Are we measuring the right things?

Staff suggestion scheme. Every person and every NSmen knows this. Before you can finish your ICT, you are ask to fill in the SSS or NSMS (for nsmen) form before you can be out-processed. And so every in-camp, every one submits his suggestion. My question is what happened to the suggestions? Did anyone actually evaluate them?

Taking a step back, what is the SSS supposed to do? I suppose it is to encourage innovation. Therefore, is the KPI of measuring the no of suggestions really indicator that tells us how innovative we are???

Long and ineffective meetings

This seems to be the norm rather than the exception. We really must think of ways to change this. Perhaps one of the ways to explore this is to look at the fundamentals of the meeting, be it for discussion, for decision, for information etc.

Ask the 5 whys

The post by Molly is a very significant one because we all experience unhappiness at work. And it seems like as the organisation (on the external) gets more successful, happiness at work seems to be decreasing. During our course today, we discussed a little of this and we used the 5 whys concept to find out the underlying reason.
The 5 whys is actually a simple process to continue asking "why" until you hit the root reason of the phenomenon. This is neccesary because the phenomenon we observe is probably just the symptom, and not the real cause. For example, if a student always comes late to class, the obvious think is just to think that the student is not disciplined and punish him for that but is that really addressing the cause?

Work

Just wanna share abt how I feel this very moment. Just read an email from a colleague. Though the email wasn't directed at me, it was not a pleasant email to end your day for sure. I know that the Division is not the most favourable place to work in. Maybe everyone here in the Dept knows that. I do have my share of complaints too always. After complaining, we continue to work and move on. But to read it from a senior colleague, I feel quite saddened and somehow it made me think back... the past organisation culture and people.

Probably the Department where I first started was "simple". It was not too big and my peers colleagues were like sisters to me. We "had fun" working together, no politics. Life was simpler then. I was definitely happier then too. Everyday, we looked forward to work. Hmmm, why can't things be the same, in terms of culture and our attitude.

Now I know why some people reacted in certain ways (negatively) when they were asked to do work. Perhaps, they used to be enthusiastic too. But as things changed, most people may feel that they were short-changed by the organisation. Their attitude changed. It's always a challenge to manage people and our feelings. I just hope that we can have more new and young blood into the Department or maybe our Division who can add the motivation and the difference. It may be short-lived but at least it can be a chance to transform the Division?

星连心_STARRY HEART

I would like to recommend this blog to all teachers and parents. The author of the blog is a teacher who calls himself denglaoshi or Teacher-Deng. I got to know Mr Deng from a book (see photo below) he published with the support of his school. His book is a collection of his blog entries. What is valuable in his blog is that he shares his personal stories and experiences of educating his students and children and how he learnt from them. Particularly insightful was how he dealt with the so called problem kids in his classes. Through his blog, his students (past and present) respond by commenting.

One of the stories Mr Deng shared was how he was told by his corporal after BMT that he (Mr Deng) despite good performance was unable to go to OCS because of his poor command of English. Mr Deng subsequently became a regular and went to OCS and graduated as a sword-of-honour recipent.

Wayne Siew

Met my 1st year engineering classmate and fellow Hall 11 mate Wayne Siew at Suntec on Friday. I recall Wayne always introduced his surname "Siew" as in the Siew in Char Siew Bao during 1st year. As we both stayed in NTU's Hall 11, we would sometimes go jogging together with his roommate Hide. Its good to meet him again and see that he is doing well. Wayne is now in the IT services industry.

《外科医生奉达熙》

This is my favourite TV show at the moment. Korean TV shows have really progressed leaps and bounds these few years. Not only are there new actors and actresses for almost every new show (although the incumbent famous celebrities are still around), these newbies have very, very solid acting skills. They are so good in their acting that you do not even realise that they are acting; they are so believeable in their roles. This is unlike our local artistes who, after all these years, still seem so fake and contrived in their roles.

This show "Surgeon Feng Daxi" revolves around a few interns in a korean hospital. Serials revolving around hospitals are not new. Hongkong's "Healing Hearts" have had their parts 2 and parts 3 broadcasted over the years. However, "Healing Hearts" to me is more a play on the lives and emotions of the main actors but glosses over the medical details.

"Surgeon Feng Daxi" goes in depth on the trials and tribulations of not only the interns but the senior surgeons as well as they lead the team of interns. Real medical terms are used and, I suspect, real case studies of surgical incidents. I always watch the show with my laptop on, and continually search wikipedia for the medical terms used. In the episode shown yesterday, a very experienced surgeon Dr An Zhongjin accidentally cut off a throat nerve of a opera singer in an operation to remove cancer cells -- the singer will never sing again. The doctor standing beside had already warned Dr An to be careful. The look of disbelief, regret and shock flashed through Dr An's face in that one or two seconds as he held the removed nerve in his hands. That was powerful acting.

The actors are not the pretty faces like the earlier korean shows. They are quite presentable and believable as doctors and real people (like you and me) facing up to the obstacles in life like everybody else.

The last episode will be shown on Channel 55 the coming Sunday. If you had not watched the serial, the is the last chance to catch it (replay of last episode on Saturday afternoon) or you will have to get the DVD.

The New Kallang Leisure Park

Since this new mall was very near to my place, decided to pay it a visit before all the shops opened and the place becomes too crowded for my liking. But the thing is it is still very bare of shops and shoppers now and really not much to see and do. However, I liked the feeling of spaciousness and the sense of emptiness of the building now .
Even in such a mall devoid of shopping opportunity, I managed to spend $115 on a new badminton racket which was exactly the same as the one I had. Probably because of my long lay off, the timing of my strokes were off when I played yesterday, the badminton frame broke (see photo below) when a shuttle hit the frame. Anyway, I know the owner John of the racket shop (he was helping out at the Bras Basah shop which I frequented) and he gave me a good price for the racket which came with Yonex BG66 strings, a racket handle grip and a sports water bottle.

The mall also has a bowling alley and ice skating rink which are already opened. If you are a fan of either, this is a good time to go as the place is not very crowded. I was thinking of trying out the ice skating rink, but at $14 for 2 hours, it is money better saved for something else.

There is also a Cold Storage in basement which is very cold....haha. I had a very enjoyable shopping experience there.

Chee Keong

Chee Keong came by my cubicle and asked me to take some photos of him. He said someone needs his photo. Could I say No? sigh....

See Chee Keong having fun posing.

Here's a more normal photo of Chee Keong with Jeremey.

Talk by Sir Ken Robinson

A wonderfully witty and insightful talk which argues that current education models are flawed and do not fully exploit the natural creative instincts of children. Worth listening. Please do.