[NUS Module Review] SP2201: Agri-Science in Japan and Singapore

(INTRODUCTION)

Welcome to the module review for SP2201! I would presume that if you're reading this, you are either interested in agriculture and you're hoping to learn more about it, or you heard about this module from your friends about the "freebies" this module could offer you and here you are. How you wanna interpret this "freebies" word is ultimately up to you. But I am here to share with you about what I actually went through in these two weeks and whether you should take this module or not. 

(LECTURERS)

There are so many lecturers to name here. Simply because each lecture is conducted by one lecturer and there is a total of five to six lectures in Japan and Singapore respectively. So you can expect around ten to twelve lecturers in total. The lecturers in NUS are A/P Chew Fook Tim, A/P Sanjay Swarup, A/P Hugh Tan, A/P Kim Jung Eun and many more. There are also a number of Japanese lecturers, but you probably don't need to know who they are anyways. But in the spirit of all my module reviews, let's talk about some of these lecturers okay?

A/P Chew is literally the best lecturer of the bunch right there. I've been taught by him in LSM1102 and my opinions of him then are the same now; super passionate in the things he taught, especially in the field of genetics. To be honest, he doesn't need any slides to do his teaching and that says a lot about how good he is. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same about the rest and perhaps it's best to leave it at that. A couple of the lecturers were reallyyyyyyyyyyyy lullaby-like, especially the one teaching Horticulture. If you're taking this module, you would probably be able to know who that person is. Never knew someone could actually make something that already sounds so boring, even more boring. 

The Japanese lecturers were not too bad. I'm not sure if it was because we were learning in a different environment, but it was a joy to listen to most of them teach. They didn't really send me off to sleep that much. 

(EXPANSION OF TOPICS COVERED)

The topics covered include:

• Challenges faced in rice production (Hokkaido University)
• Population and economic impact in agriculture (Hokkaido University)
• Technology to improve agriculture (Hokkaido University)
• Marketing agricultural products (Hokkaido University)
• Soybean production (Hokkaido University)
• Irrigation and agricultural reclamation in Hokkaido (Hokkaido University)
• Singapore's R&D (NUS)
• Genetics (NUS)
• Horticulture (NUS)
• Agrotechnologies (NUS)
• Singapore's food security (NUS)
• Singapore's food industry and nutrition (NUS)
• Olam (NUS)

Just by looking at this, the lectures taught in Hokkaido already look far more interesting than those taught in NUS. But that's not anyone's fault really because Singapore does indeed have a pretty bad agricultural outlook as a whole. But anyways, here is what you may learn in the respective lectures:

• Challenges faced in rice production - Temperature, altitude/latitude and humidity of Hokkaido, practices in farming and other food productions
• Population and economic impact in agriculture - Deforestation, migration and the impact of plagues
• Technology to improve agriculture - Drones, robots and cyberspace to reduce the need for manual labour by simply allowing farmers full control of them in their smartphones. Automated tractors are also introduced
• Marketing agricultural products - Wholesaling and the marketing principle between producers, retailers, wholesalers and consumers
• Soybean production - Uses, production and impact across the world
• Irrigation and agricultural reclamation in Hokkaido - Drainage, dams, peatland and its difficulties
• Singapore's R&D - How climate change, dwindling resources and rise in consumerism can impact the food landscape in Singapore and Singapore's plan for the future
• Genetics - Crossbreeding, epistasis and SNPs
• Horticulture - All parks in Singapore plus rooftop gardens and hydroponics
• Agrotechnologies - Rural flight, urban farming, food security and saving space
• Singapore's food security - Reliance on volunteer groups, food frauds, cyber attacks, food waste and GMOs
• Singapore's food industry and nutrition - Differences between processed and fresh foods, food contents and diseases
• Olam - Essentially everything about that place and what they do there

(PASSING THE ASSESSMENT)

The grading for the assessments in this module are as follows:

• Lecture Reflection - 10% x 4 = 40%
• Report - 15% x 2 = 30%
• Presentation - 30%

I feel the thing that really sucks in this module is the presentation. Everything seemed so vague and most of us are just guessing the way we wanna present our topic. The topics available are limited but are subjected to us choosing, so it's not really much of a worry for this. Presentation is ten minutes per person and that includes five minutes of QnA.

Reports and lecture reflections are just based on what you learn when you go for field trips and during lectures respectively. The only thing to worry about in this is that the deadlines are pretty tight. Within less than a week in Japan and less than a week and a half in Singapore, you must complete and submit them. There isn't any rubrics for this, so feel free to write anything and everything. Each reflection is up to two pages long and each report is up to five pages long.

(Schedule)

Since this is an exchange module, you will be in school for a week in Japan and a week in Singapore. Lessons and activities vary from day to day, with most days starting at 8/9am and ending at 5pm. You will need to wake up at 3am in Japan once for a particular field trip. Heard the previous batch got a chance to go to Malaysia as well. 

(EXPERIENCE AND FINAL GRADING)

I'm probably one of those that took this module because a friend told me that it was a good module to take. If it wasn't for my friend's recommendation, I would probably have not taken this module to be really honest with you. And the reason for this is that I have very little interest in agriculture. Admittedly, I really wanted the seafood module instead, but that one was simply too long for my liking. So this module it is.

As the module got closer, I was getting more and more excited because of the chance I got to go to Japan. Hence to say, I am not excited for the module itself lol. The downside of this module is that it costs $3000+. Certainly too expensive for an average module. But other than that, I love Hokkaido a lot. The food there is magnificent. I couldn't find a better BBQ or a better sushi outlet in Singapore that could even rival an average outlet in Hokkaido. And don't get me started on the draft beer.

Anyways, the module started off with a tour around Hokkaido on the first day, along with the introduction to your partners that you will be working with for this trip and presentation. On the first day, you will also have to decide the questions that your group will have to present on the very last day of the module. From the get-go, I think the competitiveness was already in the air among the Singaporean students, while the Japanese students simply didn't care as much. Goes to show the different cultures eh. Me and my partner settled for the topic on "Pests and Diseases", and we never seem to talk about it since.

The field trips were exciting, such as being able to see the automated tractors, historical site of Japan, wholesale market (the trip which required us to wake up at 3am) and the dams. We were also allowed to harvest potatoes and bring em back home. The lectures were okay, I guess, but I think what actually dampened the trip a lot was the deadlines to meet. By Wednesday, we were supposed to submit our first lecture reflection and by Sunday, we were supposed to submit both our report and second lecture reflection. Mind you that the report is four pages long and the reflection is two pages long. Thankfully, me and my Singaporean friend got our sh*t together pretty well, doing these assignments anywhere we got a chance to, such as on the tour bus, while lining up for a sushi place, on the train, in the hotel and even when after we drank like four pines of the heavenly goodness Sapporo has to offer. We managed to squeeze in some shopping and enjoyment along the way, but because of the assignments, we couldn't really party too hard. So that's a sad thing.

Back in Singapore, it's pretty much the same thing, except that there isn't a tour time allocated for the Japanese students. Not sure why the unfairness in not giving us time to bring them around Singapore but that's probably the admin's fault. Otherwise, on the very first day, we already had two or three lectures. We had to utilize the time after school to bring the Japanese students around Singapore and by the time we got back, it would be 11pm, with classes the next day, assignments to complete and presentations to prepare.

The field trips in Singapore were mostly insightful but ultimately boring. Come to think of it, it was a really sad thing to see field trips where people just frantically copy down notes on what the field trip host is tryna talk about. And it's not because they really care for agriculture, but they simply need those notes for report writing later on. Takes the spirit away from the field trips and truly appreciating what is actually shown there.

Oh, and don't get me started on the lectures held in Singapore. Other than A/P Chew's lectures and the professor/doctor talking about Olam, the rest of the lectures were a snoozefest. If I could get a group of people to make me hate agriculture, these lecturers would do that job perfectly. I really loved how the Japanese lecturers chose to build on depth rather than breath in their lectures, while the lecturers chose to do both, taking away any remaining attention the students have left in them. The contents were largely very interesting but the way it was delivered were sadly pretty underwhelming in my opinion. But on the bright side, I appreciated agriculture much more through this module and it certainly isn't because of the lectures, the lecturers or the admin. It was because of how agriculture is often underappreciated by a lot of people and there are so much more; jobs, food and the environment that agriculture could serve on a plate. I think that whether you love or hate agriculture, you will appreciate it more through this trip.

Thankfully, me and my partner started the presentation preparation early. And on the very last day, we were the first to present. I have to be the first to admit that our presentation was pretty bad compared to the rest, but by the very last day, all of us were in a pretty good mood and being the first one to present relieves all the tension and stress for the rest of the day. So I spent the rest of the day finishing up the lecture reflection and report so that I am able to enjoy at night.

It was a really sad time knowing that this could be the last time we will ever see each other again, but I guess as cliche as it sounds; the memories will live on forever.

(CONCLUSION AND TIPS)

So that is all for this review. Again, nothing personal towards the lecturers or admin. As a tutor myself, I do understand the efforts that are being placed in teaching or preparing the contents. But once again, this is a review of a module and not an area for glorification. If it's good, I'll be the first to say it. But if it's bad, I'll also be the first to say it because I don't falsify my opinions just to make a module or subject look good. So yes, nothing personal, but just the truth so everyone would know better. :)

In case you are wondering, there is nothing, NOTHING involving chemistry in this module. It has mathematics, statistics, definitely life sciences, but no chemistry. I had to venture into areas I have little to no interest and knowledge of. So if you're still down for it, just go for it man!

Ratings out of 5⭐:

• Should you take this module - If you have interest in Agriculture or you heard about the "freebies" this module can give you
• Degree of Difficulty - ⭐
• Effort Required - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Timetable Impact - ⭐⭐

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