MERCU™ Staff Training 2010

Staffs of MERCU™ had the chance to turn up their skills by a notch through the training held recently on 19 March 2010. Titled “How to win cooperation and influence people”, the staffs were pleasantly welcomed by trainers from Dale Carnegie Training, a renowned motivational and training organization.

Despite being in a seminar setting, staff went through a series of activities that required them to move around. These activities also sharpened their communication skills besides enabling them to know their colleagues better. One interesting exercise was when the staff had to answer a few questions that led them to different categories; visionary, analyzer, facilitator and achiever. Some were stark reflections of whom they are usually seen as! Through this activity, staffs are able to identify and adapt to the different kind of personalities and thus create better working dynamics and environment.

Apart from applying what they learnt from the training on their colleagues, staff also benefited in gaining techniques of communicating better with customers, corporate clients and partners. They have gained knowledge on ensuring that customers are provided with the best service and programmes that they deserve.

At the end of the day, staffs were given ‘Dale Carnegie’s Golden Book’, a pocket-sized book that lists pertinent points to practice in winning cooperation and influence people. They were also presented with a certificate for their successful participation.

Kudos to all MERCU™ staffs for participating actively during the training. With the skills and knowledge brought back from the fruitful day, expect only the best from us, MERCU™rians!

View the photos here!

MERCU™ Staff Brunch 2009

MERCU™ Staff Brunch 2009 was held on 13 June 09 at Singapore's oldest government building, The Arts House, formerly known as the Old Parliament House. The Blue Room also formerly known as the Members Room was chosen to hold all 85 staff for its historic 182 years' significance and to aptly reflect the "MERCU™ Members Only" staff get-together.

While treated to a cocktail of orange and guava juices, staff could read up on the history of the building and to browse the numerous archives and historical artefacts. The brunch started with a 15-minutes tour of the building, where we were brought to a former prison cell (now converted to a swanky cafe), the screen rooms and the parliamentar chambers. Along the way, staff can be seen posing for and clicking away their cameras. The sketched painting of President Nathan and the First Lady was a favourite spot to pose for pictures.

The brunch spread was authentic Thai cuisine, ranging from Fresh Green Mango Salad, Wok-Fried King Prawns, Lamb Curry, Olives Fried Rice to the the yummy and mouth-watering Chocolate Mousse and Sticky Rice with Mango. It was indeed a special and sumptuous spread which leave the staff going to and fro from their table to the buffet area for top-ups.

Mid way, our GM, Mr Azman Atan, gave away awards to our Long-term Service Saff. In the 5 years Service Category, the recipients are: Fadhliyah (PRLC), Farizan (KMB), Yu Yingshun (KMB), Dewi Sarena (KMW) and Salamah Mistooki (KMW). The 3 proud recipients of our 10 years Long Term Service Awards are Norliza Amin (Senior Manager, EC), Cikgu Asiah Hasan (KMW) and Hurbiah Rusdon (KMW). Our heartfelt appreciation to the all of them for their dedication to the company.

The brunch session ended with special announcements from Mr Azman Atan, who then proudly announce the recipients of the follwing awards: Staff of The Year FY08/09 goes to Siti Nur Aishah, Sales Administrator at Pasir Ris Learning Centre, Supervisor of the Year FY08/09 goes to Mdm Samia Slamat, Senior Principal, Kidz Meadow Woodlands and for the second time, Centre of the Year FY08/09 is awarded to Kidz Meadow Woodlands. There were thunderous applause and cheers all around to our proud recipients. Congratulations !

View the photos here!

Music Bash!

It was a star-studded night on 29th August at the Raffles Convention Centre as singing celebrities Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Alanis Morissette, Beyonce, Avril Lavigne, Timbaland, Jay Chou and others graced the "not-so-red" carpet.

This was not a scene from the Asian Music Television Awards but MERCU™’s annual Teacher's Day party organised by Magnificent 5 - Joan, Adibah, Diana, Farizan and Hudha. Like every other party, that night was filled with glitz and glam with everyone dressed to their nines for the music-themed event.

The room was simply but elegantly decorated with musical notes, musical artiste posters and a hand made exquisite disco ball. All the tables were labelled by Genres – Rock, Pop, Classical, Punk, Reggae, R&B, Hip Hop and Jazz – and to top it all was a Billboard chart which awaits the genre that would top the list after each table game.

The night kicked off with Original Soundtrack and you guessed it rightly – Movie soundtracks were being played and groups had to guess which movie it was from. There was chaos, as usual, when staff interrogated the emcees, Hamdan and Hudha, for clues to the names of movie.

The teams also competed in group singing competition aptly named Forget Your Lyrics, a twist to the game show, Don’t Forget Your Lyrics. They were also awed by a video morph of eight staff during the activity Who’s That Girl/Guy? a pen and paper game that had the teams guessing which MERCU™ staff would be the closest match to the given celebrity. Everyone agreed that the highlight of the night was the game Artist-Look-Alike. A member of the team was selected to ‘dress up’ as an iconic singing celebrity and perform a short impersonation of the celebrity.

The show wouldn’t be complete without our infamous Music Bash Idol judges, Shahfi Cowell, Liza Abdul, Azman Jackson and guest judge Salha Carey. The game drew roaring laughter as Stevie Wonder, Madonna, Pavarotti, Tina Turner, Bob Marley, Elvis and Elton John went on stage to parade and perform.

The Finale was a screening of a video, "A Tribute To Teachers" featuring children and students of MERCU™ showering teachers with their well wishes and words of appreciation for all the hard work, tireless contribution and dedication the teachers have put in. To these kids, their teachers will always be a star.

Special thanks to these sponsors for their continual support:
- APG Advertising Pte Ltd
- Atlas Vending
- Atos Wellness
- BDMG
- Bob Associates Design Consultants
- Creatitude
- Comat Jesie
- Express Daily Services
- Deli Maslina
- ExpressPoint Business Services
- Ezycool
- LDM Marketing
- Pestbusters
- Qala Singapore
- SZA Consultants
- The Royals Premium Cakes & Pies
- Unique Quality Photocopy Studio

Check out the Music Bash here!

MERCU™ Mania Futsal Challenge 2008

Staff of MERCU™ had a kicking good time on Saturday, 8th March 2008 as they dribbled their way during the annual MERCU™ Mania 2008, this time round being a Futsal Challenge. Aimed to foster good relationship between staff from all 10 centres, the annual event also emphasizes the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

Eight teams battled it out, sporting attires that dramatized their respective team names and colours assigned. The teams were ‘Bend it like Bedahs’ (pink), ‘Ribena Riotz’ (purple), ‘Golden Phoenix’ (yellow), ‘White Tigers’ (white), ‘Prebet Lapokz’ (green), ‘Joga Benito’ (orange), ‘Redbull’ (red) and ‘Gol & Gincu’ (blue). Hidden talents surfaced as the staff displayed their skills in soccer. Playing league format, each team got the chance to play at least thrice against different teams. After several rounds of 8 minute games, it was down to 2 teams for the finals. A close fight between ‘Ribena Riotz’ and ‘Redbull’ ended when the bulls managed to score at the very last second. With a score of 1 to 0, ‘Redbull’ emerged as champion this year.

In addition, there were two other special awards given. The Outstanding Sportsperson of the year went to Siti Nur Aishah from Pasir Ris Learning Centre as she proved to be a skillful player on the field, scoring several goals for her team, ‘Joga Benito’. ‘Bend it Like Bedahs’ clinched the Best Dressed Award for their striking ensemble.

The staff truly enjoyed themselves as it was a fun and healthy event for all. Thanks to the organizing team, Shahfiran and Adibah for the job well done!

Check out the fun here!

Black & White Glam Nite

Staff of MERCU™ celebrated Teacher’s Day in glamour on 31st August 07 at Park Hotel as they adorned black and white outfits in accordance to the theme for the night; Black & White Glam.

They were welcomed by the wall of fame displaying the names and faces of nominees for the event’s awards. Embellishing the carpeted floor were stars, personalized with staff’s individual names. 

Hosted by Akbar and Adibah from the Corporate Services, the event kicked off with performances and an icebreaker to get the audience up and bustling. The energy was kept intact as they moved on to the 3 games for the night. ‘Guess Where?’ tested searching skills as staff combed the ballroom in search of their teams’ envelopes of clues. The game led to another called ‘Guess Who?’ which got the audience bursting in laughter as baby photos of selected staffs were displayed. The game ‘Lights, Camera, Action!’ brought out the talent in the staff as they presented their television commercials of ridiculous items such as toilet brush and pail.    

Different from previous years, the event was made meaningful as centres submitted boards citing interesting and unforgettable stories encountered at their respective centres. The boards were displayed during the event and the stories were made nominees for the ‘best story’ award.

In addition, some of the more interesting stories were sketched out by the supervisors and selected staff. Drawing endless laughter, the sketch received applause from the audience as the stories were well depicted and performed.

The nominees for Black & White Glam night were then announced -Hitam Manis (the tannest), Putih Melepak (the fairest), Cutie, Best Story and MERCUrity (most enthusiastic). The audience voted for the deserving individual. Nominess for best Dressed, ‘Glam Gal’ and ‘Glam Guy’, also took the runway strutting their glamorous ensemble. 

The much anticipated Lucky Draw was divided to three sessions, each promising fantastic prizes. The top prize winner walked away with a 2D 1N stay at Batam and a 100 dollar Takashimaya voucher.

It was indeed a fabulous job done by the organizing committee consisting of Norliza, Fadhliyah, Akbar, Gamar, Tuty and Adibah as the staff truly enjoyed the night.

Special thanks to the following event sponsors for their generous support!

- APG Advertising Pte Ltd
- Atlas Vending
- Bob Associates Design Consultants
- Derlie Express
- Deli Maslina
- ExpressPoint Business Services
- Ezycool
- Fuji Xerox
- Gold Chocs
- KNA Stationery
- LDM Marketing
- Le Sheriff
- Maybank
- Qala Singapore
- Raffles Academy
- The Royals Premium Cakes & Pies
- Tee-Workshop
- Unique Quality Photocopy Studio
- Wayan Retreat

Check out the glitz and glam here!

Teachers' Training - Phonics

Teachers in MERCU™ are required to attend relevant trainings to ensure that they are in tune with current teaching methodologies and new initiatives introduced to the curriculum.

On 16 March 2007, teachers attended a training on phonemic awareness. Through the training, teachers learned how to introduce letter sounds in a fun way. Even though the Phonics is not part of the curriculum, it is important for teachers to be able to teach the correct sounds of consonants, vowels and introduce blends at K1 level. The overall objective is for teachers to teach letters in a fun way through songs, rhymes, games and hands-on activities.

View the photos taken at the training here.

As the theme for the day was Hats Party, they all turned up in their fancy hats - cowboys hats, santa hats, party hats....

Treasure Hunt was a great warm-up for the staff as they hunt for items like white hair and one-cent coins. Through "Design Fancy Wear", the staff showed off their creativitiy in designing interesting outfits from just newspaper, masking tape and magazines!

The makan time was a food fiesta with all the centres contributing a variety of food like murtabak, cakes from The Royals, popiah, dadeh and agar-agar.

Performances from each group was a long-awaited item. They perform dance/skits backed up with music from Grease, Hindi movies and Michael Jackson albums. MERCU™ staff are really talented! The party ended with gift exchange, which each staff is required to bring. Thanks to the organising team: Sharifah, Akbar and Sumarni for a job well done!

Check out the photos here.

The event was hosted by the full time tutors, Hamdan and Selena and kicked off with a speech by the GM, Azman Atan or shall we say “Dick Tracy”. The event followed with a series of games where table members had to team up to complete a Movie Jigsaw Puzzle and Guess the Soundtrack and Old Movie Stars! The staffs were then treated a sumptuous buffet dinner and big spread of desserts. The first 10 lucky draw prizes were given out as the Bingo machine spanned. 10 lucky staff walked away with prizes generously sponsored by our vendors.

It was then time to announce the nominees for the MERCU™ Oscar Awards – Most Kecoh Award, Most Fashionista Award, Most Kwai Kwai Award and Most Star Karat Award followed by a Question and Answer session. The staff had a chance to vote for the their favorites.

The staffs were then tested on their acting and singing skills when the event preceded with 2 more Oscar Games – Wardrobe Malfunction and Guess the Song? This was followed with the much-awaited Paparazzi Pose by the nominated Oscar Hunks and Babes who walked away with their tiaras and crowns and a beautiful watch each.

The votes for the MERCU™ Oscar awards have been tabulated and the winners were announced. They were presented with the Oscar statue and a surprise gift that will definitely come in handy.

The celebration became even more meaningful with the presentation of the Long Service Award to the GM, Azman Atan for his 10-year of service to the company and in recognition for his exemplary leadership and selfless acts of time and dedication to have driven MERCU™ to a level that has prospered.

The event ended with the announcement for the top5 winners for the Lucky draw prizes. The top prize winner walking away with a 2D1N Stay at Nirwana Resort, Bintan.

To the organizing committee – Norliza, Harni, Hidayah, Hamdan and Selena, it was certainly a job well done and to all the teachers in MERCU™, thank you for your commitment, dedication and relentless effort in shaping and touching the lives of many children.

Special thanks to the following event sponsors for their generous support!
-APG Advertising Pte Ltd
-Atlas Vending Pte Ltd
-Bob Associates Design Consultants
-Danmax Security Management Pte Ltd
-eGuide Singapore Pte Ltd
-Expresspoint Business Services
-Express Daily Services
-Fuji Xerox Pte Ltd
-Guilford Training Centre Pte Ltd
-Harem Hair & Body Salon
-KC Security & Investigation Services Pte Ltd
-LDM Marketing Pte Ltd
-QALA Singapore Pte Ltd
-Ricoh (Singapore) Pte Ltd
-Unique Quality Photocopy Studio

View the photos here!

Setting the standard for excellence in customer service and exceeding a customer’s expectations, were the objectives of MERCU™’s 2006 Staff Training.  The organising committee was tasked to form a Customer Service Framework, which we hope, will make us stand out from the crowd! And who else to know it best, if not the Centre Administrators themselves, who make up a part of the organising committee!  

Taking away the yearly tradition of outdoor-based staff training, the MERCU™rians were welcomed into an air-conditioned room with comfortable seats to sit in for a half-day programme on Saturday, 17th June 2006. For the 1st Ice Breaker of the day, MERCU™rians were challenged to arrange themselves in alphabetical order according to their names and it’s actually no easy task! Well… at least quite easy for those with names starting with A!

The training was then kicked off in a light hearted manner, whereby MERCU™rians were invited to share their experiences on good and bad service they received as a customer. As the training continued, they were briefed on the main factors of MERCU™’s Customer Service Framework, comprising of: Customer Service Standards, Service Recovery, Feedback, MERCU™ Experience. 

For every beginning, there is of course an ending. And it was certainly a good ending for the MERCU™rians as they were surprised with a “MERCU™’s Next Top Model” show by the Centre Administrators, modeling their new uniform to the beat of ‘Beep’! An unforgetable catwalk show indeed, ladies!

Not forgetting, a big congrats to the following:
-Norleili from Woodlands Learning Centre: Top Performing Staff for GEMS
-Woodlands Learning Centre: Best Performing Centre for GEMS
-Mariana from Woodlands Learning Centre: Winner of the MERCU™’s Sexiest Voice contest and the future voice of MERCU™! So, ‘hear’ it out for her in the future!

And for every ending, there is a new beginning as we, MERCU™rians Embark On A Superior Service Journey! So, in the meantime, expect the SUPERIOR unexpected from the MERCU™ rians! Towards superior service, here we go!

Check out photos here!