Monday, September 30, 2019

Notes on A Constable Calls by Seamas Heaney Essay

Seamus Heaney tells us about a memory from his childhood. A policeman visits his family farm to take a record of the crops that Heaney’s father is growing. The description of the bicycle is our first indication that the policeman is not welcomed and that he is seen -by Heaney at least –as an intimidating, unpleasant figure. Everything in the description of the bike hints at this. The ‘fat black handlegrips’ sound ugly and unpleasant, and seem to suggest that the bicycle’s owner might be similarly unappealing. The dynamo is ‘cockedback’, reminding us of the trigger of a gun. The pedals are ‘relieved / Of the boot of the law’, implying that the constable is a man whose presence causes pressure and discomfort. He represents ‘the law’ and is therefore disliked. At that time in Northern Ireland, most Catholics would have viewed the police as an oppressive force. The descriptions of the constable reinforce that idea. The harsh ‘k’ and ‘g’ sounds in the opening stanzas emphasise the harshness of the authority the constable represents and they also create a sense of tension. It is clear that the constable is not welcome in the Heaney home. His hat is on the floor: nobody has taken it from him or offered him a place to put it. Again, the physical description of the constable focuses on unattractive aspects of his appearance. His hair is ‘slightly sweating’ and marked by the cap he has been wearing. The idea of his oppressive presence is again picked up by the reference to the ledger (record book) being ‘heavy’. The young Heaney is filled with fear as he watches the constable. He stares at his gun and remembers every detail of it in its holster. The tone of the poem is one of fear. Meanwhile, the constable continues to record the family’s crops. Heaney’s father answer’s the constable’s questions with curt, one word replie s, showing how unwelcome both he and his interrogation are. The young boy is terrified to hear his father lying about the crops. He knows that there is a line of turnips which his father has not admitted to, and in his horrified imagination, he sees his father –and maybe even himself –being taken to the barracks and thrown in a cell. The constable takes his leave, putting the ledger away. Heaney refers to it as the ‘domesday book’ because he is so terrified that his father will be judged and punished for his  little lie about the turnips. This name for the ledger also reinforces the idea of the constable belonging to an oppressive force which holds the threat of violence over people like Heaney’s father. Of course, the young boy is grossly exaggerating the policeman’s power in this instance. To a small child, the lie about the turnips seems enormous, but in reality, nobody would be thrown in jail for such a minor offence, even if it were to be discovered. However, young Heaney’s emotions towar ds the constable reflect his father’s dislike and resentment of being held to account for his crops. The constable looks at the young boy and says ‘goodbye’. This reminds us that the constable is, in reality, just a man. This is the only instance of his humanity. It is not likely that he wishes to appear threatening or intimidating, but that is how he is viewed by the Catholic community. He is seen as a representative of an unwelcome, despised, oppressive authority. Outside the window, the constable is for a moment just a shadow. There is something shadowy about the descriptions of him throughout the poem. We never learn any details about him as a person: what we learn of him is based on the images of menace and threat.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Hunting Snake and Cockroach Essay

The poems â€Å"Hunting Snake† and â€Å"The Cockroach† are very different but also vastly similar poems. The predominant language feature that is common in both poems is an extended metaphor – this is used in â€Å"Hunting Snake† to represent the colonisation of the Aborigines in Ancient Australia, and in â€Å"The Cockroach† to represent human nature, values and the way we live our lives. The poem â€Å"Hunting Snake† is obviously a poem about a group of people coming across a snake, staring in awe at its beauty and dissimilarity and then moving on. Wright uses a lot of sibilance in this poem, perhaps to emphasise the snake. However if we explore deeper we notice that the poem is not about this at all – in fact it has an exceptionally different meaning. The entire poem is an extended metaphor for the colonisation of the Aborigines in Australia – the snake represents the Aborigines and the persona represents the colonisers. Although the colonisers saw the incredibly beautiful and unique Aborigines, they simply looked at each other and walked on – this is exactly what happens during every colonisation. The colonisers do not think about anyone else’s feelings, just their own personal or monetary gain. Hunting Snake is a poem about ancient beliefs and values, and the way that humans acted many years ago. In comparison, the poem â€Å"The Cockroach† is also one that addresses the issue of human nature and values. Kevin Halligan uses a cockroach to portray a ‘disgusting’ creature, one that many people are eager to kill and get rid of. Cockroaches also have a very nomadic lifestyle – they scurry about from place to place, never settling down and are always â€Å"on the go†. Halligan wishes for us to compare the cockroaches’ lifestyle with our own – the scampering motion of the bug is a reflection of his (and all humans’) nomadic lifestyle. By describing these frantic movements he is saying something about how most of us live our lives and our incapability to settle down – we are all in a hurry to move on to the next chapter in our lives, the next milestone, the next day, month, or year. This poem is set in modern day, it is written as if the cockroach is inside a house or a building, not outside like Hunting Snake. This technique helps to give us a better understanding of the poem – we can more easily relate it to human nature and our own lifestyles.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Introduction Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Introduction Assignment - Essay Example I always believe that my roots will bring me an advantage in facing the world, especially in the field of writing. I came from a big family with four sisters and a brother, and I am the youngest one. My family has an innate influence on me. They have been the first people in my life and the first people I have interacted with; we have interesting similarities and differences that make each of us very special. In relation to this, when I had the chance to be an international student, I acquired more learning experiences from actual relations with various kinds of people of diverse origins and with different ways of life. I consider every person as a chance to learn more about the world; it can be said that every new person in my life inspires me, and I incorporate this inspiration in my writings. It is important for me to know the topic which I am writing about. It is a seed that I plant and cultivate to produce knowledgeable fruits. Inspiration is healthy in writing but it will not be of help without the correct information. As a writer, I see to it that my works contain legit data, and I take note of the credibility of the source. Free writing is good for personal writing pleasures, but professional writing requires certain formats to follow. I stick to formats given to me and make sure requirements are achieved. I aim for harmony in my personal writing style and for the achievement of the goals of the writing task. Just like life, writing is not writing if it does not have a purpose. Life is not life if we do not live it for a purpose. It is important to have a clear idea of what one is going to write about for one to achieve the purpose of writing (Goldreich 2).This is how I view my responsibility as a writer. After all, written works become records of our lives; in other words, they become human

Friday, September 27, 2019

Organizational communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organizational communication - Essay Example All human resource managers rely on communication in their organizations to air their views and have plans implemented. Without communication from one official to the employees, management might crumble. Therefore, any successful human resource manager usually acknowledges the importance of organization communication as it has a positive outcome on the output provided of the given workforce. An excellent example of human resource and organization communication is the case of BMG international (Poole, 2012). Rudi Gassner emerged to be an effective leader who employed many ways of human resource management to form a winning team that led the company to achieve its objectives (Poole, 2012). Any human resource is often equipped with the responsibility of leading, planning and staffing. Rudi ensured that he employed the right leadership style to help in his management. In addition, he chose a 9 member executive team to help him in his management. In using transactional leadership style, he was able to establish a good reward punishment system in the organization that led to improvement of its output (Poole, 2012). A good communication between the human resource management and employees is key for an organization to succeed (Poole, 2012). Decision making process is an important tool in communication. For instance, Rudi Gassner left the decision making process to his executive team, but still ensured he took part in the overall decision making process (Poole, 2012). This ensured that the decisions made were in line with the companies’ objectives and vision. Gassner left the decision process on the directors and only came in to give the final say. His management style hence brought more success, but also resulted in conflicts within the committee (Hill, 1995). Gassner ensured that he was involved in every business activity of the company and ensured he observed what occurred in them. This brought a number of doubts in his management as those at the lower levels

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Ocean at the end of the lane Research Paper

The Ocean at the end of the lane - Research Paper Example The book begins with a funeral taking place and ends with death. Neil Gaiman uses stories to keep the dark at bay. He also believes that the stories that are most effective are the ones with plenty of darkness within them. He effectively uses this throughout the novel. The narrator in this novel remains unnamed, he returns to Sussex to bury his relative, who is also unidentified. At one time while driving to visit the house he once lived in, he finds a lot of changes that one might only expect to occur after passage of many years. However, one thing that has not changed is a red-brick farmhouse that was once inhabited by Lettie Hempstock, his childhood friend. The book blends children’ and adults’ world and also blends reality and magic. The writer creates a dream universe which is made up of a ghost world characterized by lurking monsters and shadows. This world is seen through the eyes of a seven year old hero, Sussex and the afterlife, monstrous and magical, mundane and supernatural, a father-son conflict later and the clash of gods (Neil, 2013). He introduces another character who commits suicide in a car after been overcome by guilt of gambling away a lot of savings. The narrator then meets Lettie, a strange, self-confident country girl. The writer brings in a theme of association between money with death. Lettie and her family are creatures who only exist outside of time so as to prevent destruction caused by malevolence like the one of the suicide. This theme becomes clearer as Lettie introduces the narrator to duck pond, which she calls an ocean and in it floats a fish that has choked to death. Mystery starts to come in when the narrator one morning wakes up and mysteriously finds a shilling stuck in his throat. He immediately thinks the ghost of the opal miner has attacked him and he runs to the Hempstocks’ for help. Lettie then guides the narrator into another

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Love Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Essay

Love Office of Community Oriented Policing Services - Essay Example The police officers will regularly tour the schools to spot bullies and victims. Upon finding a bully incident, the police officers can immediately arrest the bullies and drag them to jail for the filing of the appropriate charges. However, schools follow traditional norms of hiring the security guards to handle the school’s anti-bullying efforts. The guards arrest students who bully the teachers, administrators, school employees, and students. In addition, Scott Berinato (2007) emphasized the school guards can reduce the 27 percent K-12 bullying statistics in United States schools. The police will enter the bullying scene when requested by school authorities, students, parents, and other affected persons. Police records show that the current bullying scene includes 27 percent of K -12 students classified as bullying victims. The bullying statistics includes 8 percent of teachers being threatened by bullies in elementary and secondary schools. Specifically, the school administ ration of New England School refused to allow the police to have access to the controls of the school cameras. The police wanted full control in order to take full charge in case a school shooting incident or illegal activity. However, the police were only allowed to view the camera’s films of the school shooting incident. ... 12 defined policing as â€Å"a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies, which support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques, to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, and fear of crime.† Consequently, the police must encourage the school administration to do its share to effectively prevent or reduce the bullying statistics within the school’s premises. Furthermore, the above police department article Bullying in Schools (Sampson, 2009) states that bullying is composed of two components, repeated harmful acts and imbalance of power. It involves repeated physical, verbal, or psychological attacks or intimidation directed against a victim who cannot properly defend him or herself due to the assailants’ size or strength, or the victim is outnumbered or psychologically resilient. European and Scandinavian studies show that bullies are aggressive, domina nt, and slightly below average intelligence and reading ability. Additional research shows bullies compensate their poor social skills with bullying strategies. Bully victims are generally smaller and weaker than the school bullies. In addition, Anne Garrett (2003) reported accused 2007 shooter, Andy Williams, was a constant victim or target of California’s Santana High School’s bullies. Williams shot the students who bullied him. Several years after the Williams shooting spree, a study showed that one half of Santana High School students did not feel safe inside the school’s premises. In addition, one third of the students of Santana High School reported they were victims of the school bullies’ constant verbal abuses. In addition, 17 percent of same

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Journal entry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 8

Journal entry - Essay Example News reporting needs to be as objective as possible because otherwise it could be construed as propaganda. People tend to only hear what they want to hear, so if they only are presented with one political or social opinion then they will likely widely believe anything because it fits their predetermined point of view. News reporting is a vital service necessary to keep the population informed of important national and world events. If news reporting is not objective then the lines between truth and fiction will become blurred. This is a serious concern to everyone no matter his or her political persuasion. Without another point of view to balance a news story, there will be two contrasting views of the news, neither of which will be centered or based on fact. In terms of politics, this will result in a broken down system where neither side is able to trust the other because "their version" of the news will be very different. Once politics has reached that stage, the citizens will no longer trust the government because they will have their own conspiracy theories about the real intentions of politicians. The only way to prevent such a situation is to make sure that news reporting is kept as objective as possible by sticking to the facts and having very little opinion or emotional appeals included.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Ocado Supermarket Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ocado Supermarket - Assignment Example 1997). By rewarding orders from a devoted warehouse, we can demonstrate almost live inventory on our webshop, enabling customers to decide from an assortment of groceries that are in fact in stock. By using exclusive logistics software and satellite direction-finding systems in our vans, we strive to deliver the correct goods at the right time (Rotorua, 1988). But what makes us truthfully divergent is the quality of our people. Everybody who works at Ocado has a liability to discover an improved way to do things. They use widespread sense instead of corporate manuals and, in all cases; they care enough to try to make a disparity. Ideally they would create from scratch, avoiding all the legacy issues of a customary business. Then business people would build a brand new service completely around your customers' requirements. They had made sure this service distribute Waitrose quality groceries, straight to customers' doors in the majority dependable way possible. They had staff that company by the brightest people in the industry and approve them to look following their customers (Rotorua, 1988). That is precisely what they have tried to do. We do make mistakes but we be familiar with they are changing people's habits with the magnificent expediency of being able to get what they want, when they want it. They have built this business to address the desires of busy people in the 21st Century, with no compromising on the devotion to customer care and service that people miss from the past (Cotterill, P.P. 1989, Pp. 36-42). If we analyzed then we come to know that Ocado was launched in corporation by Waitrose in January 2002 and their service is now obtainable to over 13.5 million household's crossways the South East, the Midlands, the North West and other lately the South Coast. If they register by Ocado they will even contact customer area. They will approximately surely know somebody who has shopped with Ocado. Ocado really can make dissimilarity Exceptional service Magnificent Waitrose food Extraordinary order accuracy Handy one-hour delivery slots Best website in the land No doubt, for Six Sigma to work in your service and deal areas, it is necessary that it is straight associated to customer contentment. Though Ocado do not use Six Sigma themselves, customer's imminent remains pertinent for Six Sigma professionals and anybody for whom excellence is key in today's business type of weather, as Ocado face near-identical confront. As the online grocery service operational in company by Waitrose, Ocado have become famed for their strange approach of putting customer service at the heart of their business strategy from their launch two years ago. Hear how the company has attained (Ocado environmental Report): - Buy-in crossways all company functions to the strategy of enchantment the customer - Management maintain for prioritising quality and service delivery higher than all else - Support for the business case for such a philosophy and the more resources that were

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Minimalist visual artists and composers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Minimalist visual artists and composers - Essay Example The fact that music has more â€Å"space† in time that it has to occupy, along with the fact that the common chords used have emotional resonance means that minimalist music retains a more emotional intensity, while visual art remains more intellectual, as demonstrated by a comparison of Philip Glass’s â€Å"Einstein on the Beach† and John McCracken’s â€Å"Untitled Slab.† Einstein on the Beach begins with deconstructed common chords, before being overlaid by a female ensemble counting to six using the same chord. This is then quickly overlayed with a voice speaking quickly, words barely just too quick to catch any narrative out of (Glass). It then begins with an overlay of male voices singing harmonics and a different group of male voices counting to six using a different octave of the same chord. Each chord used is major, with harmonies communicating a combined sense of joy and loftiness. These musical elements, though deconstructed here, would still be recognizable even to a lay audience, and leave Glass’s music with a distinct emotional punch. McCracken’s work, â€Å"Untitled Slab,† is very different. This piece of work is a painting that resembles, in every element, a large black slab of marble, down to the sense of reflections in its black depth (McCracken). The fact that it looks so almost common place while being made with such distinct skill asks the viewer to engage with art critically; it demands the reader use their mind and think about art as a construct. This consciousness of art as art is common to minimalist visual art, and keeps the viewer at arm’s length, reducing the emotional punch that the art actually has. This means that minimalist visual art, while sharing many similarities with minimalist music, has a very different effect. Minimalist music retains a great deal of emotional punch, while visual art loses it to heightened intellectualism. These

Saturday, September 21, 2019

World War 1 Essay Example for Free

World War 1 Essay In this essay, I am going to explore the similarities and differences between different WW1 poetry. I will be looking into the points that the poems show and comparing them with each other. Different poems are written for different reasons and they are written to show different things. In terms of the realities of war, In Flanders Fields is the only poem that truly shows this. This is because John McCrae wanted to show the realities of war because his friend had died during the war, this meant that McCrae was determined to show the realities of war and not let people think that it was easy or fun as people said it was. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow (In Flanders Fields) This shows that war isnt all that good. It explains quite bluntly that they are dead, this is to show the harsh realities of war. It represents that they no longer have lives because they are soldiers and so do nothing else but fight. It explains this by using past tense, which shows that it no longer exists. The poem In Flanders Fields also shows mans inhumanity to man. This is also because McCrae is trying to show what war was really like and show the insensitive realities of war. Take up our quarrel with the foe (In Flanders Fields) This shows that people in war did show inhumanity to the opposition because they were not suppose to be a team together, they are fighting. By using the word foe, it is dehumanising the enemy and making them a lesser worth. Also the word take, is an imperative and shows that war isnt fair. This poem is quite clearly not propaganda. On the other hand, some poems were very positive for war and try to show war as a positive thing so that they recruit young men and soldiers and encourage them to enlist. To show war as a positive thing, the poets often used euphemisms for death in order to make it sound good. His lance is broken; but he lies content (The Volunteer) This shows death in a positive way and makes it sound as if it is something good. It shows the reader that even though they have died, they feel good about it and are proud to die for their country. However in the same poem, there are also some negative points which show that the poem is not completely propaganda or positive for war.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Social Media And Politics Media Essay

The Social Media And Politics Media Essay Faced with declining citizen interest and participation in democratic politics and declining citizens trust in politicians and representative institutions (Gibson et al., 2008: 111-13), governments, political parties, social and political scientists in many countries have focused increasing attention on the potential of online communication to address these deficits and revitalise democracy. Born in the web 2.0 age, social media offers the users communication opportunities for socialization, social interactivity and uncensored speech, facilitating the growth of online political behaviour with recent emergence of new interactive and media-rich Web sites. These Web sites, often referred to as social media, are valued in proportion to their capacity to harness the participation of online communities in the production, amalgamation, and exchange of information (OReilly, 2005) and also referred to as new media (Flew, 2008; Lievrouw and Livingstone, 2005). In his research Correa (2010) bro adened social media definition by adding instant messaging, a tool that enables social interaction. Researchers have also folded blogs into the social media umbrella given their function as personal publication tools (Gil de Zu ´nËœiga et al., 2009, p. 566) and their ability to foster interaction (Meraz, 2009). Online expression is functionally distinct from simply consuming content online (Katz et al., 2001; Shah et al., 2005; Wang, 2007). Hence online opinion expression and exchange have grown significantly in recent years. In particular, interactive Web 2.0 applications are increasingly being enlisted for citizen engagement in what is termed e-democracy (Kearns, 2002) or government 2.0 (Department of Finance and Deregulation, 2010), as well as in electioneering. The Web 2.0 consists of social networks like Facebook launched in February 2004; it was developed for user information (status updates, links or pictures) to remain private; visible only to those who have been granted access by that user. This was labelled an asymmetric modelling of human relationships (Porter 2009), however in November 2007 Facebook launched a new feature called Like Pages which look and behave much like a users personal private profile and   allows different networks and groups whose many users can join. These are used for discussions, events, etc. and are a way of enabling a number of people to come together online to share information and discuss specific subjects which is not limited, the members who have joined can view, recent news contents, wall contents, photos, posted items, videos and all associated comments on such items. These pages also offer access to insights and analytics of their fan base and therefore becoming at par with Twitter which is a micr o-blogging platform launched in August 2006 where everyone can be an editor, a content creator, a producer and a distributor. Where it was argued that Twitter is a modelling of human relationships and sets it apart from other successful social networks (Porter 2009), and perhaps makes it a space more open to possibilities for political interaction therefore in social networks all the classic old-media hats are being worn by everyone. (Kirkpatrick, 2010:10). Another widely spread media YouTube was launched in May 2005 as a user generated content website where users could upload, share and view video/audio materials, their own productions or recordings on which the users have author or broadcasting rights. It is not a social network, but it is one of the most popular sources of user generated content among those who use social networks. One of the oldest forms of socialising the blog as defined by Drula as unlike a website from the web 1.0 era, this online platform displays interactiv ity and socialization features (Drulă, 2007:11-15) The growth and popularity of social media websites is distinctive as Facebook became the worlds largest social network, with 500 million active members as on July 2010 (Facebook, 2010a). In the same month, more than two billion videos a day were being viewed on YouTube (2010) and two billion tweets a month were being distributed on Twitter (ODell, 2010). Social Media and Politics Use of the internet for political purposes has grown dramatically over the last decade. In the 2008 U.S. general election the internet, and social networking sites in particular, played a more significant role than they ever had before (Westling, M. 2007). In the realm of politics, social media went from being not known to budding platform for increasing political participation and communication in the 2008 US presidential elections. The 2008 presidential campaign was the first to play out in the world of YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, and political blogging-the major Internet-based social media. These forms of social media provided a new platform for mediated communication which enables the audience to procure content on demand and also share and discuss/ argue with others (e.g., Levy, 2008; Papacharissi, 2009; Spigel, 2009). In the previous presidential elections candidates did own websites which were very useful for fund- raising and communicating with the supporters, though the 2008 US presidential elections showed that social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogging have become increasingly popular forums for political participation (Quily, 2008; A. Smith, 2009; Vitak et al. 2009). The elections especially highlighted that Facebook had become a viable tool for engaging supporters and communicating with them directly in real time. For a matter of fact, during primary season until Election Day in 2008, Facebook users created more than 1,000 Facebook group pages that focused on Barack Obama and John McCain. Data from Pew Internet reveal that 65% of SNS users ages 18-29 engaged in at least one of five political activities on a SNS during the 2008 campaign, including joining a political group on the site and obtaining information about a candidate (Smith, 2009). The 2008 presidential elections came to be labelled as a Facebook election by some political observers. Barack Obama, in particular took grassroots campaigning in to the digital space by employi ng Online Social Interactive Media (OSIM) like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Flickr, MySpace etc. and used it as a vital platform for his presidential campaign. He turned it into a major strength within his campaign where Facebook played a central role. It was clearly aware to The Obama campaign that voters, especially the young were the one who consumed information and at the same time were also conduits of information. They often chose social media over the traditional media. The online social interactive media allowed candidates to do electronically what previously had to be done by contacting volunteers, donors, scheduling and promoting events. (Johnson and Perlmutter 2009). The outcome of this was, that 2.2 million people had friended Barack Obama on Facebook, in comparison to just over half a million for John McCain. There were over 500 unofficial pages and groups which were made for the democratic presidential candidate. One of the oldest Obama Facebook groups, One Million Stron g for Barack, is going to meet a goal of one million supporters. Facebook was used extensively to reach potential donors and volunteers. The campaign raised a record- breaking $745 million (Tamara A Small , 2008). The campaign truly reaped the benefits form engaging people on social media especially Facebook. The entire campaign for Barack Obama benefitted enormously because of the massive amount of people using social media at that time and also the exposure being at a very low cost. In the wake of the turning point 2004 US presidential election, the Obama campaign of 2008, the 2010 UK election and e-democracy movements globally, Australians went to the polls in 2010 in a media-hyped flurry of tweeting, YouTube videos, Facebook befriending and liking, blogging and other social media activities(CIT). In an content analysis by Jim Macnamara and Gail Kenning to identify trends in the volume of e-electioneering content and activity, as well as the main ways in which social media are being used in political communication. It was researched that 45% of the 92 federal politicians had a Twitter account. However, the style and purpose of tweeting varied widely. Almost three-quarters of Australias federal politicians had a Facebook presence and 34 of them (16.5%) posted videos on YouTube and 29 (14.1%) had a blog. Though to the increase in social media in the 2010 elections in Australia the transmission of messages were one way rather than engaging in listening, dialogue, consultation and collaboration. There was little evidence that social media use was enhanced qualitatively to any significant extent in terms of the level of listening to citizens and the diversity of issues discussed. Gibson reported in relation to the UK election, the internet has become an organisational necessity for election campaigning but à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it has not brought about that strategic change some have argued we should expect (Gibson et al., 2010: 2). The transmission of one way message was also witnessed in the 2010 Scotland general elections in Graeme Baxter, Rita Marcella and Evaggelos Varfis content analysis of the elections where Scottish political sphere did appear keen to be seen embracing new social media tools, with 35% of parties and 37% of candidates utilising blogs, Facebook and Twitter during the electoral campaign. It is witnessed that online communication environment still requires time to reach the level of maturity found in the Internet political communication of other democracies (Paul Adrian) as in his study of the 2009 general elections in Romania. According to him Romanian politicians do not know how to deal with these platforms however worth mentioning that the case study was conducted during the first presidential election campaign in Romania when the social network Facebook and the Twitter micro blogging platform were used as distinct channels of communication. In other instances use of social media in elections can result in a revolution and receive much celebratory rhetoric around the political uses and benefits of social media technologies in the aftermath of the June 2009 post-election protests in Iran (NIMA NAGHIBI). Social networking sites were seen as central to publicizing and circulating, for a global audience, the political crisis that unfolded in Iran that summer. During the height of the Iranian protests and the height of the western coverage of those protests, which dominated North American media from June 13th till June 25th, the mood online and in the media appeared to be exultant, rejoicing in the power of new social media to facilitate global solidarity in a heretofore unprecedented way. Known as the state with the highest concentration of millionaires with 15.5% of total households with 1 million USD in wealth (Boston Consulting Group, 2011) and as the third one in the world according to the Gross Domestic Product ranking with over 56,000 USD per capita (Forbes, 2012), nowadays Singapore is definitely one of the most successful countries in South East Asia. Considering then that the isle has a population of only 5,000,000 people and that only 50 years have passed from the achievement of independence from Malaysia, all these figures seem even most impressive. But behind this brief but vibrant story of success there is probably one institution which, more than anything else, has been able to bring Singapore from being an English colony to become one of the most powerful financial hub of the world, and this institution is the People Action Party. Formed in 1954, the PAP dealt with the separation of the country from the British Empire (1963) and from Malaysia (1965) and, from 1968 on, won all the eleven General Elections that, every four years, took place in Singapore. The main mission of the PAP has always been to build a fair and just society starting from four core elements: being honest (clean, above board and upright), being multiracial (all citizens are equal, regardless of race, language and religion), being meritocratic (all citizens have equal chances according to their individual contribution to the society) and being self-reliant (avoiding to create dependence syndrome). These four pillars determined and connoted PAPs manifestations of reliability (We say what we will do), pragmatism (flexible approach to generate novel solutions to the problems of the nation), unity (strong sense of loyalty and discipline), far-sightedness (long term horizon in leading the country), decisiveness (taking the right decisions even in absence of complete information), compassion (feel community worries and concerns), resilience (ability in persevering despite discomfort or possibility of failure) across the years. Generically speaking, People Action Party can be considered as a socialist democracy which moved away from the communist and anti-colonialist context in which it took the first step. All this being said, even if on one hand side we can consider Singapore as an idyllic scenario where there is total harmony between citizens and political powers, on the other hand it must be remembered that this big modern miracle has been possible thanks to a constant control performed by the State towards society. A good example of this can be resumed by the mass media that, operating under a strict legal framework and licensing policies, plays a pro-development and hence pro-government (Kuo, Holaday Peck, 1993) role. Despite this, with the Government controlling the most influential media outlet of the country, the situation has been recently changing with the raise of the Internet and the arrival of new source of content and points of view for Singaporean people. The web, though, is now reaching 77.2% of the total population with 3,658,400 users (Internet World Stats, 2012) and is now able to reshape the media landscape even thanks to the highest smart phone penetration rate of the world with 62% of the population owning one of the latest generation mobile (Google and Ipsos, 2012). Anyway, if the Internet can be considered as an enemy by Singaporean government, the PAP was very reactive in using it as the main channel to speak to the citizens. The Party, in fact, decided to set up a Facebook Page aimed to catch the attention of 2,602,880 Singaporeans using the social network website. The most important occasion the PAP had to use its fan page were the 2011 General Elections, and especially the political campaign which took place between 19th April and 7th May. Due to its peculiar political environment, Singapore is an interesting stage to study the mechanism of the elections and that is confirmed by few researches inspired by 2001, 2006 and 2011 GE. The impact of the media on Singaporeans attitude and decisions towards voting has been analyzed in the paper Where is the Opposition? Media coverage, political interest, public concerns and voting behaviour . In 2006 Cenite, Chong, Han, Lim and Tan focused on one specific media, print, to go in depth in the topic of coverage during elections. But it is with Singapore in 2011. A New Normal in Politics? that Tan tries to understand the impact of social media on parliamentary and presidential elections. But rather than from a political point of view, this research tries to investigate the interaction between the PAP and its voters in a communicative perspective. That is why the focus of interest here is on pictures, videos, interviews, links to news websites like Channel Asia or Straits Times, in one word the tools used by the PAP to keep in touch with the 35,826 Facebook users who liked the page. With at least three daily posts during the eighteen days of political campaign the Party raised a constant buzz on the Internet, but how did these shared statements, these candidates profiles and these PAPs promises for the future concretely influence voters behaviour? The aim of this study is to understand how the Peoples Action Party (PAP) uses Facebook, and how do people respond to the same.