Sociology lectures

I quite enjoy sociology and might consider taking it as one module when i am able to (pray hard) secure a place in NUS. It's currently SIM's intensive revision period. Hence, lectures from the UK came down to lecture us. I love attending lectures by Britain lecturers as they speak clearly, fluently and they are very humorous. They know how to keep the class going and they know when to be humorous. It makes the lectures interesting and allows us to sustain through the 7 hrs lecture. One thing i find different about sociologists is that they do not follow rules and they go by their own experiences. For instance, my first socio workshop was by Steve Taylor. He believes that we should have a short break every half an hour or so. He gives us 5 to 10 mins break to go to the washroom and even asked us to text our friends or just chat with them. He believes that the student's attention span will decrease after 30 mins or so. Hence, the break. On the other hand, my second socio workshop was by Gosling Rosemary. She believes that students are more alert in the morning as opposed to the afternoon. Hence, she gave us only one break from 10-1pm and more during the afternoon. Though SIM gave them each instructions as to when we should take a break, they screw it and used their own methods.

The lectures are also interesting partly because they tell stories and site examples that are hilarious yet set us thinking. I'll list some examples below...

The Mas Salamat Story

When Gosling came to Singapore, she decided to get a better understanding of the current whereabouts of Mas Salamat. So she said that the best way was to ask taxi drivers, probably because they are often talkative and they seem to know alot but not all are true...

Taxi 1:
G:"Sir, i've heard a lot about Mas Salamat and i'm just curious about his whereabouts now. "
D:"Oh, everyone knows that he have escaped to Indonesia. There'e no way the authorities could find him. It's been so long. "

Taxi 2:
G: "Sir, i've heard a lot about Mas Salamat and that he is currently at Indonesia? Is that true?"
D: "Indonesia? No way, he is still in jail. "
G:"In jail? I thought there were news and posters everywhere looking for him? How can he still be in jail?"
D: "haha.. the authorities are just trying to strengthen our borders, raise awareness and create tighter security in the shortest time. The Mas Salamat escape is all fake. Singapore's security is so tight and it makes no sense that he could escape through the toilet. Nonsense."

Taxi 3
G:"Sir, i've heard a lot about Mas Salamat. Is he in Indonesia now or still in prison?"
D: "Oh all those stories you heard are not true. The truth is that he is dead!!!"
G: "Dead? What do you mean he is dead?"
D: "The authorities must've tortured him till he died in prison and they are afraid to let the public know because it'll just ruin its reputation. So, they faked that Mas Salamat escaped!!"

Taxi 4
G:"Sir, i've heard a lot about Mas Salamat and i'm just curious about his whereabouts now. "
D:"Oh, he has escaped from Singapore. Most probably in Indonesia. But i don't see how he could have easily escaped from Singapore's tight security checks and all. So, i'm guessing the authorities let him escape on purpose. They had probably implant a detector so they'll be able to catch the rest of the terrorist. "
G: "Now that make quite some sense"

Don't you think it's hilarious as to how they taxi drivers each got their own version of Mas Salamat whereabouts? Oh and i must say i added some extra comments in the dialogue because i couldn't remember all of them. haha.. But the story line is somewhat in that way. So which one do you think is true? I personally think what Taxi driver 3 said was true. I mean, how can Singapore's security be that lousy in that he could not only escape from the toilet, but also from the compound and from Singapore. It makes no sense. Moreover, he is limping??!! Thus, I'll most likely believe that he had died due to the torture inflicted onto him. They are just hiding the truth and escaping. Hoping that this issue will be forgotten soon which it is going to be soon.

Globalisation in terms of the airport and communication via the internet

Globalisation had made travelling so much easier. Now, people could travel anytime and anywhere with little documents needed. Last time, if you want to travel from UK to Singapore, you need at least 3 months of preparation. Most of the time goes into the preparation of documents and data, and the time needed to process it. Phew, don't you think we're lucky to live in the 21st century. =D

Technology has also became so advanced that we could send our message across to anyone at anytime and anywhere too. It also allows us to be able to get a speedy reply. Though it may be good, it had hasten our life. We're now expected to read our email daily and they expect a speedy reply too. Furthermore, there are vast ways of communications tools which caused many people to criticize that it had caused the younger generation o be less vocal and less able to express themselves in public. However, research has also shown that it had improved individual's level of communication skills. So, it pretty much works both ways.

Oh, one majot mistakes that students do and many journalists does is that they often say"Globalisation caused the financial crisis etc" but globalisation is a thing, it cannot cause anything. It is the process of globalisation that does.

to be continued... sleepy again.. =x