dReam Newsletter Sept 2008 Issue by Republic Polytechnic, Alumni Services

am dRE

An RP Alumni Newsletter Issue 8 Sept 2008

Everything starts from a dream

The Republic Cultural Centre presents Momentum 2008 and IGNITE! Music Festival The Arts has been taken to a new height in RP.

Watchout!! Useful advise on how to survive your workplace Graduate Spotlight Manhunt 2008 winner Gordon Tan shows us a softer side Wake Up! Check out our events calendar for exciting events and happenings

+ President Nathan visits RP

Has the Olympics bug bit you yet? I sure have been bitten and cannot believe the greatest sporting event, hosted in Beijing this time, is over! I am left craving for more sporting action, but action is always not too far away in RP. We have seen our share of sports action in the past quarter. The Round the Campus Relay is back once again, and this time we saw many more enthusiastic participants try to beat previous records. Want to know what transpired during the relay? Flip to page 4 for more! Also, RP celebrated the Glitz Award in an effort to salute the spirit of sportsmanship in RP. It was a themed event bringing us back to the roots of sports – Greece! There were ushers donning Greek robes, much to the glee of the participants. It was indeed a glittering event which saw many of our hardworking sports men and women get due recognition for their contribution to RP. More on page 5. Graduate Services continued our tradition of helping the needy by organizing the second Buzzer Bazaar (page 2) – a cashless bazaar where all transactions were carried out using EZlink. It felt good doing our part for the needy, especially so when helping needy students. This year, all the earnings went to the Student Welfare Fund. Please contact us (Help-Graduate@rp.sg) if you wish to help our needy RP students in any way. The Republic Cultural Centre (TRCC) also made headlines this quarter by organizing two mega Arts events – Momentum 2008 and IGNITE! Music Festival. These two events certainly created more awareness in the dance and music scene in Singapore respectively. I was thrilled to be able to witness these two top-class events. So, if you missed out on the action, hurry to page 10 to find out more! Does the name Gordon Tan ring a bell? How about Tan Lin Shen? He is the winner of Manhunt 2008, and a proud RP graduate from SIT. Do not be fooled by his well-built exterior as Gordon is really a softie at heart. Turn to page 16 as Gordon shares with dREam his beauty contest experience. Lastly, our resident contributor, Michael Lim, writes about the importance of caring for our thoraxic region, also known as The Chest! He shares with us common chest-related problems as well as how we can exercise prevention (page 13). Graduate Services has had a very fruitful and exciting quarter, and we hope the next quarter is just as good as we head into holiday season again. We would love to hear from you, so please write to us at Help-Graduate@rp.sg with any suggestions or feedback. Take good care! Graduate Services – Adding Mileage to your Bright Future. Vanessa Choo Editor

PUBLISHER Office of Student and Graduate Affairs 9, Woodlands Avenue 9, Singapore 738964 EDITORIAL Editor Art work Advertising

Contributors Michael Lim Fiona Ong Kelly Kuan Chen Yi Le Marjory Kho Maya Murni Johnson Tai Muhammad Raimi Bin Juraimi 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.

President Nathan Visits!

To give President Nathan a warm welcome, and a good snapshot of our graduate achievements, Graduate Services pitched in to give our Heritage Room an update and facelift, making it more informative and cozy. We now have a Wall of Fame featuring five outstanding graduates: Alex Sharma, Andrew Heng, Ghazi Alqudcy, Sapna Devi, and Woon Wee Phuay.

These graduates have either achieved great academic success, or have done well in their career. RP is very proud to feature these graduates in the Heritage Room, and happy that our President got to know our graduates a little better. If you wish to nominate yourself or a classmate to be part of our Wall of Fame, please email us at Help-Graduate@rp.sg.

Vanessa Choo dream@rp.sg Tay Ling tay_ling@rp.sg Vanessa Choo dream@rp.sg

By Fiona Ong

TWENTY-TWO stalls occupied the South Agora for this annual event from 26 to 27 June 2008. Teeming with hundreds of students during their break out, the stalls played host, with an array of unique and exciting merchandise from handmade clay magnets, jewellery, Indian snacks, henna, to eclectic bags and shoes from the 1990s. The event, held since 2007, attracted not only students but also staff as each stall jostle for attention, and each one doing their utmost to out-do and out-sell each other. Indeed, such intense competition was so evident last year that the stalls were rewarded for their efforts in having the highest total sales recorded. To add to the colour of the festive and village-like affair, each stall was encouraged to participate in the Best Concept Stall competition, for the best looking stall. As if that was not enough, each stall was also invited to design a 1.7 metre tall umbrella out of recycled materials as part of the competition. The retail therapy affair for many students and staff was accompanied by good music courtesy of Jammerz Arena, Replug and Wind Symphony, and foot-stomping hip gyrating performances by CREATE (Dikir Barat, Hip Hop IG, Modern Dance IG and Indian Cultural Group). In doing our bit for the community in Republic Polytechnic, part of the proceeds from the sale went to the Student Welfare Fund. The fund recognises and supports needy students in the polytechnic, with money raised going to support them through money for meals, scholarships and bursaries.

Some stalls attracted more attention than others, like the Magic IG, who drew in the crowds with their magic. Magic IG mesmerised everyone with their cards and smoke tricks, drawing laughter and shrieks of delight. The stall by the Office of Student and Graduate Affairs had their fair share of fun, with student helpers hollering on bullhorns –

“One dollar, one dollar! Very cheap! Everything must go!” – imploring one and all to stop by the stall to purchase pre-loved old items, many of them in mint condition. If anyone could miss that, staff and students certainly got nailed at the Graduate Services stall, with a mini nail therapy for their fingers. This year’s event also saw the implementation of the EZ-Link card for making purchases and for documenting all sales. This inaugural use of the EZ-Link payment facility in its fullest phase saw each stall chalking up the sales using the EZ-Link terminals, with top-up facility available for staff and students who needed to top-up their cards.

At the end of the two-day event, not only was more money raised for the welfare fund but everyone had a great time, from the students who ran the stalls, learning a thing or two about small business enterprise to the many students who visited and supported the stalls. In the words of a fellow student,

“I cannot wait for next year’s Buzzer Bazaar!”

Smile before the run!

Deserving recipients

Pass me the baton

GLITZ 2008

I’ve done it!

By Marjory Kho

Round the Camp We’re off!

relay By Chen Yile

The Greek atmosphere from the 2004 Olympics might have been long forgotten but definitely not in the Republic Polytechnic’s Sports Complex on 21 May 2008. This year’s theme for the annual Glitz 2008 took a Greek twist and the 2 emcees for the night, alongside the organizing committee, looked like Gods and Goddesses, decked out in their respective Greek costumes. For some, it was amusing to see men dressed in a knee-high linen robes, but the event wound certainly not be complete without these costumes! Over 250 students from the various Sports IGs were invited to the event and dressed up in formal wear for the occasion. As guests entered the Sport Hall, they were presented with an event booklet containing everything you needed to know about the awards categories, the nominees and the award winners. It was not long before the award ceremony commenced. One by one, the award recipients of each category – Sports for Good, Republic Honors, Sports Development Grant and Meritorious Awards - proudly made their way to the stage as their names were announced. Following Greek tradition, each recipient had a wreath placed on their head before receiving their medals. Mr Wilson Ang(Deputy Director, OSG) proudly presented the award for both the Sports for Good and Development Grant categories, while the Gold, Silver and Merit Meritorious Awards were given out by Mr Ang Keng Loo (Senior Director, Student Affairs), Mr Michael Koh (Director, SHL) and Mr Glen O’Grady (Director, CED) respectively. Not forgetting the coaches and advisors of the various IGs who were also given a certificate of appreciation by Mr Terence Chong (Director of SAS) for their contribution and great effort in developing their respective sports group.

HEARTS AND FEET pounded around the perimeter of the campus as the roaring crowd cheered them on to the finish line. Students and staff gathered at the Sports Complex to support their classmates and colleagues in the recent Round de Campus Relay, organised by the Office of Student and Graduate Affairs. The Round de Campus Relay brought together an estimated number of 300 participants, from all the schools and centres in Republic Polytechnic and also invited athletes from the other four polytechnics.

This annual event allowed athletes to compete in an atmosphere of friendship or a chance for many to ravel in the simple joy of running.

Polytechnic ran away (pun intended) a clear winner with a total running time of 21 minutes:33 seconds:53 milliseconds. Our team of students from the School of Sports, Health and Leisure finished first amongst their peers in seven other teams in the Interschool/centre category with a total running time of 22 minutes:56 seconds:42 milliseconds. Doing the event organisers proud, is a team of four staff from the Office of Student and Graduate Affairs, who outran the other eight teams from the other schools, centres and offices in Republic Polytechnic in the Staff InterDepartment category.

Team work was certainly prevalent as each team consisting of four participants – two male and two female, took turns to complete a total route of 6 kilometres. Out of the 39 teams in the Open category, a team of four students from the Nanyang

The event ended with sweats of joy at the Sports Complex where attractive trophies were given away to the deserving recipients by the Senior Director of Student Affairs.

Mr Eden Liew (Deputy Principal, Corporate Affairs) presented the award for Sportsman of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year, Mckenrick Lim Jun Sheng of SHL and Lavendar Ong Jie Xian of SAS, respectively. Dendapani Ravisankar of SEG was awarded Male Captain of the Year award, while Marjory Kho of STA took home the award for Female Captain of the Year. Last but not least, the Team of the Year award was a close fight between the two power houses: 2007 POL-ITE Champions, the Floorball Men’s team and the multi-award winner Dragonboat IG! Everyone sat on the edge of their seats and supporters cheered on while Guestof-Honor, Mr Ang, unveiled the winner – Dragonboat IG! The entire Dragonboat IG stood up and cheered wildly while the team went forward to receive their award from Mr Eden Liew. It was disappointing for Floorball IG as they were expecting to retain the title, but there is always next year to fight it back! Though his team has lost out on the Team Of the Year, Mckenrick felt that they are already a winners at heart: “It is a different experience from last year where you are able to celebrate on the very place u train on.” Congratulations to all award winners, and cheers to great sportsmanship!

Star Light, Star Bright!

Hip Hop IG says “Happy Birthday, Singapore!”

By Johnson Tai (International Student Club)

Principal, Prof Yeo, makes a speech.

I-STAR is an annual singing competition organised by the International Student Club (ISC). The event aims to create a platform for International Students at RP to display their talent. ISC also hopes that through such activities, participants would be able to develop their self-confidence and communication skills. Local students are also given a chance to better understand the diverse cultures represented at RP as the contestants perform a variety of cultural songs from their home countries. This year, the I-STAR competition was held in the month of July and it is the second year that ISC is organizing this singing competition. The competition was divided into 4 rounds: Auditions, Heats, Semi-Finals and Finals, which were held one week apart. During each round of competition, successful contestants were selected by a panel of judges comprised of mainly RP facilitators and advisors from ISC, Replug IG and Wind Symphony IG. Contestants were judged on their pitch, voice, tempo and their stage appearance. The contestants began to show improvements in their performance as they progressed from heats to finals, despite the limited time they had for practice. They treasured the comments given by the judges and made every effort to correct their mistakes.

During the finals, ISC specially invited Mr. Kenneth Kong, who is a DJ from the radio station 100.3Fm, to be the guest judge. In addition, the Director for the School of Applied Science (SAS) and Office of Planning and International Operations (OPI), Dr. Terence Chong, was the Guest of Honour. The climax of the competition was when one of the contestants sang “Uptown girl”. The atmosphere was brought to a new high as the contestant urged the audience to sing along. The winner for I-star 2008 was Tiffany, a Vietnamese. She couldn’t believe that she won the competition! Besides emerging the champion, she was also the most talented and most popular contestant. She had a large number of supporters, rendering her the “Most Popular Contestant”. Furthermore, she performed a Chinese Song despite not being familiar with the language. She stated that, “since I am the only non-Chinese in the competition, I want to try singing a Chinese song even though my pronunciation is not that good.” That spirit bagged her the “Most Talented Contestant” award. Through the I-STAR competition, the contestants had gained a lot of experiences and took away with them sweet memories of the competition. Let us look forward to I-Star 2009 which will once again allow our foreign students to aim for greater heights.

Beats Encore finished with a bang!

national day observance ceremony 43 years ago, on 9th August 2008, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew announced that Singapore was a sovereign, independent country. A small country that was unknown to the rest of the world. People only knew Singapore as a tiny fishing island that could not be seen on the world map. 43 years on, and Singapore has made a mark on the world map.

has been years since I last sang the anthem and as I did sang out loud, I could not help reminiscing the days at the parade square of my secondary school during the flag raising ceremony.

Then, as the last notes of the National Anthem faded off, the crowds placed a clenched fist over their hearts, chanting: “We, the citizens of Singapore…” On the eve of Singapore’s birthday, the Student Council had organized a National Listening to fellow Singaporeans reciting the pledge in unity made me truly proud Day Observance Ceremony. Students and staff, decked in red and white, joined to be a Singaporean - Proud to see how much Singapore has grown and proud to in the ceremony. One of the main highlights was the photography competition be able to serve Singapore. organized by Photo Republic. It was really impressive how the students managed to The ceremony closed with an energetic number by the Hip Hop IG. It was remarkable capture amazing National Day moments. to see the youth of Singapore putting in so much effort to produce such amazing What followed next was a performance by Beats Encore The high energy and spirit performances. The smiles and cheers from the crowd were evident that the Hip Hop put into their performance infected the crowds and soon everyone was moving to IG had done a tremendous job. the beat. Their performance also acted as a welcome gesture for the Principal, Prof Yeo Li Pheow, to the ceremony. Principal Yeo then addressed the crowd with a short It was comforting that staff and students took some time off from their busy schedules to attend the short, but significant, Observance Ceremony. I had a wonderful time, speech. and I certainly am a very proud Singaporean. Carrying the Singapore flag, the President of the Student Council proudly walked on stage indicating to the crowd that it was time to sing the National Anthem. It Happy 43rd Birthday Singapore!

By Kelly Kuan

IGNITE! Music Festival 2008 stormed the grounds of Republic Polytechnic as never before over the last weekend of July. If you were there to see it for yourself, you would agree that this was probably the most happening event for RP yet! There was an exciting band line-up for both nights, with Electrico and Jack + Rai (EIC) headlining a night each, and other prominent local acts Plainsunset, Caracal, Allura, Flybar, Marchtwelve, Ruth Ling and Ngak + Clement anchoring the programme. The technical set-up was extensive, intricate and professional; far beyond what the RP Community has seen at any outdoor event held on campus. Presented by The Republic Cultural Centre (TRCC), this is one of the annual highlights which you can continue to look forward to. IGNITE! Music Festival was conceived early this year with the local music scene in mind. Far too often, we have lamented that local acts don’t make it big until they are discovered overseas. In a bid to break that “phenomenon”, TRCC puts forth IGNITE! as a platform for local acts, and local acts only. Since its inception through the execution, IGNITE! was a staff-student initiative. Students from Jammerz Arena IG and Replug IG were asked in a straw poll which local bands they would like to see perform in RP. Staff members and music industry friends also gave their input in the short listing of bands to invite. With that, the project was off to a start.

momentum 2008 By Muhammad Raimi Bin Juraimi

Show after show, competitions after competitions, nothing can ever compare to the experience I’ve had in preparation for the Momentum 2008, RP’s first ever dance festival proudly organised by our very own The Republic Cultural Centre (TRCC).

As a proud senior member of the Hip Hop Interest Group (IG), I have had my share of experience also exposure from the many performances and competitions that I have taken part in, both on or off campus. Being in Hip Hop IG, also known as Style Groovaz, has certainly taught me many things. Such as to cultivating strong bonds with my fellow crew mates, which is a spirit also reflected in our IG motto, “An IG That Dances Together, Stays Together.” Apart from that, we also believe that winning isn’t everything as most importantly, we stay true to ourselves and just give the best that we can. Held over two nights on 28 and 29 May 2008 at the TRCC Theatre, Momentum 2008 has definitely brought the best in every individual, not only from Hip Hop IG, but also from the other RP dancers (Malay Cultural Group, Indian Cultural Group, Social Dance IG and Modern Dance IG) who were also involved in this whole production. Expectations were high as the stage was set to accommodate the expectations of a full house audience of 2000. Apart from that, external performers were also invited to blaze the stage alongside us. This included the likes of the dancers from Ngee Ann Poly’s NRA, Greenridge Secondary School, Dance Spectrum International, Tanglin Secondary School, Hwa Chong Institution (College Section), Crazy Children, SMU InDancity, St Andrew’s Junior College and NUS Dance Ensemble.

Our guest performers had undoubtedly raised the bar for our RP dancers. Being host, our RP dancers knew that we had to put in every effort to step up our performance. As the curtain fell on the on the gala night when we received a standing ovation, and all of us knew we had done well and made RP proud.

Despite excitement, I felt that performing is also about having fun too. Although the training and rehearsals were intense, I could see the team spirit among the RP dancers, which ultimately made Momentum 2008 a success. The blood, sweat and tears that we all shed were definitely worth it as we found ourselves growing and maturing together as a team. Momentum 2008 allowed me to recognise the many talents here in RP. I am thankful to TRCC for providing us with training support, as well as a platform for us to perform. On a personal note, being the senior in the IG, I got to see that my fellow juniors improve by leaps and bounds from when they first started. I am definitely proud of each and every one of them and I know that Style Groovaz, as with all other dance IGs of RP, will continue the legacy of our achievements in years to come.

I will always look back and treasure the good times I had and look forward to seeing more brilliant moments in Momentum 2009.

Attracting almost 3,500 people over two nights and a host of positive feedback from various sources, we are encouraged that IGNITE! is a worthwhile effort towards the proliferation of quality local music and good grounds for grooming young and upcoming bands. The invited bands were pleasantly surprised at the level of professionalism they received from a school event like ours, both in terms of hospitality and technical capabilities. When asked for feedback on the Artist Holding Room, Inch Chua (Allura, lead vocalist) said, “It reminded us a lot of the Esplanade’s dressing room for the bands. There were refreshments, air-conditioning and all that jazz. We really cannot ask for more!” Also contributing to the success of the event was a group of students from Campus Arts Production who played the vital role of Artist Liaison Officers (ALO). The job of an ALO is a tall order, having to anticipate your artist’s needs and ensure they are comfortable and happy the entire duration they are here. Quick thinking and high Emotional Quotience (EQ) is essential, and it was the IGNITE! team’s good fortune for having a group of mature students who did just that. RP students also played a big part in ensuring the smooth running of the production in the capacities of Stage Hands, Assistant Stage Managers and Video Crew. Working alongside TRCC Technical Crew, the students had the rare opportunity to put their skills to the test at an event of this scale. Jon Hemsley (Plainsunset, Band Manager) commended the IGNITE! technical crew for being friendly and helpful, and our equipment as “top notch”. Looking at the sheer number of young people rocking to Plainsunset and Caracal’s original music on Saturday, this is further affirmation that there is hope for the local music scene. It was an exhilarating experience putting IGNITE! together and it would not have been possible without the amazing team of people on the job with me. Special thanks goes out to our incredible sponsors and partners, Studio IG from Club:G, Campus Arts Productions and various student helpers from Create.Republic.

SURVIVING THE WORKPLACE? You were probably expecting tips like 7 Steps To Surviving Office Politics, 5 Tips To Handle Office Bullies or 3 Ways To Stop Office Gossips when you saw this article’s title.

Entertaining The Monkeys No, the monkeys are not the difficult people. The authors of “The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey” identifies monkeys as responsibilities that do not belong to us. While many managers fail to delegate enough, as many employees fail to identify their core responsibilities to prioritize work tasks correctly. In Singapore’s notoriously rat-race style environment, we are bombarded with advises on taking more initiatives, being more pro-active. We build for ourselves an Everest-high amount of stress and ironically, ineffectiveness, by doing other people’s works as well.

London Bridge is Falling Down The Finance Assistant writes in an email to his colleague in Sales Department: “… please sign off properly next time you write, I have no idea who you are. Your request will be considered” The stunned newbie makes a mental note to stay away from this unfriendly sounding co-worker. In reality, the 21 year old Finance Assistant is not too fluent with English and is used to writing short, unclear emails as he is “very busy and have no time to write long emails”. The CEO is heading towards your direction along the hallway, you dart into the pantry to avoid a conversation – because you get all nervous and speechless every time she engages you in small talks.

Surviving it: Keep quiet and go on accepting what is given, wait for a nervous break-down

Surviving it: Take on as much as you can, put in longer hours, pray hard that your boss promotes you soon or wait for a burn-out

Surviving it: Avoid contacts with people you do not like or are uncomfortable with. Just stick with those you like.

Managing it: Raise the issue directly with the party concerned, be ready to work out mutually beneficial alternatives. Point out your rights if necessary. If it reaches a point of unreasonableness, raise it to the next level of authority.

Managing it: Make a list all tasks, projects, reports and assignments on hand, separate them into I AM PAID TO DO THIS from the I AM NOT PAID TO DO THIS tasks. You should start re-prioritizing if you are far-off target in the former. Don’t forget to go through the list with your boss.

Managing it: Learn how you can manage good working relationships with people of all levels, understand how cultural diversity, verbal and body languages helps you build bridges.

Of course there are much more than what has been stated in managing the workplace well for ourselves. The challenge is, putting them into practice requires time and accumulated experience. So start practicing with these basic ones today and get beyond surviving the workplace. This article is contributed by Ms Jennifer Tay, Senior Product Manager at JobStreet Singapore. For more career advice, log on to http://www.jobstreet.com.sg

dREam Body Essentials Series Lim

Not Exercising Our Rights I’ve had wonderful colleagues blamed for mistakes they were not responsible for. Lunch-time gripes of people being “bullied” into taking up tasks which overloads them is a daily occurrence around us. In most instances, we get caught into such situations because we want to avoid confronting the culprit for fear of negative repercussions. We do not exercise the rights of our employment terms. For example, your boss calls you about work on your private mobile, 24x7, even when you are on vacation.

l ichae

Watch out for these common factors that puts us in a survival mode:

By M

When we are in a position of trying to survive, we are at the mercies of people and circumstances, we have no negotiation nor influencing power, it is defeating to be in this position. What we all want really is to Manage The Workplace. Managing empowers even regular working folks like us to anticipate, plan and exercise some level of control over workplace problems and difficult people.

This issue of dREams takes a closer look at the essential life-sustaining mid-section of our body – the chest and heart. We fully acknowledge that this is a very complex and voluminous subject, and would not attempt to cover every aspect of it in this article, including incomprehensible physio-babble. We would instead focus on the essential bits of knowledge that everyday-folk like you and I can understand and use.

Hyperventilation: Hyperventilation can be part of a “stress attack” or overexertion, where patients suffer not only from distress but also chest pains, shortness of breath, tingling sensations of the fingertips and even dizziness. The predominant cause is a sharp drop in the blood CO2 levels due to imbalanced air exchanges brought about by excessively quick breathing or panting.

Our chest or thoraxic region houses some organs that are essential to life, like the heart, its major arteries and veins, and the lungs together with its protective rib cage bones. Core to our basic living functions, the chest and its organs frequently undergo much more stress than we may know or understand. Let us take a look at some of the basic issues that may be of our concern.

Simple remedies include breathing into a paper bag to help patients restore the normal amount of CO2 or counting by a watch to slow down breathing. This condition may be acute and short-lived, but medical attention should be sought if the occurrence is repeated or chronic.

Among common chest-related problems that medical professionals encounter, the respiratory system (involving the lungs and heart) seems to have a central role to play in most of them. A list of the common problems can be found below, all of which would require medical supervision for full understanding and treatment. Asthma: Asthma is a common respiratory condition around the world’s urban populace, where patients suffer a prolonged congestion of their respiratory system. Their airways occasionally constrict, become inflamed or become lined with excessive mucus, causing symptoms like wheezing, shortness of breath and coughing. Asthma is mainly considered a complex condition to understand and managed because of the number of factors that can trigger its symptoms (reaction) – anything from exercise to viral illnesses, dust and even drugs. Depending on the scale and severity of the asthmatic reaction, it may even be life threatening. Fortunately, with sufficient medical supervision, a change in environment and adequate drugs can quickly alleviate the reactions and help to bring the condition under control.

Tuberculosis (TB): TB was once one of the most common causes of death in the world. It was caused by an airborne bacterium that attacked the lungs and other essential organs, and could be spread from one person to another. TB “carriers” were also present, where the TB bacterium lived within the person without harmful effects and could still spread from the carrier to another person thorough sneezing or coughing. Since the development of drugs and vaccines to combat TB, its reports have steadily declined. However, the disease still exists and may pose a serious threat to patients with a weak immune system. Symptoms of an active TB infection include: - A very bad cough, lasting up to 3 weeks or longer - Chest pains, difficulty in breathing - Coughing out blood or lots of phlegm - Fever, chills and sweating at night (sign of TB affecting other organs) - Weakness or fatigue and loss of appetite Next issue, we shall expand on our investigations of the chest area by looking into the essential organs contained within the chest. Till then, stay healthy and keep an eye out for the symptoms listed in this article – early detection and prevention are essential for a cure to take place.

Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Visit

IGNITE! Music Festival

MOMENTUM 2008

Backgr

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n ordon Ta G : Name mputing o C 25 s s e n i us Age: oma in B t at SMU/ Model l p i D Diploma: Full time studen ob: ra Current J : Chinese Orchest nd Backgrou

01 The Mid Autumn Festival is finally here. Chinatown will once again be lighted up with amazing lanterns and shimmering lights. Come down with your family to enjoy amazing cultural shows and the festive street stalls!

04 NDP’08 Perspectives Photography Competition Exhibition. Find out the winning entries! For more information, visit www.ndpperspectives.com

07 Avril Lavigne- The Best Damn Tour has finally reached Singapore. This is your chance to catch the punk-pop princess in action! Tickets from $75. Log on to www.sistic.com to get your tickets!

10 Never get to join the hip hop class? Why not join Footwork with your girlfriends now! Grab your dancing shoes and choose from the variety of dance classes available. Just log on to http://www.esplanade.com to register now!

11 Ignite your senses this September to this year’s Singapore Biennale, a visual arts event. Grab your friends and visit the different displays of contemporary art by prominent visual artists.

14 Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla. Pick your favourite fill for your donut and enjoy the National Cream-Filled Donut Day over a cup of hot coffee!

20 It’s the international Eat an Apple day! Get the juiciest, and crunchiest apple now. Let’s not forget, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!

21 Hey girls, it’s our day again. Go on a shopping spree, or maybe a short retreat to Bintan, or even your nails done. Today is Women’s Friendship day - what better way to spend your day but with all your gorgeous girlfriends.

26 - 28 Lo and behold, the much awaited Formula 1 is finally in town. Vroom vroom! It’s the first ever night event in F1 history. So why not sacrifice a little sleep for this once in a lifetime opportunity!

Tell us about your experience taking part in Manhunt 2008. It is certainly an experience that would last me a lifetime, I guess not just for me but for all my fellow manhunt contestants as well. We were not only judged based on looks, we also had fitness challenges, a question and answer session (Q&A), and also many fashion segments to showcase the different faces each of us can portray. People often stereotype participants of beauty contests with low IQ. What do you have to say to that? If beauty pageant is only about looks, then we need not have the Q&A session anymore, right? A winner must be physically good-looking and possess the brains and charisma in order to represent Singapore in international competitions. In fact, more than half of the Manhunt contestants are University students! What’s the most challenging thing about participating in Manhunt? The contest is both physically and mentally demanding. I have to hit the gym everyday and watch my diet in order to reach my peak physique during the finals. It is also mentally challenging when you only get a few hours of sleep each night during rehearsals and need appear alert the next day. I heard u have a girlfriend. How does she feel having you in the limelight all the time? My girlfriend is from RP too and constantly feels insecure due to the attention that I get. I have to constantly assure her that I will be faithful always. Name a male personality who inspires you. Major military general, Zhao Yun, of the Han Dynasty who fought during the Three Kingdoms era of China. He rose from humble roots to become a great commander. I find his humble start similar to mine. And like him, through sheer determination and hard work, I achieved my goals. Our efforts did pay off, because we have successfully written our names in history. My role as Dragonboat Team Captain is similar to that of commander of an army. I had to deal with all walks of people - the strong and boastful, and the weak and boastful . It was difficult, but I rallied everyone to stay united and fight as a team! You seem very athletic and sporty, do you have any other interests that might surprise us? (eg: dancing, painting, reading, singing….) I enjoy playing music! I can play a wide range of instruments, but the two instruments I particularly love is the piano and Chinese Er – hu. Besides music, I also am an animal lover! My record number of pets is : ; A parrot, five dogs, and over 70 hamsters! What are your future plans? I am currently pursuing a degree in Business Management. I finish my studies next year, and hope to work as a banker. My dream job is to own a pet shop and be a dog breeder! I am really into animals. A message you’d like to share with your fellow Republicans: Yesterday is history, Tomorrow is mystery, But today is a gift ; That is why we call it Present! Cherish your times in RP for the grass may not be necessarily greener on the other side.

Sept 06

Oct

01 After a month long of fasting, Hari Raya Puasa is finally here. Get your friends together and enjoy a hearty meal of yummy ketupat and rendang!

03 - 04 “Mamma Mia, here I go again. My my, how can I resist you?” How can ANYONE resist not catching the ABBA mania this October? Log on to www.sistic.com.sg for more details!

08 Let your inner child to come out today. Bring Mr Bear-bear to school day. It’s National Bring your Teddy Bear to School Day!

14 How about a slice of chocolate cake and being seduced by the rich, velvety chocolate oozing out of it? National Dessert Day is here, so grab a second helping if you must to enjoy this yummy day!

19 Trick or Treat? How about enjoy a Halloween-themed journey into the Night Safari on board the Spooky tram rides. For more details, log on to www.visitsingapore.com .

25 French fries, pizza with pepperoni and cheese, fried chickens. Pile up those plates with loads of food. No one will give you the stares because National Greasy Food Day is here once again. Yum!

26 Have you signed up yet? Be part of the Great Eastern women 10k run! For more information, visit www.women10k.com.

27 Deepavali or the “Festival of Light” will once again bring us a beautiful glow. Being a multi-racial country, how about celebrating Deepavali with your Indian friends? Expect to be steeped in culture and enjoy delicious Indian delicacies!

30 It’s time to get involved in the theatrical scene! Catch Avenue Q the Musical!, the grown up version of Sesame Street. Be prepared to laugh yourself silly to the hilarious antics of these puppets. Get your tickets now at www.esplanade.com

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