RACE & CHARACTER - which matters more?

It is surprising that I kind of enjoy playing table-tennis in camp. Apparently the only sport I play is just badminton. Damn cool having Emile to unleash the interest of table tennis in me. We are like freaking amateurs who want to try out the sport for fun. Haha. At least besides psp-ing, playing table soccer, studying math and reading, I can have an additional activity to do in camp - TABLE TENNIS! Yeah...

No doubt that in any multi-cultural country, racial harmony and cohesiveness are important in order for the society to prosper. In the Singapore context, unfortunately, I feel that the level of racial harmony is not sufficient enough. Mrs Lim (my GP tutor in NY) told us an interesting point. Yuppies are mainly the Chinese, slackers are mainly the Malays and the rowdy are mainly the Indians. Surely, aware or not, such mentality is present in most (at least some) of the people in the society. Most would always think that the Chinese are the dominant ones in the country. The Malays, on the other hand, according to most, would be the ones who will be stranded behind in terms of education and income level. Criminal offenders are most likely to be the Indians. Degrading and disappointing.

Besides that, something strike me when I see most of the youths I met. The way they make friends are quite superficial and questionable. In general, I see that the kind of friends that they make is with reference to the RACE of the person. That way is inevitable, as people generally find it comfortable being in their own social circle (comfort zone, so to say). This is especially so in terms of language. Language is a vital point to effective communication. As the saying goes, SPEAK THE COMMON LANGUAGE. This could be the reason on my these youths choose their circle of friends based on language preference => race.

As a disclaimer, the viewpoints I am providing is strictly from my personal self and the surroundings I come from. What I have observed being in NS so far is that the probability of having CLOSE friends (I repeat, close) from a cross-ethnic group is lower as compared to the people from the same race. My point here is that as thinking individuals, one should not choose friends strictly based on race. What matters here is of course character. It is normal to hear the older generation of people saying, "Why choose people of another race instead of your own people?" and "Know your roots; do not forget where you come from." In Singapore, English is the national language, and therefore we need to speak this common language in our mingling with the people around us. Unless if we are talking about China or Japan where the national language is being spoken by the large majority of the people there. It kind of disturbs me being oddly transparent enough being in a big group of people from another ethnicity, hearing them speaking in their own language, a language which I do not understand. Some may blindly remark that they will feel weird speaking in English to their own people. Yes, it is pretty understandable. But sensitivity and respect do play a part here. Singaporeans may take the country being stable for granted, and hence, apathetic towards such issues. Imagine being in hostile countries like the ones in the African region at which race and language are viewed as sensitive among the people.

Myself, being a Malay, have to say that most (or some) of the people from my community do not have that sensitivity and respect component. And this, undeniably, is agreed by some of the people from the other ethnic groups. My statement may look like a sweeping one or baseless, but this is definitely a known truth - a social problem that has been with the society for years. Therefore, I urge Malays to speak the common language when having people from other races with you. Show them that we are the exceptional ones who care about respecting other people. I am very sure that those people will in turn feel remorseful and embarrassed, and hence, may follow our ways of communicating.

So think about it. Race or character should we choose from?

BLOGGERS = GEEKS. What do you think? Kind of a sweeping statement? I definitely agree it is...

E N D O F E N T R Y

The beauty of L I T E R A T U R E...

Yesterday was indeed an enjoyable dismount. Confined myself at home watching TV like from 4pm till 1.30am!!! Watched the dramas from RTM1, Sensasi, Suria, followed by Price Is Right, Singapore Idol, Lose to Win at Channel 5, followed by Blades of Glory from Cinemax and a devil movie (I forgot the title...lol) at Star Movies. Gosh...that was really a TV marathon...

I was quite surprised that for Degree holders who intend to teach for MOE, they MUST offer 2 subjects at Secondary School level. Initially, I thought that 1 subject (a specialised subject is enough). It is even more surprising when I discovered that the complement subjects for Mathematics are Elements of Office Administration (EOA), Computing/Computer Applications, Accounts (POA) and English Language. There is definitely no way for me to offer EOA, POA or Computing as I have no background knowledge on those subjects. So English shall be it. It seems that I have to change my plan from offering a Minor in Psychology in uni to a Minor in English Literature. Although it can be very cross-disciplined (I've checked it out, NTU approves such combination), I guess it is cool to do that!

Mrs Lim (my GP tutor in NY) told the class to encourage our sons and daughters to offer literature in any language when they are in school. Taking literature is a crucial part in the process of appreciation of the arts. In literature, one learns about the beauty of language usage in the arts industry (drama, poetry, theater, novel, etc). This includes how tone comes about in delivering conversations, how flowery languages are used to attract audiences and therefore, as a whole, we learn character development skills. Being aware about the tones used in literature texts allows students to be aware about how they use correct tones in their daily conversations. Learning flowery language enables students to deliver speech to a large audience in an effective way. And not forgetting one thing. Studying literature texts (especially prominent novels) engages students to learn about moral values and lessons that can be learnt in their daily lives.

There is, of course, more that literature can contribute to the current society. I personally find it quite sad that most people nowadays are frivolous about the arts. Most mainly focus on the sciences, and some just do not even care a little. They miss out the point that literature indirectly builds a person's character and soft skills. Frankly, I thank God that I have the interest for literature.

Okay, that's all for now...

SPEED vs SERVICE in FAST-FOOD CHAINS

Lunch at McDonald's at the J8 outlet with Emile was a very filling one!!! It's too good to be true the fact that I can finish up a Double McSpicy burger, fries, vanilla milkshake, coke and nuggets! Bishan J8 - the posting that I might get. Forum Galleria decided to post me out as the outlet has no vacancy for a floor manager. I really hope that I can get a place there! =)

McDonald's is not just about cleaning trays and taking people's orders. It involves more than wearing the classic yellow uniform with the cap, standing around the store. 100% customer satisfaction - that's the aim that every worker in the company should meet. Singapore is advancing towards the tertiary industries at which service and people skills are essential. Hence, being a part of the company allows the workers to enable the country to meet the common objectives economically and socially. It seems very disappointing seeing that some individuals are not aware of such things. This can be portrayed by just seeing some of the workers in the fast-food chain of Singapore.

1) Too much emphasis on speed, hence compromising service standards and food quality.
2) Workers find that the pay rate is too low, hence apathetic to take their jobs seriously.
3) Young teenagers work for their own pocket money, which in turn make them work just for money and not for the love towards customer service

Fast-food companies on the other hand should be able to be aware of problems (1) and (2). Policy makers (if necessary, the government should step in) must think of new methods to solve the problems of low motivation among the workers. An example would be, of course, increase in the wages of the people working there. Even though it might initially increase the cost of production of the company, they should make it a point that it serves as an investment in the long run. More pay = more motivation = more production = MORE PROFITS!

Another thing is that fast-food companies seem to have deviated from the objective of 100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. Instead, they live up to the belief that FAST = HAPPY CUSTOMERS. However, they should know that being fast means that the workers should cut down time spent on addressing the customers politely. This would in turn result in a very bad service. It struck me when a foreigner wrote to The New Paper about him being dissatisfied with the customer service that Singapore provide. Therefore, fast-food companies have to revamp the whole idea of full customer satisfaction by balancing speed and service.

Hmm...I shall do something about this when I come back to the customer service line. And I hope it works out...

Off I go...see ya!

WELCOME BACK! =D

It has been quite a while (in fact 1 year) that my blog has been so inactive. I realised that being active in the blogosphere enables one's views and perspectives to be brought to the next level, at which a greater prospect of audience can be targeted. That is, of course, the main reason why newscasters and commentators took the effort to manage their own blogs.

Blogging, as what its most ideal purpose is supposed to be, is a means to voice out certain issues about life, discuss about them with readers and hope that something is done. It triggered me when SSG Cheng talked to me about this issue. What he told me was that it is quite superficial and fake for some bloggers to only talk about what they want others to hear about them. This includes things like bloggers would blog almost entirely about what they did, ate or saw on that day itself, childish and baseless comments about things, etc. I would definitely agree to his point. It would be such a waste of time is you just talk about your mundane, everyday life and with one main intention - to let yourself be heard, or simply said ATTRACT ATTENTION. Point to ponder................

In my new blog, my objective is to:
1) improve my grammar by ENSURING a 100% grammatical error-free blog
2) reduce the frequency of talking about what I do every day (some people will find them like yeah, whatever so what if you do this, that, blah blah)
3) make it not so wordy (yes Raja, I can still remember...)

Since I'm going back to the civilian life, I guess it is imperative for me to start back blogging! In one way, it will kind of improve my language skills and of course, widen my thinking...

Okay...off I go! =)