Final Reflection on Learning

ES2007S is the most useful module that I have taken in NUS so far. It teaches us how non-verbal cues play a significant role in communication apart from verbal skills as it can either enhance or distort our message to the other party. Therefore, it is important to take note of our non-verbal cues in different settings such as interview.

Besides that, I also learnt how to apply the 7Cs in my presentation and essay writing. It is essential to be clear, concise and complete in order to convey our messages effectively. Being grammatically correct is also equally important as too much grammar and spelling errors will disturb your readers.

The next component of ES2007S which I benefitted greatly is peer teaching and oral presentation. After receiving feedback from my tutor and peers, I know what are my strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I am more mindful of my standing position during presentation to avoid blocking the projector screen.

The most interesting part of this module is mock interview where everyone gets to play the role of interviewer, interviewee and observer. Being an interviewee, I am more aware of my body languages now during interview after receiving feedback from my tutor and peers. Being an observer and interviewer, it was an eye-opening experience for me when I see how my classmates tackle those difficult interview questions. I can still remember vividly how Jieyang answered this question “Which one will you choose if you were given an apple and one dollar?” and he actually chose one dollar because he can buy two apples with this money.

To end my final blog, I would like to thank Mdm Fazilah for her patience, guidance and encouragement all these while. I would also like to thank my classmates for making ES2007S such a fun-filling learning experience.  

Reflection on Team-based Research Project Proposal

Our team has decided to choose Choa Chu Kang LRT Station as the topic for our research proposal after listening to my personal experience as a frequent LRT commuter. There are many underlying problems behind Choa Chu Kang LRT Station which are quite serious and yet underrepresented.

To better understand the situation, my team members actually took the effort to come all the way here to conduct on-site surveillance even though they stayed very far. We took photos of the infrastructural issues which we had identified, conducted interviews with SMRT staff and 50 LRT commuters. To help our classmates to have a clearer picture, we also recorded a video about how inconvenient it is for wheelchair-bound to transfer between LRT and MRT.

However, one of the main challenges that we faced is the interview with SMRT staff. He was unwilling to disclose more about his opinions on LRT issues and usually gave us politically correct answers due to his sensitive standpoint. Despite that, we were still grateful that he accepted our interview and we managed to catch a few key points that he mentioned during the interview. Another challenge that we faced is seeking assistance from LRT commuters to do our survey. Many of them walked away when we approached them. It was quite demoralizing after many failed attempts to get their help. Despite that, we never give up and did our best to get as many respondents as possible.

Overall, I had a wonderful experience working with my team members. We had great teamwork and everyone was receptive to each other’s ideas.  It was also interesting to see how everyone looks at similar things from different perspectives partly because we came from different backgrounds. It was truly an eye-opening and unforgettable experience for me.

Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

Culture is a set of ideas, customs and social behaviour that is shared by a group of people in the society. Every country has its own culture which may be similar or different in certain aspects from others. Therefore, it is important to understand and adapt to various cultural behavior so to avoid or minimize misunderstandings among people.

I recalled an incident which took place a few years back when my family and I went to Bangkok for a short holiday trip. We went to a few tourist attractions for sightseeing and it is common to see some of the locals selling souvenirs along the roadside. Suddenly, we heard a commotion behind us while we were looking at the souvenirs. We turned and saw a Thai lady got into a heated argument with a Caucasian. She was arguing in Thai language which we cannot understand and she even pointed her finger at that Caucasian. Furthermore, we also saw a young boy hiding behind that lady. Soon, we came to learn from our tour guide that the whole incident started with the Caucasian patting the Thai boy’s head after giving him sweets. However, it is a taboo to touch the head of a Thai as the head is regarded as the highest or most sacred part of the body. Hence, it is best to avoid touching Thai people on the head, not even as a friendly gesture. This is very different from Singapore where we pat our niece or nephew’s head to demonstrate our liking for them.

In conclusion, different countries have different cultures and so it is important to do a research about the Do’s and Don’ts of the country that you are going. We must be sensitive and learn to respect and appreciate the intercultural differences so as to avoid intercultural conflicts.

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Interpersonal conflict is inevitable and can occur in different levels of interaction – at work, among friends, within families and between relationship partners. A conflict of interest exists when the actions of one person attempting to maximize his or her needs and benefits, block, interfere with, injure, or in some way make less effective the actions of another person attempting to maximize his or her needs or benefits.

Imagine a scenario at the workplace. Chloe is an intern who has recently started working in a company.  She is working with four other colleagues in her department and her job is mainly to provide general lab support to her colleagues.  Sometimes she needs to multitask as each of her colleagues demand her to get their work done first. Therefore, she is either busy going up and down the company or all alone by herself in the laboratory. Apart from that, she needs to do some basic housekeeping as well as filing of documents. But the problem comes when each of her colleagues place a big stack of documents on her desk for filing to be done. The moment she cleared this stack, her colleagues would immediately place another stack on her desk. The same thing happens every day and Chloe is under tremendous stress. She is both emotionally and physically exhausted as she feels that her work is never ending. However, she dare not raise this matter to her supervisor as she does not want her colleagues to have the wrong impression that she is bad-mouthing them behind their backs. Eventually, she had emotional breakdown and cried.

The above situation can be avoided if Chloe did not bottle up her feelings. Firstly, she should learn how to de-stress herself by taking a time out.  Once she has calmed down, she can provide feedback to her colleagues about how she feels about her workload and kindly seeks for their understanding. Most importantly, she should learn how to say “NO” whenever things are beyond her ability. Her colleagues should also show empathy by putting themselves in her shoes. Furthermore, they should be more sensitive to her nonverbal signals such as body language, facial expressions and tone of voice. 

If you had been in such situation, what would you do to alleviate this problem? Would you approach your supervisor first?