Relationships.. Love is Blind, or not?

Hmm this is probably be a long post, cos I have got to dedicate this post to my bro (not my real sibling), and her. This has probably one of those things that have been on my mind and I have been wanting to blog about it, yar so.. here it comes..

This is dedicated to you, bro. I am going to talk about my bro's relationship. We met in Project Angel 8 and have since been great friends, and even went on to lead Project Angel 10. Now my bro got to know this gal and fell in love with her.. They have been through much pains before they were finally together, but with my bro bearing more of the pain. Why was this so? Cos love is blind, and I applaud what he has shown me: That, love is also unconditional and not wanting to ask for anything in return. Apparently, his gf have had another bf before him, whom she has loved very much, and she still could not forget this guy. Hence for most of the time, she has been comparing my bro and some guys with her ex bf. After around a year of courtship, they were finally together, and during these period of times, I have heard him say how much he has to devote to pacify and give in to his gf, and I am really proud of him. Such man are rare. Yet this relationship has not been that smooth sailing. Of course they have had their quarrels, and their memorable times, but it seems like it is on his part that he is trying to maintain this relationship, and as much as he wants the relationship to bear fruits, he cannot force it to happen overnight. Like what people says, it takes time to heal. Sometimes, he tells me that he has found it hard to accept the fact that they may break up one day, but he does not mind, and is willing to hold on to it with faith and dedication, cos LOVE NEED NOT BE RECIPROCATED, or love is blind again.

That is why I have a belief, a firm belief that in 90% of breakups/divorces, guys are the ones who initiate it, or are in the wrong. That is because I have heard so many stories from my female friends around me, and most of them have shown evidences that men are the real culprits of breakups, that I tell myself, I must be one of the 10%, whom even if we were to break up, then it must not be something that I have done to hurt her, and she would be initiating it. I find that responsibility is very important in a relationship...

I think I can write a story book on how my female friends have suffered.. Let me recall some of them: Jac, GL, Lay, Jy and many many more..

Finally, this is dedicated to her. Well, I have always thought that what happened to my bro will not happen to me, but funnily enough, heaven always has a way to make fun of you. Recently, I got to know someone, and to me, she is really special, in her own way. Some may find her irritating, or even too noisy, but I realized that after so many years of searching, I thought that I have finally found someone that I can proudly say that I love, but then, sometimes, by a stroke of fate, it so happened that she also had an ex-boyfriend whom she still deeply loves. I do not know if they will ever have another chance of getting together again, because if she does, I will be happy for her, and hopes that this guy do not break her heart again. I think there might not be a possibility of them getting together again, but if she still has someone in her heart, then when will this car drive out of her garage? I do not have an answer, neither does she.

I asked another friend today for advice. She has been with this guy for around 7 years, and cos they have been apart for quite some time, they have drifted apart, and she couldn't really let go, when she had to end this 7 year relationship, due to the bf's change of heart. Though they are stil friends who still meet up, but it took her around 2 years to put down this burden, and to accept another guy, coincidentally, by the same name. She told me that at the end of the day, it is just "执着", or stubborness... That was her 1st boyfriend. She said that love wounds take time to heal, and being the 1st boyfriend has also made it more difficult to let it go just like this. She said that if she has learnt to let it go earlier, it would have been better for her. Now she is happily dating this guy, and they are quite compatible..

So, I ask myself, how much time am I willing to let her heal her wounds.. How would she be able to put down the past, and say that it is time to move on in life? I find it a pity that I can't be that 1st person who occupies her heart, and I know that there will always be that small space in her heart dedicated to this man who have hurt her before. But, I do not know if I would be given a chance to even try to move into her heart. A lost love is irreplaceable, especially when it has been so 刻骨铭心, but if she doesn't let go, then I can only be parking outside her house... Well, I can wait, but I do not have much time, cos of circumstances. Whenever I think of it, I find it hard to breathe..and it seems like there is something nudging my heart.. Hope this feeling passes soon.

I just need a chance.. Will I get a chance? hmm..

I watched a movie with 2 Sec 4 male students yesterday, and I found out that one of them was in love. (Just happened that I saw them there and decided to catch a movie) I congratulated him, and asked him to continue to work hard in his studies. I also told him that I was rejected, and he actually used a chinese idiom to encourage me not to give up, and for that, I thank him. I also offered him an advice, asking him not to treat a relationship as a game, and that he must not be the guy who breaks her heart..

I guess I have written too long, far too long.. 4am in the morn..Love is blind, isn't it? Bro, I will do what is needed, and hopefully, both of us can succeed in getting our halves..

Just an update: I participated in a bowling competition today, and it was a great bowl, 2 games, I got 173, and 211.. and got the best bowler award.. Soo happy.. but, if she was there... Good Night.

Reflections from Class Chalet

Arh, just brought my dear 2F to Aloha Changi to enjoy for a class chalet. Have been with this class since last year July..Now I believe that out of so many classes in Sec 2, my class is one of the best class, and I have no doubt about that. I have heard of notorious express classes, and also irresponsible form teachers.. And I do remember that the most memorable memory that is still deeply etched in me, would come from all those class outings and class chalets, hence I truly believe in unity through activities like class chalets..

Throughout this 2 days 1 night stay, I realized a few things about my class:

1. They like to form cliques, and it will be difficult to break them up to cooperate together. But when there are mass activities, they will still come together..

2. My Malay kids are more sensible than the Chinese Kids, through several observations..They would automatically clear up the rubbish, sms me to let me know that they want to thank me for this outing, and volunteer themselves at times. My Chinese Kids will give me a very unwilling face, whenever I get them to do things, and this upsets me to see that they do not know what it means by personal respoinsibility.

3. Boys are generally less lovely as girls, in terms of their behaviour and acts, but I still love them all.

4. They love BBQ, but I did not have the time to arrange for them..Sorry for that, will keep that in mind.

5. They are self initiated to bring their own games and stuff as long as it can satisfy their gaming needs.

6. They are generally rich nowadays, and many bring along their PSPs.

7. They can be well disciplined kids, and I hope that they can unite more as a class.

8. They have an appetite bigger than a lion, especially the guys.

Now, organising this chalet was not easy, and a pity that some of the gals could not join due to girl guides camp, and during the holidays, there will surely be clashes with remedials and school CCA camps, so luckily the turnout was good, with around 36 of us there. Coordinating and bringing them there proved to be a challenge, as we took the public transport, but I am glad that all went well. We went to the beach and had a great time there, playing soccer, cycling, playing in the sea, and taking photos. I think we should have a games IC to coordinate the games.. Then we went to have lunch at the Changi Village Hawker centre, and some of them were sun burnt, so all of us looked red and dark when we reached the chalet eventually. After check in, they proceeded to play their games, bathe, and I was doing meetings with some of my students, and time passed quickly. Then, we had pizza as dinner, but things did not turn out as well, as some of them did not get to eat enough and went hungry. So in the end, they had to order Mac, and I went to get some cup noodles and stuff for them. We had some fun playing the card game 99, through the night, and then, I really couldn't take it as we all collapsed for the night.. but some of them were still as active as ever.. Kids are still kids.. haha.. Eventually, we woke up the next morning, cleaned up, asked for their feedbacks, and checked out of the chalet, only to find that one of the knives were missing, and we had to pay for them.

I got some detailed feedbacks from the gals, but it was so obvious that some of the guys were trying to "entertain" me, when they only wrote 1-2 simple words, and 1 even needed to copy from his friend. Just so disappointing when you try to put in effort to get the best for them, yet they do not appreciate your efforts. I do hope to book at least 3 days 2 nights for the next chalet, and hopefully everyone can turn up for that, and more activities will be planned for that..

If and only if, they can show me that they deserve to have the next chalet out! What do you think, 2F? Do you think you can show me better results and behaviour in term 2? I believe in you, but do you believe in yourself?

Pictures are available in Facebook, can someone create a 2F facebook account, and I can share the photos.. Tks.

Part 1:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85687&id=608870951&saved#/album.php?aid=85685&id=608870951

Part 2:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85687&id=608870951&saved#/album.php?aid=85686&id=608870951

2009 年伟源中学博客比赛

2009年伟源中学博客比赛

一年一度的校内博客比赛（Blog Competition）又来了。在这个新的一年里，我们希望看到各位同学展现出一些新的作品、新的创意。以下是比赛的资料与详情。

比赛的宗旨：

1。学生们能够通过网上写作提高语文能力。
2。学生学习运用汉语拼音来打字，以加强运用电脑科技技术。
3。学生能够分享各自的心情、生活点滴，利用轻松有趣的方法学习。


比赛规则：
1． 比赛开放给中一至中三学生，每一班参加人数不限。
2． 每位学生必须把网址于3月13日之前，呈交给老师。
3． 这次的主题是“学校生活”，学生可以写关于他的同学、课外活动、考试、班上状况，也可以写校外与同学的聚会、班上聚会等。
4． 学生必须在每个星期上载一篇不少于200字的作品，字数没有上限。
5． 学生可以上载图片、录像、每周笑话、歌曲、播客（Podcast）等有趣的元素，这些额外的元素将可让你加分！
6． 博客设计必须美观，分数将计算于评分标准中。
7． 博客、播客等只能以华语来进行创作，不能用英语。
8． 若能坚持博客内的字句没有错别字，将能提高获奖机会。
9． 博客中不可有侮辱性文字、或涉及宗教信仰、色情等言论。


比赛开始日期：2009年3月13日
比赛截止日期：2009年6月假期结束。但非常鼓励学生们继续在博客上进行创作，因此没有截止日期。

比赛奖品：高达$100元的奖金，及额外奖品。（但会设以下奖项）
冠军、亚军、季军、安慰奖，最佳单篇创作 （Best Single Entry)、最佳封面设计。


以下是老师去年买来奖励学生的Crumpler 书包。其中，我会拿两个出来当成首二名的奖品。全都是新的哦！第一与第二名可以从四个当中各选一个！
















还有丰富的安慰奖：







期待看到各位的作品哦！

乱

乱，这个字，听起来就让人觉得很烦，要解释这个字也并非这么容易。我这个人嘛，有个坏习惯，就是不会保持整齐。尽管我很喜欢整洁，但要在这么一大堆的工作压力下，维持乱中有序的情况，实在是不容易。所以，不只是我的桌子乱，有时又弄得我的心很乱，然后就会发脾气。但，在这一片忙乱中，我其实蛮佩服自己那种临危不乱的处事态度。

乱，这个字，是我经常会表现出来的一种形态。我会不照规矩做事，也就是乱做，但每次都会有意想不到的结果。我喜欢乱讲，所以能够逗人笑，但也因为这张口而让人难受，因为我喜欢乱‘酸’人。我的穿着有时也有些乱，因为我不注重打扮。我更喜欢乱吃东西，不论是中西和并，马来、印度等，我都不会拒绝。但是，你知道我最乱的是什麽吗？那就是，我的字体。你只要问我的老师，他们会说：“如果你的字写的美一些，可能就会拿A1了！”如果你问我的学生，他们会说：“老师，你的字体怎么歪一边呢？” 气死我了！！

乱，这个字，与我的生活息息相关。但乱并不完全是件坏事，因为我虽乱，但绝对不会把事情搞乱。哈哈，可能是迟早的事吧！好了，真是“乱”写一通。就此搁笔！

Once in a long time...

Before I start, the videos above were taken while in Vietnam last December. I believe I have described the trip in one of my posts below. So for more information, feel free to read it.

Well, it has been a month since I last posted something..Just went for a course for the past 3 days, and it was quite a good break from normal routine in school where you have to face the piles of work everyday. But I actually marked 4 classes of exam scripts within the 2 and half day. It seems like teaching is a 24/7 job, never really able to take a break until the 1 month school holidays at the end of year, and even then, you have to prepare for the next year..And you have to face your students and make sure they return home more fulfilling than before with more knowledge. Frankly speaking, I love my form class.. Ladies, forever so obedient, but lately proving to pose some challenging problems to me and it really requires some cracking of brains to solve this episode; and Gentlemen, still acting like boys, sometimes unable to contain their anger, noise and laughters, but I believe it will be soon, before they transform into real men. But deep down in my heart, I hope that they will grow up to be great kids, and not the young tyrants in the upper sec classes, always full of vulgarities and can't control their emotions when dealing with matters.. Academics is important, but knowing how to act like a person is more important. 有句话说：“做人难，做好人更难。” How true.. How many of us actually knows how to act like a person, how to care for others.. I am trying, but not even halfway there.. More self reflection to do..

Now, recently I seem to have met someone whom I feel comfortable talking to.. But.. let's see how it goes.. Watched a few movies for the past 2 weeks.. Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire and He is just not that into you..Going to catch Marley and me later..

Of these movies, Slumdog left the deepest impression on me. Not only in the movies, but the after effects left me wondering how many people in this world are suffering while I am typing this. For those who watched the Oscars, this movie was the biggest winner of all, bagging 8 awards and made the director a famous man overnight. As for the kids who acted in the movie, this was the 1st time they have ever stepped out of their country, and probably the only time in their lives to ever step out into a world full of strangers and temptation. Slumdogs, a term used to describe people living in slums, and living a life of poverty where issues of survival, food, hygiene are the daily problems where people has to fight against.. Although the setting of Mumbai at the beginning of the movie seemed to have taken place in more than 10 years ago, but did you ever thought of where this setting is being taken? Did you think that the director re-enacted these scenes of poverty again? Of course not! They are real and alive in our modern society now somewhere in the poorest regions around the world.

We are very fortunate to be living in Singapore, but daily, often than not, people complain about how badly they are treated in school, at their workplace, how food at the canteen sucks, how little they are paid, how they do not have aircon at home, how much homework they are given every day. Now below are some facts:

1. 97% of the world's population are poor, and only 3% are rich people.
2. 3% of the world's population own 97% of the world's wealth, so if you are aiming of becoming the 3%, good luck to you.
3. More than 70% of the world's population is living in poverty, and by that, I mean that they do not have food, shelter, clean drinking water, or daily basic necessities.
4. Education is not one of the concerns or options in these countries, because the people can't even survive the next day, why do they need knowledge? Hence these people are always exploited by the rich.
5. By definition of poor, these people do not earn more than USD$1 per day. If you have S$1.50 to spend each day, that is the amount needed to feed one family of up to 8 people per day.

Now, the list is going to be exhaustive, if I continue to write on.. Of course, what I can do, is to try to educate my students the right values, but whether it will be just a 3 minute thing, it still depends on a learning journey to a country where they can truly see for themselves what is happening there..I also learnt through these trips.. Cambodia is almost my 2nd home now.. but I still think I am not doing enough.. So maybe more people can start to stop complaining and step out to help people elsewhere, locally or overseas.. Someone asked me this question before: " There are also people who are poor in Singapore, why do you want to volunteer overseas?" To which I have no reply, probably I will start to commit my energy to help locally more..

Next, Benjamin Button is a show quite unusual and I like the way how age evolves from the opposite end of life. Life is such a funny and remarkable thing. I shall not go on talking about it. Nice show, try to catch it..

Some things bothering me these days, would of course be PA 11, and the management of the project.. These questions still linger in my heart, and I truly hope that the project will be a success and not fail the expectations of past leaders, who have hoped for a continuity in these projects...

What a long post.. I shall take a break.. Will be back for more soon..

1st Post in 2009, Happy Chinese Niu Year

So finally it is 2009, and sooner than said, Chinese New Year is here. Well, finally after a busy start for the year, I can finally take a short break of about 2 days to really think of how to continue this busy schedule in my life. I think everyone faces stress in life, and it is never easy to balance between work, stress and enjoying life. When people say "Work Hard, Play Hard", it is actually something easier said than done.



During this past month, I saw diligence in some of my students when we put up the posters, classroom Chinese New Year decorations, and painting together. I enjoyed doing these, but I did not get to see the whole class in action, which was something regretful. Unity in a class is not an easy task, and as much as I hope to make them work with more effort, I do realize that individual effort from the teacher is not enough to push a whole bunch of 42 students. I hope that they will be able to understand more, and work with more love together. Special thanks to Xinni, Pecky, Eugene, some of the gals, and the 4 handsome 'hunks' for preparing the food for the class party. I really hope we can work like a big family for 2009 and progress together.



During the past few days, I have had some feelings which I felt like sharing. I was at Sheng Shiong supermarket the other day and I saw a very disturbing scene. I heard cursings coming from a plump lady, and she was swearing in Hokkien with all her might, that stopped many shoppers to take a look out of curiosity. Imagine the crowdedness of the place during CNY eve, and so many children around, and there you see this foul-mouthed lady cursing a young man and his family who is around, just because he has accidentally bumped into her and forgot to say sorry. What has happened to our gracious society? Maybe it is just a small part of our society, but does it reflect also that whatever our young children are doing, they actually follow the footsteps or copy their parents' manners and behaviour?



Few days ago, a meaningful email was sent out. It says that as teachers, we should "walk the talk", meaning that we do not just say on mouth, but we must follow up with our actions. I agree with that, and hope that I have not passed any bad habits or behaviour to my students.. Haha..



Then I watched the movie "幸福万岁", and I must say that Jack Neo's movies are really getting more educational. As compared to his last production "钱不够用2" , I find that this production pales in comparison, but he doesn't fail to amuse his audience with the tinge of sarcasm well blended with humour. In fact, it brought out some of the things that is so real in society. The essence of this movie would be in summary "Is love = Sex ?"

Revolving around 3 main male leads, this show brings out the psychological and sexual aspects of all men and women. It is so real that while I was watching it, it dawned on me that whatever is happening in the show, is what young teenagers are doing to their friends nowadays, taking videos and putting them on youtube, unaware of the dangers, consequences and effects that it will bring upon those affected. While others are laughing away at some of the scenes elsewhere, I could not stop to think how useful it would be if I can show the movie to my students. This movie is classified NC16, and if not for part of its content, I am sure it would be a very educational movie for the students. At least they can understand how self taken videos can be harmful at times. Well, like most movies, this has a happy ending, and of course, it has set me thinking about the power of media and how it has affected this new generation of young people.

I strongly believe that the power of media is so great that all of us in Singapore should work towards the well being of our young generation by inculcating the right values to them, especially the media. Sloppy and slipshod scripts with scenes which portrays sex and violence has been some of the centre of attraction of some serial dramas, and this kind of irresponsible productions have deeply affected the behaviour of many others and they are copying what is shown on TV. I do believe that responsible script writing should not only focus on getting their audiences, but they should focus on how to spread the right values through their shows. That is also one reason that I loaf watching local drama serials. Hopefully things get better.

Well, 2009 is a very very very busy year for me. Other than my normal school workload, i would also need to handle students' assignments, committee stuff, Department stuff, and ..... So I hope that all will go well, I can have more time to plan my lessons, to teach better, and students will hand in their quality assignments on time, and I can probably not be so lonely anymore. Haha.. Well, these are my 2009 resolutions, and hopefully it gets done by the end of the year! Yay..

Form Teacher of 2F

Well, I am back from holidays! Finally.. But I am still in Holiday mood.. Can't seem to gear back into school mood.. But then, I think it is a matter of time, before I go full gear back into school mode..Anyway, I got my most wanted position, Form teacher of 2F. Having spent around 3/4 of a year with them, I must say that they have brought me more joy and laughter, than anger, and with addition of 4 new members, 3 of whom from my previous class, I hope that 2F will become the most vibrant class in the whole Sec 2s.

Sec 2 is an age where you start to think you are a grown up, and start turning rebellious.. I only hope to do my best to gel my class and make them achieve what they are made of. I can identify a gem when I see one, and I can see that Laziness is the only thing that is stopping them from progressing..Let us fight the lazy bug together, 2F, and strive to a good 2009. Deal or no Deal?