Movie Summary The Help Essay Example

Movie Summary The Help Essay Brady Malone Dr. McGlonn-Nelson English 23 October 2015 We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary The Help specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary The Help specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Movie Summary The Help specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The Help Review The Help, was an excellent representation of how life was for an African American woman in the time of discrimination. I think that the movie really helps the audience to sympathize with African Americans for the rough times they all encountered. The actors in the movie do a good job showing how whites treated blacks. I like how the maids rebelled by anonymously writing about their experiences. It was a sneaky yet clever way to show how poorly they are treated. Even though they are free by law, they are not free by spirit. The whites still see the blacks as their property. My favorite scene is when Minny makes Hilly the poop pie. This scene is the funniest part in the whole movie. Hilly got what she deserved for how poorly she treats Minny. The Help, is a perfect representation on the story of the maids, who were mistreated. One universal theme, The Help, speaks to is racial discrimination post slavery. Even though legally blacks and whites are equal, the white still see themselves as superior to the blacks. Blacks at the time were not given the same opportunities as whites. Whites forced blacks to work for them for little pay. For example, in The Help, white families hired black maids to tend to their children. The growth and development of children is really important, and they hire black women to do it for little pay. The maids do everything for the families, they cook, clean, serve, and take care for their children. They do all this hard work, and they are still not even allowed to use the same bathrooms as the whites. Aibileen is fired, because she used the bathroom inside the house while it was pouring rain. Even though African Americans were â€Å"free,† they were still mistreated. One way that The Help, relates to, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the way that blacks are seen as subhuman. In To Kill a Mockingbird, whites look down on blacks. They see themsel

Canterbury Tales; Analysis of the wife of bath and satire in her tale Essays

Canterbury Tales; Analysis of the wife of bath and satire in her tale Essays Canterbury Tales; Analysis of the wife of bath and satire in her tale Paper Canterbury Tales; Analysis of the wife of bath and satire in her tale Paper Essay Topic: The Canterbury Tales Canterbury Tales: Analysis of the Wife of Bath and Satire in her Tale Name: Institution: Lecturer: Course: Date: Canterbury Tales: Analysis of the Wife of Bath and Satire in her Tale The Canterbury tales are a collection of tales told by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Wife of Bath’s tale helped explain the duties of women in the middle ages. The wife of bath refers to herself as Alyson and Alys in the text. She bickers a lot, and confuses her names with those she uses while gossiping with other women. In the tale, a knight present in King Arthur’s court rapes a woman in a wheat field, a crime that attracts the death penalty. However, he is reprieved after the Queen and knight’s lovers intercede in the matter. The knight is handed over by the king to the Queen for judgment, she sends him on a mission to find out’what women really want than anything else’. She gives him exactly 366 dayscome up with a conclusive answer, if the knight does not have a fit enough answer for the Queen he risks his life. In his quest, he finds different answers from every woman he meets, some tell him that they like flattery and others prefer riches. During the entire year, he fails to find a conclusive answer and decides to risk his life and return to the Queen and inform her of his findings. However, on his journey back home he meets a very old woman he seeks aid from. She however issues him with a condition if she tells him the answer to his query, she asks him to grant her a request at any time she pleases, and they together head towards the palace after he agrees to her conditions. After arrival at the palace, the knight tells the queen that women seek sovereignty over their husbands, which is the answer that the queen was looking for. The old woman claims her request and asks the knight to marry her, which he adamantly protests. However, because they had agreed to such terms the knight is forced to marry her the following day. During their first night of marriage, the knight is discontented given her hideous apprearance old. She asks him to make a choice between her appearance and characterand being beautiful and promiscuous. He gives her the appropriate answer, she is impressed with his mastery, immediately changes, and becomes beautiful, and they live in marital bliss ever after. The tale clearly shows satire in that the knight had journeyed for over a year in pursuit of an answer as to what women want than anything else in life. He is lucky enough to find a woman with the right answer for his question as he heads back to the palace to meet his fate of death. The literature work is clearly satirical in that the knight was able to escape the consequences of a crime punishable by death by being given a task that many people would regard as simple. The knight is also witty enough to manage to give his new aged bride an answer that prompts her to change and become beautiful and fair. The text is also satirical enough in that the knight was heading back to the castle whereas he faced imminent death due to his crime instead of running away. Various themes also come into play in the text. The presence of crimes against women is not punished adequately, and this clearly shows that crimes against women are casually handled. Social prejudice against women is depicted in the works in that the old woman was living all by herself in the woods, and the young man thought of her as ‘very ugly and low born’, showing that people who are perceived as ugly are not given the chance to coexist with other people. Bath’s wife also depicts ant ifeminism, in that she remarries severally that their culture was based on antifeminist traditions. Morality also becomes an issue because Alison, Bath’s wife, claims that ‘For hadde God commanded maydenhede. Thanne hadde he dampened weddying with the dede’, meaning that had God found it necessary to condemn marriage and procreation he would have commanded virginity. She also says, â€Å"How pitously a-nyght I made hem swynke!† (Chaucer and Malcolmson, 1964) This clearly shows that she had disregard for sexual morality, and was very promiscuous to a point of noting such from the Bible. Her sexual immorality is also depicted by the fact that she has married several men, and does not seem to think that she will fully settle with one husband. Religion is another theme that comes into play in that Alison has the audacity to refer to the Bible with her promiscuity in mind as also shown in the words, †As help me God, I laughe when I thynke’’ (Chaucer and Malcolmson, 1964). This shows that she still had regard for the Christian religion. Female dominance is also a theme that was shown in the text through the words, â€Å"Unnethe myghte they the statut holde/in which that they were bounden unto me/ye woot wel what I meene of this, pardee/How pitously a-nyght I made hem swynke!† meaning that men must prove to Alison that they can satisfy her sexual appetite before they can have her as a wife (Chaucer and Malcolmson, 1964). Materialism is also a theme that is recurrent in the text in that Alison weighs love from men in economic terms. The use of words such as ‘dette’ meaning debt, ’paiement’ meaning payment show that she regards affection in monetary terms, thus she is very materialistic. Such terms may be used to conclude that she is a prostitute. In her statements, she seems to conclude that ‘love’ as an act that warrants ‘paiement’ in her own works (Chaucer and Malcolmson, 1964). Preferred behavior in marriage is also a theme that is brought forth in that she does not act as a real wife would. She says that she is used to telling lies to her former husbands and how they get drunk and saying some very insulting words. In conclusion, it would be easier to say that the Chaucer’s main purpose was to show what the role of a woman should be by giving the audience an example of the opposite of a good marriage. He also wanted to show the effects of infidelity in marriage, whereby it leads to separation and sexual immorality as individuals seek sexual gratification. References Chaucer, G. and Malcolmson, A. B. (1964). A taste of Chaucer: Selections from the Canterbury tales. New York: Harcourt, Brace World.

ACT Expert Guide Whats the Highest Possible ACT Score

ACT Expert Guide What's the Highest Possible ACT Score SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips What is the highest possible score on the ACT, and how rare is it to get one? Whether you're just now diving into your ACT prep or have been at it for a while, you're probably wondering what the best score is. In this guide, we’ll explore the odds of earning the maximum ACT score and give you tips and advice for reaching it. What Is a Perfect ACT score? The highest possible score you can earn on the ACT is 36(on a scale of 1-36). This 36 is a composite, or average, of your four subject area scores- English, Reading, Math, and Science.Each section is also scored on a scale of 1-36. (If you take the ACT with Writing, your essay willnot affect your composite score. This means you can get a perfect 36 without earning a perfect essay score of 12.) The 36 points you can earn on each section are scaled scores, which are translated from your raw scores- that is, the total number of questions you get right on each ACT section. (For more information about how each ACT section is scored, see our article on ACT scoring.) The magic number. So just how rare is a perfect 36? According to ACT, Inc., out of the 1,914,817 students in the class of 2018 who took the ACT, only3,741earned the highest possible ACT score. That’s just 0.195% of test takers! If you’re looking to be part of that 0.195%, keep reading to learn the raw ACT scores you'll need for each section- and why it’s possible to get a perfect score without answering every single question correctly. The Composite ACT Score Needed for a 36 Your composite score on the ACT is the most important part of your score, since it represents your overall performance. When people refer to a perfect ACT score, they are talking about a perfect 36 composite. However, since your composite ACT score is calculated from the average of your four subject area scores- not the total- you do not need a perfect 36 on every section to get a perfect 36 composite. For example, say you got the following subject area scores: English: 36 Reading: 36 Math: 36 Science: 34 This means your composite would be as follows: (36 + 36 + 36 + 34) / 4 = 35.5 Because you can only get whole numbers- not decimals- for your composite ACT score, this score of 35.5 would round up to the best ACT score of 36. This is a slight difference from the SAT, for which your composite score comes from all the sections being totaled, not averaged. To get a perfect score on the SAT, you need a perfect score on every section.For the ACT, you can have a slightly less than perfect score on one or two sections and still net a 36 composite! The Raw Scores Needed for a Perfect ACT Score While it’s possible to get a 36 composite without getting a 36 on each ACT section, if you're truly aiming for a 36, you should study with the goal of getting a 36 on each section. But why? First of all, this will help you focus your studying on becoming 100% consistent. If you study with the allowance of making a few mistakes, any additional mistakes you make will definitely cost you the 36. But if you study with the goal of getting a 36 on each section, if you do end up making one or two mistakes, you could still net a 36 composite. This official chart estimates how raw ACT section scores will translate into scaled scores. Based on this official chart, you need to aim for a perfect raw score- that means answering every single question correctly- on both Reading and Science to get a 36. Meanwhile, you can miss one question each on the English and Math sections and still get a 36. While these estimates show it is possible to get 74 raw points on the English section and 59 points on the Math section and still get a 36 composite, this could change depending on how the ACT you end up taking is scaled. (This is becauseeach test is scaled a little bit differently- check out our guide to ACT conversion chartsto learn more about how this process works.) Ultimately, the only way to guarantee a 36 is to get a perfect raw score in every section. How to Get Perfect Raw ACT Scores to Guarantee a 36 If you're aiming for a perfect ACT score, the best way to do this is to aim for a perfect raw score on every ACT section (in other words, aim to get every single question right!). Here, we go over our top tips to help you do just this. #1: Be Consistent and Maintain Your Stamina Since you're aiming for a perfect raw ACT score on every section, you must be able to achieve perfection during studying and while taking practice tests. This is especially important for developing better test-taking stamina and efficiency. Even if you're capable of answering all the questions in a section correctly, to get a perfect 36 on the ACT, you will have to be able to work within the allotted time.Here is an overview of the time limits per ACT section: ACT Section Total Time # of Questions Time per Question English 45 minutes 75 36 seconds Math 60 minutes 60 60 seconds Reading 35 minutes 40 52.5 seconds Science 35 minutes 40 52.5 seconds For the Math section, you get exactly one minute per question. For English, Reading, and Science, you get less than a minute. This intense pacing is why it’s so important to aim for speed and accuracy while studying. #2: Find Your Weak Spots Our second tip is to use ACT practice questions and exams to find your weak areas- whether they are trigonometry questions on the Math section or the social science excerpt on Reading. Try to figure out where the gaps in your knowledge are and why you are answering certain questions incorrectly. Once you know exactly where you struggle, you can target your studying. To get a 36, you must learn the concepts behind the questions you struggle with the most, and develop systems and strategies for solving those question types. With enough studying, your weak links could become strengths. #3: Don’t Get Complacent Although you will spend a good deal of time on your weak spots, never assume that you have a section in the bag.For example, even if you're amazing at math and got a 36 on your first official practice test, don't neglect the Math section when you study. Taking practice tests can help you become familiar with the pacing you will need on test day, and they'll also help you spot any careless mistakes you tend to make. #4: Prevent Careless Mistakes Although the bulk of your studying will be spent addressing stubborn weak spots, make sure you are on the lookout for where you make small mistakes. That could be anything from skimming too fast and missing the point of a question, to an arithmetic error on Math, to even bubbling in an answer incorrectly. Want more strategies on how to get the maximum ACT score? Read our detailed guide to getting a 36. Key Takeaways: Aiming For the Maximum ACT Score Although it will be tough to study for that perfect 36 ACT score- after all, only 0.195% of test takers achieve it!- it's not impossible. Keep in mind, too, that although a 36 composite is considered perfect, a composite score of 34 or higher is already in the 99thpercentile of test takers. In other words, if you get a 34+, you have done better than 99% of students who take the ACT. That's a great accomplishment! Studying using the principles in this article and aiming for perfection can definitely help you get a 99thpercentile ACT score- which isn't too shabby, even for a perfectionist. What's Next? Want a more in-depth guide to getting a perfect ACT score? Read our guide on how to score a 36, written by a 36 perfect scorer. Aiming for a top-tier school? Learn what ACT scores it takes to get into the Ivy League. Not aiming for a perfect ACT score? You'll still need to figure out what score you should aim for, and get the best one you can. Read our step-by-step guide to calculating your personal ACT target scoreto get started. Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? We've written a free strategy guide to the top strategies you should be using in your studying. Download it now:

Discuss the agency problem relating to multinational companies, and in Essay

Discuss the agency problem relating to multinational companies, and in particular multinational banks, and how, they differ from - Essay Example The situation of agency problem is such in many of the organizations that the agents or the management of the organization makes use of their authority for deriving personal benefits rather than benefits of the principals or the shareholders. In other words, agency problem arises due to the conflicting interests among the management, creditors and shareholders’ regarding the goals of the organization as well as that of the concerned parties (Investopedia, 2011). The agency problem in multinational companies can be appropriately discussed by focusing on the ways as to how the supervision and regulation affects the risk-taking measures of the banks in the host-country (Ongena & Et. Al., 2011). This research paper is aimed to present the discussion on agency problem in multinational companies, particularly banks, through review of various aspects related to the evolution of the problems. The research also aims to present a comparative study of the agency problems faced by the mul tinational organizations and domestic organizations. Two Most Common Agency Problems in Banks In the non-financial corporations, an incentive is provided to the shareholders through limited liability that allows them to seize bondholders’ wealth by increasing the level of risk. The government is indulged in protecting the bond holders from the outcome of risk taking activities of the banks. Thus, the shareholders’ incentive to supervise and restrain risk taking is low. In the banking literature, such situation of absence of discipline is known as the â€Å"moral hazard problem associated with deposit insurance†. A second very common situation of agency problem arises due to the limits on the wealth of managers that forces a separation of control and ownership. This forces the managers to consider their own objectives to be more important than that of the shareholders (Demsetz, 1997). Agency Problems and Risk Taking at Multinational Banks The root cause of agency problems in multinational companies, particularly banks is related to the structuring of regulations for multinational banking units. The host country is more interested in structuring the regulations in such a way that would provide disadvantage to the foreign firms to compete with the domestic firms. But this notion would result in inconsistency with the objective of a single market (Baum, 2002). The consequence of leaving the supervision and regulation in the home country, as evident from the case of the European Union, is that the member countries adopted different structures of regulation and supervision for the financial institutions. Thus, if the multinational banks are faced with similar regulatory issues, they would either split according to functions or would consolidate regulation into one agency. In that case, in certain situations the Central Bank will be involved, whereas in other cases, it would not. Hence, it is evident that considering these regulatory issues, the multinational banks would select policy trade-offs on the basis of their degrees of responsibilities and

Microsoft Windows 7 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Microsoft Windows 7 - Research Paper Example Data indicate that Windows 7 helped Microsoft to increase its market share to some extent although some users are dissatisfied with the features of this new version operating system. It offers a number of packages including Starter, Home basic, Home premium, Enterprise, Ultimate, and Professional. The company is using a distinct marketing strategy to promote the sales of Windows 7. This paper will analyze the various feature of Windows 7 on the ground of its market strengths and supply chain management. MS Windows 7 Microsoft Windows 7 was released on 22nd July 2009. It is interesting to note that the company made Windows 7 available to general retail outlets within less than three years after the launch of its predecessor, Windows Vista. By the release of Windows 7, the company aimed to be more compatible with numerous other technologically developed applications and hardware. This new operating system focuses on multi-touch support, a redesigned Windows shell with a Superbar, and a home networking system named HomeGroup (Microsoft Windows, para: 3-5). It contains several measures to promote performance improvements. It must be noted that some standard applications included in the previous versions of MS Windows including Windows Movie Maker, Windows Mail, Windows Photo Gallery are excluded in Windows 7. Microsoft has added numerous new features to Windows 7 including handwriting recognition, virtual hard disk support, improved multi-core processors and boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel modifications; and in addition to this, a new version of Windows Media Center, highly developed media features, and a new calculator with multiple capabilities have been added to Windows 7(InfoWorld). Similarly, Windows 7 is characterized with notable Control Panel feature changes. It integrates improved features such as Display Color Calibration Wizard, Recovery, Gadgets, Workspaces Center, Credential Manager, ClearTye Text Tuner, System Icons, Biometric Services, and Location and Other Sensors to Control Panel; and the addition of Windows Imaging Component enables Windows 7 to support images produced in the RAW image format. Significant changes to taskbar functions have been also made (InfoWorld). This product strictly complies with US and European antitrust regulations and provides users with safe internet browsing options. Following the launch of Windows 7, the company got exciting response from the market. Within 8 hours of Windows 7 launch, its pre-orders at amazon.co.uk surpassed the number of those had with Windows Vista in its first 17 weeks. It became the highest pre-order level in the history of Amazon, breaking the record of seventh Harry Potter book. Windows 7 took only less than three weeks to reach a 4% market share whereas its predecessor Windows Vista took nearly seven months to achieve the same. As of 23rd April 2010, Microsoft sold more than 100 million Windows 7 operating systems across the globe and the sales volume grew to 5 25 million copies by 19th January 2012. Reviews of Windows 7 reflect increased usability and functionality as its major advantages attracting users. The CNET rated Windows 7 Home Premium 4.5 out of 5 stars whereas it was rated 4 out of 5 by the PC Magazine. The CNET stated that â€Å"it is more that what Vista should have been, [and] it is where Microsoft needed to go† (â€Å"The City is Alive†, para: 5). Another catching feature of Windows 7 is

Values for Social Workers

Values for Social Workers My own personal values were passed by my family, peers and people that I admire. One of the most important value for me is love and respect. By love I mean love to another human being, not only as a feeling but also as self-respect and people around me. I understand love as a friendship, need to being needed and loved and have someone close to me. Receiving and giving love to life-partner, family or friends is very important for me. By feeling love from people that are part of my life I feel secure, worth and I build my self-esteem. It motivates me to work and gives me strenght to fight with adversities.By giving love to another people I show my own commitment and respect to them. I give them a friend, person to support them in hard times. My personal value is also to respect every individual, especially elderly people. I think everyone need to love and be loved. Another important value for me is personal fulfillment. It is very important for me to fulfill my dreams and plans and I do everytthing to do it. I am a perfectionist and Im trying to get everything done at my best, and I am trying to accomplish everything that I set to myself. One of my dreams is to become a social worker and I am realising this by doing this course. It is very important for me to fulfill myself and achieve the goals which I set. It gives me happiness, build my self-esteem and gives me sense of control over your life. Next value that plays role in my life is health. I respect my body and I feel happy that I was born fully heatlhy and efficient. In my life I am trying to keep my body as healthy as possible. Balanced diet such as a lot of fruits and vegetables and less sugars, exercise, fresh air help me to reduce risk of having illnesses. Also work/live and study and safe environment promotes my health. I am trying to not expose my own and others health on risk. I belief that we have one life and we should exploit it as much as we can and by respecting our life we respect also other peoples life. My own values have also relationship in social care practice. Social Care sector is regulated by agencies such as Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care. This reguratory body promotes National Care Standards which are: -dignity -privacy -choice -safety -realising potential -equality and diversity Some of those standards are very similar to my own personal values such as safety. This standard cares for service users health and safety. My own health value is very similar to this standard. Their common aims are to create environment free of harm and abuse and to reduce risk of health danger. It also has relationship with Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which is about ensuring the environment is safe and free from hazards. This law basically rules that employers must ensure as is reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare of not only their employees but sub contractors and the general public too. REFERENCJA Realising potential is also very similar to my personal fulfillment value. This standard gives service users opportunity to archive their goals and make the most of their life. My value is to archive all my plans and goals and also to do everything the best as I can. It also has relationship to Regulation of Care Act (Scotland) Act 2001. Under this act Scottish Social Services Council regulates the education and training of social service workers and raise standards through the publication of codes of conduct and practice. Social Care practice is based on respect every individual and treating people equally. Every employee must take this into their practice. My love value is related to all aspects of care practice. It states that we should respect and love every human being and have a right to love and be loved. Social Care practice promotes respect for every individual by National Care Standards Choice and Privacy. Care workers respect service users privacy under Data Protection Act 1998 which protects clients confidential information such as care plan. Choice from National Care Standards promotes respect of service users by allowing them live as much independent as possible. Care workers also respects all choice made by individuals and take them into account before making any actions. Anti-Discriminatory Practice is well known term in all sectors of social work. Term Anti-discriminatory Practice mean practice without discrimination and respecting individuals worth and dignity. Practice without discrimination is known as practice free of judgement and prejudice of service users as well as service providers. It is a practice where people are treated equally without any fear of any harm or abuse because of their ethnic background, sexual orientation, religion or age; where people respecting each other worth and dignity and no discriminating them against their views, beliefs, appearance or behaviour. It is a practice where everyone is accepted as they are and treated equally. It focuses on respecting individuals and works againts stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice.ADP is important for providing effective care practice for employers and employees as well as service users. It promotes equality by introducing anti-discrimination policies in workplace and changing attitudes towards staff and service users. It promotes it by value service users for their ethnic background, language, culture and faith, let clients live independently, being able to complain effectively without fear of victimisation. Discrimination Discrimination is behavioural component of bias by treating people differently and unfairly or less well than others because they belong to certain groups. Discrimination is often due to jealousness, religion, race, unequal pay, pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender. It is form of social exclusion. This unequal treatment of legally unjustified objective reasons. Any such action constitutes a breach of the principle of equal treatment and basic human rights. Discrimination has two types: Direct discrimination It is based on treating people differently because of someones personal circumstances compared to ourselves or another person in the same situation. For example unequal pay for women and men for the same type of job. Indirect discrimination It occurs when actions taken are neutral to public opinion but discrimination may affect some of them. For example discrimination against disabled people or same gender couples. Values that underpin Anti Disctiminatory Practice include: Equality Equality is a value that is very important in ADP. Treating people equally means that everyone is not the same and should be treated as an individual. Everyone is equal regardless of gender, age, religion or sexual orientation. Anti Discriminatory Practice promotes equality by providing range of services for all possible service users. Disability Discrimination Act 2005 promotes equality for people with disability. It focus on services, goods and employement. Under this act all employers and must reasonable adjustments and make workplace suitable for all employees such as lifts and toilets. Tolerance Tolerance is another important value that underpins Anti Disctiminatory Practice. Tolerance is an open, objective and respects the approach to other human traits, which are different from their own.Tolerance is the opposite of discrimination.Tolerance means that even if we dont have the same views or personal beliefs as someone else, we still respect it. Equality Act 2010 promotes tolerance as their aims are: -banning age discrimination outside the workplace -protecting carers from discrimination -clarifying the protection for breastfeeding mothers -banning discrimination in private and public sectors Protection Protection is also one of the important values in Anti Disctiminatory Practice. Human protection from any forms of harm or abuse is one of the main aims of ADP. Protection means taking actions against disctimination, prejudice or stereotyping and providing environment free from those. Human Rights Act 1998 promotes protection of human rights such as: Respect for privacy and family life and the right to marry. The prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment Protection against slavery and forced labour

Air asia case study Essay

Awarding large government contracts to Bumiputra companies. 2. Requiring new listings on the Malaysia stock exchange to have an initial 30 per cent Bumiputra equity ownership. 3. The allocation of at least 30 per cent of government contracts for public and private works to Bumiputra contractors. 4. Requiring all private companies to offer employment opportunities to Bumiputras. 5. Ensuring that a minimum of 60 per cent of government procurements, contract work and other related projects be awarded to Bumiputra entrepreneurs. 6. Making government finance available for the exclusive use of Bumiputra business people. The Malaysian government claimed that the NEP fulfilled its goals since the nation was acknowledged as one of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world from 1970 to 1990, a period that coincided with the NEP’s implementation. This conclusion was in agreement with the research on Malaysian economic development3 conducted by the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) and Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Kuala Lumpur (ISIS Malaysia) (Snodgrass, 1996, p. 1). Despite this and the new policies that superseded the NEP since 1990, the affirmative action programme remains controversial. Indeed, many people believe that the NEP continues to define current government development policies in Malaysia. Critics of the NEP believe that the policy was only partially successful in, for example, reducing socio-economic disparity and encouraging the arrogance of Bumiputras (Anshar, 2008). Research by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affair4 (2005, p. xiii) was also critical about the alleged business restrictions that the NEP encouraged – it criticised that these were counterproductive and may even have thwarted the development of a vibrant and resilient business community. 3 The research looks into the Malaysian economic development from 1970 to 1990. Malaysia: An Economy Transformed (2005). This report on the Malaysian business environment prepared by The Economic Analytical Unit (formerly the East Asia Analytical Unit) is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is responsible for publishing reports analysing major trade and economic issues of relevance to Australia. The Entrepreneurial Tony Fernandes If the NEP was restrictive of non-Malay entrepreneurship, how was it possible that Fernandes, a non Bumiputra could emerge as the most celebrated entrepreneur in Malaysia? My research suggests that the NEP did not stifle entrepreneurship and that Fernandes is not the only successful non Bumiputra business person in Malaysia. This is a complex debate, and my doctoral thesis seeks to address it in greater detail. But in this paper I will outline some of the considerations that need to be taken into account in explaining how and why Fernandes rose to become one of Malaysia’s millionaires. Fernandes was born on 30th April 1964 into a family that had no prior knowledge or experience of business; his father was a physician from Goa (India) and his mother was a music teacher of Malaccan-Portuguese descent. In other words, Fernandes came from an Indian-Malaysian family of professionals; the new middle class that emerged in Malaysia from the 1960s. Like many other middle class families, the Fernandes had sufficient wealth to send Fernandes to study in England. Fernandes, at the age of 12, went to London in 1976 to study at Epsom College and attended the London School of Economics in which he graduated in 1987 with a degree in accounting (BusinessWeek, 2009). In total, he spent some 11 years in London, a painful separation from his parents who could not afford to pay for his flights back to Malaysia. It was this experience, according to Brown5 (2010) that gave him an insight into the benefits of perhaps developing cheap international carriers. However, at this stage his career path did not take him into the airline business. Upon graduation from the London School of Economics Fernandes took the normal route of working in accounting jobs. Fernandes worked briefly at Virgin Communications, a television division of the Virgin Group of companies. What did Fernandes learn from Virgin? 5 Kevin Brown is a journalist for the Financial Times. He was appointed Asia regional correspondent for the Financial Times in September 2009, based in Singapore. Prior to this role, he was Asia news editor. Previously, he was the personal finance editor of the Financial Times. The main benefit was the experience of working in a global company, acquiring insights into the running of an international business, and developing an impressive resume which worked in his favour in being appointed to the position of Senior Financial Analyst at Warner Music International6 in London. At Warner, Fernandes showed strong business acumen. He started in 1989 as Senior Financial Analyst, and by 2001, when he resigned from Warner, he was the Vice President, ASEAN region. Within 12 years at Warner he was promoted four times; that is on average he was promoted every three years. Fernandes’ time at Warner Music was significant because it was during this period that Fernandes matured and transformed himself from being a mere accountant into a strategist with an analytical mind. Commentators such as Ionides7 (2004) believed that Fernandes’ ability to think strategically, and understand his environment from a macro perspective, was the reason why Fernandes felt compelled not to be part of Warner’s ill-fated merger with America Online Inc in 2001. This incident was said to be the catalyst for Fernandes’ decision to switch careers after 12 years with Warner. A word of caution is needed: the early history of Fernandes’ emergence as an entrepreneur is based on the business press and journals. As part of my doctoral work I will be examining these issues in greater detail, and therefore reserve the right to correct the narrative as it currently stands. 6 Warner Music International is part of the Warner Music Group which is the third-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. Warner Music Group also has a music publishing arm called Warner/Chappell Music, which is currently one of the world’s largest music-publishing companies.