Finally after grueling 2 and 0.5 years of National Service (NS), I pretty much looked forward to further my studies overseas. Almost every Singaporean guy would whine about how slow time passed while serving the mere 2.5 years of NS compared to 3 years in the polytechnic or the 4 or 5 years in secondary school. Due to the fact that NS is mandatory and is certainly not something which most enlistees desired, getting that yellow ticket of leave means getting back all the freedom we previously had. In fact, all my friends whom I met during NS envied me for having the chance to study overseas especially after being cooped up by NS for a relatively long period of time.
A few months before my NS Operational Ready Date (ORD), the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic was wreaking havoc around the globe. The local economy was in a bad shape as Singapore was one of the worst hit countries. As many of my friends who completed NS slightly earlier than me were unable to secure any employment, further studies was certainly the best option at that point in time considering that there were rumors that a typical local university graduate earns a monthly salary of miserable SGD 1400 when the norm should be SGD 2000 or above based on the market rate during that time. Due to this reason, many youths around my age chose to further their studies while waiting for the economy to recover. However, during that era, there were limited options for tertiary education in Singapore. The 3 public universities offered limited full time courses to polytechnic graduates which resulted in high competition in securing the courses. Although there were private universities that offered similar part time courses, I preferred studying full time and enjoy campus life as much as possible because I missed polytechnic life so much. I was aware that there were private universities that also offers full time courses. However, these full time courses were offered in collaboration with overseas universities which I felt would not provide me a more comprehensive learning experience and an enjoyable campus life.
Having decided to further my studies, I applied for degree courses in local public tertiary institutions. At that time, local polytechnic graduates were only allowed to apply for degree courses in public universities which were related to their course of study in the polytechnic. Hence, the choices were extremely limited given the fact that the variety of degree courses in Singapore public universities were already so limited compared to overseas universities which offered exotic courses such as Digital Animation, Agriculture, Mining or Marine Biology. Surprisingly, I chose Bachelor of Science in Education - BSc (Edu) offered by the National Institute of Education (NIE) as one of my choices. It was a 4 years degree course followed by serving a 4 years teaching bond in a primary or secondary school. In order to pursue this course, the prospective student would need to attend an interview at the Ministry of Education (MOE) headquarter and be successfully employed as a General Education Officer aka teacher. The reasons why I chose this course as one of my choices were firstly because of the high starting salary and stable employment, followed by the opportunity to work in a school environment which I enjoyed the most. Shortly after I submitted my application, I received an invitation letter for an interview at MOE HQ. The letter also stated that my other choices were still being considered.
Although I was still undecided about accepting this career option if I was accepted, I did my due diligence to research on the job and prepared myself to answer questions which I expected them to ask. On the day of interview, I donned a white long sleeve shirt and black long pants which is the standard formal attire for interview. The interview panel consisted of 3 ladies with a label indicating their name and designation in front of them. The lady on the leftmost was a school principal, followed by an NIE lecturer and a MOE HR executive. The school principal appeared stern and asked mostly aptitude questions while the NIE lecturer maintained a gentle smile throughout and asked me about my understanding of the subjects taught in NIE. In one of the questions she asked me regarding a subject, I replied that the particular subject seems intimidating as it requires students to write tons of essays. Surprisingly, the 3 ladies burst into laughter upon hearing my answer which really made me wonder what was so hilarious about it. Towards the end of the interview, the HR executive commented that I did pretty well for my polytechnic diploma and asked whether I would feel that it would be a waste if I did not pursue a career in Information Technology (IT) which is my field of study. I replied saying that it wouldn't be a waste as my IT background would help in situations like teaching computing related subjects such as programming in schools or to be involved in IT projects for MOE. Overall, I was glad that the interview went pretty well and they seemed to have good impression of me. True enough, I received a letter about a fortnight later informing me that I was being offered the job (and also the Bachelor of Science course as well).
After much consideration and discussion with my parents, I decided that having an IT (technical) degree would be more appropriate for me as it would provide me with more career options in future rather than a degree which solely prepares me to be a teacher. Since there were no news about my other choices, I had to consider the option of studying overseas. In the meanwhile, I attended several overseas universities fairs held in Singapore together with my father and a few friends I met in polytechnic who were also interested in furthering their studies overseas. Initially, my father chose a university in Melbourne for me which was prestigious but course fees were high, not to mention that this city probably had the highest cost of living in Australia. He had even contacted his friend who owned a house near this university to ask him whether I could rent the house. After more research, I decided to enroll for another university in Brisbane which was also quite prestigious and a popular choice among Singaporean students including friends I met in polytechnic. In the first place, the reason why we chose Australia as a country to study in because of its close proximity and lower cost compared to the United Kingdom which was much further and costly. In terms of cost, studying in the United States was slightly more expensive than Australia but my parents were concerned about safety there. Australia was deemed more friendly to me as it was the first country I visited outside home (i.e. Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia) region when I was 13 years old which I enjoyed a lot. Another advantage of Brisbane is the sub-tropical climate which is closer to ours compared to the cold harsh climate of the UK and USA.
Saturday, 18 April 2020
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Singapore COVID-19 Circuit Breaker Measures - Work From Home (WFH)
Today officially marks the first day of the drastic COVID-19 circuit breaker measures implementation in Singapore. These measures are the most serious and impactful ones which Singapore has ever put in place so far, at least from the time when I was born. We are indeed living in extra-ordinary times and I want to write this blog to commemorate this historical day for our future generation to be aware of. Basically, most things in Singapore comes to a stand still except essential services such as medical (hospitals and clinics), food & beverage (dine-in not permitted. Takeaway only), telecommunications (mobile and internet services), etc.
These circuit breaker measures were publicly announced at 4 pm on last Friday, 03 April 2020 which was rather last minute. The authorities decided to implement such drastic measures after the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Singapore continued to raise despite extensive contact tracing, quarrentine and social distancing. The most worrying thing is not the rising number of confirmed cases but rather the rising number of unlinked cases in which the infected person does not know where and how he/she caught the virus. As a result, there is a need to minimise person to person contact in order to bring down the chance of getting infected. These circuit breaker measures were not totally unexpected as many other countries which have been hit hard by the deadly virus have already implemented such lockdown measures. After the circuit breaker measures announcement were made, many organisations out there were not fully prepared and some of them even had a hard time making last minute arrangements for staff to work efficiently at home before the Monday, 06 April 2020 deadline. In fact, everyone in my office were busy setting up the necessary software and making configurations the entire day to work from home. The atmosphere gave me a peculiar feeling and it seemed as if it was the last day of operations for the organisation, so much so that there is no confirmed end date given by management for this work-from-home arrangement. On the way home, I saw many people pushing suitcase which I assumed that they were carrying their computing equipments from office back to work from home for the entire month.
The day started relatively well for me as I managed to setup the mini desktop computer which I brought home from office and connect to office network via VPN successfully last night after reaching home. However, there are currently limited things which I can work on at home as some parts of the network has not been configured and the respective team of engineers are still working on this task in office. Productivity naturally decreases with distractions at home.
Lunch options for me are certainly more limited when I work at home. As my office is located at a town centre, an endless array of coffee shops, a hawker centre, cafeterias and even several fast food restaurants provide nearby residents and office workers many lunch options. Due to this mandatory work-from-home or cease operations arrangement which affects majority of the workforce, business remains sustainable for neighbourhood coffee shops or food courts. At the coffee shop opposite my house, all chairs were taken away and customers were seen queuing orderly inside and observing the 1 metre social distancing rule. The coffee shop owner has taken this opportunity to fix some lightings above the dining area next to the walkway where many elderly customers would congregate and smoke.
All facilities at condominiums must also remain closed. On my way to buy lunch, I saw the swimming pool area and the children's playground being sealed off with boundary tape with a notice saying that the facilities are closed till further notice. It is going to be a long boring month. There is nothing much one can do even on annual leave.
Nevertheless, everyone should do their part by observing all rules set by the authorities to curb the spread of this deadly virus that has already infected and killed tons of people worldwide. Together we can overcome this pandemic and bring life back to normal. Take care and stay safe!
References
Covid-19 circuit breaker measures: What you can and cannot do for the next one month
These circuit breaker measures were publicly announced at 4 pm on last Friday, 03 April 2020 which was rather last minute. The authorities decided to implement such drastic measures after the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Singapore continued to raise despite extensive contact tracing, quarrentine and social distancing. The most worrying thing is not the rising number of confirmed cases but rather the rising number of unlinked cases in which the infected person does not know where and how he/she caught the virus. As a result, there is a need to minimise person to person contact in order to bring down the chance of getting infected. These circuit breaker measures were not totally unexpected as many other countries which have been hit hard by the deadly virus have already implemented such lockdown measures. After the circuit breaker measures announcement were made, many organisations out there were not fully prepared and some of them even had a hard time making last minute arrangements for staff to work efficiently at home before the Monday, 06 April 2020 deadline. In fact, everyone in my office were busy setting up the necessary software and making configurations the entire day to work from home. The atmosphere gave me a peculiar feeling and it seemed as if it was the last day of operations for the organisation, so much so that there is no confirmed end date given by management for this work-from-home arrangement. On the way home, I saw many people pushing suitcase which I assumed that they were carrying their computing equipments from office back to work from home for the entire month.
The day started relatively well for me as I managed to setup the mini desktop computer which I brought home from office and connect to office network via VPN successfully last night after reaching home. However, there are currently limited things which I can work on at home as some parts of the network has not been configured and the respective team of engineers are still working on this task in office. Productivity naturally decreases with distractions at home.
Lunch options for me are certainly more limited when I work at home. As my office is located at a town centre, an endless array of coffee shops, a hawker centre, cafeterias and even several fast food restaurants provide nearby residents and office workers many lunch options. Due to this mandatory work-from-home or cease operations arrangement which affects majority of the workforce, business remains sustainable for neighbourhood coffee shops or food courts. At the coffee shop opposite my house, all chairs were taken away and customers were seen queuing orderly inside and observing the 1 metre social distancing rule. The coffee shop owner has taken this opportunity to fix some lightings above the dining area next to the walkway where many elderly customers would congregate and smoke.
All facilities at condominiums must also remain closed. On my way to buy lunch, I saw the swimming pool area and the children's playground being sealed off with boundary tape with a notice saying that the facilities are closed till further notice. It is going to be a long boring month. There is nothing much one can do even on annual leave.
Nevertheless, everyone should do their part by observing all rules set by the authorities to curb the spread of this deadly virus that has already infected and killed tons of people worldwide. Together we can overcome this pandemic and bring life back to normal. Take care and stay safe!
References
Covid-19 circuit breaker measures: What you can and cannot do for the next one month
Saturday, 28 March 2020
Completion of Introduction to Forensic Science Course
Due to the escalating COVID-19 situation, many events are cancelled and businesses are either partially or fully closed. As such, I decided to recommence my e-learning to keep myself occupied while at home. Since there is nothing much we can do outside due to social distancing measures, it would be a wiser choice to do some e-learning to gain as much knowledge as possible during this fearful time. The knowledge and/or certifications obtained may be of good use in future when this deadly virus situation turns better. The last time I did e-learning was around October 2018 which was more than a year ago. Ever since I decided to do e-learning again in mid February 2020, I have completed 6 courses including this one and obtained the e-certificate for each of them. As a professional working in the IT industry, I would naturally chose to study IT related courses such as Cybersecurity and Artifical Intelligence (AI) which are highly sought after these days. Many like-minded people would agree that we should pursue courses related to our profession which are beneficial to our work and for better career prospects. Therefore, I had proceeded according to plan and have completed the Cybersecurity specialisation (consisting of 4 courses) and AI Introduction course, both offered by IBM on Coursera e-learning platform. After completing these 2 learning areas, I happened to chance upon this Introduction to Forensic Science online course offered by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore on Coursera platform while searching for a course to study. A glance through the course syllabus aroused my interest as Science was my favourite subject back in secondary school which I often scored well. In fact, if I had not chosen to study IT in polytechnic, I would have chosen a Science related course such as Biotechnology. This is a hidden fact buried in my heart after secondary school till today. Although I am not really a big fan of CSI, I have always been fascinated by how Science is applied in real life to help us in work and improve the way we live. Overall, it had been an enjoyable learning experience and I am proud to have completed this course which is the first course/certification outside my area of work.
Here are some important information and my learning experience for this course.
Topics Covered
1. Introduction to Forensic Science
2. Chemical Analysis in Forensic Science
3. Time of Death; Blood
4. DNA in Forensics
5. Fingerprinting; Polymers & Fibres; Firearms
6. Narcotics
7. Toxicology
8. Case Studies
Schedule
It takes approximately 25 hours to complete this course. The recommended time to commit, including attempting all the assessments is around 3 hours per week for a total of 8 weeks. However, I was so addicted to this course that I managed to complete all the lectures and assessments within a week. The moment I studied the first lecture, I looked forward to study the next one so much that I made use of my time after lunch break and also after work to study.
Instructor
This course is taught solely by Associate Professor Roderick Bates from the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Professor Bates is a British who has taught in several South East Asian universities prior to joining NTU. Throughout the course, he explained the underlying scientific concepts well enough for layman (someone without professional knowledge in chemistry) to understand. Initially, I was worried about not being able to comprehend all the scientific terminologies and concepts which are the fundamentals for Forensic Science. Although I had studied Chemistry for O'Levels, it was more than 20 years ago since the last time I was in touch with this subject. Fortunately, the underlying scientific concepts were not as difficult to understand as I expected. Anyone who has studied Science in secondary school would be able to undergo this course successfully. Moreover, the assessments in this course do not test learners much of these underlying scientific concepts. Professor Bates also demostrated some of the more important experiemnts in the NTU Chemistry lab and shared numerous case studies from all over the world in which how Forensic Science was applied to solve crimes. However, since he is a British, most of the case studies he shared are from the United Kingdom.
Assessment
The assessment for this course consists of 3 quizzes, each consisting of 15 multiple choice questions and 2 assignments. According to schedule, learners are expected to attempt quiz at the end of week 3, 5 and 7 while assignments are at the end of week 4 and 6. There is no assessment for week 8 lesson as it is purely sharing of case studies by Professor Bates. Since this course is hosted on Coursera, it is required to abide by the passing standards set up this reputable e-learning platform. Learners need to obtain a score of at least 60% to pass all the quizzes. Reattempting a quiz is possible but to ensure that learners study the materials throughly before reattempting the quiz, there is a limit of maximum 3 attempts every 8 hours. Both assignments are scenario based which test learners on reasoning and application of the various techniques to solve crimes. Upon submission, assignments will be graded by 4 other fellow learners accordingly to the rubrics provided. A learner is also required to review at least 4 other random learners' submitted assignments in order to complete the assignment.
Some interesting things I learnt from this course are ...
Chromatography, a simple Chemistry technique for the separation of a mixture by passing it in solution or suspension through a medium in which the components move at different rates are also applied in Forensic Science. I vividly remeber doing this experiment back in lower secondary.
Identical twins have almost similar DNA. In the event when one of the twins is a suspect for a case, it would require much effort and money to identify which one. In fact, there are such instances which the criminal charges were dropped due to the extremely insane effort and cost to identify which of the identical twins is gulity.
If you intend to commit a crime, it is advisable to wear white cotton clothing as all cotton materials have the same composition and fibre pattern. Hence, there is no way to unique identify a piece of cotton clothing or trace the manufacturer. Fortunately, most cotton clothings are dyed with colour and it is possible to analyse the composition of the dye and trace the manufacturer and buyer
In order to know whether a bullet is fired from a firearm found at the crime scene, simply just load a bullet into the firearm and fire it. The striations (series of ridges, furrows or linear marks) caused by the firing are unique for every firearm. In this way, we can compare both bullets. If their striations matches, then we can conclude that the bullet found is indeed fired from the firearm.
Codeine, which is a medicine used to relieve cold symptoms is made from the opium poppy plant, the same plant in which opium, morphine and heroin are made from. This indeed sounds scary to me as Codeine was prescribed as medicine to me by the doctor I used to visit. In fact, there are some drug addicts who manage to turn codeine into diacetylmorphine which is a "stronger" form of morphine using chemicals which are readily available.
Forensic Science also plays a part in Archeology by helping to determine whether a set of skeletal remains belong to King Richard III of England through the matching of mitochondrial DNA with that of the descendants of the King. This is fascinating as the skeletal remains are more than 500 years old and such technique is only available quite recently.
Ironically, my alma mater, Presbyterian High School (PHS) adopts Forensic and Pharmaceutical Science as their Applied Learning Programme (ALP). The school's ALP gives students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills from different disciplines of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) to solve meaningful problems. Engaging students in investigative Science and experiential scientific inquiry promotes their interest in STEM activities, not only during their school years but also throughout their lives. From what I understand from the teacher who is currently the Head of Department (HOD) for Science in the school, this is an non-examinable subject for the students. However, students who do well in this subject may be awarded bonus points for entry into related courses in polytechnic. The obvious difference I spotted between this Forensic Science course I studied and the one which PHS students studied is that theirs consist mostly of practical lessons while mine consist of purely theory lessons. The drawback of my course is the lack of opportunity to conduct experiments. Nevertheless, it is definitely a wonderful experience to learn how Science is applied in solving problems in real life.
If you are a fan of those CSI or Hong Kong crime investigation movies, why not consider to convert your interest into action and perhaps someday you could be a real Forensic investigator?
Here are some important information and my learning experience for this course.
Topics Covered
1. Introduction to Forensic Science
2. Chemical Analysis in Forensic Science
3. Time of Death; Blood
4. DNA in Forensics
5. Fingerprinting; Polymers & Fibres; Firearms
6. Narcotics
7. Toxicology
8. Case Studies
Schedule
It takes approximately 25 hours to complete this course. The recommended time to commit, including attempting all the assessments is around 3 hours per week for a total of 8 weeks. However, I was so addicted to this course that I managed to complete all the lectures and assessments within a week. The moment I studied the first lecture, I looked forward to study the next one so much that I made use of my time after lunch break and also after work to study.
Instructor
This course is taught solely by Associate Professor Roderick Bates from the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences of Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Professor Bates is a British who has taught in several South East Asian universities prior to joining NTU. Throughout the course, he explained the underlying scientific concepts well enough for layman (someone without professional knowledge in chemistry) to understand. Initially, I was worried about not being able to comprehend all the scientific terminologies and concepts which are the fundamentals for Forensic Science. Although I had studied Chemistry for O'Levels, it was more than 20 years ago since the last time I was in touch with this subject. Fortunately, the underlying scientific concepts were not as difficult to understand as I expected. Anyone who has studied Science in secondary school would be able to undergo this course successfully. Moreover, the assessments in this course do not test learners much of these underlying scientific concepts. Professor Bates also demostrated some of the more important experiemnts in the NTU Chemistry lab and shared numerous case studies from all over the world in which how Forensic Science was applied to solve crimes. However, since he is a British, most of the case studies he shared are from the United Kingdom.
Assessment
The assessment for this course consists of 3 quizzes, each consisting of 15 multiple choice questions and 2 assignments. According to schedule, learners are expected to attempt quiz at the end of week 3, 5 and 7 while assignments are at the end of week 4 and 6. There is no assessment for week 8 lesson as it is purely sharing of case studies by Professor Bates. Since this course is hosted on Coursera, it is required to abide by the passing standards set up this reputable e-learning platform. Learners need to obtain a score of at least 60% to pass all the quizzes. Reattempting a quiz is possible but to ensure that learners study the materials throughly before reattempting the quiz, there is a limit of maximum 3 attempts every 8 hours. Both assignments are scenario based which test learners on reasoning and application of the various techniques to solve crimes. Upon submission, assignments will be graded by 4 other fellow learners accordingly to the rubrics provided. A learner is also required to review at least 4 other random learners' submitted assignments in order to complete the assignment.
Some interesting things I learnt from this course are ...
Ironically, my alma mater, Presbyterian High School (PHS) adopts Forensic and Pharmaceutical Science as their Applied Learning Programme (ALP). The school's ALP gives students the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills from different disciplines of STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) to solve meaningful problems. Engaging students in investigative Science and experiential scientific inquiry promotes their interest in STEM activities, not only during their school years but also throughout their lives. From what I understand from the teacher who is currently the Head of Department (HOD) for Science in the school, this is an non-examinable subject for the students. However, students who do well in this subject may be awarded bonus points for entry into related courses in polytechnic. The obvious difference I spotted between this Forensic Science course I studied and the one which PHS students studied is that theirs consist mostly of practical lessons while mine consist of purely theory lessons. The drawback of my course is the lack of opportunity to conduct experiments. Nevertheless, it is definitely a wonderful experience to learn how Science is applied in solving problems in real life.
If you are a fan of those CSI or Hong Kong crime investigation movies, why not consider to convert your interest into action and perhaps someday you could be a real Forensic investigator?
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