Here are some photos that we took after the last day of ES2007s!!
I'm going to miss the class!! Everyone is so so so fun!!


Present to you the class of ES7007S 2008!!


Hope everyone will continue to keep in touch...


we at Vivo White Dog Cafe!!


bin and I trying to make faces in front of the camera


Guangyi trying to keep all the food for himself!! Pity the girls!!!


Bin and I in our ES classroom

Taken on the last day of ES2007S

In just a blink of an eye, we had come to the end of the semester. Just like any other school term, the end of semester means the start of our most hated examination.

But, this semester was slightly different for me. It has been the most fulfilling and adventurous term for me so far during my study in NUS. The choice of bidding ES2007s, in my opinion, was indeed a smart move.

Before this module, I always thought communication simply means to let the receiver understands what you are trying to put across. However, through this module as well as the making of the project, I realize that communication is so much more than that. ES2007s has definitely taught me many valuable skills which are essential especially in the future workforce. I am confident to say that I am now better equipped with the basic skills of writing and communication after attending the module.

Personally, I think the highlight of the entire course is the Survey Research Project and the Oral Presentation. I dare to say, my group, Bin-oxygy, had put in a great deal of effort, perhaps even more than our core modules, in the production of our survey research project. Practically almost every night, we would have our project discussion till almost everyone staying in my block went into their Lala land. Due to our busy schedule, we often conduct our project meeting through different modes of facilities i.e. Skype, phone conferencing, online chat room and emailing. Even though the process was a tedious and tiring one, I had an enjoyable time working with my teammates. At the same time, not only I got to learn many new skills, I got to understand my team members better.

I think one of the very important skills that I had acquired from the module is the ability to construct an effective resume and job application letter for different type of jobs. I have always thought that one resume can suit all different jobs, but it’s all wrong! Depending on the nature of the job, resume and application letter are to be structured in a way that fit the requirement of the desired job. I believe with an improved resume in hand, I will have an edge over other applicants.
Honestly speaking, the oral presentation we had in this module is my very first formal presentation. What I meant is the need to dress formally and have a structured way of “selling” our recommendation in our project to the class. It was definitely a memorable experience. Through this OP, I learnt that it is important to deliver our message to our listeners in a concise yet convincing manner in order to capture the attention of everyone. Of course, this is something which I am still in the process of mastering.


Taken on the day of our OP

Before I end this entry, I would like to take this opportunity to thanks Ms Happy Goh for putting in so much effort in teaching us the art of communication and for her patience in reading our reports over and over again and of course, taking time to read our blog entries. You have been a great teacher! I really enjoyed this module very much and I believe other s feel the same way as me.

Last but not least, I would like to thank my group members, Shaobin and Guangyi for their understanding and patience during the process of doing the project. I would definitely miss the time we had together.

My name is Xinyi and I am currently in my third year of studying in National University of Singapore (NUS), majoring in Chemistry. During my three years of university education, I was involved in many activities that trained me to be a better leader. On the whole, the process of organizing and working with different people built up my ability to socialize and communicate effectively.

I am passionate in rendering my service to people who are less fortunate. Volunteering nurtures my passion for life. For the past five years, I work very closely with the children at Student Care Center, planning activities, conducting tuition and counseling session with them. It heartwarming to see these children growing up despite the obstacles they encounter in their journey of growing. I am also actively volunteering in Institute of Mental Health (IMH) on every Saturday for the past three years where I learnt to be a better listener.

I enjoy doing anything with my family and friends as they will stay with you for life. If I have the opportunity, I wish to extend my service to the people, especially the children of the less developed countries.

On the whole in my opinion, this project had been a fulfilling, fun, as well as tiring one. We were only given about a month to finish the entire project. Given the fact that each of us has our commitment such as tuition and school work, we always end up having late night discussion. However, thanks to this project, we got the opportunity to explore different modes of communication: meeting up face-to-face, through phone and web conferencing and also, through email and online chat, to facilitate our project discussion.

During the recess week, we conducted our survey, as well as interviews with the one of the senior career advisor from NUS Career Centre and also, two NUS Science graduates.
I must admit, through these interviews, I learnt the importance of communication skills. The preparation work before the conducting of interview is essential in order to yield an effective result. Questions to be asked are to be thought through properly so as to bring across a better image of the group to the interviewees. The ability to speak and articulate clearly during interviews is extremely important in order for the interview process to flow smoothly and to steer in the correct path of what we want to find out.

During the course of the project, we were all assigned an individual part to complete. After which, we exchanged our part with one another to do our first round of editing. After it was done, we compiled our findings and did a second round of editing together. In the process, we applied some of the techniques learnt in the class. For instance, the appropriate way of drafting an email with clear and concise details, to listen to all opinions and suggestions by the group members and the use of the 7C in preparing the research report.

I really had a great time working with my group mates, Guangyi and Shaobin. We had lots of fun working together despite the tight schedules and dateline. Throughout the entire project process, we constantly encouraged one another. It was the team spirit that brought us closer together and to be able to meet all dateline.

Thanks friends!! It was indeed an unforgettable experience. Let’s continue to work hard together for the remaining part of the project!

Living in a multi-racial country, it is crucial for every Singaporean to at least know some basic culture of other racial groups. Topics on racial and cultural issues have always been a sensitive one in many countries. Looking at the world today, many countries are constantly facing the threat of natural disasters and the people are left devastated. On the other hand, there are thousands of people across the borders trying to fight for their survival. Not because their village was wiped out by volcano eruption, neither was it due to the struck of a destructive hurricane. Civilian war continues for years because of their inability to understand and acknowledge the existence of cultural differences among them.

Issues on racial and culture conflict have always been a complex one. Often than not, there is no absolute solution to them. Though it is not easy to fully understand culture itself, it is very important for us to recognize the existence of intercultural differences among the different ethnic groups. In the light of Singapore, our government has always been very tactful when dealing with racial/cultural issues. Any slight mistake makes may evoke the unhappiness of her people.

I remembered there was this incident where my action was quite insensitive. It was during the Ramandan, a month where all Muslims will fast. I met out with this Malay friend of mine to shop for a birthday gift. During the shopping trip, my stomach kept growling in hunger. At that moment, I had totally forgotten that it was the fasting month for the Muslims. I kept complaining how hungry I was and suggested many places for lunch. I admitted I was insensitive. I did not realize the change in his facial expression. After we had gotten the birthday gift, he said he had to make a move first. Before he left, he told me that he was fasting for the month. At that juncture, I realized my mistake I had made. I apologized profusely to him. Although he mentioned that it was alright, I could sense his unhappiness.

Of course, I did not say those words intentionally. But looking at it from another angle, in the first place, I should have gone to find out when was Ramandan since fasting is a known culture of the Muslims by everyone. What I would like to bring across is, it is essential for us to at least understand some of the common cultural differences of our other ethnic groups. I believe the ability to understand intercultural behaviors is a fundamental tool to enhance our interpersonal relationship and helps to create effective intercultural communication with people around us.

Research Question
Are Science undergraduates in NUS equipped with the necessary skills to prepare them for the workforce?

Hypothesis
Introducing compulsory social skill workshops in the curriculum could better prepare science undergraduates for the work force

Problem statement
Science students in NUS may be equipped with all the necessary academic skills and knowledge during their course of studies. However, they may not be equipped with the necessary skills needed to prepare them for the workforce.

Audience / Readers
Our targeted readers are student welfare committee for the department of Science Club and the Dean of Undergraduate Studies for Science.

Our potential readers are Science undergraduates in NUS.

Purpose statement
The objective of this report is to find out if the academic system employed by NUS prepares science undergraduates well for the workforce.

Methodology
We will be conducting a survey with 100 NUS students comprising of Year 2-4 students regarding their opinion on how well NUS prepare them for the future workforce.

In addition, we will be interviewing the dean of undergraduate studies on how the curriculum is decided and to obtain employment statistics of science graduates in different sectors of the workforce.

The topic on cohabitation has always interested me. It is not that I am an advocate of cohabitation. I am just curious in finding out how Singaporeans feel about the idea of living together without martial status. Even though cohabitation is not a very new topic, it still seems to be a taboo subject amongst conservative Singaporeans. We always claim that we are a modern and open society. But the question is, are we open enough to accept cohabitation?

Cohabitation is when people live together in an emotionally- and/or physically-intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married. According to a recent survey conducted, there is an increasing number of Singaporean couples who prefer to cohabit. Some of the reasons are that they would not be legally tied down and in any case, should their relationship sour, they would not incur any legal costs that are often associated with a divorce.

To many of our parents, even some of our friends today, the idea of cohabitating without marital status is a big “NO NO”. Of course, we all know what their concerns are. But, if that is the case, why do people especially the younger generation still choose to cohabit? Or why do some strongly resist the idea of cohabitation?

In Singapore, we have a variety of races and cultures. Every culture has its own set of values that they adhere to. Therefore, I would like to use this opportunity to find out how the different cultural groups in Singapore respond to cohabitation. At the same time, to investigate which cultural group is more acceptable to embrace the idea of staying together without martial status.


In order to research more on this topic, there is a need for us to conduct an attitudinal survey on the opinions of cohabitation from our four major racial groups in Singapore. The reason is that the objective of the research is to find out how our younger generation of Singaporeans feel and think. Therefore, my target group will be NUS students as this pool of students have the criteria (different racial groups) and elements (aged from18 to 25) needed for the research.

Interpersonal conflict is something that every one of us has to deal with. In my opinion, as long as there is human interaction, interpersonal conflict is inevitable. Perhaps one may not be directly involved in the conflict, but since our emotion is very much affected by people around us, we may just be part of this interpersonal conflict, whether we like it or not.

There was once I encountered a situation which happened during my vocation job in the semestral break not long ago. I was working in a government department, Company A. My main job scope was as to man a helpdesk to guide callers to use the E-Services provided by my company to apply for their business licenses. Basically, my company acts like a “middle-man” (service provider) between customers and other government agencies ie MOM, MOE and etc. Very often, I had to liaise with these agencies on behalf of the callers.

I received a call from a caller regarding her Employment Agency License. As I had mentioned earlier, my company is a service provider on behalf of other agencies and we do not process license applications. She called in to complain that she had paid for her license, yet she still had not received any approval from Agency B. Even though this was out of my job scope and she had to liaise with Agency B directly herself, I decided to help her.

I called up Agency B and the officer-in-charge told me that they did not have any record pertaining to the customer. I requested the officer to check again and he said this “I say don’t have mean don’t have. What is there to check again?” After hearing this, I admitted I was a little irritated with him. So I returned the call to the customer and explained the situation to her (of course I did not mention the part on the officer’s attitude).

By then, the customer was really on hot-pot. She started to yell at me, using unkind words like “useless”, “waste of tax-payer money” and so on. I tried explaining to her that at our end, we do not process application and she had to call Agency B to check. However, customer demanded that since she used our service, we were obliged to do everything for her.

At that point of time, I was feeling so trapped and loss in the situation. I was just merely a “middle-man”. The parties involved understand the situation better than I did but none was willing to communicate or help each other. In the end, I had to get my boss to handle the case. I do not know the outcome of the dispute but I presumed that it was resolved as the customer did not call in anymore.

Sometimes I just wonder, “Is it really very difficult for people to work together?” In the situation as mentioned earlier, the dispute can be easily resolved as long as the officer in Agency B was willing to help. I’m just hoping one day, everyone will learn to work well with one another, and create a better world.

Communication skill is the most fundamental tool that we must possess. Every one of us is innately equipped with some skills of communication. We begin our very first form of communication through crying when we are still an infant. As we grow a little older, we learn the skills of language, allowing us to convey messages to one another verbally or through writing. 

Communications is not solely about getting the message across. An effective communication encompasses aspect such as the body language, the tone of voice and eye contact. Very often, our first impression is based upon the way a person carries himself and the way he speaks. Imagine a scenario whereby a candidate applying for a job is unable to speak coherently and slouches in his chair while being interviewed, the chances of him getting employed are very slim. The ability to communicate effectively will reveal a person’s aplomb as well as the attitude he will have towards his job and the people around him.

To complicate matters further, there are times whereby the meaning of the message received deviates from what the speaker’s original intention. Take for instance, when a guy is busy with his school work and he tells his girlfriend, “I have no time for you now. We will talk again later”. He simply meant that after he has finished his work, he will spend time with her. However, the girl may interpret it as he does not like her anymore, and have an argument. From here, we can see that it is crucial for us to grasp the communication process properly and at the same time, to pay attention to the needs of the audience.

It is a common trend nowadays for people to only focus on getting their voices heard and not paying attention to the other party. People tend to overlook the fact that communicating effectively actually requires the involvement of both party. Thus, many conflicts arise due to this very reason.

In a nutshell, it is important for us to develop good communication skills as it is one of the key factors for a person to be successful in life.