Say "NO" to discrimination
Monday, March 19, 2007

Final presentation for COMM101 – 4-6 minutes.. "About persuasion with story"

Why we tend to discriminate other people who we feel are not similar with us, especially in the terms “race”? Maybe it’s a very sensitive topic, but I feel that in corporate world, discrimination will give you disadvantage, especially in this globalized world.

When I was walking from SESS kopitiam to SIS, I heard a group of Singaporean talking about their CEO.
“Wah.. that Indian CEO is damn stingy la! Bla bla bla..”

I often heard about stereotyping, resulting to discrimination in SMU, especially when we are forming a group:
“I don’t want to group with Indonesian”
“No, no, no China people please!”
“No Indian!”

The question arisen is “Is it my fault to be Chinese, Indian, etc?”

My agenda for this presentation will be touching why we shouldn’t practice discrimination, why don’t we learn to appreciate the difference and make it as an advantage.

Maybe most of you are Chinese, and in Singapore, Chinese were not discriminated like in some countries where Chinese are minority. So, let me share you a story about a Chinese who feel discriminated.

Does anyone know about the “Quantum Leap” movie? For those who don’t, I’m using the characters, Sam and Al, for my story. Sam is a Chinese, and he is usually called A Sam. And Al is a “Ghost” who can be seen by Sam and can leap Sam to other dimensions

The story started when A Sam was in China around 1840 where big flood, civil war and famine made A Sam and his family suffer. Then, A Sam heard about “Gold mountain” away there and, he traveled there. The place is now known as California. Unfortunately, the ‘California’s gold rush’ ended and Sam had to work as a railway labor. He just earned 1.00 USD a day while the whites earned at least twice of his earning. But still, A Sam was happy because in China, it was his wage for 2 months.

The whites let the Chinese do the dangerous works such as bombing the mountain, and making the train tunnel. Many Chinese died because of landslide and extreme weather of Rocky Mountain. But, the Chinese population kept increasing and the white labors felt this threatened their jobs. And the whites also perceived Chinese people as greedy, As a result, many anti-Chinese acts were done such as discrimination, murder, and demonstration. Finally, the government enacted the exclusion act for Chinese in 1882.

Feel that this regulation couldn’t be tolerated, A Sam asked Al to leap him to another dimension. Unfortunately, Al somehow pressed the wrong button and A Sam was leaped to Canada. He was one of the labors sent from California to Canada to build railway connecting west and east Canada. The condition was similar when he was in California.

Same thing happened; the government enacted Head Tax which only affected the Chinese. Every Chinese who migrated to Canada had to pay $50. But it’s not effective. So the government increased it to $100, and finally to $500 at1904. From 1885-1923, The total Head Tax was 23 million Canadian dollar, which worth 1 billion dollar as 2006.

A Sam couldn’t take it anymore and wanted Al to leap him to other place. Now he’s in Indonesia where he lived peacefully with his family, had servants, driver and helicopter. But not until May 1998 riot when Chinese became a scapegoat, he asked Al to ‘leap’ him again to Niagara Falls and while drinking his coffee, he wondered.. “If I were not a Chinese..”

That’s a story of a Chinese. There are stories about Indian, American Indian, African American, or other races who were discriminated because they were minority in a particular place.

But now, you see US. Today’s US is the result of many people’s efforts in hundred years, not only white people, but also negro, chinese, American Indian and other races as well. And so does Singapore.

Imagine if Chinese didn’t migrate to Canada, the railway wouldn’t be built.
Imagine if Chinese didn’t migrate to Indonesia, there wouldn’t be Indofood, the instant noodle you usually eat.
Imagine if India didn’t migrate to Singapore, there wouldn’t be Mustafa Centre.

Chinese in Canada participated in a war with Japan. Many of them become soldier, paramedic, etc. Same things happen in Indonesia. The Chinese helped Indonesia to gain its independence from Japan.

We all share the common goal, to make our country toward a better future.

As SMU Students, we also share common goal to: to maximally develop ourselves, to flourish the name of SMU, to lead Singapore to a better future.

So why don’t in the new term, you form a group of consisting at least 4 nationalities? Or if you see a foreigner who doesn’t have a group, approach him and ask him to join your group.

Maybe some of you will think “Ah, just try once.” And then you realized that he’s really a slacker then you don’t want to group with foreigner again.

If he’s a slacker, or he couldn’t work well, it’s about him, and NOT about where he is from: Malaysia, China, England, France, etc.

Believe me, the experience is rewarding. And that’s why SMU adopts a cultural diverse society. In the future, when you become a great CEO of multinational company, you will remember when I was standing here, talking about why discrimination shouldn’t be practiced.

Comment donk.. presentasinya senin depan nihh.. tegang boo

Reference:

"Quantum Leap"

http://community.kompas.com/index.php?fuseaction=home.arsip&section=92&y=2006&m=6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Chinese_immigration_to_Canada

biar ga dianggap plagiarism haha =D

posted by edgar @ 9:26 PM, ,


fallacy of accident
Saturday, December 16, 2006

Fallacy of accident is an informal fallacy. I learned it in analytical skill (a course in my university) which I found is quite useful for developing our arguments.

Definition from me:
Okay, basically fallacy of accident occurs when we deny the exception!

nih kalo mao yang lengkap

Definition from wikipedia: The logical fallacy of accident, also called destroying the exception or a dicto simpliciter ad dictum secundum quid, is a deductive fallacy occurring in statistical syllogisms (an argument based on a generalization) when an exception to the generalization is ignored. It is one of the thirteen fallacies originally identified by Aristotle. The fallacy occurs when one attempts to apply a general rule to an irrelevant situation.

For example:
All apples are nourishing
Poisoned apples are apples
Poisoned apples are nourishing

For this case, apples, in general, are indeed nourishing. But poisoned apples is a valid exception.

Seems too childish bcoz I took the example from Snow white?

Then, let's go to the more serious occassion at the movie titled 'Hunter "Patch" Adam'. (ini film bagus banget lho, yang maen robin williams)

This movie shows a mom brought her dying child suffering appendicitis to the hospital and requested for an immediate action. But the policy of the hospital stated that she had to fill in the registration form, pay the hospital fee, etc. The hospital didn't consider this occassion as an exception to its policy.

Now, apply it to our lives (from my prof)

The government of Singapore made a rule which prohibited public place to have a trash bin because of several terrorism events are using trash bin to put their bombs.

In this case, the government considers the classroom in SMU as a public place, and therefore, our classes don't have trash bin inside.

If, let's say, there's a trash bin inside and someone put the bomb to the bin, it's really obvious for the student who come into / exit the classroom since usually the bin is located near the entrance or the exit. It's better for the person who wants to put the bomb by putting the bomb inside the bag and put it below his table.

In this case, classroom is an exception for the rule and the rigid bureaucracy doesn't consider that as an exception.

So, have you ever experienced this fallacy of accident?

posted by edgar @ 7:47 PM, ,


english as first language.
Monday, November 27, 2006

do you feel it's difficult to communicate in English, especially for the people who just came directly from Indonesia especially from national school which implement Bahasa Indonesia as their primary language?

I do. When I first came to Singapore, my english was terrible (although it's still terrible till this time, LoL). I couldn't understand the lecture and couldn't make effective conversation with the Singaporeans at worse. moreover, the singlish accent added with some mandarin words language give me a confusion what they're trying to communicate with me.

Therefore, I tend to make a conversation with the Indonesians. But I realize it won't improve my english skill. I tried to make some friends with Hongkong, Phillippine, and Thailand people whose English skill is better than mine, assuming that I will develop my 'good' english by making friends with them. Some Indonesian people graduated from International school such as JIS (Jakarta International School) and SIS (Surabaya International School) have american accent English (it's nice to have an english with american accent while you are in Singapore). Their English skills are absolutely much better than mine.

However, I'm neither blaming my school nor my country for the inferiority of my english skill. Rather, I regret that I 'underestimated' the art of communicating with english. When I got 1800+ for my SAT, I thought that my English is 'good enough', but unfortunately, it is not. SAT is just a 'formality' test. You just need to a lot of exercises and you will be able to master it. Nevertheless, when I first took ELW (English language workshop), a workshop which is especially for foreigners whose native language is not english, the instructor told us not to write paper with SAT Composition style. Composition in SAT is only 25 minutes but university research paper takes more than that.

I remembered he said: "Don't write 'In conclusion', 'To conclude' or any other similar phrase to conclude your essay, the readers are smart enough to know that you are writing conclusion in the end of your essay". (since we usually write it in the conclusion paragraph of SAT essay)

The math section of SAT does help us to understand mathematics language in english. The spotting error part is only a matter of practising. The critical reading part? no comment.. I took 3 tests and the result for crit reading are 510, 500, 490 out of 800. Yeah, it's degrading, LOL!

I should have read more article in English and ultimately speak English with other people. But, could I? haha.. *dasar malas*

posted by edgar @ 11:26 PM, ,


*pondering*
Saturday, November 25, 2006

I've just realized.. Life is never fair. It is unfair in many ways.

I wanna talk about its unfairness from 1 side.

Some people have everything; they have financial support as well as potential in themselves. Some have either one, but not both. however, unfortunately the rest have neither.

while people who have either one should have been grateful of their condition, I am still not satisfied. One of humans' characteristics states that we innately have a desire to gain more; we are never satisfied with what we have. We never look down.

Okay, enough with the unfairness stuff.

I can change the unfair to be fair. I will put much effort to gain the either one which I haven't had, then I get everything I want. And, that's all. Is this the end of my life journey? No, I will put more effort to myself, and gain more. gain, gain and gain. It's endless, until we die.

So, when I think of that way, there seems to be no purpose in my life. I mug hard for the exams, get good grades, proud of myself, show-off to others, then, what? get a good job, bring a good performance for the company, started my own business and make it as renowned as Zara (hopefully), retired, enjoying the rest of your life healthily (hopefully with the advancement of technology), and then?

*feel that life is insipid (do i use the proper vocab?)these days*

posted by edgar @ 1:16 AM, ,


writing without direction.
Friday, November 17, 2006

tonight I suddenly want to write my feeling about things going on in my life for last few months. I've been just 4 months in this neighbor country but I've learned loads of important things for my life. Anyway, from now on, I would try to write my thoughts in English for the sake of my friends who do not understand bahasa and for my english improvement as well! So, pardon my inferior written english :).

This night, I just passed the my apartment's security post, saying 'Hi' to the security.
He then said "Good Evening".
Wew, surprised a little bit, I replied him "Good night or evening?".
"Good evening, you say good night when you wanna go to sleep."
"Oh okay, good evening then *smiling*"
I just knew that you greet a person with 'good evening' when it is still 9 pm. lol.. I usually greet people with "Good night" since it is 7 pm. *feel somehow ashamed*

I just realized that I am able to make friends with many type of people. I'm a 'nice' person. Yeah, it's good to be a nice person though being it has a flip side. Being a 'nice' person is not easy, you have to appreciate, or agree, to most of that person's argument although you have opposing argument against theirs. and as a result, I didn't develop my arguing skill well (I regret not joining CEF, Canisius English Forum, when I was in high school). However, the question arises:"are being a nice person and an argumentative person mutually exclusive?"

I feel fortunate (or it's destiny maybe) to have such a course called Analytical skills, which teaches me how to perceive and solve the problems with a different way, with a skillful instructor and Communication (im taking it next term), an imperative course for me since my english skill is below average for SMU students. furthermore, I learned a lot from my friend. He's a debater from Raffles JC (The best Junior College in Singapore. From him, I learned that debating skill is crucial in your life. I feel that I'm a different Edgar now, although I still can improve a lot, in perceiving the problem and other's arguments.

In SMU, there's a class participation which encourages the student to talk in the class. At first I was very timid to participate due to my inferior spoken english skill. Later, I encouraged myself to talk even though my english is poor and my content of speaking is rubbish. WILLING to participate is prioritized bro! nyahaha..

I realized that my friend, the debater, is good enough in debating because of his perpetual effort in exercising his skill. He was like me too, a poor debater, but after he had experienced a lot of debate events, then he could be like this. He said that he does not always win the debate, however, sometime when your argument is attacked with a 'checkmate' situation, then you learned why is your argument is vulnerable and how to modify it. The same thing happens for the SMU number 1 pool player. He put a lot of effort and time to practice his pool skill and as a result he became a good pool player. I was amazed with these 2 guys.. They are committed to one skill and ace it. I should learn that too!!

I'm thinking about making article about "why there's such a good business school while most people in Indonesia assume that engineering is the preferable major to take?"

dunno when to start writing this article haha.

posted by edgar @ 9:18 PM, ,


SMU's 'vibrant' life.
Sunday, October 15, 2006

'vibrant' itu salah satu kata yang dipake SMU buat mendeskripsikan kehidupan muridnya di kampus, padahal.. ya gitu deh, tau sendiri singapore gimana hahaha.

tapi walaupun sibuk, gue ikut-ikut aja event2 yang ada di sekolah, nambah temen, sekaligus ngelepas stres. biarpun tambah cape ikut2 event ginian, gue ngerasa belajar di SMU lebih ada 'life' nya

Ini event2 yang udah gue ikutin selama gue di SMU (masih ada beberapa, tapi gue ga ada fotonya)

International freshmen tour. Di foto ini cuma freshmen dari Indonesia doank tapi ga semuanya. Class of 2006 freshmen dari Indonesia katanya ada sekitar 53 orang.










BBQ SMU-KI (Komunitas Indonesia) di east coast













Freshmen Bash di Ministry of Sound. Jangan bilang-bilang mama ya aku kesini hehehe. =D

Amazing food race by SMU International Connection. (walaupun juara terakhir yang penting happy hahaha)

SMU Run About 2006. SMU-KI kirim 2 team untuk ikut race category CCA. juara 7 ato 8 / 20. Not bad lah. SOalnya yang jago2 anak2 cca soccer, dragonboat, muay thai dll.

SMU Art Festival. SMU-KI presents tari saman, tari yapong, choir, tari sekar jagat dll. Gue perform tari saman. Ayo tebak gue yang mana? hehehe.

Latiannya capek bgt, tapi jadi erat bgt lah bondingnya sesama anak indo. :)

posted by edgar @ 10:33 AM, ,


Tantangan?
Friday, June 23, 2006

Orang Jepang sejak lama menyukai ikan segar. Tetapi tidak banyak ikan yang tersedia di perairan yang dekat dengan Jepang dalam beberapa dekade ini. Jadi untuk memberi makan populasi Jepang, kapal-kapal penangkap ikan bertambah lebih besar dari sebelumnya. Semakin jauh para nelayan pergi, semakin lama waktu yang dibutuhkan untuk membawa hasil tangkapan itu ke daratan. Jika perjalanan pulang mencapai beberapa hari, ikan tersebut tidak segar lagi. Orang Jepang tidak menyukai rasanya.

Untuk mengatasi masalah ini, perusahaan perikanan memasang freezer di kapal mereka. Mereka akan menangkap ikan dan langsung membekukannya di laut. Freezer memungkinkan kapal-kapal nelayan untuk pergi semakin jauh dan lama. Namun, orang Jepang dapat merasakan perbedaan rasa antara ikan segar dan beku, dan mereka tidak menyukai ikan beku. Ikan beku harganya menjadi lebih murah. Sehingga perusahaan perikanan memasang tangki-tangki penyimpan ikan di kapal mereka. Para nelayan akan menangkap ikan dan langsung menjejalkannya ke dalam tangki hingga berdempet-dempetan. Setelah selama beberapa saat saling bertabrakan, ikan-ikan tersebut berhenti bergerak. Mereka kelelahan dan lemas, tetapi tetap hidup. Namun, orang Jepang masih tetap dapat merasakan perbedaannya. Karena ikan tadi tidak bergerak selama berhari-hari, mereka kehilangan rasa ikan segarnya. Orang Jepang menghendaki rasa ikan segar yang lincah, bukan ikan yang lemas.

Bagaimanakan perusahaan perikanan Jepang mengatasi masalah ini?
Bagaimana mereka membawa ikan dengan rasa segar ke Jepang?
Jika anda menjadi konsultan bagi aindustri perikanan, apakah yang anda rekomendasikan?

Begitu anda mencapai tujuan-tujuan anda, seperti mendapatkan jodoh - memulai perusahaan yang sukses - membayar hutang-hutang anda - atau apapun, anda dapat kehilangan gairah anda. Anda tidak perlu bekerja demikian keras sehingga anda bersantai. Anda mengalami masalah yang sama dengan para pemenang lotere yang menghabiskan uang mereka, pewaris kekayaan yang tidak pernah tumbuh dewasa, dan para ibu rumah tangga jemu yang kecanduan obat-obatan resep. Seperti masalah ikan di Jepang tadi, solusi terbaiknya sederhana.

Hal ini diamati oleh L. Ron Hubbard di awal 1950-an.

"Orang berkembang, anehnya, hanya dalam kondisi lingkungan yang menantang"

Keuntungan dari sebuah Tantangan:
Semakin cerdas, tabah dan kompeten diri anda, semakin anda menikmati masalah yang rumit. Jika takarannya pas, dan anda terus menaklukan tantangan tersebut, anda akan bahagia. Anda akan memikirkan tantangan-tantangan tersebut dan merasa bersemangat. Anda tertarik untuk mencoba solusi-solusi baru. Anda senang. Anda hidup!

Bagaimana Ikan Jepang Tetap Segar?
Untuk menjaga agar rasa ikan tersebut tetap segar, perusahaan perikanan Jepang tetap menyimpan ikan di dalam tangki. Tetapi kini mereka memasukkan seekor ikan hiu kecil ke dalam masing-masing tangki. Memang ikan hiu memakan sedikit ikan, tetapi kebanyakan ikan sampai dalam kondisi yang sangat hidup. Ikan-ikan tersebut tertantang.

Renungan :

"Jangan menghindari tantangan, melompatlah ke dalamnya dan taklukanlah. Nikmatilah permainannya."

Jika tantangan anda terlalu besar atau terlalu banyak, jangan menyerah!!! Kegagalan jangan membuat anda lelah, sebaliknya, atur kembali strategi.

Kemukanlah lebih banyak keteguhan, pengetahuan, dan bantuan. Jika anda telah mencapai tujuan anda, rencanakanlah tujuan yang lebih besar lagi.

Begitu kebutuhan pribadi atau keluarga anda terpenuhi, berpindahlah ke tujuan untuk kelompok anda, masyarakat, bahkan umat manusia.

Jangan ciptakan kesuksesan dan tidur di dalamnya!

Anda memiliki sumber daya, keahlian, dan kemampuan untuk membuat perubahan.Jadi, masukkanlah seekor ikan hiu di tangki anda dan lihat berapa jauh yang dapat anda lakukan dan capai !

Tantangan gue :
- hidup sehat and ngak sakit-sakitan lagi.
- sukses di Singapur, negara yang sangat kompetitif.

Lalu sebutkan Incantation ini berulang-ulang:

"Gue pasti bisa (sebutkan tantangan lu)"

Menurut Tung Desem Waringin dalam bukunya Financial Revolution, arti harfiah dari incantation adalah mantra, dan kadang-kadang orang lain menyebut afirmasi. Ketika Anda mengulangi satu kalimat dengan emosi yang kuat, Anda akan mulai mempercayainya. Dan hasilnya akan lebih hebat lagi bila kita mengulangi kalimat tersebut dengan emosi yang kuat sambil bergerak. Gunakan kekuatan dari incantation ini dengan menggunakan satu yang paling membantu anda.

NB:
1. Thanks buat Stella Claudia atas email tentang nelayan di Jepang :D
2. Buku Financial Revolution nya si Tung Desem Waringin, walaupun gue baru baca setengah, menurut gue bagus lho. Dengan bahasa yang simple, beliau dapat memotivasi para pembaca dari berbagai kelas. Sekalian promosi nih gue hehe.

posted by edgar @ 1:15 PM, ,