14th Biological Sciences Graduate Congress @ Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok (10th December 2009 - 12th December 2009)

It says "Graduate Congress" and I am "underaged". Feels kind of weird to be among people doing Masters, Ph.D, etc. Then again, they are all very young. I would have mistaken them for being my peers if I didn't know any better.

However, thanks to my mentor, seniors and supervisor, I got the chance to see what this is all about.

These are just some of the photographs I've taken. Not of high quality, I know. Then again, I am not even a photography enthusiast.

Bangkok Center Hotel. Right in front of it is the Hua Lamphong MRT station. So it is very convenient to commute around. Alternatively, if the road is not too jammed and you have 4 people, cabs are also viable options. Jams are very scary (costly too).

View outside my hotel room.

Room at Bankok Center Hotel. Very nice. If you need to work on a laptop, do remember to shop for a plug/adaptor. The powerpoints there are not compatible with our plugs. My roommate have a tough time asking for a suitable plug/adaptor. The hotel staff were professional and eventually lent us one of their own plug. Still, it's better to buy your own.

Dinner on 1st night: Briyani with curry chicken (cannot remember the exact name. But they come as two separate dishes).

Dinner on 1st night. (Mis)lead by the cab driver to this place that serves Indian food. Kind of high class and as expected the price is a little steep. Well, guess what, the cab driver got 160BHT commission from the restaurant.

Room M01, where I am scheduled to present. Kind of shocked at first because it was the size of our lecture theatres, meaning its big. Haven't presented to such a large audience before. However, the number of people dwindle to only about 20 on my presentation session because 1. my session is on the second day of the Congress (people could have gone off for shopping if they have presented on the first day), 2. it was the last session for the day and 3. there were 3 consecutive sessions.

Building of Chulalongkorn University, Faculty of Science, where the Congress was held. The university is huge, with a large water feature you would mistake for a public park. Students there wear uniforms. White shirts and black skirts/trousers.

Lunch at Chulalongkorn University.




Bangkok MRT station. They don't have LCD screens to show how long more the next train takes to arrive however.

Their MRT ticket is a token, not a card. It's just a black circular piece of plastic with a chip inside that utilizes RFID (touch and go system). Before you exit the station where you disembark, you drop the token into a slot at the faregate. The gate will then open to you to go through.

Dinner on second day at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. It is just beside the Lumphini MRT station (easy access). Food this time was cheaper than the previous night. After dinner, went to shop in the bazaar. The guys bought quite a few stuff. I didn't buy any. Kind of hard to decide what to buy and there is always this nagging feeling after buying certain things that says I shouldn't have bought it. Didn't have much baggage space to begin with anyway. Haha.

Wat Prakaeo Temple. Went on a tour organized by Chulalongkorn University on the 4th day.

This is the exit of the Grand Palace (of the tour anyway). Took this before the tour ended because it was close to the entrance and I had no idea this was going to be the exit for the tour.

The grey statue is of some deity. Cannot remember the name. It is the first thing you see when you enter the temple.

Gate demons guarding the entrance to Wat Prakaeo temple.

3 stupas. Each of a different architectural style. One Cambodian, one Thai and one Chinese.

Cannot remember what this is.... but this is around every stupa. One of them is some sort of tribute to albino elephants. The guide said albino elephants signify power of the King. The more albino elephants, the more powerful the King is.

Stupa

Closer view of one of the stupas. It is made of teak, but gold plated. Real gold.

Guardians to the stupas.

Model of Angkor Wat of Cambodia. Cannot remember why it came to be here. Can Wiki for it. I tried. Just lazy to put it here.

Chedis. (I don't remember what is it for or what it signifies). But there are demons and monkeys at the bottom. Demons are those wearing shoes and monkeys don't wear shoes, and have opened mouths.

Mythological creature. The posture signifies "welcome". You can actually see statues of these along the highway to and from Suvarnabhumi airport to welcome the tourists.

Mural from the story of Ramayana. This huge ape-like creature is Hanuman. There are many of these murals, running continuously, around the temple. They tell the story of Ramayana.

The temple building that houses the Emerald Buddha. Photographs are not allowed inside the chamber. So you won't get to see the Buddha unless you are there in person. The Emerald Buddha sits on a very high platform. There are three costumes for the Buddha. One for spring, one for rainy and one for winter season. It has to be changed according to the seasons.

Gate leading to inner palace. (No entry)
The Grand Palace is just next to the Wat Prakaeo Temple, separated by a door. However, once you enter the Palace, you cannot return to the Temple again.

Statue of Chinese deity. Symbol of trading history between Thailand and China.

On the left is the building that houses the royal museum and columbarium and something else (cannot remember). One floor for one purpose. The gold building is where the body of the royal family is placed before being cremated.

Guard (real person) of the royal museum. Changes shift every hour. Kind of pitiful... tourist taking them as exhibits...

Royal museum building

Royal museum building (front)

This building was the one in which the body of the sister of Thai King was placed in before she was cremated last year I think...

In all, I think this is a very well organized Congress. Although most of the Thai students organizing the Congress were not very fluent in English (it is not their first language I think, or perhaps because I didn't speak clearly enough), their hospitality and willingness to help are top notch.

Life Will Find A Way

Ok. It's very obvious that this blog will not be updated frequently. Anyway, been very busy.

Remembered this line from John Hammond (Jurassic Park) - "Life will find a way". No matter what happens, life still has to go on. The day when one gives up is the day one loses.

WARNING! WARNING! : TOO MANY MANY MANY ERRORS

People who knows me should know that I am a klutz --- Not exactly the mpore cautious / reliable person around. Made too many errors in the lab... Have to buck up. This has been a problem for a very long time... It is time to get this "disease" cured before "tigress" comes back.

It's really coincidental that both look alike. Hopefully I won't get "eaten up" by "tigress no. 2"

Buck Up! Buck Up!

Envy, Gluttony and Sloth

Gluttony - Been eating too much high calorie food (ice cream, fruit juices). But it's probably just a passing phase. Just have to set mind not to eat so much, or stagger the days to eat them.

Sloth - Feeling very sleepy lately, despite sleeping around 8 hours on weekends and 6 hours on weekdays. Body ageing?

Envy - Ok... This is a little more complicated. I supposed to many of my peers, I might be deemed as academically accomplished. (I, of course, beg to differ.) But I am envious of them having a "life" outside school. I am not totally devoid of "life" outside school. However, compared to them, I feel I am under-socializing. Have to make myself really see the point of opening up.

ES2007S Post #7: Final Reflection

The three most useful skills I have learnt in this course are resumé writing, interview and presentation skills. These will definitely boost my confidence when it comes to job or internship interviews.

I think the most important thing to consider in order to communicate effectively is to understand my audience/listener and to adapt my delivery to them. For example, during presentations, we should put concepts in a way that the audience can understand; tailoring our application letters to the post we are applying for can give us an edge; when interacting with people of different cultures, we have to be sensitive to their cultures lest we offend them.

Every person probably knows generally how to write. However, it is the details, the 7Cs of writing, that will make a piece of writing stand out. I have learnt much in this aspect. Business letters, meeting minutes, survey reports, job application letters are different forms of writing and serve different purposes. I feel more ready to be out working after learning these writing skills.

The EQ section of this course, though brief, provided a starting point for me to explore ways to build better interpersonal relationships. It taught me to think more deeply about how people would react and hence how to interpret their responses and make suitable responses myself.

As stated on my first post, effective communication is very important. This course reinforced this idea. In the fast-paced work environment, effective communication saves time, prevents misunderstandings and helps foster good relationship.

ES2007S Post #5: Teachers as Friends?

I often face an uphill task when interacting casually with superiors (teachers, lecturers, tutors and teaching assistants). I believe that we should always respect and maintain a teacher-student relationship with them. However, it appears that the boundaries of such a relationship are getting blurred.

I noticed that my peers tend to treat teachers as friends. During my secondary school time, I have friends who treat teachers as close friends. They went out for meals together outside school, visited the teachers’ homes during festive seasons and discussed personal matters with the teachers. I find it hard to be like my other friends. First, I am not that sociable and second, they are my teachers.

Also, in university, there are students who playfully tease their teaching assistants. I feel that they are being disrespectful towards their teaching assistants. I feel awkward whenever I see my friends interacting so well with their teachers while I am keeping my distance.

I agree that there is nothing wrong with being friendly with teachers. If the teachers are fine with interacting more intimately with students outside classrooms, that is fine as well, as long as students and teachers know what they are doing. However, how does one maintain a student-teacher relationship in this case? Or am I too rigid in my thinking?

ES2007S Post #4: Evaluating Intercultural Behaviour

Picture from http://www.imeem.com/groups/FI7ZDL0-/blogs/2008/01/29/fat_W7Lu/whats-showing-now.

"New Heart" is a drama of Korean MBC broadcast network

In a Korean medical drama, there were patients (VIPs – Very Important Persons) who, because of their social status, demand preferential treatments, despite being informed that other patients also needed the resources. The doctors, who believed in equality in treatment, denied their requests. Unfortunately, these patients, who were middle-aged men, would physically abuse and threaten them.

I think elder Asians tend to regard giving special treatments to VIPs as normal and this stemmed from the hierarchical structure of Asian society -- people of lower social status are expected to treat people with higher status with respect and be subservient to them. However, as society progresses, meritocracy and equality are rebuffing such antiquated views towards treatment of VIPs.

This intercultural conflict provides a lesson in handling conflict. The doctors in the drama calmly explained to the VIPs why their requests could not be granted. However, the doctors failed to identify with the emotional need of the VIPs to feel respected, causing the confrontation. I think this showed that although people may understand the reason for a rejection, they may not feel good about it (due to loss of face, for example). This “not feeling good” constitutes the emotional barrier to listening as mentioned in the textbook. Thus, we should pay attention to the tone of delivery (not sound arrogant even if we have a valid reason) and empathize with them, so as to cushion any emotional blow inflicted. This is true regardless of the age of the person we are interacting with.

ES2007S Post #3: Business Correspondence Critique

This letter, by the Ministry of Health, is to inform readers that they will be placed under the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) upon reaching 21 years old.

One of the strong points of this letter is that it employs the AIDA formula (textbook pg 83-84) rather well. The letter opens with a congratulatory paragraph, which captures and sustains the attention of the reader. HOTA is then introduced to the readers and readers are told of the help they can offer to patients, before details of opting-in or out are given to them. This sequence of paragraphing will create a positive impression of HOTA on the readers. All necessary details (Completeness) are also clearly provided should readers want to opt-in or out in paragraphs 5 and 6, with the consequences coherently presented in the respective paragraphs (Clarity). The letter ended by thanking the reader, showing courtesy to the reader (Courtesy).

However, there are several areas which can be improved. Firstly, the phrases, “the purpose of” and “those who are” in paragraph 3, can be omitted as they are redundant. Next, certain paragraphing needs amendments. The age-bracket is mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 3. This appears repetitive. I suggest stating that the readers are in HOTA in paragraph 2 and mention about the age-bracket only in paragraph 3 where HOTA is explained. In addition, that the readers will be given higher priority when receiving transplants should they remain on HOTA should be stated in paragraph 3 to appeal readers to stay on. Besides these, the sentence highlighted in paragraph 5 lacks tact. Instead, the letter can simply reiterate the priority given to those on HOTA. The phrase “have your organs removed after death” in paragraph 6 conveys the chilling prospect of doctors cutting open bodies to extract the organs. I suggest changing the phrase to “donate your organs after death”.

ES2007S Post #2: Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Trent is a 19-year-old student. Towards the end of his graduating year, he and his close friends planned to go clubbing since some of them thought it would be a good way to celebrate their graduation. Trent, who had not gone clubbing before, was excited about this “in” activity.

However, Trent’s mother, Wanda, was uncomfortable with clubbing. All Wanda knew about clubbing were the negative portrayals in dramas. Whenever Trent mentioned about clubbing, Wanda would indicate her disapproval by telling him how dangerous a club is. Wanda had never met Trent’s friends and was afraid he would be in bad company. Trent was adamant on going despite knowing that Wanda was uncomfortable with his decision

Main problem: Eventually, Wanda relented and allowed Trent to go, telling him to not be home too late. Trent agreed. Wanda felt that since Trent was already 19, it was time she went easier on him but did not articulate this to Trent. That night, Trent suddenly sent an SMS home, saying he will be staying out overnight --- something which he has done only once at a school camp. Wanda was very angry. She thought: What if something happen to him? I told him to be home early!

When Trent came home the next day, the mother and son quarrelled over why he stayed out.

What could Trent and Wanda do so that Wanda will feel less uneasy about his going clubbing and his staying out overnight, something which was not planned beforehand?

ES2007S Post #1: Effective Communication Skills

Developing effective communication skills are vital tp me for three reasons:
1. To secure jobs and internships.
2. To build strong relationships with friends, families, colleagues and superiors.
3. To discover more about myself.

To secure a job or internship, a clearly written curriculum vitae, along with appropriate and confident response at interviews are vital. To achieve these, I need to have effective communication skills. Whether at interviews or other situations, when we have a good impression of a person, we are likely to infer that the person has more positive attributes or even disregard negative information about that person.* To leave a good first impression through writing and face-to-face interactions, we need effective communication skills.

Friends, families and colleagues are the people most important to us. Effective communication skills enable me to better analyse their thoughts and actions, learn more about them and thus be able to act appropriately to strengthen our relationships. In doing so, I can foster closer relationships with them and encourage them to open up with me.

Using effective communication skills, I can know more about myself by how people interact with me. I can then take steps to improve myself. For example, when my project mates choose not to consult me on an important decision, it may mean that they think I am not capable of making a correct decision or it is simply due to a lack of time. Using effective communication skills will enable me to verify which scenario it actually is.

*Joseph A. DeVito. The Interpersonal Communication Book Eleventh edition. Pg 87. Pearson Education, Inc. 2007.

First Practical in 6 Months

I had the first practical in 6 months yesterday.

Amazingly, things generally went right. In fact, better than expected. Well.... Truth be told, I am a "practical idiot" [ You can take it as practically idiot, or idiot when it comes to practicals. I do not really mind either way. =) ].

Hopefully things will go on like this for the next 3 months. Let us 加油吧 lab partner!

Hello World!!!

Finally got over the inertia and set up this blog. Hello World!!!