dREam Newsletter Dec 2008 Issue by Republic Polytechnic, Alumni Services

am dRE

An RP Alumni Newsletter Issue 9 Dec 2008

Everything starts from a dream

Brand New Revamped Graduate Portal awaits you!! Watchout!! Your lynch pin to life-long career development Wake Up! Check out our events calendar for exciting events and happenings

You Are

Only 12 Months Away

From Your Bachelor’s Degree!

All applications, registration & processing fees waived off for RP students.

Your Vision. Your Future As the world and economy is rapidly changing, we too, as inhabitants, have to move on with the times. Which is why at Auston, our students are constantly equipped with the necessary management and technology skills. All our courses are meticulously designed to cater to the demands in various industries so that our proud graduates could go forth and further pursue their aspirations with Recognition, Responsibility & Resourcefulness. Just as how our graduates have achieved recognition and success. You can too!

Monthly Financial Scheme For As Low As

Courses

Hope 2008 has been a good year for all of you. Amidst the changes … in the world, in Singapore, in the economy, and in our personal environment … we push on and look forward to 2009!

PUBLISHER Office of Student and Graduate Affairs 9, Woodlands Avenue 9, Singapore 738964

Before I get started telling you about what’s in this issue of dREam, I’d like to introduce myself – Dr Jasmine Heng, Assistant Director, Office of Student and Graduate Affairs – though some of the SAS Graduates may know me better as Programme Chair of DBMS and DMTS, or SAS Assistant Director (Academic) over the past few years. As I take on my new portfolio in OSG, I would love to hear from RP Graduates about what you are doing and about RP’s Graduate Services – how we can help you. Feel free to email Help-Graduate@rp.sg to update your personal particulars, provide your comments and suggestions on our services, as well as to contribute to this newsletter.

EDITORIAL Editor Art work Advertising

Graduate Services would like to thank Vanessa Choo for doing a great job of managing our newsletter for the past 2 years, and also wish her all the best in her career as she moves on from RP’s Office of Student and Graduate Affairs to the Office of Corporate Communications. Vanessa will still be able to contribute to dREam from her new portfolio ... no “good bye” needed, only “Thank You Vanessa”!

Contributors Bob Tan Chong Shi Yun Farhana Zulkifli Gary Su Kevin Tan Nurhadi Khan Tay Kok Choon Maya Murni Nur Ashikin Hashim

Hello Graduates!

It is an honour and my great pleasure to write the Editor’s Notes for this issue of dREam for 2008. We will introduce the new Editor for dREam in 2009 … stay tuned to dREam! Now, on to this issue of dREam ... First, we have the Graduate’s Portal (http://www.rp.sg/grad), revamped by Graduate Services Officer, Nurhadi Khan … I recommend you to have a look, use the portal to update particulars, participate in activities, request for services, and stay updated about RP happenings (Page 2). For sports, Chong Shi Yun (RP Sports Club) and Gary Su (OSG) report on RP Biathlon 2008 (Page 3).

G ra n t rs hi p & B u rs a ry a ol ch S en ts . - Business Administration fo r a ll R P st u d Bachelor of Art (Hons)

‘Symphonic De Republique II Transition’ is reviewed by RP student, Farhana Zulkifli (Page 5).

- Business & Marketing - Business & Human Resource Management - Business Information Technology - Business Systems - Business Systems with Tourism - Logistics - Resort Management

Find out from Nur Ashikin Hashim what STA graduates were up to in RecycloFashion at Fashion Ferosh(Page 8).

Bachelor of Science (Hons)

- Engineering Business Management - Computing - Networking Computing

Bachelor of Engineering (Hons)

- Computers, Networking & Communications - Technology (CNCT) - Electrical & Electronics Engineering (EEE)

This issue’s health tip focuses on strategies to quit smoking, provided by the Antismoking Centre (Page 14). Want tips on self-upgrading, training and development? Tay Kok Choon, Country Manager, JobStreet.com (Singapore) shares his expertise (Page 11). Get advice on financial planning from Kelvin Tan, RP’s Academic Associate … it’s never too early to start planning now (Page 12). We will continue with more advice on Financial Planning in the coming issues of dREam. And, to finish up this newsletter, we have Bob Tan, RP’s Academic Associate, doing an interview in Melbourne with SAS Graduate, Fang Yiwen, Class of 2006, School of Applied Science ... Yiwen shares interesting experiences with and good advice to new graduates who are planning to go for further studies overseas (Page 16). Enjoy the newsletter! Have a good Christmas and a fabulous New Year in 2009. Take care ... Graduate Services – Adding Mileage to your Bright Future.

To receive a brochure or enrol, Call or SMS 90295667

S$222.30!

Dr Jasmine Heng Assistant Director Office of Student and Graduate Affairs

* Terms & Conditions Apply for Private Education Organisations

61 & 63 New Bridge Road Auston Unicampus Singapore 059405. Tel: 65-9029 5667 Fax: 65-6333 5800 www.auston.edu.sg • Email: edwardluke.t@auston.edu.sg • Mon-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat 10am-4pm

Dr Jasmine Heng dream@rp.sg Tay Ling tay_ling@rp.sg Nurhadi Khan dream@rp.sg

General Enquiries dream@rp.sg URL www.rp.sg/grad dREam. An RP Alumni Newsletter. Everything starts from a dream. dREam is a quarterly newsletter which will keep Graduates informed about the tools available for then, continual education, information, networking sessions and more, to achieve their aspirations. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed or implied in dREam are those os the authors or contributors and do no necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

RP Biathlon 2008 – Be In Action By Chong Shi Yun

On the evening of 26th September 2008, RP Sport Complex hosted the annual RP Biathlon 2008. This event was jointly organized by the Office of Students and Graduate Affairs, Republic Polytechnic Sports Club and Sports Science Academy by SHL. The event was also proudly sponsored by Arena, Nutri Park and Essential Timings. We are also glad to invite our principal, Mr. Yeo Li Pheow to be the guest of honor for the event.

Brand New: Revamped Graduate Portal By Nurhadi Khan Imagine being able to check out the latest news about your school, be reminded about upcoming events, view photos taken at events and register for courses online all at your fingertips. You can do this and much more at the newly revamped Graduate Portal! With a refreshingly modern design, featuring improved navigation, logging in to the new portal guarantees you an experience worth waiting for. Upon login, you will be directed to a page customised just for you, based on the school you graduated from. Why the redesign? Simply because we try our best to make the Graduate Portal experience as grad-friendly as possible. It aims to be a one-stop web portal, ever-evolving to cater to your every need. What’s in store for you at the new portal? You will get more comprehensive updates of upcoming social events, job opportunities, and news about your school and centres. What’s more, you’ll also be able to register for workshop & courses online through the new integrated e-payment gateway. Looking for some memories of past events attended? Fret not, as the photo gallery page will lead you to plenty of photos taken during events! No more pestering friends for photos taken at past events. So what are you waiting for? Check it out now at www.rp.sg/grad! Do drop us a line (dream@rp.sg) to let us know what you think!

The RP Biathlon features a Bi-Lite category, which consists of a 200m swim and 800m run and while the sprint category features a 400m swim and 1.5km run. Under these two categories, there were the individual and team relay sub-categories for both staff and students. Furthermore, the school welcomed participation from other institutions such as NP, NYP, TP, SP, NUS, and NTU. On top of that, the organisers invited our principal to lead the school’s sport IGs for a brisk walk around the Admiralty Park. The RP biathlon displayed professionalism for as participants were provided with a ‘champion chip’ to record their swim and run timings. Below are the timings of the top winners for each category. The night ended after the prize presentation together accompanied by cheers and applauses by the spectators and participants. Congratulations to all participants and also the organisers for making this event a big success!

Individual - Female (Invitational) Swim Time Lin Zhiyun, NUS 0:06:19.937 Jina Woo, RP 0:06:18.598 Goh Qi Mei Orlanda, NUS 0:07:35.905

Run Time 0:06:45.861 0:07:17.546 0:07:57.664

Individual - Male (Invitational) LEE ZHIXIANG, NUS 0:05:33.500 LI ZHONGYI JOSHUA, NUS 0:06:24.329 Lim Wei Qiang, TP 0:06:00.247

0:05:58.334 0:11:31.834 0:05:31.455 0:11:55.784 0:06:02.602 0:12:02.849

Individual - RP Staff (Bi-Lite) Jeremy Wu Shyh Shiuann Michael Lim Tan Tien Chye

0:03:31.498 0:03:35.053 0:06:43.662

0:05:48.810 0:09:20.308 0:07:03.222 0:10:38.275 0:05:32.632 0:12:16.294

Individual - RP Students (F) (Bi-Lite) Peggy Boey Peck Kay 0:04:24.117 Poh Wei Si 0:04:13.346 Yvonne Goh Yi Wen 0:04:42.601

0:05:37.545 0:10:01.662 0:06:11.031 0:10:24.377 0:06:30.603 0:11:13.204

Individual - RP Students (M) (Bi-Lite) Mathew Quek 0:02:50.464 Lim Zhi Wang 0:03:14.310 Cai Yingquan, Vincent 0:04:14.594

0:04:41.127 0:07:31.591 0:04:22.935 0:07:37.245 0:04:36.968 0:08:51.562

Team Relay - RP Staff (Bi-Lite) Leong Yihui, 82999 0:03:17.377 Wu Yanzi, My Way 0:03:46.156 Huahad Mahfuzh, Soccer Rivals 0:05:47.547

0:04:09.290 0:07:26.667 0:05:06.286 0:08:52.442 0:05:09.337 0:10:56.884

Team Relay - RP Student (Bi-Lite) Li Ning, E54J 0:02:39.885 Attar Shaheed Bin Abdullah Sawawi Mutt & Beng 0:02:38.884 Pang Yong Kai, Chin Cai 0:03:06.242 Individual - RP Staff (Sprint) Fan Kai Ming Chronos Kwok Orla Gilmore

0:07:34.172 0:07:30.607 0:07:16.740

Total Time 0:13:05.798 0:13:36.144 0:15:33.569

0:02:57.027 0:05:36.912 0:03:10.258 0:05:49.142 0:02:58.664 0:06:04.906 0:06:44.781 0:14:18.953 0:06:53.633 0:14:24.240 0:07:44.814 0:15:01.554

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By Farhana Zulkifli - RP Campus Arts Production Student It wasn’t just an ordinary Saturday evening for the folks gathered at The Republic Cultural Centre’s Theater on 9th November 2008. It was a truly musical night as they were treated to ninety minutes of melodious enchanting music by Republic Polytechnic’s Wind Symphony under the lead of their conductor, CPT Muhammad Yusri Bin Md Ali. The first of seven pieces, ‘A Huntingdon Celebration’ by Philip Sparke, started the concert off on a light, celebratory note. This uplifting piece made for easy listening, leaving the audience keen for more.

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Among some of the pieces played that night were hauntingly beautiful Japanese pieces such as Hiroshi Miyagawa’s Yamato Star Blazer, Ryuichi Sugimoto’s Believe, Yasuhide Ito’s Symphonic Poem for Band, “Glorisa” and Toshio Mashima’s Gelato con Caffe, a Latin piece with infectious percussion beats that had audience members tapping their feet and clapping along. The programme line up saw a good balance between the contrasting styles of the Japanese and the European pieces. Other pieces in the line up included Second Suite for Military Band in F Major by Gustav Holst and Edward Gregson’s Tuba Concerto. At the heart of RP’s Wind Symphony is a nurturing family where aspiring young talents are given opportunities to be in the limelight - a Tuba solo was played by Gabriel Songwhile two concert masters took their turns on the conductor’s platform.

The concert ended with rounds of thunderous applause and shouts of “Encore! Encore!” which saw the band playing two encore pieces, much to the delight of the extremely responsive and eager audience members who clapped and cheered along all in the spirit of fun. Despite being ‘musically untrained’, I left the theatre that night pleased with what I saw and heard. There was a good display of showmanship. Conductor, CPT Muhammad Yusri and the Wind Symphony members managed to engage the audience through audience participation in the performance which I found refreshing. RP’s Wind Symphony are definitely a musical force to be reckoned with.

Hossan LIVE on 14 Nov at TRCC Theatre

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ory

The Republic Cultural Centre is once again very happy to present Reflections 2008, Republic Polytechnic’s Community Arts Festival. The positive response to Refelctions 2007 had promopted TRCC to make this year’s fare even more exciting and meaningful. The festival as always aims to provide a much needed platform for local artistes of all art forms. Refelctions also as the name imples reflects the vibrant arts culture amongst our youth as well as facilitates deeper reflection into how the youth perceive the arts, express their arts and how they like to experience their arts. This year’s line-up showcases the myraid of arts genres that our youths are involved in and in keepint with this year’s theme of “celebrating youth and arts”. Along with the picture story of Reflections 2008, we present to you a review of Beats Encore’s performance. Beats Encore drummed the night away at The Republic Cultural Centrer’s Studio on 4th November 2008. This energetic interest group is famed campus-wide for their infectious beats, wicked stage presence and their crowd pleasing antics that earned them hordes of audience at every performance. It is no surprise that they played to a full house for their second campus concert, “You Got Beats”.

MUSE on 12 Nov at TRCC Theatre

This beguiling group of performers worked their magic on stage, oozing intensity from every pore, captivating their audience with their choreographed dance steps and powerful strikes on the drums. It was amazing really, how their passion and enthusiasm radiated in waves throughout the Studio, enticing the audience into the raw power of their beats. The different items played throughout the 90 minutes were rich and textured, always evoking a certain form of reaction even from the most passive of listeners stepping in at the start of the performance. Their special number at the end saw an interesting inclusion in the line up – gamelan. What resulted was an enchanting number that provided a seemly contrast between the sounds of the gamelan and the percussion instruments. It takes some time to recover from a Beats Encore performance. The catchy beats have a way of pulsating through one’s system, sometimes for hours because let’s admit it, there is no way of desensitising one’s senses from anything as good as this. By Farhana Zulkifli

Artistic Tapestry on 15 Nov at TRCC Theatre

Nur

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“It’s abou t being co nfident an can still fo d being yo llow trend u. You s, but who you buy h says every as to be n thing ew or bra reasoned H nded?” arng.

IT was all about being Fashion Ferosh for a cause. And RecycloFashion goes MAAD was a landmark event for STA’s feisty Graduates to do just that. After months of preparation, the trio successfully pulled off their inaugural offering in September, attracting more than 500 people to the Red Dot Museum. That’s a pretty mean feat for the collaborative artists outfit.Of course, the museum’s monthly event, MAAD, also played a part in encouraging visitors to be ‘alternative’.After all, that has pretty much been RecycloFashion’s motto – to actively reuse what’s old to make it look fashion ‘chica’ again. At the event, an ingenious photo booth project encouraged people to strike creative poses ala a “Fashion Awards” Red Carpet Moment.

“It’s a really good idea to bring RecycloFashion’s message across,”

RecycloFashion’s collaborators included XS Project, local designer Didier Ng and the Riverkids Project. All three exhibited alongside the graduates, who also worked with them on their first fashion advertising campaign “A Timeless Season”.

said a One Singapore representative.

“RecycloFashion goes MAAD is a great event and I loved being a part of it. It’s great what RecycloFashion has done,” commented former supermodel, Hanis Hussey who helms the Jakarta-based XS Project.

Students from the Tisch School of the Arts Asia agreed, taking time to sportingly pose with the hand-made items.

And for Harng, Yong Zhi and Ashikin, their diverse backgrounds have inspired the work they do.

And so did locals and expatriates who came from as far as New York and Cologne.

“We are all different in our own little ways. I think that’s what makes RecycloFashion special,” explained Yong Zhi.

“Everyone wanted to pose with the cardboard box. It was hilarious!” laughed art director, Harng.

“I love to draw, Harng loves to pose like there’s no tomorrow and sew, Ash likes football and writing. So I think this is where we all cross our ideas and collaborate.

Republic Polytechnic’s second year STA students also lent a hand in contributing their nifty craftwork to the event. Hand-made items such as a ruffled vest made of old pants, a plastic bag tote, acorn necklace and rubber band suspenders caught the eye of the slew of excited visitors. Many could be seen making customised orders after posing at the Fashion Ferosh booth.In addition, an installation made of cardboards served as the event’s other main attraction.

“In the future, who knows, we might do something crazier. This is a little too new for us, I think we all need some time to explore first.” For sure, RecycloFashion’s infectious trio hopes to astound the world with more projects. And you’ll be the first to know of it when it happens. To see more, visit www.recyclofashion.com 09

Self-upgrading, training and development

your lynch pin to life-long career development and self fulfillment Confucius said: Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. Many of us seek that life-long fulfillment so that work can become a pleasant hobby rather than a means to an end. On the reverse, many people transform their desired hobbies into life long careers and find great joy doing them.

By Mr Tay Kok Choon, Country Manager, JobStreet.com (Singapore)

In the modern day context, companies who have invested in training and development; not only see their staff acquiring new and relevant skills for the team and personal benefit, but also see an improvement to their recruitment branding, with better acquisition and retention of talent. High turnover is normally associated with low productivity, lack of enthusiasm and poor motivation of workforce. A good staff development program normally helps to reverse such problems by lowering turnover rates. New entrants to the workforce should disassociate themselves or convince companies they join who are not investing in training and development to do so. Organizations tend to put aside such development programs as it gets in the way of getting their jobs done. Every task has a higher priority over and above staff development. “Is training that important? We provide them with on the job instructions and briefing”; are some typical excuses we get from certain companies.

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It is good for a company to have a clearly articulated philosophy on the value of training. It is good to have an employee who has attended a training session come back and talk about it during the company’s staff meeting. It may be very remote and difficult but always make an effort to measure the return of a training investment. Invest in programs that are linked to the organization is business goals and objectives. Getting training to be more effective… 1. Commitment from top management. Nothing gets done if we don’t have the buy-in from the top. If training constitutes a part of everything we do in an organization such as business planning, corporate communications, performance appraisals; it will be successful. 2. Determine the gap before designing the program. Knowing that gap before pursuing a training route will be most helpful. Beyond both hard and soft skills acquisition; leadership development can be of great importance for the longevity of an organization. 3. Training need not be only classroom based. Technology has transform/broaden the delivery option of training programs. Companies can utilize a mix of such tools to achieve its training objectives and to reach out to a broader audience base. 4. Measure and obtain feedback on all training programs implemented. It is an essential step to ensure that the next group of trainees will benefit from the experience learned by the earlier group. Given the encouragement and funding accorded by the government, we are seeing a growing number of organizations putting in good effort to ensure that their staff are adequately trained and developed in their stint with the organization. However, there is a need to encourage individuals to exhibit an interest to continuously develop themselves. We see that as life-long learning or self-upgrading. It is a mindset that we need to encourage all graduating students to maintain the moment they leave their institutions of higher learning (IHLs). In fact, it is good for such IHLs to maintain strong links with their alumni and track their progress of personal development. The fast changing world has demanded that we keep up-to-date with our knowledge we had gathered during our student days and continue to acquire that during our working life. This will ensure that we stay adaptable and employable. In conclusion, future workforce needs to stay resilient and nimble in meeting the demands of today’s workplace and changes in technology or work processes. It is only through self-upgrading, training and development that we are able to achieve it. For more career advice, log on to http://www.jobstreet.com.sg .

Starting early to be ahead This is the first of a series of articles to guide you on how to engage in your own financial planning as you step into the next phase of life as a full-fledged independent adult, ready to face the exciting challenges in life. Whether it is further studies or joining the workforce you choose after graduation, it is important for you to start your own financial plan early in order to meet your financial goals. Starting early allows you to be ahead of the rest just as the early bird gets the worm. The Life Responsibility Line The Life Responsibility Line provides a general overview of the circumstances people from different age groups face, drawing attention to the concerns these populations may have during certain life milestones. Typical concerns of young people in would involve career development, upgrading and further education, and also enjoy life. Typically, there are low financial burdens, and life responsibility is considerably lower. Overstepping potholes As a fresh graduate stepping out into the working world, it may be very exciting as you will now have your very own source of income. Many are tempted to overindulge in lifestyles beyond their means. As a working adult, being seen in the latest fashion apparel and owning the latest gadgets might be amongst the first things that you may wish to accomplish. This often results in love personal savings amongst young executives whose priority is to “enjoy life”. However, it is important to remain mindful in managing financial resources carefully and not to overspend. Start early The failure to anticipate changes in lifestyle and life’s responsibility is a common mistake. Delayed retirement planning is the result of overspending, lack of discipline or simply no planning at all. The longer you wait to start saving and investing, the harder it is to reach your financial goals. One of the greatest advantages you have over others as a young graduate is

By Kelvin Tan Independent Financial Adviser, First Principal Financial Academic Associate, Republic Polytechnic your age. Time is wonderful friend to have when it comes to investment and retirement planning. Investing, not speculating Some may have an appetite for investments and it is easy to fall into the trap of being a speculator rather than an investor. There are many who have fallen prey to financial sales pitches, where they are won over by discounts, free gifts, or highly lucrative investments. Unfortunately, there have been a few RP graduates who invested in such unregulated investment schemes that promised high rebates, and were unable to get back their capital as the company that they invested with was under investigation by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD). However, the collapse of financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers has also shown the importance of understanding investment products. It is of utmost importance to understand your own risk appetite in order to invest prudently and regularly to achieve reasonable returns over a long term. Exposure to catastrophic risk Many young people tend to ignore the importance of providing adequately for their dependants (such as, parents) in the event of unforeseen financial catastrophe like death, permanent disability and critical illnesses. Most would feel safe from financial catastrophe as they are in prime of health. The fact is, regardless of age, no one can predict or anticipate when an accident or medical condition will strike. Insurability is crucial. It’s much harder to plan for medical or life coverage AFTER one has a medical condition as insurers are not so keen to insure people with pre-existing conditions. You need to take advantage of your age to start increasing medical, critical illness and life protection at a low premium. By locking in your insurability early, you are effectively protecting not only yourself but your dependents against rising medical cost. Lastly, it is important to engage a competent and objective Financial Adviser who can work closely with you and anticipate your financial needs and responsibilities at various stages of the life cycle towards a comprehensive financial plan.

THE SECRET to quit Smoking effectively and easily. When you smoke and inhale through your lungs, nicotine reaches your brain in 7 seconds and bind immediately to the receptors at the Pituitary gland. Your “feel good” hormones in your body, Endorphins are being substituted with nicotine, which works like a mild opiate on your brain. For this reason, smoker derives a feeling of relaxation or calms in their nerves. As the nicotine continues to satisfy these feelings, your brain automatically stop manufacturing your own endorphins at the Hypothalamus gland and its control gates are closed to allow any neurotransmitters to flow out. When you decide to quit and stop taking in nicotine, your brain will keep urging you to bring in the addictive drug to satisfy your cravings. As your body has not been activating and manufacturing these endorphins for a long time, there is no operating amount on stand-by and it does notjust automatically jump start itself at the moment when you decide to stop smoking. Therefore, severe withdrawal symptoms and cravings are intolerable for many days or weeks, even after the remaining amount of nicotine has left your body. Most smokers find it very difficult to overcome these sufferings during the abstinence crisis. SO WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? Using this revolutionary Auriculotherapy method, it effectively triggers the release of your endorphins back into action again. By applying low electro-microcurrent stimulation on the appropriate meridian points on the ears surface, it literally jumpstarts again the production of your feel good hormones. During the stimulation, the feeling of the stimulation is like an intermittent pinching sensation without any pain nor side-effects. After 20 mins of this therapy, most patients can feel a calming effect, without any anxiety nor stress . Your blood pressure and pulse rate starts to normalise and your body starts to rid itself of the tobacco toxins. After 1 to 2 hours, when the endorphins start to release and cover the nicotine molecues, it automatically eliminates the cravings or urges induced by the absence of the nicotine. You just lose the desire to smoke. As a result, about 90% of smokers quit successfully in just one or two visits without suffering from any withdrawal symptoms. The whole treatment is totally naturally and non-invasive. To speed up the detoxification process, a specially formulated

RP Biathlon

Phytotherapy diet which consists of natural herbs and plant extracts are consumed to support the cleansing process of the poisons and at the same time reduce any stress and anxiety during the abstinence crises. During the discharge of the toxins, the appearance of urine will be dark yellowish, turbid and smelly. Bowels will be soft and greenish. These are some of the symptoms resulting from the detoxification process. Patients who under this therapy are strongly encouraged to consume as much water as possible to facilitate the cleansing process. SMOKER’S REQUIREMENTS The only requirement for Auriculotherapy to assist in the smoking cessation process is that the smoker must be ready to quit on his own and is not coerced by his family or loved ones This is because is at times, he still needs to overcome his habitual components which have developed and formed for many years Only if the smoker is determined to quit will his biological clock will erase his habits and his routine memory will slowly fade away. From the last 20 years of experience and treatment statistics gathered, this therapy achieves more than 95% success rate in which no other smoking cessation methods at present can come close. There are no known contraindications or dangers of Auriculotherapy. For ultra-safety, it is not recommended for smokers who have a Pacemaker, suffering from frequent Epilepsy seizures or are in the Pregnancy stage. Whatever your reasons are for wanting to give up smoking – either for the sake of your spouse, children or yourself - this highly effective and proven Auriculotherapy can help you achieve your goal. With governments all over the world banning smoking in public places and emphasising the health risks of smoking, isn’t it time you start loving your own body and stop burning away your hard earned money? The Antismoking Center, Singapore offers free consultation/ assessment for individuals who wish to give up smoking. They can be reached at Tel: 6346-0150, or you can check out their website at www.antismoking.com.sg for more info.

Reflections 2008

RP GRADUATES OVERSEAS Catching up with Fang Yiwen, Class of 2006, School of Applied Science

By Bob Tan

Each RP student faces a myriad of choices, both daunting and exciting, upon graduation. Where do I go from here? Should I start work? Should I keep studying? Should I take a long deep breath away from everything and just relax for a while? For the local boys at least, there isn’t much choice other than a free hair cut that removes all strands of civilisation, one that is kept for two years. Whichever path they choose, RP keeps a keen and supportive eye on all our graduates in their endeavours beyond poly. Fang Yiwen, one of the students from RP’s pioneering batch took the road lesser travelled by venturing overseas. She joins the ranks of 170,000 international students enrolled in Australian institutions of higher education and 22,000 Singaporeans who enrolled at various levels of study in Australia. She is studying for her Bachelor’s at The University of Melbourne (UniMelb), a top university ranked 38th in the world this year (Times Higher Education Supplement). UniMelb is also a member of Australia’s prestigious ‘Group of Eight’ universities. She graduated in 2006 with a Diploma in Biomedical Sciences and was one of the founding members of the Service-Learning Club (SLC). After graduation, she found herself working in a lab for 14 months before deciding to take the big leap. She speaks to us to share her experience venturing out of our sunny island set in the sea. The big leap was a daunting one to take. Yiwen shared, “I didn’t get the course I wanted in the local universities. With UniMelb, I got an offer to study what I wanted with the modules that I wanted, so I decided to take up this opportunity.” Her study at RP qualified her with enough credits to reduce 2 years off her Bachelor’s, which was initially advantageous. While it meant a huge saving in time and money, it meant that she had to work a little harder to catch up with her course-mates.

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Put on a red ribbon and appreciate life this 1st December. It’s World Aids Day, why not take up a role in ending HIV prejudices and stopping the spread of HIV.

Hari Raya Aidiladha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice is finally here for our Muslim friends. Learn more about this amazing celebration by visiting the nearest mosque and witness the slaughtering of animals as sacrifice.

Sticky Chewy Chocolate from Swensens, brownie topped with Vanilla Ice cream and chocolate syrup, and chocolate mudpie. Mouthwatering isn’t it? Treat yourself this National Chocolate Covered Anything Day with anything covered with thick, chocolate syrup!

She added, “Starting from Year 3 in university straight from polytechnic requires you to spend a lot more time than your peers to refresh yourself with what they have learnt in Year 1 & 2.” Further challenges came in the form of the learning model. “Their learning system is different, it was a big change from what I was used to at RP”. Unlike RP, PBL is limited to select subjects in Australia and is not prevalent across the board. When asked about her university life, Yiwen said, “It’s not been easy because the locals (Australians) have to do very well before they can get into UniMelb. Many of my course mates are scholars from overseas and most people are hardworking and smart in this university. But if we put in effort and be consistent, it is actually still all right. I don’t think any university will be easy to study at, but probably the competition we get here would make it a little more difficult as we are competing with scholars.” She adds, “Missing home especially during exam periods can really affect you if you don’t control your emotions well. The slang of the lecturers here in the beginning when I first came was also a difficulty I had to cope with!” When asked to reminisce about her days in RP, Yiwen shared that her experience being the first batch in RP meant several firsts. They were the first to adopt and try PBL, first to start new CCAs or Co-Curricular Activities (the predecessors to SLAs), first to occupy Tanglin Campus, first to try the canteen food and the list goes on. She reasoned that this meant they had to work and learn doubly hard, as compared to a student who studies in an institution that has already been well established. That experience helped me become well-prepared for the rigours of studying overseas. Yiwen has some friendly advice for all upcoming graduates, “Make sure you’re really sure that you want to pursue an overseas education and that you have the determination and perseverance to study hard for it. You need lots of self-discipline to be able to cope. I personally find it okay not to continue studying immediately after you graduate from Poly. Take a year off, go take up some jobs, you can hop around, find out what you really want to do in life before you finally decide on a university degree and the course. The working world outside is totally different from student life!”

Dec

Enjoy the cookie madness at the nearest Mrs. Field or Famous Amos on National Cookies Day. A bag of yummy cookies wouldn’t hurt you. So sit back, sip a cup of hot chocolate and immerse yourself in the finger licking good cookies.

“Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle all the way!”Get the Christmas tree, put the presents under it, sing some Christmas carol and just jingle with your family this holiday season!

The elaborate costumer, the gracefully leap and twirl, the soothing orchestral music. Bring your family to the Esplanade Theatre to delight in The Nutcracker, an entrancing fairytale ballet. For more details, log on to www.sistic.com now! The gorgeous 4 are back girls. Fahrenheit’s Fantasy World Tour has finally arrived in Singapore. Get your tickets before it’s wiped out! Log on to sistic for more details.

ZoukOut is back people! Gyrate to the heart thumping music and capture the sunset and sunrise at this awesome dance music festival featuring performances from around the world. To get your tickets, check out http://www.zoukout.com/

What better way to bid goodbye to 2008 and welcome 2009 but under the twinkling stars, dancing to the funky non-stop party music and luxuriate in the foam pool? Don’t miss the grooviest beach party. To learn more, log on to http://www.sentosa.com.sg

“3….2….1…Happy New Year!” A new year means a new beginning. 2009 is here and it’s time to list down the New Year’s resolution…and stick to it!

Jan 03

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Google a recipe, invite some friends over and cook up a plate of home made spaghetti with meatballs, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and oregano to celebrate the National Spaghetti Day!

it’s the start of the week, so why not honor the “Work Harder Day” by working a little bit harder… and get all the overdue work done ASAP! Hope working hard doesn’t stop after 12 Jan!

Parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar, cottage cheese. It’s Cheese Day for you. Indulge in yummy dishes topped with loads of cheese over it. It’s bound to make everybody’s day!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! It’s a brand new year for our Chinese friends! It’s the time for reunion dinners, red packets and mandarin oranges. Get your loved ones over to welcome the New Year. Why not invite the lion dance troupe to spice up the celebration!

Come on down to RP Open House this 7 and 9 Jan and enjoy a day of fun and laughter with your friends and facilitators. Lose yourself to the many performances by our fellow RP students. Plus, support your juniors as they take on the competitions and games lined up!

It’s Compliment Day! Why not drop your friends or colleagues a little compliment to make their day. A little “You are a wonderful friend!” wouldn’t hurt.

The colours, the sounds, the beautiful array of float parades. Come on down with your family and friends to enjoy an amazing night surrounded with the spectacular and dazzling lights! Log on to http://www.chingay. org.sg/ for more information.

For any further details, or to include your event in Wake up!, please contact us at help-graduate@rp.sg. Thank you!