My experience in Malaysia: A reflective report

My experience in Malaysia: A reflective report It’s not easy to leave your country of origin and to settle down in another country where you are a visitor but my experience in staying Malaysia is incredible. Malaysia is one of the most beautiful and fascinating tourism destinations of South East Asia. Malaysia comprises out two parts, Peninsular Malaysia, which is located between Thailand in the north and Singapore in the south, and the two provinces Sabah and Sarawak, located on Borneo. It has a rich history courting back to the 13th century moreover it was a busy port for Europeans and far trades for many hundred years. It is a multiracial country with has a rich cultural heritage and a population of 23.27 million consisting of 61 percent Malays, 30 percent Chinese, 8 percent Indians and 1 percent of other ethnic groups. In 15th century Malacca was the initial name to Malaysia. In the year of 1957 Malaysia gained its independence from the British. Later in 1963 after the fusion of Singapore Sarawak and Sabah into a centr al union in which Malacca was called Malaysia. It is surprising to know that the Diversity of races, religions and cultures is an important characteristic of Malaysians. As moving from past to 21st century Malaysia is a modern city with shopping mall, cinemas, international hotels and star bucks everywhere. Knowing the brief history behind Malaysia after 4 hours sitting on plane I arrived into Kuala Lumpur which is the capital and the largest city in Malaysia. I was greeted by a member of a staff who then latterly took me off to hostel that night. Next morning I was warmly greeted and met the rest of the international students. It was a great day meeting them because I was happy to meet some of my collides who stayed with me in Srilanka. Accommodation costs are comparatively cheaper away from the city so as i moved into an apartment about 5-8 minutes’ walk from campus. At the campus there were rich variety of backgrounds, nationalities and cultures. Accommodating a community of 40% international students, studying at the Malaysia Campus is a great way to meet people from across the globe, learn about their cultures and communicate people about your own. Being in a newly expanded campus most of the facilities were new, Wireless network, library with latest collections of books, nice lecture hall with new computer and projector and also the shuttle service were amazing. The courses and teaching methods were not very different from what i have learnt in my country. When it comes to food Malaysia food is a mix of Indian, Chinese, Burmese and traditional Malay style. As for now I used to have my lunch, dinner in cafeteria. Sometimes when i get sick of the campus food I would just go to the restaurants nearby because there are number of small home style restaurants that offer delicious food at low prices. Trying out the Malaysians national dish Nasi lemak which is served with steamed rice, coconut milk, curry chicken or beef, fried anchovies and sambal was totally different when comes to the taste of red rice and curry. As a Sri Lankan student in Malaysia I wasn’t felt out of place because Malaysian culture is so way similar to srilankan traditions. On top of that, there are many places of interests in country such as beaches, islands and rain forest where you could fresh out from stress. Malaysias rain forest is deliberated as the oldest in the world so as the largest flower of the world, Rafflesia, is found in the rainforest of Malaysia. The diverse species of animals and plant life continue to enthuse a great deal. As a student to Malaysia, I discovered a wide range of customs and practices, some of which is different from what i practiced at my country. With different mix of races, religions and cultures Malaysians celebrate variety of festivals such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, ThaiPusasm, Deepavali and Christmas. Being an international student I did have its ups and downs. Major problem was adjusting with the language as Malay is the official language but English is also often spoken out as it is the second language, but I have largely adapted to it now. The pace of life in Malaysia is gentle, steady and everyone moves with a purpose and goal. Climate in Malaysia is different from my country as it’s generally warm throughout the year. Astonishingly they have only two seasons it’s the dry and the rainy season. Malaysia which is considered to be the most attracted tourist residence consists numerous places to visit such as the Kula Lumpur the largest and busiest city in Malaysia has the tallest twin buildings called Petronas Twin towers and it was established the world’s tallest towers in the period of 1998 to 2004 and the sixth tallest telecommunication tower in the world. Redang Island in Terengganu is one of the finest coral and marine ecosystems in Malaysia. Following with the Cameron highlands a place for coolness, fresh fruits and vegetables. The national park Pahang for ecological wonders. Moreover the Petaling Street, the Centre of Kuala Lumpurs original Chinatown, maintains much of its traditional atmosphere, particularly at night and the Batu caves which is a limestone hill consists of series caves and caves temple located in north of Kula Lumpur. I explored some of the best cultural and natural sights, venues and places in Malaysia. One of the best places I visited in Malaysia was the Sunway Lagoon Theme Park, because it has five different theme parks at one place. If Disney land is happiest place in earth probably Sunway Lagoon T heme Park the most exciting and amazing place to see. Malaysia has some of the most attractive cave systems in the world. Among the more famous are the Niah, Mulu and Clearwater caves. With a charted length of 100 kilometers, the latter is considered Asia’s longest cave system and grades tenth in the world. The Clearwater River which flows through this cave system is one of the world’s biggest famous underground rivers. As others countries Malaysia is also endowed with natural resources such as agriculture, forestry and minerals. Rubber was one of the mainstays of Malaysia economy which was lately replaced by the oil palm. Meanwhile Malaysia comprises three major cultures: Malay, Chinese and Indian, each culture has its own traditional and religious objects of clothing all of which is gender precise and may be altered to local impacts and conditions. The Malay wears the Baju Kurung and the Baju Kebaya. Besides the Chinese women wear the cheongsam, it is a one-piece dress with a high neck, diagonally closed with small clips or toggles. The Indians wear very colorful saris in a rich variety of bright and refined dyes for their usual prayer in the temple and for everyday living. However for the Malay culture, the men usually wear Baju Melayu with a cap, on their head. Traditional clothing for men in Malaysia consists of a silk or cotton skirt and shirt with a scarf like piece of cloth tied around his waist. Meanwhile the Indian men wear Sherwani, which is a coat like clothing fitted close to the body, of knee-length or longer and opening in front with button. They also wear Lungi, Dhoti and Kurta and Paja ma. Wedding style is unique from other countries. The activities that take place during Malay wedding often come from the diverse cultural traditions indigenous, Hindu and Islamic those have together served to shape traditional Malay culture. Each wedding take place in their traditional way. Moreover the stability and peacefulness of Malaysia is a unique and a peaceful environment to live besides it is a great place if you love hot and humid climate, and if you are food lover.

A Question of Authorship Essay

For the past five decades, the world of literature has come to venerate the great works of one man. The tremendous contribution of Shakespeare in Literature remains unparalleled. The sheer volume of the plays and sonnets he had written remain unmet, and the quality of its art remains unmatched. So much so, that there is probably no one inhabiting this earth who hasn’t the knowledge of the great writer. No one graduates from school without having the experience of Shakespeare in their education: his plays are celebrated through staging and his works are the subject of study in, and even outside of, Literature classes. Also, the celebration of Shakespeare and his works are not limited to the confines of education. Theatrical companies earn a sizeable proportion of their profits in staging Shakespeare’s five-century old works. Publishing companies benefit largely in the millions of hardbound copies they have printed of Shakespeare’s works, and the literature he and his works have inspired. With the picture that has been painted, we can see how influential and how big a pillar Shakespeare is in Literature. However, with the exception of literary scholars, not many people are aware of the issue that has surrounded Shakespeare’s authorship of the works that have been claimed to be his since the time man can remember. William Shakespeare of Stratford has always been regarded as the man who wrote the immortal plays and sonnets. But ever since speculations have started to arise, various names have also mushroomed through the investigations of scholars who claim that these names are the ones which we should be celebrating, and not that of the businessman William Shakespeare of Stratford. The speculations started when Alexander Pope brought to the attention of readers the authenticity of the attribution to Shakespeare in a number of his works. Pope attacked Shakespeare’s on the genuineness of works that had been excluded from the 1623 Folio, a collection of Shakespeare’s most compelling works. His criticisms made in the 17th century continued to influence the generations that followed with respect to their opinion on the matter. Primarily though, what has unsettled critics are the dissonance in his the experiences and education received by a theater man in Stratford and the quality and content of the works he allegedly produced, as stated by one source, â€Å"The work attributed to Shakespeare shows a knowledge of geography, foreign language, politics, and an immense vocabulary that many find inconsistent with what’s known about Shakespeare’s education,† (Lanciai). Authorship Majority of the investigations were done through a historical point of view. If we take a look back in history during the time Shakespeare wrote his plays, we would find out how authorship was perceived as insignificant, even illegitimate, in the writing of the book. According to another source, traditional narratives that present the Middle Ages as a ‘golden age’ of forgery for which questions of authorship and authenticity were unimportant (King). What triggered this was the inability of novice writers (especially people of rank) to publish their own name in their works under the regime of Queen Elizabeth. â€Å"A gentleman of rank could not publish under his own name lest he be suspected of having a profession†. This policy was followed, and writers of rank either circulated their work privately or they made use of pen-names (Lanciai Christian). Also, the theater industry during Shakespeare’s time was an unsurveyable community (Lanciai). It therefore follows that while theater was an important industry of the era, it is very challenging to examine the works of the industry. These reasons ultimately lead to the graying of the trace to the real authorship of the works attributed to Shakespeare. Why not Shakespeare? It has been mentioned in this essay that the theater industry was an unsurveyable community during Shakespeare’s time. A piece of information that is known though is that the owners of the theaters were communally owned by the actors, according to Lanciai’s article. Only the exceptional rise in the business, and William Shakespeare was one of them, as he was an accomplished capitalist of those times. Therefore, we can surmise that Shakespeare the businessman was a person considered of rank in his age. If we remember the rule that was imposed on writers of rank, another source argued thus: â€Å"If Shakespeare was a gentleman of rank, then William Shakespeare could not he his real name. By contrast, the William Shakespeare who was a play-broker, part owner of an acting company, and resident of Stratford as well as London would have been in a good position to use and appropriate work written by an anonymous high-born author,† (Price, Diana). How Shakespeare was perceived The man’s (Shakespeare of Stratford) social and professional position in question was described by Pope as this: â€Å"He writ to the People; and writ at first without patronage from the better sort, and therefore without aims of pleasing them: without assistance or advice from the Learned, as without the advantage of education or acquaintance among them: [and] without the knowledge of the best models, the Ancients, to inspire him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  From this description, King surmised that Pope regarded the dialogue of the actors in his works as â€Å"bad conversations†, and that he was only able to get away with this because of the Court patronage. Also, he had drawn from the quote that the quality of Shakespeare’s dramatic writing improved in direct proportion to his level of social and linguistic contact with ‘the better sort’. With this we can already see how Pope has de-merited Shakespeare from the level of literary genius which has always been associated to his name. It also evident that Pope deemed Shakespeare of this position because of the social position he was in, as according to the same article, Shakespeare’s social contamination by his inferior associates and conversation partners contributed to the de-meriting. An argument from another author supported Pope’s claims when another author said, â€Å"It appears that Shakespeare of Stratford was not much respected (or liked) while Shakespeare the author was† (Price). The other side of Shakespeare of Stratford that Pope pointed out in concurs with the knowledge of the author. According to Price’s book, Shakespeare of Stratford was identified by contemporary documents as a money-lender, play-broker, wheeler-dealer, social climber, and sometime actor. No contemporaries of Shakespeare called him as an author, not even people from his community. What also strengthens this argument is the lack of surviving documents written by him which have any literary significance (Price). Aside from these, what’s also disturbing for scholars is the fact that the will left by Shakespeare did not mention of any books that he owned. In Elizabethan period, books were considered important items and therefore were to be bequeathed to relatives or fellow writers. His passing also spoke of his merit as a celebrated modern playwright in his time. Unlike other playwrights, his death did not stir any public notice. Add to that the issue brought about the will he left behind, these things make a lot of people wonder about his merit as a writer. It seems that his will was the only trace of Shakespeare’s literary works. A man named Reverend James Wilmot was said to have searched all of Warwickshire to look for any piece of evidence that would present Shakespeare’s literary activity. Reverend Wilmot did not find any anecdote, letter, document or any memento (Lanciai). Surely, anyone who is claimed to be a writer will have volumes of writings in his home, or any piece of writing at all. The article also explained that Reverend Wilmot’s discovery led him to conclude that Shakespeare really must have another writer. His education also proved nothing but extraordinary. According to Price’s book also, the businessman from Stratford only acquired a grammar-school education at most. While possible, it is difficult to believe that a person of such educational attainment could produce the level of intellect and cultivation found in his works. It is almost unquestionable when one makes the claim that Shakespeare’s works have shaped the way English dramas are to be written, as put by another source, â€Å"He creates and establishes the English verse drama, he gradually develops the English drama into the form which subsequently and invariably becomes the Shakespeare standard (Leahy, William). † This particular writer is one with the critics who says it is impossible that these works of great quality could have been produced by a man with little educational background. Leahy added in his article, â€Å"It’s not likely that Shakespeare could master this form directly without preparatory work in such an accomplished professionalism which is already evident in the first Shakespeare dramas. † What made him say this is due to his non-existent education and lack of experience of Cambridge, France, and Italy. Aside from this, Price adds how scholars point out that his knowledge of several foreign languages is deemed dubious. The article explained that there is no indication that Shakespeare knew any languages other than English, or that he ever left England. The discrepancy between the images of the two persons has fuelled the debates for the authenticity of the businessman from Stratford’s authorship in the Shakespearian works. The Real Shakespeare Among the numerous strings of allegations and speculations regarding Shakespeare of Stratford’s merit to claiming authorship to a number of literary works, a lot of names have also surfaced. Among these people was Francis Beaumont, a young dramatist who passed away in the same year William Shakespeare died. As death could sometimes speak of the greatness of a person, we could surely say that Beaumont was considered as one of the significant people in English drama. The whole of England mourned for his death and paid tribute to the dramatist. Aside from this young dramatist, another man is claimed to be the real Shakespeare. Ben Jonson, who also completely dominates the preface to the first edition of the complete works of Shakespeare, which appeared in 1623, is also suspected to be the real author of the plays (Lanciai). Lanciai adds that Ben Jonson himself has published his complete works first, which could have led him to think that the Shakespeare dramas should also be published. In addition, Christopher Marlowe has been alleged to be the original Shakespeare. Born in Canterbury, he was a learned man who received his education in the King’s School Canterbury, as well as Corpus Christi College, Cambridge through scholarships. The resonance with the quality of education has convinced many scholars, but what was more convincing was the practice he was able to gain in translations, poetry, and playwrighting (Oleg, et al). Lanciai also mentions another probable author to the works in question. After the discovery of Reverend Wilmot regarding the absence of Shakespeare’s literary work, the Reverend believed that a man named Francis Bacon should be recognized as the authentic author. The Reverend concluded that Shakespeare must have been the protective name for Bacon. According still to Lanciai’s article, Bacon’s education, experience and knowledgeableness could be better reconciled with the intellectual level exhibited by the works. Also, as the authorship clearly indicates that the experience were collected from at least the Cambridge university, Italy, and France, Bacon proved to be a probable candidate to the authorship as he had extensively went to these places. To add, Bacon’s education allowed him a position as an ambassador and to also serve as a member of the House of Commons. He was knighted and moved to higher political positions after the ascension of James VI (Oleg, et. al) In conclusion, the works of Shakespeare are not to be questioned with respect to the contribution in Literature and the quality of art that it contains. While the question of the Shakespeare authorship has been around for hundreds of years and is therefore a very important matter to be settled, it would be more important and more contributory if aspiring writers who are inspired by these works to focus their attention to â€Å"what† and not as to the† who. † Works Cited: King, Edmund G. C.. In the Character of Shakespeare: Canon, Authorship, and Attribution in Eighteenth-Century England Lanciai, Christian. A Summary of the Shakespeare Problems. Research Journal – Volume 06 – 2009 Online Research Journal Article. The Marlowe Society. 2009 Price, Diana. Shakespeare’s Unorthodox Biography: New Evidence of an Authorship Problem Seletsky, Oleg, Huang, Tiger, Henderson-Frost William. The Shakespeare Authorship Question.

Effect of Advertisement on Sales

MKT 321: MARKETING RESEARCH METHODS JAN – APRIL 2013 CAT 1 Using the knowledge and skills acquired in this course (Research methods) explain how would improve the performance of your Research and Development Department in a firm (15 marks) A research and development (R&D) department in a firm is responsible for innovations in design, products, and style. This department is responsible for creating innovative new products to keep companies a step ahead of the competition. Many companies also rely on the R&D department to improve existing consumer products, and to explore new ways of producing them.Companies thrive and succeed by creating innovative products, as well as by increasing company profit and utilizing cost-efficient methods. A research and development department is primarily responsible for ensuring that these goals are met. This is an especially important function in the fields of manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, but can be applied to virtually any industry. Often, research and development works closely with the marketing department. Marketing studies consumer trends by surveying and researching consumer demands, purchasing methods, product sales, and the existence and development of technology across the relevant market.The marketing department gathers all the data, and makes this information available to the R&D department, which will take action in response to the findings and proceed to keep the company on top of current market needs. Consumer demands often change very quickly, and the research and development department must be alert and adapt to these market fluctuations accordingly. I would invest a substantial amount of money to research and development so that it can continually modify and update the firm’s products to preserve a brand's position within the market.This is because even if our product would be leading in the market, however much it is a key product, usually will not remain in the number one market position forev er without some type of improvement and advancement. Research and development department software The progress of innovation research and product development requires a good balance between the team and management involved in R;D projects. VIP Task Manager provides this balance and allows to manage R;D projects and activities effectively.The software helps to carry information on the latest developments and coordinate the resource assignment to new promising projects in efficient and timely way. VIP Task Manager can be used as R;D project management software for organizing the workflow of the department. The software gives the following options Quality is a major issue and R;D department is deeply involved in ensuring quality of new products and attaining the required levels of regulatory requirements. In cooperation with the quality assurance department, R;D department develops a quality plan for new products.When a company sells a product on the marketplace, it should keep regulat ory compliance with legal requirements. By using Centriqs, the R;D managers can organize the workflow for researches and development of new products. In Centriqs, there can be used task templates for researches of typical products as well as for a new product specification development. The software allows to add new workflow with specific task statuses. By introducing Centriqs shareware into the workflow, the R;D department can effective cooperate with QA department through sharing tasks and projects aimed to development of quality plans for new products.The R;D managers can use the Files view to upload regulatory documents to the database and attach documents to required tasks shared between engineers, technicians and scientists. | | Research and development department goals/tasks The main goal of the R;D department is to provide the organization with pro-active leadership in the industry and strong competitive advantages through implementation of new technologies and solutions aim ed to improve current product range and develop new products.The R;D department closely works with the quality assurance department in order to create a new solution for enhancing the sustainability and the quality of products. The tasks of R;D department could be split into two main groups: research and development. The groups are closely linked with each other, however they have some peculiarities. The research activities allow the organization to find more effective ways to produce a product. The development activities are focused on how to implement these ways into manufacturing of the current or a new product.Research and development department in company structure Research and development are often very expensive and it takes much time to get positive results from them. However most businesses invest a lot of money in research and development and build R;D departments. The organizations which have R;D departments in their structure, gain big advantages, because: 1. Products ar e commercialized faster 2. Products reach global markets 3. Contribution to customer confidence 4. Effective exploitation of technologies 5.They gain advantages over rivalsThe research and development department will enable a more progressive and faster transfer of innovations into product development and exploitation. | CAT 2 As a manager you have noted that the sales for a certain product have dropped despite having increased the level of advertising. Explain in details how you would undertake a market research to know whether advertising affects sales (20 marks) a. Background information. The background serves to put research objectives into context, and it will help me to understand why I will pursue the objectives of knowing why advertising affect sales.I would detail what i see as being the main events that have caused or contributed to the advertising effect on sales. Such a background gives a framework for the researcher to investigate other potential events, contributory fa ctors or causes. b. Objectives. The first part of this section would detail which marketing decisions are to be completed once the research has been undertaken. This requires decision-makers to explain what they see as the focus of the decision they plan to make. They then go on to explain what gaps(s) they see in their knowledge. Those gaps create the focus to planned esearch activities and set the research objectives. The formulation of the marketing objectives can encompass two areas: organizational objectives and personal objectives of the decision-maker. For the researcher this may not be explicit or obvious to discern. It may take time working with a decision-maker or a particular organization to see the potential conflicts in organizational and personal objectives. This ‘first-step’ brief offers the opportunity for the researcher to draw out and develop a much clearer vision of marketing and research objectives.Drawing out and developing decisionmakers’ pe rspective of objectives, helps the process of developing a common understanding of what the decision-maker is trying to achieve. c. Target to research. Any market research project will measure, understand or observe a target group of individuals. These may be distinct groups of consumers, channel members such as retailers or competitors, or company employees. In this section, details of the characteristics of the target group(s) can help in much research design decisions.These cover areas of identification, gaining access to conduct research, understanding which techniques are appropriate to measure or understand these individuals, and the best environment or context in which to conduct the research. d. Who is to use the findings? This section would outline brief details of the decision-maker who will use the research findings. For example, certain decision makers may be entrepreneurial and introspective, looking for short-term tactical advantages. Managers with a background and tra ining in statistics may expect results to be analyzed and presented in a particular manner to have any credibility.Other managers may not have such training or may even be distrustful of statistical analysis and seek a more qualitative interpretation. These 19 issues have an impact upon the nature and extent of analysis conducted upon the data collected and the style and format in which research findings will be presented. e. Constraints. The main limitation to marketing researchers carrying out what they may perceive as being the correct way to research a problem is the time and money that the marketer can afford. With knowledge of time and cost constraints, the researcher can develop a research design to suit these eeds. The researcher may also demonstrate other courses of action that could demand greater amount of money or time, but could have clear benefits that the marketer may be unaware of. Other constraints, such as those imposed by the client firm’s personnel, organi zational structure and culture, or decision making styles, should be identified to determine the scope of the research project. Yet constraints should not be allowed to diminish the value of the research to the decision-maker or to compromise the integrity of the research process.In instances where the resources are too limited to allow a project of sufficient quality, the firm should be advised not to undertake formal marketing research. f. Administrative considerations. These would lay out the administrative details in completing the research project. Examples could be the expected delivery of interim reports, contacts in the organization that may be able to help supply further information, or reference to sources of materials and individuals that are needed to complete the research successfully.

Writing News Classics Adapted for Dummies and Mommies

There are lots of books for babies in the bookstores. Fairy tales and funny, yet educational stories about almost everything in the world, are designed in the form of cardboard books with thick pages and rounded corners. Simple plots, lots of pictures – almost all of us read them back in our childhood. They look attractive and are safe for reading and chewing. But for some reason parents stopped enjoying the simplicity and naivety of fairy tales and switched to the BabyLit series. What is it? Well, basically, books, which belong to BabyLit series, feature the most popular and important classic literary works, which are adapted for young minds of toddlers and babies. Nevertheless, instead of diving into depths of plot, babies will explore such topics, as colors, counting or concepts like diversity (or opposites, or other). Talking of design of such books: they are wonderfully decorated and their graphic is quite complex. Classics, published by BabyLit series, are mostly designed by talented contemporary artists. It is surely stupid to hope, that a 3-year old would get something for himself out of the plot of such a book, as, for example, â€Å"Sense and Sensibility†. It is also quite questionable if a child could even understand the title of this work (because even when talking of adults, not all of them do). But using the adapted version of the book in order to study colors or numbers? Priceless. Why classics anyways? In order to develop child’s aesthetic taste! Linda Bubon, an owner of a bookstore Women Children First, which is located in Chicago, states the following: â€Å"If we’re going to play classical music to our babies in the womb and teach them foreign languages at an early age, then we’re going to want to expose babies to fine art and literature. Now we know there are things we can do to stimulate the mind of a baby.† Besides, it is much more interesting for parents to interact with their child while reading and showing them pictures of adapted classic book, than while reading some ridiculous story about the adventures of puppies, or vegetables, or pieces of furniture. Children tend to like some books so much, that parents have to reread them again and again. It is obvious, that rereading, for example, adapted â€Å"Moby-Dick† is less annoying, than rereading plotless â€Å"Angry Birds† story. At least, adapted classics, even after losing the complexity of their plot, still recall some memories on how nice it was to read the full story.