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The narrator of "Note to Sixth-Grade Self" gains confidence and strength during the course of her story. The narrator is consistently bullied by Patricia and Cara, the popular girls at school. They turn the entire school against the narrator, leaving her to fend and stick up for herself. She is constantly put in the vulnerable position and no one will help her. Through this, she rises up and gains a new confidence. The narrator realizes the harsh truth of reality, that no one will help her, when the popular girls turn everyone against her. From that, she comes to understand that her vulnerable state will not last forever, making her mentally stronger.
Get original essayWhilst Patricia and Cara are putting down the narrator, nearly no one is willing to stand up for her. Near the end of the story, Eric, a boy who seemed to be the only person who empathized with her, still would not publicly stand up for the narrator. When Eric generously gifted her with a new dress after her own was ripped by Patricia and Cara, "his expression tells you that despite the dress... things are not going to change at school... He will not take walks with you at recess or sit next to you... You can see he is apologizing for this and you can choose to accept it or not" (90). Eric connects to the narrator and even buys her a gift, showing he really cares about her. Despite this, he does not want to be ostracized by others for being around the narrator. He apologizes for this, and the narrator realizes Eric's standpoint. With Eric's choice to not publicly associate with the narrator, the narrator realizes that she is provided with a choice. She can either stay strong and stick up for herself or continue letting the mean girls hurt her even more. The narrator decides to stand tall and resist against her bullies in the future, differing from how hurt she used to feel, showing change.
After the narrator danced with Eric, Cara and Patricia invited the narrator to go to the mall with them. What seemed like a kind gesture to the narrator turned out to be a nasty prank. Upon arriving at the mall, the narrator waits for Patricia and Cara for nearly twenty minutes. She soon realizes the true nature of the event and in turn, tells herself that she is in "Uptown Square with your mother's credit card. Go to Maison Blanche..." (84). The narrator realizes that there is no way Patricia and Cara are coming and had tricked her. In turn, the narrator decides that she can either sulk about the problem or make the best of it by going shopping and enjoy herself. A few weeks back, the narrator might have broken down and cried, like she almost did at the dance studio, but this time, she decides to take advantage of the situation and turn it into a positive experience. The narrator grew self-confidence and strength as she did not breakdown as she would have previously done, and instead makes the best of it.
Throughout the story, the narrator grows from a timid, submissive person, into someone who is strong and can defend herself. She becomes disappointed by the fact that no one will stand up for her but chooses not to let that put her down. Instead, she begins to stick up for herself instead. She also begins to realize that she must stay strong when Patricia and Cara don't show up to the mall as planned. Instead of bursting into tears like she might have done before, the narrator makes the best of the situation and enjoys herself at the mall. There is progress of the narrator becoming more confident and emotionally strong as shown with her choices with Eric and Patricia and Cara.
Julius Caesar (reigned 46 – 44 BC), a name globally known by many today, is one of the rulers of different countries still are referred to as Caesar, a title that bears great honour. This name has achieved an amount of respect that had never been reached beforehand. Julius Caesar an iconic Roman leader, gaining said fame due to the fact he hold numerous of the discrete characteristics of a leader. His armies loved him, and his contemporaries hated him because he was impossible to beat, which lead to the question, had Julius Caesar been a good general for Rome, or had everyone been blindsided by the sense of power that he had emulated to everyone he came in contact with. From what historians have gathered, the type of person he had been is revealed, which shows he had cared for not only his soldiers, but the lower class as well (a characteristics every leader should not only have but embody) and also had the means to be a powerful political leader, thus showing Julius Caesar had indeed been a good leader.
Get original essayThough Julius Caesar may come off as politically capable and as a great general, many think otherwise, believing that in reality he had numerous characteristics that had made him a rather bad leader. Some tend to believe in his campaign in Gaul he had been a rather ostentatious, and rather than being a success for Rome, had actually been a mission of slaughtering ‘tax paying’ trading partners, which essentially had been the key factory in his crossing into German territory, an event some referred to as when Caesar “started a big war crossing a small stream”. A second factor that cause for many to doubt Caesar was his egotistic character, in the sense of him declaring himself as dictator for life, regardless that had been something Rome had never done prior. When he gained this role, he took it upon himself to cancel elections representatives of Rome, and the only ones allowed to be elected for the office of consul had to be personally selected by Caesar himself. He used his power to set the precedent for the future of Rome, and did so in a way that would only be in his advantage. One of the most major factors that leads people to believing Caesar had been a bad leader, was his ambition. He had supposedly been corrupted and only lusted for power which in turn affected his leadership and his bonds with citizens slowly deteriorated as time went on. Many believe that he sought for more whenever he reached a new peddle stool, always craving more power, regardless of the amount he already posed. This caused him to be become extremely greeted which affected his thinking and made him think only about himself rather than the people he was supposed to be leading.
These accusations towards Caesar to say the least, are incorrect and invalid, as they don’t have statutory evidence to back them up and prove them to being correct. What some deem as a merciless killing spree (his Gaul campaign against so called tax paying citizens), had truly been a defence mechanism to saving Rome. Gaul, had been invaded by the Helvetii, then a Germanic tribe, and Caesar had to subdue the rest of Gaul in order to cease the growing threat4. To counteract dictatorship during this time period had been a constitution never used before, as it had been only been created for extreme times of emergency. He hadn’t went straight into being voted dictator for life, but rather had been voted in for 5 years, then 10, then for life. This showcases that the people continually voted for him because they trusted him, and he had not just taken the position himself. He did not let his own desires fog what was best for Rome, which is seen by the fact he stabilized the rate at which debts were to be repaid (interest), which allows debts to be repaid, and for citizens to not be subjected to a life constantly in debt. Though people can believe what they want, as the end of the day it’s evident that Caesar had accomplished so much, in so little time. He had so many successes on the both the battle field and bring about new chances for citizens. His political actions may come off as self-absorbed to some, however it cannot be denied the amount of hope he gave to Rome, and that so many great leaders came about after him, all hoping to uphold his legacy.
A characteristic that allowed for Julius to become so well liked was his charming undertone he radiated to both his soldiers, citizens and even those going against him. When looking at the timeframe that Caesar was in power, it is extremely evident how all who served him, and had stayed loyal, ended up retiring with a good share of money to their names – definitely enough to live comfortably. He knew how to manage the challenges that faced him, and keep the strong headed aura that surrounded him even in times of uncertainty. Studies show that he could have possibly suffered from an illness called epilepsy, however these difficulties did not influence how he implemented his ideas and carried out his duties as a leader. During the period of his leadership, it was said that Caesar had personally known each and every name of the soldiers in his army, which would have caused a connection on a more personal level, thus building the confidence of his navy. This type of connection between leader and member would have allowed for a reduced gap and for soldiers to be more confident that their general would be able to lead them towards victory. In turn, Julius’ thoughtfulness towards the lower class and Rome as a whole is another factor that had made him such a stellar leader. Using his power as a leader, Caesar started many social reforms that helped the lower class gain some forms of stability. He outlawed extortion, which had been one of the leading concerns during this time period, and also established a standard calendar (which is what our calendar now is based on). He also instituted the Acta Diurna, which had been a paper sent to the public allowing for them to gain a better knowledge of what the government had to say on differing issues. As well as this, he found a way to reduce the unemployment, and offered the poor a new life in Rome’s overseas colonies, which benefited not only the poor but him as well. The lower class was able to start anew in fresh environments, and Caesar had his newly taken over colonies being settled in by Roman citizens. Caesar dreamed for a better Rome, and in order to do this, started construction for new buildings that could enhance the cities appearance, especially due to the fact he thought Rome seemed rather bland in comparison to Alexandria (which had at the time been considered the best city in all of the Mediterranean).
Not only did the characteristics that Caesar had support the reason behind him being a good leader, but also his defence tactics and methods he used in order to protect Rome. He had a numerous amount of military successes, and said successes helped him climb the ladder towards political power. He had been, to say the least, a force to be reckoned with, he managed to conquer land like no other, first managing to gain Gaul (his most popularly known achievement), which makes up most of what we know modern call France, Switzerland, Belgium and parts of Italy. He also invaded (but never fully conquered) Britain and set up a tributary system there as well. Julius Caesar both managed to conquer new land and rebuild old tarnished land as well and “founded many colonies in those newly conquered territories”, having had restore two ancient cities that had been devastating for the country when they had originally lost them. From 49 to 44 BC, he managed to rebuild both Corinth and Carthage, of which had been destroyed in the Third Punic War. However, though his other accomplishments in regards to political power both hold great astound to historians, his greatest achievement was that he was that he was granted dictator for life of Rome. Due to the numerous victories he had, cities he had restored, and the popularity he had among citizens lead to votes being in his favour. Though he ended up getting quite the large head because of this, and ended up going to Senate meetings wearing purple (colour meant for royalty), and refused to stand for others. Caesar’s impact and good leadership on the city of Rome continued even following his death and when this happened he put in his will for everything in his name to be made public. This included his villa, the gardens that had been surrounding it and his art gallery as well. As well as all of this, he put in his will that his inheritance and wealth be spread among the citizens, which adds on to his plan of bringing Romans out of unemployment, as this chunk of money would have allowed for the citizens to have a good lumesone to live off of.
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Get custom essayTo conclude, Caesar had wanted nothing but the best for Rome, and wanted to spread the culture all throughout the entirety of the Mediterranean. He sought out to ensure he had close relationships with his soldiers, which in turn would allow for them to feel as though they could entrust their livelihoods with him. As previously mentioned, he cared, genuinely, for the lower class, and wanted to lessen the hardships weighing down on their shoulders and overall used his political knowledge and power to ensure that time was put into Rome. He showed his wishes of stability and affluences for Rome by putting in the work, making connections and securing win after win.
The Shining is a beloved and chilling 1980 American psychological thriller directed and produced by acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut). The film was adapted from the 1977 novel of the same name written by the ever-prominent and illustrious author Stephen King. The film follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a hard-working family man and aspiring writer, with a history of abuse and alcoholism shadowing him in his hostile, shaky and impersonal relationship with his timid wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and young and psychically gifted son Danny (Danny Lloyd). When Jack accepts a caretaker position during the Winter off-season at the isolated Overlook Hotel, Wendy and Danny follow suit with a false sense of optimism and spend their days traversing in the daunting and imposing gloom of the unsettlingly normal hotel (or so it seems). As the unnerving patterned carpets and harrowing cream corridors twist and turn, the viewer is set to watch as the Torrance family sink into the beckoning arms of insanity.
Get original essayKubrick is reputable for his subtle but recognizable film form – walking a thin line between order and disorder. “Kubrick’s great obsessions were: the relationship between the artificial and the natural, the constrained and the unleashed, the civilized and the base, the man and the machine.” However visually, Kubrick’s works tend to be individual autonomous examples of his cinematic brilliance – worlds within themselves, with no underlying features or aspects that unite them in a “Kubrick style”. This is entirely evident in The Shining, the biggest contributor to the meaning within the film (or any film) being the stylistic mise-en-scène Kubrick has formed. The mise-en-scène, put simply, encompasses the visual aspects of a film. It is everything that appears within a frame – all with a specific purpose that contributes to the film as a whole. “Mise-en-scene includes those aspects of film that overlap with the art of theatre: setting, lighting, costume and the behaviour of the figures. In controlling the mise-en-scene, the director stages the events for the camera.” Throughout The Shining (1980), every scene implements elements of mise-en-scene in order to create a thorough and distinct meaning for the audience to take in and analyse. The Shining’s (1980) mise-en-scene is particularly unconventional in comparison to other horror films and aims to contradict the viewers preconceived vision of a horror flick through mise-en-scene, and specifically through the distinct use of complimentary colour psychology that contributes significantly towards the film’s magnificent integrity.
A spectacular example of the film’s eerie and infamous mise-en-scéne is at the very beginning. The film begins with grand sweeping shots of the Colorado Rockies, isolated in the icy peaks and jagged troughs of rich greens, cool shades of blurred blues and the pure white of the snow. The viewer is introduced to an exhibition of purposefully placed, sloping scenes of beauty and solitude: remote and bitter isolation that masks itself as splendour – the blues that swallow the landscape reinforcing the aspects of detachment and unfamiliarity that we later see in the demeanour of Jack Torrance. The long shots trail above Jack Torrance’s car as it curves further through the desolate mountain scene, a gloomy sense of the complete unknown hanging heavy over the viewer as the shot hangs over Jack Torrance. The audience gazes down at the little old car, the Torrance’s oblivious to the leering sense of danger that awaits them. From the very beginning, the audience is purposefully positioned through the shots to leer over the Torrance’s like the untapped sense of fear that sits in Wendy and Danny Torrance’s stomach, and the deep and ticking rage inside Jack Torrance. The foreboding and grand music only reinforces this sense of unadulterated dread. The deep notes intend to sink deep into the viewer’s pitted stomach and provoke a profound sense of unease. Kubrick’s chosen music for this scene is eerie and striking and can almost be described as animalistic at times. As Jack Torrance snakes his way further up through the scenery to his awaiting interview at the Overlook Hotel, the music thrums with wild, daunting calls and echoed screeches – and the viewer becomes increasingly aware of the hostile environment, the grisly intentions of the imposing hotel, and the unfortunate events edging on the horizon. From the very beginning, the viewer is positioned in a cat-mouse like place – similar to the position of the wolfish Jack Torrance.
However, the perilous and magnificent drive is met with the juxtaposition of the warm and inviting hotel: dripping in soft and humble shades of reds and golds, gentle muzak, and a patterned lobby littered with a few guests and bellboys. The Overlook Hotel, as it seems, is the antithesis of the traditional horror movie trope of the ‘haunted hotel’. Kubrick himself stated: “We wanted the hotel to look authentic rather than like a traditionally spooky movie hotel. The hotel’s labyrinth layout and huge rooms, I believed would alone provide an eerie enough atmosphere.” This use of set design and colour scheme purposefully and subtly further places the concept of a façade. The hotel is deceiving in its looks, and has sinister intentions underneath, just as Jack layers his dark underbelly of violence and anger under ice-thin niceties and casual jokes.
The stunning use of the colour red throughout the film is certainly what truly marks The Shining’s mise-en-scene as wonderous and recognizable. The colour red is clearly defined throughout the film, a pattern subconsciously hinting at the viewer, coaxing you in with brilliant and striking shades that particularly aim to warn. The colour is littered throughout the film – from minor props and costumes to major scenes that utilise the colour as a tremendous sounding-of-alarms and can be recognized as an associative colour scheme. According to Mary Risk, a notable freelance writer and producer, an associative colour scheme is “when a recurring colour or scheme represents a theme or character in a film, thereby visual spectacle with emotional storytelling.” Throughout The Shining, the colour red becomes associated with danger, often a precursor to bouts of tension or violence. The use of the colour red so simply but tremendously emerges as a motif of menace: a subtle sign of the supernatural that breaths down the Torrance’s necks as they trudge through the months in the Overlook Hotel. It is this consistent repetition of the colour red that reveals to the viewer the slow changes that affect Wendy, Danny and especially Jack – the imposing obscurity of the mysterious hotel peeling away their layers of sanity before our very eyes. According to well-known film theorists and authors, David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, “repetition is basic to our understanding of any film. For instance, we must be able to recall and identify characters and settings each time they reappear.” The repeating motif of the colour red not only serves the narrative but provides The Shining (1980) with exposition that intends to leave the viewer in a state of dread – fear of what’s to inevitably come.
Throughout The Shining (1980), the hotel is set up to be seen as a maze, with its twisting walls and unsettling, warm geometric carpets that beckon Danny onwards in his childish venture of the hotel and represent his weaving and unfurling of the puzzled mystery of the hotel. Danny winds through the hotel, dressed accordingly to his young and playful nature, but there is a further use of red which subtly notifies the viewer of a possible impending danger. The viewer trails behind Danny on his tricycle, lowered to his height and perspective as he winds through the incoherent hallways of the Overlook Hotel. Danny slinks through the eerie and harshly lit kitchen hall, the pale greens reinforcing his sense of childlike-wonder with an overlaying sense of inauspicious and unnatural danger. This sets the viewer to grow weary of what’s to follow. The unpredictable and shrill music juxtaposes the ordinary and innocent activity that Danny is doing and further promotes a profound sense of unease. Kubrick distinctly chooses to gnaw at fear in the midst of innocence. Danny swerves obliviously into new territory; high pitched screeches of music drawing in the viewer who is lost to the unknown – waiting for the shot to catch up. The music heightens to a thrumming and still beat, accompanied only by the inconsistent pedalling clicks of Danny’s plastic bike. In a sickly yellowed, but well-lit floral hallway with a shriek of booming and deep music, Danny is met with a pair of twins. The young twins sway ominously at the end of the hallway – pinkish and pale and embellished with an overbearing and contradicting sinister innocence in the form of identical baby blue dresses, pink bows and knee socks. The twins stare blankly at a terrified Danny and echo an unnerving call to him. “Hello Danny, come play with us.” A vision flashes before Danny’s eyes – the twins sprawled in the same hallway, their innocent bodies lying drenched in their own blood besides an axe and blood-stained walls – a further motif of the colour red signifying the impending danger of the hotel. This grotesque vision visibly rattles Danny, who stares in shock at the resumed shot of the girls holding hands. They chant at him incessantly, accompanied by shrill runs of music that dance up the viewer’s spine like an icy chill until Danny clasps his hands over his eyes in terror. Once they have unfathomably disappeared, Danny seeks his “imaginary” friend Tony for reassurance, but despite Tony claiming it isn’t real (“just like pictures in a picture book”), the viewer has been positioned to know the dangers that follow will be terrifying real as the crimson of Danny’s sweater reinforces the motif of impending danger.
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Get custom essayUltimately, the mise-en-scene of The Shining (1980) successfully attempts to subtly convey the underlying meanings behind the film itself. Kubrick intends to portray the ghastly horror of the hotel and the distinct concept of a façade through minor details that illuminate and amplify a cohesive cinematic world that leaves a guttural dread sitting in the viewer: flashes of colour that don’t overbear, but rather sink into the audience – trickling through the jagged Colorado mountains, seeping through the dreary and distorted hallways of the Overlook Hotel and shadowing the Torrance’s in their imminent descent into the icy depths of lunacy.
Maxwell (1999) defined leadership as the capacity of influencing people by providing purpose, directions and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.
Get original essayWith reference to the case study, though Zensar Technologies experienced a backlash in its operations, it took the focus, drive and commitment of a person with great leadership qualities to motivate the other team, to bring the organization back to its feet, increase revenue and maintain competition. The case study shows that a leader/ team without the right focus can never reach an organization’s goal.
Zensar Technologies did not make provisions for future upgrades/ plans and hence led to initial fall. According to Ferguson (2014), Successful leaders are visionaries and must look ahead and analyze each step via strategic thinking, in order to achieve long term success. However, Dilip Ittyera failed, as he wasn’t a visionary and didn’t make provision for future upgrades in the SBP, and resulted in the demands out weighing the current system, hence revenue loss.
Leaders can organize, partition and delegate work. By directing team efforts with vision, leaders become the heroes of flatten hierarchy Yakowicz (2013). Due to the motivation and commitment Dilip Ittyera provided as a leader to his team in the first year, when he resigned from Zensar Technologies, the employees lacked that motivation, dedication and drive as an attribute to be possessed by a leader and hence, over 30 staff also resigned within that year. Leaders who have the focus and drive tend to instill the same on their team members to achieve the organization’s mission, leading to increase in revenue.
Finally, a strategic thinker and good decision maker is what completes the chart for a great leader. With comprehensive SWOT analysis, strategic thinking and good decision making, Vijay Gaikwad who had the dedication and commitment of a leader, brought Zensar technologies back to its feet. This was done by comprehensive SWOT analysis, in-depth knowledge of the product (SBP), great decision making and good risk taking technique to realize that, placing SBP as an open source business, will however make room for rapid organizational growth an increase in revenue.
Maxwell (2010) asks question of who a leader is and what makes people want to follow a good leader? What will make two categories of staff of a company reluctantly follow one leader (without room for option) while the other exhibit passion following a leader to the end of the earth. According to Robson’s (2008) study, he concluded that a strong leader should be:
Perrow (2016) placed emphasis on the fact that the mission of every Technology industry is to achieve success. Because the aim is to accomplish the mission, the organization sets a management by choosing leaders and managers who will do their best to help accomplish the mission. Organization that approach safety as a top priority build in adaptability and coping mechanisms in the face of adversity.
Every Successful leader has the attribute of a good planner. Without planning, we do not make room for future growth or hiccups along the way and hence the organization crumbles when such afflictions are met. If Dahil, according to the case study, planned well and perhaps had undertaken SWOT analysis of the system of what had to be done, the company world not have crumbled down, and would have doubled its revenue.
The process of strategic thinking allows us to analyze situations and problems - and then prepare the plan that will take us to new levels or through a change. There is the difference between Strategic thinking and Strategic planning. Using Brary (2010) analysis, Strategic thinking involves the brainstorming of an actual plan, which is supposed to be put in action, and in line of the company’s vision. Strategic planning, then, is the implementation of the brainstorming from of where a company is, to where a company is supposed to be.
For a leader to qualify as a strategic one, he needs to adopt the principle of competitive analysis to lead the company ion competitive advantage. The best tool for this is a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.
A typical example of a strategic leader in Ghana is Menz bank. With in-depth SWOT analysis, he did something different from what other finance institutions/ Banks are doing. To encourage and increase clientele base, he offers a pound of gold for every Ghc. 1,500 ($300) deposit. He also created another company called Brew Marketing consult, that is basically in charge of bringing clients and companies on board and also allocated some fair percentage. Since the introduction of the pound of gold marketing in 2016, the company has gained over 60,000 clients and counting and is currently in lead of competitive advantage.
Sampson Jr. (2012) emphasized that committed leader always stays focused and dedicated in every situation no matter the hiccups on the way, because every company has challenges and it’s via those challenges that give the opportunity for better strategies and decision making. For instance, as when the company incurred cost in the second year, Dahil of Zensar Technologies couldn’t handle it and left elsewhere. On the Contrary, Vijay stayed and used the opportunity of the challenges of the company to derive a long term successful decision.
Lean manufacturing in its essence is “a commerce proposal to reduce waste in manufactured goods. The fundamental plan is to reduce the cost scientifically, throughout the product and fabrication development, by means of a succession of business reviews”. It is about making incremental improvements in the production process, whilst including all parties involved, in order to become more efficient while reducing waste.
Get original essayReducing waste is a big part of lean manufacturing and Taiichi Ohno, who was a Toyota engineer that came up with the Toyota Production System (TPS) categorized 7 types of waste:
In our setup, waste minimization is paramount to our success. Production will be carried out as per orders without sitting on a large inventory. This will also account for change in fashion and trends. Proper material planning and forecasting will be conducted in order to prevent bottlenecks down the line. In line with “unnecessary motions”, we will strive to create the most ergonomic work flow on the line for the benefit of the shop floor employees.
People involvement
All employees will be encouraged to speak up and come up with ideas on how to make the production line more efficient and to flag any potential problems. As there are many production stations along the line, each one can be made more efficient and who better to know that then the actual people working on them.
Continuous improvement
Continuous improvement is one of the basic tenants of Kaizen, a Japanese management method that focuses on continuous improvement at all times. In essence, Kaizen is: “an approach in which every one of the people working at a production site considers measures to improve quality and productivity by doing whatever they can to reduce waste in the production process and implement such measures in their jobs”. From this definition we can clearly see the Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen are closely related. We will of course be implementing Kaizen in our factory and strive to collaboratively continue to improve every part of the production line, as well as all of the administrative procedures that feed it.
Pull systems
A pull system in manufacturing refers to the production process which is triggered by demand. That is to say, inventory is kept to a minimum and minimal stock is kept. Once an order comes through, the entire production line starts in order to meet that order. This as well is within the scope of Lean Manufacturing or Kaizen, and allows to have minimal waste while still being able to produce quickly and efficiently based on actual orders. The major difference between pull systems and push systems is that a pull system is based on “Make to Order” while a push system is based on “Make to Stock”. We will be using a pull system where production will be made to order, with minimal stock and inventory.
Setup reduction
Setup reduction refers to the time it takes to setup the production machines to make a specific batch. In line with the above, most of our machines will be setup specifically for each batch (order) which is something that will have to be considered when scheduling is done. However, the only stations that need a special setup are those machines that punch out the different pieces that make up the jeans according to size. These machines are fitted with special die cuts, which differ in size to accommodate for all the range of sizes that are offered. The replacement of these dies is fairly simple and does not take more than 30 minutes (for both fitting and adjusting).
Total preventive maintenance
Because Lean Manufacturing is about very low inventory and continues improvement, any breakdown in the production line can cause a major shift in the scheduling. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that the machines are kept in the best of shape and to conduct preventive maintenance in order to minimize and breakdowns. This can be done via daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly/annual maintenance schedule where certain actions are being implemented to keep the machines running smoothly.
For example, at the end of every day, each workstation must be cleared of all lint and debris, and using compresses air, to clear out any material that might have been lodged in the machine. Every month a certain part should be lubricated or if it’s a consumable, replaced. Most of these actions can be done by the machine operators, but more technical actions should be conducted with the support of the machine manufacturer and a certified engineer.
Law is often tied with morals and ethics. However, we often neglect the practical social mechanism it performs in controlling people and consolidating states. Whereas Confucius focused on ‘li’ in connection to ‘ren’, the Legalist School concentrated more on the other side of the spectrum: the practical governing mechanism law provides for rulers. The Legalist school of thought can be described largely in twofold: The Legalist School in relation to history and the philosophical Legalist functions of law.
Get original essayOne large contrast between Legalists and other Chinese philosophies is the view upon history. Confucius thought, as well as many other Chinese philosophies, placed immense gravity on the past. Legitimacy and authority was derived from “ancient ancestors”; teachers of the past were put on a pedestal and presented as epitomes of the philosophy (Fung, 135). For example, in explaining “ren”, Confucius points to Bo Yi and Shu Qi as “the superior men of the olden days” and, in explaining “li”, points to the early Zhou as “a splendid civilization”. However, Legalists were extremely reluctant in glorifying the past, emulating figures of the past, and basing a foundation of thought upon the past values. Han Fei lamented on the limitations of what we can learn from the past. He includes “lack of sufficient understanding of the sage kings’ actions and [their] reasoning” (Harris, 160) and different situational circumstances; even when considering admirable values or actions of the past, those two factors create a large possibility for misinterpretation and misapplication of even the noblest past values. From this stemmed the importance of current context in Legalist thought. Han Fei believed that, as the world changed, guiding philosophies and perceptions of the world must change as well, giving way to philosophies more fitting of the time. Even the Legalist school of thought itself is very reactionary to their then-present circumstances. The philosophy was formed during the Warring States Era where multiple states, such as the Qin and Han, were competing for resources and security. Since there is “no guarantee to being able to control actions of nature or of foreigners” (Moody, 18), a desire for consolidate domestic power is natural. Especially in Han Fei’s life, the most recognized Legalist, Han Fei’s Han was “reluctantly within the sphere of Qin” (Moody, 20) and, during Han Fei’s lifetime, his state was constantly playing sides between the Wei, Qin, and other kingdoms. The desire of strong domestic sovereignty and control is natural, “The circumstances of the time did…generate a desire for greater order” (Moody, 18). Hence, this formed the basis of legalist political and philosophical thought.
The legalist conception of a leader is quite different from modern-day leaders. In present-day democracies, it is generally accepted that leaders have political agendas and are opinionated. Legalist thought expects the exact opposite from leaders. The individual attributes and characteristics of a leader is not a prerequisite to rule; legalist theory maintains that a ruler solely needs authority and law to sustain effective rule with no dependency on the ruler’s individual virtue or talents. Han Fei elaborates with the concept of the ‘Way’: an all-encompassing cosmic order that “provides the pattern and regulations of the universe” (Harris, 157). Han Fei maintains that a ruler should emulate the ‘Way’ and become the political ‘Way’ of his state. The ruler should “take into account the regular patterns of the natural world” (Harris, 157), especially the basic self—serving characteristic of human nature. The ruler should also be distant from commoners and cryptic, much like the ‘Way’. “An aura of mystery and awe” is ideal for a ruler such that his rules are “seen to be inevitable and unalterable” (Harris, 158). Overall, there is a large emphasis on elevating the position’s authority. To do so, the throne’s authority should be built independent of the individual; the throne should have a God-like mystical aurora; the throne should use natural tendencies of the people to consolidate power.
Han Fei delves deeper into how to rule as well. Three main components are discussed: shi, shu, and fa. Shih refers to authority and positional power; shu refers to the art of handling people and the public; fa is the law. While varying factions of Legalist thought valued certain components in priority, Han Fei emphasized how all three components were inter-dependent and vital in strong, efficient rule. Shi is a prerequisite for one to employ shu; without authority, one’s ability to manage people is greatly limited. Both shi and shu are needed for fa to be effective as they make it possible for law to be enforced and have weight in society. In relation to the ‘Way’, or dao, law must be justified by dao as well with understanding of nature and human tendencies. If fa is non-compliant with the natural ‘way’ of the world and constituents cannot naturally comply to fa, fa is unjustified and becomes inefficient. These concepts accumulated to a Legalist ‘infallible’ method of governance as well. Fa, or law, should be based on the lowest common denominator. Rulers should not depend upon the virtue of the people because people are not innately virtuous but self-inclined and ignorant of higher morals. When dealing with state matters, rulers should utilize fa to insure no constituent can do wrong, hence, support for a code of law that primarily discourage and punished socially harmful behavior to strengthen state control. Legalists, in conducting fa, were obsessed in promulgating law with explicit, often excessively harsh, punishments and rewards. Legalists were not interested in changing human nature and value systems, but rather more focused on “chang[ing] the way that people act on their desires” (Harris, 159). Furthermore, shu conducted that rulers take passive positions in law as well and, with shu, dictate appropriate men to needed posts, a Chinese bureaucratic structure. Legalists emphasize the importance of specifying responsibilities of officials, stating how the name of the position should be reflective of the goal it is trying to achieve. The ruler merely concerns himself with results, not bothered by the bureaucratic methods of his peons. A simple, yet strong, punishment & reward system suffices in incentivizing officials to accomplish their goals. And, as according to Legalist theory, if the incentive system drives a stronger punishment that reward, it also deters incompetent applicants from accepting offices. The ruler’s role was, therefore, simple: employ and evaluate. Even evaluation, the ruler only concerned himself with consistency between the result and intended goal.
All in all, the Legalist School introduced a cold philosophy of governance geared towards power consolidation and practicality. The Legalist School arose to meet a desire of the people during the Warring States era, a sentiment mirrored in their belief in governing in accordance to situational circumstances. A Legalist form of governance preferred a distant ruler with a developed aura of authority. Relying upon shu, a legalist leader should be passive in technical affairs, relying upon a bureaucratic system in order to maintain unbiased interest in the majority, like the ‘Way’ or dao, with minimum liability to the throne. With punishment-based system of fa and shu that simultaneously decreases ruler lability and bolsters the “God-like” aura surrounding the position, shi is solidified, strengthening the state once again.
Liquor ban in Bihar was one of the important decisions taken by the Chief Minister of Bihar in the favour of weaker section of society of the state. This decision has helped in saving the income of poor people and utilized it in the development of family. A lot of money was being invested by the poors in the name of liquor intake which results in women violence, street nuisance and obstacle in the path of children education. According to a survey People of Bihar are so addicted of liquor that they still after ban bring the liquor from the neighboring states and people are still engage in supplying the liquor in the state. Survey done by a NGO ‘PRAYAS’ Gramin Samiti, Anisabad, Patna clears that liquor ban in Bihar helped the village women in saving monthly income of her husband and promoting deposit of income with the help of JEEVIKA groups. At present they are not only depositing money but also they are creating granary deposit to help them in starvation cases.
Get original essayBihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has imposed total prohibition on liquor. The prohibition came to effect from 1 April, 2016. The new prohibition law has a jail term up to seven years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for the consumption of alcohol. In addition, the new law has the provision for capital punishment for those who engaged in manufacturing or trading of illicit liquor if its consumption leads to casualty. The law is termed draconian. Reports suggest that the liquor ban will bring a loss of a whopping Rs 6,000 crore to Bihar’s exchequer. Prohibition is a fulfilment of the poll promise made by Nitish Kumar ahead of the 2015 Assembly elections. Bihar had also tried to implement prohibition when Karpoori Thakur was the Chief Minister in 1977-78, but failed.
It’s never an easy decision for a state government to declare a ban on alcohol in India. That’s primarily because liquor revenues are not easy to ignore and have consistently formed the bulwark of government funds. Therefore, when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that he was going for complete prohibition of alcohol in the state, it surprised many as the action would lead to huge financial loss to the poor state. According to a report, the state government may face a loss of up to Rs 6,000 crore in the absence of sales of country liquor and IMFL. But the Chief Minister strongly said there was “overwhelming response” from women and children to the ban and it?s tough to ignore that. The decision on the ban was also a fulfillment of Kumar?s election promises that he made in 2015. Nitish Kumar described the decision of his government as historic. He said, “The government will lose more than Rs 4,000 crore revenue annually but it is not a revenue-driven decision” People will now use the money invested in liquor to add nutrition to their plates, avoid disease and economic ruination. That offsets all revenue concerns.” No hotel, bar or club would be allowed to serve drinks though army personnel have been exempted for the time being. A ban on toddy drinking in public places was also imposed. The state will implement guidelines that allow consumption of neera, the drink derived from palm trees before sunrise. The same juice from palm trees acquires alcoholic properties after sunrise and is sold as toddy. Though consumption of toddy was not banned, it will no longer be sold openly in places like rural market places.
To provide the substitute of liquor, the Government of Bihar has tied up with COMFED to supply NEERA (a product prepared by Palm Necter) to the state people. He has also tied up with the TAMIL NADU NEERA BOARD to provide technology for producing NEERA in the state. JEEVIKA has taken the responsibility of surveying the toddy tree in the state and provide the number of producers of toddy in the districts of Bihar. For this purpose NEERA plant has setup in Nalanda and Nawada for pilot project. Training was also given to the producers (pasi community people) to produce NEERA products like gur, neera, jeli, peda etc. Licence was also given to the producers. A survey done by the ANSISS, Patna clears that although training was given to the producers but due to hard schedule of extracting NEERA (taken off before sun rise, inner painting of vessel by lime powder and changing of vessel after one extraction) it seems difficult for the producers to produce it. Since a NEERA plant can be operated less than 1000 litre of Tari. So the Nalanda and Nawada plant has stopped working. The producers are also reporting that there is neither facility of keeping it on right temperature at local level nor any facility was provided by the Plant officials to reach it at chilling centre in time. In the light of these problems Tari is not converting into NEERA and producers are forced to sell it directly to the customers. In spite of it the cost of NEERA product like Gur has decided by the COMFED is Rs. 900/- per kg which is also un-applicable of purchasing by the ordinary people. Thus this programme has seems to fail in Bihar and thus a hope of liquor-substitute has also lasted.
July 9, 2019 Muzaffarpur police has seized a large amount of liquor kept secretely in the pond of Lakshminiya village. It was captured with the help of fishermen. During the search operation many bottles and cans of bear was also captured. Begusarai Police Station In-Charge R.B. Prasad has seized 5 carton of liquor in the police barrack at night. Police and Excise department jointly captured about 8000 litre of liquor in Muzaffarpur and begusarai district on November 8, 2019.
Bihar has become the fourth state after Gujarat, Nagaland and Mizoram states to impose a blanket ban on liquor.The Chief Minisiter of Bihr, Nitish Kumar described the decision of his government as historic. He said, “The government will lose more than Rs 4,000 crore revenue annually but it is not a revenue-driven decision” People will now use the money invested in liquor to add nutrition to their plates, avoid disease and economic ruination. That offsets all revenue concerns.” Critics have said that a total ban will lead to revenue losses in a poor state such as Bihar and will give rise to black market and underground production activities. The state Finance Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui said, 'In the name of revenue collection we cannot allow poison to be served to people,' He further said, “Families have been destroyed, as a large number of rural youth took to drinking due to the proliferation of cheap local liquor stores,' The minister, however, said that to make up the lost revenue the government will bring more sectors into the tax net. The social and cultural fabric of the state was under threat due to rapid increase in drinking habit among youth in particular and people in general. It appears that imposition of total ban on the sale of all forms of alcohol in the state will lead to significant social and cultural change in Bihar.
This paper presents an analysis of local literature about the effects of online games amoung Bhutanese youth. The emphasis was made on social and health implications of online gaming and what consequences it has on youth.
Get original essayDevelopment in technology has drastically changed the lives of Bhutanese over many years. One of the changes is the online gaming provided by the internet. With the advent of the mobile phone, it is found that the increasing number of Bhutanese youth is indulged in playing online games. The study shows that 79% of internet is used for education, 57% for social networking and 29% for gaming. A research from the United States found out that 97% of the teenagers aged 12-17 engaged in online game, play behavior and almost 40% of Dutch youth indicate to play game for at least three hours on the average week per days. Some examples of the world best online games are Players Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG), Defense of ancients (Dota), Clash of clans (COC) and Mobile legends. These games are hugely popular among the Bhutanese youth. Online gaming effects the youth in both positive and negative ways. However, these online gaming leads to social and health problems, replications of gaming actions and creates distraction to studies.
First of all, there are many social and health problems of online gaming such as, relationship failures, sleeping disorder, eye strain and lack of hygiene. One of the players parent said that due to online gaming a children spent less time with their families and also gives less importance in their studies. Online gaming results in decrease in inter-personal relationships and family relationships. Tshering Dorji, a class seven student spends five hours at game parlor. It clearly shows that children are giving more time on their games than their social activities. When children spend more time on their games, it distorts their sleeping time, where it is necessary for children to sleep for at least eight hours. Decrease in physical activities, productivity and laziness is the result of online gaming. All these characteristics are seen in Bhutanese youth playing video games. Spending more time on mobile and computer leads to eye strain due to quality graphics in many games is sophisticated. Moreover youths are found to be eating snacks while playing online games which are not recommended by doctors. Therefore, online gaming creates relationship problems and health issue.
Secondly, youths are seen to be replicating the gaming actions which may be violent and harmful. There were repeated cases in the school and home. A student who was addicted in playing wrestling and counter strike games were using the freestyles, stunts and attacks in the real life. Numerous youths were applying such skills without protection. There were reports of increasing violence in Bhutanese schools with children copying wrestling moves they see on the video games. Recently Bhutan telecom received a letters from the Bhutan Infocom and Media Authority (BICMA) to block the application Players unknown battleground in a country. Blocking this game is technically difficult. Director off MICMA, Jigme Wangdi said that they have to take the temporary measures to look in effects of this game, as they have received severe complaint from the people. The graphics in many games are so realistic and some games might not be suitable for children age as it might contain violent or sexual explicit content or scenes intended to invoke horror or fear. Youths are destroying their future without noticing it. They are replicating the scenes and actions of the games which are thrilling. Mostly the youths are becoming violent. In research it is found that youth tends to bully or abuse other by copying the actions in the game. There is high risk of hearing offensive language from others when the children take part in multiplayer game. Whereas using such language may be imitated by young generation of Bhutan which is disrespectful to the country. Therefore, such replications are violent and it creates problem in the society.
Online gaming has distracted Bhutanese youth from their studies. When a person gets very addicted to online game, they tend to lose concentration on studies and focus more on online game which affects their academic performance. Children spend about 3-5 hours in the online games and spend less or no tie in their studies. A study showed that with the rapid increase in Bhutanese online players, their interest in studying has drastically dropped. This raised a concern among the player parents. On the other hand students were found going late to the class or staying absent due to playing game late night. Such issues were common in all the schools. One of the players parent claims that the children is hardly interested in the studies and also they do not involve themselves in any social activities. Youth of these days are addicted to the online gaming that they study only at the time of examination, thereby affecting their academic results. In Bhutan the online players do not earn any money unlike other developed countries. So, it is really important for a student to focus on their studies and to play less online games. Therefore, online games of today have created a distraction in their studies.
Online gaming is leading youth in many negative ways as it creates interpersonal relationship problems between the families. Playing online games have distort their sleeping routine, lose internet in all the social activities and mostly led to health problems of the youth. This increase in youths playing online games has created insecurities in society by imitating the games attack and actions leading to the bullying. Moreover an online game contains violent, horror and explicit content which are not appropriate for some aged group children. Due to online gaming students are performing low in their academics. They are focusing more on their online games than their important social activities. It creates distraction to their students thereby failing in examinations. Hence online gaming impacts the Bhutanese youth in negative ways in the case of relationships and health problems, applying gaming actions in reality and on their academic performance.
Fertility refers to the average number of children born to women during their lifetime (The French Institute for Demographic Studies). The problem of low fertility rate has been one of the alarming demographic challenges faced by many countries and cities, including Hong Kong. Fertility rate in Hong Kong has been consistently much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. The following fertility rate essay will draw on the situation of fertility in Hong Kong, followed by the causes, impacts and suggestions regarding the problem.
Get original essayHong Kong has been experiencing low fertility rates for decades, with a decreasing trend being shown. According to the Census and Statistics Department, total fertility rate decreased from 1,235 births per 1,000 women in 2014 to 1,072 in 2019. Besides, according to the Fertility Trend of Hong Kong, the net reproduction rate, which eliminates the effect on fertility rate brought by gender ratio, decreased from 921 in 1981 to 540 in 2017, which was nearly half of the replacement level of 1,000. In addition, a continuous drop in fertility rate is projected, from 1 205 live births per 1,000 women in 2016 to 1,166 in 2066, according to the Hong Kong Population Projections 2017-2066. Therefore, in context with the descending fertility rate, Hong Kong’s fertility rate will be further lagged behind from the replacement level in the coming future. Evidently, Hong Kong has been facing serious fertility problem.
In spite of the fact that low fertility rate is a global issue faced by many different countries, Hong Kong’s fertility rate is still low when compared with other regions. Data from the Central Intelligence Agency (Central Intelligence Agency) shows that Hong Kong ranked the fourth lowest in the world in terms of total fertility rate, which is only 1.2 births per woman. The figure is already significantly low. Yet, it is reflected that the figure has overestimated Hong Kong’s fertility rate. Dr Law Chi-kwong stated that the figure would be much lower if the 9 to 10% of babies born to non-permanent resident mainland women and Hong Kong spouses, as well as domestic workers, were excluded from the count. In addition, total female population in Hong Kong should be higher as mainland Chinese mothers married to the city’s permanent residents and female domestic helpers are not included in the count. Therefore, the actual local fertility rate in Hong Kong should be lower than the figure of 1.2 births per woman used in the ranking. Hence, it is believed that Hong Kong’s fertility rate is amongst the lowest in the world.
Low fertility rate in Hong Kong has imposed a lot of challenges on the city’s development. Declining fertility rate has been one of the contributing factors to ageing population in Hong Kong. In 2019, population aged 65 or above accounted for 17.6% of its total population. Undoubtedly, Hong Kong is becoming an ageing society according to the definition that a country is defined as 'aging' when the share of people aged 65+ is above 7 percent, 'aged' when it is 14 percent or more. With decreasing fertility rate in an ageing society, a shrinking workforce will be resulted, implying fewer taxpayers. The elderly support ratio is projected to decrease from 3.93 in 2018 to 1.48 in 2066. Thus, tax burden of taxpayers will be increased in order to support the increasing demand in elderly welfares. At the same time, with lower labor force, constraints on Hong Kong’s development in different fields, such as innovation and technology aspects, are imposed. Thus, Hong Kong’s economic performance may get worse. Therefore, it is essential to resolve the problem of low fertility rate in Hong Kong.
The major cause of having low fertility rate in Hong Kong is low willingness in giving birth to babies. According to an interview done by The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) as cited in Yip, as high as 67.3% of female respondents would not like to have first or additional child, while just 15.3% positive response were received. Moreover, the Youth Sexuality Study 2016 reported that the average ideal parity continued to decline to 1.33 among females and 1.37 among males. In addition, according to study done by FPAHK as cited in Yip, about 28.4 percent of respondents reported that their ideal number of children was zero. Clearly, the willingness of having children among people in Hong Kong is low.
Low willingness in having babies are resulted by a combination of factors, including unfavorable social environment and diminution of traditional beliefs. Firstly, unfavorable social environment in having children reduce people’s willingness to have children. 56.7% respondents said Hong Kong's living environment is not suitable for raising children according to a survey done. Financially, high cost is involved in raising a child. A survey showed that 71.4% of respondents do not want to have children due to the financial burden of having children. With reference to the Hong Kong Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre as cited in Gu, the cost of raising a child from birth to college graduation in Hong Kong averages about 5.5 million Hong Kong dollars for a middle-class family. Under inflation, the cost of chil-rearing is much higher nowadays. To raise a child, apart from the basic expenses, such as on food and clothing, there is also high education expenses in order to pave the way for successful future of children, which high tuition fees are paid for attending extra-curricular classes and tutorial classes. High rent of small-sized flats in Hong Kong has also deterred couples from having babies. Hong Kong is notorious for its high rent and Nano flats. To raise a child, couples would have to pay for higher rents for a bigger flat to accommodate the family. Therefore, high cost involved in raising a child dissuade citizens to give births.
Apart from financial deterrent, huge responsibilities for parenting also discourages people from having children. 59.3% of respondents would like to be childless as they believe upbringing of children is a huge responsibility. Not only do parents need to bear huge financial responsibility, but also responsibility in taking care of children. Although the government has been providing a variety of support on childcare services, the quantity is far from satisfaction. In 2018, there is only 12 subsidized childcare centers in Hong Kong. The average waiting time for the Government subvented pre-school rehabilitation services falls in the range of 13.5 to 18.2 months. Without sufficient childcare support, people, especially working parents, have lower motivation to have children since they may concern about the arrangement on caretaking. If having children, working parents may need to resign from their job or recruit domestic helpers to look after of their children, which further increases their financial burden. In addition, parents in Hong Kong need to start life-planning for children since their young age, such as attending various playgroups and interview classes, in order to win at the starting line and nurture them into potential participants of prestigious schools. Thus, Hong Kong’s condition exerts tremendous pressure on parents and discourages people to give births.
Secondly, diminution of tradition beliefs has lessened people’s inclination to have children. Individualism grows among youngsters, which they value self-interest more than family. Instead of emphasizing on lineage continuity, people, especially youngster, accept small-size family structure or even childless family. Women in Hong Kong are now more educated and career-driven, so they would like to develop their career or interests rather than taking care of children at home. Moreover, women may find difficulties in balancing between family and work. Therefore, people have lower wish for giving births.
Apart from lower willingness in giving births, late marriage and spinsterhood also contribute to low fertility rate. A shortened fertile childbearing period after marriage is resulted from marriage postponement. The median age at first marriage for women rose from 25.3 in 1986 to 29.7 in 2018. The median age of women at first childbirth also increased from 26.6 in 1986 to 31.8 in 2018. However, it is found that women’s fertility decreases as age increases. For women, the easiest time to get pregnant is before the age of 30. With postponed marriage, it is therefore more difficult for married women to get pregnant. In addition, increased prevalence of spinsterhood cause fewer births in the city. With reference to the statistics, during 1986 to 2018, the number of never married persons aged 15 and over increased by 59.7% and 11.7% for women and men respectively. It is also found that there is lower wish of getting married among youngsters, which only less than half of the 18-27-year-olds indicated they would marry in future. For the above reasons, decline in fertility rate is resulted.
Declining fertility rate is an alarming demographic challenge, so the Government has introduced various measures in the hope of alleviating the problem, such as extension of paternity leave and tax reduction. Several more suggestions on easing the problem will be discussed.
First, the Government can provide more financial support to parents. There are large expenses on infants, such as purchases on diapers and crib. Taking page from the Baby Bonus Scheme from Singapore and Childbirth and Childcare Lump-sum Grant in Japan, by providing subsidies for families with newborn babies, this can hopefully lessen their financial burden, tackling the greatest concern of high expenses in bearing children. In addition, in the context of late marriage, the Government can provide more subsidies on medical fertility treatment. With lower cost on childbearing for infecund couples, they may be more willing to get pregnant artificially. Hence, fertility rate can be risen.
Secondly, the Government can promote family-friendly employment practices. Currently, there are 10-weeks maternity leave and 5-days paternity leave entitlements. However, the entitlement is still far below than the International Labor Organization’s standards of 14-weeks maternity leave. Therefore, it is suggested that the Government should extend the length of maternity leave in order to reduce the pressure on infants’ caretaking. Another measure is to encourage flexible working arrangement, such as working at home and flexible working hours. Some companies even allow workers to bring alone with their children to work and provide on-site childcare services. For example, in Australia, the insurance company IAG was one of the first companies to organize a national program of school holiday care for the children of its employees. Working parents can then work while taking care of their children or work accordingly to their children’s schedule. Thus, flexibility in working arrangement facilitates working parents to strike a balance between career and family.
Thirdly, the Government can provide more childcare support. Lack of subsidized childcare centers is observed. By providing more subsidized childcare services, not only can this relieve parents’ strain on childcare, but it can also lessen their financial burden. Furthermore, the Government can increase the number of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong. Many parents in Hong Kong, especially working parents, would hire foreign domestic helpers in taking care of children. However, currently, there is long waiting time for hiring a foreign domestic helper. By introducing domestic helpers from different countries, families will find it easier to hire one for childcare. Thus, this can reduce their pressure on child-rearing.
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Get custom essayIn conclusion, low fertility rate in Hong Kong is serious. Low willingness to childbearing, as well as diminution of traditional beliefs and late marriage, have contributed to the challenge. To combat the problem, it is suggested that more financial support and childcare support can be given. Moreover, a family-friendly employment practice should be promoted.
In this essay we are going to analyze gender roles, Chinese identity, and the idea of assimilation in Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman”.
Get original essayMaxine Hong Kingston was born in 1940, in Stockton, California. She is the daughter of two Chinese immigrants. In terms of her education we know that she graduated from Berkeley (University of California) in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree. That same year she married her college boyfriend Earll Kingston, and therefore she took his surname too. She is now a professor in University of California, Berkeley.
The text we are going to analyze is the first section or “chapter” of her first book The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. This book was published in 1976 and received the National Book Critics Circle that same year. This book is considered as “non-fiction” since she includes her own experiences and memories; however it is important to mention that she avoids specifying her name in the text. We could say it is a mixture of traditional Chinese folktales, her own experiences as Chinese-American, and memories of her childhood. Maxine wrote this novel in a period when women’s movements and the fight for civil rights were at its height in the United States. During this period literature of Chinese American writers changed. In the past they have focused on the concept of identity and the idea of assimilation and although they continued focusing on those elements we see how gender roles are more emphasised, and integrated, with those previously mentioned concepts in comparison with the past.
This essay is going to be divided into three sections of analysis: the portrayal of gender roles, the conflict of biculturalism (that is the creation of an identity in a bicultural environment) and also assimilation, an element which is implied in the text. Before we begin the proper analysis of those sections or topics I have mentioned before, it is important to give the context of the story. The tale the mother tells is set in a Chinese village in 1924. The present of the story, that is the setting in which Maxine Hong tells us about her aunt is set in California in the 1940’s.
The first topic we are going to deal with is that of gender roles. This section begins with a story the protagonist’s mother always told her. She tells us that her mother told her the story of her aunt, who got pregnant and was considered after that invisible to the family for bringing “shame” to them. With the beginning the first idea that we get is that of a double standard. The tale implies that her aunt brought shame to the family by getting pregnant by another man other than her husband. We do not get the name of her aunt, she is a “no name woman” as the title of this section we are analyzing suggests. They treat the existence of her aunt and the fact she got pregnant as a kind of secret as we can see in the very beginning of the story: ‘You must not tell anyone (…) what I’m about to tell you’. Her aunt refused to give the name of the man who got her pregnant; she is in a way “protecting” him. We could connect this with the idea with which we began this topic: men were considered superior to women. The protagonist’s aunt remains silent; taking all the blame although it is obvious she was not the only one to blame in the act. At the end we know that she decided to kill herself as she could not deal with the pregnancy and the rejection of the community.
Nobody in the story gives her the chance to speak, the chance to explain what happened or why she got pregnant by someone who is not her husband. The mysterious man is placed in a privileged position, nobody demands anything from him. He is freed of any responsibility even though that child is his (representing male privilege in Chinese society) this woman is no given a voice, the title indicates us that. She is presented as a nameless woman; her story is used to warn the protagonist to be careful now that she has had her first menstruation. This nameless woman is used as an example of what not to do. The society in which she lived did not give her a second chance, instead they silenced her and classified her as a secret of which nobody wants to talk about. Maxine Hong illustrates this in the text with: “Don’t let your father know that 1 told you. He denies her”. Not even Maxine’s father wanted to talk about her, after her pregnancy she was classified as invisible and they all tried to act as she never existed after her death.
However, although the main tale does not give the aunt a voice Maxine by writing this section is giving her a voice, is trying to give her a sense of story and identity. Maxine retells the story of her aunt as she was told by her mother, she tries to question the story, she tries to question herself why that happened, who was the man who got her pregnant, she tries to create and tries to provide her with a voice, a story. By telling this story and questioning all that she is giving her aunt a second chance, she honours her in the only way she can now: by giving a silenced woman for many years a voice. As we can see in the following line: “Women in the old China did not choose. Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil. I wonder whether he masked himself when he joined the raid on her family.” The tale of her aunt gives us the representation of a woman living in a repressive society, a society which did not give her many opportunities and in which they had to follow men’s orders. This is the role women had in Chinese society during that period.
The second topic we are going to deal with is identity. Although we can extract many themes from this excerpt, section, or first chapter of the collection it is clear that the idea of the creation of an identity in a bicultural environment is present in the text. This idea is seen very clearly in the following paragraph: “Chinese-Americans, when you try to understand what things in you are Chinese, how do you separate what is peculiar to childhood, to poverty, insanities, one family, your mother who marked your growing with stories, from what is Chinese? What is Chinese tradition and what is the movies?” Maxine Hong, as a Chinese American, felt the struggle of creating an identity when you are part of two different cultures. She is trying to find out what is her real Chinese identity, what is part of her memories, what is just part of the tales and legends her mother told her, and what is part of the image of Chinese that America, especially Hollywood, has created of them. Maxine never went to China, she was born in America and the only contact she had with China and the culture was through her family’s stories and the contact she had with other Chinese-American people.
This illustrates the general struggle children from immigrants had in America, trying to combine characteristics, ideas, and traditions of the American society in which they have grown up and elements and traditions from the original cultures of their families. The idea would be how to draw a line between what is real and what is fiction. This idea can be applied to the general section since Maxine mixes a tale her mother told her when she was little with real experiences and autobiography.
The idea of identity can also be seen in the following lines, but in a more subtle way: “I have thought that my family, having settled among immigrants who had also been their neighbors in the ancestral land, needed to clean their name, and a wrong word would incite the kinspeople even here. But there is more to this silence: they want me to participate in her punishment. And I have”. What she is trying to say here is that for all her life she believed in everything her family said, taking it as the right thing and taking it as what they needed to do because it was part of their culture, a culture she was not fully participant because she was born in America. However, in this text she is more mature, she knows more about life and she is able to make her own judgments. She gets the idea that her parents want her to follow the same rules as they followed in China, those values they took with them to America. But Maxine has other values too; she has values of American people. She is both Chinese and American and those American values make her see things in a different light.
Maxine also illustrates some differences between Chinese people and American people, and how difficult that is for her since she is in between two cultures (that is, having a Chinese family and she being American and interacting with American people). The most prominent example of this idea can be seen in the following lines: “The immigrants I know have loud voices, unmodulated to American tones even after years away from the villaje (…) I have not been able to stop my mother’s screams in public libraries (…) Chinese communication was loud, public”. Here we see that contrast of culture, that contrast that affected Maxine Hong. Chinese people, as she says here, tend to speak very loud. Even when they are in public they use a very loud voice to speak. Maxine herself was born in America therefore she is used to speak in a lower tone; she tries to make her mother understand that speaking loud in a library (taking the example of the text) is not correct. We see a contrast between two different cultures; and also the contrast between her family that came directly from China and Maxine who was born in America.
To finish with the main idea of identity it is interesting to mention that she makes a reference to the hardships of Chinese immigrants: “In 1924 just a few days after our village celebrated seventeen hurry-up weddings-to make sure that every young man who went ‘out on the road’ would responsibly come home (…) Those lucky enough to get contracts waved goodbye from the decks. They fed and guarded the stowaways and helped them of in Cuba, New York, Bali, Hawaii. ‘We’ll meet in California next year,’ they said. All of them sent money home.” In the tale they tell us how Chinese people (usually young men) had to go away, looking for a better life, as immigrants. Those men left their villages, homes, and wives in order to send some money back to their families in China. Maxine gives a reference to the struggle of her ancestors, the sacrifice they did looking for a better life, and the obstacles they encountered in a foreign country. It is also important to mention that America is referred in the text as: “(…) America, the Gold Mountain”. America was seen as the final goal, a place for new opportunities and a place of hope; hope for a better life.
The last topic we are going to deal with is assimilation. This topic is not the most important one in the text, neither is the most clear one, but there are some references to the concept of assimilation that are worth discussing. The first one “I have tried to turn myself American-feminine”. Maxine gives us the idea that she has tried to be more American than Chinese. Living in America made her believe for a period that Chinese aspects of life were inferior, in a way. She admits that she has tried to “Americanize” herself; she has tried to conform to America’s values and traditions. Another quote we see in the text that gives us the idea of assimilation is: “If I made myself American-pretty so that the five or six Chinese boys in the class fell in love with me, everyone else-the Caucasian, Negro, and Japanese boys-would too”. Maxine here claims that if she was “more American” she would be more attractive. She, as an Asian-American girl, was “bombarded” with the American standard of beauty so here we see that she believed that being more American would equal to being more beautiful and consequently more attractive to boys.
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Get custom essayTo summarize, Maxine Hong Kingston in this first section “No Name Woman” from her book The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts mixes a tale her mother always told her with her own memories and experiences as an Asian-American individual living in the United States. She combines perfectly fiction and autobiographical experiences, from which we get themes such as the ones we have discussed in this essay: identity, the role of women and assimilation.