Mother Superior

Stress of DSA

2011-04-04T16:25:00.002+08:00

If anything that's bothering most P6 kids in Singapore, it would not only be the Primary School Leaving Examination, but also the Direct School Admission. Having been caught up with preparing Grace for DSA, she has seeped into Gymnastics, and it was a sure passport back to her own school if she continues with the sport through the her secondary school. Well, she wasn't going to, she said. Today, she is in the midst of changing her sport to DIVING, and what a multitude of headaches (and joy!) she has given me. Firstly, DIVING is not a recognised CCA sport in schools, which means, she simply cannot go through the DSA path. Secondly, if she does try to enter by DSA, she would have to negotiate for a part-DSA through a recognised sport, like gymnastics, and then switch over mid-way in secondary school, which is often not advised. Because the strain of juggling between two sports for the first two years of secondary school is too surmountous. One school has offered her this condition, but my daughter has wisely said NO. She is wiser than her mother. Grace's own school is slowly giving way to her by asking her to sign up under the DSA-Special Talent catergory, which is not often offered by schools. Her school said that she needs to be:

admitted into the National Junior Squad

must have overseas representation

good mid-year results

Grace has qualified into the National Junior Squad, tomorrow she's going to Bangkok to compete in the Thailand Open 2011, that leaves Point 3. Now, how is she going to study when she is Thailand, and still finishing her obligation to primary school gymanstics on 18 April? She may be amazing in sports, and has done so-so for school work, but she can't live on grace alone. She really needs to pump in time to study, which makes it pressurising for her, and has given me the headaches. Perhaps, she should pray for grace, to make it on her own, without DSA. :-)

Hiatus & Back!

2011-03-25T09:57:00.008+08:00

It's 25 March 2011 today and the last time I was in this blog was eons ago.

I have experienced so many events and met so many people these past few years and I am now slowly crawling back to my first love - writing on blogs. Facebook can be too superficial at times, and since it's not too attractive to a short-attention-spanned generation, I'll stick to writing blogs.

One of the most significant events is that Grace is soon dropping gymnastics, right after the Inter-School Gymnastics Competition on 18 April week. That'l be seven years of gym work for her. DIVING is now her real passion and I have attached some pictures of her to show how she has fared thus far.

She will be going to Bangkok on 5 April and will be representing Singapore for Thailand Open. May God grant her calmness and a wonderful experience.

The other amazing happening is that Faith has entered School of the Arts, Singapore, and is enjoying her studies. May God grant her a great education and experience while at SOTA.

And now, the photos of Grace diving at Toa Payoh Swimming Pool:

Live The Dream

2007-06-15T00:29:00.000+08:00

I don't know what I've put myself into.

My good friend, Joyce, from Dawnbreakers' Choir in Wesley has nominated me for the Live The Dream singing contest. This is the equivalent of Singapore Idol, except that it is for older folks - that is, 25 years and above.

Live The Dream is organised by MediaCorp S'pore, but oh my, oh my, I have to give an answer to them if I will be participating!

MS' concerns:

What on earth am I doing this for?
What about time for kids and family?
Am I serious or insane to join such a 'national' contest?

MS is definitely not interested in public fame. Please, none of that please. Let others 'increase', I don't need that. I can shine in my own home, my bathroom especially, when I can sing till I turn blue!

Still, will it be that one chance in one's life to do something insanely different than life's routines? Or that only chance to take that amateur singing to a higher level, as Joyce reasoned again and again? After all, she just cut a CD, for herself and for legacy. (More about that in next post. But you can buy her CD in EQ Music from July onwards. CD is entitled Close To Me - Joyce.)

OK, OK, someone, please help MS decide!!! Would all this be just a wild dream??? ;- )

En Bloc Bummer

2007-06-01T00:17:00.000+08:00

I'd be frank, I'm not one to make loads of money. Definitely not with en bloc sales.

Just take the mad frenzy in property prices lately in Singapore. The craze for en bloc sale of entire estates has taken on dizzying heights. One wonders how the developers can eventually sell off the redeveloped houses that they are going to build, especially at $1,000 psf (targetted amount).

The object in question is Farrer Court, which we owned a unit previously, and sold off in 2005 at super low times. Reason: avoid a mortgage and move in with MIL, who needed companionship after the death of FIL.

We had bought a property in the west of Singapore before moving over, and that is due for TOP in a year or so, barring no more sand ban from Indonesia, which has delayed construction.

But hang on, the topic is on enbloc sale, and Farrer Court is up for sale as the "largest en bloc land for sale, with potential to build 36 storeys, with every owner set to pocket about $2.4 million"! What a bummer!!!

Oh, why did we sell off FC? It was not that we needed the money. In fact, we used the sale money to pump into the new house. The reason lies in two facts: that I am still a working mum, so help is needed to look after the girls; and that we didn't want a maid in the long run, hence, the need to be with MIL to be the caretaker in the day. And since MIL did not want to come over everyday to our house in FC, we decided to pack up and move over to her place. So we sold off FC, after a conversation with a veteran estate agent, who calculated that FC has too many units for the potential developer to payout to.

Sigh... deep sigh... I do feel lousy, but I also cannot bear the thought of receiving 'poison letters' from neighbours if I had chosen to opt out. And FC residents are mainly retirees, educated, and have nothing much to do except to wait for property prices to go up. I do not think I am exaggerating. The neighbours are sweet, but at the same time, they can be an ugly bickering lot. That's why I packed off fast, despite FC being a nice estate, with many trees around.

I am really not good at making money. I am even more upset that the decision to work has led to missed opportunities.

But I received a ray of hope recently through a super wild thought. When the FC deal gets through, what would these retirees do with their $2.4m? Put $1m in their retirement fund for sure, but they'll need a place to stay! They're unlikely to move to the east nor north; not even central Singapore, where all the hot property action is happening with high prices. That makes the west or south west very attractive. And that's where my new place will be. So hopefully, they'll pump in their remnant $1.4m to me. And it is possible, cos Hubs just received a call yesterday from agents who are seeking out units at the west, where a new MRT Circle Line will pass through and Clementi will be developed. Oh, goody, goody, so brilliant, and yet so speculative. Let's just wait... (with wide, greedy eyes shooting out).

OK, girl, get real, read what the Bible says:

Do not weary yourself to gain wealth
Cease from your considerations of it
When you set your eyes on it, if it is gone
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

Proverbs 23:4-5

There you are, this is not pouring spoilt milk over the brilliant idea. Rather, a firm reminder that wealth really has wings, it flies off so fast, that the pursuit of it can be in vain.

Get out of the frenzy girl, and find a home for your family, and not a house. That is the main object in life.

Elephant's Foot

2007-05-30T07:44:00.000+08:00

Heard of that?

I was scrambling in the internet to find info on that plant. Yes, it's a plant. And despite so many references of it as a yam-like plant, Faith, the object of whom I serving for her Science project, insisted that it is a green plant.

Take a look. Can any green stem out from this 'elephantiasis' kind of plant? There was a near-tear-your-hair scenario this morning before going to school, but MS decided to leave it our from her project. Too bad, no info, she'd better rely on her friends.

Right after I've posted this picture, I found this picture, but without much info.

Now, did I miss this out? Oh well, let her check it out for herself. It was found on google and not the wiki. Lovely flower, eh? But what an incongruent name!

Hello

2007-05-28T23:51:00.000+08:00

It's been many months since I've last come to this blog. It was the fatigue that grabbed me, I could hardly talk about blogs for a long while cos it just sapped me totally. I think it was because I had a community of friends, and they are all lovely people, and I knew there were people reading the blog, and it bugged me that I had to write for an audience and not for myself.

I dunno, I chose to stay away just to keep off and come back again when I'm ready to write my own personal diary. Yeah, that's what I had always wanted to, to write personal things that mean much to me.

Well, here am I now...

Faith has just turned 9 on May 6, and we had a simple do at Secret Recipe after church & lunch with friends. It was a day prior her exams and I just wanted to make her happy. She didn't do extremely well for her exams, but we just kept up with the encouragement to push her on. It's like this in Singapore, you may be good, but your good is always not good enough. It's hard to live on mediocrity when the society is all about meritocracy. I do so wish I can provide her with something that she truly enjoys doing, like art, and more art.

Last Friday, she acted in The Golden Goose in the Musical Theatre for Primary 3s. She was one of the many narrators, but that she agreed to go on stage again was an achievement, since her disaster on stage for Spelling Bee last year. I'm proud of her.

The thing about Faith is that she's very principled, especially in money issues. For example, in choosing to buy things, she'd say, "pick the cheapest Mum". I asked her why, she'd say, "pay up the house, Mum". Yesterday I asked her what she would think of me joining the Live Your Dream (aka adult Singapore Idol for those from 25 to 99). She said, "Don't join, Mum."

"Why? Don't you like me singing?"
"Yes, but don't waste money."
"Huh? What's that gotta do with money? You mean I'll have to buy clothes to wear on TV."
"It's just not necessary, Mum. Save it for the house."

My girl, I wonder how she is often more principled than her mother, who could even think of joining a talentime of sorts, at this age of past 40. Hmmm... hiya, Mummy...

Grace has grown to be a real sweetie too. I've learnt to treasure her a great deal and she has spoken many words of wisdom to me beyond my imagination. Her classic is, "Mum, think before you speak." Whoa, from a 7-year-old, that's amazing.

But I was really sad this evening when I showed her a picture of both of them on my mobile phone. She said she looked so ugly.

"Oh, but why? You're my sweetest darling!"
"Yes, but I still don't have my two front teeth."

Poor girl, she's been toothless in front since one and a half years. But there is a silver lining, cos I do see some white specks on her gums. Oh Lord, let her have her two front teeth before Christmas.

Alright, I'm pooped now My new boss is so charismatic, I have to keep up with his many queries and meetings with the team and others.

Let's hope I won't take too long a break now. Maybe I'll write more than post more photos. That'll be a lighter toll on me for sure.

'Nite!

Lost in Words

2006-10-26T22:06:00.000+08:00

Lately, I have been so exhausted from work, I just couldn't begin to blog. But since I started bloggin about a year ago, I'd bring you my first piece where I talked about myself. Narcissism? Nah, just an expression of thoughts and taunts.

First Date

Today's my red letter day to blogging. Although I've been reading web-blogs for a while, I've never plunged into the real blogopolis. So thanks to the Asia Blog Conference for Corporate Marketing recently, I've jumped onto the blog wagon. I told Mr Miyagi I would try, and he was very encouraging.

Anyhow, first things first, esp on first dates. I'm not a nun, nor a Catholic, nor a narcissistic mother. Just can't think of a better title for mothers who are oh, so wonderful and important. You'll only hear from me occasionally though, or whenever, cos looking after kids is damn tiring, ok!

Talking about being tired, I wonder how much sleep working mothers get each day. I mean, although I said looking after kids is tiring, with maids around these days, surely it's not so bad, yah? On average, I sleep about 5 - 6 hours. 5, actually, cos No. 1 girl gets up at 5:30am to catch the 6:10am bus to school!!! And she's not the first to be picked, she's about the 5th, so God bless those other girls who wake up earlier than No.1!!!

Yep, it's been a year, and I'm so glad to have made friends on blogsphere. More interestingly, I have met a couple of them, enough to keep a small kiasuland community.

As with friendships, you don't need much words to say things. So with that, I'll be taking a fairly long break to focus on kids' holiday engagements, and re-strategising a new team at work. And to help out in all the Christmas singing, maybe one or two in Orchard Road.

Till then, I'll still be with you on comments. ,-)

Spelling Bee Dilemma

2006-10-19T21:43:00.000+08:00

Since the kids finished their exams two weeks ago, MS has been busy with entertaining kiddos, and juggling work demands. That, with a bout of bad flu in between, took me away from blogland. But something happened last week which deserves to be shared.

Faith, my elder girl, was selected by her teacher for the inter-class Spelling Bee Competition. If you don't know what that is, it is simply a spelling contest and each contestant would spell in as many rounds as he or she can, till a wrong spelling occurs, and the contestant will be kicked out.

Naturally, MS was excited for her and a tad proud too. But the only worry was that, as far as I know, Faith is strong in vocabulary, but fairly weak in spelling. Know what I mean? Strong in conversation, but weaker in writing. I never meant to doubt her, but I was afraid of her nerves. It seemed, in the end, I was more nervous than she was.

The day came and she stood on stage. Apparently, she was scared to tears, but still braved the stage. Faith was one of three in her class to participate, and they were required to work in a team. The first girl in the team managed to pull through the first round. She spelt "COIL". Then came Faith's turn. She was asked to spell "DEDICATION". For some strange reason, she heard the 'd' sound as 'g', the gutteral sound. So despite her team spelling in her ear the word, she just couldn't figure out the word and was afraid of the number of syllables. She lost that round and her class was out.

When she returned home, I asked how she fared, she said immediately in slight disillusionment, "Bad, really bad." She explained that she was just too nervous and that she really didn't like going up on stage at all. She was 'scared like mad'. Totally discouraged, she said she would never like to participate in a Spelling Bee again.

Well, what could I do except to be the good Mum and pacified her. I mean, at least she was selected amongst 30 others in the class.

That evening, I reflected on the entire event. As much as I was proud to have her selected, the truth is, which mother would want her child to be such doldrums and so discouraged? Every mother would like to think her child as a genius, but that is just a dream sometimes. And despite much encouragement, one should just accept mediocrity because there is only one winner in any competition.

The worse feeling I had was that I wanted to protect her and not allow her to participate in any major contests that are beyond her. I mean, that was an awful thought, and I wished I didn't feel that way.

But therein lies a real dilemma, how much should one encourage a child for achievement, or how much should one avoid the child from life's disappointments? The obvious answer is to teach the child acceptance of loss, provided the parent does not have high expectations.

The situation was difficult because MS is an achiever by nature. I won't elaborate, but it certainly looks like MS has lots to learn about motherhood, character development, and managing expectations. God be my guide!

Right after that, I went out to search for the movie, Akeelah and the Bee. Faith watched it over and over again, and witnessed the disappointments faced by the protagonist, a ten-year-old girl. It was good, she said, but she would not like to go for a Spelling Bee - ever. God be her guide, too!

Singapore Maths

2006-10-05T09:49:00.000+08:00

For many parents in Singapore, Maths has been a challenge these past years because the syllabus has changed much, and the methods of solving have evolved too. More critically, the standards have been raised. Ask any Primary 6 student doing the national Primary School Leaving Exam, and you'll know.

It's no wonder that the US apparently regards Singapore Maths as a benchmark of sort. So, you can have American Math for a subject, and be further challenged by Singapore Maths. That is according to Hub's American boss who has an eight-year-old girl. My Hawaiian friend came to S'pore last year and bought all the assessment books on Maths in the infamous Popular Bookshop, well-known for selling assessment and guide books.

Well, Mother Superior has been drowned in Maths and Grammar last week and this, to guide her precious two for the exams, which incidentally, ends tomorrow - yay! So far, she is familiar with a particular Andrew Er:

...and a particular Dr Fong Ho Kheong, who's the author of most Singapore Maths books. He's so complicated that he published a guide for parents. How thoughtful. I bought two books last year, accidentally.

Dr Fong prides on his number bond method that enables kids to calculate mentally by 'rounding up' to the nearest tens or hundreds. Quite good, except that the questions can be tricky, and when parents are just so used to calculating vertically and not horizontally.

That brings me to Andrew Er, whom I hope, my kids will never have to be taught by him. Consider this question in his P2 book for eight-year-olds, which MS has modified a little due to lack of memory:

Question 1

Mother Superior bought 40 sweets to be shared with her two kids. Faith has 10 more than Grace. How many sweets does Grace have? How many sweets does Faith have?

Now, it looks simple on the surface, but for little girls, that can be pretty heavy, considering I first solved it using Algebra. I, who never did well in Maths, of course. Here's a simpler one that was on Grace's paper for P1, seven-year-olds:

Question 2

Tim shares 36 sweets equally with 5 of his friends. How many does each person get?

Much simpler, but fairly tricky for kids. So many of Grace's friends kept knocking their heads wondering how 36 can be divided by 5.

At 10am now, as I write, they would have finished their paper. Let's really hope they can manage.

But for now, what would your answers be for Questions 1 and 2? ,-)

Which Disney Character Are You?

2006-09-29T09:30:00.000+08:00

Mickell said he's the Hulk in the Which Superhero Are You? quiz. I tried and became Superman, who fights for greater social justice, and then became Green Lantern on second try. (Who's Green Lantern anyway?)

I wrote this some time ago, to find out which Disney character I was. I gave up trying cos the questions didn't suit me. I wrote my own desires instead.

I'd like to think I'm Sleeping Beauty cos I love to sleep.

When I became a mother, I think myself as Cinder-ella, doing all the housework, with no cinder (soot) to clear, thank God.

Now that kids are older, maybe I'm Snow White, cos applying white treatment by SKII may just make me white.

Hopefully, in my twilight years, I'll be Peter Pan, so that I'll forever be young, even if it's just at heart.

Which one are you?

Or be like Pooh, and not bother!

Taking A Break

2006-09-26T13:05:00.000+08:00

I've just finished some schedule planning, and feel like I need a breather. Maybe some clear skies to cheer my afternoon.

Hmm... not so clear today, rather hazy istead.

Well, maybe I should just put up my legs.

Or think of my lovely girls:

OK, OK, maybe my favourite boy from church - Ian!

Don't you feel like pinching his cheeks?

Ok, back to work.

Childhood Memories

2006-09-21T14:11:00.000+08:00

Robin wrote an inspiring post about growing up in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. He said we were all so free in those days, before the "lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good".

Thought I'd share my version, not the govt regulating bits, but just those hazy days of childhood, where there were less complains.

Bruised from cycling
Ached from sprinting
Sprained ankle from football
And screamed 'yea yea' from rubberband thrill
There never was a complain
'Bout life, nor existence.

Washed my own shoes
Scrubbed plates till they squeaked
Sang Karen Carpenter
And then Barbara Streisand
There never was a dull moment
Till Karen died, of course.

No piano class
Nor phonics class
No Kumon
Nor least swimming lessons
I always wonder
How I've become, a class of my own.

20 cents was a treat
50 cents would get a beat
From parents who earned so little
We ate porridge every day
I love porridge till today
But I can bypass, the Quaker oats, please.

Worked with Papa every Sunday
On all his 'moonlight' electrical runs
Sawing, drilling & whacking nails
All to pay for Bro's uni fees
Only to find out when it was my turn
My poor Pa, had no more money.

But we never once complained
All six of us at home
We lived and let lived
In those early dawning years
We never thought we were deprived
Only thought, we were different.

Those freedom days are gone
Where we could live without air-con
We have so much around us now
Till we forget what little means
I yearn for trees to climb
Only to be bruised, from concrete stairway climbs.

IMF/WB Meet Ends Today

2006-09-20T13:01:00.000+08:00

Yay, yay, it's ending today!

No more red carpets at the airport, flowers on Dhoby Ghaut construction site, fireworks for the past few nights (all tax payers' money) and four million smiles to greet visitors.

Hopefully, the protestors can come now to simply shop and not create commotion; Chee Soon Juan & his sister can have a good rest in bed and not at Hong Lim Park Speakers' Corner; Suntec City will have their usual family crowd back; poly students need not slog as bus hosts; and civil servants return to normalcy instead of being tour guides for delegates' spouses.

I hope the flowers along Orchard Road will always be there and not just this period, that there'll always be four million smiles in Singapore to greet one another, and 'red carpet' treatment for each other, everyday.

Grace's Birthday: Cakes Galore

2006-09-19T15:27:00.000+08:00

It was Grace's birthday last week and the celebrations lasted for a few days, literally. That's something about my family, we celebrate birthdays over the full week, and the birthday child or adult will have special treats throughout.

Well, firstly, there was that special lunch on her actual birthday (last Thursday) with some classmates and sister, Faith. Because one of the girls has eczema, I thought it wise to bring them to EarthNuts at Sixth Ave corner, to eat totally healthy food - coriander & carrot soup 'creamed' with thick potato, organic pasta with veggies, oil-less chicken rice, strawberry sorbet without sugar and non-wheat cupcake. It seems cupcakes are the rage now with kids, no longer huge cakes. Oh, the lunch was followed by kids bowling which was super fun!

(Alison, Jillian, Grace & Faith)

There was a simple mango cake at Grandma's place that night.

On Saturday, Mummy went for a baking class to try out a blueberry chocolate cake, complete with cartoon piping. Here's a picture to show the effort.

I never knew cake decoration was so tough! But I managed a diamond shape background, while I practised a curve shape earlier.

On Sunday, we did it big time with her classmates at West Coast Park Mac's. Big time? Well, 40 kids from her class and church, is that not big enough? Although I'm not crazy over Mac's (ugh!), the setting was in a park, and that made up for the oily food.

Grace has a knack of showing the peace sign when she takes photos. Look what happened to the finger. Faith won't like it when she reads this blog.

With so much activities for kids, you tell me, how on earth can I even find time to blog??? And that, of course, competes with work, Hubs, kids, Scrabble, amateur baking and church singing. Singing? OK, another time.

All That Counts

2006-09-08T15:18:00.000+08:00

The IMF & World Bank Summits are round the corner in Singapore. The nation is putting on its best front to welcome 16,000 delegates to Singapore.

From "4 Million Smiles" Campaign to BMW car loans and infrastructure set-up, there's no denying that Singapore has spent millions of money just to lay the red carpet to the world.

I dunno, not even trying to be cynical, but why do I feel that although it is good & important to do all we can for the Summit, why isn't there an urgency to hope all that counts in the meeting is more important? Surely, no media has discussed on the key topics to be discussed or outcomes that are desired. Where is the crux of the meeting?

Just some niggling thoughts since there's so much hype of the Summit & meetings.

Students Petition Against Catholic High Principal

2006-09-06T14:14:00.000+08:00

Ho now, would you fault this? Would you encourage this petition orblame the pedantic behavious of the petitioners?

This is the new breed of youths we have in Singapore, and I doubt I'm stereotyping them. No wonder the S'pore gahmen is working towards winning the youngsters and getting post-65 generation of ministers to woo the youths.

But back to the main issue, what are your reactions to this petition, which is cleverly well-written by a Secondary School student from Catholic High, the school which my nephew just got accepted in via Direct Admissions Exercise.

Petition Against: Mr Lee XX (name deliberately blocked off by MS)

1. Definitions
1.1 Within this document, Mr Lee XX shall be known as ‘the Principal’ or ‘Mr Lee’ unless otherwise stated.
1.2 Catholic High School (Secondary) shall be known as ‘School’ within this document.
1.3 The term ‘We’, and ‘Us’ is a collective term to represent the students, parents of the students, the School Alumni, and teachers of the School.
1.4 “Students” would refer to Students of Catholic High School.
1.5 “Student Leaders” or “SL(s)” means the Student Leaders Board members comprising of Student Councillors, Prefects, and the Class Management Committee.
1.6 “Prefects” would be students appointed by the school who carry school badges with a black strip with the word “Prefect”, and wear the school tie in school at all times when in full school uniform. Their task is to deal with discipline problems in the school by being part of a collective force to apprehend students in breach of them. They are part of the Prefectorial Board, which is part of the Student Leaders Board.
1.7 ‘Student Councillors’ refer to students appointed by the school to deal with affairs including, but not limited to, preparation of school activities and events, coordination of school programmes.
1.8 “Class Management Committee” refers to students who are or were Class Chairmen or Assistant Class Chairmen of their respective classes in school.
1.9 “Class Chairman” and “Assistant Class Chairman” refer to the Class Monitor and Vice-Monitor respectively.

2. State of Request
2.1. We ask that Mr Lee resign with immediate effect.
2.1.1. This is to take place and the Vice-Principal of the Primary School shall take over, either temporarily or permanently.
2.2. We request that Mr Lee to take no further part of School Activities
2.2.1. This includes, but is not limited to:
2.2.1.1. Preparation of events:
2.2.1.1.1. Children’s Day
2.2.1.1.2. Teacher’s Day
2.2.1.1.3. Youth Day
2.2.1.1.4. Racial Harmony Day
2.2.1.1.5. Chinese New Year
2.2.1.2. Catholic High Sports Night
2.2.1.3. Catholic High Annual Cross-Country
2.3. We ask that he present a formal apology to us on basis explained in: (Point 3)
2.4. The use of funds in the upgrading of the school library.
2.4.1. The buying of new books and learning resources
2.4.2. The buying of new storybooks and texts
2.5. The use of funds to get better teaching resources.
2.5.1. Relevant studies and books on subject matter
2.6. The keeping of teachers as follows, unless by choice, the tendering of resignation:
2.6.1. Mrs A XX (names here are deliberately blocked off by MS)
2.6.2. Mrs M XX
2.6.3. Mrs C XX
2.6.4. Mrs A XX
2.6.5. Mr J XX
2.6.6. Ms T XX
2.6.7. Ms L XX
2.6.8. Mr Y XX
2.6.9. Mr G XX
2.6.9.1. This list is not exhaustive.

3. Reasons of Request
3.1. Mr Lee has requested the building of ponds and with due thanks to donations has made them possible. This has been detrimental to the school in the following ways:
3.1.1. These ponds are:
3.1.1.1. Pond at Car Porch in the Secondary School.
3.1.1.2. Pond outside Science Laboratories
3.1.1.3. Pond in the Primary School Premises.
3.1.2. Request for such funds to build ponds was unnecessary. This has diverted funds which could be used in better ways (Point 4).
3.1.3. High maintenance and electrical bill
3.1.4. Poor maintenance of the ponds.
3.1.5. No immediate and tangible benefits of the pon
3.2. Mr Lee has bought statues and stones or requested the donation of these them. They have had no benefit and had been detrimental.
3.2.1. The statues in question:
3.2.1.1. Statue of Eagle at Car Porch of Secondary School.
3.2.1.2. Various stones along sloping path upwards from Secondary School Car Porch to General Office.
3.2.1.3. Statue of ‘Fire’ at Plaza and the bronze statues at the Secondary School General Office car porch running to it.
3.2.1.4. 2 Statues of Lions at mini-river outside rooms of NPCC, St John’s Ambulance Brigade and NCC (Air)
3.2.1.5. Statue of hands outside of the Primary School General Office3.2.2. Monies used to buy and maintain these statues could be diverted to other funds.
3.2.3. They have no tangible benefit for the students.
3.3. Mr Lee has scolded teachers for the high electricity bill.
3.3.1. To quote a teacher who has spoken on condition of anonymity, “That time, he complained to us that the electricity bill was high because we were staying in school and marking worksheets past 6 pm.”
3.3.2. This shows contempt for the teachers as the a school, as, to quote several Dictionaries,
3.3.2.1. Oxford Dictionary of English: “an institution for educating children.”
3.3.2.2. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary: “a place where children are taught”
3.3.2.3. Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “an institution for the teaching of children”
3.3.3. He has placed the fundamental reason for a school, a place for students to learn, below that of monetary assets. This clearly shows what he valuates. He puts the cost of electricity above student welfare.
3.3.4. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, after physiological needs, Safety needs need to be met, and under one of them, called the ‘Security of Employment’, is where education lies. A good education is essential to have a good, well paying job in future. Having a good job, especially one where students in future will have would mean that they would have ‘Security of Employment’. Having teachers who are unable to do their job to the best of their ability not only threatens to tarnish their ‘Security of Employment’, also threatens students’ own ‘Security of Employment’. This is of equal importance of ‘Security of revenues and resources’, however because this money comes from the government, and with coffers amounting to millions, what we see is that Mr Lee is placing an insignificant portion of money over the needs of students.

3.4. He is of unreasonable character
3.4.1. He demands a utopia of having zero latecomers.
3.4.1.1. This is very, very hard to fulfill, considering this idea of Chaos Theory, where there is always an unforeseen circumstance which can disrupt daily life, thanks to a chain of events, of which a student would not be involved in, until he gets affected negatively by being late.
3.4.1.2. He draws a comparison of being late for school to going to Changi Airport to take a plane to London at 5 am. He tells the students that they would not be late for the plane to London, but would be late school.
3.4.1.2.1. This comparison is ridiculous considering the circumstance surrounding each event. To go to school is almost a daily affair, and monotonous and is further worsened by the fact that the students lack the motivation to go to school due to what they perceive as poor leadership.
3.4.1.2.2. If any student were to London, even at any absurd time, they would be on time, there would be a sense of excitement and anxiousness. This is especially so because a plane ticket is high in cost, especially that of a ticket to Western Europe.
3.4.1.3. He caused the breaking down of a teacher in public, where when he scolded the students of Class 3-9 of 2006 for being late. Mrs A XXX, as form teacher, defended them, and Mr Lee then blamed Mrs XXX for being irresponsible and letting her students to be late. The students then told Mr Lee that it was not the fault of Mrs XXX, and that they were fully to blame. He then scolded both Mrs XXX, who was totally innocent, and the late students. This trauma of being scolded on absolutely no basis has made her break down.
3.4.1.3.1. Mrs A XXX’s record as a teacher has been excellent, and has been constantly producing As in the ‘O’ Levels, and is very well respected by the students.
3.4.2. He has threatened to expel students due to a lack of punctuality.
3.4.2.1. This occurred on 14th July, 2006, during morning assembly in the Plaza. Mr Lee threatened to expel students who were late for assembly. This is unprecedented, and has no historical precedence. This is also not a rule in schools all around Singapore, and in other parts of the first world.
3.4.2.2. This harsh reality brought forward is unforgiving, where for a minute offence, a student may be expelled. This message is negative and is of resemblance to a totalitarian state.
3.5. Intentional demoralisation of the students.
3.5.1. As an educator, he knows that making harsh comments at students would result in a demoralization, which would lead to underperformance.
3.5.1.1. During the collection of the ‘O’ Level Results of 2005, to those whom came late, he called them ‘insolent brats’. This is a direct attack on a person’s morals. As an educator, he should not have done so.
3.5.1.2. During talks with the Secondary 4s of 2006, he ridiculed and insulted them for doing poorly in the ‘O’ Levels. He lashed out at many people which the Secondary 4s of 2006 respected, their direct seniors, of whom they have very good relationships with.
3.5.1.3. He has called latecomers to school ‘useless’ and ‘stupid’. These words, coming from someone whom they should respect are harsh, critical, and unforgiving. It creates a negative sentiment among the students and can affect results. This is not helpful to the school environment.
3.6. Collection of monies without proper accountability
3.6.1. He gives red packets to students during Chinese New Year, demanding that students donate money to the school. If one were to not pay up, they were to face disciplinary action.
3.6.2. The money has never been accounted for by Mr Lee, and the claim of the use of this money is the building of the school and for the funds for CCAs.
3.6.3. Money has never reached the coffers of certain CCAs which have not been performing well.
3.6.3.1. Money has been unfairly distributed where CCAs with better track records get more money. This creates a rich-poor divide between the good and the weak CCAs.
3.6.3.2. Poorer CCAs, with less funds, are unable to purchase better resources and exploit the full potential of the students. This is very detrimental to the students, as they would be unable to:
3.6.3.2.1. Maximise their full potential
3.6.3.2.2. Earn CCA Points
3.6.3.2.3. Get exposure
3.6.3.3. 2 students, during the Chinese New Year of 2005, did not adhere to the school’s demands, and were brought out for disciplinary action because they did not donate to the school
3.6.3.3.1. To donate is an act of charity, stemmed from the Latin word, charitas.
3.6.3.3.2. Charitas essentially means ‘to give’, and when a person gives, without any connotations, it can be said that he or she would give on his or her own free will.
3.6.3.3.3. This is an act of extortion, and is illegal under the Penal Code (Chapter 224), Chapter XVII, 383.
3.6.3.3.4. This form of injury is in the form of disciplinary action, which can result in caning, or worse.

3.7. Lack of standardisation and discipline
3.7.1. During the course of the 4 years Mr Lee has been here, punishment for offences has been wide-ranging and varying.
3.7.1.1. Penalty for the smuggling food out of canteen:
3.7.1.1.1. There has never been a standard punishment for those caught smuggling food outside of the canteen during recess.
3.7.1.1.2. Prefects on duty have shown lack of focus on the job. They allow people blatantly eating food out of the canteen, and only request them to go back to the canteen. When they do not do so, they do not take any action.3.7.1.2. There is no check in the Student Lounge to disallow the smuggling of food to class.3.7.1.2.1. This is unlike the policy of the prohibition of the removal of food from the canteen during recess. Both areas are places which students go to during recess for meals or food.
3.7.1.2.2. It is a double-standard, where one has a check-and-balance, albeit weak, while the other does not altogether.
3.7.1.3. Ankle socks are prohibited without reason in the school, yet the school is lax in the apprehension of students who do not follow this rule.
3.7.1.3.1. Student leaders have pressed for the lifting on the prohibition of ankle-length socks, however, there is no official reason as to the ban of it.
3.7.1.3.2. Students caught have multiple punishments, without a standard process of defining what punishment for when.
3.7.1.4. The consumption of food is banned in classrooms
3.7.1.4.1. This rule is not enforced within the school, and is, like the previous 2 rules, (3.7.1.1. and 3.7.1.3), tokenistic in nature.
3.7.1.4.2. The Class Chairman does not take action when this rule is broken. Student leaders are also sometimes guilty of breaking this rule.
3.7.1.5. The students are not allowed to change into the School Uniform or PE Attire in the classrooms.
3.7.1.5.1. This rule is tokenistic in nature, as there are students who change within the classroom.
3.7.1.5.2. Even against the urges of the Student Leaders, this continues.
3.7.2. Latecomers to school have never had a proper punishment.
3.7.2.1. For one, they had to sleep on the sick bay bed for a certain period of time, before they were let off to class.
3.7.2.2. That was scrapped and students were forced to walk around the school with a sign, and using a loudhailer, saying, “Let me not be the one who is late”.
3.7.2.3. It was then changed to have students being forced to stand in front of the school in morning assembly in the next day.
3.7.2.4. This lack of proper punishment systems does not help the school.
3.7.3. The moderation of the Preliminary results of the Secondary 4 batch of 2005.
3.7.3.1. Mr Lee demanded the moderation of the Prelim papers to such an extent that the Prelims were a farce.
3.7.3.2. A student with 15 points in the Prelims was allowed to enter Hwa Chong Junior College.
3.7.3.3. He refused to listen to the opinions of the other teachers and accused them of having ‘no team spirit’, and inducing ‘negative sentiment’.
3.7.4. The safety hazards within the school
3.7.4.1. As Principal, his primary concern should be the welfare of the students, and this has not been the case. He has allowed the following:
3.7.4.1.1. Inadequacy of fire extinguishers
3.7.4.1.2. Available fire extinguishers are empty
3.7.4.1.3. Usage of hose reel area for storage
3.7.4.1.4. Lack of medical equipment in first-aid kits

Sincerely,
Ho XX (name deliberately blocked off by MS)
Class 3-6, 2006.
And,The undersigned.

Six Random Facts About Me

2006-09-05T21:06:00.000+08:00

I'm so bad at tags, that I think bloggers have given up on me. But here's one sent to me by SeeFei, and I thought I'd give it a try:

1. I have sung a solo in almost every 'old' theatre in Singapore.
When I was young, I was picked by my choir mistress to sing in school. So apart from school stages where I think I've belted out Over The Rainbow (acting as Peter Pan!), You're My Everything and Endless Love (so 80s...), plus a few other here and there, the most memorable time was to sing a solo in Victoria Theatre, in a musical, if I can recall. In church choirs or ensembles, I think I've sung a solo in the Victoria Concert Hall, Kallang Theatre, Indoor Stadium and the old Drama Centre. I now sing in my humble church choir called the Dawnbreakers.

2. I topped my class in my final paper at uni, but was too pregnant to receive the award.
I studied uni late and was a mature student in Melbourne for two years. But when I got back, I married Hubs almost immediately and got pregnant. When the results were out, I was too full to travel for the convocation. Sigh... but I received AUD$500 in the mail and the exchange rate was in my favour. Good tie-over for a young mother then.

3. I love huge chunky chokers or bangles.
I just don't wear them too much cos my kids used to tug at them. Also, I don't keep accessories well. But I've been reading Diva's blog on her beads craze.

4. I always daydream about being a jazz dancer, a sprinter, a swimmer, a lawyer, a rock climber and a speech therapist.
I am none of the above. But of them all, being a jazz dancer appeals to me most.

5. I always catch a morning show when Hubs is away.
Since I love movies so much, and Hubs is only acquainted with the action flick sort, I usually steal a show when he's away, often in the mornings, where I'd take a day off. It feels like I'm some loner lunatic when I go for movies alone, but I meet more loners in the theater. Favourites are Cinema Paradiso, Les Miserables (the movie) Les Choristes, Lao Beijing and Seven. Hmmm... more foreign movies.

6. I am crazy about Korean movies.
I'm not lying. My reason for this love is that the movies are cleverly crafted and so, so original. From teh days of Shiri, to Brothers, Old Boy and the latest, Running Wild, I have high regard for Korean directors. I don't care too much about the drama serials though, although I must say Jewel in the Palace was excellent and I love the male lead. What's his Korean name again?

OK, finally done. Wanna try, Robin, Pea Princess and Earth Ember?

Scrabble:Of Words & Numbers

2006-09-04T22:16:00.000+08:00

Life is made of these - words and numbers, in Scrabble, that is.

Last Saturday, Mother Superior represented her organisation in a Scrabble competition for the civil service and I was happy to be the Scrabble captain. My team of five was made up of two die-hards, one who obliged, and two newbies who never knew why some people are so mad about Scrabble.

For months, we scrambled to get organised, and practised just here and there over lunch. All of us were amateurs, so we naturally did badly against 'Masters' and 'Super Masters' players. In the third round, we ended up as the better loser of the 3rd Division, so we played with the loser of the 2nd Division. We were up against, mind you, IRAS (Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore), the people who care about numbers most.

My Maths was so bad, I counted my scores against my opponent (accountant) and declared a draw at the end of the game. My opponent re-counted and said I scored 374 while she was at 365. I was happy to be weak in Maths. We signed the forms and the game officially ended.

But 10 minutes after talking through why we made certain moves, my opponent discovered she had counted a pertinent 'F' wrongly. (It had to be an 'F', right?) She insisted she had counted a double score instead of a triple and traced all the scores back. With an added 12 marks, she would pip me, and my team would have lost 2-3 (we won by 3-2 at first counting).

Though I relented, I thought it best to get the judge in. Thankfully, the judge said that once the forms are signed, the scores are final. She argued that I had given the consensus to change the form. I replied that I had said OK initially but since I was given a choice, I would prefer not to bend back. She further argued that though the form was signed, it was not submitted. Whew! You just can't fight accountants. The judge made a final 'no', and I scooted off as quick as I could, with a sorry that it had to happen this way.

Hmm... tecnically, she was the winner, so I felt super bad. Particularly when I had gone against my first 'concensus'. But on hindsight, with much deeper insight, I wondered how her miscalculation could proven. What we both didn't do was to write the word that we've played and the corresponding score. This practice is encouraged in a game, but most don't do it cos it takes up too much concentration. I'm used to speed games as a strategy, so writing scores are more important than writing the word. So, how could her miscalculation be proven?

I learnt a few lessons that day. Always bring a calculator if you can't add well or fast enough. Never underestimate the power of persuasion by accountants. And finally, how could I have let my opponent get by with the word, 'ul'? Urrrrrgh...

By the way, the picture above is played a 'Super Master' who lost to a 'Master' cos he took the risk of challenging the word 'minify'. He lost five points, and that was the margin needed to close the gap.

Gosh, what is 'seme', 'saurian' and 'fanion' and 'otic'? I'm confused...

Spelling Problems

2006-08-31T18:29:00.000+08:00

My kids' school conducted a Literacy Talk last night for parents. The talk dwelt on a child's progression from oral skills, to reading, spelling and writing. A child who is not be able to adjust to these multiple skills may just be dyslexic.

For a long while, I have suspected Grace to be slightly dyslexic. But I had thought that pertained to reading difficulties per se. Since she entered school this year, she has picked up much better reading skills, even though that came with some effort and a lot of prayer. In fact, I was recently amazed at her ability to read 5-syllable words. But the talk highlighted that even if a child can read, but cannot process more complex skills such as spelling and writing, these could just be mild symptoms of dyslexia.

Moreover, even though Grace passes her spelling lists often, it could just be that her memory skills are tested and not "anchored spelling memory skills". There could some truth in this cos in creative writing, Grace's spelling is topysy turvy. E.g., she tends to spell in Bahasa Melayu:

August - Ogos
December - Desember
February - Feberi
July - Juli

Now, before I begin to label my child, I'd like to say that it is the consistent trend that I noticed in her spelling difficulty that made me deduce she could be slightly dyslexic. Having said that, I do know some famous people who are dyslexic: Lee Kuan Yew, his daughter Dr Lee Wei Ling, Leonardo Da Vinci (notice his symmetrical drawings) - in other words, there is hope, great hope.

Just a bit of info on dyslexia:

Dyslexia is a specific difficulty in reading, writing, and spelling, it is not caused by a lack of intelligence or a lack of opportunity to learn. Research suggests that dyslexia is caused by small, genetically inherited, differences in brain structure and functioning. Dyslexia can affect individuals who are physically and emotionally healthy, highly intelligent, and who come from good home environments. It has been estimated that 3% to 5% of Singaporeans may be dyslexic.

One thing that bugs me is that I, being trained in Received Pronunciation (RP) and almost always spit my words with clear enunciation, could not influence Grace enough. She actually speaks very well, but dyslexia is also a difficulty in phonological process, which means she may not be able to process sounds. I am a little confused here, on how or why she could have been dyslexic in the first place, if at all.

That said, I think it is time to check out on the Dyslexic Association of Singapore. But I wished I could delay that, in case the child fears there is something wrong in her. Oh dear, more wisdom and more TLC needed definitely.

Those who have encountered such cases, care to share with me? I'm really new at this.

Smile Till I Seow!

2006-08-24T22:26:00.000+08:00

It must be Hubs' words that kept me in cloud nine last night.

Instead of putting my usual night cream after my routine facial wash, I put on the sunblock to sleep.
Instead of spraying hair spray on my fringe, I sprayed Avene's Hydra Spray for the face.
Instead of working today, I, I, I , surfed blogs. Shhhhh...
Instead of finishing up my writing at work, I played Scrabble for two hours over lunch.
Instead of groaning over lack of staff for the past 5 weeks, I kept smiling, and said thank God, He's been good. My company was highlighted by the Prime Minister in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday night.
Instead of my usual screaming at reporters' deadlines, I forwarded them all they needed to complete their job on time.

I must be super high. I kept smiling the whole day till I think I'm seow, mad.

By the way, we've just signed up for a Phuket trip in December for the family. Now, you know the real reason why I'm smiling. :-)

Economy of Words

2006-08-23T22:35:00.000+08:00

Hubs is a man of few words. So few that he's known to be a quiet man. But when he's really with me, his budget economy usually bursts with words, good words, at least.

Hubs was in church for a seminar the past few nights. He missed the girls dearly especially when he has to be in Jakarta tomorrow. Last night, he came back late and said he read about me in the Bible.

Oh, I said, could the Bible have decided to list my name down, I asked cheekily.

No, Hubs said, he read about me in Proverbs 31.

Whoa, my eyes opened and heart lifted. That is the chapter that lists all the characteristics of a fine virtuous woman.

Ahem, I claim not to be virtuous, God knows I am far from it, but Hubs read that whole section to me and said that reminded him of me.

I slept smiling that night, even after he had gone into dreamland. That is the highest praise any woman can receive from her husband.

Strength and dignity are her clothing
She opens her mouth in wisdom
And the teaching of kindness is in her tongue.

I am so far from those words, but I think I can die happy now.

MEOW For U?

2006-08-23T22:25:00.000+08:00

I've talked about championing underdogs and real 'dogs' in the last post. Now, here's my chance to champion cats.

Robin has so kindly blogged about his Meow Encourage Ownership Workgoup (MEOW), he and a team of volunteers started a campaign during SARS period to re-home stray cats, and house the healthy one to prevent merciless killings. Really nice of him and his team.

If you are interested in getting a cat, do email him. Quick! Meow!

Championing the Underdogs

2006-08-16T15:02:00.000+08:00

Something about Mickell's question triggered me to write this post.

He asked me in an email, "What do you do to champion the underdogs?" I had 'proclaimed' to him that I often champion the underdogs.

On further thought, I asked myself, what do I do for kindness unto others? My life is so full with kids, schedules, work, and church, that apart from my 'Sandra Claus' effort last year, what have I truly done to even dare proclaim that I champion the underdogs.

Not much, I confess, but would the following account count?

Last year, I sprained my right thumb when a huge door slammed onto it, leaving its ligaments twisted. The bi-pedal function of the thumb disallowed me to hold a chopstick properly, type or grip a hand. Gee, I couldn't even hook up a bra behind properly.

I was sent to the Occupational Therapy Dept at SGH. On my first visit, a Bangladeshi construction worker sat beside me. I thought I was bad, till I saw him. He couldn't move his whole arm, literally. He explained that his boss had disallowed him to visit the doctor earlier and refused to pay. In fact, I didn't think he had the money to pay for that visit.

Seeing him in such a state, I sneaked out to the counter and told the lady I would pay for him and all his subsequent visits. My only condition was that he must not know who I was. (I confess I was afraid he would look me up.) The cashier was shocked, but upon hearing that, she checked if the hospital could give a sympathy discount for his case.

It only cost $20 for a visit for him. And each time I went for my treatment, I paid up all his backlogs. There were not many visits by him, cos his boss did not allow him much time off, but I wished he would go back to OT for treatment.

I think the idea of helping the underdogs came from my late father, who, poor as he was, never hesitated to load or give money to his friends or relatives. We used to live on the ground floor in an HDB flat, next to the rubbish chute. Despite the smell and noise, he was ever ready with a cup of water for the Indian worker - every morning. Such kindness impressed me greatly.

I'm really not here to boast, but the incident above reminds me of the numerous blessings I have. I can't even begin to count. The act was not even to 'score points' with the Almighty, but purely to help another soul. If it brings joy and relief to that person, why not?

I know Robin, for example, champions all the real dogs.

Do you have some kindness shown lately that you can share with?

Last Week @ SG Bloggers' Meet

2006-08-10T10:40:00.000+08:00

Last week...

Some bloggers met
To eat and greet
To see the real face
And chat real time.
Jumbo's the place
Where camaderie spread
Where crabs made the night
Brightened by cosy lights.

Leonard was first
Then Mickell & Grace
A Mother sauntered in
With SeeFei & Cocka.
A moustached man he is,
This Cocka from JB
Who promotes his famous Uni
Much like the story of 'Tammi'.

Grace was the live wire
Till Spellbound got us on fire
With her tales from South Africa
And her caring heart for the poor.
We waited for Batman's sidekick
Thinking he must be reading Sanskrit
But he came like a hero smiling
And pretended he was not Robin.

The talk was on Robin's accident
and how he was called a CAB (Chow Ah Beng)
An insult he chose not to accept
Since he's been studying new precepts
But it was the funny humour from him
That got us all laughing
From three-layered dogs and CRVs
To his 'suing moods' and 'philokopi'.

I said 'Chao Anh' to Hiepee
Since he said he's Vietnamese
He thought I knew the language well
Of course, my head swelled.
Zack caught most of my giggling twits
Cos he too was amused by all the wits
Grace asked all the funny questions
To keep us all in elation.

SeeFei shot more than he ate
He tries to look after his weight
His visa for the night would only last
As long as his wife didn't blast.
Mickell asked if he looked like a lamp-post
Leonard said he's just pencil-thin
I was afraid Mickell will be glum
And write straight to the ST Forum.

It was a fine meeting indeed
Where we ate civilly without greed
It was the first bloggers' meet after all
And we didn't want to 'show it all'.
But friendships were made even then
And that's the best thing that can happen
We'll pass the baton to Cocka
Who says we'll meet next in Restaurant Todak.

Last week...

Some bloggers met
To eat and greet
To meet in real flesh
And reveal the face.
It is tough to make new friends
With all the different character blends
But hey, here's to a new birth
Of friendships and blogging mirth.

Of Drums & Getais

2006-08-07T22:30:00.000+08:00

I have no problems living with my MIL at Bukit Merah, one of the oldest public housing estates in Singapore. We shifted in a year half ago after FIL passed away and we felt the need to keep her company. We are, after all, waiting for our new place to be up end next year.

The only issue I have, and I seldom complain online, is that it is the period of the Hungry Ghost Festival, where all the infamous getais blast out loud at the neighbourhood tents set up a few blocks away. Since I live on the high floor, the noise is magnified and resonated. They are also famous for their wild jaunts and boisterous performance. Singing from the open air field nearby, their songs are heard even in the next estate.

I mean, the Straits Times said they are getting better and wilder each year, meaning getting better paid. In fact, this once-a-year profession is attracting even Polytechnic students who joined the getai scene when they couldn't find full-time jobs, as reported yesterday in Lianhe Wanbao, the local sensational tabloid.

The other issue I have is that the community centre below holds many activties for the neighbourhood, which is good and right. One of them is the drums rehearsal for a Malay silat dance. Please don't read me wrongly, I like the Malay culture very much, but the droning drums drowned me totally and created a dull thud in systematic rhythm, in my ears. I think the drums are called gendang.

So you can imagine my evenings these past few days. No wonder I couldn't do as much as I wanted.

To think that my MIL and I have less din living together, than the noise created by the drums and getai. I dunno, I'm closing my ears now till the HG Festival is over.

Wikipedia's Definition of Getai:
A Getai (Pinyin of Simplified Chinese: 歌台), is a usually boisterous life stage performance held during the Ghost Festival commonly held in Singapore, in contrast to the generally solemn mood of the festival. The stage setup is usually composed of temporary structures and situated in the suburbs of the city in any empty field or even in carparking spaces.

BROTH

2006-08-05T23:12:00.000+08:00

My team was invited for lunch by one media company yesterday. It was a lunch not to be refused. We met at BROTH at Duxton Hill, known for its antiquated but pretty conservation houses. Once almost dilapidated, now, ever charming with boutique restaurants and businesses.

BROTH has a clever acronym - Bar Restaurant On The Hill. They serve more than broth. Offering mainly Fusion and Italian cuisines, I was surprised it's five years old. I mean, pretty as it is, Broth is located on a fairly secluded hill. Therein lies the charm, of course.

The food was all right, mainly cos my Linguine Aglio Olio (my all-time favourite dish) was rather dry but any 'wetter' would make it oily. For that, I wouldn't post any picture on food. (I hear from my blogger friends they dread seeing pic after pic of food one eats.) I like the modern cum retro ambience.

What delighted me most, was not the discussions and possible deals, but the window display on the way out. Don't you think the bear looks like Mr Bean's brown bear?

OK for now, I must be dead tired and facing mental block to even write about Broth and promoting it. Cos I didn't mention about the all-important SG Bloggers' Meet on Thursday. Until I get the pics from Leonard or SeeFei, let's live on this post for now.

Want some broth tonight? *Yawn...*

Spectacular NDP Preview

2006-07-30T22:11:00.000+08:00

People say that Singaporeans are very patriotic. It is true. Especially when you've witnessed the National Day Parade first-hand.

Spectators were encouraged to wear red. So the entire National Stadium (the last time we'll see it before it will be torn done for a newer stadium) was a huge pool of red sea. The sights and sounds were spectacular. Even Nature was kind on us with wonderful weather.

We prayed for a ticket for Grace, as we orignally had two only. Miracle of miracles. Someone from the Community Centre calle dmy MIL at 11:50pm the night before, and Grace had the ticket. Much like Charlie and Choc Factory kind of feeling.

When we reached the entrance of the Stadium, we were given a fun pack. My, it was a heavy bag. So heavy, I couldn't even take my cam out to snap a pic. But two things amused me greatly:

Like all good old Singapore campaigns, everything comes with an incentive or fine. Every pack has a bag which encourages spectators to throw the rubbish in the bag. The catch is, you can win a lucky draw with cash prizes!

Cash for Trash

Of course, in Singapore, everything is well-prepared. So here comes the Axe Oil or "foong yau" to sniff should anyone faint.

Faith couldn't live without her battery-operated fan. Can't see much here, but it was a boon to her.

All Singaporeans are patriotic, as I've said, so these flags are heart-warming and received with great cheer!

Grace was intrigued with the parachutists. Faith said she wants to jump down from a parachute some day. She doesn't even dare to jump from the gym beam right now.

As in all parades, there must be a march-past.I remember I was in the Girls' Brigade contingent for three times in my 14 years of service in the Brigade. I recall the BB officer looking at me and saying, "This lady, sure peng-san one." I proved him wrong. Hehehe... But I was so dark after that.

Did I say earlier the weather was kind? Yes, kids and I were also blessed to sit in the shadow of this pillar of lights.

Finally, as most Singaporeans will know, the fireworks are always the highlight. My camera couldn't capture all, but Hubs said this is the best pic.

To FantasyFlier, FishyOct and EarthEmber - these pics are for you to reminiscent. The real thing has not happened yet, so imagine the fun on 9 August.

Dilemma: National Day Parade Preview

2006-07-27T22:44:00.000+08:00

Today's post is a twit topic, but it poses the same challenging dilemmas for everyday motherhood.

Mother Superior is blessed to receive TWO tickets for the National Day Parade Preview this Saturday. Now, many Singaporeans would crave to have the tickets cos one has to sms or sign online for a chance to just get balloted for the tickets. And the experience is to die for, even if some think the parade is waste of time. Well, it is not, cos the displays are spectacular, and the fireworks are fabulous, even better than the 4th of July fireworks I witnessed in Chicago some years back at the Navy Pier.

OK, the dilemma is, which child should I bring for this Saturday's preview? Should I bring Grace or Faith? Papa S has counted himself out cos he would rather work out in a gym.

Now, Grace has her gymnastics class on Saturday but Papa S thinks that shouldn't be an excuse cos Grace will be doing gymnastics most of her student life, so why not that once in a lifetime chance to witness the parade? Faith, on the other hand, has a lot of piano work to catch up on, but Papa S thinks that shouldn't be an excuse too. The piano is always at home for her to catch up on. After all, there's still Sunday to cover up for loss time on practices.

So now, which child should I bring? Should I chuck them at the parade, give them my mobile, and when they are done, we'll pick them up?

Nah, they're far too young.

Should I:
1) bring Grace, who is ever keen on all things spectacular?
2) or Faith, who loves to write about all her experiences?
3) not go at all?

Now, you tell me what I should do.

Birthday Pics

2006-07-26T08:46:00.000+08:00

I had quite a bit of eating last week. Mostly Italian food. It's not just the World Cup effect, but Italian food has caught on Singapore so much, it's become a choice cuisine for many.

Hubs brought me to Da Paolo on Cluny Road. For all lovers and couples, this is a MUST-GO place for a romantic dinner.

I really like the path to the restaurant. It almost feels like Bali!

The food was good although the pictures don't do it justice. Besides, all romantic dinners are so dark, I didn't think my cam-phone could shoot anything!

My girlfriends brought me to La Braciera at Greenleaf Road for lunch. This is another MUST-GO! The service was excellent and its lunch portions were just nice. Pity I forgot to take the food pics.

They bought me a Lava Cake.

They're gonna scream at me for putting up their pictures. But I won't tell you who they are, just in case I will not have another lunch next year.

This is my hangout group, by the way. I travel with them and their kids for hols. Our husbands get on grandly, we meet every Sunday for lunches, and occasionally at the park. Hey, we even intend to retire graciously and go to Ghim Moh Market for coffee & tea every morning - in future.

That's what birthdays are for, I guess, you spend it with your closest friends, and have a joyous time.

Toughest Decision at 40

2006-07-21T10:43:00.000+08:00

I've said to Robin my desire to post this on my birthday. It should have been yesterday, but here it is anyhow. Take flight now and read.

Eagles are the most long-lived birds in the world. For centuries, these seemingly larger-than-life birds have fascinated and inspired humans. We venerate them as living symbols of power, freedom, and transcendence. In some religions, high-soaring eagles are believed to touch the face of God.

But eagles have a side to them that few know about. Whey reach 40 years old, their claws start to age, losing their effectiveness and making it hard for them to catch their preys.

The lifespan of an eagle is up to 70 years old. But in order to live this long, the eagle must make the toughest decision when it's at 40. Their beaks begin to grow long and curvy to the point that it reached its chest. Its wings are extremely heavy due to thickened and long feathers making flying extremely difficult. The eagle is left with two choices: do nothing and await its death or go through a painful period of transformation and renewal.

Wintering Eagles

For 150 days, it trains itself to fly beyond the high mountains, build and live in its nest and cease all flying activities. It then begins to knock its beak against granite rocks till its old beak completely removed. When the new beak is grown, it would use it to remove all its old claws and await quietly for all new claws to be fully grown. When new claws are fully grown it would use these to remove all its feathers, one by one, till five months later, when feathers are fully grown, with renewed strength. It will then begin to soar in the sky yet once again and able to live for the next 30 years.

In life, as an individual or an organization, sometimes we have to learn to make difficult decisions so as to make room for changes. Changes bring about renewal. And the only way for us to soar again is to let go of old ways, old habits, old life. For as long as we are prepared to put aside our old baggage (past glory or shame, past success or failures), be willing to become zero, with an empty cup mentality, we will be able to discover our potentials and head towards a renewed perspective in any aspect of our lives.

They that wait upon the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary
They shall walk and not faint.

~ Isaiah 40;31

One Thing I Ask For

2006-07-19T16:54:00.000+08:00

What does one get for oneself when they turn two scores?

Enough of clothes, I gather. The gathers are getting tight these days.

Enough of make-up, I don't truly need them. La naturel is the way, I feel, I am as a I am.

What about a spa treat or a milk bath, as Erika suggested a few days ago? Maybe, but the feel good factor lasts only as long as the milk is on your skin.

How about a thumb drive? Please, more taste in gadgets, please. You have two on your desk to bring work home.

OK, OK, an iPod Nano perhaps, as LB often craves. That's better, but, what if kids fight over it with me? Or Hubs uses it like it's his? Hmm... I want it all to myself at least.

How about a Mac like May's? Well, Mackie, you already have two PCs and a laptop at home. You mean you want yet another computer?

Now, now, don't be difficult, what do you want then?

Some hugs will do, and a quick recovery from flu. Some sanity time with my Maker, and some soul searching to take stalk of life.

All that, with a few flowers, of course. Orangey red roses, if possible.

One thing I have desired of the Lord
That will I seek;
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
All the days of my life
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to inquire in His temple.

~ Psalm 27:4

Feeling Crappy

2006-07-18T15:30:00.000+08:00

Germs in the Air
Last week, I was down week with fever & flu. Faith had stomach flu first and nearly had to be sent to the hospital. Grace was the strong one till end of the week, when she sniffed. But she was all right. Thank God.

Morning by Morning
Woke up at 5:30am to pack girls to school. School bus comes at an unearthly hour - 6:15am. Not good for nocturnal creature like me. This morning, Faith said she's an owl. She professes to be as nocturnal as I am. What's tiring is the spreading of SEVEN pieces of bread every morning since my maid left. One each for kids' break, two for Papa, two for MIL, and one for myself, if at all. Another two when kids are tired of cereals. And why do I have to do it all for them? Because they all leave house so early and MS just has to do it for them. Looks like I'm whining here... cos I don't like bread!

Grace's Bump
She walked into the wall yesterday and thought it was funny to have a bump on the head. No, she didn't watch Zidane's head-butt act.

Faith the Vegetarian
Nobody told her what a vegan is. She just spits out whatever food that has meat. She can even smell the meat from afar and just 'bleah' it out. When did she become so choosy? Where did she learn about becoming a vegan? I have no qualms about that, but the point is, she's not even eating the vegetables!!! So she's on a pure carbo diet, well, almost. Since her illness last week, she has been quite weak and often pants from lack of energy. The carbos didn't give her enough energy, frankly, cos she ate so little.

"What happened?" I asked her.
"I don't like the fats in the chicken, Mama."
Horrified look on MS.
"Then eat the fish," said MS.
"Can't manage the bones, Mama."
"OK, luncheon meat, sausage, tuna..."
"Preserved food, Mama. You said it's not good for the nose."
"All right, all right. What will eat then?"
"Beef, Mama, I will try spaghetti bolognaise and beef."

MS went out to buy beef chuck and boiled it with carrots and celery.

Faith showed me her bowl yesterday. It was clean.

She smiled. I smiled.

At last, she has found something that will build her energy up, and has made me less crappy.

Slow Dance

2006-07-07T17:31:00.000+08:00

Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain
Slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?
You better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?
When you ask "How are you?"
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done!
Do you lie in your bed
With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?
You'd better slow down
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.

Ever told your child,
We'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time
To call and say,"Hi"
You'd better slow down.
Don't dance so fast.
Time is short.
The music won't last.
When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift....
Thrown away.
Life is not a race.
Do take it slower
Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Fight Clubs

2006-07-07T09:52:00.000+08:00

It was Leonard who first alerted me to the fight clubs that occurred recently in an HDB staircase. Now, the infamous Kenny Sia has surfaced more of these in Miri, Malaysia.

What's wrong with teens these days? I understand they have puberty problems, desire for attention and recognition, and a total amnesia to all the world around them except themselves and their gangs, etc. But gosh, can't they get a hold of themselves?

I have refused to upload the fight video, but for those who have seen it, do you get the sense that the victim had actually accepted the fight 'voluntarily'? And the giggles that come from the gang's phone videographer sounded sardonic? Leonard said it's even far worse than the Tammy case that went world-wide. (Not the Tammy flu.)

Society blames it on problematic backgrounds, difficult childhood, divorced parents and bad company, etc., but the fact is, these hardships are extremely tough to overcome.

I once counselled an adolescent some years back, who'd been in and out of the girls' reformation homes. However much she hated being in that home, she didn't desire to go back to her own home cos her mum had married another man.

So she ran away and had numerous drug overdoses, only to bring her back to the girls' home. She had that one chance to finish her O levels, which she completed and did well enough to enter the polytechnic. I can tell you, her days in the poly were troubled too. In fact, I received a suicide call from her the eve before giving birth to Grace.

Youths these days are plagued by financial, esteem, peer and school work problems. It is not easy to go through them, I understand. But I can' t help but feel they need to rise above all these, with some help too. One needs to help oneself.

So why did the girls fight so bitterly and outrageously? Peer pressure, need for domination & compliance, desire to belong, innate violent streak possibly experienced from home, etc., etc.
Can these be sorted out if a parent were to be at home more often? Even this thought is hard for the lower income families which are dependent on two incomes.

What will the future hold for these teens? What will society be like in the future? I shudder to think but wish that they will recognise their violence deeds and seek help. God help them, please. And help the poor victims.

Of Creams and Brylcreem

2006-07-04T10:05:00.000+08:00

The kids get $1 each day for school. This, coupled with a packed sandwich and crackers, is just nice for their recess time.

Grace said last Saturday that she wanted to save all her recess money so that she can give her best to her sister.

"Huh? What d'ya mean?"

"Didn't you say we must buy presents for Faith with my pocket money?"

"Yes, good on you, Grace."

"Actually, I want to buy a gift for everyone in the family," said the philanthropic daughter of mine. "What do you want Mama, for Christmas?"

"Hmm... I only want a day off on my own."

"A thing, Mama, it must be a thing."

"I don't need anything except some peace and space."

"Ok, I know, I know," Grace chuckled. " I think I'll buy you a bottle of Moisturiser."

I laughed till I teared. She earnestly understands what Mama needs every day - a cream that I use day and night, a cream which I can't live without or I'll crack with dryness.

"So what about Papa? What are you buying for him?" I asked, testing her realistic discretion.

"Why? Hair gel, of course."

Hey, new packing, new look!

I laughed again, cos Papa needs so much hair gel daily, you can bounce a ping pong ball on his hair.

Kids, aren't they absolutely real? Maybe we should be the same with friends and spouses too. Now, what should I get for Grace in return???

Beauty & The Maids

2006-06-29T21:21:00.000+08:00

My daughters had a piece of the real world recently. They had to learn to multi-task and play different roles at different times.

The girls were privileged to be flower girls at a good friend's wedding. They loved the temporary curly locks sponsored by Mother Superior, the chance to put on some make-up, and the glamour of it all, even if bubble-making made them a mess. Kids are kids, after all.

Well, the glamour didn't last long cos back home, they became maids to help out in housework. We had sent our maid home recently and the girls had to help Mother Sup out.

But check their creative fun first:

They pasted these signs on their bedroom door and I found them so amusing. But the hard work had to start.

Papa bought the new mop and the girls were fighting to mop the floor - to my pleasure, of course. Faith dominated most of the mopping, while Grace just fell in love with the Lemon Pledge smell. I like it that she loves it, she cleaned her entire table after this photo taking session.

I was too busy to take a shot of their fine work. But Mother Sup only wishes the desire to clean the house will sustain. After all, in reality, it's sustenance that counts.

So, I ask Faith, do you desire for more housework?

The glee on her face was before she started the actual work. Just for the record, she cleaned all TV screens including this computer monitor, all mirrors and the glass door with Kleen Glass. Never mind if the work was thorough or not. She's only but eight years old.

KuayTeow Man Replies

2006-06-28T13:32:00.000+08:00

Well, well, I didn't realise my post on Star Bloggers was read by one of the Star Bloggers. KuayTeow Man (KTM) commented on my post and I extract it for all to know more about how STOMP works.

Hello Mother Superior,

Was surfing the web and chanced on your blog.

Seems like your readers got a lot of questions. Since I'm here I thought I would help you satisfy the curiosity of your readers. :-)

First, the Star Bloggers do get paid, and the money ain't bad for what little time they have to spend at STOMP. :-P

Second, the Star Bloggers dun get edited. Edited is what you get if you submit letters to the Forum Page. If the bloggers got edited, do you think that xx would have gotten away with her foul language and the England in the KTM's postings would be so lau pok? Give the ST editors a bit more credit lah.

Third, it really isn't much of a problem or particularly contrived for the bloggers to spout some random nonsense about some random topic that SPH cooks up (or at least the KTM is speaking for himself). Think Miss Universe pageant. You think that the girls get the questions before hand meh? If they do, then really jialat. STOMP is somewhat like a mix of Miss Universe and Manhunt lah.

What then is the KTM and xx doing there? Actually hor, the KTM also doesn't know leh. Perhaps the KTM is the representative from the heartlands? As for xx, you guys can ask her yourself loh. :-P However hor, from what I heard from Jenn (Jennifer Lewis), she's attracting a lot of eyeballs for STOMP. So perhaps, there is indeed some sense to the madness. :-P

One of your readers asked if the STOMP bloggers got a lot of free time. Interesting question. I suspect that most bloggers are bored people with a lot of free time on their hands or are particularly kay poh or like to talk a lot. If not, people blog for what? Few people actually make money out of blogging. The KTM didn't expect someone to want to pay him for blogging when he started also. :-P Life's full of unexpected surprises.

Dear KTM

Yes, I should give some credit to the STOMP editors for starting out this blog. If so much freedom is granted, then fair enough. But this is the general perception of the man on the street, thinking it is just another marketing ploy. That in itself, can be a turn off at times. Since you represent the heartlanders, or the public in general, it may worthwhile to take note of such perceptions.

Meanwhile, thank you for dropping by. It's good to have celebrity appearance here at times. And just to increase your star ratings, I'd like to invite my friends to read your views on Singapore - a fine city without social graces.

Sincerely

Mother Superior

Excuse Me, Are You A Star Blogger?

2006-06-22T13:46:00.000+08:00

Singapore Press Holdings launched STOMP last week, in a bid to connect with the youths, especially the post-65'ers. STOMP's attraction is the seven Star Bloggers who are asked to comment on topics. The Star Bloggers include: Singapore's infamous Xiaxue, Malaysian sisters May Wan & Choy Wan, Dawn Yang, journalists Nicholas Fang and Leow Ju-Len, and a mysterious Kway Teow Man (fat white noodles man) or commonly known as KTM.

In just a few days, the hits shot more than 120,000, reported by SPH's flagship paper, The Straits Times. Usually, I would say, cool marketing effort. But it's Mr Wang's comments that triggered me to ponder about the entire credibility and effort.

"Something is just not right with the STOMP Star Blog concept. I'm not sure if I can put my finger exactly on it - but I think it's got to do with the fact that STOMP's "star bloggers" just can't be themselves if they have to subject themselves to the editorial directions and marketing approach of a corporate organisation like the Singapore Press Holdings.

The X-factor behind any highly popular blog lies in the individuality of the blogger. And a blogger's individuality kinda gets suppressed, if the editor says, "This week all of you have to blog about this topic, next week all of you have to blog about that topic," - which is what's happening over at STOMP."

I can't agree more with Mr Wang. Blogs are personal and individual expressions and in the working model of STOMP, expressions seem to be limited, even if Mr Han Fook Kwang, editor of the Straits Times claims freedom of style and speech. The more provocative, the better engaged the readers will be; the more interactive the blog becomes, the greater the opportunity for ads to appear down the road. Oh, having been in the media scene for so long, who would not know SPH's tough & rough style in demanding exhorbitant ad rates? I've been throttling the throats (no, not literally, but in deep frustration) of every SPH ad sales person that I met, and I have done that in ages!

But I digress. The point is, blogs should never be contrived. Group blogging in a website is acceptable and works well at times, but propagating messages or marketing products can be painful even to the most neutral reader.

I found it strange to read Xiaxue's post on the first topic: Entrapment - is it legal, is it ethical? Frankly, although she was allowed some expletives, I would be happier to read her bimbo Eyelash Make-up 101, or Star Cruise trip than her views on entrapment.

I do understand, of course, that SPH needs to uphold its brand name and thus, editor Jennifer Lewis is tasked to manage the Star Bloggers. I dunno, it feels strange to run on this model, and yet, I can understand the need for organisations to manage its own messages or else the brand name will be affected. Even Robert Scobleizer, Microsoft's Chief Tech Officer, writes with key messages & branding of Microsoft at the back of his mind. So do NTUC's Mr Tan Kin Lian and National Library's promotion of what its CEO reads. (Sorry, I can't find the link now.) All these are pure marketing efforts with planned agenda.

I cannot doubt too, that Star Bloggers also have their own agenda of catapulting their stardom despite the difficult topics. Every blogger loves to have their posts read and reverted with comments. That's the difference between writing your thoughts in a diary, and in a publicly-accessed platform as the Internet.

Therein lies the irony of it all. STOMP's model is disturbing, but aren't all bloggers too, who wish to be heard and interacted with. So, are you a Star Blogger too?

(In)Sanity Time

2006-06-20T12:48:00.000+08:00

I must be mad to even blog today cos the schedule this week is nightmarish. But now that it is lunch time, it's my own sanity time, where I can speak, or write in this case, to my inner sanctum.

First, the diary bit. I felt awful for spanking the kids yesterday. It all started with a heavy workload, and Hubs called in the evening to say that he was in Chinese High with kids for their gym class. Faith, who's only in gymnastics for the fun of it, decided not to go for class and wanted, would you believe it, to jog round the track. So Papa couldn't leave her, and Mother Superior had to fly down in a cab to take care of Faith while Papa drives off for his usual Monday badminton game, which I had also promptly forgotten.

After spending some time with Faith, she said she wanted to jump on the trampoline. Even with my objections (cos I was afraid she would disturb the class), she went ahead. When the clock struck 9pm, the lights in the gym were switched off by the chief coach to dissuade kids from staying longer. But Faith and Grace had to jump, and jump, and jump. And as one would expect, danger lurked. Faith tripped on the metal wires that tied the high bars and poles together. It scratched and scalded her left hip badly. In fact, I could hardly find her cos she fell into the pool of huge sponges and she was calling Grace desperately. The sister could not hear Faith in her exhilaration of jumping. Faith popped up from the sea of sponges after a while and walked sulkingly to me with gestures of pain.

I checked that she was all right. Then I whacked both their buttocks. I whacked them very hard. Grace, who was oblivious to everything, suffered most cos she was in her leotards and the finger prints were planted hard on her buttocks. A little embarassing for a girl, I must say.

I felt angry and helpless. Who can tolerate disobedience of this nature when it posed some danger? I was angry and upset with them.

The kids must be thinking, why doesn't my mother allow some freedom for joy? It's not always that we will fall down, and hey, everywhere is cushioned in the gym.

Ding-donging in anger and sympathy, I continued scolding them for disobedience. There is a price to pay, and unfortunately, it comes in the form of physical pain.

I saw the scratch and bruise on Faith hip, poor girl, it must have hurt her. I felt bad, but still upset with their disobedience.

The night ended with Papa putting them to bed. I was too exhausted and needed to gobble up some dinner. I wished I had spent some time with them last night, just to be a little more tender with them.

I cannot help but admit that part of the scolding is from my own anger and not pure disobedience. I think I struggle most with this cos scolding from anger is very disturbing for kids. Children always say, "Don't do this, or that, cos it'll make mummy angry." Why must children fear the anger of parents? And why do parents use anger as a threat? "Or else mummy will get angry, ok?" Who gives parents the right to use anger as a means for solving good behaviour?

I have no answers, cos if I do, I will be a 'superior mother' indeed. Faith seemed all right before she slept, and I felt bad for forgetting to put some lotion on her. I wanted to start the blame game - on work, on Hubs for enjoying himself, on kids for being foolish, on myself for being overly angry, and destroyed any iota of family joy.

Even as I write, I tell myself not to expect so much as a mother. Kids are kids, and we just need to let go. I only hope, I'll learn to let go, sooner than later.

Mother Superior Went Blank!

2006-06-15T14:12:00.000+08:00

And so it was, for at least half a day, my blog went blank, with no colour nor words.

I suddenly felt lost without my blog, my thought and madness diary.

But thanks to Mike Chua, the typist who types 60 words per minute, he 'typed' me the instructions to revive. So, I am back!

A belated joy cry to South Korea:

Way To Go! Score! Score! Score!

Btw, that Anh guy looks cute too.

Cafe Sans Plain Water

2006-06-13T19:05:00.000+08:00

Why do good cafes not supply plain water for customers? Don't they know it is such a Singaporean culture to ask for a glass of water to wash down whatever they eat? Do they need to charge for water via a bottle of mineral water?

So, here's another public revelation on Bakerzin, which does not serve water, apart from Cafe Galilee and Secret Recipe. Apart from that, the cafe serves wonderful and scrumptious cakes.

I didn't take pictures of the cakes cos it would be too embarrassing, but here's what Grace and I ate - Tiramisu and Forest Noire (Black Forest cake).

The layer of cream beneath the pitted cherries are 'alcoholed', which was not palatable for Grace. I tried it, and found that the cherry taste had mixed with the alcohol and didn't go well overall. That, by the way, was a $6 per slice cake.

Still, it is a pleasant cafe since I'll be popping by the areas sometime this week, I may just dig in their Warm Chocolate Cake or Chocolate Amer, an excellent flourless cake, good for those gluten intolerant.

Slurp!

Japan LOST!

2006-06-13T10:08:00.000+08:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! Japan lost to Australia in the World Cup quarter finals. And all in the last few minutes of the game.

I don't believe it! What happened to Nakata?

:-(

Blogger Bummer

2006-06-11T22:18:00.000+08:00

Bum Blogger! Was down for a few days and wasted by precious sleep in uploading my NNI cam-whoring pictures. The post was sucked up, of course.

I just wanted to tell everyone that I didn't have any headaches these past few days, just a slight tender jaw joint ache. This bodes well and I'm crossing my fingers that there'll be no brain scan in six weeks.

And then World Cup started on Friday night and that was the end of blogging for the time being. I'm gunning for Germany primarily because, because, because, they are just so complacent, no other reason. But my senses tell me, home ground has its advantage. Beside, England has no Rooney.

I promised some pictures of my Kuantan trip. So I offer you the Kid Surfers: Ethan, Andrea, Faith (with a grimace) and Grace. They had a 'whale' of a time, literally.

And of course, the MGS girls in all things synchronised. Fuchsia pink suit from Malaysia's Reject Shop sale. Super cheap.

What's a break without the beach...

... and the sunrise.

Finally, one public announcement. Cafe Galilee at all libraries does NOT serve plain water for diners. Even for thirsty kids. As with Secret Recipe. Ban Cafe Galilee, but Secret Recipe, their chocolate cakes are just too good.

Two other announcements: Have NIKE, and you don't need water from Galilee.

While carbs are no-no for weight watchers, kids do need to carbs. Especially gym girl Grace.

No Scare, But Brain Scan Needed (?)

2006-06-08T00:24:00.000+08:00

Truth be told, amidst all the kids' parties and holiday breaks, I have been suffering from a jaw joint inflammation (JJI) for the last five weeks. It is a dull throb and seems to sit on a connecting nerve to the head. Thankfully, it's not the optic nerve.

The inflammation does not cause major pain, but the migraines that result from it have been difficult to bear. And it usually attacks at night, where the head rests on the pillow, with the entire 'head weight' resting on the back of the head.

I have woken up about 6 - 7 times from severe pain (and my pain tolerance is already quite high), followed by a series of vomitting. No, I'm not pregnant. The JJI & migraines alarmed Hubs so much, he insisted on me visiting the doc's.

I first went to my choir mate GP friend, who identified it as JJI. I had earlier thought it was the wisdom tooth that bugged. Went to the dentist too, and he confirmed similar diagnosis. Given painkillers.

Two weeks later, I had to see my personal GP cos the vomitting was bad. Same diagnosis, more painkillers, but, with the addition of tranquilisers. I was shocked, I mean, when you are given 'tranqs' to eat, you must be seriously wrong. So I refused to take the capsules and just bore with the pain, not realising the tranqs served to 'open up my blood vessels' in the brain.

Even with the break in Bintan and Kuantan, the pain remained. But thankfully, the migraine was less severe and remained a dull throb. I thought I was going to be 'tau hong'.

My GP finally said, he knew I would think the worst and worry over tumour or some Trauma M (?) Jaw syndrome, also suffered by local popular Mandarin DJ, Dongli Billy. His jaw disease was so chronic, he had to have a jaw job re-done in Taiwan. My GP decided to refer me to the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI).

NNI? That was another scare. I mean, one can be referred to an outpatient specialist at a normnal hospital but NNI is quite another story. Fears of strokes, nerve problems raised some concerns for me. I was more 'nerved' up by the thought of it.

Well, the visit was today. While waiting for the doc, I amused myself by taking pictures of the environment. (Sigh... downloading problems again. Will show another time.) The patients around me dodged when I was shooting near their direction. Quite fun. Best part was the carpet design. They looked like bacteria under a probe.

I digress, back to the main story. The Doc said that the migraine is definitely caused by JJI. But since the migraine has gone off for the past few days, it may worthwhile to see how the body reacts to his prescription. Not taking chances, a brain scan was advised, though he doubted there was anything serious.

My decision was NOT to take the scan since he doubted anything serious and that I had been feeling better these few days, just only a slight tender, but dull throb. But I promised I'd be more relenting when I next visit him in six weeks' time, barring no severe migraines. The only thing left now is to have the JJI recover, which may take about two months. I will also need to de-stress more (more breaks, please, HUBS!!!) and just take it easy at work and home.

I dunno, today's visit relived my numerous matter-of-fact thoughts about life and death. When it's your time to depart, you just have to go. God knows what is best. That I fully subscribe. But I do wish God will also consider my two kids, who are brimming with a bright future ahead.

When I saw the patients rolled out at NNI, not one was able - that is, able to sit up, move their heads, etc. That's how strokes and all can change one's life.

I'm confident this stage and state will pass. I dread the painkillers, honestly, cos I'd rather bear with it. But just in case I have to go for a brain scan in six weeks' time, oh well, I'll be a good girl tonight.

I'm writing this not merely as a diary, but for my close friends who have prayed for me, and for my kids, who were very sweet to be quiet in the car after the visit to NNI. Or else, as you might guess, I may have another headache from them.

:-)

Holidaying in Cherating

2006-06-01T23:11:00.000+08:00

In case you are wondering about my absence of being, I'm happily enjoying myself at Cherating, Kuantan. It's our annual family trip to Malaysia and this is apart from my recent trip to Bintan. This is my fifth trip to Kuantan, and I still love it.

There's something about Kuantan that I love dearly. It's the quietness, smallness and simplicity of the town that I like. I used to do the Lake Chini boat ride and visit the orang asli aboriginals in the early days, but not anymore now. With kids, they are just happy with swimming pool fun and simple activities. No thanks to rough adventure, so they seem to imply. Sigh, kids are getting softer these days and a little bit more sun seems to be a disease to them.

We have a family tradition on the first day of every holiday, when we arrive at the guest room. When the luggages are brought in, we would line ourselves in a position that faces the front of the bedoom, and at the count of three, all would jump in and bounce a little.

The kids had good fun kayaking at sea today, but Faith was afraid of the "sharks". She settled for the safer swimming pool instead.

I used to desire to go to Europe & Yosemite mountatins, but since the kids came along, I have lowered my expectations and settled for resorts in Malaysia and Bintan.

Ooops! I need to go now cos Grace slept halfway through dinner and forgot to pee for the night. Till the next post, be good!

Mob Pic Log

2006-05-24T18:36:00.000+08:00

After a few months of not being able to download pictures from my N70 phone, I decided to visit the Nokia Care Centre (NCC) at Wheelock Place. Primarily because the phone got hanged, too. Know what I mean? Like you can't press ctrl+del+alt to reboot. I couldn't even switch off the phone. It was hanged, and I was hung up on getting it fixed.

The remedy by the counter girl at NCC was simple. She took the battery out, rubbed it with her hands, and voila! It came back to life! A little bit of TLC rubbing could have saved my travel fare to NCC.

I had to complain about the phone's poor connection with the web too, of course. And so, with the phone back to life, I bring you a few stories which I had wanted to tell but couldn't. These are pictures were downloaded from the phone and not from the phone memory card. Don't know how to do that yet. Tsk, tsk. Here are the pictures:

Talk about the unusual. Have you seen a Square Watermelon? No wonder the price is so steep! $50 for a watermelon! Found at Cold Storage.

Were you there when Nestle gave out 22,000 MILO tins on May 6 at Suntec City? I happened to be there and was amazed at how Singaporeans queue for free things. The queue stretched all the way out to HSBS Bank and beyond.

Guess who's peeping? During elections campaigning period, I met a very important person at the Ang Mo Kio Hawker Centre. PM Lee Hsien Loong was in the market to listen to a busker (busker dressed in red in the 3rd picture). I also took a picture with Mrs Lee (Mdm Ho Ching) after a bet with my colleague that I didn't dare to approach her, but I decided not to put the picture up. Don't want to show you how she dressed to blend in with market folks.

It was the week after elections and kids & I were queueing for a cab on a Thursday evening at about 7:30pm - peak hour. But, but, where are the cars at usually-super-packed Orchard Road? Ah... says someone from behind, a Minister is passing by, possibly to thank everyone for electing him. Oh dear, poor hungry kids...

Occasionally, when I send my kids for Chinese class, I get to relax a little. My favourite nook is Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge at 2nd level, Takashimaya, Ngee Ann City. The scones there are suberbly fabulous! I spend my time decoding the Da Vinci Code, of course, or running through music pieces for Sunday choir, or just simply watch the world go by.

Well, so much for Round 1 of downloading. More, when Hubs downloads those in my phone memory card.

Motherhood and Creativity

2006-05-23T15:00:00.000+08:00

Many moons back, I wrote about just how much mothers give to their kids, especially in organising activities for them. Such is the make-up of mothers, who would use every ounce of energy and creativity to make family life better. I shared with you about my friend, Sylvia, who has taught me more than what Betty Crocker ever could.

Sylvia is amazing. Her basic philosophy is this: if she is so enthusiastic in work (she's an architect, by the way), she can be just as enthusiastic at home. Having given up work to be a full-time mother (save for projects here and there), she has devoted to becoming a 'domestic goddess' in the kitchen. Just look at her Bear Cake for her third child, Ian, who celebrated his first birthday last Saturday.

What's more interesting is that her second son, Ethan, is wheat and gluten-intolerant. So this creative mother has made an 'organic mini-bear cake', made from rice flour and gluten-free chocolate. That's just to appease Ethan. Amazing. Imagine the research she has to go through just to prepare the cakes.

And that's not the end. She needed to engage her eldest daughter, Andrea, who is full energy and must be involved in eventful activities. So, craft time was organised, in which small bags of flannel cloth and bear shapes were prepared for kids in the party to make paper bears. Just take a look at all the fine work pasted on the glass window.

Beary Beautiful

Faith's bear with handbag slung round shoulder

The kids' works may not make it to the Louvre in Paris, but their efforts and heart go a long way. But more than that, it's the mother's creativity that has helped the kids.

In Little Women by Louise M Alcott, the second daughter Jo, said that though the family was poor, their lives were fully enriched. And that ''poverty is the mother of creativity'. Perhaps, in motherhood, a lack of creativity may bring poverty.***

*** Having said that, that does not make one a lesser mother. The over-riding principle, regardless, is to give thy best, in big and small ways.

See The Life of a Parent.

Membership Has Its Privileges

2006-05-22T18:48:00.000+08:00

Over the weekend, a friend at a kid's party showed me pictures of a particular club in Bukit Batok, that's newly built and has an excellent 'paradise lost' kind of swimming facilities for kids. She was so overwhelmed by the swimming pool, she had thought of joining the club.

"Wow," I said, "it must be some club, eh?" (I said kindly, cos really, I don't exactly fancy the need for a club nor do I crave for club memberships.)

"But you're a civil servant, aren't you?" she asked.

I gulped. You mean that wonderful place is a civil service club (CSC)? So that's where all the tax payers' money have gone into. Even though it is open to members of the public for a time period, or for an annual fee of $300 for future entrance, the place didn't seem like a public pool for sure.

That evening, I decided to 'exercise my rights as a civil servant', and brought my kids along with another family to the Bukit Batok CSC. For once, membership felt good, even though I had to dig hard for my nearly-lost CSC card. I hardly use any of the benefits given to CSC members, nor do I know where the other clubs are! I only know I was sucked up to pay $6 to the gahmen each month to sustain the clubs.

Well, the pool was certainly attractive .

At the top

Tree house with huge swirling slides

Cascading Falls

But what failed miserably were these:

there was no lobby to begin with, so no customer service counter to register my 'cheaper' parking fares as a civil servant.
the signs are so bad, you can hardly find your way except to follow the crow congregating near the pool.
no proper family restaurants or eateries available - the only restaurant is a 'high-class' Chinese restaurant, which sells dishes (e.g. broccoli with mushrooms - $18, small portion) in exorbitant prices.
the two cafes are pathetic - one is called Cafe in the Woods (good name, but cafe is the size of my small living room, selling hot dogs & chix wings) while the other is a poolside eatery which sells ok food, but, hey, the serving time is horrendous, so the kids were starved.

Apart from the pool, I must commend the two swimming guards who were manning the weekend crowd at the ticket counter. Note that they're actually life guards, but were relegated to man the ticketing booth. I can't comment on them cos they were doing their best as guest relations staff for the entire place.

Let me qualify that not all civil servants are CSC members. As I recall now, Hubs asked me to join some years back so that we could get a BBQ pit at Changi for the family to enjoy. We didn't book the pit in the end, so the membership was wasted.

Still, for all its worth, I do think CSC Bukit Batok is a good alternative to our usual hang out at the university pool (NUSS) on Saturday evenings. Although my friends were sour about how their tax money were spent on 'ostentatious living' for the civil servants, well, I guess, this time, I must say, being a civil servant does pay off.

Membership has its privileges, I said to them with a slight Jane Austen sigh.

Happy 9th!

2006-05-19T00:34:00.000+08:00

Hubs and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary two days ago at Bintan Mayang Sari. It was a great break from kids and work. We spent most of the time on the beach, on jet skis, beach chairs and just lazed, lazed and lazed around.

Oh, we listened a lot to Ella Fitzgerald too, whose lazy, jazzy voice made perfect companion on a hot afternoon on a beach chair with a pink pina colada drink on your hand.

We also hopped over to the Nirwana Gardens, where the facilities are much better, but prices much higher too. So the short daily shuttle was good fun as a break from walking on the beach.

Over at the Club House, Hubs and I pitted each other on our annual volley in the pool, and the infamous match of table tennis, where Hubs offered 10 points advantage each set. I played with integrity and started with ground zero. I lost 4 sets, but the last set was mine to score: 21-17!!! (The others were 9-21, 12-21, 14-21 and 16-21.) We loved the fun while others watched in amusement at my shrieks each time I scored a point.

But most of all, we loved the quietness at Mayang Sari, where there were so few people to even make friends with.

Some gardening folks sold us coconuts for some pocket money. We enjoyed them all as we walloped succulent coconut water and flesh. We even took 9 coconut trees as candles!

And though we chose to go to a nearby resort in case MIL calls us back for help, nothing could stop us from being 'drunk' even in midday!

It was a short break, no doubt, but the feeling and rest were just what we needed. It's a wonderful remedy to be refreshed and renewed.

Thanks Dada, for walking beside me these 9 years. I pray for more wonderful years with you and kids, even as I get ready for the next anniversary. ,-)

(I've made my plans already... :-))

Mother's Day

2006-05-16T02:05:00.000+08:00

This year, my kids were so sweet on Mothers' Day, they consciously made an effort to buy me a gift. They each dug out $15 from their Barbie-bank to buy me a chain which works as a bracelet, necklace and hip belt. Interesting thing is, I can combine the two as the gold 'nuggets' are actually magnets.

As for Hubs, he booked two tickets to Bintan Mayang Sari, Indonesia, for us to celebrate both Mothers' Day and our 9th Anniversary this Wednesday. So I'll be out of action for a while and be back to show more pics.

Faith's Belated Birthday

2006-05-16T00:56:00.000+08:00

We celebrated Faith's 8th birthday later than usual cos her birthday fell right smack at her exams weekend. So last Friday, we had 32 kids and 20 adults at King Albert Park MacDonald's.

I know it's unbelieveable for a girl her age to have a birthday at Mac's, but Hubs has never agreed to a party at Mac's till this year, when we've both finally run out of steam organising and planning a party for kids.

Catch the fun!

The Hug Hug Club

Sisters Act

Angie & Angela

Jasleen & Haslyn

Amanda & Alicia (centre two)

Faith & Grace

The Cake

Faith

Love you Faith, may you grow in wisdom, love and grace. Papa & Mama & Grace

Century Blog

2006-05-16T00:47:00.000+08:00

I didn't realise it, but my last blog was the 100th post and gee, I feel good having reached 100.

Considering I hardly have much time to blog, or if I do, I have MAJOR downloading problems of my phone and cam pics. For some reason, the Nokia PC Suite refused to connect to the phone and all my lovely pic stories, since the visit to the Parliament to sign condolences to the late Mr S Rajaratnam (that was in Dec, I think) to Grace's fun hair cut day (in Jan) and the shopping treat with kids (last week) - I have not been able to download and it's just sooooo frustrating. That's why I spent a bomb on the N70 series phone in the first place.

The other point I want to make is that I have been baking a lot, almost all the recipes in LB's and May's blog. But they were either a disaster (like the durian butter cake) or I was too engrossed till I forgot to take the pics when something turns out well (like the apple pie). So this perfectionist says, no pics, no story for blog. A picture speaks a thousand words.

OK, after all the grumbling, I'm just glad that you, my dear friends on the blog, have been faihtful and patient with me. And more so, when the serious me cropped up recently (again?) and all my posts were... yawn... boring, by my own standards.

Well, I'll try harder still, but only when I can. So, from the depths of my heart, thank you for sticking with me through these months.

Here's to another 100, with less eye bags, I hope. :-)

And here's a picture of one of the would-have-been stories:

Failed Strawberry Cheese Cake

P.S. Oh, a special note to Diva, the ladies group has misses you badly and wish we can have your old blog back. You're missed, gal!

Numbers & Food @ Elections

2006-05-08T17:50:00.000+08:00

The weekend was filled with elections fever. From all walks of life, Singaporeans have suddenly been aflamed with politics-talk.

A friend messaged me to say, "Politics was non-existent in Singapore till these past two weeks." And how alive it was! From the fabulous picture on blogs of the large turnout at opposition party rallies, to the verbal wits & twits that were sparred, my, even my MIL was crazy about the elections. She would be, of course, having supported the ruling party for over 20 years, and currently being the leader of sports for the Women's Consultative Committee in the community centre. (She's 68 by the way, in charge of sports. Hmmm...)

My MIL surprised me further when she laid the broadsheet newspaper that lists the candidates on the coffee table, in front of the TV, pencil in hand, and all ready to mark down the actual votes and percentage wins. That was close to 11pm on Saturday night, when the results were about to be announced 'fast and furiously' by the Returning Officer.

What surprised me further was that she could crunch the numbers the day after:
82:2 : Peoples' Action Party won 82 seats over 2 opposition parties
66.1 : Percentage win by PM Lee Hsien Loong's Ang Mo Kio constituency
33.9 : Percentage loss by kamikaze team of youngsters in Ang Mo Kio from Workers' Party
56.1 : Percentage win by Aljunied GRC
43.9 : 'Best loser' percentage loss by WP at Aljunied GRC led by Sylvia Lim
66.6 : Average percentage win by PAP
75.0 : Average percentage win by PAP in last election in 2001

Now, not only she is well-versed in these numbers, the Uncle Cabbies are even better-versed. They can even talk about the story the minute you use key words, especially on food:

Chiku : PAP incumbent Eric Low loves chikus. He lost, and may quit politics soon.

Mouse : PAP's Eric Low says he loves the Mandarin song called "rats love da mao - cats". Can't remember title. WP's chief Low Thia Kiang says that this is not a cat-chase-rat election, it is a serious election, although he reckons some people (Eric Low) likens himself to rats. (Sorry, forgot that 'mouse' is not a food.)

Abalone Porridge : PAP's Sitoh Yi Pin served abalone porridge to residents. S'pore Democratic Alliance Chief Chiam See Tong said he can survive without porridge. He doesn't need to 'buy' residents. Sitoh lost despite $80m upgrading carrot.

Durians : I can't remember this anymore cos it appeared early in the campaign. SM Goh Chok Tong likened the love affair of the opposition wards, namely Potong Pasir and Hougang to a love affair with durians (maybe someone can enlighten me on this further).

Carrot : Not commonly used, but often referred to the upgrading plans as a 'carrot-and-stick' tactic by the PAP.

Bak Chor Mee : This referred to the humorous bloggers, Mr Brown & Mr Miyagi who podcasted a video clip on mistake made and apologied at the Bak Chor Mee stall. Most noted comment: 'Sorry also must explain', digging at the campaign warring between the PAP and WP.

Overall, it seems more people were enlightened by numbers than food. Most people said the numbers were 'substantial'. PM Lee was happy with the 66.1% landslide win, and clear mandate given to him, although some had wanted 70-80%. Opposition Sylvia Lim said their efforts were credible even though they lost. But she couldn't have said it better when she said, ala Terminator-style, "We will be back!"

And so will everyone in Singapore in the next election. General Election 2006 was an awakening for the nation on the changing fabric and voice of the society. It will continue to change, I'm sure.

P.S. More Food: Day after elections, Taiwan's Kuomintang Chief Ma Yin Jeou dropped by Singapore and ate a most local food - bak kut teh. Pork rib bones with herbal soup. Slurp!

Careless Friendships

2006-05-04T09:20:00.000+08:00

I was at blurblur's blog when she talked about how her girlfriend has 'abandoned' her after she had married. The strain of kids' schedules, demands of marriage life and career progress have all led to a 'weaker' friendship.

Interestingly, while friendships are worthwhile to build and sustain, I have found that it's been extremely difficult to keep friendships for long at times. I'm not trying to be a skeptic, but for women, the 'marriage + young kids' season takes quite a few years before one can have the energy to establish friendships by hanging out, sip coffee (tea for me) or just have girlie fun.

A good friend of mine, yes, she is very dear actually, shares the same seasons of life as I. Yet, with the same activities during this season, we hardly met. If at all, we were often precious with our time and schedule. So, keeping up friendships can be tough. What irks me most is that despite our mere attempts to meet, the meeting itself is loaded with sms-es (ky thinks this is absolutely rude - I agree!), phone calls and short attention spans. Coupled with lateness (the ultimate was waiting for her for one hour before she arrives!!!), I think she has treated the friendship with utter carelessness!!!

But why is it that I am still so drawn to meeting up with her as my dearest friend despite the idiosyncracies and hiccups. It's simply because it takes too long to establish new friendships. Just too difficult with age, kids, schedules and self-pursuits.

It's interesting that my introvert husband has built a really good friendship with a guy these past two years, who loves tennis as much as he does. Ah... therein lies the fundamentals of friendship - same interests.

And so it is with blogging. Someone said she talks more to blog kakis (buddies) than her real- fleshed friends. For those who are reading this post, isn't that true for you too?

I've conlcuded that friends form different chapters in our lives. Some chapters are longer, while some are shorter. And while writing these chapters, it is only worthwhile to make the chapter meaningful. After all, we only live life but once, so taking time to be real and meaningful to friends is a pursuit one should consider. Never mind the distance or lack of time, a real friend is one who's there in times of real need.

For now, I need a cup of tea. Anyone to join me?

Elections Watch: The New, Young & Promising

2006-05-02T15:40:00.000+08:00

Polling Day in Singapore is happening this Saturday, May 6. I have been obsessed with elections-watch these past two weeks (hence the absence online), and I must say, despite Singaporeans usually being apolitical, the tide is changing with new opposition candidates, many new faces in the ruling party, and loads of verbal entertainment at the rallies.

The only bummer is that I don't need to vote. Simply because I'm in Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew's ward. Now, why am I not surprised that there aren't any opposition parties fighting for this ward?

The Sylvia Effect
The darling of the opposition camp from the Workers' Party is Sylvia Lim, aged 41, single, law lecturer, and chairman of the WP. I think she has done Singaporean women proud not only by smashing the glass ceiling of chairing a political party, but also signalling the new women power in politics, in Singapore. The ruling party admitted that they played a last minute shift to get their top woman Minister of State to match Sylvia in the constituency she is running for.

Such is the effect of Sylvia that voters are sitting up. Not only to her, but to her mentor & coach, veteran Low Thia Khiang, secretary-general of the party, who has done an excellent job in grooming 15 new candidates, who are 'presentable', credible, and hey, professionals. Gone are the opposition candidates of rubber slippers, totally blue-collared workers and consultants of dubious businesses. Welcome the new, young and promising candidates, not only from the opposition camp, but from the ruling party too.

Personally, I am amazed by the consistent messages the WP is sending before and during the elections. They stay focussed on party principles and have done a lot of homework, groundwork and grassroots work to represent peoples' concerns.

But so is the ruling party's messaging and branding. The Peoples' Action Party could not have done a better job in offering the hot ticket of lift upgrading and Progress Package (I just spent it on three work suits, haha!). Voters may mock at these elections treats, but hey, as long as you get free money, who cares?

First World Wits
But apart from candidates-watch, I have been tickled by the wits that came out of the verbal spars. This is my favourite in the early part of the campaigns, in abridged version:

The opposition parties in Singapore need to be First World. Sadly, they are not.

I admit we are not First World. We are realistic about this, we are not First World. But we are progressing. What about the ruling party? Are they a First World government too? They need to benchmark against international matured democracies.

Of course, we are a First World government! How else do we get tops in all the international rankings? IMF, World Bank, PERC (economy ranking).

Sure, sure, you may be tops in these rankings, but hey look at the International Happiness Indices. Why does Singapore rank so low in happiness?

(My 2nd favourite is Teo Ser Luck's "2-in-1" comment in Mandarin.)

Li Ao
Recently, the popular Taiwanese talk show guy commented that Singaporeans are 'stupid'. To be fair, he spared no other Chinese nationalities in the show - Taiwanese, HongKongers, Chinese - all were not spared. Li Ao's point was simply that the collective culture in Singapore has prevented creativity. And there could be some truth in this, as I had informed See Fei. Collectivism can prevent creativity, and that is why there are not enough entrepreneurs or Nobel Prize winners from Singapore.

But with the shift in political awareness of the new & young Singaporeans, I am certain Li Ao's point will bear no significance in the future. Just look at the number of elections candidates below 35. They represent not only the promising future of the nation, nor a mere voice of dissent in parliament, but a maturity of democracy in Singapore.

We are progressing as a society, and that's wonderful news to both young and old. I only hope Singaporeans will know how to cope having lived in the ages of collectivism.

May 6 is interesting to watch, and the best part, it's the celebration of my daughter's birthday, Faith - who's new, young and ever-promising.

The Snail, Swan and a Skipping Rope

2006-04-19T14:04:00.000+08:00

Faith brought back three words yesterday and said she was supposed to write a poem on each of them. I think she her class is learning blends on beginning words. So this is what we worked at. No hiakus or sonnets. Just simple lines to cheer the girl and hopefully, her teacher.

The three words are: snail, swan and skip.

The Snail

I am a Snail that loves to snore
My shell is big and so are my pores
People think I'm a bore with no claws
But when I spit, my saliva will give them sores

The Swan

I am a Swan
White and feathery

I wish one day

That I can marry

A charming prince

With a crown that's furry

Who'll fight a dragon

That's strong and fiery

The Skipping Rope

Skip, skip, skip

Trip, trip, trip

Try, try, try

Trip, trip, trip

Huff, huff, huff

Puff, puff, puff

Skip, skip, skip

Fit, fit, fit!

For a quick attempt in poem writing, I think she did well. By the way, I like The Snail best.

Grace on Billboard

2006-04-17T21:41:00.000+08:00

Caught on the billboard of the Wesley Methodist Church on Canning Rise: Grace's picture with her wonderful smile.

The church chose her for 'toothless smile'. The teeth, or lack of, comes with a 'tragic' tale. When she was but one half years, a metal chair flipped when she was jumping on it and knocked her two front teeth off. Anxious mother here prays she will have her teeth before Christmas, every Christmas!

I couldn't catch the entire picture cos the billboard is quite near the road, but don't you think the styling of this billboard is interesting?

3 Men & Crabs

2006-04-13T13:44:00.000+08:00

Yep, went out for a bloggers' meet yesterday with fantasy flier, seefei and leonard. I must thank Leonard in particular for agreeing to turn up at the last minute.

If anything else, the food at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant at East Coast was fabulous!

Hey guys, if you had not noticed, I was trying to make bluff conversation cos my concentration was on the crabs. And aiyah, FF, why did you take all the nice pincers??? LOL!!! Haha...

Crabs are such a rarity for me cos at home, we hardly eat them. Hubs says crabs are moluscs, whose primary job is to clean up the dirt in the sea. And why should one eat all the dirt in the shell?"

Crack, slurp, don't care, just eat!

And what great fun I had! Thanks, guys, another time, another place.

Crabs pix stolen from fantasy flier.

Gospel of Judas: Impressions

2006-04-13T10:38:00.000+08:00

For the past two days, cable TV in Singapore featured The Gospel of Judas. I am not a debater of theology, but the hype of this finding is, in my humble opinion, going to be greater than that of Dan Brown's fictional Da Vinci Code and may affect the minds (and hopefully not the faith) of many Christian believers and non-believers.

That the Gospel of Judas has historical evidence in the form of the papyrus manuscript puzzled out, is sufficient proof for many to think that it is worth a second look at the faith. But is it really worth a second look?

All serious believers are always asked to examine the faith and study the Word of God and not be spiritual milkers only. We are asked to eat 'solids' so that we can know our faith in depth. So an examination of doctrines is good for strengthening the mind, restoring the faith and renewing the love for God and His Word.

But a further look at the documentary that was released really showed a lot of heretical claims. I take Helen's point on one issue of authenticity of claims, in which I have extracted from her blog:

Claim: In fact it is unclear whether the authors of any of the gospels — even the familiar four — actually witnessed the events they described. Evangelical biblical scholar Craig Evans of Acadia Divinity College says the canonical Gospels ultimately eclipsed the others because their version of Christ’s teachings and passion had the ring of truth.

Response: Hello?? Did I hear correct?? This man is saying the 4 witnesses (John, Luke, Mark & Matthew) did not (possibly) witness the events they described? I am no bible scholar but, let's reason in secular terms. I don't need to be an expert to argue this on merit. It has been concluded that John was the last written gospel of the four. The Gospel of John was written in about late 80 or early 90AD. The other three gospels were written before 70AD. Jesus Christ was crucified in 30-33AD. The last gospel (John) was written about 53 years after the crucification of Christ. If, John, Luke, Mark and Matthew who undoubtedly lived when Jesus was still walking on earth, and are not credible witnesses to the events they wrote, then how credible is the Gospel of Judas written beween AD 220 to 340??

As I see it, that the Gospel of Judas does not mention the crucifixion nor resurrection is already 'out of the faith'. Sure, maybe Judas had already committed suicide then, but Jesus had predicted his death even when he was alive with the disciples, so surely this inconsistency with the main four is not accepted. A 'gospel' of any truth can only be a gospel if there are consistencies, eye witnesses (of past eras) and proven legacies to exist. Moreover, Jesus' death and resurrection form the backbone of the Christian faith, so Judas's gospel is obviously off-tangent.

Another claim: The idea in this gospel is that Jesus, like all of us, is a trapped spirit, who is trapped in a material body. And salvation comes when we escape the materiality of our existence, and Judas is the one who makes it possible for him (Jesus) to escape by allowing for his body to be killed.

I cannot believe that Jesus is so weak that He is not able to free himself from his 'trapped spirit', if at all. But at the Garden of Gethsamane, He chose to bear the cup of suffering, if only to fulfill His Father's will. It is heretical to even think that Jesus, both fully 100% man and 100% God, would need anyone to release or relief Him from the burden. But one must remember that the burden was great and grave, for the burdens of the sins of the world rested heavily on Him at Gethsamane and Golgatha.

In the programme, Jesus was telling Judas that he (Judas) would gain mystical knowledge and 'will exceed all of them'. At one point, Jesus was alone with Judas and pointed to the stars for Judas to 'look to the stars' which will guide him, guide him to betray Jesus, that is. Now, this part looks super astrological, which is against the idea of basic faith in Christ. My take is that even if Judas was guided by the stars, he was given the free will to choose. And we all know his choice.

Finally, right after the release by National Geographic, Elaine Pagels wrote profusely to get believers to think of a 'diferent version' of Christianity. Ms Pagels is the author of The Gnostic Gospels, so her arguments are focused on persuading the audiences of the authenticity of the gnostic gospels, from which the new age theology stemmed. Christians have been and are still battling 'new age theology' (e.g. feminism, domestic goddesses, etc.) since the last decade so we don't need another gospel to prove her writing.

I am seriouly not a theologian, nor claim to be one. But markerters have not timed this better than to release the programme at the threshold of the Passion Week. Tomorrow, we celebrate the Good Friday, in remembrance of the death and passion of Jesus Christ. National Geographic could at least have some sensitivity on this matter. This begs the question of hype - is it worth a look at all?

Yes, but only because faith with the mind matters, to discern, to strengthen, to test out sound doctrine from wrong, and to distinguish intelligently.

Views expressed here are mere impressions of the documentary, The Gospel of Judas and they belong to the author of this blog.

Ice Cream Attack

2006-04-12T14:07:00.000+08:00

I spend most of my Monday afternoons with kids at McDonald's after picking them up from their school activities. And since I don't have the car, we always land up at King Albert Park's McDonald's nearby, trudging along with kids and their school bags, under the blazing sun.

So an ice cream treat is always wonderful before homework, and before Papa picks all of us up after his work. See their joy and fun! Ice Cream ATTACK!!!

It's only 50 cents, but it works as :
1) a carrot for them to complete their work
2) an incentive for more work
3) a respite from the hot sun.

Well, aren't you just dotting them, Mama? I mean, DOTing them?

P.S. The middle ice cream cone is mine. Don't snatch it away!!! :-)

Routine Ramblings

2006-04-11T09:51:00.000+08:00

Ramblings, ramblings...

Saturday
7am, sleepy from late movie last night, Inside Man, 9am, Chinese class, TCC for usual French toasts, Ballet class for Faith, Sunbeam Choir for Easter for kids, Swimming, Chill out, packed bags for Sunday school

Sunday
Skipped choir & church, Ching Ming, quiet lunch at home, prepared steak & rolled lamb chop dinner and mashed potato, packed bags, fussed around the house, Gospel of Judas on National Geographic, The Apprenctice

Monday
Work, more work, finished planning web structure for new initiative, negotiated for split work, sent emails for delegation, rushed off to collect kids at school after their activities, couldn't get cab, 45 mins late, brought them to Mac's, did some Maths, Hubs picked us up, supermarketed, home dinner, reading, packed school bags, Jewel in the Palace

Tuesday
Eye infection, bespectacled, prayed hard for removal of irritations with maid, read the Last Passover, felt bad about frantic behaviour at home lately, too much going on, remember that air con man's coming at 2pm, piano practice with kids at 4pm, hope they'll finish fast so they can cycle, Faith's gonna scream for help on two wheels, imagine myself exhausted, then comes Pa who'll take over the bending of back and running behind her, dinner, pack school bags, reading, Jewel in the Palace

Someone said to me recently, she can't take life's routines. Why must everything be scheduled around kids' programmes or life? She feels like breaking free at times, but that's not being responsible.

I don't feel bad about the routine nor responsibilities, but I do need a break at times. Just a couple of hours away per week, a few days in 6 months, and two holidays in a year. (Wah, so high maintenance!)

Hubs has said I should take a day or two off. But work is looming large on me always. Sometimes, it's not the volume, but the sheer difficulty of the task. I think I've coped and performed well, but standards are higher each time, and the race to be 'excellent' each time is a dread.

Oh dear, I need a break soon, all right. A nice meal of crabs may do fine too. Hopefully, it won't make me crabby... :-)

Oscar Award

2006-04-07T14:15:00.000+08:00

Hubs came back from the US recently and in one of his weekends there, he went with his colleagues to LA's Universal Studios. Since he deliberately took some pictures for me to blog, I'd share with you some interesting sights.

The best part was that he was there at the weekend of the Academy Awards, held at the Kodak Theatre. The same theatre for American Idol's finals.

Catch the celebrity stars on the red carpet!

Well, he was there too late to see any real celebrities. Still, he caught some stars and nice signatures.

And though he never won any awards, he made sure he got an Oscar for me!

Ain't he sweet? Well, he sure knew how to get an Academy Award from me!!! The trophy sits nicely in my office by the window ledge, for my colleagues to envy. Hehehe...

Strawberry Lollies

2006-04-06T06:35:00.000+08:00

I promised pictures of the strawberry lollies. Well, here they are, plus the super-duper easy recipe copied by Faith in the school library.

Recipe

12 strawberries
3 tbsp of caster sugar
Yoghurt pots or lollies container (bought from Cold Storage - $1.95 for packof 4)

Put ingredients in food processor, crush them, with sugar to taste.
Pour mixture into lollies container and freeze for one hour.
Take out mixture and stir to avoid lumpiness.
Pour or scoop mixture into lollies container.
Freeze for another hour.
(This recipe makes about 4 lollies. An entire tub of strawberries, usual large plastic container size from Cold Storage, can make 10 lollies.)

Voila! Strawberry Lollies for kids, much healthier than commercial ice cream, and excellent for hot days, especially in Singapore. The taste is 'extremely strawberry' and it feels like strawberry sherbet or crush. Yummy! Slurp!

MC

2006-04-04T15:05:00.000+08:00

For a few days, we thought Grace was down with Hand, Food & Mouth Disease (HFMD). More than 7,000 kids have it and we were concerned. Her blistered tongue and high fever refused to go away that we finally brought her to the docs yesterday morning. I'll spare you pictures of her tongue.

Grace was given two days of MC. I had to be at an important meeting yesterday so I left her at home with grandma. But today, I stayed back with her and what fun we had in the morning.

Yes, there was the usual Battleship Pi-a-no but when that session was over, and her fever left her, I decided to bring her for a movie. Hehe... so much for medical leave.

And so we watched Yours, Mine & Ours.

It seemed Lucille Ball made a version of this in 1968 and became a hit. But this version with Dennis Quaid and beautiful Rene Russo was a pleasant, feel-good film for kiddo and I. The story is about a widow and widower who met each other at a class reunion and decided to marry. They have 18 kids in all!!! The tricks, the rivalry and madness made for a good laugh.

Oh! I forgot to say we made strawberry lollies too! Faith copied a recipe she read somewhere and insisted I made lollies for the family. It was my first but the lollies are sure healthier than commercial ice cream!

I'll post the picture tonight cos I have two kids running round me fighting for lollies and attention. Slurp!

Things We Do For Kids

2006-03-31T14:45:00.000+08:00

In parenting, we need to be super creative and energetic. Just like the projects Faith put us through the past two weeks. Last week was the Health Education Project, which got Papa and I running to clinics, Health Promotion Board and Popular Bookstore to get brochures and stationery.

This past week and a half, it was the Social Studies Project, and the topic? Urban Planning. For an 8 year old. (This is almost impossible, trust me.) See the model made by Papa (70%), Mama (25%) and Faith (5%).

Town Planning

HDB flats, a school, shopping centre, terrace houses and an MRT station.

Side View

Top View

Most Innovative Creations

Lamp Posts - made of cotton bud, untwined paper clip and aluminium foil
MRT Track - made of two file binders (in silver) stuck on to two file fasteners
Plants - ripped from artificial plant found in shopping centre

One may ask why we need to do everything for the child. That may not train independence. True, but frankly, the task was really beyond the Primary 2 kids, as most mothers had earlier complained. The colouring, cutting, folding, gluing from A4 sheets to card paper, and planning took quite a lot of skill which was tough even for my architect friend. The task was something that she would be doing real life, she said. But certainly not for the young kids. The folding in itself took some effort and time.

We decided it was best for Faith to decide WHERE to place the buildings, and WHAT items to include apart from the given models. She was also the mastermind behind the lamp posts. Papa explained the WHY part as to why the shopping centre should be near the MRT Station.

All in all, we enjoyed working as a family. I felt really proud bringing it to school for her (except that I went into the wrong class room - aiyoh, Mama!). You would too, if it was your kid's project.

Now you know why I'm always so busy with kids.

Power of Praise

2006-03-31T12:00:00.000+08:00

Fanny said her daughter complimented her skirt and made her day. I kinda' like it when my kids praise me. Well, this one came from Faith and Grace two nights ago.

F: Mrs Tan said, "Your mum is so beautiful." (Awww...)

(I met Mrs Tan for the Parent-Teacher Meeting last Saturday.)

G: Mrs Tay said, "Your mum has a beautiful voice." (Awww again...)

(Mrs Tay used to be in the same choir that I still sing in every Sunday.)

MS: You must thank your teachers. You think I can sing too, darlings?

G: Mm hmm. That's why we want you to sing Amazing Grace every night.

Well, that made my week. Enough of praise to last me through the week or two. Or so I thought, till Grace said last night, while browsing through my old pictures in Melbourne

G: I prefer you when you were skinnier. :-(

MS: I can't be Barbie doll all the time, darling.

F: Your specs look so weird.

Or in Grace's grouchiest mood:

G: Stop singing, Mama.

Still, the compliments overweighed (no pun intended) the brickbat.

That's the power of praise!

Love Languages

2006-03-30T13:40:00.000+08:00

I've not finished Dr Gary Chapman's book on The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate, but his point about people speaking in different love languages is interesting.

"Unhappiness in relationships is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don’t understand our partner’s requirements, or even our own. We all have a “love tank” that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others."

And so, I tried the Love Test. Firstly, the love languages are:

Physical Touch
Quality Time
Words of Affirmation
Receiving Gifts
Acts of Service

My results are:

Physical Touch: 8
Words of Affirmation: 8
Acts of Service: 6
Quality Time: 5
Receiving Gifts: 3

Whoa! Didn't realise PT meant so much to me. I remember some friends telling me they're so tired at the end of the day being a mother, wife, daughter, employee, volunteer, etc, they just flop on the bed with a "Please, don't touch me now!" mindset. As most would know, that may spell disaster for a marriage.

I would think more women need words of affirmation because the media and society judge beauty high, and those in post-kids era may find it hard to be Cinderella or Barbie again! Unless, of course, she has the time to workout and all. Having said that, I'm glad I went for a run last evening. :-)

Anyhow, this post is not a hint for my husband. Nor is it an instruction to ask him to stop buying me gifts. I guess we all have each of the love languages, so it is up to couples to carve out priority in whichever the spouse is more tuned to.

Do give the test a try.

Colour Account

2006-03-29T13:35:00.000+08:00

Faith has gone into her deep moods lately and this account jolted me a little about parenting.

We were at the corner of Clementi and West Coast Roads on Sunday past when we decided to drop by the 7-11 store to get some items. As the junction faces the port of Singapore, one can expect foreign workers (FWs) hanging around the coffee shops near the junction. While I was in the store, Papa and kids were in the car parked along the road, where groups and groups of foreign workers walked past the car closely. They didn't peep in but Faith got very worried and slipped onto the floorboard of the car, and panicked.

When I got back, she was a little shaken and I didn't realise it till walking out for dinner at NUSS. She said she was frightened by the men, though I cannot fathom why when the FWs didn't peep into the car. But so shaken was she, that she insisted on going home immediately just to be safe.

To me, that was the start of racism and discrimination if not treated carefully. It was extremely hard telling her that these FWs are here to serve Singapore by sweeping the roads, cleaning & packing tables at hawker centers, building nice houses for people and washing cars at petrol kiosks. That most of them happen to be Indians or other races have no bearing on their service they provide for us. In fact, many of them should be pitied upon as they have left their homes and kids to simply earn a living.

She couldn't quite understand this but she did understand the part where I said God loves everyone in the world - red, yellow, black & white. So it doesn't matter who they are, it is their hearts and characters that we should look at and not the skin colour.

It was quite difficult to explain with her mind blocks. But she somehow got it when I reminded her that her best friend in school is actually a non-Chinese. That enlightened face somehow made sense to her cos sometime ago, she told me that she CHOSE to go out with that girlfriend because that girlfriend did not have many friends, for whatever the reason. I had applauded her for her decision and encouraged her to share the love of God to her girlfriend.

The coaxing and explanation took a while but whether it has sunk in, I don't fully know. I know she was concerned about safety at the road junction and I accept that, but I had to shun away all iota of doubt on discrimination. I pray she would understand or that would be the start of major work on parenting.

Didn't I say parenting is difficult?

What Am I?

2006-03-23T13:30:00.000+08:00

From Wikipedia, the definition of a Mother Superior is as follows:

1) The Mother Superior is the nun in charge of a Christian convent. Known also as Abbess.

2) A Mother Superior is the name of at least two obscure and possibly apocryphal cocktails: either a martini with a prune instead of an olive, or a glass of ginger ale with a prune in it. See also list of cocktails.

3) Mother Superior is also the name of a rock band who became 3/4 of Rollins Band circa 2000.

4) Mother Superior is also the name of a Swedish rock band founded 1993 and that released their first album in 1996.

5) Mother Superior is also the nickname of the primary heroin drug-dealer Johnny Swann in Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting.

Now, which do you think I am?

None of the above. But I like the idea of a martini with a prune in it. No reason. Just mind-idling.

Cheers again! **clink**

Retro Fashion

2006-03-22T12:30:00.000+08:00

Squishi posted a retro fashion picture of a He-Skirt from an old clothesline called Dorcus, a collection of men's fashion from the 50s to the 70s.

The Founder of Dorcus, Barney Dorcus, had his biography published on the site and his story made me laughing in fits:

"I have a dream,” Barney Dorcus once said.
“I dream I take off my shirt at the end of the day
and the armpits ain’t hanging out in smokin’ strings from my BO,
that’s what I dream.”

Barney Dorcus was one of New York’s most colorful and influential clothiers, and his career had one unvarying motivation: his persistent, corrosive body odor.

“I don’t know what it is,” he told an interviewer.
“I don’t eat garlic. I wash up.
Even in the places you’re not supposed to spend a lot of time touching.
Okay, cigars now and then, what guy doesn’t.
But that don’t explain why I smell like a hippo’s ass ten minutes after I get outta the bathtub. It ain’t the soap. I tried switching to Cameo..."

The retailing world in New York was crowded in the 20s;
it was a dense, jostling, cut-throat world populated by
energetic individual merchants on the bottom end,
mass-market retailers in the middle
and white-shoe stores serving the carriage trade.

A man needed to stand out. A man needed a gimmick.

And so, every design was a gimmick. See it for yourself.

He-Dress
Knee Air-Conditioning
Dinner At The Ritz
Painter's Stonewashed Vestpants

And finally, the wackiest!
He-Skirt!

But it was the ad campaign for the He-Skirt that got me crazy:

She Skirt - He-Skirt - They-Skirt - We-Skirt!
Wear a lotta Dorcus and the gang’ll all say Gee Skirt!
Men, you gotta bare it for a solid Dorcus Whee Spurt!
He-Skirt! He-Skirt! He-Skirt! He-Skirt!

I'm not reading between the lines, but the rhyme is so sleek and clever.

Would you wear Dorcus?

The Monkey's Uncle

2006-03-21T14:50:00.000+08:00

My girls have been rocking up and down with The Beach Boys' 1965 hit called The Monkey's Uncle. The lyrics are as wacky as can be.

Think Beach Boys now with surf board and brunette, Annette Funicello.

Uh, huh, She loves the monkey's uncle,
Yeah, yeah, She loves the monkey's uncle,
Whoa, whoa, She loves the monkey's uncle,
And the monkey's uncle's ape for me!

I don't care what the whole world thinks!
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Call us a couple of "missing links",
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Love all these monkeyshines,
Every day is Valentine's,
I love the monkey's uncle,
And the monkey's uncle's ape for me!
Ape for me!

Uh, huh, She loves the monkey's uncle,
Yeah, yeah, She loves the monkey's uncle,
Whoa, whoa, She loves the monkey's uncle,
And the monkey's uncle's ape for me!

This in my heart jumps like a clown
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Feels like the circus just came to town!
She loves the monkey's uncle!
I live in a "jungle gym",
In order to be with him
I love the monkey's uncle,
And I wish I were the monkey's aunt!
Monkey's aunt!

[Guitar Solo]

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa
On the day he marries me
What a nutty family tree!
A bride!
A groom!
A chimpanzee!

Let them say he's the booby prize!
She loves the monkey's uncle!
He is the guy I idolize!
She loves the monkey's uncle!
Love all those monkeyshines,
Every day is Valentine's,
I love the monkey's uncle,
And the monkey's uncle's ape for me!
Ape for me!

Uh, huh, She loves the monkey's uncle,
Yeah, yeah, She loves the monkey's uncle,
Whoa, whoa, She loves the monkey's uncle,
And I'm MAD about his chimpanzee!!!

The title is also a Disney movie with the same name, about a college whiz-kid who concocts a method for teaching advanced information to a chimpanzee. A little wacky too, and graded 5.1 on Amazon.com. The song saved the movie.

Kids are rocking in the car and out, dancing and prancing like Chuck Berry's guitar during the guitar solo. When it came to "and I wish I were the monkey's aunt", they would shout it out loud together.

Drove Papa crazy, but kept Mama happy. :-D

Viva Beach Boys!

Exhilaration

2006-03-20T18:13:00.000+08:00

That's how I felt today.
After the report.
After the rain shower.
After the exhaustive two weeks of brain drain & kids' strain.
After Hub's return from the US,
After 15 days.

Tea, anyone? :-D

Before the report comes back yet again.
Before the kids start to scream of project work.
Before Hubs packs for another trip,
Before our next anniversay.
Before my sanity is gone,
I wish to take a long sleep tonight.

Tea, anyone? :-D

I felt exhilarated today.
I felt the joy of achievement today.
And though my brain's been spent,
My spirits still stay high.
Today, I can say, I did my best.
Yawn & stretch. Thank God.

Zzz...

People Propaganda

2006-03-17T12:30:00.000+08:00

Help me, help me!

Firstly, I'm thankful to Simple American and JoMel for helping me get Siao Char Bo to take over the Lin Dynasty story. At least, the story tag is not going to its grave since it's so closely followed. So thanks for helping, folks!

I have been and still am swarmed with the awful task of writing a 'propaganda' report on People Excellence in the organisation. Can you imagine that kind of topic?

While I enjoy my work very much, especially the media aspects, I totally dislike the self-licking praises that come with the job, and that's what I'm supposed to do. UGGGHHH! The report looks like a mini-dissertation, that was due Monday past, and guess what, I'm still at it, with much grace from the bosses. They are also nervous about how the report will look as it seems, the report will go to the PM Office. Shhhh...

Good news is that I have 7/8's of the report done and have all the elements right. Just can't bring myself to finish the final lap.

But that'll be for the afternoon, cos now, it's lunch time. ,-)

Food before work - always good for the soul, provided it doesn't make you nap.

Fishy Tale

2006-03-13T23:38:00.000+08:00

Fishing areas in Singapore are so sparse that one has to pay to fish. Just like our recent family trip to the Pasir Ris fishing pond. It costs us $30 for the bait, one rod and fishing spot. If we were to fish out at the area outside the squarish plot, it would cost about $50 for the entire day.

Still, our kids had great fun despite the pond's setting in a housing estate.

But in commercial fishing, it is not always with luck. In fact, we caught no fish at all!

So the kids did not really get to learn proper fishing. We decided then to go over to another area in Pasir Ris called Kids' Kampong Farm where kids could enjoy watching koi fishes in abundance and catching longkang fishes (drain fishes).

In fact, Papa S had to help kids catch the fishes cos it wasn't easy teaching them how to fish, even with small nets. The fishes kept slipping away from the kids. Poor Papa, while helping the kids, he fell in the longkang and was drenched throughout. I didn't take a picture cos I had to be the good wife to help him out...

The effort was worth it, cos thereafter, each kid had a prize catch of 6 longkang fishes. They were named Snowy, Blacky, Susie, Oliver and I don't know what else. They lasted for two months in our mini aquarium.

All thanks to Papa, the kids' smiles were all worth it for the day.

Peas Porridge Nine Days' Old

2006-03-08T04:15:00.000+08:00

Diva was describing how the duck sauce that goes with the duck rice bought from hawker stalls, is often recylced. Here's an extract from her Sunday Photoblog:

Usually, if I eat braised duck, I don't dare to ask for the dark braising sauce. Many hawkers don't throw out unsold sauce at the end of the day. They just top up the ingredients into the same pot the next day and braise away! They claim that the duck and the sauce will be more fragrant that way. Creepy!

It brought back to mind this old nursery rhyme:

Peas porridge hot
Peas porridge cold
Peas porridge in the pot
Nine days old

It seemed that in the middle ages, peas porridge was a staple for most poor villagers in Europe. Folks would boil the porridge, feed everyone, and keep the residue for the next day, and the next and the next, till nine days at least. They just simply add more peas and grains to the unwasted residue so that the taste would be better.

Isn't it similar to the duck sauce above? Lard, black sauce, spices, oil drippings of roast duck - recylced again and again.

The next time you eat contemplate eating duck rice, contemplate again. By the way, I do like the sauce. Yummy.

'Holiday' Trivia

The word 'holiday' is likely to have stemmed from the holy days as set by the Catholic church in the 17th & 18th Centuries, where the church dominated every aspect of life, including one's work schedule and leave days. Hence, the idea of a 'holiday' is likely to be rooted in the 'holy day' instituted by the church.

Just as 'goodbye' has its roots in 'God bless you'.

Oh well, that's some trivia for now. Goodbye! :-)

JoMel's Voice & Blogging

2006-03-07T13:34:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday, JoMel was in town and we managed to talk for a while on the phone. I'm an aural person so before her call, I tried to anticipate and imagine what she would sound like: her tone of voice, pitch and pronunciation type. (I don't mean the Blood A, B or O type, just style of wordings, enunciating... ok, I know, I'm a freak.)

She was all that I had imagined her to be. Ever excited, type A, and rather gung ho, her voice made her sound like a happy mother for her two kids. Good on her.

Well, I hope I'm not putting poor JoMel in public scrutiny. I have read of bloggers meeting up and finally putting a face to the blog. Perhaps in my circle of bloggers and readers, many are just too busy with kids and life, or most are just abroad, especially the Stalker Group. So putting a face to the name is difficult.

But therein lies the beauty of blogging - it allows a fair amount of anonymity and privacy. The amount of transparency is dependent on the writer himself, so long as he takes the risk of being open.

Ah, here lies yet another beauty of blogging - openness. It is true that many have used this platform to bring out one self, to pour it all out, or as the buzz word goes in the Lin Dynasty saga stories, to VOMIT out. (Ugh!)

Blogging is therefore sometimes a contradiction or better still, a balance. A balance of privacy and openness.

Anyhow, I had a great time talking to JoMel, and wished we could meet, if not for kids' schedules and 'weather for the day'.

All cheers to you, JoMel and here's to blogging, too!

Lovers in Paris

2006-03-07T10:54:00.000+08:00

While Fantasy Flier is still high on Bond and LB with his weekend movies, I have been caught up with kdrama or Korean drama serials. These past few days and nights, almost all else is in hiatus as the seduction of kdrama have finally set into my life, especially when my husband is away in the US.

Lovers In Paris or Des Amoureux a Paris is a wonderful lover's tale that's totally different from the soppy, silent J and Kdramas. The plot is hardly worth talking about, but the casting is excellent with a fair amount of twists and turns in the story.

Though I love kdrama, I must confess that I hope not to carry on with this mad late-night craze. As it is, my eyes are like panda's eyes, so it was a good thing that JoMel did not get to meet me while holidaying in Singapore over the weekend.

On another note, cheers to Crash, which won the Academy. Yaaaay! If you have not watched it, go for it cos the plot is excellent, even if Matt Dillon was much fatter in the show. (See below) The movie is a thought-provoking look at racial stereotypes in America and it touches the heart totally. The best part - the scenes were supposed to have happened within 36 hours, longer than 24 hours the serial, but less taxing in complexity.

And now, here's Matt Dillon for you.

Dash off! Back to kdrama!

Zara Man

2006-03-01T12:27:00.000+08:00

My dear husband can be a fashion freak at times, and his taste is possibly better than mine, especially in fashion, interior design and all things that need good colour combination. (I'm so colour blind at times.) Yesterday, he bought a pants for his upcoming 'informally formal' event which he will be attending in the US next week.

A wonderful light brown, microscopically-checked pants that's made primarily of cotton and flax linen. The latter gives it a slightly informal feel. To complement the pants, he has an existing coat which has buttons that go well with the pants.

We now have to worry about the shirt. Dark brown coloured shirt would be good for contrast, I gather. He has a shiny silver tie with light brown undertones that can suit the suit. No picture here, though.

Now, what d'ya think of the combination? Calling all fashion freaks, any other ideas, perhaps? L B?

Gym Joy

2006-02-27T20:00:00.000+08:00

On Sunday, Grace participated in the United World College Invitational Gymnastics Championship. Her team came in tops and we're so proud of our girl.

We were groogy-eyed when we started off as early as 7am for her warm-ups. But hey, the girls were all chirpy and excited. My press-head dummy camera couldn't capture from far so a lot of pictures were rather blur. But here are some exciting moments we managed to catch.

Taking a short break after the warm-ups.

Lining-up for the march past. See the size of our girls next to the strong American team.

Champions all!

My girl, my girl!

Sharing a precious moment with Faith

Tai Tai in Tokyo III

2006-02-23T23:18:00.000+08:00

If there is one word that can describe Japanese culture, it would be eclectic.

The Japanese obsession for anime or manga is so compulsive, that in an ordinary office day downtown business district, you can see loads of office people cramping in these slightly sleazy video arcades (see below). I happen to be there at 10am in the morning and waited patiently for the automatic door to open so as to snap a picture without being kicked off by the bouncer. Needless to say, there were only men that I saw in these rows of arcades. No bias here.

For lunch on that one day of wandering, I decided on this antiquainted restaurant because I could finally read a few words in the menu. What surprised me was that it played Norah Jones' jazz pieces in the restaurant, for an apt crowd of yuppies eating there. The inside was really different from the outside.

I was told to go to Ueno Park cos that's where you can abosrb both nature, art and pop culture. Nature was beautiful there with trees all around. In the main park, a long fountain spreads across, and youths would be there to 'do their pop thing' - sing, dance, perform, cycle, make love, meditate, etc. Even housewives taking art lessons were there to self-actualise their dreams of drawing. I loved the buskers there.

In the depths of the 'forest park', there are many shrines and Buddhist temples. I couldn't help but take the picture of this temple with bonsais in front of it.

What's amazing about Ueno Park is that it houses almost all of Tokyo's state art galleries and museums. I was absorbed in the black statues outside the Tokyo Contemporary Art Museum.

Finally, when I visited the Tokyo Science Museum (can't remember the exact name) to look for Asimo, Japan's robot humanoid. But it was not housed there. While walking to the lobby, I saw an unusual koi painting, which looks more impressive than what my camera or skills can do. Well, what is Japan without a reference to its koi fishes?

I wished I had more time in Japan, but I felt my simple wandering round Tokyo was more than enough to enjoy its culture and city. Wish I can be there again this spring, where Ueno Park is known to transform into a park of cherry blossoms. But for what it was worth, I enjoyed Tokyo every bit. From the saw man & sushi for breakfast, to Ueno Park and sleazy arcades, I think Tokyo will ring a special charm and chime in my heart.

This is the last of the three-part Tai Tai in Tokyo series. Sayonara!

You've Got A Friend

2006-02-23T22:53:00.000+08:00

To my many friends who've written to encourage and cheer me with songs, I'm deeply grateful. Work issues are not fully over, but c'est la vie! Allow me to list all of you one by one:

Fishyoct, May, JoMel, LB, Simple American,
Sesame, BlurBlur, See Fei, Song, Michael Chua
Leonard, Zara's Mama, Fantasy Flier, KY
Two Little Fellas, Ricket, Mum2One
And Eddy, who called me

THANK YOU FOR BEING MY FRIEND!

In fact, I feel like Carol King singing You've Got A Friend. I would sing for you if I can, but for now, here are the lyrics:

When you're down and troubled
And you need some loving care
And nothing, nothing is going right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest hour

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there
You've got a friend

If the sky above you
Grows dark and full of cloud
And that old north wind begins to blow
Keep your head together
And call my name out loud
Soon you'll hear me knocking on your door

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there
You've got a friend

Ain't it good to know you've got a friend
When people can be so cold
They'll hurt you and desert you
And take you soul if you let them
Oh but don't you let them

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there
You've got a friend

*Hugs*, *muack*, cheers!

p.s. Won't be going to US cos of kids' assessments, but did some retail therapy today! Could only dunk in three cups of tea. :-)

p.s.s. Picture above: Papa S and kids walking hand in hand, serenely set against dusk, along Abbey Beach, Perth, Australia, 2004.

Work Blues

2006-02-22T22:17:00.000+08:00

Monday at work- :-(

Tuesday at work - :-(((

Wednesday at work - :-((((

I've been keeping it mum for a while, but don't think I can take it any longer before I'll suffer from repression. Some major crisis has happened at work and it's unbelievable the way we are reacting.

As a trained professional in communications, I find it so hard to convince and persuade those around me. Perhaps to a point where I feel my talents and assets are not appreciated.

Awwwww, it's tough to say anymore save that, I think I need a break. Maybe 6 cups of tea (I don't drink coffee) would help, or a trip to the US with husband next week (it's another BIG hint and ploy!) or maybe, just shopping therapy tomorrow will do.

Any nice songs for me? Anyone?

Captain Scrabble

2006-02-20T19:57:00.000+08:00

Scrabble season's coming in July, and I will have to gather a group of Scrabblers soon to start practising. It is most dreadful gathering people to play cos most of them will say they don't have time for such trivialities. But what a blinking excuse that is sometimes.

When you practise during lunchtime, the wannabes will crowd round you, munch beside your ear and make all sorts of comments that are often disturbing. I mean, hey, I'm training for competition, you know!!! And I'm the captain of my company's Scrabble Team! Wah... so fierce.

For the record, I literally coach staff who are interested in the game or show an inkling of learning the game. The weakest player is not even the smartest person in the organisation. They are often the clerks and junior officers. (Maybe that's why they have so much time...) Not that I have all the time in the world, but unto him who givest himself to the game, I will add double-fold to his knowledge of words, strategy and mind reading. Whoo... super fierce.

Can die, right? Bet you didn't know I'm such a competitor. In fact, I was scrabbling a lot till, ahem, blogging took over. Well, every passion and hobby needs time to grow.

I will talk about the joy and perils of playing competitively next time. But for now, want a game online?

ps. The picture above is from networdz.com.

Tai Tai in Tokyo II

2006-02-17T12:38:00.000+08:00

My first journal of Tai Tai in Tokyo described about the beautiful hotel environment. I had the opportunity to make a day trip to visit Mount Fuji and had the most glorious time.

A trip to Japan without seeing Fuji-san or Mount Fuji is a total waste. As one of Asia's largest and highest mountains, it stands tall at 3776 meters in majesty. Deemed as a sacred mountain to the Japanese, Mt Fuji is a must-climb-mountain for Asian mountaineers.

However, clouds and poor visibility block the view of Mt Fuji fairly often, and the closest I could get was on the "fifth" spot or fifth stage of coach climbing. My pix is obviously different from the one above.

It looked majestic real live, and this was enough for city girl like me.

Meanwhile, the day trip to Hakone encompassed a mountain, sea cum land experience. After Mt Fuji, we were brought to the Fuji Five Lakes, which we had wonderful time on board an interesting "pirate" ship. Oh, the cruise on Lake Ashi was wonderful and the surrounding mountains were just mesmerising.

(I wished I could show you more, but the transfer of pictures from my laptop to office PC lost some of the sea images in between.)

Anyhow, after the wonderful cruise, we were on the road for a surprise, we didn't know what it was. Meanwhile, the view en route the surprise was most pleasant.

The surprise was a cable car ride. We knew we were going to another mountain, but we had no idea we would be going there by a cable car. Well, on one of the mountains, we spotted the word "BIG".

Cable car view

We finally landed on "sulphur mountain" or Owakudani. And that was an out of the world experience. Each tourist was asked to buy an egg and climb up a short trek to the peak of the sulphur mountain. At the peak, there was a "boiling pond" of sulphur in which one could cook the eggs. The joke by the tour guide was so funny, cos she said that for every egg that you eat after boiling, you'll increase your lifespan by 7 years. Another egg will be 14 years. For three eggs, what would one get?

High cholesterol, of course.

Seven years of life added with egg?

Can you see the sulphur by the side?
Sulphur vapor permeated everywhere and was unbearable to some.

Well, after the mountain-top experience, we had two choices of going back to Tokyo - by coach or bullet train, also known as the Shinkansen. The bullet train runs up to 300 km/h and when you're in it, as in a plane, you don't quite feel the speed, but the feeling of being in it was great.

It was evening time when we took the train so we couldn't absorb the landscape of Japan. But here is a picture lifted from the web.

When we reached home, the hotel was a great respite for a tiring day. I'll put in one more picture of a sunset view from my hotel room, though it wasn't taken on the day of the day trip.

Watch out for Japan journal III when I describe what I saw in the city.

p.s. The hotel I stayed in was Hotel New Otani and not Crown Prince Hotel.

Tic Tag Toe IV

2006-02-16T21:53:00.000+08:00

Now it's fantasy flier's turn to tag me. This one's about memories. Let's see if you can relate to any.

The "How Old Are You" Tag

1. Name one of the actor of the old days that you missed the most***
Lee Majors - The Six Million Dollar Man

2. Name a cartoon of the old old days***
Felix the Cat - Remember the old black cat on b/w TV?

3. Name a singer/group of the old days***
Crystal Gale - used to be crazy about her long hair.
Nana Mouskari - she came to Singapore recently. Signature dark rimmed glasses.

4. Band of the old days***
The Stylistics
Which was the group that sang Route 66 by the way?

5.TV Series of the old days***
I really liked Hawaii 5 O those days. I watched it with Pa and we had good memories just cluing ourselves to TV, not talking as always, typical old-fashioned family.

6. Actress of Old Days***
Same as FF's - Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman

7. Fashion of Old Days that you miss the most ***
None, I guess, but psychedellic colours, yes.
I also remember in the 80s, marine fashion with blue, white, red bold colours.

8. Movie of Old Days***
Grease, and only Grease. I've got chills, they're multiplying...

9. Music Video of Old Days***
Same as FF's - Michael Jackson - Thriller.

10. Coolest Song of Old Days***
If You Leave Me Now - Chicago
True - Spandau Ballet

Won't pass it on. But go ahead if you wish. Let me know. :-)

Love Journal of a Married Man

2006-02-15T11:37:00.000+08:00

Perhaps one of the best love posts I've read in blogosphere is by an excellent writer, Tribolum. As one of the editors of tomorrow.sg, he writes proficiently and profusely. His love notes to his wife are to cry for.

I'm giving you the link to his love post dated 31 December 2005.

Get ready the tissue paper, ladies.

Enjoy!

Love Journal of a Married Woman

2006-02-14T11:32:00.000+08:00

Today' is Valentine's Day, as the world knows. I blatantly admit that since kids came along, the day has not caused an exciting ripple in my heart to jump. Especially over what the day means or brings. Not that I'm a cold grouch, but I have really thought every married day should be a Valentine's Day.

I'm no idealist, but the phrase that says, "You grow to love your spouse more and more each day" is quite true for me. I have loved my husband far more now than before. Because I know him better, accepted him more, and know that he has in turn accepted me. More importantly, we have gone through mountains and valleys together.

But some (or most) married folks will also confess an unusual coldness towards romantic love. A hidden coldness rather. Maybe because they have less romance after marriage, and have thus tuned the heart to harsh reality.

Last week, a married girl friend of mine revealed that she has loved her husband less. In fact, so much lesser that she sees him as a provider, father to her children and at best, one who holds her sanity. But not a lover (on bed, yes, but not the romantic kind) and a lifetime friend.

Yet another lady said that apart from the bed, there is nothing common that she shares with her husband.

Pity, the more I discover my husband, the more I find I respect him a lot, and a lot. That's why I married him. But it's his devotion to God and the constant desire to be a better person, father, lover, friend and husband that attracts me most.

I wish I can say boldly that we're the perfect couple. But we're not. Oh boy, we're not all right. In fact, the opposite traits are so extreme, you wonder how two polar ends can meet. And the idea that opposites attract is really a myth, to me that is. Seriously, it is only the constant efforts in putting one another before self that has made us work things out well at times.

Take for an example, I blog because I love writing. In fact, I just wrote 10 verses of haiku poems on Friday, and he didn't understand the pulse nor depth of my writing. He probably thought I was morbid. I love classic movies, songs and fashion. He's the kungfu, Stephen Chow and surprise, suprise, Zara type. (Yes, my engineer husband can be quite fashionable!) But such likings maketh not a good husband. It's his values that matter, and that has proven right especially when kids came along.

So, shouldn't today be celebrated? Yes, of course, celebrate in full romance, with gifts and all things nice. But perhaps, a renewal of love and vows for married folks would be even better.

For love is the epitome of feelings for every couple. Better if it's built on strong foundations of trust and selflessness.

In Les Miserables, the very last line of the script is sung by Jean Valjean in his dying moments. He sang, " To love someone, is to see the face of God."

May you grow in love each day with your spouse.

P.S. - Tokyo Tai Tai tale has been postponed cos Broadband line is causing trouble at home. My home fixer husband will do the job when he's less tired. It's also his way of saying, "Can you blog less and spend time with me?" It is Valentine's Day today, after all. ;-)

P.S.S - A haiku is a 17-syllable poem, often crisp and punctuated with pregnated pauses. That'll be left for another day.

Tai Tai in Tokyo I

2006-02-10T00:07:00.000+08:00

Last September, my husband was in Tokyo for business. I was there for pleasure.

It was a marvellous break for us from the kids, and a good time to be called our 2nd honeymoon. I took some pictures as I was really a tai tai for that week. It felt good, though it dug a big hole in my pocket.

We were privileged to stay at the new Crown Prince Hotel which had an in-house state-of-the-art garden, near the Imperial Gardens. This is the view from the cafe where we had breakfast. The view is to die for, don't you think?

One of the highlights was the Tsujiki Market - a wholesale fish market. The place is alive as early as 5am onwards (or earlier) and I found my way there to enjoy the haggling, bargaining and real market shouting action. But it was the colours, succulent clams, tuna scale scraping and cute Japanese guys that enthused me.

Scale scraping

Oh, so succulent!

Octopus Galore!!!

If anything else, a honeymoon must come with romantic music. But we had the wonderful opportunity to meet the Saw Man, who played beautiful love pieces outside the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum at Ueno Park - with a metal saw!

Because the breadth of a saw is in a descending order (depending on which end you look from), it makes a perfect musical instrument. To me, the Saw Man was ingenious in making music beyond conventional ways. The setting could be cosier, but the resonating music was enough to fill the place with charm, and enough to warm our hearts.

What is a Japan trip without a visit to Mount Fuji? Till tomorrow, sayonara.

Robo Soccer

2006-02-07T17:50:00.000+08:00

Today, I had the wonderful chance of watching a soccer match with a difference - robo soccer. Apparently, Singapore was the champion for robo soccer last year and will be defending its position in March this year in the S'pore Robotics Games against, yes, the Koreans (Asia's fave team for World Cup also to be held this year), Japanese, German, Chinese and Austrian teams.

I used to say that if I don't enjoy soccer, I will have no more husband. 'Cos soccer is such a male passion that when English Premier League comes around, I'd be a soccer widow if I don't join in.

Go Chelsea!!! Good on you, Robbie Fowler, for returning to my favourite team, Liverpool!!! I love your crooked nose!

Back to today, it's amazing what mechatronics can do. I think the technology is called machine visioning, where the robot can sense via vision (see picture with camera on ceiling tile) and move around through special programmes. In fact, there is so much strategy planning in robo soccer because the defence is so tight and often the ball ends up in a gridlock.

The excitement is double cos the players whiz around so fast! Catch the fun!

From left to right:
Robots all ready for kick-off! ~~ Gridlock! The game's too tight!
Corner kick ~~ Goal at last!
Behind the game lies two computers planning strategies ~~ Robo Close-up
The camera up on the ceiling tile ~~ Robbie Fowler "God"
A hero's welcome for Fowler on his 'debut' return ~~ Chelsea FC: poised to win this season of EPL

P.S. - The team of pink robots is called Socrates, named after the philosopher and Brazilian soccer darling for World Cup 2002.

P.S.S. - I also used to follow my brother-in-law, an ex-journalist for football, to watch the Singapore team train. Those were the days when I loved to watch Quah Kim Song, Dollah Kassim, Pathmanathan, Edmund Wee, Eric Paine and Samad Alapitchay play. That was even before Fandi Ahmad's time! Their competitors were the Malaysian national team, where I remember the infamous Santokh Singh.

Chinese High Jog

2006-02-05T20:14:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, while Grace was having gym class at the infamous Chinese High at Bukit Timah Road, I thought it'll be good to continue with my recent craze (guilt) for running. There were less than three folks there including moi, and it was a pretty good run round the track - breezy, trees around & so empty.

In left to right order, Chinese High remains one of Singapore's top schools that produces smart, highly intelligent and very Chinese-educated students, many of whom land up working in the Chinese press. Most guys there used to have crew cuts tpp, that's as far as I can remember. I didn't study there. I like guys with longer hair than crew cuts.
A closer look of the clock tower. There's actually a statue of the founder. I thought it was Mao Zedong at first, but obviously it was not cos there was no signature side parting and mole.
From the statue looking down. There's a side table for lovers.
Track view.
Heyho! There's a river running through the building and it spans across the length of the school, that is as wide as the track is, and further. Hmm.. which school can afford that? The river is staggered or stepped downwards so you can't see the end of the river from the picture. By the way, there are quite a few waterfalls in the institution too.

Now, would you send your kids to this wonderful school?

Botanic Gardens Wonder

2006-02-05T19:12:00.000+08:00

Jogging is one of my favourite sports 'cos I can do it at my own time and pace. Due to heavy feasting over the Chinese New Year, I thought I had better lose some pounds off the girth.

One of my favourite places to jog is at the Botanic Gardens. Its trees, flowers and sights are often refreshing and I've jogged there since I was in my teens.

Last Thursday, I decided to run with my phone-cam, which is not an easy task 'cos the phone gets sweaty and you have to stop & start often. I don't like to run with a pouch so I had to hold it like a baton. Well, take a peek at some of the pics. Some may not believe this is Singapore.

Nice waterfall at the Visitor's Centre. Looks manicured, but the splashing sound of water at the gate is welcoming.

I don't know what this plant is called but there are lots of these in the garden.

Heliconia - lots of them too.

Commissioned by David Marshall, this sculpture is called Girl on the Swing. Lovely.

There's something about trees that I love - its branch network. I amaze at God's handiwork.

This pond is called the Swan Lake. And look how many swans there are!

Trees by the Symphony Stage.

Not my best shot, but a peek up the sky leaves many 'jagged' thoughts.

This is another pond at the extension of the garden at Bukit Timah core.

Grace was obviously unhappy about leaving the garden. Her sulk was just so...

And my favourite sculpture: Swinging Mother & Child

By the way, it feels good to run from gate to gate in the Botanic Garden. Minden Gate (old Cluny Road entrance) to Extension Garden in Bukit Timah, and back.

Care to join me next time?

Template Change Again

2006-02-03T12:52:00.000+08:00

This is no reflection of my mood. But thought the previous one was far too pinkish for me. So, here's one that's not too far off, but has some contrasts.

I'm still tied up with my Work Plan though my boss has yet to give me feedback on my first draft. Thought of a starting a corporate blog for the organisation with moi as Chief Blogger, but perhaps the idea is too novel for my boss. He probably needs some education on blogging.

So I thought I'd show a family picture taken at Port Dickson, even as I make my so-called debut appearance in my own blog. L B was smart and quick enough to pick out the other picture of me subtly placed in the blog. Good on you, L B!

Chronic Grumblers

2006-02-03T00:31:00.000+08:00

Lately, my dear Faith has been in a grumbling mood. You know, the 'xiao jie pi qi' or ladylike temper where she grumbles at every instruction you have for her, every dress chosen for her, and every piece of homework, esp piano pieces.

Mind you, I am NOT a dictator of her clothes or work, really. But she grumbles even on her own choices and decisions too.

Yet, the other day, she came back with a wonderful song from school, the lyrics of which are as follows:

The Grumbling Song
In country town or city
Some people can be found
Who spend their lives in grumbling
In everything they do

Oh yes, they always grumble
No matter what you say
For these are chronic grumblers
And they grumble night and day

Chorus
Oh, they grumble on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Grumble on Thursday too
Grumble on Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Grumble the whole week through (Repeat Chorus)

I wished I could sing to you in country style and violin, cos the family enjoyed singing it in the car most times when Faith grumbles about getting buckled up by the seat belt. Well, the song finally brought a smile to Faith's face and yes, the family was spared from her grumbling.

Let's see, what day is it tomorrow??? ,-)

CNY Trivia

2006-02-02T13:23:00.000+08:00

Oh hello! In case you've missed me from my headache days, I am back again on blogland, having enjoyed CNY to the fullest with family and friends. Here's a CNY greeting from my kids.

Over the festive season, so many things have happened. I can only say, I'm suffering from fatigue from late nights and over-feasting. Of course, there is the abominable Work Plan for my dept which I had to complete today. Hence the absence these days on blogosphere.

Meanwhile, here's some trivia that happened during the CNY season:

Mama Scrooge

Really hated giving away too many hong baos. I mean, I don't even know some of the relatives and I have to give them the hong baos. Sigh! Blood is thicker than money...

Collected and counted all of kids' hong baos and told them I'll keep them in the bank on their behalf cos that's the money they have to use to look after me when I grow old... Wicked Mama!

Shu

Shu is a taboo word for CNY cos it means lose in Mandarin. But heck, what I want to say is that I finally finished wrapping up all the kids' books which should have been done when school re-opened in early January.

Guilt & Garden

Ran at the Botanic Gardens on the eve of CNY - in case guilt presides from too much feasting, thought it best to jog first. Jogged from Visitors' Centre to Cluny Gate and back.

Jogged yesterday too, from NIE garden pond to Cluny Gate and back. Felt real good.

Managed yet another run today and covered the whole of NIE garden pond, up the new Evolution Garden, over to Cluny Gate and back. Hmm... this felt good. About 3.2km? Nothing compared to fantasy flier's marathon training. The only marathon I have is on food. Talking about that, back to the bak kwa later.

Fearless Fists

Watched Jet Li's Fearless and it was really good. Not for the story line but for the kungfu prowess and beautiful scenes from the countryside. I like not only the fearless fists at work, but the restrain of it that captures the real spirit of martial arts.

It's interesting that Jet Li could come out of his own from Hollywood and back to his homeland to gain icon status in kungfu films. He didn't need to Hollywood now to propel his status.

Annual MJ Queen

I'm no gambler, but since marrying into my husband's family, it seemed almost mandatory for every one to learn how to play mahjong. Well, after much "tuition fees" from uncles and aunties, I could finally stand alone and keep others company in the MJ game. Kids had their fair share of fun using MJ tiles as military barracks.

Well, as I've said, it's good to be back on blogland, but let's hope the Work Plan could pass off with my boss before I spend another few days re-working on it again.

Headache, Headache

2006-01-26T23:03:00.000+08:00

Thanks to my many friends who've offered good and kind tips in handling Battleship Pi-a-no and other battles. Truth is, the knock on the head was quite hard and it aggravated the already existing migraine. So, good news:

I WAS ON MC TODAY!!!

It was great having some time by myself. Just needed it at times.

Thanks to my dear friends, once again. You're all swell, guys!!!

Battlestar Pi-a-no

2006-01-25T13:06:00.000+08:00

In case my blogger friends think that I only write about rosy things of my kids, I'd confess that not everything is bright and beautiful.

Like yesterday, I nearly vomitted blood teaching Faith the piano. In fact, getting her to the piano has been so difficult, I had to pray real hard not to burst into anger. She finally started and we hadn't gone far with When The Saints Go Marching In, she sulked and whined loudly that I stopped her. Started to kick her legs on the piano too.

MS: Why, darling? We hardly started.
F: You keep stopping me halfway, I told you I wanted to continue.
MS: But you can't continue because you played the note wrongly three times.
F: But, but, why did you STOP ME?
MS: Ay, don't shout at Mama. Look, practice doesn't make perfect ok, it makes permanent. If you play wrongly, then you'll be permanently wrong! @#*!!

She walked off. I walked off. Gave a loud scream myself, and went to my bedroom. Plunged onto my bed and KAABOOM! Knocked my head on the bed head. Silly old bed! Silly Mummy! Silly! Silly! Why get so upset over the song, or the wrong note for that matter? Can die!

Went out to grab her while she struggled.

MS: Look here. I have not given up you, ok? If I did, I would have sold off the piano long time ago or put the piano fees for my use, you understand? Can you get back and we'll start again.

Thank God she responded. If she didn't, I would have knocked myself again.

I sat behind her now on the piano bench. Tried not to go too close in case I go "kee seow"! She managed with that bit of distance from me. And she played it all. Without stopping. A bit of struggling. But no more interference from me. Whew!

I won't go on about Grace's piano practice time. But the rage with Faith was enough to give me a headache for the rest of the evening.

Kids - they're great. Especially for battles.

Tic Tag Toe III

2006-01-24T08:56:00.000+08:00

Since work has been really heavy the past few weeks, a tag is a welcome relief in that I don't have to crack my head for a new topic. Thanks to Diva, our wonderful scientist with a great food diary, I'm tagged for lots of "fours".

4 jobs you've had in your life:
- Teacher
- Part-time Receptionist after 'A' levels in IT firm
- Admin Officer in Melbourne University to support myself and phone bills
- Communications Manager in various industries: fashion, retail, hospitality, exhibitions, shipping and education. Still one today. (Wah, like sharing my resume..)

4 movies you could watch over and over:
- Les Miserable (the musical)
- Pride & Prejudice (old & new version), Sense & Sensibility, Emma & all of Jane Austen's
- The Professional
- Seven

4 TV shows you love(d) to watch:
- The Great White Tower (Cool Jap show much like ER)
- Seinfeld
- Mad About You
- Bewitched

4 places you've lived:
- Melbourne
- Lahore & Karachi, Pakistan
- Pasir Ris
- Farrer Road

4 places you've been on vacation to:
- Most of Australia & Malaysia
- Tokyo
- San Francisco
- Bintan

4 places you would rather be: (anywhere with Hubby)
- Tasmania (best sights I've ever seen)
- Yosemite Mountain
- Italy
- Yi Village in Xinjiang

4 of your favourite foods:
- Chicken Rice (all time favourite)
- Chocolate ice cream
- Custard Bread Pudding
- Tiramisu ,-)

4 of your favourite beverages:
- Tea
- Ribena
- Horlicks
- Water

4 (or more) websites you visit daily:
- asiaone.com
- Blogs, esp those from the Stalker Gang
- realitytvtalk.com
- crossdaily.com - Bible Trivia pages

4 tagged
- Mike (sorry, you're my fave "taggee")
- Leonard
- Ricket
- Jase

Eh, try, leh, quite fun!

Election Fever Video Podcast

2006-01-23T13:42:00.000+08:00

Apart from Idol Fever hotting up in Singapore, a major event that's gaining heat is the General Elections. When? We don't know. But very soon.

Those of you who know Singapore well enough will know we are quite an apolitical lot. Talk a lot, but also no action type. Because the results are always predictable even before the elections begin, most Singaporeans don't get too involved.

But two of Singapore's top local bloggers have produced their first ever video podcast on the elections. Mr Brown and Mr Miyagi had me ROTF cos their satirical depiction is so, so hilarious. Watch it for a good laugh!

Food, Fun & Sax

2006-01-21T15:18:00.000+08:00

This past week, we celebrated Hubby's birthday. It was a week long celebration with food, fun and sax.

Apart from the huge family celebration at Jack's Place last week, I brought him to the Olive Tree Restaurant at Hotel Intercontinental. Actually, he booked it cos he wanted to show kids the colours of mediteranean food. Well, kids had good fun along the stairs.

On his actual birthday mid-week, we went to PS Cafe at Harding Road, along Dempsey Road. The ambience was perfect as it was against an English setting, with dusk seeping through the long glass windows. I didn't manage to take much of the food, but the setting surpasses the food regardless.

As though the celebrations were not enough, we went for the Kenny G concert last night at Max Pavilion, Singapore Expo. Hubby used to play the saxophone so Kenny G was important to him. But Kenny's first concert in Singapore was the weekend of our wedding, while his second trip was when I was about to give birth to Grace. Now that kids are a tad older, we are ready to enjoy concerts without kids. The pictures are all in Hubby's phone camera so I'll have to wait for him to download.

With so much food the past week, I know what my Hubby is doing now - working off the pounds on the girth!

Well, Hubs, here's looking at you! Happy birthday, and God bless you bountifully!

Singapore Mummy Idol

2006-01-20T14:33:00.000+08:00

Idol fever is hot now in Singapore, with American Idol just aired over mid-week, and Singapore Idol promoting its upcoming auditions.

Kids and I were happily having a chill out night watching AI, which was interspersed with loads of ads for Desperate Housewives.

Faith asked what "desperate" meant and why some ladies in the trailers were naked. "Disgusting!" she said.

After a while, I asked her what she thought of Mama joining the Singapore Idol. Thick-skinned Mama.

F: I don't want you to, Ma.
MS: Oh, why not? Don't you want me to be on TV too, like the American Idol?
F: Nooooo, I don't want you to. I want you to be at home with me and not be like the Desperate women on TV.

My dear kid - her sense of proprietary is far superior than her mother's. I was just joking with Faith, of course. I can't even make it for Lin Peh's Online White Christmas (Sing Song Project), you'd think I'll have the guts to face the whole of Singapore?

Still, I checked the age limit for Singapore Idol. It said below 30 only. There goes even the last iota of hope.

But Faith's answer pleased me very much. It was worth more than any Idol fame can bring. I hugged and hugged her. *Muah*