Back to what communication means to me

At the start of ES2007S, Brad made us write a blog post about what communication means to us. In that post, I wrote about how insecure I was about approaching strangers and opening up to them. This was probably due to my issue of low confidence, and on top of that, my inadequacy in communication skills as well. Over the years, I slowly tackled these issues to become who you see today. Yet, taking ES2007S was probably one of the most risk- taking steps I had ever taken in hope of improving myself as a person. The most valuable lesson that I took away from the course was to trust myself, to trust that I am no longer the low confident kid, that when I stand in front of the crowd what I say is worth listening to and that I am special in my own unique way.

Throughout this course, we were made (although forced seems to be a more appropriate word, haha) to do presentations and our research group mates were assigned. Initially, I was worried that it will be awkward for me to work with strangers. But surprisingly it was one of the most enjoyable projects I had ever done. The fact that Ranmali, Valarie, Ye Thu Win and I were of different nationality and background made the experience even more interesting. During each meeting, I was able to learn something new about foreign culture and to know them more personally and in turn allow them to know me as well. Stepping out of my comfort zone really let me experience things that I otherwise would not have experience; not being around my usual friends also made me understand that I am no longer the insecure child I used to be.

During presentation, subtle differences between personalities were shown as everyone step up to better their presentation skills. Through the presentations, I learned that while there is not a correct way of presenting, there are definitely styles which better suit a person's personality and hence improve on their delivery. Personally, knowing my content was the first step before I can develop my 'style' of delivery. Then it was about letting my personality come through during the presentation. In the past, I did what everyone did, which was to maintain eye contact, speak at an appropriate pace, memorise what was to be said. A consequence of that was a phobia of not presenting the correct way and tones of nervousness. Now, I feel that perhaps smiling, walking and cracking small jokes are acceptable as well as long as I use them correctly. I no longer feel the need to impersonate another person and adopt a ‘style’ that is not me. Well, I had not mastered the skill yet but I am sure I will one day.

Right now, if you ask me what communication means to me, I will still give you the same answer. Communication is not merely about talking but also about the things you say, how you say it and all the nonverbals that goes along. However, on top of that, people need to know themselves first. Through this course, I learned more about myself and how I had grown over the years as well as the various skills to make myself a better communicator.

Thank you, Brad and my 14 other classmates for making this module such an enjoyable one for me. Geraldine: Thank you for taking the module with me! Ranmali, Valarie and Ye Thu Win: Thank you for bearing with all my over the top behaviour and my constant fun-poking comments during the project meetings. It was really great working with you guys

Oral Presentation :)

First of all, let me just say that despite the many enjoyable late nights that I spent with Valeria, Ye Thu Win and Ranmali at the central forum and the times when I get to make fun of Ranmali (ahem.. century egg!), I am still very happy that the project is finally over!

Before the presentation, we scrutinized and edited each other's slides umpteen times. While it was time-consuming, it helped us to be familiar with, not just our own slides, but each other’s slides as well and a better idea of where our presentation was heading. I actually liked that we had to keep our slides simple because it was easier to remember that way. Also, I feel that during the presentation, the attention can be on what we had to say instead of what was shown on the slides.

Yes.. I do not like oral presentations at all (and I am sure everyone knows that) but I actually enjoyed this oral presentation. For this presentation, I was definitely less nervous and more relaxed in front of everyone than during the peer teaching. During peer teaching, I had a ‘script’ I followed closely to and I thought that contributed to my fear of forgetting what I had to say. Besides that, I was also unused to having to speak in front of a bunch of strangers. For this oral presentation, instead of memorizing a script, I remembered my points so that it felt as though I was telling my audience a ‘story’. Every time we rehearsed I was able to bring my point across differently. Perhaps I was lucky that I am talkative so talking was not a problem to me.

Overall, I think I did well with my presentation and I would not be as hesitant as before to do a presentation but I think I still have to improve more on my stage presence in future.

Firebenders' problem statement, purpose statement draft 1

3. PROBLEM STATEMENT

Employers value various communication skills to ensure a high level of efficiency in employees, clear understanding of management protocol and ease of operation between departments. With local polytechnics and other universities offering specialized communication modules to FST students not offered by NUS, NUS FST students may find themselves disadvantaged in the workplace – not just in Singapore but also internationally. The purpose of this research is to find out about the communication needs of the food industrial workplace and with that, come out with a modification in the FST curriculum.



4. PURPOSE STATEMENT

The aim of this proposal is to persuade the NUS Excellence Unit that it is necessary to carry out further research on the communication needs in the food industrial workplace.

Intercultural Conflict

Just last January, a week before all the madness in school started, my friends and I spent four days in Bali. As we made that decision a few days before the trip, we went there unprepared, with only the impression that Bali is a surfer's paradise. Honestly. when we arrived, we were all quite nervous about the surrounding and the people around us. However, we found ourselves getting used to the environment pretty quickly.

One of my friends commented that, as Singaporeans, we seemed to be able to get use to a foreign environment more quickly as we were exposed to many different cultures since young. Well, I agreed with her opinion to a certain extent. With the exposure to other culture, besides Chinese culture, we were taught to be more aware and tolerant of the differences that other culture had from our own.

Yet, there were still situations when we were unable to do so. I remembered an incident that happened when my family and I went to Beijing. During the whole vacation, my brother was very irritated with some Chinese's perception of personal space. Every now and then, someone will walk into his space and bump into him and looked as though nothing happened. Perhaps due to their highly populated city thus the high density of people everywhere, bumping into people every now and then is a daily affair for them. However, for most Singaporeans, we highly value our personal space and do not appreciate people invading it.

I was glad that even though my brother was highly annoyed by the numerous incidents when the Chinese bumped into him, he did not sound it out to them.

Application Letter #2

Gan LinHui
142 Bukit Batok St 11
#16-07
S650142

Application for the Events Manager Advertisement Posted on 2nd February 2010


Dear Sir/ Mdm,

I am writing to enquire about the advertisement for the Event Manager post which appeared on the JobsDB portal on 2 February 10. I had recently graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a BSc Life Sciences with Specialisation in Biology.

I understand that my degree is not related to the field of management and marketing. However, over the years, I had been assigned various positions in my school clubs which helped me developed skills of planning events and people management and I enjoyed every part of the planning process and working in a team. Being the President of the NUS wakeboarding club, one of the challenges was to organise Introductory Courses and coordinate all aspects of the events. Due to the busy schedule of my members and that of the boat operators, last minute changes to the schedule of the Introductory Course were often unavoidable. This required me to work with the available options and come up with impromptu activities such that the Introductory Courses could run smoothly.
I personally feel that a passion for this job is important to do a perfect job. On top of that, emotional intelligence instead of just intelligence is essential for a job of this nature as ultimately it is a job which requires many interactions and co-operation between project team members. Hence, I hope that you would consider my application despite my qualifications.

Thank you



Gan LinHui

Application Letter #1

Gan LinHui
142 Bukit Batok St 11
#16-07
S650142


Dear Administrator,
I am writing to enquire about the advertisement for the Event Manager post which appeared on the JobsDB portal on 2 February 10. I have recently graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a BSc Life Sciences with Specialisation in Biology.

I understand that my degree is not related to the field of management and marketing. However, over the years, I had been assigned various positions in my school clubs and society which helped me develop skills of planning events and people management. I enjoy every part of the planning process and working in a team.
I personally feel that a passion for this job is important to do a perfect job. On top of that, emotional intelligence instead of just intelligence is essential for a job of this nature so I hope that you would consider my application despite my qualification.

Thank you
LinHui

The Sandwiched Man

Do you belong to a family where your grandma and mum do not get along, where your dad constantly avoid getting involve in the conflicts between the two women? I do. There is nothing new about my story, just a typical problem between the mother- in- laws and their daughter- in- law, but one that I wished never had existed in my family.

Ever since I was young, I was aware of the tension between my mother and my grandmother, built up long before I was born. It all started after my parents were married, when my father made my mother promise that she will not ill-treat my grandmother. I guessed my father’s intention for doing so was to prevent any conflict in the family. I had to be honest, my mother was not perfect, as do no one was, but I would say that my grandmother was much worse.

Even without taking what I heard of the past, from my mother regarding my grandmother’s actions, into account, I would still say that things were very unfair for my mother.

Living in a period where women were getting jobs to help their husbands cope with the high standard of living, my mother faced the challenge of juggling her roles as a homemaker and a career woman. Having to leave for work at eight in the morning and only coming back at seven did not excuse her from the many household chores that she was expected to do. You might ask why it was expected of my mother to complete the household. Well, it was expected by my grandmother’s standard. My grandmother who had a traditional mindset believed that the only responsibilities of a woman were to look after their husband and keep the house clean. Hence, on top of the stress she faced from work, my mother was constantly under the pressure of performing her task at hundred percent of perfection. It did not help when my grandmother criticized my mother in front of relatives (trust me, her words can be pretty ugly) and her lack of discretion often left my mother fuming with anger.

For the past thirty years, because of the promise my mother made to my father, she never confronted my grandmother. She, did however, complained to my father about all the things that my grandmother said and did to her. My father, being a guy who disliked disagreements and confrontation, kept quiet all these years. This issue no doubt strained their relationship. It also built a lot of bitterness in my mother making her grumpy, short- tempered and constantly obsessed with doing things to perfection to avoid any sarcastic remarks from my grandmother.

At this point of time, it is no longer possible to ask my mother to talk to my grandmother to solve the issue between them without my mother lashing out at her. What should my father have done to improve the situation or is doing nothing the best thing to do?