Many Happy Returns, Brad!

A Primary School Girl's Intercultural Experience (Edited)

I attended Sekolah Kebangsaan St Anne’s Convent for primary education. Although it is a convent, it is predominantly Malay (some national schools have more Chinese and Indian kids especially reputable ones like La Salle and Anglo Chinese School Klang) where in my class of 30 there were only three Chinese and a few Indians. That did not seem to bother me or any of my non-Malay friends as we got along well with the Malay kids. Malay was spoken almost all the time and English occasionally. Languages other than these two were strictly forbidden – you would be fined (20 cents each time) if you were caught speaking in mandarin, hokkien or tamil. A slip of the tongue occurred once in a while, which would immediately be hushed as though a disgusting swear word had been uttered.

A day in a typical Malay school starts with the morning prayer. The Malays will pray while the non-Malays will stand in silence with their heads bowed. When a Malay teacher enters a class, she will be greeted with Selamat Pagi Cikgu (Good Morning Teacher) by the whole class followed by Assalamualaikum Cikgu from the Malay students only. Not knowing initially that non-Malays are not required to do the latter, I followed suit, only to induce hoots of laughter from my Malay friends. A pretty humiliating experience that I am sure did not happen to me alone.

For the Malays, if you have to walk in front of an elderly person, you should bend your body as a sign of respect. I did that once at home when walking in front of my late grandfather and got reprimanded for being hunchbacked and not walking properly. And when you walk past a teacher, you are expected to greet the teacher. What I used to do was bending my body and greeting my teacher at the same time. Now when I think about it, it was not a good practice as I did not establish eye contact with my teacher and I was actually greeting the floor by bending my body!

As a kid, you would most probably be eager to learn new stuffs. I did, much to the displeasure of my parents. I tried singing syair (poem recited in the form of a song) at home. My parents, not understanding Malay well, thought I had been converted to some sort of religious fanatic. There was one thing which I feel upset my parents the most. In Year 3, we were assigned to make slippers from cardboard during one of my arts lessons. We measured the size of our feet so that we could wear the shoes when they were done. Coloured papers and beads were used for decoration. At home, I proudly wore my masterpiece. My mother was not impressed and felt that my Malay teacher was insensitive to the Chinese culture. I freaked out after learning that paper-made shoes are among the items burnt for the dead besides silver paper. Since my shoes had been graded, I immediately threw them away.

Despite all the intercultural differences, I know my parents never regret their decision in
sending me to a Malay school. It was nevertheless, not an easy decision, not when you have a Chinese school with excellent reputation and facilities (courtesy of many Chinese philanthropists) just across the street while the Malay school has no reputation, lousy facilities, and the best part is, they had to drive me to school. This is what my parents used to tell me :"Speak Malay with the Malay kids, speak English with the Indian kids, and Mandarin? Speak at home-lah".

My Personal Statement

“How does it taste?” I eagerly awaited my father’s reply as he munched on my freshly baked cornflakes cookie. “Hmmm…not bad,” was the response. I was devastated as that was my fourth attempt at baking the cookies. I knew it was back to step one: identifying my mistakes and trying until the cookies are sampled without prompting. Well, that’s me: if I really put all my heart and energy into doing something, I will persevere until I hear the phrase “excellent job!”

I feel that baking resembles the hands-on aspect of chemistry in the sense that both demand perseverance. The ingredients and the instructions are there but there is no guarantee of getting the result. For instance, I learnt that for some cakes you need melted butter and for others, cold butter where the temperature and structural difference result in different texture of the products. This applies to synthesis of chemical compounds where formation of some salts or crystals is temperature-dependent. Besides, something may just go wrong and it is up to me to find out for myself what causes failures such as low yield, improper appearance of structures or deviations of experimental values from theoretical ones. Persistency is required as the process of identifying my mistakes can be time and energy-consuming.

There is no way one can whip up a chocolate torte by just watching Nigella Bites. The same goes for a chemical analyst; perseverance is a necessity and I am certain that with this strength of mine, I will be able to take the challenges posed by this position in my stride.

Internship Application Letter (Edited)

Post : Chemical Analyst
Company : Schering Plough LTD

Job description:

• Perform chemical test on the in process control sample, intermediates, cleaning and final drug substances
  
• Maintain complete and accurate recording of all tests performed in assigned record books and worksheet
  
• Perform regular calibration and maintenance of laboratory instruments as assigned
  
• Assist in maintaining good housekeeping of the laboratories

Requirements:

• Meticulous
• Self-motivated
• Able to work under pressure
• Good time management skills
• Team player

Heng Wan Wei
Ridge View Residences
25 Lower Kent Ridge Road
Singapore 119081

2nd September 2009

Dr. Lynn Tan Yi Ling
Human Resources Director
Schering Plough LTD
50 Tuas West Drive
Singapore 638408

Dear Dr. Tan,

Internship – Chemical Analyst

From your company’s website, I learned that you are looking for a chemical analyst intern. It has always been my passion to join the pharmaceutical industry and I believe I am a perfect candidate for this position. An opportunity to serve as an intern at your organization would also enable me to contribute to your company with the credentials I possess.

As stated in my resume, I am currently in my second year at the National University of Singapore, persuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. I believe I am equipped with the necessary skills to perform the tasks required of a chemical analyst through the rigorous practical sessions I have undergone. Inorganic and organic laboratory sessions have provided me with much experience in carrying out chemical tests while those of physical and spectroscopy have equipped me with skills in handling and calibrating lab instruments. In addition, I am also adept at using Microsoft Excel for systematic recording and analysis of test results especially those of spectroscopy.

The various extra-curricular activities I participated in university and back in my secondary school have helped me refine my soft skills. It was stated in the advertisement that one needs to be meticulous , and I believe I am one such person. Having been a member of the photography committee for my hall of residence last year, I needed to be really particular in selecting photographs for Temasek Hall’s 20 O’Clock, website and Photo Exhibition Week. Also, being the president for the Science and Mathematics Society when I was in my secondary school required me to work under pressure as the society has maintained a good reputation over the years and my teacher advisor had high expectations of me.

I am also a person with good time management skills which is required for this position as I was able to engage myself in a lot of activities such as acapella, Temasek Hall productions, and badminton. When I was in Form 6, I was part of the team representing my school in the National Water Conservation Project organized by Cargill Malaysia in collaboration with the Malaysian Nature Society. We won the competition and I think we can attribute part of our success to our spirit of teamwork. Besides that, the numerous working experiences I have gained through vacation jobs make me a more practical person and hone my interpersonal skills. The frequent dealings with customers and interaction with colleagues equipped me with good communication skills.

I am very interested in the hands-on aspects of this internship. From what I read, I believe that such a position at your company and the interaction with the people there would be a truly valuable experience. It would definitely be a platform to develop and strengthen my fundamental skills in research so that I could contribute to this ever-expanding field.

Although the accompanying resume illustrates my background well, I would appreciate the opportunity to be interviewed to better demonstrate my abilities. I can be contacted at my email address or mobile phone number as stated on my resume. Thank you for your review and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Ms Heng Wan Wei
Enclosure: online resume