Why do I need to learn effective communication? The fault lies with the infamous Adam, not Adam Sandler (though I probably won't mess with the Zohan!) but rather the first man who has to listen to Eve's nagging. If we think about it, the original sin was certainly a case of miscommunication. God said don't eat the apple … and we all know what happened next. Come to think about it, perhaps God could even do with some ES2007S lessons as well. Sir Brad to the rescue …
Now that we have identified the reason for our plight (the Bible agrees with me on this), let us as mortals reason why effective communication is essential to our survival.
Thanks to the constant drumming that money is not everything, I have to agree with it that maybe money is just 99.99% of everything. Therefore, it is relatively just to assume that the more money we have, the better our quality of life would be. Since I've been told that many employers are dissatisfied with the communication skills of NUS graduates, by the 'grass is always greener on the other side' theorem, it would also be safe to assume that there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for the first leprechaun who can better articulate his insatiable desire. Likewise, the 'birds of the same feather flock together' postulate also dictates that in order to be a high flyer, I would need to chirp (verbal) and shake my tail feathers (non-verbal) just like them to be accepted as part of the family.
In conclusion, monkeys get paid peanuts. Hence learning effective communication will hopefully get us Macademia nuts (overpriced peanuts).
After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing He said to them was: "Don't."
"Don't what?" Adam asked.
"Don't eat the Forbidden Fruit." God replied.
"Forbidden fruit? We got Forbidden Fruit? Hey, Eve, we got Forbidden Fruit!"
"No way!"
"WAY!"
"Don't eat that fruit!" said God.
"Why?"
"Because I am your Father and I said so!" said God, wondering why he hadn't stopped after making the elephants. A few minutes later God saw the kids having an apple break and was angry.
"Didn't I tell you not to eat that fruit?" the First Parent asked.
"Uh huh," Adam replied.
"Then why did you?"
"I dunno," Eve answered.
"She started it!" Adam said.
"Did not!"
"DID so!"
"DID NOT!"
Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own ... thus the pattern was set and it has never changed.
Forbidden Fruit Joke - http://www.gomilpitas.com/humor/108.htm
Picture courtesy of - http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/gpu0010l.jpg
9 comments:
Thanks, Yu Ming! This is humorous, insightful (albeit a bit convoluted out there amongst all the swinging primates and cliches) and most definitely original. Who says engineers aren't creative? And who says NUS students can't write?
Remember this, too: You are what you eat, nuts and all.
Sir Brad
p.s. I love that forbidden fruit joke!
Guess the nuts are more potent than I thought. Thanks for laughing along. Monkey see, monkey do.
Dear Yu ming,
You've got a sense of humour! And your language is definitely more 'POWERFUL' than that of most engineers and scientists. I think you will succeed in getting paid the overpriced macademia nuts. :p By the way, macademia nuts, though overpriced, are definitely A LOT NICER than peanuts, in my opinion. Value for money, I would say. Hahaa.. :)
Hey Yuming,
I absolutely love that forbidden fruit joke in your blog post :D That was nice !
Hi Yu Ming!
I love how the whole entry is so light. Everything in a NUTCASE.
Anyway, I do agree that future employers are looking more than just what we can offer academically. More importantly, they are looking for people who possesses 'soft skills' that cannot be learn within the confined spaces of a classroom.
What about our class? I think ES2007S is just a door to the various aspects of communication that will be important to us. What is more important is putting them into practise and making full use of these tools.
I hope to hear more from you!
Hey Yuming,
Your lazy blogging buddy is here to comment on your blog post :P I thoroughly enjoyed reading and checking your "raw" post (not that there were any changes to be done). It is highly entertaining and EFFECTIVE at communicating your points (all pun intended).
Your post basically reinforced what I mentioned in my post. Effective communication is the key to a good job and $$$.
Weikin
Hello Yu Ming,
What a great post! I'm totally in love your introduction!
Yes, I agree with you that good communication skills can get us far, although I beg to differ on the statement "it is relatively just to assume that the more money we have, the better our quality of life would be."
Keeping to the same context, I think it is more accurate to say that "it is relatively just to assume that the more money we have,OVER OTHERS, the better our quality of life would be." =P After all, when everybody is somebody, nobody is anybody.=(
Of course, that is not the main point of your post, but that statement just captured my attention =P
Thank you for enjoying yourself. Please do read the sequel to the monkey saga.
Post a Comment