Last reflection on ES2007(Blogging, Wiki, Oral presentation)

Through my learning in ES2007 module, I had gained a clear perception of intercultural behaviours and professional communication matters. My communication and presentation skills have been improved through active participation in class and group projects.

First of all, I think the use of blogging is a very good way to help us know each other and be supportive to each other’s learning. Perhaps we should have commented on other classmates’ posts and given responses much more often. Instead of writing long and well-written comments, we could bring out different views or new opinions and formed discussions after a post. In this way, we can get a deep perception of the topics which we were learning in the week.

Secondly, the use of Wiki platform in group project helped us to enhance our teamwork and manage the project timelines appropriately. Our group had face-to-face meetings to discuss the main issues in our project. We had effective communication during meetings thanks to every member’s contribution. After every meeting, each member’s assignment was clearly specified and we took our own responsibilities to finish the assignments. With the help of Wiki, we were able to upload our independent work immediately and other member could review each other’s work. We were committed to help each other and make sure every member had his/her own input in this project. Moreover, Wiki also facilitated the sharing of knowledge and information. Our group members shared the news, documents and websites, and it helped us to achieve the same level of understanding of the topic. A recommendation on wiki platform is to add auto-save function while editing. I was afraid of making changes on the post, since the changes would be lost if the Internet connection was accidentally cut off.

In my opinion, Wiki platform was not very helpful in our preparation for Oral Presentation. Since the most important thing in Oral Presentation is each member’s performance, we need to meet face-to-face to discuss each member’s role, coverage of content, ways of delivery. More importantly, we needed to practice giving the presentation as a whole to make sure that the audience would listen to a cohesive and impactful proposal presentation. In addition, I think it is very helpful to take video of a dry-run presentation. We could see our own behaviours and know exactly the areas we could improve. It encouraged us to take advice from others and make improvements in the actual run. In the end, it gave us a very powerful experience of making breakthroughs in our weak areas.

To sum up, the learning journey in effective commutation is enjoyable and enlightening. I wish all the best to my dear classmates!

Relections on the Oral Presentaion of the third group

I would like to evaluate on the presentation which proposed three options to solve energy problem in Singapore: the use of biodiesel, encouraging cycling and use of nuclear energy. I think this is the most challenging proposal among all three groups and they did an overall good job!

They provided us with three options in their presentation and I was very impressed by the last one---building a nuclear plant. Not only because it was a bold suggestion, but also the way they presented the idea was quite fascinating. Even though I personally did not think the government would adopt this option and implement it within the next few years. I was attracted by their idea and very willing to think about the possibility. I think this is the successful aspect of their persuasive and engaging presentation. Charles had a remarkable performance in the presentation. He demonstrated a good understanding of the topic and he used his humour to ease the audience’s worries about the negative effects of building a nuclear plant. A suggestion on his improvement: he could speak more fluently and persuasively by practising more. I believe the government will be amazed at his influential skills.

For the second presenter, Ying Hui, I think she had a better opening which caught us attention immediately in the dry-run than the actual presentation. In the dry-run, her voice was high and varied to emphasize the key points. In the actual one, she was more nervous and she sometimes mumbled and skipped points. I believe that she will be a very good speaker when she has a better control of her nervousness. Noticeably, she organised her content logically and very cohesively which very few people could do this as well as her. I feel that I could learn much from her.

For the first presenter, Xiu Xian, I think she has improved a lot compared to her performance in the dry-run. Her voice is naturally soft and I personally liked it very much. If it was not a professional presentation, I think she does not need to change her voice purposely and her voice was very attractive. However, I think she needs to adjust her voice to make it more powerful and determined, especially in a persuasive presentation. She is a very elegant speaker and I enjoyed listening to her.

As a whole, I think they managed to inspire the audience to think about three options they proposed. To convince the audience, I think they need to provide stronger arguments to support their proposal considering the depth of their topic.

Different dining cultures between Singapore and China

Five years ago, I was just about to leave my home country, China and came to study in Singapore. At that time, I was 18 years old and my family did not have any relatives or friends in Singapore. Since it was the first time that I lived and studied overseas, my parents were worried that I had no one to look for help if some urgent thing happened.

Coincidently, a friend of my parents had a Singaporean friend visiting her at that time. My parents’ friend wanted to introduce her Singaporean friend to us. My parents were grateful that this Singaporean friend would like to help me if I had some emergency in Singapore. My parents invited her for a dinner in a good restaurant and my father intentionally booked the VIP room. In the restaurants in China, there is a minimum expenditure requirement for dining in the VIP room. My parents thought it showed respect for the Singaporean friend by dining in the VIP room.

When the Singaporean friend arrived at the room, my parents welcomed her with a warm handshake. My father asked her politely to order anything she wanted. She said: “Please just order a couple of simple dishes. There is o need to order so much food since we have a few people here.” My father asked her again to order some dishes since we had no idea about Singaporeans’ taste. Then she ordered an ordinary dish of mixed vegetables and shrimp. My parents thought it was not courteous to have just some simple dishes for our guest. So my father started to order some “big” dishes, like beef, fish, soup, steam pot and so on. The Singaporean guest looked at my father surprisingly and kept saying “Enough, enough, too much already! We cannot finish.” Because she insisted on taking just five dishes (each person one dish), my father respected her wish by ordering five dishes. Those dishes were very ordinary and most of them were made of vegetables. They did not cost much. I asked if she was a vegetarian and she said: “No, I am not. I just do not want to waste food.”

In the end, we did not even finish the five dishes since my father felt awkward about this very simple dinner and he did not eat much. Moreover, most of the dishes are too vegetarian for him. My father has a heavy taste. Since the dinner cost less than the minimum amount required, my father had to pay for the lacking amount.  

After living in Singapore for a period of time, I understood the differences in the dining culture between Singapore and China. In China, when we invite some guests for a dinner in a restaurant, we always order more than we can eat. The host would like to order various dishes and meat dishes to show hospitality and respect to the guests.  If all the dishes on the table are finished, the host will think they have made a mistake by not ordering enough food and immediately order more dishes. However, this tradition obviously does not fit Singapore’s eating culture. They want to order just enough food and finish up all.

Application letter for personal banking associate position

Feb 13^th, 2011

Huang Huan

29 Prince George’s Park Singapore 118426

Mobile: 65-96166741

E-Mail: happyhuang17@gmail.com

Wong Mei Leng Jenny

Group Human Resources

80 Raffles Place
UOB Plaza 1, #07-01
Singapore 048624

Dear Ms. Wong,

I am a science student from National University of Singapore. I will graduate in May, 2011 with a certified honours degree in Statistics with specialisation in finance. I have great interest in personal banking industry. I like meeting and talking to people, understanding their needs, helping them achieve their financial goals.

During my 4 years life in university, I have been actively participated in people-oriented activities. I have worked as a Marketing&Communication Executive for NUS Entrepreneurship Society, the 2nd biggest student organisation in NUS. I was responsible of reporting various events organised by the Society and publishing their semi-annual newsletter. My communication skills have been enhanced and approved. Besides this, I initiated and organised a big school event, a 3-day Campus Bazaar by cooperating with Tangs. Through this event, my team achieved the highest club fund we have ever raised, 3000SGD.

In the beginning of 2010, I was selected by school to participate in the innovative Local Enterprise Achiever Development (iLEAD) Programme under the NUS Overseas College. I have worked in a local company which provides business consultation&branding services and completed 2 weeks overseas study mission in Silicon Valley, US. My internship experience in a service-oriented company has strengthened me with great flexibility, communication and people skills. Having a positive attitude and keen learning spirits, I was able to take on challenges which I have never encountered before and rapport well with different people. My fast learning abilities and good adaptability have been approved by my boss.

Being a very positive and passionate fresh graduate, I have confidence to start my career in the personal banking industry and desire to making progress and providing great services to the customers. I look forward to an opportunity in meeting you for an interview.

Yours sincerely,

Huang Huan

( For the job description, please view http://www.uobgroup.com/about/careers/graduate_careers/personal_banking_associate.html )

Conflict between my boss and me

I am going to discuss a real case happened between my boss and me during my internship last year. It was my first time to work and I worked in a small local company in Singapore. I am from China and I have studied statistics in NUS for 3 years.  My first job in life is working as a business development for a company providing product innovation and branding services. I needed to learn all from scratch since I have never learnt any business modules and had no working experience.  

In the first few days, the boss started to push me a lot and ask me to implement some projects or ideas that he has thought of but had no time to do before. As a new intern, I felt very stressed since I often felt lost when he introduced me a new project development project.  He spoke many physical or mechanical terms which I could not understand on the spot. At first, I asked him to explain but he sometimes didn’t know how to explain.  After a few times, I noticed he was an impatient person and I stopped asking him questions. I decided to write down the words I could not understand and checked the dictionary or asked my colleagues after the meeting. However, I still missed some information from him during the meeting. The difficulty of understanding him clearly and quickly made me perform less effectively at work. My boss was not satisfied about my performance and blamed me on my poor English and slowness in actions. I also felt unhappy about his criticism and impatience. He asked me to work overtime for 1 or 2 hours, but I was not willing to do.  I had to study for school at night and I lived very far from my workplace.

How do you think I should talk to my boss effectively to  obtain more understanding from him?

Why effective communication is important?!

Looking through the various recruitment advertisements, "possessing good communication skills" is always the top 1 or 2 requirements listed by the employers.  Moreover, people with good communication skills have higher chance of being promoted to management positions in companies. Even if you want to start up your own business or be self-employed, it is rather important to possess communication skills because you need to find your customers or business partners through effective communication. In my point of view, effective communication is very important in our career life. I will focus only on the aspect of career, since our module is called "Professional Communication"and many of us will start our career soon. :)

There are three reasons why I think effective communication is important in our career life.

Firstly, effective communication plays a crucial part in getting your desirable job. When we apply for a job, we need firstly send out our resume or cover letter which does not only state our basic information and past experiences, but also shows our communication capability in the written form. Secondly, you need to go for an interview to communicate face to face with your potential employers. This is a further step for them to test your verbal communication capability and it is crucial in determining whether you can get the job or not.

Secondly, your communication skills affect your productivity at work. As we all know, we need to interact with colleagues, express our ideas and talk to clients to get our tasks done. The more effective you communicate with other people, the faster and better you will complete your tasks. Sometimes, you need to work as a team and effective communication is a key to ensure an efficient teamwork.

Last but not the least, good communication skills can help you leave a good impression on others and help you get along well with your colleagues and boss. People who can express themselves clearly will show a sense of confidence and other people would like to talk to you. It is true that people are judged by the way they speak, but not the way they look.

In conclusion, I think effective communication is very essential in our career life, getting a good job, increasing our productivity at work and building up good relationships with people. I believe our communication skills will be improved greatly by studying and practising together!