Proposal for 'NFC-Enabled smartphones with universal NFC-Chip compatibility’

The following 3 posts below are some of the excerpts extracted from my group's proposal.

Executive Summary

Paying for public transportation is not at a top notch technological level in Singapore. Since the Near-Field Communication (NFC) technology has been introduced in 2012 in Singapore, there has not been much progression or usage of it for the convenience of commuters who take public transportation every day. There is a need for SMRT and LTA to implement NFC technology for payment of public transportation. The objective of this proposal is to propose having a minimum standardized NFC chip for all smartphones to allow users to pay for public transport with their NFC enabled smartphones. This will grant users a smarter and efficient way to consolidate all the payment cards into one-unit device – smartphones, which means residents and commuters can pay for public transport with just a wave of their smartphone across an electronic device. NFC enabled smartphone users can make use of NFC technology to pay for other transactions as well such as food, movie tickets and shopping conveniently.

Personal Statement

Being an engineering student has made me be aware of the technological changes that are happening around me. Even though I am fascinated by the advancement of the technology, I feel that there seems to be a missing piece in the puzzle. The usage of smartphone is not utilized to its maximum as users are using their phone just for leisure purposes.  With more phones being launched with NFC capabilities, it paves the way to include services which can probably enhance the user’s way of living. NFC is a revolutionary technology where performing tasks like shopping, eating and travelling can be done with just a tap of your phone.

Letter of Transmittal

7 October 2015

Mr. Blackstone
Senior Lecturer
Center for English Language Communication
20 Dover Road

Dear Mr. Blackstone,

RE: Proposal for ‘NFC-Enabled smartphones with universal NFC-Chip compatibility’

We are pleased to present to you our proposal idea of ‘NFC-Enabled smartphones with universal NFC-Chip compatibility.’ This report has been prepared to demonstrate how people can make full use of their smartphones and consolidate all EZ-Link and credit cards into one device. In addition, have a minimum standardized NFC Chip compatible to all phone brands to allow all users to enjoy the privilege of NFC-enabled phones. The current example would be how commuters are scanning their EZ-Link card every day for public transportation. Hoping to enhance the current system of scanning cards, the team would like to up it to the next level of scanning your smartphone on the go without having to face the hassle of searching for your card somewhere in your pockets, wallets or bag.

The time and effort taken to read our report is appreciated. This team hopes you would consider implementing our idea for better convenience for the commuters and travelers.

Yours sincerely

NFC Hype

The Role of Peer and Tutor Feedback

Receiving feedback from my peers and tutor might be the best thing that has ever happened so far in my university journey. The amount of feedback that I have received for this module is more than any of the feedback received throughout my education before university. The same goes in terms of sharing my feedback to my peers. I think having two-way communication between our peers and tutor is the most important aspect for any kind of education.

I might not be qualified to give excellent and constructive feedback due to my lack of proficiency and knowledge in the English language, but sometimes, I might be able to spot some mistakes made by my peers. That is why this is very good for learning because everyone look at things differently. Thus, one single essay might have many different kinds of feedback. There is not a single time where I did not make any single mistake when writing an essay. Quoting from Albert Einstein, "A person who has never made a mistake never tried anything new". Being human, I am not perfect but at least, I will try my best not to repeat the same mistake. Therefore, I am very thankful to receive feedback from my tutor and peers.

However, there are times where I will feel that I am not helping my peers well enough by giving them good feedback. Therefore, I feel a little bit bad about not assisting them much on improving their write-up because their evaluation for me has always helped me improved my assignment. I hope in the future, I will improve my ability on giving constructive feedback for my peers so as they can benefit from it.

This is just the beginning of something great. This module will definitely assist me in my future reports and write-ups. I am very thankful that my tutor has gathered all the useful materials in a single "symbaloo" page for us to refer to which will aid us in our writing. I hope that I can still access to the excellent list even after completing this module (cross-fingers).

Reader Response to : "Explosive Growth, Asian Cities" Draft 4 (Final Draft)

In the article “Explosive Growth in Asian Cities: Bright Ideas to Seize the Urban Moment”, Khanna (2015) reports that Asian cities have become the centre of the world’s urbanisation trend within the past decade. The author observes that these cities are experiencing a population influx, and reactive policies to population growth and global warming are becoming ineffective. Khanna states that South-east Asian cities are assuming control with capable governments, enterprising citizens and local infrastructure innovation. She further mentions that the governments need to be productive to build a deep-rooted generative legacy as they face complicated challenges in delivering basic necessities for urban productivity. She concludes that South-east Asian cities are proving that their potential is greater than the difficulties they face. I feel that this might be true only to a certain extent because some of the efforts by the members of the public are often short-lived, thus making the urban advancement in South East Asia countries rather slow. For example, the internet connectivity in Jakarta are not reliable or fast enough due to the poor infrastructure (Schonhardt, 2014). Also, Khanna should further discuss the difficulties that the various governments face with the policies that have been implemented by them.

After reading the article, I am not convinced on how the innovations such as the Qlue app, a group sourcing smartphone application that permits residents to report instant neighbourhood issues like flooding and waste accumulation to the authorities, could help in the development of Jakarta. That is because the write did not provide concrete examples of how the strategies implemented by the government in Jakarta were effective. However, I find it interesting that through a smartphone application, the locals are able to communicate with the authorities to improve their neighbourhood in terms of defects and cleanliness. The government representative is required to respond with a photo report so that the users are aware of the completion of the request (Menur, 2015). This mobile application shows great promise in improving the quality of life but the government are not making broadband connection a necessary action (Jong, 2014). Therefore, it is almost pointless to implement such innovation if many users are facing a lot of problems with internet connectivity (Harianto, 2015).  

Since there is no proper internet connectivity in Jakarta, investing in ‘smart’ features in an infrastructure should be made priority.

Replicating the infrastructure plan in the Philippines can be the solution for the difficulties to combat the policies being implemented by the government in Jakarta. Khanna states that the Philippines is introducing free Wi-Fi in 997 cities in infrastructure by November 2015. With this in place, citizens will be able to get online easily. They will then be well informed of the situation in the country. These types of investments which are underway in the Philippines should be imitated in Indonesia as the citizens are making use of social media to improve their region. With that, the difficulties faced by the governments after implementing such policies will be greatly reduced. Despite the innovations, it is currently difficult for Indonesia at large and a city such as Jakarta in specific to implement appropriate plans like the goal to attract investors. Foreign companies face long processes in setting up an operation as they have to go through lots of agencies to attain the required business permits (Shaffer, 2015).

In conclusion, Khanna’s article presents the potential of some of the South-east Asian cities very well. However, she should further discuss the challenging issues the government face with the policies that will be introduced by them. Communication between the government officials and the locals can be further improved. Also, policies in bringing investors to the country should be reviewed to provide growth in the country. All will benefit from the country’s success only if the problems are settled swiftly.

References

Harianto, T (2015, September 17). Qlue - Make valuable complains. Android Play Store, review section. Retrieved from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.qluein.android&hl=en

Jong, H.N. (2014, November 13). Broadband access not a priority. The Jakarta Post. Retrieved from http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/11/13/broadband-access-not-a-priority.html

Menur, A. (2015, September 22). Qlue, the app that keeps officials in Jakarta accountable. Yahoo! News. Retrieved from https://sg.news.yahoo.com/qlue-app-keeps-officials-jakarta-accountable-075702447.html

Parag, K. (2015, June 11). Explosive growth in Asian cities: Bright ideas to ‘seize the urban moment’. Straits Times. Retrieved from http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/explosive-growth-in-asian-cities-bright-ideas-to-seize-the-urban-moment

Schonhardt, S. (2014, August 13. Indonesia’s youth frustrated by slow internet connections. Indonesia Real Time. Retrieved from http://blogs.wsj.com/indonesiarealtime/2014/08/13/indonesias-youth-frustrated-by-slow-internet-connections/

Shaffer, L. (2015, March 16). Why Indonesia struggles to attract foreign investors. CNBC. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/16/why-indonesia-struggles-to-attract-foreign-investors.html

She's My Inspiration

I felt like I am obliged to write about some leader or some sort as my influential or inspiration person in life but the person who inspires me the most is my girlfriend.

Unlike most Polytechnic graduates who furthered their studies right after graduation or completing national service, I chose to enter the workforce. I was clueless but I wanted to explore options of working in a different industry not related to my qualifications. It was about at that period of time where I got to know my girlfriend.

Her name is Daeul. I have never met someone who is so dedicated in the things that they do. I am impressed by that. She even took a leave of absence from university to prepare for the national examination to be a public officer. While some of her friends had already graduated, she chose to sacrifice graduating with her batch. She is very meticulous in her plans for her future. I was inspired by that and wanted to replicate it. Attending university in Singapore Institute of Technology was one of my inspired decisions. Despite earning a decent income for the past two years, I made a sacrifice for a better future.

Studying is definitely not my forte but ever since I knew her, I find myself spending more time with the books than my game console. I am not sure if it is the peer pressure from school but I will always try my best to keep up. Despite Daeul having an excellent command in the English language, she always try to improve her proficiency in English. We could have talked to each other in English but her efforts has inspired me to learn a new language so that I can express myself better to her in her native language, Korean.

The last time I met her was about 8 months ago. It is definitely difficult to sustain a long distance relationship but the efforts by the both of us have inspired us to work towards a bright future together. Once again, I am inspired to do well for my upcoming examinations because what comes next is our long awaited meeting.