Category Archives: Learning

Why critical thinking matters

Posted on by

iStock_000008026019_Large

As an undergraduate at NTU, I have found that critical thinking is encouraged in classroom discussions. In theory, the goal of critical thinking can be said to make you a devil’s advocate. No opinion or argument is flawless; you can and will, seemingly for its own sake, find fault with anything a person says. Of course, this sounds like a surefire way to gain unpopularity.

However, by moulding you into an independent thinker, critical thinking brings benefits that far outweigh its initial drawbacks.

Here are three reasons why critical thinking matters: Continue reading →

Count on us, Mr Lee

Posted on by

It was a privilege to be invited to witness the special parliamentary session on Thursday to pay tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Some of the speeches by the ministers and Members of Parliament really moved me to tears.

As I listened to their reflections, I felt thankful that I wasn’t born into their generation at a time filled with immense changes, developments and even turmoil.

After the session, I stepped out into the Padang and took a good hard look at the city. This was what the late Mr Lee and his team built with blood and perspiration. It reminded me not to take our nation for granted. Others take hundreds of years to build a developed and First World country, but Singapore took only 50. She is indeed nothing short of a miracle. And yes, much of the credit goes to Mr Lee.

I feel proud to be a Singapore citizen and am determined to continue to build upon the foundations laid by Mr Lee. This was also what I expressed in my speech last Wednesday at the Lee Kuan Yew Memorial Ceremony held at NTU in his honour:

Guoyi1a

It is with deep sorrow and sadness that I am speaking this afternoon.

Last Sunday evening, I felt led to make a trip to the Singapore General Hospital. I visited the Quad of SGH, a designated corner kindly set up by the hospital for members of the public to leave their well wishes for the now late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. In spite of the cold and rainy weather that evening, there were many from the crowd laying flowers and cards of well wishes. The peoples’ hope for Mr Lee to recover and join us in the coming Jubilee National Day celebrations warmed my heart. There and then, I wished that I could have met Mr Lee in the ward to convey my concern and well wishes to him in person. I knew it was impossible to do so; hence I whispered a simple prayer, hoping that he could hear it. Continue reading →

Relax, don’t cram

Posted on by

Hello, everyone! First things first, here’s wishing you a Happy “Goat” Xi Fa Cai. Do excuse the bad pun, just wishing everyone a happy and good Year of the Sheep! It’s a new year and a new start – our chance to do better, keep our heads up and move ahead.

One of the biggest lessons I learnt at the School of Art, Design & Media (ADM) last semester is don’t cram all your studio modules into one semester. You will NEVER have the time to finish all of them. So a heads-up to my ADM juniors! 😀 But apart from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the last semester, especially my Applied Drawing and Art History classes. They made learning all the more interesting.

During my lessons in Applied Drawing, we were taught to notice the smaller details and capture what we see in a different way. For example, sometimes when we draw an object, it can look a little weird. Try a different approach by drawing the “negative” shapes instead. By doing so, we capture the forms around the area, rather than just focusing on the object itself – another way to achieve the end goal. Continue reading →

Something happened in year three

Posted on by

We cupped our ears and squinted our eyes; the horrendous din was reminiscent of a ghoulish scene from Dante’s Inferno…

That’s what it felt like as my friends and I returned to NTU to do some admin work after our graduation in August. We looked at the freshmen in their camps and had this moment of sage-like wisdom: “Ah freshmen, how little they know…” Then it dawned on us: four years ago we were in those same freshmen camps.

Something happens as you transition from being a freshman to a sophomore (year two) then a junior (year three) and finally a senior student (year four).

Suddenly, what used to fascinate you as freshman or sophomore doesn’t intrigue you anymore. Other things become more interesting and you find that freshmen start to look at you like some wise, old person. Secretly, behind your wizened demeanour, you marvel at how they can stay up till 4am and not be absolutely burned out the next day. You are amazed at how they can shout and scream and run and still have so much energy. You are amazed at the muscle-ripping figures they have, and wonder whether you ever looked that ripped in your prime. Don’t look as if you don’t know what I mean (especially the guys)! By year three or four you probably started building a tummy pillow around your waist, which I’ve always had. Well, at least I maintained the rest of my figure.

Continue reading →

From undergrad to full prof

Posted on by

OAS Academic Council Meeting n Professor Installation Ceremony 075pa
This is an excerpt of a speech I delivered at NTU’s Academic Council Meeting on 28 August 2014, where I was installed as a full professor.

In 1992, a shy young man walked into Lecture Theatre 1 for his first lesson at NTU. After running around in the jungle with his M16 rifle for two and a half years, he wondered if he could cope with his studies as an engineering freshman. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in life then. Well, that young man was me.

Continue reading →

NTU President gives his thoughts on university education

Posted on by

Convocation

I have been in Singapore for seven years and there’s one thing that never fails to amaze me. Singaporeans are passionate about education, especially the education of their children. That’s a good thing. Singaporeans should be happy that they are well served by an education system that is simply world-class.

As I am a beneficiary of education myself, I believe in and appreciate the value of education. I’m the only one among my relatives with a degree. When I was young, my parents never encouraged me to study. I did it myself.

Singaporeans should be proud to have two world ranked universities here, NTU and NUS. I am asked everywhere I go at various international conferences the reasons for NTU’s rapid growth. It is precisely because of the Singapore Government’s belief and investment in universities that a young university like NTU can make big leaps internationally in such a short time.  Continue reading →

Learning to learn

Posted on by

Break’s out, school’s in and it’s time to start studying again.

Do I hear groans?

This post is going to be for those of you who want to learn how to study smart. I’m going to take it for granted that you’re in university and want good grades.

In a previous post, I mentioned about having no regrets and not working too hard, but that doesn’t mean your grades shouldn’t matter. So, assuming you want to be able to get good grades and fully immerse yourself in the NTU experience, what exactly do you do?

Here’s what I’ve learnt about learning over the last few years. Continue reading →

It’s philosophy, not chim-o-nology

Posted on by

01
‘By Michael Biech (Philosophy) / Wikimedia Commons’

Philosophy is often misunderstood. Many NTU students tend to see philosophy as a chim (profound) subject because when they think of philosophy, they think of or remember how difficult philosophical text can be to understand. For example, here’s a quote from the French philosopher, Jacques Derrida in his essay, Différance: Continue reading →

Overweight luggage? Check. Missed the bus? Check.

Posted on by

Post-exchange travel rarely happens smoothly, especially if it’s also your first time travelling alone, like it was for me. All sorts of problems can materialise: delayed flights, missing an interstate bus, leaving something behind, overweight luggage… the list is endless. For me, my constant worry was about luggage weight or missing an interstate bus or flight.

While travelling in the United States after my exchange at the University of Missouri-Columbia, I mainly rode the interstate bus, Megabus, from state to state. Besides the lower cost, it’s better than flying as you get to admire the scenery zooming past. Like planes though, interstate buses in the US have weight limits on luggage, set at 50lbs (about 23kg). Because I had just spent a semester on exchange in Missouri and accumulated a pile of school notes, university merchandise and band T-shirts from metal concerts that I attended, I constantly worried about being denied entry when boarding the bus.

01
My dorm room the night before I left the University of Missouri-Columbia. Notice the remaining items that still need to be packed into the almost-full suitcase. Continue reading →