Daniel Lim

Project Reflections
While doing this project, I felt that I had the freedom to do and learn about
what I was interested in because my mentor had great trust in us and so was lenient
when coaching us. As a result, I procrastinated for half a year and resulted in a half-
baked, half-done project that I did not even have the chance to defend personally.
This is not to say I blame my mentor. She has been very supportive and has offered
help and advice whenever I sought it. The problem was that I did not do so until the
very last minute. At that point, any help was rendered useless. In conclusion, before
considering undertaking a research project, it is crucial to consider if one has the
capacity, perseverance and diligence to do thorough research for what is essentially
a shortened form of a thesis paper.
Naturally, blaming the lack of quality of my project solely on my laziness
would be short-sighted of me. It was also largely to do with the shared motivation of
my project members, or rather, the lack thereof. To be perfectly honest, this should
have been clear from the start. If these three years of doing project work has taught
me anything, usually the person who is most motivated to contribute in a project is
the one who came up with the idea. This is true regardless of project category but is
most evident with a research project. It is very difficult to schedule research; it
requires continual effort. Hence, internal motivation is critical if work is to be done.
Therein lies the problem. From the onset, our team could not even agree on which
topic to study. We were divided into two suggestions, the study of existentialism and
the study of coming-of-age. When push came to shove, I decided to stop debating
the merits of either and just go with the topic of existentialism. The issue here is that
we were unsure on how to spearhead the research of this topic. To conclude, in
Term 1, we had a group that did not entirely understand what it was trying to
accomplish, so naturally nothing was done. In the June holidays, we tried to remedy
the situation by changing the topic of our research to the study of coming-of-age. It
was effective in that we had a better idea of what our objectives were, but still no one
wanted to do the work. This issue was compounded by the fact that I was not in
Singapore during the Semi-finals as I had an overseas competition. Only after we
failed Semi-finals and I did some serious self-reflection did 70% of the work get done.
To summarise what I gained from this unfortunate series of events is the knowledge
that a project requires drive and purpose. Without either, it is doomed from the start.
One of the major actions I took was to gather research from the national
library reference section, level 8: Arts and Social Sciences & Humanities Collection.
It should have been the first step I took but for some reason, I had the impression
that the only research I needed could be gathered online. What this action
accomplished was finally getting me credible sources for my work as well as
realising the need for me to start depending on myself. I went to the library several
times as the books could not be borrowed and I also sourced for books from the
Repository Used book collection. From this, I had a grasp of the content of my
research and I had something credible to substantiate it. After obtaining the
necessary research content, I did the next logical thing, approaching my friend, who
was also doing a research project, to reference his research papers format so I was
certain of the structure of the research paper.
Daniel Lim
Project Reflections
One strategy I tried that failed was to take a diplomatic approach. When it
came to getting work done, we thought by splitting work amongst us we would be
able to work more efficiently. However, it just led to the three of us assuming
someone else had already completed some part of the work so there was no
urgency to finish our own. We did not set clear deadlines to update each other on
our status and there was no regular communication to ensure that we were on the
right track. The alternative strategy I would have used would be to constantly monitor
the progress of our project. This way, at least I knew what was going on, whether we
were at risk and what had to be done to ensure progress. This approach not only can
be applied to projects, but to any work that requires team effort.
From this project, I had learned about the unique nature of the Bildungsroman
in relation to globalisation. The Bildungsroman is an example of how globalisation
will never truly lead to the homogenization of cultures. This viewpoint is in direct
contrast to the beliefs of many scholars who feared cultural erosion due to
globalisation. In fact, what inspired my interest in this research topic was the works
of Arjun Appadurai, a scholar who gained fame for advocating that cultures will never
be homogenised due to globalisation, which was the opposite of what many scholars
believed during the 1980s,. His work had changed the landscape of the study of
globalisation and anthropology.
I had also learnt about the responsibility that comes with doing a research
project. A research project requires dedication and tremendous effort. These traits
only arise from an inherent desire to do well in the project which leads to a sense of
responsibility towards the project. Hence, I am accountable for the outcome of the
project, regardless of how difficult it may be. Only with due diligence and good
strategies can there be a positive outcome. I strongly believe in the saying we reap
what we sow.