A Simple Life

Seems like life is back on its old track, busy with work and nothing but work. Today, I went to my nephew's Full month celebrations. Seems like out of all my cousins on my dad's side, I would probably be the last to get married.. haha..When I look at how sound asleep the baby is, I wished that life would be as simple as a baby..

Reflecting on the past 26 years, I was born as a cute, little baby, so carefree, with nothing to worry, and then as we grow up and being influenced by our surroundings, and people, we experience the feelings of happiness, sadness, pain, troubled, boredom, excitement etc. But as we grow, it seems like we are forgetting how to be happy again. Many a times, we spend time feeling sad over trivial matters. The older we grow, the more pain, and sadness we go through, and as we experience, we grow in maturity. But, can't we grow up happily? What is making us feel so unhappy? The growing responsibilities that we have, or the greed that arises within us?

We yearn for better things in life to make us enjoy them, but in the process of getting all these, are we losing out on something? When we are still young studying in school, we fret over failures in exams, and we feel that studies is so so so difficult, and would rather come out earning money. When we grow up, we hope so so so much that we can lead the lives of a kid again. How I envy my nephew and my students...

As we grow up further, we get bothered about relationships, between our parents, between boy/girl friends, and friends around us. We blame our parents for not understanding us, but did we understand them in the 1st place? We blame him or her not caring enough for us, but did we give out as much as they did? We blame our friends for not treating us as important, but are they in our priority in the 1st place? Then, we go through breakups, go through quarrels with our parents, go through fights and power struggles with our friends, and make ourselves so unhappy. Why can't life be simple?

And then, when you grow up even more, to step into the society of work, you finally feel so excited being able to step into society to earn your 1st bag of gold. But to your great disappointment, you find that it is nothing but a scam. You work your life off, always trying to meet deadlines, and then you have less time for people who care for you, and have less time for YOURSELF.. Then you start to worry about 1001 things around you, your financial status, your family, your job, your students, and many more. Yet, at the same time, people around you also start worrying about you when you do not get yourself attached to a girlfriend or boyfriend.

We see lesser smiles, and even if we see, it is either a tired or weak smile, or a fake smile, especially in a metropolitan city like Singapore.. You seldom see warm and sincere smiles anymore. So, why can't life be simple?

I like to go to Cambodia, and South East Asian countries, where people lead a more simple life.. I see smiles and laughters, i see people who are very simple, and not scheming, I see people leading carefree lives... Can I be like them soon?

As I look on, I realize that these are inevitable, and of course, I do realize that some things in life are more appreciated after you visit other countries, after you see people who do not have the same privileges as you do, you feel that you are still more fortunate though not as happy. Hence I can conclude that as your quality of life increases, your unhappiness grows too, yet as your age grows, if you can still maintain a simple lifestyle, then you might feel happier this way. Of course, your outlook in life is still very important. If money is very important to you, then happiness probably would not be a permanent word in your life, unless you have countless money.

To my students, I am actually very happy when I am able to see all of you in class everyday, but the little insensible things that you do hurts me, like fighting in class, skipping school, scolding vulgarities, and not doing the work you should have done, makes me upset. I do hope that with you guys around, you can try to make me happier, by being really good kids.. especially 2F... You know who you are.. Love you all.. Let's make life simpler, shall we?

Enough blabbering.. let's take a look at 2 photos of my nephew.

Back from Holidays.

Yeah, finally back from my 10 day holiday. Has been a fruitful holiday, covering Sydney, Goldcoast, Adelaide and Perth. Altogether, we took 5 flights and I clocked almost 900 km in driving, where the speed went up to almost 200km/h.. Haha, the feeling of driving a vehicle almost like a sports car, can really drive your adrenaline up, especially when you get to speed alongside a merz.. hahaha. Okie, bad example, no speeding in Singapore.. Luckily Chuyue is not around, if not, we would never have reached our destination on time.. hehe..

Now, together with my 4 other companions, Bro CJ and Suanhui, Sis Jiayin and Duck, we embarked on a trip that really got us high, and there were many memorable moments, including those where we took so many jump shots! Nothing speaks better than photos, and look at my facebook and you would have realized the amount of fun that we had.. Home-cooked meals, eating out in the cold in front of bypassing Angmohs, singing KTV, POSING for photos, adrenaline rides on the Superman Ride, Speeding, SPA, and of course, TABLE TENNIS after SPA!

Oh man, how cooling the weather was, winter time in Australia, oh my, to think we were supposed to drive all the way up to Melbourne, and go ski-ing there, but eventually cos of the stupid virus, we had to change our itinerary, but we got a surprise there, which happened to be the only 'high-class' apartment that we stayed in. Oh my, AUSTRALIA is really expensive lar! but the seafood was cheap and good.. That was the only good thing! Bought chocolates for my students, and burnt a hole in my pocket..

Oh oh, holidays ending soon, and new stuff coming up.. So many things breathing down my neck and I don't know if I can handle it well man, especially the Cambodia trip, seems like the virus is hindling my advancement.. hmm.. shall see how I can handle it.. Oh how i yearn for the next holiday to come, haha, but before that, I shall strive forward to getting my students to work harder and also to help them achieve better results!

Ok, there is another thing tingling in my heart for a long time.. During my trip, I begin to miss people, students, family, and her.. Uncertainties start to arise when my thoughts start running wild, but nevertheless, these are all what I have anticipated. The feeling of being lost, being so uncertain of myself, has not been there for quite some time, and now it has returned to haunt me.. It always happens after my trip overseas, but this time round, it doesn't occur because of the trip, but because of a person. Hmm, seems like I have to re-evaluate my ability to handle this feeling of lost.. Looking through her photos, make me feel ____..shall not elaborate.. Her smile, still as captivating as ever. One thing I know for sure, is time will not close up this feeling of lost, but hopefully work will. I think I will be drowned by work, before I know how I feel, in at least the next 1 month.

Well, these few days, some bad news, H1N1 getting worse by the day in Singapore, and school may be closed and E-learning might be activated. I booked 2 times for my class chalet, and both times, they have to shut down for quaratining purposes. So upsetting and disappointing for my dear students. So, in view of the fact that there are already 2 secondary school students who got the virus while attending some social functions, I decided to book just a BBQ for the students, and having just one day of fun, at West Coast park.. nearer, and lesser people, hence lesser risk! Hope my students will understand my difficulties. We shall have the chalet in November ok?

To my 2F Class

Well, this happened a few days ago, and I only have time now to blog about it. Around 10 of you actually tried to escape lesson, by going to hide in the toilet. I was shocked when I saw the few of you at detention area when I went down to do my stuff. Really caught me off-guard. I asked some of you what happened and you seemed ashamed to see me there. Though I found out the roots of the problem, it seems that it is a problem that would take time before it can be solved.

Though you were at fault, and I am very against your irresponsible actions, yet I do not think that it should be totally your fault. I will try to let your voices be heard and see if things can be changed further.

But nevertheless, you are all grown ups, and should be responsible for all your actions. Imagine this, if you should choose to beat someone up, then you have to bear the consequences when he is badly injured, or you may be hurt in the process too. The Indian Rojak uncle, though was not around when the poisoning incident happened, yet he had to take up the responsibility to face the charges, as he is the owner. Just like, when I am your form teacher, and you act in this manner, I take it that I am not good enough, because I have failed to discipline all of you. I look forward to our class chalet, and I take this chance to urge all of you not to misbehave again, if not, I would have to seriously consider putting in so much efforts for all of you.

All of you are my beloved students, and I treat you like my little brothers and sisters, so I will feel upset if you all misbehave.. Pls take this chance to reflect upon your actions. I know it may be just a moment of spur that you acted in this manner, a moment of mischievous, but now this moment is gone, I hope that you will be able to be the bestest 2F which all teachers praise again.

My challenge to you: Can you do it, 2F? Tag and let me know. Thanks

Signed off: 10.22pm April 26 09

Planned trips for 2009

If nothing goes wrong, I should be going to Australia and Bangkok this June Holidays. And my Aussie itinerary is as follows: Singapore - Perth - Sydney, Drive up to Melbourne and Adelaide, and then fly back to Perth - SG. All in all, it will take around 10 days. Sounds a bit rush, but I already have a crew of planners planning the accomodation and places to visit. A strong plan shall suffice in the cold winter in Australia. Just to let you guys drool a little, I will be skiing at Hotham, an outskirt town near Melbourne. Yes, Skiing.. haha.. In fact, this may yet be the 2nd time in my life that I am seeing snow~! The 1st was in India, up high in the mountains of Sikkim.

But of course Australia would be shortly after my 5th Bangkok trip. This would be the 2nd trip with my Secondary school friends! The 1st was also to Bangkok, and that dated back to 2003! My god, how time flies. So treasure your secondary school friends, people..

Well, it is time to take a break man.. But much more coming up! I should be bound for Cambodia for a 15 day project, if nothing goes wrong, but it is only open to the Sec 3 students, and I will be taking only a maximum of 20 students over.. Not my 1st Youth Expedition Project (YEP), but still excited at the thought of embarking on a life changing trip, not for me of course, but who knows.. We are all learning in any phase in life. So, Siem Reap and Phomn Penn, here I come again, 6th time and counting.. So anyone who needs an itinerary for a short break in these countries, feel free to come to me, and I can try to get you good deals for a great itinerary.

Travelling makes you look forward to completing all your work.. A real good destressing agent.. haha..

A touching Link (Pls Click and View)

Mr Tan posted this link for all teachers to view, and I thought that it was quite a touching story, so I re-posted here on my blog. Do click on it and view it. Can post your comments or thoughts here after you have watched?

Make a difference. Take the 1st step to make a difference to someone else's life..

http://www.stservicemovie.com/land.html

你是个注重外表的人吗？

大家好，耶稣受难节快乐！奇怪，为什么别人在受难，我们应该感到快乐呢？哈哈。今天心血来潮，结果约了我的好兄弟出来聊天，那我就想顺便一起看戏。又那么巧，我妹妹的男朋友下午建议我去看看这部新片，片名是《丑男大变身》，英文名是"Handsome Suit"。我觉得这不日本片是近两个月来我看过最发人深省的影片。这部片子和另一部韩国片，《200磅美女》有些类似，但是这次的题材是以男性为主。

在这个金钱挂帅的社会里，在这个物质享受（materialistic)充斥着的社会里，究竟我们是不是越来越注重自己或别人的外表，而忽略了更重要的内在美呢？不错，帅哥与美女都是每个人都想成为的一个梦想，有谁不想别人夸自己是个英俊潇洒的帅哥，或是个貌美如花的美女？杂志封面上的歌手，电影里的明星，走在时尚尖端、天桥云裳上的模特儿们，有哪一个不是帅哥、美女呢？但，事实上，在人们美丽的外壳下，究竟有几个是心灵与外貌一样美丽呢？

人，如果长得丑，还可以去做人工整形手术，来让自己变得漂亮，但如果人的心肠丑陋，又应该如何掩饰呢？

其实，我觉得现今社会为什么会有这么多的情侣办离婚，多是因为认识时间短，又注重对方的外表，因而没有更深入地去了解对方心里深处的想法，导致最后结婚了才发现彼此不适合，闹得不欢而散，以离婚收场。学校里，我看到一些男生，看到了漂亮的女生，便想展开追求，但其实身边还有许多样貌平平，却心地善良的女生。何必为了一朵鲜花，而放弃整片森林呢？

记住，钻石在变成钻石之前，只是一块普通的矿石。它需要工匠的细心雕刻，慢慢把它的优点呈现给世人欣赏。人也是一样，不论男生或女生，你可能长得很平凡，但只要你能找到欣赏你的优点的人，那么，你就是世界上最幸福的人。

《丑男大变身》是我非常推荐大家去观赏的一部戏，除了发人深省外，它的搞笑桥段也能令人捧腹大笑，放松心情，所以不妨去看看。如果你深深的去体会这部戏，就能发现以上的观点都深深在电影中呈现出来。如果你觉得不好，可以来发表一下意见。找个朋友一起去看这部戏吧！

写给我的3D班的一封信！

今天，你们给了我一份惊喜，可能对你们来说，并不那么明显，但我却相当高兴。你们今天非常乖，竟然那么专注地在做公函，也没有交头接耳在讲话，就是那么地认真，那么地安静，就像在考场内。当然，你们平时在班上也是最听话的一群，所以教你们对我来说，是一种享受。在此，我要说：“谢谢你们”。

在我的心目中，除了一位不争气的同学外，你们全都是最棒的，而我也知道你们一定都可以取得你们心目中的A1A2，但，不知怎么的，可能你们还没有适应中三紧凑的步伐，又可能功课真的是太多了，我觉得你们还是没有办法发挥到我的要求。这让我质疑我自己，是不是对你们不够严厉，因为我不希望让你们失望。你们是我第一批中三的学生，所以对你们的期望与要求都相对提高了。

我希望大家都能像今天那么专注地对待你们的作文，实用文，理解问答，及每一份功课，因为我们只有一年的时间，就要面对恐怖的会考了。哎呀，其实也没那么恐怖啦！只要你们肯去背一些好词好句，慢慢累积你们的词库，绝对能够达到目标的。美琪在她的博客中提到，人因梦想而伟大，我真的希望你们能够加油一点，下多一点努力，用功一点，朝向我们的A1 梦想前进！

我刚去看了大家的博客，只有几位学生有持续上载照片，坚持不懈地更新博客，这真令人心痛。我原本以为大家与我的想法一样，能通过写博客来减少错别字，来加强华文水平，谁知道，一些男生竟然在博客上埋怨说是被强迫做的，有的还写了一些无厘头的东西，真是令人难过。女生们，都做得还不错，但一定要持之以恒！

3D，你们是聪明的一群，但你们也得记住，只有勤奋与懒惰的人，没有聪明与笨蛋之分！所谓“一份耕耘，一份收获”，你们能不能成功，就掌握在你们手中！加油吧！

李老师上
12am