ACTA V5 Module 6 Learning Experience

This is my module 6 learning experience (for personal reference).

Brookfield’s four lenses of reflection mentioned about self lens, student lens, peer lens and literature lens. Self lens and peer lens are used in this reflection. 

1) Improvement on training delivery

Module 3 is where I started to apply facilitation techniques in class. We were through two rounds of facilitation. At the end of the first round, peer feedback were provided and all feedback were promptly recorded and adjusted for the second round of facilitation. The improvements included not speaking when the video was playing, having to manage time more effectively by dividing the participants into different segments of learning. 

Back in my office when I play my corporate video for my functional area, I ensure that I do not speak while the learners are listening to the leadership speech. There is also a need to apply greater facilitation techniques in the courses I deliver in the company. There are two courses which I mainly deliver: 2-days Six Sigma Yellow Belt course and the 3-day Project Management course. There is a need to change the structure from less knowledge-delivery to more application learning.

2) Improvement on assessment delivery

Module 5 utilizes role play as an assessment method. This is the first time I have used role play as an assessment method. While I am doing role play for the first time, there is frequent feedback from the trainer and peers on how we can improve on the assessment process. The improvements were also incorporated into the second round of assessment. Moving forward, I will incorporate role play as an assessment method into one of the courses I deliver, particularly for Project Management. 

I am currently an in-house trainer for Six Sigma and Project Management courses. I deliver trainings 3 times a year on average. I hope to make the training more beneficial for my learners where they are able to apply it effectively at the end of the training. I will be making changes to the way the training are delivered, while maintaining the curriculum structure that was provided by our US corporate office. 

In order to be a fully-qualified Six Sigma trainer, I will need to keep achieve the highest Six Sigma certification – Black Belt. This is something which I have set out to achieve by end of this year. I will be signing up for facilitated in-class learning so I will be able to learn from a competent trainer and his delivery style at the same time. 

The learning and curriculum pathway I have planned for the next 12 months are:

As part of the professional values and ethics of Continuing Education & Training, it reflects the need for:

- Innovative: Adopting new and innovative ideas from ACTA and Six Sigma Black Belt course which will improve the training delivery methods and benefit the learners.

- Evolutionary: Upgrade my skills and knowledge by learning from other trainers within the industry; adopt best practices from the industry players.

The most notable technology skills and experience acquired in ACTA are:

1) Use of online feedback: At the end or during the training sessions, I will utilize online survey which learners can trigger using the QR function on their phone to give immediate feedback or use it as a form of survey on their understanding towards learning.

2) Online repository (similar to Learning Space): To utilize the online repository in my company where learners can upload their learning experience via pictures or videos to demonstrate their competency in problem solving or project management. 

Application of Motorcycle Riding [July - August]

After getting my license on the 3 July 2015 (Friday), I took my company bike for the first ride out on the 9 July 2015 (Thursday). It was a short distant ride out where I traveled from Orchard towards the end of Tanglin road and back again. Below is a snapshot of myself riding out for the first time. 

First weekend of riding (24 - 26 July)

I have been planning to sign out a bike to ride around parts of Singapore over one of the weekend. The weekend of the 24-26 July 2015 has been chosen to be the weekend of ride as I need to get around several places rapidly. A combination of buses and taxi over the 3 days would have cost me S$40. But the total I spent on the motorcycle is S$12 (S$6 fuel and S$6 parking). The places I visited over the 3 days is shown in the picture below.

One of my main strength is map-reading. Thus I'm able to look at the map and easily decipher the routes to take. But if it's the first time I'm visiting a locality, I will need to revisit the map again once I'm closer to the destination (to identify the smaller roads). 

Day 1 - 24 Jul 2015

I have an appointment at Bukit Panjang Plaza on Friday. It will be my first time riding such a long distance (20km) to another location, I decided to go via the non-expressway route along Holland Road, Clementi Road and Bukit Timah Road. The journey took me 45mins. There's lots of construction going along the hillview area as they are building the downtown line. I overshot Bukit Panjang and headed towards Choa Chu Kang. But I managed to find a u-turn and head back to Bukit Panjang. I did a more accurate map identification in bukit panjang HDB estate and parked at the multi-storey carpark next to Bukit Panjang Plaza carpark. The parking rates are much lower.

After my appointment, I decided to take the BKE and PIE combination back home at Marine Parade. The route is even longer at 25km. It will be my first time traveling that long-distance on an expressway. I timed it at 9pm where the traffic along the expressways will not be that heavy. The traffic was smooth and  I arrived at East Coast park at 9.30pm. But the East Coast Park carpark opposite my house has been closed for upgrading. I have no choice but to park at the multi-storey carpark next to my block.

Day 2 - 25 Jul 2015

I left my house at 8.30am and head towards the expressway. This morning I will be taking the ECP-MCE-AYE combination towards lower delta road. My destination is the old NIE building (Institute of Adult Learning) along Tanglin Road. It came as a surprise that parking is free there.

After my class, I head back towards the AYE-MCE-ECP and exited at Fort road towards Kallang Theatre for a talk. There's heavy traffic along Mountbatten road towards Nicoll Highway. It is here where I applied the planking techniques of travelling past stationary vehicles towards the stadium. Going back at night, there were road blocks around Kallang stadium and all traffic were routed to Tanjong Rhu area where I travelled along Mountbatten road towards Katong area. My destination is the Esso petrol station at Still Road. From there, I made my way back home to the multi-storey carpark.

Day 3 - 26 Jul 2015

I departed home at 7.30am back to somerset where I will be getting all my additional riding gear. I am picking up AJ in the morning. I travelled along the ECP-Rocher-Cavenagh route. After getting the gears, I went along Orchard-Scotts-Novena-Balestier route to fetch AJ. From there is the Lavender-Balestier route to Middle road where there is a public carpark. As the weather report show it's going to rain in many parts of Singapore, I decided to return the bike and take a bus home.

Review
 
Motorcycle riding is quite a convenient way to get around as long as it's not raining. It is congestion proof where the bike can travel in between cars to get to the front. But the rider will need lots of focus and attention throughout the journey. The 3 days of riding around has been quite tiring for my side as I have traditionally spent the time travelling to rest on buses/trains. I also responded less on phone messages as I have less free time in between my day to respond to them.

The parking rates of motorcycle is cheap (65 cents a day) or free in many places. It does get really hot in covered highways such as MCE or in the afternoon. Motorcycle riding can be considered to be a form of exercise or sauna.

I have also gained experience in having to pillion someone. The balance feels different but after a while, it's quite alright. 

In total over the 3 days, I have rode for 4 hours over 120km. The distance breakdown are:
Somerset to Bukit Panjang Plaza: 20km / 45mins
Bukit Panjang Plaza to Marine Parade: 30km / 40mins
Marine Parade to Tanglin Road: 20km / 20mins
Tanglin Road to Stadium to Marine Parade: 20km / 40mins
Marine Parade to Somerset to Balestier: 15km / 30mins
Balestier to Bugis to Somerset: 15km / 30mins

SOP for motorcycle riding

There are many things to prepare before and after riding. I have written down an SOP here so I will not forget:

Pre-Riding:
1. Put on riding jacket
2. Put on helmet
3. Keep the bags in the containers
4. Zip up my phone and card holders in the jacket
5. Turn on the bike engine
6. Insert cashcard, check on the value
7. If it's at night, turn on high beam
8. Put on gloves and good to go

Post-Riding:
1. Off engine and park properly
2. Lock the bike and remove keys
3. Remove cashcard
4. Remove gloves
5. Put phone and card holders back
6. Remove riding jacket
7. Remove helmet
8. Put everything at the containers

Second weekend of riding (14 - 15 August)

As I need to travel to Clementi on the 14 August evening for class till 10pm and back to the west side at Redhill on the 15 August from 9am, I decided to grab the bike and ride to these two places. There are some changes to my riding techniques this time round and I have updated the SOP.

After riding, I will keep my jacket and gloves in the side box and place my helmet on the motorcycle handlebar. In this way, I am able to finish my post-riding check in a minute. The rest of the things like keys, cashcard, phone and card holders will just go into my pocket. 

SSDC Class 2B [Nov 2014 - Jul 2015]

I received my class 2B motorcycle license on the 3rd July 2015 (Friday). It has been a long journey.

Then again, the time I spent getting my class 2B is about the same duration as my class 3. It spanned a total of 7 months in all. The reason why I took such a long time is:

1) Overseas for 3 months - Basically I stopped my lessons from second half of December till end-February and was away momentarily in April again

2) Spreading out the learning experience - I do not like to undergo intensive learning activities (similar to mugging for exams), but prefer to gradually learn over a longer period of time. In this way, I can concurrently have my time allocated on other activities such as putting my work as priority, taking part-time courses and spending time with friends. 

There were 9 of us, where we signed up as a group for the riding class with the Singapore Safety Driving Center (SSDC). Our first class was scheduled to commence on the 24 November 2014. I was very excited and looking forward to learning motorcycle. My only closest experience to motorcycle riding is cycling where it is one of my favorite pastime sports. As there was a minimum number of learners to be fulfilled before we can qualify for a private group, I rallied a number of my friends to go for it. 

On our first lesson, we have our instructor explaining to us how to start up the bike, how to move the motorcycle from the main stand and put it back up the main stand.  

After class, we immediately went to this motorcycle accessories shop recommended by an experienced learner. The shop is called Helmet Boy and is only a 10mins bus ride away from SSDC. It is located close to the Woodlands Causeway. There is this beginners package we can get which goes at a lower price. All we need to do is to produce our lessons booklet. I got mine for $85. It consist of a helmet, riding gloves and knee/elbow guards.

We have our lessons scheduled every Thursday and Friday afternoon, with 2 sessions each day spanning from 1.05pm till 5.20pm. We started our first lesson on the 27 Nov in controlling the clutch towards a set of yellow rubber tyres. As the instructors found us competent, they placed us in the nursery area which is a small round track where we sit on the bikes and move along in circles.

I had no prior experience with motorcycles but I have with bicycles. One of the habits from bicycle is to pull the right brake, which will brake the rear wheel. For motorcycle, the rear wheels brake is at the right paddle and the right brake controls the front wheel. It took me 4 lessons to overcome this habit.

At the same time, we also attended 2 full days of theory on the 2 Dec and 3 Dec where the instructors taught us about riding theory and defensive riding. From then onwards, my work commitment affected my ability to attend classes in December. I only attended 2 more classes in December - the 4th and 11th December. :-(

Even though I attended a few classes in November and December with my close friends, those were very memorable days. We took a 6-person group shot below while taking a break. Another 3 more friends were still riding on the circuit.

I resumed my classes on the 24 Feb after a 2.5 months break. By then many of my friends have gone onto road revision and were getting ready for exams. I did my theory exams in end-February and got 50/50. At the same time, I also resumed my once-twice a week lessons and having cleared lesson 5, I immediately booked my practical exams. I booked my exams to be on the 21 May as I was planning to take the test on the same day as a friend who was also weighted down by work.

As I'm still in private group sessions, I followed my friends and stopped my lessons in early-April. I have not figured out how to book public classes yet. Thereafter I resumed my overseas travel and only continued my lessons in early-May. By then, 3 of my friends have cleared their exams. I took another 2 more classes with another friend before I became a public class learner.

I took another 2 more classes before my test on the 21 May. My internal results is below. Overall, I'm very confident on the techniques to be used in the different courses.

When I closed my eyes, I'm able to clearly visualize the entire route and run it through from start to road and back to the circuit. It is similar to the Test Route paper as shown below (prepared by SSDC).

First test (21 May 2015 - Thursday)

My first test was on the 21 May 2015. The night before I could not sleep well as I went to bed too early, which was not my routine. The next day, I needed to wake up at 5.30pm and I had difficulty waking up. I took a cab to SSDC from my house and it cost around S$30. For the rest of the day, I felt sleepy and it's not my normal condition. I went through the circuit and all the routes were alright. But after the crank course, approaching the first traffic light while turning left, I may have accidentally hit on my rear break and my bike stopped immediately. My left leg came down to support the bike and it felt like a normal stop. I guessed one of the tester saw me doing that and gave me an immediate failure. I got 18 points for my entire test, of which 4 points x 2 (8 points) came from riding across traffic light while there's on-coming traffic in the distance, 6 seconds spent on pylon (4 points), and another 2 x 2 points from other minor stuffs. The tester called my number and explained to me my failure points and I went back home, feeling extremely sleepy.

I booked my next earliest test date on the 3 July (Friday). Traffic police offered me an earlier test date but I could not go for it. There were still lots of work I needed to do and going for motorcycle tests was taking a toll on my time. So I kept with the initial school booked date on the 3 July.

One week prior to the 3rd July test, I went for another 5 more sessions (2 hours each). Base on previous experience, I found that there was no point to go for too many sessions in one day. The critical test period is just the 20mins session. I also made some adjustments to my sleeping patterns. From Monday till Friday, I woke up at 5.30am, got to office early at 7am so as to minimize interruptions to my work, while I can still have motorcycle lessons in the evenings. This was to get my body clock ready for the early waking hours.

Second test (3 July 2015 - Friday)

Having maintained a momentum of waking up at 5.30am the last few days, I had no difficulty in falling asleep at night and waking up early in the morning.

As I did not have any preferred bikes amongst the bike pool, I just went down and picked a random bike. I am number 8 and got bike 78. I just noticed the bike staring straight at me. The warm-up was quite fun, especially at the figure-8 where the instructor told us to chase the bike in front to add a bit of tension.

The testers this time round were quite strict. Around 30% passed. We were told those who passed were either very good or very lucky. I believed it's more towards the former.

I departed from the starting point at 9.30am and got back around 10am. I went straight to canteen and began messaging my friends. I was very confident this time round as I did not make any silly mistakes. I knew my mind and body have been fully conditioned in all the techniques and circuits.

My name was not called and the remaining 15 riders celebrated. We have our instructor sharing with us the different bikes below.

I got 10 demerit points of which:
- 4 points - crossing traffic again without checking oncoming traffic (actually I did check but it's only after I have U-turned I realized the oncoming traffic is driving at an extremely fast speed - extremely fast subara sports car)
- 2 points - at the end of e-break, I looked downwards  
- 2 x 2 points - minor stuffs

In the afternoon from 1pm, we went for the Expressway Familiarization Course. We started from SSDC and went into SLE and exited at Lentor Ave where we took a break at the entrance of Nanyang Poly. Below is our first group photo. We are the older generation group (all should be in the 40s-30s).

There were a few things I have learned from the Expressway Riding Course - pull down the visor before entering the expressway. The wind speed is so high that it will cause my eyes to tear. I have also decided to always wear my safety gear when I ride in the future. The observations I have made are: 1) Roads maybe slippery due to oil 2) Roads will become smooth due to wear and tear 3) Riding on fault lines and painted floors will reduce friction.

The video we watched after getting our results and saying the pledge helped as there is an obligation to our love ones. One of the riders who was in the same expressway orientation group as me is an airforce pilot, told me that the airforce do not encourage them to ride as they are supposed to take good care of their body. Likewise, I should also be taking good care of myself by following all the rules and be well-equipped with safety gears.

The instructors with SSDC are friendly and approachable. They are also knowledgeable and I have great respect for them. It can really been seen they are close with one another and truly work together as a team. Our main instructors are Mohd Nizal, Shaikh, Sulaiman, Hasli, Chua CW and Amir. There are also many others like Jaya, Suhaimi, Iskandar, Fuad and so on. I would like to salute them for their patience in guiding me. I will strongly recommend to anyone to sign up for Class 2B course with SSDC.

Will be looking forward to class 2A next year!!

Tips on passing class 2B test in SSDC

1) Condition your body to wake up early the week before the test as the sudden change in routine might affect your performance (from optimal to sub-optimal)
2) Practice the circuit and roads over and over again. I probably did the circuit more than a hundred times and the road more than 30 times.
3) Do all the safety check (blind spot, check-back, etc) in all practices. I did not have a single safety check penalty points as I did all of them listed in the map above.
4) Limit your practice to at most 2 hours each time with the first 30mins of practice being the most critical. It's the time when you sit on your bike to how fast you warm up that's important. The actual test is similar. The tester will wave for you to start after you have taken a 1.5 - 2.5 hours break in the waiting room. It's how fast your body psycho dynamics get started that is important.
5) Do not think too much. Everything about motorcycle is psycho dynamics which do not require much thinking. Do not imagine yourself falling off the plank or hitting the crank course kerb, it will make yourself more nervous. Just do it! (as Nike says). It's the zen-state of mind without thinking that's important.
6) Be courteous and always give way. When in doubt at traffic light junctions, stop. It happened to me several times during test. A big bendy bus turning in front of me, fast sports car oncoming, big vehicles undergoing tests with unpredictable speed, pedestrian or cyclist coming your way while the light is red, etc. Slow down to gear 2 in traffic junction to react in time. If in doubt, just stop.
7) If you have difficulty sleeping, turn on the light and read some boring book. It will definitely make you fall asleep. Repeat it a few times if you woke up after sleeping. 
8) Circuit tips
- Slope: Check-back. Keep your right sole on the back brake pedal and start to accelerate. When you start to feel the bike will not roll backwards, accelerate more and slowly release clutch. At the same time release the brake pedal and accelerate more. All these should be done in less than 5 seconds.
- Figure 8: Prior to entering figure 8, incline more towards the right after starting point. This will give you a smoother angle when you make a left turn into figure 8. Accelerate more into gear 2 and go around it. The important technique is to look at a distance. You will need to look half a circle away each time. Do not look down or too near as your speed will be reduced.
- Crank Course: Go in fast at gear 1. Immediately after the entrance, change to gear 2 and move in. This should be fast and completed in less than 5 seconds.
- Emergency Break: Go in fast, with your eyes occasionally checking the >30km/hr lights in front of your bikes to be on. Upon reaching the cone area, just look straight and don't look down and brake.
- Plank: The key factor here is clutch control. After move-off at gear 1, and after your front wheel has got onto the plank, pull in your clutch immediately. Do not do anything except holding on to your clutch. You can use brake if you are confident you will not fall off or brake too much. Once you have pulled in your clutch, its very easy to remain stable on the plank. It's just adjusting the handle bar from there on.
- Pylon Salom: Change to gear 2 at the midway point between starting and the first cone. Enter in the middle and use your body and handle bar to move around. Look at a distance. 

Japanese Classes [Nov 2005 - Dec 2014]

I started learning Japanese since the year 2000. I attended a 3-months Japanese class with Bunka and thereafter took a few years break as I was studying in the National University of Singapore. In November 2005, I resumed my Japanese class and have been learning Japanese language since then. My journey through Japanese are below:

Year:
2000 - 3 months course wiht Bunka Language school
2005 - 2008: 1 year course with Bunka Language school (till Advanced Level)
2006 - 2008: Japanese classes in Koriyama/Komaki
2009 - JLPT2 course with Ikoma
2010 - 2013: Advanced level course to Further advanced level course with Ikoma
2014: Interest courses with Ikoma (twice a month)

Even though I was overseas between the years of 2006 till 2008, I tried to attend formal lessons when I was base overseas in Japan or self-studied when I was in China. In the short periods when I was back to Singapore, I would attend classes with Bunka. I achieved my JLPT3 certification in end-2007. The real Japanese intensity come in 2009 when I signed up for the JLPT2 course with Ikoma, which culminated with the JLPT2 certification.

Every Tuesday - Ikoma Advanced Japanese Class (October 27, 2009)

Below is an image of the intensity of the JLPT2 exams prep class at Ikoma with Kanai-sensei.



December 2009

During one of the class, the teacher gave each of us a bag. There are two choices, but most of us selected the japanese-chinese-english bag. We know all these three languages!




Every Tuesday - Ikoma Advanced Japanese Class (May 22, 2010)

I continued my Japanese class with Advanced 2 (December 2009) and Advanced 3 class. When I first joined the Advanced 2 class, I was amazed by the girls-boys ratio. It's 12 : 1 and I'm the only guy. Guess girls are really better at languages.

As my work had been pretty busy lately and I was hopping to get my driving license within that few months, I decided to stop my Japanese classes for a while. Will be missing everyone from the class. As compared to my MBA classmates, I find the students in the Japanese course to be more fun-loving and relax (because there is substantially more girls and it is a conversation course without any exams or assignments with tight deadline).

My regular classmates are Chin-san (Singapore's pioneering manga artist), Samantha-san, Ryelinn-san, Kelly-san, Min Chu-san and Toh-san. Very often a good buddy from the Saturday class will join in and he's Thames-san. And our teacher is Yamane-sensei.



I took a one year break between mid-2010 till mid-2011 as I started on my MBA course. The reason why I resumed in mid-2011 is because I started working in another Japanese company which requires even greater Japanese language utilization.

My next sensei was Yamada-sensei (Jitensha class) on Monday/Tuesday evenings below.

I changed from weekday evenings to Saturday morning as I need to travel during weekdays. My final sensei was Fujiwara-sensei where I followed her the entire Further Advanced course. The original Donbo class is in the top photo below. As I could not join in that Saturday, I got my final Ikoma certificate at another class, also with Fujiwara-sensei.

PMP exams in Singapore [Jan 2011 - Jan 2015]

My first formal education on Project Management first started when I took a module on Project Management with the University of Adelaide here:
http://adelaide-mba-in-singapore.blogspot.sg/2011/03/applied-project-management-1-2101-2003.html

4 years since my formal education, I finally took my PMP exams on the 12th Jan 2015 (Mon), just 7.5 weeks after my CSCP exams.

Delays after delays in taking the exams
I have been planning to take my PMP exams since 2010, but it got delayed several times due to my MBA studies (2010-2012), overseas postings (2013) and CSCP (2014). As I had a job transition in 2014, I made an aspiration to sign up for PMP and work towards achieving it. I applied for the eligibility to take the exams in Feb 2014, which allows me up to a year to take the register for the exams. It cost me S$700 for PMI member and PMP exams (it's cheaper to sign up to be PMI member first and apply for the exams). I happen to have a 2 months CSCP course between mid-March till mid-May, and thereafter I decided to be certified in CSCP first since the memory is fresh, before going for the PMP. But the vast knowledge base of CSCP resulted in me delaying my start date of the PMP from end-November 2014. By then, I only have 2 months left to study before I begin my month long business travels.

Preparation for the exams
My first exposure to PMI PMP was in early-2010 when I stumble upon the PMBOK. I printed the entire 4th edition of the PMBOK out and begin studying through it. It was awfully dry and I did not have structured project management experience, which makes learning even more difficult. Next came in early-2011 when I completed an Applied Project Management course with the University of Adelaide. The many assignments involve planning and thinking through on how to do proper project planning. I changed company in mid-2011 and begin to have a bit of exposure of using standard templates for project management. As I'm planning on a career switch in early-2014, I aspire to achieve the PMP to help in my career transition. I consulted a few friends and online on the best way to get started on PMP study. Two options were available to me: Sign up for a 5-day PMP refresher course and pay S$1,500 for it or buy books from Amazon which costs around S$350. Since attending the 5-day PMP refresher course is no guarantee I will pass the exams, and I have received formal education previously, the next best approach is actually self study. Amazon has this promotion which allows free delivery of books above US$125 to Singapore. So I went for this approach.

I ordered the following books:
1) PMBOK by PMI
2) PMP Exams Prep by Scordo Christopher
3) PMP Exam by Andy Crowe
4) PMP Exam Prep by Rita Mulcahy

You may ask why do I order PMBOK since I can download for free from PMI. The reason is I like to read printed texts compare to reading from a tablet or computer. Personally I will prefer to borrow books from the library as I do not want the books to be sitting around in my house after I have finished using it. But most of the PMP books in the library covers up to version 4 of the PMBOK. There are very few books that cover until version 5. That is why I decided to order them from Amazon.

In my new company, there is a very structured project management process, which also helps me to understand PMBOK concurrently.

Studying Process
I began sorting through my PMP books on the 21st Nov 2014, immediately after my CSCP exams. The first book I read was Rita PMP Exam Prep. I'm no good in reading 'wordy' books and it took me 3 weeks to complete Rita book. It is compounded by the fact that I was slightly busy with my work. Andy's book is quite straight forward and I completed it in 1 week. Thankfully, there are 2 x 4 days holiday in Singapore during the Christmas and New Year period, where I start to spend substantially more time working through the exercises in Rita's book and Scordo's PMP Exams Prep. I also revised through PMBOK concurrently. I felt the 1,000 questions in Scordo's PMP and Rita+Andy's exercises help a lot in the preparation.

The week before my PMP exams, I have completed all the theory revisions and going all out through the exercises. I completed 2 x 50 questions of Scordo's PMP Exams Prep in the evening of each day. I have to admit it is really very exhausting.

As I just completed my CSCP exams, there's a certain focus and momentum towards certification exams, and I sustain it throughout for my PMP exams. That may explain the shorter time period. 

Exams Day
My official exams time is 8.30am to 12.30pm. I used the same strategy as my CSCP. I will provide an answer which I think best answer the question, but if I'm uncertain on it, I will still leave an answer but put a 'mark' on it so I can revise through it again towards the end. By 11.30pm, I have completed all the questions. After 3 hours, I'm already feeling very exhausted. Next I spent the next 45mins running through the 'mark' questions and thinking through again. And once that's done, I clicked submit and wait for the results...


My results:
And I pass!!
They are:
Initiation: Moderately Proficient
Planning: Proficient
Execution: Proficient
Monitor and Control: Proficient
Close: Proficient

And I'm now PMP-certified.

Will take a break from studying as I will be away for business trip the next one month till the start of the week-long Chinese New Year holidays.

CSCP Exams in Singapore [Mar - Nov 2014]

I passed my Certified Supply Chain Professional exams in Singapore on the 21st November 2014 (Friday).

In my class project group of 7 people (since May 2014), only 3 proceeded to take the exams and pass it (as of Nov 2014). Many people are daunted by the scope of study, the cost (US$1,300 is not cheap), the difficulty of the study. Put all these elements together, you will understand the risk of failing the exams is huge. If you are sponsored by your company, the cost can be offset. For many others like myself, I paid for the course and register for the exams using my personal study fund. So I am giving my best to make sure I pass it.

Here are some tips on how you can minimize the cost, study effectively and master the proficiency to the level where you can pass the exams at one go.

Sign up for the course
Firstly, sign up for the CSCP course. There are two ways you can go about doing that.

One way is via the APICS CSCP website, where you pay US$1275 (SGD$1,650) and you will receive the yellow-pages thick books (consisting of 3 modules, 5 books) and access to online practice quizzes, exams, flashcards.

The second is with the Singapore Manufacturing Federation. The original course fee is SGD$3,723.60. But thanks to government funding, you only pay SGD$1117.08. For this price, you get to attend guided classes twice a week, get to work in project group to familiarize yourself with a module concepts, have group discussions, and finally get all the first option study guides and online practices. But there is a catch to it. You need a minimum 75% attendance, complete the group project work, personal assignment and to pass the final course exams. So getting government funding is not easy as you will need to work hard for it.

For myself, I travel frequently, so I was initially concerned about meeting the 75% attendance. But thankfully, I scheduled no travel during my course period as I was having a career transition. So I managed to get 100% attendance.

I would recommend to go for the class as you will meet fellow students from the supply chain industry. The group work is quite fun. And it is cheaper than buying it from APICS directly.

But do note that SMF only accept payment by cheque, NETS or cash. They do not accept credit card. So you are not able to get cash back or credit card rebates compare to getting from APICS directly.

Please note that charges for exams are separate. It cost US$1050 for APICS member and US$1300 for non-members. International e-membership cost US$125. So if you do the sums, applying for APICS membership and taking the exams will have cost US$1175 (SGD$1530). If you use certain credit card, you can get cash back. So it's more value for money to apply for membership, and pay for the exams.

Total, I spent around SG$2650 for CSCP. My total study hours is more than 100 hours.

In-Class Learning

I will share with you the experiences of attending the class at Singapore Manufacturing Federation. As it eventually both leads to self-study, which is the important part.

The classes are conducted over a span of 2 months, with 16 lessons, twice a week (but need to offset holidays, etc). The final lesson is the exams, so there is no class. There is a class in the middle of the course which is on group presentation. And in the first lesson, half is gone via self-introduction.

Enjoy the process as the lecturer will guide through the course syllabus over the 16 lessons. We have our lecturer Joseph below explaining to us about the group work.

The class is split into 3 groups. Two groups working on a research project, and one small group who will critique. Till now, I still enjoy the group discussion I have with my group. It helps bring us closer. Below is a photo of one of our in-class group discussion.

But attending classes in the evenings can be quite tiring. Some of my classmates do fall asleep in class after a long work day.

The final course assessment covers half of the content covered in the textbook. And the group project will cover a difficult / long topic (e.g. Logistics / Technology). So these hands-on and revision will allow you to be familiar with the content.

I got the top score for the final course assessment. But when it comes to preparing for the CSCP exams, it is a different arena altogether. 

Recommended Approach to Self-Study

You will need to read and understand all the sentences in the 5 books to be proficient in it. Make sure you do not skip any sentence when reading (I have a habit of skipping and just grasp the main content). The quiz and exams will test you in detail on what is mentioned the textbook.

At the end of the in-class learning, I have to admit, my understanding of the concepts are still rudimentary (maybe I have not studied for a while). I did the online Pre-Test and scored only a 50plus. This means a lot of efforts will need to be put into self-study.

 
Our lecturer always advice us to take the exams 2 months after the course. But this requires discipline and time. I finished my course in mid-May. But from mid-May till mid-November (6 months), I was away for 2 months for overseas trip, etc. So I barely have time to study, even though I always bring my study guide along with me in my bags. And during the first few months after my course, I was constantly having social gatherings in the evenings.

The intensive study only start 3 months before the exams. And to have mastery over the content, you will need to read through your books at least 3 times. I consider the in-class training to be first round. I took comprehensive summary notes (15 +39 +19 = 73) pages) of the entire 5 textbooks in my second round. And when I'm going through my third round, and did the module quizzes, I began to see a trend to them. The 3 modules can actually be grouped into a few main knowledge areas: Supply Chain Strategy, Technology, Market-Focused, SRM, Inventory, Demand Mgmt, Logistics, Governance and Continuous Improvement.

While studying through the 3 modules, I noticed there are duplication of certain knowledge area across the module and sections. By grouping them into knowledge areas, it make the study to be easier and allows us to relate easier to them. This is a mind-mapping process. After I have grouped them, I started to revise through the knowledge area groups and did the quizzes respectively. It became much easier and I am able to gain mastery of the topics faster.

I also started taking notes of the mistakes I get when doing the quizzes. In each module/section, for question which I am uncertain and for question where I got wrong, I will write it down and will revise through them at a later stage.

By the time I revise through the textbooks in my fourth round, I begin to grasp the core essence that CSCP is trying to inculcate to us. At this time, it started to shape how I approach towards collaboration and perception of the supply chain. This is the correct supply chain perception that APICS Supply Chain Council is trying to inculcate into all of us. If you can grasp the core essence, there should be no problem in passing the exams. I share a few core principles here:
- In modern supply chain, specialization and economies of scale is the way to go. Collaborate with partners to tap on mutual expertize. We cannot look at suppliers in adversary way. There is a need to achieve win-win for all parties in Supply Chain. Only this way, will the supply chain be successful.
- Our approach to customers will also be different as learnt from CRM. All customers are important and we need to channel our supply chain to meet their requirements. So it is important for us to constantly listen and interact with customers.
- Supply chain is constantly evolving. It relates to relationships with suppliers, with the way we do work. So everyone in the chain needs to play a part in continuous improvement.
- The importance of strategy alignment, differentiating between strategy-tactical is emphasized, reaching consensus via S&OP and many more. 

Many of us come from different area of Supply Chain. It is very rare for someone to have experience in all aspects of the Supply Chain as covered by CSCP. For myself, I come from a Technology, Logistics, Demand Planning and Continuous Improvement background. So when I study these topics, it is much easier for me as I understand how it works (e.g. different tools in Continuous Improvement, different systems in Technology, different material handling systems in Logistics, planning processes in Demand Planning). Use your experience to the fullest to relate to these knowledge areas.
 
Exams

I initially booked my exams in July, but I postponed the time period twice. First time to September (as I was in business trip July/August), and the final time to November (business trip in October). When I applied for the ATT in May, I can take my exams anytime within a one year period. But since July 2014, it become 6 months. So book and pay for your exams when you are close to completing your studies and is confident to pass when you take it.

I took my post-test and got around 84 marks for it. I took my mock exams and got 76 marks. I got high end of 80 plus in real exams.

The real exams use a scale system. So the questions do not have equal weight of marks.

Please be familiar with the exams style below:

Unlike quizzes which give you answers and explanation immediately. In the real exams, you will indicate your answers and click next (or you can click back). For each question, you can flag for review at the end of the exams. The final CSCP exams use the same concept but the look and feel is slightly different. The flag button is much bigger.

This is the first time I'm taking certification exams. So I'm an absolute newbie. I hope to share the procedure with other people who are also taking certification exams for the first time. 

I arrived at the exams center 30mins before the start time as advised. Just produce your IC / driving license and your credit card. The staff will guide you to your seat and tell you to turn your phone to silent mode (I just turn it off) and put the bags in the lockers. There can be nothing in your pockets. You can start immediately if you want or can wait till the official start time. Anyway, I start immediately. The first 5mins is a short survey. And thereafter the official exams will start. If you need to go to the washroom, you can go (but better make it quick as the time continues to tick)

This is how I approach my exams. For questions which I am confident on. I will indicate my answers and proceed ahead. For questions I am not confident, I will give a closest answer and flag it for review at the end of it.

In all, I spent 2hr 45mins going through the 175 questions. And The remaining 30mins are spent going through the flagged questions. I completed in 3hr 15mins, 45mins ahead of the exams duration. Truth to tell, by the second hour, I am getting a bit exhausted. The exams is indeed long. So please develop your energy and concentration before hand. Have a good rest before exams. Some say do not drink that much water as it will mean you will need to go washroom more often. It is good to have some windbreaker in hand in case the room gets a bit cold. There is a digital calculator which you can use on-screen. But it is good to have a manual calculator in hand just in case.

MBA Experience [Apr 2010 - Dec 2012]

Please click on the link below for the full MBA experience with the University of Adelaide:
http://adelaide-mba-in-singapore.blogspot.sg/