Letter of Transmittal

29 October 2015

Mr Brad Blackstone
Senior Lecturer
Centre for Communication Skills
10 Dover Drive
Singapore 138683



Dear Mr. Blackstone,

RE: Proposal to create a destination alarm mobile application

This letter is to inform you of our acknowledgement and response to your letter of authorization. We are pleased to present you with the following proposal to improve the travelling experience of commuters in Singapore.

Many commuters fail to alight at their destination due to falling asleep on the buses or trains and ‘digital distractions’ such as smartphones. As a result, they have to spend a considerable amount of time and money to get back to their intended destination again. This causes frustrations amongst the commuters as they deem the additional amount of time and money spent unnecessary.

To reduce the probability of commuters missing their intended stop, my group proposes the development and implementation of a bus alarm mobile application. Firstly, the application serves as a reminder for users to alight promptly at their destinations. Secondly, the integration of “Google Maps”, “SGNextbus” and “Whatsapp-Send your location function” allows users to use one application instead of three to perform a specific task, which makes the application more appealing. Lastly, the application will be free of charge so that more users can download and use it.

We would like to thank you for taking the time to read through the proposal, and hope that you will take our proposal into consideration, thus improving the travelling experience of the commuters.



Yours Sincerely,

Chua Fang Ying (Ms)
Team Leader
On Behalf of Team “Destination Alert!”

Executive Summary

Executive Summary

In Singapore, many commuters fail to alight at their destination while they are taking the public transportation and this has affected their lives significantly.

84.7% of the respondents to a survey conducted by the team have had an experience of missing their intended stops while taking the public transportation. Thus, the team has come up with this proposal to create a bus alarm application with diverse functions to further enhance the current ‘bus alarm’ applications that are available in the market.

Several benefits of the ‘Destination Alert’ includes effective time management, sharing of personal location and ease of access. Potential challenges that could be faced by the implementation of the application such as the generation of profit and patenting issues has also been carefully evaluated. Although there are certain concerns over the data consumption and size of the application, 77.5% of the survey respondents show their interest in the proposed solution.

The proposal concludes that the development and implementation of a ‘destination alarm’ application can help to reduce the probability of commuters missing their stops and better utilize their time. 

Personal Statement

Chua Fang Ying

As a student studying at Singapore Institution of Technology (SIT), I notice that many of my friends have had experiences whereby they fail to alight at the bus stops nearby SIT. As a result, they were late for lessons and had to spend extra time travelling to the school. Thus, I hope that I can help them to solve such a problem.  

Reader Response: "Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to 'seize the urban moment' Draft 4

Khanna (2015), in the article of "Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to 'seize the urban moment'", stated that Asian cities had been experiencing a swell in population in recent years, resulting in the need for (these) cities to expand. He highlighted that in order to counteract the intensive growth, it is essential to have a city that consist flexible governance, provision of self-service and is generative. "Flexibility and adaptability" are paramount in flexible governing. An example given was Jakarta utilizing a smartphone application to obtain first-hand information from citizens with regards to their concerns. Due to the hefty size of cities, self-service is also vital in the provision of basic necessities like housing and transport. Khanna noted that cities like Manila and Bangkok are struggling with insufficient housing and severe pollution issues respectively. With the implementation of self-service, citizens would be granted the ability to directly notify and/or provide feedback to the government upon encountering issues such as natural disasters. Lastly, he pointed out the need for cities to be generative in the form of yielding new business models through investments in infrastructure, thereby incurring growth in the economy. Khanna foresaw Southeast Asian cities to be the model of urban development due to their exponential growth in the recent years. However, Khanna could have done better in providing the reader with a fuller understanding of the setbacks shown in Jakarta and Manila, such as bad traffic and air pollution.

An example was how Khanna’s analysed the implementation of the mobile application, QLUE, in Jakarta. The analyse was insufficient as the article lacked an in-depth explanation with regards to the success of its implementation. There were no significant changes mentioned QLUE, a platform meant for citizens to voice their concerns to the government, was developed to assist citizens and the government in the rapid growth and constant changes Jakarta was experiencing. One of the targeted areas that needed to be improved was the traffic conditions. However, even with the use of QLUE, Jakarta was still listed as the city in Indonesia that experienced the worst traffic conditions (Wardhani & Budiari, 2015). Notwithstanding that, Budiari noted that there was insufficient effort put in with regards to the enforcement of traffic laws and regulations in Indonesia (Budiari, 2015). The creation and implementation of QLUE was meant to bridge and facilitate better communications between the government and its citizens. However, citizens' concerns were not heard and or resolved. Therefore, Khanna would have better explained the situation at hand if he had discussed the after effects and success rate of the mobile application with statistics and details. 

Secondly, Manila has been experiencing bad air quality with no signs of improvement due to increases in pollution caused by the exponential growth of population. According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), motor vehicles and industrial processes are a few of the many means of emission of particulate matter (Macas, 2015). Also, statistics in National Emission Inventory 2012 reflected that 71 percent of air pollution was caused by motorized vehicles. Due to the inclining population Manila is facing, the quantity of motor vehicles on the road has increased as well, inducing bad traffic and an increase in air pollution as a whole. Philippines is a fast-growing country, yet it is still unable to cope with the changes of population, resulting in a rise in air pollution related issues. The article would have been more complete if details and causes of problems Manila is experiencing such as air pollution and poverty were discussed in detail to aid the audience's understanding of the article. 

In conclusion, the article could be more accurate and allowed the audience to comprehend the article in depth, if, Khanna had provided further details and supports with accurate data for the use of QLUE application and air pollution. 

Reference

Budiari, I. (2015, June 16). Jakarta traffic chaos crying out for tougher rules. The Jakarta Post. Retrieved September 30, 2015, from http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/06/16/jakarta-traffic-chaos-crying-out-tougher-rules.html



Khanna, P. (2015, June 11). Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to 'seize the urban moment'. Straits Times. Retrieved September 24, 2015, from http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/explosive-growth-in-asian-cities-bright-ideas-to-seize-the-urban-moment



Macas, T. (2015, June 23). Metro Manila’s air quality even worse this year – data. Retrieved September 30, 2015, from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/509142/lifestyle/healthandwellness/metro-manila-s-air-quality-even-worse-this-year-data



Wardhani, D. A. & Budiari, I. (2015, February 05). Jakarta has ‘worst traffic in the world’. The Jakarta Post. Retrieved September 30, 2015, from http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/05/jakarta-has-worst-traffic-world.html

Critical Reflection

The last lesson of Effective Communication marks an end to the semester, it also means exam are coming. Looking back at the past two month, Effective Communication was definitely one of the most fruitful lessons that i had. Initially, the module was a dread for me as my foundation in English language is weaker as compared to other students. Writing blog post or summary in proper language is a challenge. Moreover, students have to give feedback to their classmate, which I find it difficult to give constructive a good feedback.

However, every lessons there is a great takeaway. From the beginning of the module, we learnt the importance of giving and accepting feedback. Giving feedback may not be as easy as one thought. Much consideration have to be done before commenting on other classmate blog post. We have to consider the language used for commenting, how the post could be improved, and to express the appreciation for the experience shared. Often, instead of spotting any mistake in the blog post, I was reading and getting to know my classmates through their shared experience. Accepting feedback was also not an easy feat. Based on the given feedback from lecturers and peers, we have to reflect on what had went wrong and how we could improvement or changed. It was a challenge as it felt like someone was only looking at our negative points. Thus, it is important to mention the positive points too. Giving and accepting feedback can be easily applied into other modules and our daily life. As we are only first year students, there are still many module presentations ahead of us to apply what we had ‘learn and unlearn’ through the feedback.

Referencing and citation is also one of the most important part of the lesson. For my polytechnic projects, most of the groups and students only knew about the referencing of the sources. Even though we knew about in-text citation, yet we do not know how and where it should be applied. Through Effective Communication, I learnt how to ‘write’ citation and the importance of it, crediting the rightful owner of the sources we used. This definitely should be and had to be applied in all other modules and any reports that we write in the future.

Presentation skills taught in the class was also of great value. We would have to present not just for project in school, but also after we graduate. Besides how we present ourselves during presentation, the slides that we used also add points for our presentation.

Effective Communication was a great module that build students foundation and understanding of writing and presentation skills. These skills enhance our report writing and presentation, ensuring that we are on par with students from other local universities. Not losing out, we have to ensure that what was taught and learnt are apply in the future.