Month: January 2018

Marc Nair is a poet from Singapore but he does not feel Singaporean due to his mix in culture and race he was brought into. He talks about many situations in his poetry and mentions deep topics but his poetry is kind of making fun of certain things. He makes fun of how people would the positives of having an island made of plastic.

one thing I took away:

I myself was born and raised in Singapore and don’t feel belonged in this country because of my different culture and race. I identify with his feeling of estrangement and admire the way he is committed to writing to illustrate his thoughts.  I found it very impressive when he said he finished a book full of poems in 3 months, his dedication and drive motivates me to be just as genuinely interested in my job in the future

Christina Lau is an inspiration to people with and without disabilities. Her traumatic experience allows her to build herself up from the start after being paralysed by her accident. She spoke to us about herself before and after her accident and how she made decisions throughout her experience.

She used to be a prison officer and mentioned that she was a perfectionist who loved to take control of things and plan out how they turn out. However, this accident and her paralysis was an utter shock to her and it affected her active lifestyle dramatically. She was able to get back into sports by starting up table tennis recently, in 2015. She also began to discover her creative side by becoming a mouth artist where she paints beautiful paintings of flowers and scenic portraits. She mentioned that she did not want to be a burden to her family and that was her push to start progressing her capabilities and not limiting herself because of her disability. She said that her disability was more of a push than a set back because she learnt to never take a short way out.

what I took away:

I admire the way she had an extremely impressively positive outlook which was a complete inspiration to me. She says that despite her disability and change in lifestyle, she took this opportunity to spend more time with her loved ones which she was hardly doing before her accident. I also loved that she wanted to act on her disability in a positive manner to develop her skills form the start.

Steve Dawson is incredibly passionate about sports. He’s been so since he was little and pursued in a few careers in this area. He is a journalist and sports anchor for Fox Sports. He has interviewed many people throughout his life as anchor and journalist. Steve provides an insight into the world of sports as well as journalism.

How did this clarify my views on of being a journalist/ sports anchor?

I used to think that journalists didn’t have many things to worry about regarding the information on the topic or person they are writing about. However, as Steve Dawson elaborated more about the tips on being a journalist, I learnt that journalists require a strategic approach to getting their information. A great example would be when he pointed out that asking 2 questions, one after another, doesn’t usually get you an answer to both questions. I have been through a similar situation and when he mentioned the point, I imagined the situation as a journalist.

What do I take away from this session?

The main thing I would take away from him would be his honesty as a newsman or journalist. I think this is because when you have so much power in the informative world, it is easy to be swayed by your own opinions and bias but he recognised the importance of telling people the facts and letting them have an opinion themselves. Another thing I admire about him is that he does what he loves. I think that I relate to this because when I think of the future, I want to do what I love but there are many doubts which come in the way (such as salary or the happiness I would get working in that area). Steve Dawson, however, eliminated most of those doubts by accepting a job if his previous job was of similar salary which I think is very balanced because he takes into consideration his income as well as his joy. Another thing he said was that he didn’t feel like he was working because his job was so enjoyable for him and was better than when he was an accountant. This made me feel like I would definitely aspire to have a similar mindset and approach to my passion as he really inspired me.