Tokyo Teleport Town Between Utopia and Reality free essay sample

Nevertheless, the urban growth enhanced by these transformations posed soon many problems – among the most important the land shortage for industrial and residential use. Therefore, since the 1960s, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) started to develop different urban projects, which were supposed to bring an efficient solution to the land shortage as well as to contribute to the decentralization of the Tokyo Metropolis. The ultimate objective of TMGs urban projects was to promote the transition to a balanced and characteristic multi-core urban structure2. According to the Second and Third Long-Term urban plan (1986 and 1990), the development of 7 sub-centers (respectively Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Osaki, UenoAsakusa, Kinshicho-Kameido and Waterfront Sub-center Teleport Town) was to be promoted. Whereas the 6 former sub-centers were already highly developed, the Tokyo Teleport Town (nicknamed T3), was the imagined catalyst for the multicore urban structure adaptive to the demands of the future3. Thus, the T3 was to become an ideal self-sufficient city, harmonically combining residential, economic, cultural and leisure centers. We will write a custom essay sample on Tokyo Teleport Town: Between Utopia and Reality or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Because of the highly ambitious and controversial nature of the T3 project, the objective of this paper will be to examine the extent to which this urban and scientific utopia of an ideal city became a reality. As it will be demonstrated through the analysis of the characteristic features of this utopist project (1) and of the impact of the burst of the bubble economy to its construction (2), the Tokyo Teleport Town represents nowadays rather a touristic attraction than an ideal city, similar to the other sub-centers of Tokyo. ) The utopist project of Tokyo Teleport Town After the success of Expo 85 in Tsukuba, dealing with the theme Science and Technology for Man at Home and having attracted over 20 million visitors from 111 countries, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government wanted to enhance the international success of the Tokyo Metropolis. Therefore, in the early 1990s, the Tokyo governor Shunichi Suzuki initiated an ambitious waterfront development project having for objective to rais e the Tokyo Teleport Town on the artificial island of Odaiba as a showcase of futuristic living. The whole project was supposed to be completed in 1996 in order to host the international urban exposition World City Expo Tokyo 96 also called Tokyo Frontier. According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, The Tokyo Teleport Town project is preparing Tokyo to become a 21st century international metropolis for the futures advanced information oriented society [ ] Plans call for it to be a highly futuristic city with advanced telecommunications technology that will provide outstanding links to business centers around the globe 4 Thus, the T3 was supposed to be more than a showcase project destined for an International Exposition. It was supposed to become a self-sufficient city harmonically combining commercial, residential and cultural centers hosting approximately 60 000 residents and working population overlapping 100 000. According to the plans, when finished, this new city was expected to be oneand- a half times the size of the Shinjuku district. Moreover, the T3 was planned to function as Japan’s main international communication gateway, providing the Japanese metropolis with high 1 KUNIKO, Fujita. A World City and Flexible Specialization: Restructuring of the Tokyo Metropolis, in Internaitonal Journal of Urban and Regional Research, volume 15, Issue 2. , June 1991 2 Tokyo Metropolitan Governments statement, 1994, p. 46 3 4 GOTZE, John. Participatry Design in an Urban Context, PhD-thesis URL: http://gotze. dk/phd/index. html Quote from TTC Homepage, September 1995 Page 2 Tokyo Teleport Town: between utopia and reality Simona Kalikova quality office spaces as well as many other centers for economic, financial, academic and cultural international exchanges. As the name of Teleport Town reveals, the insular city was supposed to be well connected with the rest of Tokyo which would allow it to become a real dynamic sub-center of the Metropolis. Nevertheless, those plans were made in times when the Japanese bubble economy still had a healthy appearance and attracted many foreign investors. Unfortunately, the burst of the economic bubble in the early 90s had a fatal impact to the realization of the ideal city. ) The burst of the bubble economy and its impact on the development of T3 The Japanese bubble economy based on real estate speculation burst in 1991. This collapse caused a general stagnation of the commercial and urban development in Tokyo, but its impact was most severe on large, costly construction projects as the Tokyo Teleport Town. The burst of the Japanese price bubble caused bankrupt of many of the special private companies set up to develop the island and therefore, by 1995, Odaiba was a virtual wasteland, under populated and full of vacant and unfinished constructions. Because of the public dissatisfaction with the project as well as the inconvenient location of Odaiba (the Teleport city was not able to meet its objectives, as its connection to Tokyo – the Rainbow Bridge and the Yurikamome rapid transit line- were seen as time-consuming and thus did not encourage a proper delocalization of business activities), the Suzukis successor – Aoshima Yukiohalted the plan in 1995 and canceled the World City Expo Tokyo 96. By this time, over 1 trillion Japanese yen had been spent on the project. After the end of the lost decade and the progressive economic recovery, the development of Odaiba slowly continued on project to project basis and in the late 1990s, the area started to come back to life as a tourist and leisure zone. Several attractions such as the Palette Town, Miraikan (Japans National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation) or the Daikanransha (115-meters high Ferris-Wheel) were progressively constructed on the island as well as many shopping malls and leisure-activity centers. Moreover, some large companies, as for example the Fuji Television, relocated their headquarters to Odaiba, developing thus not only to the touristic, but also economic attractiveness of the island. This joint development of the artificial island contributed to the fact that in the late 2000s, Odaiba was ranked 12th among 70 most interesting places to visit in Tokyo by the Japan-guide. com. Conclusion Despite the ambitious plans, the burst of the economic bubble in the early 1990s caused that the utopist urban project of Tokyo Teleport Town did not become an ideal city for multifunctional human activity, but rather a touristic attraction. Even if many Tokyo residents as well as tourists coming from many foreign countries enjoy the visit of Odaiba, the island is more a place of transit than a place of living. Thus, Odaiba remains a place where many untouched areas are still waiting to be developed and many buildings are waiting to be constructed and populated. Word count: 1150) 5 http ://www. japan-guide. com/e/e3008. html Page 3 Tokyo Teleport Town: between utopia and reality Simona Kalikova Bibliography: ? ? ? ? PERNICE, Raffaelle. The Issue of Tokyo Bay’s Reclaimed Lands as the Origin of Urban Utopias in Modern Japanese Architecture, in AIJ Journal of Architecture and Planning, N. 267, March 2007, pp. 259-266 SHIOZAKI, Yoshimitsu. Residential Environment of Housing Estates on Artificial Islands, in: AIJ Journal of Architectural Planning and Engineering, No. 72, June 1995 KUNIKO, Fujita. A World City and Flexible Specialization: Restructuring of the Tokyo Metropolis, in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, volume 15, Issue 2. , June 1991 CYBRIWSKY, Roman. Historical Dictionary of Tokyo, in Historical Dictionaries of Cities of the World, Scarecrow Press (United States), 1996 Sitography: ? PERNICE, Raffaelle. Modern Japanese Waterfront Developments Global vs. Local, IV Ajman Urban Planning Conference, 29th-31st March 2010, Ajman, United Arab Emirates, 2010 URL: http://www. cademia. edu/1554508/Modern_Japanese_Waterfront_Developments_-_Global_vs. _Local GOTZE, John. Participatory Design in an Urban Context, PhD-thesis URL: http://gotze. dk/phd/index. html BRESNAHAN, Jennifer. Teleports – Well-connected in Tokyo, in CIO, April 1 1996 URL : http://books. google. co. jp/books? id=iwcAAAAAMBAJpg=PA20lpg=PA20dq=tokyo+telepo rt+town+construction+problemssource=blots=PKshwCfeYOsig=zKD75mNsiymxfL_OENrsh6Jeshl=cssa=Xei=ZzsYUaz9BYqGlAWK0YGYCAredir_esc=y#v=onepageqf=false ? ? Page 4

A Report on Oil Production in Libya and Operational Policies with Global Societal Impacts

A Report on Oil Production in Libya and Operational Policies with Global Societal Impacts Background The hydrocarbon industry forms the back bone of the Libyan economy. It is estimated by the IMF that contributed to about 95% of export earnings in Libya in 2010 (Country Analysis Briefs, 2011). The oil and gas journal (OGJ) has approximated Libya’s oil reserves to be about 46.4 billion barrels, the largest in the African continent.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on A Report on Oil Production in Libya and Operational Policies with Global Societal Impacts specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In 2010, it is estimated that the total oil production was about 1.8 million barrels per day. A majority of the oil in Libya (about 80%) is in Sirte basin. 25% of total oil production is from Murzuq basin and the remaining largely comes from Pelagian Shelf Basin (Country Analysis Briefs, 2011). Sector Organization The Oil industry is run by state owned National Oil Corporation (NOC) which implements Exploration and Pro duction Sharing Agreements (EPSA) with international oil companies (IOC’s) such as Total, Repsol YPF, Statoil Hydro, Occidental, OMV, ConocoPhillips, Hess, Marathon, Shell, BP and Exxon Mobil. NOC also engages in field development and downstream activities (Country Analysis Briefs, 2011). Production and refining Libya’s oil production has been on the decline despite hitting 3 million barrels per day (bbI/d) in 1960’s. Despite the decline, crude oil has increased from 1.4 million bbl/d in 2000 to 1.8 million bbl/d in 2010. There are about 5 refineries with a total capacity of 378000 bbI/d. These include Ras Lanuf-crude oil capacity of 220,000 bbl/d; Az Zawiya -120,000 bbl/d; Tobruk -20,000 bbl/d; Sarir, 10,000 bbl/d; and Brega 8,000 bbl/d (Country Analysis Briefs, 2011).. Challenges Facing Oil Production Civil war and a decade of the United States and international sanctions have affected oil industry.These include sanctions by the United States and the United N ations in 2003 and 2004. Since sanctionS were lifted, Libya has been the target of international oil companies which boosted oil production even despite uncertainties in terms of regulations and renewal of contracts. However, government plans to increase oil production were slapped by the US’s designation of Libya as a state sponsor of terrorist activities in 2006 and the civil war (Country Analysis Briefs, 2011).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Operational Polices With Global Societal Impacts Oil companies in Libya are usually locally or globally subjected to operational policies which have global societal impacts. Such policies are geared towards environmental protection (Wawryk, 2010). For example IOC’s operating in Libya that are members of other bodies and are subjected to laws and best practices to improve health, safety and environment globall y. On a global perspective, the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) have guidelines and standards with a global societal impact. Other operational policies may include those of NGOs, IGOs, World Conservation Union, (UNEP), World Bank and the international chamber of Commerce (Wawryk, 2010). Operational policies tend to address vulnerability to disruption and higher prices and the effects can be long-term. This is because material shifts in the energy sector takes time either through efficiency, renewable or increased oil and gas production. Policy options which are short-term (unlike wider national security and diplomatic issues) are limited. Oil exporters like Libya with alternative production capacity are bound to take short-term decisions in an attempt to moderate prices through product-level-adjustments, but this ability is determined by internal decisions (Country Analysis Briefs, 2011). Other operational policies with global impacts are from within the Lib yan government. For example participation of IOC’s in oil concessions was previously at 49% which was reduced due to changes in oil production and sharing agreements under EPSA. The IOCs were under obligation to rewrite contracts in an attempt to comply NOC’s demands. This created uncertainty in the contractual arena and reduced oil exploration, despite the global need for oil (Country Analysis Briefs, 2011). References Country Analysis Briefs, (2011). Energy information administration. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/beta/international/analysis_includes/countries_long/Libya/libya.pdfAdvertising We will write a custom report sample on A Report on Oil Production in Libya and Operational Policies with Global Societal Impacts specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Wawryk, A. (2010). International environmental standards in the oil industry: improving the operations of transnational oil companies in emerging economies. Univers ity of Adelaide: University of Adelaide Press.

Remembering Event Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Remembering Event - Essay Example During this time, I decided to go for a trip that could connect me to Qatar, Italy, and finally bring me back to the United States. To do this, I chose to leave the country for South Africa, where my family planned to visit that year. After successful planning, the trip was one of the best I have had in years. After some good vacation time with family, it was time to head back home. Personally, I decided not to accompany my family and take a different route that would fulfill my desire to set foot in Qatar and Italy. To achieve my interest at the time, my family had no choice other than leaving me alone to take my preferred route home. When my family took their flight and left, I went back to the drawing board in a bid to determine how to make my flight back home longer, through some places that I wanted to see. I contacted a travel agent and asked for any available flights that would go through Qatar and Italy before heading to the United States. I was not surprised to learn that these flights were available, but each stop would require me to connect to a different airline after waiting for at least eight hours. This to me was thrilling. After an hour-long phone call, I finally had my itinerary. I would leave South Africa for Qatar, the n leave Qatar for Italy before heading back home. Even though this sounded interesting, there was a surprise to the story. I can get impatient at times, and the long wait between flights was not going to be easy for me. However, I convinced myself that this was the right thing to do because I wanted to do it in the first place. Bidding South Africa goodbye and looking forward to a great long way home was all my mind clicked. Eight hours after takeoff, we landed at Qatar’s Doha Airport. The airport was beautiful and well maintained. It was easy to navigate around because airports are more or less the same. They have signs, directions, and persons who are ready to assist you at

Family law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Family law - Essay Example The major thrust of new legislation introduced through the Children and Adoption Bill 2005 which is derived from the Family Act of 19963 is to promote parental cooperation in ensuring that the child has contact with both parents. However, allowing primary custodial care to one parent – traditionally the mother – has been viewed as a failure of the legal system to ensure the rights of fathers; â€Å"an exercise in absolute futility† for fathers, as stated by Justice Mamby in the case of D4. In many instances, the underlying hostility the parents feel for each other affects the contact arrangements for the children and creates conditions that are not beneficial for them.6 This is the reason why shared residence appears to offer a viable option whereby a child is able to maintain contact with both parents without their mutual animosity affecting the child’s emotional and psychosocial makeup. Moreover, the separated parents may be living with other partners and the facility of shared residence allows each parent to participate in the care of the child while also being able to carry on with their lives and putting the animosity of the former relationship behind them. As a result, shared residence may be viewed as a means to protect the children from the worst effects of separation and the welfare of children is of primary importance, especially as identified in the Children Act of 1989. The concept of shared residence could therefore offer a solution. A child of divorced parents has two homes, one with each parent, such that both parents are able to offer emotional and financial support. Family Courts have traditionally been guided in their decisions by the provisions of the Children Act of 1989, which states that in any provision or decision made by the Courts, â€Å"the child’s welfare shall be the Court’s paramount consideration.†7 Section 11(4) of the Children Act of 1989

Tourism After The Second World War

Tourism After The Second World War INTRODUCTION International tourism has grown very fast after second world war. Today, tourism has become a part of the everyday life for most people and is now a major source of employment in developed countries. The growth of the tourist industry after second world war can be linked with increasing wealth, increased mobility, improvements in accessibility and transport, more leisure time, product development and innovations, improvements in technology, changes in lifestyles and fashion, an increased awareness of other places and the need for green tourism. Every factor is responsible for the rapid growth of tourism which is the biggest industry in the world at the world employing nearly one third of the whole world population. Since the beginning of early days, humans have travelled for various reasons. . Food, water, safety or acquisition of resources (trade) were some of the early travel motivations. But the reason for travel changed when people had the idea for pleasure and exploration. Travel is always depended upon technology as the means or mode of travel. Travellers before walked or rode domesticated animals. The invention of technology like the wheel and the sail provided new modes of transportation. Each technological improvement increased individuals opportunities to travel. Interest in travel increased for education, sightseeing, and religious purposes when infrastructure were developed by governments and other facilities were meet. The development of International Tourism after the Second World War The most common factors that are responsible for international tourism development after Second World War, can be discussed under three main headlines Changes in technology Product development Social or economic factors A. CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY 1. Developments of Jet Aircraft The development of jet engine was started after the Second World War and before that it was very expensive to travel and also took long time to reach destinations. In 1958 the first jet aircraft carried passengers in the transatlantic route and the travel time was cut some five days to seven hours which was really a great breakthrough for the development of tourism worldwide. And after 1970 the jet aircraft started carrying more and more passengers and also become cheaper for people. 2. Computerised Reservation Systems CRSs are systems that store current information about all available service providers and have the necessary infrastructure to transfer such data. This system started at the beginning of 1960s and the main objective was to book airline seats automatically. In todays world the best known CRSs are Galileo, Amadeus, Sabre, Worldspan and these CRSs have developed the tourism market dramatically. 3. High speed Trains After the Second World War, significant development happened in the railway system. In the United States, All over Europe and in Asia, high speed trains were introduced which brought revolutionary change in mass tourism. This high speed trains has given the passengers comfort and choice of transport which play a vital role in the development of tourism. 4. Communication. The communications revolution happened in the last few decades which had a major impact in tourism. Companies like GO and Last minute.com and others are already developing the Internet to book online and selling their product through web pages. People are now walking through their hotel online, check out the views, find out about the nightlife and all this before they book! Its advertised more faster and more cheaper than going down to the high street. B. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 1. Package Holidays The development of package holidays had a great impact in tourism development. All tour operators are now selling package tours which are all inclusive, which means accommodation, transfer, meals are all included in the deals. The tour operators buys the package in bulk so they can sell to customers in cheap price which attracts customer to take a holiday. 2. Theme Parks Theme Parks have been created in almost every countries of the world to attract tourists. These are the amusement parks where many rides are installed and lots of attractions are made to entertain a large group of people. Example include Thorpe Park in UK or Disney Land in Paris. 3. Introduction of Holiday camps Holiday parks like Central Parks and Butlins had led to a big growth in the tourism industry. In the holiday camps holidaymakers pay for their accommodation and also can go for full board, half board or self catering. 4. Low cost Airlines In the last few decadesà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ low cost airlines contributed hugely in the development of tourism. Low cost airlines like Ryan Air, Easy Jet made it easy for tourists to travel for very cheap prices. 5. Long Haul Destinations The possibility of taking a long haul flights made it very attractive for tourists to go far away form home. People can go from one part of the world to another part in couple of hours and explore the world which gives them immense pleasure. C. Social and Economic Factors 1. Increase in car ownership The greatest factor that increased for travel is the increase in car ownership. Car ownership were increased mostly in the year between 1951 and 1970 and then there were even bigger increase in the mid 1990s. Increased car ownership is now a great facility for people to visit places of interest and spend leisure time with friends and families. 2. Increase in leisure time People around the world now think there are more things to be done other than work in life. So, people now try to mange leisure time from their work which they want to spend travelling to different places just to relax and enjoy. This time spent not only relaxes people but also boost their energy to perform at workplace because of freshen of mind. 3. Holiday entitlement People now are entitled to few days to few weeks holiday every year they work which gives them chance to go somewhere and spend some. From 1938 it was legal requirement that people have to get paid holiday every year. This holiday entitlement also motivates people to travel and thus develop tourism worldwide. 4. Early retirement with pension Todays workplace encourage to recruit fresh talents and so also gives the older people the chance to retire early with pension facilities. So, people now have time in their life to spend and the money they need, which makes them motivate to travel. 5. Aging population Aging population is another factor that develop tourism. People who are aged have more time to spare than others and that encourage them to go for holiday and contribute towards tourism. 6. Large incomes People are earning more money than before and so are able to spend on holidays and other recreation. When there is disposable money available for people that tends people to spend on travel and explore places and hence develop tourism. 7. Less children This is another important factor towards the growth of tourism. People wants to be more free in life than before and lots of people donà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t want to get tied with family and children and which lets them go wherever and whenever they want. They move to different places and help tourism. CONCLUSION After the second world war, tourism has grown in scale, distribution and origins of tourists. According to Geofact 2001, there were 25 million international tourists in 1950 and according to WHO, there were 160 million tourists in 1970. And they forecasted that it would be 1000 million in 2010. In 1997 the UK tourist industry generated  £40 billion which is approximately 4% of the GDP and the industry employed 1.6 million people which is 6.2% of the total workforce. From these figures it is clearly visible that international tourism had developed since the second world war and the growth is continuing.

Media Convergence Worksheet Essay

Questions Answers What is meant by the term media convergence with regard to technology, and how has it affected everyday life? Since I have been going to school I had never heard of the word â€Å"convergence† I first learned about this when I enrolled in my Humanity 176 course. Convergence by definition is the exchange of various digital media such as music, radios, pictures. Convergence used in a technical sense is the exchange and sharing of digital media through computers and other mobile devices. Over the years Media has expanded and excelled across the world to bring the people all sorts of media attention and the ability to be able to converge onto there devices allows an assortment of options such as Internet TV whether it is free or on demand, voice telephone options such as Skype and other simple internet services which include Facebook and Windows Live Messenger. †¦ I believe that our technology has an extreme affect on everyday life, most of us would not know how to function without it, including myself. What is meant by the term media convergence with regard to business, and how has it affected everyday life? Media convergence gives businesses an opportunity to share information regarding any topic within and to others outside of the business like costumers with easy methods. This is really appropriate to meet consumer’s desires for instant and easily practicable and easy to acquire any information from any business. Media convergence regarding to business is used to offer media more professionally or efficiently and in an on demand way. In other words media convergence brings the opportunity to provide information to be acquired when a customer wants to and regarding any topic. Media convergence’s cons embrace less serviceable performance or fewer personnel to reach more people daily. Some elements are acquired from medi a devices or procedures in order to add on stipulate material. Thanks to  today’s technology, people can receive information regarding any services provided by any business or company. Through sources like the internet, customers can browse and purchase products through websites and other business providers. With this technology it makes it very easy for the customers to be able to find many different products for fair prices on what the business needs. Of course, business convergence also deals with far more than buying and selling from a store front. People are also able to set up their business through their own home via the internet. Business goes hand in hand with technology also, as they are able to advertise through television, radio and internet sites with their ads and commercials. Business convergence has become a big source in today’s media, and will continue to grow with technology as they work together to provide people with better and easier ways to conduct business. What are some of the issues that result from depe ndency on modern media? Describe at least three issues. They are things like ethical Issues. We depend on the media to tell us that what we are doing is wrong while we still do what we know is wrong. More and more people who depend on media and need the media is that much closer to being constantly influenced by the media. Our society depends on media and without it we would fall apart. We tend to believe what the media says instead of formulating our own thoughts.With the media the way it is we tend to accept this as part of our lifestyle without question The public also has an insatiable curiosity to know everything, except what the world is really trying to tell us. Another topic of discussion is drugs. Everyday you see ads and commercials and people talking about not doing drugs and we depend on this to teach are kids but in reality we need to learn to teach our kids morals instead of constantly relying on the media.. Commercials that promote alcohol and drinking are abundant on television. While other media shows people doing drugs a nd getting money from the sale of them. The media also tends to butt heads between other countries due to mis-information that was released over the media sites. Terroism comes in all forms when it comes to the internet. Some examples are identity theft, hacking into databases, creation of viruses and other deliberate means to destroy or harm personal objectives are all forms of cyber-terrorism. People seem to have an addiction to technology and cling to it as the world would end without it. Dependency of modern media has taken over and does not allow society to  function thoroughly as it should. The issues it brings with it outweighs the benefits because it’s mostly used in negative ways instead for good. How does media literacy help with responsible media consumption? The literacy of the Media is out there to challenge people with the understanding the representation of the media, with how it influences our culture. Media is out there to give the students the ability to read and write and be more competitive in our media culture. It uses an inquiry-based instructional mold that encourages people to ask questions about what they watch, see and read. Media literacy can also aim to enable people to be skillful creators and producers of media messages, both to facilitate an understanding as to the strengths and limitations of each medium, as well as to create independent media. †¦ By transforming the process of media consumption into an active and critical process, people gain greater awareness of the potential for misrepresentation and manipulation (especially through commercials and public relations techniques), and understand the role of mass media and participatory media in constructing views of reality. †¦ Protectionist approaches to media literacy emphasize the need to be aware of the negative aspects of mass media and popular culture, including the dangers and risks of online social media.

National Union of Bank Employees Essay

Introduction Unions are organizations formed to voice out dissatisfactions and represent interests of employees in a company. In the past, employees- especially those who are low in education level and those who are minorities were exploited because they are not aware of their rights. Therefore, unions exist and sustained till today for two main reasons- to protect the employees and to counter the employers’ powers. Unions normally deal collectively with employer and negotiate labor agreements during the period in which they are effective. The major goal is to gain the best common interest, working conditions, health benefits and job security for its members. To further understand the function and role play of unions, we conducted a study of a union- NUBE (National Union of Banking Employees) in the banking industry. Based on our research result, this paper will include the background of the chosen union, how this union fights for its members’ benefits, the impacts towards the industry due to its pass success and some personal opinion from a current member in this union obtain through a walk in oral interview. Brief History of Unions in United States of America and Malaysia In early 1920s, labors had to work extra hours with minimum wages. Neither health benefits nor insurance were included in their contract of working. Later on, things have changed with the existence of unions. One of the earliest unions  was The National Labor Union which was founded in 1866. After 1866, more and more unions were formed such as The Knights of Labor, American Federation of Labor and also few acts were passed to protect the labors. In Malaysia, unions started to be in active in 1920s when the Communist Party of Malaya encouraged unskilled workers to unionize. There were no rules or regulation at all about trade unions at that time. But in 1940, a Trade Unions Enactment was passed in the Federated Malay States. The enactment made it necessary for all trade unions to be registered in order to avoid redundant unions. Trade unions in Malaysia can be divided into three, in-house, national and federation of trade unions. Objective of in-house trade union is to look after the interests of members in that institution only. While national trade unions are grouped according to industry, trade, or occupation, and their membership is not restricted to a particular institution but geographically where a national trade union can draw its members only from Peninsular Malaysia, or Sabah, or Sarawak. Lastly, a federation of trade unions is a combination of trade unions from similar industries, trades, or occupations. Usually Director General of Trade Unions has the right to decide what similar industries are trades or occupations when there are doubts within the members. Well-known unions in Malaysia consist of Malaysia Rugby Union, The Musicians Union of Malaysia and few others. National Union of Bank Employee’s Background National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) consists of more than 30,000 members in the Banking and Financial Institutions in Peninsular Malaysia. It was formed in 1958 with 5 branches under them, the first is combination of Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Pahang (KLSP), second is in Ipoh, the third is in Penang, Kedah and Perlis (PKP), the fourth is in Kelantan and the fifth is in Seremban, Melaka and Johor (SMJ) and their recreational seaside resort which is in Port Dickson. Like other unions, the reason of having union in any industry is to protect labors and their opinions will be taking in consideration. As for banks, NUBE is a union for all the banks in Malaysia .NUBE’s primary objective is to serve protect and help members regarding their personal benefits and to help the members to negotiate with the banks in order to have a good employee and employer relationship. NUBE can be  considered as a middle person or mediator if there is a problem between the banks and the employees. National Union of Bank Employee’s Battles When members of the union have an issue which is not being paid attention by the employer or government, NUBE will publicize the issues in order to pressure them. In the pass, NUBE had organized a number of activities in fighting all kinds of benefits for its members such as increasing the salary, improving certain health benefit policies, requesting apologies and demanding compensations for unfair labour practices etc. Some disputes were even brought up to the court when the employer and the union could not compromise. Overall, most of these activities and pickets by NUBE had successfully gain public attention and cause pressure towards the employers to take immediate action in negotiating the solution when an issue is brought up. NUBE Fights for Maternity Leave In March 2010, NUBE proposed an increase in maternity leave in conjunction with International Women’s Day on the 8th. The â€Å"90 Days for Mums – 1 Million Signatures Campaign† was launched later on to garner support for this proposal even though the ministry make it clear that they have no plans in extending the current maternity leave. Apart from defending the rights of female employees in Malaysia that, this campaign also aimed to aware the government that many sections of labour laws in Malaysia were obsolete and adverse. NUBE Secretary-General J. Solomon said that a 60-day maternity leave in Malaysia is not the in line with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 183 on Maternity Protection. Therefore, the one million signatures will be submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to appeal for an amendment of the Act on maternity leave. For creating greater awareness to the public, NUBE also sent in memorandum to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development at the launching of the campaign. The result as reported in The Star Online, this campaign successfully received huge support from various parties such as Women’s Aid Organisation, World Alliance on Breastfeeding Action, Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women, All Women’s Action Society, Union Network International – MLC (Global Union), Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC),  Kesatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor, Tenaganita Sdn Bhd, Wanita Gerakan, and Wanita Keadilan. As the result, the huge impact of this campaign had caused the ministry to promise that they will take in consideration of this proposal. Although there is no visible changes in the maternity leave on both private and public sectors yet, NUBE act is consider very important as they have successfully raise awareness and concern to employers about this matter so it could be reviewed with added benefits when the time is right. NUBE Reports Maybank to MACC On the February 15 this year, NUBE unionist staged a picket against Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) outside their office at Bangsar. The bank employees who are NUBE members that joined the picket voiced their main dissatisfaction over the stagnant wages issue that is yet to be reviewed by their employer and the dissatisfaction over unfair practice by Maybank. The union members marched into the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and report about Maybank violating the labor and civil laws as well as the collective agreement for launching an in house union called the Maybank non-executive Union (MANEAU). J.Solomon explained that the formation of MANEAU by Maybank serves as a ‘union busting campaign’ because it spoilt NUBE’s negotiation for performance bonus. It is revealed that employees did not receive any performance bonus at all whereby the CEO of Maybank enjoys a huge sum of 24 months’ salary which total up to RM2,160,000 as his performance bonus. This cause great dissatisfaction among the Maybank employees as is clearly unfair to them. Besides, to stop employees from joining the picket, Maybank also ordered the Malaysian Commercial Bank Association to slash salaries of all employees that take leave to join the picketing. Maybank acted unfair to the employees’ union members and shown effort in blocking any activities of the employees union. Malaysian Trade Union Congress also reported that Maybank is going against the law by supporting their own in-house union by sponsoring them. Maybank’s act violated the laws as they shouldn’t be sponsoring or supporting any unions. NUBE had shown concern over their member’s disputes and reacted quickly by getting the issue to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak but when it gets no response, NUBE acted by staging a picket, raising awareness to the public of what is happening inside the Malaysia’s biggest financial  institution, giving reasonably huge amount of pressure to Maybank in reviewing the matter. NUBE also acted in protecting the bank employee’s rights by reporting the violation of laws by Maybank to the MACC. NUBE Pickets on Minimum Wages Recently in Kuala Lumpur, while the rest of the workers across the Malaysia are enjoying their privileges of Labor Day off day on May 1, over a thousand employees gathered together and marched across the city. The main reason the march takes place is to protest against the newly announced minimum wage policy and to fight for basic employee rights. The rally comprising participant mostly from the NUBE, followed by the other unions – Guppy Plastic Industries Workers Union, Occupy Activist, Party Socialist Malaysia, and Women Aid Organization. During the march, their chant includes stop eliminating union organizations and raising the minimum pay from RM 900 to RM 1500, a much fairer pay. NUBE clarify the much fairer pay as the poverty line according to research is RM 750 and the differences of RM 150 apart from minimum pays are not sufficient. J. Solomon also taken this opportunity to send messages to employers and officers in Human Resource Ministry to abort whatever plan that erode worker’ rights. He also says that it is totally unacceptable as the human resource ministry is plotting with Maybank employers to tears worker apart and attempts to destroy NUBE. Therefore, members from NUBE pickets against Maybank and urges to boycott against the bank. The Current NUBE Member The summarized information below is obtained through an interview with a current Maybank employee who is also a NUBE member conducted orally at Maybank Kota Damansara branch on July 2, 2012, 2.30pm. (Refer Appendix A for full interview contents). The interviewee requested to not disclose her personal information. In the following, she will be referred as ‘the interviewee’. To enter the banking industry, one basically must have a certain level of education. Therefore, employees in the banking industry are highly aware of their rights. To ensure that these rights were protected, most of them join the NUBE as it is a more efficient and powerful route for obtaining better working benefits. It is widely known among the banking  industry employees that this union is actively fighting the best of possible for its members. This is how the interviewee came to know about the existence of this union and felt secure to be a member of it. One of the factors related to union success in organizing is having a good leader because a strong leader certainly will give confidence to the members in the union. In return, members will show a relative strong support in the union. J. Solomon (2005), formal NUBE leader once said: â€Å"Since my younger days, I’ve never liked to see anyone being bullied. If I see somebody who is weak and cannot speak for themselves, then I’d be an informal leader. That’s how I grew up.† Therefore, according to the interviewee, NUBE’s area representatives were sent to banks quarterly or when there are any grievances in order to maintain close contacts with members, collect feedbacks and update latest information to ensure the members concerns are well taken care off. The interviewee is positive that J. Solomon is professional in taking care of their dissatisfactions and then fights the best for them. She is happy to received regular updates from area representatives, and is satisfied that the official website is up to date with the latest information about the union activities all the time. Apart from that, she is also pleased that when a contract is coming to an end, all members will be invited to attend meetings to voice out concerns and terms to be renegotiated in the new contract. This is the reason she has been in the union for more than 10 years. Certainly, having loyal members is another factor of the union remaining strong and successful. NUBE professional attitude is certainly one of the main reasons that their members remain loyal. When it comes to picketing or demonstration, the union will first notify the police about their schedule of activities and obtain a legal approval so that departments who are concern can take any form of precaution to prevent injuries and damages towards the public. This is also another reason that the interviewee support this union all years along because she highly respects J. Solomon attitude in always insisting a peaceful and legal way to express their dissatisfactions so that the employer will resolve the issue for them. â€Å"I personally feel that all the union is really needed in order we, the employees are not being exploited and get what we deserve,† she said. Conclusion From our research, a strong and effective union is able to increase its members working quality. The few factors that NUBE is so successful are concluded as below: (1) they have active participation from members, (2) they have done proper preparations for further negotiations before hand, (3) they are highly involve in political and civil activities, (4) they have a strong union mentality and most of all (5) a professional leader. (Fossum, 2012) Overall in simple words, in the past, present and future, the existence of unions does and will always play a very crucial role and serve an important purpose towards the society. If there are more NUBEs around the world, it is positive to believe that the rate of exploitation in labors will reduce drastically and the amount of sweatshops will decrease faster especially in rural areas. References Anisah Shukry. (May 1, 2012). On Labour Day, workers march for more money. Retrieved July 6, 2012 from http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/on-labour-day-workers-march-for-more-money/ Baker&Mckenzie. (2009). Malaysia Trade Unions Guide. Retrieved July 11 2012 from http://www.bakermckenzie.com/files/Uploads/Documents/Supporting%20Your%20Business/Global%20Markets%20QRGs/Trade%20Unions%20and%20Works%20Councils/qr_malaysia_tradeunionsguide_2009.pdf Claudia Theophilus. (August 26, 2005). Q&A with the NUBE general-secretary. Retrieved July 5 from http://www.indianmalaysian.com/sound/modules.php?name=News&file=print&sid=40 John A. Fossum. (2012). Unions: Members and Leader Attitudes, Behaviours, and Political Activities. Labor Relations Development, Structure, Process. 11ed. NY: Mc Graw Hill. Lisa J. Ariffin. (February 15, 2012). NUBE takes Maybank dispute to streets. Retrieved June 18, 2012 from https://www.facebook.com/groups/379377715461781/ Malaymail. (March 2, 2010). Pet ition for 90 days of maternity leave in progress. Retrieved July 6, 2012 from http://mp.mohr.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1862:petition-for-90-days-ofmaternityleaveinprogress&catid=150:news&Itemid=624&lang=my *NUBE Malaysia Facebook Page. (August 11, 2011). About Basic Info. Retrieved July 10, 2012 from https://www.facebook.com/pages/NUBE-Malaysia/259701940707753?sk=info The Star Online. (March 9, 2009). NUBE goes ahead with maternity leave petition. Retrieved July 6, 2012 from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2010%2F3%2F9%2Fnation%2F5820402&sec=nation *It is very unfortunate that the NUBE official website is still under maintenance since June. According to a current NUBE member, information retrieved from NUBE Malaysia Facebook page is accurate and reliable.