Running Man
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @5:02 PM
I'm sure many of you would know this show and derive so much laughter and joy from the the characters in the show. Watching running man is a pleasure which never fails to make me laugh and enjoy. Despite that each episode may be like 1.5h long, there isn't really an awkward moment which fails to spark off any joke or laughter from the plain actions of the characters.
The concept of the game is what I believe attracts viewers to this show. It's this fantasy about playing this type of adventure game with unexpected missions or mini-games which makes people watch this show. That's my personal opinion. I applaud the production team's creativity and innovation in conceptualising such a game show which is like no other. Every game is interesting and unique. Think about the effort that the production crew took to think, plan and set the game stage for the hosts to play and you'll realise that it's no child's play. Given the vast locations that the games can take place, I would definitely enjoy it if I was one of the them playing the running man show. To be able to play and work at the same time, deriving the happiness from working, I think the hosts of the show are living the time of their life. Same applies to our lives, choose a job which you know you will enjoy and be happy from doing it. Choose a course of study which interests you and keeps you going. After all, enjoyment and happiness, such emotions are what which keeps us feel great about ourselves and our lives, isn't it?
Another thought I had from watching Running Man was about sportsmanship, winning and losing. From every character in the show, each of them displays sportiness and the determination to win each game. No grudges held back on each other (well at least from the viewer's point) but rather friendly hatred, more on the entertaining side (since it's a variety show that is funny) and not on real hard feelings on each other. For instance, between Kim Jong Kook and Lee Kwang Soo, Yu Jae-Suk and Ha-Ha. Well some of them are really bad at games, always losing like Seok-jin, he never got angry or jeer about it, but rather feel a little wasted and moves on. Lee Kwang Soo, despite his betrayal efforts sometimes during the game, his innocence and cheating techniques puts him not much nearer to winning the game. What I am trying to say is, winning or losing each game doesn't really matter but it's more of the process, the experience and fun that everyone got through the common activities. Playing games with a couple of friends, I've learnt to see losing as normal (probably because I sucked) and tends towards enjoying the games instead. Rather than being all competitive and such, I think enjoying the game in the process is priority rather than winning it. Not to forget, we still do need to display competitive spirit (since it spices up the game too). Even if I loses, bear no hard feelings, applaud for the winner and move on with the next game ahead. After all, these are friendly games, games with friends are enjoyment and fun, not determining some champion of a league or such.
Maybe because of my view towards enjoying the game rather than winning the game, I tend to be a little less competitive instead. I see winning is a bonus and of course I would want to win too, but if it's not meant to be even if you fought hard for it, then let it go you know. Maybe that's why I don't really like competitive sports, because I hate the part when people go all technical and practical about results, which results in grading, banding, ranking or comparison. Nonetheless, without competition, how would one improve right? More importantly, I say that competition is important, but you need to be clear of who are you competing with. Others? Friends? The creme de la creme? Or is it yourself? I would say that be it studies, sports or games, it's more about being better than who you were yesterday. Aim to better than who you previously are and when you do, you are a winner yourself.
Watch Running Man, and keep on Running!
On Hindsight
Monday, May 27, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @4:46 PM
Perhaps it was Heaven's will that choosing to learn inline skating is a wrong choice for me. Just when I was about to travel to Pasir Ris Park, my place started to drizzle. Upon reaching the park, I heard thunder and saw lightning. Consequently, it poured heavily and I felt helpless. The most I did was to talk to the one of the instructor there to learn more about the course. First, it was to know more about the course since learning inline skating was impossible given the weather. Second, it was to reduce the awkwardness I felt when I was in the shop seeking shelter and yet had nothing to do. Nonetheless, I managed to know more about the course. Fortunately, I watched some videos on inline skating beforehand on Youtube beforehand. The videos equipped me with some knowledge and not sound completely ignorant when the instructor asked me about what type of skating I wanted to pursue in.
In the end, I went to Pasir Ris Public Library to chill out instead since I didn't want to waste me trip to Pasir Ris and might as well pamper myself a little. A little coincidence when I was looking for food in White Sands Shopping Mall did I meet 2 of my ex-trainees. Plus, it was a sunday which was flooded with lots of men in green - our Singaporean Sons.
I did a review of my life thus far from the 2 months I have ORDed. Perhaps it's time for me to settle down and start the momentum to gear myself up for university. I came to realise that all these pursuits I am chasing which seems interesting to me may not make me actually feel satisfied about my life thus far. Knowing that these 5 months are the best times of my life, I am trying too hard to make it legendary or something. Am I trying too hard? Or perhaps I am thinking too much? I find myself a little lost one in all this now.
I penned down what I wanted to get out of June 2013. It's not something of great achievements nor material pursuits. It shall be simple things. Fundamental things like fitness and a thinking brain are what I am going for in June, for I might have neglected them for the past 2 months. It's time to reorganise my life and break myself out of this mess.
YOLO: You Only Live Once
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @12:03 AM
YOLO - You only live once - is a phrase which I've seen it once during my Pre-ORD training when we had to make a stupid flag out of a tablecloth (wonder what the organisers were thinking) but I didn't bother to delve into it so much. It was until recently when I went out with my Spec course sectionmates did Saiful mention it again.
Sometimes in life, there are things which once gone, never comes back again. Time, youth, experiences, family and friendship is just the tip of the iceberg. I would find it a course of nature rather than to dwell upon the past. I am not trying to be mercenary or something. I'm one who actually cherishes a lot of things around me, be it people, things or places which I have once lived my life there before. I reminisce the past at times, or perhaps quite frequently about past experiences in life that I ave been through. Sometimes, I get that feeling of wanting to go back to live through those experiences again and fret not, I am referring to just those happy moments. The emotions that flow through me while just thinking back those experiences are just so overwhelming, too much sometimes that I want to jump right back into the past.
However, just at that spur of moment, reality holds me back from all those actions and reminded me to get with life and move on. A second thought came, which I felt was true. By trying to recreate the past, the present circumstances may not replicate the exact emotions that I felt back then. It could be due to change in the people you meet, change in the culture of a place, possible external influences or even a change in one's own mindset. Things change and nowadays, it just changes too fast, too fast for me to pack up my feelings and move on with life. Sometimes it feels sad to see things change so quickly and that I cannot do anything to stop it. Change, on the other hand, could be for the better on hindsight.
Perhaps it's that mentality that I have developed over the years which gets me quite readily to move on from one phase of life to the other. I personally feel a little regretful when I recollect the past, wondering how some events could have turned out otherwise had I taken another step. I guess that's life for ya, you only live once. All the rest would be just predictions of the aftereffects by taking one decision or the other.
Despite all these thoughts of what ifs, I have learnt pretty much to accept the reality and move on. For instance, friends you used to meet so often back in school or lived with like during NS, those people were companions whom I could turn myself to but as we go on separate paths as we grow up, relationships get diluted. Impact of one on the other fades and emotions diminishes. Is it time that has caused all this to happen? Or is it us who chose to let this happen instead? Sadly, I would say it's us. It's hard to keep friendships going from year to year despite not having much contact with one another. Some friendships diminishes as times goes by, not broken but just more further apart. Some continues to be maintained because everyone took an effort to meet up with one another and build on the friendship. Whatever the outcome, for my friends and I, even if friendships and emotions fades over time in the future, I will tell myself that at least it's a genuine friendship that I have made. Genuine friendships where even if we do not meet for a long time, there will still be related topics which link us together and conversations just keep on going. For me, even if there's only one such friendship, I will be glad to have that. Fortunately I know more people around me who will be a pillar of emotional support to my life as I move on. This shall be how I embrace changes and the fast pace of life with my friends as we continue to mature in life.
To cherish the moment and seize the day, the phrase YOLO really motivates me to live my life to the fullest, even if it may just seem stupid or mundane in another person's eyes. I going to turn 21 this year and really, youth never comes back once gone. To have lived my youth with satisfaction and happiness is something that I want to achieve. I am not talking about the material stuff like go travelling overseas or possess branded stuff nor am I talking about places like clubs where youth nowadays highly frequent. My definition of satisfaction in my youth is to have experienced things or learn skills that I have wanted to try, common things which most people already know but for 20-year old me don't. I always wanted to make meaning to my life by learning skills when young, so that when I grow old, it would be something I would have mastered and not a starting point for me. It's just simple stuff which you can imagine within the top of your head which just satisfies me. Running to stay fit, and complete a marathon at least once in my life which is something within my reach now. I have finally exposed myself kayaking, something which I have always to do but yet could not because of my inability to swim well. After the course did I realise that it's more of water confidence that I need rather than pure swimming skills. I shall be going to learn inline skating tomorrow, something which I believe you would find yourself dumbfounded after reading this. Well, I don't want to see future Oliver being asked why he did not know such life-skill and feel old when he starts to learn all this in the future. Being young at this time of my life is something which puts me at advantage to go pursue dreams and venture out. Even if I fail, at least it would not feel all that miserable as in the future when I literally know that I can't do it anymore.
I once saw this picture on my news feed in facebook which compared the young, adult and the old. While the young has the time and energy, he does not have the money. The adult, on the other hand, while being financially stable, he does not have the time to spare despite the energy he has. Finally, the old has lots of time, money but realises that he does not have the energy much as before. I found it pretty intriguing about its description towards life and its limitations.
As the youth now, all I have to offer is time and energy but not the chinks. Time may not even be available at times due to studies. Sometimes those activities I mentioned above requires some money. I feel so small when I have to keep my budget in check and ensure my living expenses is covered. I tell myself that all this is investment for the future, skills and experiences which cannot be taken away and that money can always be earned back. All my spending ever since NS was out of my own pocket and I have not asked any pocket money from my parents. Though tough, I can at least be proud of myself that I am independent like some of my friends out there whom I know works hard to earn and pay for their own living.
Perhaps the just sufficient amount of money that gets me by in my life made me grow mature about spending money wisely. It taught me to take into considerations and make decisions wisely. That could probably be why I may be a little wishy-washy when making choices because I don't want any regrets. It made me clear about the wants and needs in life. Though I do pamper myself sometimes when I indulge in new shoes or clothes, I will ensure that it's a worthwhile investment to my life and cherish it.
I have grown to realise that things in life don't come easy and it's all effort and sweat, really. Having a phone is something evident for me. I have been using prepaid phone for 6 years now and even though many people suggested me to sign contracts instead, I refused because of the expenses. If I signed phone contracts, I would have to work to pay for the phone bills on my own. I didn't want to work because of fear that it might affect my studies and I'm lazy. I find youth something which should be enjoyed and not just all about part-time work to earn money. Sometimes I feel bad for myself when I am using prepaid for my phone but on hindsight, the need I had from phone was just basically calls and smses, something which my current phone matches and can offer (inclusive of whatsapp which is a god given already since it helps me to keep up with my friends). Thus, the additional convenience and enjoyment that smartphones nowadays features may just be a 'want', which may backfire and distract my way of life instead.
I am a techno dinosaur and proud. You may say I am just old-fashioned in my thinking. Well, I shall say I am not. I will move on to using smartphones soon, but the time's not ripe yet. The phone market just keeps changing and I will probably get a better one in the future.Maybe when I start to work and become financially stable, I will then start to indulge myself in all these little ones as much as possible since I may not have that time anymore despite all the money and energy like what I described earlier.
As I am writing all this like in the middle of the night, my thoughts and emotions just keeps flowing through me as I blog about this and think about my life. I'm glad to have written my feelings out quite smoothly tonight. Blogging really gives me a record of life which future Oliver will totally appreciate and because YOLO - You only live once, I am glad that I continued to have started and continued blogging all this while.
When it all sums up together...
Friday, May 24, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @5:13 PM
Pardon me for my absence for a while since for the past week I have been trying to consolidate all the Chemistry stuff I have learnt back in 2010. The huge pile of notes have been with me for like 5 years (since 2009) and I cannot bear to throw away this juicy fruit of labour that I have painstakingly used during my JC days. It was in JC when learning was away from textbooks but from lecture notes and tutorials instead. Every piece of notes that I bought (literally with money) was a gem of its own, whether it did serve me purpose or not. Given I am doing Science in university soon, I would probably need those Math and Physics notes on top of my Chemistry ones. For my economics notes, I haven't touch it at all ever since I archived it like 2 years ago. Well it does trigger much memories like those days during lecture when it was like chill and relax on our seats while listening, not to forget those interesting things my tutors have to say during tutorial, whether it was linked to studies or not it didn't matter.
I mean, all these school notes did served its purpose of providing literal knowledge during my time in TJC, it may seem to most that it's now a piece of junk. I would see this 'junk' more of as a memento, a piece of antique that was once significant to my life. As I flipped through pages and pages of notes, I see little scribblings which I have made back then when I have like a "Eureka" moment while studying my notes. Cluttered with these scribblings were also little evidences of 'vandalism' when my friends and I used to write pretty lame stuff on each others' notes. As I read the content of the 'vandalised' paper, it triggered back memories like how it happened, who were involved, where it happened and what happened next. After that, I feel a little trickle of happiness flowing through me. Perhaps it brought back those feelings I had when I'm around my classmates or maybe I find myself stupid for doing that in the past.
I always had this belief that the best notes one could ever have are notes made by oneself. Well, the content of the notes have to come from some others sources other than the top of your head. Consolidating lecture notes, tutorial worksheets and additional points covered during lectures or tutorials would be a very good start to start off writing your own notes. As you practise more questions, the additional learning points would be worthwhile to jot down in your own notes as well. At the end of the day, these set of notes would serve as the essence of what you have learnt throughout the past year.
Here are some reasons why I advocate writing your own notes. As you jot down content from various sources, be it from lecture notes or tutorial worksheets, you tend to be able to retain the knowledge given the experience you are going through. Well, you can probably attribute it to 'muscle memory'. At the same time, there are moments when one may encounter certain similar points are found all over the different sets of notes which makes learning to go the extra mile of flipping through the tons and tons of notes. So, writing your own notes allows you to consolidate your learning and at the same time, lets you decide what you want to put into your notes, what you do not want or even prioritising what you really need to learn in a particular topic. Personally, I get put off when I see notes which are like paper-heavy. Hence, I normally like to squeeze as much content as possible into one piece of paper. If it's not worthwhile or practical to do so (when you have to read words of font size 4), I give some leeway to about 4 or 5 pieces of paper. While it be a little thicker now, but comparing to the 30 or 40 odd pages of notes that are given for one lecture topic, I would say reading through that 5 pieces of paper is more time-saving than the latter.
Speaking about time, having consolidated notes written by myself allows me to speed up the pace of revision especially during times like days before any major exam, so I don't have to like load myself up with thick pages of notes to the exam venue before the exam starts. Plus, even if one brings all his notes to school before the exam, I doubt he would know where to start off when he does some last-minute revision before the exam. Personally, I'm a learner who likes to know the overview picture of what I am actually learning by the time lectures covered everything taught for a certain topic. As such, writing my own notes gives me a bird's eye view of all the concepts taught. Rather than plain writing the notes in prose, I prefer to write my notes in a concept map format, which suits me given the systematic nature and neat layout of the format.
There are learners who like to learn from mind maps, spider diagrams, tables or just plain texts. My recommendation is to make notes in the manner or style which suits you. Having to force yourself to make notes in a certain format which you don't like would probably not help you much since the interest of learning from it is not there in the first place. Learning only takes place when you are willing to learn. I am sure one does not want to learn things the hard way, or the way which they do not like or suits them. Only when you are comfortable will you be willing and open yourself up to go and immerse yourself in the learning. Everyone is unique and have their own learning styles. Some may not even like making notes as they think of it as a waste of time and prefer to just use the school notes instead. It's really to each his own and as long as you enjoy it, I would say you'll probably do better than before. If one method does not work, try another and see how it goes for you. At the end of the day, it's a lot about finding out how you want to study and how you would like to study. For those who have no idea what's your style of learning, you may experiment the various methods and see which suits you best. In my opinion, it's best not to force yourself to just stick to one style of notes making as it may get boring sometimes. Also, the type of subject you are studying also matters, so one style of note making is not a solution for all. (Example of science subjects versus arts subject, the way of studying is different thus probably your note-making style may be different too, so be aware of that.)
Ever since secondary school, I was exposed to the various methods of consolidating notes and the one I found useful for me was concept maps when studying the sciences. I didn't had notes for geography at all because I found the textbook more than sufficient to make any notes at all, most of it was just scribblings in the textbook. I used elementary math notes from my teacher for my exam while for additional math, I studies the little notebook which I jot down concepts during Additional Math class. Thus, the subject you're studying does matter so the studying method for each subject matters.
Before A'levels, I could not manage to finish consolidating all my Chemistry notes into concept maps since making concept maps took much time which I could not afford (that's one drawback about making notes - production takes time). I only managed to complete the organic chemistry topics. Thus, for rest of Chemistry chapters I relied on my school lecture notes instead. Eventually, all was well for me when I studied before the exam day. It was impossible to cover all the topics from A to Z the day before the exam, trust me. So the concept maps helped to speed up the learning, giving me time to revise through past exam papers.
As of yesterday, I have finally compiled all the Chemistry notes into concept maps which I can say it's the essence of my learning in Chemistry for A levels. Adding on with some other self-written and school-production notes, I believe it would serve as a great piece of revision before university starts. As for the future, I am not sure whether concept maps would be the revision method which I would employ because of the huge content I'm expecting to learn from university modules and the minimal time I have to revise and consolidate all the knowledge taught. My left hand hurts much from the small font size writing I have been using for the past week. I'm sure I'll find out for myself what works best for me when the time comes.
To learning!
Fun out in the Sun
Friday, May 10, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @7:34 PM
I went out with my Spec course friends on Wednesday and I believed everyone enjoyed themselves at Jurong Swimming Complex for the wave pool, lazy river and water slides. With the crazy bunch of us in the lazy river, I have never capsized more than I ever did. It's about 10 years since I last went there and it has not changed that much other than the much upgrading for toilet facilities.
I also had my hands on KFC's new double down max burger, the one which is advertised together with the Ironman III movie. I would say it's quite a unique concept to have the chicken replaced the bread for a burger. Great taste with the bacon and hash brown, just that I could not eat the top and base of the burger proportionately due to the slices of the meat. A little oily and lack of lettuce but I would say it's a great taste to try out overall!
Somehow, my preferred choice in KFC whenever I patronise the outlet would be the 2-piece chicken. I don't know why but it seems to me that it's natural to eat using my hands when eating 2-piece chicken. Speaking of which, I liked the black pepper flavour which was once a hype back in about 3 years ago but I don't see it anymore in the outlets nowadays.
Talking to my Spec course has never been more entertaining as ever since we always come up with meaningful conversations even though it may sound like crap to another group of people. Plus, that outing made me thought a lot about issues which Saiful considers to be 'intelligent', which actually focuses more on opinions on issues happening in our society and our everyday lives rather than literally intelligence. That was a great discussion about life and it triggered my little brain to think deeper when I reached home. I think that I do shy away from real-time news at times given my laziness, or maybe I'm just apathetic to such things.
I went to work as a ad-hoc facilitator and as I ended yesterday's session, it got me thinking. Schools nowadays adopt the platform of using facilitation to teach students' knowledge on top of the curriculum where teachers teach. Looking at it, it made me thought about the difference between teaching and facilitation and whether facilitation could replace teaching in schools. (When I referred to teaching, I meant the learning in classrooms where teachers teach students and imparting knowledge). A trainer answered my question quite nicely by telling me that teaching is more of a one-way traffic while facilitation serves to let the learner learn by himself with the appropriate level of guidance. While teaching may not be as impactful compared to facilitation since through facilitation, learners create their own experience. Thus, the impact would be more long-term effective compared to teaching. Looking at the time effectiveness, teaching is able to cover more knowledge and concepts within a shorter time compared to facilitation since the learner has to grasp the learning point through self-discovery via an activity. From my point of view, given the fast-pace of life that our society has and the economic need for us to produce skilled labour in a short period of time (about 20+ years for an adult of appropriate qualified skill level), I would say teaching would be more effective compared to facilitation. Nonetheless, facilitation would be useful in terms of imparting of values and skills outside the classroom like social skills. Plus, facilitation provides quite interesting learning experiences at times which I would say is beneficial when it comes to joy of learning. There's no perfect one-all method that works, which we all should know at this time. In this case, I would say that a combination of both serves to be a better solution to make learning fruitful, fun and rigourous at the same time.
Okay, enough talking, time for my dinner, next time!
Freedom Unleashed
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @7:07 PM
So it's been 2 months and 2 days since I ORDed from service. The past 2 months, to be honest, really feels great when things are accomplished through great planning. I gave myself one week to really take a break and think of what I wanted to do before school starts in August. I decided not to work since this period will genuinely be one of the last time I am going to relax before all the school and work that comes in the future. Live the best of the moment and leave no regrets behind.
Given the long period when I actually 'hit the books', I must say I have kinda of almost clearly archived every school knowledge into deep within of my little brain. As I started to revise back these topics like Chemistry, Math and Physics, it felt like entering a chamber once abandoned and rediscovering all that I have learnt. I would not say that I am agile in my thinking and analysis as per the Oliver in 2010, but I am getting it back.
Plus, it is not just about revising all this concepts. Given the 5 months I have before school starts and it's a HOLIDAY, I told myself I would pace it out and not go into a mad rush of hitting the books. It has been a smooth sail through this revisiting these past region of knowledge. On top that, I have decided to make good use of this time to sum up little specific things which I have learnt in Chemistry through those exercises which were donned with green corrections, red crosses and some red 'CARELESS!' marks which I wrote in the past. The practical part of me decided to just sum it up for Chemistry and Math, since these will be what I'm mostly going to study during University. (Sorry for physics!)
I've put much thought into research about University, what modules that are interesting or tough and what exactly I am going to pursue during University. I made a big decision to withdraw from Tembusu College in NUS which I applied to study in 2011. Well, at the start, I did not want to let go because I thought of the accommodation, amenities and the fun I would get from studying in Tembusu College. Then again, I reconsidered my choice. As I read about the syllabus, I realise it was not exactly what I liked. I am a picky student I must confess, where I would study stuff which are of interest to me. So some modules in Tembusu College was not of my interest and I cannot guarantee that those modules which I liked would be available during my academic years. On the other hand, the university level requirements taken by the majority of students in NUS were more liberal I feel given the big pool of modules available for bidding. Well, it's definite that not all modules are offered in each semester, but at least for university requirements there's a longer 'waiting period' to wait for those desired modules to be up for bidding compared to the short 2 year stay in Tembusu College. Much considerations, consultations with friends and seniors and reflection of what I truly wanted. This time, I decided based on my feel. Every time I thought about Tembusu College, it felt good to think about it and imagine how school would be like there. Then again, when I thought about the curriculum, it felt like a heavy load just plunge me down, pulling me back from advancing. I am not sure whether self-confidence played a part, but eventually I decided to give it up since I know I am not someone who can really write well and put my points across in the linguistic manner as per university standards.Overall, it really felt good when I knew that I withdrew from Tembusu College, since I know that I can be like a 'ordinary' student again to meet university level requirements and able to join Halls of Residence like a freshman. Sometimes, just going with the flow and taking the conventional path is not necessarily bad or disadvantaged in any way. Just being ordinary and contented with what I have is more compared to pursuing and find myself drowning in stress due to desires I know I can't keep up with.
Now, I just aim for my university studies to be smooth sailing. Not really about the vibrancy or myriad of activities that I engage myself in, but rather the learning experience and lessons I gain from university. With my interest to specialise in Chemistry, I will master the crux of what's within and hopefully pass this set of knowledge to the future generations. Honestly, I can know what will be going on for the next 5-10 years of my life, but the exact details of it, I have yet to explore it myself. It will be interesting I believe, and I wonder what really comes as I move on.
Studies aside, my 2 months as a civilian has been fruitful. Met up with my section mates from MP Spec Course at USS and just last week had I went cycling with Saiful and Joshua. I'm really thankful to have a bunch of great wonderful company. I mean like, friends who know you is different from friends who have lived with you. It's totally different somehow in the way of communication we had. Perhaps there's more time for interaction and through the living together, we tend to be able to know one anothe's character better compared to classmates or just friends you meet. We're going again tomorrow and I am totally excited! You know that feeling when you can't sleep because of anxiety. (Before I started this post, I had slept for like 2-3 hours, hopefully I can sleep tonight!)
Other than course mates, I've also met up with friends from MPTS, those who are still in service waiting for their ORD to come. It was like a buffet one time to celebrate Jasper, my admin clerk's birthday and another at playnation to just having fun with video games.
Last but not least was also to see my very last batch of Spec course trainees graduate during their final graduation parade in SCS. My 3rd batch of trainees to have graduated from the same parade I passed out in and I'm really proud of it. Though the amount of time I had with them was quite short, I would say I have enjoyed my last course towards the end of my NS.
I picked up kayaking in April, having signed up for a 1 star kayaking course with SAFRA. Much of an introductory course, it was eye-opening to learn the various techniques involved with a paddle and a kayak, on top just paddling forward and backward. Sunburn was a pain despite I liked to be tanned. Perhaps in June, I might consider signing up for the 2 star kayaking course. Then again, I found a place to learn skating and I'm consider to pick it up in June too. There might be a clash so I guess I may have to make up my mind soon before June comes. This is seriously the best time of my life to really try out different things which I didn't had for. Thus I am not working part-time like what most people do. Hopefully I'll be able to accomplish my 'checklist' before school starts!
As I talk about all this, I really hope school don't start yet. Because of the enjoyment I get from all these holidays, I'm not looking forward to school yet. After suffering from a 'lost-from-work' syndrome at the start of March, I think I have fully recovered and I basking in the sun of holidays!
Other than that, I guess I'm pretty done here.
Memoir of a Life Journey Part 5 - What I've learnt
Monday, May 6, 2013
Uncle O' dropped by @5:56 PM
I told myself that I would finish this post before May 2013 but my constant distractions such as the television shows and the Internet has occupied my relatively blank schedule over the past few weeks. Plus, I intended to write a lot for this post, perhaps that could prove to be a procrastination for me here.
Now let's go back to finale for this series of post. Being posted to any unit taking up any appointment is definitely a unique and individualistic experience. I mean, different people in a unit take up different jobs, so the things they do and what they learn from it is different. Even among people who does the same type of job but in different unit, the work culture and experience would also be differentiated. Finally, doing the same job in the same unit would not necessarily mean the experience is the same. The takeaway for each individual is special, something which cannot be replicated for another.
With a multitude of postings, there could only be a route for me to take. I embarked on the journey of instruction in training and this instructional role, I must say, it's definitely a challenging one.
Constant change of faces you meet, packed activities one after another, early days and late nights, an iceberg of knowledge to be equipped with in a short time and many roles to play in a single day. These are just the start of an instructor had to do. I've never worked in office a day without a schedule. Within the schedule itself contains routine tasks which to be monitored daily. Imagine the amount of concentration and thinking an instructor has to process as an activity transits into another. The reaction has to be fast. Slow orders would render a herd of lost sheep and a cloud of restlessness, followed by a finger pointed at you asking what was going wrong. Sandwiched between superiors and trainees, I knew I had to always paint a mental picture of what's next to expect and communicate effectively with my colleagues to ensure that nothing goes wrong. That does not just happen during my days as duty instructor. Management of course administration was another big giant that I constantly had to face everyday. Plan for the week, the next week, the following week and the week after that had close relations with one another. The worst were the small stuff which doesn't seem important at first. Pile it up, and off you go with a huge problem. Transitions between weeks of course was important despite that the course activities could be a totally different one. I would not forget those days when I had to keep on flipping between pages of the course schedule and keep recalling and checking what was done and what's yet to be completed.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Nevertheless, a foolproof plan with all considerations taken in does not exclude itself from external factors. At any point of time, any other external event or activity may cause disruption to what was set out in the plan. It can be like big things, such as your big boss giving a half-day off to the trainees because of some public holidays or even small things like external courses or ICT occupying the rooms despite things being tied down beforehand. Because of such factors, a constant attention to the running of the course was needed. I wouldn't forget those times when instructors had to constantly 'take care' of the course. I have seen how other instructors lose that attention and let things go wild. Those repercussions were detrimental and I would say that reprimands were just too light a sentence to give.
Another aspect was on the relations side of an instructor. An instructor cannot be an islander by himself. Communication is key. In front of the trainees, an instructor has to be able to manage them on the ground. Every word or action an instructor does make a difference to the trainees. How an instructor behave would affect the trainees' impression of him. Different instructors take different approaches to different types of trainees. Some are friendly by nature, some would be firm while some choose to be happy-go-lucky instead. The so-called 'bond' between an instructor and trainees is important because learning takes place only when trainees are willing to learn and open to learning. Bad relations between the instructors and trainees would only make experiences more miserable than ever.
I remember those days when connections were really important, not just within office, between offices but also between units. A group of instructors is common, but a group of instructors who can 'click' in work is rare. Instructors really needed to work well with one another because there are tons of tasks to be accomplished. Running a course isn't a one-man show. The duty instructor, so-called 'Instructor of the Day' is rotated between the course instructors. Tasks on the other hand, continues with the course till it is completed. When a task has to be handed from one to another, the crux is in the hand over of information. If one fails to pass it down fully and properly, the actions taken would be different and thus leads to another result. At the end of the day, more work has to be done when rectifying the matter, thus inefficiency breeds.
The leader of the group was also important to the instructors, since it meant who one would be directly working under. Sad to say, there is definitely flaws in every leader. Thus, working as an instructor really needed me to know my leaders well, their work ethics, working style and management. Being an instructor needed much of an ability to make judgements and conclusions with an open mind, be it with trainees, fellow instructors, colleagues or even superiors.
I cannot emphasise much on the interdependence between the offices in my unit. In a way or another, there would be times when we need help from other offices. Having to know these people well really helps in my work as an instructor. Plus, these group of people also serve as very well companies for lunch, sharing and gossips when we let our hairs down during the day. All that made work less stressful but rather more interesting instead.
The last is having connections between units, which really helped me quite a lot when it came to postings orders for the course or course matters for Combined Arms Term. My coursemates during Spec Course went various units and held various appointments. When it came to postings involving those units my coursemates were in, things could be done so much easier since we were friends. Working with someone you know will always be better than working with strangers. Nevertheless, working with strangers would also mean working with friends from the future, which actually expands one's social circle much. At the end of my NS, I believe I have interacted way much more people I have ever did in my life.
As an instructor, I was looked upon to have knowledge of my subject matter and expected to be able to execute it well. I would not forget those days when I had to think and re-think about what I have learnt in terms of knowledge and skills. To evaluate the different types of skills taught to me and be able to synthesise the information given. Obtaining these information was difficult, as content can only be found in directives, manuals and from the warrant officers I knew. There was a lot of research and learning since I felt that an instructor's level of knowledge and skills must be higher than the trainees since that's one primary role expected of an instructor. It was gratifying when my warrant officers were willing to share these information, to a situation when some of us instructors were overloaded with information and got headaches with it!
Care from the instructor is definitely something which cannot be further emphasised. Instructors needed to be able to empathise with trainees, know them well in order to run the course well. No matter how vast knowledge an instructor has or how well they could execute physically, instructors who don't care suck. Worse would be those who doesn't have any knowledge or skills at all and yet doesn't care about it. I'm not saying that instructors have to be emotional or literally caring to trainees. Rather, I felt that instructors needed to be able to think for the trainees on top of themselves. That responsibility which I always believed in because I would feel bad if my trainees suffer because of my nonchalance or irresponsibility. That is one part of professionalism an instructor has to be able to embody I would say.
I would say that's what I come up with about the role of an instructor for now. To sum it up, below are my thoughts on the demands and expectations of an instructor. I would say that not every fresh Specialist graduate would be able to meet these demands. Selection of an instructor is more of looking at the character before achievements so that at the end of the day, this character can be groomed to meet the demands and expectations.
Demands of an instructor:
1. Passionate in instructional role and committed to be the best of himself as an instructor
2. Takes Initiative to think, work, learn and make changes to improve work performance for all
3. Communicates well among colleagues, superiors and trainees
4. Able to react effectively on the ground alone without compromise of the well-being of trainees
5. Knowledgeable in subject matter, be it theory or practical
6. Care for trainees well-being
7. Sensitive to surroundings including trainees especially
Expectations of an instructor:
1. Professionalism - as a leader when handling course matters be it trainee or administration
2. Role model - Behaviour, words and actions
3. Communicate well with different parties
4. Learner-Leader
5. Strong character, able to handle stress and failures
As a section commander, I really grateful for the experience because of the people I've met under my charge. The dispersion of trainees into sections is really random and I'm glad that I was quite lucky to have less problematic trainees compared to the rest of the instructors. Other than experiencing how being a section commander feels like, I have learnt quite a lot from each individual I have come across during my tour as section commander for the trainees. Every interaction with each individual is something new I learn about them as the conversation goes on throughout the course. It gave me different perceptions of how people think, what they felt and the reactions they made when it came to a particular matter that happened be it in general or to them personally.
The personal aim of every instructor I would say is to see his trainees perform. Other than pushing those who could perform and achieve higher, there was more satisfaction I felt when it comes to motivating those who actually have the potential but not performing it at all. I have come across a few of them from my different courses and I must say it's definitely heartening to see these people achieve what they didn't believe they could in the first place. These people may not have been the best of the course but seeing them grow from the process was something which I admired greatly. Being an instructor taught me about not just focus on grooming the 'elites' but rather release the potential of those who have it.
Reading the weekly journals and reflections from each trainee during each week of the course is not something routine. Ironic much but I liked to read the various weekly thought processes of the trainees they penned down on paper and see how they think. Other than allowing the trainees to reflect on their learning, it's also a learning process for me in learning to make judgements of a person's character and thoughts. That way, it will not be just knowing the trainees but rather understand them. That makes communication way much more fruitful rather than superficial conversations instead.
Undeniably, in the last journal entry of every trainee, I sometimes yearn for 'thank you' notes from my section. I know that it is kinda of thick-skinned to expect that but I'm glad that not all of them wrote because I would have go 'lost' in that superficial pursuit. More importantly, I always reminded myself that I know what I have done for them and that I should not expect anything since it is my role in the first place. Plus, their achievements are something they have done, not me. I would say I'm more of a catalyst - speeding up their growth to achieve more.
I wouldn't forget that at the end of each course, I always had a last message for my section. Perhaps that 10 or 14 weeks with each of them was too short for me to really teach them all that I have learnt and I know that it's impossible for them to learn everything from someone else. In life, there are just some things which we have to discover for ourselves and learn from. In that last message, I thanked them for the experiences they gave me and wrote down some things to expect as a MP or as a Specialist. I guess that sense of responsibility got too strong on me and I really cherished my time with them.
As an instructor, I have really learnt a lot about the word 'leadership'. What it meant, what it does not mean and what it means to different people and me. There's a lot of rediscovery of many things in life which we overlook everyday, like food, work and people. Hard skills may not be applicable to the world out there, but the soft skills do. Because of this instructional role, I believe I'm now better equipped to face and pursue my aspirations. I'm filled with much gratitude, really.
My 1 year 10 months of NS was really enriching. Despite a relatively 'short' time, I felt that I have really learnt so much more than ever. Life skills like these are something which schools can't teach but rather through experience you'll learnt. I'm glad to have met nice people who have taught me much during each phase of my NS life. My takeaway? Not just the IQ, EQ and AQ, but friendships, laughter, experience, memories and life lessons, and those little things which no amount of money can ever buy.
~ End of Part 5 ~
Labels: Memoir of a Life Journey
