OTH-TP MOU Signing Allows TP Students to Strive Beyond Classrooms
Post Date: 08 Oct 2018
Mr Desmond Tan, Chief Executive Director of People’s Association (left) and Mr Peter Lam, Principal & CEO of Temasek Polytechnic (right), signing the Memorandum of Understanding at Our Tampines Hub, September 10, 2018. PHOTO: Keesha Maria Shaqur
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has recently been signed between Our Tampines Hub (OTH) and Temasek Polytechnic (TP) to allow for future student collaborations through a real-world working environment at OTH.
The MOU Signing Ceremony held at OTH on September 10, 2018, is an exchange of signatories and was signed by Mr Desmond Tan, Chief Executive Director of People’s Association and Mr Peter Lam, Principal & CEO of Temasek Polytechnic.
Through a formalised relationship between the two, the ceremony is geared towards providing TP students with a holistic learning experience at OTH, while allowing the People’s Association (PA) to engage in school outreach efforts.
“This partnership is a win-win partnership that allows PA to reach out to important group in the community, the youths and at the same time for the youths in Temasek Poly to be able to contribute as well as learn in a real-life environment beyond the classroom,” said Mr Tan.
In recent years, TP has been actively engaged when it comes to partnerships with OTH in terms of supporting numerous of their activities. Ranging from promoting the ‘Return Tray’ initiative to performing at the grand opening of OTH, “Temasek Polytechnic is always looking for good opportunities for our students to be involved in real life learning and agencies like PA certainly provide very wonderful opportunities for our students to be involved in projects,” Mr Lam shared.
As such, TP students involved in OTH projects were present at the ceremony to share their experiences and ideas on the projects they had embarked on, in conjunction with their curriculum-based learning.
Katheriene Lim Yun Qian and Tan Yi Han John, third-year Integrated Facility Management (IFM) students from the School of Engineering, worked alongside PA’s facilities management department. They recommended solutions and suggestions to improve the current operational issues at OTH, as part of their major projects, BIM Secure @ OTH Arena and Workplace Safety and Health in facility management, respectively.
Katheriene Lim Yun Qian, a third-year Integrated Facility Management (IFM) student, presents her project – BIM Secure @ OTH Arena, at the MOU Signing Ceremony at Our Tampines Hub, September 10, 2018. PHOTO: Keesha Maria Shaqur
Mr Peter Lam, Mr Desmond Tan and the student presenters, pose for the camera at the MOU Signing Ceremony at Our Tampines Hub, September 10, 2018. PHOTO: Keesha Maria Shaqur
Notwithstanding the differences, a soft skill they acquired through their projects are communication skills.
“Now, we are communicating with people of older ages and of higher ranking. Communication skills will help me understand them and it can also be applied during my internship as I wouldn’t always be with people of my age,” Katheriene said.
Similarly, John explained: “I had to interact with older staffs. At the start, it was quite hard to communicate with my mentor because his perspectives are very different. But, after getting to know more about him, we got closer.”
Chow Sheng Yang and Ashie Singh, third-year Communications & Media Management (CMM) students from the School of Business (BUS) were also present at the event to share their insights. Last year, the duo, alongside their classmates, hosted at OTH every weeknight as part of their Broadcast Performance module at the main stage of OTH for a variety show.
“This is quite a new experience for me because I’ve never hosted in front of the public before. When the public gets uncooperative, it has taught me how to deal with crowd management and maintaining my composure,” Sheng Yang explained.
As for Ashie, hosting at OTH furnishes her with the opportunity to broaden her networking platform. “I think it helps in getting to know relevant people in the industry, talking to them about what we can provide for them and what they provide for us”.
Also present from BUS, were Gan Min Qian and Hoon Xi Wen Hazel, second-year Diploma in Business students. They were student helpers for the Get Equipped and Unleash Your Potential (GET UP) event at OTH that aims to showcase essential products, services and schemes for PMET to thrive in the digital workplace.
By manning the booths and playing apart in helping the senior citizens in familiarising with digitalisation, both Min Qian and Hazel agreed that teamwork plays a salient role in improving their productivity during the event.
Not only have these events and projects strongly emphasised on the comprehensive development of TP students both in and outside the classroom, it also enabled them to be all-rounded individuals. Concurrently, these students can contribute to the society with their tenacity and fresh ideas.
“This is a life skill that is very important for our students to have – the ability to communicate what they are planning and what they hope to achieve through the programme and the ability to work across different disciplines,” Mr Lam said.
By: Nadia Illyana Foo
