Latest / 987 The Shock Circuit / INTERVIEW: CHARMAINE LEE

Transcript

INTERVIEW: CHARMAINE LEE · 987 The Shock Circuit

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I've replaced Joakim with a beautiful girl here today, so
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: I have no regrets when it comes to that. You
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: will be familiar with this competition called World Skills. It's
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: not the first time that we've had students, um, that
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: represented Singapore here in our studio for that and, uh,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: my guest is also a familiar face. Say hello to
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Republic Polytechnics, Charmin.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Hello. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? It's been
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: a whole year since you were here in the studio.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: I've been good. It's been a lot since the past
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: one year.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean,
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: I'm happy to be here.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Exactly. And it's, it's always so nice to see like
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: our very own students from Singapore representing us and then winning.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, OK, it's not always about winning. It's always about,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: you know, the experience and everything, but secretly,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: You of course feel happy if you win something, right?
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Tell me about your experience this year in Shanghai.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Yes, so it's been, it's been a year since uh
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: worst cases ASEAN. So that was in Malaya and through
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: that I have had um many friendlies along the way.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: So I went to Australia in June this year and then, um,
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: I won the best foundation as well as a gold
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: medal over there. So that was a friendly that I
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: had and I met a few of my competitors internationally.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: After that, I went to Shanghai to compete on the
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: international stage. Yes, and I got the best nomination as
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: well as a silver medal.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I. 27.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Crazy. How, how's your mindset going in because, you know,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: you don't want to be intimidated. At the same time,
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: you need to have a good head on your shoulders
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: to be like, OK, I'm focused and I, I want
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: to do well. Does, does winning even cross your mind
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: or you're just focused on the task?
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I went in with a goal. OK, OK. So I
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: went in with a goal to achieve something that I
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: really wanted from the very start when I joined WorldSkills.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: So that is to win a medal and to make myself,
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: my coaches, as well as my family proud.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Yes, I mean, so, you know, for the sake of
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: our audience members who may not be so familiar with
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: what WorldSkills is about, I was actually saying,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Earlier that it is the world's largest international skills competition,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: so it's kind of like the Olympics of vocational skills
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: in a way as we would dub it, right? Can
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: you take us through the competition process, just in case
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: people are wondering like, what do you do?
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: OK, so I am in the restaurant category. So, uh
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: throughout our international competition, it's across 4 days. So throughout
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: the 4 days, we have
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Um, many different tasks to complete. So we have fine dining,
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: so we have to serve a table of 3 and
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: 2 at the same time, and we also have bistro dining,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: so we had to serve a table of 43, and
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: 2 simultaneously, simultaneously as well as banquet dining and barista
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: and bartending.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: There's so many things, so many things going on.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I mean, for you, um, I know that there's a
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: lot of like multitasking going on, you have to really
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: keep a clear mind. What was the most challenging part
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: of this process for you?
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: The time it's uh
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Very squeezy time that we have this time around because
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: um for banquet dining, usually we have 3 courses within
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: 90 minutes, but this time around they increased to 6
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: courses within 80 minutes. Yes, so it's very squeezy,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: but it actually feels like a real-life, I mean they're
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: trying to simulate like a real-life situation, right? Because
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: Sometimes when I go for like events or even like
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: wedding dinners at places, sometimes you hear people saying like, oh,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: there's a delay or like, you know, maybe it's uh
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: it's it's it's not moving as fast as we want.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I can see that there's a lot going on back end.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Ever since you joined these competitions, and I'm assuming, you know,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: you have a bright future ahead of you in terms
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: of your career, what were some things that you now
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: appreciate more in the service sector, like compared to when
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: you were just a consumer back then?
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Definitely when it's busy, I will try my best to
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: wait a little longer because, yes, correct, because we know
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: like what's going on behind the scenes as a service
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: staff myself.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: I think the only problem is like when people haven't
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: experienced the back end and that's how we like sometimes
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: lovingly won that title for ourselves, right? Singaporeans like to
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: complain and all that.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: OK, we're gonna take a short break. I think you
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: actually have a few friends joining us on TikTok live
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: watching you and even Republic Police tuned in. I am
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: still with Republic Poly's Charmaine who has been with us.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: She's got plenty of very proud um lecturers and I
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: think family and friends joining.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: The TikTok live stream right now. Thank you for joining
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: us and thank you for doing our country so proud
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: as well. Um, it's not your first time here and
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: it's not your first time also like chatting about WorldSkills
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: and how passionate you are about it. Um, in case
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: you just joined us, she also claimed the best of
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: nation award, which I wanted to address right now.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: The challenges in the Best of nation award actually quite complex,
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: quite a lot of things. Um, I zoomed in on
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: the bartending challenge. Can you tell me a bit more
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: about that?
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: So, that is more complex because we have to memorize
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: a list of cocktails and then we wouldn't know until
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the day itself, the bartending itself, yes, which one will.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: So it's mystery. So we'll get 3 and 1 mystery.
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: Yes,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: remembering and memorizing 27 recipes, that's insane.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: That's insane. It's
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: a lot. Yeah. How, what was your, how did you
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: compartmentalize and plan for that?
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Usually I go, I memorize by the easiest one first.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: So usually the minimum one is 3 types of alcohol
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: followed by 4 or 5. Some example like Long Island
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: iced tea, there are 7 ingredients in that. It's correct.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: No wonder we always get headache.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: Oh yes. So that is the cocktail that I remember
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: the last. Yeah.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: And can you tell us a bit more about what
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: was chosen for you to, to make or what was selected?
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: So,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: OK, I don't really remember the three, but, yes, but
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: um we were given 3 mysteries and one that was
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: um created by our
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Wskis um director himself. Oh,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: OK, so it's a special one. Yes,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: correct. So it's a special one and then we were
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: given a recipe on the spot. So we have to
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: prepare the ingredients, the glassware, the garnishes, and then we
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: have another 20 minutes to prepare.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Compare the drinks to our
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: guests.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: And so they rated, I'm sure based on like the visuals,
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: the flavor, the taste,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: how balanced or not.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: And if it's meaning like to the brim, or what
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: do you mean by that?
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Oh,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: so they need to look like totally uniform.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's not as easy as you think. I'm sure
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: that now that you're so well versed in all of this,
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: when you go for your own like family gatherings, are
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: you the go to person? They're like, OK, she's got it,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: she's doing the
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: drinks.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Does that happen? No, just to open wines actually.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: So you're very useful in that sense. OK, so now
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: you've got both medals with you today. You've shown it
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: to the, have you shown it to the TikTok live
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: stream just yet?
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Not yet. Show it,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: show it. Yeah, flex it.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: It
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: looks
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: really
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: heavy. Yes, it is. It is. So
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: This one is the best of nation. Yeah, that's the
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: one with the the turquoise straps. Yeah.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: And then the orange strap is my silver medal.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Thank
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: you so much for bringing that down and for sharing
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: it with us. What's next for you now that you
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: know you've already achieved a certain level of accomplishments in
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Republic Poly and then you're going to graduate soon. You
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: mentioned that you're gonna full-time work full-time very soon. Anything
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: else that you're gonna do or pursue or you can
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: share with us on air before I let you go?
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: Um, yes, I'll be continuing, uh, my full time with
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: my internship place previously. So that is finaning as well,
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: and then maybe pursue my further studies in the future.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: And anything you'd like to say to, you know, aspiring
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: young people who also want to take on a similar
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: path to you and hopefully win big at WorldSkills next time.
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: Anything you want to share?
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: Um, I would say if you have the passion and
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: the resilience for it, uh, go for it because it's
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: a very fun journey, although it's long, but it's very fulfilling. Yeah, exactly.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being here. Would you like
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: to say
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: A big thank you to one of your, any of
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: your RP supporters or you know, your, your
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: friends.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Yes, I would like to thank my coach, Miss Yannie.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: She's been there through all the long hours, the long trainings,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: as well as the different competitions. Miss Adeline, my expert,
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: so she's the one that's
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Making sure that everything is on point before we head
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: off for every competition. My chef, as well as um
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: all the lecturers that have been helping me along the way.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: So
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: it
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: really takes a village, right? Yes, we don't see that.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: We don't see that. Thank you so much. You know,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: it's always a pleasure having you here and you're always
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: so happy and you radiate so much joy and I
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: wish you all the best. Thank you.