Friday 9 December 2016

Critical Reflection on my Effective Communication journey [Learning Portfolio]

Throughout my entire journey in this module, effective communication, I felt like I have learnt so much.  I have learnt how to analyse and write a proper reader response, write a technical report, deliver a presentation properly and having a better command in English in general. 

When learning how to analyse and write a proper reader response, I realized I have not been analyzing such information detailed enough to make full use of the resource during my polytechnic days when I had to do lots of research. An example would be the research phase of my major project. After learning the skill sets for these, I know I will be able to make full use of them for future projects in my course of study in university.  

Technical report writing was something I have never learned before. Although I was in the engineering school for my polytechnic study, I have never done anything similar. However, also in engineering school again for my course of study in university, there is already a project for a module that requires writing a technical report. The things I learnt on writing a technical report are immediately applied for that project. I will also be sure to make use of the information I learnt here to apply them for future report writing.

During the course, I had the chance to deliver a presentation in front of my class. Our group was then voted to present in front of our course mates in a lecture theater. It was my first time presenting for such a large crowd. However, all thanks to the skills I have learnt I could confidently present my point in front of the crowd and largely reducing my nervousness when presenting. I am thankful for this chance as I was able to improve my presentation by presenting it a second time for the showcase.

These listed above has also helped me to improve my command of English in general. I would like to thank our instructor, Brad, who have put in much effort to give us individual feedback on what we should improve on as well as my peers whom also gave me genuine feedback and support along the way. Through the feedback, I was able to know clearer on what I have done well and what I should improve on. All in all, my best takeaway for this module was instilling confidence in me when using English in general because of all the new things I have learnt.

Commented on Rafiana's blog

Wednesday 23 November 2016

Analytical Reflection [Learning Portfolio]

On Monday, November 14, 2016, my group and I gave a presentation about a problem we identified and our proposed solution. The last time I had to do a proper presentation was more than 10months ago, thus, I was very nervous before this presentation. My part for the presentation was the opening and ending of the presentation which is a new thing for me. I had to make sure I can gain everyone’s attention at the beginning and ensure that my ending was impactful enough. Due to my nervousness, I was afraid I would not be able to convey my ideas and the information well enough for the audience to understand.

After the presentation, I was glad that I had worried for nothing. I was glad that I managed to say the things that I had planned on saying. Despite having some small hiccups here and there such as speaking too quickly due to nervousness and using some fillers, I was satisfied with how I did. Of course, there will always be room for improvements. For any other future presentations, I will be sure to practice even more to prevent myself from speaking too fast, using fillers and to sound more convincing.

All in all, I am glad that I managed to do decently well and could try taking a different role in a presentation then I usually did. Although my performance for this presentation met my expectations, I feel that there is still room for improvements. I could have done even better with more practice and preparation.

Sunday 20 November 2016

Technical Report - Executive Summary [Learning Portfolio]

Recently, news of Linggui Reservoir in Johor, Malaysia suffering from severe loss of water mainly due to high levels of evaporation and low levels of rainfall have surfaced. As 60% of water needs can be extracted from that reservoir, it is important for Singapore to reduce unnecessary water wastage. In this proposal, a background on Singapore’s water needs and sources, the purpose of highlighting the problem in SIT will be discussed. Methods of analysis including surveys and research in regards to water conservation will be analysed and evaluated to present the mentality of the users and the pros and cons of the current implementations. The final proposed solution will then be determined by taking into consideration the cost, needs of the user and its feasibility. 

Technical Report - Emails & Letter [Learning Portfolio]


Transmittal letter

Mr Brad Blackstone

Senior Lecturer

Singapore Institute of Technology

SIT@ Dover
10 Dover Drive
Singapore 138868

Dear Mr. Blackstone


Proposal for reducing water usage for Future SIT campus in Punggol


This letter is to inform you of our acknowledgement and response to your letter of authorization. We present to you, as attached, our proposal to help address the lack of water saving technology for taps in SIT and to create awareness about the lack of water conservation among SIT’s students and staff.


Recently, there has been news of the Linggui Reservoir in Johor, Malaysia suffering from severe loss of water mainly due to high levels of evaporation and low levels of rainfall. The reservoir allows Singapore to extract up to 60% of Singapore’s water needs. Although there is no worry over Singapore’s water security with the help of the desalination and NEWater plants, it is important for Singaporeans to do more to reduce unnecessary water wastage.


With a view to reduce those water wastage in SIT’s future Campus in Punggol which is going to be the size of 2 times of all current campuses, our team is proposing a solution to install a water saving nozzle on all water taps in toilets. As the nozzle can be installed on any new or existing taps, our solution will work in a way to reduce the water wastage. Through this solution, we hope to help SIT play an important part in reducing unnecessary water wastage and at the same time SIT can reduce costly water bills resulted from those wastage.


The team would like to thank you for taking your time to read our proposal. We hope that you will consider our proposed solution for SIT and us to close the gap in the lack of water conservation and taking a part in helping Singapore to save water.


Yours sincerely,

Clarabelle Chui
Team Leader

On behalf of Team Misty Trio


Email to request for interview



Email to interview estates management:

To: dawn.ho@singaporetech.edu.sg 
Subject: Request for Advice - Water Conservation
Dear Ms Ho,

I am Clarabelle Chui (16SSB012D), a first year student studying in SIT Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (SIE) (Building Services). I’m currently attending Effective Communication class under Brad Blackstone. The purpose of writing this email is to seek advice from you in regards to the issue we have on hand after a discussion with Mr. Blackstone. In a team of three, we were tasked with a project to identify a problem and propose a solution to solve it. The problem that our group decided to tackle is the lack of water conservation among the users in the school. 

From our understanding, the students and staff in the school tend to think water conservation is not important and would take the water we have for granted. One major issue is the use of the water taps in the toilet. Even though the taps are automated to conserve water, users tend to abuse this system to allow continuous water flow. This defeats the purpose of the automated water tap sensor system. 

To solve this problem, we are planning to suggest the use of a more standardized system for taps which include the use of the Altered: Nozzle in the campus.  An Altered: Nozzle is a simple device that can be fitted to the existing tap nozzles so that water can be turned into mist. This can conserve water up to 98%.

Our group would like to consult you and obtain more information in regards to water consumption so as to have a better understanding before we prepare our proposal. The main questions that we require clarifications are as follow: 
Is the school implementing any water conservation ideas/methods? If so what is/are they?
How much is the water usage and amount paid every month for the past 1 year?
The reason for using different types of tap. Eg. Lever, push and sensor for tap.
The type of tap selected for the new campus in Punggol.
How big would the new campus be?

We would appreciate if you could share your knowledge with us regarding the above questions. Alternatively, if needed, kindly assist us to direct these questions to the relevant people.

Thank you. 

Best Regards, 
Clarabelle Chui
Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering


(Building Services) 

Email to The Altered:Company for more information








Technical Report - Executive Summary [Learning Portfolio]

Executive Summary
Recently, news of Linggui Reservoir in Johor, Malaysia suffering from severe loss of water mainly due to high levels of evaporation and low levels of rainfall have surfaced. As 60% of water needs can be extracted from that reservoir, it is important for Singapore to reduce unnecessary water wastage. In this proposal, a background on Singapore’s water needs and sources, the purpose of highlighting the problem in SIT will be discussed. Methods of analysis including surveys and research in regards to water conservation will be analysed and evaluated to present the mentality of the users and the pros and cons of the current implementations. The final proposed solution will then be determined by taking into consideration the cost, needs of the user and its feasibility.

Sunday 30 October 2016

READER RESPONSE FINAL EDIT [LEARNING PORTFOLIO]

In the news release, “Trains on the North-South and East-West Lines Safe for Service”, Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) (2016) addresses the problems it faces in regards to the trains that was recently in the media’s spotlight.  It first mentions about the actions taken to resolve the problems and how trains were subjected to tests to ensure their safeness and integrity. The article discusses one episode in which one train's "battery housing" flew open due to pressure. It also mentions that the cracks that were found on the “draught screen” of five of the new trains, were due to faults during the installation process. However, there were no effects on these trains’ operations as these problems were rectified immediately. LTA states that ‘hairline cracks’ that were also found on the car-body shell were caused during the production period. As it was impossible to repair the cracks, affected trains under warranty were sent back for replacement of parts at no cost. With a view to complete the rectification programme, LTA expresses that two trains would be sent for servicing at a time. Nonetheless, this would be dependent on the arrival of new trains along with the current ones which are undergoing re-signalling. As this issue has caught the attention of the public and media, there are several public concerns not addressed by the news release making this LTA news release incomplete.

The first possible concern for the public is the delay in reporting, which might lead the public to think that the authorities are trying to hide any problems with the trains from them. Lim (2016) says that the public only found about this issue after a Hong Kong- based news media (Factwire news) reported about the trains being sent back to China for repair, in secret. In the same article, the transport minister was quoted saying that the reason that the trains being sent back was not publicised was to not cause any unneeded panic for the public. However, the public would rather hear it from the authorities themselves rather than through the first report from Factwire news which said otherwiseAlso, the transport minister was also quoted saying that the issue did not go public as it was not a safety problem, otherwise, the authority would have done so immediately. However, in my opinion, despite the problems not being safety issues, the public would have wanted to know about the situation as they are taxpayers and if train operations were affected, it would greatly affect their daily means of transportation.

The second possible concern is the authority awarding a new contract to the same group of suppliers.  In a news release, LTA (2014) announced that the contract for 91 new trains would be awarded to “Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd/CSR Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd/Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium.” In another news release, Tan (2016) states that the first hairline crack was found in 2013 and the first train was sent back after the contract was awarded. This meant that despite being aware of the defects, the authority still trusted the suppliers and awarded them with the new contract. In a third news release, Lim (2016) quoted LTA saying that the new contract was awarded to those suppliers mentioned as they had taken the initiative to be accountable for the issue and the offer also had the best “price, quality and life cycle cost”. However, no explanation was given to explain how the quality was the best among the rest since this issue was giving the train’s quality a bad reputation. In turn, the public might think that having the best cost is the biggest factor in this decision instead.

In conclusion, while the article did clearly mention what the problems were and the plans to go about solving them, LTA should have given more details regarding their decisions about the delay in reporting and contracting with the same group of suppliers. This would have helped to dispel any public concerns.



References
Singapore Land Transport Authority. (2014, May 28). Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd/Csr Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd/Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium Awarded Prestigious Contract Worth $749 Million. Retrieved September 24, 2016, from 
https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=f0b205a6-69ab-49b0-b94d-65384ee5e5c0

Singapore Land Transport Authority. (2016, July 06). Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9-b2455f17a66c#_ftn1

Lim, K. (2016, July 12). Going public on train cracks could have caused undue panic: Khaw. Channel News Asia. Retrieved September 24, 2016 from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/going-public-on-train/2950576.html


Tan, C. (2016, July 06). Hairline cracks in 26 MRT trains made in China. The Straits Times. Retrieved September 24, 2016 from 
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/hairline-cracks-in-26-mrt-trains-made-in-china

Monday 17 October 2016

READER RESPONSE DRAFTS 3 [FINAL DRAFTS]

In the news release, “Trains on the North-South and East-West Lines Safe for Service”, Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA) (2016) addresses the problems it faces in regards to the trains.  It first mentions about the actions taken to resolve the problems and how trains were subjected to tests to ensure their safeness and integrity. The article discusses one episode in which the train's "battery housing" flew open due to pressure. It also mentions the cracks that were found on the “draught screen” of 5 of the trains, are due to faults during the installation process. However, there were no effects on train’s operations as these problems were rectified immediately. LTA states that ‘hairline cracks’ that were also found on the car-body shell were caused during the production period. As it was impossible to repair the cracks, affected trains under warranty were sent back for replacement of parts at no cost. With a view to complete the rectification programme, LTA expresses that two trains would be sent for servicing at a time. Nonetheless, this would be dependent on the arrival of new trains along with the current ones which are undergoing re-signalling. As this issue has caught the attention of the public and media, there are several public concerns not addressed by the news release making the article incomplete.

The first possible concern for the public is the delay in reporting, which might lead the public to think that the authorities are trying to hide any problems with the trains from them. Lim (2016) says that the public only found about this issue after a Hong Kong based news media reported about the trains being sent back to China for repair, in secret. Despite the claims not being the entire truth, the public would not have known since the first report from a third party said otherwise. The transport minister is quoted saying that the issue did not go public as it was not a safety problem, else, they would have done so immediately. However, in my opinion, despite the problems not being safety issues, the public would have wanted to know about the situation as they are taxpayers and if train operations were affected, it would greatly affect their daily means of transportation.

The second possible concern is the authority awarding a new contract to the same group of suppliers.  In a news release, LTA (2014) announces that the contract for 91 new trains would be awarded to “Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd/CSR Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd/Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium.” In another news release, Tan (2016) states that the first hairline crack was found in 2013 and the first train was sent back after the contract was awarded. This mean that despite being aware of the defects, the authority still trusts the suppliers and awarded them the contract. In a third news release, Lim (2016) quoted LTA saying that the contract was awarded to them as they had taken the initiative to be accountable for the issue and the offer also had the best “price, quality and life cycle cost”. However, no explanation was given to explain how the quality was the best among the rest since this issue is giving the train’s quality a bad reputation. In turn, the public might think that having the best cost is actually the biggest factor in this decision instead.

In conclusion, while the article did clearly mention about what the problems were and the plans to go about solving them, LTA should have given more details regarding their decisions about the delay in reporting and contracting with the same group of suppliers. This would have helped to dispel any public concerns.


References
Singapore Land Transport Authority. (2014, May 28) Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd/Csr Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd/Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium Awarded Prestigious Contract Worth $749 Million. Retrieved September 24, 2016, from 
https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=f0b205a6-69ab-49b0-b94d-65384ee5e5c0

Singapore Land Transport Authority. (2016, July 06) Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9-b2455f17a66c#_ftn1

Lim, K. (2016, July 12). Going public on train cracks could have caused undue panic: Khaw. Channel News Asia. Retrieved September 24, 2016 from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/going-public-on-train/2950576.html

Tan, C. (2016, July 06). Hairline cracks in 26 MRT trains made in China. The Straits Times. Retrieved September 24, 2016 from 
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/hairline-cracks-in-26-mrt-trains-made-in-china

Friday 14 October 2016

PROBLEM STATEMENT & PURPOSE STATEMENT

New problem statement:
Water conservation is difficult in schools whereby there are many students and staff that uses the washroom, water cooler, cleaning and many more on a daily basis. The problem is that students and staff do not think water conservation is important for reasons such as they are not paying the bills and Singapore will always have enough water for all. With the upcoming new campus in Punggol, there will be more buildings that will be able to house more students and staff. This would in turn require more washrooms and water points leading to a higher water consumption. If students and staff do not change their actions and mindset about the importance of water conservation, it will incur higher water wastage and higher water bills.



Purpose Statement  
The purpose of this proposal is to instill a concept in SITizens about water conservation and help to reduce water consumption in SIT compounds. By doing this, the school will be able to save cost and also show that they are doing their part as there is limited water supply in Singapore.


Tuesday 27 September 2016

Summary + Thesis stance + Reader Response - Draft 2 [Trains on NSEL safe for service] [Learning Portfolio]

In the following news release, “Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service”, Land Transport Authority (LTA) (2016) addresses the problems it faces in regards to the trains. The actions taken to resolve the problems and how trains were subjected to tests to ensure their safeness and integrity were also mentioned. The article talks about one episode whereby the train’s “battery housing” flew open due to pressure. It also mentions the cracks that were found on the “draughtscreen” of 5 trains, are due to faults during the installation process. However, operations of train services were not affected as these problems were rectified immediately. LTA states that ‘hairline cracks’ were also found on the car-body shell were caused during the production period. As it was impossible to repair the cracks, affected trains under warranty were sent back for replacement of parts at no cost. With a view to complete the rectification programme, LTA expresses that  two trains would be sent for servicing at a time. Nonetheless, this would be dependent on the arrival of new trains along with the current ones which are undergoing re-signalling.  In my opinion, even though LTA addresses the problems and their efforts in getting the job done quickly, they should have address about the issue being in the spotlight in offline and online media.

The same news release says that a large number of trains was sent back for rectification works. In another news release, (LTA, 2014) announces that the contract for 91 news trains would be awarded to “Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd/CSR Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd/Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium.” Also in another news release, (C.Tan. 2016) states that the first hairline crack was discovered in 2013 and the first train sent back was after the contract being awarded. This would mean that despite knowing the trains having defects, the authority still believed in the manufacturers and hence awarding them the contract.  In the same news, he also said that the contracts were awarded to them as they took the initiative to be accountable for the issue and the offer had the best “price, quality and life cycle cost”. As one of the concern was the issue being in the spotlight in offline and online media, the fact that the new trains will be manufactured by the same contractors can cause doubts regarding its reliability among the people. Hence, LTA should have mentioned these reasons beforehand which could have prevented the problem.

Furthermore, in reference to Channel News Asia, (K.Lim, 2016) mentions that the people only found out about the issue after a news media based in Hong Kong reported about the trains being ‘secretly’ sent back to China for repair. Although the claims might not be the entire truth, the public who mainly relies on public transportation only found out about the issue from a third party could get misunderstood. Transport Minister Mr Khaw was quoted saying, the issue did not go public as it is not a major problem and if there are any safety issues, they would have gone public immediately. However, in my opinion, despite not having any safety issues, people would have wanted to know of the problem as most of the population relies on these trains as a mean of transportation every day. 


In conclusion, LTA should have reported the issue to the public as soon as the information were ready so that the public would not have to hear from a third party and his would have prevented the issue from being in the spotlight in online and offline media.


C.Tan. (2016). Hairline cracks in 26 MRT trains made in China. The Straits Times.
Retrieved September 24, 2016 from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/hairline-cracks-in-26-mrt-trains-made-in-china

K.Lim. (2016). Going public on train cracks could have caused undue panic: Khaw. The Straits Times. Retrieved September 24, 2016 from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/going-public-on-train/2950576.html

Land Transport Authority. (2014) Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd/Csr Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd/Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium Awarded Prestigious Contract Worth $749 Million Retrieved September 24, 2016, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=f0b205a6-69ab-49b0-b94d-65384ee5e5c0

Land Transport Authority.(2016)Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9-b2455f17a66c#_ftn1


Sunday 25 September 2016

Summary + Thesis stance + Reader Response - Draft 1 [Trains on NSEL safe for service] [Learning Portfolio]

In the following news release, “Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service”, Land Transport Authority (LTA) (2016) addresses the problems it faces in regards to the trains produced by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and CSR Sifang. It also stated the actions taken to resolve the problems and how trains were subjected to tests to ensure their safeness and integrity. The article mentions one episode whereby the train’s “battery housing” flew open due to pressure. It also mentioned the cracks that were found on the “draughtscreen” of 5 trains are due to faults during the installation process. However, operations of train services were not affected as these problems were rectified immediately. LTA stated that ‘hairline cracks’ were also found on the car-body shell were caused during the production period. As it is impossible to repair the cracks, affected trains under warranty were sent back for replacement of parts at no cost. With a view to complete the rectification programme, LTA expresses that it will send two trains at a time for servicing. Nevertheless, this is dependent on the arrival of new trains along with the current ones which are undergoing re-signalling.  In my opinion, even though LTA addresses the problems and their efforts in getting the job done quickly, however it should have addressed the problem regarding the issue being in the current media and online discussion.

In the article by LTA (2016) [1], a large number of trains had to be sent back for rectification works. In the news release, LTA (2014) [2] announced that a contract to deliver 91 trains for the Thomson and Eastern Region Lines will be awarded to “Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd/CSR Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd/Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium.” Also, in another news release [3], Christopher.T. stated that the first hairline crack was discovered in 2013 and the first train sent back was after the contract being awarded. This meant that despite knowing the trains having defects, the authority still believed in the manufacturers and hence awarding them the contract. In that news article [3], it was said that the contracts were awarded to them as they took the initiative to be accountable for the issue. Also, the offer had the best “price, quality and life cycle cost”. As one of the concern was the issue being in the spotlight in offline and online media, the fact that the new trains will be manufactured by the same contractors can cause doubts regarding its reliability among the people. Hence, LTA should have mentioned these reasons beforehand which could have prevented this from happening.

Furthermore, in reference to Channel News Asia [4], it mentioned that the people only found out about the issue after a news media based in Hong Kong reported about the trains being ‘secretly’ sent back to China for repair. Although the claims might not be the entire truth, the public who mainly relies on public transportation only found out about the issue from a third party might be misunderstood. Transport Minister Mr Khaw was quoted saying, the issue did not go public as it is not a major problem and if there are any safety issues, they would have gone public immediately. However, in my opinion, despite not having any safety issues, people would have want to know of the problem as most of the population relies on these trains as a mean of transportation every day. 

In conclusion, LTA should have reported the issue to the public as soon as the information were ready so that the public would not have to hear from a third party. This would prevent the issue to be in the spotlight of the media and online discussions.



[1] LTA News Releases. (2016)Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service. Retrieved September 20, 2016, from 
https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9-b2455f17a66c#_ftn1

[2] LTA News Releases. (2014) Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd/Csr Qingdao Sifang Co. Ltd/Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Consortium Awarded Prestigious Contract Worth $749 Million Retrieved September 24, 2016, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=f0b205a6-69ab-49b0-b94d-65384ee5e5c0

[3] Christopher,T. (2016). Hairline cracks in 26 MRT trains made in China. The Straits Times.


[4] Kenneth.L. (2016). Going public on train cracks could have caused undue panic: Khaw. The Straits Times. Retrieved September 24, 2016 from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/going-public-on-train/2950576.html

Wednesday 21 September 2016

3 Things to improve for the trimester!

1.  I have to work on phrasing  better.

2.  I have to improve on my verb tense and forms.

3.  I have to improve on connector and transitions between sentences.

SUMMARY & THESIS - DRAFTS [Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service]


In the following article, “Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service”, Land Transport Authority (2016) addresses the problems that it faced in regards to the North-South and East-West lines trains. It also states the actions taken to resolve the problems and how trains were subjected to tests to ensure their safeness and reliability. The webpage mentioned that complications were found on trains whereby the battery housing flew open due to pressure. Not only that, cracks were also found on the draughtscreen of 5 trains which were due to errors during the installation process. However, operation of train services was not affected as these problems were rectified immediately. LTA states that hairline cracks were also found on the car-body shell which was caused during production period. As it is impossible to repair the cracks, affected trains that were under warranty were sent back for replacement of parts at no costs. With a view to complete the rectification programme, LTA expressed that they will send two trains at a time for servicing. Nevertheless, this is dependent on the arrival of new trains along with the current ones which are undergoing resignalling. Referring to the above content, I agree that they should get the rectification work done quickly to ensure smoother service operations. However, I am doubtful if the focus on the tight schedule might decrease the level of safety standards which might lead to problems again in the future.


Trains on the North-South and East West Lines Safe for Service. (2016). Retrieved September 20, 2016, from https://www.lta.gov.sg/apps/news/page.aspx?c=2&id=0f8b1220-0289-4bef-99c9-b2455f17a66c#_ftn1

Monday 12 September 2016

Formal Email Letter [Unit Exercise]

To: Brad Blackstone
From: Camille Chua
Date: 12 September 2016
Subject: Camille’s Introduction

Dear Brad,

I am Camille Chua from Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services) SIE2016 Group 5. My The purpose of this email is to introduce myself, my educational background, my interests as well as my goals and aims in SIT and the future.  

I graduated from Temasek Polytechnic’s Integrated Facility Management back in May 2016. As my course was in the School of  Engineering, I took some related modules back then such as Engineering maths and Building Information modelling. In addition to that, I also took modules related to management and airport operations.

 My interests include travelling, hanging out with my friends and doing sports such as freestyle skating and reading. All these helps me to These activities help me to relax and take stress out of my mind when I have to. I would like to take on new interests such as joining the adventure club and community service club in SIT to make new friends and make life in SIT a more memorable one.

I have aspirations to be a part of the facility management team in the airport one day. Thus, my goals for studying in this SIT program are to acquire the knowledge and technical skills required for my future career as well as to pick up interpersonal skills.  Also, through projects and the interest groups, I hope that I will be able to strengthen my skills in working as a team and communicating well with others. Lastly, I hope that my university life would be a fruitful one.

Thank you for taking time to read my email.

Yours Sincerely,

Camille Chua

Edited: 19/09/16
Commented on Xian Jing's post. 

Sunday 11 September 2016

My English Learning Journey [Learning Portfolio]

The English language was always my least favourite subject during all my education years. Firstly, I had lived with my dialect speaking grandmother up till preschool and hence I was more comfortable with mandarin and dialect rather than English. After entering primary school, I had a hard time trying to understand why we had to learn grammar and all. That made loving to learn English really difficult for me. Even in secondary school, every English lesson was like a torture for me as I could not see the importance and enjoy what I was learning.

Despite that, one thing I do enjoy was reading books. That was the only way I could enjoy using the English language. Reading was also probably the only reason I was able to pick up the basic English writing skills while enjoying it.

However, after entering polytechnic my perception of English changed as we had to do many presentations and reports. That was the first time ever that I realised I have to put in more effort in writing and speaking so that I would not embarrass myself during presentations due to the lack of my command in English. I started appreciating the language more and was able to focus much better in classes since then.

All in all, I am not proficient in the language as of yet, but I am glad I was able to finally understand why English is important and now I want to be better at it. Especially in Singapore where it is a country with people from different races, English serves as the linking bridge for all races to communicate and live together as one. With hard work and determination, I believe one day I will be able to love and be much more competent with the language.

Edited: 15/09/2016
Edited: 19/09/2016
Commented on Rafianah and Cherlyn blog.