YAY! Time for celebration! For those who haven’t heard, FBI team won for the inter-diploma debate!!! Honestly, this victory wasn’t clear to us at first. We had so many challenges that we had to overcome. We nearly had to withdraw from the tournament due to the sheer amount of pressure and expectations placed on us. However, with the help of our advisor, Ms Joanna Tan, we manage to deal with the problem and stayed in the competition.
The qualifying round was a lucky win for us. Even so, we didn’t lower our standards as the expectations from our advisor was, honestly, VERY HIGH. By the way, there was actually another FBI team, FBI2. The team consisted of Danial, Stanley and Sham. They were just as good. They got through to the quarter-finals with us. They had 3 close wins, whereas FBI1, my team, had 3 clear wins. In other words, the type of winning affects the team chances to move on to the next round. Due to this system, regretfully, they didn’t have a chance to compete in the next round with us.
The semi-final was the peak of all the debates. It was really very nerve racking. We were against MWC. The speakers were all excellent and confident. Surprisingly we won the debate. By then, our energy had worn out. We decided that we were happy with us moving on to the finals. However, as me and Ronald are in the debates club, it will give the club a bad name if we lost the tournament. So, we gave our all.
The tournament itself was a great stepping stone for me in becoming a better speaker. At first I came as a very ‘kanchiong’ speaker. I rushed through my arguments, my tone was loud and lacking in confidence, it sounded as though I was reprimanding someone. However as time went by, I got the hang of it. I realized that the more calm you sound, you will sound much more credible and you will start to gain support from the audience and most importantly, the adjudicators. This skill I learned through the course of the debate will be useful and significant especially in the working world. Always remember that no one is born with great skills. It takes constant practice to acquire one.
Also, I learned that team work is extremely important. When we had problems within the group, our communication suffered and so did our performance. We lost a particular debate because of it! It was a complete waste! Even so, we managed to work out the problem, and now, WE EMERGED AS THE WINNER OF THE TOURNAMENT!!!!
Three cheers for Ronald and Leo. These two men are responsible for the change of my mannerisms and without them; the journey wouldn’t be as fun! And special thanks to our advisor Ms Joanna Tan for her constructive comments, Ms Marlina for being our advisor when our advisor was out of town. Not forgetting all the FBI teachers and friends for taking their time off to support us as well! THANK YOU!!!!!
Posted By Farah Erfina.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
VTB charity events
Even since school started, we had been looking forward to internships as we will be able to have a physical experience on what we had learnt. However, never did we know that what we will be undergoing will be far more than what we can imagine.
Through our stay in VTB Bank Europe plc, we were tasked not only to help out with the routine work assigned, we were also ask to help out in various interesting activities such as organizing party for the staffs, auction of items, charity event as well as the selling of the furniture.
As these activities are not related to our course, many may think that we will not benefit from it. However, we think otherwise. Through the various events that we participate in, we had learnt the importance of systematical organization as well as teamwork. In addition, we learnt to be more confident in ourselves and speak up to interact with other people. Lastly, our supervisors allow us to be fully in charge of those activities which thus help build up our leadership quality.
One of the most memorable events that we can remember vividly is definitely the charity event. Not only did we get to enjoy ourselves, we also played a part in contributing to the society through helping the people in need.
However the process of organizing this event was not easy. We had to book the bus services for the elderly as well as to book the duck tour in advance due to the number of participants we had. In addition, we also needed to preorder some goodie bags for the elderly as “souvenirs”. During the preparation, we met with many obstacles such as the failure of communication, the failure of understanding the services we required for the day, etc. In addition, as we are handling the elderly, we had to take into consideration such as the number of humps that we will encounter through the journey, the distance from the drop off point to the ending point and etc. However, we managed to overcome the obstacles to make this event a success.
Although we did not play a major part in the lives of these elderly, we knew that the small little things we did will definitely add colours to their life. We believed that through the half day interaction, the elderly will understand that they are not standing alone in society and there is always helping hands around to give them ample support.
This charity event was indeed a fun and unique event for staff to bond. On top of that, the most valuable reward that we received was to see the smiles that we brought to the elderly.
The event has definitely made us change the traditional thinking that working life is dull and boring. Should there be any more of these events, we will definitely agree to help out without hesitation.
Bags of goodies for the elderly.
Packed the day before the charity.
Fang Lu helping her elderly to the duck tour.
Beng Yan and Hui Ying helping their elderly to the next destination.
Beng Yan helping an elderly down the bus
Xiu Wen and Shui Jin with their elderly.
The group with their supervisors.
The whole group at Suntec.
Volunteers from VTB Bank Europe plc, Singapore Branch.
Staff Volunteers from TOUCH Community.
The Elderly.
Through our stay in VTB Bank Europe plc, we were tasked not only to help out with the routine work assigned, we were also ask to help out in various interesting activities such as organizing party for the staffs, auction of items, charity event as well as the selling of the furniture.
As these activities are not related to our course, many may think that we will not benefit from it. However, we think otherwise. Through the various events that we participate in, we had learnt the importance of systematical organization as well as teamwork. In addition, we learnt to be more confident in ourselves and speak up to interact with other people. Lastly, our supervisors allow us to be fully in charge of those activities which thus help build up our leadership quality.
One of the most memorable events that we can remember vividly is definitely the charity event. Not only did we get to enjoy ourselves, we also played a part in contributing to the society through helping the people in need.
However the process of organizing this event was not easy. We had to book the bus services for the elderly as well as to book the duck tour in advance due to the number of participants we had. In addition, we also needed to preorder some goodie bags for the elderly as “souvenirs”. During the preparation, we met with many obstacles such as the failure of communication, the failure of understanding the services we required for the day, etc. In addition, as we are handling the elderly, we had to take into consideration such as the number of humps that we will encounter through the journey, the distance from the drop off point to the ending point and etc. However, we managed to overcome the obstacles to make this event a success.
Although we did not play a major part in the lives of these elderly, we knew that the small little things we did will definitely add colours to their life. We believed that through the half day interaction, the elderly will understand that they are not standing alone in society and there is always helping hands around to give them ample support.
This charity event was indeed a fun and unique event for staff to bond. On top of that, the most valuable reward that we received was to see the smiles that we brought to the elderly.
The event has definitely made us change the traditional thinking that working life is dull and boring. Should there be any more of these events, we will definitely agree to help out without hesitation.
Bags of goodies for the elderly.
Packed the day before the charity.
Fang Lu helping her elderly to the duck tour.
Beng Yan and Hui Ying helping their elderly to the next destination.
Beng Yan helping an elderly down the bus
Xiu Wen and Shui Jin with their elderly.
The group with their supervisors.
The whole group at Suntec.
Volunteers from VTB Bank Europe plc, Singapore Branch.
Staff Volunteers from TOUCH Community.
The Elderly.
Posted by Ong Hui Ying and Looi Shui Jin
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The overseas stint
I was given the opportunity to work overseas for 2 weeks in Cambodia under the Ministry of Foreign Affair Initiatives for ASEAN Integration (IAI) scheme. This is an initiative mooted by then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in Nov 2000 for closer ties and better understanding between newer and older members of ASEAN.
The students came from various government ministries in Cambodia, most of them based in Phnom Penh where the Cambodia-Singapore Training Centre is located. The course ran for 2 weeks from 24 Nov till 5 Dec 2008.
Evening time by the TonLé Sap...
The one interesting thing about the whole stint was the cultural difference... They are a gentle people who enjoy their culture, appreciate the freedom they have and are fiercely proud of the heritage they have. The pace of things in Cambodia was unlike Singapore... it was s---l---o---w... In the evenings, there'll be a gathering by the TonLé Sap (the largest freshwater lake-river (combined) system in South-East Asia) where they'll enjoy the cool breezes and company... Some others would work till the evening and then enjoy a round of exercise at the nearby park or just a kite-flying session on an open field... a work-life balance in its own right.
The country, which is steeped in history, has advanced and changed much... It's moved out of old, traditional Kampuchea (as it's known in Khmer) to that of the modern-day Cambodia now seen around us. New buildings are springing up, businesses are taking flight, and the Cambodians are driven individuals, working harder... hungry for a taste of success...
Other than that, they were very much typical students... they surfed the Net instead of working, they came in late (and it just wasn't about the 15 mins grace period!), they chatted on their mobiles in class, and they called me "Cher"... sound familiar?
... Ms Jo
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