Final Reflection

Throughout this course, I have learnt and am convinced of the value of collaborative (rather than competitive) communication (cross refer to my first blog entry).  Through countless feedback I have received on my work from peer reviews, I see how I may stand to lose if I am defensive of my work and of what people say about it. Also, if I had been insistent on my ways, I would not have been able to take advantage of the numerous self-improvement opportunities presented during the course to better my work.  

Surely, before I took this course, I knew the value of receiving feedback.  However, I never had the opportunity to receive so much feedback, so frequently and from so many different people regarding my work. I often only receive feedback for my assignments after submission and this makes rectification of errors nearly impossible and meaningless. Yet during this course, I was able to receive extremely descriptive and directed feedback and act upon it immediately. Thus, learning truly felt like a process that not only improved the quality of my work but also reassured me of my capabilities and boosted my self-confidence.

Besides learning more about myself through collaborative communication, it also reminded me to develop skills and qualities that my peers embodied and were worth emulating.  For instance, from Kristyn’s comments on the 8 okays I mentioned in my OP,I not only got to know the severity of my okay-syndrome and how much I needed to work at it, I also learnt about the importance of being meticulous. (Imagine listening attentively at someone and calculating the number of okays he/she mentions? Haha!!)  Likewise, I learnt similar things from Mercia. After seeing that the elaborations on my job achievements in my resume were lacking, she introduced me to the acronym STAR (Situation, Task, Action and Result) and on a personal level, I feel that her outspoken and inquisitive nature are highly admirable. 

To Brad and all my classmates,thank you for your presence ;) 

Reflection on OP

OP is over ;p Zi Hao and Ariele, we made it!! Remember the social engineering bit? Haha!! Anyway, it was great working with you guys throughout the entire process of coming up with directNUS  and eventually conveying the idea within an 8-page proposal and 20 mins presentation ;) Thank you for all your efforts!

Overall, I think I did pretty well for the OP as I managed to keep calm and talk logically, establish good eye contact with my audience and remember key points to say without the aid of a script. But, I also feel that there is room for improvement. I could have:

1)      Been more focused during my OP as I was slightly distracted when Titus who was sitting in front of me held up a camera to capture something.

2)  Had greater engagement with my audience to sustain the personal appeal of directNUS to each audience member as set up by Ariele.

3) Made potential challenges faced by directNUS more relatable to my audience by appealing to their person experiences (eg. their views on current bus arrival timings as reflected on electronic boards at bus stops).

4) Improved on the transition between the “expenditure and manpower needs” part to the “challenges” part to make it flow more seamlessly.

5) Changed my position periodically to make the presentation feel less dead.

Nevertheless, I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to present my idea to an audience and be on the enriching learning journey of ES2007s!

Intercultural Scenario from Seoul 서울!

* Sorry friends for the late posting... I saved this post as a draft and never got to published it until now.

My intercultural scenario is drawn from South Korea, also often known as the land of plastic surgery beauties and Mecca of cosmetic surgery. I may have unconsciously experienced its excellence during my trip to Seoul a year ago but I'm certain I got the Korean society's stance on cosmetic surgery. 

A cosmetic surgery ad found in a Seoul train with
the words in red saying " It's my design" 

In place of the total defense ads found in buses and trains in Singapore that appeal to citizens to voluntarily protect our homeland, ads in Seoul’s public transport showcase incredible before-and-after cases of individuals who have undergone plastic surgery. 

The fact that such ads are found so easily and in such visible places show that having plastic surgery is not something most Koreans frown upon. Yet, it also reveals that the importance of good looks in the Korean society and this inevitably exerts pressure on individuals to constantly re-evaluate their self image – in this case, public transport commuters may be confronted with such issues on a daily basis. 

This sight is unlikely to be witnessed in Singapore since having plastic surgery is usually seen in a negative light by society. Also, it tends to be considered as an affair of the rich and famous rather than of the mainstream (as in South Korea) since the former are thought to be the ones with money to spend on such procedures. This idea of a good self image might not be as influential in the Singapore society as it operates on the principle of meritocracy where citizens are credited for their merits rather than physical appearance. In contrast, in Seoul, Koreans believe that being good-looking give them a head start in their intensely competitive society by widening their social networks. 

Such ads are often accompanied by 'Korean' vocabulary which ironically uses English alphabets to describe highly desirable body images that are heavily endorsed and publicized by the media. Here are a few examples:

The X- line (long arms and legs
with a  narrow waist)
*Notice the 'X' in the background

The S- line (a curvaceous figure)

The two types of  V-line

Did you know that people may receive plastic surgery as their 18 year old birthday presents or that it is extremely common for college students to have cosmetic procedures during their summer breaks before they return to school?

While it is natural for people to want to look good, in the South Korean context, such standards are taken to incomprehensible level as Koreans work around an image of an ideal beauty/ hunk. Even though men have their fair share of 'lines' like the M-line which is used to illustrate defined six-packs, Korean women face disproportionately more societal pressure to look good than men. This is mainly because the Korean society subscribes to Confucian ideals which emphasise hierarchy and male-dominant principles. Some skeptics (or not) have even gone ahead to suggest that the societal importance on good looks is the result of a survivalist philosophy/mentality among Koreans. Accordingly, men go under the knife to hang on to their dominant position in society and women do likewise to survive in a male-dominated society. 

Maybe its good that we hear it from the horse's mouth? Let's see what Arirang Today has to say about why are Koreans so into their looks ;) Hmm, so might Singaporeans' lack of receptiveness to plastic surgery and their sloppy dressing a good societal trend and a blessing in disguise? 

Application Letter Critique

20 Telok Blangah Drive

#01-32

S090020

Tel: 8123 8123

12^th Feb 2012

Mr Seow Kah Ping

Director

45 Maxwell Road
The URA Centre
Singapore 069118

Dear Mr Seow,

I am Yeo Xi Min and I am writing to apply for the position of Urban Planner (Urban Planning Excellence) as advertised on URA careers website on 31 Jan 2012. I have just graduated with a degree in Geography and would like to offer my strong theoretical understanding of urban and environmental issues to your organisation to transform Singapore into the most liveable city in Asia. Your organisation’s mission of making Singapore a great place to live, works and play deeply resonates with me.

I am highly qualified for this position since I possess both the hard and soft skills required for it. Firstly, my knowledge of urban and environmental issues extends beyond those acquired from a formal education to first-hand encounters with such issues on the ground through my visits and investigations of areas in Cambodia and Singapore respectively.  These experiences have allowed me to reflect on the possible areas of improvement in current urban planning practices. My training in the social sciences has also honed my critical thinking skills and has made applying them intuitive in everyday life. Besides, I also have an excellent command of written and spoken Chinese.  

At the same time, I have developed an impressive set of soft skills through the projects I have undertaken throughout the years. They include community development and voluntarism projects to an orphanage in Cambodia and environmental activism projects that promote tree planting on the school campus. Such projects required a high level of dedication to see through and also demanded for me to be a highly adaptable individual. Reason being that I needed to switch readily from being a team player when doing collective tasks to an independent worker when it came to making decisions as the leader for certain aspects of the projects. I am confident that I will bring the same level of commitment, intensity and meticulousness to the position if I am being offered it.

  

I have enclosed my resume for your perusal. I look forward to meet you to learn about the expectations for the position. Feel free to contact me if you have any enquires. Thank you for your time.

Yours sincerely,

Yeo Xi Min

Was the interpersonal conflict resolved?

I was working on formulating a mentorship programme for an environmental fund. Its purpose is to help mentees better articulate and achieve the goals of their projects. My task was to create a list of the roles and responsibilities of mentors. 

When the committee met up to discuss the list, Tom* commented that the statements were too vague and that he could not understand the true responsibilities of mentors from those statements. Instead of sentences like mentors are expected “to offer guidance, assistance and resources required by mentees as far as possible”, he preferred statements that specified the exact responsibilities of mentors.  For example, mentors are to handle/guide the analysis/development of ideas and proposal writing. I disagreed with him as I felt that the needs of each mentoring relationship would vary and hence being too specific about the responsibilities of mentors may prove to be inefficient and irrelevant. I wanted to only provide guidelines to maintaining a good mentoring relationship. 

Moreover, we had different expectations of mentors. Tom felt that mentors had to know everything, but I felt otherwise. I felt that mentors themselves are also on a journey of learning and self-development and thus must be willing to learn from their mentees. Tom’s high expectations for mentors may be because he already has excellent ability to solve his own problems and is only looking for someone who can tackle or provide opinions on his toughest problems. 

Eventually, his suggestion for a more specific list of the roles and responsibilities of mentors was adopted by the committee. Not too sure if the interpersonal conflict was resolved since it was a decision made by the committee... So, how would you resolve the interpersonal conflict between the two people so that their working relationship remains amicable?

Why is effective communication important to me?

Effective communication is important to me because it forms the foundation of relationships I forge with people, both close to me as well as with strangers. It has the ability to strengthen a relationship made just seconds ago and weaken/break a relationship fostered years ago, almost instantly.  Beyond ensuring that the intended meaning of my message gets accurately understood by others through effective communication, the content and manner I communicate may be used by my audience to judge if this relationship is worth pursuing. Thus, it determines the type and quality of relationships I make with others.

Effective communication is also important to me because it is so easy to make mistakes knowingly and unknowingly while communicating. For example, there are times when I fail to remember that the nature of communication is collaborative rather than competitive and try to ‘win’ every conversation I have with others, as though I am arguing for my stand in essays. I forget that communication involves the exchange of ideas and hence ought to be two-way. Consequently, I might appear as an overbearing and unreceptive person and this is certainly not how I would like to be perceived as. Another mistake I frequently consciously/unconsciously commit is that of being a poor listener and being too quick to pass judgement about what others say before fully digesting their entire message. Not only might I misinterpret their message, I also lose an opportunity to learn from their experiences as I believe that there is always something to learn from others.

This post has reminded me and made me more aware of the importance and my purpose for communicating effectively with others. So, from now on, I will try my best to put my understanding into action.