Dogs - Not liked by All

Background:

According to "Islam and animal"(2009), the majority of both Sunni and Shi'a Muslim jurists consider dogs to be ritually unclean, or “haram”. It is said that angels do not enter a house which contains a dog. Black dogs are considered to be especially evil or even devils, in animal form. In a tradition found in the Sunni hadith book, al-Muwatta, Muhammad states that the company of dogs voids a portion of a Muslim’s good deeds. Though dogs are not allowed for pets, they are allowed to be kept if used for work, such as guarding your house or farm, or when used for hunting purposes.

According to "Dog"(2009), for most other cultures, dogs have lived and worked with humans in so many roles that they have earned the unique nickname, "man's best friend", a phrase which is used in other languages as well. They have been bred for herding livestock, hunting, guarding, helping fishermen with nets, and pulling loads, in addition to their roles as companions.

References
Islam and animal. (2009). In Wikipedia online. Retrieved February 27,2009, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_animals#Dogs

Dog. (2009). In Wikipedia online. Retrieved February 27,2009, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogs#Interactions_with_humans

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This is a situation of a group of friends’ journey to East Coast Park (ECP).

Jason, Siti, Rahim, Cherie and I all stay in the north-east area of Singapore and hence Cherie decided to drive everyone down to ECP. Cherie was a crazy dog lover and going to the beach was a good chance for her to bring her black toy poodle, Bobby, out for a great beach stroll. She put Bobby into a basket and left him sitting on the front passenger seat.

Cherie then went to meet the Siti, Rahim, Jason and I at Seng Kang MRT station's taxi stand. Rahim, being the biggest in size, was pushed to take the front seat of the car. Upon seeing Bobby, Rahim's face turned black while Siti and I were exclaiming how cute and tiny Bobby was.

Jason asked,"What's wrong? Let's get into the car and set off!"

Rahim replied with knitted brows,"I don't like dogs. My parents warned me that they are unclean."

However, Jason, not understanding the needs of his Muslim friend, started making fun of Rahim. “Come on! Its just a small poodle! Don’t tell me you are scared!”, he laughed. Rahim was really angry by Jason’s insensitivity and said to them, "You guys can go ahead. I think I'll just head home. I realize I’ve got work to complete."

Cherie felt annoyed but guilty at the same time. She had to suppressing her anger while being appalled that there was actually someone who did not like her dear Bobby. So, she tried to sound positive and said, "Please come along! It would be a fun day today! I can't park my car here for long, it's obstructing the traffic!"

Siti, being Muslim as well, tried to diffuse the situation as well! “Don’t be so insensitive Jason! Don’t you know we mu slims can’t touch dogs?“ She said turned to Rahim, "Please don’t go! If you're really affected then you can sit at the back. Jason will sit the front ok?"

Jason was very apologetic and quickly got into the front seat. Rahim did not want to spoil the mood of the gang and ended up in the back seat of the car. He avoided Bobby at all times, while Cherie took Bobby far away from him whenever Bobby looked like it was going near Rahim.

Both Rahim and Cherie accommodated and compromised each other.

I felt that Cherie was quite selfish as she was annoyed when she received negative reaction from Rahim towards her dog. Instead, she could have at least mentioned to the rest that she would be bringing her dog and in doing so, be sensitive towards people who do not like dogs in general. Cherie may not have interacted with many Malays in her life and thus was not aware that her dog would be offending to them. What she did right was reacting in a calm way as she tried to salvage the situation instead of starting an argument with Rahim.

I guess Cherie should have apologized sincerely and have been more careful. Luckily for Cherie, Rahim was not narrow-minded and mature enough to understand her mistake. If not, the outcome could have been disastrous, having a strain in their friendship.

Edited on 3/3/09.
Added in references.

Business Correspondence Critique - The 7Cs

From: ABC Rag [mailto:ABCrag0809@gmail.com] Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 12:15 PM To: maria@coffeeclubworld.com Cc: erry_siswandy@coffeeclubworld.com Subject: NUS ABC Hall - Sponsorship Proposal To Miss Maria I am writing in on behalf of National University of Singapore, ABC Hall. We are currently looking for cash sponsors for our float construction for our annual NUS Rag Day. As there is a Coffee Club Xpress outlet in NUS, we hope that we could work together as we could provide more effective publicity if you need us to. We would be glad to receive any amount by your company. Attached is our sponsorship proposal for ABC Rag 08/09. The avenues are negotiable and any changes that you wish to make can be further discussed. Feel free to call me should you have any doubts about the proposal. Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you. Chin Rui Ping Marketing I/C HP: 9XXXXXX ABCrag0809@gmail.com ABC Rag 08/09 Committee

The purpose of this letter is to request for a sponsorship for the ABC Hall's Rag in NUS which is clearly stated under the subject. The letterhead and the date are stated too. The audience is Maria but her job title is not specified and the courtesy title is used inappropriately. This is a common mistake where Mr., Mrs., Ms, Dr, Prof or Rev is used together with a person's first name instead of the second name or the surname. The salutation would be better if it is ‘Dear Maria’ instead.

The approach used for this letter is direct and would be better if they added 'ABC Hall would be honored to have your company as our sponsor' and also 'Your company will benefit through publicity made by us'.

The sentences 'Feel free to call me should you have any doubts about the proposal. Hope to hear from you soon.' seem quite informal. It could be corrected to 'Should you have any doubts, please contact me through email or my contact number stated below. We hope to hear from you soon.’ This would make the letter more professional.

The letter is concise and straight to the point overall. There is also clarity with purpose and reason for this letter given. The structure of the letter is good as it states who she is representing, then her reason and purpose of writing in with a proposal attached. The connectors are used appropriately too.

I feel that there is a lack of concreteness when she mentioned 'we could provide more effective publicity if you need us to' as there is no plan explained on how it would happen. However, completeness is generally met as who, what, when, where, why and how are roughly answered in the letter.

In conclusion, using the 7Cs would guide us towards writing effectively. It is important to be careful and thorough before sending out the email or letter to the audience concerned.

Dilemma..

X has been working in a multinational company (MNC) as an events coordinator for 2 years. He is an ambitious and diligent worker who believes in his own abilities. Having performed relatively well in the company, X has became an eyesore to Y, his direct supervisor.

Thinking that X is trying to take his position, Y feels threatened and becomes cold and biased towards him.

He responds negatively to all X’s suggestions, despite knowing that some of the ideas are valid and feasible. Once, X successfully organised a large scale event and was recognized by the senior management. This further strained the relationship between them, and Y's attitude towards X became increasingly negative. During meetings, X is treated as if he is non-existent, and Y oftentimes cut off X midway through an idea. Y is determined to not allow X to demonstrate his capabilities.

X frequently notices Y staring at him at work, and feels uncomfortable with someone watching him in such a passive aggressive manner.

During a meeting one day, Y claimed credit for a successful project that X organised. X’s friends encouraged him to raise the issue with the senior management, as he deserved the credit for that success. However, Y’s standing in the company has improved and it will prove difficult for X justify his case.

Should X quit his current job and search for a job where he can start afresh, or should he confront Y? Would this worsen their relationship? What can X do to reassure Y that he is not trying to replace him? Is there any other way to resolve this situation?

-Edited-