Tuesday 26 April 2016

Singapore and China's youth culture







This montage is about the representation of Singapore's youth culture and what we think about China's youth culture. The following is a brief write up of the different youth cultures, with elaborations to emphasize their similarities or differences.

SINGAPORE YOUTH CULTURE - First off, something significant that the youths of today do is definitely the usage of electronic gadgets or devices. It is hard for one to come across a youth that has never used them. The usage of electronic devices ranges widely, but the basic applications most Singaporeans would use are definitely Whatsapp (communication) and Facebook (social media). The apps we use in Singapore are mostly English based, meaning it came from the western part of the world and the languages used are mainly English. Next, most of the youths are extremely law-abiding, since Singapore's law is extremely strict and dire consequences are to be faced if one was to go against it. The youths have grown up being taught to follow the law, since the government has the ability to control each and every one in Singapore if they did wrong. Finally, it is the amount of stress we have. An average Singaporean youth, although faces a considerate amount of stress, it is measly compared to the amount of stress an average China youth faces. This reflects our country's education system and the competition rate. Although, we can always safely say that both country's youths' parents want the best for their child so that they will be able to survive in the workforce next time with a stable lifestyle.

CHINA YOUTH CULTURE (our perception) - Youths of China mostly uses electronic gadgets too, but in comparison with Singapore, the applications they use are extremely different. Their basic applications used for communication and as their form of social media is all Chinese based, mainly coming from China itself, e.g Weibo and Wechat. Since China is big with a big population, and their law is different and less strict compared to ours, most youths might do things that are perceived as illegal in Singapore, but not in China, for example the buying of cigarettes under 18 years old. There is practically no law in such a big country, if we can say that. They grow up thinking what they do is absolutely correct, as it is okay in China. Finally, they definitely face more stress than us. Most of the youth are the only child in their family, since the one child policy was only abolished recently. All hopes are placed on one child, and with the amount of people in China, competition is very high.

In a nutshell, the above concludes the differences between the youth culture of China and Singapore. One of the rare similarities between the two countries youth culture is that their parents have high expectations for their children and hope they do well.

Monday 11 April 2016

Perspective of different people :D :

Last week, we learnt about how everyone's perspectives could be different as they could have experienced or been influenced by different factors. Today, we shall talk about the different possible perspectives about having FFR (Fast food restaurants) in historical places.

1. KFC and Starbucks

Their possible reaction and perspective:

  • Yes, we would like to build an outlet at those places.
Why do they think so?
  • People know KFC and Starbucks like a household name and thus, when tourists go to an attraction, they would usually rest or eat at a well-known place as they recognise those places more. Thus, they would feel that it is a good place to start an outlet as tourist will come over frequently, thus leading to profit and also expansion of their franchise. 
Conclusion
  • It is beneficial.
2. Cultural Tourists

Their possible reaction and perspective

  • No!
Why do they think so?
  • They want to see the original historical place untouched by the western corporation.
3. Casual Tourists

Their possible reaction and perspective
  • Yes!
Why do they think so?
  • It is convenient as they do not need to travel far for western food.
4. Shopkeepers in those areas

Their possible reaction and perspective
  • No!
Why do they think so?
  • The main food outlets may compete with their business and they might lose their businesses. The main food outlets are more favoured by the teens and the children as there is both air-con and their favourite fast food and they might not go for those traditional shopkeepers. 
  • The traditional shops may not be able to keep up with food outlets, causing them to not only lose customers but even struggle with earning enough money to sustain their small businesses. Once these shops close down, more heritage and historical value may be lost.
  • In a nutshell --> Fast money for KFC and Starbucks, fast bankruptcy for traditional shops.
The other side of the coin.

The other side of the coin.


Conclusion

  • The FFR and Starbuck outlets may be their downfall.
5. Tourism board 

Their possible reaction and perspective
  • No reaction
Why do they think so?
  • The main objective of the tourism board is to gain revenue via historical sites, which China has a lot of them.
  • Despite losing historical value, the added facilities may boost the numbers of youths who are interested to visit those places as the youths still have a place where they are accustomed with.
  • Also, tired travellers who just happened to pass by might come over as there is some modern facilities near those historical places.
  • In a nutshell --> Despite losing historical value, modern facilities may boost the number of youths to come over.

Conclusion
  • Lose some, gain some.
6. Heritage board

Their possible reaction and perspective
  • No!
Why do they think so?
  • Modernization in a traditional/historical place. Enough said.α••( ᐛ )α•—
  • Doing so will cause the historical value to decrease.
  • There may be more rubbish due to the fact that youths do not treasure those places more than the older ones.
Conclusion: