#06- MJ’s death news coverage too much?

Whoever who have lived at least long enough as I did, would have loved the King of Pop. A decade and a half ago, I remembered Michael Jackson as being one of my idols on the big stage. He had the best stage presence ever looking at how extravagant his concerts usually were. With the shiny glove he had on, paired with a prominent Drum-major-like jacket and aviators, who can ever not love his emotional songs written for the world? And I still remember how during the primary school days, we were all very much exposed to him during assembly as his music video “Heal the World” was played. MJ then stayed out of the press for many years after that. And yet, now our beloved King of Pop has done it again, capturing the eyes of the media. This time in an unexpected twist of event- his death.

Above is a video where passer-bys were interviewed asking about their opinions on MJ’s passing in which the interviewer eventually added his different 5 cents worth on why, MJ died.

“Death automatically comes to us because we are sinners. And the bible says, “the souls that sins; it shall die,” the real reason we shall one day die is because we have sinned against god. We have an appointment to keep with death. Good freely offers, us an alternative. Please think about your eternal salvation. There’s nothing more important then when your soul returns.”

On the contrary, the news that we are usually exposed to (eg: CNA, ET) tells us that it is due to the dangerously high levels of drug overdose prescribed to MJ that led to his unfortunate death. Such mix views the many media is making us believe.

According to Charles Wright, the media has four functions:

• Surveillance (to present information)
• Correlation (to give audience room for self-evaluation)
• Cultural transmission (to expose other culture into the local arena)
• Entertainment (to provide eg: just for laughs)

And from MJ’s  death alone, we got a taste of these different functions of media. Entertainment Tonight gave a much more sensational feel to the news as compared to Channel News Asia when they were reporting the same news. In addition, agenda setting was being used. The media had a repeated news coverage about the death of the King of Pop to raise the importance of the issue. When you think about it, MJ’s death was intensely reported even more frequent than any news regarding natural disasters that happened in the world. So, where has our priorities gone to? Is keeping up to date about MJ’s death investigation more important than helping any of our neighbours trapped alive under the rubble?

See, the media nowadays is so powerful as to prime all of us into adopting a certain way of thinking that we sometimes forget what is really important in reality.

“In short the mass media may not be successful in telling us what to think, but they are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about.”

-Shaw & McCombs, 1977

Don’t you think so too?

#05-Life’s a game, but it’s not fair.

I am pretty sure that most of you have actually heard of Gossip Girls (GG) right? This television show is being aired in the States. And for the rest of us who aren’t in the land of freedom, its our weekly visit to our favourited website just to catch up on who is being bitched now!

So, a little background now. Gossip Girls is among the highest rated tv show in the US, and from the looks of it, I am quite sure that western-influenced youngsters like us have the same sentiments despite being on different continents. The drama series is on to its third season already!

Its mainly about the “New York’s Upper East side where the wealthy and connected mingle at benefits and try to deal with their always dramatic love lives, not to mention picking colleges.” – adapted from http://megastic.com

When you think about it, we are hardly an individualist because most of the time we are in groups. Be it in a family, a clique of friends or even at work projects. Similarly, GG shows the relationships between this group of people- “The riches” and perhaps, the “not-so-rich” too (read: the Humphreys!). The probable reasons why they are in a group is due to the collective identity that they have, strong interaction with each other, interdepence, and also a shared behavioural standards.

Between Serena, Blair, Chuck and Dan they are seen as the “riches” and for the other group, it consists of Vanessa, Dan and Jenny. Due to their social status in the show instant classification is made segregating them into the two separate groups. However, it is the fact that they are in the same high school that made the creation of this group possible. Because hey, if not, there wont be an increased frequency of them meeting, yes?

As you know, due to the complications of their work and love lives, and not to forget their parents’ too!, their interactions between one another is highly increased because of the increased chances of bumping into each other for a reason or another. For example, the Humpreys will meet the Waldorfs because Jenny Humphrey works for Blair Waldorf’s mom, a designer. Although their social status might not be on par, the tendency to for a relationship is definitely there.

Moreover, in season 1, Dan Humprey used to be Serena, Nate with Blair. They rely on each other for emotional support when they have BGR problems, or even when they fight with parents. They are interdependent of each other and so much so because of their status. Cause when Blair Waldorf was in trouble, Queen B didnt go looking for he “followers” for support but instead, she looked for Serena.

Coming to Season 3 is where you would expect the closer proximity between the Upper East Siders. Well hey, the Humphreys are millionaires now ever since they got married to the Van Der Woodsens. There was even an episode when Dan Humphrey backed up him having a branded wallet when in fact, he was never one who goes for label before he was better off. The shared beavioural standards amongst them are becoming even more and more evident as season 3 is playing now.

The play with life, love and power. At least in season 1 theres Dan struggling having to pay the school fees- something I can relate to! Now, what’s left? Eyeing that Prada bag? Difference is, they can will eventually have it but won’t.

#02- We get money during Eid, but mostly spending before it, no?

          The time of the year is here again where Muslims all around the world have waited for the full moon to emerge from the clouds, visible enough to announce that the day after is officially the 1st day of the month of Syawal in the Islamic calendar. The day is also called Eid Mubarak or commonly known as Hari Raya Aidilfitri to Singaporeans.

          What I have realised today, just in a matter of hours, is how much communication is part of our lives that we actually took it for granted. So, what does Eid Mubarak actually means? More so, what does it stand for?

          Some teenagers, and adults even, might be excited to parade their gorgeous new sequined Kebayas imported from the far East. That, packaged with pointed 3 inch high heels and mainly Gucci for the youth and Louis Vuitton handbags for the elders. Some, are impatient to see how others match up to their “standards” on this very stunning and lavish day. I am pretty sure you will be blinded by their bling-blings too just like how I was, hours ago. Gold bangles and necklaces that are probably “Pakai Dulu Bayar Kemudian” in which it directly translates to “Wear First Pay Later”. It is a growing trend in this jewelry business. On the other hand, children are mostly anxious to drink all the F&Ns they want and indulging in all the sweet goodies each house they visit has to offer. Oh, and not to forget, the euphoria of receiving green packets too.

          However, in all its glamour that the media has portrayed Eid to be, I feel that the celebration after the month of goodness- known as Ramadhan- has lost its true meaning. If you were to stop a stranger by the road and ask them, “What is Hari Raya Aidilfitri?” I am pretty sure most would answer, “Oh, Geylang Serai lights up!” or, “Malay families wear Baju Kurungs of the same colour. From the father down to the baby,” and even, “Time where Muslims has no need to starve themselves already,”. Last year, my friend Derrick, wished me, “Happy New Year!” when Hari Raya Aidilfitri was approaching. While its quite amusing to know of people’s perception of Eid, it is sad that they don’t really know what the day is all about.

          On my part, I feel that Eid Mubarak is the day where I genuinely want to meet all my relatives (though not only subjected to that day only) and strengthen the rapport we have. Also, it is the day where we reflect on our lives and be thankful for what we have, and to seek forgiveness for whatever wrong doing we might have done. Be it intentionally, or otherwise. In other words, it is a clean start after the holy month of Ramadhan.

          Figure and ground is a concept where we draw a final conclusion, after having a perception with alot of exclusion factors that might be important. It is starting to be a tradition in my family where the morning of the first day of Syawal will be time set aside to visit the resting place of my grandmother at Chua Chu Kang. Initially my day started out rough. Knowing that I wont be able to physically embrace someone I love the most who brought me up for the first 18 years of my life, hurts me. I did not have a good night sleep and woke up crying as time and time again I realised I can never bring someone back to life, ever. Although I was distraught, as soon as I reached her resting place and saw a newly clothed white stone(aka Batu Nisan) with her name, her new “house” clean from any unkept dry grasses and plucked flowers beautifying it, sense of peace and calmness instantly fills my heart telling me that everything is and going to be alright. The perception is that my grandmother is within the hands of God(in my opinion) and the conclusion is of her being safe. Although reality is, I may never know for sure what happens to the long gone. Two years have passed, and that is my story of figure and ground where that is always the conclusion I draw up in order to keep myself going everyday.

          Besides figure and ground, proximity can also be seen during Eid. This year, my family decided on pastel purple as our theme colour. Everyone, that includes my parents, my two younger brothers and myself wore the same colour. Whenever you see a group of people wearing similar colours during Eid, instantly you would assume that the proximity between those people are close i.e they are family members. Not only with colours, but proximity can be detected through the materials used and type of dressing. For example, my cousins are of Indian descent, hence being in a room full of Javanese/Malay descent who are wearing earthy Batik material, naturally, they stand out. Hence one can draw the conclusion that there is a close proximity and a possible relationship between those who are wearing a Sari.

          Last but not least, I discovered something I have been oblivious of- similarity. When I first stepped into my eldest Aunt’s place, the first few people I look for are my cousins! There are a few traits that are common between us. Our age group for one thing, is between 18-25 years old. We also have similar character and that is, we love to crack jokes to liven up the moments together. Even on the chartered bus ride to visit our grandaunts and granduncles, we karaoke-d along to the tunes of old Raya songs. The children however, were busy exchanging tactics to beat the game in their Play Station Portable (PSP). That is why I dont hang around kids much. We do not have that many things in common. That is how similarity between certain people binds different groups together in my family.

          It has only been a few hours yet, I do not think that my stand about what majority thinks of Eid Mubarak will change in this society we live in. It is, just another extravagantly glamourised public holiday.

Post #01- Is Caster Semenya a male or female ?

Caster Semenya, an 18 year old athlete from South Africa won the 800m race with a stunning record timing of 1 minute, 56.72 seconds at the World Athletics Championships recently. She took over the place of the defending champion, Janeth Jepkosgei, who was merely 2.45 seconds slower than her, enabling Caster to do South Africa proud by clinching that gold medal. You might be wondering, so what?

Tests have revealed Caster Semenya’s testosterone level to be three times higher than those normally expected in a female sample, BBC Sport understands.

-source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8219937.stm

It was said that due to a fax that was sent out wrongly, news about Caster having to take gender tests leaked into the public. This causes uproar to many people around the world. While those who are close to Caster believes and insists that she is a woman, many others are sceptical. They believe that Caster, just like Dora Ratjen of Vienna*, is a man. Dora Ratjen is actually Herman Ratjen; his disguise was uncovered in 1938. While Ratjen’s story might be true, Ewa Klobukowska of Poland* was falsely detected by the chromosome test to be a man  in 1967. Years later she gave birth to her son. So, how reliable are these gender tests exactly?

Personally, I feel that perception is an intuitive recognition that people make relating what we see, hear, do or touch to our own personal experiences and what we all are accustomed to. In Caster’s case, her manly physique of broad shoulders and abnormally muscular upper body together with facial hair instantly signals to people that she is a man. This is because, we are used to seeing the norm of men having broad muscular shoulders just like those body-builders; woman don’t usually have these features. That being said, what brought the spotlight on Caster was due to the fact that she was unusually fast (for a woman) on the tracks. It made people question, “How did a woman do that?”  From this, we can clearly see how different man and woman are perceived to be.

Thanks to perception and different people having different life experiences, some might say a glass is half empty, while others, the glass is half full. We are humans after all, and we differ in our perception of things around us. In this case, I feel for Caster. If I were to be in her shoes, till the gender tests are out, I can’t possibly show everyone my privates just to prove I am a woman, no?

*source- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1207653/Womens-800m-gold-medal-favourite-Caster-Semenya-takes-gender-test-hours-World-Championship-race.html