Chapter 30-- Getting in touch

Had the sudden feeling of wanting to get back in touch with some of my old friends this holiday and perhaps due to the extra time and the sudden courage, I finally manage to sms and msn a few "long time never see" friends and catch up with their current life. Glad to know that most of them are doing great and its a good feeling connecting back with these old friends. Also manage to coordinate a wksp gathering dinner for my army pals and responses to it has been satisfactory now till now, hope that it will also provide an opportunity for them to catch up with each other as ever since we have ORD, we seldom have the chance to meet up frequently.
I always think that human relationship is a very delicate thing and while it takes a lot of time and effort to establish a relationship, it take even more time and effort to maintain it. During primary school, we used to write stuffs like "roses are red, violets are blue, but the friendship we had will always be the same" in each other autograph books but yet how many of us are still truly in touch with our primary school pals? I had always wanted to get back in touch with my primary school buddies for we used to have so much fun back in those days and it would be interesting to find out how some of them are doing now but just like many others, we have drifted so far apart after we had graduated from primary school that we had simply lost touch with one another. Therefore, I cannot comprehend how some of us can take certain friendships for granted and simply lack the initiative to maintain or "refresh"their friendships. I believe that over time, it is these people who will stand to lose as they would not have had any solid friendship with their pals. I still and will always regret losing touch with my primary school pals...
Sometimes, it can be surprising to know of some interesting facets from your "long lost friend" when you contact them. The jobs or activities that they are engaging now may not tally with your understanding or images of them and even more importantly, secrets that they will never tell you last time may now be brought up more at ease as we mature. It is in fact these surprises that often give me the courage to want to pick up my phone or send an instant message to friends that I have lost touch for quite some time. Ah lian can becomes teacher while the nerd is now an insurance agent but regardless of what they become, they are still my friends and I do wish them well in all their endeavors.

So have you contacted your long lost friend today?

Best Regards,
Yongster

Still many more good years ahead...

Chapter 29-- Sichuan quake Relief Show

Yesterday Sichuan quake relief show by channel 8 must be one of the most touching charities show that I have watched now till now. The images shown still grip my heart and it is no wonder so many members of the audiuences shedded tears during the 3 hours show. Sad poems and encouraging songs were recited and sang by artistes whom themselves had tears rolling in their eyes...When Quan Yifeng recountered a story about a young mother who protected her new born infant from the quake and rescuers subsequently found a handphone with her with the text messages " To my beloved baby, if you managed to survive , please know that your mum loves you", tears no longer can be held in my eyes as they flow uncontrollably down my cheeks. Yes, it is actually the first time that I cried while watching a charity show.I remember that the 1st time that I heard about this extremely painful story was when I was in Batam and during that time, I was already extremely touched by this mother act. Even Quan herself had trouble containing herself while telling this heart-wrenching incident once again.

Haiz, people have always view me as someone who is confident and cool displaying few emotions at times but beneath that layer of coolness actually lies a very sentimental and emotional Yongster who are easily touched by stories of courages and determination. Another incident who touched me deeply was also recountered in the show and this time it is about a young man who was buried under the rubbles but keep telling himself and the rescuers that he must be strong as his wife is still waiting for him and what he hopes for is just to live a simple live with his beloved wife. After more than 70 hours of being buried and time taken for the rescuers to pull him out from the debris, he was finally free but died on his way to the hospital. Emotionally, many people including the rescuers couldn't comprehend why can't he hold on after being strong for so long although doctors and people with some physiology knowledge like us not not surprised that people often dies when they are finally freed from the rubbles and debris. I was just gald that at least he had a chance to speak to his wife over the phone beofre he passed away.

There was also this particularly gripping story featured in one of the chinese newspaper that described how the rescuers retrived an essay from the debris of a student who died from the quake and this essay is about his love for his mute mother who had to single-handedly brought him up. The essay recountered how his mother hammered herself when she realized that her son wanted to give up school and instead wanted to work so as to lighten her load. The essay ends with this highly poigant sentence: " The only way that I can repay my mother's love and selfless sacrifices is to study hard. Mother, I love you very much..." It was mentioned that every person who came across this article cried and it is even more sadden to learn that his mother was still missing and might never has the chance to read her son essay.... Hearing such stories always make me wonder why some of us can treat our education so lightly when there are countless others who didn't not even have a chance to study or take their studies seriously but cannot complete it due to compelling reasons.

There are actually countless others such heart breaking stories unfolding everyday since the quake and apart from some of the victims whom had demostrated outstanding courages, I salute those medical workers and rescuers who spend day and night recovering bodies and treating those survived despite some of themselves still having their loved ones missing. These people has really shown us the highest level of professionalism. I pray that their loved ones will contact with them soon...



Best Regards,

Yongster



Still many more good years ahead...

Chapter 28-- NUM membership

Got my New Urban Male membership card yesterday. The first time round, they mail it to the wrong address and hence the delay. Anyway, I realized upon receiving the card that this time round, they printed my name wrongly.Oh man, so now I am called Sau Yong in their database... But considering that the card is free(signed up for it during one of NUS bazaar), I just closed one eye to such error lah and anyway, it is only valid for a year.
However, it is a small pity that they mailed it to me after I had just purchased 2 slippers from them. NUM items aren't cheap hor so it is also unlikely that I will be buying from them regularly. However, friends who would like to buy things from them can borrow my card lor although it offer just a 10% discount.

Best Regards,
Yongster

Still many more good years ahead...

Chapter 27--434SAR Cohension day

Funny that this post actually appear after the Batam trip post since this event took place 1 day before the Batan trip. Only decided to blog on this rather simple event after blogging about the Batam trip.
Anyway, the unit cohension was held at Yishun Safra which perhaps explains why Iactually bother to attend it. As like most other SAF events, we rush to wait and wait to rush once again. The SAF100 stated that the event will began from 1pm and guess what, despite being late for about 15 minutes, I actually had to wait for another 20 minutes inside the function room before this guy(who I later found out was actually our CO and I thought he was just a helper) advised us to eat some snacks outside while waiting for other people to come.. Talk about the efficiancy of our army...Anyway, since I was getting bored( none of the other wksp guys I familiar with attend the event) and a bit hungry, I went outside to find out what snacks they have for us lor and oh man, I can only say that the snacks were pathetics. There were only spring rolls which does not taste really nice and chocolate buns which tasted OK. Guess I must not be too fussy when it was expected that only a small number of people will turned up. My assumption was confirmed when I later realized that only commanders were invited to the event. No wonder I cannot find any of my drivers around. Don't understand why they bother to call this a unit cohension event when the men were not invited. Duh!
The first activity we had when the event finally started was kinda like a ice breaking game whereby one introduced oneself and explained why he bother to attend this event. When it was my turn, I create a light hearted moment by saying that none of the rest of the wksp guys wanted to turn up and so I was made the representative for them. Next, we played another game commonly employed during school orientation whereby we had our hands entangled and we have to try to unentangled them in the shortest time possible. The 1st round was won by Cheetah coy although Scorpion was the fastest team on the 2nd try. After that, the key commanders mainly the OCs and PCs were tasked to check the number and vocation of men under them and to bring up to the CO any problem they might have for the coming ICT in June. Was relaxing one corner when all these took place. The only shock that I found out was that a SSG in my previous active unit was tasked to become our wksp 2IC for the coming ICT and most probably for the rest of the ou ICT...Sian ar as he was always portray as a nonosense guy who although does know his stuff well, was not particularly nice to his subordinates. It was also during this time that I discovered that we would be having a live firing on the 1st saturday... Although wksp traditional only need to support the live firing, it does means that we would not be able to book out also on saturday...Damn sian ar!
The second session of the event began with yet another game but with the element of economics involved. The coy were divided either into oil coy A or oil coy B and we were supposed to try to maximise our profit while competing with the other oil coy. Quite fun this game as human nature were gradually exposed. For instance, we made a pact with oil coy B played by Scorpion coy and promised them that we would bid for 30 dollars but we eventually only placed a 1o dollars bid thus allowing us to earn much more during that round. This also shows how sinister HQ coy are although I feel a bit shamed later when our CO revealed that the aim of the game is not to try to bring down our opponents but to work with them through communication so that both of us will have the maximum benefits just like how a unit should operate with the various companies working together so that we can be a potent fighting force. The event was then concluded but not before we were shown our new unit logo. Ws surprised to realize that the motto from my previous active unit is not "thru thick and thin" but some other nondescript motto which I cannot even remember now. Haha, Anyway, our CO has "copyright" the thru thick and thin motto and it is now OUR official 434SAR motto. Talk about the tortoise winning the race.

Regards,
Yongster

Still many more good years ahead...

Chapter 26--Batam trip

Went to Batam last weekend with Jiayi, Weiling and Famin. This is my first trip to Batam and friends who knows me well might be surprise to hear about it since I generally prefer going to countries whereby there are chinese people around such as Taiwan and China as I would feel more comfortable both language wise and food in these countries. Nevertheless, thanks to Jiayi, I finally made my maiden trip to this small wonderful island of Indonesia.


We had breakfast at MacDonald on that day before we made our way to the departure area at habourfront centre and man there was such a large crowd of people! Perhaps due to the fact that it will be a long weekend, we took about 15 minutes to clear all the customs. It was also my first time trying out the self service system whereby our thrumb prints are verified by the computer and although it is rather interesting, I feel that it can be the rate determining step when there are lots of people such as like trips like mine when there is a long weekend and people are taking the opportunity to head for a short weekend getaway at islands nearby Singapore. After boarding the yacht, it was another about 45 minutes of waiting before we finally embark our journey to Batam. The boat ride was relatively comfortable and since I do not suffer from sea sickness, I get to enjoy the surrounding scenery while occasionally taking glances at the tv. Weiling and Famin on the other hand were sleeping like a baby while Jiayi busy herself taking some photos outside. After taking a detour at selapang jetty, we finally reach the waterfront centre. Beside the brief encounter with a dumbass official who thought that my passport has expired and need to consult his counterpart, the rest of the customs was clear quite smoothly. We then board the mini shuttle bus from our Holiday Inn resort and after just a short journey that took about 5 minutes, we reach the resort. Me and Famin shared the same room at level 8 while the girls took the room at level 9. Upon entering the room, we were surprised to find that instead of having separate single beds, we have a queen size twin-sharing bed meaning that we have to share the same bed! Although I do not know about the rest particularly Famin, I feel that it is quite gay to share the same bed with another guy. Nevertheless, what can I do but just try to endure for a single night lor.


After a short rest, we join Jiayi colleagues( their company is actually having the staff retreat there and hence why she suggested going to Batam) at the lobby and took another bus to Nagoya hill shopping centre whereby we have our lunch at one of the restaurant there. For me, I ordered rice with chicken that also comes with tempeh(yep, it reminds me of my applied microbiology lab!) and I must say that it only taste so so. Luckily, my stomach was later compensated when we then head to AnW for curly fries and root beer. Was slightly excited about visiting A&W again for the first time after its absence from Singapore and man the curly fries still taste so so good despite having a 1/2 full stomach from the earlier lunch. Pity that we can only ordered root beer and not root beer float as the ice-cream machine happens to spoilt just when we were about to had our orders. Talk about tough luck... After this heartly meal( Jiayi as usual cannot finish up her food and left half a mug of root beer), we began our shopping and man I must say that Batam's shopping centres are a paradise for mens' clothings. They are just so cheap! Miss sixty one which is the first shop that we patronised was selling free sized mens' t-shirt for only S$2.50! Famin brought a few t-shirts there while I try my best to control my urge. We then proceed to the upper level where Famin brought another bag there for less than S$10.00. Could tell that the girls were quite sian though because womens' clothing were so much more expensive. Nevertheless, the highlight of this trip must be the visit to hypermart whose concept is like Carrefour and Giant in Singapore. There, we brought titbits and other stuffs such as maggie mees(strongly recommended by Jiayi) and toiletries. I also brought a pair of slippers for myself. As again, times always flies when we were having fun and soon we were on our way back to our resort. Looking at the outside view while heading back reminds me of my trips to Australia and India where the night falls quickly and the darkness is so dark that one cannot see his or her fingers w/o any light at all. After a short rest at the resort, we proceed to have our dinner at the Dragon Inn chinese restaurant where we ordered buffet style chinese dinner. Cannot imagine now how we can actually finish 20 dishes in all on that night! I can only remembered myself feeling so so full. Quite worth it as it only cost about $S25 per person and it would certainly cost much much more if we were to order this 20 dishes ala carta(of course we won't actually be so crazy to do that). After dinner, we retired for the day but not before taking a few photos at the swimming pool and playing a few rounds of "Big 2"(weiling was however already knocked out by then) and as usual, I was the one who kept winning(yawn).


The second day began with my favourite american style buffet breakfast at the resort cafe. The bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages and hashbrowns were so delicious although the bee boon was undesirable. Weiling and Jiayi then went for a dip in the swimming pool while me and Famin just lazed around at our table enjoying the peace without the girls(haha). We then checked out of our rooms after weiling and Jiayi had washed up and made our way to mega mall shopping centre where Jiayi had her medicure and hair messages while the rest of us shopped around. Brought a skipping rope, 1 t-shirt(the one that cost 2.50 from miss sixty one) and a minnie mouse bolster(for my niece). Me and weiling then ordered A&W for lunch but due to this super big fat ugly bitch from Singapore that took more than 20 minutes to order her bloody food, we had to takeaway our food instead of having our meal at the restaurant itself. As a result, we actually had our lunch at the lobby area at the resort and managed to finish our food just in time to board the shuttle bus service from the resort back to the waterfront centre where we took the ferry back to Singapore. Played "Big 2" aggin on the return trip although this time round weiling was also included. Reached Singapore at around 7 plus to conclude this rather enjoyable Batam trip :)


Best Regards,
Yongster

Still many more good years ahead...

Chapter 25--When it is time to quit

The recent announcements of the retirement of 2 great women champions- Justin Henin of the WTA tour and Annika Sorenstam of the LPGA tour came as a shock to the sporting world. Both of them are great players in their own respective fields, Justin who is currently the world number 1 women tennis player and Annika who had have won 72 LPGA tournaments. For Justin especially, chosing to bow out when she is at the top and with just barely 1 month left before the French open grand slam where she is the defending champion seems to puzzle many and critics has even labelled her as irresponsible and clueless. Yet hearing from her side of explanation does seems to suggest to me that she has made the correct decision. I mean, she mentioned that she feel that she had already earn enough in prize money to last her for at least 3 life times( for info, she earns close to 5 millions in prize money alone!) and that she has already lost interest in trying to stay at the top and would like to instead engage in other activities beside tennis such as studying could have more than justify her decision to quit the sport. The fact that she has already accompolised so much in tennis winning a total of 7 grand slams and more than 40 WTA tour titles at an age of just 25 makes it all the more reasonable for her to want to try somethings else.

Perhaps why Justin had received so much attention about her decision to quit the sport has something to do with most people's perception of the word "quit". To this group of people, to quit is always linked to a negative action and perception regardless of the situation. However, I personally feel that quitting may not necessary be a bad thing especially when one is very certain and clear about why he or she would want to do it. Quitting seems easy in the sense that all it takes could be just a simple action such as bingeing on food when one is supposed to be dieting or a single sentence saying "I quit" but yet most of us ignore the very vital process that leads one to the action of quitting. I believe that quitting always involve a mixture of emotions as the consequences of quitting may be huge or devastrating depending once again on the situation. For Justin, the decision to quit is so that she could focus on other things and elements that have been missing in her life since playing competitive tennis and therefore I do not see why people could be so critical about it. Since she has already achieve what she set out to achieve in tennis , why shouldn't she be allow to move on? Isn't it common as well for people to set other goals in their life when they have had achieved their current goals too? Anyway, using the word irresponsible to quote her just because she is now the world number 1 player is also ridiculous. Must she really wait till she is old or for new competitiors who will play much better than her to appear before she has the right to quit? Isn't it even better for her to quit when she is still a legend( like what other great champions such as pete sampras and Martina Navratilova did also) rather than quitting at a time when nobody really cares about her anymore? Even Maria Sharapova said that she would do the same thing if she is Justin. In addition, from the look on her face when she is anncouncing her retirement, I could not help but feel that she is absolutely determine and certain about her decision. Not a single tear was shed and in fact she seems relieve now that one of the m sjor chapter in her life have closed. Based on this, should we not wish her all the best in her future endeavor rather than jeer about it?

Nevertheless, I must also stress that I do not advocate quitting especially when one has not really try his or her best at all. In this case, it only reflect how undiscipline one is. Such people are unlikely to succeed in life as they are scared of obstacles and give up without even trying to overcomes their difficulties. Beside feeling sorry for these people, I feel even more pitiful for them. They will forever be at the bottom if they refuse to change. Have I encountered such people before? Hmm....I reserved my comments for that...

Best Regards,
Yongster

Still many more good years ahead...

Chapter 24--Sichuan Quake

Saw a really poignant picture this afternoon in the strait times of a young man overcome with grief and holding the hand of a victim from the Sichuan earthquake and man I must say that I am really saddened by the picture. Although these victims are total strangers to me, I still feel terribly disturbed whenever I see heartwrenching relatives crying their hearts out in these disasters especially when the disaster involved young children and adolescents like what is exactly the scenario for the Sichuan earthquake. I always have the deepest sympathy for earthquake victims because I feel that dying under the rubbles of the earthquake is a really horrible way to death because not only is one dying a slow and painful death, imagine the loneliness and helplessness these victims feel as they are trapped under the rubbles watching their life slowly draining away from them... Therefore I am so so so terribly saddened as bodies after bodies of young children are recovered from beneath the rubbles while heartbreaking parents and relatives are looking and shouting for their children. For most of these parents, they have lost their only child due to China one child policy so can you imagine their grief? It just hurts so so much. In addition, it must have been a hellish wait for the parents while the rescue teams are doing their very best to recover their children. I can only imagine that they must be having mixed emotions whenever a body is recovered as they must have hope that their children have survived yet cannot stop themselves from hoping at the same time that their children body have already been recovered. And the children, they have not even begin their most exciting part of life journey yet..Watching the news of Sichuan earthquake lately is like watching a sorrow reality shows unfolds itself on tv and my mood will subsequently be inevitably affected by that is shown on the tv. Just yesterday, I witness on the news, a highly distaught medical worker shouting for her colleagues and it really pains me to think that these medical workers be that doctors or nurses who are usually caring for patients in their daily lives can meet with such unfortunate incident. Do these people deserve to die in this way? I certainly think not but yet again what can one do what god just decided to take your life away like that? These are the questions that will never be able to answer no matter how advance Science can be and I must say that it has to be the most frustrating area of life. We have so many questions yet so few answers...
The only good thing to have come out of this incident is that the chinese government is now more proactive when it comes to rescuing efforts and hopefully they will continue to do for subsequent disasters(although I like to pray that there will be no disasters, I know that it is unrealistic to do so).

To the survivors waiting to be rescue- Hang in there...
To the victims- Rest in Peace...
To the griefing parents-My condolence to you...
T0 the rescue team- Thanks for the effort...


Regards,
Yongster

Still many more good years ahead....

Chapter 23-- Mother's Day

Today is Mother Day and I believe that it has to be one of the day that all restaurants all over the world are looking forward to as cash register will be ringing non-stop come dinner( or even lunch?) time.
Personally, I have never like Mother day because it is just so damn hard to find a proper place for dinner. Everywhere is crowded as people hustle and bustle to show their love for their mothers by treating them to a meal. Anyway, mother day to me is just like any other day because 1.) I am not close to my mother 2.) I am still a student and cannot really afford to bring my mum to a fine restaurant for dinner. Now, the first issue have always been around since I was in secondary school when my rebellious nature kicks in. Even since, my mother and I have always been at loggerhead as none of us would want to back off when we are having arguments. Slowly and perhaps inevitable, I started drifting away from my mum as I gradually master the skills of igonoring her nagging and even her presence( can you believe that we hardly even talk to each other although there are just 2 of us in the house for the whole day? I would simply be surfing the net, watching tv or locking myself in my room while she goes about doing her own stuffs) Perhaps my resentment of her grows even stronger as I could sense that she adopts my brother more and always give in to his request while ignoring mine. Therefore, I always feel a bit of envious whenever I saw people with good relationships with their parents both in real life and reel life. Nevertheless, do not expect me to try on my part to improve my relationship with my mum because I am simply not someone who can express my love easily or freely. I am more of a introvert when it comes to things like this and it already brings me the shudder just thinking about doing such things like giving hugs or kisses(YUCKS!).I would very much prefer for things to go on their nature course. Of course, the purists would comment that I would regret not showing my limited love for my mum and that I would regret it one day when my mum eventually pass away. However, I also hold true to one of my belief that forcing oneself is not an option. To me, not changing my belief is not an act of stubbornness but one of principle.
The second issue belong to a more of a practical one since I believe that if you really want to treat someone to a meal, it would be more appropiate to treat them to at least a restaurant meal. Again, purists might agrue that even a simple hawker fare dinner on mother day would suffice since what our dear mothers really want is to spent quality time with us and would not care so much about the food but I beg to differ because being a super practical(and even selfish?) person, I would say that I am also entitled to great food at the same time while I am spending quality time with my loved ones. A common fact with most my friends that I am a fussy eater, why must I subject myself to simple, bane food especially since I was the one who is going to pay for the meal?
Maybe people might be already scolding me in their heart that I am a unfilial selfish son and I can tell you guys that I definitely do not deny that. To me, I would only treat one well if he or she treat me well. I know that my mum does have done her fair bit of contributions around the house(read doing household chores) but apart from that, she has NEVER try to understand me better. A pity that might last till I enter my grave.

Anyway, hope that my post have not dampen your spirit knowing that I am such a bad son( you could still severe ties with me if that makes you really uncomfortable). But, I would still want to wish hereby a Happy Mother Day to all mothers in the world.

Enjoy your dinner with your beloved mum.

Best Regards,
Yongster

Chapter 22-- Review of Yr 3 Sem2

Once again, it is time for the review of last semester after the exams...

LSM3221--Human Pharmacology

Highlight of this module must be Dr Bian parts because he was so damn hilarious. Perhaps what make him so endearing is that his sense of humor is really an intrinsic part of him(his accent, his actions) unlike some other ppl( think He who must not be name) who have to come out with lame jokes and still think its funny.But then again, maybe I enjoy his lectures partly also because half of what he covered was also taught in my physiology lectures( with the exception of the pharmacology of drugs of cse) and that's why I found it easier to follow his series of lectures. The part on pharmacokinetics taught by A/P Lee was also relatively easy since she did gave us an introduction and overiew of pharmacokinetics during her previous lectures in LSM3211-Fundamental Pharmacology last semester. The most challenging part of this module thus have to come from Dr Gawin series of lectures on neurotransitters and the pharmacology of the nervous system including anti-depression and anti-psychotics drugs. I have to admit that I am not really into neuroscience and perhaps that why I found it quite tough to understand some of the concepts and principles. I do have so much respect for the group of people studying brain and its functions and physiology etc because the brain IMO is an organ that is indeed very complicated but fascinating which properly explains why we still know so little about this organ despite advances in medical researches. Anyway, the final exam which also happens to be my last paper was relatively manageable so I must say that it does provide a wonderful closure for my exams this semester. Not only that, it was also one of the super rare LSM paper( just the 2nd one in fact following LSM2104) whereby we actually get to keep the question paper for memory sake!

Lsm3214--Human Physiology, Hormones and Health

This module was essential a "sister" module of LSM3221 because they are so intrinsically linked. Physiology as mentioned in my previous post is one of my favourite area of study and therefore it may not be surprising that I took a 2nd physiology module this semester despite last semester "horrific" experience with LSM3212. For this module however, the emphasis is now on hormones(quite obvious), reproductive physiology, renal physiology and gastrointestinal physiology(GIT). The parts on reproductive and renal physiology are relatively easy to understand but the part on gastrointestinal physiology is more difficult. In fact, it was precisely GIT that really got me during the final exam although I can say that I breeze through the other 2 parts. It can also consider to be a paradox for me because despite studying 3 nutrition modules in addition to this module, I can still tell you that I still could not have a firm grasp of GIT...Hmm perhaps it will always remain a grey area for me.

LSM3223--Immunology

Ah.. this module have been targeted by me since last semester and it is really after studying about nutrition and pharmacology that get me so interested in wanted to study immunology. Glad that I make the choice to study it because I totally fall in love with this area of medical science. Initially however, I found immunology to be difficult to understand because the concepts taught during lectures seems to be all over the place. Nevertheless, it was studying for the CA that I discovered my passion for this subject. All of a sudden, the pieces that seems all over the place now fit very nicely into a picture. In addition, I must really give credit to my TA Peiying who is currently a PhD student herself for making the practicals such an enjoyable experience. Usually, during LSM practicals, my mind would be in a blank as I just followed through the protocols blindly( especially when it is a long practical that lasts 4 hrs or more). However, not once during the immunology practicals are my mind not working to try to understanding the rationals and settings of the experiments. For the lectures, I really enjoyed A/P Gan lectures as I found her explanations of concepts really clear and precise. It was certainly not easy for her also becuase she was pregnant and have to sit down for most part of the lectures.

LSM3242--Applied Microbiology

Took this module because of my previous good experience with microbiology last semsester but I must say that this module was indeed more "abstract" than basic microbiology since the focus is on the applications of micobes to benefit human and there is no one single textbook that can really explain fully which is "sadly" supposed to be the case. Did quite badly for the CA althought the final exam was relatively more manageable. Have to cross my fingers that I could at least score a B for this module or I would really be screw.

ES2007S-- The Science of effective communications in the workplace

Perhaps it has to be one of the most useful and practical module that I have taken up to date because we were taught how to write resumes, prepare for job interviews and oral presentations as well as writing minutes and business correspondents in addition to improving our interpersonal communications skills. The most stressful part of this module has got to be the survey project and oral presentations which have to be completed within a relatively short period of time. Nevertheless, I have form some good relations with my project mates and are happy to learn from some of them. We always have fun time together while working for the project and presentation and I must say that they are some of the best people that I have work with in my life(thanks Song Kun, Zhi Hui and Vanessa!). Was really inspired by them when I read through their resumes because I never thought that the rest of my group members were such high achievers not only in academic studies but also in life. Reading their outstanding resumes make me realise that I must indeed work harder in order not to be left behind. The lecturer Ms Chew is also quite an animated person and makes the lessons interesting most of the time.

Regards,
Yongster

Many more good years ahead!