We just had our meeting after close to a month of not having meetings. We are almost done putting the final touches on our eBook on Goodman and Shruti asked us if we wanted to stay on with this project or stop. Initially, I thought I would stop this CAS project and move onto something else, but when I reflect deeper, I think that I haven't really been putting in my full to this commitment and I feel committed to at least see through another project well this time.
If I reflect more on my initiation with the SMP eBook project, it was not as if I wasn't doing anything. I was doing things, but it was probably the bare minimum that Shruti or Hsin Yee was asking from me. As I look back on this, I don't think that I was doing anything wrong. I did what was allocated to me and I did finish it in the end. The problem is, I don't think I was doing the task at hand to the best of my ability and taking this project as far as I could to help out.
That is probably something I should change, because this endeavor, to collect Singaporean History and our local history is something that is very important to me. I also think that it is something of great value to preserve the stories of the past so that the future generations have something to look back on.
People have asked me before why I study History and why do I feel so strongly towards our local history. I will admit that it may not really provide people with a 'better life' like the furthering of science and medicine, but history does have it's importance.
I remember that Mr Yeo gave us a Theory of Knowledge lecture on History and said that the importance of history is that it gives everyone a greater sense of belonging. History itself, provides people with roots and at this juncture where were are so undefined and constantly speaking about a being a country that has no roots. It should be important to document and protect our national stories. Because it provides the people with important anchors that allows them to have a sense of belonging.
It makes me think about the fact that more and more youths do not have very strong nationalist sentiments towards Singapore and feel no qualms against leaving as compared to other countries like Philippines or Vietnam. It may be due to the fact that we don't have much history together and that's maybe all the more reason why this project is important.
Showing posts with label SMP 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SMP 2013. Show all posts
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Thursday, 8 August 2013
Singapore Memory Project #2
If I reflect deeper, I don't think I have been very committed to the Singapore Memory CAS group.
I joined in January with loaded enthusiasm about documenting Singaporean history which I am very interested in. But I think I let a lot of my other commitments, like academics and the arts where I am more actively involved in and demand more of my time, get in the way of producing and staying committed to the project.
I believe that we were supposed to come up with a few pages for the eBook that everyone is contributing to. Honestly as one of my minor CAS projects, I put that very low on my priority list and set about completing everything on that list before I started on my pages. In retrospect. It would have probably only taken me an hour to complete if I had the patience and drive, but sheer laziness and procrastination made me delay it till the last minute.
I will admit that I was tempted to submit a very shoddy piece of work to my peers, which I did complete in time. But I decided against it. I thought about how I would have felt if I were in Shruti or Hsin Yee's shoes if they saw my lack of drive and commitment. So I held back, and submitted, what I think is a better set of pages to them, two weeks late. I know now that I did impede on the project schedule and that in future I should never do this again. Because it is not only doing my peers and this project a big dis-service, but I am also letting myself down. Because I know that I can produce better work than what I am doing now and that I need to up my game on this project even if it is one of my minor CAS projects.
I shouldn't let myself fall into the trap of complacency and procrastination. I find that I am doing that a lot lately even with my academics and that is really an area that I need to change.
I joined in January with loaded enthusiasm about documenting Singaporean history which I am very interested in. But I think I let a lot of my other commitments, like academics and the arts where I am more actively involved in and demand more of my time, get in the way of producing and staying committed to the project.
I believe that we were supposed to come up with a few pages for the eBook that everyone is contributing to. Honestly as one of my minor CAS projects, I put that very low on my priority list and set about completing everything on that list before I started on my pages. In retrospect. It would have probably only taken me an hour to complete if I had the patience and drive, but sheer laziness and procrastination made me delay it till the last minute.
I will admit that I was tempted to submit a very shoddy piece of work to my peers, which I did complete in time. But I decided against it. I thought about how I would have felt if I were in Shruti or Hsin Yee's shoes if they saw my lack of drive and commitment. So I held back, and submitted, what I think is a better set of pages to them, two weeks late. I know now that I did impede on the project schedule and that in future I should never do this again. Because it is not only doing my peers and this project a big dis-service, but I am also letting myself down. Because I know that I can produce better work than what I am doing now and that I need to up my game on this project even if it is one of my minor CAS projects.
I shouldn't let myself fall into the trap of complacency and procrastination. I find that I am doing that a lot lately even with my academics and that is really an area that I need to change.
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