Success at Toh Tuck Link

Finally, on the last day of the month, a successful outcome at a publishing firm at Toh Tuck Link! The Singapore arm of the World Scientific Publishing Company, set up by Professor Phua Kok Khoo, offered me a six-month contract as a trainee editor.

Managed to convince the panel of interviewers - three editors, Professor Phua and the Human Resource Manager, that I was passionate about scientific research. Although I did not have the qualifications to contribute directly to the academic field in terms of cutting-edge research, I felt that a position as a trainee editor would enable me to chip in, in a small way, to the scientific community.

Really looking forward to starting work tomorrow, and learning from scratch, on the job. That's all for now. :-)

Interview at Lok Yang Road

Had a long day today. In the morning, drove down to Lok Yang Industrial Estate for an interview at Pearson Education publishing company. Had some difficulty finding the correct exit from the Ayer-Rajah Expressway (AYE). Arrived at the Pearson office 15 minutes before the interview appointment, and filled in some forms. After my certificates were checked, I waited in the meeting room for the two interviewers to arrive.

The interviewers were senior publishers, and they were pretty interested in the experience I gained during my one and a half years of teaching. Mentioned that I had some experience teaching Lower Secondary Science, and they questioned me on the textbook I was using. Fortunately, I remembered that it was written by Rex Heyworth, and started to praise the book, knowing that it was published by Longman. Provided suggestions on how I could improve the content of the book and make the physics topics more appealing.

Learnt that editing was a 'fluid' job, having to liaise with authors, reviewers and layout designers, and meeting deadlines set by the Ministry of Education when a new edition of a textbook is scheduled for printing. When asked about the use of ICT in teaching, brought up the example of using Moodle to pose challenging questions to students, and awarding them bonus marks for their Continual Assessment (CA). Completed a written test on the correction of language errors at the end of the interview, and mentioned that I was willing to take up a contract position.

Brought my original certificates home before leaving for Clementi Bright Photo Studio to order more passport-sized photographs. Hope that my job search is coming to an end! After that, went down to the Hon Sui Sen Library to prepare for my interview with Hydratech Industries tomorrow, as the sales coordinator position could involve work visits to China so as to coordinate with China counterparts on commercial-related issues.

Found an interesting book entitled "Doing Business in China", which had a section on the 'Areas of Opportunity' in China, which are as follows:

1. Beijing

2. Tianjin

3. Hebei Province

4. Shanxi Province

5. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

6. Liaoning Province

7. Jilin Province

8. Heilongjiang Province

9. Shanghai

10. Jiangsu Province

11. Zhejiang Province

12. Anhui Province

13. Fujian Province

14. Jiangxi Province

15. Shandong Province

16. Henan Province

17. Hubei Province

18. Hunan Province

19. Guangdong Province

20. Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

21. Hainan Province

22. Sichuan Province

23. Guizhou Province

24. Yunnan Province

25. Tibet Autonomous Region

26. Shaanxi Province

27. Gansu Province

28. Qinghai Province

29. Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

30. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

31. Dalian City

32. Qinhuangdao City

33. Yantai City

34. Qingdao City

35. Lianyungang City

36. Nantong City

37. Ningbo City

38. Wenzhou City

39. Fuzhou City

40. Guangzhou City

41. Zhanjiang City

42. Beihai City

43. Shenzhen City

44. Zhuhai City

45. Shantou City

46. Xiamen City

Managed to read up on the geography of the first 17 areas, before leaving for the Faculty of Science to attend a career talk by the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) with Alvin.

Crazy Horse exits Singapore stable

This picture was taken in December 2005 at the Grand Opening of Crazy Horse Paris in Singapore. One year later, this Great Entertainment Experiment is slated to close. To find out why, listen to this news report.

Raffles Hotel

Took this picture on my way home from the National Library using the camera on my Nokia 6070. The picture quality leaves much to be desired, but nothing beats the convenience. Earlier on, looked up some tourist guidebooks in the library for information on the Raffles Hotel, and found the following extract in one of them, entitled 'Globetrotter – The best of Singapore', written by Helen Oon.

"Affectionately known as ‘The Grand Old Lady of the East’, Raffles Hotel is redolent of old grandeur, timeless elegance and the celebrities who have been its guests. Founded in 1887, it started out as a humble 10-room hotel located in an old bungalow located at the corner of Beach and Bras Basah roads. More wings were added to the hotel over the next few years and Raffles’ familiar main building, in elegant Renaissance style, dates from 1899, when it was the first building in Singapore to be equipped with electric light and the last word in opulence.
Among the many famous people who patronized and immortalised this elegant hotel were Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin, Maurice Chevalier and Noel Coward.
Raffles Hotel was declared a national monument in 1987, then it closed in 1989 for two years of restoration work. It reopened in 1991, restored once more to its former glory."

Farewell Ministry of Education

It was with a heavy heart that I drove down to the Ministry of Education (MOE) Headquarters (HQ) at Buona Vista today. I had received a call by the Teacher Training Unit that my letter of termination was ready for collection.

In a peculiar sort of way, I was looking forward to this visit, as it signalled a sort of closure to my one and a half years in the teaching service. Indeed, it was a great learning experience for me, having my first taste of working life after 15 years of education. How different it was from studies!

Arrived at MOE HQ half an hour before my appointment to meet the Human Resource (HR) officer handling my case. Went to his office on the eight floor, only to see him tied down with phone calls. One lady from the Centre for Shared Services brought me to the lounge adjacent to his office, and I waited for him there.

Five minutes later, the HR officer arrived, and informed me that they needed more time to process the documents. With an hour on my hands, I decided to shoot to NUS to submit my job application for the position of lab officer at the NUS Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Initiative (NUSNNI), Faculty of Science (FOS). That took less than an hour, and I returned to MOE HQ, waiting for the HR officer's call.

As the MOE visitor car-park was packed, I was directed by the security guard to the underground parking spaces at Biopolis. Chanced upon a small bookshop selling various Biomedical research publications and blockbusting novels. Picked up a book entitled 'The Story of DNA', which had quite a few interesting pictures.

Soon, my phone rang and I headed to the MOE building. The HR officer was attending to another gentleman, possibly in the same situation as myself. After the gentleman left, we ran through the clauses in the termination letter, I signed it, and thanked the HR officer for his help.

As I was leaving the building, met a teacher from Outram Secondary, but did not pause to talk. Drove back to NUS FOS to attend a lecture for the module 'Physics of Nanostructures'. After the lecture, headed to Clementi Central for dinner with Junhua.

Library at Orchard

Tucked in a discreet corner on the fifth level of Ngee Ann City Tower B is the Orchard branch of the National Library. It is one of the smallest libraries I have encountered, occupying only one level. I almost missed it, mistaking it for a shop. I was there today to attend a workshop on radio broadcasting, organized by JobStreet, and conducted by two well-known radio deejays - Jessica Seet (in black) and Vernetta Lopez (in white).

The two of them took turns sharing their experiences in the media industry, and gave the audience insights into life as a radio deejay. According to Vernetta, the main driving force of radio is sales, and this means that deejays have to endorse products and services. Work is not restricted to the studio at Caldecott Hill, but involves doing roadshows, event hosting and live broadcasts at shopping malls, targeting specific consumer groups.

The talk was humorous, with both presenters giving amusing anecdotes. Nowadays, the songs to be played are automatically selected by computer programs, but in the past, when compact discs were in use, toilet breaks for deejays were hard to come by. During her time at Gold 90 FM, Jessica Seet used to rush to the toilet while a lengthy song was playing, such as 'Hotel California' by The Eagles, which lasts 7 minutes.

The two speakers have set up their own voice training company, called 'ArtofVoice', and they were there to promote the courses they conducted for working professionals, from teachers to telemarketing personnel. However, I believe the content of their course overlaps with the material covered in the module 'Communications Skills for Teachers', offered by NIE to trainee teachers.

The talk ended with a question and answer session, and one member of the audience asked about the best way to enter the radio industry. Vernetta jokingly said: "Out through the front door of the library." One way was to attend a one-month course conducted by the radio academy at MediaCorp Radio, during which intensive voice training and auditions will be conducted to determine suitability. Another method was to cut your own 'demo tape' and send them by post to the show hosts at the various radio stations. Another possibility would be to do voice-overs, or taking up part-time positions at radio stations. All in all, I found the talk entertaining, and walked away with a greater understanding of the job of a radio broadcaster.

Fortress at Novena

What an imposing structure! These two towers are actually the Ministry of Home Affairs headquarters, and I went there for my interview with the Singapore Police Force today. Security was tight as usual, and I arrived for the interview 45 minutes early.

3 job positions were on offer today, (1) Analyst, (2) Statistics Officer and (3) Finance Officer. I spent some time looking through the job descriptions and decided that the post of analyst suited me most. The Police NSF who attended to us was very friendly, and I struck up a brief conversation with another interviewee, who was working at a private tuition agency for primary school students.

There were 4 candidates before me, and the interviews were running behind schedule. Soon, it was my turn, and I entered the board room. Apologized to an interviewer for speaking too loudly to the NSF prior to my turn. Took a seat opposite the panel of 6 interviewers, and fielded questions from them. Some questions included (1) If you can't handle students, what makes you think you can handle adults? (2) Describe a stressful situation which you were in (3) Describe a project that you took part in which gave you immense satisfaction.

Personally, I felt that the interview lasted shorter than I expected. It was only towards the end when the interviewers questioned me on my preference for the 3 positions. Thanked the interviewers and left the boardroom after approximately 15 minutes. Really hope to hear positive news from them within two weeks!

My New Favourite Haunt

Back to the National Library today for more research on the Singapore Police Force (SPF). The above picture shows one of the escalators in the building, which has a unique power-saving feature. The motion sensors can detect someone approaching, causing the escalator to start operating. This feature gave me a shock during my first visit!

The wireless Internet access was slow today, and I did not manage to submit my application for the position of Insurance Consultant with NTUC Income. However, I managed to do some research on the SPF, and found out that there were a total of 13 departments and 6 Land Divisions. The various departments are as follows:
1. Administration & Finance Department

2. Commercial Affairs Department

3. Criminal Investigation Department

4. Logistics Department

5. Manpower Department

6. Operations Department
7. Planning & Organisation Department
8. Police Intelligence Department
9. Police National Service Department
10. Police Technology Department
11. Public Affairs Department
12. Service Development & Inspectorate Department

13. Traffic Police Department

and the 6 Land Divisions are

1. “A” Division – Central Police Division

2. “D” Division – Clementi Police Division
3. “E” Division – Tanglin Police Division
4. “F” Division – Ang Mo Kio Police Division

5. “G” Division – Bedok Police Division

6. “J” Division – Jurong Police Division

Hopefully, this information will come in handy for my interview at the Police HQ tomorrow.

An Afternoon at 100 Victoria Street

Left home in the late morning for National Library to use the wireless@SG service. After submitting a job application and signing up for a seminar on Aksara: The Passage of Malay Scripts, I decided to watch the movie 'Empire of the Sun' at the AV Room on the 11th floor.

The film began with a British lad singing in a choir. He lived with his Mum and Dad in a sprawling mansion in Shanghai during the Second World War. Life was comfortable, and they had several Chinese servants. However, the boy's life was to change when the Japanese invaded Shanghai. He was separated from his parents as they were trying to flee to Hong Kong.

The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, was absorbing, and I spent 45 minutes glued to the television screen. When I returned the DVD and went down to the Possibility Room on Level 5, the seminar was nearly over. It was about the Champa Kingdom in Vietnam, and the talk was delivered by a Vietnamese professor.

The Champa kingdom came into being in the late 2nd century. Its territories stretched from south of the Ngang Pass in Quang Binh province to the Dong Nai basin in Dong Nai province including the coastal plains and the interior highlands of Central Vietnam today.

For the special geo-location, in her long history, Champa came to hold an increasingly crucial role in the South China Sea trades, which was a part of the significant trading route between the West and the East, known as the 'silk road of the sea'. Therefore, the Champa kingdom became one of the most powerful kingdoms in Southeast Asia.

The Cham themselves were part of the Austronesian language group speakers, with their own language being similar to the Malay language. During the Vietnam War, many of the Cham fled to the United States, as they had a strong anti-communist stance. It was a rather interesting afternoon at the library for me.

Lunch at Bukit Ho Swee

Went for an interview for the position of Personal Financial Consultant at DBS's office at PriceWaterhouseCoopers building today. Found out more about the job during the interview, but it's still not my first choice.

Returned home after that, changed, and went for a refreshing swim at Delta Swimming Complex. Lunch was Mee Goreng at this Indian stall along Jalan Bukit Ho Swee. The noodles were chewy and tasty, and it was my first time eating there.

At home, spent some time on Dale Carnegie's 'How to Win Friends & Influence People'. It reinforced my schema on relating to others, with two meaningful points:

1. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

2. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.

Hope that I will be able to apply these two principles more in my daily life. That's all for now.

Memories of English Language Teaching

Really looking forward to the SPF interview on Monday, the 22th of January. Went down to NUS today to attend a graduate seminar at the Division of Bioengineering.

In the morning, I made a recording of the MHA annual report 2005/2006 at the Central Library in one of the 'Handphone Booths'. I find this concept really useful for students, as the glass doors are virtually sound-proof.

I made the audio clip using the software Audacity, but preferred another clip I made last month on James Bond. Unfortunately, I will not have a chance to use it for an English lesson.

View from Lee Kong Chian Reference Library

Here I am at the 11th storey of the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library. What a spectacular view of the city skyline! I am seated at one of the tables near the window, and have access to the SingNet Wireless SG connection. This service is really convenient, and its great to have it here at the National Library!

As this is my first post, I would like to keep it short. Now, back to work.:-)