fun Archives -

January 27, 2017

Ribblette’s Final Hop!

My favourite picture while I was working here! 🙂

Ribbit ribbit! Ribblette speaking! This is my last week of internship and it has been a wonderful 4½ months here as an intern!

Personally, I really love frogs at a young age and I was excited when I got accepted by Jurong Frog Farm as an intern.

During the first week of internship, I was assigned with many different tasks such as retail operations, managing of social media, packing of stocks and even conducting tours! At first, it was really challenging for me because of a number of different tasks I am given. However, as time passes, I was able to adapt to the working environment and was able to handle the tasks with confidence!

Of course, there are still times where I did not perform well during work but my supervisor, Zheng Xun, and my manager, Jackson, was there to lend me a helping hand! They were friendly and patient with me throughout the internship.

In this internship, I learnt many valuable skills and one of the most important things I learnt is to not make any assumptions. There were times when I made assumptions at work and it caused a few miscommunications and affected the workflow. Thus, instead of assuming, I decided to ask my supervisor and manager whenever I am unsure about certain issues or questions.

I also had lots of memories from my experience at Jurong Frog Farm such as the opportunity to meet many different celebrities from Mediacorp, participating in JFF’s 35th Anniversary, selling our products at events, celebrating Christmas and gift exchange with JFF, counting down to 2017 with JFF and so much more!

The experiences I have experienced here is really one of a kind and nothing will be able to replace these memories and experiences.

Last but not least, I am really thankful for Chelsea, Zheng Xun, Jackson, the Bangladeshi workers, the housekeepers and also Uncle and Auntie (Mr. and Mrs. Wan) for all their help with work and food during my internship!

Hopping off,

Ribblette AKA Kayleen

October 30, 2016

Pioneer, Founder, Father – Mr Wan Bock Thiaw, the JFF Story

“When Mr Wan Bock Thiaw goes to sleep each night, he usually hears a cacophony of croaking.

It is the mating call of thousands of bullfrogs in the backyard of his single-storey house in Lim Chu Kang.

To him, it is a lullaby which sends him deeper into dreamland. The croaking means more baby frogs will be produced for his family-run frog breeding business.”

This was an excerpt taken in 21 July 1997 from The Straits Times, entitled ‘Frog porridge anyone? – Jumping frog legs, aren’t they popular?’

mr-wan-younger-days-1 — Mr Wan during his younger days!

1997 was almost 10 years ago and now that his children are all grown up, he could finally take a well-deserved break. But does he? Farmers never rest and rest is for the wicked, words from Jackson and Chelsea respectively. Mr Wan certainly understands and embodies the value of hard work which he clearly imparts to his children.

His daughter Chelsea joined the business 10 years ago in 2006 after graduating from NUS with a Sociology degree. When asked if she feels that her daughter has “wasted” her degree, Mr Wan earnestly replied, “行行出状元”. Anybody can excel in any line of work and industry as long as they devote their heart into it. Now that his son Jackson has joined the business, the Wan frog family is stronger and more united than ever.

mr-wan-conducting-a-tour — Mr Wan conducting a tour in his younger days!

Now as JFF celebrates its 35th Anniversary, Mr Wan still remains very active in the farm. He still wakes up as early as 6am in the morning to check on the husbandry on the farm. Occasionally, he still delivers the orders himself to old and loyal customers in the wee hours, many of whom have become friends with him by now.

With his daughter and son working side by side with him now, Mr Wan understands and appreciates that everybody is an important asset to the company. Each individual’s actions are the building blocks to JFF’s vision for high quality frog products and the persistence for this vision need to be translated to the customers through these individuals.

jff-35th-anniversary-the-jff-family — The JFF Family!

– Zheng Xun

September 25, 2016September 25, 2016

Riblette hops into JFF!

Hello! My name is Kayleen aka Ribblette The reason why I chose this nickname is because frogs go “ribbit, ribbit” so, I decided to add in “lette” to feminize it! This is my 2nd week in JFF as an intern. I chose this internship because I am not afraid of frogs and I like how I get to have lots of social interaction with not only frogs but also the tour participants. I am an extrovert and I love to soak in the energy mingling with people! Besides the above, I hope too that my time here as an intern in JFF would help me to discover more about myself and apply what I would learn here for all my future endeavors.

I look forward to the opportunity to be hosting you around the farm!

October 2, 2015January 15, 2016

FRACTS #12

Hi everyone Frog boy here!

As we all know that frogs are friendly and kind creatures especially in our farm. =) But there’s a new species of frog found at the Peruvian Cloud Forest! It is said to have spines on its head and it is poisonous which would cause extreme pain!

The poison is more deadly than the secretions of a pit viper, and one of the discoverers, Carlos Jared of the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo found out the hard way. While collecting C. greeningi he got a spine in his hand: intense, radiating pain followed for the next five hours. It is one of the most venomous frogs!

Click the link to find out more:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/06/ribbiting-news-frogs-poison-spines-revealed-and-new-species-discovered

July 15, 2015

Sgt.Frog is Hopping off the Farm!

Hi everyone,

Sgt.Frog here!
So this will be my last blog post here in the farm.

I have been on the farm for my internship for four months and now it’s time to share my experiences here.
The first time I heard my teacher said that I was posted to a frog farm, all my friends already starting joking that I’ll be eating frog porridge everyday!

So in my head when realized being posted to a frog farm, sweating under the hot sun and being surrounded by hundreds of frogs.

So what did i learnt from this internship?
Learning to communicate way better than I ever did. Before the internship, I was shy and only open up to friends that i know well.
But now I’m able to talk to visitors and customers confidently on the spot and assisting them!
Also I’ve learned to react to unexpected situations calmly and appropriately. I have to say I have messed up at times during the internship but fortunately Chelsea was a forgiving person.

The first few weeks of my tours were supervised by Chelsea in case I froze during the tour.
She was friendly and patient with me throughout the internship, helping me with my flaws and teaching me the correct ways to conduct a tour and my other job scopes. It includes admin work and taking care of the shop during weekends.
I was a slow learner, so it took me a longer time before Chelsea felt that I was able to manage the tour by myself.
But before the internship started I never would have thought I’ll be able to lead a guided tour around the farm by myself!

Having my internship here at the farm was definitely one of the best experiences I ever had.
I have definitely learned many new things and improved my skills that can be applied during my future working life.

(Picture by Indonesian based wildlife photographer Hendy Mp)

And with that, this is Sgt.Frog saying farewell.

January 18, 2015January 18, 2015

JFF @ 3rd KRANJI COUNTRYSIDE FARMERS’ MARKET

If you are wondering where our froglets staff have hopped to, they are over at 240 Nyee Phoe Garden S(718898) where KCFM is!

Just look at the throng yesterday! Our popular deep fried frog meat was sold out at 430pm. Do come early today as we’ll start sales of frogs and crocodile tails on sticks, fresh produce and hashima products from 2-6pm!

It’s also our first R&D effort of collaboration with Soi55, a team of young pretty capable ladies and 100 bottles of delicious and nourishing Thai Milk Tea were sold out before the clock ticked 6pm.

If you are one of those who love a good photo taking opportunity, look out for the beautifully decorated Photo Booth at the entrance of the marketplace1!

Look out for our booth at Marketplace 2 (next to Bollywood Veggies) later today!

July 8, 2014

ANNA’s ‘Metamorphosis’

Hi peeps,

I have officially concluded my internship with JFF. Looking back, 4 months have passed by in a flash but the memories I have made in this time will stay with me forever.

I still vividly remember the first 2 weeks of internship – challenging would be the word I would use to describe.

Firstly i had to adapt to the company’s work culture and learn the basics of a frog’s life.

Secondly, I thought I had to meet up to the expectations immediately but Chelsea gave me time to learn without putting too much pressure on me because she knew my strengths and assigned the work to me based on this.

I believe few people actually know of the existence of farms in Singapore. Sure there may be a handful of curious and adventurous ones who would know, but that’s about it. Truth be told, farming is somewhat elusive knowledge to us city folk.
However,after working in the farm, I’ve changed my perspective on farming. Many of us think that it is a lowly job but I think that we should not look down on farmers; it takes tons of hard work and perseverance to manage the land and raise the livestock!

It was a good experience working in such an environment, away from the city.
Working on the farm, I didn’t just learn things about Frogs, Ive also learned to speak to the public. Conducting a tour of 5 is easy but not to a group of 50-70 people and there is definitely a lot more to look into besides just conveying the froggy message to the group.For me I think that having the group focus their attention on you is the most important thing to do. Once you lose their attention, they will start to wander on their own resulting in the need for crowd controlling and that, to me, is the most challenging part.

Other than tours, I also did administrative work, retail sales, taking orders from customers, replying to emails, selling frogs, and handling customers’ inquiries.
The most important thing I learnt from Chelsea is to NOT ASSUME ANYTHING when we are working in a company. Never ever assume because it can really cause a lot of miscommunication which will end up disrupting work flow. So I will never allow myself to have any sort of preconception get in the way of my work in the future.

I’ve had lovely memories from my experience here. Hitching a ride by the road, going into other people’s farm to pluck fruits (with permission of course!!), selling our products at the inaugural Farmers’ market, meeting nice people along the way, solemnization happening in the frog farm, applying qin chao oil on an injured duck’s leg, plucking mangoes with the Bangladeshi workers, going to a Pre-U Seminar in NUS with Chelsea to see JFF being showcased by a group of students etc… All sorts of funny and interesting things.

This experience was really special and I feel lucky to have been able to go through it.
Thank You Jurong Frog Farm for taking interns and allowing them to experience such a unique working environment.

December 31, 2013

Ending a Splendid 2013 with 3 teeth yanked out and a revelation!

Got a revelation when I had my wisdom teeth extracted before X’mas this year. It wasn’t about the process of the extraction. It’s the trepidation that you will be getting 3 of your biggest teeth yanked out by a person whom you had only met briefly prior to the surgery. The last thing I was told before I entered the clinic was, ‘Dear, remember this. You are always scared but you always do it.’ The words of my fiancé.

He is right. Even in 2006, I decided to walk into JFF knowing full well that this is going to an extremely slimy business. And I have to admit. It’s ain’t easy. Many challenges I have faced then, I’m still trying to grapple with them now.

Even up till last week, I was telling my customers I’m not the boss la. I’m working for my father. Simply put, all I wanted to do when I decided to join this company was to help my father and make things better and perhaps easier for him!

I realized that my aspirations then have been clouded by the challenges in this second generation business. The short land leases, old school employees, working methods and processes, even the very location of this farm which made it hard for hiring. Day to day activities became fire fighting!

What are my aspirations?
I wanted JFF to be part of every child’s learning journey; not only to learn about the magical world of American bullfrogs but also to know of this part of Singapore’s agriculture history that JFF has grew in the name of progress and prosperity in Singapore. In another words, I wanted JFF to be well known. I wanted my father’s hard work into building Singapore’s only frog farm to be known to all Singaporeans through their children.

Now growing up with frogs, it was generally assumed that I must be a good swimmer. But I’m not. I only know basic strokes and to stay afloat by lying on my back. Yet, I have rafted 40 km down Zambezi River, floated along with crocodiles basking in the sun. In this picture, the raft has turned turtle and i’ve already been thrown into the meciless choppy water.

Plunged into the Devils Pool on top of Victoria Falls.

For land adventures, I have also trekked up fox glacier in New Zealand,

climbed up Table Mountain (3563 ft) through the Skeleton Gorge (a amazing albeit gruelling 5.5 hrs of trotting, rock climbing, hiking, trudging!)

I have also trekked up Mount Ophir this year; Walk barefooted in rivers to hunt for caves and dive down sand dunes in Vietnam. Who would say no to a good adventure!!

Each of these activities, i have walked in with trepidation, yet walking out feeling victorious. In short, now with 3 teeth lesser, I’m going to face 2014 with even greater courage and now taking more ownership to reach out to more people about the existence of this farm and its heritage.

The next time you see me in JFF, I’m going to tell you I’m heading the department of Frogologists. (:

Enjoy the remaining hours of 2013 and lets’ all face 2014 with grit and make next year truly an adventure of a lifetime!!

p.s. obviously there is a hint of Mitty in this post! Watch the movie and be as inspired!;)

Best,
Chelsea Wan
Frogologist of JFF ( Head)

December 17, 2013

Testimonial from our Frog Master!

By Muhammad Aizat Bin Selamat
BSc(Honours) in Business, University of London

Position: Marketing and Business Development Assistant

“If you love to interact with people from all walks of life, love nature and have fun while working, this is the internship to opt for! Never did I expect this stint to build my character development but also honed my skills and knowledge on social decorum!”

My internship experience at JFF is a challenging, thrilling and a rewarding one. Life at JFF is different everyday. The word ‘bored’ never came into existence.

You get to meet new people like customers, who will sometimes eventually become your friends OR and potential business partners. The working environment has encouraged me to come out of my comfort zone to unleash the potential of public speaking skill in me. With a predisposed introvert personality, the tour guiding responsibility is the most challenging aspect of the internship. I have learnt how to crowd-control different type of groups ranging from kids to adults. This is an experience and on-site learning opportunity that I can never get from reading a textbook.

One of the highlights of this internship is my involvement in the World Food Festival (WWF) 2013. I was involved in the logistics planning for the event. For example, I need to ensure that we have adequate collaterals to go around during the event as well as informing to the public for our involvment in WWF 2013 through social media like Facebook and WordPress. On top of that, I’ve learnt a few interesting Mandarin phrases to pitch sales during the event. For example, “lai ah lai ah, tian ji rou, sao sao de!”. In translation, come and get our freshly cooked frog meat!

Truth be told, there’s more to experience than to be said in words. It is an enriching experience to be able to work as an intern in Jurong Frog Farm. Where most of my peers would scorn at the prospect of working in a farm, I am glad that I have chosen to walk the beaten path. I have taken this rare opportunity to learn and experience first hand on managing a business and overcome obstacles in an organic and dynamic environment. Hey, you get to learn about frogs as well! Like JFF Director (Ms Chelsea Wan) always say, frog rocks!

I will definitely encourage my fellow schoolmates looking for internships to work with JFF Pte Ltd. Further more, you’ll be able to enjoy the rustic scenary which is definitely a breath of fresh air from the hustling and bustling concrete jungle of Singapore!

July 11, 2013

Winner of a Frog Lookalike Award!

Richard Chai, from Republic polytechnic, is one of the cutest intern we have received here on the farm. Within 2 weeks into his 4 months long stint, he realized how frequently he has been commented by little children on how similar he looks compared to a frog!! Below is his testimonial.

“Firstly, when i heard it’s a farm, i thought i would have to do more manual work. However, when my internship started, it was a totally different experience from what i have expected.

The job scopes were slightly more than expected, because i thought i only have one job scope however, when i started working there, the job scopes i have to cover includes admin work, retails, tour conducting, etc. So it was kind of tough for me because handling so much different type of work at the start of the week, i could not adjust to it. However as time passes by, the job scopes i have to handle were actually kind of fun because they kept me from being bored.

It was totally different from my expectation and my experience while working over there was actually quite fun! The hospitality of the company was good and the rules were easy to understand. I had an enjoyable time working there as an intern, unlike what my friends shared about what they experienced from their internship.”