Critical Reflection

Over the past 12 weeks, attending the effective communication module had essentially benefitted me for both my university life and potentially my future working life. The first take away was writing my email with more courtesy and formality. My email used to be poorly written without proper thoughts on courtesy.

Next will be regarding plagiarism. Being a content creator as a hobby, I am always worried about plagiarism as I may also be doing compilations and edits to better enhance my work. Having lesson on plagiarism effectively cleared my doubts to allow me to make contents with less worries.

Reader Response was one of the parts where I struggled with the most in this module. Apart from being unfamiliar with APA-style Citation, I was not able to fully understand the article without additional reading on other related articles. However, with guidance from my lecturer, I managed to gradually understand the article and was able to write a response based on my readings.

Working on the technical report had taught me the importance of working in a team. Brainstorming of ideas are more effective with peer feedbacks and contribution which helps everyone to generate more and better ideas. Working on the report had exposed me to work with unfamiliar people in which I believe will be a norm in the future. With this experience, I hope that I will be able to utilize this experience to form better interpersonal relationships with colleagues.

Lastly, being able to do presentation in front of the whole cohort is a rare opportunity presented to me. As I go through more presentations, I gradually become more confident and less anxious during my presentation. Comparing my peer teaching presentation to the team presentation, I seen improvements in my presentation. I hope I will do well for the presentation showcase. 

Analytical Reflection

Having not presenting for a long period of time, it felt like my first time presenting back in Republic Polytechnic. I am very nervous, full of thoughts and feeling very uneased. Having a mock presentation, I had received critical feedbacks to polish my skill for my actual presentation.

For my first aspect, my presentation skill, as the saying goes “Practices make perfects”, giving a perfect presentation is close to impossible for someone whom had not been doing it abundantly in recent time. A couple of week ago, I was giving my first presentation in SIT. I am consistently not doing well for my whole presentation. I wasn’t familiar with the contents. Hence, I was not able to present well as I forget my memorized sentences, lesson learnt. However, during my mock presentation. I am familiar with my presented contents. Even though I was not presenting it smoothly, I know my stuff. To improve on this, I will need to practice rigorously. I plan to at least present it for at least three times a day to improve on my skill and confidence.

Another aspect that I could improve on is my physical communications. Based on my feedback, my presenting posture for the mock presentation is bad. For a tall guy like me, I must bend down a lot to fit in many places like going through doorways of MRT trains and some low ceiling areas. I may had developed an unhealthy habit of bending my back unconsciously. Having poor body posture during presentation may convey a message of poor confidence. To improve, I am stretching my back regularly to reduce strain to allow myself to maintain a good healthy posture. I would also ask my friends to remind me of my posture if I unconsciously return to the poor posture.

Proposal (Evaluation)

Problem 1

Despite the potential benefits, there are problems that are factored by different individual with different background. Some customers may be less technology savvy. As a result, they are the least beneficial group for the ordering system. IT Support can be trained to assist these individuals. After the long run, as the system become integrated into everyday life, these group of people will eventually benefit from it as they learns to use technology. Furthermore, with Singapore’s government leaning toward a smart nation, been tech savvy will be important in the future.

Problem 2

Another potential problem may be the increase in electricity usage. However, the increase can be minimized by using USB charged devices that operates using low-power processors. Such device uses smart charges that are capable in performing trickle charging in which it stop charging at full battery level to protect the battery and conserve energy. Hence, enhancing safety and minimizes electricity usage.

Problem 3

By implementing electronics to the table, it will be used for long hours. As a result, it will likely face more reliability issues due to accelerated ageing. Heat is a major cause for accelerated ageing in these devices. It shorten the internal components lifespan as it wears at a higher rate. These ageing effect can be minimized by the use of sophisticated cooling system to dissipate heat efficiently.

Reader Response Draft 2

In the article “Use of cladding in buildings here have grown in recent times: Experts” from Faris Mokhtar, Today Online (June 20, 2017) states that although there are benefits of cladding on a building, it can be a threat as it serves as a fire hazard. The usage of cladding may had contributed to the rapid spreading of fire in the Grenfell Tower incident, which led to multiple fatalities.

Mokhtar (2017) states that the usage of cladding has shown to provide many benefits for the building. According to Assistant Professor Fadeyi (2017), cladding has shown to benefit in the reduction of energy consumption and the increases sustainability of the building.  According to Assistant Professor Budig (2017), he mentions that Singapore practices another style of cladding which enhances the shade of the building.

Singapore uses cladding that are regulated by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). In the article, SCDF stated that “Singapore Fire Code stipulates the fire safety requirements for all buildings in Singapore”.

Thesis Statement

Despite all the regulation in place, buildings in Singapore are found to have used combustible materials for cladding. Inspection still find buildings using cladding that allows the spread of fire.

From a Channel NewsAsia article (24 August 2017) on the fire of an industrial building at Toh Guan, in Singapore, cladding that does not met the Singapore Fire Code were used on the building, resulting in a loss of life. Following the fire, inspection was done on several buildings and are found to be using cladding that does not meet the regulation of the Singapore Fire Code which ironically includes the Clementi Fire Station.

In my opinion, it is possible that there are more buildings that does not have cladding that met the regulation. With new buildings constantly getting constructed in Singapore, there will be errand contractor trying to cut cost and uses sub-standard materials.

In another article from Today Online (24 August 2017), it is noted that even the cladding distributor are unaware of the sub-standard cladding which was manufactured by companies from other countries. Also, as of 26 September 2017, an article titled “Boustead Projects to remove external cladding at property after failing SCDF safety standards” had surfaced online on The Edge Singapore. It stated that the cladding was initially certified to had met the regulation and even has a certificate of conformity. However, it still fails the inspection after the sample taken from the cladding were tested and found to not fulfil the Singapore Fire Code.

According to Building and Construction Authority(BCA) website, Building Control Act requires building owners to engage a structural engineer to inspect the buildings. Residential buildings are to be inspected every 10 years while commercial buildings are to be inspected every 5 years.

In conclusion, although regulated, the use of cladding in Singapore still poses a fire risk due to unforeseen factor. From all these articles, I feel that there are plenty of loopholes around the system which still allows sub-standard cladding to be installed on buildings. This poses as a fire risk, with so many buildings in Singapore. It is possible that the Grenfell Tower incident could happen in Singapore before the inspection could find all the sub-standard claddings.

Reference
Mokhtar, F. (2017, June 17). Use of cladding in buildings here have grown in recent times: experts. Today Online. Retrieved from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/use-cladding-buildings-here-have-grown-recent-times-experts

Loh, C. J. (2017, August 24). 36 buildings may have combustible cladding that doesn't meet safety standard; police investigating. Retrieved from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/36-buildings-may-have-combustible-cladding-that-doesn-t-meet-9153588?view=DEFAULT

Chan, S. J. (2017, September 26). Boustead Projects to remove external cladding at property after failing SCDF safety standards. Retrieved from https://www.theedgesingapore.com/boustead-projects-remove-external-cladding-property-after-failing-scdf-safety-standards

Building & Construction Authority Singapore

https://www.bca.gov.sg/PeriodicStructuralInspection/psi_list_structuralengrs.html

Reader Response Draft (Edited)

In the article “Use of cladding in buildings here have grown in recent times: Experts” from Faris Mokhtar, Today Online (June 20, 2017) states that although there are benefits of cladding on a building, it can be a threat as it serves as a fire hazard. The usage of cladding may had contributed to the rapid spreading of fire in the Grenfell Tower incident, which led to multiple fatalities.

Mokhtar (2017) states that the usage of cladding has shown to provide many benefits for the building. According to Assistant Professor Fadeyi (2017), cladding has shown to benefit in the reduction of energy consumption and the increases sustainability of the building.  According to Assistant Professor Budig (2017), he mentions that Singapore practices another style of cladding which enhances the shade of the building.

Singapore uses cladding that are regulated by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). In the article, SCDF stated that “Singapore Fire Code stipulates the fire safety requirements for all buildings in Singapore”.

Thesis Statement

Despite all the regulation in place, buildings in Singapore are found to have used combustible materials for cladding.

Reader Response Draft

In the article “Use of cladding in buildings here have grown in recent times: Experts” from Faris Mokhtar, Today Online (June 20, 2017) states that although there are benefits of cladding on a
building, it can be a threat as it serves as a fire hazard.

Mokhtar (2017) states that the usage of cladding has shown to provide many benefits for the
building. According to Assistant Professor Fadeyi (2017), cladding has shown to benefit in the
reduction of energy consumption and the increases sustainability of the building.  According to
Assistant Professor Budig (2017), he mentions that Singapore practices another style of cladding
which enhances the shade of the building.

However, usage of cladding has been contributing in the rapid spreading of fire as it endangers the
fire safety in the building as the oxygenation could escalate the fire (Mokhtar, 2017). According to
Mokhtar (2017), cladding may have contributed to the fire that struck the Grenfell Tower, which led
to multiple fatalities.

With the rise of cladding usage, it is a good initiative for BCA to study with UK’s authority to further explore ways to make cladding safer, at the same time functional. 

Introduction to my communication strength and weakness

Dear Ms Lim,

As a graduate from Republic Polytechnic, I had gone through some communication skills module back then. I had seen the changes it had on me as weeks passes. There’s a point of time where I felt truly comfortable presenting in the front of my class. Working as a grab driver, I had a fair share of exposure to all kinds of people. The communication skills I picked up back in polytechnic studies do help me read other body language.

Strength

My ability to read others’ body language had helped me get good rapport with some of my passengers. An incident, in which I am proud of, happened when I pick up a passenger for my grabjob. As she was boarding, I noticed that she was feeling down. Looking down, frowning and dragging her feet. I managed to chat with her and found the reason behind her behaviour. She was bullied by her senior at work. At first, I didn’t think that chatting with her had much effect to her mood. But at the end of week, I checked my passenger’s review. There she is, giving 5-stars rating writing about how I made her day better and bravely faced her bullies.

Weakness

As much as being able to read body language, I tend to be quiet if I think talking is unnecessary. As a result, some people who do not know me tend to think that I am anti-social. During my orientation camp at SIT, one of my group mate asked me if I am anti-social because I didn’t talk much. Of course, I didn’t bother to explain and brush it aside.

I hope that going through this module will help me effectively communicate with others and make my university life more meaningful.