Interview: An Electric Giant - By Jasmine Sim

You might find it odd for this small guy to be called a giant. If you see Wen Qin in person for yourself, he is far from gigantic. This petite electrical engineer now in his second year has recently stepped down from his position as NUS Cultural Activities Club’s president of the 9^th Management Committee. The CAC Clubroom is located along the stairways leading to the Study Lounge at Yusof Ishak House in NUS. It is almost impossible to spot it without help from the hanging directional signs but the pleasant soothing sounds coming from acoustic guitars from a distance, serves as a perfect direction guide.

CAC is one of the only four, and among the biggest non-faculty clubs in NUS consisting of 9 music and dance sub-clubs. The club seeks to promote cultural awareness and conduct beginner and advanced courses for interested students to pick up new skills and showcase their talents. Amazingly, the hustle and bustle of this place, more appropriately the drum beats, guitar strums and dance steps that fill the clubroom sounded almost as if it was a “clubroom that never sleeps”. Somehow among all that background noise, Wen Qin is able to draw attention towards himself whenever he speaks. Perhaps, it is the works of his gentle yet affirmative tone. Wen Qin projects this stern “default angry face” whenever he does not speak but behind that hard exterior, he is a very approachable and negotiable leader, says Eunice Yeap, CAC’s current Honorary Financial Secretary for two terms. CAC also hosts special projects such as CAC+US; an annual concert showcase of the 9 sub-clubs, freshman orientation camps and cultural week.

It seems natural for seniors to doubt the capabilities of this junior leader in the committee, but this little giant has proven critics wrong. Former Computing Club president, Randy Valentius Kamajaya says that initially he felt worried as Wen Qin did not have any knowledge and experience beforehand. After more interactions, and seeing how passionate and dedicated Wen Qin is as a leader, Randy asserted that Wen Qin managed to get rid of other people’s doubts about his capabilities, including himself.

Wen Qin says that he was motivated to run for president because he saw the urgent need to unite and revamp the image of CAC, who was left without a president for two weeks when the 8^th Management Committee stepped down. One of the many challenges, Wen Qin recollects, was that he went through great lengths to gain the support and respect of his senior members. The first step he took was to meet up with his sub-club presidents and had a face to face talk with them individually. He admitted his incompetence towards the backgrounds, courses and cultures of the sub-clubs. He made additional effort to seek consultations and gain understanding from his sub-club presidents before executing his decisions. From there, he managed to gain their trust and understanding. He was not afraid to question, and from there he learnt.

The burning passion in some of the presidents among the constituent clubs Wen Qin witnessed, greatly spurred him to lead his team through the many obstacles faced. Amongst them was former FASS Arts Club president, Wee Shi Chen. Wen Qin proudly praised him as someone he deeply respects. “If there is anyone who thinks about the welfare of the students first, it has got to be Shi Chen,” he added.

Wen Qin shyly describes himself as a zealous and competitive person who can be counted on most to display responsibility in his work. Former Arts Club president, Wee Shi Chen commented that Wen Qin is a strict and assertive leader, one who “does not compromise when it comes to work and isn't above making hard decisions.”

The fruit of Wen Qin’s success are visible in the improved publicity and reputation of CAC in NUS. In the past year, he has strived hard for the welfare of his expanding club members and actively championed for larger clubroom facilities. Looking forward, he sees CAC moving in the direction of the sub-clubs turning into performance ready professionals rather than remain as an interest take-up group.

The vibrant mix of committee and club members from different faculties allowed Wen Qin to be more flexible and open to different working styles and ideas. He believes such an environment offers a good opportunity to learn the best from one another. Wen Qin feels strongly about entitling ownership of roles to his committees; “give them a direction so as to inspire them to find a path for themselves to fulfil the club’s goals through words, thoughts, actions.” As simple as watching his club members enjoying themselves on stage during performances gives Wen Qin the greatest satisfaction as club president.

When asked which sub-club he secretly wants to join, Wen Qin had undoubtedly expressed that he wanted to be in Resonance, a cappella club. “This is not exactly a secret,” he grins, “but sadly I am not good enough,” he confesses with a smile plastered on his face.

Most certainly, Wen Qin’s “default angry face” is indeed a deceiving personality façade. This guy is definitely a huge ball of courage, passion and dedication— he was just about to rush off to sit in a budget discussion with his newly elected management committee.

Brain Storm: Right Brain Psychology

At my first biological psychology tutorial, we learnt something interesting. Let's say you need to put on make up (for guys just put yourselves in girls' perspectives), would you use a mirror, or would you use the projection on a screen from a video camera of yourself? Before you answer this question in a bimbotic way, it's good to know that most humans perceive emotions, visuals with their right brain and motory actions, logic with their left brain. If you use your right brain to think, you tend to focus on your left. This means that if you are right brain-ed, when you look at someone, you tend to look on the left side of his or her body. Taking this in mind, would you use a mirror or a video camera?

 

 

The answer is video camera. The reason is simple. When people look at you, they focus on your right half of the body because to their perspective, their left is your right. However, you yourself are also most likely a right brain-ed human. You tend to look at your left as well. A mirror projects a mirror image, ie. when you look at your reflection, your left remains your left, your right remains your right. Since you tend to focus on your left as a right brain-ed creature, you will focus your make up on your left but other people look at your right. On the other hand, a video camera projects an image the same way another person is looking at you. Therefore when you look at your projection through a video camera, your left is your right and your right is your left. Thus you'll prefer to use a video camera to put on make up. Guys, you should try to focus on making your right half look better if you want to impress a right brain-ed girl. If you know that she is left brain-ed, then focus on your left.

Oh Yeah It's Uni Life!: All In A (President) Day's Work

12am - Type emails. Receive replies from emails sent out earlier. Reply and repeat.

1am - Discuss work with committee members

2am - Continue to type emails.

3am - Give up replying to replies. Start doing tutorials.

4am - Sleep.

8.30am - Oversleep for 9am class. Shower, wash up.

8.45am - Rush out of hostel, realise there's meeting later. Run back to room and change into smart casual or formal, pack and bring laptop/personal planner out.

9am - Cut from school of computing to faculty of engineering.

9.10am - 11am - Tutorial. Doze off and hang head above tutorial worksheet.

11am - 1pm - Lecture. While listening halfway through, receive emails and start replying. Sms committee members to get work done. Recall that the meeting later requires reading up. Reads documents instead of listening to lecture.

1pm - Pon lecture. Go to student lounge to prepare for meeting later.

2pm - Meeting with club.

2.30pm - Meeting with another club.

3pm - Meeting with school administration.

4pm - Meeting with committee members.

5pm - Meeting with club.

6pm - Lunch/Dinner.

7pm - Meeting with other committee members.

8pm - Return to hostel.

9pm - 10pm - Nap.

10pm - 12am - Laze in front of computer. Complain to friends. Read documents, emails. Type emails.

12am - Repeat.

Snippets of my Life: 2) Not Human

At NDP Parade, I was fiddling with the NUS Bear.

Me: Don't you think the NUS Bear doesn't look like a bear? The face is too sharp.
Eunice: Cause it's thin mah. Just like you. The bear very thin but  it's still a bear. It's just like you are very thin but you are still a human right?

*Laughter from surrounding members of the public*

Snippets of my Life: 1) Alone with 5 Girls in a Room

I brought my female friends to visit my friends in Utown

Ning: Eh not bad lah WQ is here alone with 5 girls in one room.
Me: Cool ah, help me tell Ed they all that I'm actually quite charming one then they won't laugh at me anymore.
Yue: Don't want leh, I will never help you to better your reputation.

Oh Yeah It's Uni Life! - Year 2 Starts

So today is the first day of my Year 2 life in NUS. Many many things happened in year 1. My life was fantastic. It was filled with colours, it was dramatic. I made many friends, gained much experiences, learnt a lot about the real world. But if there's anything that should be right but isn't, it's my academic results. I did so badly I think even the people around me got affected by it, one way or another. This coming semester, I will work really hard. I've fallen down once, I shall try not to fall again.

This year 2 life will be happening and meaningful too. There's tons to achieve. Watch me.

Oh Yeah It's Uni Life! - My Message for My Engine Freshies

Hey freshies! Hope you enjoyed Oweek. I'm so glad to have such a cute bunch of freshies, so interesting and so fun loving. Despite us being so chillax, I felt we were still bonding, still moving forward as an OG. For those who wrote on my letter that you hope to keep in touch with me, maybe we will, maybe we won't. But be rest assured, this is only the start of a new chapter with your fellow FRESHMEN. The councillors may slip away, but your fellow freshmen won't. I didn't have the chance to give a prep talk at the start of the camp cos I was late but you determine how fun the camp will be and how many friends you want to make. Thankfully you guys pulled through.

NUS is a winding 4 year road. It's going to be tough, but it's going flash past fast as well. I shall quote myself in my speech for my CAC Camp "There are many paths you can take in NUS. You can focus on your academia and shun a social life and possibilities of multi disciplinary growth. Or, you can take charge of your life, your learning, your social circle and your growth. It takes just one step to venture into the unknown." Your university life is yours. Whether you want make the most out of it is your choice. The choices you have are insanely numerous. Don't be lazy. Take the initiative. Ask. Plan.

On a side note, I would like to thank your OGL on behalf of all the councillors. The House Head pushed the responsibility from me to him so it's really my fault that he had to tank all the sai kang. Behind the scenes, without his hard work, many things wouldn't go as smoothly. He can't be around most of the time also because he has to take instructions from the camp committee. So to Zhi Rui, you're much appreciated! =)

You have many seniors, many resources, many connections. I tell my juniors, there are 3 key things you should aim to achieve in university. Academic excellence, networking, and a good resume. Keep that in mind. Make use of us seniors as a source of knowledge and networking. You are probably the only OG that has 5 councillors, 10 crashie councillors, and 30 over senior councillors whom you may get to know in the near future. If you need to know someone with a certain experience, ask us.

To end off, it's been great knowing you guys. I was a boring freshie and my OG was unexciting. I can imagine that when we were councillors, nothing changed. But yet you guys made the camp fun for yourselves. For that, I am thankful. You'll probably notice that I will stop being "fun loving, sociable, and an amazing senior once school reopens anyway. Once again, welcome to the 4th generation of our line of OGs (don't know what's the name of the first OG) Pyro, Evening and now Turks, and welcome to NUS.

Your neighbourhood friendly councillor
Wen Qin

Oh Yeah! It's Uni Life!: The CAC President Shares About Social Camps

Every year, CAC organise one of the few Cross Faculty Camps in NUS prior to freshies' matriculation. In NUS, we all learn to be independent with our academic excellence and personal growth. More often than not, university's culture is so drastically different from what one would experience before in their lives that adapting to NUS may take some time and effort. Hence, your seniors dedicate themselves to holding a social camp for you to make you feel welcome, to make you feel at home with us at NUS. There is much to learn and one of the easier ways to grab onto the fast train of NUS life is to make new friends and learn from your seniors.

CAC Social Camp is different from your normal faculty camps in that ours is a cross faculty one. You will meet fellow freshmen and seniors from different disciplines with different experiences. You will know more people and learn about cultures and module knowledge beyond your own faculty, an essential part of your NUS life. In NUS, cross discipline academia is emphasised and it is always good to know people from FASS, Engineering, Science, Computing and so on. Networking too has never been more important in this day and age.

There are many paths you can take in NUS. You can focus on your academia and shun a social life and possibilities of multi disciplinary growth. Or, you can take charge of your life, your learning, your social circle and your growth. It takes just one step to venture into the unknown. With us at CAC, you will not only know new friends or gain knowledge about surviving university life. You will realise that you will open up, and explore many possibilities beyond this camp and its participants.

I hope to see you there. Keep an open mind, juniors.

Brain Storm: My Role Model - Helen Keller

I mentioned that when I was in secondary school, I did a personality test. The test was pretty comprehensive. It showed me my strengths and weaknesses in each area and how to enhance or curb them. They also categorise us according to personality types and each type has a sort of role model attached to it.

My role model was Helen Keller. The test said that I was like her because I believed in one thing. It was the famous quote which she said.

I am only one. But still I am one. I can only do something. But still there is something I can do. I will not refuse to do that something which I can do - Helen Keller.

Apparently my perfectionist and high-and-mighty personality makes me compelled to do something which I feel strongly about or something which I think my contribution will make a difference. I've always wanted to be a commander in the army because I feel that I will be able to make better of the soldiers' lives, though that dream never happened. I wanted to be a policeman because of how self righteous I am (but too bad I was underweight). I guess a nice way of phrasing it is that I am helpful. But it really is in me to want to do something if I feel that I can contribute in my own way.

Strangely enough, this personality and quote which I believe in has gotten me into trouble enough times in my lifetime. Yet I still keep going. I mentioned how jaded I was, leading the my club on my Facebook. I said I wanted to step down. I'm not sure how many people agrees with what a friend said, but he commented that "You will not (step down)". Somehow, I think that will be exactly it. Should I be happy about this? I'm not sure. But I still strongly believe in Helen Keller's spirit. If you can do something, don't refuse to do it, even if you are but one. Because you can affect lives positively. Because you can make the difference.

Brain Storm: How I Respect My Teachers

My Higher Chinese teacher in secondary school said before that she was upset when her ex student came back to visit her and called her by her name. It feels terribly wrong to call someone older than you and the person who imparted precious knowledge to you without any salutations. I remember how she said it to this day. That's why I have never called a teacher who taught me before by his or her name.

However just now when I met my JC tutor for a drink, he told me that I should call him by his name though I have not been doing that for the 3 years since I graduated. I guess it's because he's a young teacher and feels that we should be friends instead of just teacher and student. I guess I'll comply, but I still think that calling my teachers by their salutation is the simplest respect I can give.

Oh Yeah It's Uni Life! - Bad College Nostalgia (Engineering)

http://www.geekosystem.com/engineering-professor-meme/2/

Holy cow, I'm not even past 1 year through my engineering school life and more than half of it is true. I wish I could say "this brings back memories" but the truth is I still have 3 years to go.

 



 

Seriously I hate this line.

Slice Of Life: Speech While Playing Game

I remember when I was in JC1, I went back to my alma mater for their Sec 1 Orientation Debrief with the student council. There was a disagreement of some sort and I stepped in to interrupt them. The whole time I spoke my hands were on Ben's Mac with Ed beside me. He interrupted me sometimes and we laughed occasionally while I was talking. After I finished my "inspiring" speech, a junior asked, "did you just read all of that from a script?" I turned the Mac around. It was some maze game. Lol. I loved the faces my juniors made.

I was so young then (that's like 5 years ago?). Whether whatever I said was crap or not, I probably can't do that nowadays.

Ramblings: Going Outschool With My 7kg Bag

the bag is bigger than my upper body

Sometimes I feel like slaughtering the person who urged me to get my 16inch gaming laptop. It's so huge and heavy that everyday I feel like a freaking turtle.

My laptop itself is 3kg. My power brick is 0.5kg. The big bag (else it won't contain the laptop) is 1kg itself. Add my water bottle and thermal mug that's another 1kg. My stationery (pencil case, calculator etc) and notes weighs 1kg. Add my other misc stuff I have myself a 7kg field camp.

Yes soldier let's go.

 

 

...I swear I'll buy a tablet.

Ramblings: Semester Break

My females friends have been tweeting about what they look forward to doing after the exams. Movies, shopping, gatherings, overseas trip etc. And then I look at my to-do list.

Projects
Proposals
Planning camp
Handing over ceremony
Data collection
More projects

That's my life. But I do have some of own things to do.

I gotta

Sort out my music (it's in a mess)
Sort out my photos (not so much in a mess but still)
Set up usb/dual-boot Arch Linux (been wanting to learn that)
Learn a bit of java from brother
Set up my cloud sync with Google proper

They're geeky stuff. There's not much hype. But that'll do. I shan't complain too much. I still look forward to the holidays. Recharge and get ready for a busy sem 3 and sem 4.

NUS: Financial Assistance (for prospective and returning students)

NUS offers a whole bunch of financial assistances, ranging from partial loan, helping you find work, bursary etc. The deadline for this year is 1st April, which is 4 days away. So don't forget that. Financial assistance application requires you to key in some stuff online. Once that is done, you have 2 weeks to submit some documents, for eg. photocopies of your IC, your parents salary slips etc. The 2 weeks start from the day you submit your application so lets say you submitted the application on 1st March when the application just started, the deadline to submit the documents will still be 2 weeks, meaning you have to submit the documents even before overall deadline of the financial assistance.

Don't fret even if you have missed the deadline. If you request properly, I doubt NUS will deny you financial assistance just because you forgot about it.

There are a few tiers of financial assistance. However they are mostly loans so don't be too happy and just apply without thinking.

Tier 1: Tuition Fee Loan (TFL)

In order to get any other type of loans (with the exception of MOE bursary I think), you need to have this. That said, the final approval date for TFL is late June. You can apply for all other financial assistance which requires this but at the end of the day you will only be approved for those financial assistance if you got approved for TFL. TFL is basically loan of up 80% or 90% of your tuition fees from either DBS or OCBC. You just need to go down to the banks to ask for the application form. TFL requires a guarantor.

Tier 2: NUS Study Loan (w/ Living allowances)

This loan covers for the remaining 10% to 20% of your tuition fees. There's also a $3600 you can apply for living allowances. You can apply for either, or both.

Tier 3: Bursary

You can apply for NUS bursary or MOE bursary during this period of time. If you wish to apply for other bursaries which open for application later, you can do so it. More often than not, you can only get ONE bursary per year. So choose wisely. I got MOE bursary though there's less money but there's less of a hassle. Apparently you need to go for sponsorship/donor talks from time to time if you chose NUS' sponsored bursary.

Tier 4: Work Study Assistance

NUS will help you find jobs inside NUS eg. Lab assistance, ushers for University Cultural Centre, manning of Student Lounge etc. I did not go for this so I don't know much details.

Tier 5: Student Assistance Loan

This is just yet another loan of $500 or $2000 (if you live in Halls of Residences).

 

All loans' interest starts 6 months after you graduate or the moment you get a job, whichever comes first. Therefore I recommend that people with doubts apply first, there's nothing to lose. Most financial assistance have requirements except for TFL. For more info, visit http://www.nus.edu.sg/oam/scholarships-financialaid/financialaid/financial-index.html

Note: this applies to returning students as well.

Oh Yeah It's Uni Life: Why NUS Is The Best Choice - Vibrant Campus Life

If you ask anyone from NUS, probably less than 1 out of 10 will tell you that they know of a stray cats society (NUS Cat Cafe http://blog.nus.edu.sg/nuscatcafe/about/). NUS has about a total of nearly 200 clubs/societies/interest groups. There's always something for everyone. Here in NUS, vibrant campus life is an important part of education, an important part of our university life. Throughout the semester, posters of activities are actively being put up and at every turn you will see information/recruitment booths being set up.

University life requires quite a bit of independence. One will not find opportunities flying to them, whether its activities, career opportunities or enrichment programmes. But they are there. Campus life is everywhere as well, though some people do not notice it. All it takes is a little observation, a little curiosity and lots of open-mindedness.

In general, there are 3 categories of student activities. One is under the umbrella of NUS Students' Union and the other is clubs/societies which are generally independent and the last university supported clubs (CFA). NUSSU consist of 14 constituent clubs, of which 10 of faculty clubs and 4 are non faculty clubs, namely Cultural Activities Club, Sports Club, Community Service Club and Political Association. Here's some examples of student activities which I am aware of.

1) Faculty activities

As a freshman, you should always take notice of your faculty club and be familiar with it. There are lots of relevant activities which will be useful to you as a student. Besides the exciting camps, faculty clubs also organises pageant bash, career fairs, fund raising activities, bazaars, student welfare activities and lots more. Personally I attended my freshmen Social Camp at Faculty of Engineering and I never looked back since. I made a lot of friends and got to know the university and how it works a lot better by the time I went for my Engin Oweek Camp.

2) Cultural/Arts Activities

There are many arts related activities in NUS as well. If you are interested in watching performances, keep a look out for posters around school. Arts festivals, regular productions by Cultural Activities Club (the club I am in), various societies are also aplenty. For those who want to learn something new, Cultural Activities Club offer courses for students from beginners till to intermediate for various genres such as guitar, street jazz, hip hop, ballroom dance, salsa, lindy hop and bboying. These courses are conducted per semester basis so fret not about having a busy semester. You can always join another semester and try different things in different semesters. CAC is not the only club which offers such courses. Staff Club, SRC (Sports and Recreation Centre) and CFA (Centre for the Arts) offer courses from time to time as well but usually at a higher rate. If you are a performer and wish to join a group professionally, CAC's clubs have performing teams as well, including singing clubs Resonance (acappella), Voices (mandopop) and Guitar (which is a band). CAC also has a traditional instruments group Angklung. CFA has several performing groups like Dance Blast and Synergy.

www.nuscac.org

www.nus.edu.sg/cfa

3) Community Service

Community Service Club (CSC) is a club under NUSSU's wing as well. Despite that, it has strong connections with other service clubs in NUS such as NUS Volunteer Action Committee. I have not participated in community service in NUS yet so I am not extremely familiar but I do know they have a huge spread of volunteering opportunities including OCIPs.

www.nus-csc.org

4) NUSSU (leadership) and its branch organisations

The Students' Union is basically an organisation which takes care of the students' welfare. Welfare is a word with a broad meaning. While some students don't realise it, many things are part of students' welfare. For eg. photocopying machines in school, computer labs, residential stay, student's lounge, career talks, camps etc all fall under welfare. There are much more to this list of course. Generally, all constitution clubs (10 faculty and 4 non faculty) falls under NUSSU but there are other committees are part of NUSSU as well such as Public Relations Unit (PRU), Bizcom, International Relations Committee (IRC), Computer Based Learning Centre (CBLC) etc.

5) Clubs/Societies

There are many types of clubs/societies/interest groups which cater to different needs and interest. For example, Original Music Club is a club for like minded friends to come together to discuss and play music. Japanese Studies Society's name speak for itself. There are around 100 such groups.

6) Others/Misc

You can join Research Centres as a helper, or help out at student cafes which are completely owned by students. Or you can join a residential committee and contribute to fellow students' welfare who stay in a hall of residences.
As you can see, many opportunities for students exist in NUS. School life never stops and there's never a moment of dullness, if you stop and notice, if you take time to seek, if you take effort to explore. NUS offers you endless possibilities.

Oh Yeah It's Uni Life!: Why NUS Is The Best Choice [1]

I've had a hard time choosing between NTU and NUS a year ago. Now that I'm in NUS, I've never looked back. There are many reasons why one would choose to go to another university other than NUS. But none are as compelling as why NUS is the the best choice.

As a student with an active school life in NUS, I'll be giving you insights to why NUS is the choice. I'll be touching on topics like vibrant campus life, hostel life, academia, facilities, as well as other administrative issues such as financial aid.

Juniors, do feel free to ask me if you have any questions. No matter what, seeing is believing. Come down to NUS Open House 2011 this coming weekend on 12th and 13th March to know what you're in for if you choose NUS. Oh and you'll have to drop by the Cultural Activities Club booth! I'll be there.

Worthy Quotes: Non-Exhaust-able Leader

A leader cannot fall.

A leader cannot say he's tired.

A leader cannot tilt his head downwards.

A leader cannot grumble.

A leader has to look far.

For he has a community looking up at him, listening to him, and then looking in the direction he's looking at.

So I have to look far. And press on. Fail not. Continue.

Oh Yeah It's Uni Life! - The NUSSU Council

The NUS Student's Union

Oh Yeah It's Uni Life! - Overwhelming Experience