THE NTU MAGAZINE NOV–DEC 2014 NO. 19 D A SIA 2 014 ; G L O MM PRIX AWA RD & RLD AWA R D 2 013 MY F WA R PRWEEK A NCE CO BA L A LLIA DEN WO IPR A GOL IRS T OV Lingo bingo WHAT FOREIGN LANGUAGE SHOULD YOU LEARN? ER SE AS JOB Placesto chow and chill oncampus Double the fun or twice the trouble Is your smartphone making you smarter or lazier you are my sunshine SStefanie tefanie SSun’ un’s latest latest h honour onour & n next ext a adventure dventure WIN! KARAOKE VOUCHERS • SHOPPING SPREE • ICE-SKATING PASSES • LYON FLASH DRIVES & LUGGAGE COVERS KEEP IN TOUCH! We welcome your ideas, views and contributions. Email us at [email protected] ™ youtube.com/NTUsg b /NTU facebook.com/NTUsg twitter.com/NTUsg linkedin.com/company/ntusg CHIEF EDITOR Dr Vivien Chiong EDITOR Eileen Tan ASSISTANT EDITOR Chrystal Chan WRITERS Derek Rodriguez Aaron Corbett Jeremy Ee Siddiqua Ovais VIDEO PRODUCER Ei Ei Thei CONTRIBUTORS Aloysius Boh (Class of 2016) Andrew Toh (Class of 2015) Goh Wei Choon (Class of 2014) Sam Chin (Class of 2012) Zach Chia (Class of 2014) DESIGN Loo Lay Hua HEY! GO GREEN Share your copy of the magazine, or return it to us and we will recycle it. HEY! is a publication of the Corporate Communications Office, Nanyang Technological University. All rights reserved. ©2014 by Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited. T. (65) 6790 5116. F. (65) 6791 8494. Reg No 200604393R Printer: Times Printers Pte Ltd 2 FYI 4 FEATURE THREE FOR THE WIN Irish acclaim for NTU trio 5 FEATURE FIRST AND FOREMOST #1 in more ways than one 6 FEATURE WHERE I WENT LAST SUMMER Globe-trotting interns 11 FEATURE THE BIG DRAW Mural of the story 12 FEATURE TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE Twin tales 18 FEATURE IS YOUR SMARTPHONE MAKING YOU LAZIER, SMARTER OR MORE POLITE? Pocket friend or fiend? 21 HOT SHOTS MAKE A DATE WITH US Join the fun in 2015 22 FEATURE LINGO BINGO Merits of multilingualism 24 FEATURE CHOW AND CHILL Yummy galore 27 FEATURE AND THE WINNERS ARE… Alumni wisdom and wit 28 UNPLUGGED YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE Stefanie Sun shines brighter 31 THE P FILES INSPIRING TIM(E) Chat and learn 32 THINKING ALOUD STOCKHOLM SYNDROME Andrew Toh reporting from Sweden 35 FEATURE FANCY A BATTERY THAT LASTS 20 YEARS? Battery tech makes a quantum leap 36 MY SPACE BEDSIDE MANNERS Future doctors’ pad 37 FEATURE WE ASKED… YOU VOTED Poll position HEY! CATCH US ON... GET MORE FROM HEY! When you see the icon, you can enjoy exclusive stories, videos or photos via the desktop, mobile and tablet versions of HEY! Online at www.hey.ntu.edu.sg. DOUBLE DUTY WONDER Creative Bloom In the near future, you can design and print your own jewellery and accessories. An NTU team showed how with a 3D-printed metal orchid that was named Best Creative Part in an international competition in Sweden. The orchid jewellery was designed by a team led by engineering PhD student Tan Yu Jun and art, design & media students Audrey Ng, Jin Su Huan and Liew Ming Jia, before it was 3D printed in metal by Dr Tan Xipeng at NTU. ARTOF MEDICINE The inaugural batch of students at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine made history in August last year as the first NTU medical students. Now they are putting their creative work down for posterity by helping to create a wall mural made of clay tiles. The clay tiles are handmade by the students and personalised with their creative imprints of what it means to become a doctor. About two hundred pieces will be used for the unique wall mural called Apollo’s Dream, which will become a permanent feature at the school’s upcoming Experimentall Medicine Building at the Yunnan Garden campus. 2 Here’s one to be charged up about. Electric cars may become a practical reality sooner, with more space in the car for bigger batteries that can go the distance. Scientists at NTU and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) have invented a two-in-one electric car motor by combining the motor and air-conditioning compressor. The space-saving and efficient design makes possible the use of bigger batteries, so electric vehicles can stay up to 20% longer on the roads before needing to be juiced up again. NTU’s very own Wall Street Wall Street has arrived at Nanyang Business School, which has just set up the largest finance lab in Singapore, named the Centre for Applied Financial Education. The lab has more than 80 terminals with direct links to live data from Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, so students can access real-time financial, economic and business information. CONGRATULATIONS... Smart sign of the times Life’s going to get better for your parents or grandparents. NTU and the University of Bristol will work on smart, wearable healthcare innovations that take the strain out of ageing. NTU President Prof Bertil Andersson signed the agreement between the two universities, witnessed by Singapore President Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, who was on a state visit to the United Kingdom. In London, Prof Andersson attended a state banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, spoke at a Royal Society panel discussion, and met NTU students on exchange at Imperial College London. BRAINY BEAUTY Flower power Used as a natural blue dye in Malay and Peranakan cuisine, Clitoria ternatea – commonly known as the blue pea flower – may have important uses outside the kitchen. Researchers from the School of Biological Sciences successfully extracted a new enzyme from the plant, which can join together chains of amino acids. This breakthrough can potentially speed up the development of new drugs to fight cancer. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 It was triple joy for communication undergrad Kimberly Lam when she walked away with the First Runner-up title at Miss Singapore World 2014, as well as the Miss Personality and Miss Photogenic titles. Kimberly was also our November girl in the 2014 NTU calendar. Way to go, gal! GOOD CATCH Motorists who’ve illegally modified their vehicles with loud exhausts may need to make a return trip back to the workshop. A traffic noise-monitoring system developed by Research Associate Apoorv Agha and Assoc Prof Gan Woon Seng clinched a top award at the regional 2014 Engineering Impact Awards. The system works by helping traffic cops automatically capture the licence plate numbers of any illegally modified vehicles passing by. Correction: In the story “Extreme profs” in the previous issue of HEY!, it was incorrectly stated that Assoc Prof May Oo Lwin had won a medal in the Asian Games. She actually won in the Asian Championships. We are sorry for the error. 3 Feature THREE FOR THE WIN Three NTU students have come up tops in their fields, beating out contenders from universities like Harvard, Oxford and Yale at the Dublin-based Undergraduate Awards 2014, and get an all-expenses-paid trip to Ireland to attend a global summit. Zach Chia speaks to the trio to find out more about their prize-winning work N & MEDIA WILFRED LIM ART, DESIG HOME SPUN & MEDIA ANDY LIM ART, DESIGN Wilfred grew up in the Malaysian town of Pengerang, which is currently being redeveloped into an oil refinery. The relocation of homes brought to his attention the idea that living space is one of the most basic human needs. His project has been showcased at the Singapore International Photography Festival and at Singapore’s newest art space, DECK. “This series for my final-year project is made up of 12 photographs. The project allowed me to explore how humans define their living space. To get the photos I wanted, I had to overcome unpleasant conditions like submerging myself in a pool of filthy water, but this project gave me an opportunity to reconnect with my homeland. I have also learnt a lot about myself through self-portraiture.” TEST FLY The challenge was to design an unmanned flying vehicle that can travel continuously for 24 hours on solar power at a fairly high altitude. To help make this happen, Kim Siang designed and tested a scale model of a wind tunnel and even went abroad to test his vehicle. “My solar drone and test report was part of an industry project with DSO, so I knew it would come with plenty of deadlines and expectations. But how often do you get to learn from experts in the aerospace industry? I even got to travel to India to conduct a test in a professional wind tunnel facility. There, all that I learnt in my intercultural communication classes at NTU came alive.” 4 REMEMBER THIS Mnemonics are memory devices that help people remember information, but few know how to use them properly. Andy created a “memory toolbox” as part of a course project to illustrate how mnemonics can help boost our long-term memory. “The mnemonics kit I designed introduces the principles and techniques of mnemonics. It functions as a training kit to help students learn in a smarter way. Working on this project, I’ve realised it is important to keep an open mind, take a break and have a coffee when you feel you’re running out of ideas.” Feature H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 EXTRA Video: Ones to watch 5 Feature WHERE I WENT LAST SUMMER my" country" won the World Cup WEEE HO WE HONG NG JJIEIEE SCCHO SCHOOL HOOL O OOFF ME OL MECH MECHANICAL CHAN CH ANIC AN I AL IC A & A RO AE AEROSPACE ROSP SPAC SP ACEE EN AC ENGINEERING NGI G NE NEER ERRIN INGG INNTE INTERNED T RN RNED E AATT DL ED DLR, LR, BBRAUNSCHWEIG, RAUN RA UNSC UN S HW SC WEIE G, G, GE GERMANY ERM RMAN ANYY AN 6 Has your country ever won the World Cup? Mine has. Well, my adopted country of five months anyway. Watching the World Cup with German football fans was truly electrifying; witnessing the entire town explode with spontaneous celebration was something I will never forget. The World Cup took place at the tail end of my internship in Braunschweig with DLR, the NASA of Germany. There wasn’t much to cheer about at the beginning of my internship as I took some time to adapt to the climate. It was absolutely freezing! I soon settled quickly into my work. After learning more about air traffic management and getting acquainted with the software I had to use, I was given a project in which I had to conduct human trials. This was the first time I was entrusted with such a huge responsibility and I gained a lot of confidence from it. A career abroad is a reality in today’s global workplace and at NTU, undergraduates get the first taste of it through overseas internships. HEY! talks to fi ve NTU students about that coveted first overseas work experience by Derek Rodriguez and Chrystal Chan The internship int n er ernship was a blast. In Singapore Singapore, the aerospace industry focuses mainly on maintenance, repair and overhaul work and I wanted a unique experience. I wanted to encounter a different working culture and Germany was also a good base from which to explore Europe on my days off. One thing I didn’t expect was to fall in love with Braunschweig. It’s a small town that isn’t very cosmopolitan, but therein lies its charm. It’s as German as they come and dripping in local culture. I lapped it all up, not least of all the amazing beer. On my second last day, I was imbued with sudden clarity. I took a helicopter ride for research purposes – the first time I was on one – and looked down. It hit me then; the moment I knew that I was on the right track with my work and studies. This was where I belonged. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 I worked with models LOURENCE STEVEN RENAISSANCE ENGINEERING PROGRAMME INTERNED AT CARL ZEISS MEDITEC, CALIFORNIA, RNIA,, USA One of the highlights of the Renaissaince Engineering Programme was getting to intern n at a company in the USA. I landed ed d a 10-week internship at Carl Zeiss ss where I worked with models – CAD models. I mastered Creo Elements/ Direct Modelling Express 18.1, a CAD software. It was new to me but with the 3D modelling techniques I learnt in NTU, I picked it up within a few days. I was gradually given more d projects and am proud to say I really pulled my weight. It was important that I did well – I was the first NTU student interning at the company and how I performed was going to determine if Carl Zeiss hired more NTU students in the future. I worked very closely with my mentor, the director of mechanical engineering. Our daily meetings lasted almost four hours and his insights always left me thinking: “Why didn’t I think of that?” Outside of work, he also helped me to settle down. He invited me over to his place to meet his family, and brought me for a concert and a picnic dinner. Working in the USA is different from working in Singapore. The work culture is flexible, and this gives room for creativity. I felt really sad on my last day at Carl Zeiss. But I had a lot of fun and left with a sense of satisfaction. As I was walking past the cubicles, the VP of R&D called me over and told me he appreciated my work and that I was always welcome there. Getting recognition from someone like him even though g I was just j an intern was indescribable. 7 m g o n u i ntai v o M ns ISELLA LIM NANYANG BUSINESS SCHOOL INTERNED AT NEC CORPORATION, TOKYO, JAPAN INTE There’s an old Japanese saying that goes: “He who s climbs Mount Fuji once is c a wise man; he who climbs it i twice is a fool.” So by all accounts, I must be pretty wise. I didn’t feel quite so wise, though, halfway up the 3,776m-high mountain at 3am in the morning. I was w starting to regret my impromptu decision as the climb was extremely strenuous and gruelling, stren especially in the cold. That was on week six of my eight-week internship in Tokyo with NEC Corporation, where I worked on business development plans. Before the internship, I was filled with uncertainties about what to expect as well as the job etiquette. Also, as I was unable to speak a single word of Japanese, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to 8 express myself lff adequately. d t l The internship turned out to be very fulfilling as NEC invested time and effort in interns like me. I was assigned work just like a permanent staff and allowed to attend seminars as a representative of the company. My boss and colleagues also heard me out and seriously considered some me off my ideas – even bringing them em to the implementation stage. age. On weekends, I spent most of my time travelling ng around Japan, visiting the outskirts of Tokyo. I travelled alone half thee time, but I found that extremely refreshing and d memorable, as I made many new friends along the way. It was a short twomonth stint, but I got to experience the day-today life of the Japanese, including i l di their th i workk culture. lt I have also grown to become more independent. This is especially true since I was living alone abroad in a country whose language I did not speak. It was really quite something to experience the hospitality of the Japanese and their impressive work ethic. French connection LAUREN TAN SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING INTERNED AT DSO, FRANCE Like a character in a Woody Allen movie, I spent my summer in Paris, in the outskirts of the City of Light. Of course, I didn’t take a ride back in time in a horsedrawn carriage or meet Ernest Hemingway. But it was magical all the same. I interned with DSO and spent six months in a SONDRA facility, Singapore’s only offshore defence R&D laboratory. Before leaving for France, I was feeling a little tentative about the journey ahead, mostly because I was going alone and wasn’t sure what to expect since this was the first time an NTU student was selected for the programme. On the other hand, I was quite excited with the prospect of hobnobbing with high-level scientists within SONDRA, a joint laboratory comprising learning institutions and top research companies in Singapore and France. At work, my main duty was to program a sensor unit. The nature of the job was individualistic and I was expected to work independently. I was given the freedom to choose how I wanted to carry out my work. My favourite part was getting to pilot a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) while I was working on its orientation measurement unit. Throughout the internship, I was part of a multidisciplinary environment with researchers and PhD students from all over the world. There was a good deal of cultural exchange, which was enriching. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 Internship advantage Each year, over 4,300 NTU students go on internships at about 1,500 companies, both in Singapore and overseas, with about 30% receiving a job offer at the end of the internship. On weekends, I ventured out to the cities in France – my favourites were Lyon and Cannes. One such weekend, I visited Cannes during the Festival de Cannes and caught a film there. I had a two-week Easter break and travelled to Amsterdam and Brussels, to catch up with my friends who were studying there. I also went to London for Singapore Day. It was great seeing so many fellow Singaporeans and to have a taste of Singapore food again. This internship made me a lot more self-reliant, besides giving me a clearer idea of my career goals. I’d be glad to work abroad in future, that’s for sure. In the last three years, two in three graduating NTU students secured a job before leaving university, an impressive statistic that is helped by NTU’s industrial attachment programmes. “Internships are very important. They allow students to have exposure to the working world and to see how things you have learnt in class work in real life,” says Prof Kam Chan Hin, Senior Associate Provost (Undergraduate Education) at NTU. NTU students have interned in organisations in Asia, Europe, North America and Africa. The most popular countries include Switzerland, the United States, France, China and Japan. 9 Culture. vultures MOHAMMAD HARIZ BIN BAHARUDIN WEE KIM WEE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION & INFORMATION INTERNED AT NEPALI TIMES, KATHMANDU, NEPAL 10 another story. We saw 50 vultures strip the meat off a fully-grown cow to bare bones in less than an n hour. I felt like I’d stepped d right into the pages of National Geographic. One of the biggest takeaways of the internship is learning how to appreciate what I have, and I now know for sure that this path is the one I want to be on. I am already counting down to the day when I make my return trip. WIN this! 30 snazzy Lyon luggage covers up for grabs A compilation of portraits I took for Women’s Day made it to the front page of the paper. To win a luggage cover featuring the NTU mascot, name three countries NTU students do their internships in. Email your answer, with “Lyon cover giveaway” as the subject line, to [email protected] by 10 December 2014. Include your full name, NTU school and year of study or graduation, contact number and email address in your entry. Multiple entries from the same person will not be accepted. Winners will be picked from among entries with the correct answer in a lucky draw and informed via email. All prizes are to be collected from the Corporate Communications Office, NTU. PHOTOS: HARIZ BAHARUDIN, TAN PEI LIN Kathmandu is like a labyrinth. I found that out the hard way on my very first day at work. I misread some directions and ended up on a slightly more scenic route to work. There was no help from the office or my editor, so I had to put my rudimentary knowledge of conversational Nepali into action that morning and figure out how to get to the office. I only found out later that my editor had met with an accident. Such is life in the densely populated city that is Kathmandu, where I interned at Nepali Times as a reporter for six months. Like many students my age, travelling is one of my passions. So is reporting. When I was offered the chance to do both, I jumped at it. Besides, Nepal has always fascinated me. My internship was filled with memorable moments. I was given relative freedom to roam around and work on my own stories, one of which was a piece on vulture conservationism. Vultures in Nepal are dying and conservationists are trying to save them. My friend and I chanced upon a feeding session while out on assignment for Feature The big draw NTU graduate Wong Weiloong, 25, was recently commissioned to create a larger-than-life murall that has been drawing attention at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. Aaron Corbett finds that the intrepid designer doesn’t let himself hit the wall in his quest for artistic expression Broad strokes Great brush with art “Esplanade approached me to do an illustration for National Day this year. They wanted to feature local characters interacting with the defined space. I’ve done small posters before, but never a mural of this scale which took up two large walls at Esplanade’s upper concourse.” “Though I didn’t take formal al art classes before joining NTU’s School of Art, Design n & Media, I drew a lot in my spare time. In junior college, I started to think about what I really wanted to do. Previously, I just assumed I was going to do a professional degree like law or architecture. Researching the local universities, I found that NTU’s visual communication course matched my interest in doing something creative, and it would also allow me to experiment.” Say it with pictures “Esplanade defined the overall concept, but I was given the freedom to execute it in my own style. I took a month to complete it, from sketching the initial designs on paper to making sure the final piece fits the walls. The last part was colouring on a computer, so it was a good blend of old and new techniques. The designs were printed on large strips of laminate and glued to the walls the night before National Day and just after my convocation at NTU.” PHOTO: DIOS VINCOY JR Prime spot “It’s a panoramic image that’s mainly narrative but ambiguous, too. I hope the audience will spend time scanning through it to discover the little details. Esplanade tells me it’s very popular with children, and the walls now seem to be a hot spot for photos.” H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 Reach for the moon “Our NTU professors expected a lot of us, but also gave us the freedom to define how far we wanted to go. This gave me a lot of drive. I also enjoyed the courses we were required to take outside of our main discipline, especially the science ones like astronomy, which I applied to my work, Moongrazing (2013). Looking back, I’m glad I did visual communication – it’s a versatile field and the job opportunities are very varied.” Art rules “Most people assume that the visual arts is a free and unrestrictive field, but actually, there are many rules to respect. And paradoxical as it sounds, it’s easier to be creative when you set boundaries for yourself.” Go abroad b d “My first NTU internship was at a local start-up that did branding communications for a very diverse clientele. I created everything from brochures to interface design. This experience helped me secure my second internship in the US in my final year.” A bite of the Big Apple “I wanted to get more exposure by interning overseas. My professors at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Canada – where I did my exchange in my third year – recommended that I go to New York as it’s a major centre of design. I managed to secure a four-month internship with an e-commerce firm after contacting over 50 companies. NTU gave me a term off to complete the internship during my final year, which was great.” So far so good “I love the work culture in New York, where people have a way of pacing themselves and getting things done at the same time. So I’m in the process of applying for a visa Wong Weiloong’s mural, Sprout, was commissioned by Esplanade to kick off the centre’s festival to celebrate Singapore’s National Day and is on display till January 2015. “Esplanade constantly seeks new and rising artists, giving them opportunities to gain exposure and showcase their works to the community,” says y Agnes Lim, Producer ducer at The Esplanade Co Ltd. to work there. In the meantime, I’m doing graphic design work for companies like Esplanade and Sentosa.” Art and soul “I’m young, so it’s a great time for me to try out as many things as I can. Like the historical polymath Leonardo da Vinci and Chinese strategist Zhuge Liang, I hope to cross boundaries and be truly creative.” 11 o n a h t r e t t e b s i Two Feature Are twins double the fun or twice the trouble? Chrystal Chan and Derek Rodriguez talk to four pairs of twins in NTU and find out where their similarities end 12 ne Twin findings Twins, who sometimes look like carbon copies of each other, are often raised in the same environment. Are they also the same beneath their skin? Lee Wen Di and Wen Li are NTU freshmen on the CN Yang Scholars Programme. Wen Di is a materials science student, while her younger-by-fourminutes sister is a chemical and biomolecular engineering undergraduate. They both chose to apply to NTU because of the exciting opportunities available and their interest in research. Are you best friends? Wen Li: We have been close since young. She’s more than a best friend; we share everything. Our mum is a twin too, so she knew how to bring us up and keep us close. Wen Di: I think we are one of the closest twins. Although we quarrel, we patch up very quickly. I always have someone to talk to that I trust completely. And she totally understands me. Do twins have special powers? Wen Di: We have telepathy! Sometimes, she’ll be humming a tune from a classical piece and I’ll be thinking of the same segment of the tune, too. Do you have the same taste in fashion? Wen Di: Our parents used to buy us the same clothes, because we always wanted to dress the same way. When we look at old photos, we usually identify ourselves by the colour of our hair ties. We still share the same fashion sense and the same wardrobe. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 How about hobbies? Wen Di: Our parents exposed us to music from a young age and it is a big part of our lives. We were in the Chinese orchestra group throughout secondary school and junior college. I play the suona, a Chinese trumpet. And both of us play the piano and guitar. We like classical symphonies and Romantic composers like Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Chopin. Wen Li: We like sports, too. We run and play badminton together. There’s two of us, so it’s very easy to find a partner to do things with. In what ways are you different? Wen Li: Our personalities are different. People usually differentiate us by our personalities. She’s calm, reliable and quite crazy. She’s the more outgoing one. Wen Di: She’s quite lively when you get to know her better. She’s also meticulous and thoughtful. People tell us the way we smile is different too. Have you ever been mistaken for each other? Wen Li: Actually, yes, though we weren’t the ones being mixed up. We thought our mum’s twin was our mum. She had to tell us: “I’m not your mummy.” Do twins mirror each other? “Twins who are brought up together tend to share more similar experiences than even close siblings, so they can appear to have very similar likes and dislikes. Naturally, variation in experiences abounds and it would be dangerous to assume that such likes and dislikes extend to all pairs of twins or all situations,” said Assoc Prof Kerry Lee, Head of the Research, Education & Cognitive Development Lab at the National Institute of Education. Do relationships differ between fraternal twins and identical twins? “I found that parents of twins, whether fraternal or identical, reported their children as spending all their time together. The caveat is that this study was with six- to 11-year-olds, so it could be for pragmatic reasons.” “Parents of fraternal twins and identical twins show a similar behaviour in giving their children similar sounding names, dressing them alike and preferring that they participate in the same activities,” said Asst Prof Setoh Pei Pei from the Division of Psychology, School of Humanities & Social Sciences. PHOTOS: DEREK RODRIGUEZ Two peas in a pod 13 Playing doubles You can tell Syahirah (Hirah) and Syahidah (Sya) Rostam apart easily from the colour of their clothes, but the gregarious pair is similar in many other ways. Now into their second year at NTU, they are pursuing Sport Science & Management degrees and have the same passion for soccer and silat. To complicate matters, they are close friends with another set of twins whom they met on campus. Rashiqah and Rasyidah Tumiran hate beansprouts and horror movies, and are studying Sport Science & Management and Mechanical Engineering respectively. 14 Can you describe each other? Hirah: She’s unpredictable and random. She looks at things in different ways and thinks outside the box. But what I really admire about her is her patience. Sya: She’s very direct and needs every instruction to be justified. And she is huggable. What’s the best part about being a twin? Hirah: We have each other as our daily diaries. We tell each other how we feel and give and receive feedback as to how we can improve ourselves. PHOTOS: AMIN SHAH, DEREK RODRIGUEZ What’s the downside of being a twin? Hirah: For us, it’s our names. They are almost the same, so sometimes our lecturers or the system will overlook one of us. We also need to tolerate each other’s attitudes because we are always together. Sya: I look the same as her, so I feel responsible for her image and I’m conscious of my own behaviour. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 Why did you decide to come to NTU? Hirah: We were working at Fandi Ahmad Academy as sales and marketing managers before we entered NTU. Our family wanted us to continue working there as we were drawing a good salary, but we wanted to broaden our knowledge in sports management, so we decided to pursue this degree. What’s your best memory of NTU so far? Rashiqah: This year’s freshman orientation camp that we organised for the juniors. My course has a small intake, so the organising committee was about a quarter of the class. We got to know our classmates better and formed close bonds with them. Rasyidah: Mine is playing hockey for Hall 14. It’s a sport that I really love and the end of the match that clinched us a spot in the final was a touching moment. he explains the subject clearly. When he solves a question, he shows us how he arrived at the answer step by step. Have you had any strange “twin moment”? Rashiqah: When we are doing something together, I can tell what she is going to do next. For example, when we are playing hockey, I can tell what her next move is going to be. And she’ll know when I have questions on my mind even if I keep quiet. Rasyidah: One time, after we ate roti kirai, she got a stomachache. I had a stomachache a few days later for no reason. And in Secondary Two, she fell sick for a long period of time. And then I got sick too for no reason again. Who are your favourite professors? Rashiqah: Asst Prof Yang Yifan and Asst Prof Veni Kong. Their classes are always full. I like the way they teach; they make their subjects interesting and easy to understand. Rasyidah: For me, it’s Asst Prof Hirotaka Sato, who teaches engineering dynamics. His presentations are engaging and 15 Transat lantic t wins Twins Seah Jia Min and Jia Xin have never been more than a quick car journey away from each other. The past few months, though, they have been separated by an ocean. Jia Xin is in Oslo, Norway, while Jia Min is in Montreal, Canada. The third-year students, who are both pursuing a double degree in accountancy and business at the Nanyang Business School, are on a sixmonth exchange programme. What’s the funniest “twin moment” you both had? Jia Xin: Recently, I was trying to use the microwave at my hostel and was wondering why it wasn’t working. I realised I had forgotten to set the time! That week, when I Skyped Jia Min in Montreal, she happened to be doing the laundry and was having some difficulty starting the washing machine. 16 As I was telling her my “microwave story”, she burst out laughing and said she just realised she couldn’t start the washing machine because she also forgot to set the time! How close were the two of you growing up? Jia Xin: We were very close because we were always in the same school, took the same subjects (except in university now), and always had the same co-curricular activity – badminton. We did almost everything together such that when there was something that involved only one of us, the other would feel slightly lonely. What’s the hardest part about being a twin? Jia Min: Being associated with her when she does something wrong and hence getting judged despite not doing anything wrong. But no matter how hard it might get, it is still worth it. What do you like the most about each other? Jia Xin: We are willing to be honest with each other, be serious when the other has opinions or troubles to share, and advise each other. Jia Min: I like how we’re so close we can laugh at each other after an argument. How did you both end up in the same course in NTU? Jia Min: We wanted to do Accountancy and Business because it is a practical choice, and also because the Nanyang Business School has a strong tradition of producing successful business graduates. How are you two most alike? Jia Xin: We have similar tastes in movies, food and hobbies, but that’s where the similarities end. We have different tastes in fashion and boys. While we might define the perfect guy in similar ways, we eventually end up liking different types of boys. Perhaps you could call it same tastes, different fates. Advertorial ACE THAT JOB INTERVIEW A LITTLE PREPARATION GOES A LONG WAY HERE’S HOW TO GET A DISTINCT EDGE OVER OTHER JOB APPLICANTS Research the company Always do your homework and find out as much as you can about the company and job you’re applying for. Visit the company’s website, check its social media sites and do simple Google searches. Read up on its future plans and be prepared to talk in-depth about the company and the job with your interviewer. This shows your enthusiasm for the position, which is vital. Having zero knowledge about the business or job is a big no-no and leaves a bad impression. Plan your route Being late is another scenario to avoid. Carefully plan your route to the company. Don’t sabotage your chances before you even arrive. Figure out how long the trip will be, either by car or public transport. Find out where to park once you arrive and always have the contact details of the person you’re meeting, just in case you’re held up. Be punctual Arriving too early is better than being late. Reach at least 15 minutes before the interview to give yourself time to rest and to compose yourself. It’s bad to look all hurried and flustered, and to enter the meeting room with a sweaty shirt or blouse. Rehearse Always rehearse the interview beforehand. Review classic interview questions and prepare intelligent answers for them. Conduct a mock interview with friends or family members to get a feel for how you’ll perform on that important day. Dress professionally and conservatively As a rule of thumb, dress professionally for the interview. Your attire determines how seriously you’ll be taken by the interviewer. Dress conservatively and ensure your clothing is neat and well-pressed. Be well groomed with clean nails and neatly-trimmed facial hair. Keep any tattoos under wraps and remove facial piercings. Ladies, this is not a party or a date, so don’t wear loud accessories or heavy makeup. Feel free to call up the company’s HR representative to ask about the appropriate attire for the interview. It’s always better to clarify than to get there under-dressed. Bring along important documents Have all necessary documentation with you, such as your resume, portfolio, identification card and a recent photograph. If the company requires other documents that you didn’t bring, provide the necessary materials as soon as possible after the interview. Prep yourself just before the interview Once you have reached the company, visit the restroom to tidy yourself up. Wipe off any perspiration and ensure you look neat and H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 proper. Ladies, touch up your makeup to give yourself a more polished look. While waiting for the interviewer, switch off your mobile phone to prevent any interruptions during the interview. Before entering the meeting room, take a few deep breaths to calm your nerves. Be courteous Be personable and show courtesy to everyone during, before and after the interview, from the reception staff to the interviewer. Look everyone in the eye, smile radiantly and remember their names. You can only make a first impression once, so make it a good one. Sell yourself The interview is a golden opportunity to get on your prospective employer’s good side. Highlight all your strengths, experiences and unique selling points. Be confident and talk audibly with precise enunciation. Tell your interviewer how you can contribute to the company with your skills and talents. Ask good questions No one is impressed by a candidate who sits and nods in silence. Participate actively during the interview. Ask your interviewer at least three thought-provoking questions that reflect your interest in the company and the job. To show your enthusiasm, instead of giving monosyllabic answers, probe your interviewer for more details. If you’re not sure about something, it’s okay to admit it. Tell the interviewer you’ll get back about it soon. Follow up Don’t forget to follow up with the company at an appropriate time, restating your interest in the job. If there’s no reply after a week, call and politely ask when a decision will be made. Preparation is a prerequisite for success, so do it right. You just might land the job of your dreams! Source: This article was brought to you by STJobs.sg is a comprehensive and informative platform for job seekers to post their resumes and get matched with potential jobs. The website has almost 40,000* updated job listings spanning across a broad spectrum of industries posted by employers in Singapore. Additionally, users can find information and interesting tools on STJobs such as Salary Benchmarker, where they can view the average salary for a variety of job functions and industries locally; or Career Resources, where they can get employment tips from articles published by Singapore Press Holdings. STJobs received a Silver Award in the General Website Categories (Employment) of the 2013 W3 Awards, organised by The International Academy of Visual Arts (IAVA). The entries were judged based on standards of excellence determined by IAVA. *As of October 2014 17 Feature My friends and I are lounging by the pool in Bali. On vacation, none of us are relaxing. One is talking to her boyfriend on FaceTime. Another is on Google Maps, searching for the location of dinner tonight. I’m frowning at my screen, trying to edit my photos so they’ll look good on Instagram. This is the era we live in, where nary a day goes by without our mobile phones – even when we are on holiday – and where social media channels like Instagram and Facebook are tools for us to connect to the world and all our 800 friends. 18 Always “there” “People these days can’t do without their smartphone because it offers great convenience in serving many of our needs,” says Prof Richard Ling, a media technology expert at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information. “Through it, we expect others to be ‘there’. One of the reasons I make sure I have my phone with me is in case someone wants to contact me.” He added that there is also habitual use, where we find ourselves automatically reaching for our phones as we have repeated this process so many times. These days, mobile phone ownership brings with it problems our smartphone-less ancestors never had to face, such as a culture of immediacy. People today want everything and they want it at once. Unlike in the days of “snail mail”, a reply is generally expected within the hour, whether by text message or via a phone call. This puts plenty of stress on us, be it self-imposed or from peer pressure. “Your friends should be able to understand that you may be busy with something and can’t text back immediately. What I like about instant messaging It’s hard to go anywhere without our mobile phone, so what happens when two students forgo their phones for an entire day? Chrystal Chan investigates and hears from a few experts However, as phones get “smarter”, there is the worry we’ll eventually lose the ability to do things now easily done by technology. One extreme example is penmanship becoming a forgotten ability since typing is so much simpler and more efficient. And with all the numbers we need conveniently stored in our Contacts list, we don’t give our brains a workout remembering phone numbers anymore. “A recent study showed that when we believe something will be saved on our computer or phone, we’re less likely to make the effort to remember it,” says Asst Prof Patterson. But this is not all bad. “When cars started becoming popular, people were worried they would eventually lose the skills needed to saddle a horse,” says Prof Ling. “That’s true, but when was the last time you had to rely on a horse?” So our skill sets are essentially changing, says Prof Ling. Humans aren’t becoming less intelligent, but simply doing things in different ways. In fact, believe it or not, smartphones can make us smarter in increasing our ability to multi-task. Brain booster is that it allows multi-tasking, so you can respond a little later while doing something else,” says Asst Prof Michael Patterson, who does research in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Fiend or friend? There have been various organised attempts to encourage people not to use their phones during meals, an act which can be viewed as rude and “anti-social”. As a reminder to prize face-to-face interaction over our phones, a group of final-year communication students carried out a project called Put It On Friend Mode. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 “The overdependence on and excessive use of mobile phones is a problem we all feel strongly about,” says Chan Jing Hao. “But it wasn’t until we spoke to our peers that we discovered how widespread the problem is. We wanted to raise awareness of this ‘anti-social’ behaviour and correct it through this campaign.” On the other hand, experts believe the transition from calling to texting has made people more polite and less disruptive. “When you call someone, everyone else around you knows you’re doing it. Now you can sit quietly and text, and not disturb others,” explains Prof Ling. A study conducted by Asst Prof Patterson and graduate student Adam Oei found that participants who played more complex games like Cut the Rope for as little as an hour a day for a month could switch between tasks 33% faster. They were also 60% better at blocking out distractions and staying focused on tasks. It’s not just games that make us more effective. The apps on our phones help us do everything under the sun, from tracking the number of steps we take to telling us how much we’ve spent this month. It’s even possible to learn a foreign language on the go. One thing’s for sure, our phones will continue to pervade our consciousness in various ways. So use it wisely. 19 A day without my smartphone “I have all th the social media channels like lik Instagram and Facebo Facebook, but I’m not with updating obsessed w call me a them. My friends f texter’ as I don’t reply ‘lazy texte messages promptly. mess Perhaps that was why Perh I felt I could survive without my phone. witho During class, I Dur discove discovered the first inconvenience. I couldn’t inconve down important take dow points us using the Notes app on my ph phone. Nor could I take pho photos of the lesson, and I ha had to fall back on pen and an paper. Aft After class, I starting feeling a little lost feelin without my phone with as I had to attend a project meeting and pr was worried I might w nnot know about a change in the meeting chan place or time. Aside from the occasional feeling that I might nagging feelin be missing calls and texts, I coped well. w In fact, I a lot more found myself m focused during tutorials. But I could cou no longer use my phone as a security blanket. FFor example, when I accidental eye contact make acci strangers, I usually with stran take my pphone out and look distracted. This time, I could away awkwardly. only look aw I think the best part of this mobile-free day was how liberated I felt, as there was less pressure to reply text messages immediately. I am going to try to be less attached to my phone as I feel it’s bad to be a slave to technology and miss out on what’s happening around me.” – Sabrina Ng, Economics 20 “The first thing I do every morning is check WhatsApp and my Instagram and Facebook feeds. During this one-day challenge, I instinctively reached for my phone a few times to discover it wasn’t there, and found myself thinking about all the text messages I could be missing. The withdrawal symptoms escalated during lunch when I was alone with no one to talk to over the meal. This would’ve been fine if I had my phone to turn to. This time, I decided to just observe what was going on around me. Before the challenge, I had set a time and place to meet a friend for dinner. After waiting for 10 minutes, he still didn’t appear. I later found out he’d tried to call me to tell me he would be late. After dinner, I walked faster than usual to get back to my hall room at NTU. The first thing I did was launch myself onto my desk and seize my phone. It felt like I was reunited with a part of myself. I’m glad this challenge wasn’t done on a day I had to travel further, because I doubt I’d be able to survive without my music, Google Maps and just knowing I’m connected to the world.” – Isaac Lim, Sociology Hot Shots Make a date with us There’s never a dull moment at NTU, the world’s best young university. Catch the action in NTU’s 2015 desktopp calendar – and whe when you’re on campus GLIDE ON No ice-breakers needed with cool NTU President Prof Bertil Andersson. es BEST FRIENDS FOREVER You make the good tim er. better and the bad times easi MILESTONES Watch out world ld, here we come! 20 calendars to be won! PICTURE PERFECT The NTU campus is listed as one of the top 15 most beautiful in the world. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 Look out for the NTU calendar giveaway on NTUsg Facebook in November. Or get your copy at the Union Shop (Student Activities Centre) from December. 21 Feature Lingo HellL Hola la B Bonjour bingo go g Guten tag by Derek Rodriguez effectively with the outside world and therefore enhance the political, economic and cultural ties between Singapore and other parts of the world.” The Asian wave While on exchange in Japan, Li Ruixue (above) found that being able to speak Japanese helped her make friends easily with the locals. Says Ruixue, who is pursuing a double degree in information engineering & media and economics: “Most of the international students hung out with other international students, but I became firm friends with the Japanese students.” Ruixue is one of about 2,500 students taking various language modules each semester at NTU’s Centre for Modern Languages, which runs courses on Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Spanish, Thai and Vietnamese. Assoc Prof Francesco Cavallaro, director of the centre, says: “Students who learn another language here are equipped with the linguistic and cultural knowledge that will enable them to communicate 22 The two most popular languages are Korean and Japanese, which make up more than half of this semester’s intake. Lecturer Agnes Ryoo attributes the popularity of Korean to three broad reasons. “Other than the K-Wave, there are compelling reasons to learn Korean. This year, about 600 NTU students went to 10 Korean universities for summer studies. Students seeking to make the most of these exchange programmes often take the Korean language course,” she explains. “And with the key Korean industries growing rapidly, learning Korean is a wise career investment.” For business student Melissa Phang (right), who is in her graduating semester as a tourism and hospitality major, taking the Korean language module lets her “kill many birds with one stone”. “First, it’s a great way to clear electives. Second, I get to attend lessons I find interesting. And best of all, I have an avenue to practise the language.” Thai language coordinator Dr Sureenate Jaratjarungkiat conducted a survey of her students over two semesters and found that almost half of those surveyed learnt Thai so they could speak the language while travelling in Thailand. This is also true for students taking Vietnamese. Third-year accountancy student Trixy Fong (right) is a case in point. She picked up the language before her latest trip to Thailand and was rewarded with a richer experience. “I could appreciate what was happening around me – what the buskers’ signs said, and what they were singing on the streets. I could converse with the street vendors. I felt less like a tourist, and more like a traveller.” Second-year communication student Pang Xue Qiang (above), too, got a better deal. Bargaining for the best prices was not a problem, as he practises haggling in his Thai classes. “We get to role-play situations like ordering Thai food and going shopping,” he explains. A taste of Europe Among the European language courses, the French module has the most students. Dr Karen McCloskey says: “Some students take it because they have a connection with someone who is French, but usually it’s because they are drawn to the elegance of the language. Sometimes, all it takes is the bite of a macaron to unleash the desire to find out more about the French culture and language.” Jenzi Chua believes French has a certain je ne sais quoi, or pleasing, elusive quality. Says the fourth-year biological sciences student: “I took it because I thought it sounded beautiful. I also love everything French – the country, the pastries and the clothes. NTU’s H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 French language module fills us in on details about the French lifestyle.” In the case of the German language, tutor Patricia Lorenz explains: “Many students learn German for practical reasons, mainly because they want to study in Germany. Engineering students, for example, are drawn to the precision of German expertise and learning the language enables them to understand it more fully.” Think learning a new language is too hard? Try Italian, Malay or Spanish, which are three of the easiest languages to pick up. Spanish language coordinator Ms Cristina Ruiz says: “The Spanish vocabulary is simple and straightforward, and the words are in most cases written exactly as they are pronounced.” With over 400 million people in the world speaking the language, Spanish is more widely spoken than English. “It is an extremely useful language, especially if we consider the fact that Latin American economies are booming,” adds Ms Ruiz. Second-year civil engineering student Zhang Qiyu (right) spent the summer practising the language in Spain, where she witnessed the crowning of King Felipe. She says: “When you learn Spanish, you can feel the warmth, the happiness and the sunshine of the Spanish-speaking countries.” The number of students taking Chinese has been rising steadily over the last few years. This, says lecturer Dr He Xiaoling, is because more international exchange students are learning the language. “China has become the second largest economy in the world and its economic and political influence is growing.” After Spanish, English and Chinese, Hindi is the fourth most spoken language in the world and Arabic is fifth. Both have grown in importance for Singapore in terms of commerce. “The Middle East has a leading role in the global energy market,” says Arabic language coordinator Mr Shuaib Silm. “The ability to speak basic Arabic will open up more business opportunities for those venturing there.” 23 24 Feature Chow and chill NTU has been dubbed the “foodiest university in the world” by Makansutra guru KF Seetoh, and its range of yummy delights just grew wider. Third-year undergrad Aloysius Boh gives the lowdown on the new campus eateries LOL Bakery & Cafe by: LLO MM.I.S. With LOVE Located by the pool at L the th open courtyard of the t newly refurbished Campus Clubhouse, C this tth café and bakery sells freshly toasted s sandwiches, pastries and s other local delights from o noon to 8pm daily. An n ideal id place for lunch, tea t or chit-chat sessions with w friends. On Wednesdays, enjoy a bowl of mee Wednesda W d d siam for just $2.80. Pizza Hut Express KFC If you need your fix of fried chicken and soda in air-conditioned comfort, this is the place for you. Though with Pizza Hut Express right beside KFC in the same enclosed space, you might be tempted by the pizzas too once you’re here. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 Basically a smaller version of your usual Pizza Hut, this outlet is also the first of its kind in Singapore and Asia as it offers pizza by the slice. The $5 – $6.90 combo meals are ideal quick bites for the busy NTU student who only has 30 minutes to spare between lectures. Pizza flavours include Hawaiian, Pepperoni, BBQ Chicken, Veggie Lover’s, Margherita and Meat Galore. If you aren’t in the mood for pizza, sweet and spicy chicken drumlets and garden salad are available, too. But if you and your friends have room for a 16-inch pizza, you can all share one for $21. 25 Art Pastry @ ADM If you have a hankering for roasted Peking duck and chilled osmanthus jelly, you can satisfy those cravings on campus now. Yes, the gong has been sounded for Peach Garden. This chain of restaurants has a loyal following and has won numerous accolades for its Cantonese cuisine. Dim sum, anyone? Look out for the opening specials. North Spine Food Court Extension You can’t miss the new food stalls just beside Peach Garden Chinese Restaurant. This is a very international stretch, with everything from xi’an cuisine and Japanese and Korean food to Italian fare. Pioneer Food Court This is a food court with the usual staples for ravenous students. When fully open, there will be 12 stalls to choose from. For an inexpensive and filling meal, the “economy rice” stall is a good choice. Or O go for the ayam penyet, a perennial p favourite, which f ccomes at $4.50 with a huge chicken leg aand a sizeable chunk of tempeh. There’s o aalso Korean food if yyou’re craving some rramyeon. A little bird told us to expect b French cuisine at the F Western stall, bringing W such cuisine to NTU ssu for the first time. Oui! ffo 266 Starbucks This popular American coffee chain is back again after a brief hiatus, with an air-conditioned outlet beside Subway at the North Spine. Now you can easily grab your favourite brew with a sandwich or wrap before going for your morning lecture at LT1. All food and drinks here are 10% cheaper than at stores off campus. Llaollao Ever since it arrived in Singapore from Spain, this frozen yoghurt chain (pronounced yow yow) has been wowing crowds, with snaking queues at its 313@Somerset and other outlets. You can soon have its healthy and delicious frozen yoghurt at Canteen B – a great way to reinvigorate your palate after a greasy lunch or dinner. Skimmed milk and fruity or cookie toppings are part of the nutritional package. PHOTOS: SAM CHIN, PEACH GARDEN CHINESE RESTAURANT, PIZZA HUT, EILEEN TAN Peach Garden Chinese Restaurant No starving artists here. Pastries and art meet in NTU’s most unique building. From chicken pie to chocolate éclairs and even hot pasta meals and bento boxes, various yummy treats are on tap to keep those creative juices flowing. Feature And the winners are... Chrystal Chan taps four winners of this year’s Nanyang Alumni Awards for their nuggets of wisdom and wit Tan Chade-Meng, 43 Karen Wee, 28 Nanyang Alumni Achievement Award Jolly Good Fellow at Google and New York Times best-selling author Nanyang Alumni Service Award TCM physician and founding Chairman of the NTU Chinese Medicine Alumni Association Congrats on your win! Tell us what you think of this award in 10.5 words. Humbled they awarded me this even though I’m full of sh... (show) Tell us the TCM cure for the Monday blues. There is no direct cure for the Monday blues. It is all about your mindset and finding interest in your job. You are funny, smart and successful. Tell us something about yourself that nobody knows. I’m actually very good-looking, but you can’t tell just by looking at me. What’s one problem you wish TCM could solve in a jiffy? Age-related chronic illnesses, since we’re facing an ageing population that needs more care and attention. Growing old is inevitable, so wouldn’t it be great if we could make this process more enjoyable, without any pain and suffering? What’s a happy problem to you? Too much good sushi. Yes, it happened to me once. The sushi was great, but the sushi chef kept serving us sushi, it was like climbing sushi Everest. Teo Shun Xie, 25 Dr Marcel Thom, 38 Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2014 Commonwealth Games Air Pistol Gold medallist Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award Partner and Managing Director at The Boston Consulting Group Since you have perfect aim, what are you shooting for next in life? Time is always something I don’t have enough of. I hope to get more of it to spend with my loved ones. What would you say is the best thing about shooting as a sport? It helps you learn how to control your thoughts and emotions during stressful times. What is the most important lesson you’ve learnt? Hard work pays off eventually. You may be experiencing a thunderstorm now, but hang on, because you’ll see a rainbow soon. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 You’re well-versed in business strategy. How can this be applied to everyday life? In business strategy, you have to combine long-term planning with short-term decision-making. This applies directly to everyday life. For example, preparing a merger and preparing a wedding are not that different! What advice would you give to students who aspire to be like you? It ain’t over till it’s over! Don’t give up easily when things don’t turn out the way you want them to. Always push ahead, because new opportunities will arise along the way. 27 Unplugged Life for third-time Nanyang Alumni Award winner, proud mum and internationally renowned superstar Stefanie Sun is looking pretty rosy right now, especially after her recent sell-out Kepler World Tour concerts. Chrystal Chan speaks with Singapore’s most successful Mandopop singer to find out how she’s keeping it all together 28 Congrats on winning NTU’s Nanyang Distinguished Alumni Award! How do you feel about the accolade? Is there anyone you’d like to dedicate the award to? I would like to thank NTU for this third honour. I feel especially cia iall llyy privileged to be able to continue doing what I enjoy. njo joy. y. I dedicate the award to o my family. Their steadfast st love and support has made adee ad it possible for me to go further in my career with h peace of mind. As a mum, are there challenges career-wise that you didn’t have to worry about before? Scheduling of activities now requires more thought and I also try to avoid longer trips away from home. Between your second award and this latest one, ne, a lot has happened in your ourr life. If you could sum up p your past three years in one word, what would itt be? There’s no one word to describe it; there havee been too many emotionss and events. Although I have taken on additionall roles in life, life feels a lot ot simpler. The lack of timee means I have to focus on n the things that matter. Has being a parent changed your views and d thoughts on life and your ur career? I think being a parent is demanding and it has made me more self-reflective. Even the most mundane things have to be done; there is no instruction booklet tailored for you, and definitely no entourage there when your child cries. While it takes some getting used to, the journey has been fantastic, and I mean that both sincerely and sarcastically. (Laughs) Has it also changed your songs? I think parenthood has inevitably changed my artistic directions and the things I’m drawn to. Colours are more exciting. Literal things are purely literal. Now’s a good time to recapture the purity of thought. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 I’d wish them the knowledge to tell between a life calling and a hobby. The last three years at NTU have been ones of change. We have two new condo-like halls called Pioneer and Crescent Cresc Halls, a medical school and a soon-to-bes ready 24-hour learning r hub. h Would any of these entice you to come back e to t NTU as a student? These new facilities sound amazing. Learning can be a a lot of fun when it’s with like-minded people and in lli comfortable surroundings. c I’ve I always imagined myself going back to school one g day. d I just have to find the right rri course! We W would love to have you yyo back! So what do you think tth your time at NTU wouldn’t have been the wo w same ssa without? It wouldn’t have ha been the same without h Hall Ha 6. I remember having to H plan, plaa host and perform for pl p a show sh during social night. I also aalso remember performing at Lake with our a Nanyang N resident band. resi rre si Which of your albums is the most special to you? I think my latest album, Kepler, signifies a big moment of my life. It feels current to me. What’s the best or worst thing anyone has said to you or written about you? I try my best not to take things personally. Articles that upset me are usually the ones written by journalists who attempt to paint an unfair or untrue picture of my intentions. As for music or fashion critics, what they write about is too subjective to be malicious. What would you say to NTU students and alumni keen on a music career? No one person is the same. While I wouldn’t want to impose my opinions on them, Your father was an NTU professor and you are an NTU graduate. Will you send your son to NTU in the future? That depends on his interest, but it’ll be nice to see that happening! Where do you see yourself in five years? Still doing the things I enjoy, and being more involved in my son’s developmental years. I would also like to find new areas in life to explore. If you weren’t Stefanie Sun, the singer, you would be… Stefanie Sun, the closet singer. What’s success to you? Having loved ones around you no matter where your life is heading. 29 Bag a $40 shopping 300 LLyonn flash drives driv upp for f grabs! grabs abss! spree! Let the lovable ble NNTU masco mascot helpp you store your most re yo important in porta documents ocum onee place, keep your plac and nd ke keys close too you you. ys clo Dazzle this holiday season! Subscribe to our digital editions and you could walk away with $40 worth of Zalora shopping vouchers to get yourself a party-worthy look. To win in one one, simplyy answ answer this: Namee three thre new w eateries eate onn campus. cam s. (Hint: Check ou out Chow and nd chill in this issue.) ue.) Email your our answer, answ with “Lyon flash drive giveaway” eaway” as thee subject subje jeect ect line, line to [email protected] hey@ntu tu.edu.sg edu sgg by ember 2014. 20 Include your full name, NTUU school aand year of study, co ber and eemail 12 December contact number iple entries entri from thee same person p ac nners will wi be addresss in your entry. Multiple will not be accepted. Winners wer in a llucky draw and informed infor picked from amo among entries from NTU students with the correct answer ail. All prizes priz are to be collected collect from thee Corporate Corporat Communications ications Offi O ce, NTU. via email. Subscribe now at www.hey.ntu.edu.sg Print. Online. Tablet. Mobile. TV. Sing away… Skate at The Rink for free 40 pairs of ice-skating passes to be won Glide away with a friend for two hours. Inclusive of skate boots rental. You could be one of 50 lucky readers to win a karaoke session for two. Simply name two foreign languages that students can learn at NTU. (Flip to Lingo bingo now.) To win, name a successful NTU alumnus who received the Nanyang Alumni Award this year. (Tip: Check out the cover of this issue.) Email your answer, with “Free ice-skating” as the subject line, to [email protected] by 12 December 2014. Include your full name, NTU school and year of study or graduation, contact number and email address in your entry. Multiple entries from the same person will not be accepted. Winners will be picked from among entries with the correct answer in a lucky draw and informed via email. All prizes are to be collected from the Corporate Communications Office, NTU. 3 hours of singing (inclusive of KOD and cover charge) at Tang Music Box for two people. Inclusive of two drinks and one snack per person as well as a complimentary Tang Music Box membership. Email your answer, with “Tang Music Box giveaway” as the subject line, to [email protected] by 12 December 2014. Include your full name, NTU matriculation card number, contact number and email address in your entry. Contact details of winners will be sent to Tang Music Box for the purpose of prize collection only. Multiple entries from the same person will not be accepted. Winners will be informed via email, along with details of the prize redemption. The vouchers are not valid on Friday and Saturday nights (from 7pm to 1am). Lyon saves the day… Lyon Flash Drive Just launched! F F O % 25 2-in-1 flash drive and keychain with 8GB storage Now only $18.90 (Usual price: $25) Take home NTU’s mascot at these special prices at the Union Shop @ the Student Activities Centre (SAC)! Offers valid till 31 January 2015 30 Lyon Keychain $5 Inspiring Tim(e) PHOTO: LESTER KOK by Jeremy Ee It is hard to zone out during Assoc Prof Timothy Tan’s class. The Associate Chair at the School of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering is known for his interactive teaching style that sees him move around the lecture theatre and even walk up to students seated at the back to tell them what’s on his mind. Tutorials with him are like chat sessions. “There’s never a dull moment during his tutorials,” says Chinmayi Bhatt, a first-year undergraduate who faithfully attends his materials science classes. “He’s extremely friendly and welcomes all sorts of questions in a way that makes us feel involved and motivated to keep learning and clarifying our doubts. In fact, he keeps us on our toes because of the barrage of thought-provoking questions he fires our way.” Adds Chinmayi: “He’s never judgmental, which gives even the shyer students the courage to ask questions.” Assoc Prof Tan’s personable disposition also enables him to empathise with his charges, especially the top students who may be under a lot of pressure. “For the class of Renaissance Engineering Programme students I teach, I decided not to give them a mid-term test because they already have a lot of tests and exams. Instead, I planned lab sessions for them and asked them to give a presentation on a topic which was then graded by everyone else in class. I believe this will improve their creativity, team work and project management skills, and also enhance dynamic learning.” H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 Science-sational Research is a big love of his, and he tries to get his students hooked by helping them connect the dots to see the relevance of their studies beyond the classroom, including the “downstream applications”. “He’s never judgmental, which gives even the shyer students the courage to ask questions.” Dr Gladys Teo was one such undergraduate on the receiving end of this. Assoc Prof Tan, 38, supervised her final-year project and after getting her undergraduate degree, she went on to pursue a PhD at Imperial College London under a scholarship. She graduated with a doctorate in Materials this year and has already filed a patent in her short research career. Says Dr Teo about Assoc Prof Tan’s teaching style: “He enjoys what he does – you can see this through his sincere engagement with his students during lessons. He reminds me to follow my heart and to pursue my interests, saying it is important to excel and to do things with passion and excitement.” Success stories like Dr Teo are the “intangibles” that motivate the youthful professor with trendy threads. In fact, his own students often inspire him. “I have come across many students who speak with passion and maturity about their lives and what they like to do, and I applaud that.” 31 Thinking Aloud STOCKHOLM SYNDROME by Andrew Toh Andrew Toh is an aspiring journalist who hopes to go into conflict reporting someday. The former Opinions Editor of The Nanyang Chronicle developed a passion for international and financial reporting after a six-month internship at Thomson Reuters. Stockholm, Sweden’s capital city, is known for many things, among them, being the birthplace of the Nobel Prize, a melting pot of ethnicities and a darling of the developed world for its egalitarian values and socially progressive ideas. Underneath the city’s pristine surface, however, tensions have been simmering. In May last year, the city made headlines around the world when it experienced one of its worst racial riots in decades. The scale of the violence shattered the illusion of the Scandinavian state as a perfect society, and brought its standing as a safe haven for refugees into question. Rising income inequality and a surge in far-right nationalism in the recent national elections have also left a blemish on Sweden’s previously spotless reputation. In September, 14 of us from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information made our way to Stockholm as part of the school’s Going Overseas for Advanced Reporting (Go-Far) programme, which challenges journalism students to gather compelling news stories in a foreign environment. The broadcast team spends the night discussing their shots and the next day’s shoot. 32 The choice of Stockholm for this year’s Go-Far programme was a departure from previous years. It was the first time the programme ventured out of the Asian hemisphere and was not involved in disaster reporting like the previous year’s trip to Japan, which covered the 2011 tsunami recovery efforts. The 10th instalment of the programme also saw two Go-Far alumni – Cheryl Ong and Jamie Lee – re-join the programme to provide guidance to their juniors. Cheryl, currently a subeditor at The Straits Times, said accompanying the team to Stockholm was an entirely different ball game from her previous Go-Far trip to Bangladesh in 2009. “The past trips have tended to focus more on our regional neighbours,” the 27-year-old said. “The challenge here was to find stories that resonate well with Singapore readers.” Prof Charles Salmon, the Chair of the Wee Kim Wee School, was in Stockholm for the first four days of the trip to watch the team’s progress and give advice. The instructors for the trip were Ms Hedwig Alfred, Mr Tay Kay Chin A aand Mr Samuel He. The timing of the ttrip coincided with the rrelease of the names of the Nobel Prize o winners, the first of which was announced on 6 October. A curtain-raiser on the Nobel Prize presentation written by one of the Go-Far students – featuring of the prize and the history hist background of its creator, Speaking to construction workers to find out more my story on eroding labour standards in Sweden. Alfred Nobel – ran in The Sunday Times on 5 October while we were in Stockholm. “From day one, we hit the streets running to find the stories that best captured the developments in the city.” Tension and apprehension We arrived in Stockholm on 28 September to overcast skies and temperatures that were 20 degrees below what we were used to in sunny Singapore. There was little trace of the violence that had disfigured the city little more than a year ago. It was not hard to discern the cause of the tensions. On the streets, we saw large numbers of immigrants from Asia, Africa Go-Far photographers Tan Pei Lin (left) and G H Baharudin ready their equipment in Hariz a train station as they prepare to shoot m members of the Planka.nu community – f fare-dodgers who jump or squeeze through t fare gates to avoid paying for their ride. the PHOTOS: GO-FAR SWEDEN TEAM about their working conditions, as part of and the Middle East, a reminder of Stockholm’s racial diversity. From our conversations with them, it was clear that many of the immigrants still faced difficulties integrating into the Swedish way of life. Stories like Mr Chamoun Zitou, 50, a Syrian who moved to Stockholm two years ago, were not hard to find. Originally from Aleppo, Mr Zitou left Syria to escape the civil war engulfing the country. He was reunited with his family when they came to join him in March. Immigrants like him banded together for support when they arrived in Stockholm, forming pockets of communities around the city. From day one, we hit the streets running to find the stories that best captured the developments in the city. But for the budding journalists with little experience reporting abroad, it was not all smooth-sailing. For some, interviews proved hard to secure, and stories had to be unexpectedly shelved. H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 Go-Far photographer Tan Pei Lin, 22, for instance, based her photo essay on the city’s Romanian beggars, many of whom line the streets in the day. Apart from the language difficulties she faced while trying to interview them, there were also other hurdles. “It was hard to communicate with them because they’re wary of foreigners, especially if you have a camera,” she said. For a particular interviewee she had fastened upon as the main subject of her story, information wasn’t forthcoming. “Suddenly, she didn’t want to be photographed anymore. She told her relatives about it and they told her the media wasn’t good for their lives,” she said, referring to previous media reports that had cast the beggars in a negative light. She continued: “These kinds of things take time. When you point a camera at them, they feel very conscious and that’s a huge barrier to cross. They need time to trust you.” The story was almost lost until she found a replacement for her main subject. As the reporting picked up pace, many in the team also had to battle sickness as the stress and near-freezing temperatures took a toll on their health. However, it was through such incidents that we learnt to work together. We helped one another to find new angles when stories fell through and shored each other up when the going got tough. Ultimately, that was the objective of Go-Far: to hone the skills of journalism students, test their resolve in foreign environments and prove their mettle in chasing stories. Our stories will speak for themselves when they are published in December, and, hopefully, will be true to the story of Sweden we have set out to tell. Stories by the Go-Far Sweden team will be published in a compilation and distributed at a Go-Far exhibition at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information in January. 33 Advertorial X’mas foam party on ice at The Rink @ JCube Have you been naughty or nice? You can tell Santa yourself as you ring in the holiday season with him, Santarina and his elves at The Rink, Singapore’s only Olympic-size ice-skating rink. You won’t want to miss our sunny isle’s first foam party on ice. A foam-tastic time awaits you as you skate to a mashup of the latest hits at JCube’s very own winter wonderland with Foam Party Christmas and New Year Countdowns on ice starting at 9.45pm. Still can’t get enough of a white Christmas? Join Santa on Ice daily from 12 to 23 December, or make a date with Santa and friends starting on Christmas Eve for a day of joyous fun. And stay tuned as The Rink introduces a special crew of The Rink just in time for Christmas. But don’t wait for the holiday season to get the party started – you can get your groove on every Friday and Saturday from 9.45pm to 11.45pm with Disco on Ice. And at the twice-monthly Disco on Ice Theme Nights, you’ll boogie to the music with snow falling all around you. If you’re looking for something that sets the pulse racing, you can’t go wrong with Broomball*. Form a team of eight and compete in this artic sport that is similar to ice hockey and floorball. Special indoor shoes are provided so you don’t need to know how to ice-skate to be part of the fun! If you are new to ice-skating, The Rink’s Learn-to-Skate Class** will have you gliding around gracefully in no time so you can join the year-end fun. And with regular adult admission priced at an affordable $14 for a two-hour session (excluding $3.50 for skate boots rental), you can bet your bottom dollar that you’re going to have snow much fun. Christmas at The Rink 12 – 23 Dec 5.15pm – 7.15pm 24 Dec 10.30am – 12.45am 9.45pm – 12.45am 25 Dec 10.30am – 12.45am 9.45pm – 12.45am 31 Dec 9.45pm – 12.45am Free flipbook Santa on Ice Christmas with Santa and Friends Foam Party Christmas Countdown Christmas with Santa and Friends Disco on Ice – Snow Fall Christmas Foam Party New Year Countdown @ J.Avenue From 15 November to 31 December 2014, the first 40 people to present a copy of HEY! at JCube’s new retail zone, J.Avenue (Level 2), will receive a free customised flipbook worth $15. Redemption available from noon to 8pm daily. Terms and conditions apply. * Each Broomball package costs $735 with a maximum of 16 players (eight per team). Enjoy an hour’s use of the facilities and a dedicated game referee. Bookings are available from Monday to Thursday during off-peak seasons. ** The Learn-to-Skate course is priced at $171.20 for five lessons. Each lesson comprises 30 minutes with a coach and two hours of practice. 33 Singapore's No.1 Hit Music Station Feature Fancy a battery that lasts Fancy a battery that lasts 20 years? 20 years? Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has developed next-generation batteries that have a lifespan of up toNanyang 20 years.Technological Infographics journalist CHIE takes a light-hearted lookbatteries at the technology UniversityTEOH (NTU)YIhas developed next-generation that have a lifespan of up to 20 years. Infographics journalist TEOH YI CHIE takes a light-hearted look at the technology A team of four scientists led by Associate Professor Chen Xiaodong from NTU embarks on this battery research project three years ago. By mixing titanium dioxide and sodium hydroxide and stirring at a certain temperature, a gel-like material is created that can replace the graphite-based electrodes (anode) typically used in lithium batteries. Hi, guys, I’m a gel now. Titanium dioxide is an abundant, cheap and safe material that is also commonly used in sunscreen lotions. The project is funded by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, under the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise programme. Anode The titanium dioxide gel structure is made of nanotubes, which are a thousand times thinner than a strand of human hair. Tests have shown that the new battery technology can charge a battery up to 70 per cent in two minutes. We’re now using titanium dioxide instead of graphite as our anode. We have removed the doors so we can pack more lithium ions in faster. When charging a battery, positivelycharged lithium ions will move from the cathode to the anode through the electrolyte in the circuit. Cathod e How battery charging works e Anode made of graphite + Li Li + Power source Separator Li+ Cathode made of lithium cobalt oxide Old battery technology During charging, the positive lithium ions move through the electrolyte solution and attach to the graphite. The charged anode stores electric power. e Anode made of titanium dioxide Li+ Li+ Future impact of new battery technology Power source Electrolyte Li+ New battery technology The titanium dioxide’s gel-like properties increase the contact surface, which allows more lithium ions to be attached to speed up the charging process. Using the new titanium dioxide technology, batteries can now last up to 10,000 cycles because they deteriorate slower. Electric cars will become more attractive, as the time spent on recharging is on a par with pumping petrol. There will also be cost savings because the more durable batteries will not have to be replaced as often. SOURCE: THE NEW PAPER H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 © SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED. REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION. 35 I’ll have to make do with this play-doctor kit from my seniors until I get a real one These snapshots from my 18th birthday celebrations always cheer me up Halloween-themed treats that satisfy my cravings for healthy snacks Decor from Ikea – time seems to fly by so quickly in NTU This photograph reminds me of the many new friends I made at orientation camp This Polaroid photo wall contains four years of memories A room-warming gift and my reliable bedfellow My Space More time for shut-eye and more room for shopping. “They’re what I love to do in my spare time – sleep and shop!” says medicine freshman Felicia Ng, laughing. Having recently moved into her double room at the brand-new Crescent Hall, she is all praise for her new “home” and its lush, green surroundings. Air-conditioned reading rooms, a well-equipped gym, barbecues by the water and the convenience of a 12-stall canteen – what more can a student ask for? Living with a roommate – fellow medicine freshie Chua Min Kuan – is all about sharing, which means 36 more than sufficient meals, books and even clothes and shoes for both. “It’s fun having a roomie as there’s always company around. And, having a double room means having more space when friends come over to chill.” A doctor in the making, Felicia has known her calling since her childhood days. Unlike other kids, frequent trips to clinics didn’t fill her with dread. “It’s because the doctors were so friendly and the visits meant a lot of lollipop treats,” she adds cheekily. Also, she finds helping others and making them smile very rewarding. – Siddiqua Ovais Video: Future doctors’ pad PHOTOS: AMIN SHAH Bedside manners EXTRA H E Y ! NOV– DEC 2 0 14 H E Y ! M AY– J U N 2 0 14 37 TURNING GREEN INTO GOLD. Champion
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