HP0201 Employment Relations for Work and Careers in Singapore

Lessons:
3-hr lecture per week

Assessment:
Essay assignment 40%
Finals 60%

Exam Format:
Essays

Description:

This module is about the employment relations landscape in Singapore. Contents covered include Tripartism, trade unions, maintaining healthy employment relations, the work of MOM, SNEF, NTUC, WDA, etc, psychological contract, and the various laws in Singapore such as Employment Act, Workplace Safety and Health Act.

There is only one lecture per week, no recorded lecture. It is advisable to attend the lecture as the lecturer gives hints about assignment and finals during the lectures. In addition, the lecturer does not like to reply questions via emails and expects you to consult him during lecture breaks, so if you have questions, you need to attend the lecture. 

Readings are relatively heavy for a 3AU module. Other than the prescribed textbook, you have to read lecture slides (which are really lengthy), articles which the lecturer will state in the course outline or lecture slides, and your own research (yes, you are expected to do research on top of everything). However, I did not really read the textbook as I find them quite outdated. 

For the essay assignment, you have to do it either in groups of 2 or 3. It's a 4000-word essay (or 6000-word if you are in a group of 3). The essay question will be provided in the first lecture and you will have to utilise information from the lecture and your own research. The question can be quite vague and dubious, so in order to prevent yourself from misunderstanding the essay question and what the lecturer wants, I would advise you to consult him whether your essay is in the right direction.

For the finals, you have to complete 4 questions (each question has 2 parts) within 2 hours. In other words, you have to complete 8 essays in 2 hours, so time management is important. It's not purely regurgitation, you have to "discuss" for some of the questions. Questions may require you to use information from your own research, such as recent changes made, the work of NTUC, etc. The essay questions are quite straightforward, and it is good to look at PYP as reference. 

Personally, this module is the least enjoyed modules I've taken, mostly because of my lack of interest and the heavy content. I will not recommend this module unless you have an interest in the employment landscape in Singapore, and have the time and capacity to cope with the readings and content load.

The positive thing about this module is probably that the lecturer provides hints about finals. However, from personal experience, simply following the hints for exam revision is not recommended. You still need to read the content that are not included in the hints.