Face-to-face the best way to communicate

IT has been found that electronic mail or e-mail may be quicker for colleagues to communicate at the office but most people prefer a oneon-one or face-to-face chat, according to a study, “One-to-one chats beat e-mail for getting work done” ( The Star, Oct 6).

This is encouraging as it shows human beings have not lost the personal touch despite spending most of their time swiping their smartphone screen.

Human beings are created by God with the ability to talk, think and to express themselves verbally or in writing. And unknown to them, their attitude and feelings are enhanced through their body language, i.e. their facial expressions and gestures.

I have been communicating with my son, who is working overseas, mainly via e-mail, which is free, fast and the messages can be stored for viewing at any time that’s convenient for us. We also send graphics and photos to each other via e-mail.

We do communicate by phone through WhatsApp but this is a bit inconvenient due to the problem of timing – when he is free, I may not be; and when I am free, he may be busy.

I seldom see my son and his family members. But whenever I meet them in person, the joy is much greater than sending and receiving messages and information via online technology.

I am a heavy user of e-mail. Our children are all living away from home and the best means of communication or keeping in touch is still e-mail or SMS.

My wife and I are always looking for opportunities to see our children in person. E-mail or social media messages are only supplementary channels of communication when distance keeps us apart.

A.Y. YONG Ipoh