My Life Journey Part 4 - The Hidden Side

When I was in secondary school, I have a side of me that not many people know. Except my NPCC-mates.

I think it all started when I'm Sec 2. Every time, after NPCC training on Fridays or Saturdays, my squadmates and I would go to the usual MacDonald's at KAP (King Albert's Park - the biggest Mac in S'pore) to have dinner. Or if we're tight on money, we will go to the the hawker centre at Beauty World.

After dinner, many of us would automatically make our way to the arcade centre either at Bukit Timah Plaza (the preferred one) or Beauty World. Then we would spend tokens and time and money at the machines. For me, I liked to play fighting games.

Almost every time, without fail, I would spend all my pocketmoney at the machines. Yes, literally down to the last cent.

These are the games that got me crazy (and addicted).

Marvel Super Heroes





X-men VS Streetfighter





Marvel Super Heroes VS Street Fighter





Marvel Super Heroes VS Capcom






Marvel Super Heroes VS Capcom 2






Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo

But seriously, I really don't know how much money and time I've wasted over arcade games. Every week, at least once or twice or even thrice, for a total of about 3 years.

Time is something that once you have wasted, it will never come back. I have wasted a significant part of my youth on arcade games.

Are you wasting your time doing something not worthwhile? Like addicted to online games such as Maple Story or DOTA?

Marina South Steamboat 14/10/07

Last Sunday, I went to Marina South for steamboat together with my cell group. Stephen's & Darren's cell & Weijie came along too. We had a really good time cooking all the crabs and prawns and other stuff. =)

Can You Identify with this ...?

I found this on the internet. If you can identify with a significant number of this, you must be quite near my age. I wonder if youths today can even identify with any one at all. It just shows how much Singapore has changed.

I can identify with 40/50 things. What about you? =D

1. You grew up watching He-man, Transformers, Silver hawk and Mickey Mouse. Not to forget, Ninja turtles and Smurfs too. (That's me!)

2. You grew up brushing your teeth with a mug in Primary school during recess time. You will squat by a drain with all your classmates beside you, and brush your teeth with a coloured mug. The teachers said you must brush each side 10 times too.(That's me!)

3. You know what's Bin(1) Fen(1) Ba(1) San(1) is all about. (That's me!)

4. You know what SBC stands for. (That's me!)

5. You were there when the first chinese serial, the Awakening was shown on TV. (That's me!)

6. Internet? What the heck is that? (That's me!

7. You find your friends with pagers cool in Secondary school (handphones don't exist). (That's me!)

8. SBS buses used to be non-airconditioned. The bus seats are made of wood and the cushion is red! The big red bell gives a loud BEEEP! when pressed.There are colourful tickets for TIBS buses. The conductor will check for tickets by using a machine which punches a hole on the ticket. (That's me!)

9. Your favourite actor and actress is Huang Wenyong and Xiangyun. Next is Lee Nanxing and Zoe Tay and the Aiyoyo woman. (That's me!)

10. You've probably read Young Generation magazine. You know who's Vinny the little vampire and Acai the constable. (That's me!)

11. You were there when they first introduced MRT here. You went for the first ride with your parents and you would kneel on the seat to see the scenery. (Not me)

12. Movie tickets used to cost only $3.50. (That's me!)

13. Gals are fascinated by Strawberry Short Cake and Barbie Dolls. (That's me!)

14. You learn to laugh like The Count in Sesame Street.(Not me)

15. You longed to buy tibits called Kaka(20 cents per pack) and Ding Dang(50 cents per box), that had a toy in it and it changes every week not forgetting the 15 cents animal crackers and the ring pop, where the lollipop is the diamond on the ring. (That's me!)

16. You watched TV2 (also known as Channel 10) cartoons because Channel 5 never had enough cartoons for you. (That's me!)

17. All that you know about Cantonese is from the Hong Kong serials you watched on TV2.(Not me)

18. Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, The Three Investigators, Famous Five and Secret Seven are probably the thickest story books you ever thought you have read. Even SweetValley High and Malory Towers.(Not me)

19. Civics and Moral Education was “Hao3 Gong1 Min2”. (That's me!)

20. KFC used to be a high class restaurant that serve food in plates and let you use metal forks and knives. (That's me!)

21. The most vulgar thing you said was asshole and idiot and THE MOST EXTREME WAS 'super white'...you just couldn't bring yourself to say the hokkien relative.(Not me)

22. Catching was the IN thing and twist the magic word. (That's me!)

23. Your English workbooks was made of some damn poor quality paper that was smooth and yellow. (That's me!)

24. CDIS was your best friend. (That's me!)

25. The only computer lessons in school involved funny pixellised characters in 16 colours walking about trying to teach you maths. (That's me!)

26. Waterbottles were slinged around your neck and a must everywhere you go. (That's me!)

27. Boys loved to play soccer with small tennis balls in the basketball court or play something that uses tennis ball to hit other players known as “HUM TAM BOLA” during recess /after school. (That's me!)

28. Hopskotch, five stones,chateh and zero point were all the rage with the girls and boys too... (That's me!)

29. Science was fun with the balsam and the angsana being the most important plants of our lives. (That's me!)

30. Who can forget Ahmad, Bala, Sumei and John, eternalized in our minds from the textbooks. Even Mr Wally. (That's me!)

31. You did stupid exercises like seal crawl and frog jumps. (That's me!)

32. Every children's day and national day you either get pins or pens with 'Happy Children's Day 1993' or dumb files with 'Happy National Day 1994'. (That's me!)

33. In Primary six you had to play buddy for the younger kids like big sister and brother.(Not me)

34. Chinese teachers were always old, boring and damn fierce looking.(Not me)

35. Your form teacher taught you maths, science and english.(Not me)

36. The worksheets were made of brown rough paper of poor quality. (That's me!)

37. You went to school in slippers and a raincoat when it rained, and you find a dry spot in the school to sit down, dry your feet, and wear your dry and warm socks and shoes.(Not me)

38. Famous Chinese singers were only Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai. (That's me!)

39. School dismissal time was normally around 1 pm. (That's me!)

40. There would be spelling tests and mental sums to do almost everyday. (That's me!)

41. Your friends considered you lucky and rich if your parents gave you $3 or more for pocket money everyday. (That's me!)

42. During class gatherings, parents always tag along in case someone gets lost at Orchard Road.(Not me)

43. You freak out when the teacher tells you to line up according to height! and hold hands with the corresponding boy or girl.(Not me)

44. Handkerchiefs were a must for both genders. (That's me!)

45. Collecting notebooks and all kinds of stationery was a popular thing. (That's me!)

46. Autograph books were loaded with “Best Wishes”, “Forget Me Not”, and small poems like “Bird fly high, hard to catch. Friend like you, hard to forget”. (That's me!)

47. Class monitors and prefects loved to say “You talk somemore, I write your name ah!” (That's me!)

48. There were at least 40 people in one class. (That's me!)

49. Large, colourful schoolbags were carried. (That's me!)

50. You brought every single book to school, even though there was one thing called the timetable. (That's me!)

My Heart's Prayer

Early in the morning, I came across this Christian song (by Planetshakers) that bears the following lyrics. Let this be my prayer to Jesus today.

"If You can use anything,
Won't You use me.

Take me and break me
And mould and make me.

You died for me,
So I'm living for You

I'm living for You,
I'm living for You."

My Life Journey Part 3 - The Chinese High

I spent a significant part of my youth life at The Chinese High School. As mentioned before, what drew me to this school was its sheer size and good reputation. Every day, in order for me to travel to & fro the school, I need to spend at least 1.5 hours on the road. But I've never regretted it.

One of the main reasons was because I joined the National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) as CCA. When I first joined the CCA, it was because I felt that the uniform looked smart. I didn't think so much. I didn't know what I was in for.

My squadmates & I went through 3 years of really really tough training. When I was in Sec. 1, we had to gather at the monkey bar every day after school. Our NCOs (officers) would meet us there and made sure that each of us cross the monkey bar a few times. As a result, our hands were always filled with blisters. Eventually, these blisters hardened and became hard skin.

Besides physical training, foot drill was also an essential part of our training. It's really crazy, marching up and down in the hot sun, doing amazing numbers of push-ups and sit-ups. The record number of sit-ups my squad did was 500. Crazy right?

So, the question is why didn't I quit the CCA? After all, some of my squadmates did left us & I don't see the purpose in all that tough training at all. 2 reasons that I can think of. Friends. And pride.

Friends
My squadmates and I began to form a bond, mainly because of shared experiences (shared sufferings to be exact). My closest friends till date, besides my church-mates, are all from The Chinese NPCC unit 1994 - 1997.

People like Lenin, Jianzhuang, Jingrong, Tianshen, Kaiyang and Junqiang all left footprints in my life. Every one of them had been a tremendous blessing to me personally. Even now, we still keep in contact.

Of course, there're many other squadmates who had also influenced me but I have kind of lost contact with them - Kangliang, Liangbing, Shukun, Shane, Marcus, Zhong Hui, Weiwen, Gim Teck, Ah Phua, Yunxi, Danny, Dalian and Junchao.


Pride
Even at that age, I hate giving up halfway. I preferred to endure the tough training and show people that I can make it. There was a lot of pride in me, and that sometimes caused me to do foolish things in the latter part of my life.

At the end of 4 years, I attained the rank of Staff Sergeant and was the Publications Chairman in the Executive Committee. I had the badges as shown below. More importantly, I made many many good friends, who had been with me throughout my life journey.

Don't give up. Persevere on in the things that you really believe in. We need this in every stage of our life.

中秋节快乐

Today is Mid-Autumn. 中秋节快乐

Last Sunday night, I had a little mooncake celebration with some of the PRC students who are currently studying at NUS. There were altogether 15 of us.

We had a great time of sharing, having fun, eating mooncakes, playing around with laterns and sparklers.



Because the group is not very big, we were able to give the PRC students a sense of feeling of family. It's really not easy to come all the way to Singapore and study on their own, when their own families are back in China. For them, they have to stay here for at least 10 years.

One of my close friends, Stephen shared these words that day:

举头望明月，
低头思故乡。

(It means when you look at the moon, you will think of your family. It's from a very famous Tang poem.)

He had been in Singapore for 8 years. Every year, during 中秋节, he will always think of his family back in Malaysia. This kind of feeling, people like me would never really understand. All my life, I had never been away from my family physically for more than 5 months.

Do learn to cherish your family. It's not perfect, but it's the only one you have.


Here are the photos!!

Photos all here!!

My Life Journey Part 2 - Those were the days...

I found some of these old photos. Yes, the boy is me. =D

Childhood Games

I suddenly thought of all the childhood games that I used to play: catching, five stones, "hantam bola", 1-leg, erasers flipping and hopscotch. I will go on to do a short introduction on each of them.

Catching
For this game, out of a group of children, 1 will be selected as the 'catcher'. Then this catcher will run around the whole place chasing after any of the other children. If he managed to catch any of his friend (by touching him), that friend will take over the 'catcher' role and everything will start all over again. It's really fun and everybody will run and hide and run and hide.


Five Stones
Come on guys. This is NOT a game just for girls. I played it too when I was young. Basically, there are 5 small bean bags, as shown in the photo on the left. The players will take turn to do all kinds of things with the bean bags. For more details, go to this website.




1-Leg
This is a real classic. The players will be divided into 2 groups. One group will have to cross a certain distance by running. The other group's players will each be constantly hopping around with only 1 leg. These 1-leggers will try to touch the other group's players. If anyone from the running group is being touched, they will be considered 'dead'. Heh..


Hantam Bola
My all-time favorite!! Players are divided into 2 groups. Each group will have a certain number of table tennis (not tennis) balls. Both groups are to throw the balls at one another. If a player is hit by the ball and the ball falls to the ground, his number of lives will deducted. If the player is hit, but yet, manages to hold on to the ball, the thrower will minus 1 life then.




Erasers flipping
I used to go crazy over this. Everyday, I would buy 1 eraser (those with flags). Then I would play against my friends with the erasers I bought. To put it simply, each player will take turns to flip his own eraser until 1 eraser lies on top of the other. The person's whose eraser is below will lose. (I was quite good at this!)



Hopscotch
Draw the hopscotch. Jump within the boxes drawn. Cannot skip any step unless the stone you throw lies on the squares. It's a great great game. But I wasn't really that agile and didn't excel in it. Hopscotch 101 is an interesting website that teaches how to play the game real well. =)

My Life Journey Part 1 - Primary School

I'll be starting a new series of posts on my life story. I believe that everybody has a story to tell.

Me? I was born into a family of 7 - my grandparents, my parents, my elder brother, my elder sister and I in 1981.

My brother and sister are older than me by 7 years and 5 years respectively. Hence, they don't really interact much with me when I was young. The only thing that drew me and my brother together was the computer. He taught me how to hack games at the age of 10.

My primary school life at Maha Bodhi was mainly filled with memories of me and my friends. We played games like catching, five stones, "hantam bola", 1-leg, erasers flipping, hop-scotch, Chinese chess, etc. (Compared to now, kids are usually playing PSP, Gameboy, Nintendo DS, etc)

One of the key highlights of my primary school life came when I was in Primary 5. My Maths teacher, Mrs. Teo chose me to represent the school in a Maths compeititon in the Chinese High. Though I didn't win any award, I gained a lot of confidence because I felt that my teacher trusted me.

Futhermore, the compeition exposed me to the compounds of the Chinese High. It was really really huge with water and hills and many many classrooms. I was captivated by it and that propelled me to choose the Chinese High after the release of my PSLE results in 1993.

A simple action of my Maths teacher caused my life to be changed. It just goes to show we can never underestimate the long-lasting effects that a teacher's actions (or lack of actions) can bring to a student's life.

Fun Day @ MacRitchie Reservoir

Today, I had a great time doing canoeing at MacRitchie Reservoir. The above photos showed how we looked after 1 hour of fun. Yes, I think it's quite exhaustive, but fun.

Evan Almighty

Last Sat, I watched Evan Almighty on the big screen. Here's a short description of the comedy movie.

"A newly elected congressman, Evan, was tasked by God to make an ark. He risked his career, his family and basically, his life to get the ark done. And because of what he has done, he was able to save the lives of his family, colleagues and neighbours from a broken dam."

The whole movie is full of funny jokes. I can't stop laughing throughout almost the whole show. But beyond the laughter, I do feel that this show does have some lessons that we can learn from.

1. Courage
When Evan received the calling from God to build the ark, he devoted his life to it. Despite people (including his colleagues) laughing at him, he continued. At one point, even his beloved family left him. Yet he persevered on.

Courage - to do the right thing even if the people around you do not understand.


2. Love
Evan's family drew together to do this apparently 'silly' act of building the ark after God enlightened Evan's wife.

"When you prayed to God for greater intimacy within the family, do you think God will just give you the intimacy? Or do you think that God will give you an opportunity for this to happen?"

Evan's wife realised that this whole thing about building the ark can help bring the family closer together than even before. She brought the children back to Evan, and the 5 of them went on to build the ark together as a family. That is love.


3. Kindness
In the show, it was repeated a few times. How can we change the world? We can change the world by doing acts of kindness one at a time. Always be a blessing to those around you. Don't be calculative.

And when you do that, the atmosphere around you in the workplace, school or classroom will change positively. People will be smiling more and be more cheerful. Don't wait for someone to give on to you. Be that somebody who gives.

Happy Teachers' Day

I must say. Today's Teachers' Day Concert in school has been really entertaining and enjoyable. It has put many wide smiles on the teachers. The two MCs were fantastic and hilarious. I think they can host TV shows in MediaCorp or something. Really talented.

Since this is a season of always being thankful, I would llike thank all the teachers that had taught me before, in all my 16 years of education. Special mention to the following wonderful teachers (without them, I would never have made it to become a teacher myself now):


Primary School (Maha Bodhi School)

Mrs. Teo (My Maths Teacher)
- For believing in me and giving me a chance to take part in the Inter-Schools Maths Olympiad Competition.

Mr. Shue (My Chinese Teacher)
- For teaching me so many life values, including the need for discipline.


Secondary School (The Chinese High School)

Mr. Peng (My Maths Teacher)
- For making Maths really interesting. He inspired me to perform well.

Ms. Mok Lai Koin (My Chemistry Teacher & Form Teacher)
- For being so strict with my class on the surface but actually was extremely caring about our needs.


Junior College (Hwa Chong JC)

Mr. Chan Kwok Leong (My Maths Teacher & Form Teacher)
- For supporting me to run for Students' Council and for making Maths easy to understand.

Mr. Ng Soon Kok (My Physics Teacher)
- For inspiring me to excel in Physics and fall in love with it. He's really really a nice and caring person.


University (NUS)

Prof. Ha Yajun
- For being constantly supportive throughout my Final Year Project (FYP) and giving me valuable assistance and advice.

Hi Sir, I'm from Fraud & Security..

My handphone rang in the middle of the night last Thursday. It was an unknown number.

"Hi Sir, I'm from the Fraud & Security Department of a bank. We suspect that your credit cards had been stolen."

I was like ....

Then after talking to the guy, I realised what had happened. I actually had applied for a credit card 3 weeks ago. However, the credit card never came. Somehow along the way, someone stole my credit card and used it.

That someone used my credit and choked a bill of more than $3000.

I can't believe this happened to me. I lost something that I had never received in the first place. Gosh.

The Fraud & Security guy told me to make a police report. Yes, I reported the loss of something that I had never seen or touched before. Strange right?

Anyway, I was a bit like asking "Why me??" Honestly, I felt a bit resentful that this kind of thing can happen to me.

Last night, someone reminded me of 1 of the key attitudes that I wanted to have in the year 2007. And that is to be always thankful. Looking at this credit card case, I realised that I can learn to be positive about it.

I'm thankful that the Fraud & Security department of the bank notify me that some suspicious transactions had occurred.

I'm thankful that the bank froze the usage of the stolen credit card.

I'm thankful that I do not have to pay a single cent for the credit card bill.

See? There're indeed many things to be thankful about. If you're in a difficult situation, do try to be thankful. You will find more joy and gladness. It's a matter of perspective. =)

Getting Connected with Nature (with 1M)

Raffles Institution Anthem

When Stamford Raffles held the torch
That cast Promethean Flame
We faced the challenge of the day
To give our school a name
The eagle eye and gryphon strength
They led us to the fore
To reign supreme in ev'ry sphere
The sons of Singapore
Come heed the call Rafflesians all
And let our hearts be stirring
We'll do our best whate'er test
And keep our colours flying
Let comradeship and fervent hope
With one voice make us pray
Auspicium Melioris Aevi
With God to guide the way

Composed by E W Jesudason, Headmaster, Raffles Institution, 1963-1966

Well, I must confess. I still can't memorise the whole institution anthem yet. But I'm working towards it. The words of the song are really meaningful.

I really like the last two verses:

Auspicium Melioris Aevi: Our school motto which means Hope of a Better Age.

With God to guide the way: Wow!! Amazing!!

A Faith Goal Revisted..

It's so easy to be caught up with so many things that I almost forgot something that I set out to do right at the very start of the year. It can be found in this post (2007 is a Year of Victory) way back in January 2007.

My faith goal in 2007: I want to complete 21km Standard Chartered Marathon Run this year.



I have to be realistic. At my present fitness, I can't do the 21km run. I need to train up myself physically.

And that means runs, runs and MORE runs!!

Last week, I had my first training. I ran 4km at the NUS track. It's a small but important step for me to get back into shape.

Yep, I hope to be able to train consistently for at least once or twice a week, given my busy schedule.

Why do I want to join this run?
1. I want to challenge myself.
2. A healthy and fit body gives me the alertness, strength and tenacity to press on in life, even when things are rough.
3. I want to train my mind to be determined. A lot of it depends on the mind when we go for long distances like 21km.


Who wants to join me? =)

Take the City Walk 2007

One of the National Day events this year, Take the City Walk was organised by Touch Community Services (TCS). As an active volunteer in TCS, I participated in the walk two weeks. We took a nice walk around the city area early in the morning.

It's really a privilege because the city area has already being cornered off due to NDP 2007 and yet, we were allowed to walk. And on the day itself, God was very good to us. The weather was very good throughout the walk. However, the moment the walk ended officially, there was a heavy downpour!

Happy 42nd Birthday, Singapore!

Yesterday marks the 42nd birthday of our beloved nation. I'm really proud & thankful of how the nation has come so far in a short span of 1 generation.

Someone shared this with me on National Day's eve.

1. We must honour the older generation of Singaporeans. They've worked so hard to build our nation up. Their insights are very valuable & important for us.

2. We must thank the present generation of Singaporeans. They've right now giving the best times of their lives to the nation. Their influence is essential in our continual prosperity.

3. We must be committed to nuture & love the next generation of Singaporeans. They may be young, but they hold the keys to our future success. Their imagination is what that will define tomorrow.

To sum it all,
We must honour those before us.

We must strengthen those around us.

We must empower those under us.

We must mentor those after us.

How Far Will You Go to Bless Someone?

Last Saturday, I had this very interesting encounter. I was queueing up to pay my credit card bill at an AXS machine in Bukit Merah.

"Hello. Can you help me to the toilet? Very urgent." I heard someone asked me from behind.

I turned around and saw an uncle on a wheelchair. I recognized him. He always sell Sweepstake tickets in that area.

I was a bit flustered, to be honest. I didn't know how to respond initially. I half-wanted to just give some excuse and leave. But something stopped me. I almost forgot that I'm on this campaign to be a blessing to people around me. Now, it's the best chance for me to bless this uncle.

I put aside my credit card and plucked up my courage and started to push the uncle towards the toilet. Well.. it is then I realised that the only toilet that can accomodate the wheelchair lies on the other side of the road. I was a bit shocked because I had to wheel him across the road (there was a overheard bridge, but the lifts weren't working). Gosh.. This task kept getting harder.

Nonetheless, I pressed on. I slowly wheel the uncle cross the road. Thank God that there weren't that many vehicles at that time.

When I finally reached the toilet, I was half hoping that I can just push the uncle into the toilet and he can settle the rest himself.

Well, I was wrong of course. I went on to help him relieve himself. I'm not a nurse, I had never done it before and felt quite clumsy and embarrassed about it.

After that, I pushed the uncle all the way back to his original position, next to the AXS machine. Yes, I had to cross the road again. Thank God this time, a SBS bus captain helped me stopped part of the traffic so that I can wheel the uncle across.

Upon reflection, I felt that it's not just the uncle who is being blessed. Actually, I'm being blessed too. I realised that when I overcame my initial fears and discomforts and blessed him, my heart was kept soft.

Every time we see a need,and we ignore it, our hearts become hardened. I prefer to respond to the needs around me, as much as I can. I want to be tender-hearted always.

My Grandpa's Legacy

My grandpa was cremated earlier in the afternoon. Together with many relatives and friends, my family and I were at the Bright Hill Crematorium to witness the cremation. Strangely enough, I don't feel very sad. I think it's because I know that he has already gone to a better place.

Many memories began to stir within me. I can remember the times that my grandpa took me out to play at Chinatown area when I was younger. I can also remember how often he brought me to the hawker centre near my house to eat my favorite Char Kway Tiao. I really miss him.

But was memories the only thing my grandpa left behind? No. My grandpa left behind a great and wonderful legacy - people. He had 1 wife, 2 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, 3 grandsons, 2 granddaughters, 2 granddaughters-in-law, 1 grandson-in-law, 1 great-grandson and 2 great-granddaughter.

He had brought up a great family - 17 people in all (including him). I am so proud of my grandpa.

救世主 - Savior

As many would have already known, my grandfather, who had been staying with me all my life, had just passed away last Sunday. He had struggled for almost 5 months in the hospital.

It was the first time that someone so close to me left. There are mixed emotions in me. They include sadness, relieved, thankful and peaceful.

Sadness - simply because my grandpa is not around any more. And I miss him terribly at times.

Relieved - because my grandpa need not suffer any more. When he was at the hospital, he could neither drink, eat nor talk. He was actually in pain and discomfort.

Thankful - my church family had been supporting me throughout. Their presences at the wake every night really blessed my family and I. Furthermore, I actually had 3 pastors who came down and prayed for me.

Also, I'm thankful for colleagues at RI as well - Mr. Otto Fong, Mr. Joseph Chong, Mr. Ng Kwon Loong, Mr. Chong Han Guang and Miss Caroline Hoong. They helped me so much with my 4 sec 1 classes when I'm not around.

Last but not the least, I'm thankful for my secondary school friends who came down too. As well as some of my NIE teacher colleagues.


Peaceful - because I know that my grandpa is with the Lord. When he was at the hospital, I asked him who Jesus is.

救世主 (savior) - that was what he wrote (he couldn't talk).

My grandpa is in heaven now - which is really a much better place. I know I will meet him one day.

RI Basketball

In RI, I'm also assigned to be one of the teachers in-charge of basketball. I'm really excited about the appointment because all my life, basketball has been one of my passions. Though I never really had any competitive experience, I played a lot of street basketball.

Just last Tuesday, I was down at the Delta Sports Hall supporting our team against Catholic High. It was tbe South Zone 'C' Div Finals. We were up against the defending champions & a really strong team. They have 3 players more than 1.8 m tall. And we're talking about 'C' Div here.

We started really well. We played tough defense. Whenever their tall guys got the ball near the basket, 2 or 3 of our players will swarm him & defend together. That really broke their momentum at the start of the game. By the end of half-time, the scoreline was really close.

In the 4th quarter, our lads began to suffer from serious cramps. 3 of our starters had to rest because of that. Nearing the final minute, our team drew within 2 points. However, we lost concentration & that allowed 2 easy baskets plus a free-throw for the opps.

Despite the loss, I'm really proud of our guys. Their defensive intensity throughout almost the whole game was amazing. They fought hard for every single point on the court. Yes, they may have lost the battle. But I believe they have the potential to win the war - to be 'C' Div National Champs.

Reason? We have a great team & a great coach.

NATIONALS, HERE WE COME!!

Life as a RI Teacher

It's been 5 weeks. Time really flies.

I'm still trying to get used to being a full-time teacher in RI.

My Table in the Staff Room

Besides teaching, I have to learn to handle the responsibilities of a form-teacher. I have to take care of my form class and that goes beyond academic grades. I'm also concerned about their character.

Yesterday marked the start of the prefect nominations. Altogether, 5 students from my form class, 1M came looking for me today to talk about it. They all shared with me that they wanted to serve the school and help the other students.

I agree that serving the school and helping other students is important. However, I think being a prefect means much more.

"What do you wish to become at the end of 4 years if you're elected as a prefect? In terms of skills and character." I asked them.

None of them have actually thought about it. I told them to think about it and write a short reflection.


I believe that in all things, we should always being with the end in mind. That will guide us as we go along, and we won't be directionless or aimless. For example, if I want to become a prefect in RI, I should know at least roughly what I want to become at the end of Sec. 4. If along the way, I find myself not working towards the goal, I need to stop, reflect and react.


Do you begin with the end in mind?

Blessing in DIsguise

As many of you would have known, my grandpa is still in the hospital.

The good news is that he should be discharged soon, in the next 1 or 2 weeks if nothing goes wrong.

However, it's not going to be easy taking care of him at home. He needs someone to take care of him almost constantly. And that person most likely is going to be my maid, Annisa.

The funny thing is, Annisa only joined my household 3 months ago. And initially when she first came, my mum and grandma were saying that Annisa does housework rather slowly and couldn't seem to be able to cope.

However, it turns out that she's quite a meticulous person. And she's bold as well. She actually went to the hospital to learn how to take care of my grandpa. She did very well too. The nurses over there were all quite impressed by her.

Now, she's rather confident in taking care of my grandpa. She even knows how to do simple injections and tube feeding. It's really quite amazing. I think she has the potential to become a real nurse next time because she already has some of the skill set.

She's really a blessing in disguise to my family. I want to thank God for her.

100K Campaign

I haven't being blogging for the past week or so. I had been really busy going around giving people free gifts.

Yes, free gifts!

National Day is coming soon. As a gift to the nation, my church is on this 100K Campaign whereby collectively, we will bless 100, 000 people in Singapore.

Yes, 100, 000 people!

This blessing can come in terms of small gifts, acts of service or acts of kindness. In addition, we are also committed to pray for the needs of these people every night, for a period of 1 month. We believe that these prayers will be answered.

And there's absolutely nothing we want in return. Because we believe that "it is more blessed to give than to receive"!!

So far, I've blessed 10 people - ranging from my family members, to my friends, to my colleagues and even to total strangers. Though the target is 20, I would really want to make it a faith challenge and go for at least 30. =)

If any of you have any prayer requests, or other forms of needs, you are welcomed to approach me, either via MSN - yingmushijiang@msn.com or this blog's tagboard. I'll be glad to bless you.

Teachers' Investiture Ceremony 2007

Today, I have officially become a full-fledge teacher. I was given the appointment by the Permanent Secretary (for Education) in Nayang Auditorium in NTU. It was a formal occassion and we all had to wear academic gowns. My parents were there to witness the ceremony as well.

How fast time flies. 1 year of teacher training passed just like that. The friends made, the colleagues that did endless projects with me. Well, to a certain extent, that phase of my life is over. I need to move on.

The challenge ahead for me lies: to be an excellent teacher, out to transform the lives of my students and mold their character to be good.

At this point, it is only appropriate that I have this teachers' pledge in my heart always, to remind myself why I want to be a teacher.

We, the teachers of Singapore,
pledge that:

We will be true to our mission to bring out
the best in our pupils.

We will be exemplary in the discharge of
our duties and responsibilities.

We will guide our pupils to be good and
useful citizens of Singapore.

We will continue to learn and pass on
the love of learning to our pupils.

We will win the trust, support and
co-operation of parents and the community
so as to enable us to achieve our mission.

There's No Place I'd Rather Be

Yes, there's really no place I'd rather be. I'm every inch a true-breed Singapore Singaporean.

I went through the S'pore education, K1, K2, streamed in P3, streamed in P4, took PSLE, went on to 'O' levles and 'A' levels. Then I went on to NS. 2 and a half years later, I ORDed, and went on to do my university studies at NUS. And finally, I finished my post-grad diploma at NIE. 18 years of education!!

I love eating. I love eating char kway tiao, hokkien mee, mee goreng, mee siam, laksa, hainanese chicken rice, carrot cake, MacDonald's, KFC, Burger King, Long John Silver, bo bo cha cha, ice iachang, ice jelly, red ruby, cha siew bao, siew mai, dumplings, mooncakes, etc, etc etc........

I don't like the following stuff, but I have learnt to accept them: 7% GST, ERP, COE, Road Tax, Income Tax, housing loan, car loan, computer loan, tuition loan, kiasu mentality, Hello Kitty queue, etc. Yes, they're part of life in Singapore.

Though I've been to a few countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway, London, it's true. Nothing beats home. There's No Place I'd Rather Be, except Singapore.

Hossan Leong puts it best when he says "We live in Singapura, it's not perfect living, but at least it's interesting."

We Love Singapura - Original Version

We Love Singapura - MTV Version

Guys, let's respond to challenges!

Recently, someone told me that if we want to grow in life (means in terms of maturity and character), we have to learn to move out of our comfort zone into the combat zone. When I heard that, I really agree with it.

One thing for sure, guys at every stage of life - be it adolescent, youth, young adult or mature men, thrive on challenges. When we are young, we like to challenge our peers in almost everything - be it studies, computer games (like DOTA, CS, Halo 2) or sports. When we are older, we like to challenge ourselves in our careers. We like to live in the combat zone!

When we guys overcome challenges in our lives, it gives us a certain sense of achievement. To be exact, it makes us feel validated. Each of us will believe that "I can make it". Somehow, this is part of the guys' make up. And it's terribly important to us.

Conversely, when we guys refuse to take up any challenges in life, we lose the fighting spirit in us. We lose the zest in life. We don't dare to take risks. Everything becomes a rountine. We just want to be comfortable right where we are. And when there's a turn of events (of which we can't control, like natural diasters) that shake us up, we would be paralysed and not being able to respond.

Personally, the latest challenge came early this year. I was given the opportunity to either apply for teaching in Raffles Institution or Hwa Chong Institution. Well, I graduated from Hwa Chong more than 10 years ago. It would of course be more comfortable for me to go back to my old school.

However, I need a challenge in life. I need to be uncomfortable so that I can grow. That's one of the reasons why I decided to apply for RI. And right now, I'm a teacher in the school. Though the culture is totally different from Hwa Chong, I really felt that I've learnt a lot, and am having a great time over there. =)


(Of course, we must make sure that the challenges that we take up are good challenges, and not bad ones.)