22 March...

This morning... woke up... it's 22 March... the date looked familiar... but somehow could not figure out what's so special...

Ah!!!!

It's the date when I was posted out as a Trained Teacher! It was the date when I completed the 1st bond with the Ministry! It was the date that our class remembered and celebrated to mark the completion of the bond! :D

Looking back... how many of us are still in the teaching service? how many of us actually venture out to other fields? how many of us retreated to stay at home to mould the future of the nation?

Hm...

No rush, no rush...

That caught my eyes last week... it was peak hours, around 7 pm, everybody's heading home... but the bus not too crowded... the last passenger boarded the bus... it's an old man, he boarded the bus, with the aid of a walking stick... he flashed the EZlink card at the card reader... having some difficulty, he moved to the seat nearest to the exit... and sat down...

So what???

OK, throughout the entire scene, the bus was not moving... so???? that's the difference! More often than not, the bus-driven will not take a second look after the last person boarded the bus... he will head off for the next stop... but not this one, until the old man sat down.

On the other hand, sometimes, just wondering... old folks with walking difficulties board the buses and started wondering... hey, why take the bus when you have problem lifting your legs or even walking (Ok, it's extremist thoughts)... or why pick such peak hours to travel? Don't you know it's rush rush hours? (er....) also, occasions when mothers who rush rush their young children up the buses during peak hours! Worse still, carry with them large bags and small bags... Hey, is that the best time???

... hm ...

Don't quite understand or figure out why??? or is it because I don't shop at peak hours, I yet have children to 'rush rush' around? Old age has not caught up with me yet??? Oops!!!

The Withered Trees

It's by coincidence... that I sat on the other side of the train... it's pure coincidence that I lifted my head as the train headed Pasir Ris MRT station... The rising sun just brightened the skies, sending some mist in the air... that caught my eyes... the trees!!! the land area between Tampines and Pasir Ris is filled with trees... but the one caught my attention are the withered trees... or are they the old trees... They are not brown... there's no leaves... they are grey... they have only with them trunks and branches... they look old, dying(???).

We can find such sight in Singapore? I'm surprise!

By Default???

Sometimes, I wonder if it's our culture being "stingy"... stingy in words... stingy in expressing our appreciation or gratitude??? Or we see that we're being conservative? being humble? Hm... is that the Asian culture? or most people are handicapped in words? I just wonder!!!

A couple of mornings ago, was in the train, on my way to work. The train was very crowded, as usual, in a weekday morning where all heading to work. Then, an expecting mother entered and stood right in front of the passenger. As a good civilian and considerate passenger, he stood up immediately... next... she immediately took the seat, sat down... and sat her sight on the floor, not uttering a word... while he stood right in front of her...

Hey... just wonder... have we forgotten the 2 simple yet power words "Thank You"? On the other hand, the young chap may not be expecting a 'Thank You' 'cos he might think by default, that's what he should do... next wonder... did she think, by default, she deserved a seat, so what's there to thank? This set me wondering... Is that our socio-culture?

Smell the flowers...

今天，同样的，又走在那人行天桥。那是每日上班的必经之路。

上个新期，偶然的,看到桥边的一棵树长满了粉红的花。哇，在早晨的艳阳照射下，多漂亮啊！心想，在本地，在钢骨水泥的都市里，居然有让人惊艳的一幕。

那时上个新期，本想把相机带来，把美丽的一幕给捕捉住。可是，总是懒懒地，一天过一天。啊！今天心理暗叫，那浓浓密密的花群不见了！心里叹道：“花开须折则需折，末待无花空折枝."

其实，想想，那和我们平时做人处事的道理一样。有时，明明机会来了，可是，就是心不甘， 情不愿的，结果白白的错失良机。唉！

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ an update on 13 April 2006

花又盛开了！ 星期一，从地铁站走出来，还是照常的走着有着。咦？？？ 突然，眼前一亮，那不是盛开着的粉红色花卉吗？远远地，另外一棵上回没开花的树，也冒出了白白的花朵来争艳。

是春的到来？还是夏的风采？新加坡不是四季逢春吗？

树木是四季逢绿？还是被这儿的气候给骗了？

Wearing a Different Hat...

5 January 2006...
It's is the first time I visited the school, with my new role as an ETO... The feeling is very different... Oh yes, those words are still in my head... I'm now going out as an ETO, How people see ME... a representative of ETD, someone from MOE... What I say MATTERS!!! I've never faced that much anxiety when I step into a school... the unseen load is heavy! It's so different, compared to days when I was the HOD in school and just waited to see what the ETD officer has to offer when he came! Well, it's the beginning... just the very very first taste... let's see...

Out of my Comfort Zone...

The 1st time I leave my comfort zone
2004 July... when I packed my bag and leave my homeland the first time... no, no... not as a tourist... but to carry with me some dreams that I hope to materialise...

I had asked myself many many times, I have been asked many many times, by different people... why? why? why?

So, what triggered that drastic move, that drastic change?

Am I tired of the routines that follow me day-in day-out that I have no control over? What kind of impact will I create, given the same set of skills and expertise when applied in a less advantaged environment? ....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 2nd time I leave... Is that my point of no return???
1 Jan 2006 not only started as new year, but opens up a new chapter to my life journey, I believe... I once again step out of my comfort zone the second time...

Blogging???

The First Time I heard this word...

The first time I heard about this term was when I was at Bhutan! hahaha... from a place where technology has yet had a significant place in its people's daily life and heart...

• The Mindset
  I was teaching ICT in NIE Paro... ok, the mental model of the locals was, I was suppose to be very IT-savvy person - imported from Singapore! [hahaha... but that's why I'm really proud of Singapore... it tells us that we have been successful in certain areas] Right, that's also one of the challenges I faced... to clarify their assumption - that I'm not expert in every field of technology - to open up their doors to more technology arenas... well, it's just like, a Maths expert in Statistics may not be well verse in Calculus!)... ok, isn't that one of the reasons I'm there, apart from those spelt out in the TOR?
• Back to Blogging
  Thanks to Dr Soo, who's the volunteer specialist in the ICT project... he came in Dec 2004 to conduct the workshop on Database... there, the technology savvy him first introduced the word 'blog' to the local lecturers there... ok, I was among the 7 participants of the workshop.
  
  Hey, what was that??? I wonder??? Being away from Singapore for half a year, a new jargon came!!! Oh no!!! That's the difference of living in the mountains and in an urban city? I've lost touch to what's happening in Singapore! Oh no! I become a 'sua-ku' after 'elevating' myself to somewhere more than 2000m above sea level??? Shh...
  
  He showed us what his community of bird-lovers er... nature-lovers(?) do... they go bird-watching and put up the activities and pictures of birds, etc... There! My first encounter of the blog...

OK, I think it's just like any website... but possibly one that makes posting to the internet much easier... like a breeze...

I hear the word again!!!

Back to Singapore, since June 2005... started hearing more about it when at one time it made a hoo-ha in the news! The not so good ones... when a medium of good intent (I presume most, if not all, technologies started off with some good intention behind it, to make one's life or the world a better living place... a more cohesive community, etc...) was abused! OK, see it from another perspective... being borrowed as an alternative platform to put across one's voice in a less friendly manner... and yes, the 'subjectivity' comes in...

This reminds me of an old saying, that Fire can be a good servant, but a bad master... drawing the parallel... Blogging can be a good platform for expression and networking, but when misused, is a weapon that destroys and misleads

Am I going into it? When will I do it?
Yes, I'm going to involved in the delivery of the new module that uses the inquiry-based approach to the use of technology in maths learning. Exciting, I flipped through the course outline, the slides, etc... that Sok Hon has prepared... oh no! "BLOGGING"!!! It's a technology that the course will introduce the participants to, one of the tools that facilitate IBL... Why "Oh no!", 'cos till now I've not personnally go blogging yet... Am I the few left behind who has not catch up with time? How to do it? Is it difficult?... some of the questions that float to my head immediately... ok, I tell myself, don't worry, there'll be a way I will master this new trade... still...

Oh NO! NO CHOICE!!!
There comes the day! 20 Feb... hahaha... the day I faced something that's totally alien to me! The announcement from Joy... all in the Section must start blogging... there's homework... to be 'submitted' through the blog!!!!

No, no, no... (Oops! remember DD reminded us not to use 'no, no, no...') we are not left there to figure out how to float ourselves... Joy gave us a very good start... guided steps... that's very very helpful to me, making my first step to create the blog... got it out on the very day, and emailed back the URL of my blog to Joy... Thanks, Joy... or... thanks to the new structure introduced in the PD Section, helping me to open the doors to blogging...

Figuring it out...
The next anxiety was how to go about posting and publishing in the blog... ok, self-learning is not that easy... it takes time explore and yes, must persevere! How to post the picture up? How to create hyperlinks to other websites, etc... still figuring out...

Hey, that's why the fun is, that's where the satisfaction is, when I LEARN it myself... now the next thing to look out for is how to make it more organised (the way I want...) and start adding other stuff here...

One Step Forward... (4 March 2006)
It has been the past one week when I tried to organise the blog... having too many things cramped under one page is too messy! Can't take it visually, personally...

What an achievement this morning, managed to create 2 more blogs and link them up nicely... standardising the look, insert a picture... etc... Hm... a pad on my shoulder :D

What a Day! (5 March 2006)
Went into the web to look at what I did yesterday... Wah!!! What a drastic change, compared to what I saw yesterday morning... Well Done... OK, I guess the next challenge is to sustain the kind of enthusiasm, to continue to come in to contribute and grow what I've started off with... Indeed, I thought, hey, it's quite a good idea to put down the Bhutan Adventure here... see, I've been toying with the idea of putting them in print... ok, hope one day will come when I can devote my time to do that... meanwhile, I think it's not a bad idea to have my ideas, my thoughts to be captured in the blog before they slowly fade..... away..... Cheers!

Counting my stock (14 Aril 2006)
It's been more than a month after 'engaging' myself with the blog... Yes, it's enomorous fun! Start seeing the power of blog!

• An Expression Platform - realised that, unconsciously, have penned down a fair bit of thoughts in the blogs... it's where thinking flows... once start laying the hands on the keyboard... the fingers simply run...
• A Journal - have started jotting down the little little sweet memories I had while abroad.
• A Sharing platform - more for work... started using blogs to facilitate some of the workshops... thought it provides a transparent and unthreatening environment that encourages one to talk; of course, also using it as a platform to put up resources, unfortunately blogger does not have the feature allowing us to upload files.