This author is currently on hiatus for the ignoble cause of mugging. The public is advised to remain calm, as this routine protocol has been shown to have no effect on one's violent tendencies in 96% of cases.
| Wednesday, November 29, 2006 |
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I have really nothing much to blog about during the holidays. I can't even think of a title for this post. It's probably just to assure people that my blog is still alive. Somehow, we complain about life when half of it is taken up by some activity like going to school, but it becomes frigging boring when we take away that half. So we double that other half to get one whole, and you get 2x sleeping, 2x playing, and for some people, ∞x eating. And then our parents complain that we're getting lazy. But i did go back to school two days ago, for some briefing about the Humanities programme by Mr Hon, our principal. But just one bus stop away from where i boarded, the bus (a TIBS one) broke down. I think it was a problem with the wipers not wiping. Then, the bus driver got out into the rain to fiddle around with some stuff outside the bus, then came back in again, pressed a few buttons, then went out again. And the cycle repeated about 6 times, while we, the poor passengers, could only stone inside the bus. I heard an auntie telling her friend, "Don't get off, else you'll have to pay 60 cents, not worth it." A couple of passengers left, though. After about 15 mins, the driver finally gave up and printed complimentary tickets, after which he finally announced that the bus had broken down and asked us to leave, handing out the tickets to each one of us as we got off. At least I got one extra free trip. But 45 cents for wasting 20 minutes of my life, especially since there was a briefing by the principal, isn't such a good deal. And when I finally got to school about 10 mins late, I found out that Mr Hon was just telling us and gathering feedback about his plans to introduce China Studies to the Humanities Programme, under the reason/excuse that it would be beneficial to us, yet it wouldn't affect our grades since it was "just a small component". And we were dismissed 15 mins later. What a waste of time. <3 China, the rain and wipers. |
'Twas teh winnar at 9:48 pm.
| Sunday, November 26, 2006 |
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I just returned today from a chalet stay organised by my gymnastics seniors at a private apartment beside East Coast Park, and some of the ex-gym seniors who had already left the High School section also participated. Our ex-captain, Chris, who was transferred to Anglo-Chinese International School at the end of sec 2 by his mother, not due to poor grades but because his mum did not want him to be in gym since she thought that it was affecting his grades, was also present, and he told us about how life in ACS was like. (DISCLAIMER: The following post can be considered to be only rumours, for the truth behind them has not been verified by the author. He is simply reporting about what he has heard. He will not, in any way, be held accountable for any of the remarks stated.) Chris told us that ACS was very westernized. For one, their canteen was like those school canteens in America, where there was only one stall and the students had to eat whatever they served. They just change their menu every day. And the food was very expensive too, for example, a small plate of chicken rice sold at $2 in food courts would cost $3.50 there. He says his pocket money isn't even enough to buy his food. "It's not like they have any competition," he grumbles. They also have to move from class to class to attend their lessons, depending on which subject they take. So, rather than the subject teachers go to the designated class for each lesson, the students are the ones who move from class to class for each different subject. Which makes it extremely easy to skip lessons, Chris says. He's even skipped lessons a few times before. And the students there are mostly rich kids. Which isn't completely a bad thing, considering that he's just about the only "poor" guy there and can get lots of treats (like free LAN games) from his friends. But the only problem is that they tend to be snobs, being arrogant just because they have a lot of money (from their parents) to swagger about with. But the worst part is the company he gets there. A lot of the students there smoke and drink, something which he staunchly opposes. There was once when in between lessons, some of Chris's friends called him to go out of school to the top storey of a neighbouring block. He refused, but they insisted and he eventually went, during school hours. And when he got there, he found those friends sitting on the stairs and blatantly smoking. They even tried to coax him to try it, but thankfully, he's ahsn't yet. He's even tried to advise some of his other friends to quit smoking, but they don't listen. He calls it all a scam. "Why pay $10,000 anually just to go to school, attend the lessons, use the facilities and meet friends?" he laments. Furthermore, his sister is also in the school, and his parents plan to send his other two siblings there also. "That's $50,000 a year down the drain," he exclaims. "I don't understand them. I'd rather be in Hwachong than ACS. Life sucks there." |
'Twas teh winnar at 9:48 pm.
| Friday, November 24, 2006 |
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The PSLE results were released to the Primary 6 pupils on the big day yesterday. Since it's probably their most important exam b4 the 'O'/'A'levels more than 4 years later, it's not hard to see why they're always extremely emotional. Fortunately, my younger brother is only in Pri 1 next year, so we'll be spared of this bittersweet eventfor another 6 years to come. My grandfather was fetching me back from work today, and i was listening to the radio, where the deejay was interviewing listeners over the phone about their children's results. There was this mother who was sharing her story about her poorly performing kid, and she left quite an impression on me. This lady's son failed the PSLE not once, but twice, and had to retake Pri 6 for antoehr 2 years. But she was not furious with her child, even going so far as to encourage him by saying that staying in pri 6 for an extra 2 years was good, since it allowed him to enjoy primary school life for another 2 years, and also strengthened the "foundations" of his knowledge. Eventually, he scored 162/300 for the PSLE, which is barely a pass. However she was, again, very supportive, and saw him through secondary school. Yet she says that there was a change in her son over the years. In primary school, he was extremely playful and lazy to learn. But as he matured, his performance just kept improving and his grades simply rose each year. At the end of secondary school, he scored well enough to go to Juior College. But against his mother's wishes, who said that he would not get a job if he did not go to JC, he entered polytechnic instead. What was even more surprising is that after he had completed his studies there, he begged his mother to let him go to University. She initially objected because the family did not have the money for it. But her son went as far as to get a job just so he could fulfil his dream. Now, he is studying overseas in an Austrialian university. And such is the transformation from a boy who failed his exams, to one that surpasses many of those around him to study to a university, under the support and encouragement of his mother. Years later, one of that mother's friends called her to say that her son had scored terribly, achieving only a score 167/300 for his PSLE. Her reply? "Hey, that's better than my son, he only scored 162!" Such is a mother's pride. |
'Twas teh winnar at 7:03 pm.
| Tuesday, November 21, 2006 |
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Well yeah, i'm bound to have to start a post on the December holidays. And Hwachong starts the holidays at around the end of October, which is one week ealier than that of RI's, and two weeks earlier than primary schools'. Boo-yah. And yes, holidays are boring. Staying at home for two months with absolutely no homework is kinda sian. Last year, i still had to return to school daily for gymnastics training, so my schedule was quite full with no room for feeling idle. but now that the competitions are over and i'm not taking part in the next one, i only have to return to school once a week (or less) for gym training. which means a sudden heck load of free time. And thus, to help me fill up my free time, my mum gets me to go to her office to help her do work. Mind you, its not the usual sit-in-air-conditioned-room-and-type-out-reports sort of work, its manual labour. (Well, she gets to work in the air-conditioned office, but since she's the lady boss, that can't be helped.) So almost every morning if there's no outings or whatever, my mum will fetch me to the industrial workplace. I follow her up to her office, grab my gear (actually its just a pair of gloves), and head downstairs to the workshop to start work. Usually, I do the "easy" stuff like bending metal bars, cutting wire mesh, riveting etc. The really manual stuff like carrying heavy equipment, the other workers take care of it. But its quite boring, since the work usually gets repetitive after some time. Of course, handing all the metal and machinery does have its dangers. I can't recall how many times i've been jabbed by the sharp edge of the galvanized iron wire mesh, cut by metal strips, or had blisters on my hand after using the cutter for too long a time. But that's nothing compared to the injuries the otehr workers get. Just today, my grandfather (who also works there) had two of his fingers smashed by a heavy wood plank out of a little carelessness. He ended up with quite a lot of blood and bandaged fingers. Luckily, i haven't suffered anything beyong scratches, cut, bruises and blisters...yet. Depending on my mum's mood, my work day ends at about 12.30 pm (lunch break for the workers) and i can head home (by bus of course.) Otherwise, if she wants me to do more work, ill have to stay till past 3. Oh, you ask, do i get paid? Yep, free lunch and that's about it. |
'Twas teh winnar at 11:39 pm.
| Friday, November 17, 2006 |
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I followed my mum to the market today (more so out of her need for me to help her carry all her groceries than out of my own free will.) At the fruit stall, i spotted the stallholder (auntie) occasionally handing out pamphlets to interested customers. The sales pitch went something like "Auntie, 来啊来啊，cherry 对身体很好, 你看这个报道，很好leh! 来啊，买 cherry 啊..." ("Come and look, cherries are good for health, you can read this report. Come and buy cherries...") I took a peek over one of the bewildered customer's shoulders, and saw a printout in Chinese, presumably a report about the health benefits of cherries (I didn't have time to read in detail, simply scanned through it.) However, the source wasn't stated so I don't know if the report was for real or not, but we can't blame the auntie for that, can we? Glancing over at the product the auntie was recommending, the sign on it proudly stated: USA Cherries $8. $8 for a bunch of cherries is IMHO, a little overpriced. But maybe its of a high quality? However, my mum didn't buy it, so who knows? Nevertheless, kudos to the stallholder auntie for her efforts in selling off the very nutritious cherries. I think she did better than those wordless "promoters" who just stand by the side of the pavement, flashing out flyer after flyer almost mechanically for passer-bys to take (and perhaps use as toilet paper). See, even our neighbourhood auntie knows the value of globalisation/modernisation, and heeds the Government's push to move along with it and continually improve ourselves. Great job, auntie. |
'Twas teh winnar at 6:36 pm.
| Monday, November 13, 2006 |
WASHINGTON: A small but increasingly vocal group of US parents and educators are pushing for homework to be abolished for younger children on grounds that it serves no purpose. Adapted from The Sunday Times, Nov 12 (New call in US: Abolish homework). |
'Twas teh winnar at 11:28 pm.
| Sunday, November 12, 2006 |
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1. Atmosphere The weather up Cameron Highlands was rather cool at about 20 degress C or less and the air was really fresh, so it really kept us rejuvenated, tireless and cool throughtout the entire trip, especially during the jungle trek. But there's still the epic question, "Where's the air-conditioner?" 2. Food I must admit the food the first couple of days wasn't that good, but at least the buffet breakfast and lunch the hotel (Strawberry Park Hotel) provided had a reasonably wide palatable spread. And the traditional charcoal steamboat we had on the first night there was also rather amazing. Those tables with teachers could enjoy nicely cooked food, with no spills or whatever. Those without, however, ended up with burnt fingers (some smart guy actually went to test how hot the charcoal was), burnt noodles or fish sticking on the side of the pot, uncooked/raw meat, and grey soup (the original colour was yellow). Needless to say, we had quite a lot of fun and laughs, especially those not under the watchful but experienced eyes of teachers. 3. Cards Cards are, and will be, an essential part of any outing. We spent almost all of our free time playing taidi, be it before/after meals, on the bus ride, or whatever. Not to mention some games with *ahem* custom-made special rules. Check Kuan Yue's blog for more info. 4. Quotes Ah, memorable quotes from teachers and student alike. Especially since the councillors had to put up a couple of skits containing quotes from certain people (poor them). Not to forget the message of "Aim, aim and aim again, and if you miss, always flush the toilet" from the sec 3 councillors' skit (in which Jonathan used some giant inflated strawberry balls for boobs.) Or Nicholas's definition of "splash damage" (what do you get when you cover up that orifice?) But the clincher was still Ms Letchmie saying in her speech: "And you will come with full force." Say that out loud, and you'll realise what i mean. 5. Wendy Wu "Kung Wu Fighting! Coming this Wuvember, Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior!" Yep, that's the ad which is screened on Disney channel (did i mention each hotel room had a TV set with cable TV?) every 10 minutes. Apparently its for some over-hyped up kung fu kids' show, starring Wendy Wu, which was scheduled to start airing on Disney channel today. And those Disney people are so frigging obssessed with her! Imagine seeing her photo every 10 minutes on that channel without fail, and 3 variations of a TV ad promoting the show in every single advertisment slot. It makes you either want to puke or laugh out loud. Not that she isn't pretty chio when executing her kung 6. Bonding Visualise 6 people cramped together in a small area less than a six-man tent in front of the TV, with one person sleeping on the sofa, two on chairs linked together, and another three sharing a single matress on the floor. Yep, that's what the 2Ners were crazy enough to do. We all sneaked from our own rooms into Bing's room, and after watching TV and playing cards, ended up sleeping packed together also. And considering that 2N was the class with the msot people turning up for the retreat (8, compared to an average of 2 from other classes), we basically formed a group whenever we had a chance, be it occupying one whole table at meals, taking up the entire back seats of the tour bus, or sleepign together in the same room. Our bond never faltered. And that's why we pwnt all other classes (like 2L). 7. 2N06 Yeah, who can ever forget the classmates which give planety of laughs and company, crack sick jokes, uphold the class spirit, have a special talent in niaoing, and of course the kinky form teacher who contributes to all the niaoing and laughter. And since our (slacky) chairman happened to be the facilitator of some activities, they always unsurprisingly always turned out to be just a few minutes of work, then the playing of cards, filming of certain videos, laughing, bonding and just pure slacking for the rest of the time. 2N06 was essentially quintessentially which made the entire retreat so very fun. Rock on, guys! |
'Twas teh winnar at 11:25 pm.
| Tuesday, November 07, 2006 |
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Today, after the primary school talks, I took Mr Paul Ho's car back to HCI again. And then he was asking us about where we would be holding our Council/CMC retreat. I told him that we were going to Cameron Highlands (in Malaysia), and then Max Fu, the otehr student helper, perked up and said that the ProEd Council retreat was also held there last year. So Mr Ho asked, "How's the temperature like in Cameron?" And Max told us that it was a few degrees celcius lower than that of Singapore's, "not very cold." Mr Ho replied by saying that he has been there years ago and the temperature was about 20 - 21 degrees C, "damn cold." And he ended by saying, "That, boys, is the effect of deforestation." Yeah, with all the recent education to teach us the importance of environmental conservation, i've definitely become more aware of its improtance. It's really sad that countries like Malaysia and Indonesia don't know how to protect Mother Nature, with all the illegal looging, haze and whatnot. Years later, it will ultimately be the human race that suffers from all the damage we have done to Mother Nature. Yet people are still not taking much action. Sigh. Anyway, ill be away to Cameron Highlands from today until Friday, so cya guys then when i return. ;) This is a very short post cos i gotta rush to school by 8 pm... |
'Twas teh winnar at 7:11 pm.
| Monday, November 06, 2006 |
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I, together with some other "volunteers", was supposed to meet KC today for some primary school talks (i.e. spreading propaganda so those innocent primary school kiddies would come to Hwachong). But of course, its loosely labelled as "doing our part for the school". Which i don't mind cos we get CIP hours anyway. And KC being, well, KC, was late as usual. His chronic lateness is seriously of a much worse condition than mine. For me, i just strecth times to the limits and am usually a little late for about 5 minutes. But no, KC busts all limits, and is late even up to an hour, which was what happened today. We waited for him all the way from 8.10 am to 9 am, preparing for our presentation later, when suddenly he appeared out of nowhere, poked his head around the staff room door, and hissed at us to follow him. (I was still indulging in my handphone games then.) And then, he broke to us the news that there was "a change in plan" (which always happens, no?) and we were to hop into his car and he would drive us to River Valley Primary School to watch the teachers present instead. After which he ahd to rush all the way back to the MediaCorp studio by 10 am for the ARENA debate publicity shoot. (No, not for him, but for the boys under him.) Since this was the first time i was getting a lift from him, i was amazed - nay, stunned - by his driving. In between commenting about birthday dedications on Class 95 FM and cursing the "son of a bit**" who's taking his own sweet time to turn, he also happened to be referring to an outdated 2002/2003 street directory which was pointing to the school as an dilapidated 2 blocks of classes, and yeah, driving. Fortunately "that old miserable thing" (in KC's words) was NOT the school and it was just the old unoccupied campus. And i was trying to control my laughter all the way. How often is it that you get to take a lift from a teacher, especially your form teacher, and then he swears at almost everyone else on the road? Not to mention that he's running on an extremely tight schedule (no thanks to his being 1 hour late) and starting venting his frustration on every other thing that's slowing him down. "Son of a bit**...Good God, turn already! Miserable noob...don't you know you can't turn right in the morning rush hour?! *honk honk*" This, in contrast to the calm and peaceful car ride back to school from River Valley Primary, courtesy of Mr Paul Ho. He waits for his turn to turn patiently, never starts spewing vulgarities at the steering wheel over the driver in front, and never speaks unless its to initiate some friendly conversation. Yeah, KC's car rides are never boring. xD |
'Twas teh winnar at 11:09 pm.
| Friday, November 03, 2006 |
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I'll make it no secret: my family just upgraded from a HDB apartment to a condo in June earlier this year. But since some of my lessons haven't changed and are still at the HDB estate, i still have to go back there one a week. And so today, having to attend my wushu lesson back at Tech Ghee CC, i went back to the Ang Mo Kio Ave 10 estate as usual. But i had to pick up something from my previous neighbour first, so i ahd to go up to her apartment. it's only then that i realised all the stuff which i've taken for granted back then when i was still staying in the HDB flat. The estate was one of the older ones in Singapore, so the design was such that all the residents in the entire flat (ill estimate the figure at around a few hundred) had to share 3 lifts which were right in the centre column of the flat. And the lifts would only stop at 3 floors, the first, sixth, and eleventh, and they were extremely sloooowww. I timed it b4, and it took 8 secs to go up one level. So from my neighbour's house, i had to walk down the stairs and along a long corridor to the sixth storey lift landing. You don't get such "inconveniences" in a condominium, for the lifts there stop on every level and just outside your home. And its a corridor full of sight and smell, where you can smell the whiff of fragrant bak ku teh or the strong spicy smell of belachan curry from the homes along the corridor. Not to mention the potted planets of the residents which line it on one side, and you get to see stuff ranging from bonsais to chilli planets to unripe pessimons. Not to mention the backdrop of sunset (or the lack of it, due to the haze that is engulfing Singapore) amidst the rows of squat flats painted in bright colours. And then, when you get to the lift landing you're probably going to meet some residents in your one minute wait for the lift to arrive. But these heartland aunties and uncles are very friendly and (overly?) chatty. In fact, chances are that you'll be sharing the lift with someone else. Today, i met an anutie (a complete stranger) who chatted me up in the lift, and even thought i was going fishing (for i was holding this long pole in a black cover, which could be easily mistaken for a fishing rod, for my wushu lesson.) You don't get such interaction in condos. In fact, i don't even know my neighbour who stays opposite me well, and i've only talked to two other residents in my few months of staying here, one of which was the mother of another boy also attending the wushu lessons whom i recognised, and the other was a family of Australians, who migrated to Singapore, living in the apartment directly above mine. Yep, Aussies are very friendly, and i bet the people who went for the Adelaide exchange programme in Australia can attest to that. The communities in condos are definitely not as tight-knit as those in heartland HDB estates. Some of the residents of the HDB flat where i used to stay knew each other so well, they knew the other residents usually stopped when using the lift. (But then again, since it only stopped at 3 levels, its only a 50/50 chance that you will press the right button...) Yeah, condos might have all the facilities - the swimming pools, barbeque pits, gymnasium - and also all the well-off people and the foreginers, especially those ang moh females who likes to suntan beside the pool while reading their copy of Times, but you just can't beat the warmth you get in HDB estates. But most of the HDB estates are already going upgrading, with lifts which stop on every floor, and becomign mroe like executive apartments, so i do hope that won't weaken the bonds between residents in any way. |
'Twas teh winnar at 11:18 pm.
| Wednesday, November 01, 2006 |
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Hmm, this post is two days late... Anyway, on Monday, i went for the "Best English Award" interview, armed with only the shoddy portfolio (the link to the online version is in my previous post, if you're interested) i did in one night. While i was waiting for my turn outside the conference room, i decided to read Akilan's portfolio first. Yeah, he is MOE's son, my gymmate, and he also happens to be one of the nominees for the award. And I was kinda shocked at how thick his portfolio was. Yeah, he did print all his essays one-sided with double line spacing, but that doesn't change the fact that my portfolio had a measly 9 sheets of paper and he had about 20. That's about the quantity. What really amazed me was his quality. Yeah, he may be in mainstream and whatnot, but he definitely writes so much better than me; I think his standards are comparable with Yi Yong. He is frigging good with (English) words. But the biggest misfortune of that day was when i stepped into the conference room, and I realised Mrs Yong was one of the interviwees. I suppose it wasn't toally unexpected since she is the iSpark English HOD after all, but I had previously hoped she would not be present, because being my English teacher, she already knows my writing styles and standards. Heck, she was the one who nominated me in the first place. Her first question was, "So, Zhicong, anything new?" Fortunately i had 3 entries which she had not seen b4 (2 blog posts and one poem). The first remark I received when i passed over my portfolio was, "Wah, so thin?" Especially since the person just b4 me was Akilan. I replied that I thought they only wanted my best works, and not for me to print out every single essay or poem i had done in the past (as Akilan did.) To cut a long story short, the interview obviously did not go well for me. But that was because I was already prepared not to win it. Needless to say, with that attitude, I had trouble answering the "Why should we choose you for this award?" question. (I might have answered "Because I was chosen by Mrs Yong.") In fact, in my "Afterword", i actually stated my sentiments I did not think i was able to win the award. Which is why Mrs Yong's presence was so regrettable, i don't know what she would have thought of me afetr reading the Afterword... But the point is that, I'm not too worried about the results of the interview. Beforehand, i already knew i would be unable to match up with the standards of the best out there. Reading Akilan's portfolio strengthened this belief even more. It's like joining a competition (fortunately without the participation costs) already knowing that you have a very slim chance of winning. Of course, that's not to say that you shouldn't have the willpower to fight, to achieve as satisfactory a result as possible. But if you have the mindset to accept that you might lose, it makes your life so much easier on yourself. Its saying, "I have a 50% chance of winning, I will work hard to grasp that 50%, but there is also the other 50% which I must be prepared to accept." Being overconfident and thinking "I'm sure to win this" is not very helpful to oneself. Yeah, good that you have confidence in your abilities and the burning desire to win, and if you do, then good for ya. But what if you lose? You'll start blaming yourself, "Why did I lose? How could I have lost to that b*tch?!" All because you never considered the thought of losing. Sooner or later, you're going to start coming to conclusions that he was cheating or whatever, and will not give the issue a rest. So you see, just simply thinking that you may lose does help you in putting losing behind you, and striving hard to win the next chance you get. In short, it makes you content with your results, whether win or not. A deafeatist attitude isn't all that bad after all. |
'Twas teh winnar at 10:40 pm.
