Beyond Academics

Full e-mail interview transcript - Blue & Gold (Issue 17) 

1) First off, please tell me more about yourself- what is your specialty, and what were you doing before you decided to take into your hands the education of young adults?

I used to be a Brand Manager in my previous life, managing the Singapore arm of a publicly listed Malaysian company. After more than 7 years in the business of marketing, I decided to take the plunge and switch careers 5 years ago, pursuing my interest in teaching and helping leaders manage their organizational challenges. Specifically, I have a passion to nurture leaders for the future and I have not regretted it my decision!

My research interests lie in Mentoring and Multi-Generational Leadership. I enjoy teaching topics related to Organizational Behaviour, especially those related to Conflict Resolution, Negotiation and Power & Influence.

2) As a professor, or an academic yourself, what do you expect from your students when they sit in your class?

I am aware that different students have different motivations for signing up for a class. Some do so because they are interested in learning. Others, because their friends have signed up for it. And there are others who are there to fulfill the school’s requirements for graduation. Whatever the reasons are, I welcome all students to my class. Students who benefit the most are those who come with an open mind; ask good questions; and put in some thought when doing their work.

3) There is definitely a huge difference between 'academics' and 'learning' even though both are closely related. What are your views on the difference?

Academic research study is important and is one of the three tenets of a good university – the other two being teaching and industrial engagement.

Academic study will most definitely lead to an increase in knowledge in the researcher. However, whether the researcher has learned well from the results of the study is another thing. I have this belief that learning is comprised of Knowledge, Understanding and Application.

First, you obtain Knowledge from your readings or other people. One has to then Understand and digest the information obtained. Lastly, Application sees you putting what you have understood into action, thus completing the cycle of learning.

So yes, Academic study has the potential to increase one’s learning of a subject.

4) Other than for the sake of a degree and a "better future", why do you think people go to university, and what do YOU think people should go to university for? Could you list some examples of students you know who do not go to university for academics only?

To seek your future spouse? And why not? I found mine when she was on exchange program with the university I was studying at!

The process of attending university is to gain theoretical knowledge and to go through the rigours of a higher education in preparation for the demands of the workplace. Most of us attend university because it is expected of us to do so upon completion of our pre-university. However, it is important to ask ourselves why we attend university and what we hope to achieve upon graduation.

Some people I know attend university to network with the ‘right’ crowd – those interested in start-ups and IT go to schools in San Francisco, near the Silicon Valley. Others attend a certain university in order to understand an emerging market – this is especially so in the case of students going to China to study.

5) In relation to questions 3 and 4, how do you think the notion "beyond academics" can be applied to our university education?

You should enjoy your time in university. I can well appreciate that workload at SMU can be rather heavy, but I think with a little time management and a conscious effort not to overstretch yourself, one can definitely have a more rounded experience at SMU. Some of our foreign friends attend my class on the exchange program. Every semester, I am slightly amused when the quiz results are finalized. Despite their frequent travels during the school term, they seem to be getting top grades. Local students would put in a whole lot of effort to study for the quiz and would end up getting the same top grades. I discovered that when these exchange students studied during their travels, they would either do it on the plane, at the airport or by the beach.

Hard work is a virtue. But studying smart certainly makes the process more bearable!      

6) Do you think that "creativity" and "fun" are impossible to achieve in schools (other than university)?

Absolutely not.

Research has shown that we learn better when we enjoy our lessons. At least one institution in Singapore has made an effort to make classes fun and promote creativity in their lessons. The challenge though, is to ensure that ‘fun’ and ‘creative’ lessons will lead to measurable results and good ones at that.

That said, it does take a lot of effort and resources to ensure that lessons are engaging, but this is necessary for the benefit of the Generation Y population and beyond.

7) I am aware that you have a blog and I read your entry "Is there hope for Generation Y?". You wrote that "speed is not an option" but an "expectation" for post-1980 babies. How do you think this has affected students these days while pursuing their education? How do you think they can ensure that this does not negatively influence the way they lead their university life?

It is not wrong to find shortcuts in life. Louis Pasteur once said that “Fortune favours the prepared mind”, and a ‘prepared mind’ usually leads you to find the best and shortest way towards your goal. In the past, people were more willing to accept the process of time before achieving gratification. With the inception and proliferation of the internet, we are now in a world that moves at lightning speed, affecting the way we work and see life. Generation Y (millennials) are the result of such an environment. There will be changes in the way millennials view school work. Completing the assignment might be foremost on their minds rather than taking time to verify from quality sources. Plagiarism may not be viewed as morally wrong but as a means of expediting one’s work. We can see precedence in Harvard University’s school of government’s widespread cheating case in one of their take-home exams, in which almost the whole class cheated. As of 1^st Sept, the case is still being investigated.

We will also see fewer students enroll for PhD programs, given its rigour and intensity without a tangible and quick enough return on investment.

In order not to fall into the trap of the ‘need for speed’, it is important to go back to basics and ask yourself many questions – why have you embarked on a university education at SMU? What do you want out of your time here? Is the faster way the better way in the long run? Who can I get objective advice from when I have to decide on courses or majors? My friends are all choosing this path – is this the right path for me? 

8) Again, with reference to the notion "beyond academics", do you have any advise to students as to how to make their university life more fulfilling?

Take it easy – grades are important but are not the only thing employers look for in a graduate. University time is a great time for you to discover yourself and to do some serious self-reflection. Don’t just join CCAs for the sake of looking good on your resume – will you be able to do a good job and contribute well once you signed up for it? Remember, to preserve your good reputation – what goes around comes around.

Finally, make many friends and build up your network within SMU. Such an opportunity is only opened to those within the SMU community – take advantage of it – you might just end up finding your life partner here!     

Libertarian or Utilitarian?

 

picture: telegraph.co.uk

“Eh, I hungry lah,” mumbled the mak cik as she rubbed her knee. “And just now stand so long, knee sakit, sakit lah!”

I chuckled as I downed a bottle of ice cold, mineral water. It was already past 11pm and the crowd that was seated above our lounge earlier in the day has presumably, headed for the Katy Perry concert.  

“Hey! They are giving out free food!” yelled one of the younger chaps.

Soon, groups came back with their spoils of war – freshly prepared food that had to be otherwise thrown, had now found a new lease of life with these young men.

“Oi! I also want!” shrieked mak cik as she struggled to stand to her feet.

“Mak cik, you duduk, jangan pergi,” I literally boomed in her face. “Let adik go get them.”

Turning to a strapping young man beside me, I gestured at her, then at him. “Mak cik wants some free food, tolong lah, boleh?”

“Boleh!”

In a flash, he returned with a see through bag full of goodies cleared from the shelves of 7-eleven and Starbucks. Made out of sandwiches and muffins mainly, mak cik gleefully kept them aside while she thanked the young man. Demonstrations of filial piety and respect for elders is still highly prevalent and regarded within the local Malay community.

“Ah, all these for my children.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a plastic bag.

“What is this for?” I inquired.

“Must come prepared! Hee hee hee!”

With one swipe of the hand, she reached across the table and grabbed whatever packets of cream buns and Nature’s Valley granola bars she could get a hold of, unceremoniously dunking them into the plastic bag.

“And that is how my children get fat!” she beamed.

Leaving the lounge, mak cik hobbled as she carried her 2 bags of booty. Like one of the forty thieves in the tale of Ali Baba, she would not think of leaving behind her goodies, no matter how heavy they were.

“Mak cik! I tolong lah!” grabbing her items without allowing her to even put up any resistance.

“Aiyah, thank you you lah. Sakit lah, stand too long in sun and rain. I must go back and urut.”

“Mak cik, jangan! Only massage when after 2 days. Now you pulang, make sure you use ice pack and wrap around your knee. Remember, Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate – RICE.”

“Hah? Jangan urut?”

“Yah, trust me. I first aid trained one,” I replied in what I hoped was the most assuring and comforting voice.

With a pout on her face, she retorted, “You sure ah?”

“Definitely,” I replied with a wink.

Returning her bag of goodies, I bade her farewell and perhaps, we might see each other again. Mak cik then hobbled a few steps to the taxi stand and found her cab home.

Taking a taxi after midnight is not common practice among mak cik and her colleagues. The surcharge is too expensive and a ride home could easily wipe out what they had earned in the past few hours. After such events, they would usually take the Night Rider late night bus home. But the Night Rider bus does not operate today, Sunday.

There is a whole segment of society that many Singaporeans are not aware of. They are the unseen, unsung and uneducated. Take for instance, the adik who helped mak cik get the goodies – he is a part-time lasher, tying bulky equipment to containers at the ports. He works 12 hours straight for $10 and hour – neither additional benefits nor CPF employer contribution included. If he gets work, he gets work. If not, he moonlights at events such as the one we participated in. Mak cik specializes in relief duty, when those who are scheduled to work, do not turn up. She then turns up on short notice, often pocketing $50 to $70 for a night of work.

The elderly and the young; the retrenched educated and the able bodied uneducated. All have a story to tell, and none are above each other. Nature’s elements and the long hours of duty do not discriminate whether you have good knees or great stamina. If you endure, you get paid in full. If not, you get partial payment, on a good day with a good agency.

Before we actually take pity on these folks, let us take a step back and get off our high horse.

Do they want a better life?

Definitely.

At some of their ages, no one should be subject to such hard work. But they question is – do they want help?

The answer might surprise you.

In your pursuit to soothe your conscience, in your rush to help others, you see only what you think you see and you provide what you think needs to be provided. And in doing so, you end up denying mak cik the joys of finding, and then taking the leftover goodies home.

Fundamental Attribution Error says that we over value the disposition of a person much more than considering the potential situational factors. In simple English, what it means is that when you see an able bodied beggar on the street, you attribute his inability to find work to his lazy nature, rather than consider that life may have dealt him a poor hand.  

In the case of mak cik, the opposite is true – we over assign the situational factors to her and undervalue her disposition.

Repulsive?

I think not, because first, you have to be with them, be one of them, before you can even begin to comprehend. Even then, it still can be very difficult removing the beam that is already in your eye.