Wh@ssup?

I am grossly late to the party. When everyone was posting on their brush lettering pieces, I was wondering: What's the fuss about? On Saturday morning, I participated in a brush lettering workshop with Cherlynn and my sister. So here were some of my practise pieces.

And to our surprise we met Shiwei, our AHS senior who happened to be one of the organizers for the event. And we have a Saturday morning well spent, chilling over Vietnamese food afterwards.

Pecha Kucha Night 2017

In May, I've attended an event which was randomly advertised on Peatix. So some interesting personalities were giving short snippets of the social projects they had engaged in. Some were rather inspiring. Of the 8 speakers, I will highlight 3 who left lasting impressions on me.

The Quirky Japansese HDB couple

Tamae Iwasaki and Eitaro Oganwa spent their free time working on a project to explore all the different HDB flats and gives us a glimpse into the living spaces of Singaporeans. Through crowdfunding, they had gathered funds to publish their book, which mind you, weighs 5kg+. It was amazing to witness the a pet project built with much love and passion.Their adventure was also featured on The Straits Times.

Coffee Break

Amoy Street has got a popular coffee shop with a modern twist. Faye Sai took over her father's business and transformed it into a quirky mix of the traditional and the modern. It's curious to see how hands on she was, working as a hawker and passionately sharing her trade. Despite having earned a degree, it was a mission she saw herself being responsible for. Anyone free to join me for a coffee break? *flutters eyelids*

Capturing Singapore with the foreign eye

Jon Siegal is a UX designer who has lived in Singapore for six years. He captures some of the most alluring pictures on local living. It's intriguing to see much of our spaces and communities keenly observed not by locals, but foreigners who are fond of Singapore.

Time to start digging up all that this lovely city state has to offer. And nope, this is not an advertisement for NDP.

Pecha Kucha Night is a yearly event, keep a look out in 2018!

协商

长大后才知道有时坚持己见未必能达到做最好的结果。一味地退让妥协，也会变得委屈，更不是长久之计。协商才能促成双赢的局面。

多少人不是为了争一口气，而使得情况到达没法挽回的局面。成长就是一个协商的过程。 小事不必太过执着。有时候付出多一些，反而能得到多一些。

我纳闷的是，情感怎么不被牵扯进来， 如何用理性的方式就事论事， 不感情用事呢？ 毕竟，很多心痛都是个性使然。总不可能让一个感性的人减少痛楚；也不可能让一个理性的人感觉痛楚。

唯有协商才能叫脑子多填几分柔情； 叫心脏少挨几分悲凉。

Notes on a Discussion

Crisis could be pretty real for Singaporeans. And we are still too complacent about many things.

When I first read the Hard Truth years ago, I found LKY rather paranoid about Singapore's future. He talked about our nation being built on a fragile foundation. Many changes has took place since, proving that his fears were not unfounded.

Back when I was in Malaysia, my cousin mentioned how Malaysians sees a bleak prospect for Singapore, with many Malaysian companies withdrawing their businesses from Singapore. Also, Chinese companies has much presence there, and a huge influx of PRCs who are working in Malaysia, bringing in their own talents, not necessary creating more opportunities there.

Meanwhile, there seems to be plans underway for a canal through Thailand, which could mean Singapore losing leverage on entre-pot trade.

Even our skills and technologies no longer gives us leverage when skills transfer through Tianjin and Suzhou industrial parks has already been massively replicated. What do we then still have to offer?

I think the future really involved a lot of upskilling. Who says we will forever be leaving this comfortable life our forefathers has painstakingly built for us.

The kind of Singapore our children, and our children's children will be born in lies in the resilience of our generation. There'd always be people hungrier and more driven.

“可怕的是，还有很多比你聪明的人比你更努力。” 时时警醒自己，也共勉之。

The shit is real (And raw)

So. I survived.

Only three hours and all drained.

When I first arrived at Toa Payoh NTUC, I was trying to familiarize with the layout. Weird. No household goods or toiletries.

After combing the second round did I realize there is a hidden corner and a second level. Rather confused and realized I was a lone shopper, who doesn't know where all the different logistic stuffs are placed. The first two orders were overdue, leaving  me frantically running around. A  friendly old lady, whom I would later learn to be the chief cashier, guided me to find all the leftover required items and replacement. By this time, already breaking sweats. Not to mention crossing fingers praying that I didn't mix up anything.

Next two orders came for the second hour. And already cursing in my heart, 2 orders (30+ items) within 15 mins is an impossible task!

Bobian.

Angel co-ordinator came along, saw me. 10 mins in, and her baskets already fully filled.

"You look familiar." I was told.

In a frantic rush, everything was completed, about half hour late, and holding up the delivery man.

So it happened that the coordinator came on her own accord to help out. And she happened to be an AHS junior cum ex-church mate. Goodness gracious!

65 line items over 3 hours, average of 3 mins to find an item. Not to mention to queue and call customer about replacements, and to pack the goods for delivery with uploading of receipts and such.

We ended the day over drinks and fries. And my understanding of hard earned money.

What a day!

The New Way of Exercising

So about two months back, I have signed up to be a concierge shopper for Honestbee. Went for few rounds of orientation and today will be the real shit. Arhh...

Mum feels this is quite redundant, for I would have to spend some time commuting, simply to complete a two hour shift, and earning probably a $20 bucks, which less transport, food and travelling time, it'd be reduced to nothing. However, for me, I take it as an exercise, and almost like a gaming experience, except that it's physical, and the challenge is to be as accurate as possible.

Well, not too bad to actually get paid to play, and do some exercise in between! Update on the progress soon! Whoots!

The Power of Habits

After a few days of bomb dropping from the LEE family, it started to get quite irritating reading their incessant arguments. It happens. I have quarrelled with my sister on uncountable occasions. At most, I share my thoughts and feelings with my students, letting them draw inspiration for their essay writing or joke about it. I don't use social media to get sympathy or air dirty laundry. Jane Wells has some wise words to say. "It's better to bend than to break. People are capable of living up or down to your expectations of them."

Isn't it better to share something positive on the social media?

Recently, I have read The Power of Habits and pretty enjoyed the book. Most impressionably in how habits in a company can transform culture radically. The case study of O'Neill left me awestruck. By focusing on safety, just one aspect, and one common goal for the employees, it brought about chain effects to all aspects. Right down to changing the reporting system for efficiency, replacing old unsafe machineries resulting in increased productivity, more transparent communication which spurs  other ideas. These dramatically bring up the performance of the company and reduced fatal accidents.

I wonder if it really matters who is right, or who is wrong; what is right or what is wrong. Principle is hardly a good rule of thumb in relationships. Yet relationships were often sacrificed in justifying who or what is right, failing to examine each' positions or their perspectives. .

Really, in life, grasping just a few central key ideas helps things fall into place naturally. I suppose for the Lee family, the key idea might be kinship.

发展与保留

前阵子O 水准考试的作文题引起了极大的争议。最近看到一些前同事改完了卷子，终于可以休息了。

这份卷子也让我开始反思教学的方式。其实，在我的成长记忆中， 英文课和GP 更加扩张我的思维。而华文、文学扩展的是我的情商。如果能结合两者应该会很不错吧。与一群朋友对卷子的一番讨论启发我构思出教案，希望与大家分享。确实，教学集思广益才能让教学更加有活力吧。

相关课文： 2E 《五角基》《说石狮》 《再见樟宜树》《枣核》

O 水准相关篇章： 2007 / 6  阅读理解二 B组;  2013/6 阅读理解一B 组


1)  观看视频讨论与端午节相关的主要信息：其中包括起源、粽子种类、习俗、龙舟赛

2）请学生介绍一个他过的传统节日 （5分钟口语练习）

3）在一分钟内列出一些文化遗址/文化遗产 （学生大多知道英文名称，可以乘机介绍中文名）

4） 用1分钟在 列出一些 学生认为新加坡不能缺少的建筑 / 设施 等

5） 然后让学生个别概括上列的共同点。（例如： 旧 VS 新 / 情感 VS 生存）

6）与学生辩论： 保留比较发展重要 / 发展比保留重要。交代辩论规则， 允许学生 用10 分钟整理出三大论点。进行辩论后给予引导。

7） 完成以上整理工作后 O level 2007/6 的阅读理解二篇章便不那么晦涩难懂了。可以花时间让学生自行完成阅读理解。

8）介绍学生去观赏 戏剧盒在七月举行的社区活动/演出《一堂课》，主要就是争论社区里哪些东西应该保留， 哪些应该拆除。

这样下来，单调的一对一有了更多的互动机会。你是否有什么教学的好点子，与大家分享分享，集思广益吧！

槟城小聚二三事

堂姐出嫁了！一家人都是满心欢喜的。这个年头，喜事是让很多亲朋戚友相聚的场合。让人感到贴心的是，每每家里有人结婚，都会出动一家大小一起帮忙， 而且每个家庭成员都能够插上一腿，好不热闹！这种凝聚力是长大后慢慢褪色的。

这次回去有几件事让人印象深刻。婚礼前一晚，叔叔、堂姐、堂弟等人搭了一个相当漂亮的布景。下午堂姐就从自己的家里扛回了很多东西来布置。傍晚，叔叔就动手摆设。 我实在很佩服长辈默默的支持。他听跟着堂姐的构思，多次调整，移前排后地，却没有半句怨言，更没有坚持一定要怎么摆，而是让年轻人放手去做。

记得有一回，堂姐因为下着雨，陆地湿滑，撞了车。叔叔一家人也是镇定冷静处理。我本以为会迎来一波责骂，但家人更加关心的是孩子的安危。这件事虽然过了很久，但这种让孩子动手去做、大胆犯错学习宽度，让人肃然起敬。

最近刚考到驾照， 所以大家听我要驾车难免有些不安。那天搬东西，堂弟故意坐在后座，让我掌控驾驶盘，堂姐和堂弟只在适当时候给予引导，完全放心地让我自己在...马来西亚的路上行驶。如此处之泰然，让我也觉得轻松自信。最后也安全到达目的地。

另外，我觉得堂姐的婚礼相当贴心，甚至配合长辈的要求，设了长辈卡拉ok 的环节。相信这不是每个年轻的新婚夫妇都能接受的。当天晚上，感觉大家都很尽兴。


非常零碎的一篇。不禁感叹，从小玩到大的亲人一个个步入了人生的另一个阶段。每年至少相聚一两回，这样也过了二十年。当然更加希望，这种每年相聚的传统，能在我们这代年轻人和下一代的孩子们间中延续下去。