For the Students, By the Students

fight

2009-03-06T18:55:00.002+08:00

How much are you afraid of losing? Of failing...? Failing and losing are my greatest fear. The interesting thing about a university education is the timing. It coincides with the time of our lives when we gotta ask ourselves several basic but most difficult questions.

What do we want in life? Where do we want to go after this? What matters to us in life?

If you've found your inspiration congrats, if not, work harder. Well it doesn't matter. You're bound to fail at some point.Too many smart people around who show how stupid we are by contrast. Can't seem to get good grades no matter how much we study. People won't give you opportunities. Companies rejecting our internship requests even before the deadline for application closes. Start company after we graduate and go bankrupt... no company wants to employ us...
We fall... we fall with our face flat on the ground... mud in our mouth. So what goes on after that?

Are you going to finish strong?

He says... But I tell you, there is some time in life, when you fall down, and you feel like you don't have the strength to get back up. Do you think you have hope? Because I tell you, I'm down here, face down, and I have no arms no leg. It should be impossible for me to get back up. But it's not.

You see, I will try 100 times to get up and if I fail 100 times... if i fail, and I give up do you think I am ever going to get up? NO. But if I fail and I try again and again and again... All I want you to know that it's not the end. It matters how you're going to finish. Are you going to finish strong? And you would find that strength to get back up. Like this.

Finally a new post

2009-02-08T16:19:00.002+08:00

Finally a new post after eons of dormancy - design project is making me stressed out and shedding my valuable hair.

Quite a lot of action lately but the free expression board still remains barren. Respond to my theme PEOPLE!!! haha (If there is one professor i would like to thank, he would be.....)

I was speaking to my friend from LA on Saturday and he was telling about me about this unofficial party Brown University (Rhodes Island) *totally unofficial nothing to do with the admin i must stress* has. Pardon me for the language but it's titled - Star F*ck. Held twice a year, it's (to the crudest term) a mass orgy.

(ok look guys in this post i am going to use strong language and i don't usually write like being the conservative me *grins*)

Then there is this "Underwear Run", where students wear their undies and go for a sexy run. All kinds of sizes and shapes... Totally unofficial too.

Well I was least surprised to hear all that. In my opinion, when you look at a university, you pretty much know how its society is like, and vice versa perhaps (in certain aspects at least). Yup, I know this is a gross generalisation but rest assured it's a neutral statement.

I am neutral towards the hot (perhaps cold cos not enough clothes) run and the parties. They are at the liberty to do what they like.

Here in NUS, we need to dig into our social fabric and really come to a consensus of what we want to be.
Somehow I feel that we are very "jebalang" now. Of course, it's overly childish of me to believe someone should steer the cultural development and mould us into a certain culture. Or that culture is something which can be moulded artificially.

But still! I believe something can be done. We need interaction. We need students to know what is happening in the university. Some form of sharing... some form of opinions... some form of dissent... some form of agreement... we need to say something against/for issues which concern us.

Be heard.

Talk talk talk

2009-01-21T21:44:00.002+08:00

Many thanx to those who came down to listen my ramblings last Friday... my gf's bro counted... 84 people were there when I ended... good stuff!

a tiny bit of update from my welfare director, Wendy...
We've just submitted the facilities check report to the Office of Estates and Development so that they can look into the repairs. Repair works on broken benches and faulty power points should be completed by the end of this sem according to them.

See the decorations at LT6? Proudly done by Wendy's welfare committee. haha yea but nothing beats the drink stall uncle and auntie's dressing up for the occasion.

Nothing much from me these days... keep the stuff on the free expressions board coming... more voices please!

happy new yEAR dudes!

eww... i am touched

2009-01-12T22:13:00.002+08:00

Haha

I am touched. But why EWW??? hahaha well, I was too touched by acts for generosity and appreciation, to the extent of me feeling goosebumps all over.

First, a final year student named Parthi praised us for doing a good job in this term of office following my mail to the faculty. :D Beams with pride!

Second, I received a call from a lecture mate from ME 2 called Miaoxin volunteering to print notes for ME 2. I told him we're usually don't do the notes printing but it's SME who does it but nonethelesss I was touched that someone would go the extra mile/take the initiative to print for everyone! :)

OOh what a touching day i had.

Speaking to the air

2009-01-08T21:46:00.004+08:00

One of my worst fears is to speak to air; to a lecture theatre that is empty. Nonetheless, even if there was only 1 guy. I would speak.

Let's test out whether my greatest fear would turn into reality come the first 2 weeks of school.

At beginning of this semester, I would roll out an initiative. Some sort like a test run thing.

I would deliver an 30min update to ME year 2s at the end of the last lecture for the day. The update would comprise of student affairs issues and upcoming Engin Club events. Yah... and there you see the first slide... Let's keep our fingers crossed that people would stay and listen :)

Well if it's successful. The whole MC would do deliver the updates to their respective cohorts come the AY 09/10 at the beginning of each semester. The MC is not about all play...

It's established for the students, by the students.

Making a decision

2008-12-30T23:37:00.001+08:00

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen”. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

For the Man Who Hated Christmas by Nancy W. Gavin

2008-12-26T14:25:00.000+08:00

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years or so.

It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas - oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it - overspending... the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma - the gifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler’s ears.

It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn’t acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them.” Mike loved kids - all kids - and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That’s when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition - one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on.

The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.

As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn’t end there.

You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, it was joined by three more.

Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down the envelope.

Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us.

Editor's Note: This story was originally published in the December 14, 1982 issue of Woman's Day magazine. It was the first place winner out of thousands of entries in the magazine's "My Most Moving Holiday Tradition" contest in which readers were asked to share their favorite holiday tradition and the story behind it. Learn how you can honor a loved one by giving something different this year by visiting www.WhiteEnvelopeProject.org

Jinglez

2008-12-24T09:57:00.002+08:00

Just went to the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Office to deliver Prof Krishna's card. Many thanks to those who took the effort to come back to school for the card signing session :)

Guess what! it's XMAS! haha as if you guys do not already know.

Rainy Xmas eve added a tinge of melancholy to the festives.

and the RESULTS...
results were out yesterday. You know, the funny thing about getting a degree is not so much of a proof that you have mastered an essential set of knowledge which would stay with you for life. The truth (which we all know) is we're only going to remember, perhaps, 1% of the things we're taught. Nonetheless, university education, to me at least, is broadening my horizon (cliche 1) and engineering, in particular, is the training of the mind (cliche 2). I'm a cliched person.

On that note, we are inevitably faced with the stress of doing well and that seems to defeat the purpose of education. We are all so familiar with the complaints on the education system being too factory-like (and we're luncheon meats waiting to be packed into cans), too elitist, too pragmatic etc. Changes are visibly taking place in the education scene but yes there will still be concerns over when the education utopia can be achieved in Singapore.

PERHAPS, education is the responsibility of oneself. Whoever says one can only be educated within the premises of a school ought to be put to death by getting buried under textbooks. Anyway Just 4 Laughs :)

NTU protest some 2 months back

2008-12-21T12:28:00.002+08:00

Finally got down to reading some news these days after an avalanche of Engin Club stuff to complete. I was browsing through the net and came across this.

http://enquirer.sg/2008/10/03/protest-on-campus-censorship-continues/

Yes, it's dated like 2 mths back and
yes that just shows how in tune I am with the current affairs.
Nonetheless, for the benefit of those as updated as me... here's the synopsis:

The NTU newsletter Chronicles reported on the "visit" (he wasn't really invited by anyone though) of Dr Chee Soon Juan to their campus some time in September. The university vetoed against publishing this report in the student newsletter and this pissed quite a few media students off. They, then, did some protest in Hong Lim Park and on campus. For more details, read this: http://enquirer.sg/category/news/

Anyway, I remain neutral on this event. But sometimes, I seriously doubt how people land themselves in jobs of management, when they give seemingly non-chalant and authoritative replies at the worst junctures, which only serves to make things worse. Managers are supposed to fix problems right?

“The Chronicle is a student newspaper but it does not have the right to demand what to publish. Ultimately the owner of the newspaper is the president of NTU.” assistant chair of SCI NTU, Associate Professor Lee Chun Wah following the banner protest in SCI.

Well. Did making that comment solve anything (especially when you've got a few aspiring fervent young reporters in the School of Communications already so pissed off)? Hmm.. yah you made them suck thumb and kept their mouths shut. Yup 100% success in getting them into the "since you pay den you decide lor" kind of attitude. That solves all problems isn't it? Happy ending! :)

You know, sometimes when you've got to speak to the senior people (especially when you're a student) you'd recived a few pissifying comments. Well, I personally have not met any of those mean university management before (engineering profs are all very nice). BUT if you ask a few of those NUSSU exco guys they maybe able to recount some.

No names mentioned. Let's call him the "bribery" guy.

Well apparently there was this prof, who replied to the suggestion of incorporating leadership position in the union and faculty club as part of the UEM credit, refered to it as "that's bribing our students to serve". Nice one there dude!

Engineering guys out there who took EG1413 would have noticed the severe personal insult/over sensation the word "bribery". Yah, and that probably solved the (his) problem!

Look didn't your MBA coach teach you about it? The rule is simple: spout a strong word to a student in an open dialogue and tada! You keep his mouth shut and you almighty manager solve the problem! Proud graduand of the MBA programme!

Perhaps it's that easy to be a manager :) I'll succeed!

And that was the end

2008-12-04T13:48:00.002+08:00

And that was the end of another semester.

Freshmen should have gotten a taste of what Engineering smells like in their statics and mechanics/Electrical Engineering. The year 2 have experienced for the first time the full blown Engineering modules. While it was business as usual for the year 3s and FYPs for the final years. Whichever group you hail from, the result is the same - the usual NUS academic rigour. You know sometimes I really wonder why in the world I landed myself in the hair pulling experience of studying Engineering. It was heaven studying managerial econs this semester (as it had been always for business modules) which provided sanctuary against too much of Engineering. I must have shed more and more hair since I entered University. So much that even my dad asked if my hair growth was stunted from an overdosage of midnight oil. Of course, so much that I stopped posting for a while in awe of the exams looming ahead.

BUT! I still love Engineering. No, I am not saying this because I am supposed to say this on this pseudo-politically correct blog. BUT! put it a little chilidishly Engineering rox my sock! haha

It's the most challenging subject I've ever had in my entire life in school. Simple things are made even simpler because Engineering. They say that you need to experience hell before you know heaven. And really, Engineering has helped me in every bit of my understanding in Business. Somehow things don't seem so hard in Business compared to the hellish acad in Engineering.

Anyway, enough of those. You may have noticed the board and cabinets in E4 outside LT6 over the past weeks of mugging and yes they are meant for us~! The cabinets would display the proud achievements of our student athletes activities and the board would be a free expressions board for us to pen down any thoughts, well wishes and comments for the faculty. HOLD your MAGIC MAKERS. I have not put papers yet so plEASE dont any how colour the board hor!

Another thing... if any of you out there would like to post anything about the faculty or simply just some ranting, you can email it to me and I would copy and paste them onto the blog with no editing, unless of course, if the language is too overwhelming :).

can email me at weilei@enginclub.com

for now enjoy your hols peoplE!

Contemplate

2008-10-25T17:48:00.002+08:00

Leadership is about taking responsibility when things go wrong - so says McAllister Daniel J, my mno prof.

Hmm leadership is about providing sense of things and events - says McAllister.

Leadership is about this...is about that...

multi facet.

What do leaders do? They think. They think non stop. They are paid to think.
What happens when they don't think?

They become like me.

ANYWAY... just an update on the heritage centre thing...

We had a meeting with Prof Shim on Thursday and he managed to convince us to start small by collecting items of heritage value first. With a stockpile of such items, we can build a gallery of sort.

So any seniors/senior's senior/ senior's senior's senior ........

with yellow lectures notes dated 1000BC or civil engineer yellow boots/hard hat with 2m of mushroom (read mould)?

hehe if you have any of those inspiring stuff of heritage value to the faculty... drop me an email at
weilei@nus.edu.sg

:)

2008-10-22T22:59:00.002+08:00

Hey some nice seminars which you guys can attend...
From the organiser:
We've decided to offer your students a flat rate of $25, but only for those who sign up by Sunday. Registration will still be open until the 29th, and the investment for students who sign up after Sunday will be $50 - the same rate offered to members of the public.

Yup more than 1/2 price.. interested just drop a tag or drop me email:) weilei@enginclub.com

Heritage Centre

2008-10-18T11:39:00.002+08:00

As an institution of Engineering education, our accomplishments line the walls of the EA 7th floor in the form of research papers/posters done by professors and, most recently, the race car that you see outside the Dean's Office and many much more. True enough they are things we ought to be proud of. BUT are they iconic? Are they archived?

Sitting in one of the PSC welcome teas during my JC days, I remembered an instance whereby an Oxford Engineering graduate who later joined the police force told us about his undergrad life in Oxford. He ran through a couple of slides showing his life in Oxford and the usual praises which scholars would give to the scholarship body and their universities. There was one picture I remember even till today. It was this building, normal cuboidal structure, with nothing much of an impressive architecture or cutting edge building technology - JUST a NORMAL plain building. Nonetheless, it occupies a part of my pictorial memory 4 years down the road. It's a building designed by the Oxford Civil Engineering students. This is heritage.

Heritage; her·it·age, (noun) - Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.

Name me an icon of NUS. Name me the heritage of NUS. Name me something which makes you so NUS...
Replace NUS with Engineering... any answers?

If nothing makes you NUS... If nothing makes you Engineering... why would you return in kind when you graduate? FAT HOPE

Perhaps, we need a heritage centre... students designed... alumni support... faculty's interest... the establishment of such a centre, regardless of how obiang it may look, is something I would be darn bloody proud of... because we would be the first in NUS... in fact the first in Singapore to do it... We cannot move on... we cannot have an identity without roots. Any great institution is heavily anchored by its tradition... its roots... its heritage. Which from those anchors, the culture develops... the belonging stems... the memories evolve...

A heritage centre for our student and cultural activities.
A heritage centre to boast to visitors of our origins (do you know when Engineering was founded in NUS?)... Our present... Our future...
A heritage centre which keeps an archive of events and milestones for the faculty.
A heritage centre which records the lives of thousands of graduates who walked through the gates of Engineering.
A heritage centre which gives every batch of freshmen more pride than the previous batch for the great tradition that was laid before him by his predecessors.
A heritage centre which belongs truly... to you and me... special to us... iconic to us...

COST: up to a million... what do you think the faculty would say... we shall see soon
What do you think?

Colour your life!

2008-10-11T00:28:00.004+08:00

Indeed, nothing more apt than that.

Right! It's an emo night hence I shall capitalise on that and sink further by being nostalgic. I still remember the same time last year when I stepped into one of the tutorial rooms and interview my business guys for the subcommittee recruitment. And this year, 2 of them are also in the management committee - Roy, as biz director, and Wendy, as welfare director. It's interesting to see how things turn out. I was just as inexperienced as them in terms of club marketing and I had to decide whether I want them in as part of the business committee. Look... an interview is never enough to judge how suitable a candidate can be for the task. BUT! I think it's our best bet.

Spill a bit of secret... wendy was so quiet that we didn't know whether we should include her in the committee but well in the end we did :) (and i am grateful we did). My 2 cents worth... elaborate and reply more than the interviewer asks so that he/she can get to know you better. At the end of the day, whatever the results may be, we are truly grateful for your turning up and interest in the subcommittees. Initiative is perhaps one of the most valued things.

Tips aside, it just struck me that perhaps we all have different goals/objectives in mind, in wanting to join the subcommittees. Really, these are personal perspectives and there is nothing wrong with them. (of course don't tell me you join for the sake of wreaking havoc in the club lar~). BUT! I would just like put some thoughts across...

There are so many other CCAs out there... but why engin club subcommittees? And I think that's perhaps the only question you need to ask yourself to prepare for the interview. The rest of it... it doesnt matter... :)

On a more academic note

2008-10-08T21:09:00.003+08:00

For those fighting a glorious battle with CTW.. here's a resource you could look into.. and for those so hmmm... bored as me... you could take a look at it too.

Free articles from McKinsey... business journal kind of thing... I found the automotive industry journals pretty cute...

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/home.aspx

Recruitment Drive

2008-10-04T17:56:00.004+08:00

Duty, Honour, Country - the famous words of General Douglas MacArthur in his Sylvanus Thayer Award acceptance address.

No you didn't come to the wrong blog. People who know me, know how those words motivated me so much when I felt like shit during those 2 years of my prime youth in the army. What was supposed to be some kind of indoctrination/brainwashing turned out to be one of the greatest gift I received from my country at the end of those 2 years.

Right... I am not crazy today. I am little off the path. BUT I have a point to make.
Take this phrase a step back and think about it in a smaller sphere of influence. Is there a sense duty in you for your community? Is there a difference you want to make to the people in your community?

I have already let the cat out of the bag when the words "Recruitment Drive" display at the heading. But I am telling you all this not just for the recruitment drive. Nowadays I get struck so often by the questions of life that I can't help but be a little philosophical at times. How many of us know what we want to do in our lives? Are we going to be a factory product, which after going through a generic education, go out to the society... slog to climb the corporate ladder because it brings us money... AND so intelligently spend those money on shopping and material goods... FORGETTING THE FACT THAT big corporations and media are perpetually enticing us to spend more by creating social norms (which are not very normal) (think of how you spend on those IPOD AND IPHONE)... Our appetite for consumption grows... Look at the Americans... in the aftermath of 9/11... what did their President say? SHOP! consume more so that the economy runs...so we go on and work even harder...
Visit this website... she does the convincing better.
www.storyofstuff.com

SUMMARY: We study... we work... we shop... we procreate... and we die!

How about if you could impact someone's life? Be the change (for the better of course) in someone's life, in the community you're in.
Of course, at the end of the day, my duty in this management committee urges me to converge all that I have said above to persuade you to join us in the Recruitment Drive. But this is just as applicable in any community that you're in. Your club, your family, the societies you join outside, your working environment, your friends... ANY COMMUNITY... SERVE IT... Have a sense of duty... make a difference...

All said, hope that's enough food for thought!
Anyway! Recruitment drive for Engin Club's sub committees is coming up... so you have the following committees which you can join (loads of fun): (in no order of merit)
1. Business (wooHOOO haha sorry i was dy biz director last year)
2. O week
3. Camp
4. Rag
5. IT
6. Publications
7. Sports
8. Welfare

Make a difference :)

Financial aid

2008-09-29T21:45:00.003+08:00

Recently, the issue of the financial pressure on students kept coming back to me. It's more of a personal social experience than one that arose out of the nature of my new term of office. Suddenly, it occured to me that I had more friends facing financial pressure in university than in any point of my life. It made me come to revelation that certain things I take for granted were actually not an entitlement. I am new to this whole concept about tuition fees because I always took for granted that mine would be paid for anyway. It's a sheltered kid's mentality. Don't learn. Let me just try to work out the cost of a university education in the NUS Faculty of Engineering per annum.

Direct payment(sch fees): $ 6360
Miscellaneous fees: $216 (https://share.nus.edu.sg/registrar/info/ug/UGMMF.pdf)
Food(in school - lunch only): $2.20 x 13 x 5 x 2= $286 (assuming 13 weeks per sem 5 day week and chai peng everyday)
Transport: 52 x 10 = $520
Stationery + printing: $80

assuming no socialising.... the grand total comes up to...: around 7.5k per year
Which is quite a bit. Consider also this quite a mutant's kind of life with no socialising.
The fact is a few of us out there are actually working to pay that sum and, at the same time, studying hard to avoid getting killed by engineering modules (exaggeration but you get the point).

NUS has an extensive financial assistance framework (which I am still trying to learn more about). So if anyone out there is in need of such assistance please speak to the registrar office (http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/sfau/staff.html). Or if anyone is stressed out, speak to a friend or if you don't mind you can email me. I don't think we should allow financial pressure to kill the joy out of any of our friend's undergraduate life. It shouldn't.

Anyway it's mid terms period now... good luck for your mid terms folks!

Ponders...

2008-09-25T00:54:00.002+08:00

What Engineering meant for Ethan (in his own words, one look and you know it's not my english :)) - food for thought!

For an entity that instantly brings about an image of something inanely mechanical, the Faculty of Engineering brings about with it a different kind of ambience after the sun has set for the day.

From a good vantage point, one would have a pretty darn good view of the sea, or rather, the blistering billions of lights emitted from the industries that swarm our southern islands. But beautiful and admirable they are, a multitude of beacons flooding the darkness of the unknown.

In the grander scheme of things, one would have to really look back and seriously ponder, their purpose for picking the path they have chosen. And thus the question of why any one of us would have chosen to pursue one of the more demanding courses available anywhere. (Honestly, no offence meant to our friendly neighbours here in NUS right across the road, the Faculty of ASS. Oops, I mean, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.)

Whatever it may be, but for lack of an even nobler motive, perhaps we just want to make a difference, to the best of our abilities. Granted that we don’t dish out paracetemol by the dozens daily, and most of us do come across as geeky to the majority (thank goodness for geeky cute). But honestly, one would have to agree that towards the benefit and betterment of the common man, Engineers really do/did have a part to play in it after all.

I am an Engineer, in my profession I take deep pride. To it I owe solemn obligations.

Since the Stone Age, human progress has been spurred by the engineering genius. Engineers have made usable Nature’s vast resources of material and energy for Mankind’s benefit. Engineers have vitalized and turned to practical use the principles of science and the means of technology. Were it not for this heritage of accumulated experience, my efforts would be feeble.

As an Engineer, I pledge to practice integrity and fair dealing, tolerance and respect, and to uphold devotion to the standards and the dignity of my profession, conscious always that my skill carries with it the obligation to serve humanity by making the best use of the Earth’s precious wealth.

As an Engineer, in humility and with the need for Divine guidance, I shall participate in none but honest enterprises. When needed, my skills and knowledge shall be given without reservation for public good. In the performance of duty and in fidelity to my profession, I shall give the utmost.

IFG Finale

2008-09-21T01:52:00.002+08:00

Congrats to all Engineering sportsmen/sportswomen who did us proud this year :) we are champions thanks to your sweat and toil!

Engineering Alumni and Social Responsibility

2008-09-19T03:13:00.005+08:00

We had a fruitful meeting with Engineering Alumni of Singapore last week. They are a bunch of friendly seniors. Wrong they are senior's senior's senior's............................ senior. Mr Gan, the president of the EAS kept emphasising on Prof Shim's "Engineer help Engineer" slogan which was very encouraging. Just to keep you guys updated on the exciting events coming up....
1. Networking night for all Engineering students on 17 October Friday
2. Social Night/AGM for EAS on 12/12/08
3. Dean's Fund for needy students (in planning)
4. Mentorship programme by members of EAS
5. Increased involvement of faculty staff on engin club events
6. Past vs present games day (alumni vs current students)

Items 3 to 6 are still in the progress of planning... we hope to bring them to you real soon so stay tuned! For items 1 and 2, the admission is free and you would be treated to lotsa good food at the end of it so ppl interested please leave a tag or email me at weilei@enginclub.com

Anyway let's talk about social responsibility this time :)
Voting
The faculty is a community. I really hate to think that it may turn into a facility if we don't do anything to create strong bonds. Start with the basics... Every Engineering student is entitled to vote for the Engin Club MC members and this entitlement is his/her natural right and an exhibition of social responsibility. Yes, it may seem unrelated thus far, but I believe this is the first step to being responsible to our community. Bring it a step further, voting in the nation - responsibility to our country. We make a statement - we care about our destiny. We care about the community. We are matured enough to make the most responsible and deliberate choice.
Speaking up
Not everyone is blessed with the gift of the gap. I am not (exactly). But I wish to believe I am courageous enough to speak up against what is grossly against my principles. Speaking up is proclaiming a stand. I don't exactly refer to participating more actively in tutorial and asking questions even though you know the answer, just to generate accoustic wave in the classroom (oh well but such enthusiasm is great too). I refer to speaking up for your rights. Speaking up against things that you don't like. Speaking for things that feel for. Such is character. One of the most worthy and valuable asset you'd ever possess in your life. I make you a promise - I would fight for anything that is against the interests of the Engineering undergraduate population. If you trust that I would, make that stand. Speak up. (of cos we also need to filter the less important issues and the pressing ones) There are other ways. Make it a point to give an honest feedback in the teaching exercise. Nominate the staff you love. (my eg 1108 lecturer got the award - whoever nominated her... you did a great job). Help those who are weak to improve by providing feedback. Speak for your rights and wat affects your interest.
Interact
This is the last thing I am going to ask of you. I will surprise you by not mentioning things like participate in our events because really not everyone enjoys events like camps, engin day etc. But what's very important is the need for all of us to interact. Those who go the extra mile to know all your tutorial mates in your different tutorials - I salute you. For those who are more shy like yours truly, interact actively with your present friends. Build a friendship that will last. University friends can be lasting. I found mine. Have you? We are all social bees. Make friends. Life long friends.

3 things.... VIS - vote, speak, interact. That's all I plead of you. :) Anyone who has a stand you want to make - leave tag, drop me a mail weilei@enginclub.com

Existence and change

2008-09-13T00:37:00.004+08:00

NUS Students' Engineering Club is the official union (student) representative of all Engineering undergraduates in NUS. Every management committee member, regardless of his portfolio, is but a member of the team put into office to protect the interests of our undergraduates.

The way we operated in the past years may not have shown you what we could have done, other than organising activities and camps. It may not seem like we were in the business of representing our students. In this term, I would, as much as I possibly can, contribute to enable a more transparent dealing and interaction between Engin Club and our students.

This is the primary reason for the existence of this blog - A rambling space for me to impress upon anyone that change needs a conscious effort and we can be part of it. At the end of the day, even if I fail after one year of nagging, I could have influenced another soul to continue this change after I step down.

What change? A great institution has a soul. It has a character. The NUS Faculty of Engineering is a good institution but not a great one (yet). The hardware and research facilities are there. The brains are there. The cutting technology is there. The population is there.
BUT the people are not there. When we come together, there is no character, there is no soul. We do not speak common language. We lack that commonest. We lack that culture.

The simplest of things all. How many of us can name who dean is, his background etc. Who knows the Vice Dean of undergrad? I don't intend this post to be a finger pointing session. In fact, I just want to tell you how much I wish, at the end of 4 years, I would want to step back to this institution because it has molded me as a person. How much I wish I would love the culture I was in during my university life.

Now to cut things short I just want to show you a video by Randy Pausch. Perhaps one day... we could have such a rich culture in our faculty...

Anyway for those who don't Randy Pausch. here's his bio~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch
very much like tuesdays with morrie~

For the students By the students

2008-09-12T01:26:00.003+08:00

Why Engineering?
Growing up is a process which shape us to what we are and, perhaps, what we dream to be. There was once, I dreamt of being a doctor. Once, I dreamt of being a cop, a prison service officer, a regular soldier, of selling roti prata and of being an entrepreneur. The dreams never stopped. Then came the highly awaited university life. I was fortunate enough to be presented a myriad of choices in terms of education. I chose engineering and business, so here I am in NUS, writing this blog, hoping to influence some minds out there, through my feeble attempts. Hoping to contribute to the making of a great institution out of a good one.

I am part of the 31st management committee, NUS Students' Engineering Club. My portfolio is a long, tongue twisting and ever-oh-so-extra name which I coined myself - Honorary Secretary for Student Affairs and External Relations. Right that's all I am going to say about my job for now because there is better use for this first blog entry.

First I need to establish the fact - I like engineering. Call me a geek, but everytime I walk past a car I think of how they model it in CAD. Every time I walk past our bus shelter I think of why the "I" beam is used. GEEK.
Second there is no doubt the NUS Faculty of Engineering is amongst the top 10 in the world ranked by THES.
Third there is no question about how our professors' papers get quoted increasingly frequently over the years.
Fourth the skewed bell curve is showing how smart you need to be to get a CAP 5.
Fifth there is great uncertainty in how many of us would return, in kind or in person, to the faculty when we graduate. What a spoiler 5th point. :P
Does being an Engineering student in NUS make you beam with pride?
Think about it.
Think hard.