Board of Governors Talk

For this year Board of Governors talk, it was Mr Alex Siow's turn. He came to gave an inspiring talk to the Director List students about how to excel in an IT career. The Board of Governors are the people who manage Informatics & IT School and they take turns to come to our school to give talks and share information with the students.

Mr Alex Siao & Mr Ng Koon Seng, Deputy Director of Temasek Polytechnic Informatics & IT School.

Our Director List students attending the talk

Here is some background information about him. Being Head of Business Excellence and System Technology, Starhub, he is well-known personality in the industry. In 1995, he was nominated by Computerworld Singapore as one of the top 10 most powerful IT personalities and IT Person of the Year 2002 by the Singapore Computer Society. He was formerly the Chief Information Officer(CIO) of the Housing Development Board of Singapore and was conferred the Public Administration Medal Bronze award in 1993 and the Silver award in 2000.

He shared with us lots of his wonderful experiences. One of the most amazing thing is he was a civil engineer yet he created a huge wave in Singapore's IT industry. At first he did not want to enter the IT industry. However, in the end, he still became one of the first few CIO in Singapore. One of the main reason was his success was that he taught his subordinates all his skills and knowledge. Even if he hates his job, he still give it his best and never complains.

Mr Alex Siow also shared about soft skills necessary to become a CIO or basically any job. Skills such as communication is very important, he emphasised on being good at English as its the language we use to communicate. Having the basic soft skills is not enough, we also need to learn to mentor others and be selfless. He mentioned that we have to teach others how to be good at what we do so as we can move on to other jobs. Learning is an endless process and we have to keep learning to improve ourselves and prove that we can be capable in other jobs so as to move up the working ladder.

Finally, I would like to end this post with his favourite saying, Never say never.

New Media Strategy and Web Analytics Talk by Mr Tan Kian Ann

Our senior students studying New Media Strategy and Analytics had the chance to listen to a guest speaker on the topic "New Media Strategy and Web Analytics". 


Mr Tan Kian Ann is a TP graduate from 2001 and set up his own business 4 years ago. He started with web development and proceeded onto Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as he realised the importance of it for businesses. 


He shared with us his knowledge on SEO and analytics. He also share his experience on working with clients and the practices he use. Showing us some of his clients and the results of the work, he explained what he does for his clients and how it has impacted the clients' businesses.

How Addictive are you?

Hey everyone, it is me, Hikaru, again. Sorry for the extremely slow updates that we are putting up. Recently, most of us are busy with our assignments. We will increase our post frequency after the semester break kicks in.

Ok! Let us get into topic nowxzxzxzxz. Well, have you ever thought about yourself being addicted to something?

Here are some information. When someone is addicted to something, he/she will be very agitated about it. This person will also slowly lost patience to anything around them.

The awesome M blogger and I went to listen to a talk hosted by Mr. Puden Tsang, Project Manager of Rie ink company. He gave us a talk on Alcoholic Addiction and Smoking Addiction - alcohol and smoking can be harmful to us if we take in more than expected limits which our bodies can take.

Before heading into the main topic, Puden played a little game with us and let us do a quiz to see how addictive we are. The more points you have, the more addictive you are.

Here is Ms Farida introducing the guest speaker Mr Puden Tsang (on the right)

The Addictive Traits.

In the talk, Puden told us about how drinking too much alcohol will cause many health problems to our body. The average drink per day for female is just 1 glass while the average drink per day for male are 2~3 glasses. He also stated that more and more youths have started drinking recently and the youngest age for a youth to start drinking is 12 years old. That is a very young for a teenager to start drinking. Well this doesn't mean that you can't drink at all. You can, but do it in moderation.

The effect of drinking.

After that, he goes on by telling us the percentage of alcohol that will be in our bloodstream when we drink. Each glass of beer consist of 0.02% alcohol content which are quite high.

Hence, if you want to drink, drink responsibly. Do also take note of your health by drinking less. And also, each alcohol contain almost the same amount of calories as the food we take everyday.
So if you don't wanna get fat, then stop drinking and keep yourself healthy.

It is important to drink responsibly.

Amount of Calories in each Alcohol.

During the talk, we also learned about the negative side effect of smoking. I know that you people already know the side effect of smoking, however, there are still people who are smoking. Some may even take in more than 5 sticks of cigarette per day which is dangerous for the health. Smoking can only make us feel good for a short moment and over do it, you may get cancers such as lung cancers.

In my opinion, I think that everyone wants to live long and enjoy their time with their families and loved ones. If your family members or your friends smoke, it would be best to encourage them not to.

A short activity during the talk.

Well, that's all folks. Stay tune for our next post which is near Valentine Day. =)

The IMI Bloggers and the guest speakers.

Parents Seminar 2011

Hi awesome readers, Sheldon and Raine here. On 4 Jan 2011, we had the privilege of attending the enrichment talk by invited guest speakers during the Parents Seminar organized by the Temasek Polytechnic School of Informatics and IT.

This talk was well attended by over 200 parents of the students of the School. We were thrilled to be part of this exciting event. This event was organized by the IIT School in collaboration with its industry partner Health Promotion Board.

The parents were treated to an interesting and enriching sharing of awesome experiences of counseling and the psychology of childhood and parenthood by two experts in the industry.

The first speaker is Mr Benedict Lim, who is trained in Counselling and Psychology and has been working with different groups of youths for more than 10 years in various capacities with 4 years of professional experience as a full-time youth worker and counsellor with Children-At-Risk-Empowerment Association (CARE Singapore).

The second speaker is Mr Nicholas Lim who is a registered psychologist and works extensively with at-risk youths and caregivers. He has worked with local schools and various youth and childcare organisations such as National Youth Council and Children-At-Risk Empowerment.

The speakers shared with parents on the impact of parental relationship and behaviours on youth in a talk entitled “Happier YOU, Happier YOUth”.

The speakers were engaging and we could see the burning passion in their eyes when they spoke about how the parents are a role model for the children. They told everyone in the lecture hall that children are constantly watching and recoding the behavioral traits of significant caregivers (adults). Children model themselves after the 3 Rs.

The 3 Rs are:
Responses (our reactions to situations)
Rituals (our habits and patterns)
Relationships (our interactions with others)

Children see,
Children do.

What the parents do will have an effect on how their children will grow up to be. Hence, if the parents are violent, the children will grow up to be violent too.

“Don’t worry that your child never listen to you. Worry that they’re always watching you”
By Robert Fulghum

Mr. Benedict also told us that everyone sees things differently. He showed us two optical illusions which people may perceive it in different ways.



You can see a face or the word “Liar” here.



Children will see nine dolphins while adults who have experienced adulthood will see a picture of an intimate pose here.

Why people see things differently are because of the 3 Es. They are:

Environment
- Our environment forms the parameters and scope of our world views
Experiences
- Our prior experiences shape us and mould us to form ideas and perceptions about things that we see
Expectations
- Our expectations drive us to interpret things according to how we want to see it, forming a self fulfilling prophecy.

He also shared with us inspiring quotes that the LOVE which parents show for each other, is actually the best present for their children because children will model themselves to love their future spouse.

“The Greatest Gift a parent can give to their child is to Love Each Other”
By unknown sources

“Self Care is the Greatest Gift you can give to yourself and your family”
By Theresa Bung

Lastly, he shared some commandments (no religious connotation) about how parents are blessed if they pay attention to their child by Association for Children and Adults with learning disability including:

1. Blessed are the parents who listen to their child, for they in turn will be heard.
2. Blessed are those who do not expect more of their child than is appropriate for their level of maturity, for they shall not be disappointed.

Here are sone quotes from the parents who attended the talk:
“The talk has been very beneficial and interesting for me. I have gained more knowledge and understanding on my child.”

"Very informative and helpful."

Here are some quotes from the fellow bloggers:
“The talk has made me realized that everyone is different and we should learn to embrace that.”
By Sheldon

"I have learnt that how our parents' actions would affect our view of the environment and it takes both sides to work together for a happy family"
By Danielle

"Through this talk I got to know lots of things, such as how children follow their parents footsteps and it was shown through a very interactive method through a video. I also managed to know how parents think about children in general. The speaker is articulate, and I has a great time listeing to him. Last but not least, this talk is really helpful to those who wants to understand more about parents as well as their youths."
By Raine

I hope you have enjoyed this blog post because both of us have enjoyed the amazing talk and we want to share what we feel with others.

HIV/AIDS? No, I Won't Get It.

Hey y'all!

It's been a while~

I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting~

But I'm here now~

Let me Break the Ice! Jaiden's back! People, I'm terribly apologetic that I've been out of business for so long, have had a few rough weeks with my health, but don't worry, now I'm back, better than before!

Anyway, let me get down to this post straight away, shan't waste any more time putting redundant bits of information about myself when y'all probably are reading the post FOR the post, not random bits & pieces about the author.

On the 18th of November, TP invited a guest speaker Mr. Adrian Yow from the Yong-en Care Centre to give a speech about HIV/AIDS to educate the students more on this commonly-known yet oft-misinterpreted & misunderstood virus/disease.

Basically, the talk highlighted the dangers of contracting AIDS & how easy can one contract AIDS. Well, technically, if talks like these have to be given to maturing adults, it just goes to show that people, are generally ignorant about AIDS which therefore caused a stimulus for talks like these to be given. Sure enough, most people probably even KNOW about the dangers of getting AIDS, but choose to IGNORE it. Therefore, measures have to be taken to curb this rampant problem that has plagued society so much, & what's an effective solution to keep this problem in check?

Educate the masses from young so that it can be passed down generations. Therefore, talks like these give young people a head-up on what dangers are there out in the world & how to avoid this dangers, & what did this talk broach on? HIV/AIDS.

Also, what's a Gossip J post without a reflection from yours truly?

Let me start. The high occurrence of AIDS patients, ironically, can be reduced by a very rudimentary measure. That is sex education. Nowadays, more & more young people are starting to take sexual intercourse very lightly, more or less influenced by mass media & the general rampancy of pornography on the Internet.

It's a highly melancholic happening how people, just go ahead & have sex without thinking, & merely succumb to their temptations. At the end of the day, whatever you do, anything you do is up to your own choice. Sure, your choice may or may not be influenced, but it is still up to you to make your own choice eventually. No one can make it for you.

Hence, people, just have your own opinions & stick to them! You don't just go around & have sex with people just because you find them really physically attractive or just do it because you people feel like it! It is a permanent decision that will stick with you for life, having sex or not, & who you want to have sex with.

It's a tough choice. Make a wise one. & that's my reflection on having sex.

Alright, that's all I have for you in this post. Stay tuned for more of me alright? I'm back, & there's a whole arsenal of bombastic posts that I can unleash upon y'all!

XOXO, y'know y'love me - & missed me.

Also, who I really am?

My identity, shall be a secret I'll never tell.

Gossip J

P.S: Here are the pictures!

Here's a picture of Mr. Andrew Yow & our very own Ms. Farida!

Whoa, the talk was so interesting the whole LT was filled! You don't even see this much people in lectures usually!

Whoa, & y'all even concentrate more on this talk than your lectures! How do y'all still manage to do well at school! *takes hat off to y'all*

Enrichment Talk - Stress Talk: Your Breaking Point

Managing your stress level is one important key skill you need to learn in life. It can determine whether the work/projects/assignments you hand in is awesome to the point of awesomeness or just plain bad that no one wants to read.

Hi fellow readers, it is me, Sheldon~! I have been one of the lucky few to be selected to go for the Stress Talk: “Your Breaking Point” by Ms Dilys. In the talk, I have learned that stress is normal and there are many categories of stress found. Stress comes in many forms and it can be broken down into the simplest form which is Family, School, Friends, Financial and Fashion.

Stress can get you in many ways; it can affect your body, your thoughts and your behaviour! If you do not handle your stress level well till it reaches the point where the Tornado meets the Volcano with strong winds, then it will result in a huge explosion which can be potentially lethal. Such fatal effects of stress will manifest in ways such as....

Body:
Migraine
Back Pain
Insomnia
Stomach Pain

Thoughts:
Anxiety
Worrying
Irritability
Lack of Focus
Forgetfulness

Behavior:
Over/Under Eating
Social Withdrawal
Crying Spells
Relationship Conflicts
Angry Outburst

We were given some tips on how to solve the stress that is building inside us. One of the ways to easily lower down your stress is to increase your self-esteem level.

How to increase our self-esteem...

Tip one: Your Strengths
Listing down ten things that you are proud of what you have accomplished.
For me, I am proud that I am chosen to be one of the writers for this awesome blog! If we give credit to our strength, our self-esteem level will go up. Always think about what we are good at and always remind ourselves about our strengths.

Tip two: Overcome Your Weakness
List down five things that you are not good at, on different pieces of paper. Try converting it from negative to positive.
For me, I am scared that “my English isn’t up to par” (I am selected to be a writer in this blog. HOW!?). I changed it to positive way, “I want to improve my English”.

Tip three: You Are Unique
Sign your name on a piece of paper
Take a look at your friend’s signature next time, is it the same?
For me, even though I know that my hand writing is horrendous. I am proud to say that I am awesome in my own ways and no one else is like me. For example, I am good at cheering up my friends when they are upset =D.

Audience Reflection:

"I have learnt that everyone is special and unique. So you do not have to have a low self-esteem as if you are
not good in a particular thing, you will surely be good in something else"
- by Shalom Quek Xian Lun, C245, IMI

"I learnt more about myself, my weaknesses and strengths. I will work on my weaknesses and
try to be a better person"
- by Javier Ang Zheng Yu, C233, CDS

"I learnt how to better my stress, realise my stress points and work on it to be a more relaxed
and happy person"
- by Alex Ng Guorui, C224, MWC

"I feel that through this talk, I get to know that we not only have to understand ourselves but also to understand the others personality as well"
– by Hikaru, C234, GET

Personal Reflection:
I am honoured to be chosen for this talk and I have learned many things which are going to be so helpful in my life. Above all, I have learnt to love myself and be proud of who I am as I am uniquely who I am. I need to love and take care of myself before I can love and take care of others. I have also learnt to love this job as a blogger so that I do not feel stress doing it! I do hope you love the way I blog. Have a great day fellow awesome readers!


Apparently, stress talk makes one more attentive and happy.


Chilling in the lecture hall.

Tis the season for deadlines...

Arggghh.... deadlines for students, markings for lecturers...

While i see a lot of comments/ enquiries on the course itself, I think i would put up some students' work so that we can drool at their masterpieces. Our regular bloggers also showcased their work in the very first few posts. Do check it out.

Module: Introduction to 3D (Year 2, semester 1)

by Shine Sun

by Shavonne Wong

We went TEKONG!!!

While the folks are enjoying themselves in Penang, we at IIT also went "overseas" to Pulau Tekong. Ms Cherry and I were super excited for obvious reasons...

Stress Management Talk
While all of the students are super burnt out, Mdm Faridah, our IT school counsellor gave a talk on how to beat the stress... literally ... wham... boom... punch...

Later folks...