I am Yvonne Goh and I have a passion for sports. My passion for sports cannot be put into simple words. I have been involved in various sports since the age of 7. And I started joining sports CCAs at the age of 10. Some of the team sports that I play are basketball, volleyball and netball. My current CCA is Netball. Netball is a sport that requires good agility, stamina and teamwork. I play as a shooter in the team. As I am always standing at the end of the court, I am able to see the whole game during the match. This gives me an advantage; I can help to control the game by shouting to my teammates what moves to do next or what moves they should not execute.

I like team work and I expect excellence in every netball match as well as academic wise. I always make sure that all projects are thoroughly checked through and that all the information needed are present. Therefore, I am always getting A’s for my projects and the school's alternative assessments. Sometimes, I detest people who lose confidence in themselves over a minor setback. I feel that they are failures. Therefore, I will do my best to help them regain their confidences back by encouraging others to be more aware of their strengths and work towards it. This will enable them to regain their confidences back.

The career of my choice is a Senior Executive, RDO-RTDU. In this profession, I will be a member of the Research Training and Development Unit in the Research and Development Office. This is a department that drives to develop the potential of researchers and clinical investigators within the research community during the relevant courses given, and providing administration of research programmes that nurtures the young investigators. I will be involved in conducting and coordinating training programmes related to the proper conduct of research, research ethics and research methodology. I will also be developing and maintaining the Department’s policies and procedures. I am expected to take on assignments presented by the ASC Manager/ Head of Department/ Deputy Director, RDO.

This career requires me to have a bachelor degree in the field of Life Sciences, strong communication and interpersonal skills with ability to multitask, carry a past experience in the field of Life Sciences and to be a team player who is creative, meticulous, highly motivated, results-oriented and effective.

I feel that this profession enables me to use the skills that I have developed over the years. One of which is leadership. I certainly hope that I will excel in this career and make the field of Life Sciences an interesting profession.

This year's Chinese New Year was fun. I went to my Ah Gong's (Paternal Grandfather) house on the eve of Lunar New Year and on the second day of Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is one of my favourite festive seasons as it is a time for all the relatives to come back, pay respect to our ancestor and enjoy a good meal together. On the second day of Chinese New Year, each and every family members related to the Goh family arrived to my Ah Gong's house early. We offered joss sticks to our ancestor, including my beloved Ah Ma who passed away recently.

After lunch, it was our tradition to take a family picture together. We do this annually to signify the family being reunited. It was a pity not being able to have my Ah Ma with us though. As we had quite a number of family members, I could tell that my Ah Gong, being the main target of the picture was getting bored after 5 pictures were taken.

Next, we played Mahjong. There were two tables being set up. One for the "professional" (mainly for the uncles including my father), we call them professionals because they could play Mahjong from the early afternoon till the night. I strongly agree that the uncles are professionals because whenever I sit beside one of them and try to understand how they are playing it so fast, dizzy spells come over me. Another table that was set up was for the "miniature players" that had included me!

Having not been able to practise my Mahjong "skills" regularly, I lost badly to my sister and cousins. These people or as they call themselves "the pro", play Mahjong on a regular basis. So, trying to play against them was just waiting for death to come. After only a few rounds, I lost in total of $3. Being not sure of the paying rules, I am also not sure if they cheated me of my money! This looks like a lesson to be learnt. At 6 in the evening, dinner started. I only managed to have my dinner at 8pm because in my family, it is a custom to let the oldest have their dinner first, followed by the other uncles and auntie. And lastly, the grandchildren and other invited guests to have their dinner.

There was a wide spread of variety. Ranging from the usual steamboat and scrumptious Yusheng, to appetising sushi and gratifying home cooked dishes. I was glad to be in the last group to have their dinner. Because I would not have to worry about keeping some food for the next group but just savour the delightful food slowly and having most of them to myself! Now, I understand how easy I put on weight every Sunday family gathering at Ah Gong’s house.

After dinner, a couple of relatives settled for television programmes, some of us went to play captain’s ball while the obsessed Mahjong players continued with their game. The day ended at 11 p.m. when “the professionals” finally completed playing Mahjong and realised that their niece also known as my father’s daughter, Yvonne Goh was feeling tired and sleepy.

I enjoyed that day very much. Although, we still have regular family Sunday gathering and the divine food on the dining table. I still yearn for more of these occasions because there is always a different mood setting for different events. Next gathering! Here I come !