Reflective Journal 2

 In this reflective journal, I will be talking about my thoughts and reflection on Confucianism, the French Revolution, Chinese and Western Perspectives of Self, and how it has impact the beliefs in my life. 

Firstly, I will talk more about Confucianism. In LEP, Confucianism is part of our curriculum and I lean Confucianism both from CDE and LEP. So basically, Confucianism's system and its ethical thinking is developed by Confucius. The most important aspects of Confucianism are  忠，孝，仁，爱，礼，仪，廉，耻, which in English is "Loyalty, Filial Piety, Humanity, Love, Manners, Justice, integirty and being humble. This beliefs are actually essential in our life, if we want to be a gentleman of great values. The most important aspect of filial piety to me is probably filial piety. Filial Piety is one of the basic qualities that a gentleman and a normal and upright person must have. Examples of extreme filial piety can be found in the 24 paragons Filial Piety, which really shows extreme cases of filial piety and deep connections with the parents and son. Examples of the stories are Zeng Shen, a student of Confucius who felt a stinging pain in his heart when his mother bit her finger, and Wang Xiang who swam in a frozen river searching for carps for his mother, and Wu Meng who attracted Mosquitoes to suck his blood to prevent them from sucking his mother's. This examples are all extreme, honorable examples of filial piety. However, in Confucianism, it does not tell us to be blindly follow and listen to our parents, aka "Blind Filial". We have to know what is good for our parents and do things that will benefit them, and not blindly following their orders and wishes. One of Confucius's students angered his father, and the student actually allowed the father to hit him with a thick stack of bamboo wood(or some sort of ancient cane). Confucius was actually enraged by the students actions as his actions is not actually deemed as filial piety. Filial Piety is to ensure that our parents can live happily and have a carefree life. What the students did could have caused himself to lose his life due to the thickness of the rod, which would have hurt the father more, instead, he should have ran away. Therefore, as you can see, there are actually classifications within filial piety, and some of them are not actually really being filial. We have to know what is best for our parents and ensure that they will be happy. I am alos more interested in filial piety compared to other qualities as I have done a project in sec one on filial piety and I have found out that filial piety within the society is decreasing and it is important to inculcate filial piety in tenns nowadays. Alos, I do acknowledge the fact that integrity, justice, Love, Humanity, and loyalty are indeed also important aspects of a gentleman, but generally I believe that without filial piety and basic love for our parents, it is unlikely that we will be able to nurture other good qualities such as humanity and integrity.

Some videos to lighten up and crash courses in case you have no idea of Confucianism and hasn't been paying attention in class :P.

Another link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ximqppmkfc4

Now, Lets talk about the French Revolution. For the people involved, . They opposed absolute monarchy and religion and instead foresaw an age of progess, individual freedom, law and reason. The leaders of the revolution claimed to be inspired by the ideas of 18-century thinkers like Voltaire, Diderot, Montesquie and Rousseau and also by notions of reason and progress. They destroyed traditional hierarchical and social order, and replaced it with ideals of freedom and equality for all.This is due to western self consciousness, which originated in the 17 century, emphasizing on reasons and individualism. People in French were unhappy with the royal absolutism in French,and the privileges possessed by Nobles.  So basically French Revolution is to overcome monarchy and fight for individual Freedom, leading to equality. Though I have learnt more about the French Revolution, nothing much can be learnt from this French Revolution, nor has it impacted my life. I believe that we nowadays have basically enough freedom and we have no need for any more of this ideologies since society has "slackened" off and a large amount of freedom is actually given to us if you think about it. There's democracy, and in US, there's a freedom of speech, which I an sure is not possible in the past. Thus, what I think we should do is to cherish the freedom that we have now and not abuse it. Yes, we are allowed to have a freedom of speech and to express our feelings, but we should not use this opportunity to scold derogatory remarks and spread nasty rumors about politicians or people around us. We can give suggestive complains and feedback, and a certain amount of "language" which I believe the intensity of this 'language" should stop at a certain extent. Though many of us enjoy freedom, there are still inequalities in this world, namely gender inequality, racial discrimination and prejudice. These problems are still evident in our society and I believe more must be done to overcome this inequality in our world.

Also, we have learnt about eastern and western perspectives of self through our project mates; presentations. There are generally differences between the Western Perspective and the Eastern Perspective. Basically, Eastern=Collectivism, Western=Individualism. Individuals see themselves in a group instead of an individual to western culture where people normally see themselves as a unique individual. Also, one of the more dominant religion in the west is Christians and the more dominant religion in the east is Buddhism. There are also different ideals in western and eastern parts of the world. Eastern believes in karma, where what ever bad things you do will fall back on you one day, Also, stereotypes of perspectives of eastern and western self is that people in the east are actually much hardworking and deemed as"Asians", a slang used to describe "muggers" while western people are generally seen as slackers. Also people tend to think that kids in western countries are independent whereas kids in Eastern countries are not. Also, one would tend to think that eastern culture has instilled better moral values in teenagers and people such that their manners and their actions are gentlemanly whereas in the Western country their morals are pretty loose. These are common stereotypes which are actually false. Nowadays, according to research, people in the eastern parts of the world are not necessarily showing good moral values and following Confucianism which is China's main ideology. Examples of people lacking moral values and care are common, whereby someone just faints and nobody actually do anything. Two three days ago, a woman in china fainted in on a train platform due to low blood pressure/low sugar level. She lay there for 50 mins with passengers coming in and out and nobody actually paid attention to her, and those that did did little to help her, Eventually the ambulance came but by the time they arrived she was already dead. Another example is the famous case of the little girl who was run over by trucks two times in a row who was ignored by other people walking on the streets, only to be saved by a female lady cleaner. Thus, moral values, and the ideology of Confucianism is actually diminishing in the east, contrary to belief. Also, it is not that that the "Asians" are really born to be hardworking and are muggers for life, they are driven and pushed and forced to be hardworking, either by the school or their parents. Also another worrying factor is also that people in the east are getting older and the trend is in the direction of aging population due to depressing fertility rates in the East,


Thus, I believe that thanks to the peoples presentations on the French Revolution, I have absorbed more knowledge about the east and west, as well as knowing that some stereotypes between east and west are not necessarily true. I am also quite concerned that Confucianism is actually diminishing in china and I believe China's should focus more of its education in moral values  in order to bring back moral values to the east.

In conclusion, I have learnt alot from CDE presentations and I wish to hear more from the presenters. They have done excellent quality presentations and slides, which helped clarify some of the stereotypes, questions and doubts that I had in my mind.

Journal Entry 2: Relfections on Lenovo, Google, Apple, etc

  Hi! After many interesting case studies and presentations of famous and prosperous companies, I am now going to write my reflections and my feelings down. Firstly, I have learn the many ways of how to rule a company sucessfully, and I feel that this is beneficial to us as a CEOS are just like leaders, leading a group of team mates(company) and in order to be a good leader, We have to know how to be a good leaders. After reading the case studies on Google and Apple, I have found out two ways to successful in being a leader- the dictatorship way or the nice guy way.
  Basically, the foudation, the base of Apple's success is based on Steve Job's dictartoship in the company. in the Apple's comapny, whatever Steve Job says, its imperial, its god-like, eveyone has to do whatever he says, no matter how bad they think the suggestion is or how it can be improvised. Also, You have to be metiuculous- as Cordell Ratzlaff, a founder managaer charged with creating OS X interface, said "He would scrutiniz everything, down to the pixel level." Therefore, in order to be a sucessful dictator-leader, we will have to be meitculous, plan out every steps carefully and not commit any mistakes that may cause you your leadership roles or your company. But, despite being a dictator, one has to have the charisma to be successful. Steve Job's key factor to his leadership role is his charisma. Despite all the socldings, and having a dictator's attitude, he has the charisma to keep his followers under him, to cuase them to remain devoted. As his approval is hard to win, people try to please him in his work to get that god-like praise, and thus producing top notch quality products for the company. He stick to his manner of leadership and has thus prosepered, and thus I would see dictatorship + charisma is one of the key to a good leadership.
   However, I do not fully agree with Apple's way of ruling. I personally feel that despite the high pay, Apple's workers are subjected to high level of stress.i feel that Google would be a better company, as it has incentives and benefits that are attractive, packed with a decent salary. Contrary to Apple's motto "Be evil", Google's motto is "don't be evil". It treats its workers so nicely......causing the workers to feel that they're in enternal bliss......but it actually has a hidden agenda. By presenting such fabulous incentives and benefits for the workers, such as giving the workers 20 percent of their time to research things of their own interest, sleep pods,Stay healthy, save time,travel insurance and emergency assistance - even on personal vacations. They even get to try out new stuff which google has created and not opened to the public! With such eye catching benefits, there is no doubt that Googlers( Google's worker) will feel attached to Google and thus 's producing excellent Products. Apple's stringent ways and dictator ship are on the extreme left of the scale while Google's beenefits are on the extreme right.
    I personally feel that although Google's ways are better than Apple, and their "Governnig" skills in the company will attract more crowds, I believe that to be an even better company, we will have to be in between the extreme left and right. We have to provide great facilities, benefits and yet be stringent when it comes to products and services. Google just basically throws in every ideas it thinks its feasible, while Apple only listens to what Steve Jobs wants. I believe we should have a balance somewhere there: Selecting a handful of ideas from workers which you think is a hit and perfect it, launching it. This will ensure that the idea, carved into prefection, will be popular and a hit, and not invest in other stuff that may not be a hit. Rather, those money can be poured to more successfull products for advertisements and promotion for its top notch products. Also, if we mix high pay with high expectations and high forms of relaxations, it would be uotpia for many workers. Imagine getting at least 10k per month, and though you have to perfect whatever projects you're in charge of(or else you don't need to step in the company again), but yet, after the hard work, lots of benefits awaits you, nice food, massages, movies, sports, all specially catered to you. People will be attracted to the company with its high salary and benefits, and at the same time be fulled to excel just to get a praise from their picky and stringent boss. Thus I believe if we can strive a balance in between Apple and Google, we will be able to be more sucessful compared to Google and Apple. Also, after looking at Lenovo case study, I feel that for it to barge into Global market and thrash other competitors, I feel that it has to follow wys of Google and Apple, like what I said, incoporate the good and the bad. It can work out innovative and top notch gadgets which will satisfy customers.Also, it can follow Xiao Mi, which sort of copy competitor's products and modify them into its own.

           

Journal Entry 1: General thoughts on the course

My general thoughts can be simply described by this picture:

But as I have to write 600 words-worth of entry, I will have to elaborate further.

Firstly, yes, I feel that having CDE lessons are awesome. Here are some of the reasons why: 1) Its pretty slack 2) Presentations 3) The teacher is friendly- You do not get such friendly teachers in your school life. Mr Karplus is friendly and funny at the same time. Unlike some teachers who are very strict and picky, Mr Karplus is open to ideas, suggestions and always provide a fun platform for us to learn. Thus, I really enjoy his lessons, and I look forward to  CDE lessons as well.

Now, I shall talk about the pros of presentation, firstly, they are interesting and and creates an interesting platform for us to learn. Having presented countless of times in both primary and secondary schools, I can say that I am adept in Power points and Presentations. I have always been an outspoken boy, and thus presentation to me is more of a joy than a challenge. Furthermore, having the chance to work together with my group mates gives us the ideal platform to socialise, show our productivity and make better bonds with our friends. Presentations can also curb our stage fears and help us to be a more outspoken and vocalised person. Therefore, I always look forward to presentations as it can create a fun platform which allows to learn and have fun at the same time.

Also, CDE lessons are pretty much carefree and easy-going. Unlike other subjects which presents you mountains and heaps of papers and homework, CDE presents to you papers to read and absorb knowledge, which is easy, compared to having to write and answer questions. Furthermore, the case studies which CDE presents you with are fun and interesting. They present to you case studies on top companies in the world, such as Google, Apple and Lenovo. I am especially interested in Goggle, and its 20 percent rules, and its luxurious life which beholds for the employees( Sleeping pods, free food etc) and compare apple, whose sort-of –dictator whose orders are imperial and Apple’s world revolves around him. Its also fun to see Apple using the motto Be evil, in contrast to Google’s Don’t be evil. Therefore, CDE is not actually a lesson which forces us to seat on our seats, listening to the endless talks and lectures. It is more of an enrichment, whose case studies and presentations appeal to us, and I really enjoy CDE lessons and the content it has in store for us.

What I look forward to CDE us more of its fun-filled and enriching presentation. Presentations should not be taken as something dreaded and boring. It is actually very fun; if you commit yourself to doing a nice presentation. As the saying goes, you reap what you sow, if you give your best shot to the presentation, the end results of your presentation will be sweet and satisfying.

Also, I would like to participate in debates in CDE. Debates are also very fun and it gets us actively involved in the lessons. Maybe Mr Karplus can add Debate to be our tests for our oral particiaption this term, which will make the debate even more exciting. Or maybe he can slot in some time for debates here and now, which will no doubt have satisfying results with  killing-two birds with one stone effect- we look forward to CDE lessons, we learn more from CDE lessons. From my sec two experience in History, the teacher gave us debates on term two/term 3 and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I gained interest in History, and managed to score 81 marks for my end of year exams, which I think is impressive. Therefore, I really think that we should have debates in CDE and it will make the whole lesson more meaningful. I also look forward to the active participation of my class. It takes two hands to clap, so I think that in order for a CDE lesson to be successful, the students themselves have to take the initiative to actively participate in class and make the class more lively. Therefore, I look forward to more presentations, case studies and the active participation in our class. I appreciate the school for giving me such an enriching program for us to “open our eyes” to the world.