Sometimes, just find road user (hm...), pavement users are nuisance! Yeap, the road is wide enough for 2 persons... but only used by one... as a result, the human traffic has been slowed down. Why take up a lanes while you only need one? Then goes the other kind, the entire lane is fully blocked... by 2 people chatting... ha! worst still! It's a road barricade! Can't cross at all! Causing a long human traffic jam... Of course, another type are those who walk so fast... 'speeding'... and suddenly stop because that's a 'good' spot to wait for the bus! Ah! It's right in the middle of the lane! That causes immediate brake of the people right after them! What inconsiderate creatures out there!!!
Encounter this almost every work day when heading towards the office. It's an agony having to walk through the crowd at that bus-stop!
Think about this... if I have not changed my job a few years back, I would not have the chance to experience the Singaporean behaviour (maybe I should term it as..."Road users' behaviour in Singapore" since there're so many "foreign talents" that have joined our workforce... what's more it's at that bus-stop with buses heading to the Science Park, Biopolios, Ayer Rajah area....
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Careful Driving...
I'm almost always fearful when on the road...hahaha... especially when seated as the front passenger... and especially when there're lots of cars... and when on an expressway! haha! Can just imagine how 'wild' other motorists are... cutting into one's lane, etc
Sometimes, I wonder... when a very crowded bus brakes in order to avoid hitting into another car, is he trying to prevent accident(s) from happening?
It looks like... Yes... one road accident has been prevented! But think about the passengers in the bus? Those who are standing and not holding too tightly to the handrails? even those who are seated... just imagine the kind of force that pushes them forward. Hey, Newton's 1st law! Then, who's at fault that causes another accident?
So, drivers of small cars do not think that big buses bully you! You could be the one too!
Sometimes, I wonder... when a very crowded bus brakes in order to avoid hitting into another car, is he trying to prevent accident(s) from happening?
It looks like... Yes... one road accident has been prevented! But think about the passengers in the bus? Those who are standing and not holding too tightly to the handrails? even those who are seated... just imagine the kind of force that pushes them forward. Hey, Newton's 1st law! Then, who's at fault that causes another accident?
So, drivers of small cars do not think that big buses bully you! You could be the one too!
It's an angmo? It's a woman? Oops! It's a man!
Up at bus 29, I sat on the usual seat - the longer bench which is vertical to the rest..., right behind the very first seat (which is behind the driver).
After settling down... I raised my head... one with yellowish brown shoulder long hair sat just 'in front' of me... hm... I thought, it's an angmo lady... then caught the side view... oops! yellowish brown hair with black eyebrows? Ah! It's one of those pseudo angmo chinese woman... Then the phone rang... "hello hello...." Oops! It's a man's voice!
Oh my god! What a 'creature'! er... one of those horribly mixed hyrids!
After settling down... I raised my head... one with yellowish brown shoulder long hair sat just 'in front' of me... hm... I thought, it's an angmo lady... then caught the side view... oops! yellowish brown hair with black eyebrows? Ah! It's one of those pseudo angmo chinese woman... Then the phone rang... "hello hello...." Oops! It's a man's voice!
Oh my god! What a 'creature'! er... one of those horribly mixed hyrids!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Handicapped by Technology
The headline of the Straits Times article "Wired teens = 'Ant' writing" captures my attention this morning.
Several people complaint about the 'ant' writing - in particular, teachers who do lots of marking, and especially those who mark scripts with lots and lots of text... hahahah... in a way, Maths teachers are spared from the enomorous amount of text apart from numbers... Hey, wait a minute, we have our difficulty to decipher "5" from "8", "1" from "7"...we have our fair share too...
On the other hand, was talking to a few participants when attended a workshop a few days ago. It started from saying, for primary pupils who are currently in the FutureSchools @ Singapore programme, they are so adept with the use of technology... and what if they are subsequently posted to schools that use less technology... how adaptable are these pupils?
I was also relating my personal experience... when I become so handicapped when required to write with pen and paper! Felt the impact when was tasked to write a short 250 words essay a few months back as a course entry requirement. It was a struggle... somehow, it lacks the flexibility of organising the thoughts... oh yes, among the candidates in that room, think I'm the only one prepared with the correction tape!
Several people complaint about the 'ant' writing - in particular, teachers who do lots of marking, and especially those who mark scripts with lots and lots of text... hahahah... in a way, Maths teachers are spared from the enomorous amount of text apart from numbers... Hey, wait a minute, we have our difficulty to decipher "5" from "8", "1" from "7"...we have our fair share too...
On the other hand, was talking to a few participants when attended a workshop a few days ago. It started from saying, for primary pupils who are currently in the FutureSchools @ Singapore programme, they are so adept with the use of technology... and what if they are subsequently posted to schools that use less technology... how adaptable are these pupils?
I was also relating my personal experience... when I become so handicapped when required to write with pen and paper! Felt the impact when was tasked to write a short 250 words essay a few months back as a course entry requirement. It was a struggle... somehow, it lacks the flexibility of organising the thoughts... oh yes, among the candidates in that room, think I'm the only one prepared with the correction tape!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Happy 43rd Birthday, Singapore
It's the 43rd Birthday... Young nation that has gone far and left impressive footprints in different parts of the world, all agreed... and we are still working very hard... consistently reminding the rest of the people about our existence, about our unique identity. Uniquely Singapore!
Friday, August 08, 2008
"As we all know..."
Well, it's something we hear quite often... "As we all know..." In fact, this comes with an assumption that everybody knows what's happening, everybody has the necessary prior knowledge... Often, this comes out from one's mouth when one has seen it happening, say in a certain environment (or a few more)... and it established the pattern that everybody know....
Think, no matter what, it's not good to make such an assumption. In fact, sometimes when I attended workshop or training or evening briefing... when someone said "As we all know..." on something I do not know... the first thought crosses my mind is, "Oops! I'm so ignorant! Others know and I don't know!!!" So, as a facilitator or presentation, I feel that it's still good to keep this phrase from being heard, to avoid belittling others.
Well, it's always good to check the assumption... otherwise, it's an assumed expectation and one bound to get back-fired with frustrations when later realised that the initial ideas were not communicated because the audience could not make sense out of it...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sounds chim? Well, just recall when you heard this phrase when you don't exactly know... how do you feel?
Think, no matter what, it's not good to make such an assumption. In fact, sometimes when I attended workshop or training or evening briefing... when someone said "As we all know..." on something I do not know... the first thought crosses my mind is, "Oops! I'm so ignorant! Others know and I don't know!!!" So, as a facilitator or presentation, I feel that it's still good to keep this phrase from being heard, to avoid belittling others.
Well, it's always good to check the assumption... otherwise, it's an assumed expectation and one bound to get back-fired with frustrations when later realised that the initial ideas were not communicated because the audience could not make sense out of it...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sounds chim? Well, just recall when you heard this phrase when you don't exactly know... how do you feel?
Basic Courtesy... Basic Manners... Have we forgotten?
Sometimes, because of our enthusiasm, we forget about the space around us... because of excitement, we own the whole world... we forget that sound travels!!!
Since young, we have been taught, it's important to observe basic manners - how to present ourselves. In fact, as we grow older, we learnt that we are the ambassadors of our schools, people associate us with whatever they know of (be it the school we come from, the individual who lives there, etc...)
Oh yes, we display good mannerism not because we wanted to impress people with a clean and good image. But it's because we know it is rude to behave in a certain manner, and we should not practice that!
For example, not to leave halfway in a presentation or a meeting... it's rude! Not to allow the ringtones to disrupt a presentation! and of course, not to talk loudly while the presenter is presenting... hey, don't these sound like the 'rules' that we told our pupils to follow? So, let's practise that!
Since young, we have been taught, it's important to observe basic manners - how to present ourselves. In fact, as we grow older, we learnt that we are the ambassadors of our schools, people associate us with whatever they know of (be it the school we come from, the individual who lives there, etc...)
Oh yes, we display good mannerism not because we wanted to impress people with a clean and good image. But it's because we know it is rude to behave in a certain manner, and we should not practice that!
For example, not to leave halfway in a presentation or a meeting... it's rude! Not to allow the ringtones to disrupt a presentation! and of course, not to talk loudly while the presenter is presenting... hey, don't these sound like the 'rules' that we told our pupils to follow? So, let's practise that!
Time Pieces
Was digging through the collection... realised the 2 timepieces have stopped working... bought them many years back... oh yes, if you look at their models, doubt you can find them in the market. However, they were still working earlier this year... so, the batteries lasted for almost 10 years! Surprise?
Thought it's just paying for the battery... The shop owner told me, "We can't guarantee that your watch would be ok... because of their protruding surfaces and in particular the Fossil's piece does not come with a metal frame... so, it may just crack when pressure is applied to the ream..."
Oops! Decision making! If I did not want to take the risk, the watches would be perfectly ok... however, they became useless - as they could not serve its original purpose (the purpose of it to be alive). Hm... Glad that I went ahead... and yes, new life has just injected each of the pieces :D
Thought it's just paying for the battery... The shop owner told me, "We can't guarantee that your watch would be ok... because of their protruding surfaces and in particular the Fossil's piece does not come with a metal frame... so, it may just crack when pressure is applied to the ream..."
Oops! Decision making! If I did not want to take the risk, the watches would be perfectly ok... however, they became useless - as they could not serve its original purpose (the purpose of it to be alive). Hm... Glad that I went ahead... and yes, new life has just injected each of the pieces :D
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
My Presentation @ iCTLT2008
The presentation marks another milestone of my learning journey... I guess, it's also something that I left with the organisation before I left... or it's something I can take away with me after my 3 years of attachment at the ETD (I guess).
It all started 3 years ago when Joy (then Senior Head) got all of us to start a blog... that's the very first step... Thanks to her, else I would not have venture into this space and find another new-found passion in it... Also thanks to Timothy, who encouraged me to work on the new workshop to explore how blogs can be used for Maths learning... If not because of them, and of course, the fire that was ignited... I would not be sharing my little achievement over these couple of years. My heartfelt thanks to both of them.
That also reminded me of the presentation did (hm...) almost 5 years ago, before I left Ngee Ann... yes, that was also my testimonial of the effort put in over the years... and that's my swan song...
It all started 3 years ago when Joy (then Senior Head) got all of us to start a blog... that's the very first step... Thanks to her, else I would not have venture into this space and find another new-found passion in it... Also thanks to Timothy, who encouraged me to work on the new workshop to explore how blogs can be used for Maths learning... If not because of them, and of course, the fire that was ignited... I would not be sharing my little achievement over these couple of years. My heartfelt thanks to both of them.
That also reminded me of the presentation did (hm...) almost 5 years ago, before I left Ngee Ann... yes, that was also my testimonial of the effort put in over the years... and that's my swan song...
Coincidently, in the same presentation session was Gayatri's pet project - the Intuitive Experiment Approach for Geometry... hahaha... we worked together quite intensively last year on this project in terms of rolling out to the schools through workshops :D Well, with us are also the 'new blood' that joined the project later part of the year... Kok Soon and Esther... Oh yes, not to forget Keng Wee who was with us before he left for his course.
My presentation can be found in http://lohky-ictlt2008.blogspot.com/
Saturday, August 02, 2008
基思・布雷克
有朋友从远方而来。。。 聚。叙。乐。
基思・布雷克， 认识 两年多吧！
第一次见面，是在英伦。那是一次公干。是在下榻的旅店，一早，同行同事还没出现。当我到接待处时，他很快的，就把我认出了。精！也许，也实验了东方人所说的，那是“经验”！
之前，他到过新加坡。。。都是公干吧，结识了同行的同事。当然，也因为这样，他成了我们在英伦的向导，在那次行程中，帮了我们，更当地的学府，机构穿针引线。就如同是所说，也许，是礼尚往来吧！当他到这儿时，同事们尽了地主之宜，因此，他也尽量配合我们吧!
他，是个标准的英国人，可在他的身上，看到“绅士”。虽然已近退休的年龄，但，仍然尽力充沛。。。还记得他带了我们从伦敦的一角，划过James Park， 再经West End。。。再步行到市区。 天啊！当我们两个三十来岁的有点上气不接时，我们的“老兄”却一点都不累。佩服！
当然，把公事个在一旁，接触了三次。。。上星期，他来了。是匆匆的来，三人约了聚餐。。。觉得，也渐渐地与他熟络多了。他，也蛮亲切的。。。
友谊也更上一层楼了。
PS:
我。。。顽皮？ 非也。是故意不那么直接罢了。。。
基思・布雷克， 认识 两年多吧！
第一次见面，是在英伦。那是一次公干。是在下榻的旅店，一早，同行同事还没出现。当我到接待处时，他很快的，就把我认出了。精！也许，也实验了东方人所说的，那是“经验”！
之前，他到过新加坡。。。都是公干吧，结识了同行的同事。当然，也因为这样，他成了我们在英伦的向导，在那次行程中，帮了我们，更当地的学府，机构穿针引线。就如同是所说，也许，是礼尚往来吧！当他到这儿时，同事们尽了地主之宜，因此，他也尽量配合我们吧!
他，是个标准的英国人，可在他的身上，看到“绅士”。虽然已近退休的年龄，但，仍然尽力充沛。。。还记得他带了我们从伦敦的一角，划过James Park， 再经West End。。。再步行到市区。 天啊！当我们两个三十来岁的有点上气不接时，我们的“老兄”却一点都不累。佩服！
当然，把公事个在一旁，接触了三次。。。上星期，他来了。是匆匆的来，三人约了聚餐。。。觉得，也渐渐地与他熟络多了。他，也蛮亲切的。。。
友谊也更上一层楼了。
PS:
我。。。顽皮？ 非也。是故意不那么直接罢了。。。
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