As many of you know, NUS has recently announced the merging of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) and the Faculty of Science (FoS)
to form a new college (College of Humanities and Sciences, or CHS) alongside a brand new curriculum.
I have recently completed my first semester under that curriculum, and I thought it would be helpful to share my own thoughts on the program for all you incoming freshmen who are considering CHS. But as always, please be mindful that this is my own opinion, and while you can take it into account when considering CHS, it is also very possible that your experience results in a different opinion.
And without further ado, here is the good, the bad, and the in-betweens of the CHS curriculum!
The Good
Regardless of the many complaints from students, CHS does have some good points.
Firstly, it does achieve some form of interdisciplinary education, which is positive in itself. Given the increased competition in the job market and the global trends in education, interdisciplinary education in particular has been shown to be highly valued by employers. This is because interdisciplinary education often teaches students foundational skills that are required, regardless of the job.
For example, under the CHS curriculum, they have a module (FAS1101) that teaches students how to plan essays and write academically. This can help students to develop critical writing and communication skills. It also helps students to develop some form of critical thinking, as proper academic articles require considering both perspectives and rebutting arguments. These skills are valued in the workforce, and are additional advantages when applying for jobs.
CHS also provides modules that are doable for both science and humanities students. I believe the professors are fully aware that students who select sciences tend to dislike humanities subjects, and can feel anxious about being graded on humanities modules (and vice versa of humanities students for science mods). However, from my experience the professors are fully aware of this, and are doing their best to ensure that the curriculum is not too difficult for everyone.
For example, in the Human Condition module (HSH1000), the professors and teaching assistants are always doing their best to reassure students who feel anxious, and are humble enough to request feedback for the module overall so that they can adjust. They are also more than happy to stay back after class to clarify any questions you might have about the concepts, and will do their best to explain it to you in a way that you can understand.
CHS has also managed to tailor certain modules to certain faculties. For example, under the ‘Digital Literacy’ requirement, students taking a science major are required to read a specific module based on their major. So, for example, students majoring in chemistry are required to take CM3267 – a computational module specifically for chemistry. Meanwhile, students majoring in life sciences are going to take LSM2302. Both modules fulfill the ‘digital literacy’ requirement, but are tailored to the specific major. FASS students are given a different list of modules that fulfill the requirement, but the modules are tailored to be less mathematical in nature and more suited for humanities students who are cautious about taking any ‘science’ or ‘math’ mods.
Finally, CHS is also willing to accept feedback – they are aware that this curriculum is rather new, and so they often send out feedback forms for students to fill in. Although, it must be said that the forms are for the modules themselves instead of CHS as a whole. But regardless, at least the professors in the modules are kind enough to take the time and read the feedback, and address the feedback after each round. From my experience, they truly do want to improve, and a lot of them do their best to make the module better for us students.
Having said that, there are many things that can be improved on the whole.
The Bad
As with any system, there are always negatives that come along with the positives. The first main negative is the fact that the program is relatively disorganized. It is a very new program, and they are testing it out on my cohort, and so I can understand and give a little leeway for it. However, it makes planning rather difficult. Most university students plan for the three or four years of study, and have strategized which module they want to take in which semester. Unfortunately, with CHS, planning has become rather difficult. We are supposed to take thirteen common curriculum modules, but some of those modules have not been planned yet.
This hinders some of my planning, particularly for a SEP (Student Exchange Programme). Most students tend to go on exchange in year three, but I am unsure whether the two interdisciplinary modules will be pre-allocated. I am also unsure whether I should take Scientific Inquiry II in semester one or two, as the module I am interested in isn’t up on NUS Mods.
Another negative aspect is the modules in itself. I personally feel that some of the modules are not the most strategic in terms of the content. Although the modules are created with the intent of instilling critical and important skills to students, some of the modules do not translate that well. Some of the modules feel as though they are too ‘shallow’ or ‘superficial’, while others result in negative student sentiment towards the module in general.
Furthermore, students from science often feel as if they should be doing science instead of humanities (and vice versa). This combines with the negative sentiments towards the modules, and can often result in a lack of cooperation in group projects and discussions. There are typical scenarios of group members turning off their microphones and cameras during discussions, or refusing to do any work in a group project because they plan to S/U the module due to intense dislike.
The In-Between: What CHS Can Do To Improve
I personally think CHS could consider increasing the number of S/Us students have. There are students who tend to find them ‘irrelevant’ and ‘a waste of time’, and are often not too passionate about it. This harms students two-fold: firstly, students don’t want to study that module, and so the grades decrease; secondly, students don’t put effort into group projects because they don’t care about the module, so they affect those who are actually trying.
Although the university has tried to counter this by allowing students to S/U a D instead of a C and allowing students to S/U all modules in semester two, I personally argue that it is still not enough, especially given the difficulties that come with common curriculum modules.
Furthermore, in terms of the module planning, I personally think that CHS could reconsider some of the modules in the core curriculum. For example, they could have chosen politics or international relations as a common core module. Regardless of what subject one does, it is always important to be aware of current affairs, and to be able to analyze the world around us. It also develops important critical thinking and communication skills.
Overall, CHS does show potential as a curriculum: it is undeniable that interdisciplinary education is advantageous, both in forwarding the talent of Singapore and equipping students with skills to face the future. However, it is still in the (very) early stages, and improvements can be made to the system.
But of course, this is just my personal opinion. Feel free to share your own experiences!
This has got to be the most popular myth that virtually everyone believes.
Somehow, we feel that by being occupied throughout the entire day, we are accomplishing many things and moving one step closer to our end goal.
However, I’m sure you would have realised that while there were days where your schedule was packed to the brim, you might not have cleared much important work at all.
Tim Ferriss, the author of “The 4-Hour Workweek”, once said in his book that “being perpetually busy is a kind of laziness” and I couldn’t agree more.
This is because it takes much more effort to sit down and identify what is the most efficient way to complete your tasks and what tasks should be cleared first (i.e. the most important tasks) compared to just trying to do a bunch of random things with no real strategy throughout the day.
So what is the lesson here? One, we should focus on working smart before working hard so that our efforts will get us the most bang for our buck. If you’re a student, working smart could mean things like replacing passive study techniques with active ones!
Two, we should carefully dictate our priorities for the day, the tasks that will, upon completion, move us much closer to our end goal. We can utilise certain frameworks like the Eisenhower Decision Matrix to help us with this decision-making process.
The Eisenhower Decision Matrix. Photo by 
If you’re like me and you enjoy watching “A Productive Day In The Life Of…” YouTube videos, you would soon come to realise that many YouTubers advocate waking up early to seize the day, some even waking up at 330AM!
Hence, it is can be easy to be led to believe that waking up early is the KEY to productivity and success.
However, that couldn’t be further from the truth!
According to this 
Many of us may think of taking a break as taking one step back.
But let me offer another imagery instead. It is more accurate to say that taking a break is like taking a momentary step back so that we can move three steps forward later, instead of taking one step forward.
Research gathered by 
Believe it or not, they would be your greatest saviours when you are stuck on a difficult tutorial question or assignment question. They make tough days manageable. They keep you accountable on days when you just don’t feel like getting out of bed and go for physical lectures and tutorials. They are people you hop by the café with after class ends.
Make sure to make tons of friends from your own major and CCAs. They are the people that help you get through life.
Ask for the telegram handle of the kid who sits next to you in your lecture or tutorial. Form groups to discuss tutorial or assignment questions together!
Get friends to keep yourself accountable!
Planning out your days by putting in the lecture and tutorial timings, along with your external commitments will help you be much more productive.
As a university student, time is everything.
You only have four years, eight semesters to accomplish whatever you want to in your university life. Make sure to spend each and every semester wisely.
Go out with your friends often, even those not from your course, faculty or university. It’s always good to get out of the study zone and get some fresh air when you need it.
Taking a break once in a while is crucial in giving you the strength to move farther in your university journey. So don’t feel guilty when you rest. Your body needs it.
May all NUS kids have a great winter and a fresh start to Semester 2! All the best in beating the bell curves and making friends!
We feel ashamed that we could not make it work.
As teenagers and adults, we often feel that we should have everything in check. We often assume that we should have everything figured out, just like how others seem like they have everything figured out. We feel a sense of uneasiness. We are afraid of seeking help—it makes us feel weak and inadequate—but this often makes us feel more isolated. Humans are innately social creatures. We crave affection. We crave attention. We crave social contact. Losing contact with friends just goes against all of the things we want.
Self-love does not just mean eating a chocolate chip cookie or taking a bubble bath. Self-love means radically changing your relationship with yourself. It means calming anxious thoughts, healing depressed minds, and decreasing eating disorder behaviours. It means being kind, and being consistent in swiping away our inner “mean girl”.
The critical parts of ourselves, our inner “mean girl” are meant to help us survive. They are aspects of ourselves that created strategies for our safety and survival. They function as an advanced neural network of a computer system that is built for purely two reasons—connection and safety.
When distressing events or traumatic scenarios occur, our brains create an understanding or belief of how the world works. And these beliefs or expectations are merely reinforced as we grow up, though they are often outdated and sometimes even get in the way of our successes and happiness. These memories and images are permanently stored in our hard drive, with the only solution being befriending ourselves, even the critique, wounded and protective parts.
When you buy crypto on an exchange, the exchange will charge you trading fees. The fees charged vary from exchange to exchange. Thus, fees are one big factor you should consider when selecting the crypto exchange you use as some fees can be hefty. I use the ActiveTrader interface on the Gemini exchange because the fees average about 0.25% to 0.35%, which is currently one of the lowest rates out there.
Besides trading fees, you should also consider currency exchange rates. Many crypto exchanges require you to convert Singapore Dollars (SGD) into United States Dollars (USD) before you can purchase crypto. Many people use their bank services to convert the money.
Lastly, you should take note of gas fees. Gas fees are incurred when you execute transactions on the blockchain. This means that you have to pay gas fees when you want to transfer the crypto from your exchange to your wallet. Ethereum is notorious for high gas fees. You are able to determine how fast you want your transaction to go through, though. The higher the speed, the higher the fee.
Be very careful when sending your crypto to your wallet. Make sure you choose the right token to get the right address. Each token has its own address. Sending Bitcoin to an Ethereum address would cause you to be unable to retrieve it.
One suggestion that’s commonly given to beginners is to send a small amount as a test sum. This is the smart thing to do if you’ve never tried to send crypto to that particular wallet address. After all, there is no way to reverse a transaction so it’s best to play safe when it comes to crypto.
A word of advice is to split your crypto between two wallets or more just in case a wallet app goes into maintenance right when you want to withdraw your crypto to sell it. It is also good to have two or more exchanges you can use at any one time for the same reason—should one of them go under maintenance, you can still buy or sell crypto.
As seen above, you can search for food deals according to your location and the type of food or cuisine you’re craving for. You can filter search results according to popular food deals, new deals that have just been listed and cash voucher deals, among others.
ShopBack also provides vouchers which you can buy and then use to earn a discount on your meals. For example, in the screenshot above, you can buy a $50 Cash Voucher at Eighteen Chefs for $45, essentially saving $5 on your meal when you eat there. Cash vouchers are an excellent way to save money if you know exactly where you’ll be dining or if you consistently visit the same spots!
I would give this app a 9/10 for its UI since it has clear-cut categories and a great filtering system, making it convenient to use even when searching for deals on the go. There’s also a ton of variety in the food deals, with many of them being for major food chains such as Subway, 7-Eleven, etc. Thus, I would give it 9/10 for the food variety. As for the discounts, I would rate the app 7/10. Most of the deals allow you to save close to a dollar or more. I consider this rather little, but at least it would add up the more you use the app.
Final Score:
UI: 9/10
Food Variety: 9/10
Discounts: 7/10
When you scroll, the app displays several headers such as brands, locations, and cuisines. While I’m not the biggest fan of this UI as you have to scroll all the way down to see the deals, you may find it useful if you’re searching for a particular brand or cuisine.
Food deals vary from place to place. While Sing Heng Cuisine may offer a 50% discount on all their reservations throughout the day, Food Barn may give larger discounts during non-peak periods and smaller discounts during peak periods.
I would personally give Eatigo a 7/10 for their UI as I find it makes you scroll too much which is inconvenient. Their food variety would get a 7/10 from me as it doesn’t offer as many kinds of cuisines as ShopBack and has a rather limited selection. Lastly, I would rate the discounts a 10/10 as they are really quite steep with many shops offering 50% off. Considering that these are all restaurants, it makes it quite the steal!
Final Score:
UI: 7/10
Food Variety: 7/10
Discounts: 10/10
As seen above, you can search for deals according to your location, and it has a similar filtering system according to cuisine like ShopBack, just presented differently. You can also see different deal collections such as weekly deals and group deals.
Upon clicking on the “See more” button at the side of “Trending deals”, we get to see deals that have been personalized for me according to the location I have set (Bugis). These are cash vouchers you can buy and exchange for the food item(s), making it cheaper than if you simply bought the food. As you can see, some have requirements such as needing you to be a card holder of a specific bank.
I would rate it 9/10 for the UI as it is pleasing, and deals are easily found in just a few taps. As for the food variety, I would give it 10/10 as it has deals for all kinds of cuisines from Peranakan restaurants to Shabu Shabu and includes both low-budget and high-end food. Lastly, I would rate the app 9/10 for the discounts as they can be quite generous.
Final Score:
UI: 9/10
Food Variety: 10/10
Discounts: 9/10
TSMC offers a good variety of courses for every aspiring musician and/or songwriter. The courses focus on songwriting and developing a sound understanding of harmonies, vocal and instrumental techniques as well as stage presence.
Those who would like to take a peek into the world of music before committing to a full-fledged diploma can try their 12-hour certificate course in Contemporary Music Fundamentals. For those who want to pursue a diploma, options range from the Diploma in Songwriting and Music Production to a Diploma in Sound Engineering and Digital Media. The college also offers full and partial scholarships based on merit. At TSMC, you’ll additionally get to shine in school events that host various collaborators, getting you all the industry exposure you may need!
SOMA is a school that stands out among many others because it not only offers certificate and diploma courses in music, but performance labs are also available for both classical and contemporary music, as well as dance. Their classes are led by well-trained and highly erudite instructors specializing in fields such as music production and engineering, songwriting and production, as well as music business.
SOMA has certificate courses for those of you interested in English or Mandarin lyric writing. The institute also offers diplomas in music performance, songwriting, music production, instrumental training in piano, violin, drums, ukulele, guitar, and much more!
The easiest way to know seniors in university is by connecting with them during JC or Poly. You can even start as early as secondary school! If you already know seniors and manage to keep in contact with them, it will be much easier when you transition into university. You can tap on their experiences even before your first semester begins, and ask them for help in terms of planning modules and graduation requirements.
It would be good if you know seniors who attend your university: if they are taking the same major that’s even better! They can share their experiences, talk about good professors and help plan your modules. Even if the senior isn’t from the same major, there are still things you can learn from them, such as how to use your SUs wisely. In fact, if you have subject-specific questions, there is a chance they know someone you can approach.
Overall, maintaining contact with seniors in earlier educational institutions helps you to have some guidance in university, so do keep that in mind!
Even if you don’t know anyone before entering university, going for orientation camps always helps.
Orientation camps take place before university formally begins and are a great opportunity for you to meet other freshies who will be taking your course! Of course, they also help to connect you with seniors, which is definitely a good thing. Take full advantage of this opportunity to communicate with them and ask as many questions as you like.
I recommend joining subject-specific orientation camps instead of faculty orientation camps—for example, I joined the psychology orientation camp instead of the FASS (faculty of arts and social sciences) camp because it was more beneficial for me. The psychology seniors were kind enough to teach us about bidding for modules, and all the tips and tricks necessary before the semester even began. They were also kind enough to open the floor for a Q&A, and answered every single question via a booklet that they sent out to all of us. I’m unsure if other subject-specific orientation camps do this, but from my experience it is definitely worth it!
This final tip is more of an attitude one should have, rather than practical action. But I have found that this is just as important as any action you can take.
For example, when going for orientation camps, instead of being shy and turning off your microphone, take this opportunity to ask them questions. Or when meeting seniors in CCAs, be brave enough to take the first step and send them a message on telegram. Always be intentional as it often helps you to cast aside any social anxiety or doubt when connecting.
But being intentional also means being prepared. It means having a specific list of things to ask seniors, such as ‘where can I find internships’ or ‘how do you plan your timetable’. It also means doing some reflection beforehand, such as reflecting on why you want to take the course, or what job you would like to get after university. This can help you to ask much more intentional questions which are beneficial in the long run.
And that’s all from me for now—good luck! 
However, if you’re in this for the long game, it is essential to know how to market yourself. This would start with creating a website with a unique domain name. The purpose is to showcase your work and let your site serve as a portfolio while projecting the image you want your clients to see.
Even if you don’t have your own site up yet, it’s still important to have a portfolio. Whether you’re a writer, photographer, or graphic designer, you should always upload your work onto Google Drive and send your prospective clients the link at the minimum! This is what I do.
Also, when you approach your customers, you should strive to tailor your reply to their needs when you pitch your services to them. This will set you apart from the other freelancers who send a generic template to every client without explaining what they can do and why they are the best fit!
Burnout is a very real phenomenon for freelancers. We must find our clients, communicate with them, finish the work, and then handle the payment all by ourselves! This one-man show can be tiring to keep up. It can even become hard to draw lines between your work life and your personal life since clients may contact you at all hours of the day.
My suggestion is to stick to a schedule you’ve set for yourself. You should also factor in other things you’d like to do, such as hanging out with your friends or watching that K-drama series you’ve yet to finish.
Strive to be aware of your limits so that you don’t end up compromising on the quality of your work in an attempt to stay productive when you’re no longer in your best state! While I tend to push myself as well, I always make sure to take breaks on the weekends.