It was a trip they won’t forget for a long time. The team, CyberLAB, a Eureka Team from the Electronics Engineering Department of ITE College East, got a rare chance to share their project on an international stage. At the International Convention of Quality Control Circles (ICQCC) held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 23-26 Oct 08, the members not only got a personal insight into the various forms of IQC quality projects from other countries, they also experienced the diverse cultures of these countries through their song and dance performances. An annual platform for sharing of knowledge, ideas and experiences among QC practitioners, quality experts and enthusiasts from all parts of the world, the ICQCC 2008 was an eye-opener for the team. Based on the theme “QCC’s for Development”, the presentations and case studies in diverse fields have opened their eyes to QCCs’ practices and their contribution to humanity.

CyberLAB, represented by 3 staff (comprising Facilitator Mr Mervyn Teo Yu Lee, Leader Ms Shek Kwai Teng and member Ms Tang Wenli), was privileged to be the one to experience this event. Being one of the winners of the 2008 INNOVA Award for its innovative project, 'CyberLAB Remote Virtual Educational Laboratory', the team was selected to represent ITE and present this project at the international convention.

Read on to find out more about the team's 'Adventure' in Dhaka from the team themselves:

An Eye-Opening Experience @ the Convention

"ICQCC 2008 was hosted by the Bangladesh Society for Total Quality Management (BSTQM) in Dhaka from 23-26 Oct 08. More than 1,000 participants from 10 countries attended the Convention and a total of 155 papers were presented. The four-day program consisted of opening ceremony, plenary session, concurrent technical sessions, farewell event, cultural programs and industrial visits. Singapore was represented by 42 delegations from 7 public sector organisations for this convention. Besides our ITE team, Singapore was represented by teams from LTA, MINDEF, NUS, SLA, SP, SPF and SPA.

At the opening session, one of the keynote speakers, Prof. Dr. Denis S Tachiki from Tamagawa University, Japan, spoke about the importance of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the public sector. With TQM, the government would be able to better meet the increasing demands from their citizens without depleting the fiscal revenue. Mr Tachiki shared that TQM could be introduced to the public sector but might not be accepted and adopted effectively. We also heard that in Bangladesh, all civil servants had to complete a series of three core courses, the Foundation Training Course, Advanced Course for Administration and Development, and the Senior Staff Course. TQM was one of the core courses. They aimed to improve the service quality to the citizens and cultivate innovative training and education approach to TQM in the public sector.

This trip has given us an opportunity to attend numerous quality presentations from the various countries.  All the projects presented at the convention were from award-winning teams in their own countries.  It was an eye-opener as we observed how the projects were presented in different ways and how the teams derived their solutions.  Some presenters would simply read out from their scripts while others whole-heartedly memorised their lines and acted out their “Dramatic scene”.  We were impressed by the well designed prototypes shown by MINDEF. Their presentation also had a demonstration on how to use the versatile trolley to improve the efficiency.  We could feel the passion in their work and their pride in making a difference in their organisation.

We were also impressed by some presenters who were very conversant presenting in the English language although it was not their first language. We could see the tremendous amount of effort put in by these presenters.

We also observed that as the delegates were from various countries, some had different expectations for their presenters. For instance, the Indian delegates would pose questions to the audience after a team presentation.

Most of the conference presentations were industry-related. Thus, when our team and the City Montessori School from India presented an education-related area, it generated much interest.

Our CyberLAB presentation focused on our organisation’s mission, issues, challenges, project development, pedagogical model, practical experiment demonstration and survey feedback. We presented in PowerPoint with pictures and videos. It went exceedingly well. Enthusiastic questions were raised by the audience and QC facilitators. From the questions raised by audience at the various presentations, we could see a trend towards greater interest in QC implementation issues and outcome, beyond processes and tools.

    

On the last night of the farewell event, the organiser arranged for country performances by representative countries.  Each country was given 10 minutes to do a group performance. It was very entertaining and enriching.  We watched the different countries displaying their unique performances, costumes and songs.  It made us feel that Asia-Pacific is so vast and rich with diverse cultures and talents.

    

Performance by Singapore Team

Having a group photo with local dancers

 

Here’s what our team members have to say:

Mervyn Teo:
“The opportunity to participate and share our project at the international platform is indeed an enriching experience for all of us. The team did a great job in engaging the participants from various countries.“

Shek Kwai Teng:
“It's been a great experience and good exposure for me! Having different people coming from different organisations and from different countries, coming together to share and exchange ideas.“

Tang Wenli:
“It has been a great opportunity for me to explore Dhaka, Bangladesh as well as interact with people from various organisations and different countries.”

This global convention has given us a great opportunity to network, benchmark and learn from the sharing of best practices by the various QC award-winning teams from the 13 participating countries, including those from our fellow Singapore teams. It has challenged all participating teams to assess our own quality standards, processes and to set higher future standards.

Having Fun While @ Work

It wasn’t all work and no play @ the ICQCC though. There were opportunities for us to interact and know each other better, especially with our fellow Singapore team mates. One of the highlights of the convention was a full-day city tour to orientate us to our host city, Dhaka – the capital of Bangladesh. It was indeed very enlightening for all and more so for some members who were there for the first time. Dhaka is a thriving, colourful and congested metropolis of some 12 million people, and growing steadily. The streets are rivers of chaos filled mostly with very colourful rickshaws – around 400,000 to be exact, the highest number of any city in the world.

The next ICQCC will be held in Cebu, Philippines from 23 to 27 October 2009. To our fellow ITE teams, if you have a good innovative solution, do surface it to your management. Who knows? Yours may just be the next team selected to represent ITE at ICQCC 09.

Last but not least, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!   

     

The Lalbagh Fort

The Parliament Building

      

The Curzon Hall, Dhaka University campus

The Dhakeswari Temple