Final Post: Final Reflection

Looking back on how I have mentioned that I had low morale, low confidence (and so I needed confidence booster) and how uncertain I am, etc, I feel that the coursework has done its rightful deed to "force" me to settle down and think thoroughly on the mannerisms I should have when I am communicating with another person. For instance, an informal conversation with locals ought to have "Singlish" added to sound friendlier and "homely". A formal presentation ought not to have "Singlish" in it which (sadly) I admit that I did so in my presentation.

Nevertheless, the presentation made me realize that presenting to others is not merely conveying my messages across but I have to make sure that they do understand me. However, some points in my part were rebutted for its impracticability (and debates started). It was an experience earned though. (Yes, next time I will think through carefully before I make a point.)

I feel that this course has given me the platform to voice my opinions and test my level of confidence and patience in many ways, especially in working on the group project. It was a challenge to race against time and a lesson learnt. (Never to work last minute, if possible.)

We have come a long way to finally see the end of the module. It is as though it was yesterday that we first met. I am glad we bade for this module at this timeslot, it was great pleasure and joy indeed! :D
All the best for the coming exams!

6th post: Biodata

Jia-Ling is graduating from the National University of Singapore with a BSc. degree in Life Sciences in coming July 2009.

Her field of studies includes biological sciences and biomedical sciences such as human physiology. She had considerable laboratory experience in her first two years of study and subsequently moved on to learning more theories in the related field, such as molecular and cellular neurobiology. She was also exposed to the ecology of various animals and plants with field trips around Singapore, studying the ecological systems with primary observations and secondary literature.

She is a people-oriented person who is willing to learn in order to further improve herself in various areas. She challenges herself by taking up vacation jobs of different fields and exposing herself to gain real-world experience. This further improves her interpersonal skills by having to face people of different nationalities and different character. She finds it important to not only interact with people of the same age but also people of seniority, so to mature in terms of thinking and behaviour.

Her interest lies in doing voluntary work, which led her to join NUS Community Service Club projects during the holidays. She likes to play sports in her leisure time to relax her mind and to get together with her friends. She feels that it is essential for fun and excitement after a week of work.

5th post: Open Topic

Sorry for the very late posting! Was busy with the never-ending tests and reports.
*Sorry I changed the date too :x Thought it was neater that way :)

Communication with people is a necessary act in our daily lives, be it to ask for help or to give orders or just having leisure talk. It can be directly in person (face-to-face) or indirectly through other forms such as the Internet or telephone.

I feel that it is simpler and straightforward to communicate with the other party face-to-face. We could take note of the facial expressions, unspoken cues like crossing arms (that might mean impatience) and tone of the speech. It is then much more effective to respond to the other party as it saves time because we will tend to expect a response from the other side (immediately) when we ask a question or make a comment.

This is in comparison with the indirect communication which I refer to as not being there in person when the communication is ongoing. It is this kind of interaction with others through some kind of media that advocates advanced technology but less human contact, which brings me to think that people can hide themselves behind these "doors". It is then very easy to respond because there is no need to speak in proper English or tone, no need to care about your dressing or your non-verbal actions.

Recall the last email you sent, regardless of a good news or bad news, do you express your emotions on the email you have typed? For a formal mail, it definitely must be written in a objective manner. And for an informal mail, it is typed in any preferred manner with added smiley faces :) and the informal tone (usually expressive) to convey to the reader.
And the best part about indirect communication is that there is no need for instant response (unlike direct communication that requires immediate response). Hence, you can usually take your time to reply at your own time and to properly formulate your response if it's a formal mail.

To conclude, I would prefer this indirect communication under formal circumstances and direct communication under informal situations. I feel that I will need more time to think through serious issues and respond back to the other party, hence the indirect communication via email or instant short messages through the Internet. And the informal times like interacting with friends and siblings, I would prefer to have it face-to-face, since the responses need not be properly phrased, just as long as the meaning gets across. Close friends will usually understand one another regardless of the language spoken, proper or not. :)

So, what's your take about having direct and indirect communication?

4th post: Describe in writing the intercultural scenario that you observed for that task and present an interpretation in light of your understanding of cultural norms and values and the fundamentals of effective communication.
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Cultural conflict - Who's right and who's wrong?

It all happened when this Malay male driver was driving his family in his big car on the road. (I was looking because my dad is driving and I'm only a passenger idling). All of a sudden, a seemingly-professional cyclist (a Caucasian) came along, cycling very closely to this big vehicle. Drivers know that the blind spot area is highly prone to accidents and this bicycle just kept on closing in, after dangerously cutting lanes. Until the car stopped behind the red light, the driver got down his car and started his aggressive questioning on why is he cycling so near him? There is a pavement and the cyclist can actually use instead of cycling at his own pace on the road and road hog and be a high-potential road hazard. The cyclist calmly put his hand out to try to shake hand with the driver to apologise or "shrug it off". Apparently, the driver is not taking it lightly. He ignored that totally, and when saw the action, he was disgusted. However, the Caucasian seemed to just ignore the "crazy" guy and rode off even before the traffic light turned green. After which, the Malay driver changed from left lane to the farthest right lane to avoid the "road hazard".

Interpretation:
I was rather appalled at the act of the Caucasian riding on the road, behaving as if he's the king. It was understandable why the driver acted that way. However, I thought that was quite over-reacting. So much so that I felt embarrassed that the Malay driver (whom I think he is Singaporean) was giving such a huge reaction. I did not exactly hear the entire conversation but I heard some parts of it, because the driver was clearly shouting his lungs out and there seemed to be vulgarities. The part that made me stunned was the cyclist's reaction. It had been slightly too "cool", so much so that he did not react at all. All he did was stretch out his hand and seemed to expect a handshake to "shrug things off". This, in a way, showed how a Singaporean is calculative and petty as compared to Caucasians.

Caucasians are often seen to be more open (not conservative) and do not take things to heart. This can be seen from the cyclist's reaction of not shouting back to the Malay driver when the Malay driver reacted.
All in all, I feel that it would be more effective if the Malay driver could just talk to the cyclist nicely and not shout at him to convey the message that it is not safe to cycle in that manner (by cutting into and out of lanes on the road). In this case, I felt that both were in the wrong but it was not hard to resolve the conflict if both parties were cool and calm at that moment.

3rd post: Business email! In this case, a notice for students to view their student bill online and to ensure that the students have sufficient funds in paying for the fees.
___________________________________________________________________
From: Student Account Enquiry
To: NUS Graduate Students; NUS Special Students; NUS Undergraduate Students
Cc:
Subject: FW: AY2008/2009 Semester 2 - Notice to View Student Bills Online - Second Gentle Reminder
Attachments:

Dear Students.

Further to the 2 earlier notices, please be reminded that the fees for Semester 2 of AY08/09 is due by 6 February 2009 for all students.

For students paying via GIRO, a GIRO deduction will be conducted on 6 February 2009.

If someone else is paying your Student Bill, please inform him/her of your fee payment due date in order to avoid any late payment charge.

Please check if you have any outstanding fees via https://aces01.nus.edu.sg/StudentPayment/Login.jsp.

If you have already paid all outstanding fees, please ignore this reminder email.

Students’ Section
Office of Financial Services

Note: This is an auto-generated email. Please do not reply to this email.

This email is confidential and may be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify us immediately; you should not copy or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person. Thank you.
____________________________________________________________________

My Analysis
As a formal email that is addressed to the student body, the writer has effectively convey his/her message. The important datelines are highlighted in bold which emphasises its presence. The flow of contents is logical and most of the 7Cs in writing have been fulfilled. However, the email can be further improved.

It can be made more concised by including the dates of the previous 2 notices. And also to include the time of deduction as well. It is to provide transparency of the fees systems to the students. Also, the writer typed the sentences in a way that they are in a different format, for instance a sentence without any formatting and the next is in italics. This is not necessary because to fully separate sentences, the writer can simply number the sentences.

Lastly, I feel that the email can be better with appropriate closing at the end. For instance, a "thank you" or something like that will make the Office of Student Relations look better, so that the email would not be deemed as some sort of "going after the students for money" kind of impression. And the writer should include the contact information for students who have enquires. This will complete the email.

2nd post: Describe in detail an interpersonal conflict situation, real or hypothetical. Describe in detail the setting/context of the conflict, the people involved, the main problem, and the possible causes. Try to identify the feelings of the people involved.
Finally, while considering the main problem, articulate it in the form of a question that might be answered in the form of a possible solution by the members of your blogging group.
____________________________________________________________________
It all started out with a reluctant formation of a project group for the entire academic year. A very common conflict problem when there are interactions between different people.

Here is the story:
With three ladies and one guy in the group, it was thought to be a fun project, especially since we are all Chinese and that means we speak common language and likely, share same culture. However, the problem arised when girl A and the boy were absent for many meetings and giving excuses when asked for the reasons of their absence. The incident became more frequent.
Besides our normal subjects and co-curriculum activities, we were obliged to finish this project and do a final presentation to teachers who were not related to us in any way to ensure fair treatment. Since the two "permanent absentees" were not doing their own part, we went on to talk to our form teacher, only to realise that he said he would counsel the two of them and told us to tolerate them. Imagine the cruelty of the statement when it was two people doing a major project which was supposed to be done by four people.
The percentage breakdown for the project placed large emphasis on group presentation which was the one that freaked us (the two of us) out and the "lazy pair" were so calm. It was as though they knew the whole process and all.

The main problem was:
Why did girl A and the boy absent themselves for meetings and the teacher still gives them the benefit of doubt and "protect" them?

1st post: Why developing effective communication skills is important for me?

In my opinion, with good communication skills, there will be lesser room for misunderstandings and will be able to understand one another clearly. This set of soft skills will be applicable in many areas throughout my interactions with different people. For instance, an interview with persons of higher authority tends to set me in a nervous state, henceforth, i am often distracted by the cold environment and the "intimidating" interviewer.

Browsing through the book, there are a couple of skills that I can adopt. For instance, writing skills --- the 7Cs in the book can be a good reference when typing a formal letter to the superior. Other skills like writing a formal and comprehensible report and delivering oral presentations to others are amongst many things which I would like to do well in. This is probably due to my lack of confidence infront of many people (mostly strangers at times) and I find it utmost crucial to learn how to overcome this fear. To be a good report-writer, I feel that one must have contents and style. I may have the contents but often my style seems to be unacceptable, hence I was marked down.

The book also mentioned about discovering self. This is another important part for me. I think before doing anything, it is important to know myself first. I have been in a confusing world, thus I think I am a lost sheep. Even after going through several times of DISC personality test in the past, I am still a stranger to myself (which is bad). I think my confidence level is really low. Thus, I need a confidence booster. I am still in search for it though.

Hopefully, this course will enable me to discover and learn about myself all over again so that I will not be a low-moraled lost sheep. :)