This is probably the only time in my student life where I get to work on a year-long project with my friends. I would not trade the experience for anything else, and am really glad we finished the project without any major disputes!

Under the caring guidance of our supervisor Assoc Prof May Oo Lwin, my group mates and I worked on a health communication project in the area of food nutrition labelling.

Basically, we experimented with different types of food packaging and studied their effects on participants who seek nutrition information.

We designed and created our own food packaging, and used them as stimuli in the experiment. We were in charge of everything – from design to data collection to report writing. Although it wasn’t our first time designing an experiment, it was within a research area that was completely new to us. But our determination held strong, and we finished the project amidst crazy schedules, tight deadlines and last-minute “heart attacks”.

We were also fortunate enough to get our research paper accepted for an academic conference in Japan. Two of us got to travel to Kyoto for the presentation, thanks to a travel grant from WKWSCI. It was truly an honour to represent the school!

We journeyed to Osaka, where we visited the beautiful Osaka Castle. Then, we shopped till we dropped at the Shinsaibashi-suji shopping district and gorged on delicious okonomiyaki, a Japanese savoury pancake filled with various ingredients.

Kyoto, where the conference was held, proved to be another captivating city, with cherry blossoms at the Kyoto Garden Palace and the historic Kiyomizudera Temple, one of Kyoto’s many cultural heritage sites. However, the most memorable moment was stepping into a restaurant after a weary day of travelling, and being greeted by polite and endearing Japanese staff who served us fresh authentic Japanese food… oishi!

Beautiful flowers and even more beautiful memories

Presenting our hard work at the 2013 Association for Business Conference, 12th Asia-Pacific Conference, Kyoto

A post-presentation picture with other FYP groups!

I loved, how, during the course of the FYP (Final Year Project), my group mates treated one another not only as friends but also as colleagues. We joked around a lot, but were also quick to switch to “serious mode”, and to work hard.

Once, we pulled an all-nighter at my group mate’s house. Although we didn’t catch a single wink of sleep and were really worn out by the next day, it was a memorable night because somehow everything seemed 10 times funnier at 3am in the morning (I think we were feeling a bit delirious).

Sure, there were times when we didn’t see eye to eye. Voices were raised and tempers flew. But all the shouting always made us hungry and everything would be all right after a satisfying meal…

Our 4am supper at Simpang Bedok Food Centre

There was always a clear division of work and leisure. Whatever disagreements we had during meetings did not carry over to the times when we were monkeying around. Whenever we faced a problem at work, we would voice it out to quickly resolve the conflict. This made for effective group communication, and I think it’s much better than hushing things up.

Our group dynamics can best be described by something my group mate once proclaimed in a sagely fashion: “True friendship is measured by the number of atrocious things you can do to your friends.”

This was met with a friendly retort from another group mate: “With friends like you all, who needs enemies?”

FYP submission day – thanks to my group mates who made everything possible.

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