With so much knowledge on effective communication, I am tempted to say that I have changed my understanding of it after this course. However, I still stand by what I have written in my first entry. Knowing is one thing, applying the concepts is another.

I have made new friends and learnt about new communication tools along the way. What I have taken away from this course cannot be summarized in this entry. After this course, I am now armed with more communication tools than before. I better understand how to use these tools now and at the work place in the future.

Reading the course textbook out of lesson has helped me realize that theory is somewhat different from practice. For example, the templates for resumes and job application letters given in the textbook may not be applicable for all jobs. They have to be highly specialized and catered for that particular job. Through the class assignments including the research project, minutes of meeting etc., I have learnt more about my flaws and how to improve my writing and presentation skills. The peer review component of this course has helped a lot. My peers have given me positive feedback and helped me look at my work from a different perspective. Group work has also been vital in this course. After all, no man is an island and we would be working in groups at our future workplaces.

Lastly, thanks Brad for lowering yourself from a lecturer’s level to our level. This has increased the amount of interaction in the classroom and made this module one that I looked forward to every week and will remember for a long time.




I am Zhiyi, a 23 year old Honors Year Undergraduate studying Applied Mathematics with concentrations in Financial Mathematics and Operations Research in the National University of Singapore. Having a strong interest in Finance led me to join various clubs like the NUS Interactive Investments Hedge Fund and Finance Club and pursue an Honors Thesis in Japanese banking inefficiency.

I indulge in various sports like swimming, running, scuba-diving, playing squash and wake-boarding. In particular, I swim, run and play squash with my friends and brothers on a weekly basis. I am proficient in English and Mandarin and have basic knowledge of Japanese, having taken it as a third language in secondary school.

Prior to entering NUS, I formulated manpower deployment decisions to high-ranking commanders during high-pressure military exercises as a Human Resource Executive in the Ministry of Defense Naval Personnel Department. Besides that, I was also a Platoon Leader in the Republic of Singapore Navy Diving Unit. I was trained to lead the platoon in typical reconnaissance scenarios, plan for contingencies and deal with unexpected problems. These experiences have molded my character and made me who I am today.




Throughout the course of the research project, I got to know more about my group members as co-workers and also as friends. This includes their strengths and weaknesses in certain areas of the research. For example, Desmond was better at doing graphs and formatting the report as he has done numerous Chemistry practical reports previously. Zongneng was better at analyzing the findings and interpretations due to his training in analysis. Susanto excelled in providing alternative viewpoints to various situations. Our strengths and weaknesses actually aided us to assign project tasks to the people who were stronger in that aspect. This was beneficial to the group as we were able to combine our efforts and meet most deadlines. We also found this the most efficient way to complete the tasks. The group also worked cohesively to conduct the interviews and discuss each other’s works. However, when some of our ideas clashed during these discussions, we would analyze them again and then take a stand on the matter.

Communication was vital during these discussions. If one of us did not express his ideas clearly, the others might misinterpret his views and come to an erroneous conclusion. Fortunately, we did not face such problems. In the earlier weeks, I had a final year presentation to prepare for. I expressed this to my group mates. They were very understanding and took on extra work to ease my load. In the later weeks, I did extra work in order to repay their kindness.

Our interpersonal relationships grew stronger during this period. Overall, I got to know my project group members better and I had a positive learning experience.




Imagine a hypothetical situation where I was a nonchalant Sociology major staying at a hall in NUS and a group of Japanese college students arrived for exchange. Since they were going to take the same modules as me, I was assigned to take care of their every need. At first thought, communicating interculturally with Japanese college students should be an easy task. They were of the same age and there would be no generation gap. Furthermore, they should be able to converse in fluent English and should know about Singapore culture. I was so wrong. They spoke little English, mostly conversing among themselves in Japanese, and communicating with me using hand signals and facial expressions, which were often misinterpreted by me.

When they came knocking on my door for the first time, they bowed to me and gave me a cute Japanese diary. That was nice of them. I said thanks and went back to my computer game.

Throughout the semester, as I knew that my lecturers always waited till 15 minutes after the actual start time of the lecture to begin their boring speeches, I always brought them to lectures 10 minutes late. This made them extremely unhappy, and I thought they were just being weird.

Thinking back, I should have read up on Japanese culture before they arrived. This would have informed me of their social customs of bowing as a greeting and giving gifts at our first encounter. I would have then prepared a gift in return and returned the bow. I would also have known about the importance of punctuality to them and made it a point to bring them early for lectures. With a higher level of cultural self-awareness, I would also have been more alert and empathetic of their nonverbal cues and been a better host.




The objective of this study is to determine whether most students in the Science Faculty at NUS think that the current taxi system can be refined.

With millions using the bus and rail on a daily basis, Singapore claims to have an efficient public transport system. However, there is one aspect of it that I feel is not up to standards. The current taxi system is expensive and not usually used by the price-conscious commuters of today. It is also not a mass form of transport and thus environmentally unfriendly. However, it is speedy and convenient for commuters who are in a rush, carrying bulky items or are traveling after midnight. It can also get commuters to places not easily accessible by rail or bus. The pros and cons of taking a taxi extend beyond the above mentioned. I see taxis as a necessary evil.

My main research question is "Do NUS Science Faculty students think the taxi system in Singapore can be refined to reduce the car population on the roads in order to save the environment?" This would mean less pollution and less natural resources being used up. My hypothesis is that this possible but it would require a huge revamp of the current system. I would like to save the environment, which is why I feel a survey is important to gather feedback from a larger audience.

A survey allows us to learn about what motivates the survey respondents and what is important to them. In highly competitive Singapore, staying in touch with the public is necessary to facilitate continued competitiveness. Rather than relying on my hypothesis, I can gather objective information to make sound data-driven decisions. Therefore, I can immediately address issues that are important, rather than wasting resources on things that no one cares about. With a large survey group, there would be uniformity of results, which would then support or contradict my hypothesis.
Edited 5pm 06/09/08

Labels: taxis

Thanks for your comments! I did not intervene. You guessed wrong Yuk Lum. The only family activity that we all engage in is dinner, so that suggestion didn’t work out too well. As for Gwen, your suggestion for my brother to please my Mum worked. My brother has tried to spread his time equally during the weekends by spending more time at home with my Mum. My brother’s girlfriend still comes by, although less often, and does not stay too long or too late nowadays. His girlfriend is rather smart too, buying a handheld Sudoku game for my Mum, who spends all her time on it. This has worked out fine, and my Mum is now talking to them again. I guess the Sudoku game did the trick. Haha!