Month: November 2008

Of the semester.

MKT1003 Principles of Marketing: Attendence was higher than usual. The lecturer went through the past year exam papers, which was filled with some political humour, which names such as Jok Tong Co (say it out loud and you should know who), as she wanted us to have fun when taking the exams lol. She was quite funny as she spotted a group of people who came in late in the lecture and sat in front, and she said, “Hey, how come I never seen you all before? Must be pontang all the lessons right?” She also gave intro about Marketing courses in NUS and the job prospects, as well as some pep talk. There was an applause at the end after she ended with some encouragement messages.

CS1101 Programming: it was a short lecture and ended an hour earlier. He went through some concepts not tested in the exam and told us about what’s next for 1102 and other courses. Although he was a good lecturer, he did not give much pep talk and lecture ended quietly.

GEK2020 Film Art: He tried to finish as much of what he wanted to cover as possible, this time at a faster pace. I enjoy all his lectures, as they were filled with passion and enthusiasm about the subject. It’s quite funny sometimes to see him “hopping” around with enthusiasm as he teaches. Nevertheless, he has exposed us to a wide variety of film techniques and film art. No pep talk, no applause. But I would wish to give him one myself. However, the lecture ended on an unusual solemn note as he played the ending sequence of the Titanic movie. The flute-based soundtrack of Titanic playing in the background as people left the LT made the ambience very sad and nostalgic.

EC1301 Principles of Economics: The last lecture topic was quite relevant – Currency Exchange and Balance of Payments. She also give a brief explanation on the economic crises at the end, such as the 1997 Asian Financial crisis, and the current sub-prime-mortage-sparked crisis. Finally, she gave a closure, inspired us to take more Economics modules, as well as gave a small pep talk. She said that we should be optimistic about the economy, continue to spend, trust in the system and the Govt, and continue to upgrade ourselves with skills and knowledge to survive in the economy. With that, there was applause at the end.

CS1231 Discrete Mathematics: The last topic on graph theory was more light and less straining. As usual, he managed to finish the lecture earlier and he gave some pep talk. It was literally his last lecture in NUS, as he is leaving to work somewhere else. That’s kinda sad, as he studied in NUS and worked in NUS for the past 10 years or so of his life. He said that life is not just about studying (which he has mentioned a few times during previous lectures), which is very true of course, and we should learn to pick up soft skills to distinguish ourselves from others as we study in NUS. This is to help us secure jobs better, as grades are not everything that an employer looks for. He also elaborated and said we should learn good public speaking in 2 types, one is the usual formal presentation kind of public speaking, as well as making small talk. Small talk is important especially in the business world where transactions are sometimes made through informal settings such as wedding dinners. With that, he encouraged us to do well and lecture ended. No applause though.