Hello Stranger,

Communications class is definitely coming to an end and sure enough i have indeed learnt a lot. Our project would be on Dostana, a Bollywood film. After i watched the movie, my impression of Bollywood film took a 360 degree change. It was a cultural shock for me. I can say i was superficial, i just merely threaded the surface with a mere impression that there were only gorgeous girls in the  Bollywood scene. Instead of a cheesy storyline i expected, it was infused with humorous quirks and much applauded acting. The movie was shot in Miami and everything was so modern and beautiful. In the show, you can see the difference in culture between India and The States still, where it is frowned upon for a male and female to cohabitant within the same apartment.

What about Singapore? In our society, we live in a multi-racial country where we have learnt to accept the culture of different races and also in turn mixed it together. Culture is also not overtly expressed and we have learnt to have mutual respect, such as we don’t serve pork to our Malay friends and in turn we speak English when we are in a group of different races combined. Because of these traditions over the years, we have learnt to embrace it and it has become a cultural norm . Cultural normseven have implications for the way individuals approach more abstract concepts like time or silence. We may not be conciously aware of their influence, we are generally quick to notice when culturally defined non verbal terms are violated.

There is an uprise in controversial issues about gay marriages in the recent years. The society has become more liberal and accepting towards gay marriages. In public, we have become more open and we would not stare with such disatastefullook when we see gays or lesbians around as it has become a social norm. Recently, an anglican church put up a banner to allow acceptance of homosexuality and as such, it created a much discussed topic as it seems to break the code of normality.

Before this, the topic was taboo and was whispered behind closed doors. And without the proper understanding we can see that it was not well understood. This was when i learnt communications could play apart in it. This week we leart about the different stages. Often as it is. It reaches the circumscribing stage and there is nor termination stage as marriage wasn’t legal. Could gay marriages be what is necessary to show that that gay marriages is not feasible as consequently it will play an active role in affecting the economic stability of a country due to the downward spiral of heterosexual marriages

As you all know, Britney Spears has went through many drastic transitions in life. Yet, every album she produces never fails to get us hooked to her upbeat lively songs. Her recent release was the song “If You Seek Amy”. I was walking back with my friend and he went like, “Do you know what the title means?” I was like, there is a deeper meaning? And he said if we said it really quickly or listened to the song, It meant F-U-C-K Me.

The media has indeed changed her drastically, because to appeal to a larger crowd, she has become a sexual public figure and from once an innocent American sweetheart that was passionate about being in the Mickey Mouse Club, she has shaved her head, had a divorce and bringing up a child now. The papparazzi also hasn’t given her a break, could it be due to this pent up stress the media has shone that limelight on her that she went through major changes?

There are many young starlets now, Lindsay Lohan also has broken out of that innocent shell and Miley Cyrus posted her wild side of life openly, Is this th trend in time to come where aspiring artiste like Taylor Swift will mould according to what the media perceive as interesting?

Have communication become one way where we decide to do things in favor of the receiver point of view?

In a blink of an eye, October is finally here. In Western countries, it can be seen when orange crunchy leaves fall softly to the grass and soft winds blow past. In this humid country that we constantly find ourselves swearing under the hot sun, we can only realise time passed is when each memory become more distant from us.

With Christmas and New Year approaching dangerously near, i come to look back on 2008 and one of the strongest memory was the death of Jordon. He, was from my secondary school. We weren’t personally very close by despite that, his sudden death became a shock to many. 

“Jordon vomited out his lunch as well as a lot of blood, and eventually fainted before the paramedics arrived. 
He was sent to NUH A&E, where doctors found a blood clot in his brain, but were unable to operate immediately because of his low blood platelet count. 
After being in critical condition for almost 12 hours, a small operation was carried out to ease the blood pressure in his brain, which was mounting to a dangerous level. 
He has been in a coma ever since, and doctors have certified him brain dead as of 12th Febuary 2009. 

However, the masses of people who went to visit Jordan are still not giving up hope. They are still hoping and praying for Jordan, and they are constantly visiting him and folding paper cranes and stars at ward 21 in the hopes of him waking up.”

During that period of time, it felt very surreal. I was working when i received the call from a friend and later that night we went down to the hospital to visit him. Seeing his thin gaunt body hooked up to many tubes was something beyond comprehension. How is it that someone that is so young and robust could suddenly, get into such a tragic accident.

2 years have passed then since we have all graduated from our secondary school. But during the time spent in the hospital, i saw many people that i would never thought of seeing again. And how everyone could just drop what they were doing in life and sat vigil at the ICU waiting room folding cranes and hooking it up by his head and all th forlorn whispers through the night.

On the morning of 4am that he passed on, text messages came in and all of us had trouble registering the shock. I was at the cremation and i could still remember vividly. The air was thick with sadness and death is indeed morbid, a harsh reality to face.

Somehow, i hate it how someone fights for their life, the additional seconds to live, with that small glimmer of hope. The whole process is tormenting and death never fails to leave this dull ache in me. Numbing their entire souls and selves forgetting about the pain and with their helpless lifeless bodies covered in tired skin just battling for another beating of the heart, another breath. I hate it. I’ved just sat there helpless, dumbfounded and trying to figure out what I could do to ease their pain, but in the end, death still catches up with you.I just wish anything or anyone that’s putting everything behind them and doing all they can to keep alive just surrender their souls . Take a final beat, a final breath, take in the love and then sleep forever. Dying is pain, but death is painless.