Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Chapter 371 - Books, Music & Life...
I'm currently mid-way through a few books - Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie), Dogs don't bite when a growl will do, and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Jonathan Safran Foer). The last book is the one that I'll probably finish first, given how intriguing it is. Written in the perspective of this nine-year old, it is every bit as interesting, and exciting, as watching the stock markets. ;p
Indulge in the simple things in life. :)
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I'm Yours!
Speaking of indulging in the simple things in life:
It's the latest addition to my CD collection (well, together with Amy Winehouse actually... ;p)
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On life. Life sometimes has a funny way of working things out. In my previous post, I mentioned that I'll be going to India on a YEP. But right now we're debating on whether we want to fly budget, or not. It's a saving of S$500, so I'd say why not! But then, there're different opinions relating to the issue, and honestly, I can't really see eye-to-eye with many of the concerns (fear of luggage getting stolen, too much work booking hotels/accommodation..) Well, I'd rather save the $500, and use it to backpack around India, if you were to ask me. $500 would last me for more than 1 week in India!!! We're now putting it to a vote, as to which option the rest of the team prefers. *keeps fingers crossed* make the right choice!
Kenny is also learning how to ride! (as in a motorcycle). So exciting! Had a circuit revision lesson today, under the blazing hot sun (wasn't it BURNING today?). Considering my current CEP ("career end-point") is a HOD (head-of-department) [roflcopter], I decided to make myself more employable by getting a bike license, so I can be one of those MacDonald's or Pizza Hut delivery guys next time. ;p
[although apparently, Kenny was once upon a time riding without a license! oops. caught red-handed!]
Ok lah. this post is now officially "too long"! (and dinner awaits..... hungweeeeeeeee)
Our fathers came out of the house and stood at the door, one of them asked, "What are we going to do?" I knew that our time together was almost over, I asked her if she liked sports, she asked me if I liked chess, I asked her if she liked fallen trees, she went home with her father, the center of me followed her, but I was left with the shell of me, I needed to see her again, I couldn't explain my need to myself, and that's why it was such a beautiful need, there's nothing wrong with not understanding yourself.
Indulge in the simple things in life. :)
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I'm Yours!
Speaking of indulging in the simple things in life:
I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror
And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer
My breath fogged up the glass
And so I drew a new face and laughed
I guess what i be saying is there ain't no better reason
To rid yourself of vanity and just go with the seasons
It's what we aim to do
Our name is our virtue
Lyrics from "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz
It's the latest addition to my CD collection (well, together with Amy Winehouse actually... ;p)
-------------------------------
On life. Life sometimes has a funny way of working things out. In my previous post, I mentioned that I'll be going to India on a YEP. But right now we're debating on whether we want to fly budget, or not. It's a saving of S$500, so I'd say why not! But then, there're different opinions relating to the issue, and honestly, I can't really see eye-to-eye with many of the concerns (fear of luggage getting stolen, too much work booking hotels/accommodation..) Well, I'd rather save the $500, and use it to backpack around India, if you were to ask me. $500 would last me for more than 1 week in India!!! We're now putting it to a vote, as to which option the rest of the team prefers. *keeps fingers crossed* make the right choice!
Kenny is also learning how to ride! (as in a motorcycle). So exciting! Had a circuit revision lesson today, under the blazing hot sun (wasn't it BURNING today?). Considering my current CEP ("career end-point") is a HOD (head-of-department) [roflcopter], I decided to make myself more employable by getting a bike license, so I can be one of those MacDonald's or Pizza Hut delivery guys next time. ;p
[although apparently, Kenny was once upon a time riding without a license! oops. caught red-handed!]
Ok lah. this post is now officially "too long"! (and dinner awaits..... hungweeeeeeeee)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Chapter 368 - Chicken Soup for the Educator
古池蛙飛び込む水の音furu ike yakawazu tobikomumizu no otoListen! a frog,Jumping into the silenceOf an ancient pond!
One of the most famous haikus written by Japanese Poet Basho, which I first heard of when I was taking my Japanese classes at Churchill College, taught by the amiable Mikiko-sensei, who introduced the poem to us and asked us to do a translation of it. And now, I come across it again in the book: "Totto-chan - The LIttle Girl at the Window". I shall drop an email to Mikiko-sensei later. :)
Anyway, so I've been reading Totto-chan, and I find it to be such an inspiring book! I honestly can't remember if I've read it before - my sister claims we have the book lying on the bookshelf somewhere... But what the heck, I've already bought a copy.
If you're ever feeling down and out as an educator, I suggest reading Totto-chan for some inspiration. Though there'll never be a Tomoe Gakuen in Singapore, I think it reminds us that education should be about inspiring children and not just about rote learning. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but it's such a beautiful story that you should all read it (kudos to the translator Dorothy Britton!)
There were a number of beautifully translated verses I wanted to share, but i forgot to bookmark them and I can't seem to find them now. The only one I can find is:
"Something from the Oceans & Something from the Hills" - which was a requirement at lunch to bring something from the oceans and something from the hills in their lunch boxes - a balanced diet basically.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Chapter 358 - Inspired by Freakonomics
There's hardly a unifying theme in many of my posts nowadays - mostly because I never meant to have one. ;p
1. At the rate that the National Stadium is being "rebuilt", I suspect it might not be till 2020 that we'll have the new National Stadium. I say this because, unless my memory fails me, I attended the "closing ceremony" of the National Stadium when I got back to Singapore last year. In fact, I even blogged about it... But a year on, the National Stadium is still hosting the Singapore vs Brazil match! Surely we must have another stadium with sufficient capacity, capable of hosting such an event... or maybe not. Or I'm sure we could set up a football match on the World's Largest Floating Platform - then we'll have the World's Largest Floating Football pitch - which will no doubt bring in another's worth of tourism money into Singapore!
And at a price of $60 per ticket, it's quite steep and a far cry from what we used to pay to see the Malaysia cup ($6/8 for adults was it?) But as the gahmen tells us, go only if you can afford it! Guess I'll be giving the match a miss then, or I'll just watch at some kopitiam - for $60, I could get myself wasted silly on cheap Tiger beer.
2. One of the things that I found "Uniquely Singapore" when I got back, was how horrible Singapore drivers are. Sure, we all know that - the newspaper even had quite a feature on it last year (check the Sunday times archives), but don't we all contribute to this "horrible-ness"? Ask yourself when was the last time you've cut into an available gap in the next lane in a traffic jam, only to realise that the lane you came from was faster (and thus you cut back again). Or when was the last time you honked at passengers crossing the road, instead of slowing down (fine, they were jaywalking, but what do you stand to gain by honking?). Or simply, how often do you check your rear-view mirror, to see if you might be road-hogging?
As I was reading the "bonus materials" in Freakonomics (most of it from the blog at http://www.freakonomics.com/blog), I found one article which kinda resonated with my feelings on driving in Singapore. It's titled "Making Profits from Incivility on the Roads". If the Singapore traffic police would do the same, perhaps the fines will offset some of the many taxes we currently pay.
3. Which brings me to talk about Freakonomics. As a numbers sort of person, I can identify with many of the things mentioned in the book. One of which is on "Irrational Fear". In this chapter, Levitt & Dubner discuss how our judgement may be marred by irrational fear sometimes. They used the example of how, as a parent, you might not let your kid play with another kid, when you know they have a gun in their house, but have no qualms if the other kid has a swimming pool in the house (but no gun). Sure, this might seem "rational" initially, but the number of children who drown in swimming pools are much more than the number of children who die as a results of gun-shootings.
It's up to you whether or not you subscribe to the reasoning given in the book, but it's worth reading nonetheless, if you haven't already (and once again, I'm probably the last person on this earth to read this book... ;p)
The end.
1. At the rate that the National Stadium is being "rebuilt", I suspect it might not be till 2020 that we'll have the new National Stadium. I say this because, unless my memory fails me, I attended the "closing ceremony" of the National Stadium when I got back to Singapore last year. In fact, I even blogged about it... But a year on, the National Stadium is still hosting the Singapore vs Brazil match! Surely we must have another stadium with sufficient capacity, capable of hosting such an event... or maybe not. Or I'm sure we could set up a football match on the World's Largest Floating Platform - then we'll have the World's Largest Floating Football pitch - which will no doubt bring in another
And at a price of $60 per ticket, it's quite steep and a far cry from what we used to pay to see the Malaysia cup ($6/8 for adults was it?) But as the gahmen tells us, go only if you can afford it! Guess I'll be giving the match a miss then, or I'll just watch at some kopitiam - for $60, I could get myself wasted silly on cheap Tiger beer.
2. One of the things that I found "Uniquely Singapore" when I got back, was how horrible Singapore drivers are. Sure, we all know that - the newspaper even had quite a feature on it last year (check the Sunday times archives), but don't we all contribute to this "horrible-ness"? Ask yourself when was the last time you've cut into an available gap in the next lane in a traffic jam, only to realise that the lane you came from was faster (and thus you cut back again). Or when was the last time you honked at passengers crossing the road, instead of slowing down (fine, they were jaywalking, but what do you stand to gain by honking?). Or simply, how often do you check your rear-view mirror, to see if you might be road-hogging?
As I was reading the "bonus materials" in Freakonomics (most of it from the blog at http://www.freakonomics.com/blog), I found one article which kinda resonated with my feelings on driving in Singapore. It's titled "Making Profits from Incivility on the Roads". If the Singapore traffic police would do the same, perhaps the fines will offset some of the many taxes we currently pay.
3. Which brings me to talk about Freakonomics. As a numbers sort of person, I can identify with many of the things mentioned in the book. One of which is on "Irrational Fear". In this chapter, Levitt & Dubner discuss how our judgement may be marred by irrational fear sometimes. They used the example of how, as a parent, you might not let your kid play with another kid, when you know they have a gun in their house, but have no qualms if the other kid has a swimming pool in the house (but no gun). Sure, this might seem "rational" initially, but the number of children who drown in swimming pools are much more than the number of children who die as a results of gun-shootings.
It's up to you whether or not you subscribe to the reasoning given in the book, but it's worth reading nonetheless, if you haven't already (and once again, I'm probably the last person on this earth to read this book... ;p)
The end.
