Before I took up this module, I thought communications? Shouldn’t that be easy? Everyone knows how to communicate. But through this course, I came to realize that they are in fact very complex, in terms of interpersonal relationships, cultural context and so on. There is so much more to be learnt from this topic and our lecturer, Miss Goh has exposed to us to various communication techniques through hands-on such as writing our resumes, minutes, business letters, blogs and our formal report. And it was also through the feedback that I have gotten from Miss Goh that I have learnt and digested some of these skills. The soft skills I have learnt in this course definitely cannot be picked up from your ordinary textbooks. It is certainly one of the most interesting modules I have ever taken.
Learning how to communicate verbally and non-verbally is also one of the most important take-home messages for this course. Through my course mates, Nie Jing and Mario who are certainly the best team mates around, I have also learnt how to work better in a team and was given a chance to improve on my communication skills. Thanks to them for tolerating me and helping me out on my share of work when I was busy juggling with my schedule and making this project experience a great one for me.
Although I did hope that my presentation skills would improve after this course, I do not deny that I was very disappointed with myself during my oral presentation. But as the saying goes “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” And hopefully with more presentation opportunities, I can improve on my skills and to come across as a better speaker in future.
But nonetheless, I have enjoyed myself tremendously throughout this course and thank you everyone, especially Miss Goh for making this course a enriching and fun one for me. =)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Post #6 : Bio Data
I am currently studying at the National University of Singapore (NUS), in my 3rd final year, and I will be graduating this July with a Bachelor of Science. My strong interest in chemistry was nurtured during my secondary and junior college education and has led me to pursue it at university level. Although it is at a much difficult level, the curriculum fosters my critical thinking and the laboratory sessions in chemistry have allowed me to acquire analytical skills which can be applied in everyday life.
However, I also believe that learning is a never ending experience and one should never limit oneself to one discipline. Thus I have taken arts modules such as history and social work to business modules such as marketing and human resource management to gain some knowledge in other disciplines. I had also volunteered to go on a Work and Travel USA program in 2008 and I had a chance to immerse myself in an entirely different cultural setting and to broaden my perspective and even picked up new skills. This has convinced me that I should embark on a career that will allow me to work in Singapore and in other countries as well.
I have also been an active member of various dance clubs in NUS and have taken part in numerous numbers of concerts, performances and competitions. I had also taken up the position as a Chairperson in d’Hoppers club and had many opportunities to lead the club and to build up my abilities to work well in a team. To be able commit to dance, one has to be very disciplined, have the right attitudes and learn how to juggle between studies and dance as dance practices take up a huge portion of our time. Thus I learnt how to work under pressure and learn how to manage time well. I believe that his is a critical skill that is much needed in today’s fast-paced stressful working environment of Singapore.
I hope that my acquired knowledge and skills, as well some of the leadership skills and positive attitudes and beliefs will bring me greater heights in my future career.
However, I also believe that learning is a never ending experience and one should never limit oneself to one discipline. Thus I have taken arts modules such as history and social work to business modules such as marketing and human resource management to gain some knowledge in other disciplines. I had also volunteered to go on a Work and Travel USA program in 2008 and I had a chance to immerse myself in an entirely different cultural setting and to broaden my perspective and even picked up new skills. This has convinced me that I should embark on a career that will allow me to work in Singapore and in other countries as well.
I have also been an active member of various dance clubs in NUS and have taken part in numerous numbers of concerts, performances and competitions. I had also taken up the position as a Chairperson in d’Hoppers club and had many opportunities to lead the club and to build up my abilities to work well in a team. To be able commit to dance, one has to be very disciplined, have the right attitudes and learn how to juggle between studies and dance as dance practices take up a huge portion of our time. Thus I learnt how to work under pressure and learn how to manage time well. I believe that his is a critical skill that is much needed in today’s fast-paced stressful working environment of Singapore.
I hope that my acquired knowledge and skills, as well some of the leadership skills and positive attitudes and beliefs will bring me greater heights in my future career.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Post #5 Open Topic : Other Communication issues- Dinner etiquette
So when a male and a female go out for dinner together, who pays? Should the girl be the demure lady and let the man pay? Or should the girls offer to pay for the whole meal? Or would “going dutch” be the best option? This may be a form of communication as could different options actually convey different meanings?
Probably in the past, men are obliged to pay for the meal if a man and woman went out to a meal together. But gradually, as women attain the same social status and equal rights as men; do women feel the social pressure to offer to pay for the meal too?
If a woman were to offer to pay for the whole meal, would the man feel offended? Just like the woman might seem to be asserting her “feminist values” on a man and imply that she was not earning a lesser paycheck than the man?
If a man were to pay for a meal, how long should he continue paying for all the meals? And would that suggest that a woman is weaker and dependable on the man?
So “going Dutch” does seem to be the best option out of all. However, what are the probable signals that this option might convey? That sharing the tab with a man might mean that the female is hinting that they are just friends and any opportunities for further relationship development would be lost?
But to me, my solution would be if someone pays this time, I will gratefully accept it and offer to pay for the next meal out together; or sometimes I will share the bill; or sometimes pay for the whole meal when I am feeling rich. Not only in the aspect of the dating issue, but also with friends and families or colleagues as well. Thus, maybe no more guessing game of what the conveyed message meant. What do you think? =)
Probably in the past, men are obliged to pay for the meal if a man and woman went out to a meal together. But gradually, as women attain the same social status and equal rights as men; do women feel the social pressure to offer to pay for the meal too?
If a woman were to offer to pay for the whole meal, would the man feel offended? Just like the woman might seem to be asserting her “feminist values” on a man and imply that she was not earning a lesser paycheck than the man?
If a man were to pay for a meal, how long should he continue paying for all the meals? And would that suggest that a woman is weaker and dependable on the man?
So “going Dutch” does seem to be the best option out of all. However, what are the probable signals that this option might convey? That sharing the tab with a man might mean that the female is hinting that they are just friends and any opportunities for further relationship development would be lost?
But to me, my solution would be if someone pays this time, I will gratefully accept it and offer to pay for the next meal out together; or sometimes I will share the bill; or sometimes pay for the whole meal when I am feeling rich. Not only in the aspect of the dating issue, but also with friends and families or colleagues as well. Thus, maybe no more guessing game of what the conveyed message meant. What do you think? =)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Post #4 : Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour
Being a primary school kid back then, we were not exactly matured at that period of time. I remembered there was this time at the canteen table where there were two segregated groups: namely the Malays and the Chinese. We did not know one another but somehow we started a very agitated argument. We threw abuses at one another such as “Malays stink,” “Malays are barbi,” “Malays are stupid. ”In primary school,we were probably only aware of our skin colour differences and we tend and preferred to mix around with our own race. The lack of interaction only led to further aggressive feelings towards the other “skin coloured” people.
Certainly in Singapore where the majority is Chinese, some of us do have our own prejudiced views towards other races, sometimes deeming them as being inherently lazy, not as bright in academic or work etc. And I do not deny that my own family did pass down some of these prejudiced views to me since I was young. These stereotyping of other races usually stem from lack of communication, understanding and tolerance towards one another. I myself studied in Chinese schools since secondary school to NUS where Jay and Rathi are the only non-chinese friends I have made in NUS.
In such environments, how often do we really get to interact and understand one another better? Racial Harmony once a year is definitely not enough. More could be done. Perhaps some racial elements could actually be introduced into the school curriculum to increase the awareness of our cultural differences and different values and beliefs and such prejudices would eventually disappear.
Certainly in Singapore where the majority is Chinese, some of us do have our own prejudiced views towards other races, sometimes deeming them as being inherently lazy, not as bright in academic or work etc. And I do not deny that my own family did pass down some of these prejudiced views to me since I was young. These stereotyping of other races usually stem from lack of communication, understanding and tolerance towards one another. I myself studied in Chinese schools since secondary school to NUS where Jay and Rathi are the only non-chinese friends I have made in NUS.
In such environments, how often do we really get to interact and understand one another better? Racial Harmony once a year is definitely not enough. More could be done. Perhaps some racial elements could actually be introduced into the school curriculum to increase the awareness of our cultural differences and different values and beliefs and such prejudices would eventually disappear.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Post #3 Business Correspondence Critique
Hi Faculty of Science!
The Science Club Website is revamped and is now ok and ready to go! Do go take a look and read up on the latest happenings in Science!
Cheers~
The website is sciclub.nus.edu.sg and please send any suggestions and/or corrections to sciclub.publications@science.nus.edu.sg.
Thanks!
Regards,
Chia Song Zhe Andy (Mr.)
Publications Director
29th Science Club Management Committee
NUS Students' Science Club
A Constituent Club of the NUS Students' Union
This is an email I have just received today actually from our NUS email inbox.
Below is an analysis of the contents based on 7Cs in writing:
1) Courtesy
This Publications Director actually started off with a “Hi” and words like “cheers” actually made this email sound polite. However, it did not refer the readers as “Dear Science students” but greeted us as “faculty of science” instead. This may not come under the “Adopt a You-Attitude” as “faculty of science” did not have endearing tone to it.
2) Correctness
Basically this email has no grammatical mistakes or spelling mistakes. However, phrases such as “Do go take a look” did sound a bit funny. The “go” word is redundant in this case. Words like “ok” also sounded informal. The format of the email is also incorrect. The “cheers” word in the middle of the email did seem out of place as I thought the email was coming to an end.
3) Conciseness
This is a short and concise email. However some phrases may sound repetitive, such as “ok” and “ready-to-go” means the same thing. Another phrase such as “Do go take a look” is not concise enough.
4) Clarity
This letter is straightforward and it is to inform the students of the new website being set up and encourage them to give any feedback.
5) Coherence
Other than the sudden appearance of the word “cheers” in the middle of the email, this email is coherent and straight to the point.
6) Concreteness
He could have included information for example, “A new photo gallery is added” or “More details about an upcoming pageant competition to be found in the website” to attract more students to take a look at the website. Other than that, the phrasing and words he used are effective in conveying his purpose of publicizing the website to students.
7) Completeness
The last sentence “The website is sciclub.nus.edu.sg” has a slight problem to it. At first glance, I thought this is an email address as it did not have a “www” or “http://” in the sentence. He could have written, “The link to the new website is at http://sciclub.nus.edu.sg” and usually, the hyperlink will automatically appear to allow students to have the convenience of clicking to the website. If not, most students will just glance through the email as there is no obvious hint of where the website address is.
The Science Club Website is revamped and is now ok and ready to go! Do go take a look and read up on the latest happenings in Science!
Cheers~
The website is sciclub.nus.edu.sg and please send any suggestions and/or corrections to sciclub.publications@science.nus.edu.sg.
Thanks!
Regards,
Chia Song Zhe Andy (Mr.)
Publications Director
29th Science Club Management Committee
NUS Students' Science Club
A Constituent Club of the NUS Students' Union
This is an email I have just received today actually from our NUS email inbox.
Below is an analysis of the contents based on 7Cs in writing:
1) Courtesy
This Publications Director actually started off with a “Hi” and words like “cheers” actually made this email sound polite. However, it did not refer the readers as “Dear Science students” but greeted us as “faculty of science” instead. This may not come under the “Adopt a You-Attitude” as “faculty of science” did not have endearing tone to it.
2) Correctness
Basically this email has no grammatical mistakes or spelling mistakes. However, phrases such as “Do go take a look” did sound a bit funny. The “go” word is redundant in this case. Words like “ok” also sounded informal. The format of the email is also incorrect. The “cheers” word in the middle of the email did seem out of place as I thought the email was coming to an end.
3) Conciseness
This is a short and concise email. However some phrases may sound repetitive, such as “ok” and “ready-to-go” means the same thing. Another phrase such as “Do go take a look” is not concise enough.
4) Clarity
This letter is straightforward and it is to inform the students of the new website being set up and encourage them to give any feedback.
5) Coherence
Other than the sudden appearance of the word “cheers” in the middle of the email, this email is coherent and straight to the point.
6) Concreteness
He could have included information for example, “A new photo gallery is added” or “More details about an upcoming pageant competition to be found in the website” to attract more students to take a look at the website. Other than that, the phrasing and words he used are effective in conveying his purpose of publicizing the website to students.
7) Completeness
The last sentence “The website is sciclub.nus.edu.sg” has a slight problem to it. At first glance, I thought this is an email address as it did not have a “www” or “http://” in the sentence. He could have written, “The link to the new website is at http://sciclub.nus.edu.sg” and usually, the hyperlink will automatically appear to allow students to have the convenience of clicking to the website. If not, most students will just glance through the email as there is no obvious hint of where the website address is.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Post #2: Resolving Interpersonal Conflict
Let’s call this guy Friendly. There is no actual setting but this conflict happened over a few days.
There are these two cliques of friends in the same CCA. Friendly is a popular guy and thus, both cliques like to include him in their own clique outings. Let’s call them the 1st clique and 2nd clique. There is this girl named Shorty in the 2nd clique. There is another girl named Tall who is the good friend of Shorty but is outside of the CCA.
Tall knew Friendly through Shorty. Tall seems to like Friendly and always messages him through handphone.
One fine day, Tall asked Friendly, “What are you doing now?”
As Friendly was with the 1st clique in one of the clique’s home, he did not want to let Tall know that he was with the 1st clique as Tall might tell Shorty (who is in the 2nd clique) that he was spending time with the 1st clique as 1st clique did not ask 2nd clique to go.
Thus he replied, “Oh, I am making a birthday card with my friends at home.”
However, Tall told Shorty that Friendly was at his own home during that fatefulday. And Shorty found out through someone’s blog that Friendly was with the 1st clique in someone else’s home on the same fateful day.
Shorty was mad and she thought that Friendly was telling a big fat lie. Thus, she blogged about this whole event, saying that Friendly is someone who wants the best of both worlds and has no mind of his own.
Friendly read Shorty’s blog and got very pissed. Thus, a major quarrel broke out.
How would Friendly feel? Does he know the actual reason behind this whole conflict? What do you think Friendly should have done? What do you think could have been done to prevent this conflict?
There are these two cliques of friends in the same CCA. Friendly is a popular guy and thus, both cliques like to include him in their own clique outings. Let’s call them the 1st clique and 2nd clique. There is this girl named Shorty in the 2nd clique. There is another girl named Tall who is the good friend of Shorty but is outside of the CCA.
Tall knew Friendly through Shorty. Tall seems to like Friendly and always messages him through handphone.
One fine day, Tall asked Friendly, “What are you doing now?”
As Friendly was with the 1st clique in one of the clique’s home, he did not want to let Tall know that he was with the 1st clique as Tall might tell Shorty (who is in the 2nd clique) that he was spending time with the 1st clique as 1st clique did not ask 2nd clique to go.
Thus he replied, “Oh, I am making a birthday card with my friends at home.”
However, Tall told Shorty that Friendly was at his own home during that fatefulday. And Shorty found out through someone’s blog that Friendly was with the 1st clique in someone else’s home on the same fateful day.
Shorty was mad and she thought that Friendly was telling a big fat lie. Thus, she blogged about this whole event, saying that Friendly is someone who wants the best of both worlds and has no mind of his own.
Friendly read Shorty’s blog and got very pissed. Thus, a major quarrel broke out.
How would Friendly feel? Does he know the actual reason behind this whole conflict? What do you think Friendly should have done? What do you think could have been done to prevent this conflict?
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Korean Boy singing
Guess that's what will happen when your verbal speech ain't clear.
People misunderstands.
People misunderstands.
Post #1: Effective Communication Skills
I have to say I used to be a very timid and shy girl who even feared oral examinations and the PW group presentation in both secondary schools and junior college that I was so stressed for at least a few days. My verbal English language skill is very weak because I only communicate with my family and my friends using Chinese. And indeed, I was ever so afraid when I had to talk to Caucasians in U.S.A and to non-Chinese race in Singapore. And also to the extent that I do not talk unless necessary to Chinese who are “ang moh” in the sense that they only speak English. Yes, maybe I still have this fear inside me all the while and I am still trying to conquer it till now. To even have effective communication skills, firstly I am sure we need to possess the ability to speak clearly and confidently to others and get your message across to them. So having this basic skill of being a good communicator is also important.
Recently, some friends around me are having this two “clique” war. Both sides of people are telling me stories that are completely different and leaving me as a confused kid. Why? In the end we found out that everything stems from misunderstandings, misinterpretations and miscommunications. And so I believe in order to survive in this complex world out there and your workplace, being a good communicator and possessing the right skills is very crucial to me.
Recently, some friends around me are having this two “clique” war. Both sides of people are telling me stories that are completely different and leaving me as a confused kid. Why? In the end we found out that everything stems from misunderstandings, misinterpretations and miscommunications. And so I believe in order to survive in this complex world out there and your workplace, being a good communicator and possessing the right skills is very crucial to me.
Blogging??
I have never believed in blogging. Let’s say in the past when we were little as kids, most girls do keep a diary. I’m not too sure about boys. I only remembered myself trying to hard just to hide my diary in a place where my parents and my siblings would not be able to find. And I was so angry whenever my younger brother read my diary and told my parents. In the end, I no longer kept a diary. But it just feels weird as if you have totally put your own private diary to the whole of public ever since blogging came out. And maybe the other reason being my life is boring which only revolves around school work and dance so I do not wish to bore the rest of my friends with all my boring posts. Even the online blog I have is only available to myself. But nonetheless, this is my first time making a blog public and do leave any comments or advice that you wish too. I am starting to look at blogging in a totally different new light and similarly, I wish to learn your experiences and your thoughts from the rest of you through this ES2007S blogging experience. Happy Chinese New Year everyone by the way!
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