Resident Writer for new humanities magazine

Today I met with the MC editor and it appears that monkey will be a resident writer for a new humanities magazine targeted at upper secondary school students. Looking forward to the opportunity to reach out to more young people, hon my writing, supplement my resume and earn some pocket money at the same time. This is also a good way to translate some academic articles to layman terms and expose young people to some of the academic works being done out there. So far, issue 0 is planned for mid 2009 and first issue won't be out till 2010. It's also a job that promises to continue even if I'm not in Singapore so what a sustainable way to go.

Ganbatte monkey! Work hard, write hard!

United Nations University Courses

The UN University offer international courses for "postgraduate students and professionals in various occupations (with a college or university degree) in Japan and abroad who wish to pursue careers in international fields in public-service or private organizations, including the United Nations, multinational corporations and non-governmental organizations, as well as national foreign service organizations."

3 courses cost $2000USD and have to pay for accommodation and living expenses as well. I wonder if it's worth considering for 2010.

The 2009 courses are held in May-June which is field studies / thesis writing time.

But I wonder if it'll really get me a job in UN.

Post Masters Plan

I suddenly realized that after my Masters, I could essentially go anywhere in the world so why not volunteer overseas?

So I just applied to:
WWF Youth Volunteers
United Nations Volunteers - rejected

More jobs available here http://www.idealist.org
Action against hunger
World Resource Institute
Food & Water Watch
Environment Defense Fund
Center for Food Safety
Environmental Working Group
WWF Jobs
FAO Jobs
UNEP Jobs

Alternatively, how about a paid internship with SIIA?

Or I could be crazy and go for a business / market analyst position in the private sector. What do I really want anyways? And what is wrong with trying something totally different to challenge myself?

Plan for 2009

As of date, this is more or less what is happening:

January - driving exam and field work. Must start on the local field work please! Also looking at coming up with HT publication ASAP. Need to get in touch with potential PhD profs too! Literature review for thesis please.

February - GRE exam; applying for jobs; maybe going to Surin; writing up paper for AAG competition. One chapter in thesis. Finish up vegetable article for SAGE Pub.

March - AAG conference - a whole month in USA; visiting universities on the east coast; writing thesis?

April - writing thesis full speed ahead! Going for job interviews?

May - more writing thesis! Submit first draft!

June - Field Studies 2009?

July - Sister in Singapore - editing and revision of thesis; submit thesis!

August - graduate and preferably start job already! Otherwise go Hokkaido for graduation trip with parents hopefully. But if I so decide to go McGill, I'll be moving to canada? haha some how that is about 40% chance of happening.

Consultancy and Publication Offer

Final Update: I got a reply regarding the consultancy job. As I suspected, being a full time student does not meet with the job requirements. However, they most kindly ask me to get in touch with them when I graduate! It is nice to know that I have headhunters looking out for me :)

2 days ago, I got an email regarding an offer for consultancy work. After consulting with certain avians, this monkey decided to reply after all. I seriously don't think I'm qualified to be a SENIOR national consultant but I'll be happy to be involved in the project. We'll see what happens.

Hello Ms.Tan,
I am looking for a Senior National Consultant to take part in an extensive - Policy Research Project.

The aim of your section of the research project would be to make a policy contribution to the development of secure and sustainable food production systems in Singapore, in addition to efficient regulatory, logistical, distribution and marketing arrangements.

You would be one of a team of eight consultants from various Pacific Rim countries.

To be specific, I am looking for a Senior National Consultant who has all or most of the following:
-being able to demonstrate an understanding of food chains, the current global food situation and policy responses in the - region;
-previous experience in:
1. sectoral economic analysis, for example, agriculture, food marketing, logistics, transport & distribution;
2. analysis of statutory and regulatory rules, the incentives that arise & policy directions for improvement;
3. preparing case studies;
-demonstrated expertise in undertaking consultancy studies/economic research in English;
-evidence of the capacity to deliver high quality products on time & within budget; and
-being able to consult with key stakeholders across the country.

I must stress that at this point MT is just seeking your interest in being part of the multi country team which will be part of the proposal forwarded to -. Fine detail will come later.

Whether the MT proposal is finally approved will be up to - !

I look forward to hearing back from you and hope that you are interested. Please send a CV for inclusion in our proposal to - . Many thanks in advance! I ask that you also provide a phone number so that we can have a short & informal chat ASAP?

Update: no reply so far so it is just an enquiry after all. furthermore, i expressed my own doubts at my lack of qualifications for this job so till next time then!

And then about a few weeks ago, my boss got an email asking if his students might be interested in submitting their thesis as manuscripts for publication but it sounds so spammy. They are from mauritius! Or at least based there? I'm so skeptical but I replied after all. I don't want to disappoint my boss. I think he's upset that I ask if it's a scam. Sigh.

Dear Professor VRS ,

In the course of an Internet research, I came across the dissertation:

' "Saving Chek Jawa" : social capital and networks in nature conservation ' written by your former student, T P T , in year 2006 .

As we would like to make his/her work available to a larger audience, I would be interested to get in touch with your former student to find out if he/she would like to submit the manuscript for review.

Therefore, I would be grateful if you would be so kind as to provide me with his/her email, or even simply forward this e-mail. Thank you.

F Onno
Acquisition Editor

Update: VDM replied. It turns out to be vanity publishing which I suspected as much. Bah I doubt I'll bother with them unless I'm superbly desperate. Hope the consultancy thing turns out a tad less disappointing? But I'm not very optimistic.

I'm a "published" author!

While doing a name search for myself I found that I am actually on the National Library Board's database!

Bukit Timah : a heritage trail / [researcher-writer, November Tan Peng Ting ; photographer Ung Ruey Loon].

Author: Tan, November Peng Ting
Publisher: Singapore : National Heritage Board, 2007.
ISBN:
Format: Book
Physical Description: [48] p. : ill. (chiefly col.), map ; 23 cm.
Subjects: Bukit Timah (Singapore) Guidebooks
Singapore Guidebooks
Bukit Timah (Singapore) History
Bukit Timah (Singapore) Description and travel

Hmm how do I put this on my resume? lol I am planning to submit my CV for the PMO career talk but that means I've to update my CV soon.