REFLECTION ON PRE-OCIP WORK
Finally, we had completed the shelter for St.Lukes hospital. I must say that it has been a rush to prepare the shelter in just two weeks. However, I was thankful that I have a team of cooperative and understanding members. Some may say that building a simple shelter is an easy task but after this experience I have learnt that it is not easy at all. A lot of patience and time was put into the planning of the contruction. The first obstacle which we had was the sourcing of our materials. There were many suppliers for each material but they awere all located in industrial areas. It was inconvenient for us as we had to pick up the materials. I was lost within Tuas area for several hours with Hadi just to look for the supplier as almost all the factories and roads look the same. The other obstacle which I met was during the construction. There was a deadline hence we had to use the quickest method to fabricate compromising quality of the work piece at most of time. This caused the shelter to be unstable during the first assembly. The team tried various methods to salvage the shelter and the end product is what is at St.Lukes today. Through this experience, I had gained new knowledge and experience such as adding a web to the structure would strengthen it. Also, I would like to thank the generous support and help from MAE staff such as Mr. Edward and my team members, some who had even came everyday to work on the shelter.
-A reflection by Nicholas Look, Flowerbed shelter I/C
When I went to St. Luke Hospital to look at the flowerbed, I realised that there were many things that can be worked on such as the unsightliness of the bare cement bed and the break in the flowerbed. Thus I thought sufficient layer of pebbles was needed to replace the bed's colour. Pebbles was a great idea as the colour of the pebbles will brighten when in contact with water or rain. While thinking of the costs and the budget, I had to find a way to purchase the pebbles and gravel as well as other equipment at a minimum cost, noting that other aspects of the OCIP required a high budget. It was great a family member was able to contact a hardware company and was able to buy the pebbles at a good bargain. I was glad about how it turned out and would like to thank my team members for their co-operation and patience. Furthermore, I had gained experience regarding gardening and beautifying landscape as it was something I had never done before.
-A reflection by Loh Chuan Kui, Flowerbed I/C
