How does one’s perception of success influence his decision?

In this ever-changing society, one’s decision is determined by one’s perception of success. However, the definition of success has evolved into many different ways. In general, our society is becoming one huge enterprise that is controlled by a puppeteer – the bureaucracy, where we man are the puppets who are slogging our lives away to help the economy flourish. Unknowingly, the blue and white-collar workers who are seeking for success have become economic puppets as they climb up the social ladder. Therefore, it is important today for one to succeed through pursuing happiness in what we do than conforming to what the society want us to be.

To be promoted or to fall behind is not only a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-esteem, where one tries to prove himself worthy in this competitive world. This constant need to prove that one is as good or better than one’s fellow competitor also creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness. Therefore, many problems have arisen, where businessmen become more ruthless in their business tactics and compromise the ethical and moral values. Therefore, resulting in a clash between business and ethics. An April 30, 2010, report by World Health Organisation issued a warning about the corruption of the pharmaceutical industry, where the companies’ main motivation was to make money than putting the patients welfare interest first. When a company develops a new formula or discover a new type of medicine, they usually do not wish to share it with other companies as they have spent a lot of money on the research and development of it and have not reap enough to cover their cost. This company will get a patent for their product, in order to prevent people from copying and selling the product. They tend to sell the product at a higher price, as the patent only usually last for fifty to a hundred years before it expires and their competitors starts selling the same product and driving the prices down. These leads to exploitation of consumers’ welfare as they act as a monopoly to raise price and profits, which may result in the poor not being able to afford this product even when they are sick. Patients may be use as guinea pigs in the process of research and development of the products too, in order to develop the best medicine. However, at times patients may be sacrificed as some problems may arise in the development of the medicine, resulting in the lost of precious life for the sake of money. Therefore, these companies who are hungry for success have sacrificed ethical and moral values, in order to boost their business revenue.

There are also enterprises such as McDonald who associates themselves with charity, as every happy meal bought, one cent is being donated to the McDonald’s Children Charity Fund in Singapore. However, it is still questionable, as it may also be a business strategy to gain recognition by the consumers that their business is also helping the less fortunate, in order to increase business profits.

In comparison, trying to succeed through pursuing happiness in what we do can make our road to success an easier one. An example would be Rowan Sebastian Atkinson, an English comedian and actor, who had attended Newcastle University and Oxford University and even attained degrees in electrical engineering. However, he was not interested in being an engineer but pursued his dream of becoming an actor and even made it into the 50 funniest actor in British comedy. By doing what he likes makes his work an enjoyable than mundane one. Therefore, it is important to succeed through the pursuit of happiness.

In conclusion, we should transform our social system from a bureaucratically managed industrialism in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into a humanist industrialism in which man are the full development of his potentialities.

Inflation

Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the world, where inflation is defined as a sustained, inordinate and general increase in prices. A rise in inflation means that the prices are rising faster and a fall in inflation means that prices are rising slower. Thus, it can help us to measure the rate of changes in general prices. However, when there is a fall in inflation, inflation rate may be positive, as prices are rising but at a decreasing rate. Therefore, a sustained fall in prices would mean a negative inflation rate or deflation. There are two main causes of inflation, the demand pull and cost push. Where, a demand pull inflation is caused by a rise in money supply compared to a cost push inflation, which is caused by a rise in unit of production.

The consequences of inflation is either due to anticipated inflation or unanticipated inflation. Where, anticipated inflation is the rate of inflation that majority of individuals believe will occur, compared to unanticipated inflation, which is inflation that comes as a surprise to individuals in the economy. Only when inflation is unanticipated, then it will generate unexpected negative effects on households and firms. This will result in a redistribution of income, as fixed income earners can only purchase fewer goods and services than before. Unless pensions, salaries and wages are adjusted for price increases, the real income of this group of people will fall. Incomes of a fixed value such as those from insurance policies, mortgages and bonds also decline in real terms. Those who receive income derived from interests and rents whose amounts are fixed by long term contracts are also adversely hit by inflation.

However, the effect of inflation on firms depends on the cause of inflation. If inflation is demand pull, profit margins tend to widen. This is because prices of goods and services tend to rise faster than factor prices as the latter are fixed by short term or long term contracts. Thus, investment is likely to increase in a period of rising prices due to higher expectation of profit margins. In comparison, if inflation is cost push, profits earned by firms may be squeezed as firms may find it hard to pass on the full effects of rising costs in the form of higher prices to consumers. In addition, firms which cannot absorb all or part of the higher factor prices by improving productivity and efficiency may find it difficult to survive. This leads to fall in investment and hence production.

A persistent increase in prices will also lead to an increase in cost of living. If the income of a family remain constant, its living standard will be lowered, as now they will need to give up on luxury goods to pay for their basic necessities. For example, in Zimbabwe, the inflation rate is as high as 2.2 million percent in 2008. The government had to order retailers and businesses to halve their prices to alleviate the high cost of living. However, this had resulted in widespread shortages for basic necessities such as rice and flour and a strengthening of the black market in the Southern African nation.

In sum, the type of policies to be implemented depends on the causes underlying the inflation. In order, to curb a demand pull inflation, a contractionary monetary and fiscal policies can be implemented to close the inflation gap by reducing aggregate demand. Whereas, to manage cost push inflation, the government can adopt prices and incomes policies to alleviate the problem.

Literary analysis on Grave of the Fireflies.

Grave of the Fireflies is a tragic story of the struggle for survival of a teenage boy and his younger sister during World War II. The writer tries to convey an anti-war message through the use of the disturbing images of the aftermath of the war. However, he uses metaphors to illustrate to us the central theme of hope throughout the story, in order to lead the readers on.


The writer uses metaphors to illustrate to us the central theme of hope in between segments of the story to keep the readers in suspense and lead us on. The symbol of the fireflies, which appears every time when Seita and Setsuko are feeling lost and in despair, are like a beacon of hope that guides them through their darkest times. Through the fireflies, the readers are being shaken back into reality, as "Why do fireflies die so soon?" illustrates to us the lost of guidance and hope when Setsuko crash the firefly in her hands. It is also a juxtaposition of the lost of their mother and we are constantly being reminded of how transience life is.


The writer uses metaphors to illustrate to us the theme of warmth throughout the story. The symbol of the candy tin is like an emotional support for Setsuko, as when ever she was feeling down and was being reminded of her mother, Seita gives her a drop of candy to calm her down. Through this, we are able to see how Seita transform from a brotherly figure to a motherly figure. Even when there wasn't any candy left, Setsuko was contented to even drink from the tin, as "It taste like mix fruits", which illustrates to us despite the ups and downs, what kept her going was the warmth back home she felt every time she tasted the candy . Upon the death of Setsuko, Seita took the candy tin and put the last bit of ash in it, which illustrates to us the bond between him and his sister, as now the candy tin was the last memory of her.


The writer uses flashback to act as constant reminder of the pain of the lost of a love one. The flashback of Seita's mother when ever he was feeling lost and in despair was the one that kept him going. However, when Setsuko told him that "Mother is dead. She's in a tomb", he finally breakdown. Through this, we are able to see how emotionally fragile Seita actually is, as he has been putting on a brave front for his sister. The writer uses the flashback to act as a palimpsest to let us be reminded of the faded past which can't be erased and to let the reader get the catharsis effect of feeling the pain of the lost of a love one.


The true colours of family members are being shown, during wartime, in the fight for survival. Seita's aunt only care about her immediate family members, as she has "traded everything for food. Even mother's kimono." but only gave Seita and Setsuko brown soup for dinner, while her family has radish. Through this, the writer tries to illustrate to us a dog-eat-dog society of wartime.


It was the pride and ego of Seita that led to his sister's death. Seita, being "a naval officer's son", doesn't want to be looked down upon and disappoint others, as others want him to "have courage" like his father. Despite, the constant reminder from his aunt to look for a job, Seita chooses not to and left his aunt's place, thinking that he and his sister was able to survive. However, when the their food ran out, they resort to stealing tomatoes and eating frogs. Through this, the readers are being shock at how cruel life was, as we are being drawn back to reality.


In conclusion, the writer tries to convey an anti-war message through the use of the disturbing images of the aftermath of the war. Similar to "The Spirits Play" by Kuo Pao Kun, Grave of the fireflies is use to illustrate to us how the japanese too had suffered during World War II, as the innocence in Japan didn't know what was happening to the other countries out there too. However, in my opinion, it was still rather ironical, as Japan was the one who started the war and caused their people to suffer the way they did to others.

Considering the rapid rate of change in the world, should we still hold on to traditions?

In this ever-changing society, due to a country's future economy, social and political development, tensions between the claims of tradition versus the pull of modernity have arisen. In order to keep our ancesterous roots intact, we should hold onto our traditional values and beliefs if it does not clash with our modern ethical and moral values.

People tend to forget about their identity, ethnicity and culture due to rapid globalisation, where there is interconnectedness all over the world. In the past, many Asian countries were colonised by the western countries, resulting in the countries' struggle for independence and also the creation of a new national identity when the countries were freed from the empire, as the colonisers have influenced the locals with their cultures. These has led to a hybridity of culture, where locals may be confused with their identity now. However, despite decolonisation, the influence of the western culture still continues even though they are not physically there. It is due to the influence of media, economic and politics, which led to westernisation of the other countries and the locals wanting to fit into society by keeping up to this change. This has led to the threat of extinction of many traditions, such as chinese opera, farming to traditional handwork, as the new generation does not want to continue with these, resulting in a lost of culture. Therefore, we should remember our culture in order not to lose our roots by carrying on such culture and traditions through each generation.

Many new migrants are stuck in-between worlds as they are not accepted in the new land and back in their native land, leading to an identity crisis. In searching for a better life, people tend to migrate to a more developed country as their econmy is more stable. Little do they expect that they would be ostrocised due to race and colour. The second generation born in this new land would have difficulty to understand their tradition and culture as they do not experience what their parents experience in their native land. These leads to a lost of tradition and culture, as now the new generation sees themselves as locals in this new land. Therefore, not wanting them to lose their identity further, traditions and culture should still be taught to them. However, even if they return to their native land, they might not be accepted as they are not seen to be a pure local anymore, for example India. Hence, leading to displacement as they are not accepted both places.

However, there are still some form of traditions which are against human rights, which should not be continued, such as the killing of children that is still present now in the Amazon, Kombal tribe, where children are buried alive as the community believe some bring bad luck. Therefore, such practices should not be continued due to illogical belief that has no prove. However, the parents of these chosen children are put in pressure between family ties and tribe, if they do not obey they may be kicked out. Therefore, they have to adapt and assimilate in order to survive but not stubbornly holding on to their values.

In conclusion, this rapid change in the world has led to many problems that threatens one's tradition. However, we should still work at preventing it to keep our identity, ethnicity and culture for future generations to come, if they do not clash with ethic and moral value system.