Reflective Journal IV

Q: How has the online learning lesson facilitated/impeded your learning process? How has it, or not, thrown light onto certain issues you were previously unclear about? Do you have any suggestions on how online lessons can be improved?

I felt that online learning lesson is beneficial to particularly CDE as CDE topics often require in-depth research which can only be done online. Since we are having online learning today,we could make use of the Internet at home to do some thorough background research before completing our tasks for today. For example, for today, we are required to find out what the East can learn from the West and vice versa, but in order to do so, we have to research on the Eastern and Western culture before we picked out similar categories of where their differences lie based on our findings. As compared to normal CDE lessons, there are usually people who have not completed their readings or have done so but have insufficient background knowledge because of the lack of time for them to research. This will then lead to an unfruitful discussion whereby no new ideas are being explored as everybody is discussing based on the sole reading that were given out by the teachers. Hence, this not only facilitates our learning process but also allows us more freedom and time to go through our thoughts in our mind and enhance our thinking process at the same time.

Every research certainly throws light onto certain issues that I was previously unclear about. Otherwise, I certainly would not call that research a fruitful one. I have seen the clear lines separating the Eastern culture and Western culture which has caused me to ponder over certain examples I have seen in my daily life and to my surprise, I have discovered that I am more inclined towards the Eastern values. The values that been inculcated in me since young are in fact Eastern values, such as respecting the elders and not confronting people so openly, etc. Actually, I should not even say that I am surprised since I am an Asian but I have also discovered that Western ideas and culture do come into our life, often through modernization or new technology. This is probably due to the fact that Western culture and advancement of technology complement each other which certainly a factor of globalisation. Singapore is a very much modernised society as it has brought in many Western values for Singapore to develop this fast in a short span of 40 plus years. However, I am gratified that the important Eastern values have not been left behind along with the demolished Kampong villages but they have been adapted into our modern society today. In Singapore's society, Western values and Eastern values both play a different role of their own to best support Singapore's development and growth. Western culture comes into place where Singapore is needed to seek creativity and develop into a world-class modern society whereas Eastern culture remains as the root of civilisation for people to maintain good relations with other people while at the same time to ensure society stability and unity.

Lastly, I have some suggestions for the online learning which might be beneficial to the rest. Perhaps, we could have a forum to facilitate a class discussion in a virtual class. Since we are not in school to make discussions openly, perhaps we can have a forum to voice our opinions on some issue as I feel that there is a lack of interaction on the learning site. It's just like instructions being passed down and work being handed up. Although we are able to look at other people's answers to how the East can learn from the West and how the West could learn from the East, I feel that a forum is also a good platform for people to clarify their doubts and provide their own opinions of other people's opinions and a comparison can be made which is certainly much more interesting than a mundane learning site. This is all. Thank you.

Reflective Journal III

Reflect on the student presentations given so far. What has been the most interesting thing about them?

After a season of interesting presentations, I can be very certain i have gained much. From the long presentations which are draggy to the superb presentations which are clear and sharp, I have benefitted one way or another from the various presentations. It is always better to gain an insight on an issue from a different perspective which will often path way for better understanding of the whole issue at hand. Yet there will always be some that will stand out from the rest in terms of ideas and styles.

Firstly, let's talk about Ming Kit's presentation. He has the posture, his own style and his points were clear and sharp. He never fails to highlight his important points with an emphasized tone and he projects his voice with confidence and certainty. His points were structured carefully in order for us to follow his presentation with better understanding and I can almost visualize the points clearly paragraphed. And he ends off his speech with humour. i think his strength lies in his ability to elaborate on his points with a very original perspective, thus helping us gain more insights into the relevant issue.

However, Gee Yang's presentation paled in comparation to Ming Kit's. Although both presented on the differences between the East and the West, Gee Yang was not able to capture the essence of his strong points and develop upon them which unfortunately, led to much confusion among the audience as we tried hard to consolidate his points in our minds. He cited examples without explaining what significance the examples hold, thus it was much difficulty synthesizing his presentation which explains the great contrast between his presentation and Ming kit's.

On the other hand, Alvin's presentation was clear too. His unwavering confidence won my admiration as he went on to state his stance clearly and explain his points with precision. It was amazing how much he can emphasize on a point or even a single word which he thinks, is important to his topic he's presenting on. However, i would say it's a bit of a waste that he rattled off like a machine gun with abrupt pauses at times. Although I believed he adopts this style to project himself as a confident speaker, but I think it would be the best if he can present at a speed where we can absorb what he's trying to say. Great speakers like Prime Ministor Lee Hsien Long or Ministor Mentor Lee Kuan Yew do not need to speak fast to let us even know that they are confident in their speech. Listeners often need to digest a speech fully to be able to appreciate the presentation or speech. Perhaps if Alvin could achieve this, he would be a great speaker as he already has the attributes of a good speaker.

Overall, the content of the speakers have not been disappointing as all should have done adequate amount of research at home to put on a good front but the most important point is how to convey the essence of the speech to the audience and how to 'sell' your points/insights to the audience. This is no doubt the reason to why presentation skills hold such a high percentage of marks. I guess it takes much practice to develop a style one can call his own and I believe it's never too late to start now. Thank you.

Reflective Journal II

1. Reflect on some of the class discussions in the Google case study up to this point.

It is certainly interesting to hear different views and opinions about Google's management and some insightful remarks have made us view the Google case study on a more objective perspective when we consider the alternative viewpoints.

On one side, we have some of the class's pupils making Google their choice of preference of an ideal working environment. Most reasoned that Google, being a flexible working environment, will give them more freedom to innovate and work with accordance to their own style and time management. Some bluntly admitted that the reason was the paradise-like environment Google has created for its workers. Overall, the people mainly see Google management effective because of its level of openness that provides the workers with much flexibility to pusue their own innovations and contribute to Google while benefitting from the incentives Google provide them, thus both sides will be satisfied in this win-win situation.

On the other hand, some pupils that Google's management is flawed based on the same factor: Google management's flexibility. There is concern that people will not have the discipline to work in this flexible environemnt. Instead, these people will only waste the company's resources as they are more accustomed to a structured company with a "boss" sending orders down.
Thus, it is obvious that the basis of the contrasting views is Google's flexibility in its management: the advantages and disadvantages of a flexible working environment.

2. Does Confucian have a role to play in modern China or is it just enjoying a temporary revival?

This greatly depends on the feasibility of Confucian ideology as China's governing ideology and if it is worth the effort to convert Confucian ideology into China's governing ideology. So let's look in depth into this.

Once calling Confucianism a stumbling block of China's development, the Chinese Communist Party now encourages the revival of Confucianism in the hope that it will fill the ideological vacuum left by the virtual abandonment orthodox Marxism and Leninism. Communism used to be attractive because of its ideology of equal treatment for all. However, this widens the gap between the rich and poor and protests have beein occuring frequently, causing social unrest. Thus the government is looking into Confucianism as an ideal ideology that will pave the way for economic reform and opening up as Confuicianism preaches harmony to pull people togther.

On the other hand, this could be seen as China government's political motivation as Confucianism also also introduces respect for its authority. Yet, this ideas in Confucianism are helpful in maintaining social order and harmony, such as respect for elders and teachers. China's government certainly wants a revival of such values to help maintain social stability.

However, it would take much difficulty to promote Confucian ideology as a governing ideology. There are internal problems that make it hard to modernize Confucianism. Confucianism emereged 2,500 years agoand was enriched throughout the country's dynastic history to become an ideology in justifying and safeguarding the hierachical structure of political and social systems. As such, many of its ideas are considered outdated and some of these values are in conflict with modernity and cannot be converted into acceptable standards to people today.

Thus, while I think Confucian has a significant role to play in modern China, it will also take much effort to convert some of the Confucian ideologies into governing ideologies of China.

Refletive Journal 1

1. What are your general thoughts on the elective so far (good and bad) after hearing the opening address from Ms Yeo and Mr Corr and having particpated in one seminar so far.

I personally feel that this elective is refreshing as it expects us to go in depth when exploring the different cultures of the East and the West and hence, compare and contrast the styles and ideas in the East and West societies from different cultural viewpoints. It is interesting to note that this elective is taught by two teachers (1 from the East and 1 from the West). Perhaps this way of teaching might aid us in understanding the concerns and way of thinking of the East and West by providing us personal insights that are only known to people with first-hand experiences. The presence of these two teachers can also help to point out and explain the cause of the very real and exisitng sterotypes more easily.

I think the elective is going to be very enriching as it helps develop our young minds and give us a different perception of both East and West as we look beyond mere superficialities to see the reality, but I feel that we might lack some first hand experience of what students from the West think about the East and I could see that most personal opinions of what we think the West is thinking of the East are generally derived from perhaps rumuors or even controversies? Although Mr. Corr is already sharing with us his personal opinions but I think they would still be insufficient enough for us to interpret the true meanings of some ideas of the West at times but since this is only the start and more await me, I shall observe first before making a conclusion.

2. What are your feelings about life in the Google office? What would be the positives and negatives of working in such an environemnt?

Having read about the life in the Google office, I feel that the working life it provides for its workers is very effective in its own way, especially if in the Western societies. Why so?

In the Google office, one would perceive it as a 'paradise' from the variety of food to the facilities it provide. In addition to this, there is 2 main unqiue policies of its own: 1. The 20 percent plicy 2.Peer reviews. The image Google projects is that it is a place of freedom for innovation where transperency is a key aspect of the company with the belief that having more space and freedom will welcome innovations. This can also be related to our school's win-win situation where both sides benefit: Google providing incentives such as a environment compared to a paradies and the 2o per cent policy while expecting workers to produce high-quality innovations.

However, I have yet to address these words, "especially if in the Western societies". I personally feel that in the Western culture, people are more open and they love to given the freedom to research and innovate themselves. This probably can explain why Western companies can be seen proudly calling many products their own unique innovations such as microsoft. From my perspective, this can be boiled down to the style of education in Western countries. Western education emphasizes more on self-study, independent learning and researching, thus Western people are generally more used to having the freedom to do their own research.

In Eastern countries such as China, students are more used to taking down the exploding load of information being thrown at them and memorising them. They do not seem to have the desire to call something their own innovation and are not as open as Western people which also explains the censorship imposed on the people by China government, hence shutting out the freedom of speech which are generally the root of a great innovation. Hence, Google, an innovation machine, does not suit the style of the Eastern culture, which may explain the recent conflict between China and Google.

In conclusion, Google can have its own unique style of management but it might not suit all. Even though it emerges one of the leading giants of technology in today's world, it still cannot fit in nicely in China, a rapidly growing market, who is on its way to become one of the world's most influential countries.