A 'module' to remember..

I can still remember the day when Sheau Shiuh and I nervously walked into the classroom, asking for Ms. Lim's permission to let us join the class. Thank god, Ms. Lim agreed and we are accepted into Tutorial Group 5. I am sure my experience would be different if I am placed in another tutorial group. The journey of ES2007S is not easy but it is definitely a fun and fruitful one. From this module, I learnt how to communicate effectively in conversation, presentation and writing.

Through blogging, I have learnt to pen down my feelings and thoughts. Knowing that classmates are going to read my blog, gives me the urge to share my viewpoints on a certain topics with them. Blogging is good for exchanging of thoughts between writer and readers. Besides, I am now confident to write professionally in business letters, emails or resume. This is an essential skill to show my professionalism to coworkers or superiors in the form of writing.

This module provides a learning ground for me to improve my oral presentation skills. Comments from classmates and Ms. Lim helped me to realize my weaknesses so that I can work on those weaknesses. While my oral presentation might not be the most interesting and impactful ones, I have made tremendous effort to improve my presentation performance. I do hope, in the future, I can speak confidently in front of people, with an addition of a sense of humor to make my presentation more interesting. 

Mock job interview and face-to-face discussion gave us the sense of the real scenario. It is good for us to practice our body language and verbal skills under a stressful situation. I am sure most of us become more self-aware, hence will take note of our own facial expression, hand gestures or standing postures when we are facing people. 

Besides, I also gained invaluable experience in developing interpersonal relationship between team members. Team work requires a good balance of contributing and accepting thoughts from each and every team member. Peer teaching and proposal assignment allow me to work with different team members and experience different working styles.

Time really flies!! I could not believe 13 weeks have passed and now is the time to say goodbye to everyone. I want to thank everyone for the wonderful memories and thank Ms. Lim for tutoring such informative yet interactive class. I will miss the time we spent together. =)

p.s: Let's meet up after our exam!! yay....

My Reflections on Oral Presentation

Monday, 8^th November 2010 was the day when I have to face my biggest fear again: speaking in front of people. To be honest, I am very disappointed with my performance during peer teaching session and I feel bad whenever I think about that. I do not want my presentation to affect our group presentation as a whole because we have put in a lot of effort to it. Therefore, I decided that I will try my best to improve on my presentation skills.

 As our topic is academic related and not suitable to include too many visual images, I used different techniques to make it easier to follow. To emphasize on each objective of the team, I did contrast effects on the words. For instance, the main point is shown in solid color while the other points are shown in very light colors. Besides, I used flow chart to introduce the working procedure of RIPE. By referring to the slides during presentation, I am able to elaborate on all the important points that I want to share. I have learnt to present ideas by elaborating on the key words in presentation slides but not memorizing speech like what I did during peer teaching.

I realized I speak very fast when I am nervous. So, during my presentation, I tried to control my pace in talking. I spoke slower and used a suggestive tone in presenting our group’s proposed idea. Our proposed idea will not be convincing if I appear to be lack of confidence. I remember towards the end of my presentation, I lost my words and could not continue on talking. Luckily, I calmed myself and said: “Let me rephrase….” This allows me a few seconds to structure the sentence that I wanted to say.

For this oral presentation, I am lucky to have two excellent team members: Berwyn and Jun Xiong. We managed to prepare our presentation slides one week ahead of the actual day. I have more time to practice my speech and have rehearsal with them. After every rehearsal, they gave me very suggestive comments and pointed out my mistakes so that I can work on it. Besides my team mates, I have to thank Sheau Shiuh for being my audience on the night before oral presentation day. She helped me by simulating the nervous effect that I will get when I stand in front of people. Practice really helps!!

I did not give a perfect presentation but I am happy with my improvement as compared to the previous peer teaching. 

My cultural conflict experience in China

Travelling is a way to expose ourselves to people with different cultural backgrounds. Having traveled to countries such as Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia, I experienced various foreign cultural practices and traditions which some of the practices are very different from my native culture. There is an unforgettable cultural conflict experience in China that I would like to share with you.

Even though Chinese culture and traditions vary between different provinces in China, there is a common phenomenon that happens during every meal. When it is time for lunch or dinner, the amount of dishes that local tour guide or local friend ordered is always beyond what my family and I can consume. Plates after plates of dishes were served. Therefore, there was a lot of unfinished food on the dining table.

At first, we thought that perhaps it was the first time the tour guide estimate how much food we can eat and the estimation was too much. So, we informed him to order less food for the upcoming meals. However, the same incident happened again during the next meal.

Since young, my parents educate us to appreciate the food we have and never create food wastage. Hence, it is rather uneasy for us to see so much food to go to waste. We thought the tour guide was not willing to make changes to the food order and we were quite upset because of this.

Recently, I talked to a friend from China regarding this issue. She said that it is a norm for local Chinese to provide their guests with great amount of food. It is a show of respect and to make sure their guests have enough food. If there is no food left on the table, it shows the host is not generous to the guests. After the conversation, I have a better understanding of the dining etiquette of the Chinese. However, I am still unable to appreciate this dining culture because it contradicts with my family culture in Malaysia. We should provide a variety of dishes for our guest in appropriate amount but not too much that will lead to food wastage. What is your opinion regarding this dining culture of the Chinese? 

I feel that it is important to understand the cultural values, beliefs and norms of a nation. Misunderstandings about foreign culture, such as those I encountered in China, could be the lack of personal experience in the country. By interacting with people from other cultures, we can better understand their specific concepts in perception, thinking, feeling and acting, thus bridging the differences between us. Ultimately, this can help us achieve better intercultural communication.

Job Application Letter

Job Advertisement adapted from http://www.jobstreet.com.sg on 29th August 2010.

Job Application Letter

Ng Wan Ting

10, Heng Mui Keng Terrace

Singapore 119617

1^st September 2010

Ms. Wendy Wong Lee Ping

15A, Changi Business Park Central 1 
#05-02/03, Eightrium

Changi Business Park 
Singapore 486035

Dear Ms. Wendy Wong Lee Ping:

Post of Food Technologist

I am writing in response to your advertisement at JobStreet.com on 3^rd August 2010 for the position of Food Technologist.

I have recently graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor Degree of Sciences (Honours) with specialization in Biomedical Science. Having attended a module taught by Associate Professor Lee Yuan Kun, who is the research leader in microbial fermentation processes in NUS, I acquired the knowledge and laboratory skills in manipulating microorganisms related to food industry. In addition, I am skillful in conducting laboratory work which involved emulsion and material encapsulation. Good laboratory skills are essential in new product development.

As the largest nutrition and food company in the world, I believe Nestlé team requires innovative talent to achieve the efficiency in executing long term customer project, my experience as committee leader would be an advantage. Together with my Receive and Give (RAG) team, we planned and accomplished a float building project within three months time. I am equipped with skills in time management, project planning and interpersonal communication.

Nestlé products always within reach, aiding in the total wellness of one’s being. With my active participation in Welfare Committee, I am positive in providing services to customer with an aim of achieving customer satisfaction and improving well-being. As a strong team player, I believe in having pleasant working relationship with different departments would enhance the company productivity. Besides, I possess advanced knowledge in Microsoft Office Word, Excel and Powerpoint which are useful for proper organization of work data. With my technical knowledge and qualities, I am confident that I can be a suitable candidate to handle the responsibilities of this position.

The earliest available working date for me would be on 1^st October 2010. My expected monthly salary would be in the range of $1800 to $2000.

If I were given a chance to be part of Nestlé team, please be assured that I would be extremely dedicated in striving to meet company goals. My resume is enclosed for your reference, and I look forward hearing from you. I can be reached at +65 98600908 (mobile phone number) or skynwt@yahoo.com (email address). Thank you.

Yours Sincerely,

Ng Wan Ting

What should I do?

Conflict occurs at different levels of interactions-between friends, family, working partners or relationship partners. It is a critical element in a relationship because it might strengthen or weaken our relationship depending on how people deal with conflict. Having myself involved in a committee, I have witnessed and experienced interpersonal conflicts between committee members.

There are different expectations of working achievement among members. Those who contribute more to the team would feel uneasy to find other members who did not take initiatives to contribute. Conflicts often arise between members with different working attitudes. When I was working with a friend, his working attitude appeared to me that he is not contributing to the team. He did things very slow and reluctant to offer help even when he knows that I have many tasks to cope with.

 I tried not to complain to him because I feel that my underlying anger may go out of control if I talk to him about this issue. Another reason is that I am afraid of by starting critics on him, it might affect our relationship. So, I would rather finish the work by myself than asking for his help. Consequently, there were more tension accumulated and our relationship is no longer as close as before.

I know that I was wrong for denying the existence of conflict right at the beginning but I also faced a dilemma that, if I tell him about his unproductive working style, it might compromise our friendship. What should I do when I feel that my working partner is not committed in his or her job?

Effective Communication Skills

We learnt talking at very young age. However, merely talking does not mean that we can communicate well with others. Effective communication is about being able to convey own thoughts and ideas clearly to others, hence generate response from receivers. This can be done either verbally through face-to-face conversation and telephone; or non-verbally through letter and email. Effective communication skills are essential in building personal relationship in daily life and also self presentation at workplace. 

  

            To maintain relationship with friends and family members, communication plays a vital role. Conversation and interaction with family or friends enable deeper understanding of personal feelings. Good communication keeps arguments and disagreement at minimal level and helps relationship to develop along good lines.

Besides maintaining personal relationship, communication skills are needed to succeed in job interview. Nowadays, technical qualifications are likely to be similar among candidates in job interview. Therefore, to be outstanding, first impression during job interview is very important. Effective communication skills, inclusive of active conversation and listening skills would create positive impact which impress job interviewer.

In my future workplace, which based on scientific research, it often requires the exchange of necessary info among colleagues. Therefore, effective communication skills are needed for working partners to share ideas or thoughts. With great team interaction, positive working environment is created and hence increase work efficiency.

As a conclusion, effective communication skills would benefit the development of my personal social circle and enhance my working performance.