We have Made it!
We started with 6 then 4 in 2006.
10 months . . . or is it 9 months. Shouldn’t it be a year? Yeah that’s what we all thought. Well, that’s not imperative after all anymore. Why? Considerably, we have all made it and done well for it, except for 1. The journey through it is not smooth though. Some had enquired about where I have such time and monetary revenue to do a Masters. Some had even enquired why I would want to do it back here again. Is it because I know the environment or is it because I’m good at sweet talking? Some have even asked about the standard of the work that I produce way back then. Well all these queries are not important after all. Just like what my directors and lecturers mentioned, these people might just be jealous or they are just out there to hurt you in a quiet psychological way. All that is not important after all, because, the lecturers, my directors, mentors and friends knew that I did it on my own capacity. It’s mentally tough. It’s draining to your brain cells, you have to sacrifice your own time, as much of it are dedicated to ground work gathering Intel and research in relations to your thesis. I personally enjoyed every bits of it.
Our fun times.
My 2 lovely sisters, Joey and Christine in their casual modes.
We had fun; we had joy, we had all the companionship that we treasure a lot. The bonding was so strong that it simply surprises the lecturers. Well, for the most part of the course, it’s just the three of us. We had tried to include the fourth one, however to no success, she’s kind of a loner, kind of one that still can’t accept or adapt to fast and gruesome pace of Singapore. No one knows, as she just can’t manage to ease herself into our group, as much of the time, she had no idea on the design topics or the thesis we are debating about. She had once admitted that she didn’t know who Tadao Andao, Daniel Liebskind is. We figure out that this could be the way how different that her country’s education system is.
(L) Kent, my supervisor (Peter not present), Jerry, my Masters PL, Bob Peacock, our external assessors, Hayati, Honours Degree PL, JBR, our external assessors, and lastly myself.
We have slogged and been ‘tortured’ for almost 9 to 10 months. We all started off with 6, and by the time we had settled down and embark on our postgraduate certificate. We had experienced some slight tumult here and there. Slowly as we go by, we realised that the fourth one was still in a state of culture shock. No matter how hard we all tried, she would just refuse to join in most of our class events. Each time, we tried and help the lecturers to explain to her the difference and what is required on her part as a postgraduate should do. We realise that she is still very dependent on the teaching staffs to provide her or rather spoon feed her. And a lot of times, much of the advices were fallen into deaf ears. We all knew that.
Denise, myself and Amanda, 2 lovely ladies, great assistants who made my days during the last lapse of my Thesis paper.
There was even once that she had generated an email to most of us stating that she felt uneasy especially within the Chinese community. She wrote that she felt she’s been left out. It is from this incident that she has not open up to the culture in Singapore and she is not used to it. Oh come on, she has been here for almost half a year. We had all given up on her, as she doesn’t seem to understand that we were all trying to help her.
Me with BOK, Ivy and Denise of the BA cohort, lovely chaps.
And I guess I don’t have to mention that whenever we had assessments, the type of works or her presentations have yet to reach that kind of level yet. She would keep showing the same old things over and over again. With the majority of the time, confusing most of us; as such that little evidence was show of her work or research component.
Right, enough of her; She’s out. Everyone knew about it. And it wasn’t even a surprise that many had started to comment that she wouldn’t survived the last round. True enough, she didn’t.
Actually, most of our 10 months were filled with her ‘stories’ and many other interesting happenings. We had countless of makan sessions, investigations, night haunts, etc. And today, actually dated on the 28th day of March 2007, we had our graduation show, entitled ‘Trans’. We finally made it; deep inside us we were still worried that one of us or any of us might not make it. Some of you might say that it’s easy to pass. No not really, at Masters Level, we have to expound our own hypothesis. Your entire year’s research will have to tie in with your own theory. This is because; a research paper at Masters Level will serve as a testing platform that would allow other practitioners in the industry or other relevant parties to use it as a template to carry out the building and use such template to their own benefit, or they could use it as a paper to argue on the original proposal.
Yeah, I guess we all deserve this event; we have slog and brace ourselves for the big final event. I was told the results and our status for our postgraduate standing was released a few days later. I recollect that my steps were heavy enough to push myself forward to the fifth level. I took a quick glance and search for my name. I saw my name, my student number and I saw this sentence: Master of Arts: STATUS: PASS. I looked again. PASS. Yes, it’s passed! Yes, I have made it! Subsequently, I hunt for my sisters’ names and they passed as well! We all made it! We made it! We made it. We all owe it to our supervisors and each other. It’s the companionship of my beloved sisters, Joey and Christine.
Christine, myself and Joey. The 3 that made it till the end!
I’ll miss you sisters! I’ll miss the wonderful days we had together, the sorrow, the agony and the craze we been through as one.
Good luck to your future endeavours and many happy and wonderful returns!
And many thanks to my parents and sisters for bearing with me during these months. And to all my friends. . . Here’s a token for you . . . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS!!!
Many thanks to my Thesis Committee. Their patience, guidance and critical input have been valuable to the development of this Thesis.
Thanks to my colleagues from Chao Tse Ann and Partners Pte Ltd and my fellow partners from Studio 505, for filling up my roles whilst away from Office. To Jane, Irene, Joann, Catherine, Miki, Michelle, Derek, Huiling, Clement and his wife Lynn, Dannie and his wife for all the encouragements.
Thanks to Venerable Shi Chang Qing for all the support and advice during this period, my fellow sub committee members from The Mahaprajna Buddhist Society and my fellow comrades from the Youth Wing for putting up with my absences.
Thanks to Secretary Bai from the People’s Republic of China Embassy, Singapore for all the assistance rendered. To Mdm Ding Yuan Fang, Mdm Lu Jiang Ming, Miss Gao (just to name a few) and Meng Lek from the Society of Study Mothers and the Good Shepherd Consulting Pte Ltd for all the good advice and information rendered.
Thanks to Joey, Christine, my dearest mates from this Cohort, you have made my course of learning a pleasant and lovely one. And many thanks to Professor Shirlena Huang from National University of Singapore in the guidance on the study of PRC ‘study mothers’.
Most importantly, to my family, whose love and support during this period have been amazing – Thank you. Without it, an already difficult task would have been impossible to accomplish.
