A Final Reflection on My Sojourn in ES2007S

Sometimes, perhaps, we are allowed to get lost that 

we may find the right person to ask directions of.  

~Robert Brault

On 23rd August 2010, Wan Ting and I had decided to drop a physics module after struggling with the module for two weeks. I still remember how lost we were back then, not knowing which module to choose from a long list of modules. Recalling a senior once told us that there was this module called ES2007S which can benefit us greatly especially during job hunting, we decided to give it a try. He told us he was under the guidance of a teacher called Ms Lim and he recommended us to go for her class but Wan Ting and I have no idea of how to trace which tutorial group is conducted by Ms Lim. Running out of time, we decided to randomly go to a class to express our interest to take the module. Sometimes, I can't help but to believe in fate. I couldn't believe that we have actually registered for Ms Lim's class. I can still remember vividly how Ms Lim "warned" Wan Ting and I about the heavy workload that ES2007S can impose on us. But we just nodded our heads and determined to give it a try. On the same day, 23rd August 2010, we have become the family member of ES2007s Tutorial Group 5 and as we wish, under Ms Lim's guidance.


Even before our first lesson, we were tasked to make up for the blog post that we have missed out for the previous week. Back in hall, I quickly set up my first ever blog and was excited to write for my first blog post. I still can remember how I rack my brain for ideas to write for my first blog post and I have spent nearly two hours writing it! Gosh, this shouldn't be the way! For succeeding blog entry, I changed my way of writing . I will let my thought run free and make a draft out of it. Working on the draft, I will join fragments of sentences together and craft my blog entry into a nice, little story of my production. Every time after making a blog entry, I look forward to read comments left by Ms Lim and classmates. Now, I start to develop a liking in writing blog. I feel happy when I am blogging as I can pour out my thoughts and feelings and transform them into words. In the song Words sang by Boyzone, there is this line that says, it's only words, and words are all I have, to take your heart away. Writing blog makes me starts to appreciate the beauty of words in capturing people's heart.  


I am more at ease with the idea of rehearsing now. Last time, I was afraid of the idea of having rehearsal as I preferred rehearsing to myself instead of embarrassing myself in front of people. Now, I approach my friends to be my audience and the more, the merrier! =) My skill in preparation of slides has also improved tremendously. Before taking ES2007S, I feel bogged down whenever I need to prepare slides for presentation. I do not know how to begin and how to design my slides to guide me and the audience along the presentation. After taking this module, I can now prepare my presentation slides within a day and make full use of the slides to add value to my presentation. 


Friendship is what I cherish most. Never had I attended a class that make me become so bonded with fellow classmates. We have lunch together after lessons; we have fun together and nevertheless, we work hard for the projects and homeworks. I thank all the projects and assignments for making us meet more and grow bonded. I thank all the homeworks for making me learn wisdom and better manage my time.  I thank everyone and everything that happen in my life that make my sojourn in ES2007S tutorial group 5 such a memorable one.   


I must say that this is the most beautiful decision that I have made in this semester, having taken the module that imparts me life skills and knowledge that are beneficial in my life, and having met with all the wonderful people in the class. Sometimes, perhaps, we are allowed to get lost that we may find the right person to ask directions of. If not for the lost moment, I wouldn't have the chance to meet with the right persons, i.e. ES2007S, Ms Lim and all classmates of ES2007S, to ask directions of.

A Reflection on Oral Presentation

4th November marks my BIG day together with team Cap5.0. Any form of presentation in front of people is always a BIG thing to me as I am not a great speaker and tend to become nervous and forget my lines. Realizing this, I know that I will need to work doubly hard to make my presentation to be at least passable. Therefore, preparation IS crucial. I still remember what Ms Lim said during last Thursday class, if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. No, I do not want to see myself and our group fail and one more thing for sure, we are not going to regret after the oral presentation just because we have not given our best in preparation. With this common goal in mind, we have practiced together as a group everyday since Monday. Along the way, we comment on each other's slides and oral presentation and we see improvements each day. I can still remember how I  stumbled again and again over my presentation lines during our first rehearsal as I was still pretty unprepared but my team mates kept cheering me on. This makes me determined to practice hard on my own thus back in hall, I make it a point to ask my friends to be my audience and practice in front of them. Each and every single practice is a boost to my confidence and I must say that, practice makes perfect!

As for my oral presentation slides, I scrimp and save on words and invest heavily on diagrams and graphic to enhance my presentation so that the audience will not be bored by slides dotted with plenty words. Doing so makes my slides look colorful with very few words which might not be able to guide the audience if they miss out what I have said.

Turning back the clock to fifteen past twelve this noon to reflect on my oral presentation, I remember vividly how my hand is shaking when using the laser pointer. So my number one point on the list of weaknesses still, is to CONQUER FEAR. Second point to note, I think I was slightly fast in my speaking pace as I was too focused on delivering my presentation in the given time. Point number three, I still need to work more on facial expression and gesture, especially when today I was holding mouse on one hand and laser pointer on the other hand and thus, I appeared clumsy when gesturing. However, there are a few encouraging improvements compared to my previous presentation. I did vary my tone when emphasizing a few important points and have more eye contacts with the audience given the feedbacks from peer teaching. My resolution for presentation in the future: I want to amuse my audience with my presentation. Hopefully I can develop a great sense of humor so that next time when I were to give a presentation again, I can entice my audience with jokes and have their smiles plastered on their faces. =)

Of Intercultural Difference

I come from a family with parents who are firm believers in traditional Chinese core values which stress on education, filial piety, etiquette, shame and patience. Just like most Chinese, we tend to be very shy in expressing our love to each other, not to mention kissing and hugging in the public.

There was once, we travelled to the famous Batu Ferrighi Beach which is a popular destination in Pulau Pinang. Needless to say, the beach was flooded with tourists. I was so excited that I could not wait any longer to get myself changed into my swimsuits and plunge into the clear turquoise water. But wait a second, something caught my eyes just when I was about to go on my swimming spree. On the beach, lay a few naked bodies draping loosely in small towels. As I turned around my head, again I saw another couple hugging each other and kissing passionately. I was too shell-shocked to take my eyes off them. What was all this? At that young age, I had never seen people display such intimacy in the public. I somehow felt uncomfortable witnessing the whole scene for I was never taught that I could actually lie nakedly, kiss and hug in the public. Later when I asked my parents about it, they told me that they were foreigners who were sunbathing and it is natural for Westerners especially, to kiss and hug each other in the public. Then I threw another question at my parents, " Then why cant' we do that?". Thinking that I was too young to understand, they just told me that we were DIFFERENT from the Westerners and that DIFFERENCE does not allow us to do so. Okay, so we were different, but still, why? 

As I grow older, I begin to understand that the difference that my parents referred to is the intercultural difference. It is common to see couples hugging and kissing each other in the Western countries but such an action can cause consternation and legal action in some Asian countries. Personally, I think that understanding and tolerance are the keys to intercultural difference. When visiting foreign countries or interacting with people from different backgrounds, it is best to understand their cultural differences beforehand to avoid misunderstanding or embarrassment arise. At the same time, we should bear in mind that intercultural difference is also difference in interpretation of gesture and behavior. For example, you won't want to hold your thumb upwards to your Islamic friend although you mean "everything is ok" because it is interpreted as a rude sexual sign in some Islamic countries. So, when you are in Rome, do as the Romans do!

MOE, Please Say YES!

Pang Sheau Shiuh

36, Jalan Belibis 17

Taman Perling, 81200

Johor Bahru, Johor

Malaysia

1 September 2010

Mr. Lu Cheng Yang

Director of Personnel Division

Ministry of Education, Singapore

1 North Buona Vista Drive
Singapore 138675

Dear Mr. Lu:

I am writing to express my interest in a possible elementary teaching position as found advertised in Jobs@Singapore on 31^st August 2010. I will have fulfilled all requirements for the appointment of General Education Officer upon my graduation in May 2011. With the passion in education and the desire to mould all students into all-round individuals, I am confident in my ability to be a valuable asset in the teaching force.

I believe that my education at National University of Singapore, my past experience teaching students of all ability levels and my extensive participation in a variety of activities make me an excellent candidate in the teaching track. Through my teaching experience in the tuition centers, I have had the opportunity to teach diverse groups of students and observe a variety of teaching styles. Aware that students, especially elementary school children are more engaged in their learning in a creative setting and given my arts and music background, I design stimulating lesson plans by integrating arts and music into the traditional curriculum where appropriate. Throughout the course of my past teaching experience, I firmly believe in developing a good student-teacher rapport being the foremost criteria in achieving effective teaching and learning.   

I understand that the Ministry of Education is keen on recruiting teachers not only passionate in education, but also able to play an inspirational role to make students believe in how truly limitless their potential is. With my active participation in community service dating back to my middle and high school years, I am confident that I can motivate the students to recognize their abilities and tap into their talents. I have continued my interest in volunteer work by serving as an active participant in Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation. From the volunteerism work, I have gained invaluable interpersonal skills and become sensitive to social and learning needs of elementary-age students. With these as my strengths, I am confident in my abilities to become the role model of students. 

I am highly motivated, responsible and dedicated in accomplishing tasks that I set out to do. Therefore, I strongly believe that I am an excellent candidate for the teaching position. My resume is enclosed to provide you with additional details concerning my background and qualifications for this position. I would appreciate an interview with you at your convenience. Please do not hesitate to contact me at 9698 2252 or pss@nus.edu.sg from 6th September onwards should you have any question. I will be contacting you on Monday, 13th May to talk about the possibility of arranging an interview.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Pang Sheau Shiuh

A Story about You, Me and Him

What is "interpersonal conflict"? This was the question that came into my mind when I was reading the blog post rubric. So I had it googled and the result was "a situation in which one or both persons in a relationship are experiencing difficulty working or living with each other".The first thing that popped up in my mind was the title for this blog, A story about You, Me and Him. It is named as such because interpersonal conflict is a problem revolving all of us since no man on Earth is an island.

Deep down inside our heart, everyone has a story of You, Me and Him to tell. My story of You, Me and Him starts out with You and Me are brothers related by blood. You and Me were born into a poverty-stricken family, too poor to receive education. You and Me had to slog hard to make ends meet. Though the condition was harsh, those were the happiest time You and Me shared. Life was simple yet You and Me found true happiness and brotherhood. Once, You said into Me's face, We will stay together through ups and downs, no matter what. We made a vow on it. Since then, You are not You and Me is not Me. We ARE We.

With a leap of faith, We ventured into the business world full of unknown. For years, We sweated blood to make our very first pot of gold. We made it. Life was getting better and better for We. We could afford to buy houses, cars and eventually, started families. Not long after this, Him came into our life. Him started to gain on You for trust. You began to believe Him, though Him was just a NOBODY. Greed started to erode You's heart. You and Him ganged up setting up a trap for Me to fall into, unknowingly. Me left with nothing but You and Him just left Me in the lurch. Me had four mouths to feed...

You might notice that there is no ending for this story because it is up to us to paint the ending. If I were Me, I will definitely pick myself up and start everything from scratch. Well, you might argue that it is easier said than done, but c'est la vie! I have done it once, why deny myself from creating another miracle the second time? It is foolish to give up your life and hope for it will only bring more sufferings to your loved ones and grant You and Him their wishes to see you fall. Instead, you should make their jaws drop by standing up on your feet again.

I might be harboring hatred in my heart for long. One year, two years or even more time is required to heal the wound but nobody knows. Perhaps you can try to imagine yourself as Me in the above situation, will you be magnanimous enough to forgive and forget? In real life, things often turn out the other way. It always ends up with family tragedy or siblings fighting among each other for property and money. To err is human, to forgive is divine but in real life, how much can you and me practice this adage?

An SOS Call from Me to ES2007S

Recently, I have read a book Talent is Never Enough, written by John C. Maxwell. At the end of the chapter "Initiative Activates Your Talent", he asks the readers to think about something we strongly desire to do but are currently afraid of. Lost in contemplation for an hour, I found my answer: I am afraid to speak up in public. For years, fears have never failed to grab me whenever I need to speak up and this has resulted in me becoming withdrawn in class participation. Undoubtedly, it hinders my learning process. 

Realizing effective communication is the very essence of life encompassing relationship, career and study, I want a change in myself. I want to learn to communicate comfortably and effectively with everyone regardless of their professions and the setting. I want to speak like great speaker Steve Job who can deliver his speech fluently and concisely to the audience. All these wants require initiative and constant practice, nevertheless. 

I have come across this quote lately: Where you finish in life isn't determined so much by where you start as by whether you start. By taking ES2007S, I am glad to say that I have started my journey towards improving my communication and writing skills which will be beneficial to me in my life.