Sunday, January 26, 2020

Quantity Surveying Challenges

Quantity Surveying Challenges In future day, the prospect of a quantity surveyor will being an interesting issue to discuss due to the various services, knowledge, and skill it provided. The liability of the role of quantity surveyor will be concerned in the aspects of ability and characteristic of them to adapt in the future development. There will be suspicion toward on how a quantity surveyor going to survive within the threats and opportunities faced in future. The form of perception in quantity surveyor will be redefined in the conditions of breakthrough from the traditional mode. According to Marcel Frei and Jasper Mbachu (2009 ), it stated that Every profession evolves in response to the ever-increasing changes in the global business environment. In order to remain relevant, globally competitive and successful, the Quantity Surveyors need to constantly scan their business landscape to discern new directions and to adapt to imminent changes in their professional practice.Fadhlin Abdullah and Ismail Haron (2007) said that The environments for quantity surveying practice have changed along with the countrys rapid economic development. The roles of quantity surveyors have also evolved along with the changes. Future development prospects and changes will have implications on the development of the profession.RICS (1998) indicated that The QS Think Tank Report noted that many regular clients are critical of traditional quantity surveying services and are demanding a different and more comprehensive range of services that is proactive, customer orientated and suppo rted by significantly better management and business skills. Scope of Study This paper will focus on the types of changes and challenges influencing the quantity surveyor on their future practices. The study will determine the factors that lead to change in quantity surveying job. This study will focus on the external factors which are the threats and opportunities that would imperil and optimize the career of quantity surveyor in future. The research will only be bounded in city nearby Kuala Lumpur due to the limitation in carry out the job. There will be around 20 QS firms and 50 Registered QS being investigated for the findings of necessary information and data. It is because the KL is the most developed city in Malaysia, and as a result the KL QS firms will confronted the most innovation and evolution due to the rapid growth in changes of development. Hence, the outcomes of result will be reliable. Background Generally, a quantity surveyor is a professional in the construction industry which their role is concerned with construction cost in a project. In inception or design stage of a project, quantity surveyor shall prepare a preliminary estimating and cost planning for design brief, and advice for procurement method suitable for the project. In tendering process stage, quantity surveyor shall prepare for Bill of Quantity, tender documents, tender reports, and contract documents which to select a contractor for the project. A quantity surveyor basically should requires the technique to measuring quantities from the drawings prepared by designers, which known as Taking Off and it is means to figure out the quantities of work where is used to prepare Bill of Quantity. Then the Bill of Quantity is purposely for the contractor to fill in prices inside in order to determine out the construction cost. During construction stage, a quantity surveyor shall provide services like valuation of works for interim, evaluations and certificates, contractual advice, and prepare final account after completion of construction stage. Those services stated on above are likely the traditional perception of the job of quantity surveyor. In latter day, the Quantity Surveyor with the other professionals in construction industry seems to have some significant changes. The traditional technical and professional services of quantity surveyors still relate to measurement and documentations, price, value and cost of construction, pre- and post- tender management, contract administration, and final account. Those services contribute as the main income for the majority part of QS practices. Nevertheless, there are exist of approaches to newer areas on procurement included Private Finance Initiative (PFI) / Public Private Partnerships (PPP), privatization, construction law and dispute resolution, socio-economic development, governance and else. There are now getting more of cooperative approaching like partnering which have been seen as a shift in utilize of traditional methods of procurement and it shown a number of challenges to the QS profession, practices and academic. The QS profession is not even more just stay in standing still and has evolved to the development of new services which concern on risk and value management, facilities management, construction project management, project financing, international construction, contract administration, sustainability, legal and environmental services. Such development is innovated in order to response the changes required by the procuring clients. Those services provided by the profession are not bounded anymore by the traditional form which implicated that new service and greater competition will be arise internally and externally from the profession. Quantity Surveyor job also can be related with the extension, refurbishment, maintenance and demolition of a facility. Notwithstanding, construction industry is global and extends across all real estate and infrastructure markets. Nowadays, Quantity surveyor job cover in all sector of the construction industry worldwide, which in real estate it including on Residential, Commercial, Industrial, Leisure, Agricultural, and Retail. In infrastructure, the sector including Roads, Railways, Airports, Waterways, Seaports, Coastal defenses, Power generation and Utilities. Also, Quantity Surveyor job can be linked to in process engineering, such as chemical engineering plants or oil rigs. Absolutely, they need to understand all aspect relevant to the whole life of a building or facility. They also necessary to require the capability to admin cost effectively, equating quality and value which personally deal with demand of client. Importance of Study This study is purposely to provide an overview of perception in career of quantity surveyor practices in future. It is to allow the practitioner of quantity surveyor under education stage to gain understand on the field which they are going to explore in future. The research will grant them with the information of knowledge, technique, and skills which they are required in future career in order to allow them to adapt easily with future trend development. It is also to provide them with a new perception to well prepare on their self so that they are readily and able to face those challenges in future. Research Methodology The study for the exploration on other areas will started by secondary data resource in literature review to find the essential resources which from reading relevant magazine, journal, newspaper and book. The searching from internet will be applied by viewing the relevant authorized articles, thesis, research and related website. The data and statistic for the exploration will expected to gain from the statistic department and organization such as CIDB, BQSM, ISM, RICS and others. The finding for threats and opportunities will obtained by primary data resource in survey questionnaire which distributed to those professional of Register QS in order to get some data analysis. Then a series of interview will be undertaken to identify and investigate for more details and specify issue which come from their own opinion and ideal whereby it is unable to obtain from survey questionnaire.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Feminism and Language Essay

Among different disciplines of the society, feminist geography, feminist history and feminist literary criticism, collectively becomes the Feminist Theory. This theory had a long walk of time, starting from this movement till 90s; at its third extent of its evolution. The time of post war and the baby boomers, the 60s and 70s were in the extent of the second wave. From this stage it reaches the first wave of 19th and early 20th century from the very point of time, when this became collectively the movements of this evolution that includes women’s rights, gender difference and theories and philosophies, which were the three social factors; of politics, society and economic equality of men and women in return gave birth to a concept called Feminism (Maggie 278). One of the factors, society has a concern with feminism amongst many, about the Language. This movement has influenced the usage of language at large. Linguistics brunt their midnight oil, to work on the description of the language usage that reduces the assumption of the biological sex of human connection. The thrush for the neutral gender was clearly manifested on its agendas of gender-inclusive language, which involve both the sexes or the genders and of gender-neutral language that proposes, gender hardly have any role in the language, for which it becomes neutral regarding in language usage. It is further argued to be non sexist language or politically correct language. Through these analyses the paper is shaping its findings of the relation between Feminism and Language. The philosophy of language have had its hurdle to establish the point of existence, but the criticism that displayed the male bias in the language like English, another criticisms is that the philosophy is ill equipped for the use of the feminists paved a way to a wider arena where its been suggested not to lay off the philosophy from the language. A cognitive feminist concept stretches the idea to limits where the traditional philosophy can help understanding the issues important to feminists. In Feminism, there have been numerous reasons to prove it ill suited for meeting the feminist needs, but the only factor that remained the lowest common denominator is the presence of maximum Individual in the philosophy. Criticism regarding polarity of individualism has been done in length and breadth, but interestingly, detection of those criticisms are always variable for different areas of philosophy being under the spot light and the different concerns of the particular critic, and the due to lack of single judgement the issue remains pseudo (Hintikka & Hintikka 139; Hornsby 87 and Nye 323). It has long been for the philosophy, since the beginning to be tagged with the usage of men bias of English language. Thinking can be free flowing when the language muses with mother tongue. Because, apart from English, there are different families of languages, which have much complex linguistics and can be used more flexibly in the context of both men centric and feminist uses. Such is the status of mother tongue, which frees itself from the men bias of English language. Needless to say, this can include many more languages in the common criticisms of the point of existence of philosophy of language. This also frees the critics from the psychological debate of the women and men. Moreover, individualism dose not have any scope to appreciate the concept of Social, where the central issue; feminism itself is the brainchild of social or society. Thus, the approach empowers the presence of language in feminism to the social causes of politics and power relation. Feminism is concern with the study of people and the domination function on others. Here the feelings and ideas are conveyed through a media. In this act of communicating language plays the most important role of media. Thus, it communicates, manipulates and controls to make it vital to understand the work of power. It is still a longing desire for many feminists to have a philosophy of language that will comprehend the social communication, but as a matter of fact, as of now; the presence of Individualism has it to be employed (Hornsby 97). In a Feminist mind set, the interchagability of the sexes are more important concept than decent English. As per the dogma of the convention, it has been engraved on the generations of student to think ‘he’ in connection of male only. Precisely, this is wrong. But the same had been practiced as the concept at its maximum limit. In the same school of thought a feminist would never go for ‘he’ if it can be presented as he or she, and would never chooses the author, where the author or the authoress can be put on use. And here the turning-point of the matter, which establishes the other side of the feminists on language, where they hate such kinds of vocabularies like, actress and waitress. Rather insist here for the masculine use for women and men. Of course it appears to be exclusively masculine in cases like these for those who are just learning the language (Gelernter 2008). Unlike the second wave, where the gender usage had been in use as person specific, the third wave is moving the approach in a more social level. Previously it was about the usage of the gender to address the person, but here it is about the perception of the language usage and that influences a larger group or category of the mass. It deals with the different way that men and women speak. Like, men being direct and forceful, women being hesitant, polite and apologetic. It analyses the complex negotiation among the genders regarding gender specific context like public speaking or intimate conversation and by routine, what women and men should do that is the co-operativeness and competitiveness. This makes the language of the two genders clear leaving no room to assume that all women are powerless, all males are powerful, or that gender always makes a difference. This is how; this feminist linguistics has focused on the social forces too. Nevertheless, it is suggested that the linguistics feminism of language perception to be kept at bay. It is so, because the sexism becomes difficult to analyse or challenge as they are more locally oriented and content specific. As a result the second wave feminism needs to be merged with the third wave in order to address both the local and global issues (Mills 2008). Language is not all about what we speak, it is about the writing too. By the verge of the second wave, the western society already produced some specific writing skills, which are inclined to feminism. It was a separate category of the scholarly interest. All the underrepresented women work in the history had to gain specific positions in the categories of history or writings. Various presses started taking effort to make the printings of the numerous works, as it was discover quite lately that the women were constantly writing (Blain 1231). This has been further ignited with the growing interest since 1970 in women writing as ‘powerful’. Since then many publishing houses responded in the women works like the long length of Novels and written Biographies. With this scrutiny, one editor reacted that most of the women work have been neglected from citing in most of the books available. Though now the picture is almost stable in this respect. Thus writing as another medium of communication has proved to be equally important when the expressions in the context are about women and men. This media is more typical as this is a kind of media where the data can be stored for future references. Thus, it is more permanent by character. Lastly, the philosophy remains important as that is the tool of the communication, which generates the thoughts to express in a language where the form may vary from what we speak and what we right, though it can be mirrored as the fountain head of the total concept takes birth in the womb of thought. So, after a handsome amount of conversations it has become quite clear that the Feminism as per the feminist theory is concerned, it is a social issue and includes many thing and aspects of society and the human life as a whole, but intends for the female race. It is not about being superior or inferior, good or bad, right or wrong. It is about being rational and be equal with both the genders. It is movement of social structure, where the politics, economic status of the social lot and the power makes the conglomeritic platform to deliver and establish the orders of the gender equality. And to support this entire process, Language has eventually become a part of Feminism; strong enough to control the chemistry of thought process. Bibliography Blain, Virginia. ; Clements, Patricia. ; Grundy, Isobel. (1990). The feminist companion to literature in English: women writers from the Middle Ages to the present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Cambridge Companion to Feminism in Philosophy. Fricker, M. and Hornsby, J. , (eds. ) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2000. Gelernter, David. â€Å"Feminism and the English Language. † American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research 4 Nov. 2008 . Humm, Maggie. The dictionary of feminist theory. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1990. Hintikka, M. B. and Hintikka, J. â€Å"How Can Language Be Sexist? † in Discovering Reality. Harding, S. and Hintikka, M. B. (eds. ) Dordrecht: D. Reidel: 1983. Hornsby, J. â€Å"Feminism in Philosophy of Language: Communicative Speech Acts†. in The Mills, Sara. â€Å"Third Wave Feminist Linguistics and the Analysis of Sexism. † School of Cultural Studies, Sheffield Hallam University 4 Nov. 2008 . Nye, A. â€Å"The Voice of the Serpent: French Feminism and Philosophy of Language†. in Women, Knowledge and Reality: Explorations in Feminist Philosophy. Garry, A. and Pearsall, M. (eds. ), NY and London: Routledge: 1996.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

The Epic Of Gilgamesh And Odysseus - 1497 Words

THESIS STATEMENT In Greek literature, the character Gilgamesh from The Epic of Gilgamesh and Odysseus from The Odyssey by Homer can be compared by their similar journeys and differing heroic qualities. PURPOSE STATEMENT Through careful research and reasoning, Odysseus and Gilgamesh can be seen as both similar and differing characters because of their choices and changes throughout their journeys. INTRODUCTION Gilgamesh, the famous hero of The Epic of Gilgamesh and Odysseus from The Odyssey are found to be similar. Some say that The Epic of Gilgamesh was a forerunner of The Odyssey. They possessed similar traits and qualities, however they still displayed differences. Gilgamesh, the haughty and powerful king of Uruk, advanced on a quest for immortality after the loss of his greatest friend, Enkidu. Odysseus, the king of Ithaca and a brave warrior in the Trojan War, faced many obstacles in his attempt to return home from Troy. These journeys show the ways that the characters are linked. Both of these mighty characters possessed the flaw of hubris, experienced many changes, and discovered new opportunities and obstacles. Odysseus and Gilgamesh display their hubristic nature in different ways. They also hold an important status in history. The tale of Odysseus is still shared within classrooms and households today. He is considered by some to be the ideal Greek hero. Gilgamesh is the archetyp e for heroes and the basis of the hero’s journey. This concept has remained popularShow MoreRelatedOdysseus Vs. Epic Of Gilgamesh1772 Words   |  8 PagesMadison Aycock HST 328 Dr. Chang 20 Oct. 2017 Paper Topic One: Odysseus vs. Gilgamesh Sometimes it only takes a few seemingly small flaws to determine if one will live a lifetime of adversity, and this appears to be the case for both Odysseus in Homer’s Odyssey and Gilgamesh in the Epic of Gilgamesh. 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