Coincidences

巧合？何谓“巧合”？巧合是在你不经意时发生一些令你意想不到的事。有些人会把巧合误认为缘分，但人生中往往有太多巧合，所以我认为巧合是个非常微妙的东西。10月22日啊，我就度过了一个充满巧合的一个下午。

首先，我校刚完成了运动会，然后大家便从蔡厝港体育馆，走到了地铁站。然后，在第一乐广场里，我就遇到了我1D班的一群女生。真受不了，她们一直在那里吵到半死，只好破费带她们到Pizza Hut 去饱餐一顿，但事先说好，我只请那些取得了至少A2 的学生，其余的只付一半。其实我觉得1D这个班真的是一个好班，但男生平时有些好玩，要不然，肯定能够更上一层楼。吃饱了后，刚巧剩下3 片比萨（Pizza），我不忍心浪费，只好打包了，准备拿回家给老爸吃。但我又赶时间下去NIE，及乌节路去办事。

刚巧，在回家途中，我看到了我的NPCC的马来学生。于是，便问她们吃饱了没，又这么巧，她们也还没吃，于是我便把比萨给了她们，自己便到NIE去了。

所以说，人聪明，可是不要太过聪明。为什么这样说呢？那天代表部门赛跑时，因为鞋子不合适，所以坚持当一下“赤脚大仙”，想不到100米的赛程，竟然磨破了脚板，真是痛得我苦不堪言。

为什么要提到这件事呢？因为我到了NIE，在那里花上了一些时间在包扎伤口，之后在离开。想不到，离开时，竟然遇到了Justin。 我本来还想去约他一起出去吃一顿，反正难得回来遇见这位老朋友。虽然只认识短短5个多月，但在南大（NTU）住大学时，不知为何却与他特别投缘。于是，我和Justin，就站在楼梯口聊起来了。聊着、聊着，我又看到Xiaojun走过。之后，我又站在那里，与Xiaojun聊上了一会儿。遇见老朋友，能够与他们叙旧是我这个忙碌的老师难得能做到的事情。像要约朋友出门，又担心不能及时把手头上的工作完成。所以有很多人都认为老师的社交圈子很小，而我也特别珍惜与这些朋友的接触时间。

如果我没有擦伤脚，如果我没有遇到那群1D的女生，如果我没有碰到我NPCC的学生，那么，我将不会遇见我的老朋友们。这，都是巧合吧！愿有更多巧合出现在我的人生里，为我带来一些惊喜与欢愉。

WHAT HAPPENED?

Haha, Oops I shouldn't have put Caps on my title.. A lot of meanings behind the title... It can mean: What happened? Why didn't I update the blog for such a long time? What Happened to me recently? Anything fresh to share with you guys? What happened to the world lately? What is going to happen to us, with the world, US and Singapore economy going into recession? What happened to my students? Well, did something happen? Well yes, of course.. and last but not least, What happened to this chinese teacher? Why is he not using Chinese to type his blog?

Well, it seems like I do have a lot to write regarding the above questions... But due to "unforeseen" laziness, I have decided to post alternate posts in both languages to show that I can also be "effectively" bilingual. So bear with me, since the world is facing a bearish market now.. ( Sorry ar students, some of these jargons or phrases used here may be too difficult for you to understand, so I hope it provides a chance for you, yes YOU, to go look up the dictionary and learn a new word everyday..)

1st of all, would like to apologize for not updating this blog for quite some time, due to the busy term 4 where revisions, exams, marking, and scrutinising and heart bleeding comes in all at the same time, which explains for my lagginess in writing.. Finally it is coming to an end soon, end of an academic year for my students.. I still have another month to go, until I can leave the country to sort out my thoughts and really relax a bit, after such a busy half year.. I will try to update as often as I can in the upcoming days.. I hope I can internet connection to do a posting on my trips daily..I am planning to go to Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh - Siem Reap via Phomn Penn - Singapore (For Andy Lau Concert) - Diving at Phuket - Singapore - 2009! Ok.. these are my holiday plans.. sounds interesting, but for the 1st part of the trip, I have yet to find someone to go with me yet.. Haha, anyone interested?

Nothing much has happened to me. In fact, quoting what a Secondary school friend whom I have not met for some time, who "spoke" to me on facebook today, she said: "haha! my, my! u have not changed a bit! ur looks and ur crap!" So it seems like I havn't changed since I was Sec 4??? Is this good or bad? I would deem it to be a compliment, haha, since that would mean that I have either upgraded my level of crappiness over these years, and I can still humour my friends after so many years, or it can also mean that I have downgraded my level of crappiness to that of the standard of a Secondary school student, and that makes it easier to build up rapport with them.. Either one of it seems fine to me. Well, she said that my looks have not changed a bit, it could either mean that I have maintained my handsome look, or preserved my "not so good looking" side..I managed to confirm the answer at 11 plus just now, with this answer from her: " Oh yah, didn't realise ur sis is so big now! saw her photo! omg! how come so diff??? she is very pretty leh! Why are u so dark and she is so fair?" It seems like looks doesnt seem to important afterall, what is more important is that I have maintained my tanned and dark look! With that, I take it as a compliment. This is what I replied: "I have a hidden identity.. I can mix well in different countries and races, and I get discounts cos I am tanned.." Well, Seems like I like deluding myself, but well, it makes me happier.. That's what matters..

So I have not changed in terms of my looks? Well, go check out my bus pass, and you will see the difference.. Hehe, I have bloated up over the years, especially after the Army days.. So now that I have told you what has happened to me.. Let us take a look around us, and see what has actually happened.. I am not sure if you have seen glum expressions on your parents' faces lately, taken a look at the global financial situation, despite the busy exams schedule? Or do you only know that China has some tainted milk products that contain melamine, a form of substance used for making plastics, because your mum threw away all your M&Ms, and forbade you to eat "Rabbit brand" Sweets? So much has happened over the last few weeks..

If you have not noticed yet, the 4th largest investment bank in US has gone bankrupt, US govt is forking out more than 700 billion public (tax-payer) money to save the US financial markets.. (700 billion is USD $700 000 000 000, ) ; Many other governments in Europe are forkig out money to bail out their economy crisis; Singapore, as well as many countries in the world has gone into recession, which would mean retrenchment, pay cuts, lower year end bonuses, and many more financial disasters coming up..Iceland has gone bankrupt, if you realised, this is the 1st time a country has gone bankrupt.. Read the below and you will realize how damaging the effect is..

A billion is a difficult number to visualize, let’s put a billion into perspective:
A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago, our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

How long would it take to count to one billion?
If you count one number a second without stopping until you reach a billion. That task would take you 31 years, 259 days, 1 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds.

US National Debt Facts
Every 8 hours and 20 minutes, the U.S. Government spends another billion dollars.
Of course, the current public debt is well over $8.3 trillion dollars.

Now, to put it simply, how has it affected you, my dear students? Can you imagine your pocket money goes down to $2 a day? That was the kind of allowance that I had during my secondary school days which was not too long ago (Ok lar, 10 years only, not very long, chicken rice was minimum $1.50 per plate) ..i see many of you coming to school with your wallets packed with $50 notes every monday. All the canteen vendors complained to me for having to bring spare loose change with them to change. Well, this is a difficult and trying time for your parents, so you may be scolded if you request to buy an expensive computer game, or go for rebonding, when they are in the office waiting to get sacked..My dear ladies and gentlemen, if you are sensible enough, do save up more money, especially during this period of "rainy season".. This whole global financial crisis will be raining cats and dogs for at least a year, before it can recover.. So, you should know what to do, my dear intelligent and sensible ladies and gentlemen.

Now allow me to share some personal feelings here..I thank those who have put in additional efforts in their End of Year Examinations..You should have reaped your harvest if you have put in effort throughout the year. I would especially like to commend Kelvin from my form class, as he has done exceptionally well, to deserve to get himself a chance to be promoted to the Express Stream..He came to me in term 3 with a clear goal in mind, and I hope that next monday's promotion exercise, he would have his wish fulfiled. Many have shown me that they have improved, and I want to tell you that: " GOOD JOB! You have done me and your parents proud. Keep it up, and you can do better!"

For those who know that they haven't been putting in enough efforts, try harder next year. Though I do feel a little disappointed in my Express class, yet I know that they have put in considerable efforts and feel very disappointed with the results too, especially the gals. Well for those who did not do as well, Laoshi has absolute trust and confidence in all of you, and I really hope that you guys can work harder next year..Not even next year, you can start from these holidays.. You must enjoy and learn at the same time, if not you will slacken down in no time. Learn from your past mistakes, be humble and acknowledge your setbacks. Only then, you can regain your confidence, and do better.. To me, my express class, 1D is my cream crop, though they may not have met mark this year, yet, the day will come when we all rejoice..

As for my form class, 1F, it has not been a smooth sailing term 3 and 4 to us.. Different degree of disciplinary cases arose, and we have almost every kind of possible cases that has happened. I want all of you to remember what I said: " Forgive and Forget" is the greatest virtue that I think should be present in everyone of us, cos we are "Full Of Love" Right? Let us start afresh from next year together, and we shall all work hard!

Finally things are coming to a close and the final year is going to be concluded after next weekend. I hope that better days are coming, and we will come back toether again next year..

Keep a lookout for future posts.. Tired liao.. Spent more than 1.5 hours typing..

Finally after much "pushing" by some of my students, I finally set my heart to update my blog.. yay! Underlined words, do go and check dictionary!

My Cambodia Trip

It has since been one week since I came back to Singapore.. The pace is too fast to catch up.. Too fast.. Anyway, I attended a podcast workshop today and did up this video. But was not able to save using the best format available, due to time constraint. But I did realize the goodness of a MAC system. Probably that will be my next toy. So now, here below is a summary of the trip, and I think it is called a vodcast. A simple one.. Enjoy..

At the airport

Many ask me what is my purpose of going overseas at this point of time? I said I needed to take time off the heavy work load and to do a recce for my friend who is leading a team over to Cambodia. I may be joining this team in December when they are going over to Cambodia for another Youth Expedition Project. Well, when I checked in 15 minutes ago, I saw yet another bunch of young teens from an institution in Singapore going over for another YEP. How do I know? Cos it is written all over their shirt!

After embarking on my 4th trip, I am seriously a little tired in leading yet another team over. It is always so mentally and physically straining, especially when you are in the teaching profession. So yar, I went for a KTV session before I came to the airport, and my friends from PA X were commenting on how my bag pack looked the same as what I brought for 22 days, and I just laughed it off. Who would have known that it contained some of my most valuable stuffs? Computer manuals for my Cambodian counterpart, loads of assignments/ compositions from my dearest students (seems like I am going to enjoy soo much there, haha) I promised myself not to return with any of the assignments unmarked!).. , my laptop and the DVDs that I promised to burn for my friends.. There seems to be so much to accomplish within these 5 days of trip, would I be able to complete all?

I would be revisiting one of the villages that I have gone to, and I will also be dropping by a more rural area where I will be looking out for the suitable accomodations, transport, food for a next project in one of the more untouched places in Cambodia. When I say "untouched", it means that the children there have not been exposed much to foreign culture, or have not seen strangers other than their own villagers. These are the places that probably need help, but I do believe this Team from NIE, Project Builders of Hope, will be able to achieve so much more other than just any other projects. I do hope that they will be able to apply what they have learnt in the schools that they will be posted to in future. There are so many things that we can learn from our Cambodian counterparts, and every visit there, I would be looking forward to learning something from them. Hopefully, I manage to visit some orphanages and try to come up with a rough proposal for my future projects. I do hope to bring my students over one of these days, probably from next year onwards to do a project there. But of course all these would need support from the school. Probably I will start from NPCC..So stay Tuned.

Anyway, I would try to post at least an entry every day to keep you guys updated of what is happening in Cambodia. If there is chance, I will take fotos too.. Good Morning Singapore, Time to wake up, it is 5.20am on a Sunday Morning!

Time Flies

Time waits for no man. Everyone knows this, yet few knows how to make full use of it. I have a little joke which has left a deep impression on me.

Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

This is the story about 4 people named: Everybody, Somebody,
Anybody, and Nobody.

- There was an important job to be done and Everybody was
sure Somebody would do it.

- Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

- Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.

- Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized
that Everybody wouldn't do it.

- It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody
did what Anybody could have done.

So, my question, did anybody do his job? haha..

Ok, back to the topic. "Teaching saps your mind, but fills your soul." One of my friend put this phrase on his MSN nick, and I found it appropriate.. When you are teaching, you will not realize how time passes so much faster.. How I wish I could have 48 hours instead of 24. Well, in the end, it is still a numbers game. Even if I had 48 hours, I would have wished for more. Men is greedy. So in the end, I can only blame our ancestors for regulating the number of hours in a day. Why do we even have days, hours, minutes, seconds? Indeed this is a tough question. As I am lying down thinking of this question, I ask myself what have I achieved in this 26 years of life? Some say that blogs are a waste of time, so am I wasting my time writing all these? Time is a commodity that we cannot stop it from flowing away, and as I type out these words, watching these words appear word by word on my screen, time flows past me. Tick tock, Tick tock... there it goes, even for you, my dear readers, you have spent at least 5 minutes of your precious time reading my post. And for that, I thank you.. Thanks to all the supporters coming to tag my blog every now and then.

If you intend to race with time, you can never win it. So the next question will be how do you make full use of it? If I have a choice, I would have hoped that time can reverse and I can make better use of it. Men is lazy. That is why we need deadlines..If we are not given deadlines, god knows when we will be able to finish the job! However, having said so, you either choose to cherish time or see it flow by.

Happy Birthday? Random thoughts

Happy Birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy Birthday to Jenny, Happy Birthday to you! Happy 24th Birthday, dear sis..

All right, I shall start by wishing my dear sister a happy birthday. Another year older.. Come to think of it, 24 years since birth, everything seemed to have passed by in a flash. She is a big girl now, matured enough to make decisions on her own. How time flies. Dear sister, you have a totally different character from me, and you are someone who wants to earn big bucks, and is really "stingy". But it is a good thing cos you always make plans for the things you buy and for your future.. I hope you do. Anyway, you are someone who can't step out of the house without putting on makeup, so haha, I guess, it is a girl's right and privilege to make men wait.. Oops, no longer a girl, a lady.. Yar, in terms of size, I am almost double your size, and 10 shades tanner than you are. Just look at our family photo and you will know.. The guy beside her is her bf..



Strange that I can only remember the times which I bullied her and made her cry, and when she asked me if it was a right choice to just have one boyfriend in her life, since she thought that she should be given a chance to go out and know more guys before making a decision. It was a tough one, I thought, and so, I told her that whether you want to trial and error or stick to your choice, it is your personal decision. The most important thing is to ask yourself if you are happy with this person, and if it is, then why change?

These days, when I see my Sec 1s, almost every class, my dear students will come and tell me their "secrets", like this person "stead" with who, and who likes who etc... Though I know that they may not be matured to really know what is "LOVE", but it is difficult to drive through this idea. The media has portrayed such images that break-ups are very common in life, and you must really go and trial and error before finding the right one. But, how do you know he is the right one? Maybe the one after is a better one, or the previous one was already the best, but you chose to regret after breaking up? When you try to tell these students that they are still too young to experience what is love, they will then ask you back, " How do you know we do not know what is love?" Arh, indeed I do not know, cos even I am looking for an answer.

I see students happily "steadying" together, one who said that there is a guy who tried to ask her to stead for 4 times, and finally they got together for 1 day, before the girl decides that it is still better to stay as friends. Then I have students of different classes "steadying" together, and students who break and reconcile, break and reconcile. Arh... indeed Secondary school life is indeed a place where it is full of drama, just like TV.. I have at least 3 pairs of friends who have been together during Sec School and have since gotten happily married, and I am really happy for them. Those whom I have not discovered, may be more..

If people a decade ago can start to fall in love with one another, and eventually gotten married, why are we stopping the youths today from falling in love? Arh, there is a catch to this question. Responsible behaviour.. To fall in love, means to love someone responsibly, thinking of all consequences before he or she acts. As teachers, we have the responsibility to let students know that getting into a relationship does not mean getting too intimate..It is good to give it a try in Secondary school, but if you find someone better in your JC or Poly, or ITE, then what would you do? Break up and move on in life? Well, life is a contradiction and change is indeed the most constant thing in life. So, I do not have advice for you, you have to make the choice.

For me, if I know that there will not be any progress, I will put a stop to it, before I move on. You must know what you want before you can move on. If I know that if this is not the kind of life we can spend together, or the woman that I can love for at least the next half of my life, then I think I should give up. And all these, you learn from experience. And how do you learn? From advice, from others' experience and of course, from your own experiences. Love is irrational, or rather it is blind to make you not think rationally. Often than not, when you fall into it, and you know that it is not the path that you want, you will still choose to be blinded by it, rather than to face the momentarily pain after a break up. Sometimes, things are easier said than done. I can only hope that people will cherish whatever happiness that they already have and appreciate it. If you do not feel happy, move on. Happiness is never too far from you... : )

Money Not enough 2 and Batman: The Dark Knight

These are the 2 movies that I watched recently, and are movies that I would recommend if anyone would want to catch movies which sets your mind thinking. 1st of all, for Money Not Enough 2, another local production directed by our Jack Neo, and I must say that he has once again produced another movie that makes you think critically about the problems of our society, the place that we live in everyday. Alongside the movie, societal problems arose, problems that many would not want to confront face to face, problems which expose the ugly side of Singaporeans or rather normal human beings.

Some of these problems, like throwing our parents in old folks home because we only have time to make money and not time to take care of them; like parents sacrificing their time, money, effort, dignity, and even life to save their children, to help them overcome their difficulties; like wives and mothers staying under one roof, like sons fighting to cast their mother away even though they know that it is wrong to do so, like sons reprimanding their mother when she is begging for money to help them tide over the financial crisis, like children nowadays treat their parents like maids, like children who do not understand dialects, and do not grow up in a Chinese Speaking family, like people can do anything illegal to make money, like rich men who would want to squander their money outside looking for women, when they have a beautiful wife waiting at home..

When did people start to think that English is a more superior language than their mother tongue? When did people start to think that making money is more important than family ties? When did people start to regard the roots of all evil - money, as the only one important thing revolving around their daily lives, and forgetting about their loved ones around them? Why is it that divorce cases are on the rise every year? Why do people take things for granted? (hospitals must have enough blood supply for the patients) Why do people not treasure what is around them (family ties, love) until it is no longer around? Why do people even allow themselves to continue to make mistakes when they know that it is wrong to do so?

Because humans are flawed when they are born? Laziness, greed, timid to assume responsibility, and many others....Whatever this movie has shown, it has not only tried to "complain" about what the government has done so far, in fact it has surpassed that level, if you are still thinking that Jack Neo is just trying to portray the Singaporean image of always complaining and complaining about Singapore's government and its system. What do you think would do good even if he has complained in the movie? Do you think the government will change because of this? Then, if not what do you think has attracted you to watch the movie? I think that anyone who is staying in this fast-paced city should take a look at this movie.

Money not enough, true. So is money not enough for use, or money not enough to buy back what is lost? As the saying goes, You do not bring anything to this world when you are born, and you do not take anything with you when you depart from it. This is something so true that you can't deny, unless you are really "born with a silver spoon" in your mouth, which may happen if your mum happened to swallow it when she was pregnant. (Scientifically impossible).. Well, people laugh when I tell them that I teared twice during the show, which I am baffled. Why can't a man cry? Is it a woman's right? haha..

There are many deep truths that are portrayed in the movie, many of which are problems we do not want to face, but at the end of the day, the hard fact that slaps in your face will still be the same: You need to solve the problems that you created, and lamenting over them is not going to help. So pls cherish whatever you have.

Batman is another movie that uncovers the dark side of human beings. Everyone needs a hero, but only when they are in need of help, and when it doesn't clash with their personal interests. In times when humans need to make a choice, it is often when selfishness will start to set in, and they will try to push the blame to others, and also not trusting others. At the end of the day, the true hero emerges as the dark knight bearing the mistakes of others, letting others put the blame on him for crimes he has not committed. What Batman has done is only to help to preserve the peace of Gotham City, but its people has turned their backs to this hero. From hero to villian, Joker has made him see the loneliness of being a hero, and the sacrifices that he has to make to save his city. Indeed, Joker does makes people see that life is nothing but a joke, but Batman chose to be the butt of these jokes, sacrificing his name in search of the goodness in human beings.

Do catch these 2 movies, if you have the time. Batman is still available in malaysia though. haha..