Teacher as a Learner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Teacher as a Learner - Essay Example First, teachers have a responsibility both to students and the professional teaching community they are part of. Thus, professional development in both aspects must be implemented in order to improve the teacher as educator through increasing their subject-matter knowledge, and teaching them ways to learn, teaching them how to make education more enjoyable, and encouraging critical thinking, which they can pass on to students; and as professionals by strengthening their professional knowledge to aid in teaching. All of which fosters continuous improvement and self-renewal on the teacher as an individual, allowing the teacher to be a better member of the professional community and classroom he is part of. Second, teachers, as part of an overarching educational system must support education reform strategies and implement them in the classroom. However, since reform is only as effective as its implementation, teachers as learners must understand how to appropriately and properly integr ate reform initiatives into their classroom. Only through appropriate and proper integration can reform initiatives successfully achieve desired learning outcomes such as enhancing learning capabilities of students, encouraging higher level thinking, fostering creative thinking and open-mindedness, and allowing students with exceptional needs to fully participate in class. Moreover, teachers must also learn to be creative and take risks in designing how education reform strategies will be implemented in the classroom. Lastly, it is important for teachers to treat the classroom as a learning environment and become a cooperative participant actively questioning to elicit greater participation from students, as opposed to an authority figure. By doing so, students are given more opportunities to learn and express themselves. Consequently, teachers are given more opportunities to observe,

What does Intel's presentation of their financial information tell you Essay - 1

What does Intel's presentation of their financial information tell you about how they use financial information in decision making - Essay Example The information technology industry in 2006 generated approximately $3 trillion, a figure that is expected to increase to $4 trillion by 2009 (Plunkett Research, 2008). Such a profitable market attracts many new firms into a very competitive industry with thousands of companies competing for market share. Countries such as India have created economic models for growth based on the exporting of information technology into markets such as the US, Europe and Canada. It is very in this industry for a company to generate revenues based on a projects which represents revenue generating contracts of IT services. The Ansoff matrix is a strategic marketing tool which could very useful for IT managers. The first payoff of the matrix position (1,1) is know as a market penetration strategy. The market penetration strategy is a strategic move to seek greater market share of an existing product a firm offers. In the 1990’s the IT firm which was the most successful at achieving market penetr ation in its main product offering was Microsoft Corporation which was able to achieve a market penetration of above 90% for a prolonged period of time. The market penetration strategy can be exploited by the IT manager in companies whose product offering is above the competition offering, the company has many competitive advantages over the rest of the players in the industry including good economic resources to pay for the high advertising expenses and other marketing initiatives required to successfully implement a market penetration strategy. The second position of the Ansoff Matrix (1,2) is called product development. This strategy is based on an IT manager developing a product in an existing market. Such a strategy can be extremely profitable. Microsoft Corporation is currently in the last stages of product development for a new product called IPTV which is broadcasting channels similar to those

Prelab for Calibration of Volumetric Glassware Essay Example for Free

Prelab for Calibration of Volumetric Glassware Essay 1). Weigh a 50 mL Erlenmeyer flask. Make sure the glassware is clean and free of any cracks or stars. Also, take note of the temperature of water, as volume varies with temperature 2). Transfer a portion of the water to flask with a pipette and record the mass of flask with the water. Use this data to calculate how much water was transferred from the pipette to the flask. 3). Repeat step two 4 times, ensuring the remaining results are similar to the first trial. Use this data to calculate the mean amount of water transferred and the standard deviation between the data points. Calibration of a 50 mL Buret: 1). Fill the buret with 50 mL of the temperature-equilibrated water. Be as precise as possible in order to obtain reliable data. If the volume changes over a period of a few minutes, obtain a new buret. Be sure to obtain the temperature of the water as well. 2). Weigh a 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask with its stopper. Again, make sure the flask is sanitary and has no cracks or stars. 3). At a rate of 20 mL/min, open the buret stopper and allow 10.00 mL of water to submerge into the flask. Remember to seal off the flask as soon as the water stops in order to minimize evaporation. 4). Using the technique of reading meniscus’s, record the volume reading for the buret to the hundreds place. The last significant digit may be an approximation. 5). Weigh of the stopped Erlenmeyer flask with the water on a scale. Determine the quantity of water transferred from the buret by finding the mass difference from the flask with no water vs. the new weight. 6). Repeat the steps from three to five four more times for the remaining volume of the buret and repeat the whole procedure again with a new 50 mL volume. Remember to record all data. Also, make sure to repeat data that is not duplicated correctly to ensure accurate and precise results. 7). Use the correction data from table one in order to find the true volume of water transferred based on the temperature. Create tables of the recorded data as well as a plot of the correction data with the apparent volume with labeled axis. Perform Calculations 8). Dispose of all glassware and materials accordingly and clean up the lab area. Hazards: No harmful chemicals will be dealt with in this lab. The only safety hazard is to be cautious of broken or chipped glassware that may cut one’s skin. Make sure to report any mutilated glassware to TA and accidents in the lab must be handled properly.

Organizational Direction of British American Tobacco Nigeria limited

Organizational Direction of British American Tobacco Nigeria limited The purpose of this report is to discuss current organisational direction of British American Tobacco Nigeria Limited (BATNL) and explore competitive business plan for BAT Nigeria with strategic dimensions ranging from 2009 to 2012. The body of the document offers an analysis of the external, transactional and the internal environment of the company. Subsequently, the report considers the companys core competencies and its key competitors, in order to deliberate courses of action that will enable BAT Nigeria to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. The recommendations aim to enhance BAT Nigerias existing competencies, this will add value to all the stakeholders. Disclaimer: This report only considers British American Tobacco Nigeria Limited as a legal business entity and does not intend to endorse consumption of tobacco products in any form. 2. Executive summary This report aims to critically analyze the option that will ensure that British American Tobacco Nigeria Limited (BATNL) remain market leader by sustaining its competitive advantage in a highly competitive industry. Becoming no.1 in the market is hard work, but maintaining that position is far more difficult. In the light of this, I have critically examined the plausible scenarios and arrived at an option which will strengthen BATNLs current market position. The company today is facing the uphill task of dealing with threats from new market entrants, operational limitations caused by limited international suppliers, lack of availability of locally sourced sun cured tobacco, stricter legislative restrictions and challenges to further increase market share. This report suggests to management an option of forming a system of consistent market dominance and build sustainable competitive advantage. The option consists of an action plan which includes forward and backward integration of supply chain, capacity utilization and development of Nigerian production facilities as an export Hub to West and Central African countries. The backward integration of supply chain involves sourcing the Virginia tobacco from a wider international supplier base in order to prevent raw material out of stock (OOS) situation of super premium, premium and international VFM (Value For Money) brands. Similarly, local sourcing of sun cured Tobacco for VFM production should be expanded by involving larger numbers of small rural farmers in BATNLs business sphere in order to meet raw material requirements for the continuously growing demand of the VFM segment. The forward integration includes developing a wider and more efficient distribution network by means of integrating identified front end strategic customers into electronic distribution system and by providing financial assistance. The strategic location of the country can be exploited so as to establish it as an export hub to other West and Central African countries. It would ensure cost saving advantages to the group, especially in terms of cheaper labour, freight and import taxes. Securing forward and backward integration along with both the manufacturing factories in Nigeria acting as export centres, would make it feasible to proceed with capacity utilization, thus reaping the benefits of economies of scale. In the current scenario, it is going to be very hard to increase share of the existing pie, so the endeavour should be to augment the size of the whole pie rather than poach on the share of competitors. Migration from other brands seems a largely uphill task considering the large market size BATNL enjoys now. To enhance sales, the modus operandi should be concentrated towards capturing the increment in the market as a whole. The incorporation of the above discussed ideas would ensure a sustained competitive advantage, with the aim of increasing rent. 1. Organisational Strategic Aims and Objectives: 1.1 Current Strategic Aims and Objectives: In the early 1990s, BAT decided to grow our business by focusing solely on tobacco a decision which regularized and transformed the Group. In 1995, BAT set itself the credible vision of regaining leadership of the global tobacco industry and established a strategy to get there. In this section summarises the key elements of BATNLs strategy which group believes can enable it to continually build a sustainable business in tobacco industry. Ultimate Strategic Aim Achieve Leadership of the Tobacco Industry BATNLs vision is to achieve leadership of the tobacco industry in order to create long term shareholder value. Leadership is not an end in itself, but a company that leads its industry, is the preferred partner for key stakeholders and is seen to have a sustainable business, should be valued more highly. Company defines leadership in both a quantitative and qualitative sense. Punitively, it seeks volume leadership among our international competitors and in the longer term, value leadership. BATNL recognises that its success will depend on adult consumers and that, therefore, we must be consumer driven.   But the hard, quantitative measures do not in themselves address all the things it must do as a company. Taking a long term view, focusing on the quality of its business and how it work. As a result, qualitatively, company seeks to be recognised as industry leaders and to be the partner of first choice for governments, NGOs, investors and potential employees. BATNL pledges to do this by continuing to demonstrate that it is a responsible tobacco Group, with a sustainable business, outstanding people and superior products.  Ã‚   In order to deliver company vision, BATNLs strategy for creating shareholder value has four elements Growth, Productivity, Responsibility and Winning Organisation. 1.2 Component Parts to achieve Ultimate Strategic Aim 1.2.1- Winning Organisation: To deliver company vision it must have the right people and the right working environment. That is the essence of BATNLs Winning Organisation strategy. By the right people, group mean outstanding people those with the ability and desire to drive and deliver competitive advantage and superior performance. Company endeavour to attract, develop and retain high calibre talent. BATNL also puts emphasis on making it an organisation that is constantly learning. This learning culture shares knowledge quickly, learns from its mistakes and replicates success formulas quickly. To be a winning organisation British American Tobacco must also be a great place to work. This requires an open, confident culture that encourages change and innovation, is shaped by companys Guiding Principles, inspiring its people to perform to their best and importantly, enjoy their work. Finally, Winning Organisation strategy requires that company develops leaders, at all levels in the organisation, with a clear vision for the business, who foster innovation, and can align, energise and enable their teams to contribute to the building of our global enterprise (B) Growth: BATNL seek to increase its volume and value share of the West African tobacco market through both organic growth and mergers and acquisitions. For organic growth, company is concentrating on the key strategic segments of the market that offer the best prospects for long term growth, including Premium and International Brands. BATNL continues to focus on the growth of its Global Drive Brands as well as being prepared to exploit opportunities for profitable volume growth in Value for Money and Low Price Segments.   Company also wish to sustain or develop strong positions in priority markets simply defined as the largest and most profitable ones. BATNL believes that it is important to continue to develop and utilise innovative, differentiated products and to offer its consumers added value from its brands. (C) Productivity: BATs overall approach to productivity is about using its global resources to increase profits and generate funds for reinvesting in its business. Today, all companies are trying to cut costs. BATs approach is integrated aiming to establish a lower cost base while improving the quality of products and the speed they get to the market, as well as our effectiveness in terms of how it can deploy its people and capital. As a Group BATNL is focused on its consumers, marketing is a large part of what it does and company is working to ensure it effectively and efficiently deploy its marketing resources.  Ã‚  Ã‚   In order to maintain a strong balance sheet, capital effectiveness is an important part of its productivity strategy and includes a focus on inventory levels, utilising its assets, financing and other uses of capital. (D) Responsibility: BATNL continues to balance its commercial objectives with the expectations of a broad range of stakeholders, thus ensuring a sustainable business. Company communicating with all stakeholders about its Business Principles, which explain the way we expect its businesses to be run in terms of responsibility, and demonstrating how group is following them. Companys three Business Principles, Mutual Benefit, Responsible Product Stewardship and Good Corporate Conduct are each underpinned by a number of Core Beliefs. In the regulatory arena, BAT continues to promote sensible tobacco regulation that: balances the preferences of consumers with the interests of society establishes an open minded and objective approach to harm reduction as a policy Ensures that its businesses can compete and prosper. BAT manufactures products that can be harmful to the health of its consumers and have publicly stated its aim to reduce this harm to meet both consumer needs and societal expectations. Company proposes to do this by: the progressive reduction in the tar and toxins in its products the successful launch of a new generation of tobacco products with critical mass appeal that are recognised by scientific and regulatory authorities as posing substantially reduced risks to health. 1.3. Factors Affecting the Strategic Plan 1.3.1- Contextual Environment  [1]   Nigeria gained independence in 1960 but since the first military coup in 1966, Nigeria has been ruled by military for over 35 years up until 1999. Since then democratically elected civilian governments are ruling Nigeria. Under the new constitution adopted in 1999, a strong presidency appoints a federal executive council, comprising government ministers and ministers of the state from each of Nigerias 36 states. Although the 36 governments enjoy greater autonomy than under the former military administration they remain dependent on the federal government for funding. This set up creates a system of distributed power centres, with the highest authority lying with the president, making lobbying with political powers a complicated issue. Estimated GDP for 2006 is $116.7 billion whereas economic growth rate is believed to be 5.4%. This economic performance is severely offset by high rate of inflation (8.7%). Since 1999 under the rule of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) has boosted non-oil sector growth and improved macro-economy. Increased government spending on roads and ongoing efforts to reform and attract investments into the power sector could improve infrastructure modestly. Only minimal progress is likely with port reform. Both these aspects would have a positive effect on BAT Nigerias supply chain. Corporate profits except for oil companies are taxed at 30%. VAT on tobacco product is 7.5% whereas for other commodity product its charged at 5%. In governments effort to curb smoking, promotion of cigarette sales through billboards has become illegal since January 1st 2004. Federal government is under further pressure from whom and other NGOs to put a ban on tobacco products promotion through electronic and print media. In addition, various pressure groups are raising concerns against tobacco farming as it renders land unusable for cultivation of other crops. 1.3.2- Transactional environment Nigeria has a total population of 140 million and out of these only 2.9 million adults smoke, it indicates a huge growth potential for Tobacco industry. Given the scenario, though BAT Nigeria is catering to very comprehensive range of markets and consumer segments, further avenues for increasing market penetration of companys products have been identified through various analysis. The present market size of AFS is only 14% which explicitly shows growth potential. To grow and capture this segment, requirement for development of brands targeted especially to Adult Female Smokers (AFS) is identified. On the other hand, according to strategic group analysis premium brands have a need to expand their geographical reach and increase market penetration. Super premium product line should be prevented against brand dilution and their market presence should be enhanced with the help of specialized channels of HoReCa. On critically evaluating product offerings extended by the BAT Nigeria across different segments, few potential offerings for A class, B, C and D segments  [2]  were recognized like, pipe tobacco and cigar, limited editions and flavoured and VFM brand variants, respectively. Supply chain of BAT Nigeria has a weak link in procurement part of Virginia tobacco due to limited number of international suppliers (especially from Argentina and Brazil). Whereas, local procurement of sun cured tobacco has limitations of inadequacy of land conducive to tobacco farming, partial segment of farmers involved in tobacco farming and threats from pressure groups. With recent acquisition of Gallaher Group by Japan Tobacco Inc., JTI has the second largest market share in Nigeria (14.4%), after BAT Nigeria (85.1%). Still we perceive the major threat to BAT Nigeria coming from Philip Morris Inc. (PMI). Looking at the history of PMIs entry to new markets, they capture major share of the market within 3 years, like in Benin. Though, global drive brand for PMI is Marlboro Lights, PMI is expanding its roots in Nigerian market indirectly through Kraft Foods, subsidiary of its corporate parent Altria Inc. The competitor analysis  [3]  shows that key strength of BAT Nigerias products against other competitors and especially PMI, as perceived by the customers, lies in their availability. 2. Stakeholders Influence and Progress towards Strategic Aim 2.1- Core Resources  [4]   In 2009 BAT group reported  £1896m of profit, attributable to shareholders equity. This explicitly indicates financial strength of the BAT group. As operations of BAT Nigeria are directly funded by parent corporate body, access to adequate finances, as compared with other competitors, puts BAT Nigeria in the elite club of organizations with formidable financial resources. Since BAT signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in November 2000 with the federal government, it has enjoyed status of most favoured company and leveraged rapport with the government in establishing local production facilities in Zaria and Ibadan. These state of the art production units are quite unique resource to BAT Nigeria, considering that no other tobacco company has cigarette factory in Nigeria. Further, BAT Nigeria has strengthened its portfolio of core resources by investing funds and efforts in developing dedicated supply chain intermediaries. 2.2- Core Competencies  [5]   Though the MoU expired in April 2007 with end of PDP presidency, strong relationship with the government has been instrumental in developing country wide distribution network and in increasing domestic tobacco farming. BAT Nigeria has improved efficiency and integration of distribution network by implementation of SAP (ERP module) and Siebel (CRM module). Integrated electronic supply chain with local access to raw material is the core competence of BAT Nigeria. Under this process and with continuous efforts to exercise CSR, BAT Nigeria has developed a sound social relationship and local knowledge. Benefits of BAT Foundation have been exploited to meet these strategic requirements. Apart from these local factors, BAT Nigeria has benefited from legacy and technological expertise of parent. Thus, process evolved quality of BAT products is been key source of competency. 3.1: Futuristic Strategic Position: Way to Sustainable Competitive Advantage  [6]   After analysing contextual transactional environment, core resources and competencies of BAT Nigeria, I propose an option which comprises of recommendations for strengthening upstream and downstream supply chain  [7]  , capacity utilisation, developing Nigeria as export hub to west African countries and exploiting BAT foundation in mutually beneficial way (to BAT Nigeria and stakeholders), in order to provide BAT Nigeria with a sustainable competitive advantage. While suggesting the options compatibility, suitability, acceptability and feasibility of recommendations with BAT Nigerias current business model and low exposure to risk has been considered. Production of international brands of Premium and VFM cigarettes is based on Virginia tobacco imported from Argentina and Brazil. Reliance of production of international Super premium, Premium and VFM brands on foreign suppliers subjects upstream supply chain to political, economical and ecological factors evolving in exporting nations. To counter power vested in international suppliers and remove raw material quantitative bottleneck, supplier base of Virginia tobacco should be increased by importing the same quality Virginia from alternative source countries like Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Tobacco export being major trade activity of these countries, international tobacco trade regulations are quite liberal and no major hurdle could be seen in setting up trade channels. Geographic location of alternative source nations would not impose any significant extra freight charges. For local brands of VFM cigarettes cultivation of sun cured tobacco needs to be increased. In this process, firstly, BATNL should lobby with the government to pass Land Use Decree, to facilitate farmers in gaining possession of land. Secondly, with ownership of land and providing the farming community with help in taking mortgage loans, latest farming technologies and better tobacco seeds, farmers can be driven to come in a legal two way contract with BAT Nigeria, in regard to secure local cultivation and supply of sun cured tobacco and promising buying guarantee in return. 3.2: Justifying the strategic option As analysed by competitor analysis, in consumers perception, apart from poor availability, value offered by PMIs products is at par or better than that of BATs products. Thus, to sustain BATNLs existing system of dominance, it is of paramount concern to have a wide, efficient, dedicated and controlled distribution network. Apart from strategic tie-ups with Global Brand Nigeria Ltd. (GBNL) and Global Apex Ltd., downstream members of distribution channel need to be integrated with electronic distribution platform of SAP and Siebel (CRM). Financial and technological assistant to channel intermediaries in this regard would benefit BATNL in two ways: higher channel control efficiency and financial binding of down stream channel members to BATNL. The SWOT analysis  [8]  highlighted that BATNLs current practice of cash sales is its Achilles heel. To prevent competitors from breaking logistics net of BATNL, BATNL would have to forgo privilege of cash sales and start giving credit facili ties to wholesalers and distributors. Further, and as underpinned by mobility barriers  [9]  analysis, to hold on to market share as high as 85.1%, the premium brands are the key and should be pushed deep into nation with associated promotional activities and rewards/rebates attributed to selling channel. At the same time, super premium brands should be prevented against brand dilution and their image of brand ambassadors should be continued further. For proliferation of super premium brand products, upmarket specialised HoReCa  [10]  channel showed substantial potential for growth. The current problem of low co-operation from HoReCa owners, realising the dependency of BATNL on them for promotional purposes, can be overcome by offering them half yearly or annual contract of brand association, instead of event based approach. To motivate rural small-holder Nigerian farmers interest in the tobacco farming and business with BATNL, BATN Foundation needs to concentrate on issues pertaining to lack of access to modern agricultural machineries, training on new agricultural practices and innovations, production credit, fair and transparent marketing opportunities. Currently, both local production facilities are not utilized up to their full capacities, partly due to relatively less demand in comparison with full production capacity and rest due to bottlenecks in supplies of raw tobacco. Together with improvement in the supply of raw tobacco (international and local), developing Nigeria as export hub to cater neighbouring West and Central African countries would assist BATNL in building up sustainable competitive advantage by gaining economies of scale (capacity utilization), and becoming regional power in tobacco industry. Appendix 1 EMBED PowerPoint.Slide.8 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 Appendix 4 Appendix 5 Appendix 6 Appendix 7 Appendix 8 Appendix 9 Appendix 10

The Ethnic Malay Malaysian Nationalism History Essay

The Ethnic Malay Malaysian Nationalism History Essay This phenomena is an example of the social transformation happening right now in Malaysia due to the unequal treatment among the ethnic groups. Malaysia is a multi-cultural nation. The Malays, Chinese and Indians build up the population. However, since the independence of Malaysia, racist policies have been marginalizing the minorities. In this essay, I am going to talk about racist Malay Malaysian Nationalism by tracing the history of formation and development of this country. Multi-cultural Malaysia Malaysia, formerly known as Malaya, located on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo in the Southeast Asia. It has been a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country since its independence in 1957 from the British Occupation. It has a population of 28.8 million consists of the three major ethnic groups: the Malays (61.4%), Chinese (23.7%), Indians (7.1%). (Mose 2010: 285-297). The immigration of the Indians into the Malaya Peninsula is encouraged by the British colonial government in the 19th century. It reached its peak during the rapid expansion of the rubber plantation in 1910s. The Chinese started flushing in since the 19th century to escape from the unstable society in China and seek for better economic opportunities. They made up the main labor force of the tin mining industry until the early 20th century. Whereas, the Malays have started to move into the Malaya Peninsula earlier than during the 14th century from the islands which are known as Indonesian territories today. However, the Malays consider themselves as Bumiputra (sons of the soil) of Malay Peninsula and categorize themselves as the indigenous population. (Saw 2007). The ethnic tensions have been the biggest internal problem of the nation. Several elements have led to the emergence and affirmation of the ethnic Malay Malaysian Nationalism. The Ethnic Malay Malaysian Nationalism How do Malaysians define themselves in terms of nationality and culture? Is that possible to emerge a Malaysian Nationalism purely clean of the racism? In the book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Anderson Benedict (2006) defines nation as an imagined political community. Communities are imagined. It is imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion. Hence, communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined. It is imagined as a community, because, regardless of the actual inequality and exploitation that may prevail in each, the nation is always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship. Ultimately it is this fraternity that makes it possible, over the past two centuries, for so many millions of people, not so much to kill, as willingly to die for such limited imaginings. That seems to be a flawless condition that will lead to the stability and peacefulness of a country. The Malaysian Nationalism should be distinguished, not by the skin colour, but the vision to the prosperity of the country shared by the members. However, the civilization of this region since its occupation by colonial power has had a great impact on the way they imagine of the community. Ethnic groups have emerged diversified nationalism as a result of the marginalization by the former colonial governments. Before British colonial occupation was established in the late nineteenth century on the Malayan Peninsula, Malays originated from Indonesia had controlled the underpopulated areas and defined territorial units which resided by Sultan (the rulers). During the early 1800s, the British colonial government opened the doors to the Chinese immigrants when the growing tin mining industry was greatly in need of labor. For a more handy decentralized administration, the British colonial government collaborated with the Malay rulers in each region. The regions were governed under the Malay rulers with the advice by the British agents in return of a certain legal protection. This protection was to ensure the superiority of Malay traditional culture over the increasing population of other ethnic groups as well as the survival of their agricultural economy under the rapid developing modern export economy in the non-Malay and European-populated urban areas. (Mauzy 2006) The British intervention has been intrusive to the development of the ethnic relations. The status and privileges of Malay has been affirmed, thus a new nationalism has been arisen among the Malay community. According to Roffs classic analysis, organised Islamic fervour during the early 1900s, a secular,but still traditional resistance waged by privileged aristocrats beginning in the late 1920s, and a surge in Malay radicalism during the 1930s. (Roff, 1974) Japanese occupation has made exacerbated the existing ethnic tension by the extremely brutal treatment to the Chinese. Before Japanese landed on the Malay Peninsula, Malaysian Chinese has been resented by the renowned Nanking Massacre which killed approximately 250,000 to 300,000 Chinese in 1937 in China. (Rummel, 2002) During the invasion of Malay Peninsula, Japanese treated Malaysian Chinese exceptionally harshly to undermine the funding support to the resistance in China. Being in a tough situation, the Chinese had had the most members in the resistance groups. In contrast, Japanese occupation encouraged the Malay nationalism by reaffirming their identity of Bumiputra, the superiority of Malay of then region. (bin Zakaria 1989) Malays were also promoted in the bureaucracy and new paramilitary formation. (Case 2000) With the defeat of Japan and the return of the British colonial government, Chinese had acquired a new stature as guerrilla heroes. Accordingly, it could be expected that the Malays, the bumiputra, would demand for an affirmation of its dominance on the region. The racism attached to the Malay Nationalism was clearer at this point. Racism, which is directed against a population regarded as a minority, is defined as internal racism. According to Balibar (1988), it is useful to characterize certain racist posture as auto-referential (those in which the bearers of the prejudice, exercising physical or symbolic violence, designate themselves as representatives of a superior race). Nationalism and racism are conceptually separated to each other. However, there are sound evidences showing that these two ideologies are highly related. Strong elements of racism can be pointed out in, at least, some forms of nationalism. According to Etienne Balibar (1991), racism is always implied in the nationalist movements. When people in a nation share the same language, skin color, the sense of nationalism is often overlapped with racism. During the early independence, Malays was discontented with the uneven distribution of income among the ethnic groups as a result of the division of occupations. (the domination of Malays in agriculture, whereas the Chinese in commerce activities) Chinese accumulated considerable wealth due to the rapid expansion of the commerce activities. The income gap between the Chinese and the Malays was significant. In 1970, the Chinese has a mean income of RM467.50 while Malay has a mean income of only RM313.20. (Ikemoto 1985: 347-367) In 1969, Chinese dominated political party made a significant gain in opposition to the Malay controlled party in the general election.   On May 13, right after the result of the election was released, when members of the winning party marched through some largely Malay areas, the riot broke out. The Malays and the Chinese killed each other. May 13 incident was the most dismaying racial riot happened in the history of Malaysia. It has become the turning point of the racial relation where the implementation of the racist policies started. (Gray 2007) Calling for addressing the root of the conflict, the New Economic Policy started in the 1971 under Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, who is from UMNO, the main Malay political party. In fact, the policies and regulations of NEP were, in some senses, reaffirming the Malay superiority over other races. It has affected not only Malaysian economy but also education and the social structure. (Koon 1997: 262-292) NEP is indeed the product of the new Malay Malaysian Nationalism. The ambitious but controversial New Economic Policy (NEP) was launched in 1971 with two main objectives: to eradicate the poverty and to correct the economic imbalances among the ethnic groups. This set of policies has completely traumatized the Chinese and Indian communities. Since its implementation, criticism was overthrown. It has been accused of affirming the Malay Supremacy by reducing the status of the non-Malay citizens. The NEP ended in 1991 but most of the tangible economic privileges it reserved for the Malays are still ongoing until now. The education policy in the New Economic Policy has had the greatest impact on the social structure of the country. One phase to social and economic transformation of the Malays is only through education, not equity participation. You take care of education and they will have enough to participate in the capital market, former Finance Minister of Malaysia, Tun Daim Zainuddin justified the priority granted for the Malays in his speech on the Issues Facing the Malays. (Caballero-Anthony 2006) The policy was aimed at creating more opportunities for higher education through admission policy for the Malays and indigenous residents. However, while they are guaranteed high-quality education the educational opportunity for non-Malay citizens are brutally and radically reduced. For the past 30 years, Malaysia has been the only Asian country that officially discriminates against a certain group of citizens in matters of education. In 1962, the enrolment to the University of Malaya by ethnicity was   60% Chinese, 20% Malay and 20% Indians and Others. The ethnic quota system of 55:45 in favor of the Malays and indigenous residents was established as part of NEP in 1971. In the same year, the participation rate of Malay students was already equal to that of Chinese students at about 44%. (Mukherjee 2000) In fact, most of the other public university admitted more Malay students than the specified quota of 55%. The criteria for the entrance of local public university is also the main obstacle to the non-Malay students. Matriculation program and Malaysian High Certificate of Education (STPM) are the two ways of entering the public university after the high school education. Whereas, matriculation program reserves around 90% of the places for the Malays and indigenous residents. (Lee 2005) In addition, by examining the grading system, it is relatively an easier way for student to be admitted to the local public uni versity. As a result, Malay students are advantaged and non-Malay students are discouraged. Many non-malay students instead choose to study abroad. This has led to a significant outflow of human capital, especially elites, because students often settle down for the rest of their life after their studies. Another racist part of the New Economic Policy is the housing quota system. To encourage more Malays and indigenous residents to own property, housing policy requires the Malaysian housing developers to set aside at least 30% of their development housing for Malays as well as provide a discount of 5-15%. After 30 years of the implementation of the policy, lots reserved are often released to the open market upon the approval by the State government. (Real Estate and Housing Developers Association Malaysia 2012) It has resulted in increasing of property ownership by the Malays but also the economic inefficiency. New Economic Policy favors Malays economic opportunities by the quota system of ownership. What has had the greatest impact on the Chinese business community is the target of NEP of increasing Malays share of economic ownership from 2.4% (in 1969) to 30% to achieve a 30:40:30 welfare ratio of Bumiputra, other Malaysian, and foreign ownership within a 20-year time frame. (Leong 1992) Such an intensive redistribution of wealth has been hastened by the legislature restriction. In contrast, no official assistance was offered to non-Bumiputra to achieve the goal of acquiring 40% of the national wealth. It has hugely reduced the incentive for the Chinese in their business activities. Conclusion Yet, most of the criticisms are based on the issue that the non-Malays under the poverty line are not benefitted by the NEP called for eradicating poverty. Robert Kuok Hock Nien, Malaysian Chinese, once the richest person in the South East Asia, started focusing his investment overseas by reducing its portion in Malaysia after a series of new business restrictions favoring the Malays been implemented. ** There are Chinese under poverty line but the government did not address them. *** People are qualified for the benefit according to their race, instead of their economic position. Conclusion.

Que Vive Espana! :: Personal Narrative Essay Example

Que Vive Espana! People always ask me: Who are the people that have changed your life? They ask: What is the most influential experience you have had? Those are hard questions to answer, because the things that have been most influential, the people that have been key... those are the things and the people that I cannot imagine my life without. Spain is like that for me. This semester I am back at school, basically going through the actions of my previous years, but I am DIFFERENT. I have ideas I didn't have before. I have thoughts I didn't have before. Something must have happened. Growth. My abroad experience was all about growth. Of course, every day of my life is about personal growth, but it is easier to "expand" outside of my own realm of comfort. Here, at school, it is easy to fall into routine, which hinders observation, and retards the process of "observing life". But those are just some theories of mime, which need illustrations to support them. So, what did I observe? The most wonderful thing about Spain is the way of life. It is noticeable right away: there are people in the streets at all times of day (except siesta), conversing, strolling, running into their friends and forgetting about that appointment they had in order to talk to them for hours. There is no concept in Spain of coming home and relaxing on the couch. No. People come home from work, eat, and go out. They need to talk to the vendors, to their neighbors. To them, this is life. The women need to meet their girlfriends in a cafe by the beach to have a drink. The men go to bars and discuss economics with the bartenders. And at might, people of all ages fill the streets: grandparents with their first grandchild in stroller out at midnight! In, general people love people. They work to live, mot live to work. It is a very strange, non-American attitude. I very much acquired a taste for it, this leaving the house to stroll, purposelessly, and by the end of my stay, I felt right at home b ecause I had made my own acquaintances while walking around who I looked forward to seeing daily. It is a very warm feeling. And a very safe feeling. A feeling that perhaps there are no secrets since everyone is out there talking about issues. Que Vive Espana! :: Personal Narrative Essay Example Que Vive Espana! People always ask me: Who are the people that have changed your life? They ask: What is the most influential experience you have had? Those are hard questions to answer, because the things that have been most influential, the people that have been key... those are the things and the people that I cannot imagine my life without. Spain is like that for me. This semester I am back at school, basically going through the actions of my previous years, but I am DIFFERENT. I have ideas I didn't have before. I have thoughts I didn't have before. Something must have happened. Growth. My abroad experience was all about growth. Of course, every day of my life is about personal growth, but it is easier to "expand" outside of my own realm of comfort. Here, at school, it is easy to fall into routine, which hinders observation, and retards the process of "observing life". But those are just some theories of mime, which need illustrations to support them. So, what did I observe? The most wonderful thing about Spain is the way of life. It is noticeable right away: there are people in the streets at all times of day (except siesta), conversing, strolling, running into their friends and forgetting about that appointment they had in order to talk to them for hours. There is no concept in Spain of coming home and relaxing on the couch. No. People come home from work, eat, and go out. They need to talk to the vendors, to their neighbors. To them, this is life. The women need to meet their girlfriends in a cafe by the beach to have a drink. The men go to bars and discuss economics with the bartenders. And at might, people of all ages fill the streets: grandparents with their first grandchild in stroller out at midnight! In, general people love people. They work to live, mot live to work. It is a very strange, non-American attitude. I very much acquired a taste for it, this leaving the house to stroll, purposelessly, and by the end of my stay, I felt right at home b ecause I had made my own acquaintances while walking around who I looked forward to seeing daily. It is a very warm feeling. And a very safe feeling. A feeling that perhaps there are no secrets since everyone is out there talking about issues.

Shakespeares Macbeth does not Follow Aristotles Standards for a Trage

Macbeth does not Follow Aristotle's Standards for a Tragedy There have been many great tragic authors throughout history: Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles from ancient Greece; Corneille and Hugo from France; Grillparzer and Schiller from Germany; and Marlowe, Webster, and Shakespeare from England. From this long list of men, Shakespeare is the most commonly known. Many Shakespearean critics agree that Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are great tragedies. Many critics also claim that Macbeth is a tragedy, but if one follows Aristotle's standards for a tragedy, Macbeth would not be a tragedy To really determine if Macbeth is a tragedy according to Aristotle, one must first look at his guidelines. The majority of Aristotle's standards relate to the downfall of the central character. To set the character up for a downfall, Aristotle thought he or she should be of the middle class. This was because he felt the poor had nothing to lose. He also felt the downfall should be caused by a fatal flaw. Another characteristic Aristotle believed was important, was a conflict between the central character and a close friend or relative. According to him, the main character should also have an enlightenment at the moment of his or her downfall. Aristotle also believed that the feelings of pity and fear should be felt by the audience during the play. He thought that these feelings would lead to a catharsis, or release of emotions. Although most of Aristotle's characteristics of a tragedy had to do with the downfall, he had two that did not. First, he thought the central character should not be totally good or evil. This was based on the belief that the ruin of a totally good character would be too painful, and the ruin of a totally bad char... ... not even thank is wife for the plan that made him king. Due to Malcolm's final speech, the reader is left with positive, not negative feelings. Overall Macbeth is not a tragedy according the Aristotle's standards. Macbeth's downfall does follow the guidelines: he has something to lose, he has a downfall, and he has conflicts with his friends and relatives during his downfall. But, the heart of the play, which is the emotions created, just do not follow Aristotle's standards. The reader should feel pity, and grieve. Yet, there is no reason to feel this way because Macbeth is all evil, and in the end, the "good guy" is restored to power. Shakespeare put forth good effort in trying to make Macbeth a tragedy, but he came up too short. Works Cited: Shakespeare, William. â€Å"Macbeth.† The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. New York: Longman, 1997.