Video-The Self In Interpersonal Communication

Photo Reading on Perception

Instead of the usual long winded, twisted, unabsorbable words that are often used to explain a concept of a certain thing, our group have came up with another method that should be more interesting to our fellow readers. As you've read from the title of this post, photos will be the main source of information and of course, a word or two to guide you along. It is proven that by photo reading we can absorb and understand the material 3 times faster than normal black and white sentences, or is that just an illusion which our mind chooses to believe? Which brings us back to our title, Perception. What is it? How do we do it and why?

Remember when our parents always asks us to choose the right friends to be with or else we'll become bad apples. Percepting has always been a way of seperating our good friends from the bad. We percept because we want to be with people that can be meaningful and well worth it. We percept using the stages of perception which are selection, organization, interpretation and negotiation.

When we look at this picture, we can observe that those disturbing hollowed eye people are staring rudely at that poor blue man. In our own(group) word, they're percepting, trying to learn about that man from it's outlook and what made him a different individual among the rest. For the readers viewing the picture, what do you precept from this picture? Perhaps the blue man was a disgrace to the society and has become an outcast? Maybe he was viewed contrarily because of his skin colour? Perchance your observation would be the same as your friends, who knows? Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment.

Readers, do tell us. What can you percept from this particular photo above? Comment up please! :)

Video-Culture In Interpersonal Communication

The throwing mandarin oranges session:

Communication Apprehension (Terms)

Communication Apprehension is also known as CA. It is the fear and anxiety that we have or feel. It is common factor which is found in students as they prepare for public speaking, drama, debates...anything that has to do with speakin in public.A fear that actually affects the way a student speak during their oral presentation, self esteem and also when they socialize. There are two types of communication apprehension : (a) Trait apprehension Generally known as being afraid to speak in public. Example : This is something very common and it happens everyday before our very eyes. Students in school are afraid to speak up because we were taught that it was rude. And it is due to this lack of training that we are not ready to stand up and speak in public. It is something very unfamiliar and not everyone will have the courage to do it. (b) State apprehension Afraid of speaking only in a certain situation or to a specific someone or sometimes at a specific place. Example : We can take our class as an example. Notice how all of us speak and scream at one another during class everyday? But even if we are loud,noisy and uncontrolable during class does that mean all of us are able to speak up in public? The answer is a NO...

Cooley's theory

'Looking Glass- Self ' was a theory which was created by Charles H. Cooley.

It's a process of developing a self-image by the information or messages that we gather from the people around us. Cooley's theory basically tell us:

- How we interpret or how we perceive ourself.

- The need for feedbacks from others to realise the perception they have towards us and to find out who we are.

- Comparison of what others perceive in us. In some ways might makes u shameful or proud from what people around us assumed us to be.

Self-dislosure

Date: 13 February 2009 (13.02.2009) Day: Friday Time: 2.00 p.m. - 5.00 p.m.

Miss Cheryl requested us to do a blog entry on self-disclosure and Johari Window. This is our what we have conclude.

Self-disclosure is basically known as: (a) Sharing information about ourselves with the people around us. (b) It expose the risk and vulnerability of our past as we share information to others. (c) We get to know about different people by self - disclosure. (d) It also create a bond with the people we communicate to. The easiest way to describe self - disclosure is by 'Johari Window'. *Please refer to the next post. In this class, we learned that self-disclosure is what a person decide to disclose themselves to others. Everyone has the right to choose what they want to disclose and we should learned to accept and understand that everyone has the right to not to disclose everything about themselves. We should learn how to respect other people's privacy.

Johari Window

Date: 12 Febuary 2009

Day: Thursday

Time: 9.00 a.m.-12.00 p.m.

Today we were ask to explain about Johari Window. This is the information for Johari Window.

Johari window is named after Joseph Luff and Harry Ingham and it was created in the year of 1955. Johari Window consist of four main pane which is also known as the window shades that moves as a interaction process. (1) Open Pane - is the most obvious traits in us. It is what everyone can see in us. E.g Hair colour, the shape of our eyes, height and etc. (2) Blind Pane - is what others can see in us but it is something we aren't aware of. E.g Faults, bad attitude and etc (3) Hidden Pane - is something which we do not reveal to others. E.g Secrets, fantacies and etc (4) Unknown Pane - is what we and others do not know about ourselves. E.g talents or self interest that haven't been discovered.

We learned that everyone has their own secret and also the dark side of their own since we human have the rights to choose what we want to disclose to others. So, we should learned and prepare ourselves to accept the true colours deep inside a person. In fact, we should learned how to accept our friend as who they are.

Lokini's Culture

Since I am from the indian culture, there are many things can be used to represent my culture. I would choose the simplest one, which is “Pottu” or commonly known as Bindi. Bindi is derived from the Sanskrit word bindu, which means drop. It is believed that the placing of bindi represents the mystic third eye of Lord Shiva. The area where bindi is positioned is between the eyebrows. This specific area is known as the "Agna" which means command. This area is said to control various levels of concentration attained through meditation. It is also believed that the bindi is placed between the eyebrows to retain energy in human body. Therefore, in temple, priest will mark the area between the eyebrows of men and children with “thiruneer” (holy ash) or “kumkum” (tikka powder). Young girls or women who are not married will use black coloured bindi. Meanwhile, married women are suppose to use red coloured bindi. My mother also use to tel me that I am not supposed to use red coloured bindi like her. But she didn’t tell me the reason. Then I knew the reason from my grandmother. Actually this is to recognise whether someone is married or not. Moreover, red colour brings good fortune into the home of the bride, preserve the family’s honour and welfare.

Thaipusam

There's always a special meaning hidden behind every celebration. Take for example, Chinese New Year is to welcome the Lunar New Year, Christmas is to commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ and Hari Raya is a time to reconcile and renew relationships with others. Thaipusam on the other hand, was to honour Murugan( the youngest son of Shiva and Parvati) birthday and likewise to rejoice the day Murugan destoryed the wicked demon Soorapadman with a vel(spear). Every year near the end of Januray, a festival is either held at Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur(pic one) or the famous Murugan temple which is located atop a small hill in Penang near the Botanical Gardens(pic two).

During the festivities, devotees spear their cheeks with long, shiny steel rods often a meter long and pierce their chests and backs with small, hook-like needles. Tourists, who join the festivals, watch in awe as metal pierces the skin with hardly any bleeding and, apparently, no pain as the devotee stands in a trance in the dawn light after weeks of rigorous fasting, penance and abstinence(pic three).

Here is a picture of the devotees walking up the 272 steps to reach the temple, with some carrying idols of their Hindu deity relentlessly while fulfilling their vows for the wishes they were granted of(pic four).

I was truly amazed by how spiritually enveloped the Hindus are to their Gods. It will be an experience of a lifetime if one is willing to give oneself a chance to participate in these mystifying events during Thaipusam, with or without a vow. I believe that by doing so, it could bring about peace in mind and the reconcilement of nations.

Chap Goh Meh

In Hokkien dialect, Chap Goh Meh literally means the fifteenth night of the Chinese Lunar New Year. This day or night is the first Man Yue (it means full moon in Chinese) of the New Year, Chinese will hang red lanterns around their house. In the olden days, this day was meant for the couples as they were only to meet each other on this very day. The Chinese community in Penang celebrates this occasion with various activities, the most popular event will be the 'throwing mandarin oranges' event.

On the 9th February 2009, the celebration of Chap Goh Meh started at 7pm at Esplanade. We had the opportunity to watch a variety of cultural performances such as the Lion Dance, Chingay performance (flag-balancing), Joget performance, and so on. This year the Penang state government invited the Lion Dance Association from Johor, who won 29 World Championships, to perform the lion dance. Besides that, they also invited the Dondang Sayang performers to perform Joget. The performers showed the spectators a few simple Joget steps and led them to a mass Joget session.

One of the highlights of the ceremony was the Chief Minister of Penang, Yang Amat Berhormat Tuan Lim Guan Eng, also took part in the event by being the first person to throw oranges into the sea. Later, Miss Pesta 2008 finalists led the crowd in this very event. The throwing of tangerines into the sea is the most important part of the entire celebration. This practice actually originated from Penang. Traditionally, in the fifties or sixties, young maidens of the Nyonya family threw tangerines into the sea on the night of Chap Goh Meh. They believed that by throwing tangerines into the sea, they would find themselves a good husband. This culture was later followed by the Chinese.

A little story about the history of throwing mandarin oranges. Chap Goh Meh is the only day where "Romeo and Juliet" were allowed to meet each other. While nyonyas and will get the chance to leave their home. To them, Chap Goh Meh is seen as Eastern Valentine's Day. "抛柑嫁好尪", in Hokkien dialect means that throwing mandarin oranges will bring you a good husband. As for guys, they will get a good relationship after throwing mandarin oranges. Single nyonyas will throw the mandarin oranges to the sea while single babas will collect the mandarin oranges from the sea. The baba that collect most mandarin oranges will be the winner. This activity started at the 19th Century at Esplanade and Gurney Drive.

Moreover, Chap Goh Meh is also known as the Eastern Valentine’s Day. According to the Chinese legend, the matchmaker from the moon will tie red strings on the couples’s legs on this day. As the result, those couples will end up marry or being together.

The photos of the Chap Goh Meh celebration at Penang:

The event organise by the Penang Government.

The evidence. Hahaha...

The early birds. They deserve the chairs. Foreigners also took part in this event... The Lion Club selling oranges for a very cheap price.. Don't know how to read. Never mind just see the price. Get it? RM 1.00 for ONE! Anyway, the Lions Club will donate it to the charity. The crane and the photo shot team. Chap Goh Meh is Eastern Valentine's Day. The 'throwing orange' event The final destination of the mandarin oranges, either the sea or the basket.

Photos from Guang Ming:

P/s: This is a great event for everyone to know the specialty of Malaysia's festival, but there's always something bad in everything. After the event, the oranges are not cleared from the sea. When we took the ferry back to Butterworth on Wednesday, we saw a lot of oranges in the middle of the sea. If this can be improved, things will be perfect.