If you were wondering what PS stands for; its Photo Spamming. In a rush for time so here goes, for your viewing pleasure (though the photos are taken by a pathetic 1.3MP phone after my Nokia N73 crashed on me)



SSEF poster boards. It was kindof supposed to look abstract (no pun intended) but its hard without any effects and a lousy phone.



The amusing poster with an edit in a name. :D



Finally the prize which neither May nor I was expecting, to say the least. Pretty much a worthwhile experience even if we didn't win anything so. RGS won 3 Merits 2 Bronze 1 Silver and 1 Gold so congrats all the same to all 13 funky SMP groups/ individuals who took part.

Labels: Events, Photos, Projects

Went for the SSEF (Singapore Science and Engineering Fair 08) judging today at the Singapore Science Centre. Met a judge that really changed my perspective on things. Will post some of the main points I gained from that 20 minutes of conversation through the post so here goes.

Knowing very well that only 13 projects were chosen for SSEF from RGS, most of us wanted to be fully prepared for the judges questions that came ahead, hence almost all the groups frantically prepared scripts to rehearse so that we wouldn't freak out when asked a question. (And for your understanding, May and my project was on foot insoles)

After observing our poster for quite some time, our second judge stood about a few metres away from our exhibition board just looking at our poster from the side of his eye (after which he said he was observing us from afar). But anyhow, the second thing this judge told us was "I don't want to listen to what you have on your cards, so put them away. I want you to speak from your heart. I want to know what your project is about, why, and how." Both of us just blinked at him for a second before realising what his request was.

1. In Confidence
Started rambling off initially, but after a while we realised we learnt so much more by not looking at the script we prepared. Just got me to realise that sometimes its not so much the things you're prepared for in life that makes you confident. Its the preparation for the unprepared that makes you confident, because that will come from the heart. Even in debates, we can make convincing deliveries of speeches about ecoterrorism and the UN, but strip away those sheets of paper. Are we able to actually understand the purpose of the debate and empathize with the point of contention in the status quo or are we simply just listing the points of the argument off the internet simply because the issue is imposed on us to be discussed?

I swear it was hard prying ourselves away from the cue cards, but eventually we did talk. We talked alot more, not just simply the basic facts that was already written in our report, but more of what we've learnt from the project, what we actually feel. And what we learnt in not knowing what you want to say to just say what you know, I think that made all the difference.

2. In Understanding
The first thing he asked after May talked alot about our project on the "What" aspect was "You could have summed this all up in one sentence." And we were pretty much discombobulated trying to fervishly assert it was explaining our stand. But eventually we did realise - he was right. Moving on and talking about how the project can be implemented towards a wider audience, he asked us "so how do you think this can be applied to the society." Our immediate response was "The sports industry. Dancers." All he did was smile before asking us to think harder. How our project can be implemented in places where it does matter. Where it would actually make a difference in society. After talking about another whole list yet not getting there, he eventually talked to us about companies researching in insoles and how this can impact occupations such as soldiers in the army and the police.

I guess this doesn't relate to much people, and even you might be thinking "its just a simply insole, why think so big?" But its precisely why we're thinking things small. It's a grave enough mistake when as students, we think every research studies project we do can only play its part by "raising awareness to the community", and that's all there is to it. But not realising, not understanding what you can actually do with your knowledge - that's the worse mistake one could possibly make.

Also, we talked about careers where he told us "never base your job on the amount of money you want to earn, you'll be doomed for disaster." And I think its just also because we tend to focus on fulfilling the essentialities of surviving that we forget the essentialities of being. Life gives us the option of driving ourselves forward like a motor without once stopping to understand and yet go on living. But in that sense, we're living for the sake of the roof on our head, living for the sake of living but not being truly alive.

I can't remember the exact words or how he put it, but it went along these lines: "If there's only one message you bring back, remember this: Don't worry about the money. Do what you truly wish to do and the money will come to you because richness comes from every person you truly impact and every life you make a difference in." And I think its because in understanding what you want, and doing it that eventually will make your life worth living. Don't think I'll forget those words in a really long time.

3. In Belief
So after discussing careers, he asked us what we aspired to be, or whether we've thought about what we want to be in the future. The conversation went like this:

Judge: So what do you want to be in the future?
Me: I've always wanted to be a doctor.
Judge: Do you want to become a doctor because other people are telling you to, or does it come from your heart?
Me: It comes from my heart.
Judge: Then go for it.

I didn't even realise how convicted I sounded when I replied "it comes from my heart". It was just like that, no thinking, just a reply straight off. Well I can't say that I'm entirely confident I'm smart enough to get into med school in the near future of 3 years, but I think its the belief that'll really drive anyone to do anything they want to.

Even thinking about it now, how he carried out the judging. I must say it was very different from what our other two judges did. The other two judges were very nice and did things the procedural way, presentation, questions and we're done. But this judge, he believed that by not letting us look at the script, by having the judging as if it were a conversation, by questioning us to make us think further to develop a wider understanding of our project, we would benefit more. I think he believed that by doing the judging this way, he would be able to teach us so much more, and not just presentation styles. And you know what? He believed it right.

Perhaps its because after all it is a science competition and we thought we'd end up with scary professors scrutinizing our work, but today proved us wrong. After reading this, you might think that its just a simple science experiment. But I definitely learnt from the judging today that what you stand to gain from scientic experiments can be more than just scientic jargon. So much more.

And on behalf of May and I (though you too probably won't read this), I just want to say thank you to Dr. John Heng Kok Hui for the judging today. If there's only one thing I took away from today, it is this.

Labels: Events, Projects, Studies