A wonderful 13 weeks

ES2007 Group 8

As I sit at a nice cozy corner of West Coast MacDonalds, enjoying my cup of freshly brewed coffee and listening to the melodious melodies by Jason Maraz, beautiful memories continue to fill up my mind. While blogging is certainly not my cup of ‘coffee’, these 13 weeks of writing resumes and personal statements, jotting down comments on our ‘beloved’ NUS Wiki have certainly made me start pondering.

I must certainly thank the module coordinator for ES2007, Professional Communication, for introducing blogging as a mode of assessment. Otherwise, I would possibility not have owned any blog in my life. Through blogging, I have learnt to better organise my essay as concise and captivating as possible. While my blog entries might not be the most interesting, thought-provoking and flattery ones, I have made tremendous efforts penning down what I deem as the most appropriate and relevant.

Having been a very active student all my life, I have always spent my holidays either preparing for concerts or getting ready for competitions with my Victorian choirs. Hence, I have never known what documents are essential in a job-seeking process. It is only through this module that I have the opportunity to write a resume, cover letter and personal statements. The four weeks spent on designing surveys, writing a comprehensive and convincing proposal with the delivery of an oral presentation at the end of the month have certainly been very busy but satisfying. At this junction, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Andrew and Bingfu for tolerating me throughout the whole course. I have really enjoyed working and teaming up with both of you. Thank you so much.

This course would certainly not been possible without the ever-enthusiastic Ms Lim Lay Hoon. Thanks for being so understanding and patient with me, entertaining all my difficult requests and complaints throughout the course. I really appreciate it. As much as there are some lessons and views that I do not fully agree with you, you have certainly offered me another perspective of looking at things. Thanks for all the quizzes and psychometric tests that you have gone through with us. They have certainly made the lessons more interesting and interactive.

Allow me to thank you guys individually. Without the feedback and active participation, this module would definitely not been so fun and enjoyable.

Audrey Pow: Thanks for sharing with me your knowledge on how to start a blog. I remembered emailing everyone at the start of the course, asking for help with the starting of a blog. Your prompt reply has allowed me to effectively get my first blog post up. The resume reviewing session has also allowed me to interact with you more. I really appreciate it.

Valencia: You looked very different without your spectacles.  Last Friday, when I walked into class, I was stunned and shocked to see a ‘new’ girl in class. It took me almost a minute before I recognize you. Although we seldom talk to each other in class, it has been nice having you around in class. Thanks.

Joanne: Hi friend thanks for being so supportive and giving very useful feedback throughout the whole course. You certainly have powerful vocal and have exhibited a lot of confidence in your presentation. Good job. Although my interaction with you has been limited to group discussions, it has been my pleasure knowing you.

Priscilla: Your bubbly nature has certainly brought a lot of joy to class discussions. You have often offered a different perspective of looking at issues and I have definitely benefited much from them. Your enthusiasm in engineering will spur you on as you continue your studies in NUS. All the best mate.

Ren Jie: Bro, thanks for sharing with us all your knowledge on interviews and resume writing. Your insightful pointers have definitely been useful. It has been nice talking to you. I wish you all the best the job-seeking process.

Yong Sheng: Your humorous remarks have definitely livened up the mood during lesson. Through the group sharing sessions and your blog entries, you have shown that you are very fun-loving and creative. It has been nice having you in class.

TS: Bro, you are one of the first few people I befriend in class. Thanks for your ever lively and entertaining remarks and comments. Like what I have told you on the bus, I always look forward to your sharing sessions and presentations because you never fail capture everyone’s attention whenever you speak. Keep up the good work.

JJ: Bro, you have been one of the most outspoken people in the class. Your enthusiasm has definitely made the class discussion more lively and entertaining. You have also been offering a good listening ear to your friends. Nice knowing you mate.



I wondered what's JJ and Audrey doing? Ermmm.....


JS: Hey mate, although you have been relatively quiet, I realized that you have been a very supportive group mate and have contributed very actively in class by picking out appropriate errors/mistakes during discussion. It has been nice having you around in class.

Aaron: Hey bro, thanks for your often thought-provoking and inspiring comments during lessons. You have been a very nice listener to everyone. Your cheerfulness has often livened up the class, especially on days when all of us are very tired. Thanks a lot.

Alvin: You have been a very calm and steady classmate. Although you can be very quiet at times, you have been very charismatic during oral presentations and I certainly looked forward to your sharing session each time.

Bingfu and Andrew: To my dearest ‘colleagues/partners of A&A’, I am deeply grateful to have you guys as my teammate. Thanks for tolerating my flaws and often last-minute work. Nonetheless, I think we made a good team in complementing each other. Thanks so much for the feedback and sharing sessions over the past 13 weeks. You guys were the first few people I met in the class and thanks for being such nice pals.

Let’s keep in contact after this module. May everyone have a wonderful preparation for this upcoming examination and to those who are graduating, happy job hunting. May everyone have a blessed reading week and stay healthy.

Reviewing Oral Presentation

Hi friends,

Blog post 7 is about evaluation of our own presentation. I thought about it long and hard, but I felt that I could not effectively pen down my thoughts. Hence, I thought that perhaps the best and most effective way of coveying my thoughts would be through a short video clip on Oral Presentation. Below is the recorded presentation that I have made. Enjoy!



Evaluation of Oral Presentation




The following are the suggested videos that you guys can refer to:
1)Effective Powerpoint Presentation


2)A Memorable Presentation


3) Effective use of aids


4) Time management

Feedback on module

This post is in response to Ms Lim's email on feedback for the module.

I have decided to post this entry on my blog for all to see and comment if there are any strong agreements and disagreements to the comments made.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the moderator of the course in introducing blogging as part of the module. As a person who has a weak command of language, it actually takes a lot of courage for me to actually blog and discuss serious issues online. What’s the point of starting a blog when you only post a few entries and the blog becomes dysfunctional after that? Hence, I am really glad that this blog component is part of this module.

However, there are a few concerns that I have over the active participation in the ‘commenting exercise’, in particular, the frequency of making comments. At times, I do have some problems making remarks and comments on the post. While there are definitely many things to comment on, there are times when I felt that certain stuff are too trivial to comment about because I am not really expressing my thoughts on the issue but rather, pointing out small mistakes. Hence, whenever I read through the post, I often ask myself this question- Do I really have a strong comment to make over the issue/content, or am I stating something trivial for the sake of making a comment?

The peer teaching component of this module is another aspect of this course which I think it is fantastic. It allows us to have a platform to practise what we have learnt, such as the use of 7 Cs and the proper body language and posture necessary in presentation. Being science students, often we do not have as much opportunities as business students to practise their presentation skills. Furthermore, even when we make mistakes in presentations, most of the time we are unaware of the mistakes. However, in this course, we are exposed to critics from our peers and this has certainly helped us to learn and improve.

The structure and format of writing a proposal is important. However, as I have spoken to Ms Lim over the phone, using NUS Wiki to update and record the information is certainly a bad idea in my opinion. While it may seem ‘chicken feet’ to most of the people in using this to update the minutes, brief proposals and agenda, it is difficult to others, especially our group.

Personally, I felt that while using html coding is tedious and time consuming, it does not allow us to freely express our thoughts unlike that of Microsoft word. It is inevitable that concept maps are used in presenting ideas during discussion. Using NUS Wiki has certainly created some problems in us using this as a mode of presenting our ideas. Furthermore, users often have to depend on commands such as ‘&npsd’ to correct the alignment, as compared to simply making use of the ‘tab’ function on the key board. Furthermore, I felt that the use of the ‘parent-children tree structure’ function creates a lot of untidiness and confusion as compared to storing the documents in folders. Of course, the advantage of doing so is that it prevents duplicated copies of the document from creating confusion to the user.

In general, I felt that the course has achieved its objective thus far. The sharing session from Ms Lim’s teaching material as well as her enthusiastic and constructive comments and criticism have certain ensured that we are constant on our toes. “Tough man deserves tough training. Quality work results from demanding mentors.” While the workload of this module is very heavy, it is certainly very enjoyable, especially during sharing sessions in class when all of us interact and share our general knowledge, stories and observations. However, with the extremely tight deadline from every aspect of the module, we have to often put in a lot of effort if we want quality work and that is indeed a very high opportunity cost. Don’t you think so?

Have a pleasant weekend folks!

Personal Statement - Informative

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." --- Mahatma Gandhi

Indeed, this is how Alan Chua perceived life after 23 years living in this world renowned lion city called Singapore. He lives his happy-go-lucky life with his family of 5 in the northeastern part of the country called Sengkang in the weekends and joins his loyal brothers and caring sisters in the hostel called Kent Ridge Hall during the weekdays. Currently an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor degree majoring in Applied Mathematics, he hopes to fulfill his lifelong dreams of becoming the principal of his alma mater by joining the teaching force once he graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2010.

Since learning is a lifelong process, this friendly and joyful young man plans to enhance his knowledge by reading an advanced post-graduate diploma at the National Institute of Education (NIE). He also hopes to read his Masters in Education when he has gotten enough exposure in his teaching career.

As a very outgoing and spontaneous person, Alan has been extremely active throughout his life. He has been a role-model to his peers, honing his skills as a prefect, a monitor, a peer-support leader over the years. During his national service in the army, he has also exhibited strong leadership skills by becoming the best trainee in the signal specialist course. He was also conferred “Best soldier of the month” award in recognition to his active contributions to his peers, colleagues and organization during his time in the army.

He continues to embark on an enriching life during his university days, taking part in numerous activities ranging from performing in the production to raising funds for the charities during the annual NUS Flag and Rag (Receive and Give) Day. On top of that, he has also been performing and competing overseas together with his alumni choir, winning numerous gold awards and emerging as champions. Despite his busy and hectic schedule, he has also been volunteering at the Salvation Army, giving tuition to the children in the Home.


A Singlish song

As a typical Singaporean, Alan speaks broken English, formerly known as Singlish, and enjoys listening to music ranging from pop to rock. During his free time, he also enjoys playing street soccer with his lifelong friends as well as ‘relaxing’ at a corner with a book and a glass of wine. That is when he sits down and seeks solitude, using the time to reflect on his personal life and to realign his goals and vision in life and in learning. What an old man’s behavior!

"The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving." --- Albert Einstein

Job Application Letter (MOE)

Chua Gim Sen
Blk 190B Rivervale Drive
#04-968
Singapore 542190
Telephone: (65)92969450

4th September 2009

Mr Winston James Hodge
Director,Teaching and Development
Ministry of Education, Singapore
1 North Buona Vista Drive
Singapore 138675

Dear Mr Hodge,

I am writing to express my interest in securing a teaching position with the Ministry of Education (MOE) in response to your advertisement from the MOE website. I am currently an undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS), majoring in Applied Mathematics.

I come to you with a solid understanding of the different career tracks and programs that MOE offers. Through the in-service courses, such as the Advanced Post Graudate Diploma, I am sure one would be equipped with professional knowledge and skills required to prepare them for a teaching career.

To be an educator has been my life-long aspiration since my secondary school days. As a highlight of my experience, I have been a student leader throughout my whole academic life, ranging from Peer-Support Leader to Vice-President of Junior Common Room Committee (JCRC) of Kent Ridge Hall. Through these extra-curriculum activities, I get to interact with different people from various streams and faculties. This helps me to gain a better insight of the needs of students and the challenges that students face in our holistic education program. It also gives me great joy and satisfaction whenever I manage to help my peers to discover their strengths and to groom my juniors into future student leaders.

I have done relief teaching in various neighbourhood schools teaching mathematics and sciences before my undergraduate studies. This exposure allows me to better understand what are the roles, responsibilities and commitments that a teacher need and the challenges of teaching in different streams. I have also gone for a cross-cultural exchange program at the University of Waterloo, Canada. The exchange program has given me an opportunity to compare on and evaluate the different learning and teaching styles and approaches between Singapore’s education system and the more Westernised one. Hence, I ask for the opportunity to translate my passion and desire to teach into reality.

In that regard, I would appreciate the opportunity for a meeting session to discuss my qualifications and the possibility of joining MOE. Please find my enclosed resume for your review. I look forward to hearing from you and talking to the panel in person.

Yours sincerely,




Chua Gim Sen

My boyfriend! Your girlfriend!

John has been in a relationship with his ex-classmate, Jane, for about 4.5 years. They got together since Junior College and everyone around them thinks that they are very compatible. In fact, some of us even thought that they will most probably get married first, amongst us. However, recently, their relationship strained and Jane initiated a break-up. Shocked and bewildered, John nonetheless agreed. 2 weeks later, Jane decided to call John to ask for reconciliation. However, this time around, John was confused. He did not know if he is ready to continue with the relationship even though he still loves her dearly.

He felt that the main reason for the initiate break-up is due to his immaturity and until he can eventually ‘grow up’, agreeing on the reconciliation might end up wasting Jane’s time. Before the breakup, he did mention to Jane that he is ready to discuss issues pertaining to setting up a family; however, Jane was not ready because she has just graduated and just started working. Furthermore, the conflict could have also arisen due to John’s fairly neutral attitude towards his future.

Perhaps bringing up the issue of setting up a family might be too sudden such that it might have resulted in the breakup? Perhaps it was the differences in expectation and wants that result in the conflict?
In my opinion, much of this issue lies behind the fact that there is a conflict of interest. Everyone has different wants and expectation and relationship is build on the basis of constant effective communication and efforts put in by both/all parties in order to reach a certain compromise eventually.

We had a good talk last night and have advised him to put himself in her shoes and not to hesitate too long. If he still a heart for her, why not give each other a chance and see if things work out the second time. If it doesn’t, at the very least, both parties have tried.

What do you guys think about conflicts that arise in a B-G relationship? Should it happen to any of your friends, what advice and suggestions would you give?