This blog is created to honour the end of my Nationals Inter-School Canoe Championship 2009 and the end of a Canoeist Career in Junior College. The 1st few post will be dedicated towards the setting up of this blog and will convey my thoughts and feeling over the 4 days event to honour the Sports which I really believe in, fought for, bleed for and gave my life to.
Connecting the Dots
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 9:50 PM


Connecting The Dots.
Finding your passion – A Singapore context.



I feel sad that one day I will live to write this but I strongly believe that this should be read by soon to be University students. From an ambitious start as a freshman, year 2 into University has escalated into a nightmare, and for the first time in my Education I actually dread going to school.

This is odd. I have great ambition to be a teacher since the age of 10. I have great intuition in teaching. Often in class I will evaluate teachers and their teaching methods, constantly analyzing if their method of delivery is the most effective way to deliver a course material. When I enter University, I decided that teaching Physics will be the subject of my choice as it has the hardest content to convey and thus the field which is in need of good teachers (my topic of choice is Geography).

By no means Physics is my forte. In fact, I have no intuition about Math and Science. These are the 2 subjects that I often struggled with, and my study session usually boils down to rote learning instead of discussion base learning. Nonetheless, I got an A for Math & B for Physics (B through a dumb mistake in A level that cost >10 marks). I am only able to extend discussion and understanding only to topics and questions that I have learned before, but not to new question.  I find myself struggling to remember answers to standard questions just so I will have enough ammo to cope with exams. This kind of routine produces no interest, no learning, and no creativity – only mediocre grades. There is no joy in attending lectures and as time goes by, the brain ultimately suffers. 

This chunk of background information is not a complain that is directed at our education. In fact, the university’s lesson plan and resources are excellent for the inquisitive and initiated. More importantly, the question that must be asked is - why am I here in the first place? From what is explained, clearly I am not suited to be in this course. If I am not intuitive about Physics or Math, which part of the decision making process draws me to this course? There must be a flaw somewhere. If this flaw can happen to me, I'm more than 100% certain that this is going to happen to good number of people out there who will waste their time in University as a result of the wrong choice. I have been pondering about this question for as long as I have been in the University, and I will provide some perspective from my experience, which will hopefully help readers, especially undergraduate, to make the right choice.



Grades - I traced the root of the problem back to my Secondary and A-level education. I know my forte is not in Physics but why did secondary school and A-level not impress upon me to avoid this discipline? It leads back to my grades. I may not have the intuition in Math and Physics but experience has convinced me (in my secondary and college at least) that I can overcome anything if I try harder. I was convinced that I have my rote memory to fall back on if I fail to catch up or lose interest. There are non-standard questions that are designed to test your analytical abilities but even these questions will become a 'standard' questions with enough practice and exposure into the syllabus. So I can be bad at Physics & Math but yet obtain A on my paper, no problem. How difficult can University be if my teachers have always recounted in their experience that the A-level is the toughest part in their Education life. This means if I work a little bit harder than what I did during my A-level, I should be able to score in my University also? Wrong. Grades often do not reflect if you are good at something. In our society where grades are in such high demand, the correlation between grades and passion are often blurred.



School Syllabus - I was pretty comfortable and relatively interested with the syllabus in H2 Physics offered as a subject for A-level. Since A-level paves the way to University, I will have a reasonably good foundation if I have taken H2 Physics (opposed to H1 Physics or Poly track). This is again wrong! Physics major will agree with me that it is hard to compare between University and A level Physics. To an extent, H3 Physics (exposure to University freshmen modules) will provide some form of exposure to what Physics in the University is like. This is true only to a limited extent. This is not an essay to compare the difference between University and A-level so I will cut the story short – the University level is where things start to get serious and it is difficult to extrapolate what you have learn in college to University materials.

What I am going to discuss in the next section will hopefully help readers (specifically undergraduate) to be able to find a course that is more suited for them to major in. I do not claim to be an expertise in this field as I am quite young and thus lack the necessary experience but what I am providing here are some tips through my own experience, which may help others to avoid my fate. 

Advice: Follow your heart.
This is the most clique line spoken in the name of passion. Steve Jobs mentioned that "... the only way to do great work is to love what you do." How do I know what I love? What does it mean to follow my heart? I don't even know where my heart is. Or worst, I thought I know where my heart is but it isn't where it is supposed to be. Take my case for instance, I thought my heart lies in Physics until I'm proven wrong, the hard way. The golden question is - where do you start? 

I feel that our education is dangerous because the focus is on us is to get better grades and enter a better school. Even when we join other activities (local tongue: co-curricular activities (CCA)), a great deal of emphasis is on us to get better testimonial, which will enable us to get into better school (-2 points in O level to reduce your L1R5). This paper is not written to evaluate what education is good for, so I will not go into that. This paper is about finding your passion and so I will stick to this. Here are some goals, which will help you evaluate your passion:

- Any activity, which you won't mind to wake up at 5a.m. in the morning to engage in. It can be sports, travelling or online shopping for some. Speaking from my heart, I know there are not many student who will wake up out of their own will and study the first thing in the morning. 

- Any activity you won't mind to dream big or move up the ladder of progression. The ladder of progression for academics will be: discussing difficult concept with tutor, go for consultation lesson, find out the next big thing in research concerning the subject, become a professor. The ladder of progression for fashion sales person will be: find out the latest trend, impressing the latest product of a brand to your friends starting a blog shop. To people not interested in academics, being a professor or going for consultations are daunting. To people not interested in shopping, engaging in related field is daunting.

- Any activity you spend most of the time thinking about. For me, while studying Physics, half my time is thinking about directing the next big Hollywood movie, talking about how a scene is so impressively shot, and so impressively conveyed. I RATHER talk and think about filming than exploring Physics. 

Advice: How do you know you will excel in this ‘new’ passion of yours.
The reason why I gave up being a Physics teacher is because I realize I can’t produce great students if all I can impart is questions that I have solved or came across before. To be a great teacher at a subject, I need to be able to lead a discussion and explore possibilities of unknown questions. I can’t hope to be a great Physics teacher if I’m not intuitive about Physics idea or equation. To know if you are able to excel, you need to figure out if you’re intuitive about the area concerned. Intuition means that you’re natural in the area concern. Here’s an example about intuition:

- Someone intuitive in Math: Without formal training in the topics concerned, the person can devise a way to solve the problem and even improve the current way of solving the problem. When asked about math, I usually have some kind of approach or direction.

- Someone intuitive about fashion: Without formal training in colors matching or products, I can pair people up with the right clothing and match the clothing very well. I dare say I can pair clothing better than some people who have diploma in this field. People who are not intuitive about clothing’s will be struggling to follow theories taught in the course. It is demoralizing that these people may end up consulting someone who has never gone through a formal course. 

Of course, people need time to develop an intuition in something, as it is rare to develop an intuition for something, which we have never done before. So as a golden rule, exposing yourself to new ideas and ways are advice that won’t go wrong – unless done at a big cost. 


Advice: It is ok if you don't know what you want to do now. Do your degree first. 
I live by this advice until I entered an unsuitable course in University and now I'm sure this course will not be the bridge to my future career choice. To an extent, when you’re young, your opportunity is plentiful. You can choose to go into Poly/JC. When you get older, you will realize your choice will become more limited.  What is the morale of the story? The earlier you find your passion, the greater advantage you will have. JC is hardly a destination for your passion unless you're using it as a means to get into University. In addition, some local University does not have courses that Poly offers. 


Advice: You're too young now to find your passion. 
So what is the right age? The longer you wait, the less opportunity you have. I think what they meant is, you are too young to pursue your passion because it is important for you to secure a degree before you go and venture into your passion (i.e. establishing a startup). It is never too young for you to start finding where your passion lies.


Advice: You don't have a passion. You always change passion.
I draw an analogy to the concept of focus. Focus sometimes isn't on what you want, but on what you don't want. As a student in Adam Khoo workshop, the trainer said, the more you quit, the closer you are to finding your passion. In my own words, the more you know what you don't want; it is also true the more you know what you want. It can be true you don't really have one thing you want but it can also be the case where it is finding your most "want" out of all your unwanted. 




I think one of the key purposes in life is to find out which field we are intuitive about and where we can really contribute as a person. For example, if I were to continue the path to be a Physics teacher, I can do the job but I probably will not be able to produce good Physics student or spark their interest if I cannot connect the dots for them. Have you ever wondered what does being smart means? In my own terms, being smart means being intuitive about academics since this is the medium in which we Singaporeans are measured against. You can be intuitive about other things. The trade off is that you won’t be labeled as smart in the society but you will earn that title from Mother Nature when you see that you have done great work with great satisfaction and love, in a society where the journey is often the reward. Think about the reality if Steve Jobs choose to go down the path of academics due to society’s pressure – and today we will not have Apple electronics. Start building your own future by starting young and early in developing your passion. Don’t settle for something you have no love for, and this search for your passion starts now. You may not know the right choice now but you can start by avoiding the wrong choices. I wish you good luck in connecting the dots as you eventually unravel where your passion lies. Do share with me if you have any insights on how one can find their passion.    

Disclaimer: In writing this, I believe I have received great education in Singapore and continue to receive great education. It is just a shame that I feel I ought to have factored in more considerations during the time of my enrolment. In writing this, I must emphasis that the study of Physics is a very enriching and mind opening discipline and I would recommend anyone with the capabilities and intuition to take up Physics.



Share this if you wish for the people around you to consider more before they pick up a course to enrol in. 








Time
Tuesday, November 27, 2012 @ 5:10 PM

Life has get quite messy very easily.

You won't know something big is coming your way until it hit you.

Sometimes you don't realize what you're missing out unless you really missed them out.

Let's recover them before it's too late.

Time to get organized. Time to get a bit neater.

Time to salvage what is there before they are gone.

Time to get working

Marketting Efforts
Friday, October 5, 2012 @ 10:51 PM


With whom are we trying to communicate?
What messages are we wanting them to receive?
What is the best channel to reach these people?
If they receive our message what actions (if any) are we hoping for?
How will we handle those responses

Musing Of A Year 4 Shearite
Monday, October 1, 2012 @ 11:30 AM


It has come to that time of the year and I was asked and asked myself this question many times over, Why are you doing this? Is it worth it? 

Going away from Hall for one year (NOC) opened my eyes to the things I could be doing, and all the opportunities that I am missing out. I see the magnitude of things I can do with my time. But Sheares means something different, something if once I pass up, will never come back.  I know that if I don't do this now, I will regret that I did not really leave a real full stop to my amazing journey here. I would have failed the people who gave me the amazing years of my university life. I will regret because I believe that even if I eventually find it to be a mistake, it is definitely something that decorates my life, A BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE. 

If we really look at the commitments of every single resident in Sheares, it is a fact that majority are not doing anything for whatever reasons they may have. And for the people who are not stepping up, for whatever reasons they may be, I am sorry; Maybe it is because seniors have not done a good job convincing why this place is still worth fighting for. Maybe it’s just about what oneself get to gain, without having to contribute. But I hope that Shearites search deep into your heart and ask yourself what had you done for a place that has tried to give you everything it could possibly have, and was it really that best you could give her? Almost everything in Hall is taken for granted. If there were no seniors stepping up to chair Comms and run for JCRC, there will be not activities and things that make up what Sheares is about. She is not asking you to give your entire education, neither to pass up all the opportunities that come your way. Perhaps it is no longer easy to see her direct value because the place we live in today seems to just revolve around opportunity costs and practicality.

Think back on every memory you had here, be it

Beautiful (Coming back to Comm hall and seeing your Buaya painted a 10m banner for you),
Unglam (a shot of you in an awkward position playing sports),
Disgusting (swimming in milo),
Exhausting (moving logistics equipment etc).

Everything will cease to exist, because if there is no change, passion for making these things possible would have died. The value of Hall is that because of her existence with 29 committees and 29 sports[not sure if accurate], it brings unforgettable memories that are difficult to create anywhere else in any other time after this period has passed. It provides opportunities to have new experiences in sports, culture, and media. It is impossible after/outside Hall to play 4 sports, do comms work and take photographs, and of course study at the same time. Yet Sheares provides an excellent platform to try our new things and discover your passions. Does anyone care about what the existence of Sheares still mean?

The most important value I learnt from Hall is contribution. This is the spirit that my seniors have left behind. This is the thing that is and might be increasingly buried as some things wither in Hall. Are we really too busy? Are we really incapable? Because I know I have an autonomous robot to build for corporations to partake in a global competiton, and I know nothing about the commitees under the DOEA's charge. But now I really understand what it means when someone says, if you have the passion, nothing can stand in your way.

As I wrote this, these people's names came up. THANK YOUUUU

- Andee, Xinyi, Andy Lim, Mingfeng; you guys taught me everything I know about Hall and through the sacrifices made and commitments (even though Andee maybe no choice only got hall school damn chui hahaha) you have tirelessly attended to. It is not simple to make our Block E production and Seniors Farewell video consecutively for so many years, yet every year Director Hong will always do this for us.

- Kent and Ron, even though I didn't become the JCRC President and unravel what's in your hand that day two years ago I am finally stepping up this term to do something crazy with the people who have stepped up as well  

- Weicong and my entire Block Comm 10/11, Janeyin, Amelia, Brenda, Leo, the reason why I love Sheares so much. Even though it still feels a little unfamiliar after I came back, I will keep the times we had making our Puma décor for CNY, ponding Mayves in the dustbin, going down to support Handball and Touch Rug, moving Mel’s room out, Buaya Week decorations, our late nights discussing every single detail of every single event. It has been amazing times that I will look back and marvel at the crazy shit.

-Mayves, Yixian, Qixiang, Mingtuan: I am really really really very happy that you guys have stepped up to take up the various positions. JCRC will be awesome!

- Dr Colin Tan: You are the most amazing RF that taught all your Eekers many things, and because of what you have gave us, I wish to give back. :)



So back to the question, Why am I doing this? Is it worth it? It is because of these people who have affected my lives in the past and right now, and because I search deep in my heart and I know I really love here and I really really wish more people would, and no matter how tired, incapable, unappreciated my efforts I will be, I will run for DOEA. 

LONG NOTE FINALLY COMPLETED! :) No regrets! Join JCRC, join Comms, Step Up! 

- Adapted From Grace Chia's blog, DOEA, 32nd JCRC.

The Struggle For Freedom
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 @ 1:35 PM

Sometimes, the most crucial thing that people look back and regret is that they ain't try or get started.

And looking at my own circumstences, I think I have led a crippled life, often only musterng enough strength & energy, to do what's minimal to get by or get past. I have forgotten the kind of potential I used to have, or used to hold because of my self destructing habits. 

I'll learned things the hard way. I guess it's time I learn to lead a normal life. Maybe sometimes if I'm struggling it really meant that I'm trying too hard. Should life really be like that? I haven't lost hope of living a normal life. 

Sometimes in life I guess, we need hope, and a huge dose  of faith, that the day will come.

When I am not so controlled by strong feelings and emotion.

When I can stop getting myself addicted to things & events.

When I can get myself out of the things & events I'm currently addicted.

When I can discipline myself to act on the knowledge on what I believed to be right.

The Day where I will no longer need to struggle

The Day when I know I can be in control of things

The Day I can sleep in peace, knowing that my past will not come back to haunt me

The Day I can finally look at myself and say, I''ve changed

The Day when I can look at myself in the eye, and say, I have accomplish something which I failed for 10 years.

Because I believe, that is the only way, and chance, I can lead a fulfilling life. 

Because I know deep down, there's a part of me struggling to break free, struggling to lead a normal life.

Struggling for a new life

Struggling to do what normal people can do

Struggling just to be normal

And hopefully that will come a day where I no longer need to struggle.

The day will come when I no longer need to run away

When there's a part of me when I no longer need to hide

This is my own battle, the struggle for control

Only with the ability to control over what's within me,

Can I stand a chance to control what's beyond me,

And now, never in the history of my life do I see a greater urgency & need to regain control.

The struggle between pleasure & sanity.



Acer Together In Spirit
Saturday, August 25, 2012 @ 2:22 PM


Dear Sportsman & Sportswoman

We stand together, very proud together, as we received our 1st goal as a block today. Thanks to all swimmers who have swam and do us proud, and more importantly those who haven't swam but did a noble thing to dedicate their support, for without everyone's support the victory wouldn't be sweet.

As we move ahead, let us not forget something that is more intrinsic within all the sports that we involve ourselves in. V & U are 2 alphabet that stand side by side. Alongside victory lies something that is deeper, perhaps more memorable, what we come to term as Unity.

As I came down to support my 1st match for IBG, being Floorball Girls, though we ain't the best but it turned out to be the most worthwhile. Drawing the example of friendship, the best friends isn't one to be there during fun and happening moments but one who is there during dull times. Similarly, I watch in marvel as the enthusiatic cheers consistently come from both seniors & freshie, though we ain't on the winning ground. It isn't always easy to muster the courage to play against a team that you know has so many players with the relevant background in the sport. As we celebrate our gold in swimming, let us not forget the equal importance of the other teams, both male & female, as they stood their ground against strong adversaries.

And even more important, it is often, the most difficult thing to be a part of something that you are not a part of - the supporters. Playing or not, I did not see one or two, I see an army of supporters behind the ranks of those who are playing. If you do question the importance of supporters, picture winning a game or tournament without any supporters. You'll feel like Katy Perry - Hot & Cold, happy, but at the same time sad because there is simply no one to share the joy with. Along this line, perhaps sometimes it is even more comforting to share the sadness of losing a close match with those supporters, who you know are there not for the gold, but to make up for the numbers for the moral support of those who are part of the game.

A year from now, as we look back at IBG, perhaps we wouldn't remember who got 1st or 2nd, but perhaps how united we stand together as a block - players & supporters. Do cherish this moment as those who are consistently with you on the field for it is a moment where strong friendship will be forged. And of course, for those who aren't there, you'll know that they are contributing in the background in one way or another, such as a SHurprise watermelon, and maybe another SHurprise watermelon is on the way.

We're halfway to the finishing line. Let us take the weekend to recharge ourselves as we prepare for the way ahead. Thank you players & supporters, all of you are important as everyone of us is part of a whole. Remember, standing alongside victory is the spirit of Unity - Acer Together In Spirit.

And for me, I shall spend the weekend clearing academic requirements so as to take out more time to make myself present during IBG itself.

Regards,
IBG 11/12 Secretariats
Acer Together In Spirit