An interview with Terence

We meet with Terence, a year 2 Applied Chemistry student who took ES2007S - Professional Communication in AY10/11 Sem 2 to find out more about the module.

Hi Terence, tell us why did you decide to take this module?

I took this module initially because I was short of 4MCs and I needed to overload one more module for this semester. I looked through all the modules available and there were only a few that could fit nicely into my timetable and one of it was……you’ve guess it ES2007S. I did lots of research regarding this module, looking up Module-review.com, consulting seniors who had taken it before. What I found out was that general consensus for it was a great one although it comes with a heavy workload. I though this module should be useful for me especially in the next semester as I will be going for my industrial attachment so I thought to myself why not? Feeling eager and enthusiastic, I approached my friend to tell them about this module and to “psycho” them to take it together with me. “Crazy ah!” was the reply that I got mostly but I didn’t dampen my spirits because I am confident that I will be able to do it no matter how tough it gets. And so here I am! (*smiles)

You are taking 6 modules this semester. How did you manage to cope with all?

It wasn’t much of a difficult during the start of the semester, but as the weeks progressed, I could feel the stress on me with the increasing overall workload and the weekly assignments that I have to submit for this module. In addition, I also have my hall commitments to juggle with. At I point in time, I began to doubt myself if I would be able to complete this module. There were simply too many things to do and too many datelines to meet. “Was I really crazy to have taken such a module?” Thank goodness I have the support from my closer friends who were there rooting for me as well as my classmates whom we all share the same woes. In the end, we managed to tide it through!

Tell us something interesting about the class.

I would say that my class is a really unique one with people coming from different faculties (Science & Engineering) and also schools (Ella who is from NTU!).  My class has two professional belly dancers (Fahmi & Kelvin), one slowpoke (Aoyun), a pair of siblings (Shawn & Lisu), a bee ( Akash), Snow White (Elaine), a really hyperactive girl (Jacelyn), Night fury! (Doris) and many more.

Your class sounds like a circus! Haha! Is there anything you don’t like about the module?

Will Miss Lim get to read this? (*laughs) Actually I find 8am lessons to be a chore after a while. One really needs a lot of motivation to wake up early in the morning to attend a lesson that’s not a core module. I also don’t like the tables and chairs in the classroom. It is not really suitable for discussion. Other than that, I really enjoyed the module. Never had I attended a class that is so interactive and student friendly. It is like reliving secondary and JC school days!

So which girl do you find most attractive in class?

(*Blushes and laughs) Why do you ask me this kind of question!? All the girls in class are attractive in their own unique way. If you are asking about bubbliness I would say its hyperactive girl. If you are talking about skin complexion, I think Snow White will definitely win. Intelligence level would be Ella and sports champ would be Doris.

I heard that Shawn has a secret crush on you. What do you think of him?

(*Laughs out really loud) Okay… (* Breaks out into a continuous laughter) Hahaha, I’m so sorry. I’m not sure if he really has a secret crush on me but come to think of it, he is the Top Commentator of my blog so there might be some truth to it (* Laughs out loud again). Well I think Shawn is a really great guy. I think he is very cool – he doesn’t talk much but his comments are very interesting. He sometimes stares into blank space though. But I think he is a very friendly person and also a good friend to have.

Which features of the module did you like the most?

I think that would have to be blogging. I enjoy reading other people’s blog post to find out more about their experiences and how they feel about life itself. Blogging also allows me to express my creativity and thoughts in a written form.

If you were given a chance to choose your teammates again for oral presentation, who would you pick?

Wow! Can I not answer this question please?

I promise not to let anyone know.

Okay. If I were to choose again, I think I would to work with Doris, Aoyun and Chen Chen. I have worked with Doris and Aoyun previously and I know that Doris is a very hardworking person and Aoyun is a very good presenter with her own style of presenting and expression. As for Chen Chen, I have never worked with him before, but I have this feeling that he is a very thoughtful and detailed person who will be able to take care of all the nitty-gritty parts in a proposal. I think this team will be equally awesome as well. There are still others whom I have never worked with and it’s a shame that I don’t get a chance to do so.

What is your greatest takeaway from this module?

There’s so many! From being able to craft out professional cover letters and resumes to writing a proper proposal to creating awesome slides and speak confidently in front of an audience. All these transferable skills are extremely valuable to me when I am out in the working world. But the greatest takeaway that I got would be the friendships that had been forged and the interpersonal skills that I had picked up from this module.  

Any last words?

I want to express my gratitude to Miss Lim for being such a wonderful tutor who is so ever encouraging and understanding. I also want to thank my classmates for making these 13 weeks an unforgettable and memorable one.  I wish those who will be graduating all the best in their future endeavors and good luck to everyone for the coming exams. I will miss each and every one of you! And to those who are still deciding if they should take this module or not, I would recommend you taking if you are seeking an alternative to boring lectures, to improve your interpersonal/writing skills and if you live on challenges.

Terence has successfully applied for an internship with Exxonmobil and will be starting his term this coming July. By Terter 

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen!

Welcome to the end of my oral presentation!!!!

Yes! OP is finally over and its time for a breather. Work began to increase ever since the proposal churning stage and many things happened soon after, but that's another story for another day. For this blog post, I shall focus on the things I did before, during and after the presentation as well as how I felt in the process.

We starting our slide designing soon after we submitted our proposal and have been constantly updating and refining our slide. I was in charge of the overall outlook, slide transition/animation as well as compiling of the slides of my other group mates. A few days before the presentation, I prepared my cue cards and got ready for the presentation. Since most teams wore almost the same attire ( not to mention same color as well) I decided to make something cool for my team. I made a name tag with our names and TEAM ENERGY on it. It serves to help the audience identify us during the Q&A assuming they are from URA and have no idea of our names and also to make our team a little more unique.

But what I am most proud of would be the powerpoint slides that I has spent so much time creating. The photos, font size, color were all displayed nicely on the screen and up to my expectations (Yes, I made use of what I had learnt from peer teaching session) . In addition, I am extremely satisfied with the intro video that I edited. I'm sure it grabbed the attention of our viewers! =)

Now comes the part where I talked about how I think I fare for the oral presentation. As usual I was nervous when my turn to present was near, this time was a little different from peer teaching however. I felt.....more relaxed and more confident given that I had my cue cards with me. As much as possible, I tried not to look at my cues which I managed to do so for the first slide, but after that my memory was just failing me. My part was a relatively brief one to make time for the previous speakers who overshot the time. I was quite happy as there weren't any major hiccups and not long after I started, it was over and I almost heaved a sigh of relieve in front of the class.

At the end of the question comes the Q&A. My team answered the questions from the audience according to plan, with Kelvin taking on the 1st question, Aoyun taking the 2nd, me the third and Desmond the last question. It was a good strategy I would say. I think it reflects my team very well to the audience because 

1. There is a smooth flow with regards to who answer the question. We know when it is our turn to answer. As such, the audience will not see the presenters (us) competing to answer the question, avoiding awkwardness and embarrassment . Likewise, it also solves the problem of us hesitating.
2. The audience will knows that we have done our homework well because we need to be able to answer all kinds of questions regardless of whether we are specifically handling that part or not.

To conclude, (Haha! sounds like what we would say in OP) my experience for the oral presentation was an interesting and awesome one. I would like to thank my team mates for without them, all these would not have been possible. Overall I think my team did pretty good! I felt really positive after the presentation and I am looking forward for us to ace this section ! ;) Go TEAM ENERGY!  

Evaluating Inter-cultural Behavior

We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we are going to perish together as fools.
                                                          ~ Martin Luther King, Jr

I can't find a better way to start this post other than to show you a short clip of the following movie.

I am sure most of you would have already watched the movie Avatar at least once.  For those who have no idea what it is about, Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction film directed by James Cameron (The same person who directed Titanic). You can read the movie synopsis here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/plotsummary

Going back to the clip shown earlier, we can see clearly the conflict caused by the cultural differences.

Jake Sully: Look, I know you probably don't understand this... but, thank you.

[Neytiri ignores him and speaks in Na'vi]

Jake Sully: Thank you.

Neytiri: [Speaks in Na'vi]

Jake Sully: That was pretty impressive. I would have been screwed if you hadn't come along.

[Neytiri stands up and leaves. Jake follows her]

Jake Sully: Hey, wait a second! Where are you goin'? Wait up! Just, hey, slow down! I just wanted to say thanks for killing those things...

[Neytiri hits him with her bow]

Jake Sully: AH! Damn!

Neytiri: Don't thank. You don't thank for this! This is sad. Very sad only.

Jake Sully: Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Whatever I did, I'm sorry.

Neytiri: All this is your fault. They did not need to die.

Jake Sully: My fault? They attacked me! How am I the bad guy?

Neytiri: Your fault! Your fault.

Jake Sully: Easy. Easy...

Neytiri: You are like a baby. Making noise, don't know what to do.

Jake, being in a foreign land for the first time lacked the cultural knowledge and values of the native Na'vis. He thought that the killing of the creatures was necessary when his life was threatened and thanked Neytiri for saving him. However, to Neytiri, it was a tragedy that could have been avoided if Jake had understood that every life on that that planet were interconnected and each sought to live harmoniously. Honestly, I was quite taken back by Neytiri's reaction because just like Jake, I had no idea who the Na'vis were or how they lived. I think the same will apply to us when we meet someone new with a different cultural and social background. 

Breaking such a communication barrier is not easy. It is not just about reading up on another person's culture on wikipedia. I think to get a really good understanding, one must immerse him/herself into the culture of others, much like what was shown in the movie. One would then be able to experience and learn much more as there is someone to impart the knowledge first-hand.

Through such cultural exchange, mutual understanding and tolerance can be fostered in individuals. This is extremely important for the multi-racial and cultural society of Singapore to avoid events such as the 1964 & 1969 racial riot.

I think showing respect and being sensitive to the beliefs, customs, traditions, etc is the key to achieve peace and harmony. Not just in Singapore, but throughout the world as globalization brings people much closer together than before.

To quote Martin Luthur King Jr again, "We may all come on different ships, but we're all on the same boat now.". 

Application Letter to Health Sciences Authority (HSA)

Applied Sciences Group

Division:     Forensic Science Division

Position:     Scientist, Forensic Chemistry & Physics Laboratory

Responsibilities:

You will work with a team of Scientists and Laboratory officers to provide reliable, error-free and timely forensic examinations and consultancies covering a comprehensive range of multidiscipline crime scene physical evidence.

You will be required to evaluate, interpret and consolidate the scientific data generated from a wide range of instruments and produce an accurate and objective report that can withstand court scrutiny. In addition, you will also assist the Laboratory Director in the management of the laboratory and participate in quality assurance activities and research and development projects.

Requirements:

• Bachelor of Science (Hons), 2^nd Class Upper Division in Chemistry/Material Science or above
• Experience with GC/MS, HPLC, FT-IR, Raman and/or SEM/EDX is desirable.
• Excellent written and spoken English with good oral presentation skills
• Ability to multi-task and handle stress, pressure and tight deadlines.
• Good team-player
• Strong nerves to withstand gory scenes.
• Good character reference

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Koek Jun Hui, Terence

Block XX7

Pasir Ris Street X1, #08-XX5

Singapore 510XX7

+65 9XXXX385

u09XXXX6@nus.edu.sg

12 February 2011

Ang Hock Kheng

Director, Human Capital Management

Health Sciences Authority

11, Outram Road

Singapore 169078

Dear Mr Ang,

APPLICATION FOR AN INTERNSHIP AS A SCIENTIST IN FORENSIC CHEMISTRY & PHYSICS LABORATORY

I am a 2nd year undergraduate from NUS majoring in Applied Chemistry with a specialization in materials chemistry. I have read from the HSA website that the organization is continually striving for excellence to provide high standard services and I am excited about the direction HSA is headed. As such, I am interested in opportunities as a scientist in Forensic Chemistry and Physics Laboratory at the Health Sciences Authority and would like to apply for an internship with the company to be part of the dynamic team.

Being at NUS has enabled me to broaden my view in the field of science and the Applied Chemistry programme has equipped me with various technical and analytical skills required in a laboratory. I have gained extensive knowledge in operating several high precision instruments which includes UV-vis spectrometer, viscometer, X-ray diffractometer and gas chromatograph. In addition, I am adept at using Microsoft Excel to facilitate data logging and analysis. I have also attended a course on professional communication that has increased my writing and communicating proficiency. More importantly, I cultivated strong interpersonal skills from working closely with people of different backgrounds and learnt a great deal about effective communication, which I believe is extremely important in an accomplished organization.

Beyond my academic endeavours, I have enthusiastically participated in many activities that have honed my leadership qualities during my two years stay in a Hall of Residence. Last year, I was appointed as a Programmes Director in my hall’s freshmen orientation committee and had successfully led a team of 12 in planning and executing a 4-day camp. I have also developed organizational and administrative skills through event management workshops conducted by the Hall Master who is an Associate Professor and Vice-Dean (Finance and Administration) in NUS. In 2011, I held the position of a vice-head in my residential block’s welfare committee and applied the skills I had learnt in several events I had planned for the residents. I am therefore confident that I can contribute and value-add to the organization with my capabilities and vigor.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss with you about the internship. Please feel free to contact me by phone at +659XXXX385 or by e-mail at u09XXXX6@nus.edu.sg.  Thank you for your consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Koek Jun Hui, Terence

Enclosed: Resume

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict - Personality Clashes

~Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict~

                                                                           - Saul Alinsky

Two fund-raising committee heads, Edward and Phil, had been given instructions from higher management to reduce a list of 15 potential members shortlisted by them previously to 10. The higher management explains that due to certain constraints, the maximum capacity of the team had to be kept strictly at 12. The 15 people had been specially selected from a pool of 50 and cutting down to 10 was a sizable reduction. To compound the situation, neither Edward nor Phil was willingly to let go of their picks. 

Edward's personality tended to favor people. He was generally more sensitive to people, and was a caring, thoughtful committee head. Phil was just the opposite. He was more concerned with productivity, efficiency and considered people's feelings secondary to the work.

They met to discuss the member reduction with their top 10 choices in mind and unfortunately, their choices differ greatly. Edward told Phil that he felt the people whom he had picked had an easy-going nature, were friendly and will be able to work well with the other members. A happy and enjoyable working experience was what Edward had in mind for everyone. Phil however, had a different justification for his choices. Phil selected the members based on their capabilities and work efficiency. Whether the members get along wasn't his main concern. Recognition and appraisal from the higher ups achieved through the funds raised were much more important to Phil. Both of them had a difficult time working things out as they each believed their choice was the right one.

Shockingly, Edward claimed that he had already informed some of the members about their unsuccessful application prior to their meeting as he assumed Phil would agree with his choices. 

Phil was outraged and furious. 

He couldn't believe Edward had done something so selfish and  irresponsible, jeopardizing the whole operation. Those people whom Edward had rejected were considered by Phil to be the few outstanding ones in terms of productivity. Phil has a bad feeling that the team is going to fail but he faces a dilemma now. Should he give in to Edward and hope that everything turns out to be fine? Argue with Edward and hope that he would give in instead? Or withdraw from the team and forfeit the opportunity to earn a good portfolio for himself.

When there is a change, there is bound to be friction. Imagine you are in Phil's position. What would you do to resolve this conflict? Is there any better alternative Phil should consider?

First contact with peer teaching

Panic!

Okay its over now. I read Doris's post and I thought that I should also reflect on my first presentation and share with everyone how I felt during the peer teaching session as well as some of the comments given.

Waking up at 7am in the morning today with little sleep the previous night proved to be a bad idea. Symptoms of running nose and teary eyes suggested that I have most likely caught a flu and I was actually contemplating on whether I should turn up for class.

But I can't leave my teammates in the lurch can I? After all, we had spent quite a lot of effort on this teaching session. Anyway, problems surfaced even before the session started and one of it was a classical case of communication breakdown. My group was told to print out the rubrics so that our fellow classmates can evaluate us. However, my group mistook the rubrics to be the lesson plan without clarifying. Thankfully, Miss Lim was really kind to provide us with some of the extra rubrics that she had. 

Before I go on to the problems with my team's presentation, I would like to share some of the comments that I had been given.

1. Troubles of visual aids disturbed my presentation
2. Slide backgrounds inappropriate 
3. Don't use red words on black background
4. Weird handover of presentation 
5. Show confidence and don't be too nervous
6. Uptight
7. Monotonous
8. Paused too long between sentences
9. Reduce the "errs" after each sentence
10. Try not to look too much at slides

Problem 1 - As one can see, our slides did not turn out to be as wonderful as we had planned and contributed significantly to the negative comments . The website which held our slides was slow, resulting in a long transition between the slides and the points. My advice to the rest of the groups out there is to use Microsoft Powerpoint. 

Problem 2 - Lack of "pre-audience". Although my team and I did practice presenting, we did not have an audience prior to the presentation to comment on us. We could have avoided situations like " red words on black background" and "inappropriate backgrounds" if we had our friends to take a look at our presentation. "Weird handover of presentation" happened because I had too many slides on my part and Doris had to help me out with some slide from somewhere. Maybe I should have insisted on finishing the whole section? ( Do comment on this)

Problem 3 *Major* - Me.

I felt that I did not do a good introduction and dragged the rest of the team down. I wanted to try doing a presentation without cue cards and I think it was a disaster. Observations 6 - 10 was probably due to me not being able to remember my lines. Lesson learnt: Don't try anything new unless you have experience. Use cue cards and review comments 1- 10 again before the next presentation. 

Looking on the brighter side of things, I do have some positive comments that I am proud of.

• Effective class activity ( I was worried that the activity might be too simple and boring)
• Helps out group member
• Useful handout (A lot of time and effort were actually spent on crafting the guides and tips)

Lastly, I would like to thank the class for the comments and support they had given. Every comment is an opportunity for me to improve and become better. I look forward to see everyone in class again!

Effective Communication Skills & Me

~To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others~

                                                                                -Anthony Robbins

Communication dates back to the time when life first started. Animals communicated with its own kind as well as other animals using visuals - the bright colors of a poison-dart frog , 

These frogs native to Central and South America display aposematic patterns to warn off potential predators. Their bright coloration is associated with their toxicity.

smell - the foul odors from a skunk,

and sound - plenty of examples

Even plants communicate as well http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081023113107.htm. We humans have evolved from the Great Apes and our communication was revolutionized with speech and writing. 

Speech is a very efficient form of communication and language in my opinion is one of the most powerful tools on Earth. It allows people to pass on information with speed and precision. I am sure many of us had come to face with language barriers and experienced the inconveniences as well as the embarrassments it had caused when we try to express ourselves using hand signs and body movements. A simple language dictionary would have saved the day. 

The need to understand one another is crucial in today's context. To me, this is why having effective communication skills is important. A writer writes not because he is educated. He writes because of his need to communicate, to share and to be understood. Writing is as powerful as speech. It offers people a way to preserve their thoughts and memories. It also gives one time to think before they "speak". We often tend to say things without going through some thinking and as a result, the words that come out of our lips rarely meant what we wanted to convey. We unintentionally hurt people's feelings and create misunderstandings. Undeniably, I am guilty of this and I am aware of its consequences ( such as decreased chance in securing a prospective job, unhappy marriage etc) so here I am, taking the first step to change myself for the better.

Like what Anthony Robbins an American self-help author had said, we must not neglect the fact that no two individuals are the same in the way they view things. Being able to speak well is only one aspect of good communication. Active listening is another. I was once known to my friends as someone with a domineering character. I used to enforce my ideas upon others but I soon realize (after an unpleasant confrontation) , that I need to listen to others and open myself up to new ideas. Not surprisingly, team dynamics quickly improved and so did interpersonal relationships. This is another reason why I feel having effective communication skill is important.

Communication is a two way process. See what other see, feel how others feel.

Its 2011!

Merry New Year to everyone!