Are health inequalities socially or individually constructed?

Health inequalities are prevalent in societies as there is no society in the world that strives on equilibrium. Sociological theories, taken from a functionalist, conflict and Interpretative point of view, state that inequalities exist throughout society. They just differ on how inequalities exist in society and the role they play in society.

Durkheim stated that health inequalities do exist in society, However these inequalities will weaken the solidarity of a society. In order for a society to perform, there must be unity and cohesion. People would create changes in society so as to eradicate the inequalities that exist in society in order for society to perform properly.

Marx, however, challenged that eventhough changes can be made , it would be to the beneficiary of the upper class than the lower class. In order words, the capitalist would benefit more than the working class. Those in the upper class would benefit more in obtaining health benefits. For example, they can visit hospitals that have better facilities and doctors. Some working class workers can’t even enjoy these benefits as their income may be too low for them to pay to enjoy the benefits. Some companies may not want to give their workers health welfare incentives as they are afraid that it may affect their profit margin.

Weber found inequalities to exist in the form of people’s prestige, power and income Those with different prestige, power and income form different status groups and lifestyles. These various form of social groups and lifestyle that they form were also a way for them to have more social mobility and a way climb the corporate ladder. They excluded other groups that did not have the same social status as them. People with different prestige, power and income varied in their ways of obtaining health benefits. Those in the upper class could reap most of the health benefits that their country has to offer, however the lower class could not obtain the same benefits as the upper class. It is towards the theories of Marx and Weber that I will show how health inequalities are constructed.

Health inequalities affect us as individuals and as a society. Individuals make up a society and society consist of individuals. It is difficult to separate both of them as they influence each other. Health inequalities caused by individuals are due to their personal choice , health behaviour, health beliefs, their socio – economic status and skeptism in the health system.

There have been changes in which the kind diseases that were prevalent in the early 19th century to the 20th century. From acute diseases like Measles to chronic diseases like heart disease , cancer and stroke. Individuals are now more responsible for their own health. There are enough literature to teach people how to look after themselves. The internet is flooded with medical advice, some are genuine and others not. Therefore, when people fall sick , they are sometimes blame for bringing the sickness onto themselves.

Some individuals choose a healthy living and some choose an unhealthy living. There are various factors that influence the health lifestyle of these individuals. The social factors are age, gender, race, ethnicity, the social environment, material wealth and access to health care.
People from different ages view life differently. The elderly prefer to eat food that are nutritious and are more careful with their food. They prefer to live healthily as they are old. However, the kind of food they obtain also depends whether they have the economic means to obtain them or whether the area that they are staying provide such kind of food . Some elderly people might be poor and can’t afford to obtain good value food. Some cannot due to lack of financial support from their government. Distance in obtaining good value food maybe a factor as they will not be able to obtain the food if they do not have any transport. The elderly are more prone to chronic illnesses, if the elderly from low income groups do not have financial assistance in order to obtain medical care, they might suffer from these illness for the rest of their life until death. For those in the upper class, they have a better life. They are able to access the health care system that their country provides and live a longer life than those that find it a difficulty to access the health care system. There are, however, elderly people whether they are in the upper or lower class strata, who prefer to eat unhealthy. They adopt a fatalistic point of view as since they are old, there is great uncertainty in their life.

Young adults may adopt a healthy or unhealthy lifestyle. Their choice depends on their income, prestige, power and environmental factors. Those with high income may indulge in healthy living. They are able to join health membership club, access the best medical care, enjoy good health ( less chance to suffer from chronic diseases that those on the lower income strata ), eat healthily and able to take part in more sports ( depending whether the sport is high risk or low risk as there are more chances in injuries occurring in the latter than the former ). Those in the lower income strata will most likely adopt an unhealthy living. They will indulge in smoking, drug use, violence , eat unhealthily and participate less in exercise. As their income is low, they might not be able to access proper medical care as the cost maybe too high, in the case of United States. They may be living in the areas that are violent prone, therefore they may get involve in fights and either get injured or killed. Death rates are higher in these areas. As they are poor, they may not be able to obtain nutritious food. They have a higher rate of lung cancer due to smoking.

It does not mean that only those in the lower class would smoke. The upper class young adults also smoke. Smoking can be considered as having a high status, especially smoking cigar. They may still suffer form lung cancer. There are reports that there is a high rate of people with high income suffering from lung cancer. However, They may create a social group that will have in common certain kind of eating habits, sports preferences, music preferences and literature preferences. This people can create what Bourdieu’s call it, social capital within their group. These groups can exclude those from the lower class in joining their circle, prevent them from improving their socio-economic status and also prevent them from accessing health care. For example, in US, as medical costs increases and new medical innovations are created only those with high income can buy medical insurance , use the medication innovations and access good health benefits. The lower class may not be able to purchase medical insurance and therefore may not be obtain medical care or may be forced to visit low cost medical doctors which may not have the necessary means to cure their illness.

Health inequalities also exist with gender, male or female. Women from the middle class eat much more health food, drink less, smoke less, indulge in less dangerous activities and visit the doctor more often. For example, women in Britain prefer to eat more nutritious food, those with more fibre and low cholesterol as compared to working class women who would eat food with high cholesterol level and vegetable. Women greater use of the heath care system could be due to their gender socialization. For example, they are permitted to cry, be more caring and show more weariness. Males on the other had are told not to cry and to be brave. They are trained to bear more hard ships. Therefore their use sage of the health care system. Depending on how severity of their illness, male or females do visit the doctor when they have to. However, there are other factors that prevent them from visiting the doctor. For example, the cost and benefit of seeing one, whether they have enough income to visit a doctor, transportation, whether their company provide them with heath welfare schemes and whether they will get paid if they are on sick leave.

Males tend to indulge in more risky activities than women. This is due to their upbringing. They tend to indulge in smoking , violence and tend to commit suicide ( due to work stress, social isolation and lack of social support ) more than women. Therefore their rates of death or being injured are higher than women. There is a saying that actually more women attempt suicide but men are more likely to succeed.

Depending on what kind of job a men is doing, he can suffer from different diseases. If he is indulging in manual or unskilled labour, like mining job, he may suffer from chemical poisoning from inhaling to much carbon. If their jobs are stressful, they drink more or smoke more and eat more “junk food”. These creates high rates of lung cancer and liver cancer in men. However, those who have high paid jobs also suffer from stress and because they earn a high income, they are able to smoke more and drink more. This creates a high rate of lung cancer or liver cancer in affluent societies. There is always the counter argument that people with high income can cope better with stress and are able to participate in activities to relax more, it is however untrue.

Men in high paid jobs also may suffer from back pain due to uncomfortable chairs and wrong sitting positions. Women can also suffer from the same thing. However as there are more women secretaries, they may suffer more from eye – problems and headaches due to long viewing hours of the video display unit .

Men also suffer from heart diseases and stress due to unemployment. As they are brought up to be the breadwinner of the household, they have a huge responsibility in looking after their families. Those with high education maybe able to find another job faster than those with lower education. Those who are out of job for a long time may resort to robbery, more so if he comes from a poor family.

Women are prone to mental illnesses. This is due to the social isolation they suffer from doing house work and the “ double shift” Double shift means that they are full time or part-time workers and after work return home to do house work. They are less prone to cardio vascular diseases because it seems the oestrogen protects them from it. Those in professional positions may have more flexible time and therefore are able to cope better. They suffer less stress. They have more time in visiting the doctor if they are sick. Part time workers are also able to visit the doctor as they have more time on their hands. Women are taken less seriously by doctors than men, Doctors prefer to treat men as their illness are more treatable. Women’s problems tend to be much more difficult as it is most likely a psychiatric problem. They are also more emotional so a doctor must be more tactful when diagnosing an illness for a women. Reproductive and women’s sexual health are sensitive matters at which women prefer female doctors to handle.

New environments can create stress for some people. The level of stress that people cope depends whether they are able to access medical care, various techniques of relaxing ( like indulging in sports activities ) and social support. Usually those with higher income and education are able to cope.

Social support is important in helping people cope with stress. If you have somebody to communicate with and give you love and moral support, you will suffer less stress. However this social support may be only catered to the upper class people and the lower class people may lose out. There may even be a fee charged to join social support organizations. However there are now few organizations, like churches, which create mission groups to go to the poorest parts of the world like Africa to help out in supplying food, clothing and other essential needs. Work places, schools and community centres should have social support groups that cater to all classes in order to make the people feel wanted and valued.

Different people with different race face different health inequalities. The largest health disparities in US are between the blacks and whites. Life expectancy at birth for white was 77.6 years, 71.9 for blacks health inequalities increases due to risk factors that blacks face, like smoking, diet and exercise. It is said that white men exercise more than blacks. One possible reason could be that whites have a higher income than the blacks and therefore are able to access to more exercise facilities like gymnasiums.

Mortality rates for Blacks are higher than whites in countries like UK as they live in poverish areas of the UK. They also smoke more, indulge in drug use and are involve in violent activities. Blacks also have lower health knowledge as they have lower education. For those that are poor, they may not have enough income to place their kids to school. Furthermore, schools may practice racial segregation and may differ in their curriculum between the whites and blacks. Blacks may not have less access to medical books, medical magazines and the internet for medical knowledge.

Black women end up with low paid jobs due to low education. Therefore they most likely are going have poor housing, low socio-economic status, poverty and ill-health. They may also suffer from culture shock if they have just migrated to another country. With lack of social support, they may not be able to cope with the stress they suffer from the culture shock.
The Health sector labels different people from different countries as having bringing in diseases like Rickets and Tuberculosis. This is true for Asians. Therefore in Britain, Asian patients are treated and scanned for these diseases even though they go and see a doctor because they are having a flu. White people do not get scanned for the disease even though they might have gone to an Asian country.

Some people from different cultures have different health beliefs. Doctors may not approve some of these health beliefs especially when it is according to faith and tradition. Health professionals need to be informed about minority cultures and to acknowledge that they may have special needs to be met. They have different culture beliefs. If this criteria is not met, doctors would not be able to treat the patient correctly. There would be a communication problem. They may mistreat the patient or just push the patient around, passing the patient to the next doctor. For example, a patient from Hmong goes and see a doctor for stomach pain, he or she may think that her stomach problem is due to the imbalance of the universe. If the doctor does not know this, how is he going to treat the patient correctly?

Government policies like the one-child policy in China can cause health inequalities between the rich and the poor. The rich are able to go against the one-child policy and pay the find for having more than one child. The poor cannot. Furthermore, ladies have to scan to check the fetus of the baby and if it is girl, those from poor families usually abort their child as there is a strong emphasis on having sons.

The media can also create health inequalities between women, especially those from the upper and lower class. There are techniques to look healthy and beautiful, for example, breast augmentation ,liposuction and spa treatments. They are very expensive. Only those whose income are quite high enough can afford, those with low income cannot go for these treatments. However treatments are well know to cause side effects to health , for example breast cancer.

Individuals may be able to make decisions on their health lifestyle. They may choose a healthy or an unhealthy lifestyle. Their social factors, environment, age, gender and health beliefs influence their decision. Therefore health decisions cannot be sole made on individually decisions only. Inevitably there would be health inequalities when health decisions are made because socio-economic factors and social factors are in play. Therefore health inequalities cannot also be individually constructed. Different people with different race and ethnicity face different health inequalities. It depends on their socio-economic status. Social support is needed to help migrants cope with cultural shock and stress. Governments must help the lower income group rise out from the poverty belt in order for them to enjoy better health care. They would be able to buy medical insurance also. The ratio of blacks in the US not having medical insurance is rather high. There are signs that the rate of the white is also on the increase. Doctors must know their patients culture in order to treat them, if not there would be a communication barrier. Therefore there is a lot work to reduce health inequalities in the world but it is not impossible.

Woman’s Human Capital

Human capital is defined in the area of research on how one is able to attain educational opportunities in order to increase their value in society. It is based on the notion that humans are individuals that make rational choice on how much education they obtain to increase their labor status position and their salaries. There are constraints in obtaining these values. The constraints are based on gender, ethnicity, race, age, urban/rural and government polices on health, education and access to work opportunities. In this essay, I will focus on how women obtain this human capital in order to increase their value in society, the consequences of increasing their status, the constraints they face with and on how the government can help to reduce the obstacles.

The ideology for women is that their place in society is to take care of the household, serve their husbands and childbearing and taking care of their children. Husbands were to be the breadwinner of the household and women were to be dependent on their husbands for monetary means. Therefore education was not seen as an important factor in women’s life. In India, sons were given first preference in educational attainment than daughters. They were seen as being more valuable than girls.

As societies progresses, attitudes have changed, women are now able to access more educational opportunities hence it is has brought forth the increase of women in the labor force. It can be argued that education is only one of the main factors that increased women’s role in the labor force. Due to industrialization, it was important for woman to participate in the labor force as it increased the income of their household. It also increased their bargaining power in the household as there have been studies that the younger and more educated women do less housework but that does not mean that men have been doing more housework. Across the board, household duties is still a woman’s job.

There are more equal opportunities of women in obtaining education. However, there was once a time where there were obstacles placed that made it difficult for women to obtain equal education with their male peers. They were segregated from different activities from their male peers. For example, they were not able to take part in the sports and share the same equipment with their male peers. Teachers gave more preference to boys than girls. Women were encouraged to do soft subjects like home economics and literature. Eventually the US government issued the Title IX to give women equal opportunities in education attainment with their male peers.

It has shown that education for woman has brought an increase in economic growth. It has increased the empowerment of women and thus led to the increase of women’s contribution to the political arena. It has shown that women are more likely to vote if their education levels were higher.

Even though there are equal opportunities in education attainment for women, they still tend to take up more business, arts and humanities subjects. Hard subjects like Engineering is still mainly a male dominated subject even though there has been an increase in women taking up the subject. Governments should persuade more women to take subjects like engineering so that they can contribute more to the labor force. Women’s value would also increase and be on par with their male counterparts. Women’s income will be increased as salaries for jobs like engineering are higher than jobs like teaching. Subsequently it will be a way to close the income gap.

Equal opportunities in education for women maybe more prevalent in developed countries, however the minority in developing and also in developed countries may be discriminated by their race and ethnicity and gender in education attainment.

Parents attitudes towards girls in education attainment are also important in increasing the human capital of their daughters. In some countries, like India, boys are given more opportunities to be educated than girls because they are viewed as being more valuable. Girls are married off earlier. As a result they will always be trapped in poverty as their education level will be low and if they go into the labour force, they will only be able to access low paying jobs. Together with their dependence on their husband, they will forever be in poverty.

Therefore parents must give their children, whether boys or girls, equal opportunities in education as to increase their status and hence providing to economic growth. Boys are also seen as those to bring in the dowry into their families on marriage. In poor countries, girls are seen as more useful at home than boys. Therefore, more boys are sent away to be educated. Girls are used in work in the fields like paddy fields. They do not have the time to go to schools.

Governments must persuade these parents to change their mindset by giving them incentives like monetary compensation and to show the benefits of educating their daughters. For example, if their daughters become educated, they can provide their families with a higher income. Hence pulling them out of poverty.

Governments can play it’s part in providing transportation to those who can’t attend school because they are staying far from the schools or build schools around where they stay if it is feasibility. Subsidies or free education can be provided to those that are unable to pay for an education. Accessibility one of the problem why some children do not attend school. This problem is more prominent in agriculture countries where most children are working in the fields. These countries also suffer from high rates of poverty.

Attitudes, tradition and culture must also be changed as some societies view education for women a threat to men’s superiority. There are views that if a girl is overly educated then it will be difficult for them to find a husband. Men prefer marrying a women with a lower status than him so that he can still be in control.

However, these ideas are changing as society advances. Governments must set up policies to debunk these fear of men marry some one of a higher status and vise versa. It is easier said than done. Men in Singapore are more likely to marry a women with their same status or lower. Minister of Mentor Lee Kuan Yew once said in order to produce intelligent babies, graduate women should marry graduate men. It created an up roar among the women in Singapore. Only with education and joining groups like Aware can women fight for such absurd suggestions.

With more education, women are able to obtain high paying jobs however their income level is still lower than their male counterparts. One reason is that the idea of women not staying as long as their male counterpart in the labor force still prevails. They are seen as those to stop working earlier in order to tend to household and child bearing duties. Another reason is that men in the work force tend to protect their job by preventing women to be promoted.

Therefore there are not many females in high decision making positions which is male dominated. The government should encourage officers to place more women in high decision making positions. When women are able to contribute in decision making, they can provide a better working environment for their fellow female work mates. More ideas can also flow in instead of ideas being male driven. The status of women also increases. Governments should also increase the incomes of the female labor force. This is to reduce the wage gap between men and women. This will encourage more women to work. More flexible benefits are needed to help cope women with their work and household duties without losing out the race with their male counterparts for career advancement. For example, if women find it difficult with looking after their children and working, provisions could be made for them to work at home. It could be on a case to case basis . Mobility for women to find jobs also increases. They will have more independence and also be more financial independent to go to other countries to work.

Upon obtaining higher human capital and education, women now plan their careers instead of finding jobs. They are willing to be entrepreneurs. They are more willing to be self – employed. The rate of women running their own business has increased to 35% of all businesses run in US. They are now more empowered and independent. They have also surpassed their male counterparts in terms of education attainment. Where once women were entering in tradition business sectors like retail and service sectors, they are now venturing into non traditional businesses like construction, technology, transportation, public utilities, business consulting and other types of services. Self – employment is another way to change careers for some women who feel discriminated against their male counterparts.

There are some women with low education who migrate to countries like Singapore, Indonesia, HongKong, Japan, US and Australia to work as maids. They also contribute to the economy of the country they work in. Policies are needed to protect these women. They should be given educational opportunities to upgrade themselves. Their salaries should also be increased so that their value as maids can be increased. With more purchasing power, they can contribute to the countries economy. These will also increase their status as women. Government should also protect these women from exploitation. With all said, sadly there are not many policies to protect these women as their work is seen as domestic work. Domestic work is regarded as unpaid work. For example, women are not able to join unions in some countries therefore they are more exposed to exploitation by their employers. The governments running the countries from where they come should provide educational opportunities for them also. With higher education, these maids can fight for their rights that will prevent them from being exploited. Unfortunately, educational and job opportunities are not readily able for them therefore they need to migrate in order to look for jobs.

As women increase their status, education level and become financial independent. They are able to have more say in decision making in household duties. Household duties are shared more equally. They would be not subordinated by their husbands. However, men still do not increase their share in the household duties. Women still view men as the breadwinner.

In the health arena, educated women would gain information about illnesses and would know how to seek proper treatment. They can also fight for their rights if they are being mistreated. There is a tendency for doctors to treat women’s illness as less serious than men. Doctors tend to attribute women’s illness to mental illnesses. Doctor’s may mistreat women by inserting pressure among them to go for unnecessary caesarean operations in order to give birth. They claim that since they are professionals in the medical field, they have the right of say of women’s health. In some countries women are placed in jail due to drinking when they are pregnant. They are accused for endangering their unborn child’s life. Surprisingly, the unborn child is regarded as a separate entity and the mother is just a temporary host. These are the several injustices against women. Educated women with the right information will be able to fight for these injustices. It is very important for governments to provide these information to women. However, some of these injustices are brought upon by the governments themselves so sometimes there is very little women can do. They do have other avenues like joining lobby groups to fight these injustices. Women will also be able to make decisions to become pregnant or not. With the availability of information on various methods of contraception, they can have more control over their bodies especially their reproductive system. The pill was one of the greatest invention for women in the 60’s.

Education has also increased the rate of female doctors in the medical field. However, some obstacles that they face were quotas place on them. These quotas have since been abolished after fighting for their rights. Singapore is one country that once placed quotas on female doctors. There has also been an increase of women joining the nursing profession. Governments have created schemes to promote the nursing professions. For example providing courses for women to attend professional qualifications as nurses. In Singapore, there are diploma courses for nursing and SIM have recently introduced a degree course for nursing. All these courses would increase women value and participation in the health field. They would not be so easily subordinated by doctors whom claim that they have a higher authority over nurses.
Higher education would also encourage women to vote. It was reported President Bill Clinton victory was the result of more women voting for him. Women tend to vote for Democrats. Democrats take women issues more seriously than the Republicans. Women with higher education would be able to take up political offices. However, more men are in political jobs than women. There are more male ministers then women ministers. In Singapore, all the cabinet ministers are men. Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong mentioned that if there was a woman who had the qualifications and caliber to be a cabinet minister, he would appoint her. At the current, no action has been carried put to recruit a women minister into the cabinet. Is it all talk but no action? It is left to be seen.
Even if women take up political posts, they are given posts that look after family affairs.
Governments must not stop encouraging women to joint the political arena. They can appoint them higher post. For example, Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State for the United States of America.

Increasing women’s education is very important and it is something governments must take seriously. Women are also human. They can also provide to economic growth. They are also beneficial to political groups because educated women will vote. They will vote for whoever they think will address women issues seriously. With higher education, women have better job opportunities in fields like business, technology, construction, transportation, medical, and political. They will able to venture in the fields dominated by men. However, they may still feel discriminated as men like to protect their status from women. Sadly it is sometimes that families with traditional cultures and attitudes that prevent women from being educated. This can impede women from increasing their status and from being more financial stable. As a result they may forever be dependent on their husbands of monetary means, dealing them with the faith of forever being in poverty. More can be done to increase women status and value in society. I hope governments would not stop from encouraging women to upgrade themselves. As the saying goes, unless you are six feet underground, you can never stop learning.

How To Build An Effective Team

In our everyday way of life, we have to consistently make decisions in our life that will effect they way we live, walk, talk and eat. Some times we have to make critical decisions that would effect a certain entity. For example, sometimes we have to decide whether to close down a certain food outlet in order to save cost and how are we going to compensate the workers who are going to be retrenched. Another example is whether a certain plot will be the best possible place to build our office.

We make decisions either independently and together as a group. It all depends on the situation. For the sake of this essay, I will concentrate on how an effective can be build in order to make good effective decisions.

You cannot build a great team without good team members. There is a saying “ You can lose with them but you cannot win without them.” In building an effective team, you also can improve yourself. You will be able to add value to your team. In a team it takes one to know one, show one and grow. Team players can be found or they can be natured to be effective players and have leadership qualities. Both approaches are possible.
I will touching on what is need for team members to be effective in a team. I hope will find this essay enjoyable to read and come back to it if you need any references so lets begin our journey!!!!!

Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape

- Michael McGriff

Let’s take a moment to reflect on this quote. Don’t you think it makes a lot of sense. Take a rubber band for example, it is flexible and it is very difficult to bent it out of shape but it can form a lot of shapes. The same thing goes for an effective flexible team. If the team is flexible it can adapt to changes make changes more easily. If there was rigidity, team players would find it difficult to adapt and makes changes. If team members are flexible and adaptable, they are teachable. They will be able to learn new things, try out new ideas and change with the time.

They have to be emotionally secure also so that they will not be afraid to change. They will be able to evaluate a new situation or change their responsibilities based on its merit. They will be able to accept addition members into to the team instead of being rigid or suspicious whenever a new member is added to the team.

Flexibilty aids in the creativeness of its members. They will able to create new ideas. They will be willing to try them out. By being able to have new ideas may also help a team get out of trouble during difficult times for example when a company is failing because of recession.

The team members have to be service minded. If they focus only on themselves they will likely make decisions that will be to their benefit and not to others

All your strength is in union,
All you danger is in discord

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Collaboration is mulitiplication

- John C. Maxwell

Great challenges require great teamwork, collaboration is needed. Each team member must bring something to the table that adds value to the relationship and synergy to the team.

To become an effective collaborative team few area have to be examined. Team members havfoe to work together and not compete with each other. However the most common scenario is that team members happen to compete with each other because they have goals, hopes and dreams to achieve but if members can complete one another then than they can function as a unit and not hurt each other. It will be productive for the whole team. Tasks can get moving faster instead of moving slowly because of each member trying to compete with another member.

Team members must be supportive and not suspicious of one another. They must learn to trust each other and complete each other. If team members are always working out for themselves and are suspicious of each other then they have to change their mind set in order to be effective.

Team members have to concentrate on the team and not on themselves only. They have to make decisions that will involve the team members. If the team works together, remarkable things will be able to be achieved. Working together helps to harness every bodies skills and one very important thinking that all team members must have is to think win win. King Soloman of ancient Israel observed “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Usually when you collaborate with others, you win, they win and the team wins. – taken from “The 17 Essential Qualities Of A Team Player by John C. Maxwell.”


An effective team had to be committed. If and only if they team is committed, they can move mountains. Just reflect on the quote below :-

Ordinary people with commitment can make an extraordinary impact on the their world.

- John C. Maxwell

Team members must have commitment. It helps when there are obstacles. Commitment will guide the team through difficult times. You need not have to be talented to have commitment or to be committed. Commitment is a choice. Team members have a choice whether to be committed or not. If the team members are able to work together and be committed to a common cause ; then it is possible to accomplish anything.

Team members must base their commitment on solid life values. For example, if team members have loyalty as their value, they will stay loyal. Team members will not abandon each other during troubled times.

Team members must commit themselves to long term achievement. Sometimes achievement do not come at once. They may come in small quantities. Committing to long term relationships is good for personal growth. Relationship building, financial investment or professional success.

Think like a wise man
But communicate in the language of people
- William Butler Yeats

Team members have to communicate with each other and they must do effectively if good results are expected. Team members cannot isolate themselves. If they do, there will be problems. Team members must know each other. For example, when we took a trip to Sentosa and worked together as a team. We discovered each others strength posses and weaknesses and a bond was formed. When team members know each other, goals and methods, the more they will understand and care about the team. Team members must be able to stay connected with their teammates. They must make sure that they are able to contact each other easily.

With communication, team members can discover if there are any problems or conflicts in the team. Some leadership Gurus like John C Maxwell states that these problems must be solved within 24 hours, if not the situation will fester. Sometimes there might be tension between team members. If there is tension then special attention is needed to solve the problem.


Communication between team members can become blurred at times. It is because sometimes team members have different backgrounds and interpret things differently. It is very important to keep the communicated information simple and there may also be a need to write in down in order for team members to understand.

Open communication fosters trusts. Trust increases ownership and ownership increases participation. Having hidden agendas, communicating via a third party and sugarcoating bad news will hurt the team relationship.

People usually remember how well you do a job and not how fast you accomplish it. Quality is very important. In order to produce quality results, one of the most important factor that team members must have is competency. If they don’t have sent them for training.

If team members are competent and possess the other factors that I have stated before then they will committed to excellence. They will never settle for average. They would not perform mediocre work. They will focus their energy and effort on what they do well, giving all they have got. They pay attention to details. They don’t take small issues or things for granted. Even small jobs are important to them. They perform with consistency and give their best all the time.

It is very important that the right jobs are delegated to the right members. Team members must pay attention to implementation and must come together to discuss how to improve on the tasks that the team is undertaking.ved

My next area of focus will be on dependability. I will start off with a quote from John C Maxwell.

Dependability is more that ability alone
- John C Maxwell

A successful and effective must always depend on each other. They cannot work as if they are in their own world. In life we cannot exist alone. Somehow we are always dependable on somebody. On a team, members who can be depended on are an asset. Those that cannot be depended are liabilities.
Team members must trust each others motives. If one of the team members continually puts himself or herself and his or her agenda ahead of what’s best for the team, he or she has proven himself or herself to be undependable.
Team members must be responsible for what they do. They must have the ability to take on responsibility. If a person is irresponsible we cannot depend on that person. Effective members must be able to use initiatives. They must use it to male good judgment.


There must also be consistency in a dependable team. To be effective, team members must have discipline. Being discipline is doing what you really do not want to do so that you can do what you really want to do. For example, you may not be a good dancer but your desire is to become one so you keep on practicing despite of the difficulties. Eventually you will become a good dancer.

In a team aspect, for example, if the team is not very good in defense but if they keep on practicing and correcting their mistakes, eventually their defense will become good. An effective must develop discipline thinking. They must think correctly and challenge themselves mentally. This will help the team in whatever the team endeavour’s to do. They must be able to control their emotions and must not lose their temper when they face difficulties. They also take action. There cannot be a situation where there is talk but no action. If you want milk, you must go and purchase it, you cannot wait for the milk to come to you.

To be an effective team, there must also be a leader who can imspire a team to do their best. The leader must believe in his team members as they can tell whether the leader believes in them or not.

Team members can also help each other. They can understand what their team members value. They listen to discover what their team members talk about and watch what they can spend their money on. That kind of knowledge, along with desire to relate to their fellow team members creates a strong connection between team members.

In this way, we help to develop each other in areas like gifts, talent and uniqueness. This on the whole will benefit the team. Team leaders must work to make themselves better, not only because it benefits the personally but because it helps the team to work together on his shooting skills so that one of his team members passes the ball to him he is able to score. He not only develops himself but helps the team to win.

Team members must be enthusiastic in their tasks if they are not, they will not give their best to their team. A team with enthusiasm takes responsibility for their own enthusiasm. They remain positive, upbeat and passionate on what they are doing. To be enthusiastic, you need to start acting that way. If you wait for the right time to be enthusiastic, you may never become enthusiastic.

Team members have to believe in what they are doing. This help to sparkle the fire of enthusiasm inside them and once that starts, all you need is to keep feeding the flames. Enthusiasm can be contagious, he or she can spread that enthusiasm to other members. When the whole team becomes enthusiastic, the possibilities for the team are endless.


A team with enthusiasm is willing to sacrifice their time in order to accomplish a task. For example, building floats for our national day parade. It takes a lot of men hours to build and decorate the floats but in the end the team takes pride in the completed float and is very happy to see their float being paraded before a huge crowd. They are willing to come back to build more floats.

For a team to be successful. It needs intentional people who are able to remain focus and productive, people who make every action count. Team members need a strong sense of purpose. For example, publishing educational books for the young. Team members must have a goal and it can be to publish three thousand educational books in three months.

Team members must learn how to say no. They cannot try and do everything. Sometimes there are tasks that are not relevant to the goals set. They must know how to say no to these kind of tasks. They must stay focus on their goals.

An effective team knows where the team is going. They know their mission well. They will develop enthusiasm and a burning desire to fulfill their mission. This kind of desire is indispensable.

An effective team will always follow their leader. Of course the leader himself or herself must lead the team correctly. There must be trust between the leader and his or her members.

For the team to be effective, it has to be prepared. The team need to be determine where they are heading. They have to examine the conditions that will be heading their way and determine what price they have to pay to get there.

Therefore to conclude, a team must have a strong relationship, commitment, trust, enthusiasm, respect, communicate well, be mission oriented and finally enjoy what they are doing.

How has religion affected the world

Societies in the world have gone through many changes. Societies have gone through the various stages from being agrarian to post modern. There are various factors that have shaped society but none is more important than religion. Religion has also gone through various changes. During the agrarian societies, tribesmen and women use to pray to animals or to nature like the rain. They embrace animism. It kept the communities together. It gave them an identity. As society advanced, various kinds of religions emerged. For example, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Some say religion has lost its importance due to the advancement of science. Some have said that religion has lost the capability to shape one's identity and that mass media has taken over the task. Others have argued that religion is well and alive.

In the following paragraphs, I will try to convince you that religion still exist. I will also show how it has affected society and that it still shapes one's social identity. Mass media has also helped to spark people's interest in religion. However I also agree that there are certain groups of people that have turned away from religion. Ironically mass media has a part to play in this phenomenon.

All religions preached about good and evil. Materialism is seldom preached. However that was not the case in Calvinism. There are guides in religion that will teach how one should behave and live his or her life. These guides shape one's life. For example in Christianity, there are rules that state one should not steal, should not commit murder and should not commit adultery. Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism and Islam have their own guide lines. One of the major changes that society faced was the rise of industrial capitalism and religion had a hand in it. This was according to Max Weber. He claimed that industrial capitalism was the legacy of Calvinism – a Christian religious movement created by the Protestant Reformation. They believed that one's faith was predestined by God. Those that prospered were blessed by God. Therefore they work very hard in order to make profits. They associated poverty as being rejected by God. These principles were known as the Protestant Ethic which became known later as a work ethic. It was pretty narrow minded of Max Webber to view the birth of capitalism in this manner but it still bears some truth. Marx claimed that religion only encouraged people to think that there were no class inequality but in actual fact there was. Ironically religious fundamentalist have adopted Marxist's teachings and have created social change. For example, the Iranian revolution. In this case, I think Marx was not correct to say that religion does not bring about social change.

Like all good things there are also bad things. There are groups of people who have twisted their concepts of their own religion. They believe that their religion and its doctrines are the only correct teachings. They believe that they are the one's that can reinvent society and make it into a perfect society to live in. The rules and regulations of societies must be based on religious grounds. All people must live a religious way of life. They have brought about drastic changes to society. They have also been the roots cause of wars, revolutions and tragedies. These group of people are commonly know as fundamentalist. They have separated themselves from main stream religion. The three kinds of fundamentalist that I will concentrate on come from three religions in the world. They are Christianity, Islamism and Judaism

One good example of an Islamic fundamentalist is Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. When he took over Iran during the Iranian revolution he said he would enforce religious and traditional values. Women were required to wear the veil. Western music and alcohol were banned and the punishments described by Islamic laws were reinstated. He took control of the mass media as well as newspapers, television broadcasts and radio programs. These circumstamces forced the citizens of Iran to reassess their lives. They had to change their social identity and lifestyles to suit with the religious authority that was governing Iran. Please remember that before Iran was taken over by Khomeini, it was a capitalistic state and western lifestyles were adopted. To adopt to a religious lifestyle would be a great leap. There were those that were unhappy.

Islamic fundamentalist are good at brain washing people to make them agree with their teachings and doctrines. For example, they preach the rejection of western ideologies and that Jihad, holy war, is the only solution to fight against those that oppose Islam. These people shape their social identity according to the teachings of their fundamentalist leaders and will do whatever they say. Chaos and conflict are usually link with Islamic fundamentalism. The "brainwashed people" are willing to carry out bombings in the name of religion. For example. the Islamic Jihad held suicide bombings that killed two hundred-forty one U.S personnel in Teheran Embassy. These acts were not looked at as being bad acts of terrorism, but rather as acts of patriotic heroes. Other examples are the September 11 bombings and restaurants bombings in London.

In the wake of the bombings, Muslims and their non-Muslim colleagues revisited the concept of jihad. They strengthen the scriptural and traditional warrants for non-violent resistant to oppression and injustice by explaining the true meaning of Jihad. People around the world were stereotyping Muslims as terrorist. Muslims had to do something to get rid of the stigma of being labeled as a terrorist.

Christian fundamentalism was mainly formed by the Protestants in the early eighteen and nineteen centuries. They practiced polygamy. They had numerous wives and children. Some Fundamentalist have persuaded their followers to commit suicide. For example, there was a group called Heaven's Gate that persuaded their members to commit suicide because there was a sign (the sighting of the Hale Bopp comet) that indicated that it was their time to go to heaven.

Women are discriminated in Orthodox Jewish sects. It is basically patriarchal. They are excluded from any role in public prayer. Married women must cover their head, unmarried women and girls must keep their hair neatly braided and never dishevelled. All females must wear long-sleeved garments and stockings at all seasons and their clothing never reveal the contours of their bodies. They can't speak loudly. They can't pray in the same space as their husbands. They pray in separated rooms. All of these regulations have created a submissive identity in the women. They have become obedient towards their husbands. These fundamentalist Jews have tried to change the Jewish society in Jerusalem to follow their rules. They have thus only succeeded in certain areas of Jerusalem.

Religion has become popular. However, this is true in some countries but not in others. In Asian countries for example, religion is on the rise. This is mainly to due to the Asian culture where religion plays major part in the upbringing of children. Our parents emphasized the importance of religion to us at a very young age. Therefore religion is one of the factors that shape our identity and how we are suppose to behave in society. There are also factors that can dissuade us from our religion. Two major factors are education and mass media. They do also encourage us in becoming religious. I will explain these facts later on.

The decline of religion is more prevalent in western countries. In these countries, religion is not so much emphasize as being important. Those families that preach the importance of religion have a closer bonding with one another and are less likely to give up religion. However, factors like the persuading power of the mass media and friends can make them leave religion. An example of a country where religion is on the decline is Britain. Only 21 per cent of the British population say they have no doubts about the existence of God, whereas 26 percent either do not believe in God or do not know whether God exists. Churches have seen a fall in membership from about 9 million to 6.4 million. (Sociology – A global Introduction by John J Macionis and Ken Plummer)

I was recently in England and I noticed that there are many nice churches but unfortunately only the elderly and the very young attend church service. Where are the youths? Sad to say they are hanging out at the malls or are at some pubs. One of the contributing factors towards this phenomenon is the mass media and the advancement of technology. With advancements in the arena medical science and technology, illnesses that were not able to be cured are now curable. Unexplained phenomenon's can now be explained with scientific proof. More people believe the explanations science. They are moving away from religion.

The mass media plays a big part in our lives. In the wake of globalization, mass media technology has grown from leaps and bounds. There are now TV, radios, internet, computers, handphones & PDAs. All these equipments provides us the latest world news, latest movies, music and advertisements. Advertisements are shaping the identity of youths of today. For example there is the mp3 player identity & Nike identity. Youths must now at least own an mp3 player or wear the latest fashion in order to be hip. I have also become a victim of mass media in the sense that I also need to own the latest handphone. They have become more materialistic. Something that religion looks down upon. Therefore, youths stay away from church because being in church is not hip. However, various religions have used mass media to encourage youths to come back to church. Christian churches have invested heavily in broadcast media. They have taped into the various media technologies like the TV, radio, internet & print media to spread their teachings and reach out to many audiences as possible. Even Christian fundamentalist invest in the media. For example the Radio Bible Class & the Old Fashioned Revival Hour (The Freedom To Do God's Will – Religions Fundamentalism and social change by Gerrie ter Haar and James J. Buauttil). Therefore mass media also shapes one's own identity. It all depends on how well we are brought up and how strong our beliefs in religious value is. These believes will help us to resist the temptations that advertisements brings about. The first religious book to be printed was the bible. It was printed so that religion could reached a wider audience. Primitives societies used to write on the walls the writings of their religious teachings.

Religion and mass media have the power to create social change and shape one's own identity. Religious fundamentalism can create tremendous social change. They usually use force, violence and persuading speeches to spread their teachings and to force people to live the way of life that they want them to. Religion on the whole is good. It is just these minorities that have given religion a bad name. Mass media can also create social change by persuading youths to buy the latest fashion, listen to the latest music and own the latest gadgets. These youths form a sub culture whereby those in common will flock together like birds. Birds with the same features flock together as the saying goes. Scientist use mass media to publicize their works. They have proven unexplained phenomenon's using scientific methods. These scientific facts have brought about the secularization of religion. People are abandoning religion as there are now more scientific discoveries. TV documentaries have distorted religion's facts, informing people that certain biblical events may not be true or that it was not the act of God. Some documentaries have claimed that religion is still alive but there are now new discoveries with the existence of God. However, these claims do not run parallel with the ancient religious teachings.

Religions groups have used mass media to encourage youths to come back to church. They hold concerts that are youth like, organizing outings that will interest the youths and make the church a fun loving place to be. Therefore, It all depends on how well we are brought up and how strong our beliefs in religious value is that will help us to resist the temptations that advertisement brings about.

I hope this essay have convinced you that religion is still alive. It has the power to create social changes and social identity. Mass media also has a part to play in either encouraging people to be religious or not. It also has the power to change one's own social identity.

Is Obtaining A Higher Standard of Living A Danger To The Society of Singapore

Singapore has seen many changes since it was founded in 1819. It has progressed from a third world country to a first world country. The government has managed to bring in many exciting events. Events that only developed countries can organize. For example, Formula One and The IMF World Bank Meeting. It has also created many interesting infrastructures like the Tunnel Expressway despite of our limited land space and the upcoming Integrated Resorts.

With all these many events and infrastructures being organized and created, many investors have flocked to the shores of Singapore to open up its businesses here. Expatriates come and work in Singapore. Some may start a family here. Standards of living have risen. In a bird eyes view, it is very good for the prosperity of Singapore. However, where there is a bright spot, there is also a dark spot. It is this dark spot at which I would want to write about and explain how this dark spot can become less dark. I will use the Formula One Event as a starting point.

It has been a very adrenaline rush weekend. First there was the Natinal Day Parade, second and at present running The Singapore Youth Olmpics 2010 and the next event to be held on the shores of Singapore is the Formula One. Now, the Formula One has brought excitement to the lives of many Singaporeans. Scores of foreigners have flocked to the shores of Singapore. Armed with cash, they have invaded our shopping centers. It has put Singapore on the world map. As mentioned in the above paragraph, this phenomenon has been good to the economy and it has contributed to the raising living standards of Singaporeans. Attending Formula One has now become one of the bench marks for Singaporeans to attend. There is now an F included in the 5 C’s that Singaporeans have always been trying to attend.

The dark spot I am referring to is the inevitable increasing strain of obtaining a high standard of living and the consequences of trying to obtain it. Obtaining a high standard of living may be out of reach to some Singaporeans. Two classes of people will be used to illustrate this phenomenon. They are the average working class and the youths in Singapore. I will use Robert K Merton theory on Anomie to explain.

He theorized that there are two kinds of structure in society. The first structure is culturally assigned goals and aspirations (Merton, 1938: 672). These are the things that all individuals should want and expect out of life. For example, obtaining a high paying job, earning a high salary, obtaining material goods and attending influential events like the Formula One.

The second aspect of the social structure defines the acceptable mode for achieving the goals and aspirations set by society (Merton, 1938:673). This is the appropriate way that people get what they want and expect out of life. Examples include obeying laws and societal norms, seeking an education and hard work. In order for society to maintain a normative function there must be a balance between aspirations and means in which to fulfill such aspirations (Merton, 1938:673-674).

According to Merton balance would occur as long as the individual felt that he was achieving the culturally desired goal by conforming to the “institutionally accepted mode of doing so” (Merton: 1938:674). In other words, there must be an intrinsic payoff, an internal satisfaction that one is playing by the rules and there must also be an extrinsic payoff, achieving their goals. It is also important that the culturally desired goals be achievable by legitimate means for all social classes. If goals are not equally achievable through an accepted mode, then illegitimate means might be used to achieve the same goal. There often times is a disparity between goals and means.

Too much emphasis is placed on the goal and not enough emphasis is placed on achieving it through acceptable means. For some citizens there is a lack of opportunity. This leads individuals to seek out the goal by whatever means necessary. According to Merton crime is bred through this process. Simply put, overemphasis on material success and lack of opportunity for such material success leads to crime.

For example, It is not common in Singapore for kids to learn that they have to obtain certain valuable items so that they would be deem influential. Parents may teach their kids that being influential is one factor that will help them achieve success in their goals. They may not teach their kids how to respect other people’s feelings. Therefore, a child may boast that he has the latest handphone in his/her school. This may bring about resentment among the children that can’t purchase the phone. A child may steal the handphone from the child.

In this case, there are two scenarios’ we can learn from the outcome of trying to become influential in society. One is due to the fact that the child had the best phone in order to be considered as an influential human being in society, other children become jealous of the child which resulted in the stealing of the phone. The second is that due to the fact that by having that phone makes one deem to be influential in society, the child stole the phone in order to meet society standards in order to be influential.

An average adult who may not earn enough to go and see the Formula One event may feel left out. As the media has place advertisements to promote the race, it will be become a common understanding that the press is creating an anxiety among Singaporeans to persuade them to go and purchase tickets to watch the race. Attending the Formula One race has become an essential activity that all Singaporeans should adopt. If they do not attend the race, then they are not part of the “Singaporean Society” . In such cases, those who cannot afford to go to watch the race will at first accept their situation. They will obey the law and find other legitimate ways to watch the race. For example, watching the race at home. However, they would not forget “the Singaporean Society” standard of watching the race and that is by actually buying the tickets and watching the race at it’s race venue. They will soon think of illegal ways of obtaining the tickets. For example, by stealing them. If in the long run, they still cannot get the tickets, they may form groups to campaign the abolition of the Formula Event.

Some of you reading this essay may think that these cases would never happen and are ridiculous. However, the feelings of people are not easy understood and observed. They are intangible. It may not happen here in Singapore as most Singaporeans are uncanny obedient and lawful but as Singaporeans prosperous, the income gap between the poor and the rich will widen. Resentments among between the rich and the poor may grow and such scenarios may happen in the future.

As more and more Singaporean become successful, there will be a minority that would always be trap in the poverty gap. It is a social phenomenon that happens in all capitalistic countries. The rich always get richer and the poor get poorer. For those who are successful, they must try to find a way to help those that are poor to climb out the poverty gap. However, some may say who am I to help the poor! Nobody touches my money!! However, you are called to be united in Singapore and one of the fundamental principles of being united is to help your fellow citizens. What I am suggesting may be an over idealistic idea but if only there is such thing as a utopian society, then what I have suggested may actually happen.

Some organisations may have employees who are obsessed with climbing the corporate ladder in order to earn more money and adopt a higher standard of living. They may indulge in scrupulous means without regarding the well of their fellow colleagues to obtain success. For example, they may indulging in backstabbing, insider trading and “robbing” other people’s project. Why should all these undesirable activities be happening? It is due to “Singapore’s” standard of living and the fact that more and more Singaporeans are meeting that “high” standard, it is not common to see Singaporeans trying to match up with their fellow Singaporeans eventhough they may not be able to achieve it. Again resentments will be felt with those who cannot achieve the “Standard” that Singaporeans have set in order to live “happily”.

To curb these scenarios’ from happening. Parents need to teach the right moral values to their kids. For example, they have to teach their children how to think for the unfortunate, help the weak, share their food, not to look down on those who are poor and to achieve their goals in the right way. If parents themselves do not practice good moral values, then their children would learn the wrong values.

If parents or maybe even advertisements teaches children that they have to obtain certain goods in order to be considered influential or that being number one is the most important thing in their lives and anything below that is unacceptable. In Singapore, where majority of Singaporeans are pretty influential ( just read the newspapers, there are more millionaires being sprung out ), the minority would definitely be left out and if parents do not teach their children to be considerate about people’s feelings, then there will be social anomie between the rich and the poor.

Therefore, we must always examine ourselves. Are we living happily? Are we trying to live a high life that we cannot achieve? In life there must always be a balance. At times we must accept that we cannot join the Jones and accept what we have. If we can’t, then there will be conflict in our lives. Yes, we can blame society for transforming who we are but in the words of Kar Marx, it is not the ideas that determine our lives but the lives that we live determine our ideas. Therefore it is up to us to live the way we want to.

The essence of being successful and it’s social consequences

Singapore celebrates it’s 45th year of independence in six days time. As the celebration draws near we are reminded of Singapore’s achievements and the importance of united as a community of citizens hence the one of the themes for this year’s National Day Parade is One Voice.

The reasons of why it is important to be united are as follows :-
· We will be proud to be Singaporeans
· We will defend the country together
· We will live in harmony
· We will share the achievement made in Singapore as a united community of citizens.

This essay is not to dispute the importance of being united in Singapore as one community but it is based on whether being successful in Singapore is important and it’s social consequences.
Nowadays, whenever I roam around beautiful Singapore and breath in the “fresh” air that Singapore has to offer , I cannot help to feel the word “ONE” being wrapped around me like a cocoon shell. I feel so “protected” by the word “ONE” because I know our police force strives to be number one but due to it’s over achievements, let a very dangerous terrorist escape.

Why do I feel this way? Well, it is because I often see the word “One” around me. For example, I have been coming across condominiums using the word one. For example : One Leicester, One Shenton and One Tree Hill One Forth. Even some organisations use the word “ONE” for their Dinner and Dance Party Team or for some related enrichment programs to educated their employees on forming a corporate culture.

Is being successful in everything important? After all, Singapore is a country that strives to be successful at all times and it has made great achievements in areas in transportation, financial sector and corporate governance whereas some countries could not. For example, Singapore has the best airport in the world, clean efficient government and a pretty good transport system.
Aiming to be successful is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a good thing but in everything that we do, there must be a balance. We cannot go around being successful at other people’s expense, putting people down, blackmailing other people and adopting scrupulous means to achieve our goals.

Singapore is a very competitive country. Nearly all of its citizens are caught in the rat race to succeed however one must not lose his or her moral values. Parents need to teach the right moral values to their kids. For example, they have to teach their children how to think for the unfortunate, help the weak, share their food, not to look down on those who are poor and to achieve their goals in the right way. If parents themselves do not practice good moral values, then their children would learn the wrong values.

It is not common in Singapore for kids to learn that they have to obtain certain valuable items so that they would been deem influential. Parents may teach their kids that being influential is one factor that will help them achieve success in their goals. They may not teach their kids how to respect other people’s feelings. Therefore, a child may boast that he has the latest handphone in his/her school. This may bring about resentment among the children that can’t purchase the phone. A child may steal the handphone from the child.

In this case, there are two scenarios’ we can learn from the outcome of trying to become influential in society. One is due to the fact that the child had the best phone in order to be considered as an influential human being in society, other children become jealous of the child which resulted in the stealing of the phone. The second is that due to the fact that by having that phone makes one deem to be influential in society, the child stole the phone in order to meet society standards in order to be influential.

These scenarios’ happen when parents or maybe even advertisements teaches children that they have to obtain certain goods in order to be considered influential or that being number one is the most important thing in their lives and anything below that is unacceptable. In Singapore, where majority of Singaporeans are pretty influential ( just read the newspapers, there are more millionaires being sprung out ), the minority would definitely be left out and if parents do not teach their children to be considerate about people’s feelings, then there will be social anomie between the rich and the poor.

In Singapore, our education system has been implemented by scholars who have reached the top of their ladder. They attribute the Singapore education system to their success. Since they had succeeded in the education system, they enhance it to suit the needs of the more intellectual students. The educational programs that they create only cater to middle class families and above. Why? Most of these programs may require personal computers, televison, notebooks to accomplish the tasks. What about those that cannot afford to have the latest technological equipment in their house? To they fail because they are poor? They may be intelligent but because they are poor and the way education programs are created, they may not succeed in the Singpoare's education sysyem and fall by the road side. It is a very sad situation but it is happening. Children who may not have the same intelligence capabilities as others struggle and have to play catch up. Some teachers find it tough to implement some schemes recommended by these scholars as the schemes that worked for them may not work on others. The teachers in turn are blamed for not implementing the schemes. What an unfair world we live in. Our educations system is designed in a way that only the smartest and the materially sound would be able to survive. So if being number one is so very important, what happen to those that that cannot survive in the Singapore education system in order to be the best?

Well those that cannot make it have to find other ways to climb the ladder and be successful in Singapore. For children that are materially sound parents, they would be able to have an overseas education. For those that are less fortunate, they have to find other material means or ways to be successful and survive in Singapore. Singapore is a country whereby the cost of living will always rise. Therefore, Singaporeans must be materially well off to survive. The Singapore government do not hand out “welfare benefits” like other countries do. The saying only the strong survives applies very strongly to Singapore’s society.

Parents may be too overtly obsessed on finding ways that would help their children to be successful in their education and would want them to score straight “A” throughout their school life. Unfortunately, in Singapore, obtaining straight “A” s is rather the norm. Those who can’t obtain good academic results are left behind. Some parents may use extreme methods to make their children succeed in school. For example, they will cane their children if they obtain a grade less than A in their school work, they are banned from going out with their friends, they cannot watch television and they are not allow to play their favourite computer games. These reasons are not exclusively exhaustive. As a result, their children rebel against their parents. They may join street gangs and indulging in some undesirable activities. For example, glue sniffing, fighting and pre-marital sex.

Therefore, are parents to be blame for their children becoming delinquent due to their relentless persuade for their children to obtain the best academic results? Yes and No. Yes, if they apply extreme pressure on their children without regarding their children’s well being. No, if their parents subscribe to societies, especially Singapore’s society, norms on the importance of success in order to survive. Parents inadvertly apply stress on themselves by comparing their children’s success with other children’s success. It becomes a rat race to see who can finish first and it is their children who suffer. It is very sad. Children come in different shapes and forms. They have different abilities. If parents are not blinded with the obsession of being successful, their eyes would be “opened” and they would recognise their children’s talents and weakness. They will be able to help their children capitalise their strengths and try to turn their weakness into their strengths or eradicate their weaknesses. They would also be able to provide their children with a more and balance wholesome life and that does not include taking their children on holiday every year just to compensate the stress they press on their children to succeed.

As more and more Singaporean become successful, there will be a minority that would always be trap in the poverty gap. It is a social phenomenon that happens in all capitalistic countries. The rich always get richer and the poor get poorer. For those who are successful, they must try to find a way to help those that are poor to climb out the poverty gap. However, some may say who am I to help the poor! Nobody touches my money!! However, you are called to be united in Singapore and one of the fundamental principles of being united is to help your fellow citizens. What I am suggesting may be an over idealistic idea but if only there is such thing as a utopian society, then what I have suggested may actually happen.

Some organisations may have employees who are obsessed with climbing the corporate ladder. They may indulge in scrupulous means without regarding the well of their fellow colleagues to obtain success. For example, they may indulging in backstabbing, insider trading and “robbing” other people’s project. Why should all these undesirable activities be happening if we are taught the right moral values in how to achieve our goals in life? Unfortunately, that is life. There is always the good and the bad. We can however reduce these undesirable activities but not totally eradicate them from happening by teaching our children that success is not the most important thing in life and they have to achieve their goals in a proper and justifiable manner that is deemed appropriate by society.

The next scenario may not be a normal situation in organisations but it does happen. It is unhealthy to have such problems in an organisation. Some departments in an organisation may be dedicated more “privilege jobs” with more value to the organisations than other departments. In most cases, these departments may be more recognised for their work then others and if they are more successful in their performance, they may cultivate elitism behavioural patterns among their fellow colleagues thus segregating themselves from other departments. For the very fact that they are to obsessed with success and being better than the rest, they may disregard the work processes of their other fellow colleagues in other departments and may want other departments to cater to their working needs first beyond all others.

Top management in organisations should share their profits with their employees. If they are selfish and do not want to share their successes with others, their employees may become disgruntled. Too farfetched? It may not happen in Singapore, however, in countries like Britain and France, due to having strong union ties, employees have risen up against their employees if they feel that they are not being treated fairly. Top management must realise that their success is due to their employees hardwork. They must provide funds to help their employees to upgrade. Those in need of funds would be those who are not capable to have the material means to upgrade themselves. Organisations or even governments should pay for their education, be it if they are studying in a private or public institution. A better educated workforce may help an organisation be more successful and earn more profits.

Therefore, being able to set for goals and achieving goals is a good habit that all should adopt. Parents should cultivate in their children the right values and ways to obtain success. They must not subscribe to society’s pressure, especially ours, to be obsessed with success. They may inadvertly cause harm to their children if they apply pressure on their children to succeed without regarding their well being. Organisations must share their successes among their employees. Employees must not be obsessed in being successful in the expense of their fellow employees. Departments must not create an elitism atmosphere in their organisations. If not, boundaries of work would be drawn between departments. It is not good to be obsess with being successful and obtaining the required success without regarding the well being of other people. We should have balance in our lives. After all, all work but no play makes Jack a dull boy. If you have the time, relook at your life and ask yourself whether you are living a good and well balanced life. Is being successful the only think you want to achieve in your life eventhough it may harm your well being? I leave you with this question to ponder upon. Happy National Day.