HK International Airport - Gate 25

attending the conference in HK has opened my eyes to how teaching and learning can be improved and how lacking some schools are in terms of their core business. Shan't bore anyone with the nitty gritty of things but there is a comment that struck me, tho not really hard:

You (i.e. me) always seek to cater to and meet everyone's needs. This is one of your biggest (my) strength and also your (my) biggest weakness.

Think in the next stage of my career, a delicate balance needs to be achieved in order for personal and group efficacy to materialise. And how is this going to happen? Like I always say: no-one but yourself (myself) will have see to it cos the others have their own issues and problems to handle. And in their eyes, their's are the most important and pressing.

Facing a dilemma or problem? No one can help you except yourself. and it better be quick.

it's coming to an end

to all the concerned members of the public:
1) no; I am not getting married.
2) no; I am not leaving for anywhere


i apologise for all the anxiety caused by the ambiguous postings and status messages. if you were misled to think otherwise by them, clearly, these messages are not meant for you, lol.


the academic year is coming to an year and it is back to the drawing board for the A&R in the hope for smoother implementation and higher efficiency for the next year. BUT, did things go smoother this year??? Bearing in mind the A&R was also done last year??? hmmm.... if it WAS indeed smoother, then the previous year was REALLY a bad one.

people come and people go. it's inevitable, no doubt. our paths change course time to time and it jus happens that our paths no longer cross from now on. but what is within our control is being responsible and mature about leaving.

do not leave all the loose ends for others to tie for you.
do not form a first-wives club.
do not think that we are all out to get you
do not think that life will be better because the grass is always greener on the other side

just behave normally and do the things that you have always been doing while you serve notice. that's what i call leaving in a responsible manner.

better late than never

@ desire bridal studio

was blasted for being missing for close to 7 years

watched the fitting

went for ipoh hor fun

went to velvet and met more of them

@ HV's CBTL

talked over coffee

went to Thomson for prata

hearing Rick Price's song over the radio (AHAHAHAHA)

went to Esplanade

talk about our future (Singapore's included)

thanks

short-lived joy

At the 80 something minute, i.e. before the scoreline was 2-2 (!$*%&@*$%&@$), I had prepared a message to taunt frenz who said the Reds would win hands down.


SIGH.... we were so close

the end is near!!!!

28 more days to the EL paper!!!

Please focus and study hard.

!uoy geb i

et>

Mediocrity - the impediment

Tons had happened since the last posting; of course, this is partly due to the month in-between blogs. Yet, the other contributing factors are people making rash decisions, people thinking that they will fare better outside and people who sneer at others for trying their best in whatever they do.

Amidst the maelstrom, a thought latched itself in my mind – does ‘the best is yet to be’ hold true for most people? If this is so, when is their best going to be?

Why are people contented with the status quo, with their achievements so far (if there is any to even talk about), with what they can do in their realm of influence, with their life? Did they receive some divine message that tells them, “Hey, I think this is the most you can achieve in this lifetime so from now on just take it easy.”

If there is really such a message, I beseech the one who is relaying this to add, “but this doesn’t mean all of us possess the same level of capability (incapability). Let those who can do more, do it and YOU mind your own business.”

What makes me say this? I have heard and read of incidents where kids are ostracized when they are labeled as smart/hardworking. Some teachers, in UK, have turned to using “cool” to describe hardworking students. To me, this breeds and reinforce the mentality of “why bother when all of us are getting the same marks?” or “why make myself stand out?” These people’s goal in life is to fall within the 6th percentile to the 95th percentile of a Normal distribution. They have no desire to be in the top 5%.

Granted some of us are hampered by inability, but who is the one who determines whether one has the ability or inability - our parents, our teachers, our co-workers? Or is it ourselves?

Bounced off this topic with some friends and the conclusion that we reached was “Aiya, if this is what most people think, then so be it. It’s difficult to change one’s mindset. Anyway, only few would dare to go against the flow and be ‘extra’ right.”

This brings me to the double-edge sword of socialization.
Socialization, political or cultural, takes place as soon as one is leaves the safety of the mother’s womb, think baby boys wear blue and girls pink. It takes place in all realms of a person’s life and this serves to introduce him to the norms and practices of his society and his type of people so that he is one of the others, not a freak. Yes, it is true that it brings about the much needed order to our otherwise chaotic world that we live in.

BUT, being largely conformist in nature, we tend to subject ourselves to these norms, either consciously or sub-consciously, so that we can blend in and not stick out like a sore thumb. This in return renders us social acceptance and of course, our peace of mind.

So what do we get out this? We have people settling down comfortably in the mean, median and mode of all things that they do and sneer and label the outliers (here I mean those who have outperformed them, though I am also against sneering and labeling the underperforming outliers).

Of course, there are 2 distinct ways for us, the outliers to respond:
1) Put a lid to our performance level. Restrain from putting in the effort that makes us stand out.
2) Do not give a damn to what these imbeciles have to say because sticks and stones may break our bones but words will never hurt us.

The response is obvious - If you have chosen response 1, then you don’t even qualify.

To those who hide your insecurity or display your contentment (choice is up to you) with your status quo, it’s better late than never. What makes you think that the mean, median and mode of all things is down there and not up here?

ATTENTION b2

is 12 - 13 dec fine for . . .

please spread the word ard and get back to me.

dun forget our b2 gurls.

i am currently reading . . .

1) HP & the Half-Blooded Prince - being a cheapo, I am re-reading it while waiting for the price of the Hallows to drop.

2) Leadership Competency Model for work purposes

3) Professional Learning Communities for work purposes, again

4) Man and Boy

Also thinking of getting "Marley and Me" since it talks about how the addition of a pet dog to a family added so much colour. will be a good book to trigger the memories of Astro the Golden Retriever. fyi, Benjamin, Astro passed away about 2 years due to a heat stroke. I still remember u showing me a pic of your GR when u were in Sec 1.

disconnected

the good news is that i have gotten a replacement for the slow like Ah Ma laptop. now i am a pseudo proud owner of a fujitsu tablet pc.

but the bad news is since the ownership is pseudo, msn is not allowed! sianz. and as a result, i feel so disconnected when i am at work. does ebuddy work the same way but only that it doesn't require any installation?

my kids are finally done with the oral examinations! Yay, no more one-to-one for the time being.

am already planning and dreaming of my vacation at the end of the year ... and ... hainan island seems like a good choice to just slack while facing the blue ocean and of course a cheaper version of mauritius, maldives or hawaii.

So officially, there is still 12 more weeks of this "hell".

good luck for the exams, guys.

unleash your power!!!!


i'm going out of town to recharge so i can unleash more power.

lame, i know, but it beats coming here and not reading anything new.

wave of nostalgia sweeping across

1) was in class 2A3 last friday for the usual reading period. have been gg into their class for the past 6 months, but only managed to use their OHP last friday. when i was plugging in the paper etc..., there i saw - 4A1'06. yup, and the mirror cannot stand by its own. but this time, i didn't get the ruler or paper to stuff it from sharon or zi chun.

2) was at nus on sun and bumped into my sec 1/2 classparent. ran up to her and just shouted her name. she turned around and could immediately rattle off my name. only goes to show 2 things - either 1) i am damn good as a student or 2) i am damn sickening one. didn't ask her why she could remember, well better not know since ignorance is bliss. Mitch, you should know her. yup, it's her alright, the bumblebee earrings.

3) YAY!!! finally lay my hands on Paper Mario!

hols

back fr my hols to pvg and hkg.
spent my last dollar.
poor in material terms but am recharged for the battle in Sem 2.

thanks to the sick man on my flight, for u have caused a delay of 4 hours in my travel plans. so if u r arn't feeling well on the day of your travel, jolly well stay at home and dun think that that you will get well when u reach ur destination. it will not happen.

random thoughts

people who are experienced may not necessarily be always right ...

for one can be experienced and yet not be wise ...

for wisdom is only derived when one reflects upon his experience ...

so are you experienced or wise or both or none at all ...

go figure ...

shameless self glorification

thinking of work throughout waking hours: :x
clocking a minimum 12-hour: :o
marking tons and tons and endless amount of work: O.O
meeting unappreciative ppl: (*&#$%^%(&)&^*

getting comments from ppl like jckiddoz: priceless

yes, yes.. this is lame... and unoriginal. but wat can u do abt it. it's mine and mine only

ordinary people doing extraordinary things

at the end of the carnival, i realise i can ...

Homecoming

HEY HEY HEY

Much preparation, sweat and "blood" have been put into this "GRAND" event. Please Please Please come down and take a look. If not for the school, do it for me k, lol.

Those who need tickets, please buy them from me. MUAH HAH HA HA. (A big Thank you to Shuan for selling 8 booklets for me!)

There'll be some "Special" items on that day... MUAH HA HA HA HA

here i am
at 2.11 in the morning
taking a break from
doing work
for the institution that
i have sold my life to

will i snap out of it one day
and say it aint worth it?

u tell me.

Oh level

I am over the moon!!! well done!

all alone in a crowd

one of the promises made by the internet and technological advancement is the ease and speed of communication between people. we could be miles apart but we know we are only a phone call, a webcam, an email away. this might sound great if we have friends abroad (think of savings). but how many of us have friends overseas whom we communicate with on a regular basis. often, we are stuck to the computer - playing some online game with a total stranger and what transpires in our conversation will be something like:

me> hi. good luck. asl?
new friend> gl 2 u 2. 35 m new york. u?
me> 27 m singapore.
nf> cool. where's that?
me> in south east asia. southern tip of malaysia.
nf> ic.

.....

how exactly does the internet bring about real interaction if what ppl talk about are superficial? what these people need to do is to talk to people near them i.e. family and friends, instead of spending their time wastefully on the internet.

it has been shown through studies that the denser the population in a particular area, the less face-to-face interaction among its people in this age of technology. also people in such places are less likely to be involved in group activities, hence this probably explains the declining birth-rates in developed countries (of cos, there are other reasons).

with the need to generate income/revenue, companies are thus forced to "personalise" their products. this will invariably decrease the amount of social interaction among people near us.

are you a victim as well?

These words ...

Interested to design and paint a mural to declare your love for your school? I'm in the midst of preparing the publicity video and hoping to get the school's approval on allowing the alumni to participate.

If you are interested, email me your designs (decent ones please for they will be highly visible to the public) and I'll get back to you.

In case inspiration is needed, get to You Tube, search "Natasha Bedingfeld". I've taken her song "These words" to get the student leaders to complete the video.

Sa-mu-lah?

It has been a hectic 3 weeks since school commenced and of course the significant event being ASPIRe. One of the most immediate tangible benefits from being involved at the Sec 1 Camp is that all the Sec 1 know you, greet you and some even come to you when they face problems in things that usually their Classparents settle. Well, what to do if you are one of the first person the Sec 1 know when they step into the unfamilar environment. lol.

Do it again next year?!?! The heart and mind says yes, but the body is still nagging from the physical exertion. But if you know me well enough, you should know what I'll say if I am approached.

Hey, Mitch, how's life? Been to your blog recently and it's still that racial abused posting. Hope you are coping well and please take care: saw the crazy weather ravaging Europe on the news yesterday.

Aspire Perspire Expire :)

pray for good weather
pray for good health
pray for safety (no bees)
pray for enthu leaders
pray for energetic students