preparing notes and worksheet and conducting remedials...

invigilating...

finishing up the SEM report for school appraisal...

going for a meal with my students...

playing and laughing with my kids about their drawings, games, pets, music, people, storybooks, excursions, photos, food etc...

attending home schooling support group gatherings...

talking to my wife about home schooling matters...

organising cell group and marriage support group gatherings...

bringing an old couple from Switzerland to Adam Food Centre for local food and Island Creamery for local flavoured ice creams...

finished watching "Glory Road", an inspirating movie based on a true story about a white man who looked beyond the colour and see the potential in a group of blacks colleage students who played basketball really well and eventually led them to win the national championship despite of death-threats from the white community...

reading the books "The Purpose Driven Life" and "Learners Unlimited" to enrich myself...

that's about it... :D

Comment! (2) | Recommend! | Categories: holidays [t]

school officially closed yesterday... holidays officially begins today! HOWEVER, while other countries' teenagers (i guess) are having camps, overseas trips and lazing at home, for Singaporeans, extra lessons resume for the next few weeks with holiday assignments piling up from various subjects! :(

teenagers, being teenagers, what would they do? they will come for the lessons but their hearts are probably miles away... most of the things taught will probably go in from one ear and go out from the other... assignments given will be left untouched and probably missing and hurriedly copied on the first few days when school reopen, just to stop the nagging of teachers and ease their conscience that some work (though copied) is done, though defeating the purpose of giving it to them in the first place... (although some teachers do likewise by collecting and leaving them at one side and never going to mark them in the first place, thinking that the students have done all the relevant work, only to be shocked by their first test results next semester! :P)

as for me, like many other teachers, I will be down for O levels invigilation. I will be going to Clementi Town Sec to administrate this national exams that determines where my students will be going for their tertiary education... for most of them, it will be JC, for some of them, it will be poly and for some of them who did not prepare for it, it will be repeating one year or going to ITE... whatever it is, what matters is for them to know exactly where they would want to go and not follow the crowd... this is absolutely so important...

rewinding, yesterday, being the last day of school, reminded me of my childhood days once again... we played freeze and melt (or police and thief for my era) at the field, screaming at the top of our voices and running away from each other, like young children... :D to some it may be childish but to me, it is a wonderful flashback of the good old days... and i played the board game RISK at the canteen with some of the boys in my class to fully immerse myself back to my chidlhood days :D Lastly, i was given the chance to play sherlock holmes when one of my students' media player went missing from his bag even though the classroom is mysteriously locked without the keys... hmm... i hope the case will be solved soon...

this is the end of all my babblings for now... :D

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: las day [t], holidays [t]

it is the most memorable birthday i ever had in my life so far... never expect it to happen when i am 30!

i would like to thank my wife and kids for wishing me a happy birthday!

received quite a number of SMSes just after midnight and today! thank you all of your well wishes! in chronological order of the SMSes received, i would like to thank kit yeng, li xuan, aswin, serene, casuarine, jasper, adelaine, josie, grace, nathania, jane, esther, ziqin, christina, melinda, chiu ping, jasmine, cecilina, wan ying, shana and jia ying! :D

my whole family celebrated moses' (christian's good friend) 4th birthday today at the clubhouse and I was very surprised when yvonne and david (moses' parents) baked a cake for me as well! I am thankful to them for their wonderful gift as well! just what i need to fulfill the goal i set to be a GREAT father! another book on parenting! it's called "shepherding a child's heart" by tedd tripp! cant wait to read all about it! :D

the biggest surprise and "conspiracy" finally came in the evening!! i was kept in the dark for months... since the time my wife exchanged numbers with my students during the mid atumn festival (oct) until now, they had been planning all these while... the phoney "game briefing" on the last day of school, the stay over at jasmine place, the weird SMSes from kit yeng, my wife's weird response to a call during dinner, the noise from a large group of people who sounded so familiar, walking up the long flight of stairs outside my house... i was suspecting something when i heard the noise but i thought it was impossible... until i heard the door bell rang and i saw my beloved form class (301!) standing at the door!! they came in and before i know it, i had crazy ribbons sprayed all over me and i was presented with their home-baked choc cake and a gigantic card that has their signatures and our class photo! it was really very touching and wonderful at that moment in time!! i am really thankful for the people who came... it was really wonderful to see every one of them!!

thank you jasmine for organising the surprise party! really appreciate it! thank you for lending your kitchen and place for the experimentation of the birthday cake! it was delicious! dont know who helped in the baking but i am thankful for everyone who was involved!

thank you annabel for the red hot letter and for playing with my kids and teaching ekklesia and ariel to make the cards for me! :D

thank you andaline, borui, huiyu, nathania, serene and wan ying for the personalised pen!

thank you aaron for the choc from japan!

thank you jingxuan, lixuan, jasper, keng yang and yong chang for the photo frame and book mark!

thank you zhiyun and shihui for the lovely card!

thank you cindy, grace, peiying, justine, kerong and junjie for gracing the event!

a big thank you to 301 for making it so memorable and special!

if i do leave out something or someone, my sincere apologies! i tried my best to remember all!! :D

i will be gone for a few days with my family at Port Dickson for a church retreat tmr! See you people around in a few days' time! :D

Comment! (6) | Recommend! | Categories: 301 [t], birthday [t]

money? respect? encouragement? peaceful environment? appreciation? inspiration? purpose? time for ourselves?

i do need all of the above everyday but i realised through my children that they don't need the above as badly as an adult... from there, i realised that the fundamental and most important need for me or can i say people in general is this:

the human touch... a hug... that's it...

don't you realised how lacking that is as we grow older and especially among chinese or asians?

so this is what i would do everyday: i will always give my children a strong hug whenever i come home from work, peppered with kisses and the phrase "i love you!"

that's what they need the most each day (given my time constraint at work) and giving it to them allows me to receive it back as well... :D

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: everyday [t], human touch [t]

A.C.E and their cousins with the puppeteer for the Eric Carle's The Hungry Caterpillar!


Chris and Ekklesia taking a break @ ACT 3 Academy. They are learning Speech and Drama there every Sat! They are loving it! :)


Chris helping me to fill in the marks for my students' scripts! :)


The kids having their dinner cum picnic @ the playground! :)


Ekklesia and Ariel @ Carrefour!


Ekklesia and Ariel playing under the trolley! :P


JJ's BD on 29 Aug! The Class celebrated for him with a swiss roll and some gummy sweets surrounding it! innovative! :)




301'06 had our flea market for CIP these couple of days, selling ice milo freeze, sweets and balloon flowers :)


Balloons with well wishes released into the sky, wishing them all the best for their Prelims and O Levels! :)



2 model houses that my students did for PBL/TOL :) It works like the real thing!


The double hearts made of a single dollar note. Thanks to J.C, I managed to learn how to make such a nice masterpiece! :)


The first card addressed partially to me from 304'06! Curious: who are the guy and the gal?



The first two presents i received for teacher's day this year from liting and andrea :) thank you!

shall end here! having teacher's day dinner tonight! the theme: aloha (hawaii) :)

Comment! (0) | Recommend! | Categories: photos [t], teacher\'s day [t], kids [t], 30106 [t], CIP [t]

First and foremost, I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to all who took the trouble to show appreciation to me as a teacher through the gifts, cards, sms and verbal greeting on this special day! I am deeply touched by the effort put in. This is the intrinsic reward that no job in the whole world can even offer! :)

Well, here they are: the photos of every single gift that was given in random order (NOT in any order of preference/liking! I cherish every gift, whether big or small, simple or delicate, cheap or expensive, hand-made or bought! it's the thought that counts!)


My table was so packed with gifts that i took quite a while to clear them! :)


thank you adelaine for the happy beans pen and the paper crane! got your msg! Jia you for your EOY exams! you can! :)


thank you jane and yufeng for the stirrer! thank you for faithful and passionate service in SJAB! all the best for your prelims and coming Os! :)


thank you annabel for the card, the teacher's day msg and the lollipop! I will defintely eat it! Dont lose heart! I believe you can make her proud! :)



thank you zilianers for the hand-made crystal ball and the falling star! continue to stay "chio" and so "zai" in your studies! :)


thank you sonia for the red pen, chewing gum, the nice ribbons and wrapper! glad that you will work hard to do me proud this EOY! jia you! :)


thank you jasmine for the rochers! i finally gave you what you have been pestering me for! happy viewing! :)


thank you terrance for the jar of sweets! thanks for being such a good logistics head for SJAB! :)


thank you coolness for the cup of sweets and the note! stay cool by always doing so well for physix, ya!? :)


thank you christina and tracy for the red pen! 2 chris: stay pro for physix!! 2 tracy: u know what 2 do, right!? :P


thank you xinyi for the photo frame cum note pad holder! continue to be such a sweet and dilligent student! :)


thank you yaohui for the stuff dog! it was a nice surprise for me! dont be discouraged by your CT results this time round! do well for your coming EOY! :)


thank you amanda for the hand-made card! never knew we took a photo together during NDP! hopefully i will get to teach 109 again next year! :)


thank you joscelin, my mentee, for the apple! keep staying ever so creative and artistic! :)


thank you mei luan for the beautiful cake puff! never knew you are so good in baking! shall visit you one day @ cake avenue! :)


thank you guan qun for the toblerone! jia you for physix! dont freak out bcos of it! i am sure you will eventually master it! :)


thank you councillors for the descriptive ice-cream sticks and hearts! I believe it must be your hard work right, kit yeng? :)


thank you huiwen for the red pen! 303 is fortunate to have a chair person like you! :)


thank you peilin for your book of thankfulness! i shall remember every single bible verse in the book! hope they come in handy for you too! :)


thank you xuejie and wanqing for the trophy! i will definitely try my best to reach the goal! thanks for being my wonderful physix reps! :)


thank you ivy for the hand-made card and crane! it's really the thought that counts and i will take note of your constructive feedback! :)


thank you vanessa for the figurine and card! it was a pleasure having you as one of my mentees for TOL! your model house rocks! :)


thank you zhi yong for the pen! though you are ultra cheeky in class, I enjoyed having you as my student! :)


thank you yini for the photo frame! wishing you all the best for the coming promos! jia you! :)



thank you joyce and jia ying for the famous amos cookies! dont lose heart concerning your results! JC life is tough but you are tougher! :)


thank you emily for the hand-made card! I believe your hard work will pay off this coming EOY exams! Jia you! :)


thank you kit yeng for the brownie! I'm sure you are doing just fine in JC! continue to be so happy always! :)


thank you daphne (303) and jinghui(not you meh!?) for the soccer ball stuff toy! jia you for your coming EOY! do me proud! :)


thank you abigail, yiyan, chrysan, amanda, yining, sabrina and cynthia for the stuff bear! stay always so close together as friends! hope you will all be in the same class next year! :)


thank you 303 for the hand-made card! this class is getting so much more alive these days! keep it going! :)


thank you lixuan (304) for the male sign, the msg and the photo frame! very thoughtful of you indeed, considering the fact that you are so frustrated with physix! I am sure you can do very well for your EOY exams! Jia you! :)



thank you felicia and melissa for the gigantic card and the jelly beans! this card tells it all! continue to work hard understanding physix! let's have more remedials, ya!? :) free kick was great fun! :D




thank you weiru, soh min, rebecca, xinjie, lynn, cuitian, cheryl, sok ee, daphne and jamie for the big bouquet of sunflowers, the card and the photo frames! very very sweet of all of you indeed! really hope that the 10 of you will always be close friends (not just only playing bridges together!) and you will all excel in physix together! rock on! :D thank you 302 for signing the card as well! prove that you are exceptional good in this coming EOY, ya!? :)




thank you 301 for reciting that "marriage vow" to me! till death do we part indeed! really hope that the class will excel in this coming EOY exams and become even more united! :) thank you letts for the gift (that you bought from Europe) and that you are giving on behalf of the class. appreciate your act of sacrifice! :)


that's me with my new found brother, chow ah beng (aka mr liu)! tucking out all the way! cool isnt it!? LOL! :P


that's me with puay bing, esther, jia ying and pearlyn! thanks for coming back to pay me a visit! shall catch up again with all of you when we manage to arrange for a class outing! meanwhile, stay cheerful and funky! :D


that's me with some teachers and 304! thank you 304 for the pizza party! it's was simply wonderful! the teachers really felt like superstars! enjoyed the captainball game a lot a lot! the ODD team is fantastic but the EVEN team is even better with me around! LOL! :P we shall have another round soon, ya!? :)


lastly, I was there at the teacher's day rally 2006 with PM Lee as the guest speaker! The talk was inspiring! heard that i was caught on TV, messaging on my phone! omg! :P but it was for a good cause so no regrets! :D

this entry took me hours to complete but it's worth it! :D happy holidays!

Comment! (4) | Recommend! (3) | Categories: teacher\'s day [t], gifts [t], photos [t], students [t], memorable [t]