Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Glutton-5 | 10:08 PM
"Well, the English papers were over for most of us. With the nightmare of the entrapment behind us (see last week), we feasted to wreck financial revenge on you-know-who!!"Footnote - Who spiked the pizzas and chicken?!?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
the SAGA | 8:51 PM
23 April 2008
I've lived at 103 for almost 20 years and this has never happened to me.
Call it just pure luck or fate's decree or the musings of whichever higher order being you believe in.
Five 16 and 17 year-olds were wedged between the 6th and 7th floor while on their way down in the lift.
Despite making several calls to you-know-who, they realised that he was in the kitchen washing their used mugs and all. It did not help that the mobile was in silent mode of course. The cleansing session lapsed into the next teaching session, which altogether ran into almost 15 minutes before their ordeal was discovered.
In the meantime, a member of the fairer sex and in connection to one of the STUCK-5s, upon failing to contact the lift specialists, called up the SCDF instead. In no time, the you-know-who spotted the latest SCDF fire-engine buggy, a police car and an ambulance squatting at the ground level from 9 floors up. What a sight it was! The flurry of lights from the activities below added to the beatiful night skies above.
(To be continued)
Monday, April 28, 2008
1N1 | 5:07 PM
Why do some boys come to class :1) late
2) with their shirts soaked to their skin?
How do they even concentrate on lessons in this incredible heat I wonder?
Is there light at the end of the tunnel-eh-corridor?
Sunday, April 27, 2008
It's Probably Me | 10:32 AM
Sting
A former teacher himself, Sting is probably one of the best musicians ever alive. This song is a collaboration with another music maestro - Eric Clapton.
I'm now reading his memoirs, Broken Music, which is as poetic and therefore as enjoyable as his music and lyrics.
Friday, April 25, 2008
3N4 | 6:05 PM
removed | 5:35 PM
Owing to a recent abuse by some immature individual, the chatbox has been disabled.
Saint2
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Sky's The Limit | 8:40 AM
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
dark... | 9:30 PM
Something unreal happened. JUST. It felt like a leaf off the best of fiction.
It was a dark and stormy night. The cast - SCDF and the police.
The venue - Norfolk Court.
The usual suspect - a very HUGE plier.
Stay tuned for the full report!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Ngage Graduation Ceremony | 6:32 PM
who??? | 6:26 PM
What is unusual about this picture?
Zooming in for a closer look...
Who would stuff a paper plane into the leaf???
UNBELIEVABLE but TRUE!
Angel | 8:11 AM
Okay - live mobile evidence for incrimination! Haha. 
"How to divide up the cake into 44 eh..., 45? parts? Yes, one for the cameraman too! Use Pythygaros Theorem? TOA CAH SOH???" 
If it takes 2 Irishmen to screw in a light bulb, how many boys do you need to cut up a cake? Remember guys, the birthday child should not be made to do this on his/her special day - a good lesson to impress the girls with next time. Haha.
One yummy slice, priceless.
A gazillion calories,
half an hour on the threadmill.
TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK.
Thankfully, it did not take 4 minutes.
4SB with Miss Angel Lee!rainy day | 8:07 AM
The skies weeping for ailing Earth? There's my chill corner (top right) on the campus. I hope the sun will be out in full force SOON!
Earth Song | 6:17 AM
Michael Jackson
I remember I used to teach this song in Literature lessons. The music video was always well received by my lower secondary students.
earth day | 6:14 AM
22 April is Earth Day. Do your part to reduce your carbon footprint. Check out the Earth Day site here.
Monday, April 21, 2008
UN- | 10:15 PM
??? | 10:08 PM
The silver-white elephant.
In a discovery by a Major of New York, broken windows, if not replaced with new ones, will invite more vandalism. So we will expect more holes added to the existing ones... 4N2 | 10:03 PM
You can see that the documentary "Brat Academy" really stirred the hearts of many 4N2 boys.
Nine In The Afternoon | 7:54 AM
Panic At The Disco
This is one of those feel-good song cum video. I like the way the clip celebrates the oddities in life. This is definitely a farcry from the bird-caged conformity lifestyles Singaporeans are so used to. We really ought to party as hard as we work.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sundays | 9:13 PM
Saturday, April 19, 2008
4 minutes | 4:54 PM
4 minutes in the microwave is about just right to pop most kernels in the bag! I believe all my S3 students survived their mad munch. :)Thursday, April 17, 2008
Ngage | 3:15 PM
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
half-kernel | 8:05 PM
My kids found some unpopped kernels in the bag of pop corns I had roasted for them in the microwave oven. So I took a short break and we snapped a picture or two.
Fast Car | 6:36 AM
Wyclef Jean
We live in our own fast car frenetic lives.
I also like the concept for this MTV. Do look out for the Singaporean artist featured in it.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
tipoff | 6:12 PM
fly open! | 4:49 AM
Monday, April 14, 2008
La Salle - revisited | 11:27 AM
Backtrack
6 Apr 2008
I finally found the time to walk around this magnificant architectural monument of a campus.
I remember the first time I was struck with a sense of awe from sculptures was my encounter with this piece outside one of the banks at Boat Quay - or was it Clarke Quay?
This slithering piece at La Salle is just so clean and sexy. 
Glass - that wonderful invention that gives you the illusion of space and surrealism.
Surrounding the entire campus are holey, dark-stained wooden walls which contrast so superbly with its interior glass walls.
In my opinion, this is probably the best looking builidng in Singapore to date.
Teachers' woes part of working life | 6:33 AM
Saint2 : This forum article from TST reeks of the hands of propaganda. I bet someone from the civil service must have ask his/her non-teaching spouse/ relative to write this counter attack note - probably to do some damage control after the attriction rate was leaked out in the press. Then again, the press is a pure propaganda tool, so perhaps the leak was to forcast something on the horizon? If the following letter was from a neutral source, it just reflects how callous some are to the real predicaments of the teaching profession - teachers, with all the added trappings, can no longer truly teach and mould lives. It is now a show-and-tell performance for many in the bid to survive the system. What then are the implications on the future generation? Like I had mentioned in the a recent entry, something's coming over. Mmmm....(yes, that's a line from a song).
April 14, 2008
Teachers' woes part of working life
IN RESPONSE to Mr Ho Kong Loon's letter last Thursday, I would like to offer my views as a non- teacher.
The attrition rate of about 700 out of 29,000 is not high compared to other professions. Other professions experience an increase in workload in order to remain competitive. For example, to cut costs, most employers expect staff to take on another employee's job at the same time, meaning most have to work late.
On the need to attend self-improvement courses, this applies to other professions. Everyone needs to upgrade. Moreover, most attend these courses at their own expense and in their own time.
All appraisals are subjective, and no one can avoid them. In addition, other professions face the threat of retrenchment and pay cuts when the economy is down. They also face stiff competition from foreign talent willing to accept lower pay.
There are pros and cons in every job, and no one escapes work-related stress.
Tan Lee Hwang (Ms)
Labels: teaching
Sunday, April 13, 2008
shit | 11:21 PM
Guess what I discovered at my parking lot? Some bloody soiled diapers!!!
At first, it was cigarette butts, used tissue papers, spit, then milk stains, then more weird red stains, and the list goes on - all splattered on my windscreen!
This problem started ever since 2 neighbours had rented out their flats to foreigners. After the Management Chairman had refused to do his job because of certain sensitivities, I went up to the suspects' units to nicely inform them of my problem. Well, they denied the issue equally nicely. saying what, "Oh, at such a height - (e.g. 11 floors), the wind would have blown whatever litter away." OR "No, no, no. "It must be the other neighbour who live higher up. HORRORS! My family do not do such a thing."
RIGHT! When the shit only started after you guys moved in??? Some people sure live in tons of denial (as with some students I have recently about their homework and lazy attitude). Anyway, how many of us here have kids in their flats??? Soiled diapers??? The same units!!!
To my very generous neighbourly neighbours - Please! Spare me your kampung mentality!
Saturday, April 12, 2008
4 Minutes | 6:05 AM
Friday, April 11, 2008
SAS Alumni | 11:11 PM
I've been searching for the link to the Saints Alumni web for the longest time. Just today, I had a chat with our very passionate Mr. Yee and he got me back online! Click on the picture above to link to the witty reports on SAS past and present!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
what's new??? | 9:15 PM
Saint2 : If the press publishes a strongly worded letter like this about the teaching profession, I bet MOE is brewing some big news in the pipelines...
April 10, 2008
Yes, Minister, and here's what teachers face
I SALUTE new Education Minister Ng Eng Hen in wanting to make teaching the career of choice. But let me offer a caveat. The slew of attractive pay packages, bonuses and self-improvement schemes will not detract from the fact that there are underlying fissures within our very sound education system.
The pull or push factors contribute to a teacher attrition rate of around 700 each year. The teacher population of 29,000 does not translate into smaller class enrolments.
The marking load of teachers remains colossal. Individualised instruction, however useful and necessary, is not the norm.
Teacher ranking and the manner in which it is implemented sends seismic waves across schools in Singapore. One notable phenomenon is the fattening of one's professional portfolio. Teachers spend a disproportionate amount of time, energy and effort in padding up their portfolios. This includes attending self-improvement courses, going for sabbaticals, performing community service, launching personal initiatives and programmes to outrival their competition, and staying on in school long after dismissal time.
Appraisals, no matter how well structured, have to clear the hurdles of objectivity, impartiality and fairness. Teaching is a profession where productivity or effectiveness is difficult to quantify or qualify, even with the best-conceived scales and indicators.
The most critical yardstick that sieves the ordinary from the exceptional is the teachers' classroom performance.
I am talking about his relationship with the kids - his passion, commitment and staying power in order to make a definitive difference to the young ones. He could do this by being a good role model, and coming up with creative, exciting and fun teaching methods, and livening up the dreariness of repetitive drills with humour.
The hoi polloi of the teaching profession, who work quietly and diligently without fanfare and publicity, can easily miss out due recognition and rewards.
Ho Kong Loon
Source : Straits Times
Labels: MOE, teachers, teaching
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
space pooP | 6:18 PM
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Reveal to Trivia #1 | 9:11 PM
Here it is! The reveal to trivia#1 - What is common between Tiger Balm and St. Andrew's history? Someone by the nick of "hahar" actually guessed it!
The founders of Tiger Balm, Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, had donated generously towards the construction of the school hall of the former St. Andrew's Jr and Secondary school building - now occupied by the Anglican Diocese.
I have a picture taken of the very old plaque above the entrance to the hall to prove it!
Whoever "hahar" is, I must meet you to shake your hands and rattle your brains!
Monday, April 7, 2008
brownie? | 5:59 PM
Thanks for the offer! The brownie (?) tastes real nice and warm. No, I did not get diahorrea when I got home. :)
B Div - Semi 6-0 | 4:35 PM
WHERE WERE THE STUDENT SUPPORTERS???!!
Dear ruggers -
guys, YOU deserve MUCH MORE.
Thanks for the game. I did not come in vain - no matter what the outcome.
more pictures soon!
