After attending the CNM industry advisory council lunch and panel session yesterday plus accompanying hock to purchase his nokia 6500 slide all black version phone jus now, I have finally understood what my mum was trying to tell me about maintaining good working relations years ago when I started on my first job after graduating from jc.

How shall I start?

Hock and I had an unpleasant experience purchasing his phone as the customer service guy did not consult us about which plan we intend to sign and whether we needed any value-added services. The good thing now is that all the admin wrk is now computerized unlike during my era whereby u haf to fill in tons and tons of application for jus one silly new mobile line sign-up. Such is the beauty of technology. However, we will always use the term "double-edged sword" for everything and anything tt comes with great benefits. It doesn't differ much in this case. The guy sent in our application with PV100 plan according to his own assumption. Tt's it. We wanted student plan with no. retention and guess wad he told us?
"U all haf to go to HQ to do it cos i alrdy submitted!"

WAD! HELLO BOY! When i was standing (u even haf a better life than me now! U get to sit down, i had to stand for 12 hrs straight last time) at the cust service counter taking on the same responsibilities as u r now, i guess u r still mugging hard for ur PSLE exams man! U wanna tell me tt u can't do anything abt it and wan us to shoulder the extra trouble tt u haf created?

I was really quite pissed not bcos he made a mistake but bcos his attitude sucks!
1) He took the longest time he could to process our application - I'm actually quite ok if u'r a newbie and u'r not really familiar wid the procedures hence work v slowly but if u dunno sth, U HAF GOT TO ASK MAN! not jus keep quiet and do the wrong things cos u can't be bothered to ask and then haf other pple to suffer the consequences of ur mistakes!
2) He looks really shagged and stone with the "it's such a dread to serve u" face - most prob cos he party till too late last nite? V v unprofessional! Even if u r really tired, u shd still smile occassionally (NOTICE THE USE OF OCCASSIONALLY & NOT ALWAYS?) bcos u'r in the service industry!!!

Well anw, being as nice as always =) Hmmm actually not really cos sometimes I may lose my temper if the person's attitude is lousy but most of the time, I am very understanding cos I've been thru such wrk exps and it's v sian to deal wid nasty customers. Plus I've met really nice customers b4 and I had swore to be like them so I usu would =D ahaha

Later on, he suggested tt an easier way would be tt we call in to 1633 to get the student plan and no. retention done. I told him to settle everything for me since in the first place we are entitled to such services and not make extra efforts to get it done. In the end with the help of his in-charge, we settled on having them fax our necessary docs over to starhub HQ but the in-charge said tt thr may b a nd for us to go to the HQ if they nd signatures or sth.

I was still not too pleased. Conincidentally, I met my ex in-charge from Dopod and he happen to be with a guy from Stahub HQ. The guy was thr to look at the operations of the roadshow. Initially I didn't know he was from HQ and I went over to tok to my in-charge and complained abt the screwed-up service at the same time. Opps =P dunno if it's a good or bad thing to do but tt guy, I tink Sean/Shawn heard me, asked me exactly wad happened and started looking for the pple involved to settle the issue. Initially I was quite afraid tt i'll land them into deep trouble and started telling the HQ guy "hey it's ok la frenly k!" Then he was like "no it's ok, i can help u tell them" yada yada and Woah! TT's it. Suddenly aft Shawn spoke to the in-charge, everyone started wrking v seriously and with more sense of urgency, assuring us tt all the application will be done accordingly. Sweet.

The main point of this whole incident was tt it made me realize tt having the "right connections" helps alot! N these "connections" are part of what is known as networking! Correct me if I'm wrong.

This brings me to part 2 of the importance of networking.

At the same roadshow, I saw another 2 ex-boss of mine whom I didn't want to go say "hi" to simply bcos I've offended one of them and scolded the other. BAD! It suddenly jus dawn on me tt if I had maintained a gd work-relationship with them, I would haf been happily toking and catching up wid them! Not to mention tt one of them is a high-flyer. Which leads me to tink abt the other unpleasant wrk-relationship with another company (opps how come I offended so many pple? =P).

This sets me tinking abt my own working attitude and EQ, something which I lack alot although I did improve alot on too! All the unpleasant work-relationships developed yrs ago when I was abt 18 years old. Looking back, I kinda regret some of the behaviours I had. And I've always kept in my heart the words this man, whom I kinda admire, said to me yrs ago (he's my direct in-charge and quite shuai too! haha) "Jasmine, u're jus like me when I'm young. Very hot-headed! U noe I challenged a customer to fight before? If u'r a guy, i guess u'd most probably do the same or do sth similar along tt line. But now, I haf to tell u tt u can't go on like tt. U muz learn to adapt and control ur temper. Like me now, I act according to the situation."

Such simple words took me yrs to see some light in them. N it was not until today tt I began to realize more of the meaning behind these words.

No wonder my mum kept telling me tt "Fan shi dou yao ren" (losely translated as "u haf to endure") and "Yao zhun jing bie ren" ("respect others"). She also told me tt it's good to maintain good relationship wid everyone, not only with those high-flyers bcos u may not know, someday u might nd the help of jus anyone! Tt in my own terms is "frenly" with all haha =D I love to frenly wid pple. However, my child-like definition of "frenly" when seen from the perspective of work society is known as "networking". What an unfrenly term!

The good rapport tt everyone wans to build with those in power. Politics are jus everywhr it makes me so sick of it yet I'll to play along when i step out to join the working class =(

CNM industry advisory council lunch ytd shed more light to me on the importance of networking! I was a little shy and did not really dare to interact much. Hmmm guess this is one of the problem I haf to overcome esp if i'm gg into PR, adv or mkt line. I nd to communicate! Heh dunno y but whenever I say tt i'm shy everyone will be like "cut the crap la Jasmine! U'r shy? Then I'm wad?" Ok fine maybe I'm not shy, jus tt i'm not too confident of speaking to strangers (esp those of higher authority) and large no. of audiences. I'm still working on tt! Heh who doesn't haf stage fright rite?

Anw, I still managed a short chat with the SIA PR vice head and he gave some insightful tips as to wad r the 3 things he look out for in a potential candidate during interview.
No.1 Ask questions! Show that you are interested in the job by asking questions and not just listen to what the interviewers have to say
No.2 Show him your enthusiasm and passion for the job!
No.3 Shout out to him why he should choose you over other candidates

The panel session at central lib about career prospect was very useful. It was also a small moral booster to a CAP 2.57 like yours truly. 2 of the 3 speakers at the panel said that results are not all that matters bcos the bottom line is that everyone is now holding on to a degree. What really sets one apart from the rest would be other non-academic achievements. Ms Chor Guan from GAMBIT, the only lady speaker of the panel, said that the 1st thing she look at in a resume is hobbies =D ahaha and no prize for guessing why. Being in the gaming industry, if you don't even know how to have fun, how can you create games which are good enough for others to enjoy? I can't agree more. The best statement that I can never forget would be "Having a cap 5 only shows me that you mug hard enough, nothing else." Sweet! Furthermore, one of them said that as you start working, no one is going to look at the results you got in school.

However, all the panel speakers encouraged everyone to go for Honors if they can when one member of the audience posted the 1st qn of whether is it necessary for Honors degree. The reason given was that the best years of one's life would be when he/she is a student and not bcos it gives better prospects. They even emphasized that it wouldn't make much difference in your paycheck unless you work in the gov sector. Since they are all from the private sector, I guess they know it best.

Btw, I'm so overwhelmed with assignments and projects!!! OMT (oh my tian~). I have to submit 2 reflections per week, 1 for promotional management and the other for game design. So far I've alrdy submitted 2 since the start of sch and 2 more is due by tues 8am nx wk. Since nm3219 lect was cancelled due to the CNM event, thr's an assignment + podcast to complete. Also, I have alrdy had proj meeting last thurs at biz lib for close to 3 hrs and another meeting for another proj during class ytd. Thr's mkt proj report #1 due nx wed and tentative biz comm proposal was submitted during class ytd. Woah! All these... Mind you, it's jus week 2 of the sem. Tutorial hasn't even started man!

I'm confirmed to be in Winnie's item aft receiving Yayi's msg but I'll nd to learn the steps from Stacy 1st and try to catch up cos thr's only 2 more practs to go b4 she finish teaching all the dance steps. Tough job for me =( but it would be better cos being involved in only 1 item, although ok for me, is quite "cheating the feelings" of frens who come to watch cum support me. Haha like wad happened last yr when most of them was anticipating my appearance and I only performed in 1 item =P

Sometimes it feels good to be busy cos u'r occupied and u feel really happy to haf fully utilized ur time instead of jus slping or slacking them away although at times, u feel really shagged! It is during times like these tt u feel tt watching tv shows, dramas or movies is a luxury cos u finally manage to seize some time to relax rather then feeling bored and watching programs to past time.

I dunno if this applies to u too but when I was in secondary sch, watching tv was my fav pastime and esp during exam period when I'm barred from tv, even the commercials seem so intresting! Wahahav aft exams end when i haf all the time in the world to watch tv, every show seems so boring -_-

Here are the much anticipated (photo)updates!!! =D ahaha

25 jan 08 Kbox @ Clementi
It's sk peeps agn and tis time to kbox!!! Got to thk wanling for getting us such a gd deal =) Enjoyed ktv-ing with them and learnt abt the existence of a really cute-hilarous song "mu lao hu" all thanks to huihuang!

I love my hair colour! It looks good in this pic =P ahah the whole pic looks awesome! Esp wid the bkgrd!



2 classic shots of amelia traumatized by zh and hh!





the superstars!!!



Jia wei was asked to slow down for the 1st time!!! Wahhaa cos he was singing too fast. Oh man!



Lao emos(edwin & hh) singing some dun even noe which nian dai is it songs! fiona,ky,pl looking puzzled!



Evidence of y edwin is a lao emo! listen to the song he is singing!



Not forgetting to camwhore a bit =P and hh forever muz haf some stunts! this time round is swallow mic da xing dong!




23 jan 08 Chill out @ timbre cum Fiona's matchmaking session
It was suppose to be a match-making session for Fiona courtesy of ky! Didn't know abt it and went to ask weeboon along =P But it's a great place to watch live band performances =)

Looking at the band perform reminded me of the time I had my own band... Miss the gd 'O days =( (emo-ing ahaha)



group shot!



trying to zi pai =P I look super ugly in here la! hh say i look diff in diff zi-pai photos...kinda agree heh




21 jan 08 steamboat buffet @ bugis & Cloverfield
Met Hock to accompany him to buy his new phone plus he's giving me a treat cos he jus got his intern pay =) thr wasn't any gd promo hence we proceeded to our buffet steamboat!

Oh my la! the fried bun is superb-ly deli! I ordered like 5 plates? the sauce is also v good yum =)



both of us felt like watching a movie and cathay was having a darn good promo of $6 per tix and free popcorn wid every 2 tix purchased if u pay by UOB card! We watched cloverfield, i can't say if it's a good movie. Hmm cos during the screening of the movie, i was totally drawn into the plot and following the scenes very closely but all of a sudden, lights ON! the movie ended! The duration of the movie was jus slightly more than an hr and thr was no conclusion!



Happen to see Mei Xin's poster at the bus stop outside The Cathay! Haha she's my childhood playmate. Have lost touch with her long ago but our mothers are still in constant contact! Recently, she jus launched her new album and is becoming a celebrity(spokesperson for munchy donut)! My mum kept asking me to look out for her publicity stuff cos both mummys (her mum and mine) are discussing abt her all this while. Wish her all the best and may she haf a sucessful career. Heard tt it's tough being in this line.


19 jan 08 Hair Colour change!
Went ahead to do sth abt my hair with my mummy! A long overdue item on my to-do list! Wanted to cut + colour my hair aft exams last yr and even wanted to do it while i was in cambodia! Ahaha but i didn't dare =P

like the new colour violet(not too obvious in tis pic)




17 jan 08 Dinner@ Ikea
Headed down to queensway with LiXin to buy my much-needed sneakers! Got a good buy $60 for this Nike! Initially I wanted to get a durable pair of all-purpose sports shoes which means Nike is out cos I heard from everyone tt Nike spoils v easily. However =P they haf the nicer designs hence I've decided to use this for dance and gai-gai but not for jogging! I'll ask my Korkor to get a pair of newblance or brooks from army ahaha =D jogging requires only comfort, no nd for aesthetics =P



My 1st time dining in =P ahaha V sua gu i noe cos normally pple da bao for me! Super delicious man!



Camera tricks =D



Fooling ard ikea shop



Brokeback! Yucks! Luckily they didn't break the see-saw!