Sunday 16 November 2014

Other Academic Essay


Overview

Physics and economics are two different disciplines that have no apparent connection with one another in terms of their distinctive study and application. Physics is the natural science that involves the study of matter and energy through space and time to understand how the universe behaves under the laws of nature that cannot be controlled by mankind (Wikipedia, n.d.a). In contrast, economics is the social science that involves the study of supply and demand of goods and services in an economy to understand how the market behaves under the laws that are influenced by human behaviour (Wikipedia, n.d.b). Despite the difference, there is an implicit connection between Physics and Economics. Several principles of economics are analogous to the theories and laws of physics.

Principles of Diminishing Returns vs Ohm’s Law

In economics, diminishing returns is the decrease in the output yield by each additional unit of input while holding all other factors and inputs constant (Wikipedia, n.d.c). A common sort of example is adding more labourers to a job, such as harvesting crops in a farm. At some point, adding more labourers would cause some problems such as labourers getting in each other's way. As a result, the amount of crops harvested by one additional labourer reduces due to the ineffective and inefficiency among the labourers.

In physics, diminishing returns can be described by Ohm’s law. Ohm's law states that the current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the potential difference across the two points, and inversely proportional to the resistance (Wikipedia, n.d.d). For example, in a simple circuit connected by a battery, a resistor and a led, if the voltage of the battery is 1V and the resistor is 1Ω, the current flowing through in the circuit would be 1A. If the resistor is changed to 2Ω, the flow of current would decrease to 0.5A.


Economic principle of diminishing returns is parallel to physics theory of Ohm’s law. In a steady state firm, the larger the workforce, the lesser the marginal product. Likewise, in a circuit, the greater the resistance, the lesser the current flow for any applied voltage.

Principles of Trade-off vs Law of Conservation of Energy

In economics the term trade-off is expressed as an opportunity cost, referring to the most preferred alternative to give up in order to obtain a desired product, service or experience (Wikipedia, n.d.e). For example, the opportunity cost of investing in a greater payoff stock is the greater risk exposure as compared with the alternative of investing in a lower payoff bond that has a lower risk of investment. Another example of a trade-off is whether to spend more time on revising Physics and achieve a better grade in Physics test and spend less time on revising Economics and obtain an average grade in Economics test or vice versa.

In physics, trade-off can be described by the law of energy conservation. The law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system is fixed and conserved over time; the energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but can change from one form to another (Wikipedia, n.d.f). During a free fall for instance, the potential energy of the object is converted to the kinetic energy, and the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy remains constant throughout the process (i.e. kinetic energy and potential energy is increasing and decreasing at the same rate respectively). Taking another example, in order for a car to move, the car fuel must gain mechanical energy by losing its chemical energy. Since total energy must be conserved throughout, if the gain of mechanical energy is occurring at a faster rate than the loss of chemical energy, the difference in their change must be represented by other form of energy such as heat energy that could be dissipated due to friction.


Economic principle of trade-off corresponds to physics theory of law of conservation of energy. If an individual were to increase his or her consumption in a particular goods by spending additional $100, he or she would have to $100 less to spend on other goods. Similarly, if the magnitude of a form of energy in a system were to increase by 100kJ, the magnitude of other forms of energy in the system must be reduced by 100kJ.

Principles of Trade vs Chemical Bonding

In economics, trade refers to the exchange of goods or services between one entity and another; trade exists between regions because different regions may have comparative disadvantages in producing certain type of goods due to factors such as unfavourable climate environment and unskilled labour force (Wikipedia, n.d.g). For instance, China might has a comparative advantage in producing agricultural goods given its habitant geography and comparative disadvantage in producing machinery goods likely because of its poor infrastructure. If Japan on the other hand has a comparative advantage in producing machinery goods but not agricultural goods, both China and Japan could obtain those goods that they are disadvantage in producing through trading.  

In physics, trade can be described by the chemical bonding. A chemical bond is an attraction between atoms that allows the formation of chemical substances that contain two or more atoms (Wikipedia, n.d.h). For example, in the element of carbon, a carbon atom has an instable electronic structure with only 4 electrons in its outermost shell. To achieve stability, the carbon atom can either share its 4 outermost electrons with other atoms (forming a covalent bonding between the atoms) or transfer its 4 outermost electrons to other atoms or receive additional 4 electrons from other atoms (forming an ionic bonding between the atoms). One such example is every carbon atoms sharing its 4 outermost electrons with 4 other carbon atoms. Through covalent bonds among themselves, carbon atoms form a very strong and powerful crystal structure known as diamond.

Atomic Structure of Diamond: a polymorph of Carbon.

Economic principle of trade is related to the physics theory of chemical bonding. If countries experience comparative disadvantage in producing certain goods, they can obtain them through exchange of goods with other countries. Similarly, if atoms have unsteady electronic structure, they can become stable by cooperating with other atoms through either electron sharing or electron transfer.

Principles of Market Equilibrium vs Heat Transfer

In economics, market equilibrium is a state where market forces such as supply and demand are balanced (i.e. quantity of demand equals to quantity of supply) and market price is established (i.e. the price that seller willing to sell equals to the price that buyer willing to buy) through competition among the sellers and buyers in the market (Wikipedia, n.d.i). For example, if there is a shortage of supply of eggs in the market, the market price of one egg, says 30 cents, would increase until says $3, driving off some buyers to reach an equilibrium price where quantity of demand and quantity of supply are equal.

In physics, market equilibrium can be described by laws of thermodynamics, the concept of heat transfer in particular. In thermodynamics, heat energy will move from a region with high temperature to another region with low temperature until the temperature at both regions are equal (Wikipedia, n.d.j). For example, when a red-hot piece is dipped into a beaker of water at room temperature, the metal molecules having higher temperature than water molecules will vibrate faster and collide with less energized water molecules, and transfer part of their heat energy to the water molecules. During the heat transfer, the temperature of the hot metal piece drops and the temperature of the beaker of water rises. The process of heat transfer continues until the point where both the temperatures of the metal piece and the beaker of water are equivalent. Another example of heat transfer is heating up water on a stove.

http://arenahanna.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/03-08-heat-energy-xfer.jpg

Economic principle of market equilibrium is analogous to physics theory of laws of thermodynamics. If the market demand is higher or lower than the market supply, the market price will adjust until both demand and supply are equal. Similarly, if the temperature of a system is higher or lower than the other system, heat will pass from the hotter system to the colder system until both temperature of the systems are equal.

Hyperinflation vs Entropy

In economics, hyperinflation occurs when a country experiences very high and usually accelerating rates of inflation, rapidly depreciating the real value of the local currency, commonly due to the increasing printing /supply of money (Wikipedia, n.d.k). This phenomenon generally destroy the purchasing power of individuals, distorts the national economy, and causes population to flee and investment to be withdrawn from the country. One such example is the hyperinflation in Zimbabwe in which the inflation in the country continuously rising from year 2004 to 2008 to as high as 89,7×10²°% (Wikipedia, n.d.l). Such hyperinflation is irreversible because no slight change can cause deflation while decreasing printing of money. The hyperinflation in Zimbabwe eventually ended in 2009 when the Zimbabwe dollar actually denominated.

In physics, hyperinflation can be described by second law of thermodynamics, the concept of entropy in particular. Entropy is a measure of the number of specific ways in which a thermodynamic system may be arranged, commonly understood as a measure of disorder (Wikipedia, n.d.m). According to the second law of thermodynamics, the entropy of an isolated system which is not in equilibrium will tend to increase over time, approaching a maximum value at equilibrium. For example, when an ice cube is placed on a hot stove, the entropy of the ice cube increases while it is melting, and such a process is irreversible because no possible change can actually cause the melted water to transform back into ice cube while the stove becomes hotter.


Economic principles of hyperinflation is similar to physics theory of entropy. If government keep on printing currency, the inflation in the country would continuously rise as shown by the case of Zimbabwe, and the phenomenon would not be reversible while keeping the supply of money lower. Likewise, if the molecules in an isolated system becomes disorder, the entropy of the system would continuously increase to a maximum value at equilibrium, and the outcome would not be reversible while altering the direction of the process.

References

Wikipedia. (n.d.a). Physics. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics

Wikipedia. (n.d.b). Economics. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics

Wikipedia. (n.d.c). Diminishing returns. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns

Wikipedia. (n.d.d). Ohm’s law. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm%27s_law

Wikipedia. (n.d.e). Trade-off. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade-off

Wikipedia. (n.d.f). Conservation of energy. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energy

Wikipedia. (n.d.g). Trade. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade

Wikipedia. (n.d.h). Chemical bond. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_bond

Wikipedia. (n.d.i). Economic equilibrium. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_equilibrium

Wikipedia. (n.d.j). Heat transfer. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_transfer

Wikipedia. (n.d.k). Hyperinflation. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation

Wikipedia. (n.d.l). Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

Wikipedia. (n.d.m). Entropy. Retrieved November 1, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy

Essay Draft Four


Information and communication technology (ICT), particularly the internet, has become increasingly ubiquitous in the social context in recent decades. Singapore has emerged among the leading countries that has outstanding ICT infrastructure (World Economic Forum, 2014). However, the utilization of internet among the elderly is relatively low. According to the figures in year 2012 provided by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) (n.d.a), only 16% of the elderly aged 60 years and above had used internet in the previous 12 months compared to 98% of the individuals aged 7 to 34 years. This difference reflects a digital divide in Singapore between the younger and older generations. As elderly who do not access to internet are likely to encounter isolation in the community and at home, the IDA should provide infocomm training to these elderly and create an extensive digital awareness among the elderly to encourage them to engage on internet.

Internet provides individuals an avenue for continuing education, personal growth, hobbies and leisure pursuit, and redefining careers. Elderly who do not engage in internet are therefore deprived from these benefits. Moreover, internet allows elderly to form online social networks which can prevent them from getting isolated in the community. Engaging in internet can also help to stimulate mental alertness and thereby alleviate the possible psychological illness such as depression. A recent research by Cotton, Ford, Ford and Hale (2014) indicates that internet use can reduce the incidence of depression among the elderly by about 33%. In addition, relationships within the family would be jeopardized as there could be a conflicting communication between the younger and the older generations due to the different knowledge capacities in Information Technology (IT) (Lim and Tan, 2003).

To bridge the age digital divide in Singapore, the IDA launched Silver Infocomm Initiative programmes in 2007 to help senior citizens aged 50 years and beyond to engage in internet (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, n.d.b). 100 Silver Infocomm Hotspots have been established at various locations such as Community Clubs and Senior Citizen Connect areas to provide the elderly with free access to computer and internet service. There are also 9 IT learning hubs termed as the Silver Infocomm Junctions established across the island to provide infocomm training and customised course for the elderly. Through the training, senior citizens are taught the basic skills in using a computer and surfing the internet. They also acquire intermediate digital lifestyle skills such as performing online transactions, editing digital photos, and creating social networking.

Since 2007, the Silver Infocomm Initiative has helped many senior citizens embrace a digital lifestyle (Chan, 2011). One of the senior citizens is 56-year-old Mr Abdul who has benefited from the IT course and uses social media interfaces such as Facebook and Skype to keep in touch with his children and grandchildren living abroad. Another senior citizen cited by Chan is Madam Cheow Chin Wang, aged 60, who enjoys a better bond with her grandchildren because she has understood and is able to speak the similar IT language as them after having attended the IT course.

Despite the increasing number of elderly adopting ICT, the proportion of elderly accessing to internet remains comparatively low. The proportion of elderly aged 60 and above who accessed to internet in year 2007 was 12% (National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, 2009). From year 2007 to 2012, the proportion of elderly accessing to internet merely increased from 12% to 16%. The majority of the elderly remained offline and their main reasons for not using internet were “lack of knowledge” and “no interest” (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2012). This finding suggests that there is a need for extensive publicity to promote the potential benefits and usefulness of surfing internet as well as the available IT classes in the neighbourhood to the senior citizens. The IDA should organize outreach activities such as exhibitions and practical workshops at void decks across the island. It should also seek traditional digital media such as television and radio to reach out to the senior citizens and convince them to participate in cyberspace. In addition, school should encourage children to share their computer knowledge and skills that they have acquired in school to their grandparents.

Participation in the internet age is an essential factor in the full social inclusion of the elderly, particularly as more public services are delivered via online. With the substantial efforts by the IDA and the community to expand internet utility among the elderly, the digital disparity would then be diminished and the possibility of elderly experiencing exclusion in the community and at home would be greatly minimized.

 

References

Chan, C. S. (2011, September 17). Silver Infocomm Initiative to benefit senior citizens. Retrived October 1, 2014, from http://www.mci.gov.sg/content/mci_corp/web/mci/pressroom/categories/speeches/2011/speech_by_mr_chan_chun_sing_at_the_silver_infocomm_day_2011.mnews.infocomm.html

Cotton, S. R., Ford, G., Ford, S., & Hale, T. M. (2014). Internet use and depression among retired older adults in the United States: a longitudinal analysis. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69(5), 763–771.

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (2012). Annual survey on infocomm usage in households and individuals for 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/~/media/Files/Infocomm%20Landscape/Facts%20and%20Figures/SurveyReport/2011/2011%20HH%20mgt%20rpt%20public%20final.pdf

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (n.d.a). Infocomm usage – Households and individuals. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/Infocomm-Usage-Households-and-Individuals#3

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (n.d.b). Silver infocomm junctions and hotspots. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Individuals-and-Community/Community-Development/Silver-Infocomm-Initiative/Silver-Infocomm-Junctions-and-Hotspots

Lim, S. S. and Tan, Y. L. (2003). Old people and new media in wired societies: exploring the socio-digital divide in Singapore, Media Asia, 30(2), 95–102.

National Volunteer & Philanthropy Center. (2009, October 7). Fundraising: Research on “donation friendly” website. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://booksreader.net/ppt/salt-survey-2009-nvpc-49557300.html

World Economic Forum. (2014). The global information technology report 2014: The networked readiness index rankings. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-information-technology-report-2014

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Critical Reflection


Exchanging of feedbacks with my peers and receiving the feedbacks from my tutor had been invaluable as I progressed on this English course. It allowed me to discover my strengths and weaknesses in my writing as well as to refine my writing skills along the way.

When we were told to give feedback to our peers on their blogposts, I was hesitant initially as I felt that I was incompetent to comment on others’ writing due to my poor command in English. In regard to this, I had to constantly seek help from the course units posted on the ‘ivle’ to deepen my knowledge before giving any meaningful feedbacks to my peers. Through this process, I was also prompted to refer back to my own work and assess whether I had actually acted upon the advice that I had given to my peers. In addition, it allowed me to appreciate the knowledge and experiences of my peers and view their ideas from a very different viewpoint as I was reading their writings.

The feedbacks given by my peers were invaluable and arrived at critical points in my inquiry. I was uncertain at times whether my works were relevant or indeed demonstrated that I had acquired the writing skills taught in class. It was the comments I received from my peers that affirmed me that I was proceeding on the right track. I truly valued the advices given by my peers as they had hinted me to reflect on my work and make necessary amendments or to explore new ideas that could be value-added in my work. Though there are times where the inputs from my peers seemed to be inaccurate, I appreciated their efforts to respond on my work; the overall inputs that I received were generally constructive.

The feedbacks that I received from the tutor were undoubtedly informative and meaningful, be it positive or negative. Taking the recent oral presentation as an example, the positive comments left by my tutor on my blogpost were very encouraging and assured me that all my hard work had been paid off, and the negative comments such as my poor pronunciation were valuable as it enlightened me the areas that I need to improve on. Without the constructive feedbacks given by my tutor, my English writing skills would have remained as terrible as in the past.

In a blink of an eye, this 13-weeks English course has come to an end. It was an invaluable and enjoyable journey and I have learnt a lot through frequent interaction and feedback among peers. I hope I can remember some of the rewarding feedbacks and advises given by my peers and tutor and take them along with me as I embark on my working life in the near future.

Monday 10 November 2014

Essay Presentation Reflection


Standing in front of a group of audiences and making a presentation has always been my Achilles’ heel. I am likely to get nervous on stage all the times, not because everyone was looking at me but because I was so anxious of how to put my ideas and thoughts into words and deliver them fluently to the audience. Due to this weakness, I always penned down, word by word, whatever I was going to say and tried to memorize them. Unfortunately due to the tenseness on stage, I always tend to lose my mind and miss out some information that I previously planned to present.  

Recalling the presentation that I did this afternoon, I felt that I could do better if I articulated clearer and was livelier in my speech by changing my facial expression and tones along the way. The positive comments given by some classmates, such as Maeve, Ivy, Jessica and Sean, were very encouraging and alleviated my tension. My instructor, Brad, also praised me and I was very delighted because I felt that all my hard work - having spent more than 6 hours doing my Powerpoint slides – truly paid off.

This presentation was different from other presentation that I did in the past because the assessment was mainly focused on the presentation skills rather than the contents. It was a worthwhile attempt as it gave us an opportunity to discover our personal strengths in presentation as well as our flaws. It also provided some useful presentation tips that we could apply on in our future presentations.

It was a valuable afternoon watching other classmates’ presentation and exchanging feedbacks on the performances. Though my presentation performance did not meet my personal expectation, I am overall pleased with myself today. Hope that my next presentation would be an excellent one.

Friday 7 November 2014

Essay Draft Three


Information and communication technology (ICT), particularly the internet, has become increasingly ubiquitous in the social context in recent decades. Singapore has emerged among the leading countries that has outstanding ICT infrastructure (World Economic Forum, 2014). However, the utilization of internet among the elderly is relatively low. According to the figures in year 2012 provided by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) (n.d.a), only 16% of the elderly aged 60 years and above had used internet in the previous 12 months compared to 98% of the individuals aged 7 to 34 years. This difference reflects a digital divide in Singapore between the younger and older generations. As elderly who do not access to internet are likely to encounter isolation in the community and at home, the IDA should provide infocomm training to these elderly and create an extensive digital awareness among the elderly to encourage them to engage on internet.

Internet provides individuals an avenue for continuing education, personal growth, hobbies and leisure pursuit, and redefining careers. Elderly who do not engage on internet are therefore deprived from these benefits. Moreover, internet allows elderly to form online social networks which can prevent them from getting isolated in the community. Engaging on internet can also help to stimulate mental alertness and thereby alleviate the possible psychological illness such as depression. A recent research by Cotton, Ford, Ford and Hale (2014) indicates that internet use can reduce the incidence of depression among the elderly by about 33%. In addition, relationships within the family would be jeopardized as there might be a conflicting communication between the younger and the older generations due to the different knowledge capacities in Information Technology (IT) (Lim and Tan, 2003).

To bridge the age digital divide in Singapore, the IDA launched Silver Infocomm Initiative programmes in 2007 to help senior citizens aged 50 years and beyond to engage on internet (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, n.d.b). 100 Silver Infocomm Hotspots have been established at various locations such as Community Clubs and Senior Citizen Connect areas to provide the elderly with free access to computer and internet service. There are also 9 IT learning hubs termed as the Silver Infocomm Junctions established across the island to provide infocomm training and customised course for the elderly. Through the training, senior citizens are taught the basic skills in using a computer and surfing the internet. They also acquire intermediate digital lifestyle skills such as performing online transactions, editing digital photos, and creating social networking.

Since 2007, the Silver Infocomm Initiative has helped many senior citizens embrace a digital lifestyle (Chan, 2011). One of the senior citizens is 56-year-old Mr Abdul who has benefited from the IT course and uses social media interfaces such as Facebook and Skype to keep in touch with his children and grandchildren living abroad. Another senior citizen cited by Chan is Madam Cheow Chin Wang, aged 60, who enjoys a better bond with her grandchildren because she has understood and is able to speak the similar IT language as them after having attended the IT course.

Despite the increasing number of elderly adopting ICT, the proportion of elderly accessing to internet remains comparatively low. The proportion of elderly aged 60 and above who accessed to internet in year 2007 was 12% (National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, 2009). From year 2007 to 2012, the proportion of elderly accessing to internet merely increased from 12% to 16%. The majority of the elderly remained offline and their main reasons for not using internet were “lack of knowledge” and “no interest” (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2012). This finding suggests that there is a need for extensive publicity to promote the potential benefits and usefulness of surfing internet as well as the available IT classes in the neighbourhood to the senior citizens. The IDA should organize outreach activities such as exhibitions and practical workshops at void decks across the island. It should also seek traditional digital media such as television and radio to reach out to the senior citizens and convince them to participate in cyberspace. In addition, school should encourage children to share and impart their computer knowledge and skills that they have acquired in school to their grandparents.

Participation in the internet age is an essential factor in the full social inclusion of the elderly, particularly as more public services are delivered via online. With the substantial efforts by the IDA and the community to expand internet utility among the elderly, the digital disparity would then be diminished and the possibility of elderly experiencing exclusion in the community and at home would be greatly minimized.

 

References

Chan, C. S. (2011, September 17). Silver Infocomm Initiative to benefit senior citizens. Retrived October 1, 2014, from http://www.mci.gov.sg/content/mci_corp/web/mci/pressroom/categories/speeches/2011/speech_by_mr_chan_chun_sing_at_the_silver_infocomm_day_2011.mnews.infocomm.html

Cotton, S. R., Ford, G., Ford, S., & Hale, T. M. (2014). Internet use and depression among retired older adults in the United States: a longitudinal analysis. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69(5), 763–771.

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (2012). Annual survey on infocomm usage in households and individuals for 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/~/media/Files/Infocomm%20Landscape/Facts%20and%20Figures/SurveyReport/2011/2011%20HH%20mgt%20rpt%20public%20final.pdf

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (n.d.a). Infocomm usage – Households and individuals. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Infocomm-Landscape/Facts-and-Figures/Infocomm-Usage-Households-and-Individuals#3

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore. (n.d.b). Silver infocomm junctions and hotspots. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.ida.gov.sg/Individuals-and-Community/Community-Development/Silver-Infocomm-Initiative/Silver-Infocomm-Junctions-and-Hotspots

Lim, S. S. and Tan, Y. L. (2003). Old people and new media in wired societies: exploring the socio-digital divide in Singapore, Media Asia, 30(2), 95–102.

National Volunteer & Philanthropy Center. (2009, October 7). Fundraising: Research on “donation friendly” website. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://booksreader.net/ppt/salt-survey-2009-nvpc-49557300.html

World Economic Forum. (2014). The global information technology report 2014: The networked readiness index rankings. Retrieved October 1, 2014, from http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-information-technology-report-2014

Wednesday 29 October 2014

Reader Response Draft Four


In his article “Can English be a Singaporean mother tongue?”, Lu (2013) advocated the recognition of English as Singaporean mother tongue. He observed that there was an increasing proportion of Singaporean speaking mainly English at home and having English regarded as their core identity. As English had become a dominant language in Singapore, the government and communities had been struggling to revive the diminishing presence of mother tongue languages. Moreover, the conflicting “linguistic interests” by different groups of generation had caused a language divide in Singapore, and Lu claimed that this gap would shrink in oppression. Lu also highlighted in his article that “The notion “native speaker of English” is tied to particular nationalities and ethnicities — that is, Anglo-Saxons”. He argued that Singaporean students were not substantially recognized by international colleges for their proficiency in English, and therefore there was a need to acknowledge English as Singaporean mother tongue so as to gain acceptance from the world. English should not be recognized as Singaporean mother tongue because it would devalue the current mother tongues that promote culture awareness and intergeneration bonding. 

A Language divide has evolved in Singapore over the years due to the conflicting linguistic desires and beliefs between the pioneer generation and the younger generation. I would certainly disagree with Lu (2013)’s assumption that the conflict would diminish in “aggression and regularity”. It is important to understand that Singapore is a multi-ethnic nation and everyone has different potential and ability. It would be an infeasible approach if we were to forcefully insist one language to fit all. Furthermore, if we were to designate English as our mother tongue, I foresee that the younger generation would lose faith in learning their current mother tongues. This implication would consequently reduce the intergeneration interaction and weaken the “generationship”. Therefore, I feel that it is vital to acknowledge our own ethnic language as our mother tongue instead of English. In a sense, it reminds us of our unique culture and roots, as well as strengthens the bond between the youngsters and the elderlies.

Singapore has been a leading country in the world in many aspects and yet the nation has not attained substantial international recognition for proficiency in English. According to Lu (2013), Singaporean students had not been granted for exemption by the universities in international test in aptitude for English despite their seniors having achieved consistent and remarkable scores in that test. However, we should not be misled by this information and conclude that Singaporeans are overall good in English as it only reflects the performance of our fellow pre-university students. In his article, Lim (2014) stated that most Singaporeans were observed to have poor standard of English and they were accustomed to speak the localized form of English particularly known as ‘Singlish’ with negative connotations. Thus I think it is inappropriate for us to expect any global acceptance. We still have a lot more to do to refine our English before we can actually appeal for external recognition or even consider English as a mother tongue in our internal social dynamics.

English has long been the core language in our education, government administration, commerce and judiciary. Despite the dominance of English in our everyday lives, we must not deny the essentials of our mother tongues. In my opinion, transforming our mother tongues to English literally means converting our own race to "English". I hereby strongly oppose the idea of having English recognized as our mother tongue. We Singaporean must stand tall with our rich heritage and preserve our mother tongue to keep our unique and vibrant island culturally alive.

 

 Reference

Lu, L. (2013, July 15). Today Online. Retrieved from Today Online: http://www.todayonline.com/commentary/can-english-be-singaporean-mother-tongue?singlepage=true

Lim, P. (2014, May 28). Today Online. Retrieved from Today Online:

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Essay Draft Two


Information and communication technology (ICT), particularly the internet, has become increasingly ubiquitous in the social context in recent decades. Singapore has emerged among the leading countries that has outstanding ICT infrastructure (World Economic Forum, 2014). However, the utilization of internet among the elderly is relatively low. According to the figures in year 2012 provided by Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) (n.d.a), only 16% of the elderly aged 60 years and above had used internet in the previous 12 months compared to 98% of the individuals aged 7 to 34 years. This difference reflects a digital divide in Singapore between the younger and older generations.

Internet provides individuals an avenue for continuing education, personal growth, new social network, hobbies and leisure pursuit, and redefining careers. Elderly who do not engage on internet are deprived from these benefits. In addition, relationships within the family would be jeopardized as there might be a conflicting communication between the younger and the older generations due to the different knowledge capacities in Information Technology (IT) (Lim & Tan, 2003).

Internet allows the elderly to form social networks that can alleviate the possible psychological concerns such as isolation and depression that they might have. A recent research by Michigan State University indicates that internet use can reduce the incidence of depression among the elderly by about 33% (Cotton, Ford, Ford & Hale, 2014). Depression is a major health concern and economic burden. The approximate costs of depression to society in United States are US$100 billion annually in healthcare expenditures and lost incomes and production (Ford & Ford, 2009). Additionally, the economic costs include the missing valuable inputs that senior citizens can contribute to online communities since these people in their golden years have vast amount of knowledge and experience in life.

Due to the economic burden resulting from a deficient usage of internet among the elderly who are mostly ignorant and illiterate in ICT, the IDA should provide infocomm training and digital facility to the elderly, as well as create an extensive digital awareness among the elderly.

To bridge the age digital divide in Singapore, the IDA launched Silver Infocomm Initiative programmes in 2007 to promote IT awareness and knowledge learning among the elderly aged 50 years and beyond (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, n.d.b). Silver Infocomm Hotspots have been established at various locations such as Community Clubs and Senior Citizen Connect areas to provide the elderly with free access to computer and internet service. Several IT learning hubs termed as the Silver Infocomm Junctions have also been established across the island to provide infocomm training and customised course for the elderly. Through the training, senior citizens learn the basic skills in using a computer and surfing the internet. They also acquire intermediate digital lifestyle skills such as performing online transaction, editing digital photo, and creating social networking.

Since 2007, the Silver Infocomm Initiative had helped many elderlies embrace a digital lifestyle (Chan, 2011). One of the elderlies was 56-year-old Mr Abdul who benefited from the IT course and used social media interfaces such as Facebook and Skype to keep in touch with his children and grandchildren living abroad. Another elderly benefited from the IT course was Madam Cheow Chin Wang, aged 60, who enjoyed a better bond with her grandchildren because she had understood and spoke the similar IT language as them.

Despite the increasing number of elderly adopting to ICT, the proportion of elderly accessing to internet remains comparatively low. The proportion of elderly aged 60 and above who accessed to internet in year 2007 was 12% (National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, 2009). From year 2007 to 2012, the proportion of elderly accessing to internet merely increased from 12% to 16%. Majority of the elderly were staying offline and their main reasons for not using internet were “lack of knowledge” and “no interest” (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2012). Therefore, publicity is necessary to promote the potential benefits of surfing the internet and the available IT classes in the neighbourhood to the senior citizens. The IDA should organize extensive outreach activities such as exhibitions and practical workshops at void decks across the island. It should also seek traditional digital media such as television and radio to reach out to the senior citizens and convince them to participate in cyberspace. In addition, school should encourage children to share and impart their computer knowledge and skills that they have acquired in school to their grandparents.

Internet is now dominant in the economy, culture and society, used as a tool for personal communication, delivery of public services, and as a vast source of information and entertainment. With substantial effort by the IDA and community to expand internet utility among the elderly, the overall living conditions of the elderly can be improved and the nation can shift ageing from an economic burden to a potentially valuable resource.

 

Reference

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