Finding passion

Alex's blog points me to this 'One Week Job' project where this graduate wants to take on 52 jobs for a week each anywhere in the world, and donate the wages earned to charity while trying to find out what he is passionate about. His friend goes around with him on his job and together they produce a 10min video clip every week about his stint.

I don't think he'll be successful trying to find out what he might be passionate to work in, but he'll sure have a hell of an experience. I read the site materials and the blog and I get the impression that he's an earnest young man curious about the world and wanting to have the chance to see as much as he can out there, and it is just nice to read about such people's adventure, compared to the wasted lives of so many other silly ang mohs or the boring settled paths of young Singaporean adults.

Family

It's quite bad, but I never really have the time to be with family usually, so I'm glad to be able to have meals more often with them this holiday. On Saturday, Dad and mum drove to pick up Ah ma and we had a lunch at this vegetarian 'deli' inside this Metta Welfare Association somewhere in Tampines.

The food was superb! Sometimes eating good Chinese vegetarian food makes me feel as if I could give up meat, but only if I get to have those tasteful well made dishes of course ha. Their pineapple fried rice was very good for only $3! Mum enjoyed their hor fun too. We had this 'golden mushroom' or something with pine nut dish, delicious!

Mum likes this 'yam ring' dish too, a staple of the Chinese vegetarian cuisine. Their version had all sorts of vegetables in it: capsicum, pine nuts, cashew nuts, chestnuts, carrots, 2 different types of mushrooms, lian zhi and bai guo. Cost us $20 for this dish though.


Big brother is in Japan right now and my Dad seems to be enjoying the use of his Ford Focus car. I tried it too - the steering is more edgy, you get a slight booming noise with initial acceleration, and it is apparently a petrol guzzler. The most irritating thing about it is that the signal lights switch is on the left hand side, and I unwittingly used the wipers several times when I wanted to signal, argh.

All's good la. Dad is having a long break and think he will be driving a cab soon (he does drive like a cabby, much more adventurous than me!), and mum's hoping to go Australia next year for her dream farmstay. Heard big brother is applying to be a Mercedes salesperson, more money to be made there than in property? And my young niece is now a very comely young lady in secondary school, though she and her sis needs to read more for school.

Perhaps I should go on a family trip to Australia with them next year? Hm...

Days in Bangkok

Wow. It was an incredible day of shopping right from the airport. We got to the city’s excellent backpackers hostel Suk 11 and went out immediately to start feeding our shopping urges.

First, I dragged Karen to this row of sports merchandise shop near the National Stadium and bought myself 2 high-end Yonex rackets costing a total of $285SGD, THE buy of my visit here! Those two babies would have cost me over $400 in Singapore, and I am raring to try them out on the court.

Then we trawled the bewildering row of shops at MBK center for a while. Karen was more interested in this complex opposite the place which offers a great range of fashion wear at good prices, and I have to agree that many of the stuff there is so cute I’ll probably squeal in delight if I’m a girl. Back at MBK, I bought a really cute ‘Darth Vader’ 2GB thumbdrive, with the figure molded out of clay over the hardware. Damn cute.

And the food here must be mentioned. I had to go back to trying the stewed pork rice and the Thai iced tea every time I come here, and regret not having the stomach to get the mango with glutinous rice dessert.

On the streets, we got 2 bottles of the sweet orange juice to quench the thirst, a packet of goreng pisang, and 3 delicious fried chicken drumsticks on the way back. Am gonna get that mango dessert tomorrow night just outside our hostel!

I spent a cool $10000 Thai Baht just on the first day! *gasp*

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We went for a tour to the city of Ayuthaya yesterday, to see the temple ruins in that area.

We pretty much get the same picture wherever we go, and the day ended with a boat ride back to Bangkok with a so-so buffet lunch on it. Then some walking around Siam Paragon, probably the most upmarket shopping mall in the country.

Stay tuned for more updates!

How to thwart a 'Qian Bian Wen Da Ti'...

(Roughly translated from Chinese dialogue)

TF: "EH! Ask you this question: Why does penguins have a white belly but is black everywhere else?"

YH: "Dunno?"

TF: "Aiyah, you're not even making an attempt to guess!"

YH: "Oh I know! It's for camouflage purposes! Fishes beneath the swimming penguin will see white as the sun shining through the water, while predators above the water will see black as the depth of the water below!"

TF: "Eh, this answer seems correct hor, but why so scientific one! No la, it's because their fins are short so they can only rub their bellies when they bath!"

Off to BKK...

Off to my holiday trip to Bangkok for a week starting tom...

Basically this blog is pretty quiet cos most of the time I'm out having fun these days.

ODAC camp
A great success! My kids feedback that the mobile camp was the best that they ever had, not bad for a first attempt at organising a large scale activity! But then it'll be hard to top this achievement in future years though. Glad that they enjoyed the intro session to bouldering, will definitely give them the chance to learn more climbing skills this coming year. As expected, kayaking is not something they really like, but it's necessary to build character ha.

Playtime
Been trying to go to gym once a week, playing badminton twice a week. Still coaching the polo junior team, but think my playing days are numbered cos the rest of the alumni simply disappeared. For the first time, I finally joined Jacob at OBS to playboat, and it was wonderful to get back into that experience again. I could never find the motivation to continue playing by myself, guess you need to be in that clique to continue enjoying the sport. Strangely enough, I think I am closer to getting the floop than ever before, even after such a long break! Must be due to Jacob's excellent boat.

Work
I told myself to do work related things during this holiday for the next year but it is quite impossible actually, with all those distractions. I was thinking of doing work leisurely during my stay in BKK but don't think that's gonna happen too, sigh.

Anyway, now that things are so relaxed, I can't imagine how I got so stressed during term time. Maybe this is a time to reflect on how I can be more productive at work, like quitting aimless internet surfing in the office haha. Have a feeling it's a feeling of stress that leads to the low-spirited moods, all thanks to the unhelpful upper management at my workplace. In fact, this management helped made up my mind about going over to the MOE specialist track as soon as I can and get out of the factional conflicts of the school environment.

Oh well, to hell with the negative vibes. Enjoy the time while it lasts, I'm going shopping and eating next week, even if it makes me lazy and unfit.

New toy!

I've received my Lego Ferrari!

It came in a nice big box, pieces in different packets, a manual and a set of car decals.

Karen and I assembled in 2 hours or so.

I love the view from the back, rear lights and all.

Right hand drive for us!

It'll be looking pretty on my table in the coming year!

Off to camp...

Visited Stephen's wake just now, and at one or two moments I felt sudden pangs of sharp sorrow that I held back. I don't think one needs to be close friends with him to mourn his passing. So many people had visited his family these two days, and our NIE lecturers were there too; that showed how much his presence meant to us. I realised that there is much less false sentiments at a funeral, unlike weddings when courtesy sometimes made unwilling people turn up. We got to talk to his younger brother, a very eloquent and personable man who is intending to follow his footsteps and join PESS this coming semester. He and his brother will surely help his parents cope with the loss.

I'm off to a 3 day round island trip with my Odac kids tomorrow - it's has drained quite a lot of time from me during this semester, and I am kind of glad it is finally happening, hopefully according to plans. Will update this page with pictures from my grand adventures when I'm back.

Sadness

Just received news today of the passing of a friend I know in NIE - he was from another class, but we took quite a few modules together. We had shivered in the cold waters of the NIE pool together during swimming lessons, laughing at each other's goosebumps. I remember recording a funny video clip of him trying to dive into the water and ending up slapping his front flat on the surface. We played against each other in soccer and badminton, and practiced softball throwing numerous times together. We were never really close but he was one of those good-natured chap whom you get a warm feeling from whenever you see him around.

He was a man with an impressive physique, and I am sure he made his teams proud whichever team he paddled with in dragonboat races. I do not know why the national team's boat that he was in at that race in Cambodia capsized, why no one on the boat wore PFDs, and why he didn't managed to surface and keep himself safe despite being able to swim. It is almost maddening that such a tragedy occurred, because it was probably preventable. I'm not the sort to say that such a way to go was fitting - no one deserves to die for their sport. Sports ought only to empower people, make us feel alive or even give us a reason to live.

Sky Dining

It was Karen's birthday yesterday and we did 'Sky dining' inside a cable car, which went 4 rounds from Mount Faber, WTC and Sentosa. Their menu was quite pricey, but the experience is very interesting - for once, you have a great view while you leisurely consume your dinner, instead of being stuck at a table overhearing others' conversations around you.


The view just pass the WTC stop - there was this 'Asian Cruise' ship docked right beneath us, and we could hear strains of Chinese songs from it. One of the attractions was to see the sunset from the sky, but the weather was cloudy and the only glimpse of it was a parallelogram window of bright orange set among the grey.


Sun setting already - lights coming up. Main courses and appetisers were quite nice, but desserts should have been better for the price.


And finally, her present.

The defining moment of my life

There was this time recently when I went to the toilet at my office to pee, and while I was on the job I had this sudden thought of gratefulness for everything that went my way (Yes, moments of epiphanies can occur to you at the most mundane moments of life) and got me there at that moment of time.

Is this a repeat entry? I am not sure if I had previously recorded these thoughts; I just am grateful sometimes for generally getting what I wanted in life naturally and seemingly without much effort on my part. I guess it helps that I ended up pursuing things I am passionate about it and somehow indulging in these activities helped to advance me forward in life somehow. So how did I end up in JC (after getting 27 points for prelims), landed up in the Arts faculty like I hoped for, and somehow became a teacher (with my dream combination of PE-Literature, at that!)?

And it all started on an afternoon in class 2B of Ang Mo Kio Primary School, during English lesson by a certain Ms Kaur. I can still remember the setting sun outside the windows and that the school day was nearing its end. She handed out card to each of us, NLB membership cards which was laminated plain white cards with only our names printed on it. But what pride we had in it! It became my prized possession from then on, and was my key to knowledge and learning. All I had, I attributed it to the fact that she got me hooked on reading for life though that small little act.

She will never know how much she has influenced the kids in her class, nor do I have any way of expressing gratitude. But I remember this and remind myself that it is possible to effect these changes as a teacher, rare though the chances might be.

Dumb and dumber

The other night I was just telling Karen that I read this book called 'The Odd Brain' which affirms other research that draws a correlation between child intelligence and TV consumption. It writes:

TV programs artificially manipulate the brain into paying attention through the use of frequent visual and auditory changes. Healy claims that TV programs and advertisements, including those designed specifically for children, "are planned to capitalize on the brain's involuntary response to zooms, pans, loud noises, and bright colors, keeping it unnaturally alerted - but at a responding level rather than at a thinking level".

In short, if kids watch TV as the main thing in their life, they're not going to be very smart. And TV happens to be very addictive to them too, and also for teenagers.

Read this account by a columnist in the US who had this long-time teacher reporting to him that schooling kids over there are so unbelievably stupid nowadays. I'm glad our kids knows how to use a ruler at least, but that's small consolation given the fact that their standard of language use is poor.

The courage to expression

Yesterday at a staff meeting, my former supervising teacher, the one who promised brimstone and hellfire to all who opposes her, raised the question to my Principal - Why do teachers have to come at 7.45am and leave at 12.30pm even though it is officially the start of the holidays, with only a few teachers needed to 'teach' some sec 3 classes?

Now it is a common malaise that when the top management make certain decisions, they will usually defend them and wave off probing questions rather than taking concerns raised into consideration. My P is, of course, one of those who believes in standing firm by her infallible logic and the decisions made with that. She gave a 20 minutes reply about how schools need a work to prepare for next year, there are department work (surely!), and (as an aside) that is will be proper for all teachers to follow the same schedule, probably out of a sense of fairness to all.

A whole lot of oratorical BS. She just repeated those few weak arguments round and round, and win only by subduing us with her droning - who could stand it lasting any longer? She basically sidestep the point of why teachers have to stay back if they have nothing to do or if work can be done at home, when it is officially the holidays already. Does she think that the teachers who had to stay back with their classes will get some perverted satisfaction if the rest of the staff all stayed back with them? And I hate how she likes to mention that "In other schools they actually ...", seeking to convince us of her kindness of making special concessions to us (which we do not understand/appreciate and she has to highlight to us especially) compared to the practices of some other anonymous schools out there with sadistic leaders.

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At the end of the meeting, the same teacher voiced out that she realised there are teachers (one or a few, I am not sure) who thinks that she's showing off by always being the dissenting voice in meetings or when she shares her own classroom practices as possible models to follow. She wanted these people to address such things to her directly, says that it is very malicious of them...and then her voice broke and she wept!

I didn't realise that she could be so disturbed by gossips. I hoped she stays in the school, keep on doing what she has always done, and be the firebrand of our conscience. It is just unfortunate that she does not understand that the Singaporean are mostly gutless herd creatures. Not many will appreciate the strong opinionated voice, and they will scorn these voices when they can to hide their shame of being pathetic weak-minded creatures who dare not speak aloud. She can't expect them to tell her their thoughts straight to her face because they have no guts at all! If they have more courage to express themselves in public like her, Singapore will be a nation with more spirit and character.

Alas!

Going slower...

Ok, life is less of a drag nowadays!

Things are winding down already. I still have projects to settle, but it is not causing me much stress now. I still run around for nonstop errands like today, but it feels satisfying to finish them. Good plans are coming up for my PE department next year, and I am getting motivated to help our department go up in professional standing.

English department stuff is rather messy though. There's a new HOD coming in, and that means a break-in period just when I am starting to get used to current routines. There's this rumour going that my former supervising teacher during practicum is pushing for me to take the first ever lit class for upper sec next year, and it's rather startling news. A grave responsibility and I can't help but think that me and the students will suffer a tragic fate at the exams if I am to assume that responsibility, but at the same time, isn't that what I have been looking forward to? I am just painfully aware that I have no experience in teaching literature after my sohrt practicum period, that I shy away from drama stuff and don't really appreciate Shakespeare from the bottom of my heart.

So. My homework for the holidays is probably to come up with resources for PE, since my teaching duties for English/Lit is uncertain. Oh yah, though I think things will stay the same, I will hate to work with my current form-teacher for my form class. That jackass deliberately didn't turn up today and can't be bothered to leave instructions. I can't verify if his sickness is genuine, but most likely not because when I called him to ask for things, he refuse to pick up my call but replied by SMS soon after the call dropped. When I quizzed him on certain procedural irregularities which the students said he permitted, he never answered, probably fearing that his reply will be used as evidence. Gutless wimp who only knows how to make hollow noises.

Sianness at work

I hope the next person who teaches 3NT next year finds my English Scheme of Work plans usable, but that'll be a bit too much to hope for I think. I am right now reading what my predescessor wrote just to find out what one looks like, and I got to churn out 7 modules roughly detailing the content of every English lesson next year by next Tuesday.

I think once people grow older they start getting more apathetic about a lot of things, things that they would be passionate about in their younger days. I don't hate my job and I find it interesting, but once out of school I try hard to keep all thoughts of it out of my private life. I can't really be passionate about anything I do in school for the moment, or maybe it's because I don't have much of a stake in the school as yet.

It isn't fun to work under a leadership crew that you don't feel comfortable with too. Silly admin issues and ways of running things, and general negative vibes emanating from certain leaders, just makes me feel that I don't want to stay in a school's team for long. But a future career option of going to MOE HQ seems like just an escape option rather than something I want to achieve. I guess at this moment of time, I don't really feel like achieving anything.

Also dunno what I'm writing about. Basically I'm just trying to procrastinate, and I think that's about the best thing I do in the office.

Promotion Day

Today is promotion/streaming day, where every teacher will sit down and decide what to do with the kids who fail their exams. I thought it will be a clear cut business, but my principal made it really tedious, going into monologues most of the time, and only taking momentarily breaks when asking other teachers to give comments for student so-and-so in a show that she value their input. I only teach the 3NT English, so I can expect to just stone there for the entire day. We took one morning to do the sec 1s, and probably the sec 2s by today.

And my department got this CHERISH report to finish up by Deepavali, and next tuesday I am supposed to produce a Scheme of Work for the entire 2008 English lessons for 3Normal Technical. So can you imagine what a wonderful waste of time today is for me?

Boat repairs part 2

I returned almost a week later to find that the epoxy at the seat repair site is still a little sticky - JB said my mix of the epoxy resin was probably not ideal. But nothing to do about it la, and I think it holds up pretty well, so I went ahead to work on it.


The scary part was to drill a hole blindly and hope that it matches the other one on the wings that extends down from the coaming. The whole thing was actually quite tough to drill through, and I had an initial false start when I went for the wrong site to drill. I shift further down, finally got a hole, squeezed in the screw and started wriggling it around forceful in the hope of connecting through to the other hole. I missed by a bit! No choice but to enlarge the hole on one side so that the screw will go in straight. After all the effort, the whole thing look reassuringly solid.


Then, time to reveal the epoxy work at the bow. I ripped away all the masking tape, and found out that the plastic sheet was firmly epoxied to the entire area. Some epoxy have flowed down and coagulated in rivulets at the bumper, and I chipped away the brittle plastic bits where there were air pockets beneath.


After some filing down of the protruding rough bits, it looks like this. Not very pretty, but that's of no concern. Test piloting on friday!

Boat repairs

The repairs started on thursday evening, and continued on till Friday. First thing - the bow crack. I cut out a piece of carbon-kevlar cloth, spread epoxy over the area and plastered the cloth over. Another layer of epoxy goes over it after that.


There was a nice glistering layer of epoxy smoothened out over the patch, and it looked really nice. But then I was told that it is necessary to tape down a plastic sheet over the patch, so as to press down on the patch and squeeze out all the bubbles under the epoxy.

That was quite a disaster - the plastic sheet could not conform to the curvature of the area and couldn't lie flat on it, despite making slits into the sheet and trying to make them layer over each other. I tried pulling the different sides of the sheet and quickly taping them down, trying to make it taut.


It looks terrible, but what the heck. It's gonna be covered with black tape after I'm done with it.

Next, back to the seat. Having used a finely meshed carbon paste to glue back to the broken piece, I wrapped a layer of the cloth over it in a bid to strengthen it.


The last I checked yesterday morning, the whole area was thick with repair material, and feels solid. Gonna drill a hole in it tonight and bolt it back to the sides. Wish me luck!

Looking for a paddle exchange!

Someone in the US just put up his 215cm Werner Ikelos bent shaft paddle on eBay for sale - the exact same one as mine! The starting price for the bidding is high as expected, $365USD; if I convert it to SGD at a rate of $1USD to $1.5SGD, it will be around $550; the price I quoted to uncle Charles!

At least that auction validates the price that I put on this premium paddle, and I am not even offering it up for auction. Now, I'm just waiting for someone to put up a 205cm version of the same paddle so that I can snap it up! I still prefer using shorter paddles from my playboating and polo playing experiences, and my aggressive strokes don't work well with a longer paddle like my 215, not optimal, in any case.

Carbon paddles are so beautiful to behold...I can admire the fibres' weave pattern endlessly...

Silence

One good thing about invigilating exams is that for once, I can be in a classroom full of students and hear only the sound of the fans whirling. Ah...such silence. Educationists will tell you that a quiet classroom can mean unengaged students, but still it's a (beginning) teacher's dream.

And I think kids these days really need a good dose of silence in their life. There's so much noise and activity in their lives everyday, and I feel that most of them will be frustrated by a sudden powerlessness in the face of mute silence. It will be a whole new experience for them, to have nothing to entertain them except for the surrounding scenery, where they can only meditate and ponder on their own thoughts.

I recall the times I spend in Nepal, when I walk through the vast natural landscape for days, often hearing nothing but the murmuring of the wind. And everyday, I wake up to continue the same routine of hiking, undisturbed by thoughts of unread emails, phone calls not received, work not done. That was really really liberating, and I was perfectly happy with that.

If they can't take time out to think assert their own personality and straighten out their thoughts about their own lives, how can they be confident individuals? I wish I can give them an experience that rivals mine; there's no way they will ever be the same again if they can learn to talk to themselves and be happy with that conversation.

The sea is calling to me...

A series of incidents had opened my heart to the call of the sea these 2 days. Out of no reason, an old paddling kaki asked if I would consider selling my prized Werner paddle, and that got me thinking of possibly replacing it with a new one of a shorter (and preferred) length. Then Roland asked me if I wanted to go for 4 star refresher course next year; unfortunately, teachers have no leave to take, and I don't want to go for a course where I can't respect the instructors.

But anyway, that got me looking out for paddles and boats online when I was supposed to be doing work in school. I wonder if I can get a good deal on my kayak now with the local dealer, seeing that the USD is dropping to record lows. Can I? Can I?

And I am reminded of my new tent that I have yet used out in the wilderness. And my MSR hydration pack spigot tap and shower hose, and my backpack raincover, and lots more. I should go somewhere! Anywhere...

My poor boat....

...Just suffered from a bump below the front bumper. Actually it could have happened much earlier, just that I discovered it only last week when I tore off the tapes securing the bumper and discovered it. I must have got it from charging for the first ball in matches, or any one of the numerous dogfights that I engage in with opposing defenders.


A closer look reveals that parts of the epoxy layer had been chipped away from the collisions, and fine stress fracture lines radiating outwards from the epicenter of the impact.


Yesterday, I went down to NTU just to peel away the epoxy layer so that I can prepare to paste a new layer of material above it. Without a grinder, I had to use a small knife from a multi-tool to pick at the sides and chip it away one bit at a time - torturous!


A closer look at the job - what you are looking at are the layers of broad Kevlar tapes that makes up the entire boat.


Without the epoxy at hand, I had to resume work another time. Then I took out the screws at the side of my seat, as I noticed a crack by the holes. My goodness, it wasn't a crack at all - the entire chunk around the screw came off, where I previously repaired it!


Ok...Now that's much trickier to repair. Sigh, I'll see what I can do...

Anxiety

I'm in the midst of invigilating the English paper for my class right now, literally. They are still writing at this moment, and in a few minutes' time I will have to go do my shift till their paper ends.

And I am damn kan cheong about how they will do for it. The paper I set was quite hard, and I only realised that after looking through this sec 3NT assessment book I bought from Popular. Too late. But then again the HOD and VP had given their nods to the paper, so I assume it is still possible for them to fare well.

Ultimately I really hope that they can do well, and show me that I did managed to teach them something for the past 15 weeks, because I don't think I did a good job of it.

Looking through appearances

Regrettably, I got to know my Principal and Vice-Principal better through recent events, and I don't like what I see behind the facade.

I was in consultation with my HOD regarding my work review yesterday. Apparently, impressions left behind from 2 past lesson observations clouded the VP's judgment so much that she rated me unreasonably for a few 'intangible qualities', which is not objective and totally unrelated to the conclusions she had drawn then.

For example, she believed that where 'subject mastery' is concerned, I am deemed to be at a 'developing' stage still as I did not exhibit good classroom management skills (which I beg to differ actually). These 2 qualities have totally no bearing on each other, and I was so agitated about it that I told my HOD my version of things, to the extent that eventually she conceded and moved me up a grade there.

But the damage is done. It is a personal affront for me to have to defend my personal qualities against others' words, because I live by my strong principles and I am honest about myself. So that's how a work review is like. You rate yourself lower and they concur with you. You rate yourself higher and you will be asked to defend yourself. It is insulting to me that my HOD gave me a pop quiz about PE related issues, in that way trying to show me that I am not as good as I said I am. I had expected her to be better than this, but I don't hold it against her. It's the VP's words versus mine.

Today, I submitted an MC to the Principal, and she goes: "I am very concerned about your high MC rate, and I am seriously monitoring it...". I was stunned - hello, this is my first MC from a clinic! Previously I was on hospitalisation leave for 5 days, and can that be helped? She went on: "For a young officer, I don't expect that from you...normal MC rates are like 5 days a year...you have a long career ahead of you...you better take care...".

I was so hopping mad then. Teachers aren't allowed to question students' MCs or even letters, and here we teachers are treated like malingers when we take MCs. I insistently told her what I told, and even held her back to explain to her that I have no issues with work or my personal life whatsoever to get MCs for day offs. But she deserve harsher words really, and I now see how much she really cares for her staffs.

I'll monitor the situation and see how I fit into this place...if not, it's bye bye in 2 years' time.

A storm!

After blading at ECP in the morning yesterday, Karen and I changed out of the blades into slippers and walked over to Subway for lunch. As we finished lunch, we walked back out to the beach front towards the carpark, when we saw a water sprout off the coast!


I hurriedly whipped out my phone camera and stood there filming the movement of the sprout, enduring the lashing wind and rain as it approaches. People were running away in droves when it neared the beach a distance away, and there was a white screen at the beach when the sprout died.

Then a second one appeared! It formed much nearer to the beach then the first one, and approached menacingly. Eventually it reached the front of a breakwater, and went up even further, whipping up sand within itself. The whole force crashed through the trees and I saw a branch dropped, before the force dissipates and it died. By that time, I was quite battered by the raindrops and we quickly ran back to the car.

Awesome!

My new toy!

It was a tough choice, but finally, I settled on getting this a few hours ago. It's a 1/100 Strike Gundam IWSP (integrated Weapons Strike Pack) model.


Can't wait to build it!

Toys!

I was walking around with Karen looking at toys yesterday because she's getting something for her nephew, and I was so tempted to get a few myself! All those adult issues have screwed my brain so much that a sudden visit to the toy shop made me want to rediscover the joy of putting things together and creating nice toys just for the fun of it.

First it was a clear version of a 'Freedom' Gundam model that I saw on display in Isetan - a beauty! I used to do models with my old pal William at his home during my secondary school days, and 2 of my models are still with him I think. We used to talk about finding time to resurrect them together, and maybe it's time to do so by getting new ones to play with!

Then...Legoland! I recently bought a few mini magnetic figures for my metal cabinet in the office, and it was a joy to see them everyday. I bought a set with an imperial storm trooper, a Y-wing fighter and a AT-ST driver to add to my collection of 9 knights.

And there's so much items there that drives me wild. I want a ferrari! They have several models but this is the sleekest one.

A ferris wheel which Karen prefers - it is driven by a motor that actually makes it go round! Did I mention too that it can be transformed into a crane or a bridge that can be lifted, all with the same parts?

And there's this gorgeous chess set with really nice figures, sold in a set with a chess board. Now, both of us agree that it is a beauty, but we don't play chess! Nonetheless, we are now seriously toying with the thought of getting it to decorate our future place as a display.

With all these beautiful toys, I had to go online and check out the Lego website to see what other amazing stuff they have, and I did discover some really cool models. How about the classic X-Wing fighter? I saw it when it was sold a few years back, and had regretted not buying it before it disappeared, though it was a big sum of money for me to part with for a toy then.

The Imperial Star Destroyer! I saw that in the shops too previously, and it was like, twice the price of the X-Wing. I saw the real model at a friend's place a long time ago, and it was amazing. Can I buy it now?

Finally, the Millennium Falcon! The largest lego set ever produced for the market! With 5195 pieces in the set, and spanning almost 90cm when completed, this is out of the world man. Comes with a certificate too!

$500USD each, anyone?

Nurturing the whole child

Marking my students' papers is an exercise that shows up both parties' inadequacies. On my side, I often know what's right and wrong, but I have no idea how I can communicate that difference to the kids. This happens frequently when we deal with sentence structures - I cannot explain why some parts of the sentence have to go in front and others behind, except that that's how English works.

Which brings me to this conclusion: the worst thing for a kid to do is to avoid reading and start watching the TV or playing the computer games early. Without an intuitive ability to use the language, they will be crippled throughout their lives. You need language to impart education, so a poor grasp of the language limits not only learning ability, but the entire imaginative world of the individual, if you believe wittgenstein.

So. To teach the kids, I either have to explain to them the technicalities of English grammer rules, or insist that they somehow know it intuitively. Of course, the latter option is the more painless one, but none of my kids have the will or interest to pick up reading again. Then how? Jialat lah. They catch no ball I also boh pian.

So please, if you people out there ever have kids, don't shower them with toys or let them watch TV. Read to them when they are young, then make them read to themselves, all the way till adulthood. Force it on them if you have to, it doesn't matter. For once they seen the language being used properly often enough, there is no way they can get it wrong in the future. And you would have given them the best thing they can ever get.

Lazy sunday

Woke up really late just now, past 1pm, and I have been feeling like crap now. Sleeping too much makes your muscles sore and limbs tired; I should have set the alarm, but I didn't expect myself to sleep for so long past my usual waking hours.

Trying to mark a report writing test now, with terrible language errors every other script that I come across, doesn't exactly make things better.

This is the only year when I didn't look forward expectantly to the arrival of the mooncake festival, for the chance to gobble down those sweet cakes all month long. They don't make it like they used to. Mooncakes now have anorexic layers of the fragrant baked crusts, and are only choked full of the sickly sweet paste.

My favourite yam paste crispy skin mooncake with yolks is hardly found anywhere, and the only one that I tried was too sweet, with the paste the same texture as those white lotus etc paste and not of the rough grainy texture that it should have. Disappointing. Anyone have any good recommendations of good 'traditional' mooncakes to share, before the season ends?

I am still yearning...

...for a Feathercraft Khatsalano. Perhaps I can only do kayak touring twice a year at best if I ever own one, but still, it gives me the chance to dream of daring explorations.

Roland once messaged me after watching a screening of "This is the Sea": "Eh, we must buy our own kayaks la. We cannot stop halfway like this." I agree; up till today I still keep that SMS in my phone as a reminder.

Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season

I just realised that though I love to teach the Sec 1s PE still for next year, I am not cut out to teach a low-ability class for English like what I am doing now. Since I took them, almost everything I planned for them is too difficult for them to handle. Everyday, the first class I used the lesson materials on will give me feedback about the ways in which they find challenging, and I have to help the kids out in the second class. Though they are mostly guilty of intellectual sloth, I do think my work for them is the main reason for its non-completion.

And quietly I am feeling stagnant about everything I do. I used to lead an exciting life. I scoured the internet for challenging reads and expanded the horizons of my literary knowledge then; now I search all around for the easier English work for my classes. I used to plan enrichment activities for myself, and pick up varied skills by myself. Now I only do routine things week in and out.

What is there to move me and inspire me? Holidays are only a rest breaks now and not personal learning journeys like in the past, they can't give me satisfaction, and that's probably why I am so much more nonchalant about them.

I hope I don't take to retail therapy to spice up my life...

The inner life

Just a thought -

• Do people who are more angsty or who stores up more problems within themselves generally considered to have a deeper 'inner life', compared to someone who is more carefree and happy-go-lucky?
• Do introverts tend to be thought of as having a richer 'inner life' compared to extroverts who show their hearts on their sleeves?

It seems strange to me that the term 'inner life' seems to have a slightly positive connotation, to mean that someone has depth of character, when frequently they are applied to introverts or people with emotional problems. As if the happy extroverts out there are all somewhat shallow. Not generalising anything here, just my own perception of some word definitions here.

Not sure why this popped up in my mind too. Anyway, writing about anything else is much preferably than for me to spell out the tedious tasks I do each day.

Another weekend to come and go...

I was called back to school this morning to conduct a remedial class in comprehension, and when I got there, I was told by my HOD that I am to observe a more senior teacher teach first before handling next saturday's session. That other teacher actually wanted me to teach instead because she always had confidence in my language teaching skills, having supervised me for a term. So anyway, I was sitting there for more than an hour in the room, wondering why the hell I need to be there.

The week came and went by in a flash. The last few days, I was so busy attending meetings etc after lessons that there was no time at all to settle down and get down to the 'important' task of planning lessons for next week. Really, providing good lessons is really down at the bottom of the to-do list of most teachers, what with all the silly paperwork one has to cope with. So I must use my weekend to plan something out, and the thought troubles me so much that I feel like skipping my badminton training and not turn up for a wedding dinner that I already promised to attend.

Also, there is much dissonance between the teaching style that NIE/PESS advocates and what school management wants out of PE teachers. I buy into the lecture-correct style of discipline but the school obviously prefer the disciplinarian approach. My VP said that during my lesson observation teaching wushu to the class lined up in rows, the non-participation of the kids behind could result in accidents and injuries and may lead to investigations if that happens, no joke. I'm so convinced they will start bashing each other on the head if they don't do their horse-stance diligently with me.


Just to end off on a positive note - on Friday I followed the normal technical group that went for this 'junior chef' enrichment course, and saw them in action baking pastries of all sorts. It was really refreshing to see them all engaging in something enthusiastically for once, and I wish I can make this happen in my English class. One of the girls wanted me to help her knead balls of grated coconut, and I could only produce a ball by the time she's done with everything; nice to see that they are able to teach me for a change. Don't take it the wrong way, but I felt so much love for the kids at that moment, seeing them so happy.

Now, when can I start planning wonderful activities such as these...

At least die playing!

Read this!

Brits 'dying not to do exercise'

Lack of exercise increases the risk of heart disease and cancer

Most UK adults are so unwilling to exercise that not even the threat of an early death is enough to get them off the sofa, a survey suggests.

Only 38% of people questioned by YouGov said they would do more exercise if their life depended on it.

And British Heart Foundation figures show only a third of people manage to do enough exercise to achieve the minimum recommended amount.

Experts warned inactivity is dangerous even in those who are a healthy weight.

Among the 2,100 people surveyed, brisk walking was found to be the favourite way of getting exercise - before dancing, swimming or going to the gym.

Physical activity and obesity are two different risk factors so even if you're lean, if you're inactive you increase your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease Dr David Haslam, National Obesity Forum

However, only 4% said they found exercise fun.

A greater inspiration was exercising to change body shape, particularly among women and young adults.

Almost a third of 18 to 24-year-olds reported they would do more exercise if they saw an unflattering photo of themselves or were told they looked fat.

Other less predictable forms of motivation to work out included fancying someone at the gym.

But only 13% of men and 7% of women said keeping a healthy heart was their main motivator.

Excuses for not exercising were found to be always close at hand - from not having enough time to the one in seven who blame bad weather for not doing enough physical activity.

Deadly serious

The British Heart Foundation, which is launching a campaign to encourage people to up their heart rate for 30 minutes a day, says that someone dies every 15 minutes as a direct result of physical inactivity.

Dr Mike Knapton, director of prevention and care at the BHF, said it was a "deadly serious" problem.

"With our busy lifestyles and labour-saving devices we've stopped getting the exercise our bodies desperately need.

"For many people, exercise has become an ugly word, something to avoid at all costs - but you'd be amazed how easy it is to up the tempo of your heartbeat.

"Just 30 minutes a day will do you and your heart the world of good."

The government recommends a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity five times a week.

Dr David Haslam, clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said it made for depressing reading but confirmed what had been shown in clinical trials, where even those who had a heart attack did not change their lifestyles.

"Children instinctively exercise when left to their own devices, but they don't because they're stopped from doing that by the school curriculum and parents scared of child abductors and murderers lurking on every corner.

"So, if it doesn't become a habit, you're not going to work hard to go against the tide and introduce it as an adult."

He added that exercise could be incorporated into everyday life.

"Physical activity and obesity are two different risk factors, so even if you're lean, if you're inactive you increase your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease," he said.

Know most of the readers here are active people like myself, do keep it up! Saying that you lack time for exercise is super lame. Think of it as buying time for the future, because sports can help you take less MCs, save you trips to the psychiatrist from stress-related reasons, prevent you from getting fractures easily, and can potentially save you from the dialysis machine or the operation table. Women get osteoporosis easily without exercise, and men beer bellies which have a direct causal link to cardiovascular diseases (think it indicates fat around organs).

Go out and have fun!

Responsible parenting

My day was quite spoilt early in the morning when I tried to get this kid to take out the numerous earsticks on his earlobe and the lip stud out, the little rascal refused to listen to me, wouldn't talk or listen, and just dodged me all the way till he managed to worm back into class. There's nothing I can do if I don't want to start manhandling him, so I had to let him go, and I felt very irritated by my powerlessness.

Later in the day, I went in to take charge of my 3NT classes, who are taking courses in image consultancy or animation. The notorious few sprout nonsense in response to questions, made noise, then finally arranged a few chairs and went to sleep when no one paid any attention to them.

Parents (and all you would-be parents) really should make sure that they have loads of time to properly nurture their child everyday before deciding to have kids. Day in and out I am appalled by the character of these youths without guidance, loud and empty vassals without much useful knowledge, clueless about their direction in life, really feeling shy and inferior but faking bravery and confidence with those stupid antics everyday. It is not their fault that they did not have the proper guidance to do the right things in life. Why did their parents neglect to school them properly in moral lessons? Why did they bring their kids into the world?

Right now, I don't see myself going to have a kid for the next 5 years, and if I stretch that to the next 10 years, I'm probably going to stay that way after marriage. It's not that I am afraid my future kids will turn out this way. I just don't see why kids should come into the picture after marriage, seemingly only to satisfy the demands of a primitive natural impulse.

Winding down

Things are going slow right now, a good respite from my normal hectic routine. It's not that there's no work, but that I have the leeway to slow down in churning out stuff right now. My 3NT classes have this week long enrichment modules so I don't have to plan lessons for them this week. Got to produce something for them to work on next week though, in addition to silly things like writing a useless report, planning the year end activity for Odac, and working on my work target setting exercise.

I just got the schooling schedule for next year, and that has me looking forward to future holidays even though 2008 haven't started ha. I'll be going Bangkok for a week or so in December, and the rest of the time will be spent locally doing work most probably. Adults need lots of money to do a few things and I have become pretty thrifty; big holidays is equated with lots of money spent too, and so I haven't been thinking about them for a long while.

Been busy going for canoe polo after work religiously these few weeks, even though it is just for to train the new batch of players. The pathetic bronze medal did managed to make me more motivated than ever to improve on my personal skills. It's good to have something to distract me from the stress of work.

Work life is so boring. My blog is growing boring too.

Moods

Coming back from the school break this week, you hear of me complaining about being mentally unprepared and tired. Actually, the prospect of meeting my sian English class also puts me off somewhat, especially when I have to think of English work for them every other day in advance.\

But I told myself to try be cheerful and go into class with a happy-go-lucky mood, and well, it worked wonders. I didn't feel so bad about things when students don't do work, students seem more inclined to do my work, and I could even stem mischievous behaviour somewhat with my cheerful demeanour when talking to certain students about their behaviour. Things does become more pleasant when you have a healthy attitude.

Anyway, I went back to that infamous class to collect worksheets from some of them near the end of the day, and saw the entire class all seated and incredibly quiet in my English HOD/Discipline master's EOA class. I timidly went in to ask for the worksheets, and asked one of them softly if a test was on; Nope, it was just a normal lesson for them like any other day. Sigh. No point wondering why they don't behave like this in the class - your status as perceived by students makes all the difference.

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On a unrelated note, I was very disappointed when 3 of my malay ODAC kids were caught for possession of cigarettes today. I had always thought that the malay students in my school are all pretty angelic in behaviour. Well, it's not that they are 'bad' after today, but it just disappoints me that they turn out to be somewhat immature in thought to engage in smoking.

The boy I interviewed told me that they picked it up quite long ago, and when I said they shouldn't be smoking when they haven't even started earning their own keep, he replied that he does work after school. Apparently his family don't give him allowance during the weekends and holidays.

Ok. My guess is that maybe he picked up smoking from seeing people smoke at work. And he work partly to support his habit, partly because his family cannot satisfactorily provide for him. And probably like many others, the work will inevitably have a negative effect on his studies, and the lack of good qualifications in the future will hamper his ability to obtain good employment. It all sounds like a vicious cycle; that's probably the scenario of a typical lower-income class family.

Post - competition

The national champs for canoe polo was just over yesterday, and I still can't stop thinking of it every hour. I think it is rather strange really, that people spend so much time, money, and effort on sports like these, playing for a mere medal piece with no monetary value whatsoever. But somehow, the piece of metal I have with me now stirs up strong emotions in me still.

My team prepared for the competition as per usual - frequent absentees suddenly turned up for trainings, we got a few friendly games going, and training sessions focuses on game play and tactics rather than skills. During trainings, we couldn't beat the girls' team by more than 2 goals, and I thought we will get the same results as all other competitions, with nothing to show.

We got off to a slow start, losing our first match even when we rained so many shots on their goal frame. We eked out a win with some miraculous goals in the second match, and we told ourselves we must whack the last team, which we did with a 4-2 win. We went into the semis!

First match against Red Tide 2, and it was a glorious game. We defended so well that they had no chance to get a shot away, and gave them no turnover chances at all with superb passing and control of the offense. Again, we rained shots at them, and was unlucky to lost to 2 powerful long shots and a deflected shot. RT2 eventually won the gold, while we got the bronze in the 3rd-4th playoffs, making me a bitter man.

I still got lots more to improve - in the important matches, I was afraid of fumbling catches, and whenever I thought of shooting I cautioned myself with the consequences of a turnover attack should the shot get blocked. Every competition makes me feel the need to improve further.

But finally, I see a team worth playing with, and realistic goals worth striving for.

Streaming in Singapore Schools

Once and for all, I wish to put to rest the debate about the appropriateness of streaming students in Singapore schools. Perhaps the only thing that is questionable is when the streaming should be done, but there is no doubt to me that students need to be grouped according to abilities.

Fact: My sec 3Normal (Technical) students might even fail a sec 1 express stream English test paper.

I am tempted to let them try such a paper and see how well they fare, but I am not optimistic about the results. In the Normal technical stream, their writing component in test papers is guided - they can extract materials from a previous comprehension passage in the same paper, and simply rewrite in from another perspective. Even so, many fail this part, and some can't even be bothered to write. We give primary school vocabulary lists for them to work on, so far behind are they in terms of language abilities.

Fact: Even with students in the same class (for any stream), they often display varying competencies when comparing their results in single subjects.

In my sec 3NT classes again, there are the few who consistently get their A's, and others who regularly fail their English tests or get borderline passes. This shows that streaming is an inexact science, but a necessary one nonetheless. Imagine these kids tackling English papers designed in a different format - the weak students will have no chance at all with them. They will have to first show that they can handle papers customised to their ability level before attempting more difficult papers; which is the reason why promotion from one stream to another is difficult.

Students have a hard life in Singapore - from young they have to learn to swim or sink. If ever you readers out there have kids, make sure you teach your kids to have the proper attitudes with regards to studying, and help them learn their languages well. Somehow, I think that poor results in school can lead to social problems, as true as this statement is the other way round.

Movie Review: Ratatouille

So I was persuaded to watch this cartoon on Monday, though I didn't had much hope that it will turn out to be something irresistible - how interesting can a movie be when its whole plot can be summarised succinctly as 'sewer rat wanna be gourmet chef'...

Anyway, it was entertaining in some ways, though many things didn't make much sense at all. I didn't end up being convinced that 'Anyone can cook' in the sense of gourmet cooking and not just merely making raw ingredients palatable. Most people I know can hardly go beyond maggi mee and boiled eggs, which is not a fault onto them however; who have time for such things in this modern society of haste and waste?

But I do agree with the movie that it is much nobler to create than take. Animals can only take, and almost everything that they do create is for functional purposes. Only man can create (and apppreciate) 'useless' things such as art and cultural artifacts, and it is these things that elevates man to a higher level above the beasts, in certain aspects.

So when's the last time you created anything for purely aesthetic/altruistic reasons?

Teachers' Day

My first teachers' Day spent as a teacher - I didn't really feel happy. I am quite sheepish and embarrassed when my students wished me well about it, and I could only give them encouraging smiles of thanks that didn't really came out because my heart was overflowing with joy (or similar sorts of emotions).

I think it is all a little contrived for me, all the celebrations and stuff. The current situation as a teacher isn't exactly killing me, but in a short span of time it has definitely did much to lower my self-esteem, made me feel pathetic at times, and troubled me with the lesson planning and the miserable thought of seeing a certain class. I ain't even half cheerful in school everyday, and it makes me feel that I somehow let down my PE classes too. In short - I am still far away from the ideal teacher that I wanted to be. I probably haven't been an inspiration to anyone yet, haven't helped anyone much on anything, and have only been toiling like a slave for the school doing work that many don't want to bother themselves with.

I got a cup from my best English girl in the class, a bag of cookies from an Odac senior girl, a card from a sec 1 Odac girl, and yah, that's it. I wasn't bothered that I didn't more stuff, and actually I sort of didn't know what to do with the gifts (except for the cookies of course, which were quite good). I was very surprised a lot of you guys out there reading this sms-ed me your well wishes for the day though; really didn't know what made you guys remember this day, and me, when most of you ain't teachers. But nonetheless, I appreciate it, even though my reply to you might have been a bit sourish.

The start of term break

Yup, I got a week's break from work from tomorrow. That doesn't mean that I don't do work of course; anyone who think teachers enjoy all their holidays is very ill-informed. My Odac kids are doing their first aid course tom and tuesday, and I will be there, albeit doing work of my own while the listen to the instructors. Time is not to be wasted frivolously in school. Karen has suggested that I not organise events during the term break in the future so that both students and teachers have the break to themselves, and now I rightly concur with her on this.

I have been playing in the canoe polo national champs competition for 2 weekends now. It is always during time like these that the team really gets fired up and enthusiastic. During this period, juniors acquire their own paddles, we explored new tactics, made new commitments to train harder and better. The juniors were great, 2 out of 3 scored in their debut, and the crowd almost thought an upset was coming when they led the game 2-0 against NP. I am hoping that, having tasted success, they will eager to train hard and eventual win games as a team. And I hope that we will not forget our individual commitments to brush up on our individual skills.

So. Despite feeling dead and drained, I still hope that eventually, my team can commit themselves to more training each week. I always believe in the all-or-none principle, to some extent. One thing I realised: Having an active sports life makes me feel better, to be a committed sportsman rather than a tired teacher.

22nd ODAC AGM

Well well...it has been 4 years since I last participated in the AGM as an exco member, and since then I still went back religiously every year to support the event, both to meet up with the old people and also to show the new committee people that NUS ODAC have a history, and have seniors who are still concerned with the success of the club throughout the years.

Attendance for AGM has always been poor; more so with this year. It is important then, that people like myself attend to ask the candidates for the committee good questions, to let them understand the importance of the responsibilities that they will shoulder in the club. I hope that eventually, I will have a chance to go outdoors with them, inspire and show them that the club's unofficial alumni is always willing to go the extra mile to help them in their education to develop themselves into good leaders.

And of course we all enjoy the oldies' supper after that, to reminiscence about the old times, catch up, and dream of opportunities to meet up again in the future. Though it is shameful that I hardly have time to join the regular acitivites some of the oldies suggested, I hope that's not the always the case.

Though I feel old being at the AGM, it makes me feel young again.

Term break

I have slogged hard and spent sleepless nights working this week, and finally it is coming - after tomorrow's Teachers' Day celebrations, school will be off for a week.

But oh, Monday and Tuesday I will be in school because my ODAC kids are doing a first aid course. I need to set exam papers too. Plan the lessons for next term. Write rubbish for the CHERISH report. Key in height/weight data for the level. Update my record book. Do a store inventory check. Plan for the end of year ODAC activity.

And I am sure I left out some things from this to-do list.

Happy holidays, all teachers!

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Today my VP and my English HOD came in to observe my favourite English class. I think the lesson went well, I managed to entertaine all of them pretty well, and I was busy running around answering questions from the students.

I took the same lesson to another class, and only 2-3 person actually looked at me as I talked. And I just went on rambling while mentally making myself oblivious to the actions of 30 recalcitrant students, stopped after I am done, hand the worksheet to them, and get them to do. A handful will attempt it by themselves, another handful needed lots of help to understand the task, and more than half just sleep or talk.

I sinned a lot these days - I coerced these people to do their work, and only succeeded in making them write one or two sentence of nonsense. So many pristine sheets of paper were defaced because I harassed them to write something, and this wasn't the first time that happened. Imagine how much harm I did to the environment!

OJT lessons...

I just got some on the job training from a student in my new NT class yesterday. Giving them a break from me and the last common test, I played a movie for them to watch for the lesson. The class chairperson took the chance to come up to me then to tell me about how I should manage the class!

Apparently my English HOD who took them previously always revised specific parts of the common test paper with them before the actual test, and that is why there was a small uproar when I gave them the test on Monday without any sort of revision. I didn't realised that they needed this routine before they can feel confident about taking tests; without it, some of them felt outraged and simply refused to try the paper I think.

And he also wants me to tone down my voice when I speak to the class (I am awake of my loud voice but am still working at trying to make it softer), give them a period to do work and then another to slack and talk, etc. All very good advices, and I received them humbly and told him how I am still not comfortable with his class at this moment, and will probably need time to adjust myself.

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I learnt in a meeting later that day that the NT kids can fail every subject and will still get through to ITE for some courses. That knowledge does put everything into perspective huh? Maybe that's why many of them do not feel the need to do better. I'll still carry on and work at it nonetheless, because my conscience does not allow me to do otherwise.

I have test markings and lesson plans and emails to reply to et cetera this week, but am still trying to maintain my sporting lifestyle. After an English workshop on Tuesday, I simply cannot go for polo session on Tuesday and felt quite bad about it. I'll probably have to bring down my laptop and do marking while watching my juniors play games there.

Invigilation

Just watching my NT class take a common test makes me vomit blood. Many just flipped through the pages and then proceeded to put their head on the table and slumber. Some just say "dunno how to do so difficult" and waste the time staring at the paper. I wonder where they adopted this attitude from; in any case these people will probably not make anything of themselves in this school.

And I'm too stressed to think of fun creative student-centered activities for them to do in class. Any lessons have to depend on them staying awake too.

And a stupid kid from another class provoked another student this morning and when I helped to push him away from the other guy he challenged me to a fight. Man I was really hoping then that I can get my hands bloody. That will be a good way to vent my frustration.

Yet another school comparison

Let me comment about this letter in the ST forum today, the writer comparing Singapore schools with a UK school that she taught in -

• "The United Kingdom education system inspires and enables the child to learn, builds confidence and nurtures creative thinkers. 'Teaching to test' seems to be the objective of Singapore schools."

This is very true! So what can we all do about it? Nothing at all, unless a change of mindset, along with a change of syllabus etc comes from the top. All schools want to do well so that they will be higher ranked, all teachers want good results to get promoted; therefore there is no way things will change.

• "The class teacher spends considerable time planning and preparing lessons to meet the different needs of the children. No designated textbooks are used.

Not possible. As I explained in a previous post, the time teachers spend on planning lessons is negligible. Again, if we are to put more effort into lesson planning, our work for all other things should be reduced. But then again, schools all want to be higher ranked, teachers all want to excel in their CCAs and committee work etc for better performance grading. Again, things will not be changed.

• "One has to look into how confident, articulate and expressive Singapore pupils are and who does most of the talking in class, the teacher or the pupils?"

Is this a school's problem? I think it is more of a societal problem as a whole. How many of our citizens dare to speak up against injustice, ill-manners, discourteous acts, and wrong-doings? How many of us believe that by speaking out, we can make a difference? The child simply follows what the adults do, which is nothing. School can help to encourage children to speak up, but it will be useless if the rest of society doesn't believe in it.

I like this statement the best -

"I respect the teachers of Singapore who try their very best to deliver the Government's expectations. But it appears that, collectively, society has created a nation that is obsessed with rankings and success."

Patience

It is as I feared - my new normal tech class refused to do work today and got me freaking pissed.

Ok, not all of course. And their refusal may be due to the fact that the paper has quite a lot of questions on one passage, or that it is the last period of the day, or that they are simply not in the mood at that time. Many just say they don't know how to do it when I bugged them, and I shot back at them asking if they even tried. I wanted it to be a CA assignment, but in the end, because half the class copied from each other, I dropped the idea and got the few idiots left to forget about copying the answers to pass to me after the rest of the class was dismissed.

Maybe I got fed up because my imagined scenario really played itself out, because I actually accepted CA work from my other normal tech class even though a lot of them copied from each other too. Or maybe I was just finally fed up with not being able to stop that from happening. It's not as if they will learn anything from copying, so the whole exercise is futile.

Patience. I must remember that these mentally immature kids usually do better with the soft approach; no use scolding and alienating them permanently. Some really do try hard, and I should carry on doing things for them. They are the product of years of mismanagment by their environment, and it will be arrogant for me to think that I can change their behaviour after knowing them for a few days. Just carry on, help those who seek help, in between say a few encouraging words to the recalcitrant few and see whether miracles happen.

I am in school for 12 working hours for the past 3-4 days. But I wouldn't complain working even longer hours if I only had to sit in an office and do paperwork; that is nothing compared to having a bad lesson which makes you feel depressed and useless for the entire freaking day.