Reader Response Draft 1

In the article “Floor lights help ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road” Tan (2017), states that to help smartphone addicts stay alert on the road, Land Transport Authority (LTA) has installed LED strips before the crossing junctions of two popular vicinities in Singapore. The LED that can be seen in the day will resemble the colour of conventional red and green man signals of a traffic light. However, this initiative is only a half-year pilot program and will allow the authority to evaluate its suitability in our climate. During this time, feedbacks from road users will be collected to measure the effectiveness of this project.   

With the reports from Traffic Police indicates a rise in a number of pedestrian injuries, such initiative will make road crossing a safer experience for all users. While the article managed to provide statistics on the surge in traffic accidents, it is unclear if these accidents are indeed caused by the usage of mobile phones as a considerable amount of the accidents are made up by the elderly. 

I can vividly recall, back when I was a teenager, I used to glue my eyes onto my smartphone wherever I go. Because of it, I was reprimanded by my father. I stopped doing so as I grow older and become less ignorant. There is only selfishness when you put other road users at risk and it is the time that I prove to my parents that I can take care of myself. 

However, it seems to be only natural that human tends to be selfish. Every morning at the bus stop to school, I stare at the traffic junction across me. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon to spot jaywalkers. While I start to recall, I realise that the majority of them in my neighbourhood are always the elderly. While I wait for my bus patiently, another elderly is seen jaywalking at a slow and steady speed. The old man appears to me that he is skilful in the art of jaywalking like he has for the past many years. The next second, a car heading towards him has to slow down because of his selfish act. I felt that the old man has not only put himself at risk but to other road users as well. 

While I think it is a good initiative to set up LED lights for smartphone addicts, elderly pedestrians should instead be the focus on the rising problem highlighted in the annual road traffic situation (2016). Based on the report, the group remained a high concern while the number of accidents involving them continues to climb.

Looking at past year statistics, the death count of elderly road users in traffic misfortunes has increased by 19.6%. 30.2% of these misfortunes happened when they were jaywalking. The number of misfortunes that involves jaywalking by elderly road users have increased by a high 42.1%. All of this indicates an additional focus needed on our elder population. Like what Traffic commander Tee. S. mentioned, ‘it is a big concern because we are an ageing population.'

I would return to my personal experience and although 'smartphone zombies' are present around us, it is not necessary to be the cause that results in the rise in traffic misfortunes. 

Evidently, based on statistics, the rise in jaywalkers in the elderly population poses serious problems in our daily road usage. While LTA has come up with campaign and efforts to educate the specific population, it is a problem that requires some time to make improvements. 

References

Loh, R (2017). Fatal accidents in 2016 down, but more elderly killed. The New Paper. Retrieved, September 26, 2016, from
http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/fatal-accidents-2016-down-more-elderly-killed

Martha, S (2017). Traffic-related deaths dropped marginally in 2016; elderly pedestrians remain a concern. The Online Citizen. Retrieved, September 26, 2016, from

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2017/02/16/traffic-related-deaths-dropped-marginally-in-2016-elderly-pedestrian-accidents-remain-a-concern/

Ng, K (2017). 20% jump in number of accidents involving elderly pedestrians. Today Online. Retrieved, September 26, 2016, from

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/twenty-percent-jump-number-accidents-involving-elderly-pedestrians

Tan, C (2017). Floor lights help 'smartphone zombies' keep eye on the road. The Straits Times. Retrieved, September 20, 2016, from
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/floor-lights-help-smartphone-zombies-keep-eye-on-the-road

Zaihan, M.Y (2017). Traffic death rate drops to lowest since 1981. The Straits Times. Retrieved, September 26, 2016, from
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/traffic-death-rate-drops-to-lowest-since-1981

Edited 28 September 2017

Summary Draft 1: Floor Lights

In the article “Floor lights help ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road” Tan (2017), states that to help smartphone addicts stay alert on the road, Land Transport Authority (LTA) has installed LED strips before the crossing junctions of two popular vicinities in Singapore. The LED that can be seen in the day will resemble the colour of conventional red and green man signals of a traffic light. However, this initiative is only a half-year pilot program and will allow the authority to evaluate the suitability in our climate. During this time, feedbacks from road users will be collected to measure the effectiveness of this project.   

With the reports from Traffic Police indicates a rise in a number of pedestrian injuries, such initiative will make road crossing a safer experience for all users. While the article managed to provide statistics on the surge in traffic accidents, it is unclear that these accidents are indeed caused by the usage of mobile phones by pedestrians. 

Email to Professor: Self Introduction

Subject: Self Introduction

Dear Professor Blackstone,

I hope this email finds you well.

I am formally writing to you so that you can familiarise yourself with me in your Effective Communication class. My name is Yeo Jie Ming, and I graduated from Singapore Polytechnic with a diploma in marine engineering in 2015. During my internship stint, I realised that the marine industry was not a career I was interested in as it entailed being away at sea for months on end. I decided that spending time with my loved ones was more important than the monetary benefits. For a brief period of time, I was lost about my career and further education prospects as I did not do well enough to make the cut for the big three universities in Singapore. However, when the government announced the opening of a fifth university catered towards diploma holders, it gave me an opportunity to pursue a degree that I might have an interest in. Today, I am a student of Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) batch AY2017/18 pursuing a bachelor (Hons) in sustainable infrastructure engineering (land).

My close friends describe me as a vibrant and engaging person, never failing to make them laugh. I am not afraid to approach people and start a conversation. Many a time, I have successfully broken the ice with my more introverted classmates. However, despite my outgoing personality, I find myself retreating into my shell whenever I have to present to a crowd, or during a formal interview. Also, I find that compared to my peers in other faculties, my vocabulary does not match theirs. A recent example where my shyness hindered me, was during an interview for a university scholarship. The sight of my interviewers left me in a panicked state, and I found that I could not translate my train of thoughts into words eloquently. This impacted me as I did not get my scholarship and I realised the importance of good communication. Hence, I want to improve my public speaking and interview skills as these are important in the workforce.

To achieve my goals, I believe that I have to make an effort to read more as it will help improve my vocabulary and my general knowledge. Also, to combat my fear of speaking in crowds, or during interviews, I will have to practise more by speaking up during tutorial sessions. This will train me to be more confident.

I feel that to better prepare us in the workforce, it is important to learn how to carry ourselves proper through effective communication. Therefore, I am fortunate to be taking this module in SIT. I hope through this course, I am able to perfect the art of a good presentation, and expand my limited vocabulary through extensive reading and writing.

I look forward to your generous guidance and teaching in class.

Best wishes,

Yeo Jie Ming

SIE Group 5

Edited on 
14 September 2017
18 September 2017
19 September 2017 

20 September 2017
21 September 2017

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