When a communication tool becomes a core business tool By Raseena Muthaliff, Year 2, Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media
 Imagine throwing your iPhone in the blender and watching it get sliced, crushed and eventually turn into black molten and smoke! No, that’s not what we did. But one company actually did this as a form of advertisement. The company is Blendtec which specializes in manufacturing blenders and mixers. It has used YouTube as its platform.  This was just one example quoted during a talk on ‘The Power of Social Media’ held on 27 January at Singapore Polytechnic. It was organised for students from the Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media (DTVM) and Diploma in Media and Communication (DMC). The two guest speakers were Ms Rachel Cheong and Mr Oliver from Vocanic, a social media marketing business based in Singapore.  Rachel is involved in client engagement with well-known brands such as Nokia, Levis and DBS while Oliver, who comes from New Zealand, is a planner and social media strategist. Both guests took turns to give examples on how influential and useful social media is, especially when it comes to connecting with consumers. Oliver also reminded us about how Singapore politicians used social media to connect with youths during the 2011 General Election. He also provided impressive statistics that show 55% of the Singapore’s population uses Facebook and 60% use YouTube. As Oliver puts it simply, “social media isn’t about business- it is a core part of communication”.  And that is why staying away from social media is quite inevitable. Embracing it and using it for our benefit also calls for us to be responsible content providers. First batch of DTVM students going places, even before they graduate Daryl Soh had to travel to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur to film several episodes of a programme for the Asian Food Channel (AFC). Daryl is a Year 3 student in the Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media (DTVM). As part of his ‘school work’, he is now interning at AFC as a production crew member. This stint is a dream come true for Daryl who has been watching the channel for years and even completed a research paper on AFC as a Year 1 student. Daryl’s not the only one who got to travel while on internship. His classmate, Joanne Tan, has travelled to Manila and Kuala Lumpur as a production assistant with Very! Production, to produce a documentary. Joanne says, “Nothing beats travelling for free while learning so much more about production in a foreign land. I’m glad I got the rare opportunity!” Joanne and Daryl are among the first batch of DTVM students. They will only graduate in May 2012 but already, some of them have literally made a name for themselves on local and international channels, in newspaper articles and on websites. DTVM students learn to produce content for multiple media platforms such as television, web and apps. Production expertise is only one of the many areas DTVM students are trained in. The core skill that every DTVM student learns is writing.  Wendy Wong earned her byline in the first month of her attachment at MediaCorp’s Newshub. In fact, one of her scoops even made it to the front page of the Today newspaper. The aspiring journalists says, “I’m actually doing what I’ve learnt and it’s really an enriching experience because I’m also learning what is not taught in school. It’s also been great doing work that comes out on air or on print and you can look at them and say, “Wow! I did that!”” 
 Another journalist-in-training is Yu Pei Fern who is attached to Today newspaper. Besides covering important events, Pei Fern has been given top stories, centre-spreads and even a column! Her article entitled “Learning to see, from unexpected teachers” appeared on 16 November. This is where she reflects on the poor in Singapore and what she learnt about herself in covering the story.
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC111116-0000006/Learning-to-see,-from-unexpected-teachers
DTVM students don’t just work on assigned stories. Pei Fern and her classmates have been pitching ideas to write their very own interesting stories, which is something they have been trained to do in class. One of Pei Fern’s stories is about her DTVM classmate, Terrence Ting, who is an entrepreneur! http://www.todayonline.com/Sunday/FaceintheCrowd/EDC111204-0000002/Game-of-life Besides a lot of hard work, internship has been a lot of fun as well. Ask Muhammad Farhan Shafie who gets to meet many celebrities such as singers, actors and sportsmen because he is attached to Active TV, which produces for E! Asia. While on interviewing assignments, Farhan also gets to meet his other DTVM classmates because they are all attached to the different sections of the media industry.  At DTVM, students are exposed to the media industry right from day 1. Besides short stints, excursions, sharing sessions and master classes throughout the course, students go on a semester-long internship in Year 3 which is a compulsory component in the curriculum.
Go ahead - write on the walls Imagine a special room where you need to crawl to enter, you can scribble on the walls and you can dismantle the furniture because they’re like large pieces of lego blocks! That’s the unique space for students of the Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media (DTVM).  Yes, you can write on the walls, really
There are no chairs but we have these blocks you can sit on or use as props to build your own 'fortress' or 'ship' or 'bed' or whatever you need to, to help you create
In the words of DTVM lecturer Stella Wee who conceptualised this room, “Once in there, students are free to create without judgement and fear and at the same time, are encouraged by people who are supporting them, to allow them to make ‘mis-takes’ and help them to grow and be a better writer.”  Gather around and listen to a new idea being proposed
The room is designed to encourage students to generate ‘wild, crazy and amazing’ ideas that can be developed into TV shows, documentaries, content for websites and new media apps. This is because DTVM students are trained to be content creators across media platforms such as television and new media applications (apps).  Did we mention there are swings in the room too?
The core skill is writing and a critical stage in the creative writing process is ideation and conceptualisation. And this is where The Writers’ Room comes in. It is stimulating because it fosters visual thinking and learning.   If you're a DTVM student, you get to create your very own 'monster'. It's up to you what shape, size, colour, features (or lack of) you want to give your 'monster'
The room is a fun yet working space. It will make students feel special. That’s what you get when you’re in DTVM. After all, it’s the only Creative Writing diploma in Singapore. 
A place, a space, a room to explore
Ideas you could have, like never before Doodle or crawl or jump or just stare Whatever it takes, for the walls are bare Toys and pens let you create Your very own world, with your own trait A classroom today, a castle tomorrow A place to play, a hole to burrow Cushions as chairs, blocks as tables Let you produce, characters and fables Sounds good, you think? Then let us groom The creative mind in The Writers’ Room AN ORIGINAL CHILDREN'S STORY, NOW ON IPAD Imagine children getting lost in a great story on iPad, not on mindless game. But just like the game, this story is interactive and what’s more, it’s free! The best part of it is that it’s a feel-good story with great visuals that can create many talking points.  Introducing ‘The Rainbow Child’, an original, interactive children’s story that is written by students from Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media (DTVM) and produced by Singapore Polytechnic. ‘The Rainbow Child’ is about a little girl named Sephora who lives in a town called Gloomsville. She is different from all the other boys and girls. That is because everyone and everything in Gloomsville is in black and white, except Sephora, who is colourful. Sephora’s journey is about a child who is not afraid to let her true colours show.
Gen, Kelly and Jed - The authors of 'The Rainbow Child' at TedX Youth
The story has a special meaning to Genevieve Ng, one of the students who created the story. She said “I’ve been called weird or strange too many times to count. Sephora’s classmates called her a freak and avoided her yet she remained positive. She puts me to shame. I wish I had her courage.” Genevieve wrote the story along with her classmates, Jedidah Neo and Kelly Chang. All three are students from the Diploma in Creative Writing for Television and New Media (DTVM). They created ‘The Rainbow Child’ as part of an assignment that required them to come up with a story for pre-schoolers with a life lesson.  The poster the students created for a Storytelling session at the Clementi Public Library
  Jedidah said “The image of colours being brought into a colourless world like in the moviePleasantville intrigued me. Crafting the story to fit with the ‘colour concept’, I knew that I wanted the story to be about self acceptance and being different.” The students also had to create a giant story book to present to their class. Each page was a collage of hand drawn illustrations, torn up scraps of newspaper and coloured yarns. Kelly said “By that time, I’ve grown so fond of ‘The Rainbow Child’, I knew that if our story were to be poorly received, it would break my heart. But the class loved it. It felt great!“ Their lecturer, Stella Wee, decided to turn the story into an iPad app, by working with SP’s Games Resource Centre (GRC). She said “The Rainbow Child is a terrific story and it’s perfect as an app. With a swipe of a finger, readers can help Sephora’s parents ‘paint’ her black and white each day.”
‘The Rainbow Child’ app also allows readers to ‘scratch’ Sephora’s hand to reveal her colours and even ‘paint’ a rainbow.  
Stella intends to develop a series of such stories. She plans to create a library of children’s eBooks, which are written, illustrated and programmed by SP students. With each new eBook, more interactive elements will be introduced, including original music and sing-a-long songs.
'The Rainbow Child' has been well received by readers of all ages. That gave DTVM Year 3 student, Melody Lee, an idea. She's currently interning at the Overseas Singapore Unit at the Prime Minister's Office and she pitched the idea of covering this story, to her supervisors.
They really liked it and thus, we had a DTVM student interviewing DTVM students about a DTVM story! Melody's article is published here:
 Melody (far left), interviewing Jed, Gen and Kelly about their story
For the three young authors, this is just the beginning. The know that at DTVM, they can dream it, write it, make it.
 Kelly, Gen and Jed at the end of their storytelling session at Clementi Public Library
DTVM lecturer Au Yong May Lin invited her former classmate and fellow documentary maker, Nick Berger, for a sharing session on 25 Nov 2011.
We watched his funny and deep films, including one about killing grey squirrels to save red squirrels.
Amazing stuff!
OH, FOR THE LOVE OF WRITING!
"Creativity is ordered imagination" - Vikas Swarup, Writer
"If I weren't a writer, I'd be a Mac specialist" - Michael Chabon, Writer
"You guys (DTVM students) are the biggest student group to attend the festival!' - Michael Tan, Festival Director
We were at The Singapore Writers Festival and we had so much fun. The writers were honest, entertaining, witty and so happy to meet students.
We heard them answer the following questions: - What inspired them
- What to do if they get writer's block
- How to make money
- Which writers they admire
- What they'd do if they were not writers
- How to get great characters and plots
- AND SO MUCH MORE!
Can't wait for the next one!
YEAY! WOOT!
Loh Li Ling and Adrian Chai of DTVM/2B/02 won 2nd and 3rd places at CASS FACTOR 2011! 2 winners in top 3! We also had Jared Tan from DTVM/3B/02 as a finalist.
Not bad for the smallest diploma in CASS:)
Li Ling and Michael from Year 2 02!
Adrian Jared MAKING HEADLINES
Wendy Wong's article on the NUS exam papers shortage made it to the first page of the Today Newspaper on 4 October 2011.
Wendy is a Year 3 students now interning at MediaCorp's Newshub.
 On the same day, on page 2, is an article by another DTVM student! Yu Pei Fern's article is on Singaporean's consumption of salt.
Pei Fern is interning at the Today Newspaper and this is not the first time she got a byline!
Many other DTVM interns have seen their works broadcast.
Because at DTVM, we help students to Dream It, Write It, Make It! 
Year 3 student Nicholas Tang was featured in the October issue of Teenage Magazine!
He talks about the learning opportunities outside the classroom, such as overseas trips, representing school, internships and meeting his idol, movie star, Donnie Yen.
It's all part of being a DTVM student! Woot!  Pre-school kids are tough to impress, but it's so worth it! Year 1 DTVM students came up with original children's stories as part of the assessment for the module "Creative Story Making". But that's not all. To make sure the stories work, they had to perform in front of their target audience - kindergarten kids. Here's how they survived. 1) How the Kinderland kids brightened my day By Lou Mei Jun It was the first time back to a kindergarten after nearly a decade. Kinderland reminded me a lot of my childhood in my preschool. There was the nostalgic Birthday Chart and large pictures of cartoons pasted on the walls, except that it was a different Birthday Chart and there are different cartoons now. 
Our group rehearsed at a corner of the room before it was our turn to showcase our story to the children. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity just outside and it was not long before the children pushed their way into the room excitedly. 
A little girl ran to me and sat nearby. My new friend, Natania, later proved to be one of the smartest and most vocal in the room of kids. She answered the questions asked swiftly and participated actively in the story-telling. The childrens’ enthusiasm made it easy for us to tell our stories and their reactions were really cute!  It was a whole new experience for us. In comparison to the usual presentation with our classmates as our audience, the children were really awed by our props and stories. It reminded me of the days when I would stare in wonder at pictures and puppets just like them too. 
They were also attentive and even wanted to play with the props afterwards. I was initially worried about them being unresponsive, but after seeing their radiant faces, those worries just disappeared. It is amazing how children can brighten our day just like that! 
2) My trip to Kinderland By Wong Cong Xu My classmates and I went to the Kinderland at Singapore Polytechnic on Friday, 5 August 2011, with one goal in mind – to entertain the children with our stories (Pom Pom and Mr Red Man) and make them smile. We walked out with the satisfaction of doing just that, and much more. 
The kids’ reaction was so enthusiastic and timed so perfectly. Their wholehearted replies to questions and their willingness to play a role in our stories were beyond my expectations. It was heart wrenching when I saw some of their disappointed faces when they knew only a few of them could ride on the skateboard ‘cars’. It was uplifting to watch them enthusiastically search for ‘Mr Red Man who ran away from the traffic light’.  The only word I can think of to describe these children is… innocent. These kids experience and interact with everything set before them purely on how they feel, unaffected by ideas modern society plants in all of our heads when we are old enough. 
3) The Wonders of Storytelling by Colin Huang
Together with my fellow DTVM classmates, we visited the children at Kinderland @ SP Child Care Center to share with them the stories that we had written, on 8 August 2011. Although I did not perform, I felt extremely proud of my classmates who were presenting their work and could feel the immense satisfaction when I see the children laugh and raise their hands excitedly.
Our uncertainty about our stories was washed away by their eagerness to participate in solving the mysteries that were presented in the stories. Not only did they want to listen, but they also wanted to learn.
I was absolutely fascinated that a simple story with no complex twists and turns in the plot could bring out such looks of wonder in the children. To see them smile was all the reward we needed for working hard.
 Even though I was there to help photograph the event and did not act or engage the children in any way, I hope the photos I took can capture the emotions that were present that day and perhaps allow future DTVM batches the assurance while they worked that their works would be received as positively as ours did. MOVIE BONUS 5 DTVM Year 3 students got to meet the star AND the director of the blockbuster 'Wu Xia' in a special session arranged by a local radio station.
Here's their take on the one-of-a-kind experience.
 Melody, Georgia, Nicholas, Mika, Yih Chyuan
Why I’m blown away By Heng Yih Chyuan You’d almost expect that someone who is successful and famous, is arrogant as well. But this was not quite the case with the man behind Ip Man, Ip Man 2, Legend of The Fist, The Lost Bladesman and now, Wu Xia.
Donnie Yen Donnie Yen’s rise to stardom in the past three years is nothing short of spectacular. In the past, movie lovers would only speak of Jackie Chan and Jet Li as the ‘twin towers’ when it comes to martial arts movies. Now, Donnie Yen is right up there with the duo. I got the opportunity to meet the great kungfu master in person, thanks to an invitation to a press conference that was held before the movie Wu Xia was screened, on Tuesday, 19 July 2011. Donnie Yen, together with famous director Peter Chan, were in town to promote their latest film. It was definitely an eye opener, but it was their attitude towards their work that had me blown away. ‘My principle is to always have a pure and simple minded heart, no matter how much success you have,’ revealed Donnie Yen. On the other hand, Peter Chan had these wise words for fellow media makers, ‘Watching a movie and making a movie is entirely different. You have to be truly passionate about making movies, else you won’t succeed.’ 
Peter Chan It struck me instantly that this is the reason why both iconic Asians have managed to scale the ladder of success so quickly and stayed on top of it. Passion and humility; the two factors for true success.
My fixation with Donnie Yen and Peter Chen By Melody Lee I am fixated at Donnie Yen. He struts into the conference room with ‘Ken doll-like’ features and that ‘Darlie smile’ of his. His humble shirt and jeans combo belies a Greek God worthy physic beneath. That ‘Jersey shore’ tan he works disconcerts me for a moment but my heart goes a flutter again once he addresses the audience and I am almost certain, he is looking directly at me, disregarding my horribly allocated seat, the very last row in the cinema. I am jolted out of my extremely short reverie as someone takes the mike from Yen. I finally remember I am at the special screening of Wu Xia, the latest martial arts movie by top Kungfu star Donnie Yen Zi Dan and famed Director Peter Chen Ke Xin.
The Director speaks The diminutive and sullen Chen sure packs a punch. As Yen puts it, “Director Chen is very clear minded.” When asked if he would consider using 3-Dimensional (3D) technology as a ‘breakthrough’ for his future movies, Chen gave his two cents worth, no holds barred. In clipped, crisp Mandarin, he countered, “3D is a 1950s thing and can’t be called a breakthrough. 3D films have been made a million times. To me, having a breakthrough is not about the technique of film making but is about the story, the characters, the script.” Rounding up, he actually chastises matter-of-factly “I think your phrasing of the question is wrong.” Throughout the Q&A session, Chen’s brooding demeanour was distracting. Nary a smile or laugh escaped him easily, which made my mind wander and wonder as to why so many of the greatest artistic workers have this similar ‘tortured’ demeanour. Ironically, this attitude was captivating in its own way and I found myself fixated at his blunt yet heartfelt anecdotes. Many could easily find Chen difficult or in colloquial terms ‘Dua Pai’, but I sensed honesty and transparency from him instead. My take on the movie by Mika Low The lack of action at the start can be forgiven, with an arguably riveting Sichuan accent from Takeshi Kaneshiro. This allowed viewers to see and realise that Donnie Yen can really act, and pretty well too, according to Director Peter Ho.The entire movie was as dramatic as the action sequences. This time, Donnie Yen’s role as Liu JinXi was played out differently. He shocked viewers, by not revealing Liu as a fighter, but as an innocent papermaker who claims not to know any kungfu. Don’t get me wrong though, because the action was never compromised. Taking on an additional role as action director, Donnie Yen choreographed his moves while being the main lead. He also integrated several elements other than kungfu. For instance, he showed how multi-talented he was by showcasing some “parkour” skills in one part of the movie. Parkour involves dangerous (and skilful) jumping to get from one place to another. I thought the movie was great because it questions viewers, on whether law should overpower humanity. It also challenges the factuality of the term, “a leopard will never change its spots”. This was told so subtly and it intertwined seamlessly with the main plot.
Dynamic Duo By Georgia Ho Donnie Yen was engaging the crowd with his story of jumping across ancient roofs without a harness on and the many dangers of working on a martial arts film. Director Peter Chan was keen on sharing that his new film would include the medical viewpoint - ala what's done in forensic shows such as CSI - which had never been done before in a 'Wu Xia' flick. I noticed that when both men spoke, members of the audience, who were restless before the two appeared, listened with rapt attention. Maybe that was because it's not every day that you get to talk to such a famous actor of his genre, and a director who has broken into Hollywood. Everyone was keen to learn more. There was even a girl who asked five questions at one go! Even though I was disappointed that I didn't get to ask anything, just being there made me feel that I could, like Peter Chan and Donnie Yen, achieve my dreams.  As Peter Chan said, "You must make sure whether you're the ones who like watching the movies, or the ones who like making the movies."
He added that to prove you belong to those who like making the movies, you must take out a pen and write, or bring out that camera to film.  "Because," he said, "If you don't do it, you'll never know."
Those words, to me, apply to just about any dream you have. Filming in Bintan 
On boat, on bus, on foot - we were there to get the stories. The entire pioneer cohort of DTVM students were in Bintan, Indonesia from 16 to 18 June 2011 for a filming project. This is part of their Year 3 module called 'On-Location Production'.
Groups had a choice of filming a story on either Mangrove Conservation or Indigenous Industries. The idea is to film a story in an unfamiliar environment, in a short time.
But the trip was memorable not just because of the out-of the-classroom experience.
It was being together with a group that felt so right. We had a great time just getting to know each other better.
They came, they shared, they inspired. Date: 5 May 2011, MLT 8
A) RASHAAD'S MISSION
 Rashaad Ernesto Green said "It's the things that touch my heart" when asked about how he gets ideas. He said he loves watching movies and being affected by them.
2 US filmmakers explained to DTVM students what it takes to make good films. They were brought in by the US Embassy in Singapore. Rashaad said it takes at least a year to produce a film and it can be a lonely process ("Thank God for skype!").
Here's an excerpt from the QNA session with Rashaad. a) What's the hardest part of the process? "It's excruciating to have someone with the money to tell you what you can do."
b) What's the most satisfying part? "Being able to affect people with what I had made. When I get to cry, when I hear you go 'oooh...ahhh"."
2) ANDREW'S STORY 
Andrew Okpeaha MacLean was born and raised in Alaska. The award-winning filmmaker showed us his film about an intense conversation that took place between two men in what looked like the middle of nowhere (ice all over!)  It's a story that gets you to think - if you're stuck in the middle of nowhere, is it ok to commit a crime? The characters are based on his grandfather who has a strong, silent demeanor. Andrew said something similar happened when he was in school. A murder was committed and the culprits didn't own up until some three years later. He said "I want to make movies I really want to make." While filming, the temperature could go down to minus 20 degrees! ('Our pens froze!"). Andrew said it was easy to work with dogs and sometimes there were polar bears in the areas. It was all white since there was snow everywhere so there was exposure to think about. Since it was shot on film and not video, it's hard to preview. He didn't bring a generator on site because it would make a lot of noise so he used batteries. The place was remote so they flew in the crew and equipment and then loaded them onto sleds and headed out to the frozen ocean, They shot in one week and the sun set at about 10 or 11pm! Andrew said "making movie is 10% filming and shooting. The most time is spent on the writing. Editing can take up to 50% of your time."
He's The One!
Try's the man! Try with delegates from Indonesia
DTVM Year 1 Student, Try Sutrisno Foo Abdul Rahman, was selected as the Best Delegate among the Press Corps members at the Mock United Nations Conference.
It was held at NTU from 18 to 20 February 2011.
The event was attended by undergrads from Singapore, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, as well as students from RI (RJC), NJC and ACS (I).
DTVM students at the Mock UN Conference (Left to Right: Bernard Lim, Debra Lee, Try Sutrisno Foo, Foreign Delegate, Ryhan Mohd Yazid) DTVM student is Poetry Slam Winner
DTVM Year 1 student Sabrina Loh Li Ling, together with DADP's Mark, emerged as top winners in the first inter-poly Poetry Slam!
Published 29 January 2011
The New Paper
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
DTVM students are writing for 'the real thing'.
1) Scripts by 4 students were chosen by 'The Noose' producers.
2) 2 students are contributing articles to the monthly publication of Playworks magazine.
3) 3 students worked on the script for Club Magic, a children's show on OKTO.
And loads more!
DTVM students and the cast of 'The Noose' during filming of a script by DTVM student Joanne Tan, at SP
Article by Simon published in 'Playworks' magazine
3 students wrote for Club Magic, a programme on OKTO.
We're in the news again!
This appeared in Today newspaper (22 Jan 2011).
 DTVM students participated in the FiRST Film Fest. Their abilities in producing films had gained them attention. Students also talked about how much they enjoyed their
course as it challenges them.
Published 18 January 2011
The New Paper
Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Also available online: http://tnp.sg/show/story/0,4136,268246,00.html FAST, ACCURATE, RESPONSIBLE
DTVM Year 2 student Austen Choo and Yeung Wing got to see how a television news network works when they spent 2 weeks at Channel NewsAsia during the December holidays.
Here's Austen's account.
We were the first! Sometime in late November Ms. Gamar gave us the news that we were chosen to be interns at Channel News Asia. So yes, a lot of high fives happened. But there lingering somewhere in my mind was a bit of nervousness because we were representing the course and paving the way for future generations of DTVM students as this holiday stint is kind of a new deal, or so that was what Ms. Gamar told us. I don't know about Yeung Wing, but working under the gun is not my thing.
That's us on TV! (when the programme was off air, of course) The tour Fast forward to the 20th of December 2010, first day on the job. Ms. Gamar took us around the newsroom that consists of many different sections such as the, Newshub, editing suite, the graphics department, the studios, production area and other stuff. We got to see how a news story and the news programme is created, produced and aired. 
The newsroom where the writing takes place (Newshub)
Many different parts make one whole Before seeing the whole shebang, you would never guess the amount of work that goes into a two-minute story let alone the whole episode. In all cheesiness, I would like to say a whole live news production is like an orchestra with one main conductor and each playing his or her own role/instrument. And the end result is a beautiful musical piece, the news episode, though we were told that at times the whole production scene might get a little bloody. Rushing for stories that might be uncompleted or a change in the news line-up, are examples of the myriad of things that could go wrong. But of course when we were there it was all peaceful though, except a little cursing in the Newshub, but then again who doesn't? Out on the job Along the course of our two weeks there, we were mostly tasked to shadow different reporters. Almost everyday you get to go somewhere new. By two weeks, I've gone to court, the RWS's Crane Dance, some Chinese singer's conference, a funeral and more. The reporters that we have to follow are mostly different and each of them has their own style and swag. I managed to ask some of them about what they feel about the job, and the answers they gave varied and were pretty interesting. Some found the job to be asphyxiating in certain aspects and some really loved it. 
Filming a piece-to-camera in front of the subordinate courts
Would I do it? A few reporters questioned me if I would like to take this path and honestly, I couldn't give a straight answer. There were so many parts of the job that were new to me such as it being your life, and the onslaught of challenges a journalist has to face, in and out of the office. But of course I was reminded of the many rewards and plus points of the job such as getting new stories to do everyday and not being stuck in the office for the most part.
Looking back to look forward Being a journalist means being under a lot of stressful situations. So far majority of the reporters I've been tasked to shadow have needed a chill pill. Whether I am interested in this area I'm still unsure, after all there are many things you can do with relation to our course. That being said, I am very thankful that I have been chosen to be an intern at Channel News Asia. I've learnt many things and most importantly, I get to see how the people there work, which is important to me because more often than not you don't get to see how you might be working when you're going for a job interview. I also got to experience many events I otherwise wouldn't have. So thanks Ms. Gamar for picking me, I value the journey a lot.
| |
