韩流

最近，在不知不觉中，开始迷上了韩剧。一直以为自己意志还蛮坚定的。。。可是，原来，看了一看，就会迷上了。

同时，随着科技日新月异，质询随手可得。也就因为如此，可马不停蹄地一集跟着一集，通宵达旦地追着看！

去年，曾经写了一则“韩流？ 日风？偶像！”， 谈及接触韩剧的感受，和勾起了念书时期的一些回忆。

其实，仔细看看近年来的剧目，大多离不开情情爱爱。。。从几年前的“冬季恋歌”（其实，还没看过呢！）， 到去年的“浪漫满屋”，到目前的“毒爱”。。。 到多都有一些不合逻辑的爱情，关系。。。这让我想起了70年代的双秦双林 - 秦汉，秦祥林，林清霞，林凤娇。

也许，正因为现在的戏路，多较为有逻辑，同时也运用了科技来展现不同的项目，更多自姿多彩 。正因为如此，当大家看到较为老套的桥断，倒觉得新鲜！ 或许，我是属于“怀旧”的那一类吧！

当然，当然，俊男美女也不在话下。也被那些漂亮的男女艺人的魅力。。。深深的吸引住了。是的，不论男女老幼，在剧里，喊得或骂得多么的厉害，总会有落泪,迷惘的一幕。。。哇！那可是“杀手锏”！尤其是那近镜头。。。那眼神，那帅气（哈哈！不管是大眼睛或小眼睛，是双眼皮还是单眼皮）是多么的迷人啊！ 好酷哦！其中，那几张脸孔，就包括了金成洙，Rain，玄彬 和 金民俊。

啊！也是趁着看这类不怎么合逻辑的戏时，让自己从现实走开~休息一下吧！

I remember...

Decided to take a bus, instead of the MRT to a friend's place... So, went to the bus-stop behind... for #28.

It's the familiar bus-stop, that I recall standing there, stretching my neck to peep through the 'holes' of the void-deck of the opposite blocks... to see if the bus was coming. Yes, it was more than 15 years ago! In my university days! Yes, at that time, my area was still not that developed and that was the nearest bus-stop to catch the public transport to the town centre. Ah! Those good old days waiting for the bus!

Hopped into #28... it drove straight through St 32, passed by East Spring Sec before turning to the furthest end, Tampines Mart on my right! Yes, it's a place that some of us like to go during the school vacation - for lunch and where I get my hair trimmed! Have not gone back that area for almost a year.

The next one was once my second home. Well, I think the same applies to many of my ex-colleagues too! Yes, it was the place where I would spend most of my time even during the school vacation... unless I was out of the island! Yeap, a place where I was there for more than 10 years!

The bus turned left, and went straight... all the way to Safra... to Bedok Reservoir Road... to Bedok North... yes, another old neighbourhood when I stayed during my secondary & JC days! Ah! No much of changes except the new school buildings on my left....

Yes... selected episodes of the past just flashed across...

Are you happy? Trust and Internal Strengths

Had annual work review yesterday... Yes, the concluding one after my 3-year stint at ETD (ironically, it's not at the end of the year, I mean, December! Well, that's MOE's practice, anyway.).

Well, was asked... am I happy here? This is a question that pops up very often during work review - year in, year out, I guess. More often that not, the first reaction why this question?

• Can't the supervisor or leader able to tell - from what they observe, from what they could sense? Somehow, it comes with some negative connotation?
• To many, it seems that one would ask this question because unhappiness was felt. So, by asking is to get to the bottom of the cause?

To be fair, we should also consider another perspective...

• They wanted to know, and give the officer the opportunity to voice out their views... if they are happy, why? This would eventually draw up a list that reminds everybody what makes the place a happy work place.
• We can also perceive it as an effort to improve/better the working environment, which has an impact on the physical and (more importantly) the emotional health of people in the workplace!
• Perhaps from this perspective, we appreciate why the question is asked.

To be fair, there isn't a single workplace is just a 100% happy workplace. Sometimes, in our conversation with others, we would envy, from the how happy this person is as he/she describes the kind of work he/she deals with, how understanding his/her supervisors are, etc... However, we would have to bear in mind, what's each individual's yardstick? A happy workplace for one may not necessary be a happy workplace for another.

• For instance, someone who draws satisfaction from the kind of work they do, despite that it might require him to carry out other duties beyond the main defined jobscope (including work overtime), he would share the excitement with others and express his happiness in terms of the satisfaction he gets from the work.
• On the other hand, when the same kind of work is given to someone who only want to work within the stipulated working hours and nothing else outside that timeframe, he would be very unhappy with work and subsequently the working environment as it requires him to operate beyond their defined boundary and expectation.

Back to the beginning... yes, was asked the question again... I guess, to be frank, I'm not 100% of the time happy at all times... There are ups and downs... regardless of anywhere - be it the current work place or my previous ones... be it local or overseas... But more importantly, is, I believe, is our ability to handle the situation and iron out, straighten out the thinking. It matters!

I think, the most fundamental thing is TRUST. It has to be established right from day 1... having a common goal to achieve... and having understand where everybody's coming from... and assuming that it's a constant element.

It helps alot when trust exists! It helps one to shape the thinking... and certainly helps one to straighten thoughts out more easily... with that guiding principle - the good intention and trust... No matter what - it's still the good intention... and trust and believe that the guiding principle remains unchange in everyone.

Unhappiness normally arises when there's conflict between views... however, it's also time when one re-examines its belief and reflect... and self realisation of what one could have done and why not doing... of course, what's next is not to pay lip service to give empty promises like "from now onwards, I will... " but did not follow by observable actions... that's evident for improvement.

I also came to realise that it really depends on individual's personality and strengths, being capable to do such self-psycho-ing exercise... Think cool!!!! That's another important condition for this to happen... hahaha.... and yes, another factor to note... how deep-seated are the negative thoughts are when one is frustrated.

2 things in the successful formula - EQ and AQ!!!

Dinner with the President!

It's the annual dinner that SIF has to show appreciation to volunteers and sponsors who supported the overseas projects in one way or another - as a SVO in the specialist team or as an on-site SVO (for longer terms like a year).

I remember...
The first time I went to one was 3 years ago, when just returned from Bhutan when the SVOs were invited to the Istana for a high-tea. That's my first close encounter with the President. Fresh back from the mission, I was given the opportunity for a close (quick) chat with him. I was surprised when he seemed to know what were some Singaporeans doing there! He could even cite the names! Wah! I won't expect him to bother to that details! (or is it the duty of the Patron of the NGO to know to such details? Ah!). As Poh Choo had shared, the President took time to talk to each recipient to find out what their projects were about (though briefly... well, how much stage time could we ask for?). Certainly, it makes a DIFFERENCE! I guess, as we saw (often enough) in TV, certificate presenters are really just certificate presenters - they just stand there and shake hand while handing out the certificates!

This time, Seah represented the team to receive the certificates from the President.


Pre-Dinner...
It was held on Thursday (22 October 2008) at Four Seasons Hotel. First, it came with a nice invitation card - a nice combination of gold and black, with watermarked patterns! That was classic and nice.

Next, it's a "why? why choose Thursday?" Didn't the organiser consider that the invitees have to work the following day? Anyway... it's the first time I went to the dinner immediately after work... Luckily had Poh Choo to go with... could lock up all my stuff safely for the entire evening. Thanks to Poh Choo!

The Dinner...
It's a seated kind of dinner... first time went for a western 5-course dinner. There was a variety of bread (in that nicely decorated bread basket), the cold dish is duck meat with a slice of mango with some gravy/cream... Then it's the clear vegetable soup... followed by a sorbet!!! (raspberry and lychee)... then the main dish... a generous serving of groupa and 2 baby tomatos... the desert is a slice of very rich cheese cake! Last but not least a cup of coffee... Of course, the 3 items (cold+main dishes & desert) were served on big plates with small surface area covered with the edible! Well, don't undermine the main dish... It's really very filling! {haiz.... should have taken the pictures}

Getting together...
In fact, it's also a rare opportunity for the team to meet up! In fact, it's through SIF that I started to meet up with people from all walks of life! Oh yes, my activity usually happens among teacher friends... It's through this platform that I interact more with people from other professions (though a number still comes from the education field).

One of the long-time-no-see faces is Peter! The first SVO to leave for Bhutan... one of my info sources before I left... an avivd volunteer who has continued to work in SVO projects in Indonesia. Really saluate him for his commitment of time and effort... Of course, also met Dr Wong - the key driver for the IT in Education project in Bhutan! In a way, my 1-year assignment to Bhutan is part of that project too! Oh yes, am inspired by his commitment and work! I guess, it's through the participation of SVO projects that opens up a whole new world to me. Yes, there's another world.

Of course, the great team I worked with for the IIS project. Here they are: Rajas, Jason and Seah! (missing from the picture is Nirmala). We drove through the bumpy road with slums lined up on both sides before arriving at the white-house-like campus of the international school!

Who else... my dear Poh Choo who got roped in for the eChampionship project and Marissa whom I'll be working very closely with on the upcoming fact finding mission!

'Sing' my way Home...

This was one of the easiest song I learnt in primary school. This song pops up (er.. or out?) of my mind when got struck on the road. Yes, despite of all innovative measures the government has come up with, we still got stuck! Why? Why it still take us more than 1 1/2h to move across
the island on an expressway for the usual 45 min journey?

Like now, got stuck in an unusually long traffic jump @ PIE. Yesterday, it took me almost 2n to reach home (from NIE).

Oh yes, because of the jam, I'm posting to the blog via tne handphone :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~afternote...

Well, it took me almost 2 hours to reach home tonight... after discussion at SIF... It's the fault of the traffic accident near Paya Lebar... the entire expressway just quietened down... all stood still... What did I do? "Post" my way home... hahaha...

Teacher Quality = Teacher Qualification

Was reading one of those editor's articles published a couple of weeks back, after some announcements were made in the MOE workplan seminar. In particular, she wrote about the part on leveling up teacher's qualification.

There's been quite a fair amount of emphasis on moving non-graduate teachers to graduate teachers, and continued PD for graduate teachers to do Masters. Yes, there's so much effort in place in the recent years. One not so direct strategy is from the improving Growth package.

In fact, am for the idea of educational officers to seek for professional development, to pursue for knowledge & being equipped with skills & good ideas that benefits us & people around us. However, the article also create the impression that higher qualification makes better teachers, which I beg to differ!

No doubt that learning at higher institutions broaden our perspectives & deepen our understanding of the subject, how often do we apply them when we teach our subjects at secondary level. Think it's the kind of processes and training that make a difference! The exercises, the thinking that we go through in the discussions, the interaction, etc... hm... the soft skills... of course, am not downplaying the concepts or new ideas we get from the lectures!

On the other hand, I think it is important to recognise the fact that when one has a "Master Degree", it does not necessary imply that he/she would be a fantastically good teacher. Trust me, we had scholars who could not teach! Not that he/she do not have the content knowledge, but failed to connect and deliver. Also learnt from my experiences in these 2 years that, in fact, the lower level we go down to... the more challenging for us to understand (as a teacher... ) and to teach! Having a degree does not necessary help us to do the work! It's having strong fundamental knowledge that matters!

Through the eyes of a non-Humanities person...

Was asked, who do I see from this image... (yeap, yeap... can recognise that it's those source-based question stuff)...

The first reaction: 3 men lor! For sure, the ones at both sides didn't look friendly! The bottom picture showed the "uncovered" (or actual?) situation! They seemed to have gone into some kind of ugly argument though on surface, it's an negotiation! Meanwhile, in both pictures (top and bottom), the "middleman" looked equally helpless! The situation/discussion seemed beyond his ability to manage - he had given up! (as he raised his both hands in the lower picture).

The bottom picture is a true reflection of the situation while the top picture is the image one shows the same, but with controlled emotion, and also when the 2 men (left and right) were behaving in a politically correct manner.

The man on the right (top) in fact had a hidden agenda (obvious, right?) which is damaging (er... devastating) to the other man, as the bomb in the lower picture symbolises. On the other hand, the man on the left seemed to be more straightforward, more upfront - seemed to be the less patient one and was ready to be the one to spark out something worse.

Not to ignore the background, the left seeemed to be some American or European building while the right is obvious to be a mosque. So, these 2 guys represented some powerful guys in these 2 worlds? Er... where did the middleman come from?

... From someone who knows little about history and who has little interest in political news. Haha...

Getting addicted to blogging?

Yes... I think, I am addicted to blogging... but so far, I think I kept my promise well... just blog over the weekend... no blogging in work-days (except for work... yes, my workshops are 100% facilitated via blogs!). Not getting tired over it... have not get tired of this hobby yet... hm... it has become part of me... but luckily, can do without when away from the computer... I will not think of that when overseas! hahaha...

In fact, I'm not the only one who got addicted... Lan, a HOD/Maths of the school and a few of her "weblog champions" got addicted to blogging too!!!! hahaha... Well, that's why they forwarn their teachers when carried out the familiarisation session with them! ^.^

Hm... Strange People?

Recently, had holiday with mum at South Korea. We joined a tour package.

Perhaps I'm so used to getting up early... Simply could not reconcile with the reasons why the rest of the members complain when the morning calls were scheduled at 6.30 am? Strange, isn't it? What time do you wake up in your normal days? Is 6.30 am more than reasonable? I wonder...

In fact, the earlier the merrier... we could cover even more places... or move around in a more leisurely manner, isn't it? Perhaps I'm so used to the winter tours... when we all appreciate that early bird gets the most out of the day (especially when the sky turns into total darkness by 4.30 pm!) Losing sleep in saving time!

On the other hand, think over their complain... perhaps it's because it's holiday! So, sleep is the "entitlement"... So, relax! why wake up so early? It's time to pamper oneself for those few days.... I guess... hahaha....

Do I ever stay at home?

This was the question from a friend who saw me written on my facebook's status - "Am wondering... where to go next..."

Hahaha... when travel bug bites... anywhere will do! Well, there are lots of places I've yet been to... there are also places that I would like to returned to... for sentimental reasons (most of the time).

On the other hand, it doesn't mean that I don't stay at home. As mentioned in the previous post, I can just stay inside the house for days... and even weeks! An introvert? Sometimes people may label me... maybe I was (in the past)... but I guess things have changed since I ventured into the cyberspace and embarked on my maiden solo adventure a few years ago...

Hm... it's a matter of preference... really, also depends on one's mood! and external factors (any lures???? hahaha....) I would still go for my favourite pastimes at the Esplanade on my own... hm... maybe I enjoy some personal spaces while out there too!? But I certainly found a whole new world in the cyberspace! Yes, I stay at home yet wondering in the virtual world! hahaha... not bad a deal... enjoying the best of both worlds!

APPLE Fried Rice

This is the first time I fried rice since my return from Bhutan... hm... almost 4 years ago! I cooked instant noodles... normally for myself when home alone... yeap, too lazy to leave the house... oh yes... I could just stay indoor for days... no, I've no desire to get out of the house... I'm happy to be home :D

I like to share how I prepared that innovative fried rice when in Bhutan. Yeap... with so much fruits (that were sold in kilogrammes rather than pieces), I normally ended up with so much mangoes at home... hahaha... U guess it right! MANGO fried rice!!! Oh yes, it was an experiment... but I ended up having that at least half the time of the week. I'm still so proud of my "innovation"... for someone who does not cook at home at all!


At last, the opportunity arises yesterday! Home alone... so much leftover white rice... after turning the fridge inside out! ha! I found an apple! Yes, Yes... APPLE Fried Rice this time! Ha! After about 30 minutes preparation + sweat all over my forehead... It's hardwork... Success!!! Here's my masterpiece...

Can see the cubes of apple? strips of carrot and omelette? bits of spring onions? oh yes... added seasame oil! :D

Handling the new gadget

Have been using the Sony Ericsson phone since returned from Bhutan... It's not a 3G phone... as a result, would have to exchange the phone with Dad's so that could use it when overseas, especially in places like Japan. The other day experienced difficulty in getting the reception of the radio... In my heart, I thought... it's time to change the phone...

Well, after some deep thoughts... thought through rather thoroughly... decided to get the Omnia... Ah! the first few days were disaster! Hm... not the phone, but it's the matter of coping with the new toy. That reminded me of the PDA I got more than 5 years ago! My life was in chaos when all my appointments and schedules were recorded inside that palm... felt the limitation and returned and remain faithful to my A4 size planner till today.

Well, it does not come with the buttons... instead, it's touchpad! Ha, quite a lot of features that can tap on... that's why pick up the courage to give it a try... So far, after a couple of weeks... think am adapting... :D