many job opportunities than people who are bilingual. With the accelerated rise of china's economy, America may not be the dominant country anymore and many will start using Chinese. By being bilingual, we are prepared as we are able to converse freely with others without any language barriers therefore not affecting us greatly. To improve our language skills, we should practice our mother tongue everyday and not just learn it just to forget everything in the future.
Opinion:
I feel that learning Chinese and practicing it is a good habit. Practicing out Mother Tongue is just like talking in English. It requires effort and daily practice to get it right so that we can speak it fluently in front of others. During the past few years, many Singaporeans are influenced greatly by the west and the way they carry out their activities. This influence may be negative in the sense that we might stop learning Mother Tongue as it is of no importance.
Mr. Lee Kuan Yew showed an increasing trend that show the fact that Singaporeans are no longer interested in their Chinese Language. He believes that many of them has made the wrong decision because they may get as many job opportunities than people who are bilingual. With the accelerated rise of china's economy, America may not be the dominant country anymore and many will start using Chinese. By being bilingual, we are prepared as we are able to converse freely with others without any language barriers therefore not affecting us greatly. To improve our language skills, we should practice our mother tongue everyday and not just learn it just to forget everything in the future.
Opinion:
I feel that learning Chinese and practicing it is a good habit. Practicing out Mother Tongue is just like talking in English. It requires effort and daily practice to get it right so that we can speak it fluently in front of others. During the past few years, many Singaporeans are influenced greatly by the west and the way they carry out their activities. This influence may be negative in the sense that we might stop learning Mother Tongue as it is of no importance.
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Erosion of Asian culture due to westernization by ZhiGang
How Asian cultures are eroded away - Disappointing
Summary: A recent statistics have shown that youths in Singapore prefer to be Caucasian or Japanese. This statistics is becoming worrying among Singapore officials who see that globalization and materialism is eroding cultural identity and patriotism. Singapore culture has been changing as a result of globalization and the spread of cosmopolitan ideas through the internet. Young people nowadays are so much into the internet and it affects globalization which are felt in Singapore and it's eroding our culture slowly away.
Opinions: In my opinion, we should have a basic respect for our own culture. We are born who we are and we cannot change who we are. We should at least have the basic respect for our culture. However, everyone is going wayward which is really absurd. Why be another person if we despise who we are actually? It is very pathetic and ashamed to see how these teenagers are behaving this days. It is disappointing to see how they abandon their own culture.
Friday, 7 March 2014
Asian Values done by Yvelyn Koh
Link: Asian values VS western values
Content:
Although their arguments vary, advocates of Asian values maintain that there are clear and often sharp differences between the values and traditions in the East and in the West.
They argue that Asians tend to value community and Westerners value the individual. Whereas Asians appreciate order and harmony, Westerners appreciate personal freedom.
Other so-called 'Asian values' include saving and thriftiness, insistence on hard work, respect for leaders and family loyalty.
Dr Mahathir and Mr Lee argue that the supposedly universal human rights documents and treaties actually privilege Western values to the detriment of Asian values.
Opinion:
I think that regardless of whether it is western or Asian values, both are unique in their own ways. We can't put any of them superior than the other, both values have their supporters and offenders. All of us have a different mind set, all of us will never agree on something together, there must be bound to have a few who disagrees. Everything have their goods and beads, nothing is perfect. Asians prefer Asian values, just like how western prefer their own western values. In the end, we must respect each values as they are what makes us who we are today.
Content:
Although their arguments vary, advocates of Asian values maintain that there are clear and often sharp differences between the values and traditions in the East and in the West.
They argue that Asians tend to value community and Westerners value the individual. Whereas Asians appreciate order and harmony, Westerners appreciate personal freedom.
Other so-called 'Asian values' include saving and thriftiness, insistence on hard work, respect for leaders and family loyalty.
Dr Mahathir and Mr Lee argue that the supposedly universal human rights documents and treaties actually privilege Western values to the detriment of Asian values.
Opinion:
I think that regardless of whether it is western or Asian values, both are unique in their own ways. We can't put any of them superior than the other, both values have their supporters and offenders. All of us have a different mind set, all of us will never agree on something together, there must be bound to have a few who disagrees. Everything have their goods and beads, nothing is perfect. Asians prefer Asian values, just like how western prefer their own western values. In the end, we must respect each values as they are what makes us who we are today.
The myth of the bilingual Chinese Singaporean by JunTian
Summary: Singapore’s former prime minister Mr. Lee Kuan Yew shared his concerns over the erosion of the Chinese language. He said that "Many younger Singaporeans may now lose out from not being able to speak Mandarin, he said, stressing that Chinese Singaporeans who gave up Chinese were losing ‘something very valuable’. They would lack self-confidence as ethnic Chinese and would also not be able to take advantage of the rise of China and its attractive market of 1.3 billion people." Language is a curious thing in this multi-cultural country with four official languages: English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. In school, lessons are conducted in English but a second language is mandatory. There have been various campaigns encouraging Singaporeans to both “Speak Good English” and remember how “cool” their mother tongues can be. Singaporeans are told from a young age that our bilingualism is an asset. But, it is easy to forget just how difficult it is to be effectively bilingual. One has to be constantly exposed to both languages in different forms – books, TV, and music – and in association with different subject matter – news, pop culture, and technical jargon – to keep them in tiptop condition. Attending mandatory language classes from the ages of 7-19 does not automatically make one fluent. How we speak is indelibly tied to our sense of self. It encompasses how we think, how we communicate and how others perceive us.
Opinion: I feel that learning and mastering our Mother Tongue is equally important if not more important than English. As the Chinese market gets stronger each day, the importance of the Chinese language becomes more and more significant. Apart from the economic reasons, our Mother Tongue also signifies our cultural roots and values. Over the years, the increasing Western influence have caused an erosion in our Asian cultures and values. Therefore, by mastering our mother tongue, we can retain our roots and cultures as true Asians.
Opinion: I feel that learning and mastering our Mother Tongue is equally important if not more important than English. As the Chinese market gets stronger each day, the importance of the Chinese language becomes more and more significant. Apart from the economic reasons, our Mother Tongue also signifies our cultural roots and values. Over the years, the increasing Western influence have caused an erosion in our Asian cultures and values. Therefore, by mastering our mother tongue, we can retain our roots and cultures as true Asians.
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