Goodbye Goodluck...

Time sure flies...before you know it, ES2007S has come to an end already. To Miss Kim and all my Group 7 classmates out there for this module, it has really been a pleasure knowing all of you within this short period of time of one semester. Really glad and grateful that all of you could be my" 神秘嘉宾" (mysterious guests) for this course to let me have such a memorable time and experience...

Well, I would like to wish everyone of you all the best in your future endeavours and best of health as well in this final blog post. Hope we can keep in touch and stay happy always.

Many more good years ahead...

Final Reflection (Blog Post #7)

Looking back at my first posting written about two months plus ago, I realized that my understanding of the value of effective communication skills has remained about the same, perhaps with some additional useful knowledge gained regarding effective communication. The definition of “communication” and the ability and reasons to communicate have continued to stand firm in my beliefs and thoughts after taking this module. Hence, this implies that effective communication is really important in our lives as indispensable soft core skills for interacting with people in various ways.

Towards the end of this module, I would say that I have a better and more comprehensive in-depth grasp about the different communication skills taught. For example, I have been able to learn more about the basic fundamentals of effective communication such as the various communication networks and channels available, the importance of being an active listener and being able to decipher nonverbal cues correctly, as well as knowing the need to establish good interpersonal and intercultural communication. All of these are equally important as they serve as mandatory basic building blocks for effective communication in today’s society.

In view of writing as a form of communication, I have learnt the 7Cs of writing (courtesy, correctness, conciseness, clarity, coherence and cohesion, concreteness, and completeness) which are important because they allowed my written thoughts and ideas to flow and to be understood by other people clearly. It was certainly an enriching experience when I learnt about the different types of business correspondence and types of messages as well as when to use each type for different occasions appropriately so that we would be able to achieve effective communication successfully with the intended recipients. I would admit that the survey report was a very tedious task as we had to carry out research on a particular topic within a constrained period of time but it really taught me the importance of teamwork, good time management, developing empathy and good communication skills with my team members, so that all of us could accomplish the goal of finishing the report on time. I have really formed stronger bonds with my team members after going through thick and thin.

The area of job search communication offered me a fresh insight into discovering more about myself in terms of values, personal traits and characteristics and skills so that I would be able to have a clearer direction when looking for the right job that suit me best. It was good that this module taught me how to craft out a resume and job application letter effectively as I did not have any prior exposure to this before taking the module. Hence, this would definitely benefit me when I graduate and look for a job next time.

With respect to oral communication, I was introduced to the world of meetings and had the chance to execute out a meeting with my survey report team members, thus it was like allowing me to put what I had learnt in theory into practice in a real meeting situation. In addition, I had to compile the various recorded minutes for the meeting as I was assigned the role of the secretary and it was another eye-opener again as I was admitted into the world of minutes for the first time. Moreover, I had the chance to utilize what I learnt from the 7Cs in writing when I was doing up the minutes. Besides that, the other highlight would be the oral presentation for the survey report topic. I gained new knowledge in preparing for oral presentation after developing a professional presentation format as well as training myself in the area of good public speaking skills such as using a persuasive tone appropriately, good voice and pitch control, good time management during speaking, adopting correct gestures and stance and coping better with stage-fright by overcoming nervousness and showing confidence.

All in all, at the end of the day, what does not kill you will only make you stronger. Therefore, I believe that these soft core communication skills attained from this module would be imprinted in me for life as they are invaluable and necessary abilities required for communicating effectively in this world.

M Vs. F (2)

Well, this is the second part to the differences between Man and Woman in the view of a chemical perspective... Enjoy.

Biodata (Blog Post #6)

I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Life Sciences with double concentration in the areas of Biomedical Science and Molecular Cell Biology in National University of Singapore (NUS). My interest in life sciences is mostly in the areas of microbiology, infectious diseases and immunology. Hence, I hope to be doing something related to these in my future career.

I picked up photography as a hobby from my co-curriculum activity (CCA) back in secondary school, junior college and university. I also learnt about the importance of teamwork, leadership and good interaction skills when I was a prefect in secondary school.

People usually regard me as quiet, modest and hardworking. I am also a caring, determined and organized person who believes that striking a balance appropriately will be able to nurture a positive outlook of life.

Reflecting on the Research Project Experience (Blog Post #5)

By the time that you are reading this post, the research project will be coming to an end soon and all that is left is to do up any last amendments and compilation before the submission date. With that, I would like to share with you some aspects of the positive experience that I derived from doing the research project with my group members, Gary and Yun Nian:

1) Firstly, I have to admit that research is not as easy as it seems because there are so many different features and details that one has to pay close attention to while doing the project. For example, you have to come up with a potential research topic at the start and then think about the problem statement, hypothesis for the research and the purpose statement. After which, you have to think about how you want to conduct the research through a survey and then collate the data before analyzing them and doing the write-up. Hence, a great deal of time and effort has to be committed to all these tasks and it was a good thing that everyone was quite a good team player as we divided up the tasks to do so as to be able to finish the report on time.

2) In order to be a good team player, I believe that good communication skills were needed so as to be able to forge good interpersonal relationships with each other. For example, being an active and good listener while other group members voiced out their views is a sign of respect and acknowledgement to the person who is talking as it shows that the person does play an important role in contributing to the group. In addition, effective communication can prevent the onset of conflict as we are able to prevent misunderstandings and clashes of views. Hence, it was a good thing that all of us were able to demonstrate good communication skills and ensured smooth teamwork throughout the entire process.

3) Empathy is also important in the sense that since all of us came from different majors, we would definitely have different commitments and time constraints. For me, I remembered that when I was doing the literature review section, I needed more time to read through all the journal articles as I had a test coming up and another assignment due, thus I was glad that both Gary and Yun Nian were understanding and kind enough to give me more time to finish up that section. In addition, they also helped me to locate some other sources of information which might be useful so as to reduce my burden. Hence we can see that being empathetic is able to further strengthen the team spirit and enhance the productivity of the group.

4) Being versatile and pro-active are also important factors that can contribute to the success of the group because if everyone is nonchalant and stubborn, things will not be done effectively and efficiently as each individual is only concerned with his/her part and not willing to help other group members. This once again corresponds to being a good team player because in a group, everyone has to co-operate and work well with each other or else risk the failure of the group in the end. Having said that, I was quite glad that all of us had the voluntary spirit to help out with each other in completing the various tasks when faced with difficulties such as time constraints, difficulty of the subject, managing and organizing the group, etc. Our group had definitely gone through thick and thin together in finishing this research project.

Hopefully, the same esprit de corps and good teamwork bond that we fostered during the research project can make the subsequent oral presentation a positive experience as well…

Evaluating Intercultural Behavior (Blog Post #4)

Deva, John and Robert were working as temporary sales promoters during an IT (Information Technology) fair in Suntec City Convention Hall. Naturally, there were a lot of buyers and viewers present at the fair since it was held during the weekend as well as in conjunction with the school holidays. Hence, business was relatively good as many people came by their booth to inquire about the IT products that they were selling. It was approaching near to dinner time but the crowd in the convention hall remained almost fully packed with the continuous influx of people coming in to explore the fair.

While Deva was handling some customers, John signaled to Robert that he was hungry already and was going out to buy dinner. Robert approved of the idea since he was also hungry and thus asked John to help get dinner back for everyone instead. Amidst the noise of the crowd, John called out to Deva that he was getting dinner and Deva consented briefly with a quick nod before returning back to the customers that wanted to make some goods purchase.

Due to the fact that most of the other eateries were experiencing long queues during the dinner peak hours, John decided to choose the fastest option available so that he could go back to assist at the booth as soon as possible. In the end, John bought three burger meals at a fast food restaurant and made his way back to the convention hall.

Later while all of them were preparing to eat, Deva realized that the burger was a beef burger and being a devote believer of his Hindu religion and traditions, he was forbidden to consume beef since the cow was revered as a sacred and holy animal in Hinduism. In shock and anger, Deva questioned John about this matter and John being ignorant about Deva’s beliefs, was also surprised at Deva’s outrage. After hearing Deva’s explanation about not being able to consume beef, John apologized profusely and volunteered to treat Deva to another meal as a form of compensation for his mistake. Deva forgave John this time round since it was John’s first time and also because they had only known each other that morning at the start of the job.

From the above scenario, we can see that John does not really know much about Hinduism and he assumed that whatever he could eat, Deva also could eat, which was wrong in this case. I think that we should not be ignorant or complacent about other cultures and religions especially since Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-religious country, thus it is unavoidable for us not to interact with people from different backgrounds. We should also try to practice understanding and tolerance for various cultures so as to preserve the harmony and stability in our multi-diverse society. In addition, I feel that John could improve on his communication skills so as to prevent this kind of misunderstanding from happening again. He should have approached Deva directly and asked him face-to-face what he wanted to eat as well as was there any special preferences or prohibitions instead of just calling out to him from a distance. Moreover, Deva may not have been able to hear clearly what John was trying to say due to the noisy environment. Furthermore, John could have waited till a better time to approach Deva and asked him about dinner instead of while he was busy handling customers and may not be able to pay full attention to what John was trying to say.

Potential Research Project Topic (Blog Post #3)

Problem: The incidence of premarital sex among the youths in Singapore has risen tremendously over the past few years. As a result, cases like unwanted pregnancies, abortions, teenage mothers and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have also increased proportionately with the number of people engaging in premarital sex. This has a dire consequence on the youth population of Singapore, who are considered to be our country’s next generation of leaders and hope, as their general health and well-being are plagued by the negative outcomes of premarital sex. Thus what may seem to be a promising future and life for our youths can be easily vanquished by simply committing premarital sex. Some reasons for the promiscuity of our youths today are possibly due to the more liberal mindset and lifestyle, the down-regulation of moral and ethical values in today’s capitalistic society, improper and insufficient sex education and peer pressure among youths etc.

General Research Question: What are the viewpoints of NUS Science Faculty students regarding the issues of premarital sex and whether adequate and correct sex education should be introduced to the students in Singapore?

Attitudinal survey: University students being one of the groups of youths to step into society to work after graduation, should be sufficiently equipped with a sound knowledge of sex so as to be able to appropriately deal with different situations involving sex when they arise. Thus, our research group has decided to focus on students studying in NUS Science Faculty for this project and so a survey is needed to gather information and feedback from the students regarding the issue of premarital sex because every individual may have different attitudes and perceptions towards premarital sex. At the same time, we hope that the insights we have obtained may be able to justify the need for sex education among the youths of Singapore so as to reduce the frequencies of premarital sex and its aftermath complications. Hence the objective of this research project would be to inform and alert proper authorities such as the management of the Dean’s office of Science Faculty in NUS, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports as well as organizations including Social Development Unit (SDU) and Singapore Planned Parenthood Association (SPPA) concerning the issue of premarital sex so as to facilitate the implementation of policies, campaigns and programs to instill suitable sex education in schools for the benefits and welfare of our youths.

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict (Blog Post #2)

Alice is the only daughter in her family. She has two elder brothers, one of them a lawyer and the other a businessman. Being the only daughter and the youngest in the family, Alice’s parents naturally loved her the most and showered her with the most affection and attention. In spite of all this, Alice was not a spoilt and snobbish child but full of care and understanding that made her very popular and easy to get along with among her friends and classmates. After Alice graduated from college, she applied for a job as a nurse in a hospital and she successfully got the job she had been yearning for since young. As a new nurse, the chief nurse, Mrs. Wong, assigned two other senior nurses, Brenda and Carissa, to assist and guide Alice in her daily job routine in the hospital. The personalities of Brenda and Carissa were completely opposite; Brenda was friendly, outgoing and extrovert-like whereas Carissa was cold, reserved and introvert-like. Alice became good friends and colleagues with Brenda after some time while her relationship with Carissa remained merely at the work acquaintance level.

After a few months later, Alice checked out that she would be on duty for a particular Saturday which happened to coincide with her father’s birthday and that the whole family had agreed to go to a restaurant for a birthday dinner celebration. Thus she approached Brenda and asked her if she could help her with her duty for that day and Brenda replied no problem. On that day itself, Carissa called Alice and questioned her why she was not at the hospital as Alice was supposed to take over from her at the shift change interval. Alice was surprised that Brenda was not there yet so she contacted her through phone and SMS but she got no reply from Brenda. At Carrisa’s demand, Alice had no choice but to report for work reluctantly and as a result, her family members especially her father, were displeased that she was not able to turn up for this important family function. Even her brother, who was on an overseas business trip, took the effort to rush back for the birthday dinner.

Subsequently, Alice confronted Brenda to check with her why she never turned up on that day and Brenda lied to her that she was not feeling well on that day when she actually went out for a movie with her friends. Alice probed further why she did not return her call or message and Brenda simply said that she was resting at home the whole day and so she did not turn on her mobile phone as she was sleeping. Alice was vexed with Brenda’s attitude and irresponsibility and so she walked away in silence.

How should Brenda have responded when Alice confronted her regarding her absence from duty when she had made the promise to her earlier on so as to prevent any strains on their friendship?

Possible causes: Dishonesty, Insensitivity and Lack of accountability of one’s actions.

M Vs. F

I remembered that we were discussing about the issue of gender in effective communication back in class last week and we were like agreeing and emphasizing on its importance and relevance in today's society. Happened to find this funny cartoon picture depicting the differences in a male's mind and a female's mind and so decided to share it with all. Enjoy.

(PS: No wonder why people say Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus...)

Effective Communication Skills (Blog Post #1)

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, communication can be defined as “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior” as well as “a technique for expressing ideas effectively”. Hence effective communication can be regarded to be a situation whereby thoughts and views of one person can be successfully transmitted across a medium to the intended person and vice versa so as to produce the complex web of information flow we see in today’s world.

Evolution has imbued in us the innate ability to communicate with other human beings as well as to be able to hone the skills and techniques required for a more efficient way of communication since Homo sapiens are classified as social creatures. A good example would be that when a newly-born baby arrives in this world, his/her first ability to communicate with the world would simply be crying regardless of anything such as feeling hungry, wetting diapers, feeling scared, feeling sleepy, etc. As the infant grows up, the parents will start to educate the child on the basic fundamentals of communication such as languages, speech, listening and writing. Subsequently as the child goes to school, he/she will learn more in-depth about how to communicate properly as well as being imparted with knowledge concurrently. When the child continues to move up the higher ladder of education, knowledge and communication skills will also advance up to higher levels, plus with more life experiences, the child will learn to mould and shape his/her ability to communicate appropriately as deem fit by various scenarios. Later when the child goes into society to work, he/she will also need to adapt to communicate proficiently in society as a mature adult. Thus, equipping with effective communication skills in one can be treated like a life-long learning process basically because we inevitably cannot escape from communicating with people unless we are like “isolated in a no-man island”, which is very unlikely since our species have colonized most of the places on Earth.

In view of this, I believe that possessing effective communication skills can allow me to be a better listener and observer so that I will be able to apprehend the context of what others are trying to say and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. This will also allow me to strengthen the bonds with other people regardless of culture, gender, language, race or religion, thus it may be beneficial to both parties in whatever we do such as during studying, working or playing. Moreover, becoming a better speaker and writer can also be value-added in terms of establishing and maintaining good two-way communication networks with other people as I can relate my feelings, ideas and thoughts smoothly to them without resulting in any confusion. Besides that, endowing with effective communication skills and techniques can be considered to be important soft core skills as I will be more ready when tackling tasks such as writing business correspondence, writing reports, writing resumes and job application letters, going for interviews, giving oral presentations, etc.

In summary, developing effective communication skills are things that we cannot afford to overlook because these soft core skills are one of the “bare necessities” that we need in life to be able to interact competently with other people in society.