Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance

Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance Introduction In the first chapter of this research study, an introduction on insurance will be presented. While, on the other hand, there will be a highlight on the differences between conventional and Islamic insurance. Following this, will be the problem discussion and the objectives of this study. Finally, there will be the justification and significance, following by organization of the study. What Exactly Is Insurance Means Buying insurance has become a trend in this twentieth century. According to The Star daily(2007), in the first half of year 2007, the combined premium income for insurance industry increase 9.8 percent compared to the same period for year 2006. The industry is further expanded in line with the favorable economics performance. People bought the insurance for their car, family, and business. People spend a lot of money on paying the insurance premium annually. While, do they actually clear on what kind of plan they had bought and what had they insured for their life, property and so on? Do they really distinct on the concept of the insurance that they had disbursed so much? According to Bank Negara Malaysia, insurance is the transfer of risk by an individual, such as yourself or an organization, such as your business to an insurance company. You or your organization will then be known as policy holder or insured while the insurance company is the insurer. The insurance company receives the payment in the form of premium. Then the insurance company utilized the premium collect from their policy holder to make some investment for their company. They will compensate their policy holder in the event of losses or damages which is sustained by the premium paid. In other word, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss by paying an amount of premium. It is an effective risk transfer mechanism for insured to exchange their uncertainty financial loss with the certain amount of premium (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). This kind of insurance we titled as conventional insurance which is the ordinary type of insurance that accepted by the society in general. While, other than the conventional insurance which we normally approached to, there are another type of insurance which we called as Islamic insurance. The Islamic insurance was step into Malaysia insurance market since November of year 1984 (Renat Bekkin, 2008). The first Islamic insurance company established in Malaysia was Takaful Malaysia Berhad. Early than that, Islamic insurance has stepping into the market of Sudan and Arab. What is Islamic insurance Islamic insurance is a mode of financial management which compliance to Shariah law. Islamic insurance is provided under a principle called Takaful. According to Islamic Banking, the term Takaful is derived from the Arabic word Kafaala meaning guaranteeing. Takaful means guaranteeing each other and refer to the concept of permissible Islamic insurance or Halal insurance. While by referring to Takaful Act 1984, Article 2, Takaful means a scheme based on brotherhood, solidarity and mutual assistance which provides for mutual financial aid and assistance to the participants in case of need whereby the participants mutually agree to contribute for that purpose. Literally, Takaful defines responsibility, shared guarantee, collective assurance and mutual undertakings. (Masum Billah, 2007) Some Muslims believe insurance is unnecessary, as society should helps its victims. Muslims can no longer ignore the fact that they live, they trade and communicate with open global systems, and they can no longer ignore the need for banking and insurance (Dr Aly Khorshid, 2004). In the eyes of Muslims, the concepts used by conventional insurance are against the law of Shariah. This is because conventional insurance is based on a contract of exchange (sale) between the insurance company and the covered person. This contract is void because it has the elements which are not permissible from Shariahs perspective. The elements are Gharar which means uncertainty. Conventional insurance has an element of Gharar due to the promise to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of unsuspected events. The other elements are Maysir which refer to gambling. Existence of Gharar (uncertainties) leads to Maysir (gambling) in conventional insurance. The insured may either lose the entire premium he has paid or be compensated for the losses he incurs for the insured event. Riba was also one of the not permissible elements in the law of Shariah. Riba means interest. The investment of insurance funds in interest bearing securities such bonds and stocks, which do not comply with the Shariah principles, pose a major Muslims who purchase the conventional insurance (Alburn Mountain, 2008). In conventional insurance, vendors, the insurance company, sells their insurance plans to their clients, which we called as policy holder in the other way and invest the premium paid for the profit of its shareholder. Then, the policy holders do enjoy the risk transference that they are receiving the compensation if they face the financial loss on the events they insured. According to Islamic Banking, Takaful was grant as Islamic insurance because of the apparent similarity between the contract of kafaala and insurance. Takaful is an Islamic concept which grounded in Islamic Mualamat which define as banking transaction (SP Media, 2009). This concept already practices in diverse form over 1400 years long (Salam, 2008). Generally, Takaful is an insurance plan which based on Shariah principles. The members are to contribute a certain amount of money to a common pool which is Takaful fund in the form of participative contribution that also called as Tabarru. Tabarru means a donation, charity or gift which cannot be taken back (Dr Qaradawi, 2002). In general Takaful, a percentage of the participants contribution is considered as Tabarru, thus it cannot be taken back by the participants as it is the joint guarantee principle to help other participants. A portion of a participants contribution will be allocate through Tabarru principle to help participants from a sudden but defined risks. After contributing the money into Takaful mutual fund, they will undertake a contract which called as Aqad in Islam, to become one of the participants by agreeing to mutually help each other, should any of the participants suffer a defined loss (Arshad Shaikh, 2007). In Islamic insurance, participants (policyholders) are co-operating among themselves for their common goods. Every participants are to pay a part of the contribution (premium) as a donation to help those need assistance. Other than that, in Takaful system, losses are divided and liabilities spread according to the community pooling system. In order to eliminate the element of uncertainty in Takaful contract, the concept of Tabarru is incorporated. This is to enable the participant to fulfill his obligation of mutual help and joint guarantee should any of his fellow participants suffer a defined loss. In conventional insurance, policy holder can buy more than one policy or plan to hedge the particular risk in the event of loss or damage. By this, the policy holders are lessening the claims of the insurance company because the same amount of compensation has now burden by two companies. This is called reinsurance which an insurance company can transfer to another insurer, the reinsurer all or part of its liabilities in respect of claims arising under the contracts of insurance. This is to protect itself against the risk that its total claims costs in any year may wiping out of its profits and cause it to insolvent. As same in Islamic insurance, participants can buy more than one plan from other licensed Takaful operator. This is called as Retakaful in Islamic insurance (Bahrain, 2005). Why Takaful Insurance instead of Conventional Insurance In Islamic view, the concept used in conventional insurance is in conflict with the injunction of Islam (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). The conflicts were not against the concepts used by conventional insurance that trades and contracts were appeared in the concept. While the struggling are the weaknesses and the imperfect phrase which existed in the insurance contract. The objections are actually against the phrase of Gharar which means uncertainty, Maisir refers to gambling and the word Riba which point to the interest. The criticism was the word of Gharar is happened in the contract of insurance. Other than that, the phrase of gambling is presenting in its extreme form. Whats more is the element of interest is existed in the contract. These three phrases were the points appeared in the contract of conventional insurance that prohibited in Islamic view. Thus, they lead to the contradiction between conventional insurance and Islamic view (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). While, there are the person who does not agree the above matters. According to Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi (2002), he does not think that the concept used in conventional insurance is conflict with Islamic law, but he agrees that the conventional insurance is in need of some improvement to move in line with Islamic teachings. Problem Statement People are following the track of buying insurance nowadays. People buy insurance when there is a new born baby. They buy insurance during their travelling. Insurance also bought when people purchase a residential property. People also buy insurance for the sake of retiring. People buy insurance whenever they think there was an unseen risk hidden, but do they really know what is about insurance and what type of insurance is available in the market? Throughout a number of searching by using the Google search engine and the library in campus, which was found that there are the surveys doing on Islamic Banking which may mentioned in various perspectives for instances the growth of Islamic banking in the world. Like what mentioning by Radio Australia, Islamic banking was one of the fastest growing sectors in the finance world which reveals by the value of the industry which worth of USD 1 Trillion in the year 2008. An addition, according to the bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution survey, assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than that, what was found is there are quite a number of researches which study on the topic related to insurance. There are talked about the insurance expansion in the industry, growth of the insurance industry, the rate of market penetration. According to KCLAU (2007), the market penetration of life insurance as measured in terms of the total number of policies in force to total population, grew to 39.3 percent as at end of June 2007. While, besides the conventional which is generally accepted by the society, there are another type of risk transfer mechanism which is Islamic insurance was emerged in the other part of the globe. Islamic insurance was first widely spread over the Islamic country like Sudan, Arabic, India, South East Asia, and some other place in the world. The Islamic insurance also practiced in the region which is non Islamic country like European country and United of State. Since the growing of Islamic insurance throughout the world is in such a fast track, while, the doubt appeared was, it was hard to find the study on Islamic insurance rather than the conventional insurance. Another doubt was appeared that what is the reason to separate insurance into Islamic and conventional? What is the different perspective between Islamic insurance and conventional insurance? While, the most is, do people aware of the existence of Islamic insurance in the insurance industry which they approached ordinarily? Following by this, is the discussion on conventional and Islamic insurance. Research Objectives The general objective of this study is to clarify the different perspectives between conventional and Islamic insurance. While the other specific objectives as stated below which I am to study in this research. The specific objectives: To investigate the different perception of Muslim and Non Muslim towards conventional and Islamic insurance To investigate the determinants of demand for insurance in Malaysians To determine the level of awareness on Islamic insurance in the region of Malaysia Significance of Study This study may help the Malaysian Islamic Finance market to move a step up due to the hike up of the level of awareness on the conventional and Islamic insurance. Other than that, the study also provides the Muslim and Non Muslim within Malaysia to walk out of the religious teachings and some other factors in order to know more about the issues of insurance. Therefrom, Malaysias Islamic finance market may improve follow by the fast track in other country like what happened to the Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution, that assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than impacts on the country income and economic condition, this study also might helpful to the family or person who thinks of purchase insurance. By gone through this study, they are able to better analyze the product available in the market whether from the conventional insurance company or the Takaful operator which offer the Shariah compliance products and services. Then they are able to choose the best product which suit to them in terms of their needs, budget and also the religious teachings. Other than this, the study also may help the insurance company or the operators to determine the consumers intention of buying on their product. They may use the useful information to improve their products in order to enhance or even develop a better market position for their company. The growing in the insurance market plays an important role in the economic growth of the country. The growing may bring the country to a higher position in the world financial sector. Thus, Malaysia will stand still on the top of the world in the financial sector which playing the role of developing the conventional and Islamic insurance to the various country on the globe. Organization of Study This research report comprises of five chapters. The first chapter serves the introduction on insurance. It consists of the detail for conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. Problem statement and research objective is also discussed. Following the significance of study is presented. Lastly, the chapter one will end by the organization of study which show the flow out of the whole research project. Basically, chapter two will present the literature review which forms the foundation of this study. It consists of the related empirical study which done by other researchers previously. There are few factors which impact on the demand of insurance and influential to customers perception are included in this chapter. In chapter three, the research methodology of the study will be discussed. The research framework will be shown together with the hypothesis developed link together the variables in the study. Other than that, the sample planning, sources of data and data collection will also be carried out. Questionnaire design will also be laid out in this chapter following by the data analysis method which is the last part of this chapter. Following by this is chapter four which describe the results and discussion. Hence, the graph and table will be widely used to better interpret the findings and result of the study. Finally, chapter five will be the conclusion and the recommendation of this research. The level of awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will finally be presented and end this study. Chapter Two Literature Review INTRODUCTION Continue with the first chapter presented previously, this study is to observe the perception of Malaysia towards conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. For the sake of gaining a clearer view on this, exploring to the related literature is a must. Following, the overview of insurance and takaful will be presented. In 2.2, the discussion about the determinants impact on demand for insurance will be presented. Then, the study will indicate the perception of consumers towards conventional and Islamic methods of finance in few factors like the service quality, accessibility, convenience and status of the organizations. Lastly in 2.4, the awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will be discussed. Overview of Insurance and Islamic Insurance Insurance is a form of risk-management which transfer the possible risks like accident, theft, natural disaster and illness of ones or a group to the more financially sound entity, insurers in exchange with a small amount of payment which we called as premium. The meaning of insurance is essentially to understand for everybody who is considering of purchase an insurance policy or to understand the basics of what if finance. This instrument is used in hedging risk precautionary against the future contingent losses (Stanley St Labs, n.d). While, according to Insurance Info, insurance is being categorized two main categories which are life insurance and general insurance. The risks that covered by life insurance including premature death, income during retirement and illness. While the main products in life insurance are Whole life, Endowment, Term, Investment-linked, Life annuity plan, Medical and health. For general insurance, it is basically a policy that protects you from losses and damages which other than those covered by life insurance, for instance, property loss like stolen car and burnt house. Other than that, liability arising from damage caused by oneself to a third party, accidental death or injury also covered by the general insurance. The products offered under general insurance are Motor insurance, Fire/House owner/Householder insurance, Personal accident insurance, Medical and health insurance and Travel insurance. While for Islamic insurance, takaful, is a protection plan based on Shariah principles compliance. By contributing a sum of money to a common takaful fund in the form of participative contribution (tabarru), the person is undertaking a contract (aqad) to become one of the participants which agree to mutually help each other if any of the participants suffer a defined loss. Both takaul and insurance have similar basic principles where the insured must have a legitimate financial interest in the risk you are insuring, which means the insured must suffer a financial loss when the insured event occurred. In takaful, the life insurance is granted as family takaful. The products offered under family takaful are Family Takaful, Investment linked takaful, Child education takaful, Medical and health takaful. While for general takaful, there are Home takaful, Motor takaful and Personal accidents takaful. Perception towards Conventional and Islamic Insurance Perception, as defined by Stephen P. Robbins (2005) is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception is important in decision making process. An individual must fully understand the decision must make along with all of the facts and information involved. If an individual has a bad perception of the situation and do not consider all of the facts that are involved like the external factors which anyone else have no control over the individual may lead to a wrong decision. In turn, this will cause negative consequences for the organization and the individual. In order to have a good perception on any given situation, an individual must analyze all of the significant information involved in a timely manner, without making a hasty decision (Wally Sparks, 2007). Service Quality According to Shahril Bin Shafie (2003), quality is sought by all organizations, especially in the service sector. Service quality is commonly noted as a critical prerequisite for establishing and sustaining satisfying relationships between organization and the customers (Lassar et al., 2000). According to Yap, S.F., and Kew, M.L., there are many researchers who have defined service quality in different ways. Among them, Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) define service quality as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organization and its services. While, other researchers like Cronin and Taylor (1994), view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long run overall evaluation. Service quality has determining the repeated purchase and customer loyalty to an organization. When a customer choose a provider that provides service quality that meets or exceeds his or her expectations, then the customer is more likely to choose the same pro vider again. According to Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. By referring to a study conduct by Erdener Kaynak and Talha D. Harcar (2005) is found that, the service quality provide by conventional banking system is excellent than the others. The study indicated that the customer maintain a higher level of confidence in conventional bank rather than Islamic bank. In this study, the service being tested including the swiftness in correcting errors, fast and efficient service, and consumer complains handling and the courtesy personnel. While according to Hendrik, L., Hirun, A., Razli, C.R., Halim, M.L., Khairul, A. A., and Darwina, A.A. (n.d), indicate that customer satisfaction on Islamic banking products and services is different across the cities. The service quality is satisfied within Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang because these cities are bigger which also contains more populations, and are more economically developed. Due to these reasons, the service provided is more satisfactory because of the customers characteristics which different from income level, gender and also educational level.Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. The emergence of the Internet provides an opportunity for organizations to conduct business in cyberspace. Steven et al (2002), Soliman (2003), Wirtz (2001), Coltman (2001) had studied that Internet adoption and factors influencing the propensity and pattern of adoption among different sectors and sizes of organizations worldwide and in Malaysia, empirical data on online insurance has been limited (Fatimah et al, 2000; Yusserie at el, 2002). One of the reasons may be because the insurance industry has been slow to respond to the usage of Internet for business,, as compared to the other financial service (Esters, 1997). In 1999, recognizing the potential of the Internet, Bank Negara Malaysia allowed a group of insurers to establish the industry first interactive insurance website, which enabled policy owners to transact on the line for renewal of policy and also premium payment(BNM 2000). Internet via individual companys website allows customers to gain more information about the product and services offered by the companies (Ruquet, 2001). While, not all the business organizations are adopting Internet in their business due to various reasons like customer readiness, cost and the risks involved. Zinkewicz (2000) said that business do not use the Internet for business because customers do not trust the process involved, instead, they prefer human interactions (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Accessibility Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product or service is accessible by as many people as possible. It also viewed as the ability to access the functionality and possible benefits of some system or entity like information of the particular products and services (Wikipedia, 2009). In Malaysia, there are total up 1,752 numbers of registered insurance agencies distributed throughout the thirteen states and two federal territories. Among of all, there are agencies which offer both life insurance and also general insurance business like American International Assurance Bhd, Etiqa Insurance Berhad, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad and so on (BNM, 2008). Other than that, there are only eight licensed Takaful operator in Malaysia which are CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Etiqa Takaful Berhad, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Berhad, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad,Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad and also Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (BNM, 2008). Convenience Convenience is composed of number factors including the availability of parking space, location of branches, long operation hours. (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Customers will always prefer the products and services are available near to their working place or house area for the convenience of visiting. The sufficient parking space and long operation hours is for the convenience when visiting to the branch. Internet adoption is a type of convenience which offered by the insurance companies to their consumers, where consumers can get the products and services information through the website (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Other than that, interior comfort and external design also included affect the consumers perception on the convenience of selecting financial products. Status Status of an organization show measured through the strength of financial position, reputation and also the risk. As Islamic finance continue to expand. Islamic principles strong emphasis on the economic, ethical, moral and social dimensions, to enhance equality and fairness for the good of society as a whole should also have appeal for the ethnically minded (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also revealed that banks name and reputation is a strong effect on selecting a bank. In order to penetrate the youth market, Takaful Malaysia announced on 11th November, that RM 15 million has been pumped into the companys rebranding exercise. After twenty-five years of leading in Islamic insurance company in the country, Takaful Malaysia is setting on conquering the insurance industry by transforming itself into a more youthful outfit. Reflective of its tagline of modern, young and energetic, the company will unveils its new fresh-looking logo, a color fusion of apple green and olive green, described by Takaful Malaysia group director Datuk Hassan Kamil as vibrant and energetic. Takaful Malaysia believes that its latest approach will enhance its image and make it more appealing to the younger age-group which Hassan deems as a highly potential market segment (Joseph Kaos JR, 2009). Others Other than the above criteria, according to a study conducted in Jordan indicated that profit motivated criteria was an important factor to choose a bank service. However, other findings are that peer group influence plays an important role in selecting Islamic banks as depository institution. Other than that, politeness and friendliness of the personnel will also impact on the customers perception towards the financial institutions (Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki, 2009). Determinants of demand for insurance Insurance has become an important part of a financial sector over the past forty years. It provides a range of investments product for consumers. It also becomes the major source of investment in the capital market. Yet, the reasons for consumption of insurance are various across the countries. Demographic factors were amongst (Thorsten Beck, 2003; Ian Webb, 2003, Yvette Reisinger, 2009). While according to the study conducted by Truett et al. (1990), the consumption of insurance is depend on the price of insurance, income level of individual, and also the demographic factors such as age of individual insured and also the educational level. Gender The majority women of American have health insurance through either employer or through a public program. There are 66.67 percents of all women aged from 18 to 64 owned insurance through their employer, while another 16 percents through public program in year 2007. In contrast, there is 7 percents of nonelderly women in year 2007 purchase health coverage directly from insurance companies which we known as the individual market. Yet, the National Womens Law Centre (NWLC) investigated two phenomena, the gender gap which refers to the difference in premium charged to female and male applicants of the same age and health status. Another phenomenon is the availability and affordability of coverage for maternity care across the country. Based on the research, NWLC (2008) found that the individual market is a place which is very hard for women to purchase the health coverage. This is because insurance companies can refuse to sell women coverage due to the historic data that women have a higher percentage compared to men in suffering from a chronic condition which requiring ongoing treatment for instances asthma or arthritis. In addition, if the insurers discovered that an applicant underwent a Caesarean Section (C-Section) during the medical underwriting process, the company may charge a higher premium, or impose an exclusionary period which it refuses to cover another C-Section or pregnancy. New reports also revealed that women are more likely than men in taking prescription medication on a regular basis. In these conditions, the insurance company may reject the applications. On the other hand, it is difficult and costly for women to find health insurance that cover maternity care. A limited number of insurers offered this in separately for an additional fees which known as rider. Yet, this supplemental coverage is often far higher than ordinary plan. So typically, women have no other choice to select more or less comprehensive rider policy (NWLC, 2008). Educational Level According to Tienyu Hwang (2003) and Simon Gao (2003), the level of education plays a very important role in affecting the demand of insurance. It has been shown that the increasing of the educated population in a country, the recognition of the availability of insurance products will also be increased. Thus, the demand for insurance will also be growing in the country. Despite the education level in China is relatively low (Truett and monitor, 1996; World Bank, 1998), the increase in the education level will lead to a large number of people being realizing and able to recognize the essentiality of insurance. Therefore, it is likely to create a demand to purchase insurance. On the other hand, although the level of education in China remains low, china has made a great progress in improving the education system since the economic reform. This has increase the education level which leads to a greater awareness and understanding on the role of insurance. Hence, the level of education and demand for insurance is positively correlated. However, Szpiro and Outreville (198) proved that higher education leads to lower risk aversion, and that, in turn, leads to more risk taking by skilled and well educated people. While accor Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance Perceptions Towards Islamic Banking and Insurance Introduction In the first chapter of this research study, an introduction on insurance will be presented. While, on the other hand, there will be a highlight on the differences between conventional and Islamic insurance. Following this, will be the problem discussion and the objectives of this study. Finally, there will be the justification and significance, following by organization of the study. What Exactly Is Insurance Means Buying insurance has become a trend in this twentieth century. According to The Star daily(2007), in the first half of year 2007, the combined premium income for insurance industry increase 9.8 percent compared to the same period for year 2006. The industry is further expanded in line with the favorable economics performance. People bought the insurance for their car, family, and business. People spend a lot of money on paying the insurance premium annually. While, do they actually clear on what kind of plan they had bought and what had they insured for their life, property and so on? Do they really distinct on the concept of the insurance that they had disbursed so much? According to Bank Negara Malaysia, insurance is the transfer of risk by an individual, such as yourself or an organization, such as your business to an insurance company. You or your organization will then be known as policy holder or insured while the insurance company is the insurer. The insurance company receives the payment in the form of premium. Then the insurance company utilized the premium collect from their policy holder to make some investment for their company. They will compensate their policy holder in the event of losses or damages which is sustained by the premium paid. In other word, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss by paying an amount of premium. It is an effective risk transfer mechanism for insured to exchange their uncertainty financial loss with the certain amount of premium (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). This kind of insurance we titled as conventional insurance which is the ordinary type of insurance that accepted by the society in general. While, other than the conventional insurance which we normally approached to, there are another type of insurance which we called as Islamic insurance. The Islamic insurance was step into Malaysia insurance market since November of year 1984 (Renat Bekkin, 2008). The first Islamic insurance company established in Malaysia was Takaful Malaysia Berhad. Early than that, Islamic insurance has stepping into the market of Sudan and Arab. What is Islamic insurance Islamic insurance is a mode of financial management which compliance to Shariah law. Islamic insurance is provided under a principle called Takaful. According to Islamic Banking, the term Takaful is derived from the Arabic word Kafaala meaning guaranteeing. Takaful means guaranteeing each other and refer to the concept of permissible Islamic insurance or Halal insurance. While by referring to Takaful Act 1984, Article 2, Takaful means a scheme based on brotherhood, solidarity and mutual assistance which provides for mutual financial aid and assistance to the participants in case of need whereby the participants mutually agree to contribute for that purpose. Literally, Takaful defines responsibility, shared guarantee, collective assurance and mutual undertakings. (Masum Billah, 2007) Some Muslims believe insurance is unnecessary, as society should helps its victims. Muslims can no longer ignore the fact that they live, they trade and communicate with open global systems, and they can no longer ignore the need for banking and insurance (Dr Aly Khorshid, 2004). In the eyes of Muslims, the concepts used by conventional insurance are against the law of Shariah. This is because conventional insurance is based on a contract of exchange (sale) between the insurance company and the covered person. This contract is void because it has the elements which are not permissible from Shariahs perspective. The elements are Gharar which means uncertainty. Conventional insurance has an element of Gharar due to the promise to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of unsuspected events. The other elements are Maysir which refer to gambling. Existence of Gharar (uncertainties) leads to Maysir (gambling) in conventional insurance. The insured may either lose the entire premium he has paid or be compensated for the losses he incurs for the insured event. Riba was also one of the not permissible elements in the law of Shariah. Riba means interest. The investment of insurance funds in interest bearing securities such bonds and stocks, which do not comply with the Shariah principles, pose a major Muslims who purchase the conventional insurance (Alburn Mountain, 2008). In conventional insurance, vendors, the insurance company, sells their insurance plans to their clients, which we called as policy holder in the other way and invest the premium paid for the profit of its shareholder. Then, the policy holders do enjoy the risk transference that they are receiving the compensation if they face the financial loss on the events they insured. According to Islamic Banking, Takaful was grant as Islamic insurance because of the apparent similarity between the contract of kafaala and insurance. Takaful is an Islamic concept which grounded in Islamic Mualamat which define as banking transaction (SP Media, 2009). This concept already practices in diverse form over 1400 years long (Salam, 2008). Generally, Takaful is an insurance plan which based on Shariah principles. The members are to contribute a certain amount of money to a common pool which is Takaful fund in the form of participative contribution that also called as Tabarru. Tabarru means a donation, charity or gift which cannot be taken back (Dr Qaradawi, 2002). In general Takaful, a percentage of the participants contribution is considered as Tabarru, thus it cannot be taken back by the participants as it is the joint guarantee principle to help other participants. A portion of a participants contribution will be allocate through Tabarru principle to help participants from a sudden but defined risks. After contributing the money into Takaful mutual fund, they will undertake a contract which called as Aqad in Islam, to become one of the participants by agreeing to mutually help each other, should any of the participants suffer a defined loss (Arshad Shaikh, 2007). In Islamic insurance, participants (policyholders) are co-operating among themselves for their common goods. Every participants are to pay a part of the contribution (premium) as a donation to help those need assistance. Other than that, in Takaful system, losses are divided and liabilities spread according to the community pooling system. In order to eliminate the element of uncertainty in Takaful contract, the concept of Tabarru is incorporated. This is to enable the participant to fulfill his obligation of mutual help and joint guarantee should any of his fellow participants suffer a defined loss. In conventional insurance, policy holder can buy more than one policy or plan to hedge the particular risk in the event of loss or damage. By this, the policy holders are lessening the claims of the insurance company because the same amount of compensation has now burden by two companies. This is called reinsurance which an insurance company can transfer to another insurer, the reinsurer all or part of its liabilities in respect of claims arising under the contracts of insurance. This is to protect itself against the risk that its total claims costs in any year may wiping out of its profits and cause it to insolvent. As same in Islamic insurance, participants can buy more than one plan from other licensed Takaful operator. This is called as Retakaful in Islamic insurance (Bahrain, 2005). Why Takaful Insurance instead of Conventional Insurance In Islamic view, the concept used in conventional insurance is in conflict with the injunction of Islam (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). The conflicts were not against the concepts used by conventional insurance that trades and contracts were appeared in the concept. While the struggling are the weaknesses and the imperfect phrase which existed in the insurance contract. The objections are actually against the phrase of Gharar which means uncertainty, Maisir refers to gambling and the word Riba which point to the interest. The criticism was the word of Gharar is happened in the contract of insurance. Other than that, the phrase of gambling is presenting in its extreme form. Whats more is the element of interest is existed in the contract. These three phrases were the points appeared in the contract of conventional insurance that prohibited in Islamic view. Thus, they lead to the contradiction between conventional insurance and Islamic view (Ahmad Ali Khan, 2003). While, there are the person who does not agree the above matters. According to Dr Yusof al-Qaradawi (2002), he does not think that the concept used in conventional insurance is conflict with Islamic law, but he agrees that the conventional insurance is in need of some improvement to move in line with Islamic teachings. Problem Statement People are following the track of buying insurance nowadays. People buy insurance when there is a new born baby. They buy insurance during their travelling. Insurance also bought when people purchase a residential property. People also buy insurance for the sake of retiring. People buy insurance whenever they think there was an unseen risk hidden, but do they really know what is about insurance and what type of insurance is available in the market? Throughout a number of searching by using the Google search engine and the library in campus, which was found that there are the surveys doing on Islamic Banking which may mentioned in various perspectives for instances the growth of Islamic banking in the world. Like what mentioning by Radio Australia, Islamic banking was one of the fastest growing sectors in the finance world which reveals by the value of the industry which worth of USD 1 Trillion in the year 2008. An addition, according to the bankers Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution survey, assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than that, what was found is there are quite a number of researches which study on the topic related to insurance. There are talked about the insurance expansion in the industry, growth of the insurance industry, the rate of market penetration. According to KCLAU (2007), the market penetration of life insurance as measured in terms of the total number of policies in force to total population, grew to 39.3 percent as at end of June 2007. While, besides the conventional which is generally accepted by the society, there are another type of risk transfer mechanism which is Islamic insurance was emerged in the other part of the globe. Islamic insurance was first widely spread over the Islamic country like Sudan, Arabic, India, South East Asia, and some other place in the world. The Islamic insurance also practiced in the region which is non Islamic country like European country and United of State. Since the growing of Islamic insurance throughout the world is in such a fast track, while, the doubt appeared was, it was hard to find the study on Islamic insurance rather than the conventional insurance. Another doubt was appeared that what is the reason to separate insurance into Islamic and conventional? What is the different perspective between Islamic insurance and conventional insurance? While, the most is, do people aware of the existence of Islamic insurance in the insurance industry which they approached ordinarily? Following by this, is the discussion on conventional and Islamic insurance. Research Objectives The general objective of this study is to clarify the different perspectives between conventional and Islamic insurance. While the other specific objectives as stated below which I am to study in this research. The specific objectives: To investigate the different perception of Muslim and Non Muslim towards conventional and Islamic insurance To investigate the determinants of demand for insurance in Malaysians To determine the level of awareness on Islamic insurance in the region of Malaysia Significance of Study This study may help the Malaysian Islamic Finance market to move a step up due to the hike up of the level of awareness on the conventional and Islamic insurance. Other than that, the study also provides the Muslim and Non Muslim within Malaysia to walk out of the religious teachings and some other factors in order to know more about the issues of insurance. Therefrom, Malaysias Islamic finance market may improve follow by the fast track in other country like what happened to the Top 500 Islamic Financial Institution, that assets held by Islamic bank in year 2009 rose by 28.6 percent to 822 billion dollar from 639 billion dollar in year 2008. It posted a double-digit growth in the year 2009 despite of the economic slowdown occurred in the earlier year (Soren Billing, 2009). Other than impacts on the country income and economic condition, this study also might helpful to the family or person who thinks of purchase insurance. By gone through this study, they are able to better analyze the product available in the market whether from the conventional insurance company or the Takaful operator which offer the Shariah compliance products and services. Then they are able to choose the best product which suit to them in terms of their needs, budget and also the religious teachings. Other than this, the study also may help the insurance company or the operators to determine the consumers intention of buying on their product. They may use the useful information to improve their products in order to enhance or even develop a better market position for their company. The growing in the insurance market plays an important role in the economic growth of the country. The growing may bring the country to a higher position in the world financial sector. Thus, Malaysia will stand still on the top of the world in the financial sector which playing the role of developing the conventional and Islamic insurance to the various country on the globe. Organization of Study This research report comprises of five chapters. The first chapter serves the introduction on insurance. It consists of the detail for conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. Problem statement and research objective is also discussed. Following the significance of study is presented. Lastly, the chapter one will end by the organization of study which show the flow out of the whole research project. Basically, chapter two will present the literature review which forms the foundation of this study. It consists of the related empirical study which done by other researchers previously. There are few factors which impact on the demand of insurance and influential to customers perception are included in this chapter. In chapter three, the research methodology of the study will be discussed. The research framework will be shown together with the hypothesis developed link together the variables in the study. Other than that, the sample planning, sources of data and data collection will also be carried out. Questionnaire design will also be laid out in this chapter following by the data analysis method which is the last part of this chapter. Following by this is chapter four which describe the results and discussion. Hence, the graph and table will be widely used to better interpret the findings and result of the study. Finally, chapter five will be the conclusion and the recommendation of this research. The level of awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will finally be presented and end this study. Chapter Two Literature Review INTRODUCTION Continue with the first chapter presented previously, this study is to observe the perception of Malaysia towards conventional insurance and Islamic insurance. For the sake of gaining a clearer view on this, exploring to the related literature is a must. Following, the overview of insurance and takaful will be presented. In 2.2, the discussion about the determinants impact on demand for insurance will be presented. Then, the study will indicate the perception of consumers towards conventional and Islamic methods of finance in few factors like the service quality, accessibility, convenience and status of the organizations. Lastly in 2.4, the awareness among Malaysian towards Islamic insurance will be discussed. Overview of Insurance and Islamic Insurance Insurance is a form of risk-management which transfer the possible risks like accident, theft, natural disaster and illness of ones or a group to the more financially sound entity, insurers in exchange with a small amount of payment which we called as premium. The meaning of insurance is essentially to understand for everybody who is considering of purchase an insurance policy or to understand the basics of what if finance. This instrument is used in hedging risk precautionary against the future contingent losses (Stanley St Labs, n.d). While, according to Insurance Info, insurance is being categorized two main categories which are life insurance and general insurance. The risks that covered by life insurance including premature death, income during retirement and illness. While the main products in life insurance are Whole life, Endowment, Term, Investment-linked, Life annuity plan, Medical and health. For general insurance, it is basically a policy that protects you from losses and damages which other than those covered by life insurance, for instance, property loss like stolen car and burnt house. Other than that, liability arising from damage caused by oneself to a third party, accidental death or injury also covered by the general insurance. The products offered under general insurance are Motor insurance, Fire/House owner/Householder insurance, Personal accident insurance, Medical and health insurance and Travel insurance. While for Islamic insurance, takaful, is a protection plan based on Shariah principles compliance. By contributing a sum of money to a common takaful fund in the form of participative contribution (tabarru), the person is undertaking a contract (aqad) to become one of the participants which agree to mutually help each other if any of the participants suffer a defined loss. Both takaul and insurance have similar basic principles where the insured must have a legitimate financial interest in the risk you are insuring, which means the insured must suffer a financial loss when the insured event occurred. In takaful, the life insurance is granted as family takaful. The products offered under family takaful are Family Takaful, Investment linked takaful, Child education takaful, Medical and health takaful. While for general takaful, there are Home takaful, Motor takaful and Personal accidents takaful. Perception towards Conventional and Islamic Insurance Perception, as defined by Stephen P. Robbins (2005) is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Perception is important in decision making process. An individual must fully understand the decision must make along with all of the facts and information involved. If an individual has a bad perception of the situation and do not consider all of the facts that are involved like the external factors which anyone else have no control over the individual may lead to a wrong decision. In turn, this will cause negative consequences for the organization and the individual. In order to have a good perception on any given situation, an individual must analyze all of the significant information involved in a timely manner, without making a hasty decision (Wally Sparks, 2007). Service Quality According to Shahril Bin Shafie (2003), quality is sought by all organizations, especially in the service sector. Service quality is commonly noted as a critical prerequisite for establishing and sustaining satisfying relationships between organization and the customers (Lassar et al., 2000). According to Yap, S.F., and Kew, M.L., there are many researchers who have defined service quality in different ways. Among them, Bitner, Booms and Mohr (1994) define service quality as the consumers overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the organization and its services. While, other researchers like Cronin and Taylor (1994), view service quality as a form of attitude representing a long run overall evaluation. Service quality has determining the repeated purchase and customer loyalty to an organization. When a customer choose a provider that provides service quality that meets or exceeds his or her expectations, then the customer is more likely to choose the same pro vider again. According to Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. By referring to a study conduct by Erdener Kaynak and Talha D. Harcar (2005) is found that, the service quality provide by conventional banking system is excellent than the others. The study indicated that the customer maintain a higher level of confidence in conventional bank rather than Islamic bank. In this study, the service being tested including the swiftness in correcting errors, fast and efficient service, and consumer complains handling and the courtesy personnel. While according to Hendrik, L., Hirun, A., Razli, C.R., Halim, M.L., Khairul, A. A., and Darwina, A.A. (n.d), indicate that customer satisfaction on Islamic banking products and services is different across the cities. The service quality is satisfied within Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and Penang because these cities are bigger which also contains more populations, and are more economically developed. Due to these reasons, the service provided is more satisfactory because of the customers characteristics which different from income level, gender and also educational level.Erol and El-Bdour (1989), Erol, Kaynak, and El-Bdour (1990) and Haron, Ahmad and Planisek (1994) observed that Islamic bank consumers rated the speed and efficiency of services near their top selection criterion on finance service provider. The emergence of the Internet provides an opportunity for organizations to conduct business in cyberspace. Steven et al (2002), Soliman (2003), Wirtz (2001), Coltman (2001) had studied that Internet adoption and factors influencing the propensity and pattern of adoption among different sectors and sizes of organizations worldwide and in Malaysia, empirical data on online insurance has been limited (Fatimah et al, 2000; Yusserie at el, 2002). One of the reasons may be because the insurance industry has been slow to respond to the usage of Internet for business,, as compared to the other financial service (Esters, 1997). In 1999, recognizing the potential of the Internet, Bank Negara Malaysia allowed a group of insurers to establish the industry first interactive insurance website, which enabled policy owners to transact on the line for renewal of policy and also premium payment(BNM 2000). Internet via individual companys website allows customers to gain more information about the product and services offered by the companies (Ruquet, 2001). While, not all the business organizations are adopting Internet in their business due to various reasons like customer readiness, cost and the risks involved. Zinkewicz (2000) said that business do not use the Internet for business because customers do not trust the process involved, instead, they prefer human interactions (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Accessibility Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a product or service is accessible by as many people as possible. It also viewed as the ability to access the functionality and possible benefits of some system or entity like information of the particular products and services (Wikipedia, 2009). In Malaysia, there are total up 1,752 numbers of registered insurance agencies distributed throughout the thirteen states and two federal territories. Among of all, there are agencies which offer both life insurance and also general insurance business like American International Assurance Bhd, Etiqa Insurance Berhad, Hong Leong Assurance Berhad and so on (BNM, 2008). Other than that, there are only eight licensed Takaful operator in Malaysia which are CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Etiqa Takaful Berhad, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Berhad, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad,Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad and also Takaful Ikhlas Sdn Bhd (BNM, 2008). Convenience Convenience is composed of number factors including the availability of parking space, location of branches, long operation hours. (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Customers will always prefer the products and services are available near to their working place or house area for the convenience of visiting. The sufficient parking space and long operation hours is for the convenience when visiting to the branch. Internet adoption is a type of convenience which offered by the insurance companies to their consumers, where consumers can get the products and services information through the website (Ainin and Jaafar, 2003). Other than that, interior comfort and external design also included affect the consumers perception on the convenience of selecting financial products. Status Status of an organization show measured through the strength of financial position, reputation and also the risk. As Islamic finance continue to expand. Islamic principles strong emphasis on the economic, ethical, moral and social dimensions, to enhance equality and fairness for the good of society as a whole should also have appeal for the ethnically minded (Jasmi Al-Ajmi, Hameeda Abo Hussain and Nadhem Al-Saleh, 2009). Study which conducted by Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki (2009) also revealed that banks name and reputation is a strong effect on selecting a bank. In order to penetrate the youth market, Takaful Malaysia announced on 11th November, that RM 15 million has been pumped into the companys rebranding exercise. After twenty-five years of leading in Islamic insurance company in the country, Takaful Malaysia is setting on conquering the insurance industry by transforming itself into a more youthful outfit. Reflective of its tagline of modern, young and energetic, the company will unveils its new fresh-looking logo, a color fusion of apple green and olive green, described by Takaful Malaysia group director Datuk Hassan Kamil as vibrant and energetic. Takaful Malaysia believes that its latest approach will enhance its image and make it more appealing to the younger age-group which Hassan deems as a highly potential market segment (Joseph Kaos JR, 2009). Others Other than the above criteria, according to a study conducted in Jordan indicated that profit motivated criteria was an important factor to choose a bank service. However, other findings are that peer group influence plays an important role in selecting Islamic banks as depository institution. Other than that, politeness and friendliness of the personnel will also impact on the customers perception towards the financial institutions (Ahasanul Haque, Jamil Osman and Ahmad Zaki, 2009). Determinants of demand for insurance Insurance has become an important part of a financial sector over the past forty years. It provides a range of investments product for consumers. It also becomes the major source of investment in the capital market. Yet, the reasons for consumption of insurance are various across the countries. Demographic factors were amongst (Thorsten Beck, 2003; Ian Webb, 2003, Yvette Reisinger, 2009). While according to the study conducted by Truett et al. (1990), the consumption of insurance is depend on the price of insurance, income level of individual, and also the demographic factors such as age of individual insured and also the educational level. Gender The majority women of American have health insurance through either employer or through a public program. There are 66.67 percents of all women aged from 18 to 64 owned insurance through their employer, while another 16 percents through public program in year 2007. In contrast, there is 7 percents of nonelderly women in year 2007 purchase health coverage directly from insurance companies which we known as the individual market. Yet, the National Womens Law Centre (NWLC) investigated two phenomena, the gender gap which refers to the difference in premium charged to female and male applicants of the same age and health status. Another phenomenon is the availability and affordability of coverage for maternity care across the country. Based on the research, NWLC (2008) found that the individual market is a place which is very hard for women to purchase the health coverage. This is because insurance companies can refuse to sell women coverage due to the historic data that women have a higher percentage compared to men in suffering from a chronic condition which requiring ongoing treatment for instances asthma or arthritis. In addition, if the insurers discovered that an applicant underwent a Caesarean Section (C-Section) during the medical underwriting process, the company may charge a higher premium, or impose an exclusionary period which it refuses to cover another C-Section or pregnancy. New reports also revealed that women are more likely than men in taking prescription medication on a regular basis. In these conditions, the insurance company may reject the applications. On the other hand, it is difficult and costly for women to find health insurance that cover maternity care. A limited number of insurers offered this in separately for an additional fees which known as rider. Yet, this supplemental coverage is often far higher than ordinary plan. So typically, women have no other choice to select more or less comprehensive rider policy (NWLC, 2008). Educational Level According to Tienyu Hwang (2003) and Simon Gao (2003), the level of education plays a very important role in affecting the demand of insurance. It has been shown that the increasing of the educated population in a country, the recognition of the availability of insurance products will also be increased. Thus, the demand for insurance will also be growing in the country. Despite the education level in China is relatively low (Truett and monitor, 1996; World Bank, 1998), the increase in the education level will lead to a large number of people being realizing and able to recognize the essentiality of insurance. Therefore, it is likely to create a demand to purchase insurance. On the other hand, although the level of education in China remains low, china has made a great progress in improving the education system since the economic reform. This has increase the education level which leads to a greater awareness and understanding on the role of insurance. Hence, the level of education and demand for insurance is positively correlated. However, Szpiro and Outreville (198) proved that higher education leads to lower risk aversion, and that, in turn, leads to more risk taking by skilled and well educated people. While accor

Applying Theory To Practice Problem Nursing Essay

Applying Theory To Practice Problem Nursing Essay This paper focuses on use of Betty Neuman systems Model in practice using a case study. The model focuses to finding a solution for a patient is none compliance with his care at home after being discharged. This case is a case that involves a patent who is discharged from hospital after treatment for a cognitive heart failure. The patient none compliance involves the continuing with the habit of smoking. This habit results chest pains which are because of the smoking habits. This model is selected for the practice to reflect the congruency that exists between the practitioners values and the assumptions of the model. The Neuman model perceived clients as being in a state of dynamic equilibrium with the environment. The environment is also considered a perceptual field that surrounds each person. Neumann has focused on the stress factors and the reaction of each person to the condition that bring about the stress. She brought forth the conviction that stress factors comprise the environment. The further argued that the disequilibrium in the body system that is caused the stress as a tension. This tension act as the stimuli, which has the potential of causing the illness to the individual that, is suffering from the stress. The environment is subdivided into two components that include the internal and external factor. The internal factors comprises of the forces that occur within an individual or intrapersonal stress factor. In our case, the example is smoking which the patient is involved in after being discharged. The external environment consists of interpersonal stress factors that result from interaction with other individuals. This is in terms of changes in the roles that can bring about stress to an individual. The physiological issues in patient perspective involve things like the ability to see, hear, and have mobility. There other things like the ability to breath, sleeping, feeling, eating, speaking, and the vital signs. This variable focuses on the physiological well being of the patient. By ensuring, that all this things are in appropriate in the patient the health can be guaranteed the way for them. The psychological variables involve the non-verbal behavior, attitudes, coping pattern, and response to stress. These things focus on the psychological status of the patient. Therefore, by ensuring that the patient psychological status is appropriate one can be able to facilitate the things that ensure the well-being of the patient is considered. There are various expectations in this variable that are recognized through evaluation of the patients behaviors and the way the patient handle stress. The social variable reflects much on the individuals values and culture. This is by exploring the social and cultural functions of the individual. This can be mainly approached in terms of the way this functionality influences the life of the individual. There are certain cultural believes that affect the life of a given individual negatively in terms of undergoing the medication. This is by getting involved in things that affect their well-being after the discharge form hospital. The other dimension is the developmental variable, which focuses on the process of life in an individual. This is in terms of the factors that are related to the present situation and they have an influence on the situation. The developmental dimensions in the human life make them to move from one stage in life to the other as time goes by. Therefore, the main objective of this variable is to determine how this change of development is affecting the particular patient in the problem. The other variable, which is considered significant in the life of a patient, is the spiritual variable. This focuses on the aspect of spirituality on a continuum from entire awareness of an individual. The patient may also be in a condition of denial to a consciously developed high level of spiritual understanding. There is a lot of usefulness to understand the spiritual well being of the patient since it can also contribute to the provision of quality health care services that will be beneficial to them. There is a way that a client perceives a stressor. In our case, the patient is concern about the fact that he had experienced the chest pain. This problem interfered with the way he undertook his daily activities before he was hospitalized. The patient can even find it hard to do all he wanted to do. This experience with a health problem is difficult to describe how he is planning to deal with other situation. His expectations are to carry on with his daily routine after being discharged from the hospital and recovering. It would be definitely be a source of stress if he does not manage to accomplish what he intend to after the experience with the illness. There is also a way in which a nurse perceives the stressors which is different from the perspective of the patient. The perception is through assessment of the patient by the nurse concerning the problem he is experiencing. According to the nurse perspective, the patient is not able to alter the way of living after the hospitalization. This becomes the reason why the patient is still suffering from the chest pains. It is evident that is the patient is continuing with the initial habit of smoking he is still bound to continue experiencing the pains in the chest. This is despite the fact that the individual have never coped with the same problem in the past. Therefore, the nurse perceives the stressor as being the behaviors that the patient gets involved in after the discharge from the hospital. There are short-term goals that the nurses focus on achieving in order for them to ensure that the patient has received quality health care. One of these goals is for the patient to stop suffering from this chest pains. The other goal is to make the patient to learn to live in a way that will facilitate his recovery. The next goal is to facilitate the increase of the tolerance of the patient to his daily activity. There are also some long-term goals that the nurses are focused on achieving in terms of treating the patient. These long-term goals entail the creation of an optimal degree of harmony and balanced between his external and internal environment. This is in terms seizing smoking habit, attaining the deal weight and development of a lifestyle which commensurate with a satisfying and fulfilling retirement. The nurses are also bound to prevent the invasion of stressors by providing the resources that strengthen the patients system and coping with positive functioning. This is though motivating the patient and using stress as a positive intervention strategy. The nurses can also engage in mobilizing the patients internal and external resources focusing on the achieving stability. They can also seek to maintain the stability through educating and reorienting the patients system as required. Conclusively, this model is considered to provide a reliable guide of different levels of nursing education. The models have managed to incorporate all the significant variables that enable the patient to improve in their conditions. The model lastly focuses on the way the patient can be encouraged to be involved in a good lifestyle. Â   Â   Â   Â  

Jumping the Border :: Immigration Mexico Papers

Jumping the Border Imagine this, living in a very small town, smaller than Kachina Village, with only one store where you could make and receive phone calls, there are no public phones, no residential phone lines, no electricity and no running water. The roads are not paved until you get to the main road where people travel the most. The next town is about thirty minutes away, and there is only one bus that comes to this small town once a week, so people can go shopping and do other things. In this small town there are hardly any vehicles, people either walk, bike, or ride donkeys. There are hardly any jobs and so the only thing you can do is to leave for another place and look for a job to support your family. If someone told you that there was a place where people had many opportunities to find work and make better money, would you go? This small town I am describing is a place called La Huertilla in a state called Oaxaca in Mexico; it is the place where my son Mauricio’s grandparents live. Many young children are being torn apart from their families. Many parents come to the United States to make money and send back. They would leave their children with grandparents or other family members, until they are able to bring them up to the U.S. Is there a way the United States could open up the Mexican and United States border? If we as American citizens can cross into Mexico without showing passports, visas, and driver licenses, why could we not turn around and do the same for Mexico’s people who would like to enter the United States. The United States should allow Mexican Immigrants to migrate and visit freely, because I believe it is not fair for the Americans to not have to show papers, while Mexicans have to. Imagine yourself leaving for another country only with one belief that it will be to better support your family. With this engraved in your mind you pack a small bag with only three pairs of clothes to change into. You are finally at the border, after leaving your loved ones behind, reassuring them you will send money to support them. Now you have to decide when you will jump the border.

The Sound And The Fury (madison Scouts) :: essays research papers fc

The roar of extreme sound emanates from a football field. It is clear that this is not an ordinary high school marching band playing at a football game. These are Drum and Bugle Corps, boasting an instrumentation of all brass and percussion instruments. This arrangement of instruments can create an enormous amount of sound, sometimes louder than a rock music concert. Due to their thorough auditioning processes, they have a group of musicians, who can play extremely well, all of whom are brought together to entertain the crowds on their three month tour in the summer. Their goal is not just entertainment, but to end up on the top of the order when all is said and done at the championships. In 1972, several Drum and Bugle corps, who wanted to perform competitively against each other, embarked on a venture to create their own rules of performance. The original rules were set forth by the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, from whom competitive Drum Corps w!as given birth. The competing units had little to say in any modification of rules. From this new coalition, Drum Corps International (DCI) arose. The Madison Scouts, one of these charter members of DCI, were originally formed as a division of a Boy Scout troop in 1938, so that Madison would have their own Drum and Bugle Corps to resemble the Racine Scouts Corps. Each year 125 men, ages sixteen to twenty-one, come together for three months, practicing an average of eight hours every day in the summer, to put together the production for the coming competitive season. Each year the Madison Scouts thrill audiences with their talent and power, creativity, and an emphasis on entertainment to consistently become one of the crowds' favorite corps.Amazing us with the sound they can generate, the Madison Scouts are known as "The guys who can blow the corks right out of their spit valves". This is an unattainable feat, unless you are using tremendous amounts of air and pressure most professional players cannot do this. The Madison Scouts are noted for tapping into this unbridled power which their musicians possess. They utilize extreme variation in dynamic levels. Like adjusting the volume on a stereo, this is how loud and soft the ensemble gets as a whole. They create an atmosphere on the football field which draws in the audience. Their soprano bugles are renowned for pushing the limits of their playable range by not only playing high "C", but going further to play high "G" above high "C".

Barack Obama, “Dreams from My Father”.

Being still young, Barack Obama started searching for society and reason, with the large function forms of the public rights movement. In his search he does well and deserves respect. He had a lot of abilities to set the connections with the society and this is told in his autobiography â€Å"Dreams from My Father†. The fame days of the public rights actions passed away when Obama receives a coordinating position in a needy district on Chicago's South Side inundated by broken public lodgings, dying constructing occupations, and increasing misdeed. Obama decodes the bounds of their beginning situation.The community's creator is a person who is not entirely respected by the society. Its primary partners are the Catholic Churches, which have unhealthy relations with their new Black worshippers. In Chicago the population has just chosen Harold Washington, the first Black foremost who is respected as a worship person, but whose benefaction is providing restricted advantages to the groups that voted for him. At the same time as Obama persistently fixes the vagueness and refinement of Black people, there are a couple of things where he doesn't accept enough.When Obama began the coordinating job, one of the primary difficulties was the antipathy of the three women, who were irritated that the supervisor brought the young guy Obama has his own understanding, control and esteem, charm and empathy to believe in his achievement, but he doesn't completely accept the advantages of the middle class viewpoint and male advantage that understood him as â€Å"in charge† and â€Å"going places. † When Obama decodes the supporting background, he creates individual links. He communicates with the three Black women who have some positions in the community, and gets acquainted with an odd, Catholic coordinator.He founds Kyle, the child of an assistant who is in risk to appear in difficult situation. One of the most touching places in the book is the place telling how Obama informs the community he is leaving to Harvard Law school, and gives his word to his acquaintances in the district that he'll come. The combination of optimism, political insightfulness and individual links are the foundations of Obama's political success. Works Cited Graff, E. J. â€Å"Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. † The American Prospect 10 Sept. 2001: 42.

Fool Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWO AT THE WHITE TOWER â€Å"Tosser!† cried the raven. No help was he in my stealthy entry to the White Tower. I'd packed my bells with clay, and darkened my face with the same, but no amount of camouflage would help if the raven raised an alarm. I should have had a guard bring him down with a crossbow bolt long before I left the Tower. I lay in a shallow, flat-bottomed skiff I'd borrowed from a ferryman, covered with rags and branches so I might appear just another mass of jetsam floating in the Thames. I paddled with my right hand, and the cold water felt like needles until my arm went numb. Sheets of ice drifted in the water around me. Another good cold night and I might have walked into the Traitor's Gate, rather than paddled. The river fed the moat, and the moat led under a low arch and through the gate where English nobility had been bringing their family members for hundreds of years on the way to the chopping block. Two iron-clad gates fit together at the center of the arch, chained in the middle below the waterline, and they moved ever-so-slightly in the current. There was a gap there, at the top, where the gates met. Not so wide that a soldier with weapons could fit through, but a cat, a rat, or a spry and nimble fool on the slim side might easily pass over. And so I did. There were no guards at the stone steps inside, but twelve feet of water separated me from them, and my skiff would not fit through the gap at the top of the gate where I was perched. A fool was getting wet, there was no way around it. But it seemed to me that the water was shallow, only a foot or two deep. Perhaps I could keep my shoes dry. I took them off and tucked them into my jerkin, then slid down the gate into the cold water. Great dog-buggering bollocks it was cold. Only to my knees, but cold. And I would have made it undiscovered, methinks, if I hadn't let slip a rather emphatic whisper of, â€Å"Great dog-buggering bollocks, that's cold!† I was met at the top of the stairs by the pointy part of a halberd, leveled malevolently at my chest. â€Å"For fuck's sake,† said I. â€Å"Do your worst, but get it done and drag my body inside where it's warm.† â€Å"Pocket?† said the yeoman at the other end of the spear. â€Å"Sir?† â€Å"Aye,† said I. â€Å"I haven't seen you for months. What's that all over your face?† â€Å"It's clay. I'm in disguise.† â€Å"Oh right. Why don't you come in and warm up. Must be dreadful cold in your wet stocking feet there.† â€Å"Good thought, lad,† said I. It was the young, spot-faced yeoman whom I'd chastised on the wall when Regan and Goneril were first arriving to gain their inheritance. â€Å"Shouldn't you stay at your post, though? Duty and all that?† He led me across the cobbled courtyard, into a servants' entrance to the main castle and down the stairs into the kitchen. â€Å"Nah, it's the Traitor's Gate, innit? Lock on it as big as your head. Ain't no one coming through there. Not all bad. It's out of the wind. Not like up on the wall. Y'know the Duchess Regan is living here at the Tower now? I took your advice about not talking about her boffnacity,[43] even with the duke dead and all, can't be too careful. Although, I caught sight of her in a dressing gown one day she was up on the parapet outside her solar. Fine flanks on that princess, despite the danger of death and all for sayin' so, sir.† â€Å"Aye, the lady is fair, and her gadonk as fine as frog fur, lad, but even your steadfast silence will get you hung if you don't cease with the thinking aloud.† â€Å"Pocket, you scroungy flea-bitten plague rat!† â€Å"Bubble! Love!† said I. â€Å"Thou dragon-breathed wart farm, how art thou?† The ox-bottomed cook tried to hide her joy by casting an onion at me, but there was a grin there. â€Å"You've not eaten one full plate since you were last in my kitchen, have you?† â€Å"We heard you was dead,† said Squeak, a crescent of a smile for me beneath her freckles. â€Å"Feed the pest,† said Bubble. â€Å"And clean that mess off his face. Rutting with the pigs again, were you, Pocket?† â€Å"Jealous?† â€Å"Not bloody likely,† said Bubble. Squeak sat me down on a stool by the fire and while I warmed my feet she scrubbed the clay from my face and out of my hair, mercilessly battering me with her bosoms as she worked. Ah, home sweet home. â€Å"So, has anyone seen Drool?† â€Å"In the dungeon with the king,† said Squeak. â€Å"Although the guard ain't supposed to know it.† She eyed the young yeoman who stood by. â€Å"I knew that,† he said. â€Å"What of the king's men, his knights and guards? In the barracks?† â€Å"Nah,† said the yeoman. â€Å"Castle guard was a dog's breakfast until Captain Curan came down from Gloucester. He's got a noble-born knight as captain of every watch and the old guard man for man with any new ones. Crashing huge camps of soldiers outside the walls, forces of Cornwall to the west and Albany on the north. They say the Duke of Albany is staying with his men at camp. Won't come to the Tower.† â€Å"Wise choice, with so many vipers about the castle. What of the princesses?† I asked Bubble. Although she seemed never to leave her kitchen, she knew what was going on in every corner of the fortress. â€Å"They ain't talking,† said Bubble. â€Å"Taking meals in their old quarters they had when they was girls. Goneril in the east tower of the main keep. Regan in her solar on the outer wall on the south. They'll come together for the midday meal, but only if that bastard Gloucester is there.† â€Å"Can you get me to them, Bubble. Unseen?† â€Å"I could sew you up in a suckling pig and send it over.† â€Å"Yes, lovely, but I did hope to return undiscovered, and trailing gravy might draw the attention of the castle's cats and dogs. Regrettably, I've had experience with such things.† â€Å"We can dress you as one of the serving lads, then,† said Squeak. â€Å"Regan had us bring in boys instead of our usual maids. She likes to taunt and threaten them until they cry.† I regarded Bubble with steely recrimination. â€Å"Why didn't you suggest that?† â€Å"I wanted to see you sewed up in a suckling pig, you oily rascal.† Bubble has struggled with her deep affection for me for years. â€Å"Very well, then,† said I. â€Å"A serving boy it is.† â€Å"You know, Pocket,† said Cordelia, age sixteen. â€Å"Goneril and Regan say that my mother was a sorceress.† â€Å"Yes, I'd heard that, love.† â€Å"If that's so, then I'm proud of it. It means she didn't need some mangy man for her power. She had her own.† â€Å"Banished then, wasn't she?† â€Å"Well, yes, that or drowned, no one will really say. Father forbids me to ask about it. But my point is that a woman should come to her power on her own. Did you know that the wizard Merlin gave up his powers to Vivian in exchange for her favors, and she became a great sorceress and queen, and put Merlin to sleep in a cave for a hundred years for his trouble?† â€Å"Men are like that, lamb. You give them your favors and next thing you know they're snoring away like a bear in a cave. Way of the world, it is.† â€Å"You didn't do that when my sisters gave you their favors.† â€Å"They did no such thing.† â€Å"They did, too. Many times. Everyone in the castle knows it.† â€Å"Vicious rumors.† â€Å"Fine, then. When you have enjoyed the favors of women, who shall remain nameless, did you fall asleep afterward?† â€Å"Well, no. But neither did I give up my magical powers or my kingdom.† â€Å"But you would have, wouldn't you?† â€Å"Say, enough talk of sorcerers and such. What say we go down to the chapel and convert back to Christianity? Drool drank all the communion wine and ate all the leftover host when the bishop was ousted, so I'll wager he's blessed enough to bring us into the fold without clergy. Burped the body of Christ for a week, he did.† â€Å"You're trying to change the subject.† â€Å"Curses! Discovered!† exclaimed the puppet Jones. â€Å"That'll teach you, you sooty-souled snake. Have him whipped, princess.† Cordelia laughed, liberated Jones from my grasp, and clouted me on the chest with him. Even when she was grown she bore a weakness for puppety conspiracy and Punch-and-Judy justice. â€Å"Now, fool, speak truth – if the truth in you hasn't died starving from your neglect. Would you give up your powers and your kingdom for a lady's favor?† â€Å"That would depend on the lady, wouldn't it?† â€Å"Say me, for example?† â€Å"Vous?† said I, my eyebrows raised in the manner of the perfectly fucking French. â€Å"Oui,† said she, in the language of love. â€Å"Not a chance,† said I. â€Å"I'd be snoring before you had time to declare me your personal deity, which you would, of course. It's a burden I bear. Deep sleep of the innocent, I'd have. (Or, you know, the deep sleep of the deeply shagged innocent.) I suspect, come morning, you'd have to remind me of your name.† â€Å"You didn't sleep after my sisters had you, I know it.† â€Å"Well, threat of violent, post-coital death will keep you on the alert, won't it?† She crawled across the rug until she was close then. â€Å"You are a dreadful liar.† â€Å"What was your name?† She clouted me on the head with Jones and kissed me – quickly, but with feeling. That was the only time. â€Å"I'd have your power and your kingdom, fool.† â€Å"Give me back my puppet, thou nameless tart.† Regan's solar was bigger than I remembered it. A fairly grand, round room, with a fireplace and a dining table. Six of us brought in her supper and set it out on the table. She was all in red, as usual, snowy shoulders and raven hair warmed to the eye by orange firelight. â€Å"Wouldn't you rather lurk behind the tapestry, Pocket?† She waved the others out of the room and closed the door. â€Å"I kept my head down. How did you know it was me?† â€Å"You didn't cry when I shouted at you.† â€Å"Blast, I should have known.† â€Å"And you were the only serving boy wearing a codpiece.† â€Å"Can't hide one's light under a bushel, can one?† She was infuriating. Did nothing surprise her? She spoke as if I'd been sent for and she'd been expecting me at any moment. Rather took the joy out of all the stealth and disguise. I was tempted to tell her she'd been duped and Drool-shagged just to see her reaction, but alas, there were still guards who were loyal to her, and I wasn't sure she wouldn't have me killed as it was. (I'd left my knives with Bubble in the kitchen, not that they'd help against a platoon of yeomen.) â€Å"So, lady, how goes the mourning?† â€Å"Surprisingly well. Grief suits me, I think. Grief or war, I'm not sure which. But I've had good appetite and my complexion's been rosy.† She picked up a hand mirror and regarded herself, then caught my reflection and turned. â€Å"But, Pocket, what are you doing here?† â€Å"Oh, loyalty to the cause and all. With the French at our bloody doors, thought I'd come back to help defend home and hearth.† It was probably best we not pursue the reasons why I was there, so I pressed on. â€Å"How goes the war, then?† â€Å"Complicated. Affairs of state are complicated, Pocket. I wouldn't expect a fool to understand.† â€Å"But I'm a royal, now, kitten. Didn't you know?† She put down her mirror and looked as if she might burst out laughing. â€Å"Silly fool. If you could catch nobility by touch you'd have been a knight years ago, wouldn't you? But alas, you're still common as cat shit.† â€Å"Ha! Yes, once. But now, cousin, blue blood runs in my veins. In fact, I've a mind to start a war and shag some relatives, which I believe are the prime pastimes of royalty.† â€Å"Nonsense. And don't call me cousin.† â€Å"Shag the country and kill some relatives, then? I've been noble less than a week, I don't have all the protocol memorized yet. Oh, and we are cousins, kitten. Our fathers were brothers.† â€Å"Impossible.† Regan nibbled at some dried fruit Bubble had laid out on the tray. â€Å"Lear's brother Canus raped my mother on a bridge in Yorkshire while Lear held her down. I am the issue of that unpleasant union. Your cousin.† I bowed. At your bloody service. â€Å"A bastard. I might have known.† â€Å"Oh, but bastards are vessels of promise, are they not? Or didn't I watch you slay your lord the duke, to run to the arms of a bastard – who is, I believe, now the Earl of Gloucester. By the way, how goes the romance? Torrid and unsavory, I trust.† She sat down then and ran her fingernails through her jet hair as if raking thoughts out of her scalp. â€Å"Oh, I fancy him fine – although he's been a bit disappointing since that first time. But the intrigue is bloody exhausting, what with Goneril trying to bed Edmund, and he not being able to show me deference for fear of losing Albany's support, and bloody France invading in the midst of it all. If I'd known all that my husband had to tend to I'd have waited a while before killing him.† â€Å"There, there, kitten.† I moved around behind her and rubbed her shoulders. â€Å"Your complexion is rosy and your appetite good, and you are, as always, a veritable feast of shagability. Once you're queen you can have everyone beheaded and take a long nap.† â€Å"That's just it. It's not like I can just put on the crown and go sovereigning merrily along – God, St. George, and the whole rotting mess into history. I have to defeat the fucking French, then I've got to kill Albany, Goneril, and I suppose I'll have to find Father and have something heavy fall on him or the people will never accept me.† â€Å"Good news on that, love. Lear's in the dungeon. Mad as a hatter, but alive.† â€Å"He is?† â€Å"Aye. Edmund just returned from Dover with him. You didn't know?† â€Å"Edmund is back?† â€Å"Not three hours ago. I followed him back.† â€Å"Bastard! He hasn't even sent word that he's returned. I sent a letter to him in Dover.† â€Å"This letter?† I took the letter that Oswald had dropped. I'd broken the seal, of course, but she recognized it and snatched it out of my hand. â€Å"How did you get that? I sent that with Goneril's man, Oswald, to give to Edmund personally.† â€Å"Yes, well, I sent Oswald to vermin Valhalla before delivery was secured.† â€Å"You killed him?† â€Å"I told you, kitten, I'm nobility now – a murderous little cunt like the rest of you. Just as well, too, that letter's a flitty bit o' butterfly toss, innit? Don't you have any advisers to help you with that sort of thing? A chancellor or a chamberlain, a bloody bishop or someone?† â€Å"I've no one. Everyone is at the castle in Cornwall.† â€Å"Oh, love, let your cousin Pocket help.† â€Å"Would you?† â€Å"Of course. First, let's see to sister.† I took two of the vials from the purse at my belt. â€Å"This red one is deadly poison. But the blue one is only like a poison, giving the same signs as if one is dead, but they will but sleep one day for each drop they drink. You could put two drops of this in your sister's wine – say, when you are ready to attack the French – and for two days she would sleep the sleep of the dead while you and Edmund did your will, and without losing the support of Albany in the war.† â€Å"And the poison?† â€Å"Well, kitten, the poison may not be needed. You could defeat France, take Edmund for your own, and come to an agreement with your sister and Albany.† â€Å"I have an agreement with them now. The kingdom is divided as father decreed.† â€Å"I'm only saying that you may fight the French, have Edmund, and not have to slay your sister.† â€Å"And what if we don't defeat France?† â€Å"Well, then, you have the poison, don't you?† â€Å"Well, that's bollocks counseling,† said Regan. â€Å"Wait, cousin, I haven't told you the part where you make me Duke of Buckingham yet. I'd like that dodgy old palace, Hyde Park. St. James's Park, and a monkey.† â€Å"You're daft!† â€Å"Named Jeff.† â€Å"Get out!† I palmed the love letter from the table as I exited. Quickly through the corridors, across the courtyard, and back to the kitchen where I traded my codpiece for a pair of waiter's breeches. It was one thing to leave Jones and my coxcomb with the ferryman, another to secret my blades away with Bubble, but giving up my codpiece was like losing my spirit. â€Å"I was nearly undone by its enormity,† said I to Squeak, to whom I handed the portable den of my manly inequity. â€Å"Aye, a family of squirrels could nest in the extra space,† Squeak observed, dropping a handful of the walnuts she'd been shelling into the empty prick pouch. â€Å"Wonder you didn't rattle like a dried gourd when you walked,† said Bubble. â€Å"Fine. Cast aspersions on my manhood if you will, but I'll not protect you when the French arrive. They're unnaturally fond of public snogging and they smell of snails and cheese. I will laugh – ha! – as you both are mercilessly cheese-snogged by froggy marauders.† â€Å"Don't really sound that bad to me,† said Squeak. â€Å"Pocket, you'd better be off, lad,† said Bubble. â€Å"Goneril's supper is going up now.† â€Å"Adieu,† said I, a preview of the Frenchy future of my former friends and soon to be frog-snogged traitorous tarts. â€Å"Adieu.† I bowed. I feigned fainting with a great wrist-to-brow flourish, and I left. (I admit it, one does like to lubricate his recurrent entrances and exits with a bit of melodrama. Performance is all to the fool.) Goneril's quarters were less spacious than Regan's, but luxurious, and there was a fire going. I hadn't set foot here since she'd left the castle to marry Albany, but upon returning I found I was simultaneously aroused and filled with dread – memories simmering under the lid of consciousness, I suppose. She wore cobalt with gold trim, daringly cut. She must have known Edmund was back. â€Å"Pumpkin!† â€Å"Pocket? What are you doing here?† She waved the other servers and a young lady who had been braiding her hair out of the room. â€Å"And why are you dressed in that absurd outfit?† â€Å"I know,† said I. â€Å"Poncy breeches. Without my codpiece I feel defenseless.† â€Å"I think they make you look taller,† she said. A dilemma. Taller in breeches or stunningly virile in a cod? Both illusions. Each with its advantage. â€Å"Which do you think makes a better impression on the fairer sex, love, tall or hung?† â€Å"Isn't your apprentice both?† â€Å"But he's – oh – â€Å" â€Å"Yes.† She bit into a winter plum. â€Å"I see,† said I. â€Å"So, what is it with Edmund? All the black kit?† What it was, was she was bewitched, was what it was. â€Å"Edmund.† She sighed. â€Å"I don't think Edmund loves me.† And I sat down, with all of Goneril's luncheon repast set before me, and considered cooling my forehead in the tureen of broth. Love? Sodding, bloody, tossing, bloody, sodding, bloody love? Irrelevant, superfluous, bloody, ruddy, rotten, sodding love? What ho? Wherefore? What the fuck? Love? â€Å"Love?† said I. â€Å"No one has ever loved me,† said Goneril. â€Å"What about your mother? Surely your mother?† â€Å"I don't remember her. Lear had her executed when we were little.† â€Å"I didn't know.† â€Å"It was not to be spoken of.† â€Å"Jesus, then? Comfort in Christ?† â€Å"What comfort? I'm a duchess, Pocket, a princess, perhaps a queen. You can't rule in Christ. Are you daft? You have to ask Christ to leave the room. Your very first war or execution and you're right fucked for forgiveness, aren't you? There's Jesusy disapproval and scowling at least and you have to act like you don't see it.† â€Å"He's infinite in his forgiveness,† said I. â€Å"It says so somewhere.† â€Å"As should we all be, it also says. But I don't believe it. I've never forgiven our father for killing our mother and I never shall. I don't believe, Pocket. There's no comfort or love there. I don't believe.† â€Å"Me, either, lady. So, sod Jesus. Surely Edmund will fall in love with you when you become closer and he's had a chance to murder your husband. Love needs room to grow, like a rose.† Or a tumor. â€Å"He's passionate enough, although never so enthusiastic as that first night in the tower.† â€Å"Have you introduced him to your – well – special tastes?† â€Å"Those will not win his heart.† â€Å"Nonsense, love, a black-hearted prince like Edmund verily starves to have his bum smacked by a fair damsel like yourself. Probably what he's craving, just too shy to ask.† â€Å"I think another has caught his eye. I think he fancies my sister.† No, that's his father's eye she caught, well, speared, really, I thought, but then I thought better. â€Å"Perhaps I can help you resolve the conflict, pumpkin.† And at that, I produced the red and blue vials from my purse. I explained how one was for death-like sleep, and the other afforded more permanent rest. And as I did so, I cradled the silk purse that still held the last puffball the witches had given me. What if I were to use it on Goneril? Bewitch her to love her own husband? Surely Albany would forgive her. He was a noble chap, despite being a noble. And with that, Regan could have that villain Edmund for herself, the conflict between the sisters would be settled, Edmund would be satisfied with his new role as Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Gloucester, and all would be well. Of course there were the issues of France attacking, Lear in the dungeon, and a wise and comely fool whose fate was uncertain†¦ â€Å"Pumpkin,† said I, â€Å"perhaps if you and Regan came to an understanding. Perhaps if she were put to sleep until her army had done its duty against France. Perhaps mercy – â€Å" And that was as far as I got, as the bastard Edmund came through the door at that moment. â€Å"What is this?† demanded the bastard. â€Å"Don't you fucking knock?† said I. â€Å"Bloody common bastard!† You'd have thought, now that I, too, was a half-noble bastard, that my disdain for Edmund might have diminished. Strangely, no. â€Å"Guard. Take this worm to the dungeon until I have time to deal with him.† Four guards, not of the old Tower force, came in and chased me around the solar several times before I was tripped up by the constrained step of my waiter breeches. The lad they'd been made for must have been smaller even than I. They pinned my arms behind me and dragged me out of the room. As I went backward through the door, I called, â€Å"Goneril!† She held up her hand and they stopped there and held me. â€Å"You have been loved,† said I. â€Å"Oh, take him out and beat him,† said Goneril. â€Å"She jests,† said I. â€Å"The lady jests.†