Online Poll: Which Team Will Win Tamileelam Challenge Cup 2013?

Tamileelam Challenge Cup Soccer – 2013 will be hosted by the Athletic Council of Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance in partnership with Canadian Tamil Sports Association (CTSA). This year the tournament will be taking place on Saturday August 31, 2013 at L’amoreaux Sports Complex. Every year, the competition has been tough – with each team hoping…

Senthamil Things: Social Media’s Influence on Generation Y

Written By: Senthamil Stefi

As soon as you turn on your computer, do your hands automatically lead you to the Facebook homepage? This and other forms of social media dependency is a huge norm for Generation Y.

So who exactly is a part of Generation Y? In Canada, Generation Y refers to those who were born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s.

In our current day society, trends are set across the nation and even throughout the world through social media…even big revolutionary movements are started as such. But why are people so dependent on it?

Well… there’s two aspects to look at: 1) professional use and 2) personal use. Professional use is more so a requirement due to branding and marketing, whereas personal use is optional and much like professional use, it acts to brand and market the individual to fit the image that they see for themselves. This pressure to maintain this image then causes a dependency, a form of anxiety. Many may argue that this is beneficial as it acts as a therapeutic shrink as it allows us to express ourselves, but the thing is through the form of social media in essence one is seeking the approval of those around them whether it be through “likes” or “retweets”.

As many pros there are with social media, there is an undeniably list of negative impacts along with it as well, one of them being a dependency that can lead to mental instability as one seeks to maintain a certain image on social media.

Being a part of Generation Y, lets put it to the test to see if I’m truly dependent on social media and see the effects that comes along with the abstinence of it.

I, myself am challenging myself to be off social media for four months. I shall let you know how it goes! See you in four months!

If you’re up for the challenge feel free to join in!!

Children of Change – #SencholaiMassacre

By: Shankar Raj

Gone are those, who could have brought change
Murdered. Killed.
Bombed. Shelled.
61 Women, of no danger,
who lost all,
but, felt at home.

61 Sisters who would have brought change
Dreams, memories,
aspirations and goals
all gone.
Thanks to a Kfir.
Makes me cringe.
61 unarmed, innocent,
young women who have no kin

who could have brought change.
Targeted. Left for dead
for being Thamil.
This just one day in 2006.
Just an image of the 65+ years.

Sutharsini (17)
Niranjini (18)
Nanthini (18)
Yasothini (18)
Karthikayini (18)
Just to name a few.
Sisters. Who would have brought change.

One day it will happen.
One day we will see justice because,
For every seed planted 10 more will sprout.
Sprouts who will carry on these names
Sisters and brothers that will
Bring Change.

I will remember the #SencholaiMassacre

Senthamil Things: Is more really better?

By: Senthamil Stefi

This is a topic that has stumped humans, both explicitly and implicitly, since the concept of money emerged into society. Can money truly buy happiness? Is more really better?

Let’s first look at what money does to the nature of humans. Studies done by psychologist Kathleen Vohs of the University of Minnesota and her collaborators have shown that the mere glimpse of money makes people less generous, less approachable, and quite egocentric. Furthermore, another study done by an international team of researchers led by Jordi Quoibach, a post-doc at Harvard University, found an astounding observation through studies conducted. Though wealth may give us an abundance of opportunities to purchase things, they found that it simultaneously impairs our ability to be able to enjoy those things. But how can that be explained? They argued that since those who have money can experience the best of life, their ability to enjoy the little pleasures of life is undermined. Continuing with this theory, Sonja Lyubomirsky of University of California, Riverside, stated that through her studies she found that having money in turn raises our aspirations about the expectation of happiness we have in our daily lives.

Basically, as our monetary sources increase, our expectations of what brings us happiness continues to proportionately or exponentially increase. So it seems as though it is a toxic cycle in which one constantly chases happiness but does not have the likelihood of ever coming close to it, better yet touch it. So this leads me to the conclusion that money builds the illusion of attaining happiness but doesn’t really bring it.

Recently, an interesting theory was brought up by University of British Columbia associate professor, Elizabeth Dunn and Harvard associate professor, Michael Norton. They suggested that to a large degree, joy is more so correlated to how you spend money and how much you spend. “One of the biggest mistakes we all make with our money is that we fail to use it in ways that maximize the amount of time we spend engaged in activities that make us happy.” Furthermore, through studies done in countries ranging from the United States to South Africa, Dunn and Norton found that spending money on others provides more happiness than spending money on yourself.

So the next time you find yourself staring at an expensive watch or a purse, think about whether or not that will truly bring you happiness. Instead, why don’t you buy a stranger a coffee? You just might be surprised on the level of happiness you would feel afterwards.