Viola's Dreamworld

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

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Please refer to http://www.corporate.mediacorp.sg/press_release/pr_1185411069.htm for the press release on Mocca.com.

Mocca.com - Classifieds, Simply Better Online
What is mocca.com?Mocca.com is MediaCorp's platform for classified advertising and online communities in Singapore. ("Mocca" stands for MediaCorp Online Communities and Classifieds Advertising.)

Using sex to sell. Is this right or wrong?

I am sure most people have seen a rather eye-catching advertisement on our television screens recently, which is none other than the advertisement for mocca.com. All of us who have watched the commercial are aware of how the advertisers used sex to sell their product, which is mocca.com. The female models used were wearing bikinis, and at the very end, the male lead was completely nude, using a mere piece of cardboard to cover his privates.

Reading in between the lines, the advertisement was implying that without sex, no one would be interested. In the beginning of the commercial, the male lead was ignored when he tried to sell his car. Despite promoting all the good features his car had, he did not get any response. But when the female models, all scantily clad, stepped in to help, it was a more successful attempt. Does this hold in our society today, too?

The main purpose of an advertisement is to attract attraction, and generate interest among the audience. I agree that mocca's advertisement fulfils these criteria. It certainly made a lot of us sit up, notice it, and then talk about it.

But we have to consider the people sitting in front of the television. It is not just adults, for among the audience are children too. In fact, children watch more television than adults nowadays, the reason being that adults are too caught up in their hectic lifestyles to fork out time to watch television programmes. Because of this, the quality of the shows and advertisements aired on television has to be of a certain level. For example, advertisements with nude content cannot be shown freely lest they influence the minds of the children. Similarly, shows where its characters sprout vulglarities freely has to be censored. An example would be the airing of the movie Pirates of the Carribean a few months ago, on our local Channel 5. A scene which saw Keira Knightley shouting the vulglarity "fuck!" was censored. I remember laughing when I saw that scene, for the sound for that particular word had been muted and the subtitle had been erased. Channel 5 obviously saw the possible influence the word might have on the young minds watching the show, so they censored that particular component.
You can say that I was appalled when I saw the commercial. My first thought was, "What would the children watching this think?" I understand that the main aim of Mocca was to generate larger audience response and in the process, increasing revenue as more people are attracted to their website. Still, we cannot forget our moral values. Since young, we have been told that sex is wrong (until we are married adults, that is) and nudity is scorned. This notion has been challenged over the years, especially in today's open-minded society.

The older audience may be mature enough to accept the commercial as it is, but children do not have this mindset and ability. By giving them the idea through this advertisement that sex sells, they will be negatively influenced. They might grow up thinking that sex is easy and can be easily manipulated to sell off things, which is not entirely true.

I wish advertising firms would give more deliberate consideration before they release their advertisements out into the public eye. We must always remember that the young generation now will be the people of the future, so do we really want to nurture them this way? We want to teach them the right values and to do the right things. To achieve this, we must practice responsibility in everything that we choose to put out in front of them.

-when are you coming back? ;

Sunday, July 29, 2007

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I refer to the article "Global warming: Don't blame it on the sun" published in The Straits Times on 13 July 2007.

It is so typical of us humans to always try and push the blame to others when we know perfectly well that we are the ones at fault. In school, when we forget to bring our homework, we blame it on our dog, our siblings, just to name a few examples. At work, when we forget to hand in a proposal on time, we blame our team for delaying the process or blame the computer for not being fast enough to finish our documents. When production for a drama series fails to end on schedule, the directors blame the actors for not portraying the role well enough the first time, therefore leading to more scenes being re-filmed all over again, which wastes time and delays the entire production. So why do we always push the blame to others, when we are at fault? Maybe it is because it is in our character to always look like we're on top of things, and refusing to admit that we are wrong even when we know it's our fault.

Global warming has been a sensitive issue that has pretty much been avoided by the world until recently, when light was shed on the amount of damage our human activities have been causing to the enviroment. We only started to be more aware of this issue because we were told that if we did not do something about it soon, the ones to suffer could most probably be us.
Scientists have been coming up with various theories to explain the root causes behind global warming, many of which credits the blame to other factors rather than mankind. One such theory suggested that the sun was responsible for the rise in global temperatures, citing the main reason being the sun's increased activity.

But a recent study shows that contrary to our beliefs, the sun has been less active in the past twenty years despite the rise in temperatures. So who exactly is to be blamed for the rise in temperatures?

The answer is, quite obviously, mankind itself. We have all been too caught up in the mad rush for a better world with higher levels of comfort that we have compromised our enviroment in the process. To gain something, someone has to lose something. This is what I believe, and so in this context, the enviroment has suffered in our fight for a more comfortable life.

But we have to remember that at the end of the day, it is humankind who will pay for the price of our actions. If we are lucky, we will not live to suffer the consquences, but our children and grandchildren definitely will. Even today no one can deny the fact that the Earth is getting warmer day by day. Temperatures are rising, and so are the sea levels. And when these sea levels rise, low-lying countries will go under. A recent documentary showed that a large city like Shanghai, who is in the midst of development for an even better tomorrow, is sinking by 2.5cm every year. It's ironic when you think about it. Shanghai, whose name means "above the sea", is now going under, and in the future, might be completely submerged. And this can only be due to us, for being irresponsible and neglecting our enviroment.

It is clear that something needs to be done. The newspapers have been flooded with reports of countries implementing various strategies to combat global warming and decrease carbon emissions, but my question is whether it will be successful in the long term. It is certainly not easy to break out of old habits and cultivate new, healthier ones, as everyone should know. Take for example the case of sleeping. Especially so for teenagers in Singapore, where we are used to sleeping late and waking up late. Because of this, we often forgo our breakfast, which is an unhealthy habit. We all know that we should change our cycle and start by sleeping early and waking up early as well, but how many of us are actually able to do that? Few, if you look around properly.

However, I believe that as long as we are all aware of the great extent of the damage we have caused, and as long as each person is willing to do something to save the enviroment, we can successfully minimise the damage we have done. It can be something as simple as reusing your plastic bags when you go shopping, or even better, using a proper shopping bag or basket instead. It may not sound like much, but if everyone does this, then we will be able to cut back our consumption by millions of plastic bags a year! We can also start by reusing our papers instead of throwing them whenever we make a tiny mistake. For myself, I tend to use only papers which have been (incorrectly) printed on one side, whenever I revise my work. My family has a separate shelf for putting these papers for our use, and I strongly encourage everyone else to do so as well. It may be a simple action, but similarly, if everyone does this, then we will be able to save thousands of trees each year!

I thereby urge everyone to look into your daily life and search for some areas where you can practise these enviroment-friendly habits. Remember, to save yourself, you must save the Earth.

-when are you coming back? ;

Saturday, July 28, 2007

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I refer to the article, "All the world's watching, but no one cares", The Straits Times, 11 July 2007.

With the advances in modern technology, almost everyone has the power to control and contribute to daily news. Take for example the website Youtube. It allows users to publish videos on their own accord and share them with the rest of the world. There is barely any restriction on the quality and content of the videos until recently, where Youtube was made to censor its videos to prevent conflict.

Also, with the uprising number of social networking sites one can easily find on the Internet, it is no surprise that almost everyone is made a "public celebrity" in an instant. But I would like to remind everyone that it is also precisely because of these sites that the notion of beauty and popularity is once again challenged. Self-esteem levels are falling for people whom Internet users do not perceive as "pretty" or successful. Compare the profiles of two girls, one who is just an average girl with average looks, while the other is someone with a superb figure to speak of and gorgeous looks to follow. One quick look at the number of friends each girl has will easily show you that people tend to go for the better-looking ones. This challenges the traditional concept of beauty.

More and more people, especially teenagers, are getting influenced by these social networking sites and the moral values they unknowingly promote. Perhaps this might explain the rising number of requests for cosmetic surgeries by teenagers. Feeling that they are not pretty or thin enough, they turn to cosmetic surgery to solve their problems.

It is not true that no one cares when "all the world's watching". If that was the case, then there would not be so many people influenced by these social networking sites. To them, popularity and acceptance is determined by the number of hits, friend requests, and by the number of people who viewed their profile.

The writer also argues that people will not behave better for fear of having their stupidity splashed online. I personally disagree with this statement. Being in the public eye thanks to the advancements in technology has deterred people from doing many things that would be perceived as wrong, be it socially or morally. Take for example the citizen journalism known as Stomp! in Singapore. Numerous pictures of our fellow Singaporeans doing the "wrong" things such as littering, mothers screaming at their childen in public and the list goes on, has been published on the online portal of Stomp!. This has sent a clear signal to the rest of us out there that our every move can be captured on camera anytime, anywhere. Mothers who have shouted at their children in public have been scolded, and such cases have diminished significantly. After all, no one wants to hang their dirty linen in public. We are all humans, and no one likes being embarrassed.

Of course, we cannot forget the people who could not care less. The writer mentions Hugo Chavez, who does not care how many videos poking fun of him are posted on Youtube even after opening expressing his ideals. However, we must not forget that these people are only a small number out of the entire human race. The majority of us are more wary of our actions and fear being mocked at even in the online realm.

Therefore, I conclude that people are more careful of what they say and do outside due to the "transparency" of our society today. With 24/7 surveillance credited to the large number of camera phones out there, blogs, video-sharing websites and social networking websites, our lives have clearly been affected. We are now constantly in the public eye, and the chances of us becoming overnight celebrities is significantly higher today than yesterday. In the past, dirty secrets could be kept under covers for long. People who littered were seldom caught because no one was watching, and even if there were a few who saw them in action, they could not produce proof. However, today it is easy to simply whip out one's camera phone and take a video of the offender breaking the rules, then post it online for the rest of the world to see and chastise the offender. It is scary how the world has shrunk smaller thanks to these technological tools. Which is why we have to be more careful now, for you will never know who's watching you.

-when are you coming back? ;

Monday, July 23, 2007

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With reference to the Straits Times article "Malaysia gets tough on human traffickers" published 21 July 2007.

Malaysia has now written a new Bill, namely, the Anti-trafficking in Persons Bill. It is set to become law next month.

Under this act, suspects found guilty will face heavy penalties.

As for me, I was glad to see that such a law has finally been put in place today when it should have been done many years ago.

Let me first explain the term "victims of human trafficking". By this, I refer to people who have been promised jobs such as maids or in factories, but were eventually forced into prostitution by their agents.

The suffering that the victims of human trafficking undergo is pain beyond our wildest imaginations. It does not help that once they are found, instead of being rescued, more often than not, they are prosecuted instead. Even when they were innocent, they were pronounced guilty.

"Activists say that trafficking victims often ended up being jailed for not possessing passports, adding to their woes of being cheated by labour agents and traffickers".

The number of victims stands at around 400. This shows the naive way of thinking these victims often have, prior to their experience. I believe that the root cause of the problem is due to the lack of education. These people were not educated about the dangers and cautions they should have taken, so when they were approached by these unscruptulous agents, they naively believed every word, and so fell into a trap full of suffering.

This new Bill will certainly help the victims of human trafficking. But it will not help solve the problem. There will always be a demand for such workers such as sex slaves. And where there is demand, there has to be supply. Therefore, the number of victims will not simply go down drastically overnight.

To help solve the problem, there is an increased need for better education. It is only through education that these people can learn how to protect themselves and make wise decisions.

However, I applaud Malaysia for its move. Perhaps other countries who have not yet implemented such a law, should start to seriously take this into consideration.

After all, these victims are human too, and they have rights just like the rest of us.

-when are you coming back? ;

Sunday, July 22, 2007

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I was aghast when I read the newspaper today, where an article wrote about how Minister Abo of Japan had tactlessly spoken about people with Alzhemier while making a reference to people with low IQ.

As government officers, they are expected to be role models to society. Being in the public eye all the time, they have to be watchful of what they say and what they do. What horrified me so much was the fact that this gaffe has not happened just once or twice, but on numerous occasions so far.

This brings me back to the argument regarding freedom of expression. My stand is that freedom of expression is okay (as I mentioned two entries ago), but must be exercised with social responsibility lest unforeseen consquences arise from our actions.

The ministers of Japan have paid dearly for their mistake. They have been chastised by numerous organisations, and their reputation has suffered. The trust the people used to have in them have also been significantly lowered. This shows the effect of speaking without prior consideration. It may be a basic right for us to freely express ourselves, but if in the process we hurt people's feelings, then it will no longer be acceptable.

Yesterday was Racial Harmony Day, and I hoped everyone has learnt a lesson. We certainly do not want another set of racial riots occur in Singapore, sparked off by insensitive remarks made by immature people.

Let us be reminded to think before we speak.

-when are you coming back? ;

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

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Today, as I was sitting for the UNSW Australia English Competition, I was suddenly reminded of the closure of UNSW's branch in Singapore which was not too long ago.

Just after one semester of operation for its launch, when its campus was not even ready, UNSW Asia has pulled out. With the closure of such a renowned university (even more so to our students as we are all too familiar with the various UNSW examinations offered to us every year), it shows that anything is possible in today's world.

I remember my excitement when I first read about the news that UNSW Asia was to set up a campus here in SIngapore, ready in 2007 for all to attend. I remember my happiness and exhilaration at that moment, for UNSW has always been a revered university to me. I perceived it as possibly one of the top universities in the world in my opinion that I could aim for (you must understand that not everyone is Harvard/Oxford material).

I remember telling my parents at that point in time that I wanted to attend classes at UNSW Asia when it was ready. And I am sure I was only one of the many thousands who were extremely delighted with the news.

However, UNSW Asia Singapore disappointed us.

What was the main reason behind its closure? Apparently, the initial plan was to have an intake of 30% Singaporean students and 70% international students making up the rest of the cohort. Could it be that Singapore, being such a small country, failed to meet the quota of 70% of students, thus leading to the closure of the university campus?

If even such an established institution could let us Singaporeans down, then I am no longer sure of how secure our future education is.

However, I must emphasise the need for EDB to continue wooing foreign universities to set up branches in our little country. Do not let this one-time setback deter you from your efforts. Why woo foreign universities when we have our own local universities though?

There is a reason why foreign universities are popular with us. Many of us choose to study overseas mainly because we want to experience a new style of teaching. And exposure to the different teaching styles will be crucial in developing our adaptive skills. Foreign universities and local universities may be both teaching us, but the way they teach and the skills that they teach us differ.

Furthermore, we must remember that if we lose a large number of our students to foreign universities abroad, we might just lose a large proportion of our talented population. Some talents who have chosen to study overseas may not return after their term of study ends. They may have by then already been attracted to that particular country's way of life, and decide to settle there for good. What is Singapore to do if this happens to a large proportion of its population?

I guess this is another reminder for us to give careful thought to our future, and think carefully before we make any decisions regarding our future studies. Our future is in our own hands, and we will be the next generation of leaders who will help shape Singapore into who she will be in the future.

-when are you coming back? ;