Transculturalism in Tan Twan Engs the gift of rain

While the growing body of research on Tan Twan Eng’s The Gift of Rain (2009) focuses on the protagonist, Philip Hutton’s traumatic condition, his Chinese identity, and his ambiguous identity, this study devotes particular attention to the complexity of interactions between various cultures practised by Philip. This study aims to address this gap by applying the concept of transculturalism to analyse the processes of acquiring a foreign culture and incorporating the foreign culture into traditional cultures experienced by Philip. In other words, this study employs the concept of transculturalism to examine multicultural depictions in the novel. Scholars, such as Khan, Tiwari, Sheoran and Tan C. S. who have examined multicultural depictions in various literary texts, have found that multicultural circumstances cause certain ethnic groups to lose their cultures and identities. Hence, the multicultural circumstances depicted are perceived as negative phenomena. However, this study has found that by examining the interactions between various cultures, rather than focusing on the end products such as portrayals of hybridity, the positive sides of multicultural depictions could be revealed. The transculturation process experienced by Philip shows that the new cultural practices he has created are made up of both his traditional cultures and the foreign culture he has acquired. This means that Philip does not totally lose his traditional cultures and identities. Therefore, this study concludes that multicultural depictions in The Gift of Rain could be read positively, provided that the interactions between various cultures, which resulted in the incorporation of a foreign culture into traditional cultures, are examined

Transculturalism in Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain

While the growing body of research on Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain (2009) focuses on the protagonist, Philip Hutton's traumatic condition, his Chinese identity, and his ambiguous identity, this study devotes particular attention to the complexity of interactions between various cultures practised by Philip. This study aims to address this gap by applying the concept of transculturalism to analyse the processes of acquiring a foreign culture and incorporating the foreign culture into traditional cultures experienced by Philip. In other words, this study employs the concept of transculturalism to examine multicultural depictions in the novel. Scholars, such as Khan, Tiwari, Sheoran and Tan C. S. who have examined multicultural depictions in various literary texts, have found that multicultural circumstances cause certain ethnic groups to lose their cultures and identities. Hence, the multicultural circumstances depicted are perceived as negative phenomena. However, this study has found that by examining the interactions between various cultures, rather than focusing on the end products such as portrayals of hybridity, the positive sides of multicultural depictions could be revealed. The transculturation process experienced by Philip shows that the new cultural practices he has created are made up of both his traditional cultures and the foreign culture he has acquired. This means that Philip does not totally lose his traditional cultures and identities. Therefore, this study concludes that multicultural depictions in The Gift of Rain could be read positively, provided that the interactions between various cultures, which resulted in the incorporation of a foreign culture into traditional cultures, are examined

Cultural identity in Eugenia Kim's The Calligrapher's Daughter

Eugenia Kim’s The Calligrapher's Daughter (2009) is a well-received East Asian novel about a Korean Christian, Najin's encounter with western culture. As an aristocratic woman, she is expected to uphold Korean tradition. However, as Najin realises that she is culturally marginalised by her father and the Korean traditional society mainly due to her gender, she picks up a foreign culture introduced to her, western culture. This move is extremely significant because after Najin driven by cultural marginalisation to embrace western culture, her cultural practices are no longer the same with traditional Korean women. This important turn of the novel has not been explored by scholars extensively. Thus, this study aims to depart from the cultural marginalisation faced by Najin. Furthermore, due to the fact that cultural identity formation is highly influenced by culture, there is a need to look into the changes of Najin’s cultural identity as she incorporates western culture into her Korean traditional culture. By investigating the changes of Najin’s cultural identity throughout the novel, this study finds that Najin has transformed from a nameless girl without an identity into an independent woman with the help of western education

Factors influencing implementation of a patient decision aid in a developing country: an exploratory study

Background: Most studies on barriers and facilitators to implementation of patient decision aids (PDAs) are conducted in the west; hence, the findings may not be transferable to developing countries. This study aims to use a locally developed insulin PDA as an exemplar to explore the barriers and facilitators to implementing PDAs in Malaysia, an upper middle-income country in Asia. Methods: Qualitative methodology was adopted. Nine in-depth interviews (IDIs) and three focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with policymakers (n = 6), medical officers (n = 13), diabetes educators (n = 5) and a nurse, who were involved in insulin initiation management at an academic primary care clinic. The interviews were conducted with the aid of a semi-structured interview guide based on the Theoretical Domains Framework. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: Five themes emerged, and they were lack of shared decision-making (SDM) culture, role boundary, lack of continuity of care, impact on consultation time and reminder network. Healthcare providers’ (HCPs) paternalistic attitude, patients’ passivity and patient trust in physicians rendered SDM challenging which affected the implementation of the PDA. Clear role boundaries between the doctors and nurses made collaborative implementation of the PDA challenging, as nurses may not view the use of insulin PDA to be part of their job scope. The lack of continuity of care might cause difficulties for doctors to follow up on insulin PDA use with their patient. While time was the most commonly cited barrier for PDA implementation, use of the PDA might reduce consultation time. A reminder network was suggested to address the issue of forgetfulness as well as to trigger interest in using the PDA. The suggested reminders were peer reminders (i.e. HCPs reminding one another to use the PDA) and system reminders (e.g. incorporating electronic medical record prompts, displaying posters/notices, making the insulin PDA available and visible in the consultation rooms). Conclusions: When implementing PDAs, it is crucial to consider the healthcare culture and system, particularly in developing countries such as Malaysia where concepts of SDM and PDAs are still novel

What will make patients use a patient decision aid? a qualitative study on patients' perspectives on implementation barriers and facilitators

Rationale, aims, and objectives: Few studies focus on patients' views on factors influencing implementation of patient decision aids (PDAs). This study aims to explore patients' views on the factors influencing implementation of an "insulin choice" PDA in a primary care setting. Methods: This study used a descriptive qualitative study design. Interviews were conducted using a semistructured interview guide developed based on the theoretical domains framework. Nine in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted with patients with type 2 diabetes who have been advised to start insulin or were currently using insulin and those who had been seeking diabetes treatment in the clinic for more than 1 year. Interviews were conducted after the participants were familiarized with the PDA. Data were analysed using a thematic approach. Results: Five themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) trust in the physician (patients preferred physicians to other health care providers in delivering the insulin PDA to them as they trusted physicians more when it comes to making decisions such as starting insulin), (b) physician's attitude (patients were more likely to trust a physician who is friendly and sympathetic hence would be more willing to use the insulin PDA), (c) physician's communication style (patients were more willing to use the insulin PDA if the physicians would take time and guide them in the PDA use), (d) conducive environment (patients preferred to read the PDA at home), and (e) cost (patients would not be willing to pay to use the insulin PDA unless they needed it). Conclusions: Patients want physicians to play a major role in the implementation of the insulin PDA; physicians' communication style and commitment may influence implementation outcomes. Health care authorities need to create a conducive environment and provide patients with free access to PDA to promote effective implementation

A Structured Training Course for Non-structured Design Course

In an engineering design course, teaching assistant plays a critical role to in supporting the teaching and the learning process for the participants – students and instructors.  The instructors would invite or hire a postgraduate student to be the teaching assistant.  In most cases, the postgraduate student does not has any teaching experience. This work proposed and implemented a quick start training course for the teaching assistant specifically for an engineering design course, by adopting concept-design-implementation-operation

Distortion of marxism in Duong Thu Huong`s Novel without a name and Kim Echlin`s The Disappeared

In Novel Without A Name (1996) and The Disappeared (2010), the brutalities of the Vietnam War and the Cambodian Civil War are depicted vividly. The implementation of suspect Marxist doctrines and ideologies is portrayed as the main factor that led to such atrocities. Thus, the central issue or theme of these two novels is the distortion of Marxism. This is foregrounded not only through incidents that take place on the battlefield, but also through the relationships between characters. The latter are not much explored by scholars to examine the main theme, the distortion of Marxism. Hence, this study investigates the importance of relationships in reflecting and developing the theme, the distortion of Marxism, as depicted in Duong Thu Huong’s Novel Without A Name and Kim Echlin’s The Disappeared via the concept of Marxism. By referring to the true set of Marxist ideologies, the distorted Marxist doctrines implemented in the Marxist regime depicted are shown. This paper reveals that the distortion of Marxist doctrines has a negative impact on the relationships depicted in Novel Without A Name and The Disappeared. There are three main types of relationship portrayed in the novel, namely love, siblings and friendship. All these relationships reflect the theme of both novels, the distortion of Marxism, because all of them are broken or severed at the end of the novels due to the distorted Marxist ideologies and doctrines implemented in the regimes depicted

The Incentive Mechanism with RFID Technology for Suppliers to Design Environmentally-Friendly Electrical and Electronic Equipment

AbstractTaiwan EPA has promulgated Resource Recycling Act in 2002, which is formulated to conserve natural resources, reduce waste, promote recycling and reuse of materials, mitigate environmental loading, and build a society in which resources are used in a sustainable manner. [1] Since 1998, the recycling of waste large household appliances such as televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners, etc. has been implemented; waste electric fans and waste computer keyboards were also included in 2007. Although recycling in Taiwan initiated early, whether waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling is just the process of decomposition, recycling, incineration, and landfill, rather than extending the product lifespan, need further studies to confirm that.The Recycling Fund Management Board takes charge of the operation of recycling mechanism in Taiwan. The funds mostly paid by the businesses as the recycling, clearance and disposal fees. Such fees now are unified under the same products specifications. The existed system can’t provide products under the same specifications but with longer lifespan more preferential fees, which means that there is no incentive for the suppliers to improve the design of products.With Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) inserted in, the household appliances will not only have the basic information about the product, but also can keep track of the purchase and maintenance record, as well as the disposal date and location, during the use stage of that product. Such record provides information on the service life of the product, and the recycling fees paid by businesses could be returned relative to the lifetime to the consumers accordingly. The new mechanism incentives the suppliers to consider the product durability in design and manufacture stages that helps achieve the goal to make products decomposable, recyclable, and lifetime extended

Managing the Double Burden: Pregnancy and Labor-Intensive Time Use in Rural China, Mexico, and Tanzania

Labor-intensive work is often a way of life for women in rural areas of developing countries. However, physical exertion may result in poor health outcomes for mother and infant if continued through pregnancy. Using longitudinal data from China, Mexico and Tanzania, we examine the relationship between pregnancy and four time use outcomes, measured as hours spent in the last week on: 1) housework, 2) care giving, 3) agricultural work, and 4) self-employed or non-agricultural work outside the home. An individual fixed effects approach is adopted to overcome potential time invariant woman-level endogeneity of pregnancy status. With a few exceptions, we do not find significantly different time use patterns between pregnant and non-pregnant women. The assumption that women decrease labor intensive work in developing countries during pregnancy needs revisiting, and may have implications for both women’s livelihood programming and assistance during childbearing periods