Five years ago in a small town in Texas, a Chinese immigration family was facing a lawsuit. The grandfather was sued in the name of abusing his grandson John, who was at the age of nine. The real story was:
The grandpa, Lee, travelled from China to visit his son’s family in this small town, where his son and daughter-in-law had immigrated since 1999. In weekdays, John’s parents went to work for full day, and after John returned home from school, it was always the happy time for the grandpa and grandson to share. They watched football games on TV, gardened, and played games. It was one day when John got cold in the morning, and asked a day off from school. Lee was going to take care of him. However, John felt even sicker in the afternoon, and got heavy cough and a fever afterwards. Lee was thinking about to take his grandson to hospital, but on one hand, the hospital is far away from their home, on the other hand, Lee could not speak English and either drive a car. He remembered the tradition Chinese treatment back in China. People will give sick people a Skin Scraping Therapy (刮痧 GuaSha in Chinese) to help blood circulation and the release of pain. The only thing is after the therapy, there will be some gores left underneath the skin due to scraping. However, it does work well in healing. And this therapy gets much popular nowadays even in western world. I once saw on TV that a famous female celebrity dressing a backed dinner gown stepping on the Oscar red carpet, with the imprint of a skin scarping therapy. Newspapers even gave a zoomed shot to the imprint and titled “Chinese tattoo becomes a fashion”.
Back to the grandpa, he did the therapy to his grandson. And with no doubt, there are gores left on John’s back. The second day, John got better and went to school as usual. Then when he had a PE lesson and got changed in changing room, John’s classmates saw the imprint and reported to their teacher. Lee got the letter of complaint saying he had attempted to abuse his grandson John, and both Lee and John was taken away for investigation. I guess Lee would never picture himself in a lawsuit, neither in a foreign country, nor abusing his own grandson.
It took about a real long time for police to investigate the case. And during that period, Lee was not allowed to get close to grandson.
I have no idea how Lee and the family get over the event, but I can imagine their frustration and uncertainty. There are troubles aroused by intercultural communications, but they are still solvable in some way if both parties calm down and talk to each other. However, when it goes to law, innocent people can become guilty, and they really invloved in troubles.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
To Seek Difference
Exams in my secondary school were always stressful and so unpleasant that I have never tried to recall them again. There is but one English exam that I shall not forget, because I developed one of my key principles from it, which also contributes to who I am now.
It was the essay part of an English exam. I was in a desperate attempt to write an impressive ending sentence that would hopefully flatter my whole writing. Just before time was up, I wrote, “…because tomorrow never dies.” Very well. This is supposed to be meaningful because people like to use it.
When I got the exam paper back, I did not see a lengthy comment. The teacher who marked my paper just underlined my last sentence and wrote, in red, “Avoid cliché”; as if that was the whole point she wanted to make me see. It is curious that it was actually the first time I really understood the word “cliché”. The ending sentence suddenly looked grotesque to me. The essay would have been better off without it, but that was not a big deal any more. My important realization was that I did not use my own brain when I should have. I was being lazy and repeated a sentence that was already chewed at least a million times by others. It should be meaningless by now, because people’s ears are no more sensitive to it. How ridiculous that I thought it could be flattering to my writing, which at least had some originality!
I appreciate the teacher’s sharpness. It does not matter much how profound my writing is, how many decorative vocabularies I acquire, and how beautiful each sentence sounds. What matters is whether I can express my own ideas in a smooth and original way, and avoid any unnecessary addition borrowed from somewhere that is neither matching nor creative.
Now I am majoring in science, a field that requires me to regenerate creativity. It is difficult to achieve this goal, but a good exercise for the brain is to explore possible variations of a fine original concept. Giving each variation a distinct personal touch, even the abandoned one, is less inferior to an idea that has been already used by others repeatedly.
Be bold, and seek difference. That is what I believe in and that makes who I am today.
[Language Problem Edited: Sep 19,8:15pm ]
It was the essay part of an English exam. I was in a desperate attempt to write an impressive ending sentence that would hopefully flatter my whole writing. Just before time was up, I wrote, “…because tomorrow never dies.” Very well. This is supposed to be meaningful because people like to use it.
When I got the exam paper back, I did not see a lengthy comment. The teacher who marked my paper just underlined my last sentence and wrote, in red, “Avoid cliché”; as if that was the whole point she wanted to make me see. It is curious that it was actually the first time I really understood the word “cliché”. The ending sentence suddenly looked grotesque to me. The essay would have been better off without it, but that was not a big deal any more. My important realization was that I did not use my own brain when I should have. I was being lazy and repeated a sentence that was already chewed at least a million times by others. It should be meaningless by now, because people’s ears are no more sensitive to it. How ridiculous that I thought it could be flattering to my writing, which at least had some originality!
I appreciate the teacher’s sharpness. It does not matter much how profound my writing is, how many decorative vocabularies I acquire, and how beautiful each sentence sounds. What matters is whether I can express my own ideas in a smooth and original way, and avoid any unnecessary addition borrowed from somewhere that is neither matching nor creative.
Now I am majoring in science, a field that requires me to regenerate creativity. It is difficult to achieve this goal, but a good exercise for the brain is to explore possible variations of a fine original concept. Giving each variation a distinct personal touch, even the abandoned one, is less inferior to an idea that has been already used by others repeatedly.
Be bold, and seek difference. That is what I believe in and that makes who I am today.
[Language Problem Edited: Sep 19,8:15pm ]
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Will you have the curiosity to have a glance of my resume?
Hi all! If you were the office manager,will you take a considerable time to look at my resume? And how do you think I can improve my cover letter? Pls feel free to indicate anything improper.Thank you very much!
Job Ad:
http://ejobcentre.nus.edu.sg/Jobs/jobdesc.asp?type=0&eid=4763291&jid=2142943&did=314&its=0&src=8&itn=
Job Title: Internship (7 Dec 09 to 9 Jan 10) with Hays Specialist Recruitment Pte Ltd
Job Scope:
1. Adhere to company recruitment methodology, policies, procedures and Service Delivery standards
2. To sit in interviews with Consultants to gain some knowledge on interview skills
3. To assist Consultants in posting ads on job boards
4. To amend candidate records and resumes as required
5. To input and update all candidate and client information as requested in a timely manner
6. Accompany consultants on Client Visits as directed
Specific projects/learning outcomes:
1. Represents Hays in professional manner in all dealings with candidates
2. To understand the whole cycle of recruitment process
Requirement: Full-time matriculated students
=================================================================
September 6, 2009
Ms. Jennis Ng
Office Manager
16 Collyer Quay
#34-01 Hitachi Tower Singapore 049318
Dear Ms. Jennis Ng,
I have come to know that your company is recruiting integrated students for an internship from 7 December 2009 to 9 January 2010 after I was introduced to it by Ms Manjeet Kaur at the career office in the National University of Singapore. Here are some of the reasons why I believe I am qualified for this golden internship opportunity.
I am currently a year four student majoring in Statistics and minor in Financial Mathematics. Being a scholar from China, I have become a more resilent person through experiences such as learning to adapt to a totally foreign education system since my arrival in high school. In addition, to step out my comfort zone, with no prior knowledge in German language, I got the opportunity to study in Germany for one and half year under student exchange program and also to hold another scholarship there. Studying overseas made me a self-motivated person and a fast learner. Moreover, as a debater in the NUS Varsity Debate Team, I was able to hone my analyzing and presenting skills..
Apart from the experiences I gained in school, I also did a few internships in different industries, such as in IT Start-Ups, Sales and Marketing industries, which are located in Singapore, Malaysia, United States of America and Europe. During my vacation in 2007 and 2008, I assisted the same group of investors and entrepreneurs with research on business environment in the U.S.A and Europe respectively. I gained first-hand experience and had a good insight into the real business world at a global level.
After working in various industries, I realized how crucial recruitment consulting plays in company recruitment and personal career development. My career goal is to benefit others and I believe working in recruitment consulting industry is like no other, because helping match people to the right organizations will directly influence their lives and I could do it everyday at Hays.
Enclosed is my detailed resume. I believe I am a person who is capable and responsible to work for you, and I look forward to being granted a discussion with you regarding my application. Thank you very much for your consideration.
Yours sincerely,
XXXX
Kuok Foundation House,
Room XX,
XX Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119280
Mobile: (65)xxxxxx
Email: XXX@nus.edu.sg
Job Ad:
http://ejobcentre.nus.edu.sg/Jobs/jobdesc.asp?type=0&eid=4763291&jid=2142943&did=314&its=0&src=8&itn=
Job Title: Internship (7 Dec 09 to 9 Jan 10) with Hays Specialist Recruitment Pte Ltd
Job Scope:
1. Adhere to company recruitment methodology, policies, procedures and Service Delivery standards
2. To sit in interviews with Consultants to gain some knowledge on interview skills
3. To assist Consultants in posting ads on job boards
4. To amend candidate records and resumes as required
5. To input and update all candidate and client information as requested in a timely manner
6. Accompany consultants on Client Visits as directed
Specific projects/learning outcomes:
1. Represents Hays in professional manner in all dealings with candidates
2. To understand the whole cycle of recruitment process
Requirement: Full-time matriculated students
=================================================================
September 6, 2009
Ms. Jennis Ng
Office Manager
16 Collyer Quay
#34-01 Hitachi Tower Singapore 049318
Dear Ms. Jennis Ng,
I have come to know that your company is recruiting integrated students for an internship from 7 December 2009 to 9 January 2010 after I was introduced to it by Ms Manjeet Kaur at the career office in the National University of Singapore. Here are some of the reasons why I believe I am qualified for this golden internship opportunity.
I am currently a year four student majoring in Statistics and minor in Financial Mathematics. Being a scholar from China, I have become a more resilent person through experiences such as learning to adapt to a totally foreign education system since my arrival in high school. In addition, to step out my comfort zone, with no prior knowledge in German language, I got the opportunity to study in Germany for one and half year under student exchange program and also to hold another scholarship there. Studying overseas made me a self-motivated person and a fast learner. Moreover, as a debater in the NUS Varsity Debate Team, I was able to hone my analyzing and presenting skills..
Apart from the experiences I gained in school, I also did a few internships in different industries, such as in IT Start-Ups, Sales and Marketing industries, which are located in Singapore, Malaysia, United States of America and Europe. During my vacation in 2007 and 2008, I assisted the same group of investors and entrepreneurs with research on business environment in the U.S.A and Europe respectively. I gained first-hand experience and had a good insight into the real business world at a global level.
After working in various industries, I realized how crucial recruitment consulting plays in company recruitment and personal career development. My career goal is to benefit others and I believe working in recruitment consulting industry is like no other, because helping match people to the right organizations will directly influence their lives and I could do it everyday at Hays.
Enclosed is my detailed resume. I believe I am a person who is capable and responsible to work for you, and I look forward to being granted a discussion with you regarding my application. Thank you very much for your consideration.
Yours sincerely,
XXXX
Kuok Foundation House,
Room XX,
XX Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119280
Mobile: (65)xxxxxx
Email: XXX@nus.edu.sg
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