Bird!

Saw this bird at lunch today, taking shelter from the rain beside a pot. (It was raining rather heavily when this picture was taken, but you can't really see that from the picture.)

Thought it was cute.

EDIT: Hah, forgot that this site uses HTML, not forum display tags. Image fixed.

It's almost over, eh?

Earlier this year, I failed to register for CS1102C due to timetable clashes with other modules. After swearing a bit and complaining online to my friends, I remembered an email I received from whoever it is who sends all those emails, informing students about this module. So then I thought, "Heck, why not? Professional Communication sounds like a useful thing to learn."

One semester later, I feel I've learned plenty. We all had to write personal statements, resumes, application letters, emails, proposals... We learned more than just the theory of writing well. We had to put it into practice, and I think that's actually one of the most important things we gained from this module. We gained experience and a measure of confidence. We had a chance to see where we went right, and we had our problems pointed out by nice, friendly people who didn't laugh at us for failing. And, well, now that I've made two presentations without having a heart attack, I'm sure I won't be as nervous the next time I have to make another.

Speaking of the presentation... I learned some helpful presentation tips from this module. I used to think that longer was better. I thought the slides were supposed to be the main point of the presentation, and the speaker was just there to read them and say anything else that couldn't fit into the slides. Knowing that simplicity is better is definitely going to help me the next time I need to present anything.

I think we also had plenty of practice criticising people in these past weeks. We had to comment on our classmates' work plenty of times, and of course, if we wanted to point out any faults, we had to try to do it in a way that wouldn't make the recipient angry or defensive. I think this also a skill that will be very helpful in the future.

This class was surprisingly fun for a module named "Professional Communication". The word "professional" makes me think of uncomfortable suits and paperwork, so I was expecting a serious, boring class. I'm glad I was wrong. :D

Time to criticise myself. Yay!

Well, I think the presentation went rather well. I think we managed to convey our points to the audience.

Our slides were actually rather simple. Apart from the first slide, which included a picture as a background, we used a plain background for the rest of our slides. We felt that fancy designs can be a bit distracting at times. We did, however, include photographs and screenshots to illustrate the problems we mentioned. I'm sure those pictures helped us explain our points much better than we could have done with words alone.

I felt that our slides contained most of the important information we needed to say, but judging by the amount of questions everyone else had after our presentation... Well, it looks like I was wrong. Hahaha. Still, I don't think we did badly in answering the questions. Most of what they asked were questions we had already considered.

Making suitable eye-contact was difficult, and I don't think I did it well. I realised that I had actually been focusing more on looking at Mr Blackstone's reactions, rather than looking at the whole audience. I suppose the reason is because he's the one grading us, so I was more concerned about his thoughts than about the reactions of all our comrades waiting to interrogate us until we cry.

I had to look back at the slides quite often, but that was mostly because I had to use the laser pointer to draw the audience's attention to specific parts of the example pictures provided. That's not something I can do without looking at the screen. I think, however, that I may have been a bit too rushed showing those examples. Each picture had one important things I wanted to show, and I used the pointer to highlight them while talking about them, but now I think maybe I should have let the audience have a bit more time to look at the rest of the screenshots. Although those other parts aren't really relevant, I think maybe the audience would still have been curious and might have wanted to have a better look.

Overall, I think I didn't do badly, but I realise there are many areas where I still need improvement.

The old against the new?

Culture isn't static. Take a look at the fashion, music, architecture, and language of past decades. Culture is constantly changing. This is why intercultural conflicts can happen even in families where everyone is of the same race. Each generation is born in a different time, and they grow up under the influences of a different society.

My parents are quite modern, but they still follow some old traditions like not sweeping the floor during Chinese New Year, buying new clothes and shoes for Chinese New Year, and not saying "unlucky" things. I value tradition a lot less than they do. I prefer to follow traditions only when it's convenient or fun.

I used to hate buying new clothes for Chinese New Year. If I didn't go with my parents when they went shopping, they would end up buying odd-looking or very uncomfortable new clothes for me. If I went with them, I would have to go walking around shopping centres for hours when I would much rather be reading or playing. Either way, it wasn't fun for me, especially since I had always preferred wearing my older and more comfortable clothes anyway.

My parents weren't really superstitious. They certainly didn't believe that breaking New Year taboos would bring bad luck. I remember being very annoyed back then because my parents couldn't give me a satisfying answer when I asked them about the point of following tradition. Their reply was always something along the lines of "Because it's tradition." They were following tradition simply because it was part of Chinese culture, and they thought it was important to remember our history. I, on the other hand, didn't see the point of following traditions that didn't seem useful in any practical way. I thought it was silly to do something simply because our ancestors did it, especially since many traditions involved superstitions that we didn't believe in. I do find our old traditions somewhat interesting, but to me, just knowing these traditions is enough.

Even though I and my parents are all Chinese, we value the past differently. It's one small difference between two generations from the "same" Chinese culture.

I wonder, which trait of mine do I think best defines me?

I know it’s impossible to learn everything there is to know about everything under the sun, but I want to learn a tiny bit about everything. I want to know a bit of history, maybe learn the basics of a few extra languages, pick up some knowledge of basic programming, take a quick peek at economics, study a bit of art…

I blame this on my curiosity. I’ve always been interested in finding out how the world works. When I was younger, I looked for the answers in books and encyclopaedias, or pestered my parents with millions of questions. My interest in learning hasn’t waned since then. But now, I often rely on the internet for information.

I believe my interest in learning has taught me to question. It has taught me not to blindly accept everything I read or hear. Different books can disagree. Scientific studies on subjects often turn up conflicting results. Sometimes a number of articles will describe “facts” “proven” by “scientific research”, and just as many articles will claim the opposite to be true. Now, even when information is obtained from a reputable source, I still ask, is it possible for them to be mistaken?

This, too, is partly why I want to learn a bit of everything. Without at least basic knowledge, how can I ever judge if a given “fact” is true? Learning will help with more than simply sating my curiosity. Learning will also help me learn.

Edited on 17/09/2009, 2:56 PM.

Application Letter

I tried searching for internships and engineering jobs first, but failed to find any suitable for myself. So, I'm applying to this instead. It's a position for a member of a service crew in the food and beverage industry. They are looking for both temporary staff and permanent staff, and I am applying for a position as a member of the temporary staff.

The job requires me to be bilingual, pleasant, and outgoing. My responsibilities would include handling the preparation of food and beverages, handling cash register transactions, and maintaining high standards of customer service, product quality, and cleanliness. Although the posting states that experience as well as Singaporean citizenship or permanent residentship is preferred, these do not appear to be hard requirements.

Well, this is my application letter. I know it's short, but that's because I lack work experience and relevant activities, and thus have little to include. Until now, I didn't really realise how important CCA activities were for job applications. Well, I still have over two and a half years in NUS left before I graduate, so I'm going to make a serious effort to participate more in that time. :D

____________________________________________________________________


To: leslie.han@renaldosgroup.com


September 6, 2009

Dear Sir/Madam,

Looking through job postings on the 88db website, I saw a post regarding openings for service crew members in your company. I am writing to apply for a position as a temporary staff member.

I am fluent in both English and Mandarin, having not only a high school level education in both languages, but also daily experience in conversing in English and Mandarin. In addition, I am also capable of conversing in Malay as well as understanding spoken Hokkien. My grasp of these different languages will help me understand requests and orders from the customers well, allowing me to serve them better.

Being a fast learner, I am confident that, despite not having any prior work experience in this field, I will be able to quickly master the skills needed for the job.

I hope to hear from you soon. I can be contacted at the phone number and email address listed below.

Yours sincerely,
Joshua Chng
#05-214, Blk 5,
Ghim Moh Road,
Singapore 270005
Ph: 90947944
E-mail: ruinicwinter@gmail.com

A disagreement between clanmates:

The following scenario is loosely based on a true story. Most of it, however, is fictitious.

Many multiplayer online games allow players to join "guilds" or "clans", groups of players that band together to accomplish in-game goals. In fact, in many games, joining a guild is required in order to advance. Guild membership either unlocks new content, or simply allows players to accomplish quests or missions that would be impossible without help from clanmates.

I myself am a member of a clan in an online game. Three weeks ago, a new mage joined our clan. He appears to be a competent player. However, he does not log into the game very often. In fact, we have seen him only three times in the past two weeks, and in two of those times, he was not online long enough to join the rest of us in hunting. He has informed us that this is due to him having a large amount of homework and thus not having much time for online games.

One other clan member, our only assassin in the clan, has suggested that the new mage leave the clan to make space for someone else who could be more active. He pointed out that the whole point of being in a clan is to be able to play with clanmates instead of playing alone, so someone who doesn't have time to join the rest of us would not suffer from being clanless. He also pointed out that, since the new mage is barely active, we have one less potential party member whenever the rest of the clan decides to do anything together. Replacing the new mage would benefit the rest of us.

The mage replied, somewhat rudely, that it was hardly his fault that his teachers enjoyed piling homework on their students, and said that it was unfair to punish him for putting homework before play. The mage wanted to remain in the clan because we had plenty of active and experienced members, so he would have no trouble joining a party whenever he could find enough time to play seriously.

The assassin accused the newbie of being selfish for expecting us to put up with having an inactive member, just so he could have an easier time in the game. The newbie replied saying it was equally selfish to punish someone for not being able to spend all day online. The argument ended there, as the newbie had to go offline.

The assassin has asked our clan leader to remove the newbie from the clan, but our leader has so far refused to make a decision, claiming that he was "not in the mood to deal with [impolite synonym for faeces] right now".

Most of us in the clan are students too and can't help but feel sorry for any comrade who gets swamped by homework, but having one extra party member would be very useful in our frequent monster hunts and clan wars. It is certainly true that the clan would benefit from replacing the newbie, but should we do so? After all, as the newbie pointed out, his lack of free time is hardly his fault.

Why effective communication is important for me:

Can anyone of us honestly claim to have never experienced problems in communicating with others?

I have often misheard or misunderstood instructions or requests from others before, causing me to waste my time doing unnecessary work and frustrating the people who were relying on my help. I have often tried to tell my friends an idea or an opinion and ended up getting only a confused look in response. I have sometimes tried to point out small mistakes that my friends have made, only to have them take it as criticism and respond angrily. Situations like these are why I believe effective communication is important for me. Better communication skills will surely be able to help me avoid misunderstandings and also help me convey my opinions more clearly.

Every day, I talk and interact with other people. I talk to my friends and family. As a student, I often have class assignments that require me to work in pairs or groups with other students. Even when the assignment is a solo task, I may still end up discussing it with other students to share ideas or ask for opinions on my answers. After I graduate, I will have to apply for a job, and I will likely have to compete with many other applicants. In a short job interview, I will have to convince the interviewer that I am a better choice than the other applicants. After I get a job, I will have to work well with other fellow employees. Communication is part of my daily life now, and it will be equally important in my future. Knowing how to communicate effectively will surely help me greatly throughout life.