The Role Of Peer And Tutor Feedback

Feedbacks have always been an important part of our lives without us knowing. As we know, feedback can come in all sorts of forms. I have always viewed feedback as a burden than a positive experience as I usually treat it as a criticism more than a learning experience. However through university modules and presentations, receiving feedbacks made me realize that having feedbacks allows us to better improve ourselves from other people’s perspective. The same would be if we gave other people feedbacks.This was especially true after one such presentation during effective communications module. I was very surprised that some of the audience which included my tutor and peers liked my enthusiasm during my presentation. On the other hand, when I saw other people presenting, I had mixed feelings about their presentation and giving feedback would give them insights to work on their weaknesses and improve on their strengths.

As we know there would always be several people who would have different tastes. It is true that we cannot always please everybody, but I feel that it is important to accept criticism and improve ourselves from there. I am glad that I now see feedbacks in a different light. I will always accept feedbacks no matter how positive or negative they may be. This would better improve me as an individual as having different perspectives is always useful especially when we live in an open and diverse society. I would have to keep in mind to always show my enthusiasm when presenting. Additionally with feedbacks, there would always be room for improvement.

Through this learning outcome, I would always use feedbacks as a way of improving myself. Apart from that, I would also try my best to give appropriate feedback to those around me when I feel their actions could have room for improvement .At the same time, if they have done well I would compliment them on their work. This would be most certainly useful for future presentations and for my future careers.

Proposal Project

Personal Statement

Engineering has been a part of my life since my polytechnic days. Through the modules and courses I took, I realize that sustainability has been slowing integrating into many aspects of engineering. The importance of being sustainable is ever more crucial when climate change becomes an imminent problem. As an engineer, we need to find other alternatives to pave way for sustainability. Renewable energy is one such alternative way. If Singapore is able to harness renewable energy to its fullest potential and make use of it, we would set an example for other countries to follow.

Executive Summary

Singapore   depends   heavily on the  imports  of  fossil  fuels as its  main  source  of energy  when  it comes to generating electricity. To reduce Singapore’s dependency on fossil fuels, this  project  team is interested in exploring the possibilities of creating a renewable energy source.

This project team is proposing to construct an underground pumped storage hydroelectric plant. This proposal will utilise the gravitational energy of flowing water from an existing reservoir to the underground reservoir to generate hydroelectricity. The underground reservoir can also serve as secondary water storage during heavy rainfall season in Singapore. Research has shown that fossil fuels will deplete by the year 2059.

Finally, this report will conclude the benefits of underground pumped storage hydroelectricity. The details of this proposal will be discussed in the report. 

Letter of Transmittal

21 October 2015

Mr. Patrick Foo

Energy Market Authority

Energy Technological Department

991G Alexandra Road, #01-29

Singapore 119975

Dear Mr. Patrick Foo

RE: Proposal for generating electricity from hydropower applications in Singapore

This is to acknowledge your letter of authorization dated 30 September 2015 .We We are submitting the attached proposal which would give an in-depth outtake on renewable energy in Singapore specifically pump storage hydroelectricity.

Singapore is solely dependent on fossil fuels for its production of electricity. As of 2015, 95.5% of the natural gas from Singapore’s fuel mix is used to generate electricity. Singapore relies heavily on foreign exports and is vulnerable to the whims of foreign suppliers. To elude this problem, Singapore has to be able to depend solely on itself for its own energy needs.

Our proposal will briefly describe water is one of Singapore’s key resources and the nation’s dependency on fossil fiels for the generation of electricity. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) Energy Research and Development Department has set-up an Energy Storage Programme (ESP) which would support the development and integration of large scale, cost-effective systems in Singapore. To maximize the provided resources, our proposed solution is to harness hydropower energy by using existing water catchment areas with an underground excavated water reservoir to construct a pump storage hydroelectric plant.

Our team is grateful for your time spent on reviewing our proposal. We hope the suggestions provided would pave way for a new era in Singapore’s energy production.

Sincerely,

Muhammad Bin Abdul Hadi

Member of M.H.K

On behalf of Team “M.H.K”

The person who inspire me the most

Both of my parents have been an inspiration to me with all their sacrifices and hardships but for this post, I would like to talk about my dad. My dad has always been a strict and stern individual, ever since I was young he would always discipline me with physical punishments usually by using the “rotan” (The malay word for cane or caning).

I still do remember those punishments to this day but as I mature and grow older, I do understand why I was discipline in such a way as I was a very naughty and obnoxious child and always had constant quarrels with my other siblings. I also know that my dad also received the same punishment as me when he was young (more severe from what I heard) from the stories my grandfather told me.I have much respect for my dad as out of all his siblings, he was willing to take in both of his and my mum’s parents into our household. Especially after my grandmother (father’s mother) passed away, he instinctively took my grandfather into our household.

Both of my grandfathers were bed ridden and they had to have constant care for their well being. I could understand why they were always grumpy half the time as they were always restricted to their beds. Sometimes they would not cooperate when it comes to daily chores like changing of clothes and taking medicine as it has become quite a burden to them. Nonetheless, despite my dad’s long working hours and the constant bickering of me and my four siblings, he would always be there for them and their well being. He would always take the initiative to manage their activities of daily living like giving them baths and even cutting their toenails.

It was very unfortunate that both my grandfathers passed away in the same year in our household. Through all the constant squabbles and sometimes scoldings from them, he was their only child that was present before they had their final goodbyes. Despite it being a very sad experience, it was a very important lesson for me as when my grandfather was about to pass away, I could see how thankful he was when my father sat beside him and was there for him till the very end. It made me realise that even though taking care of the elderly is not an easy task, the satisfaction and gratitude that comes from taking care of your loved ones is something irreplaceable.

I am very proud of you Dad J

Muhammad and Dad

Reader's Response Draft 4 (Final)

In the article "Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to Seize the Urban Moment", Khanna (2015) claims that Asian cities are coping with rapid urbanisation through innovative ideas. The writer asserts that compared to Europe and America, Southeast Asia has more than twice the amount of people immigrating into the cities from its rural areas. He argues that Southeast Asian metropolises are managing rapid urban growth with flexible governance, resourceful citizens and local infrastructure innovation. Ideas such as a mobile application Beeline adjusts private bus routes based on its citizen’s demands. And in the Philippines, the country is providing more Wi-Fi hotspots to its citizens. support the writer’s view that Southeast Asia is having rapid urbanisation as compared to the rest of the world. However, I disagree with Khanna’s examples on how Southeast Asian countries are tackling the main issue of rapid urbanisation growth.

Khanna himself states that due to increasing populations, difficulties emerge to provide essential necessities like housing, water and efficient transport to support a large and growing population. Developing countries will encounter various obstacles to manage their increasing urban populations in areas “such as housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy and employment, education and health care”, (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2014).   I strongly believe that for a country to become an exemplary model in urban development in this era, it must first be able to adhere to three basic necessities. These three basic necessities are housing, water and efficient transport.

Such example of a country adhering to these basic necessities is Philippines. The writer emphasizes that in Manila, housing is a grave issue for its growing population. He did not provide concrete examples on how Manila is tackling this with a suitable innovative idea. The idea that the writer provides only tackles the issue on cyberspace connectivity, which I strongly believe does not support any basic necessities. To address the issue of water, a $1.2 billion USD mandate from the Philippine government has been provided to clear up its polluted waterways in Manila Bay. This will shift 104,000 families from the city’s many water towns surrounding Manila Bay's water ways. The government plans to relocate these estimated 500,000 citizens into new structure developments in Manila. Under the mandate, the Philippine government plans to create new residences which are able to shelter 900 families in them. (Hodal, 2013). The Philippine Government implemented this mandate and provided its citizens with two basic necessities, housing and clean water, to support the country’s ever increasing population and provide more water sources.

Another basic necessity, transport, has been tackled by Singapore. Singapore plans to boost its already densely populated nation up by another 30%.The country has provided key planning ideas to adjust to this increased growth. It plans on increasing rail network from 180km to 360km, twice its current length, by 2030. This will allow more households to be able to access the train services just a walkable distance from their homes (Ministry of Trade and Industry Singapore, 2013). From this, we can clearly see how a Southeast Asian country such as Singapore supports its growing population with a thorough idea and tackles one of the key main necessities, transport. Apps like beeline that Khanna provided as an innovative idea to tackle Singapore’s transport demands does not help alleviate the transportation problems in Singapore. his shows that the Singapore government has indirectly promoted its public transport to its citizens by making the train services easily accessible to commuters. This shows that Singapore has plans for providing efficient transport to its growing population.

To conclude, the innovative ideas provided by Khanna have substance but unfortunately there are no positive outcomes when they are implemented. This does not show how khanna’s innovative ideas make Southeast Asian countries exemplary to other countries on how to tackle the sudden urban immigration growth. This is especially true when the innovative idea does not cover the basic necessities which Khanna stated are necessary to support a large city population or even a basic city population. Nonetheless, I strongly agree that Khanna is precise in implying that Southeast Asian countries are experiencing a larger urban migration compared to the rest of the world and is able to adapt with proper planning and ideas.

(707 Words)

References

Hodal,K (2013).Manilla is a Hotbed of Progressive Housing Solutions a City’s Quest to Build a Better Informal Settlement.Next City.Retrieved from https://nextcity.org/features/view/slum-lab-manilas-quest-to-build-a-better-informal-settlement

Parag, K. (2015, June 11). Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to ‘seize the urban moment’. Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/explosive-growth-in-asian-cities-bright-ideas-to-seize-the-urban-moment

Singapore, Ministry of Trade and Industry. 2013). FAQs on Population White

Paper: A sustainable population for a dynamic Singapore. Retrieved from https://www.mti.gov.sg/MTIInsights/Documents/FAQs%20for%20White%20Paper.pdf

United Nations Department of Economic and social Affairs. (2014).

World’s population increasingly urban with more than half living in urban areas. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects.html

Personal Reflection On Presentation

Being one of the first groups to present had its setbacks. The thought of having to present first gave me a lot of pressure and made me feel very anxious. In preparation for the presentation, I memorized a script that I crafted out, however during the presentation, I lost my train of thoughts and felt that I could have delivered a better presentation. Upon receiving feedback, I was in disbelief and was thankful for the positive comments that I received for my presentation. The positive comments from the audience made me realize that they were able to see the effort that I had put into.

     I found it very easy to actually present my ideas to the audience. Though, I could have stand at a better spot during the presentation. The research on the proposal was largely my part thus I had a very good grasp on its content. As I was standing in the middle of the class it was very inconvenient to always turn around and show both sides of the slides. It would have been much better if I was standing on either extreme ends of the board.

     Looking back at my experience while I was presenting, I was actually rather eager to present my group’s proposal to the class and receive their feedback on it. I was determined to give my best and do well. This mindset led me along the way and washed away my anxieties. I was able to contribute a great deal to the proposal and I made sure I understood the whole proposal well. I was ready and willing to share the ideas from my group’s proposal to the class.

     This presentation has taught me a lot of important lessons and learning points. One of which would be that an individual has to enjoy and put in effort in everything he does. Naturally, he would do his best to execute a good performance to his audience. My group mates were very supportive of each other. I felt that my group mates were efficient and encouraging while we were preparing for the presentation. This actually made it less stressful and more enjoyable for me. I was able to relate to what Brad said about the musician and his notes. It was true that if a musician is restricted to his musical sheets, he would not have the freedom to express himself freely and play to the best of his abilities. Being a bit paranoid, I was actually hoping for some negative comments so that I could better myself for future presentations. If I were to conduct a presentation again someday, I would still continue to write a script. However, I would not memorize it word for word and instead pick out the key points in the script. It is important to always enjoy and take interest in whatever you do. All in all, from this presentation, I was able to learn a lot of learning points. These points would most definitely be useful when transitioning into working life in years to come.

Reader's Response Draft 3

In the article "Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to Seize the Urban Moment", Khanna (2015) claims that Asian cities are coping with rapid urbanisation through innovative ideas. The writer asserts that compared to Europe and America, Southeast Asia has more than twice the amount of people immigrating into the cities from its rural areas. He argues that Southeast Asian metropolises are managing rapid urban growth with flexible governance, resourceful citizens and local infrastructure innovation. Ideas such as a mobile application in Singapore called Beeline, this application adjusts private bus routes based on its citizen’s demands. While in the Philippines, the country is providing more Wi-Fi hotspots to its citizens. I support the writer’s view that Southeast Asia is having rapid urbanisation compared to the rest of the world and adapting with relevant ideas. However, I disagree on Khanna’s stand on how Southeast Asian countries are tackling the main issue of rapid urbanisation growth in spite of his stated innovative ideas.

Khanna himself states that due to its increasing dense population and size, difficulties emerge to provide essential necessities like housing, water and efficient transport to support a large and growing population. Developing countries will encounter various obstacles to manage their increasing urban populations in areas “such as housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy and employment, education and health care”, (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2014).  Therefore, I strongly believe that for a country to become an exemplary model in urban development in this era, it must first be able to adhere to three basic necessities. These three basic necessities are housing, water and efficient transport.

Such example of a country adhering to these basic necessities is Philippines. The writer emphasizes that in Manila, housing is a grave issue for its growing population. He did not provide concrete examples on how Manila is tackling this with a suitable innovative idea. The idea that the writer provides only tackles the issue on cyberspace connectivity, which I strongly believe does not support any basic necessities. A $1.2 billion USD mandate from the Philippine government has been provided to clear up its polluted waterways in Manila Bay. This will shift 104,000 families from the city’s many water towns surrounding Manila Bay's water ways. The government plans to relocate these estimated 500,000 citizens into new structure developments in Manila. Under the mandate, the Philippine government plans to create new residences which are able to shelter 900 families in them. (Hodal, 2013). The Philippine Government implemented a mandate and this in turn has tackled two of its countries basic necessities, housing and water, to support the country’s ever increasing population and provide more water sources.

Another basic necessity, transport, has been tackled by Singapore. Singapore plans to boost its already densely populated nation up by another 30%.The country has provided key planning ideas to adjust to this increased growth. It plans on increasing rail network from 180km to 360km, twice its current length, by 2030. This will allow more households to be able to access the train services just a walkable distance from their homes (Ministry of Trade and Industry Singapore, 2013). From this, we can clearly see how a Southeast Asian country such as Singapore supports its growing population with a thorough idea and tackles one of the key main necessities, transport. Instead of a mobile app whereby Khanna provides as a form of innovative idea to tackle Singapore’s transport demands which unfortunately lead to no coherent outcome. This shows that the Singapore government has indirectly promoted its public transport to its citizens by making the train services easily accessible to commuters. Thus, providing efficient transport to its growing population

To conclude, the innovative ideas provided by Khanna have substance but unfortunately there are no direct outcomes when they are implemented. This does not show how it makes Southeast Asian countries exemplary to other countries of how they tackle their sudden urban immigration growth, especially when the innovative idea does not cover direct essential necessities which Khanna has stated are required to support a large city population or even a basic city population. Nonetheless, I strongly agree that Khanna is precise in implying that Southeast Asian countries are experiencing a larger urban migration compared to the rest of the world and are able to adapt with proper planning and ideas.

(718 Words)

References

MINISTRY OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY SINGAPORE. (2013). FAQs on Population White

Paper: A sustainable population for a dynamic Singapore. Retrieved from https://www.mti.gov.sg/MTIInsights/Documents/FAQs%20for%20White%20Paper.pdf

Hodal, K (2013).Manila is a Hotbed of Progressive Housing Solutions A City’s Quest to Build a

Better Informal Settlement. Next City. Retrieved
from https://nextcity.org/features/view/slum-lab-manilas-quest-to-build-a-better-informal-settlement

UNITED NATIONS DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS. (2014).

World’s population increasingly urban with more than half living in urban areas. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects.html

Reader's Response Draft 2

In the article "Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to Seize the Urban Moment", Khanna (2015) claims that Asian Cities are becoming the global benchmark for citification through its innovative ideas. The writer asserts that compared to Europe and America, Southeast Asia has more than twice the amount of people immigrating into the cities from its rural areas. He argues that Southeast Asian metropolises are managing its rapid urban growth with flexible governance, resourceful citizens and local infrastructure innovation. Ideas such as a mobile application in Singapore called Beeline which adjust private bus route based on its citizen’s demands. While in the Philippines, it is providing more Wi-Fi hotspots to its citizens. I support the writer’s view that Southeast Asia is having a rapid urbanisation compared to the rest of the world and adapting with relevant ideas. However, I refute on Khanna’s stand on how Southeast Asian countries are tackling the main issue of rapid urbanisation growth in spite of his stated innovative ideas.

Khanna himself states that due to its dense population and size, difficulties emerge to provide essential necessities like housing, water and efficient transport to support a large and growing population. Developing countries will encounter various obstacles to comprehend their increasing urban populations in areas “such as housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy and employment, education and health care.”(United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs,2014)  Hence I strongly believe for a country to become an exemplary to urban development in this era, it must first be able to adhere to these three basic necessities.

To begin, the writer emphasizes that in Manila, housing is a grave issue for its growing population. He did not reiterate on how Manila is tackling this with a suitable innovative idea. The idea that the writer provides only tackles the issue on cyberspace connectivity which I strongly believe does not support any basic necessities. The Philippine government has set-up a $1.2 billion USD mandate to clear up its polluted waterways in Manila Bay. This will shift 104,000 families from the city’s many water towns surrounding Manila Bay's water ways. The government plans to relocate these estimated 500,000 citizens into new structure developments in Manila. Under the mandate, the Philippine government plans to create new accommodations which are able to shelter 900 families in them. (Kate Hodal, 2013) The Philippine Government has provided an idea and this in turn has tackled two of its countries basic necessities, housing & water, to support its ever increasing population and provide more water sources.

Adding on, another Southeast Asian country, Singapore with its forecasted white paper policy which would boost its already densely populated population up by another 30% has provided key planning ideas to adjust to its increased growth. It plans on increasing rail network from 180km to 360km twice its current length by 2030. This will allow more households to be able to access the train services just a walkable distance from their homes (Ministry of Trade and Industry Singapore, 2013). From this, we can clearly see how a Southeast Asian country such as Singapore supports its growing population with a thorough idea and tackles one of the key main necessities, Transport. Instead of a mobile app whereby Khanna provides as a form of innovative idea to tackle Singapore’s transport demands with no coherent outcome. This has showed that the Singapore government has indirectly promoted its train public transport to its citizens by making the train services easily accessible to commuters. Thus making public transport the better alternative to commute around Singapore.

To wrap it up, the innovative ideas provided by Khanna has its substance but unfortunately there are no direct outcomes from its implementation. It does not show how it makes Southeast Asian countries an exemplary to other countries of how they tackle their sudden urban immigration growth especially when it does not cover direct essential necessities which Khanna has stated to support a large city population or even a basic city population. Nonetheless, I Strongly agree that Khanna is precise in implying that Southeast Asian countries are experiencing a larger urban migration compared to the rest of the world and are able to adapt with proper planning and ideas.

(Edited 02/10/2015)

References

Singapore. Ministry of trade and industry Singapore. (2013). FAQs on Population White Paper:"A sustainable population for a dynamic Singapore”. Retrieved from https://www.mti.gov.sg/MTIInsights/Documents/FAQs%20for%20White%20Paper.pdf

Kate Hodal. (2013).” Manila is a Hotbed of Progressive Housing Solutions

A City’s Quest to Build a Better Informal Settlement”. Next City. Retrieved
from https://nextcity.org/features/view/slum-lab-manilas-quest-to-build-a-better-informal-settlement

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (2014). “World’s population increasingly urban with more than half living in urban areas”. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/world-urbanization-prospects.html