I have so many things to write about the data collection stint held at IMM. That 11 days spent there taught me many lessons that classrooms can never provide. First, I am thankful for the opportunities given, and allowing me to learn the ropes of management for the first time, as well as learning how to deal with different people in society.

Working with friends are nice, and I am glad to have a team of punctual and responsible members… Listya, Theresia, Jun Yien, Eugene… and Myself =P This time around, we are helping a local research agency to collect voice samples to train a speech recognition system for Singaporeans. Collecting Voice Samples sounds intriguing? Not really… But its a very harmless process. lol.

Setting up booths is a daily routine, as well as getting all the equipment tested and ready. All our laptops were used for the collection process. Its amazing that there are 2 devices recording your voice at the same time. Thank you to ping.sg people – rinaz, ridz, tstar and arzhou, who have helped by contributing their voice samples…

It warms my heart to see that there are people who are willing to help, not just for the sake of the money, but genuinely want to help and take part in the research… and there are always some who cant read English yet insists on trying, only to be rejected by us in the end. This is what I call greed. Yucks. There are also alot of ugly singaporeans amongst us. Terrible la. Passing racist remarks. I had my fair share, and am totally upset about that.

There are some who thinks we are selling stuff, conducting some survey, some marketing gimmick =.=, even a beauty salon? O.O and for some reason, we became IMM walking information counter. While we will try our best to help them, which they are grateful for, yet there are some who treat us like dirt, and very rude to us. to which we will reply, I dunno. I mean, none of us are obliged to help in the first place. Its totally out of goodwill.

I am thankful for IMM willingness to support the research, but I am dreading the rising costs of the food there la. everything is expensive. lol.

Took alot of skills to muster enough courage to approach people on the first day, but after that am very adapted to it, and even a rejection can still put a smile on my face. Of course, we are also representing ourselves as an employee as well as students of NTU. Thus, we have to be mindful of our image and not disgrace oneself in any way.

Manage to complete a major portion of the collection. But somewhat disappointed din complete all. But credits goes to the whole group for working very very hard for this round of the research. You guys are awesome, and I hoped that I have done a gd job in managing as well.

Now its time to enjoy my hard earned rest and get ready to handle all that timetable matters… as well as other stuff… hee…

Am totally looking forward to watching the PLAY! concert tomorrow with Hendri.

Yes, and I am back to regular office hours of 9 am to 6 pm. I AM BACK in the blogosphere.

Later…

The Gal
Nicole