Heartless...

Mr Haridas aged 61 was repeatedly kicked by Bing Feng 31(left) till the elderly security guard became limp and motionless. The reason for getting mercilessly bashed up was simply because he had demanded for more beer although the drink assistant already had refused to offer him more beer as he was already drunk.

Fortunately for Mr Haridas, a good Samaritan Mr Jeffery Ng Hoe Heng 35 (right) who was having supper at Toa Payoh Lorong 4 intervened and stopped the brutal attack on the elderly man. The brutality unfortunately changed direction and the good Samaritan was not just getting attacked by the assailant but his elder brother Ma Xian Feng 34 joined the attack against Mr Ng by using a beer bottle to strike Mr Eng on his left forehead which needed 10 stiches.

What an unfortunate attack on the Good Samaritan whom did not join the mass in being one of the bystanders but heroically intervened in the name of justice. District Judge Danielle Yeow charged the brothers for grievous hurt and sentenced them to 4 mths and 5 mths jail when the maximum charge could have been jailed for 5 yrs, caned and fined.

I read this article from the electronic New Paper dated April 26 2008. On closer examination, I really felt that the Hero Mr Ng [Andre' salutes] is really a man of guts as he did not fall into either of the two common categories such as Avoidant theory or Bystander theory but plunged into the problem to save an elderly man whom could have gotten killed by the merciless and aggressive Feng brothers whom disregarded their victims age.

What could have possibly triggered off the Feng brothers to be so inhumane?

· Their hostile aggression may be due to cognitive impairment due to alcohol consumption or because of environmental conditions such as heat ( Hawker centres are always hot)
· Social Factors: Lack of education (not really needed for a person to be respectful to the elderly)
· Poor nurturing: Feng brothers may have been brought up in an aversive environment which lacks warmth, compassion, respect and love for fellow humans.
· Scapegoat Theory? A theory proposing that prejudice occurs because members of dominant groups use discrimination against members of weak target groups to vent their frustration and disappointment.

Definetly a NO to conformity!

Home > Latest News > Singapore
April 16, 2008
Jeyaretnam to file application to register new opposition party
By Jeremy Au Yong
NEARLY a year after he announced his intention to form a new party, opposition politician JB Jeyaretnam will finally file the application to register it on Thursday.
The party, to be called the Reform Party, marks the 82-year-old's final political comeback.
He had been barred from contesting in elections since 2001 when he was made a bankrupt for failing to pay some $600,000 in damages from defamation suits.
Early last year, the Court of Appeal granted him a 'conditional discharge' if he paid the $233,255.78 within three weeks of April 24. He did so on May 10.
The amount represented about 45 per cent of the debt, which his creditors agreed to accept.
The 10-member committee of the Reform Party is likely to feature some familiar faces from other opposition parties.
Former Worker's Party member Ng Teck Siong, 67, a long-time friend of Mr Jeyaretnam said: 'JBJ will be the secretary-general, Mr Teo Kian Chye will be the chairman and I will be the treasurer. That's the three I can tell you now. The other seven you will find out on Friday.'
They have called for a press conference on Friday to announce the submission of their application to register the party.

Article from:
http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest+News/Singapore/STIStory_227916.html?vgnmr=1

Mr JB Jeyaretnam also refered to as JBJ is one of Singapore's oldest politcal vetrans he has been in the political scene for many decades prior to being made declared bankrupt he was was a lawyer and district judge for various courts and chambers prior to his entry into politics.

Ironically this once powerful man has been criticized and obstracized by many....upon further investigation this was simply due to the lack of conformity he failed to display. Furthermore he showed himself to be a brave and outspoken man but lacked tactfulness thus was charged for defamation and conspiracy.

Almost being barred from entry into politics for a decade, JBJ a former Workers Party(WP) leader has made his return to open up a new opposition party and has yet to conform to the norm of following the main stream governing party. So one may question why this non-conformity?

Conformity refers to any change in behaviour caused by another person or group...in this case political faction...conformity encompasses compliance and obidience, because it refers to any behavior that occurs as a result of others' influence.

The chief reasons I attribute for JBJ's "rebellious" nature would be due to:

• his strong nature of individualism.
• has strong Upward counterfactual thoughts. ( involves reflecting how past events could have turned out better.
• Simply he may be a firm believer of Martin Luther King Jr's quotation:

Just as it is the duty of all men to obey just laws, so it is the duty of all men to disobey unjust laws ~ Martin Luther King Jr

For more info on JBJ pls click this link: http://jbjeya.org/abt_jbj.html

Binge Drinking? thats gross...

This review below is from The Straits Times, Monday, April 14 2008.

The picture above of a youth sleeping around the vicinity of the club is rather disturbing as I feel sorry for that particular youth’s future and many other youths like him as well. So what is this binge drinking all about? It’s the in-thing for many youths nowadays where they recklessly gulp down litres of alcoholic beverages in front of their peers to seem a strong drinker whom can hold their drink well. But the liquor does not hold long as minutes later they exit the premises to binge it out using their fingers so that they can return to load more. The reasons cited for this trend include peer pressure, escapism or a fanatic show of power.

When the straits times reporter interviewed one such youth a first year Singapore Polytechnic Student who was spotted near Zouk mentioned that he binges to “look cool”. Another youth mentioned that to binge a drink it allows one to explore and try more varieties of new drinks which have hit the market in recent times. Ironically club owners are doing their part to stop drinkers from over drinking. Psychologist Daniel Koh, 36 said youth who think it is not wrong to binge “are indicative of states of denial. No one can handle drinking because when intoxicated, reasoning power is over ridden”.

My personal opinion as a social psychology student of a binge drinker is that the affected youth’s reference group is not the right type. A reference group is a group that serves as a standard of comparison for an individual, whether in terms of attitudes, values or behavior. Individuals try to conform to the norms and values of their main reference groups. The most obvious way where people conform to reference groups is by imitating or by joining the activities they indulge in.

Another reason why youths who never binged before also binge together with their friends could be because of the social desire to conform and to be readily accepted by their peers and to feel safe in their in-group. The effect of alcohol on information processing is termed as Alcohol Myopia. It refers to the fact that intoxication reduces cognitive capacity, which results in a narrowing of attention therefore when attention is narrowed they do not feel or care about the public watching them that do absurd things like even sleeping in the streets..

Strange...yet True!

One of the most puzzling concept which I feel is present in Social Psychology is non-other than the By-Stander effect. I simply cant comprehend that humans being social animals just arent able to empathise with a person who is facing a crisis.Even our five-sensed counterparts animals such as elephants or even hyenas do look out for one another in times of need. Are we humans worse of then even Hyenas?




I have decided to discuss about the By-Stander effect after reading this newspaper article about 10 year old Huang Jia Yin from Penang. (Newpaper,29 march 2008, Pg 22) The residents from a condominium in Penang saw a girl clinging to her life as her distraught mother held her; But all they did was fold their arms ,talk and watch. Penang girl Huang Jia Yin,10 had fallen off from the 13th storey of her block of flats on Thursday at about 4 pm. Her mother, cradling her daughter in her arms, pleaded with the 10 or so onlookers, who had quickly gathered around, to take her to the hospital but no one volunteered. Finally after almost an hour the ambulance arrived but it was just too late upon reaching the hospital the doctors said that if she had been brought in at least half an hour earlier she may have been saved..yes a very distraughting article indeed. The sad plain fact is that this not just happens in Malaysia but all over the world!

The inhibitary effect of by-standers on the likelihood of an individual's helping is called the bystander effect. The bystander effect can be defined as follows. The likelihood that an individual will intervene in an emergency goes down as the number of bystanders increases. For example ( hypothetical Figures) individual bystanders may intervene 75% of the time in a particular emergency when alone, Whereas these same individuals may intervene only 50% of the time when two other bystanders are also present and only 30% of the time when five other bystanders are present. In sum the effect refers to the probability that a specific person will intervene, as mentioned earlier the probability goes down as the number of bystanders increases. The bystander effect can be caused by the impact of bystanders on how events are interpreted, on feelings of responsibilty to help or both.




As for this above case I personally believe that the bystanders may have been worried what if that was not an accident but a murder or sucide and may have wanted to avoid legal interogations by the police and related officers. The other possibilty may be that they may have had the diffused sense of responsibilty at that point of time.

African Dream

Over the past weeks our local papers have published articles about Africans in Singapore..and I being an undergraduate pursuing social psychology have decided to understand the current situation of the Africans in Singapore.

We may have read or heard about the violence and killings in various African states as Humans we empathise with our African brothers...hence we understand why many decide to migrate..but have you ever wondered why Singapore and what chance they have?

An article from the Straits Times March 8, 2008 (Saturday Special Report) informs us that many Africans leave their Sub-Saharan Africa to find their Dream, Since the Soccer league in Singapore opened their trials to foreign players as well; many Africans who have the passion,flare and the skill for the game are trying their best to enter local clubs.On the other hand some other Africans who end up in the pavements and the streets of Singapore have been dupped by conmen African job agents who promised them of securing well-paying jobs in Singapore. According to one African National Pastor cum photographer who resides in Singapore believes that there are about 3000 Africans in Singapore.

According to one African Mr Osibayo 33, believes that "there are no jobs for blacks here" and pleads Singaporeans to "Go easy on us, guys". When interviewed many Africans feel marginalized in Singapore due to their skin colour one even mentioned that "I know my skin colour is different but am i not a human being too?" Therefore Singaporeans both the citizens and the government should review their policies and give these men a chance to see what do they have to offer Singaporeans.

It cannot be denied that many Singaporeans are bias to them because of the recent increase in lottery scams that some Singaporeans have lost their life savings and many Singaporeans feel "small" to their large strong physique and as a result may be afraid to employ them.As Singaporeans I feel that it is important to think! Just because of some bad apples should we obstracize all Africans? Should one's schema of a group of African con- men preying on wealthy individuals cause us to develop outgroup homogeneity effect to all Blacks? One should understand that there are a few Africans who find themseves decent jobs in Singapore and even marry local ladies and live harmoniously as Singaporeans...making Singapore more diversified...

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