Final Reflection on Learning

Hello everyone!

Today was the last lesson! Well all in all, I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I must say, I did not regret taking this module one bit! I would like to thank my group mates, Mdm Fazillah and the rest too, for making my time in this course a really pleasant and fruitful experience :)

Here goes my final reflections on this module.

I would say that the various skills taught on oral presentation were really useful. The points on how one should present - Ethos, Pathos, Logos etc. were really insightful. Moreover, I feel that the mock interviews, were really useful though they were ungraded. I've in a sense considered myself to be a reasonably good speaker but it is through this course and learning experience that I've realized there's still much to learn and improve upon. One problem I've always had is not speaking clearly (enunciation, pronunciation and voice projection). I tend to swallow my words or not take enough effort to speak clearly. I also tend to be not too concise in my points.Through the practise sessions I've had on my project with group mates, for instance the peer-teaching, as well as observing other members present their projects, I've taken many key learning points and used them to further improve my speaking skills.

This course encourages oral participation. Even though I'm not a reserved person, through my first semester in NUS, especially during tutorials, I did not really speak up, make points or ask questions even if I had any. It could have been the fear of 'what others might think' or the like. However, during ES2007S classes, there were so many interesting things to share and learn from each other, and it is motivating to see everyone actively participating and interacting with one another. As such, I also improved on this aspect, I asked many questions and also commented to other people's viewpoints. I've also carried on with this attitude for the rest of my modules and intend to do so from now on.

Moreover, as for the Interview aspect of the course, I feel that the mock interview were very useful, especially for graduating students. It prepared us mentally and also taught us what to expect in the real working world. How we dress, speak and present ourselves in front of people that we intend to impress or win the hearts over,  is very important. The various ways and means to present ourselves, the Do's and Don'ts, creating the right impression were all very useful.

I'm very glad and thankful for all the learning experiences that I had during this module. Once again, thank you everybody, have a good exam week and an even better holdiay period!

Cheers :)

Surendran Jeremiah

Peer teaching Self-Reflection

I feel that the overall presentation that my group did went well. We did not rehearse with a time limit yet we managed to stick to it. The class activity was good as the class actively participated in it and were enthusiastic about sharing their experiences.

Mdm Fazillah's feedback was very insightful as we learnt how address the class better in terms of presentation styles and the like. I enjoyed working with William and Siu Chung, they were very proactive and fun to work with in this peer-teaching assignment! And it was very apt for the group, since we were all from differing cultural backgrounds (Sweden, Singapore, Hong Kong!)

Evaluating Intercultural Behavior.

Hello guys :)

Back when I was in secondary school, I had the opportunity to go to Japan for exchange. When I went there, I was overwhelmed by how cultured the Japanese were. Throughout my trip, I made several observations and thought about how Singapore could learn from the Japanese.

When I say that the Japanese are very cultured, I mean that they value their traditions and regard very highly of their practices. They are extremely polite and treat one another with utmost respect, despite that person's occupation or age. I've noticed people bowing repeatedly to show their respect to the person they're addressing, even in public places and offices. I've seen people in suits coming out of their office buildings to sweep the area outside their offices.

In Japan, customer service is near perfect (or at least that's what I have experienced). Be it a hardware shop, a boutique, or even a grocery store, the employees give you their undivided attention and address your every needs with a smile. We notice in Singapore, this might be an area of concern. Our customer service has alot of room to improve. At times, customers walk into an unwelcoming/unaccommodating shop.

Earlier I mentioned that the Japanese really uphold traditions and practices. One of the first experiences I had was a little peculiar, nevertheless intriguing. It was the public baths. When the people use their public baths, they do not use the towel to cover themselves as it is rude to do so. Yet they respect each others' space and make it comfortable to use.

When I was studying in their schools, one of their CCAs was the Japanese Tea Club. In this CCA, they teach girls the practice of serving tea as how women in Japan did centuries ago. In the restaurants, there are many practices to be observed; like sitting in a particular manner, eating in a particular manner (they really slurp their noodles very loudly!).

Overall, it was a culturally rich experience, even though we Singaporeans do not have a fixed set of cultural behaviors like bowing to one another, we definitely can draw back lessons to learn from the Japanese from respect to individual responsibility and ones need to preserve their traditional values.

Me with the class I was assigned to. :)

Cover Letter for Job Vacancies

Here is the advertisement for the job vacancy:

Cover Letter:

Caldecott Broadcast Centre

Andrew Road, Singapore 299939

MediaCorp Pte Ltd

Application for internship for Assistant/Programming Manager, Vasantham

           

Dear Sir/Madam,

From the MediaCorp website I learnt about your job vacancy for the position of Assistant/Programming Manager for Vasantham. I am very keen in applying for this position with Vasantham, and I believe that my education, employment background and personal experiences are appropriate for this position.

In your pre-requisites, you have indicated that a good degree and a minimum of 3-year work experience with media or a related industry is required, as well as a passion for the media. I am currently an undergraduate in NUS studying Mechanical Engineering. For about 10 years now, I have been actively involved in theatre and dance productions. I have overseen, directed as well as participated in productions with schools, institutions as well as productions houses such as act3. When I was a student in Anderson Junior College, I was the President of the Tamil Language Debate and Drama Society and I have written scripts, directed drama plays and choreographed dance items for competitions and in-house productions.

In 2011, I worked with Dance Bollywood International (DBI) as a choreographer and performer for a charity show, “Smile 2 Live”, to raise funds for the Childrens’ Cancer Foundation. As a student of NUS, I am currently  in ‘NUS DanceBlast!’, a hip-hop CCA and I actively seek participation in dance, drama and short-film features. 

I believe my passion for the Arts, media and the production process as well as my years of experience have made me a more creative person in this line of work. I hope that you would consider me as a candidate for the job vacancy. I have attached my resume for your reference and will be more than glad to clarify any questions you may have.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you very much for your kind consideration.

Sincerely,

Surendran Jeremiah

Blk 540, Woodlands Dr 16

#12-73, S’pore 730540

Hp: 98807671, H: 65255991

surenjeremiah91@gmail.com

 

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict.

"You can't shake hands with a clenched fist." - Indira Gandhi

I've realised over time, that healthy interpersonal relationships with people can turn sour even over the smallest of things - it can be a longing resentment against someone that breaks into conflict, or it can be a sudden and unexpected burst of conflict. One of the many things that cause these conflicts would be resentment. I would like to share one of my personal experiences in one of these conflicts. 

After coming to NUS, me and few others formed a clique in engineering. As most of the people in the group are guys, we tend to behave like 'how guys do'. We can be rude, insensitive and lack tact when we talk. Most of time we joke around and do not take things too seriously, as we do not really mean the things we say to each other when we joke about a person. However, things turned a little sour when one of the guys got a little upset over the fact that he was always being picked on by another friend. Let's name the victim person A and the perpetrator person B. I feel it was no ill-intention on B's part, but maybe there was a little crossing over the line. However, it did not stop there. Each time we hung out, B always found a reason to pick on A. I feel by now, A was already having a growing resentment over B and it just got worse over time. 

Once, A was hanging out with his own friends and B joined in. Eventually B joined in A's conversation and constantly interrupted A. A tolerated it at first but B started to get personal when he shared A's personal stories with people he just met. All this while, A was withholding his anger but after his friends left, burst into a heated argument with B and the argument almost broke into an ugly fight. Even though the two of them eventually  resolved their conflict, I cannot deny the fact that, tacitly, there is a bigger unresolved resentment that makes their friendship with each other questionable. There's always a 'let's not go there' atmosphere when we joke about together as a group and hypothetically, another argument between the two might be imminent if they do not sort their feelings towards each other.

While I understand that such things are normal especially amongst people in our age group, the question I have to ask is, if you were person A, how would you put forth to B that he is unhappy with him when he is aware that that could alter his relationship with B and probably the rest?

Why effective communication is important for me.

"Communication is a skill that you can learn. It's like riding a bicycle or typing. If you're willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life."

  - Brian Tracy

Effective communication is essentially the fundamental to building better working relations with friends, family, colleagues and even with strangers. The ability to communicate effectively and efficiently, largely determines whether one is comprehensible to to others. At the same time, it would also allow the person to have the ability to understand others. Many a times, it is not only about the things being said, but also the things that aren't. In order to understand that, we must be able to communicate effectively.

In various ways, we depend on one another people to get things done. We may work alone, but ultimately that alone would not suffice. We may want to get a certain message across or put forth some ideas that we feel may be essential for the other parties to understand. Especially when in authority, we may want to give our counterparts certain instructions. Effective communication is ultimately the bridge that links the the delegation of tasks and the successful completion of it. If we are unable to speak, or send messages through other communication networks effectively, it will render the very purpose of that communication useless.

Personally, I feel that my communication skills needs alot of tuning-up . I have received feedback from many people that I speak too fast or I tend to be muffled. This is because I tend to not take the effort to articulate myself properly or pronounce words fully. At the same time, I am well aware of the fact that, at times,  I can be a bad listener. Many a times, I choose to hear what I want to or interrupt people in a haste to respond to what they were saying. I have definitely improved over the years, but I feel that there's definitely room for improvement.

We live in a world filled with ever-changing technological advancements. No longer do we need to write letters and mail them or send messengers to deliver messages. In an incredibly fast-paced world we live in, we both need to keep up with that pace and have the tenacity to adapt to changes. Communication is the crux of it all. We need to be able to be communicate effectively in order to survive as well as progress as an individual. If we are not up to it, we are going to fall back and remain stagnant.