Past VS Present

Can media really transform a person? I wholeheartedly agree.From my first entry, we can see that pop princess Britney Jean Spears fell to the hands of the media after she was influenced by alcohol and drug consumptions. Not only did the media hound her, they hounded her till she had nothing else to hide.

Alright, alright, heres a personal view on how the media had influenced me. This was ME-Back in the days



I have never been a social person, much less someone who dares to stand in front of a large audience and bare her soul to the whole audience, whoever they may be. In 2007, a friend of mine, a close friend, encouraged to take part in the Miss Singapore Universe 2007. HELL NO! That was my initial reply to her request. After countless probing and speculation of the decision, she convinced me that I should just go for the auditions and than take a look from there, see hoow it goes. Little did I know that the media had influenced her so much, to the extent tht she convinced me, a social no no, to take part. Low and behold, I mangaed to clinch top ten.



After winning the top ten, I decided to take a long break from all this media influences as it was not my cup of tea. This was not about to happen. I was watching Tv one day and the advertisement for the Deal or No deal casting for models was airing. Hmm, I wouldnt mind being in one the show i thought to myself. OH GOODNESS! Have i really been influenced by the media so much so that I, me, Joanne was actually coonsidering filling up forms, picking up the phone and calling for an audition? Yes-The media has influeced me. However, on that day itself, I received a phonecall from the assistant asking me to come down for an audition as they have spotted me from the previous show that i had been on. This is how i got to be briefcase no 5.

From my personal evidence, there is the obvious form of media nfluemce on me and that would be the television. Since I watch the tele EVERYDAY and it usually takes up half my day, (apart from studying com101 of course), I have been greatly influenced by this specific form of media. As I have learnt in communication, the POWERFUL EFFECTS THEORY-Hypodermic needle. It is one of the first concepts on the effects of mass media where, to put it simply,the media and audience are correlated in a way where the media is powerful and the audience is powerless.

Although the media did allow itself to manifest into my way of life, I have not regretted it ever since.

When East meets West.

Why is the world unique? Nevertheless, there are so many answers to one question but in my opinion, in are the so many diverse and unique cultures in the world that makes it special. It can be rather interesting for one to observe or experience another culture’s way of life to some but at the same time pose culture shock to another. Try offering a delicious curry fish head dish to a westerner and you could possibly be shot for that.
I was in a French market once in Nantes, and while looking at the wide array of fruits, handled some like those typical aunties in Singapore you see do in the market. What happened? The fruit seller yelled at me as if I had committed adultery with her husband.

Nonetheless, when people from different cultures meet, there is always a chance of misunderstanding or misinterpretation of gestures and behaviors which can sometimes lead to comical happenings; especially when west meets east.

Please kindly take a look at the clip which is only a minute long.



Evidently, we see a subtle yet hilarious misunderstanding of two cultures here. Firstly, it’s a disaster already from these insensitive Chings to offer a white boy eel for dinner. It equates to offering you buffalo testicles for dinner; yes, there we girls go “urgh” and “eww”. More obviously, our friend assumes this is good old London and finishes his dish, even slurping up the very last bit of food in the bowl (0.26-0.29); bad mistake. He is offered a second bigger serving as is perceived by the host be questioning their genrosity of the dish offered. Again, because of his culture, amazingly finishes off his second dish by clearing the bowl. That’s two eels in one’s stomach; definitely not a delight to most. What happens next is as unsurprisingly obvious as unfortunate for him. We can all guess he’ll probably never ever finish his dish again in China.

On an academic note, we see a mistake in the perception of reality from both parties. Both perception of their own realities contradicts the other’s reality regarding whether a dish offered should be finished or not. There is also an assumption of similarity both sides’ assumptions contradicts the other’s perception on the situation. Therefore, as we have learnt, communication and clarification is vital to counter cultural conflict.

What would Culture look like if it became one?

My point being that we people should be sensitive and updated on an unfamiliar culture if we do ever have intercultural contacts. What is appropriate for us may be extremely inappropriate for another .Wrong gestures may lead to different cultural interpretations which may affect business or even interpersonal relationships.

Unless you’re a big eater and the dish offered is nothing out of the ordinary, be sure to finish your dish when in China if you want more food.

Have you ever had anything odd on your plate?