What would be your reaction?

The piece of land that separates my flat and Tampines Junior College was left vacant since day 1 we moved in... that was more than 20 years ago! After more than 2 decades, development began since February this year and construction work takes place since, every week day, from 8.30 am to about 6 pm. How fortunate, it's the time when I'm about 30 km away from home.

Quite usual to hear noisy work carry out at night as there's some rules that contractors have to adhered to. However, last night, Friday, the piling work continued beyond 8 pm.

What would be the usual reactions?
I think, these thoughts would be immediately surface...

• Hey! Time to stop! It's past 6 pm.
• It's noisy!  Don't they know it's time to stop? People need to rest!

I think the above are common... but some us would ask the question...

• Why they didn't stop the work?

Interesting, someone who stays at home the whole day to bear the noise, my mum, responded...
"They must be trying to rush their work to meet the deadline, to do what they couldn't do in the past days because of the heavy rain!"
There wasn't any impatience or frustration (caused by the noise) in her response.

What does this tell?
A good lesson to learn...

Honesty...

This morning, went to the vegetarian store to da-bao my lunch. Had not patronise this store for more than 2 years. Asked for 2 pieces of fried veg, yes, a little like tempura but it's sinfully coated with fried flour. Then I noticed that the hawker actually put in 4 pieces instead of 2 (I wonder why?)

She handed the pack to me and said, "Usually they come in larger pieces. Because today they are a bit small, I'm giving you 2 pieces for every one piece you order."

I was pleasantly surprise! She needed not do that - especially when nobody knows!
What made her voluntarily picked up the extra piece?
Her conscience has told her, "Do what's right. That's value!"

Yes, honesty counts!
Compare a near retirement-age auntie who has probably did not complete her primary school and a group of "highly educated".
There's something fair to all... it does not come with education. It's about what one values!

生活。意义。快乐。

某日上午，经过停车场时，偶然，看到送货的司机把货交给同事，有说有笑地。虽然听不到他们的谈话；但，看得出，他们的表情轻松愉快。

突然，起了一个这样的想法：送货司机似乎工作的蛮愉快的；也许工作压力不大吧！？也许，他们的工作目标，就是准时把货物送达目的地就行了。他们的忙，只限于来往的交易；也许，他们的工作都不必用到什么脑力的吧！那么，也许他们的压力，仅限于“准时”把货物送达就行了。其实，他们的工作，也蛮“机械化”的。放工后，就是自己的时间了。工作，是“带”不回家的。当然，终日在路上“跑”，也是件相当累人的事。然而，回到家后，就是自己的时间；可作休息，也可安排时间与家人享受天伦之乐、朋友联络感情。


当然，我所说的，也许是他们不赞同的。但，至少，是我在相比之下，“看”得到了。


当然，也有人说，一分耕耘，一分收获。要赚更多的钱，才能过自己向往的生活，很多时候，我们称它为“生计”。其实，很多时候，“向往”，是指对“物质”上的享受。换句话说，我们若“知足常乐”，不追求物质享受，那么，间接的说，我们不必把钱看得那么重，那么当做出选择时，就没有那么大、那么多的压力与紧张。生活，就过得较开心？

那么，如果要追求无忧无虑的日子，也许，就意味着放弃目前，从新再来？

“从新再来”，包括了生活哲学。。。

Cup-a-Noodle from Japan

This was one of the 'few stock' left since the last Japan trip in December. Bought a few 'types' of the cup-a-noodle from the supermarket. Simply love the way that they were packaged. Look, this cup came with a cap! Do you recall seeing 'such' design of the cup-a-noodle on the shelves of our local supermarket? It made it so convenient and neat to 'soak' the noodles in hot water instead of having to place my pair of chopsticks to hold down the piece of cover to close the mouth of the cup. It also make the discarding process much easier - cover it properly and the remaining soup would not spill all over the place! Ah! How thoughful!

EarthQuake in Japan (11 March 2011)

It's not the first time in the recent year that there's reports of earthquakes... Indonesia is one of those countries that's frequently hit by earthquake in the recent years... similarly, there's China and also the recent New Zealand... and further away in the other part of the globe... In fact, it's not new to hear earthquakes hit Japan... however, it's not as disastrous, and impactful as this one... which partly because it's the coastal area being widely affected; what's worse, it's hit by the tsunami. Now, it's followed by the explosions of the nuclear plants. In fact, I think the damages are beyond imagination.

In fact, it did not quite sink in in me after a while. It happened that, I was on medical leave that day; so saw the news at the ChannelNewsAsia website. Just like the one in 2005 December, the first known "bad enough" tsunami hit southeast asia, in particular, Thailand. That time, I was in Paro. But I heard (saw) about it via BBC, which kept me company in those winter nights.

I guess I heart went to those at the affected places... in particular those at the coastal areas because it was just than 12 months ago, I was there for a week - in June, with Karen, Linda and Alice... and we had quite a bit of fun over there... it's also one of those trips that I dared a more dangerous 'stunt' - went out for the boat ride! I still recall those rocky waves of the sea where we held tight to the side of the boat!


Also, the beautiful sunrise that I recorded and did up that very morning...


Here's the GoogleMap that documented where we visited...


View 2010 Tohoku, Japan in a larger map

Here's the Tohoku blog I created for the trip...
http://lohky-tohoku.blogspot.com/p/on-google-map.html

Bad Hair Day 1 of my March vacation

This is my first 'lunch-out' - on my own - during this March vacation... all the way to the other end of the island, Choa Chu Kang. Haha... I must be crazy... but this is the most comforting thing I did in the first day of the March vacation.

"Unearthy" location
Blame it on this disorganised workshop that took place in the primary school which is situated in this remote part of the island. The closest MRT station to it was the Choa Chu Kang... oh! where is it??? Haiz... it's definitely a real challenge for a easterner who is never attracted to the western part of the island. (Oh yes, I'm bias, but I am always glad that I live in the self-sufficient east that enjoys better quality of air in this small island). Taking a cab from the MRT station to the school cost more than $7. So, you could imagine how accessible the school was! Oh please, do not volunteer your school as the location if it's so unaccessible!
 

The "best" was yet-to-come 

My name was not in the attendance list despite the fact the name was sent in earlier for this workshop! Haha! Good joke! I changed my mind and submitted my name for the workshop because we were reminded that a representative was at least expected since it's one of the targeted training for hit the KPI set at the cluster level!

Oh yes, it's supposedly beneficial to the participants. Indeed, I've not doubt about the intent. However, the way it's organised left much thoughts to... Hey, did you get the right person to coordinate? For goodness sake, if it's an ICT-related workshop, let every participant have access to the internet. I'm not being demanding, but it's an expectation in Singapore schools! I would have given my full understanding if it's conducted in some remote schools in Bhutan, but definitely not in an MOE school! Each cluster of participants (ranged from 3 to 6 people at the desk) to share 2 LAN cables! Can you imagine that???

What does this tell about the organiser? An unwilling organiser? We could read alot into it... by simply looking at the logistics arrangement. I'm not being to critical over how people did things, but as a host, there's a baseline to the kind of experience you want your guests to take away.

About the Workshop
This 3-hour session had provided me a good glimpse of what I could draw from the workshop, which I think the thinking behind was good, however, it would definitely be more beneficial if it's conducted within the school, rather than made up by participants from different schools.

I'll share more takeaway in my Learning Journey Blog.

The People I met...
To be specific, it's the first time I participated in workshop that involve fellow educators in the cluster. Unfortunately, people whom I met that morning didn't help to lift up the day... How should I describe? Hm... Just 2 words, "Very UNWelcoming"... that tells alot! I'm not a picky person... but I won't forget this very first experience with this group of participants!

Having to brave through the long and winding road to reach the school, I was already late for 20 minutes. Got myself settled down with the supposedly Maths & Science group - a group of teachers whom I believe were less that 5 years in service.

We were supposed to refer to the shared GoogleDocument and respond to some questions to be put up in a mindmapping software. Remember about the internet accessibility in the school??? Haha.. Of course, I had no access and had no slightest idea of what to answer. All faces were new to me.

All were SOOOO engaged in their own discussion and no one NOTICED this new addition to the group! Hahaha... I was transparent!!! I can't imagine this if it's going to happen back in my school! I'm very sure, this is something that we'll remind our teachers never never do this to fellow participants in any workshop! What does this tell others about YOU!?

Better still when I asked the one beside me to find out what's happening, "Could I take a look at the document?" Without turning or lifting her head, she just turned her laptop a little and carried on her conversation with her partner. How RUDE!!! A RUDE LONG-HAIR CREATURE! Anyway, having learnt what's the task, I carried on to do my mindmap on my own macbook. Anyway, contributed my 2-cent worth in the discussions in the 3-hours of 1st part of the workshop. That's ENOUGH! I guess the key is, an EDUCATOR who possessed NO BASIC MANNERS! and DEFINITELY NOT HELPFUL at all -  What does this reflect about our PEOPLE in our service? Filling the vacancies with more and more of the "Mind my own business people?"

Truly disappointing! No, no, no... I'm not going to change my impression of this particular ill-mannered bispectacled long hair creature!

My Consolation after the 3-hour ordeal...
I was glad that I have a good reason to get out of this unpleasant situation - the Wild card was that I was not even registered for the workshop! So what when that creature and others at the table started to express interest in what we do in the school after knowing where I came from...

The morning part ended at around 1 pm. After making my way to Chua Chu Kang MRT station, it was almost 2 pm! The best way to console myself of the unpleasant start of the day was to have a good meal for lunch... 

Treat for myself ~ Ramen @ Ajisen, Lot 1, Choa Chu Kang

比较。。。何必呢?

近日，又碰到友人甲。和甲，认识也有大概十来年了吧！大家都在同一“屋檐”下打工，也在两个老板下一齐同事过。当然，离去后，也没管后来“接班”的老板的故事。既然不管我事，自然而然地，我没兴趣。当然，即使我并不对“新老板”的作风有任何的好奇，友人甲和乙，都经常在我的耳边提及新老板的怎么、什么的。所以，即使我跟“新老板”素未蒙面，对他，我并不陌生。

其实，我认为，每个人都有他的长处与短处。长，即是“擅长”之处。但，甲则喜欢经常有意无意间把这两位“过去”与“现任”老板作比较，尤其是把现任老板抬的高高的，说“过去”老板如何不够交际人缘等等、说“现去”老板如何善于利用口才交际人员关系去为机构、同事们争取机会表现，把该机构推到另一高峰等等。何必呢?

是为了“炫耀”吗？其实，有什么好 “炫耀”呢？
花无百日红。 可是，“炫耀”是正常人的心理吗？

当然，甲也时不时地提及该机构如何运用科技。也许，她对目前的所见所闻感到十分的骄傲；可是也不必常常的把它“挂”在嘴里。

天啊！除了“炫耀”，你可知还有“谦虚”这两个字吗？
不要忘了“台上十分钟，台下十年工”。前人种树，后人乘凉。 

Rewarding myself...

Rewarded myself handsomely with a good lunch at Lao Beijing @ Plaza Singapura after a few weeks ot hardwork and stress for the Apple Education Leadership Summit 2011... Ah! It was a good one!