Biodata

My name is Jane. I am currently a second year Statistics major in the National University of Singapore (NUS). I decided to major in Statistics because of my love for numbers and wanting to know how I could apply this in the financial world. I have always loved solving algorithms and facing new challenges of any kind. To me, studying Statistics is not only a new challenge but also an avenue for me to sharpen my critical thinking and analytical skills. I hope to see myself working in the finance industry either in the Risk Analyst field or in an actuarial firm, as I enjoy not only dealing with numbers but also the thrill of each new challenge everyday. Because of NUS’ rigorous education, where expectations and benchmarks are set high above average, I believe that this process of sharpening will prove to be useful in the future and help me prepare for bigger challenges next time. 

Apart from dealing with the rigorous course of school, I have also taken up a leadership position as the Dinner and Dance Director in NUS Students’ Science Club. This club is main student organization in the Faculty of Science which attends to students’ needs and also organizes events for the students. Taking up such a role is no easy feat; managing not only my studies but also running a committee at the same time. A lot of planning goes into preparation for the annual Science Pageant and Manhunt Preview Bash as well as the annual Dinner and Dance such as liaising with big sponsors and clinching big marketing deals and sponsorships. This experience has also helped me enhance my interpersonal skills while having to speak to people of higher authority than myself and has also taught me how to put my ideas across in a clear succinct manner.

However, above all these, I have actually learnt much more from this experience. I have often remembered my Mother’s wise advice, that a leader is not just  a person who leads his/her members well, but is also one who is able to mould and build up new leaders from his/her committee. While leading my team, I have kept this in mind, and have learnt to work better with my committee members, seeing them not only as an equal, where their opinions matter, but also helping them achieve their potentials in their current areas of specialization. I believe that this experience as a leader will further enhance my ability to work in a team with my colleagues and be a good team player. This is highly essential in the work place, as no man is an island. More often than not, I believe a workplace requires people to not only co-exist peacefully but also have good working relationships. I would thus be able to tap on my experience in my committee and assimilate easily into a group.

Sure enough, school work and school activities are not the only things that occupy my time. School aside, I am actively serving in Church. On Sundays I play the piano for the Junior Sunday School and also teach in the Sunday School. I find doing so very rewarding personally because I love interacting with children and find it a joy to be part of their moulding years. Being a musician in church really taught me to play by ear instead of the traditional, classical way of playing the piano by sight reading. This has also further inspired me to play on the piano whenever I feel down or when I find a tune catchy and memorable. It has also helped me compose tunes easily whenever I feel like it and further motivate me to find my own type of style of playing and of composing my own renditions of certain songs. Serving in the music team in this freestyle manner has not only increased my creative ability but has also helped me to be more meticulous to small details to perfect a piece of work. 

In my other spare time, I love spending time with my family, having nice sumptuous meals and playing with my beloved family dog, Dong. I believe that no matter how busy one is, time still needs to be portion out for family time. In our fast paced society, balance is definitely key in juggling one's career and private life. Like a proverb Dr James Dobson once read, there is a time and season for everything. 

/edited 25 March/

As I felt that I did not specify as clearly what I hoped to do in the future or how my skills are relevant to what I want to do.

There's still hope!

I have always found that effective communication is something that is very difficult to do. First of all, it not only takes two people to listen to each other, but also for both parties to choose the right words and to say it at the appropriate time.

My mother used to tell me that if you didn’t say something loud enough, it was as good as not saying at all. This to me, is very true. How are you suppose to know what time to meet your friend if he said so in his softest, most inaudible voice.

However, over the weekend, I learnt something else different. There is a great need for one to speak clearly and pronounce his words properly. My elder brother was sharing the other day, of how he had visited Macdonalds. The old lady at the counter had first welcomed him with a bright smile and had taken down his order. Before cashing in the final order, she asked “Your cock want upsize?” My elder brother was shocked for words. Thinking that he could have heard wrongly he had asked her to repeat herself. Again, she went “Your cock want upsize”. After some quick thinking, he realized that she was really asking was “Your coke want upsize?”

It sure takes more time to process what someone is trying to say when the person did not make himself clear isn’t it? For the example above, my brother was really tickled at what the old lady had said even though  she had not intended for it to be so, nor was she aware of what she was saying. After sharing this with my family members, a few of them also pointed out that they had been in similar occasions. Of course, some of them did mention that they could hardly keep their laughter within them when they were caught in that situation. This meant that the old lady, or any other person in her place, was usually embarrassed after the outburst, or for the lucky ones; did not even realize what was wrong.

This really got me thinking over the next few days because I know that I’ve been Ms. Old lady before. I recently completed by 4 year stance of braces wearing, and am currently on retainers. My dentist has instructed me to wear it daily and this does not come without the difficulty of pronouncing words right. When I first started, it took a lot of getting used to and I always fumbled over my letters. But, I always made it a point to repeat myself if I knew that I was unclear. I guess such a practice is a first step to discovering and helping your weak points. Because I was constantly aware of my diction, I became even more conscious, and this I believe, has helped me improved and gotten used to speaking with my retainers on.

As mentioned in my opening line, effective communication is not easy to do. Every day is a chance to practice and perfect this art of communication. It might not be innate for all of us to be able to speak well or fluently or clearly. But it gives me great comfort, that such a skill can be cultivated.  

Chinese, only on the inside.

I grew up in an English speaking family all my life. I can say that my Mandarin speaking and writing skills were close to… zilch until I reached Secondary school. Here’s a little background information for you. I started Chinese tuition early in Primary school, and I cannot tell you how much I loathed having to speak Mandarin or even dragging myself to the tuition centre. I hated when the people around me spoke Mandarin, and I always saw them as different. As I was from St. Hilda’s Primary School, a co-ed, multi-racial school, it seemed only normal that everyone conversed in English.

However, one would not understand the culture shock I got upon entering Secondary school. Having not fared too well in my PSLE, I ended up in Chung Cheng High (Branch). This school was actually a neighbourhood school with a nicer sounding name located at Guiliemard Road. The first person I spoke to while lining up before class, said “Hi, my name is Sylvia”, to me in Mandarin. On top of that, our uniform was white with metal studded buttons. All the boys regardless of age wore short pants and all the girls kept short hair. Our entire school attire practically screamed COMMUNIST! I could not help but feel that my entire being was placed in the wrong school, in fact, the wrong Cheena[1] school.  An Ah Lian[2], also spoke to me in Hokkien[3] on the first day of school saying “Diao si mi diao”, which literally translates to “Stare what Stare” in a bid to question why I was staring at her. This actually left me stumped, without a reply for the girl because I did not understand what she had said until a friend pointed it out to me.

So after settling into class, I tried to make some other new friends, while trying to get by in my poor Mandarin. At that point in time, I was at my wits end, and had decided to use the “When in France, be like the French” method to assimilate my way in until I met person A. Upon hearing how broken and incoherent my Mandarin was, person A exclaimed, “Eh, your Chinese is horrible, stop trying to speak Chinese when you can’t!” It was then that I thanked my lucky stars that I had finally found someone who was willing to converse in English, and up till today, is still a close friend of mine.

I did continue to speak English, but at the same time, I also tried my best to converse in Mandarin whenever possible. This “bilingual-ness”, proved to be useful throughout my entire time in Chung Cheng as it allowed me to get to know others from different family backgrounds, and also help me improve my Mandarin. It also taught me to interact with others different from me and at the same time, allowed me to enjoy my Secondary School education as I slowly caught on to their jokes and learnt to appreciate their nuances.

Thinking back, I would probably not have made many friends or had as much fun if I had chosen to just continue speaking in English while the majority spoke in Chinese. This really shows the importance of being willing to understand and learn a culture of any kind, even if its School culture. Without a good understanding of the norms of a culture which one wants to fit into, he or she would actually stick out more instead and have even more difficulty fitting in. Therefore, I am proud to say that, I survived the culture shock, but don’t expect me to rattle on in Mandarin after having left my Secondary School for so long. (:

 

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[1]  A local slang word meaning “Very Chinese”

[2]  A local slang for a female delinquent

[3] A Chinese Dialect