My journey through ES2007s

My journey through this module has been a real emotional rollercoaster ride venturing into the unknown. Starting off in a small class of 6 students under Ms Happy Goh, Kesleen and I were informed that the class might have to be shut down due to insufficient students. We cheered when we got the good news that we could continue on after all, but 2 more lessons after that, we were informed that our class had to shut down again. And that’s how Kesleen and I arrived in Brad’s class!

I was rather apprehensive at first; we were the new ‘kids’ on the block and I had no idea how my classmates would be like. Brad was unlike most teachers I have ever seen. In my very first class, he took me out of my comfort zone by pairing me with someone I did not know. Thankfully Shinye was rather nice and friendly to me. I had expected to be paired with Kesleen since most teachers would rather go with the flow rather than poke the hornet’s nest. Had Brad not done that, I think the class would be split into many different cliques rather than the nice integration we see now. Furthermore, all my classmates called Brad by name and not Sir or Mr Blackstone. I found this perplexing and was not fully comfortable addressing him as Brad at first.

My first real assignment was to present on the wiki. We had no idea what NUS wiki was and it sounded terrifyingly foreign and difficult. Furthermore, it could not be found in the textbook which I had bought for this module unlike other topics like resumes or application letters. As a result, I had no ‘proper’ reference materials that I could depend on. On hindsight, I’m glad that I got that topic. It allowed me to expand my horizons and gave me the opportunity to make really creative slides. Had I done one of the standard topics, I’m sure I would have continued in my old ways by simply dumping all the information from the textbook on the slides and ending up with extremely boring slides.

Next up were the application letters and resumes. I have never written a resume before because I felt that I did not have any relevant job experiences and hence nothing to write in my resume. However, that concept was thrown out of the window and I found that I could write a strong resume even without any job experiences. I am quite happy to have achieved this even though the resumes were not graded.

I felt that I was different from most of my classmates taking this course. Many of them took this course in order to gain a competitive edge when looking for a job in future. However, I already have a job as a teacher and I took each assignment as a practice on presenting myself. I found that it helped me to gain confidence, especially when standing in front of a large audience to speak. This was something I was never able to do; or maybe I could have, just that I never had the opportunity to do so.

At the end of the course, I found myself to be a much more confident person. Furthermore, I am much more aware of my actions. For example, now when I’m nodding along to what people are saying, I know that I am practicing active listening. So thank you Brad, for helping us grow and giving us a different learning experience. It has certainly been an interesting ride while it lasted!

Reflection on oral presentation

As the applause died away, I heaved a sigh of relief. My journey through this module is nearing its end and I have managed to cross this final hurdle, albeit with some hiccups along the way. Looking back at what our group has managed to accomplish so far, it seems frightening that one month’s worth of labour on the proposal will be reflected in a short 20 minutes oral presentation. We wanted our presentation to be impactful and yet simple, so that the audience will not have a hard time understanding what we are trying to achieve. For my part, I felt that I managed to accomplish some of what I set out to do, but there are certainly things that I wished could have been improved.

The Powerpoint Slides
I made my slides as interesting as possible by using pictures to grab attention. Most of my slides do not have words as I do not want the audience to be divided between reading what is on the screen and listening to what I have to say. In fact, my group members all followed this style in order to maintain uniformity. Furthermore, the effective use of proper imagery has subliminal effects on the audiences’ sub consciousness, helping me to bring my ideas across more effectively.

I made use of the different animations to bring more zest to the presentation while bearing in mind the fact that too many animations would tend to become overbearing. I am quite satisfied with my work on my slides. However, I do feel that my pie chart could have been improved by making use of a more professional looking pie chart. In fact, that was a recurrent problem among our slides. How could we make it as fun and interesting as possible yet maintaining a professional feel to it? That was a fine line that we had to tread and I think we tried our best to do that.

The Presentation
The actual presentation proved to be disastrous due to the technical errors which I failed to anticipate. Some of the videos could not be played because the format was not supported on the computer. I was unsettled by that and I started speaking too fast which is one of my greatest weakness. During the practice runs, I have been trying to slow down my talking speed but I fell into the same trap again. I managed to calm down only at the later part of the presentation and started speaking more slowly. My only saving grace was that I was able to give a generally fluent presentation. During the practice runs, I did not memorize my lines by heart but rather, concentrated more on presenting my ideas in an impromptu fashion. This paid off as it helped me to carry on speaking instead of being stuck when I forgot my script, which actually occurred a couple of times during the presentation. I also maintained good eye contact with the audience throughout but I did not notice if I was smiling. That would be one of my greatest weakness too, because I'm a rather dour person who can't maintain a fake smile to save my life. That is very disadvantageous for me because smiling is important in connecting with the audience.

One plus point for me is that I was quite familiar with my slides and was able to synchronize the transition of the slides with my speech without looking at the screen. Overall, I felt that our team had good time management as we all stuck to our maximum of 6 minutes of “air time” as rehearsed during our practice runs. However, I think that we could have done a better job during the question and answer segment by linking our answers with the research we had prepared for this segment. Furthermore, by hiding behind the desk seemed to suggest a certain degree of reluctance in engaging the audience which we certainly did not want. I realised that and moved out in order to interact more with the audience.

Overall, I feel that this has certainly been an important learning experience as it has given me greater confidence to present my ideas in front of a large audience. It has benefitted me a lot in terms of my development as a future teacher. I would like to thank my group members Kesleen and Zhi Peng who have been most cooperative and patient with my criticisms. The class has been a most wonderful and encouraging audience too. Lastly, kudos to Brad whose comments have played an instrumental role in shaping and refining our ideas.

Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

When I first saw the topic for this week’s blog post, my mind immediately conjured up images of the recently concluded Triennial Intervarsity Games (TIG) 2009 which was held in July. The TIG is an international sports event that is held once every 3 years and involves universities from around the region such as Hong Kong University (HKU), University of Malaya (UM), Universitas Indonesia (UI) as well as National University of Singapore (NUS). The TIG this year was held in NUS and I consider myself very fortunate to have been involved in it as one of the helpers. This is a rare opportunity for me to interact with my counterparts from different countries; the best part being that they are all in one place! It’s almost like a buffet of cultures served up on a platter.

Most of the time, I was stationed at the secretariat office which served as a point of contact for the athletes and this gave me a macroscopic view of all the athletes. From my vantage point, I managed to observe some very interesting characteristics that seemed, more often than not, to be governed by their different cultures. I ceased to see them as individuals, but rather more as a collective group of their respective universities. For example, I would refer to the athletes from University of Malaya simply as the UM people. I know it seems rather callous of me to group them thus, but when dealing with hundreds of athletes, it’s the most efficient way of analyzing them. I am well aware that there are individuals who are very different from their peers in their universities, however, I am just stating my observations based on the majority. Hence, I do apologise if anyone gets offended by this post.


The athletes from UM are very much like Singaporeans. They came, they saw and they complained. They complained about the food, the accommodation, the facilities and even the umpiring. They loved sitting at stairwells, mostly kept to themselves and hardly interacted with athletes from the other universities. They also did not bother to do any sightseeing; probably because Singapore is just across the causeway and there is nothing new for them to see. They were in direct contrast to the UI athletes who were so excited to be in Singapore. For many of them, it was their first time out of their own country, and in fact, their first time on a plane. They were very impressed with the facilities and told me that they were unused to the even flooring as well as playing in an air-conditioned environment. I soon came to realise that there was a great rift among the UI athletes, and they were further sub-divided into the “poor” (who were the majority) and the “rich”. These 2 groups stoically refused to mingle and their animosity for each other bordered on revulsion.

I shall focus on the “poor” Indonesians since the “rich” are rather uninteresting. Personally, my heart went out to these “poor” Indonesians. During a basketball game, one of the girls fell and hit her head. She was admitted to the National Hospital of Singapore where the doctors called for a CAT scan. It turned out that none of the “poor” Indonesians bought health insurance before coming to Singapore as they could not afford it. In order to pay the hospital bill, all of them came together to pool their money. It was a touching scene and I remain quite convinced that should such a misfortune befall a Singaporean, his fellow Singaporeans would choose to look the other way and leave him to his own devices. The UI athletes were also eager to sample the food in Singapore. However, when they went to the canteen, took a look at the prices, calculated furiously and converted to rupiah, their downcast faces told us all that we needed to know; the food was too expensive for them. They ended up eating instant noodles which they had brought from Indonesia as they also couldn’t afford to purchase instant noodles here.

The students from HKU were by far the most diverse and interesting lot. They range from the loud, raucous group that woke us up at 3am to ask us how to get to Clark Quay, to the love-struck group who were quite besotted with our girls and were quite content to chat with us in the secretariat room. However, one common thing unites them all: their love for food! I would always see them in the various canteens sampling the different food and their favourite seemed to be chicken rice. When I asked them if they had chicken rice in Hong Kong, they replied in the affirmative and I got very puzzled. Why did they like it so much since they already had it back in their country? Is the chicken rice in Singapore nicer than in Hong Kong? It turned out that the food here is much cheaper than back in Hong Kong. A plate of chicken rice here costs $3 but would have cost them $7 in Hong Kong. In fact, the food here is nothing new to them, just that it’s cheaper! One thing that I found most endearing about them was how truly surprised they seemed when they knew that I could speak Cantonese. Their faces would turn beetroot-red as they recounted all the nasty secrets that they had revealed to a knowing audience.

On the last day of the TIG, the “kiasu” portion of Singapore culture reared its ugly head. The athletes from the various universities gave us their shirts or caps as keepsakes. When they asked if they could have some NUS souvenirs, the NUS students demanded that they bring more “gifts” in exchange! This is something I am truly ashamed of; to be affiliated with these ingrates. At the end of the day, the Singapore students collected them all, shirts, caps, jackets, track suits from all the different universities. If this was an event in the TIG, Singapore would no doubt win hands down!

What are some of the values you hold dear? (edited)

I am currently a year 2 undergraduate in the National University of Singapore (NUS) pursuing a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) degree. Previously, I studied in “famous” schools such as National Junior College and River Valley High School. The intense academic culture in these schools has allowed me to develop a strong passion for learning. Whenever there is something new that I am not entirely familiar with, I do not hesitate to ask questions and persevere on until I have the complete picture. In fact, I often stayed back after school to seek out my teachers to clarify concepts. There was this one time, a consultation session with my teacher stretched past 9pm and his wife called him several times as he was supposed to be meeting her. I was embarrassed for having occupied so much of his time, but he was adamant on answering all my questions before leaving since I had such a burning desire to learn.

During my 2 year stint serving in the Singapore Armed Forces at Tengah Ammunition Depot as an ammunition storeman, I was in charge of the storehouses and had to conduct weekly and monthly stocktakes on the ammunition inventories. As I like things to be organized, I always filed my stockcards and stocktake forms properly; unlike my peers who would simply throw them into a drawer. Naturally, they lost these forms and got a tongue-lashing from the commanders. On the other hand, I was always able to produce my forms and had no discrepancies with the physical inventories. This might seem like an easy task, but is actually not as the ammunition in a single storehouse can number in the millions. My insistence on producing quality work enabled me to shine out among my peers and as such, I was duly promoted to an appointment in the Depot Control Centre (DCC). This allowed me to cultivate my leadership skills as I was in charge of planning operations for the entire depot. As I am very meticulous in my work, I always make a point of checking my work a few times to ensure that no mistakes are present. Being in a position of authority as a DCC operator, I also made sure that my peers conformed to the same standard and did not give any sloppy work. All these allowed my department to achieve zero findings during the Internal Quality Audit; no mean feat given the vast quantity of paperwork being churned out daily.

I am not afraid of hardship and have even stepped out of my comfort zone by working as a dishwasher for about 6 months before entering university. It was a novel experience and gave me valuable exposure; one that could not be gained in a classroom or office. In NUS, I have also participated in as many events as possible, such as helping out in the Trienniel Intervarity Games and various science fairs, so as to gain a wider exposure to different people and have greater sensitivity for intercultural differences. I believe that my diligent nature and enthusiasm for trying out different things will see me in good stead in the future.

What are some of the values you hold dear?

I am currently a year 2 undergraduate in the National University of Singapore (NUS) pursuing a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) degree. Previously, I studied in “famous” schools such as National Junior College and River Valley High School. The strong academic learning culture in these schools has allowed me to develop to become an independent learner, with a strong passion to learn new concepts. Whenever there is something new that I am not entirely familiar with, I do not hesitate to ask questions and persevere on until I have the complete picture.

I like things to be organized and I follow a very tight schedule for my daily tasks. My insistence on producing quality work enabled me to shine out among my peers during my 2 year stint serving in the Singapore Armed Forces at Tengah Ammunition Depot. As such I was duly promoted to an appointment in the Depot Control Centre (DCC). This allowed me to cultivate my leadership skills as I was in charge of planning operations for the entire depot. Being very meticulous in my work, I always make a point of checking my work a few times to ensure that no mistakes are present. Being in a position of authority as a DCC operator, I also made sure that my colleagues conform to the same standard and not give any sloppy work. All these allowed my department to achieve zero findings during the Internal Quality Audit; no mean feat given the vast quantities of paperwork being churned out daily.

I am not afraid of hardship and have even stepped out of my comfort zone by working as a dishwasher for about 6 months before entering university. It was a novel experience and gave me valuable exposure; one that could not be gained in a classroom or office. In NUS, I have also participated in as many events as possible, such as helping out in the Trienniel Intervarity Games and various science fairs, so as to gain a wider exposure to different people and have a greater understanding for intercultural differences. I believe that my diligent nature and enthusiasm for trying out different things will see me in good stead in the future.

Application letter

Company

The Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) is a member of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Launched in 1997, IMRE undertakes research in selected fields of materials science and engineering, including optoelectronics, nanomaterials, chemicals, and polymers.

Job title

Internship position in Synthesis and Integration Research Group

Specifications/Key Requirements

Since this is a speculative application letter, there are no specifications/key requirements listed. So I shall just list down what I think should be the key requirements for this job.
- Singapore citizen or PR
- able to work well in a team
- good communication skills
- adequate knowledge in specific field of expertise
- working knowledge of a range of analytical instruments

Application letter


Russell Lau
Jelebu Road
Blk 185, #18-24
Singapore 670185

September 4, 2009

Human Resources Department
Institute of Materials Research and Engineering
3, Research Link
Singapore 117602

Dear Sir/Madam

Re: Application for internship position in Synthesis and Integration Research Group

I am extremely keen on a prospective career as a researcher in the Synthesis and Integration Research Group and would like to enquire whether there are any internship positions available in that department. I have enclosed a copy of my resume for your consideration.

I am currently in my year 2 of undergraduate studies pursuing a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) degree in the National University of Singapore (NUS). I have a keen interest in the field of research regarding nanocomposite particles. In June 2009, I visited the various departments in the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering on a guided tour and was very impressed with the state-of-the-art facilities and machinery. I also talked to various researchers while I was there including Dr Chan Khai Leok who is a research engineer in the Synthesis and Integration Research Group. Since then, I have become very interested in joining this research institute. I am very intrigued by Dr Chan's research on conducting polymers and nanocomposite molecules for light emitting diodes and hope to be able to do my internship under his supervision.

The Institute of Materials Research and Engineering is one of the frontiers in nano-particle research and I believe I can contribute to the company due to my particular interest and knowledge in this field of research coupled with my analytical skills and youthful exuberance. I am proficient in the use of analytical instruments such as the UV-vis spectrometers, scanning tunneling microscopes, autoclaves and data loggers. I have been appointed by the Dean’s office to be a laboratory demonstrator for various science events due to my experience in handling a wide range of instruments as well as my expertise in performing chemical experiments.

During my stint as a sales executive, I was trained to handle difficult clients as well as to work together with my team members. This has honed my ability to work well in a team and sharpened my interacting skills since effective communication with clients is essential. I was also promoted to team leader and under my leadership, my sales team consistently hit sales targets. In NUS, I am also the Events Director of NUS Netball Club and I played an instrumental role in organizing Netballuxion 2009. All these have given me the opportunity to cultivate my leadership skills by putting me in a position of responsibility and trust. I believe that all these attributes will see me in good stead in this company as they are also just as essential in a research laboratory.

I will be delighted to contact you in 3 day’s time to arrange for an interview. Alternatively, you can also contact me at 81883063 or laurussell@hotmail.com.

Thank you for your time.

Regards

Russell Lau

Encl: Resume

Resolving interpersonal conflicts

Project work, especially those disguised in the form of essays, has always been the bane of every science students’ brief existence in the intellectual hub known as a university. Students scramble madly for potential groupmates that have at least some semblance of diligence about them, while those taking the course with friends try to steer clear of the melee. The ones who are left behind after this frantic round of ‘musical chairs’ are doomed to seek out others in similar predicaments. Thus, Kenny found himself doing the group essay with Yong. (Names have been changed to protect the privacy of anyone involved)

Everything was smooth sailing at first; they conducted their meetings, decided on the topic and split the work evenly, with each of them taking charge of half the essay. Kenny conducted his research by borrowing countless books and poring over each one to make sure that he got all the minute details correct. He often stayed up well into the night in order to complete his part on time. When the time came for them to combine their parts, Kenny got a rude shock when Yong said he didn’t manage to complete his part. It turned out that Yong was too busy struggling with his other modules and did not have enough time to do the essay. Kenny became visibly agitated after skimming through Yong’s part of the essay and finding numerous inconsistencies as well as factual errors. When confronted with it, Yong simply shrugged and admitted that he had only used one reference source and did not have the time to proofread.

That was quite simply the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Unable to keep his anger in check, Kenny let loose a torrent of accusations. “How could you be so irresponsible? I shouldn't have done the project with you. You are such a lazy ******* ” Yong remained impassive; he felt that he had already done his best given how time-consuming his other modules were. Frustrated, Kenny stormed off to complete the rest of the essay himself. As expected, neither of them managed to get a good grade for that module. However, that incident remained in Kenny’s mind for a long time and he couldn’t help but wonder if there was any way he could have handled the situation that day more tactfully..

Effective Communication: Important or Impotent?

Communication is like a two-edged sword. Wielded properly, it can become a powerful tool to bend the masses to your will. However, a word out of place, a misstep, can prove costly, resulting in great rifts of irreconcilable differences. It is an inescapable part of our daily lives, from conversing with the auntie at the coffee shop, to consulting our professors for clarification, and in the future, interacting with our colleagues in the workplace. It is therefore, important to learn the art of effective communication. In the corporate world, employees who are skilled in this area, are able to secure lucrative deals with prospective clients, and hence, are highly prized assets in the company.

Good communication is vital in a myriad of jobs. This is especially so in the teaching career where valuable communication skills play a pivotal role. As a recipient of the MOE teaching award (an MOE-funded scholarship for prospective teachers), I am well aware that educating eager young minds will soon become my raison d'être. Therefore, I must learn how to connect effectively with my target audience - the students.

Throughout my schooling years, I have seen more than my fair share of mediocre teachers. They are unable to teach well not because they are lacking in knowledge; rather, it is due to their inability to present their information in a form that the students will understand. Furthermore, a teacher’s job does not just end in the classroom. They play the role of a mediator too, especially when dealing with children from broken homes or troubled family backgrounds. All of these require teachers who have high levels of emotional intelligence or E.I., where effective communication skills are an essential trait.

Besides, having good communication skills will boost my employability, just in case ( crosses fingers :P )
I decide to part ways with a teaching career in future!

The importance of effective communication

This cartoon is solely the property of Mark Parisi and is borrowed from http://www.offthemark.com/