Foreign workers, Foreign Problems

The local headlines for the last few days have been dominated by the news that there are plans to house up to 500 foreign workers in the Serangoon Gardens area. Residents in the estate have voiced their concerns about security issues and social problems that will arise from converting the former Serangoon gardens Technical School in Burghley Drive into a foreign worker dormitory. This forms the perfect backdrop for my research topic, “ Are foreign workers in Singapore being treated fairly?”

In a dialogue held recently with MPs of the area, residents voiced their concerns regarding the dormitory. Some spoken and unspoken fears range from the valid like foreign workers littering, loitering or spitting, to the imaginative and absurd ones like stealing, molesting children, creating a foul smell, speaking (too) loudly and robbing old people. In general, these residents acknowledged the important contribution of the workers, but they just do not want them housed in their estate, so close to their community.

With this information in our hands, I would like to do an attitudinal survey that aims to answer my topic research question. In particular, I would like to find out how the students from NUS feel about having foreign workers living among them, and their attitude towards them. It would be interesting to see the results of this research since the target respondents belong to the educated and privileged lot of the Singapore population, and they of all people should be able to know the importance of the workers to our economy. They should be able to differentiate between valid and invalid concerns better too.

My hypothesis is that the population with more affluence and power would be more adverse to the workers living so close to them. By interviewing both local and foreign students and knowing about their family income level, we may test this hypothesis. Through my research project, perhaps we can all get a better understanding on foreign workers, and hopefully correct misunderstandings about the workers, so that we can accept them as part of our daily lives.

The emotions we cannot control(manage)

In my opinion, emotional quotient is another word for the measure of our ability to socialize and live among other beings. I believe that it is not emotionally intelligent to fall out with strangers, and that we will only lose our temper with people whom we are very familiar with, and with whom we know will forgive us ultimately.

Since young, I have always considered myself a partial hedonist. I have always had a positive outlook on life, and I try to avoid as much conflicts as possible. Besides this, I also have a ready joke wherever I go, just in case somebody needs a little cheering up. As a matter of fact, I like to consider myself the clown in everyone’s life, bringing laughter and joy into their lives. Besides this, it is not in me to carry any grudges or flare up at people easily. However, this does not mean that I do not have a temper.

I recall an incident one year ago, when I was having my afternoon nap in hall. One of my best friend chose to pour cold water on me in the middle of my sleep. I guess he thought I was one of the guys with a higher tolerance level and I would be able to take his own idea of a practical joke. At that instant, I didn’t know what happened but I just snapped, springing out of bed, screaming and battering him with whatever I could lay hands on. I remember vividly I was actually yielding a most formidable soft cotton bolster and screaming all the vulgarities I knew from my dictionary. Looking back, I guess it was a case of not being able to manage my feelings properly at that instant. With so little time to respond when awaken abruptly from a deep slumber; I neglected to react in an emotionally intelligent manner. Needless to say, I shocked my poor friend who apologized profusely on the spot. Is it possible for me to have reacted in a better way at that instant? Would I have been so angry if the prankster had been an acquaintance or a girl?

That was just a minor conflict I thought I could share. As a matter of fact, I’ve since long forgotten that incident and is actually an episode that my hall friends like to bring up for a good laugh at times.

Why I want to talk properly.

Since the dawn of time, communication has been an integral part of our lives. From creatures of the earth down to our cavemen ancestors, we have made attempts to communicate our feelings, thoughts or actions to other beings. A bark from a dog can be its attempt to communicate its affection for the owner, or an expression of its aggression towards unwelcome strangers.

In my opinion, the best gauge of how our world has modernized would be how our communication skills have improved. As we know more about our world and our universe, it is necessary to develop better communication skills with each other. This can be proven with English, either the American or British version, being more and more accepted as the universal language. In recent years, we are also aided by the emergence of effective communication tools like Short Message Service or SMS and electronic mails otherwise known as e-mails. These help to cut down on time spent trying to meet up all around the world. However, the bare truth remains that we need effective communication skills no matter via which medium, so that we can cut down on unnecessary misunderstandings that can have an adverse effect on relationships or events.

There are countless examples I can think of which illustrates the importance of effective communication skills. Ancient Chinese wars (I’m thinking Romance of the Three Kingdoms) even make use of forged letters as a battle strategy, misleading generals into a trap thereby affecting the outcome of a battle. In my case, good communication skill is needed to bring my ideas or thoughts across to my audience. Choosing a wrong word when I do not actually mean it can make my listener develop the wrong idea. Besides this, language and culture plays an important role as well, and is especially important in a multi-lingual country like Singapore. One particular example I recall was when I went to Chinatown and I was ordering food. The stall owner thought I was telling her that I wanted the food when I told her in my dialect, “Mai”, which means “to buy” in Chinese. As a result of the misunderstanding, I ended up with a plate of chicken rice as well as a bowl of noodles for dinner. I hope this illustrates how important effective communication is.

On a lighter note, I would like to share some funny video demonstrating the importance of effective communication. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKgRP5IgvCY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGSa9vQ2F6E&feature=related

Testing Testing

Mike check 1,2..1,2..

*burps