Final Reflection on Learning

This module has been a valuable and fun journey for me, As an student from a different university,  I had the opportunity to interact with students from other courses in NUS and students from different countries and cultures as well.

The resume and application letter was an important lesson for me. Before the lesson, i was writing my application letter wrongly, and hence, my teacher gave me insight in realizing the proper way in writing my CV.

The mock interview session was fun, where we get to be both and interviewer and an interviewee. Quick thinking was important to prevent awkward and embarrassing situations from arising. Comments from the teacher and the audience was certainly valuable, and it made me more aware of mistakes that I made, allowing me to take note not to repeat the mistakes in a real life interview.

This module had been fun and enjoyable ride. And i certainly recommend that all students take this course!

Reflection on Team-based Research Project Proposal

With a combination of busy class schedule, test and other projects, the completion of the proposal project was a smooth one. Other group members had busy and tight schedules too, so time management played an important key factor here. Meetings had to be held online at night because it was not easy to get all the team members together during the day, and presentation rehearsals were quick and not well practiced due to the busy schedules of each individual.

Communication played an important role in getting right information across each group mates. Due to some poor communication initially, there was a slight misunderstanding. However, it was quickly solved when the group had a face-to-face project meeting.

During presentation, one has to be quick to think on their feet. Some issues may arise, due to either the lack of rehearsal, or unforeseen circumstances. However, one must be prepared to overcome and hurdles faced during a presentation, quick and witty thinking is crucial in ensuring a smooth flow of presentation.

As a whole, this project has provided me with invaluable experience, in both time and people management, and i sincerely hope that i can put this experience to good use in my future endeavours.

Fostering Intercultural communication

With modern technology, intercultural communication exists in various forms. It exists in both digital and analog world. For instance, communication between two cultures can take place via e-mails, SMS, or direct face to face conversations. However different cultures have non identical systems in relaying messages effectively, what may seem as a norm to one culture, might be just the opposite to the other. For instance, in Singapore, we greet one another with a wave or handshake, sometimes if we are extremely close to someone, with a hug. However in France, greetings are often accompanied by a kiss on the cheek, also known in french as "faire la bise". Now imagine if a french tried greeting a Singaporean in the same manner, some people would find this action as a invasion of privacy, while others would be shocked by this and not know how to react.

In the workplace,  knowing another's cultural differences and expectations might just be the key to sealing a deal, or forming a new relationship with a co-worker. It nails down from physical actions such as a handshake or greeting, to online communication,  such as replying an email or SMS. Replying an email is culturally dependent, while swear words in an email are a general "no-no" in most cultures, some culture accept the use of slangs or informal greeting. Some may deem acceptable to reply a question with a simple "yes" or "no", whereas some require a detailed response.

Language used in communicating plays an important role in both offline and online intercultural exchange. English is no doubt the most widely used language for most countries, and is accepted as an international language, however most people do not have the proficiency in english. Some people who does not have a strong command in the english language often misspell words or read slowly. They often struggle to read an email, and when replying, misspelling or omitting a word might cause serious misunderstanding, resulting in miscommunication and delays.

Individuals have to keep an open mind to minimise chances of miscommunication between different cultures. The workplace can provide training to their employees and implement rules and regulation when communicating with people from other cultures.

Interpersonal Conflicts and Solving them!

In novels and movies, most plots end up with  a happy ending, for instance, Indiana Jones gets his treasure,  and Cinderella meets her prince charming. However, in reality, things do not go as planned. Interpersonal conflict arises from personal differences. Every person holds a different  set of perceptions and expectation, thus, when the view of one person does not meet the eye of another, a heated debate or fight usually ensues. Let me tell you a story on how personal differences can lead to Interpersonal conflict.

A long time ago in the land of a tiny island called Singapore, there lived a boy named Thomas who lived with his father, Roberto, in a small shop house which sells the best wanton noodles in Singapore. Roberto was very proud of his noodle shop as the shop was passed down from his great grandfather to his grandfather and to him. Treating the shop as a family heirloom, Roberto wanted his son to inherit the shop house from him. Thus, Thomas has been trained daily in the art of cooking delicious wanton noodles since young.

As Thomas grew older, he made a few friends who were in the Chinese Opera Troupe. Thomas gradually became bored of cooking noodles and he realised that he was interested in Opera too. He developed a passion in the performing arts and aspired to be a stage performer in the National Chinese Opera Troupe. Believing in his new found passion, he decided to take some night Opera classes.

One day, while Roberto was auditing the earnings of the noodle shop, he discovered that earnings of the recent months were declining, suspecting something was amiss, he decided to check on the noodle shop. To Roberto's horror, he realised that Thomas had been closing the noodle shop earlier for the past few months. Filled with rage, Roberto confronted his son. "Where have you been going at night?!" roared Roberto. Irritated by his father's sudden burst of outrage, Thomas replied curtly" I realised I love Chinese Opera and I want to do Opera performance.". Upon hearing these words, Roberto was filled with dismay, his dream of his son inheriting the noodle shop was crushed! "Why Opera!? The noodle shop makes so much more money than Opera!" shouted Roberto. Trying to convince his son to pursue his career in cooking noodles, Roberto rambled on how Thomas' friends were a bad influence on him and claimed that Thomas has no say in the matter because he should listen to his father.

Frustrated with his father's lack of understanding, Thomas slammed the table and shouted" You do not own me! You cannot decided anything for me!", and with that, Thomas spun around sharply and left the room, leaving his angry father speechless.

So my friends,  how do you think Thomas should have handled the situation, knowing that his father has his reasons for the survival of his shop house?