Refugee Simulation 24/09/11

ALL THE CHARACTERS NARRATED IN THE FOLLOWING NARRATION ARE FICTITIOUS AND DOES NOT HAVE ANY RELATIONSHIP ANY PERSON ALIVE OR DEAD.

                      “All of you come in quickly. Quickly! Quickly! Hurry! I have just returned from the neighbouring village where the rebels have taken control. It is not a pretty sight to see my friends……..” said a man in weird accent. “BOOM” the wall which was beside me was no longer there. Smoke came in from all direction. All of us in there room were shaken to the roots by the sudden events. 10 armed soldiers came out with their guns through the holes on the walls that they have just made. We were told to stand and line up quickly. Since I was near the wall I got pushed out. The sheer fear in me nailed me at the one position until the soldier came and yelled at me again. The surprise, fear, confusion and all other emotions were just too much to bear.

                     

                    We were told to take our ID cards out. The soldier demanded for the identity card before he let anyone in into another area. The soldier confiscated my watch too. I was the directed into another room where a soldier was yelling at the top of his voice about what we should do. He threw the pens and the forms for us to fill. Once the form was filled we were then told to get into groups of ten to nine people. Again abruptly and harshly. We were told to look for our family in the following morning. We were then given a large sheet of cloth about 5 feet by 10 feet. We were told to make tents out of it by laying the sheet on a wire.

Then the lights were switched off suddenly and we were told to get into our tents quickly. They told us to sleep quietly and that it was night time. There was no room for the legs. We had to practically squat to make enough room for everyone else in the group to sleep in. After a few seconds loud noises of people arguing was heard. Then a few minutes later, total silence. In that silence the sounds of distance dogs barking could be heard.

                   

                    Then the lights were switched on and we were told to wake up from our sleep since its morning. We were made to stand in 2 straight lines and the yelling of the soldiers began. That’s when we came to know that the loud noises last night was 2 people from the camps arguing about space. The soldier yelled at us saying that we are not supposed to do that.

                      

                    Then we were briefed on where the clinic, food area and school were at. We were also told to look for our family members. Those who needed medical attention went to the clinic and those who wanted to get some idea of the local language went to the school. People had to sell whatever that they had at that time that was usable to get bowls and plates for the food. When all this was going on, the lights were suddenly switched off and then the process which happened a day earlier repeated itself. Then another loud noise, “BOOOOOM”. This time we were told to wake up without the lights. All the soldiers made us kneel and put our hands on the head. We were asked if we had any illegal stuff. That is when we got to know that a bomb had just blasted near the camp area.

                      Then we were told to sleep again. A few minutes later the lights came up and a soldier yelled “The simulation is over”. That is when we all could give a sigh of relief.

                     The experience that I have just narrated is my experience as refugee in the Refugee Simulation Experience programme.  The simulation began at about 10.00 AM with the briefing by the organisers. We were all given a new identity using which we must undergo the simulation. Then we were told about the rules and we were brought to a higher floor where the simulation took place.

                             This simulation was an eye opener on what millions of people are going through in the world right now. It made me realise what suffering that they may be going through. It was only a one hour simulation for me but for many people around the world today, this is a real thing happening every day. I have just experience a tiny fraction of their lives which I have shared here. I am really grateful of what I have. My triple room seems very big to me now and the feeling that someone is waiting for you at home gives me a great sense of belonging and happiness. Through this experience I have learnt what refugees are going through every day. I hope to be able to contribute my help to the best of my ability once I grow up to be someone in the society where I can make decisions. 

First Laboratory Session For Robotics Course

Hello, Hola, Namaste, Vanakam, Néih Hóu to All My Blog Readers.

            The above sentence is the result of meeting a lot of internationals in HKUST. Today (9-9-11), I had my first ever laboratory session for the Introduction to Electro-Robot Design course. For those of you who don’t know me that well, I am a robotics freak so this lab session really got me going.

Just a few days before I had my Computer Lab Session for JAVA. I was slightly late for it as I couldn’t find the place in such a vast campus. The lab work proposed for us was slightly advanced than what we had done in the lectures so I was not able procure the Bonus Point.

         The Robotic Lab session was scheduled at 3.00 pm today right after my ENGG 1130 course which ends at 2.50 pm. This time around, I did not take any chances. Few hours before the session, I printed out the lab manuals and notes. When the clock struck 2.50 pm, I got up excitedly and started navigating myself using the snapshot of the PathAdvisor screen worrying that I might be late again due to the difficulty in finding the lab. PathAdvisor is a program that was developed by the students here in HKUST a few years back. It shows you the direction from one point to another in the University Campus.

          This time around I got a bit lucky. I found the class almost effortlessly thanks to PathAdvisor. I went into the class totally confused as this was my first lab session. We were told to sit down and complete the Pre-Lab work. Then came the most exciting part. The Teaching Assistants and Student Helpers started distributing the Robotic Kits. It was a kit called Navidroid developed by a company which specialises in educational robotic kits that was started by a group of HKUST Alumni. As what I have heard, this company has been evolving and growing as time passes.

            My kit was numbered 93. My heart just leapt when we were told that we get to keep the kit till the end of the semester. Me and my lab partner, Eric, opened the box and started counting the parts using a checklist that was given to us. Once we completed the check, we just chucked all the papers one side and started building the robot according to the manual.

          The robot started taking its form very quickly and we finished within building the robot within 30 minutes. One thing that was a bit disappointing was the fact that we were not allowed to handle any electronic components as we were not qualified yet (NOOOO!). One of the Student Helpers helped us to connect the wireless control unit and tested it using a remote. He was kind enough to let us navigate the robot up to the Teaching Assistant to get it verified and our name jotted down for grading purposes. Since most of the other teams were not ready, we were allowed to play with our robot for a while. We also took a few pictures. Then when the next team came, our robot’s brain had to be taken out and it was time for us to pack. It was a bit nostalgic as we would not be able to see our robot for another week. Anyways we decided to pack it and returned the kit to the Lab Assistant. That was the end of my first robotic lab session.

 My first robot

 Workspace

Electronic components of my robot

SENG Induction and First Day of Classes

Before I begin my narrative, for those who are wondering what is SENG, SENG is the abbreviation for School Of Engineering in HKUST.  On the 31st of August, we, new engineering students of HKUST had our induction organised by our respective departments. Since I took Electronics Engineering, my induction was carried out by professors from the Dept. of Electronic and Computer Engineering. Induction is basically the introduction to your Bachelor's Degree course.

All of us were very excited and for me especially, I was both excited and nervous. I was nervous because of the confusion that was caused by the course registration process a few days earlier. Since it was the School of Engineering, we were given a cool free gift when we registered. The gift was a small, hand held fan. The best thing about it was the lights on it. The lights lighted up in a specific order so that designs were shown when the blades were spinning. The video is at the end of this narrative.

The agenda for the day was:

12.10pm - REGISTRATION

12.45pm - WELCOME SPEECH BY THE DEAN

1.00pm - SPEECH BY THE CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES SUPERVISOR

1.15pm - ROBOTICS TEAM PRESENTATION

1.45pm - BEATBOX PERFORMANCE

2.00pm - DEPARTMENT INDUCTION

The programme was started by a small joke by the Dean. When the Dean was speaking, the microphone malfunctioned a little and he quoted "Being the School of Engineering, this should not have occurred". I was excited for the Robotics Team presentation but the excitement was cut short when they started presenting in Cantonese. I was grateful to know that the classes will be conducted in English and the Robotics Team is recruiting members.

Next up was the Beatbox performance. For those wondering what is Beatbox, Beat box is production of sounds made by different instruments especially drums by using one's voice. It was quite amazing to watch as he produced a lot of different sounds of music instruments with tune. One of the most amusing sound was the sound of a Chinese violin (exact name is unknown but it sounded a lot like a violin).

After about ten minutes break, at 2.00pm, we were told to go to our respective department inductions. We were given a short lecture on what to expect from our courses and another introduction to Robotics in English (relieved me of my worries).

On the 1^st of September 2011, my lectures started at 12.00 pm. The first class was Maths called Introduction to Linear Algebra (Code: MATH 2111). There were about 50 students in the class. The classroom fits the university’s name. It was again a high-tech classroom with various types of projectors and a camera to record the class for students who could not attend the class.

At 3.30 PM, it was time for my Introduction to Java (programming language) class. It was conducted in a lecture theatre. Here we had a system called Personal Response System. We were basically given a remote kind of device which had a number pad and an OK button. When a question is projected on the screen in front, we were told to press the number corresponding to the right answer. Two things were recorded in this case, our attendance and our answer. This helps the professors to evaluate our understanding of the lecture.

I am sorry that I could not get pictures of the classes since cameras are not allowed. Stay tuned for my next blog entry on Hong Kong City Tour with a lot more pictures this time. Got a few pictures of the library after the video. The picture quality may be bad since it was taken using a phone camera. The shutter rate of my camera could not match that of the blinking LED lights so there might jitters in the video.
                              
                                     The cool fan from School Of Engineering

                                        The immense size of the Library and this is only from M-Z.

                       One of the large screen television for common advertisements and promotions.

                                                              SpaceSaver Bookshelves.

                                              The SpaceSaver bookshelf operation instruction.

Guided Tour around the Library-HKUST

Hello and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my first entry into my blog. There was an orientation programme organised for new undergraduate students in Hong Kong University of Science and Technology called Guided Tour around the Library. In my context, library was a dull place and a boring one too. My first perception of the tour was that it’s another boring library tour like those I have attended in the past. Nevertheless, I registered for it and went for it on the 30^th of August 2011. It started off as usual. Well my first perception changed after a few minutes into the tour.

The tour started off from the Ground floor and ended at the 4^th Lower Ground floor. I will keep the most interesting floor (LG 1) the last and start from their internet systems. As students we are required to login to use most of the features. The website is called the Library Catalog. The system has the normal capabilities of a library website such as Student Account details, Due Dates, Fines and etc. One of the new aspects would be the HKALL function. Through this function students are able to get books from other educational institutions and universities in Hong Kong by just clicking a few buttons. According to the library we will be able to have that book within 2-3 days. Another great thing is the E-Book. This system enables us to get the electronic versions of most of the books in the library without even going to the library. I know there are other websites that provide this function but the one offered in my library is totally legal without any copyright issues. The system is also capable of remembering all the books you have read in the past. This would enable you to access the same book again if needed. We are also able to book Meeting and Group Study Rooms (details will be revealed later), check their position in the library and which side the rooms face (facing the sea or the building).

Next is the LG 4 level. This level is a normal library with a lot of books which are sorted using an alphanumeric system. There was a room with about thirty computers and a main computer which controls the room conditions such as lighting and projectors. A point to note here is that the room is equipped with three projectors. This enables the students to view the screen from any position in the room. The projector screens are controlled through a touch screen computer. The setback would be these thirty computers are installed with Windows XP unlike other computers in the university which run on Windows 7. LG 3 is another identical floor with more books. Instead of a room full of computers, this floor is equipped with seats and tables for people to do some reading or work on their laptops. This is a strictly quiet area. The variety of books found in LG 3 really amazed me. They had a section called “Oversized” where oddly shaped and large books were kept as the name suggests. The highlight of these two floors was their bookshelves. The bookshelf was called the SpaceSaver. As the name suggests, these shelves were made to conserve more space and to accommodate more books. It was similar to the file cabinets they have in large offices. However these were slightly high-tech. It had a button which caused the bookshelf to slide slightly to reveal the books in the inner shelf. The shelves were equipped with a motion detector and the floor was equipped with a pressure sensor. The combination of these two sensors prevented the shelves from colliding into each other and turning you into a pancake.

The next would be the Ground floor. This is where the borrowing counters are situated. There are more computers with Windows 7 and more work stations for laptop users. It also had “Bloomberg” computers for the use of Business Studies students. They were basically computers which had one CPU connected to 2 screens which allows you to see large program windows. They also had photocopier machines which were capable of wireless printing from within the library premises. There were also computers with video, audio and image editing software (Adobe CS 5 and other softwares) installed for Designing course students. The 1st floor was under construction so we were not brought to that floor and we were not briefed on what will be coming there.

Now for the most interesting floor. LG1 had the least amount of books and most number of facilities. The first facility to note is the Meeting and Group Studies Rooms. These rooms were equipped with air conditioners (an essential item during the summer season here in Hong Kong), DVD players, cassette players, CD players and a computer. The best part is that, they have LCD televisions which are greater than 50 inches (unsure of the exact size). Next they have individual viewing stations. These stations have designated players. There were stations equipped with cassette players, laser disc players, DVD players and CD players with headphones. Another fun feature of the floor is the movies and songs databases. They have a large collection of movies from the 80’s and 90’s to the latest ones from almost all languages (didn’t see Tamil movies though).  The next interesting part would be the microfiche section. This section contains microfilm of the past editions of local newspapers and other journals. This was the first time I saw a microfilm. It was a small card like structure which contains the negatives of the journals and papers which can be viewed using a special viewer and printed or saved in a USB drive if needed. It had editions of newspapers as early as 1882. One half of the floor was still under construction. One of the new features that will be provided in that half of the same floor is a fully fledged recording and production studio. According to the plan, this studio will include a sound room and other production equipment.

This is the most exciting and most interesting library I have ever seen in my life. This tour has definitely changed my views of the libraries. I am very confident that I will soon become a very frequent visitor of this library. I do not say this just for the sake of multimedia facilities but the huge collections of books will definitely be of help for my studies. From now on I will definitely appreciate the presence of a library.