Updates

I've edited my first and second posts, as well as responded to the comments. Third post coming up!

It's been a super busy week.

$W?h0w$

EDITED: Interpersonal Conflict

One of my former schoolmates, a Christian, has been approaching Buddhist students in an effort to convert them to Christians. I am not close to him, but I know that he has managed to persuade a few to convert to Christianity in my secondary school.

It was 12 February 2005. He approached me during recess, asking whether I believed in Jesus, I replied him, "Why do you ask?" He said, "Jesus died to save you." As the conversation continued, he asked me to join one of his church's events. I accepted the invitation, on a condition that he must attend one of the dharma talks organised by my temple. Then we sealed the deal, we would attend each other's event to "share" our religions.

My event was earlier than his. During the dharma talk at my temple, I was expecting him to show up, but he didn't. He texted that he was too busy, so I told him when the next dharma talk would be held. He never showed up for the next 2 talks, so my suspicion began to grow. At school, I reminded him about our deal. He said he was busy with his school work, but according to his classmates, he does not hand in assignments on time. As time flew by, he approached me several times, asking me reasons I find Buddhism interesting, while promoting his religion to me.

I confronted him that he was imposing, not sharing his religion. He did not keep his end of the bargain, and that was the last time I spoke to him. Since I've come to NUS, I've met another person in another faculty who's exactly like him. As that ugly episode comes back to haunt me, sometimes I wonder, how could I have handled that better?

$W?h0w$

(I do not mean to offend any religion with this blog post. I am not an anti-Christian, but I am against those who impose their own religion towards other people. I believe everyone has the right to choose their own religion, and no one has the right to convert others to other religions, unless that choice is made voluntarily.)

EDITED: Effective Communication

Effective communication allows me to convey messages, such as negotiating with the private & public sectors for sponsorships. I need to present how we can reciprocate our sponsors. Any errors in this will result in renegotiation, reduction or withdrawal of sponsorships.

Communication allows me to lead my team of marketers effectively. We need to know what we can offer to external organisations, whether publicity or networking opportunities. I've had the privilege to work with the most hardworking and dedicated people, such as in TalentQuest 2010 and RunNUS 2010.

Other than that, effective communication plays an important role in interviews and presentations. I've just attended an interview for NOC Bio Valley last Thursday, I was asked: You are a helicopter pilot, and you'll be saving people from a sinking yacht. Rank the people that you plan to save; father, best friend, a pregnant prostitute, army general, surgeon, undergraduate, sportswoman, & 4 other people, plus reasons for the ranking. I chose to save the pregnant prostitute first. The interviewer asked why I prioritised the prostitute over my father, I replied the prostitute is pregnant. The interview went on for over an hour. I believed that the interviewers were looking at communication skills over my CAP.

During one of my trips I organised for the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association (SJBA) back in Malaysia, I befriended a manager working at an American bank. He advised, "Grades will get you the job interview, it's the communication skills that will get you the job." His reason was people who join CCAs gain soft skills that wouldn't be taught in lectures.

Effective communication is just one of the many important skills that I seek to continuously learn, as it has helped me to form new friendships, negotiate with external parties, as well as face interviews in university.

$W?h0w$