Read and check before you publish

Yesterday, I posted about the article that accompanied this picture (or actually the other way around) on Good English being about communication.

Today, I want to zoom in on the picture.  Read the text on the flip chart and have a laugh.  It reads: "Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time."  This was an actual sentence spotted at a Singapore shopping mall.  

I wonder what the sales and marketing people had in mind???!!!  Which woman in her right mind would strip naked and enter the store to have a good time?!  It's a public place.  Men, women, children can all wander in and out to browse and to buy.  But, which woman would like to be stared at because she's start naked in a store?!  She would probably be arrested for indecent exposure before anything else can happen.  Definitely, no "good time" for her.

For obvious reasons, this line was featured during the launch of the Speak Good English campaign to show you the poor use of the English language in public.

Before you click "publish" or "send", read and re-read your text.  Ask a few people to read it too.  Get their honest opinions and comments.  Don't be afraid to wait a day or two and read it again, before you send it out.  Once published, people will always remember the poorly written text, rather than the corrected text.  This is why journalists get their pay docked if their story has a "What it should have been" or "Correction" paragraph printed the next day.  It always pays to be extra careful.

By all means keep writing.  Practise makes perfect.  Writing is a skill and an art.  The more you read and write, the better you will be at it.  Even the most experienced copywriters can make mistakes.  Check and re-check.  Leave your ego out of your writing.  It will make you a better writer in the long run.

Enjoy the English language, or any language, for that matter.  It's all about communication.

Happy communicating!

Singaporeans speak English, don't they?

If you think all Singaporeans speak English, think again.  Singaporeans are not known to speak English, but Singlish - our very own version of English.  It is a mixture of words from all the commonly spoken languages in Singapore, with an Asian grammar structure.  Often, sentences are formed based on literal translations from the home language of speaker.  If you've grown up in Singapore, speaking Singlish is a norm.  If you didn't grow up here, we'll know you're trying hard, but it just doesn't work.

So our government has embarked on a Speak Good English campaign for the last few years, in an effort to improve the standard and quality of English spoken and written in Singapore.  This year's campaign consists of activities and language games.

Really what we need is a culture of speaking proper English so that we can compete on the global stage in business and other platforms.  Singapore has done very well so far, but the younger generations often do not speak proper English.  They don't even know the difference!

Communication in Singapore among Singaporeans is fine.  But these Singlish-speaking people cannot communicate with those of another English-speaking culture.  Communication is not complete until the hearer fully understands what is spoken - meaning and nuances included.  This year's campaign focuses on communication.  And rightly so.  Do we really get the message across?  If the answer is "no", then we've failed miserably.

"Lost in translation" is not funny.  Let's do our best to learn English well.  Speak it properly.  Write simply and clearly.  Use short sentences.  Enough said.

Here's to speaking Good English!

Translating gives me a headache

Psy, the Korean singer who has captivated the world with Gangnam Style, recently visited the US.  When asked about his trip, he said, "Nostalgia (feeling homesick) is the biggest thing and another thing is having to use English all the time.  Translating the interviews from Korean to English and vice versa in my head gave me a bad headache."

Even the world-famous singer struggles with learning a language and translation issues.  haha

The fact is: as long as you are still a learner of the language, constantly having to translate back and forth is going to give you a headache.  BUT, the good news is, as long as you keep at it, you will start thinking in the new language very soon, without having to translate the sentences in your head first.  

Those who have studied linguistics tell me that if you start dreaming of random words in the new language, you are well on your way to learning it well.  I admit it can cause nightmares and sleepless nights, but those won't last too long.  Very soon, you will find yourself communicating in simple sentences and pretty soon, you'll be fluent!

Hard work does pay off when learning any language.  Just keep at it.  

So after this "bad headache" that Psy has experienced, he now wants to write songs in a mixture of Korean and English, just to reach a wider audience.  Very soon, the headache will be gone - and so will yours.

And you may well find yourself translating for other people who don't understand the language.  It will happen.  And then you will feel a sense of achievement and satisfaction.

Learning a language is all about communication.  When you can speak the new language, you will be the bridge of communication between two cultures.

Enjoy your learning process!

It takes time to adapt

This article appeared in this morning's edition of The Straits Times, Singapore's English daily newspaper.  I read it.

The Indian Foreign Minister said that Indian expatriates need time to fit into Singapore life.  Don't judge them just because they seem to keep to themselves.  However, as local Indians and Indian expatriates do interact in places of worship and other activities, eventually, the Indian expats do integrate into Singapore life.

Two issues come to my mind:
1.  Everyone needs time to fit into a new culture and surrounding; and
2.  Singaporean Indians and Indians directly from India are different in culture

Everyone needs time to adapt

Let's face it.  Even if I moved to a new neighbourhood in the same city, I would still need time to adapt.  On a basic level, I need to learn a new route and public transport to school or work.  I need to find out where the shops are, and get to know the sales people.  Then there's new neighbours to meet and make friends with, ... the list goes on.  It's not a new culture, but it's still a new environment to me!  It may take me a month or a year to get used to the new surroundings.  But eventually, I adapt and make a home for myself in the new place.

Not all Indians are the same

India is a huge country with many tribes and languages.  Indians in different parts of India communicate with each other in English because there is no 1 national, unifying language.  So, when an Indian from India moves to Singapore for work, he is automatically different from the Indians in Singapore, who have lived here for a few generations.

Most Indian Singaporeans are South Indians.  Even then, when they visit their relatives in India, they find themselves in a foreign country.  My Indian friends said, "It's not the same!  We just can't eat the food!  They put this sauce on the noodles.  Can't get used to it.  After a few days, I just want to eat Maggi mee (a brand of instant noodles made in Malaysia)."  It baffled me when I first heard this.  But then, if I were to visit my relatives in southern China, I would probably say the same thing.  Just because we're ethnically the same doesn't mean we are exactly the same.

So, when you visit or move to a new culture and country, take time to integrate, but don't take too long.  You have to reach out is a first-hand account by my Australian expat friend, Liz Stuart. She has fit into Singapore like a fish in water.  Read her story.  Learn something from her.

Happy adapting and reaching out to a new culture!

Indians vs Japanese - who gets the job done quicker?

A friend in India sent me this story.  This is a great example of cultural difference!

Japanese way of cost efficiency
The Taj hotel group had invited Mr. Masai Imai from Japan to hold a workshop for its staff.
 
The staff were very skeptical - the hotel is doing excellent business, this person from Japan has no exposure to hotel industry - what exactly is he going to teach?
 
But everybody gathered as planned for the workshop in the conference hall sharp at 9 am.
 
Mr. Masai was introduced to them - a not so impressive personality, nor the English all that good; spoke as if he was first formulating each sentence in Japanese and then translating it into rather clumsy English.
 
"Good morning! Let's start work. I am told this is a workshop; but I see neither work nor shop. So let's proceed where work is happening. Let's start with the first room on the first floor."
 
Mr. Masai, followed by the senior management, the participants, the video camera crew trouped out of the conference room and proceeded to the destination.
 
That happened to be the laundry room of the hotel.
 
Mr. Masai entered the room and stood at the window, "beautiful view!" he said.
 
The staff knew it; they need not invite a Japanese consultant to tell them this!
 
"A room with such a beautiful view is being wasted as a laundry room. Shift the laundry to the basement and convert this into a guest room."
 
Aa Haa! Now nobody had ever thought about that!
 
The manager said, "Yes, it can be done."
 
"Then let's do it," Mr. Masai said.
 
"Yes sir, I will make a note of this and we will include it in the report on the workshop that will be prepared." Manager
 
"Excuse me, but there is nothing to note down in this. Let's just do it, just now." Mr. Masai.
 
"Just now?" Manager
 
"Yes, decide on a room on the ground floor/basement and shift the stuff out of this room right away. It should take a couple of hours, right?" asked Mr. Masai.
 
"Yes." Manager.
 
"Let's come back here just before lunch. By then all this stuff will have got shifted out and the room must be ready with the carpets, furniture etc. and from today you can start earning the few thousand that you charge your customers for a night."
 
"Ok, Sir." The manager had no option.
 
The next destination was the pantry. The group entered. At the entrance were two huge sinks full of plates to be washed.
 
Mr. Masai removed his jacket and started washing the plates.
 
"Sir, Please, what are you doing?" the manager didn't know what to say and what to do.
 
"Why, I am washing the plates", Mr. Masai.
 
"But sir, there is staff here to do that." Manager Mr. Masai continued washing, "I think sink is for washing plates, there are stands here to keep the plates and the plates should go into the stands."
 
All the officials wondered - did they require a consultant to tell them this?
 
After finishing the job, Mr. Masai asked, "How many plates do you have?'
 
"Plenty, so that there should never be any shortage." answered the Manager.
 
Mr. Masai said, "We have a word in Japanese -'Muda'. Muda means delay, Muda means unnecessary spending. One lesson to be learned in this workshop is to avoid both. If you have plenty of plates, there will be delay in cleaning them up. The first step to correct this situation is to remove all the excess plates."
 
"Yes, we will say this in the report." Manager.
 
"No, wasting our time in writing the report is again an instance of 'Muda'. We must pack the extra plates in a box right away and send these to whichever other section of Taj requires these. Throughout the workshop now we will find out where all we find this 'Muda' hidden."
 
And then at every spot and session, the staff eagerly awaited to find out Muda and learn how to avoid it.
 
On the last day, Mr. Masai told a story.
 
"A Japanese and an American, both fond of hunting, met in a jungle. They entered deep jungle and suddenly realized that they had run out of bullets. Just then they heard a lion roaring. Both started running. But the Japanese took a short break to put on his sports shoes.
 
The American said, "What are you doing? We must first get to the car."
 
The Japanese responded, "No. I only have to ensure that I remain ahead of you."
 
All the participants engrossed in listening to the story, realized suddenly that the lion would stop after getting his victim!
 
"The lesson is: competition in today's world is so fierce, that it is important to stay ahead of other, even by just a couple of steps. And you have such a huge and naturally well endowed. country. If you remember to curtail your production expenditure and give the best quality always, you will be miles ahead as compared to so many other countries in the world.", concluded Mr. Masai.

Culture of humility

I read this article this morning about Citibank Singapore.  The CEO and Senior Management spent some time doing frontline service, just to understand how customers tick and experience what the frontline staff go through everyday.

One line struck me: "Mr Han said: "It also created a great culture of humility and staff don't see a barrier between them and senior management.""

How often have we heard employees complain about lack of support from management for projects or suggestions?  Yet, Citibank has created just the opposite.  What struck me most was the CEO, Mr Han's, choice of words: "great culture of humility".

How many of us are willing to be humble?  Most times, "proud" or "arrogant" is a more likely word to be used to describe a culture or a people group.  Almost everyone I meet believes that his culture and language is the best in the world, and everyone should be speaking MY language and practising MY culture, rather than learning from one another.

In reality, a culture of humility will take us to many, many places and help us learn so much from others, no matter how much we know.  A culture of humility will open doors to opportunities that may never come our way if we choose to be proud or arrogant.  I still maintain this attitude I am a student.  I don't want this to change, ever.

Thank you, Citibank CEO, for showing us the way to a "great culture of humility".  May you be blessed.

Happy learning, everyone!

Learning Language - use sticky notes

Post-It Notes or sticky notes are the best invention ever!  Before I had a smartphone, I used to write reminders to myself on sticky notes and stick them to the back of my cell phone, to remind me to get the task done.

This year, Singapore is encouraging everybody to use sticky notes to help us speak Good English.  Here's the suggestion: write down a good sentence or quotation on a sticky note and stick it to a notebook or something that you will see often.  That will remind you to use the correct phrase and ultimately, speak Good English.

I've seen parents write words in 2 languages on sticky notes and stick them to the item named e.g. write "table, meja" on a sticky note and stick it on the table.  The whole house would be covered in sticky notes, but children will learn the names of the item very quickly, as they play around the room.  This is great for the visual learner, and those who learn by association.

Those who learn languages best by reading and writing prefer to use a paper notebook to write down new words with the English equivalent and refer to the list frequently.  I noticed this works best for older folk aka the pre-internet generation. :D

What works best for you?  Share your thoughts with me today!

Adapting - difference between men and women

I read this article in a free tabloid yesterday, while waiting for my friends to finish dinner.  It struck me because it was about why men fail when they have to adapt to a new situation in life, like a divorce or losing their jobs.

You can read the article here: Why Men Fail

The article is primarily about how men and women react differently when something bad befalls them.  Women tend to pick themselves up more quickly and move on, sometimes doing much better than before.  Men, on the other hand, may be physically in a new location, but their beliefs, language and behaviour are as though they've never moved.

Migration: this is a given thing in today's world.  Businesses are being very global.  Being posted to a new country or location is quite common.  Taking a plane ride is almost as routine as riding a bus or train to work daily.  We are inundated daily with music, food, dramas, ... from around the world.  How many people actually understand Korean?  Yet, Psy has created a global phenomena with "Gangnam Style".  Korean dramas have captivated a worldwide audience.  I met a young lady who taught herself Korean just to understand her favourite Korean drama.

Can we adapt to a new culture?  Yes, of course!  It's all a matter of choice.  Will I choose to adapt, or will I refuse to adhere to the new culture and ways of doing things?  "Men are more likely to be rigid; women are more fluid."  Although, I have women who have failed miserably to adapt to a new culture.  They spend their entire time complaining and being a pain to everyone around them.

Is the weather affecting you? In that post, I talk about the demoralising effects of complaining.  Well, it's true.  Let's learn to be positive.  Let's learn to be fluid and adapt.  Life will be so much more fulfilling that way.

Happy learning!

"SAKitToMe" - why wish sickness on the customer?

I saw this at a gift shop yesterday.  It took me a few minutes to finally figure out the pronunciation and meaning of the brand.  What's wrong with me?

"Sakit" in the Malay or Indonesian language means "sick".  So, I could not figure out why the sign advertising eco-friendly tote bags was talking about "sick to me"!  What kind of advertising would ever wish sickness on anyone, much less the buyer?!

It finally dawned on me - SAK is pronounced as "sack", as in bag.  So "SAKitToMe" really is talking about a bag (sack) for myself!  Ah, the light went off!

The brand may take off in an English-speaking country, but certainly not in this part of the world, where Malay and Indonesian is used daily.  This is one clear example of monolingual branding. While the tote bag and eco-friendly are spreading worldwide, English language may not.  Choice of a name may sound catchy in English, but sound strange in another language - as in this case.

Would I buy the bag? Sure, if I needed one, but given that the name "sakit" is part of it, I may think twice and buy another brand instead.  Not that the bag doesn't appeal to me, but I don't want to have my friends think I'm crazy for buying a bag that wishes me sickness.  It will take too long to try and explain the pronunciation and clever play of the English language.  Forget it.  I'm not being paid to advertise for them.  I just want a bag that will serve my needs.

So the next time you are asked to think of a brand name, think across languages.  Before deciding on a name for her daughter, my friend came round asking all of us what her daughter's name sounded like in different languages and Chinese dialects.  She didn't want her daughter to be a laughing stock when she started school.  Same goes with branding.  

Western companies need to start thinking global, even in brand names.  We're a multi-lingual society, wherever we live.  

So, take the step to learn a new language today!

Tools to help you get started

Translation? Hmmmm

"Sahabat kepala anda" - advertising slogan in Indonesia for motorcycle helmets

I wondered how to translate this into English as I was passing this banner.  Word for word, it translates as: Friend, Head, You/Your.

Google Translate says: Friend of your head 
Chinese: 朋友，你的头 (meaning "Friend, your head")

I can't think of a good enough translation.  The problem is that in the Chinese language, telling someone "your head" is actually a curse or swear word.  It's made as a sharp retort to someone making a ridiculous statement!  If someone said to me "your head!", I would be most insulted!

Because Singapore is a largely multi-lingual country, saying "your head" in English or Mandarin, or any other language for that matter, is downright rude.  Now, I'm not saying the slogan was rude.  It isn't at all.  It actually is quite clever, but only in Indonesian, not English (which doesn't translate well at all) or in Chinese (where it would be considered really rude).

The bottom line is: what sounds catchy in one language does not mean it will sound equally catchy when translated into another language.  The best thing to do is to write slogans for the specific language, sticking to the same content or concept, but certainly not literal translations.  

Language translation is a skill and an art.  It takes years to be able to "get it right".  I still don't have that skill, despite being able to speak many languages and function fairly well in them.  I've decided the best thing for me is to keep each language separate.  Some things don't translate. It doesn't matter.  What matters is that I am able to communicate in that language, and appreciate the culture of the people.  

Want to get along with others?  Let's learn each other's language!

Have fun!

Multiculturalism crucial to national harmony

This article appeared in today's The Straits Times.  Singapore's Chief Justice gave a talk at an international conference, saying that multiculturalism is a vital ingredient of national harmony in Singapore.  Singapore is successful in managing the many cultures within its shores.

"Singapore is a small state which suffers from a degree of political and social vulnerability that large states are unable to understand," said Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong.  "If demography is destiny, then Singapore's destiny is to be a multicultural state."

Singaporeans from a young age have been taught about our multicultural heritage so that we understand shared values.  Race has essentially been erased from our mindset.  We no longer say, "I am Chinese" or "I am Malay" or "I am Indian" but instead, we all say "I am Singaporean".

The world today is getting increasingly multicultural.  Inter-marriages between different ethnic groups is getting more and more common.  Singapore has yet to be a real melting pot like Hawaii, but I think we're getting there.  The real key to harmony is learning about my neighbour's culture and enjoying it with them.  It helps to always take the attitude of a student (see my post:  I am a student ).

I am a Singaporean and proud to be one.  I am also proud to be of Chinese ethnicity.  The 2 are not exclusive.  They make up a large part of my being.  I also enjoy eating all the different ethnic food in Singapore, and manage to communicate fairly well with the different ethnic groups that make up multicultural Singapore.  

Let's learn to appreciate everyone's culture and language!  The world is made more beautiful because of the cultural diversity!

P.S. Want to get started?  Take a look here to find a book on culture today!

Language - not just grammar rules

The Ministry of Education of Singapore has just announced a new curriculum and strategy to teaching the English language in primary schools.  It is not enough to be competent in English, but students now need critical thinking skills to help them navigate in today's demanding world.  

Since everyone learns differently, this new strategy will cater to a diverse range of learners.  Some are critical of this new curriculum, saying that it favours students from English-speaking backgrounds.  However, those who don't speak English at home can draw from their different perspectives and cultural backgrounds to speak and write, thus enriching their teachers and classmates.

This new strategy intents to use visuals, in addition to traditional methods of teaching like sentence drills.  Children need to cultivate a lifelong love for language and reading.

All that said, the same applies to the learning of any language.  It is not enough to know the grammar rules and make eloquent sentences in the foreign language.  We need to be able to express our thoughts and desires, think logically, analyse facts and make decisions.  All this takes much more than grammar rules and sentence drills.

I have met too many students of English who are obsessed with grammar rules but cannot string a proper sentence in English.  Learning a language is best done through every avenue possible - hearing, speaking, reading and writing.  Whatever works for you, go for it.  The more you are immersed in the language, the faster you will pick it up.

There is no shortcut to learning a language, but in the midst of the hard work, have fun!

Happy learning!

Language Learning Struggles

"I am struggling with my English.  I don't know how to improve," my newly arrived Lao friend said yesterday.  He speaks well, but I could tell it took a lot of thought and effort to get the sentences out in English.  The look on his face was one of despair.

"Don't worry.  After 1 year of bridging course (intensive English language training), he'll be fine."  This was the response from one who has "been there and done that".  After being here for more than 2 years, she is a confident young lady and very comfortable in English.

What are some of the keys to mastering the English language, or any language for that matter?

• relax - sounds crazy?  Well, if you're so stressed trying to "get it", your brain cells freeze up and you can't think straight.  So, I could be saying something as simple as "What is your name?" and your mind is unable to process the question.  Relax and enjoy the sounds and human interaction.
• lots of listening - the radio is a great asset to learning a language.  Find the correct station that speaks properly.  I've found news stations most beneficial.  They speak correctly and I catch up on the news in the meantime.  My Mandarin skills improved by leaps and bounds just by listening to the morning news channel for about 30 minutes a day.
• speak out - if you never open your mouth, you will never know if you're right or wrong.  Ignore the laughter and the taunts.  Those people's language ability is probably just as bad, if not worse, than yours.  Keep on trying.  Some kind souls will come and help you along.  No pain, no gain.
• join a community - there's so many ways to find a community where you are now - Meetup groups, online forum, discussion board, Facebook, ... the list is endless.  Find like-minded people who will help you along.
• find a foreign friend, if possible - forget being shy.  It doesn't help you learn.  Go ask someone if he or she will be your conversation partner.  You will learn very quickly.

Learning a language takes sheer hard work, but the rewards are immeasurable.  Have fun in the process.  Learn to laugh at yourself.

Happy learning!

Khmer language saying for today

ស្លាប់តែម្តងបានដឹង - Khmer saying meaning "Die once and you'll know."

Usage:
When you warn someone over and over again about the dangers of something and they refuse to listen, as a last resort, you would tell him or her "ស្លាប់តែម្តងបានដឹង!"  We're not putting a curse on the person, we're just fed up with their nonchalant attitudes.

Example:
It is illegal to ride a motorbike without a helmet, apart from being dangerous.  But, most Cambodians prefer not to wear a helmet because it will spoil their nice hairdo.  The same applies for both men and women.  More so for women who are on their way to a wedding reception!  My response to their vanity is, "Which is worse: a ruined hairdo or a ruined head?"  Laughter is always the reply I get.  So finally, the guard at the gate said, "It's ok.  ស្លាប់តែម្តងបានដឹង."

If you're dead, it's too late.  But young people tend to think they're immortal.  I would never tell anyone to die, but I find this saying quite true.  A young Khmer man always wears his helmet and fastens the strap before taking off on his motorbike.  He has good reason to practise safety.  His friend died from a motorbike accident because he was wearing a helmet with the strap unfastened.  When he was hit, he flew off the bike and the helmet flew off his head.  He died instantly from head injuries.

Language is used to convey an idea.  We use language to communicate.  But if we refuse to take heed to the communicated message, language will end up falling on deaf ears.

Let's communicate using language that everyone understands.  ស្លាប់តែម្តងបានដឹង is commonly used among Khmer people.  Use it wisely.

Happy language learning!

PS.  You can find books and software to help you learn a new language here: www.funlanguagetools.com. 

The heart of the matter

"You brood of vipers!  How can you speak good, when you are evil?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." - Matthew 12:34

We often think that what we say originates in our mind.  But that isn't true.  What emerges from our mouths really comes from the heart.  If we have a good heart, we'll speak words of kindness and encouragement.  If our heart is always thinking of evil, then we'll speak angry words or words that curse another.  In general, someone who speaks vulgarities and crude 4-letter words is an angry person who lacks love.

The Chinese got it right.  The Chinese term for mind is 心思意念.  It is made up of 4 different characters that all have the same root radical, 心 or "heart".  If you look carefully at the 4 characters, the bottom part of the last 3 characters are the same as the 1st character, which is "heart".

The 4 characters are: 
 心 - heart
思 - think or consider
意 - idea, meaning, wish, desire, intention
念 - read, idea, remembrance

Taken as a whole, 心思意念 means thoughts or thinking.  But, our heart and mind cannot be separated from each other.  What we feel affects our thinking and our speech.  After all, we're whole beings, not pieces of flesh and organs all separated from each other.

So, let's take some good advice from a wise man and "keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." (King Solomon, Proverbs 4:23)

Wishing you happy thoughts always!

Exchanging contact details

In the not-so-distant past, we introduced ourselves by saying our names and where we come from.  If we wanted to stay in contact with the person(s) we just met, we'd exchange business cards.  In a social context, we'd ask for a phone number or an email address.

Today, instead of an email address, one of the first questions we ask is "Are you on Facebook?"  Very rarely would you get a "no".  So prevalent has Facebook become that it probably is one of the most popular ways to stay in touch with other people.

Instead of a business card (which still is being used today), we whip out our smartphone, open to a new contact page and hand it to our friend to tap in his full contact details.  Next, use the camera function to take his photo to add to the profile.  Finally, give him a missed call so that he has your contact number too, or he may hand you his smartphone to enter your details.

I had one friend send me an MMS with his full contact details, but since an MMS costs much more than a text message, I'd rather not use this option.  Others choose to create a QR code instead, but you need a QR reader to read the information.

The culture of keeping in touch with another person has completely been changed by the progress of technology.  We no longer need to keep boxes of business cards unless we choose to.  Even then, we can simply photograph the card and an app will automatically load the information into our contact list.  We rely so heavily on gadgets to keep information at our fingertips.  What if, one day for a few hours, worldwide web of internet, wireless, broadband, maybe even electricity supply, crashed?  What are we going to do???!!!

Backups are necessary, but we still need electricity to retrieve the info from the backup drive.  Will we go back to paper?  Who knows.

Maybe we will all need to have a backup on paper, rather than only in external drives.  Let's start a new culture - back to pen and paper!

PS. I hope I've got you thinking about backups seriously.  With global warming, we may actually need to think about the possibility of extended power outages.

Culture of new communication

"Tonight, I need all of you to sleep early and get good rest.  We need all our energy for tomorrow.  No computer or Blackberry.  No chatting till late at night. Ok?"  My team of young people all nodded in agreement.  Then Andy spoke up, "But if we don't use computer or Blackberry, then what do we use to chat?"

"Your mouth!  The old fashioned way!"  I replied.  Everybody burst out in laughter.

Thanks to technology and social media, words have taken on a whole new meaning.  To "chat" with someone no longer means face-to-face conversation or talking on the phone.  I now "chat" using the keyboard of my desktop, laptop, iPad or smartphone, without even opening my mouth.  I'm not dumb or mute or lost my voice, it's just the way we "talk" nowadays.

Skype was created so we could talk face-to-face across the miles via the internet, and for free. Today, 99% of my Skype communication is by typing messages on the screen and getting a reply in the same way.  The only advantage I can see is that I can still keep in touch with people who have limited or slow connectivity where they live.  Technology has its pros and cons, I guess.

Do we really know how to chat face to face anymore?  I do!  I will not trade that for anything else in the world.  Talking face to face allows for human emotions and touch, which technology cannot replace.  Meeting up with friends for a drink or a meal is priceless.  A warm hug or firm handshake communicates volumes of love to another person.  We were made for closeness, not distance.  "Can you feel the love tonight?" makes no sense if you are not together.

So, go out and love someone today.  Give a hug, shake a hand, meet a friend face to face for a good old fashioned chat.  It's the same in every culture - people love and want to be loved.  Touch somebody today!

Wishing you a loving week!

Host families - love 'em or hate 'em

I started university life in Eugene, Oregon, as a freshman straight out of junior college in Singapore.  Because I was still holding a US passport at the time, I was not considered a "foreign student".  I had to figure out everything on my own.  Thankfully, I met some wonderful American friends in church who helped me settle in and take me everywhere.

Today, my mother and I are host family to foreign university students from South East Asia.  Each year, one or 2 students are assigned to us to help them understand life in Singapore and be their family away from home.  Quite a few of them have since graduated, but we're still in touch.  We still host new students every year and keep in contact with those still in school.

Because we open our activities and home to other students, many of them consider us their host family too, even though they have been assigned host families of their own.  So when I've asked the students about their host families, I've had a few "Don't talk about it!" answers.

What made them say that?  Apparently the host family never bothered to contact them or invite them to an outing!  Some students and host families never even met each other!  

These students come over at 19-20 years old, some having never left their hometown.  Shy, reserved, maybe even a bit fearful, they wouldn't dare to call the host family.  The host family must reach out to the student constantly, making him/her feel at home and loved.

Having lived abroad for many years, I have appreciated every one of my local friends who reached out to me and invited me out, even at the last minute.  Some showed up unannounced at my home with food, inviting me to share their food.  I loved every minute!  They brought me into their culture and taught me so much about themselves.

Friends, host families, these are our teachers.  They help us adapt to their culture.  They teach us and touch us with things we can never learn from a book.

Reach out and touch someone today.  Go find a foreigner in your neighbourhood and be his friend.  Learn about a new culture today!