Seriously, exams are coming again. I'm really sick and tired of it.
I recently said that this whole year, not any sickness can bring me down. I hardly remember when was the last time I get cough, flu, fever, or whatever that caused me to go see doctor or lie in bed for days. Even when I injured my two fingers during a soccer match, I still can rub it off, let the swell go off, and carry my heavy luggage to the China trip.
However, I concede to exams. LOL?
In the past, end-of-year exams used to be my best activity of the year. A time when I can score lots of 'A's, see my rankings in class, den maybe go around compare with friends. And of course, holidays after that!
Also at that time, I do not like group projects or project work. I find that it's waste of time, and I have to put in a lot of effort, while other people just slack and watch things go along. So I never liked graded group projects, but love year-end 'one-shot' exams.
But now its seriously the opposite.
Now in Uni, I fare better in all group projects than those year-end exams.
I just simply love group projects, even if its about writing 3000 word report or shooting a film, I've done it! And I enjoy the process a lot! Good buddies are made in the process too. But year-end exam in Uni? I seriously have no interest at all. It's just the same as JC studies - swallowing all that the teacher has passed to you, den you vomit it out during your exam. You clean your mouth, and submit the paper. You forget everything after that - cos you never swallow back your vomit what.
Why are we still doing that?
I grumble a lot that I hated my course, but I still take it into stride. No point complaining now, since I'm almost finishing the course already. What's surprise me most is that, whenever people ask me what's my major, i tell them its 'Math & Econs'.
Usual reply: "WOW, You're so smart! Double Degree?"
Me: "Not really, just a double major".
Yea, that's how most conversations go regarding my course.
You see, the course title is quite bombastic la. Kind of give you some bragging rights. But unless you take the course, you have no idea what's inside it. To me, its just another course, with a fancy name to con students to sign up. Period.
So I'm left with 7 days to revise for my first exam paper.
And I don't feel like revising it. But I got to force myself to do it, just like how many other students are forcing themselves to swallow too. But like most of them, I will also vomit out on the exam day.
Do I have a choice?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Blind leading the blind
If the blind leads the blind, where will the blind lead the blind to?
I also don't know.
This can be a scary thing.
Sometimes, it's important to open your eyes and see things yourself,
instead of believing someone so religiously and that he might be leading
you to the grave without you knowing.
I also don't know.
This can be a scary thing.
Sometimes, it's important to open your eyes and see things yourself,
instead of believing someone so religiously and that he might be leading
you to the grave without you knowing.
Friday, July 29, 2011
My Internship With EconomyWatch
I would say it's really a good experience for me to intern at EconomyWatch.com. I don't think need to explain much what the site is about. A click there you will know.
But maybe I can share what I'm doing there. As EconomyWatch is a super-big website, with over 100,000 over pages of content, it is not easy to be managed by 1 person (unlike my blog). Haha. So first, is to get a team to manage this website, and i'm proud to be in this team!
And my job is simple, which I've always been doing as part of my online business.
To add content, promote content, connect with readers, drive readers back to site, attract more readers, form communities, allow readers to share opinions. While doing all these, the main focus is to Drive Traffic. That's all! And that's what i've been doing for my blogs and websites for the past year :)
On top of that, more challenging tasks for me would be writing economic articles, featured articles that will be published on the 1st page of the website! And yes, I wrote 2 articles that were published there! YAY! (2 Stars for me)!
Other than work, what i like here is the lifestyle and flexibility I have, and of course the helpful teammates i have who helped me a lot, especially in putting my articles up on time. :)
If I want to say more about the lifestyle, it would just means that I can work how i like to work, just like my home. Casual, relax, sometimes talk cock sing song. Haha.
Food wise, there's too much things to eat. I mean too much GOOD FOOD here! If you don't know what to eat at Maxwell, Amoy, tanjong pagar, tell me. I tell you all the food to eat :)
Will definitely miss EconomyWatch team, and hope if there's chance I will be back with the team again. By then, the website maybe one of the top sites in the world alongside WSJ, The Economists, TIME! :)
Now, it's time for me to bring what i have learned in EconomyWatch about writing Economic/Politics articles back to life, and use it in my work in school! That will be more meaningful to me and my life, than to just add another statement "Intern at EconomyWatch" at my resume.
Love it!
But maybe I can share what I'm doing there. As EconomyWatch is a super-big website, with over 100,000 over pages of content, it is not easy to be managed by 1 person (unlike my blog). Haha. So first, is to get a team to manage this website, and i'm proud to be in this team!
And my job is simple, which I've always been doing as part of my online business.
To add content, promote content, connect with readers, drive readers back to site, attract more readers, form communities, allow readers to share opinions. While doing all these, the main focus is to Drive Traffic. That's all! And that's what i've been doing for my blogs and websites for the past year :)
On top of that, more challenging tasks for me would be writing economic articles, featured articles that will be published on the 1st page of the website! And yes, I wrote 2 articles that were published there! YAY! (2 Stars for me)!
Other than work, what i like here is the lifestyle and flexibility I have, and of course the helpful teammates i have who helped me a lot, especially in putting my articles up on time. :)
If I want to say more about the lifestyle, it would just means that I can work how i like to work, just like my home. Casual, relax, sometimes talk cock sing song. Haha.
Food wise, there's too much things to eat. I mean too much GOOD FOOD here! If you don't know what to eat at Maxwell, Amoy, tanjong pagar, tell me. I tell you all the food to eat :)
Will definitely miss EconomyWatch team, and hope if there's chance I will be back with the team again. By then, the website maybe one of the top sites in the world alongside WSJ, The Economists, TIME! :)
Now, it's time for me to bring what i have learned in EconomyWatch about writing Economic/Politics articles back to life, and use it in my work in school! That will be more meaningful to me and my life, than to just add another statement "Intern at EconomyWatch" at my resume.
Love it!
Talking about politics
Politics is one of the 3 things that no matter what you say, you will alway make people unhappy. In other words, there's no right or wrong answer also.
Politics get into my life from the Singapore General elections 2011, when read and know so much politics from the bright side, and the dark side. Of course, during this time, i also get into discussion with many people with different opinions. Some friends also become more politically-savvy after seeing so many of their friends getting more and more interested.
However, one thing i can say that talking about politics is what everyone can do. I also love to talk. But coming to help ourselves in our lives, and helping others in their lives is another thing. I know government can be a very easy target for anything happen to us. Even if I got drenched in the rain, i can also blame govt why never build road shelter, or supply free umbrellas...or whatever.
So sometimes,while we can say a lot of things about political issues, we also need to see if we are part of the problems, or part of the solution.
I think for me, it has come to a point that talking is just a simple thing every one can talk about. I can keep on complaining about my lives, but I have decided that talking is just talking. What matters to me now is IF I'm Willing to do what it takes to change my own lives, and the lives of people around me :)
Politics get into my life from the Singapore General elections 2011, when read and know so much politics from the bright side, and the dark side. Of course, during this time, i also get into discussion with many people with different opinions. Some friends also become more politically-savvy after seeing so many of their friends getting more and more interested.
However, one thing i can say that talking about politics is what everyone can do. I also love to talk. But coming to help ourselves in our lives, and helping others in their lives is another thing. I know government can be a very easy target for anything happen to us. Even if I got drenched in the rain, i can also blame govt why never build road shelter, or supply free umbrellas...or whatever.
So sometimes,while we can say a lot of things about political issues, we also need to see if we are part of the problems, or part of the solution.
I think for me, it has come to a point that talking is just a simple thing every one can talk about. I can keep on complaining about my lives, but I have decided that talking is just talking. What matters to me now is IF I'm Willing to do what it takes to change my own lives, and the lives of people around me :)
Friday, June 17, 2011
1 more new challenge
After trying out as a model last weekend, this weekend I'm gonna lead a group of youths in a BOOT CAMP!
You know that kind of BOOT CAMP? where you gonna **** them upside them, test their endurance level, and can only say yes (and ONLY YES) to you, and do whatever you tell them to?
I don't think how I am able to it, as I'm someone who's very kind-hearted, and never really **** ppl upside down before. Hahaha.
Anyway, new experience, and no risk (hope so!), so why not just try it! Maybe the youths will love it? :P
You know that kind of BOOT CAMP? where you gonna **** them upside them, test their endurance level, and can only say yes (and ONLY YES) to you, and do whatever you tell them to?
I don't think how I am able to it, as I'm someone who's very kind-hearted, and never really **** ppl upside down before. Hahaha.
Anyway, new experience, and no risk (hope so!), so why not just try it! Maybe the youths will love it? :P
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Fail in school, good for you.
I wrote this post and about to publish it somewhere else. But since i wrote it, then I will just post here then :)
Failing in school is Good for you.
Just this week, I finally received my examination results after waiting about 1 month for it. To my surprise, I got an F grade for a subject. F in my result slip doesn't reflect Fantastic, Fabulous or First Class. F means fail. I stared at the F for a while, wondering how on earth can I see an F in my result slip? The last time I did see an F is about 10 years ago, when I get an F in secondary 1, for my Literature. :P
Like many other students, I just couldn't' accept the fact that I failed a subject in school. Who wants to fail? Failing means that we have to read the subject again, go for the same lectures again, and spend another 2 hours to go for the exam - again.
After feeling down for hours, a thought come to my mind. A failure is not that bad after all! In fact, failing in school is good for you. You may see that I might be joking here, or suffering from some post-examination stress that I come up with this illogical logic.
But after you reach the end of this article, you might think otherwise.
First of all, do you know we people fail everyday? We do fail to wake up the time when our alarm clock ring. We do fail to cook the half-boiled egg we want. And we do fail to obey our parents too. We can fail, however, we know that we have to face the consequence after that. We might end up late for classes, swallow our uncooked egg, or have a curfew set by our parents.
But failures in school does not seem to be that simple, like those failures mentioned above. We can accept all the consequences for failing those daily tasks, but the consequences of getting a fail grade in school might not be that acceptable by most of us (including me!).
The price to fail in school is far greater than those daily tasks. On top of just retaking the exam again, we might risk spending an additional year in school, we might be excluded from our scholarship, or worse, we might even drop out of school. So in a sense, failing is normal if we fail in those daily tasks, but becomes abnormal if it is about our school grades.
Unfortunately, many youths and students have decided to end their lives when they see failures in their school grades. This is an increasing trend, and not just in Singapore, but in other countries like China and United States too.
And some times it is not that these students have been failing terribly in school for years. It is just that they experience their first failure for the first time in their schooling years. Imagine seeing an F among all the As and Bs that you have achieved for the past 10 years of your school life. It can be a massive shock or disappointment to some students.
Nowadays, our youths have been conditioned to think that academic grades are the only decisive factor for success in life. It is either excellent grades, or a dark future. However, we all know of many great man and woman who succeeded in life even if they fail in school. Some of them even didn't go to college!
No, I'm not telling people not to go to school, or go drop out of school and then you'll be another Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but let's learn how to handle failures in every aspect of our lives when it comes. We can overcome any failures or setback in our lives, as the saying goes, a setback is a setup for a comeback.
So as my article is titled 'Failing in school is Good for you', I want to tell you that if you fail in school, you have a failing experience that others don't have. If you overcome this failure, you have gained another experience of overcoming a failure, which others don't have! Failing is Okay! (But if you fail continuously, then it's not Okay, as it just means that you have not learn your lesson :P)
After writing this, it may seem that I write this article to encourage myself, or to justify why failing is good, and why getting too many As in school is not. But honestly, I'm still quite upset to see a F in my report card, when I'm used to seeing higher grades in it, but what's next for me is just to work harder next time.
Have you failed in something but haven't get out of it?
Come, let's accept it, and stand up again, together.
Failing in school is Good for you.
Just this week, I finally received my examination results after waiting about 1 month for it. To my surprise, I got an F grade for a subject. F in my result slip doesn't reflect Fantastic, Fabulous or First Class. F means fail. I stared at the F for a while, wondering how on earth can I see an F in my result slip? The last time I did see an F is about 10 years ago, when I get an F in secondary 1, for my Literature. :P
Like many other students, I just couldn't' accept the fact that I failed a subject in school. Who wants to fail? Failing means that we have to read the subject again, go for the same lectures again, and spend another 2 hours to go for the exam - again.
After feeling down for hours, a thought come to my mind. A failure is not that bad after all! In fact, failing in school is good for you. You may see that I might be joking here, or suffering from some post-examination stress that I come up with this illogical logic.
But after you reach the end of this article, you might think otherwise.
First of all, do you know we people fail everyday? We do fail to wake up the time when our alarm clock ring. We do fail to cook the half-boiled egg we want. And we do fail to obey our parents too. We can fail, however, we know that we have to face the consequence after that. We might end up late for classes, swallow our uncooked egg, or have a curfew set by our parents.
But failures in school does not seem to be that simple, like those failures mentioned above. We can accept all the consequences for failing those daily tasks, but the consequences of getting a fail grade in school might not be that acceptable by most of us (including me!).
The price to fail in school is far greater than those daily tasks. On top of just retaking the exam again, we might risk spending an additional year in school, we might be excluded from our scholarship, or worse, we might even drop out of school. So in a sense, failing is normal if we fail in those daily tasks, but becomes abnormal if it is about our school grades.
Unfortunately, many youths and students have decided to end their lives when they see failures in their school grades. This is an increasing trend, and not just in Singapore, but in other countries like China and United States too.
And some times it is not that these students have been failing terribly in school for years. It is just that they experience their first failure for the first time in their schooling years. Imagine seeing an F among all the As and Bs that you have achieved for the past 10 years of your school life. It can be a massive shock or disappointment to some students.
Nowadays, our youths have been conditioned to think that academic grades are the only decisive factor for success in life. It is either excellent grades, or a dark future. However, we all know of many great man and woman who succeeded in life even if they fail in school. Some of them even didn't go to college!
No, I'm not telling people not to go to school, or go drop out of school and then you'll be another Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, but let's learn how to handle failures in every aspect of our lives when it comes. We can overcome any failures or setback in our lives, as the saying goes, a setback is a setup for a comeback.
So as my article is titled 'Failing in school is Good for you', I want to tell you that if you fail in school, you have a failing experience that others don't have. If you overcome this failure, you have gained another experience of overcoming a failure, which others don't have! Failing is Okay! (But if you fail continuously, then it's not Okay, as it just means that you have not learn your lesson :P)
After writing this, it may seem that I write this article to encourage myself, or to justify why failing is good, and why getting too many As in school is not. But honestly, I'm still quite upset to see a F in my report card, when I'm used to seeing higher grades in it, but what's next for me is just to work harder next time.
Have you failed in something but haven't get out of it?
Come, let's accept it, and stand up again, together.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Fail A Uni Subject
not a big deal. Just retake lor, rite?
Probably just time wasted to go lectures, and probably 2 hours to do the paper - again.
Anyway, i also didn't go for these (crappy)lectures last round, so I might just have to do those papers again.
And I finish it within 50 minutes.
Alright this time I will use 1 hour instead.
Probably just time wasted to go lectures, and probably 2 hours to do the paper - again.
Anyway, i also didn't go for these (crappy)lectures last round, so I might just have to do those papers again.
And I finish it within 50 minutes.
Alright this time I will use 1 hour instead.
Monday, June 06, 2011
Ideas come Ideas go
And ideas are cheap too.
But if you use it well, record it down, and make the idea happen, it will stay, and it will be valuable.
Too many ideas come to my mind today, because I'm focusing on a lot of problems! I'm not trying to be a problematic guy, but i chose to focus on problems when something happen now, instead of jumping straight to provide a solution. If i can make the problem bigger, the BETTER!
I can be crazy, or trying to be funny here, but i want to learn to think in a way that our school didn't teach us. When we do maths, we are taught to give a solution immediately, and failing to give, you won't get marks. But now, coming to this world, and if you're an entrepreneur to be, think of problems 1st. Think of it as big as you can. Don't solve it. (your mind will give you solutions right away, but dun accept it)
Go try it if you haven. :)
But if you use it well, record it down, and make the idea happen, it will stay, and it will be valuable.
Too many ideas come to my mind today, because I'm focusing on a lot of problems! I'm not trying to be a problematic guy, but i chose to focus on problems when something happen now, instead of jumping straight to provide a solution. If i can make the problem bigger, the BETTER!
I can be crazy, or trying to be funny here, but i want to learn to think in a way that our school didn't teach us. When we do maths, we are taught to give a solution immediately, and failing to give, you won't get marks. But now, coming to this world, and if you're an entrepreneur to be, think of problems 1st. Think of it as big as you can. Don't solve it. (your mind will give you solutions right away, but dun accept it)
Go try it if you haven. :)
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Reviving Nengding.blogspot.com
Nengding.blogspot.com has been here since 2005, but I left it alone in mid 2010 and open up my professional blog at http://Ding-Neng.com . I write articles about blogging, personal development, entrepreneurship, social media, and online marketing stuffs over there.
However, nengding.blogspot.com is the place where I started blogging, and writing down my thoughts. Now while I have started to write more professionally, I'm thinking of reviving nengding.blogspot.com, by writing stuffs that couldn't fit into my professional blog http://Ding-Neng.com .
Thus far, I don't know what I would be writing, but I would continue to update this blog, with anything under the sun that I feel good about sharing it here. :) After all, this is my blog too!
Visitors wise, I'm sure a year of stagnation of this blog has give people the thought that this blog is abandoned. It's okay, cos I really abandoned it. :P. But reviving this blog is not really about getting lots of visitors. I got lots of them at my professional one. This is just like a simple online journal, just like you writing your own personal journal at home. Penning down my thoughts is more important than getting readers.
So this blog is up again.
See you next post!
However, nengding.blogspot.com is the place where I started blogging, and writing down my thoughts. Now while I have started to write more professionally, I'm thinking of reviving nengding.blogspot.com, by writing stuffs that couldn't fit into my professional blog http://Ding-Neng.com .
Thus far, I don't know what I would be writing, but I would continue to update this blog, with anything under the sun that I feel good about sharing it here. :) After all, this is my blog too!
Visitors wise, I'm sure a year of stagnation of this blog has give people the thought that this blog is abandoned. It's okay, cos I really abandoned it. :P. But reviving this blog is not really about getting lots of visitors. I got lots of them at my professional one. This is just like a simple online journal, just like you writing your own personal journal at home. Penning down my thoughts is more important than getting readers.
So this blog is up again.
See you next post!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Cristiano Ronaldo Going to Play in North Korea After Portugal Draw with North Korea In World Cup 2010
Sorry guys who miss out on the video about North Korea beating Brazil and won the World Cup 2010. It has been removed by FIFA. Maybe they found out that it's a false news on North Korea winning the World Cup.
One week later after North Korea 'beaten' Brazil, They played Portugal. And now, watch the news about the match and What Cristiano Ronaldo had to say about North Korea after the match.
Watch it now! (before it got removed by FIFA again. :P)
One week later after North Korea 'beaten' Brazil, They played Portugal. And now, watch the news about the match and What Cristiano Ronaldo had to say about North Korea after the match.
Watch it now! (before it got removed by FIFA again. :P)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Free Live Broadcast of World Cup 2010 Matches
If you want to watch it free, I have 2 recommended places (online) to go to watch all matches free, with good quality resolution and hardly got disconnected.
1) Go to www.atdhe.net . It will give you all links to streaming of Live World Cup matches. Then Bookmark the page, and visit again before every match starts.
2) Download TVU Player. This player works on both Mac and Windows.
Start the player, Choose 'Sports' at the top, then select the Channel "CCTV-5-Sports"
Take a while for it to load... about a min or so.
CCTV-5 commentary is in Mandarin. Chinese commentary is quite interesting and sometimes, you may hear the commentators use Idioms, a.k.a 'Cheng Yu / 成语' in it. If you don't like it, you can just turn off the volume. :P
Some Disadvantages:
Your Streaming may be lagging behind by about 2-4 mins. Meaning while those who subscribed Singtel or Starhub shouted 'GOAL!', you will shout 'GOAL!' 2-4 mins later.
Under some circumstances, your streaming may 'jammed'. It may pissed you off when C.Ronaldo is taking a 30m shot, and the streaming jammed just when the ball is about to enter the goal post. You saw the goalkeeper diving. But you do not know if the ball is going into the net, saved by keeper or hit the post!!
If your internet connection is slow or is being shared by many other servers, then it is not advisable to stream online, because you'll be watching football in slow-motion. The goalkeeper may take 1 min to land on the ground after a dive.
Afterall, It's Free Live Broadcast. We shouldn't complain, and I'm lucky I'm not encountering a lot problems while streaming online:D
If you can't stream online, the best place I recommend is your neighbourhood kopitiam, pubs along Clark Quay, or some MacDonald restaurants (you may have to find it yourself).
Till then, enjoy World Cup 2010. Who will be the Runner-Up this year? Comment below! :D
Friday, June 18, 2010
North Korea won the 2010World Cup(before it ends)?
Did you catch the news that North Korea had won the 2010 World Cup?
Friday, June 04, 2010
Yes! So happy that City Harvest Church and Kong Hee is Finally being PROBED!!
On Sunday 30th May 2010, Asia Conference , a mega-conference which draws about 20,000 delegates from over 70 countries organised by City Harvest Church, and CGI, Church Growth International,
draw to a close.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Prevention is better than Cure. How true?
Educated individuals in the 21st century are looking for Prevention of Diseases, than finding cures for disease when they get one.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Sunday, May 09, 2010
The Infamous Silviu Ionescu Arrested
He is occupying headlines in Singapore newspapers, and probably Romania papers too. Silviu Ionescu, a former charge d'affaires in Singapore. He's been hogging headlines since last year, when he allegedly knocked down 3 pedestrians one midnight in Singapore. One of the 3 pedestrians died, and 2 suffered injuries.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
In Loving Memory of Melissa Toh
I do not know who is Melissa Toh. I'm not her friend. She don't know me too. However, you may ask why I write about her when I don't even know her.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, April 08, 2010
The Biggest Dilemma for Soon-To-Be Undergraduates Part-2
Now, Let's look at our 1st Big Question Undergraduates ask themselves.
"Should I choose a Local University or Private University for my tertiary education?"
Local university refers to NTU (Nanyang Technological University), NUS (National University of Singapore) and SMU (Singapore Management University). So far, there's only 3, and there will be more in upcoming years.
Private University refers to private institutions set up by companies in Singapore and provide degrees and education from overseas countries. For example, SIM offer degrees from RMIT, a university in Australia, University at Buffalo, USA. PSB offer degrees from UON, from Australia, and other countries too.
In my experience, this question came up for most people whose A level results are not up to their expectations, and they are unable to get a place in a particular course in a local university. Hence, they are deciding whether to pursue that particular course in a private university, or pursue another course(with lower demand) in a local university.
This seems like a choice which you have to give up one to get another:
- Go to a local university, and pursue a course which you don't like, but you manage to get it because of its low entry grades or low demand.
- Go to a private university, and pursue a course which you like, but you will not have the bragging rights of being in a local university (which many people want!).
What's the issue here?
I know of some friends who manage to study in a local university, but not in a course they like. People usually named these courses 'dumping ground', which means these courses are taken up by people who can't get the course of their choice. They go for the University they want.
I also have friends who can study in a local university, but did not choose it in the end, because they did not get the course of their choice. Hence, they choose a private university, and pursue the course of their choice instead. They go for the Course they want.
Look at this, which one is more important here?
The education at a local university or the education you want to get from the subject you like?
At a local university, the education you get can be of certain standard and quality. Some professors who are teaching there have vast academic experience and research experience. They come from renowned universities around the world too.
Secondly, some people chose a local university because they don't want to feel left-out in the crowd. They see many of their friends enter local uni, and feel that if they go private uni, they are regarded 'second-grade'. Hence, the reputation is not there. They try to squeeze into a local uni, regardless of whatever course they are offered.
Thirdly, people thinks that a degree from a local university will be more 'profitable' than private uni degrees. 'Profitable' meaning higher income. This may be true to a certain extent. But I can say a local degree is not a deciding factor whether someone is being paid more. We talk about that later.
That's bascally the 3 reasons for people choosing a local university than a private one.
Quality of Education:
It's true that local universities provide a certain standard of education to their students than private ones. The professors are certified, and most are experienced. Local uni also have good facilities like laboratories and computer labs for students to do research.
However, private institutions in Singapore are not as bad as what we think last time. They are also building big campuses soon. SIM can be regarded as a private university with high-class services too. They have their own professors, lecture and seminar rooms too.
However, 1 minor disadvantage for private university. As far as I know, private uni does not provide a very good environment for research to be done, especially sciences (Physics/Chemistry/Biology) research. They do not have million-dollar machines and devices in their schools, unlike local universities. That's why you notice private universities hardly provide degree courses in Sciences, which require research work. Most courses offered are 'not lab based', like Business, IT, Accountancy...etc.
Otherwise, private uni are not very far off, in terms of the quality of education both provides. Both type of universities have their good professors, and also their boring professors.
Reputation:
Of course, if you have a choice to study in a well-known, local university where the top 10% of students study there, why not? Everybody will grab that chance. You will feel smarter, being in a school where the 'top10%' are.
But does that mean those that did not make it, are not smart? Yes! They may not be so 'academic-smart' compared to those local uni students, but I can say many are more 'street-smart' than the local uni grads! However, I did not say private uni students are lousy in their grades, or local uni students are not 'street-smart' either.
When you get into a local uni, people will think that your future is gonna be bright, you must be a very clever student, you must be highly intelligent, you will be very successful one day. They praises you, and you feel good (people love praises!). If you are from a private uni, people will think that's because you're a lazy student who play too much, and didn't study hard enough, or someone who is not smart
enough to enter a local uni.
What I can say is, that's what other people thinking! And we should not make decision based on others' thinking! We choose what we want to have for dinner, because we want to have it, NOT because other think we should have it. "I want to eat vegetables for my lunch today, because I want to, not because you think I should be eating".
With that said, I want to say that people who try hard to squeeze into a local uni, just to accept any course thrown at them, are making a very unwise decision. They just want to feel known, feel recognized by being in a 'top10%' school by others. They don't care what if they like what they learn, or what they will be learning in the school. "You think I should eat meat for lunch today, that's why I eat meat. If I eat meat, I will make you feel good about me (probably only macho-man eat meat). I do not care if I dislike the meat, or if the meat is nice"
Profitable Degree:
The truth is, A local university degree is more profitable than a private univeristy degree.
The myth is, A local university degree is more profitable than a private univeristy degree.
(Eh? Isn't both sentences the same?)
Yes. It's a truth, and it's also a myth.
True, a local graduate can get a higher pay than a private graduate, but we have to look deeper into various aspects. In the public service, a local degree is more recognized than a private degree, and pay structure for public service is determined by the grades you have in your degree (First Class Honours...etc)
In the private sector, pay structure varies. Some may look at the grades you get in school to determine you pay, but I can say, MOST do not care about your grades once you join them.
I have talked to many people regarding this, from students who are graduating soon, people who have already graduated, people who have went for numerous interviews, people who are in the workforce looking out for talents.
They have one common reply to me.
"Grades don't matter!"
If you have been called up for interview, the interviewer will close your resume, and start asking you questions. And, they do not ask question about your grades! They do not care about your grades!
They are interested in what value you can provide to the company, what skills and expertise you have. Can you work with people? Have you worked in teams or large organizations before? Do you have experience in other companies/industries before? Are you active in the society, leaders of some communities or organization? What are your interests and hobbies, your strengths and weaknesses?
If you really think your future-bosses are very concerned about your results, you may want to ask some of your friends who went for numerous interviews. Ask them how many bosses actually ask them the As and Bs they get. :D
The most profitable job will be given to someone who shows and proves that he is valuable to the company. And this does not always refer to First Class Honours Students.
Share your comments with me. I would love to hear them :D
Next, we look at Question 2!
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
The Biggest Dilemma for Soon-To-Be Undergraduates Part-1
I once had that biggest dilemma too. It gave me a headache sometimes.
This problem is faced every year by many 19 year olds who have received their A level results. In normal circumstances, Guys usually have 3 chances to make their final decision, and Girls have 1 chance to decide.
By now, for those who have been through, you know what I'm referring to.
For those who have passed their A levels, usually, they would look at the next level of education - tertiary/ university education. (I said usually, because not everybody will move on to university, even though they have good A level results...)
There are usually 2 Big question marks in the minds of the youngsters after they got their result.
i) Which Uni should I go? Local/Private U?
ii) Which undergraduate course should I take?
1. Local or Private University?
For students who have done well enough, many would prefer to enter a Singapore local university, namely NTU, NUS or SMU.
For students who may not do so well, there are other choices to pursue their university education, at reputable private universities in Singapore, like SIM and PSB, which offers overseas degree programs.
Some may decide to pursue their university education overseas too.
2. Which undergraduate course should I apply?
For those who have acheived the results they expected, they would have go on to apply for the courses they already have in mind before taking A level examinations.
However, there are also people who have also achieved exceptionally good results, but do not know what courses to apply to.
There are people who achieved 'not bad' results, but are unable to apply for their 'dream' course.
There are people who did not do that well to get their desired course, but trying hard to 'squeeze'
into the local U, by accepting any course thrown at them.
There are people who applied for a course in a Private U, because they wanted to pursue that course, which are not offered in local U, or the admission criteria in local U is too high.
I say that it is a Big Dilemma, because a wrong answer in either 1 of the questions, will determine the next 3-4 years of their lives. A good decision will let them enjoy the fun of studying in university. Wrong decision... it depends. Some people can force anything down their throat, even if they don't like it. Haha.
Alright.
Let's look into the issues of Question 1 in our next post! :D
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