Hey guys, the Rawker's X'clusive #3 has been sent out, and now it's HERE on our BLOG.

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Hey Rawker!

Welcome to Issue 3 of the Rawker’s X’clusive! In this issue, we’ll be featuring the TP Mass Dance and Jam & Hop, two good reasons why TPRAWKS!! will RAWK your socks off! After all, how can you RAWK without good music?

Temasek Polytechnic is the only polytechnic with a synchronised, large-scale dance that every one of our students know by heart.

Danced to the tune of New Age Girl (you can check out the song here), the mass dance is taught to every new TP student during their Orientation, which marks them as part of the TP family. Since it was first introduced, tens of thousands of TP graduates have learnt the steps to the mass dance!

But TP students aren’t the only group of people who are taught the TP Mass Dance. There’s another special group that TP teaches the mass dance too, and that’s YOU – the Rawkers! You’ll swirl, cheer, run, clap and laugh – it’s our way of saying, welcome to the TP family!

Another event that’s characteristic of the TPRAWKS!! spirit is the Jam & Hop on the night of Day 3! It’s the last item on the programme and the best way to end TPRAWKS!! – with a big, RAWKING bang!

This year, you’ll be jamming to the sounds of Plain Sunset and hopping to the beats of Zouk’s DJ Andrew Chow! Let your hair down and RAWK the night away!

Sleeq, Singapore’s award winning hip-hop duo, are also TP students! They’ll be making a special appearance during TPRAWKS!! to perform LIVE for you, our Rawkers.

So with just so much to RAWK, TPRAWKS!! is definitely geared up to be a blast for everyone. We simply can’t wait to see you at TP!

Regards,
The TPRAWKS!! Team
Temasek Polytechnic
Enquiries: 6780 5017, 6780 6556, 6780 5024

Labels: by Frayon, Rawker's X'clusive

A big HELLO to all O'Level Students,

I know you've been mugging real hard but YOU'RE MORE THAN HALF WAY THERE!!! You'd probably be attempting some last minute cramping the night before your paper but remember that a good night's rest is very important to keep a clear and composed mind. Just a little more to go so give it your best shot and it'll be all about celebrations thereafter:D:D:D

I'm guessing some of you may be looking like this now,



But soon it'll be MORE LIKE THIS!!!



I hear from my friends that today's the Geography, Food & Nutrition as well as the Art paper. For those taking any one of the papers today, here's me, CHIRPING YOU ON!!!

Alrighty then, till the next time... Continue SHAKING YA TAILFEATHERS!

HuMMing off,
HuMMingBird

Labels: by the huMMingBird

It’s Friday! And it was raining! Hmm. I wonder how many Fridays have rainy weather in one year. FANNING, GO CHECK OUT THIS INFORMATION AND GET BACK TO ME AT ONCE, SLAVE!

Anyway, today I’m the bearer of both good and bad news. First, the good news – for those of you who signed up for TPRAWKS, I just heard that the Rawker’s Kit has been mailed out to you!

What is the Rawker’s Kit? It’s basically a neat lil’ package that contains everything you need to know about TPRAWKS - what to wear, what to bring, where to go, how to get to TP etc.

What’s the bad news? Unfortunately, I haven’t received my complimentary copy (the TPRAWKS committee passes Fanning and I a copy every TPRAWKS just cuz they love us so much) yet, so I can’t show you a picture.

But fear not! I have whipped up MS Paint and, with my Awesome™ and l33t MS Paint skillz, made a portrait of the Rawker’s Kit. And if I may say so myself, the likeness is simply uncanny. A very striking resemblance indeed.



Once I get the real thing I’ll put it up here on our blog of course.

JUST 10 MORE DAYS TO THE EVENT OF THE YEAR! MWAHAHA!!

Labels: by Frayon, TPRAWKS

Fanning: Welcome one and all to the 4th issue of The Prehistoric Times. Today Fanning and Frayon will –

Frayon: *SULK*

Fanning: ... And what’s Frayon’s problem THIS time?

Frayon: Frayon used to always start each issue of The Prehistoric Times. Why Fanning take away Frayon’s favourite part?

Fanning: Did Frayon really interrupt Fanning for this extremely insignificant detail? Frayon and Fanning have a LOT to cover today.

Frayon: *SUUULK*

Fanning: Stop that before Fanning take a cho-gah-hoo-gah and shove up it up Frayon’s left nostril.

Frayon: *SU-* …. Uhm. FRAYON GO PREPARE THE FACILITIES FOR TODAY’S ISSUE, FANNING! *runs off on a dinosaur*

Fanning: Finally.

Studying in Temasek Polytechnic isn’t just about classrooms and lecture halls – far from it, in fact. Each of the 6 schools in TP has its own specialized labs, studios and facilities, which are the focus of this issue.

Frayon: Frayon and Fanning will be featuring some of the top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art, absolutely-fantastically-Awesome™ -

Fanning: FRAYON.

Frayon: BUT IT’S TRUE.

Fanning: ... Well fine. Carry on then.

Frayon: - cool-and-hip, sleek-and-modern, fabulous-and-all-round AMAZING school facilities.

The Prehistoric Times will be covering the sports facilities, the Interactive Digital Centre (Asia) and the Koolwerkz Training Factory.

In the last issue, we mentioned our many sports facilities that support the various CCAs, but they’re also for students who wish to just enjoy a game or two with some friends.

The Sports Complex comprises of a running track, stadium, badminton courts, a gym, squash courts, dance studios, tennis courts and even a rock climbing wall!


Temasek Polytechnic also has an Olympic-sized swimming pool that’s open to TP staff and students.

Frayon: Frayon likes to go swimming! Good chance to show cavewomen Frayon’s big, bulging, manly muscles.

Fanning: The only thing Fanning remembers seeing is Frayon struggling to reach the other side. Next – the Interactive Digital Centre Asia.


TP is home to many, many specialized facilities known as Centres of Excellence (and some Centres aren’t even on campus, like Koolwerkz in Bedok which we’ll talk about later and the Tourism Academy @ Sentosa).

At the Temasek Engineering School (ENG), students from the Diploma in Interactive Media Technology are supported by a specialised facility known as the Interactive Digital Centre (IDC) Asia, which was set up in collaboration with IM Innovations Pte Ltd and EON Reality Inc.

IDC Asia is a training centre for students to learn to develop advanced 3D applications, visualizations and animations. The technology that this centre uses have made many visitors think about the sort of things they see in futuristic movies such as The Minority Report.

Frayon: Ooooooo. Pretty colours.

Fanning: Frayon, stop staring like that. Frayon’s embarrassing everyone.

These applications can be used in healthcare, transportation, education, engineering and many, many other industries. IDC Asia is truly a state-of-the-art facility.


Frayon: Before we talk about Koolwerkz, Frayon wants to point out that what you see in that photo is ICE CREAM. THAT’S RIGHT. KOOLWERKZ MAKES ICE CREAM.

The Koolwerkz Training Factory is a Centre of Excellence from the Temasek Applied Science School (ASc), and as mentioned earlier, one of the centres that are actually situated off-campus. In short, it is an ice-cream factory currently producing 3 flavours of ice-cream – Green Tea, Mango and Strawberry – and is unique in the sense that it’s both a training facility as well as an actual business venture. But that’s not all.

Students from ASc aren’t the only ones who spend time at Koolwerkz – besides ice-cream processing, students from all over TP come to Koolwerkz to learn about inventory management, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), quality control and assurance, logistics and marketing functions to name but a few.

Frayon: ICE CREAM. ICE CREAAAAAAAM.

Fanning: Keep that up and Fanning will make Frayon SCREAM instead. Now pass the Mango flavour, Fanning hungry.

Frayon: Anyway, these are just some of the many facilities that TP has to offer for their students. Frayon one day will set up a Dinosaur Hunting Training Facility too. Be sure to look out for it.

Fanning: They will just be busy looking out for the Dinosaurs, Frayon.

For more information on facilities, log on to www.tp.edu.sg and explore the various school’s websites. See you next issue!

Labels: By Fanning, by Frayon, The Prehistoric Times

BOO!!


Earthlings,

I had a blast celebrating Halloween last Saturday!!

Solid as Bone,

Fanning

Labels: By Fanning

I'd like to point your attention to our countdown timer on the right.

You'll notice that, as of this posting, it says "18" days to TPRAWKS!!

I'm going to break this down for everyone so that you know what exactly that means.

- On average, a month has 30 days. 18 days is LESS than that.

- A week has 7 days. 2 weeks is 14, and that means TPRAWKS!! is coming in 2 weeks and 4 days.

- 18 days includes 3 weekends which, as we all know, pass faster than weekdays. Which means out of the 18 days, 12 days are weekdays and 6 days are weekends.

No matter how I break it down, I reach only one conclusion.

TPRAWKS!! IS COMING SOON.

REALLY, REALLY SOON.

So why don't you read up on some of the highlights on TPRAWKS!! here on our blog.

You might want to start counting down too.

IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.

Labels: by Frayon, TPRAWKS

Earthlings,

Hmmm... I remember when I was preparing to sit for my O'levels.

Labels: By Fanning

Hi everyone! The Rawkers have already received the 2nd issue of the Rawker's X'clusive earlier this week, and for everyone else, here it is!

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Hey Rawkers!

Welcome to Issue #2 of the Rawker’s X’clusive! In this issue, we’re going to let you in on one of the key activities happening at TPRAWKS!! – the TP XPeriences!


To have a better idea of what life in Temasek Polytechnic is like, you’ll go through XPeriences (XPs) – an exciting set of workshops, tours and activities at the various schools in Temasek Polytechnic. The 6 schools of TP are:

1. Temasek Applied Science School (ASc)
2. Temasek Business School (BUS)
3. Temasek Design School (DES)
4. Temasek Engineering School (ENG)
5. Temasek Humanities and Social Sciences School (HSS)
6. Temasek Informatics and IT School (IIT)

Every Rawker will go through a total of 4 XPs (and hence visit 4 schools), and which schools you visit will depend on which group you’ll be in (further information on the groups will be sent to you in a later X’clusive).

To have a better idea of what these XPeriences are like, we’ll be featuring 2 XP activities here – the MediaBiz Studios Tour from BUS and Runway Fotofun from DES.

MediaBiz Studios Tour
So you’ve dreamt of working in the media as a news anchor or a radio DJ? Then see if you have what it takes to make your dreams come true! Be brought on a tour of the MediaBiz Studios, TP’s very own radio and TV studio. See our state-of-the-art equipment, get invited as a guest on a live radio programme, participate in the filming of a TV talk show and meet some of our celebrity lecturers who are still very involved with the media industry.


Runway Fotofun (DES)
Are you a budding fashion designer? Or maybe a go-green environmental supporter? Better yet, are you BOTH? The Runway Fotofun workshop will allow you to put your creative juices to work, in more ways than one! Use environmentally friendly materials to design a fashionable outfit for your team, dress your teammate up and have them strut the runway before a panel of judges! You’ll even get to have your designs photographed and put up on the internet!


Do you have a blog or Facebook account? We’ve created a special Rawker’s badge for you to put on your blog or Facebook page so you can tell everyone that you’re a Rawker! Simply right-click and save the below image and put it up.

That’s all for Issue #2. If you want to view the previous issue of the Rawker’s X’clusive, you can check it out on our blog at the tp4me blog.

And before we forget –


See you next issue!

Regards,
The TPRAWKS!! Team
Temasek Polytechnic
Enquiries: 6780 5017, 6780 6556, 6780 5024

Labels: by Frayon, Rawker's X'clusive, TPRAWKS

Frayon: Hello Cavepeople! Today Frayon serious. Today Frayon going to talk about something Frayon very familiar with.

Fanning: Oh, really?

Frayon: CCAs! Frayon very familiar with CCAs!

Fanning: ... Really? Frayon very familiar? Frayon going to say something like, "Today we're going to learn about the alphabets, starting with the letters 'CCA'?"

Frayon: Fanning think Frayon is dumb! But Fanning doesn't know that Frayon is an expert on Co-curricular Activities! Frayon join many, and is leader of 2!

Fanning: And which would those be, Frayon?

Frayon: The "Dinosaur Hunting Club" and the "Dino Dance Ensemble".

Fanning: Fanning never heard of those groups before. How many members does Frayon have in those CCAs?

Frayon: Err. 1 in both.

Fanning: Fanning thought as much.

No school experience can be complete without being part of CCAs or Co-Curricular activities! In Temasek Polytechnic, there're over 50 different CCAs and counting, spreading across several categories. In today's issues, we take a brief look at the various categories and interview a few students on their CCA experiences in TP.

But before that, a quick couple of facts about CCAs in TP!

- CCAs are NOT compulsory
- CCAs WILL appear on your transcript when you graduate, with a list of all your achievements
- You CAN have more than 1 CCA (provided you can juggle your commitments between them and your schoolwork)
- CCAs are run generally by students with little direct intervention from TP staff

Fanning: CCAs aren't compulsory, but they give you many opportunities you wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Frayon: Like hunting wild and big dinosaurs, and discovering that Frayon can run really fast when Frayon's really scared!


Adventure
Adventure CCAs are for those with a passion for the outdoors, and can involve activities like rock climbing, cycling and kayaking. The two Adventure CCAs are the Adventure Club and Experiential Learning Facilitators.

Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture CCAs are for those who love music, drama, dance and other forms of artistic expression. CCAs under this category include - Band, Chinese Orchestra, Dance Ensemble & Drama.


Community Service & Leadership
If you have a penchant for leadership or helping those in need, then a Community Service/ Leadership CCA is for you! CCAs under this category include - Students' Union, Community Service Club & Toastmasters.

Interest Groups
Have a specific interest and want to be part of a group of like-minded people? Interest Groups are CCAs for those with a type of passion or deep-seeded interest, and CCAs in this category include: Visual Central, Japanese Cultural Group and Global Connect Club.

Sports
With our own state-of-the-art and varied sports facilities, including a stadium and courts for various sports, those with an interest in sports will feel right at home in a Sports CCA. These include: Tennis, Taekwando and 10-pin Bowling.


Frayon: Frayon's Dinosaur Hunting Club is a Sports/Interest Group/Community Service/Leadership/Arts & Culture/Adventure CCA! Join now!

Fanning: ... Sigh.

Frayon and Fanning managed to kidnap catch up a few students on their experiences in their CCAs: Jacyln Ying from the TP Concert Band, Joshua Ng from the TP Kayak Racing Team and Jonathan Lim from the TP Intellectual Games Club.

Fanning: Okay Frayon, remove the cloths we stuffed into their mouths.

Frayon: Yes Fanning!



Why did you join the CCA?
I wanted to pursue my interest in music and playing the trombone after my secondary school days.

How often are the training/practice sessions?
Twice weekly, on Mondays and Fridays from 6.30 pm to 9pm.

What are the practices like?
Practices usually start with warm ups and tuning, and then the conductor will focus on the pieces chosen for an upcoming event. If there are no upcoming events scheduled, a few pieces will be taken out of the band library to be sight-read by the members. Practices are enriching as the conductor is extremely willing to share his extensive knowledge of music theory to help the members interpret the piece better.



Why did you join this CCA?
It seemed different and a relatively uncommon sport here in Singapore.

How often are the training/practice sessions?
Well, our training sessions are twice daily except for Sunday, once at 9.30 am and again at about 4 pm. It may sound scary to beginners at first, but you will come to realize that we put in the hours because we want to, not because we were made to.

How have your experiences in this CCA been so far?
I feel that joining the team was the biggest turning point in my life. It was because I joined the team that I turned into a full-fledged sportsman. I’m now also an avid marathoner, and it was with the team that I ventured into my first few short runs such as the Nike human race and Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon.

Frayon: So! Anyone want to join any of Frayon's clubs? Fanning?

Fanning: Fanning would rather jump into the mouth of a hungry dinosaur.

Jaclyn: Uhm. Can we go now?

Fanning: Oh. Yes you can.

*Jacyln and Joshua run away*

See you in the next issue of The Prehistoric Times!

Labels: By Fanning, by Frayon, The Prehistoric Times