Reflection on Learning

What I really appreciate from this module is the intercultural environment and the chance to self-evaluate.

This course provided me with opportunities to practice to speak up more, in class discussions, presentations, mock interview, and group meetings etc. I feel that to express myself and my thoughts comprehensibly is really important, even more so when our class consists of students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Because of the different levels of understanding of language, social norms and values, perceptions of a particular issue by each of us may be different from one another’s. The sharing in class from the exchange students were interesting and opened up my perspective to a certain extent. The importance of intercultural knowledge is made even more relevant to me as my group had to present this topic for peer teaching. As such, I learnt a lot both from the class environment and the research which is required of me.

Initially I took up this course as I had to overload this semester and this was the only module which could fit into my timetable. In addition, my seniors recommended me to take this module, quoting that it will be useful especially since we will need to do up our application letter and resume for Industrial Attachment by end of Year 2. I did not check out what the module is about and went ahead to bid for it, thinking that this was my only choice. In the past, I often research if there’s any project work or emphasis on language in the grading of the module before considering for bidding as English Language has always been a barrier for me. I try to refrain from group work as it often means the need to spend a lot of time on getting everyone’s agreement before proceeding. Indeed, both peer teaching and research proposal involved and required much of my time and effort, especially since I always expect the best out of myself in work. I began to regret taking up this module as my work starts to pile up due to most of time spent on these group works. In fact, as some of the deadlines clashed with my test dates, I did not have sufficient time to study for my CAs because I had to consider that my group mates will be affected if I don’t finish my part in time. However, this only made me more conscious of the need for me to manage my time more effectively. It was hard to prioritize as my core modules were of heavy content. I learnt that insufficient management on my part will cause me to make sacrifices. It may not be a pleasant experience, but it definitely served as a good learning experience. 

It is better to experience failure now than to fail when we are out in the workplace. Only through failure will we find success.

Reflection on Oral Presentation

The whole of the Research Proposal process was a good learning and self-reflecting experience. From brainstorming to submission of research proposal followed by presenting our ideas, the process involved teamwork which presented problems that made us paused to think what went wrong.
The deadlines were quite close to each other and we had to balance the workload of other modules. Personally I had 4 other modules that require consistent efforts in terms of lab reports, weekly tests and CAs, and some even clashed with the deadlines of research proposal which almost made me suffocated from the workload. Furthermore, it was hard to establish priorities since all of these were graded and will contribute to the final module grade significantly. However, I chose to sacrifice other modules for the research proposal as I feel that it will not only affect my grade but also my groupmates'. I had to consider the fact that I should be putting the same amount of effort, if not more, as my groupmates, especially since we placed emphasis in equality of work.
One of the greatest challenges which we faced was communication breakdown. I felt that it was due to lack of understanding, in terms of literally the meaning of the messages and being considerate. More often than not, we had to repeat ourselves again and again to the same questions or to get our points across. Conflict occurred as we were not on the same page at some point in time. However, by the time we realised the problem, I felt that it was too late to correct it. In fact, if we were to dwell on it, we would be wasting time and nothing constructive will result from it. My take was to move on and complete as we have a deadline to follow. What can we do if the amount of work required to be done stays unchanged, but the manpower we have has decreased? Differences in thinking and handling of problem were obviously an issue since we do not know each other beforehand. As such, the lesson learnt would be to establish a common ground and reach a consensus at the start of the project.
Despite the problems faced, there were some good points noted, such as the teamwork shown in wanting the result to be as ideal as possible. Individualistic was not an issue as we helped one another even after the splitting of work. We would make sure every parts of the proposal and presentation were linked and helped one another to improve on their parts. Such efforts were significant in making the final product possible.
All in all, I would say I am satisfied with what we have came up with, although there is of course, room for improvement. Given the amount of time we had for this research proposal and the amount of effort we have all put in, the product has exceeded my expectation for it.

Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

Self-reflection on Inter-cultural Knowledge and Competence

I may bear insights of my own cultural rules and biases but how much do I know of other cultures? Having a capstone for cultural self-awareness is insufficient. Communication requires both speaker and listener to participate, thus no one can be the center of conversation forever. As such, to be effective in inter-cultural communication, we need to have knowledge of cultural world view frameworks.
At the moment, I am only able to demonstrate partial understanding of the complexity of elements important to members of another culture in relation to its history, values, politics, communication styles, economy, or beliefs & practices. However, I am willing to learn and expand my limited inter-cultural knowledge.
Even though Singapore may be a multicultural country, there are still some people who grew up without much interaction with other cultural groups. I'm an instance. Being in a SAP school for 10 years, peers around me were mainly Chinese. I had my first non-Chinese classmate/friend when I entered Junior College. Two of my classmates were Malays and one Indian. I was very much conscious of how sensitive racial issues can be, thus I was cautious about how I interact with them. Then I realized  despite the difference in ethnicity, being truthful is applicable in all types of communication. Being sensitive is not to avoid the issue, but to open up and ask about the unsure, admit mistakes and learn from them.
As I meet more friends of other ethnicity these years, I learnt a lot about other cultures by asking beforehand and refrain from making any assumptions. For more inter-cultural exposure, I volunteered in International Freshmen Orientation as OGL where I made friends of other nationalities like Malaysian, Burmese, South Korean, Vietnamese, etc. It was a fun and valuable experience nevertheless. Eventually, I feel that everyone should be humble in any inter-cultural context. No particular ethnic is superior over the other.
On my part, I need to improve on my inter-cultural competence by looking past all the ethnocentric stereotypes and put forth more effort in trying to understand the different cultures. When communicating with other people of different cultural background, always bear in mind that some cultures may be contrary to ours and never take offence on unintentional faults. Each culture's world view affects every aspect of their people's communication style. We grew up in different environment and it shaped us the way we are now. Hence, we should take the effort to learn about a culture before trying to communicate with people from that culture. To me, it means to always do your homework and be prepared.

Application Letter

(Applicant's Address)

15/09/2012

Nestlé Singapore (Pte) Ltd.
15A, Changi Business Park Central 1
#05-02/03 Eightrium@Changi Business Park
Singapore 486035


Dear Sir/Madam

Application for Internship in Nestle Research Centre

I am currently a second year undergraduate, writing in to seek for a placement as an intern under your prestigious company. As a Food Science and Technology (FST) undergraduate in National University of Singapore, I have always been interested in doing research, especially in the field of food sensory. Nestle Research Centre is well known and which many highly speak of. I feel that Nestle Research Centre’s working culture will be able to provide me with the opportunity to maximise my skills. It is my personal belief that teamwork and enthusiasm are fundamental for success. I am confident that my leadership experience and passion for the food industry will be able to value-add to your company’s research.

After a year of experience as an executive committee member of NUS FST Society, I was appointed as the President, thereby entrusted with the responsibility of leading the committee in several upcoming projects. During the course of the projects, I demonstrated excellent resource and manpower management skills by delegating the work fairly among the committee based on their experience and expertise. I believe this leadership experience serves as a stepping stone for me to work amicably with the research team of your company.

On top of that, I constantly seek to better myself in other directions, and one key area of development is in terms of work experience. There are many valuable skills to be picked up through working with others, especially out in the industry. Before school term, I have worked as a temporary staff in TUV SUD PSB Food Laboratory, with the aim of exposing myself in the food (or food & beverage) industry and to better understand the needs of these companies.

I am enthusiastic and looking forward to be part of your company as an intern in the Nestle Research Centre. In review of your company’s working culture and promising opportunities, I feel that my leadership skills and passion to research and taking up of challenges will be an asset to the company. Along with this is my detailed resume for your reference. I can be reached with confidence at 81805538 or you can email me at jasminee-@hotmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you to arrange for a meet up on possible opportunities. Thank you for your time and consideration.


Yours faithfully
Jasmine Toh

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

A and B are in the same society committee, where A is the president and B is just a junior executive committee member. A, being a third year student, is about to step down as the outgoing executive committee, thus she is trying to find more people to join the committee. As the Annual General Meeting is approaching, she looked at the poor application rate and decided to send emails out to the junior executive committee members to persuade them to take up major roles like directors, treasurer, secretary and running for presidency. Although B has already given A a month in advance notice that she will not be joining the new committee, A still sent an email to request B to stay in the committee. A has always been supportive of  B and they often share same thinking in matters, thus B thought that by telling A in advance her decision to quit, A will understand her decision and not pursue it further. Hence, when B received the email from A, she hesitated. B believed that A would not have asked again if she has a choice, as such, B feels guilty if she has to reject A. Furthermore, A managed to cover and refute all of B's concerns and reasons for quitting in the email. However, B has already joined another club as an ordinary member, thus she will not be able to fully commit to the society like before.

How do you think B should respond to A's request?

Effective Communication Skills

Why effective communication skills are important to me?

Firstly, I believe everyone has the inborn ability to communicate. However, not everyone is able to communicate effectively. I may possess two languages like many others, but I am still not able to guarantee that what I truly meant will get across to the other party entirely without any distortion. Personally, I detest being misunderstood. To allow others to get the whole picture, I always end up beating about the bush and occasionally, even missed out the main point. Eventually, I realized communication involves the efforts of both parties - the speaker and the listener. Communication is only considered as effective when the intended message from the speaker is channeled to the listener without the loss of the true meaning. I need to make sure that I did not misread what the speaker is conveying, and my intentions do not get misinterpreted by the listener.
Secondly, effective communication can help to save time. Imagine having to read a lengthy email explaining about one’s choice of T-shirt design when all he could have done is just state the design he prefers. This is especially important during the planning of events since the details have to be finalized for the proposal, every second before the actual date of the event counts.
Lastly, ineffective communication can lead to miscommunication which translates to unnecessary arguments and maybe even conflicts. This will definitely be detrimental in a few years’ time when we step into the working world where everyone is literally fighting for their survival.
Sad to say, I am one of those who are not able to communicate effectively as of yet. However, I do hope that through this course, I will be able to at least learn some effective communication skills and put them to good use.