lovin' you
luv, me
luv, me
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posted : 10 March 2007
subsequent e-mail correspondence From: Lok Tat Seng (Assoc Prof) Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 3:52 PM To: #CHEN YING-HSU DENNIS# Subject: RE: A Grieving Experience Thank you, Dennis. That’s the spirit that all students should possess. You have certainly lifted mine and given me added incentive to do more for the Nanyang Community. Come and see me sometime. Perhaps, we can have coffee and for you to brief me on your contribution to the CAC with all its attendant vibrancy. Cheers From: #CHEN YING-HSU DENNIS# Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 3:26 PM To: Lok Tat Seng (Assoc Prof); Desmond Woo Jong YowCc: Global Immersion Programme; Dean-Students Subject: RE: A Grieving Experience Dear Prof and Desmond, Thanks for your swift response and explanation. The reason why I could not opt for other offers is because that would delay my graduation by one semester, which is neither feasible nor favorable. I quote from Desmond “interviews are meant to get a feel of the students' character and personality traits”. This was apparently lacking from the interview as the interviewers did not make an attempt to. More importantly, I personally feel that the interviewers could be more tactful and do away with sweeping statements that are simply too legalistic and judgmental. As fellow citizens of the Nanyang family, it is undesirable to crush someone’s spirit and ego during an interview. Instead of affirmation, the interviewers put across comments that are condescending. Indeed, life and death lies in the power of tongue. A mere 5 minutes of conversation has been emotionally, mentally and psychologically detrimental. “I hope that you will not use this minor digression in life as an excuse to avoid contributing to the university”. Yes Prof, I will certainly not allow digressions in life to be an excuse to avoid contributing to the university, neither will I turn bitter, but better. Thank you! Yours, Chen Ying-Hsu Dennis From: Lok Tat Seng (Assoc Prof) Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 11:51 AM To: Desmond Woo Jong Yow; #CHEN YING-HSU DENNIS#Cc: Global Immersion Programme; Dean-Students Subject: RE: A Grieving Experience Thank you, Desmond, for the clarification. Dennis – When demand exceeds supply, difficult decisions have to be made on the basis of well thought-out criteria. However, even the best reasons have faults. This is encountered in our daily life and I have personally come across many similar issues in my line of work. I have made difficult non-reversible decisions but I make it a point to discuss difficult issues with students (that’s my job) and, in turn, ask students for their views and how they could help to make the system more available or fool-proof. In almost all cases, the students agree on the difficulty of satisfying EVERYONE. In fact, most problems arise because there is insufficient information – the question is how much information is sufficient. There will always be a “lack of information” with the best available information. I am not defending the GIP Office but merely to understand their position. I think no one would deliberately prevent a student from participating in the GIP provided…………..(a set of criteria as mentioned in Desmond’s email). So, I hope that you will not use this minor digression in life as an excuse to avoid contributing to the university. And yes, I will continue to advice students, as you have put it so eloquently, that “result is not everything”. History has proven time and time again that a holistic education, embracing the concept of educating the “mind, body and soul”, is far more important in producing a life-long experience than one who is studying for the sake of getting a “piece of paper”. I hope that you will continue to do your best to gain an overall education that NTU can offer. If you need to see me, please do not hesitate to call at my office. To avoid possible disappointment, please call my Secretary first on 67905152. Cheers TS Lok From: Desmond Woo Jong Yow Sent: Friday, March 09, 2007 10:28 AM To: #CHEN YING-HSU DENNIS #Cc: Lok Tat Seng (Assoc Prof); Global Immersion Programme Subject: RE: A Grieving Experience Dear Dennis, We appreciate that you share your GIP interview experience and we would take it as a feedback positively. We have look into your case, checked with the parties involved, there are a few things that I would like to clarify. University of St. Gallen is the top destination among NBS students, with more applicants than the number of places available. The school GIP coordinator / Interviewer uses academic results as a first cut criteria for sieving out the applicants and the interviews are meant to get a feel of the students' character and personality traits as a gauge to whether they can be good ambassadors of NTU at these overseas participating universities. I agree with you that having merely good academic results does not necessary make a good leader. However, as GIP University of St .Gallen is a pure study programme , it makes good sense academic performance to be used as a key criteria, though not the only criteria. Even application to enroll to any local tertiary course is based mainly on academic performance. We understand you have only chosen University of St. Gallen for your GIP application. However we thought we could take the opportunity during the interview to know if you would like to consider other GIP programmes which is applicable to you. Perhaps we should review it to minimize similar experience encountered by students. As for the application, you are not required to write essays of 3000 words. We are expecting a paragraph or two though we leave it to the student to decide how much info they like to let the interviewer know about them. We note that the “Max 1200 words” can be misleading. We hope you understand that despite of constraints like limited places available in some programmes, GIP Office aims to provide global education to as many students as possible. Regards Desmond Woo Global Immersion Programme Office |
