An Interpersonal Conflict: James and His Sticky Family Problems

Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence. - Dorothy Thompson

I have always believed that peace is always attainable and conflicts are merely obstacles that can be overcome, including the following:

Madam Chan, has four children: Mark, Ian, Rita and James. James and Rita are single and stay with Madam Chan. Their older brothers would visit them every weekend for dinner.
Recently, Madam Chan was diagnosed with stroke. Rita stopped working to look after her ever since. Before this, Mark’s wife, Mary, was the one looking after her. Rita begins to give Mary the cold shoulder, convinced that Mary is shoving all the responsibilities to her.

Rita is also unhappy that James pays for Madam Chan’s medical expenses alone. Ian and Mark intend to contribute but couldn’t afford to. Ian has retired with two unemployed children. Mark is a civil servant with three children who are still schooling. Their wives, Zoe and Mary, are housewives.

Ian and Rita accused Mark and Mary of being stingy and irresponsible. Mark has not been on talking terms with her ever since. Now, the family fails to gather like they used to.

James is worried that the conflict might affect and worsen Madam Chan’s conditions. What should James do?

The closer one is to someone, the more severe their conflict can be. Therefore, it is important to avoid getting ourselves near to such situations.

The Reasons Why Developing Effective Communicative Skills Is Important For Me

If we flip through the Recruitment section of the newspaper, almost every job opportunity requires candidates to possess good communicative skills. Communication skill is an asset to all firms. It is ubiquitous! But good news is it can be acquired. So fret not my friend, one just needs the patience and practice. Communication occurs every time one interacts with another individual. It is inevitable.

Life is about ‘US’, not ‘I’. After all, there’s neither ‘I’ nor ‘U’ in the word ‘TEAM’. But I always believe that effective communication begins with ME. Effective communication gives rise to team dynamics where everyone works together towards achieving a common goal.
Communication varies largely with culture. Travelling encourages me to appreciate the many cultures present. Surely I wouldn’t want to give them the wrong impression by unknowingly transgressing any ‘cultural’ boundaries. The world is my classroom and I make it a point to prepare myself before I leave for a country.

Talking about classrooms, I aspire to become a teacher. This profession requires me to communicate well with students. Not only will I need to present my lessons effectively, but I need to listen to them. Identifying confused and troubled faces serve as feedbacks for me to understand my students better.
Even the tiny cells in our body communicate through means of hormones and receptors, which transduce signals efficiently for the body to function well. Similarly, if individuals are not able to communicate properly, the team or community will not function well too.

Welcome Note ...

May peace be upon us all.


Hi! This weblog has been established specifically for the e-portfolio section of my ES2007S module. Please feel free to browse through.


- Siti Sarah - =)