Dear All
Yesterday was Feli's last excursion for 2008. These excursions were part of S'pore's National Education (NE) programme. It was a long journey from the East (SACPS - her primary school) to the West (SDC). The journey was lengthened due to traffic jam as a trailer broke down on the highway and a EMAS truck was attending to it. Just imagine, a busload of impatient chatty noisy girls, playing hand games, singing, standing up (and being constantly told-off by the 2 teachers on board).
Anyway, I must say the trip is well-organised. There was a facilitator at SDC, name of Vincent, who explained what is racial harmony and the culture of the main 4 races in S'pore. He himself is a Philippino Chinese. As the group is big, 28 girls per class and there were 3 classes, each class and their facilitator had to flip-flop amongst the exhibits. So we didn't have time to cover the entire SDC. They played a team Q&A game on the exhibit, twice, wore traditional costumes and traditional props like the indian garland and songkot (these had to be swopped amongst the 3 groups - hence some delay there).
The highlight had to be Little George (LG). It was very funny when the girls said goodbye to him. When they yelled goodbye to LG, he replied goodbye. So some laggers yelled goodbye to him again, and the cycle was repeated until the facilitator from the next group "chased" them off so that the next class could have it's turn with LG.
It was a very tiring day as we also had tuition in the afternoon. It didn't help that the school bus trip home was extended due to returning to SACP to pick up a girl who missed the bus. The driver was pretty mad. But so were everyone else, including another parent volunteer.
Love Theresa
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
..afternoon after WITS
Sigh I am so tired that I do not want to do anything at the office right now..with all the waiting and all the stress of preparing and rehearsing for just one WITS presentation and now that all is over I felt so relieved and that I do not want do anything relating to work at the moment...I just want to chill out at my office here..and blog, blog. It is bright and sunny out there, and I still have put up with the aftermath of WITS presentation and thank God is now all over. Here is a photo taken after the event. Some commented that we all look like bridegrooms all over again and of course, we ask for "Ang Pow" in return....lah! Presenting to you: The WITS team called "FULL STEAM"
Last nite the cam corder broke down and I do not understand why...need to send in for repair this Friday...and it is made in Japan, so cannot blame on the country of origin. Lucky still under warranty...our house is pretty small as the girls are growing up fast...so I would have to be more innovative and creative in creating space out of the finite built in floor space that we have now....a miserable 990 s.f....so I have embark on ideas to create space..and I remember one of our pillars of quality journey or some strategic thrusts of sorts is this phrase.."Capacity Creation"...I love this phrase...I look at the ceiling, I look in all corners, I also begin to look at our beds...how can I create more space out from this 990 sf of space?
Here are my plans at this time:
1. I plan to buy and change our existing bed frame to those type where you can lift up the mattress and store things beneath it.
2. I plan to place order this evening 1 unit of this and dispose off our current rattan chair which is bulky and old and can't even store a piece of paper beneath it.
3. We have changed the children's bed to bunk bed and recover some space as a result.
4. In the meantime, we have dispose off junk (things which you do not look at it or even touch it in the last 6 months) and only to buy things which absolutely necessary and will be used immediately. (It is easier to keep money than to keep things)
5. I look up at the ceiling and see for myself how much space up there for me to reclaim. If only I can reclaim those space up there, in effect our house now doubles to 1980 s.f.
6. If the current TV breaks down, change to LCD and hanged it from the wall.
7.....any ideas? Please tell me, your ideas are most welcome!
Have a nice day! and Take care!
AlbertY
Here are my plans at this time:
1. I plan to buy and change our existing bed frame to those type where you can lift up the mattress and store things beneath it.
2. I plan to place order this evening 1 unit of this and dispose off our current rattan chair which is bulky and old and can't even store a piece of paper beneath it.
3. We have changed the children's bed to bunk bed and recover some space as a result.
4. In the meantime, we have dispose off junk (things which you do not look at it or even touch it in the last 6 months) and only to buy things which absolutely necessary and will be used immediately. (It is easier to keep money than to keep things)
5. I look up at the ceiling and see for myself how much space up there for me to reclaim. If only I can reclaim those space up there, in effect our house now doubles to 1980 s.f.
6. If the current TV breaks down, change to LCD and hanged it from the wall.
7.....any ideas? Please tell me, your ideas are most welcome!
Have a nice day! and Take care!
AlbertY
Felicia's Excursion to Jacob Ballas Children Garden (her 2nd excursion)
Dear All
As promised, I'm dropping a brief note on Feli's 2nd excursion. It was held today (29 Jul 08). She liked the tree house best as there were 2 types of slides. She went down both of them on her own, which is very brave of her.
There was also a maze. The children went in their class groups. Hers was blueberry (I think), consisting of about 6 girls each. She was a bit scared as she was afraid to be lost in the maze and the garden. She told me they cheated by peaking through gaps in the hedges to find their way out. (Sounds scary to me). I think she said she was taller than the hedges, but I guess at their age, if they can't find a way out, they feel that they are trapped and would easily panick. 5 parent volunteers per class (there were 3 classes) accompanied the girls.
Feli told me there was a 100 year old tree that was struck by lightning. It was actually from another site, but they chopped it up and relocated it in the garden.
I asked her how was the garden. Her reply was "OK. There's lots of flowers". I guess she's not a nature lover, specifically, not a plant lover, so this trip was so-so.
Tomorrow is her 3rd and last excursion this year to Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC). I'm the parent volunteer for this trip. It'll be a very loonng day for me. It's from 7:45am to 12:45pm (the longest duty time amongst the 3 excursions!!), afterwhich, I need to fetch the girls for Chinese tuition in the afternoon.
Will keep you posted on her latest adventures tomorrow!!
Love Theresa
As promised, I'm dropping a brief note on Feli's 2nd excursion. It was held today (29 Jul 08). She liked the tree house best as there were 2 types of slides. She went down both of them on her own, which is very brave of her.
There was also a maze. The children went in their class groups. Hers was blueberry (I think), consisting of about 6 girls each. She was a bit scared as she was afraid to be lost in the maze and the garden. She told me they cheated by peaking through gaps in the hedges to find their way out. (Sounds scary to me). I think she said she was taller than the hedges, but I guess at their age, if they can't find a way out, they feel that they are trapped and would easily panick. 5 parent volunteers per class (there were 3 classes) accompanied the girls.
Feli told me there was a 100 year old tree that was struck by lightning. It was actually from another site, but they chopped it up and relocated it in the garden.
I asked her how was the garden. Her reply was "OK. There's lots of flowers". I guess she's not a nature lover, specifically, not a plant lover, so this trip was so-so.
Tomorrow is her 3rd and last excursion this year to Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC). I'm the parent volunteer for this trip. It'll be a very loonng day for me. It's from 7:45am to 12:45pm (the longest duty time amongst the 3 excursions!!), afterwhich, I need to fetch the girls for Chinese tuition in the afternoon.
Will keep you posted on her latest adventures tomorrow!!
Love Theresa
Monday, July 28, 2008
Calling all at LC300
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooi...where are you all in this cyber space????If you have anything to share do please feel free to contribute to this blog...this is a way of keeping in touch with one another as we are all staying in various parts of Singapore and we don't see in each other so often as we do with our own churh parishoners....so your entries are most welcome.....only if you have the time....OK? Your family comes first!
God Bless!
AlbertY
God Bless!
AlbertY
If you have ony 1 wish to ask from God and will be granted....
Yesterday in one of the reading, it tells us about what Solomon ask of God….he did not ask for riches, long life, power and such…instead he ask of God only for wisdom to govern his people and that indeed pleases God and so our Lord gave him the wisdom that no one else before him and after him would have...what a nice perfect gift indeed!
Then a question was posed to us, if today, now at this moment, God would to give you just only 1 wish to ask of Him, what would you be asking Him to grant you? On reflection on this question in church after quite a while, I conclude that there is nothing really for me to ask from God except to thank HIM…and if there is one thing that I must ask from God then this would be the request: To take my mummy’s soul to heaven….this is definitely be the request that I will ask of God; I just want mummy to be in heaven and that itself will make me very happy..I hope that mummy will be in heaven right now…well one can never be sure so I continue to offer masses intention for the beloved soul of my dear mummy…
After mass, we drove down to the paint shop nearby to help my mum-in-law to buy 4 tins of 1 litre paint to paint up the 8 house doors…I felt very bad in me having to coz her to walk so much to the paint shop as we could not find a car park lot that is nearby to the paint shop…fortunately nothing happen to her legs (as her legs recently has been quite weak)….I should have drop them off at the paint shop and then continue on to find a car park lot…so silly of me!
After which I proceed to fetch mum-in-law back to home and we proceed to Century Square in Tampines to have lunch and for the 1st time in many many years we have the set lunchTeppan yaki, on promotion. $35 bucks for a set for 2. We order 2 sets, just nice for the 4 of us. Tiff was engrossed in watching the chef cooking away right in front of her…
Then a question was posed to us, if today, now at this moment, God would to give you just only 1 wish to ask of Him, what would you be asking Him to grant you? On reflection on this question in church after quite a while, I conclude that there is nothing really for me to ask from God except to thank HIM…and if there is one thing that I must ask from God then this would be the request: To take my mummy’s soul to heaven….this is definitely be the request that I will ask of God; I just want mummy to be in heaven and that itself will make me very happy..I hope that mummy will be in heaven right now…well one can never be sure so I continue to offer masses intention for the beloved soul of my dear mummy…
After mass, we drove down to the paint shop nearby to help my mum-in-law to buy 4 tins of 1 litre paint to paint up the 8 house doors…I felt very bad in me having to coz her to walk so much to the paint shop as we could not find a car park lot that is nearby to the paint shop…fortunately nothing happen to her legs (as her legs recently has been quite weak)….I should have drop them off at the paint shop and then continue on to find a car park lot…so silly of me!
After which I proceed to fetch mum-in-law back to home and we proceed to Century Square in Tampines to have lunch and for the 1st time in many many years we have the set lunchTeppan yaki, on promotion. $35 bucks for a set for 2. We order 2 sets, just nice for the 4 of us. Tiff was engrossed in watching the chef cooking away right in front of her…
It is the first for her as well….it comes with this Teppan chawan mushi
as well and 1 plate each of salmon and suchi and also 1 scoop each of ice cream for dessert…..
I think they are very happy with the lunch....as seen from their faces
Next, proceed to buy a pair of shoes for Fel and a white dress for her as her children’s church choir requires all to have this so-called uniform attire….wow! blow quite a sum of money on that! Next, we go home and sleep lah!....what else can we do after spending money? Right?
You have a nice day! Today is such is a nice day out there....How can I be at work?
AlbertY
I think they are very happy with the lunch....as seen from their faces
Next, proceed to buy a pair of shoes for Fel and a white dress for her as her children’s church choir requires all to have this so-called uniform attire….wow! blow quite a sum of money on that! Next, we go home and sleep lah!....what else can we do after spending money? Right?
You have a nice day! Today is such is a nice day out there....How can I be at work?
AlbertY
Friday, July 25, 2008
Felicia's 1st Excursion this year - Little India & Chinatown
Dear All
Felicia FINALLY has gone for a school excursion. Today, it's to Little India and Chinatown. She had to write a journal on it. This is what she wrote (minus spelling and grammatical errors):
MY TRIP TO CHINATOWN AND LITTLE INDIA
My trip to Chinatown and Little India was very fun. First, I'm going to talk about Chinatown.
Chinatown Opera House was very nice. I got to try one instrument. I don't know what it is called but I know it was very hard to play it. The people who played their instrument played a tune to let us hear. It only took five to ten minutes to reach Little India from Chinatown.
When we reached Little India, it was very hot but we quickly go to the Indian kind of restaurant. We ate some types of food. My favourite is the Indian sweet. I ate two types. One sweet tastes like milk powder and the other one tastes like sweet water.
** end of journal **
Felicia came home enthusing about her excursion. She spotted a "puttu" on her forehead and a purplish bangle. She looked so cute. There was a food (possibly naan) baking demo where the food was as huge as a balloon. Then a spoon is used to push it down. She brought back the 2 sweet samples and bought some papadams for us to try. Tiffany commented that indian sweets usually have spices and she doesn't quite like them. I find them yummy. But I had to restraint myself from gobbling all down.
Next, she told her the history of Chinese Opera. Ever since I was small, I was always afraid of Chinese Opera. Their loud music frightens me, and so do their fearsome makeup and gaudy costumes. In addition, I don't understand a word they are saying as it's all sung in dialect. (I don't have a good working knowledge of dialect).
Felicia told me that Chinese Opera started about 3000 years ago as a street story-telling session. At that time, everyone gives the emperor a birthday present on his birthday. A man wanted to give the emperor an outstanding gift, and hence engaged the street Opera to perform for the emperor. The emperor liked it so much, he wanted the street performers to stay. However, they came from another province and did not wish to stay.
Later on, the emperor's son (emperor number 2) also fell in love with Chinese Opera. He loved it so much he secretly performed in the Opera. At that time, the mask was held on by a string tied round the performer's head, and performers used alot of hand gestures to explain the emotions of the characters as audience at the back would not be able to see. As emperor number 2 was embarrassed if he was recognised as a performer, he also felt the mask was difficult for him to sing. Hence, he had his face painted. It proved to be less restrictive to the performers and thats why opera performers to this day have heavy makeup. According to Felicia, the troupe that was invited by the emperor was presented with 2 gifts. I can't remember the other, but one was an umbrella. She said, the original troupe that performed for the emperor is still around to this day. You can recognise them from the umbrella that they would place at the side of the stage.
I was amazed at how much info Felicia had absorbed and could recall. We should have more excursions where other academic materials are taught in a fun way yah? Then teachers, parents and children would be spared all the tears, threats and arm-twisting to get the kids to study and get the info into their heads!
Akan datang....she's going for 2 more excursions, one after another, next week. Talk about hitting the jackpot yah?!?
Love Theresa
Felicia FINALLY has gone for a school excursion. Today, it's to Little India and Chinatown. She had to write a journal on it. This is what she wrote (minus spelling and grammatical errors):
MY TRIP TO CHINATOWN AND LITTLE INDIA
My trip to Chinatown and Little India was very fun. First, I'm going to talk about Chinatown.
Chinatown Opera House was very nice. I got to try one instrument. I don't know what it is called but I know it was very hard to play it. The people who played their instrument played a tune to let us hear. It only took five to ten minutes to reach Little India from Chinatown.
When we reached Little India, it was very hot but we quickly go to the Indian kind of restaurant. We ate some types of food. My favourite is the Indian sweet. I ate two types. One sweet tastes like milk powder and the other one tastes like sweet water.
** end of journal **
Felicia came home enthusing about her excursion. She spotted a "puttu" on her forehead and a purplish bangle. She looked so cute. There was a food (possibly naan) baking demo where the food was as huge as a balloon. Then a spoon is used to push it down. She brought back the 2 sweet samples and bought some papadams for us to try. Tiffany commented that indian sweets usually have spices and she doesn't quite like them. I find them yummy. But I had to restraint myself from gobbling all down.
Next, she told her the history of Chinese Opera. Ever since I was small, I was always afraid of Chinese Opera. Their loud music frightens me, and so do their fearsome makeup and gaudy costumes. In addition, I don't understand a word they are saying as it's all sung in dialect. (I don't have a good working knowledge of dialect).
Felicia told me that Chinese Opera started about 3000 years ago as a street story-telling session. At that time, everyone gives the emperor a birthday present on his birthday. A man wanted to give the emperor an outstanding gift, and hence engaged the street Opera to perform for the emperor. The emperor liked it so much, he wanted the street performers to stay. However, they came from another province and did not wish to stay.
Later on, the emperor's son (emperor number 2) also fell in love with Chinese Opera. He loved it so much he secretly performed in the Opera. At that time, the mask was held on by a string tied round the performer's head, and performers used alot of hand gestures to explain the emotions of the characters as audience at the back would not be able to see. As emperor number 2 was embarrassed if he was recognised as a performer, he also felt the mask was difficult for him to sing. Hence, he had his face painted. It proved to be less restrictive to the performers and thats why opera performers to this day have heavy makeup. According to Felicia, the troupe that was invited by the emperor was presented with 2 gifts. I can't remember the other, but one was an umbrella. She said, the original troupe that performed for the emperor is still around to this day. You can recognise them from the umbrella that they would place at the side of the stage.
I was amazed at how much info Felicia had absorbed and could recall. We should have more excursions where other academic materials are taught in a fun way yah? Then teachers, parents and children would be spared all the tears, threats and arm-twisting to get the kids to study and get the info into their heads!
Akan datang....she's going for 2 more excursions, one after another, next week. Talk about hitting the jackpot yah?!?
Love Theresa
Monday, July 21, 2008
Felicia's little birthday treat
On Saturday we had a little birthday treat for little Felicia. We went to Fish & Co at Tampines and had our little nice dinner. Fortunately, for Felicia who is rather hungry her food arrived first and as she was rather hungry so she has 2 orders from the kid's menu and here is what she had for her little dinner treat:
Tiff and sweetie both had this (New York Fish N Chips):
Well, we enjoyed our little dinner as you can see from their faces:
This weekend also, I did something new...I tried out the GPS using my PDA and attached it on the car during driving. Quite an experience and very accurate and responsive. A word of caution I must say...if you are using one...must not keep looking at the display.
Have a nice day!
AlbertY
Tiff and sweetie both had this (New York Fish N Chips):
which I think was quite a big portion but nevertheless we managed to finished off all on the pan. We waited quite a while for our food to arrived after Felicia's 2 main orders arrived and so we were rather bored and hungry. When my order finally came, I was rather hungry so I forgotten to snap a photo of what I ate...my was actually black pepper stingray and enjoy it much but could have been better if it was sambal stingray instead of black pepper.
Well, we enjoyed our little dinner as you can see from their faces:
This weekend also, I did something new...I tried out the GPS using my PDA and attached it on the car during driving. Quite an experience and very accurate and responsive. A word of caution I must say...if you are using one...must not keep looking at the display.
Have a nice day!
AlbertY
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Start of Novena for Tiffany
Dear All
As you know, Tiff is going to have her PSLE this year. Just this week, we have a good talk as to the stress she's going through. We have compromised that she can have her computer breaks over the weekends.
Bert and I had a discussion. With all the secular influence around us, our kids need to be involved more in church, and to have a strong foundation in our Catholic faith. If our kids have a strong moral value and a strong faith and "fear" of God, there'll be less likelihood that they will stray from the right path, the path that would be pleasing to God. So many things seem to be gray nowadays...is it right to allow organ trading?....Over the news tonight, issues highlighted to the Pope in Syndey like why should condoms be condemned? Why condemn homosexuality? These are issues that we cannot protect our kids from forever. They are growing up in a secular environment with friends from different religious backgrounds and different values and upbringing. What's OK in other friends' families are not OK for us. And our kids want to know why. We have decided to bring the girls to attend their very first novena today. I wrote a petition for Tiff's PSLE and Feli's asthma and we waited for 45 min after their cathecism class before novena started.
It has been ages since I had attended the novena, and it brought tears to my eyes. I was so touched by the words of the novena, and by the petitions and thanksgiving. One girl petitioned that her parents would stop their daily quarrelling and not go through with their divorce. One prayed for a job as he desparately needs it to feed his family. One thanksgiving prayer was for a friend who was getting much better from suicidual thoughts and another for recovering health for an ailing father.
I could see the girls, particularly Tiff, (as she was sitting beside me) perk up at the exposure and adoration of the Blessed Eucharist.
We asked them later how they felt about the novena. I was so enlightened and happy to hear Tiff say, she felt so at peace during the novena. She even wants to write her own petition to drop it at the correct shrine! (We inevitably dropped it at the box at the entrance of the church in front of the statues of Jesus and Mary. According to the novena book, it should be at the shrine with the picture of the Our Lady of Perpetual Succour which was at eh SIDE of the church!)
Really, the intercession of our Lady of Perpetual Help has already worked her wonders in Tiffany. It's a peace that the world cannot understand said Jesus in the bible.
Please help pray for Tiffany. She needs lots of prayers for her PSLE. She's quite forgetful and loses steam and momentum in her revision, so we request if you could help pray for her. We will be going for 9 novenas to pray for this intention and that of Felicia's health.
Thanks for all your prayers.
Love Theresa and Albert
As you know, Tiff is going to have her PSLE this year. Just this week, we have a good talk as to the stress she's going through. We have compromised that she can have her computer breaks over the weekends.
Bert and I had a discussion. With all the secular influence around us, our kids need to be involved more in church, and to have a strong foundation in our Catholic faith. If our kids have a strong moral value and a strong faith and "fear" of God, there'll be less likelihood that they will stray from the right path, the path that would be pleasing to God. So many things seem to be gray nowadays...is it right to allow organ trading?....Over the news tonight, issues highlighted to the Pope in Syndey like why should condoms be condemned? Why condemn homosexuality? These are issues that we cannot protect our kids from forever. They are growing up in a secular environment with friends from different religious backgrounds and different values and upbringing. What's OK in other friends' families are not OK for us. And our kids want to know why. We have decided to bring the girls to attend their very first novena today. I wrote a petition for Tiff's PSLE and Feli's asthma and we waited for 45 min after their cathecism class before novena started.
It has been ages since I had attended the novena, and it brought tears to my eyes. I was so touched by the words of the novena, and by the petitions and thanksgiving. One girl petitioned that her parents would stop their daily quarrelling and not go through with their divorce. One prayed for a job as he desparately needs it to feed his family. One thanksgiving prayer was for a friend who was getting much better from suicidual thoughts and another for recovering health for an ailing father.
I could see the girls, particularly Tiff, (as she was sitting beside me) perk up at the exposure and adoration of the Blessed Eucharist.
We asked them later how they felt about the novena. I was so enlightened and happy to hear Tiff say, she felt so at peace during the novena. She even wants to write her own petition to drop it at the correct shrine! (We inevitably dropped it at the box at the entrance of the church in front of the statues of Jesus and Mary. According to the novena book, it should be at the shrine with the picture of the Our Lady of Perpetual Succour which was at eh SIDE of the church!)
Really, the intercession of our Lady of Perpetual Help has already worked her wonders in Tiffany. It's a peace that the world cannot understand said Jesus in the bible.
Please help pray for Tiffany. She needs lots of prayers for her PSLE. She's quite forgetful and loses steam and momentum in her revision, so we request if you could help pray for her. We will be going for 9 novenas to pray for this intention and that of Felicia's health.
Thanks for all your prayers.
Love Theresa and Albert
Dance Routine for Teachers' Day
Dear All
My 2 girls rushed through the door yesterday (Fri) after school, both clamouring that I get them skirts. If you remember, Tiffany is a pants girl..always wearing pants when given a choice. To my surprise, she complained she doesn't have any skirts, at least not Barbie brand skirts. That was true. Her non-Barbie doll skirts are too small for her, and I haven't gotten her any skirts as she hardly wears them. She insisted that we get some for her this weekend.
Then Felicia went on about getting white tops and blue skirts as a group of P2 classmates has decided to put up a dance routine/performance for Teachers' Day. She already has lots of bluish skirts and relatively white tops from Tiffany. As Felicia went on, she 1st asked me if her friends can practise their dance steps here. You know how many are in the group? 8!! Any dance steps yet? None. Costumes are needed. And can you guess who is the very on the ball girl in the group? Ya, ya, ya...Feli! She volunteered me to get 8 white tops and 8 blue skirts. On top of that, she also wants me to make poms-poms for all! Hey, wait a minute, I told her. Since when she became a director and delegate everything to me! Albert laughed! She reminds him of typical managers/bosses who say "approval to go ahead" or "please deal". This little girl sometimes is too zealous! I remember she was supposed to be a member of a dance group for talent quest last year. She was the only P1 then with 5 P3 girls. Then, as the Talent quest was held near SA2, the P3s withdrew except for the leader. Then Felicia recruited 3 more P1s for the group. In the end, it didn't materialise. I really wonder if this group want materialise this time. Anyway, I told her it's supposed to be a group effort, so get 4 girls to do 2 sets of poms-poms...1 for themselves and the other for another girl. Everyone is to get their own tops and bottoms as I wouldn't know their sizes!! Then Albert poked in telling Feli besides telling her friends what jobs they have to do, she has to have some work to do too! I had to rub it in....she just need to manage them!! Like a true manager, ya?
So anyway, we shopped for the skirts. In the end, Tiff only got 1 skirt and Feli 2 (BTW, both aren't even blue!!). As I thought Tiff wanted "a couple" of skirts and gently prompted her to get at least another, she stopped me and told me, "This one is great for me to use on Monday".
I scratched my head..."eerr, why on Monday? It's a school day, right? There's no tuition that day". Then she reminded me, it's Racial Harmony Day!!! So that's why she wanted a skirt so badly yesterday!! As this year we couldn't celebrate CNY (as Bert's mum passed away near CNY), we didn't get any CNY clothes. So we don't have any "chinese" looking clothes this year. Last year's ones would have been too tight as you know how fast kids grow!!
My heart beats easier now that I know the true reason for Tiff's sudden change in clothes!! I thought is could be a hormone thingy. So now everyone's more of less happy, except for Feli...she didn't get a new top!! Never mind, she can use Tiff's top...afterall, it's just for Racial Harmony Day!
Love Theresa
My 2 girls rushed through the door yesterday (Fri) after school, both clamouring that I get them skirts. If you remember, Tiffany is a pants girl..always wearing pants when given a choice. To my surprise, she complained she doesn't have any skirts, at least not Barbie brand skirts. That was true. Her non-Barbie doll skirts are too small for her, and I haven't gotten her any skirts as she hardly wears them. She insisted that we get some for her this weekend.
Then Felicia went on about getting white tops and blue skirts as a group of P2 classmates has decided to put up a dance routine/performance for Teachers' Day. She already has lots of bluish skirts and relatively white tops from Tiffany. As Felicia went on, she 1st asked me if her friends can practise their dance steps here. You know how many are in the group? 8!! Any dance steps yet? None. Costumes are needed. And can you guess who is the very on the ball girl in the group? Ya, ya, ya...Feli! She volunteered me to get 8 white tops and 8 blue skirts. On top of that, she also wants me to make poms-poms for all! Hey, wait a minute, I told her. Since when she became a director and delegate everything to me! Albert laughed! She reminds him of typical managers/bosses who say "approval to go ahead" or "please deal". This little girl sometimes is too zealous! I remember she was supposed to be a member of a dance group for talent quest last year. She was the only P1 then with 5 P3 girls. Then, as the Talent quest was held near SA2, the P3s withdrew except for the leader. Then Felicia recruited 3 more P1s for the group. In the end, it didn't materialise. I really wonder if this group want materialise this time. Anyway, I told her it's supposed to be a group effort, so get 4 girls to do 2 sets of poms-poms...1 for themselves and the other for another girl. Everyone is to get their own tops and bottoms as I wouldn't know their sizes!! Then Albert poked in telling Feli besides telling her friends what jobs they have to do, she has to have some work to do too! I had to rub it in....she just need to manage them!! Like a true manager, ya?
So anyway, we shopped for the skirts. In the end, Tiff only got 1 skirt and Feli 2 (BTW, both aren't even blue!!). As I thought Tiff wanted "a couple" of skirts and gently prompted her to get at least another, she stopped me and told me, "This one is great for me to use on Monday".
I scratched my head..."eerr, why on Monday? It's a school day, right? There's no tuition that day". Then she reminded me, it's Racial Harmony Day!!! So that's why she wanted a skirt so badly yesterday!! As this year we couldn't celebrate CNY (as Bert's mum passed away near CNY), we didn't get any CNY clothes. So we don't have any "chinese" looking clothes this year. Last year's ones would have been too tight as you know how fast kids grow!!
My heart beats easier now that I know the true reason for Tiff's sudden change in clothes!! I thought is could be a hormone thingy. So now everyone's more of less happy, except for Feli...she didn't get a new top!! Never mind, she can use Tiff's top...afterall, it's just for Racial Harmony Day!
Love Theresa
Friday, July 18, 2008
LC300 12Jul(Sat) 38th gathering
Sorry for the delay folks.
Here is the sharing question for the record and for those who have missed the gathering.
What are the things that you as a couple, have done right, in making your marriage work and last this long. (In short, share your secret of your success in your marriage)
HDMAMMF?
It is not easy to come to a clear answer to this question. I myself find it difficult to answer this question though it is easy to come up with this question. Well, certainly there must be something that we have done right in our marriage, otherwise we wouldn't be in ME and have come this far...right?
Here are some of the answers brought up during the sharing:
1. God centred and be in the same faith
2. Constant communication
3. Sacrifice (like changing one's lifestyle after being married)
4. Placing the spouse over and above oneself
5. Acceptance of the entire being of the spouse
6. Make love the desicion
7. Decision to be involved in ME
8. Sharing the love with others in the community
9. Trust
10.Respect for the spouse
If I have left out any thing here in the answers, feel free to add on to the list.
Have a nice and blessed weekend!
AlbertY
Here is the sharing question for the record and for those who have missed the gathering.
What are the things that you as a couple, have done right, in making your marriage work and last this long. (In short, share your secret of your success in your marriage)
HDMAMMF?
It is not easy to come to a clear answer to this question. I myself find it difficult to answer this question though it is easy to come up with this question. Well, certainly there must be something that we have done right in our marriage, otherwise we wouldn't be in ME and have come this far...right?
Here are some of the answers brought up during the sharing:
1. God centred and be in the same faith
2. Constant communication
3. Sacrifice (like changing one's lifestyle after being married)
4. Placing the spouse over and above oneself
5. Acceptance of the entire being of the spouse
6. Make love the desicion
7. Decision to be involved in ME
8. Sharing the love with others in the community
9. Trust
10.Respect for the spouse
If I have left out any thing here in the answers, feel free to add on to the list.
Have a nice and blessed weekend!
AlbertY
What did I get myself into?!?
Dear All
Felicia is a very "si-bay-on" kid. Just 2 weeks ago, 2 of her classmates wanted to audition for the school's choir. Practices are twice a week, on Tues and Fri. She currently has a CCA on Tue. Tiff has supplementary classes on Mon and Thurs. Tuitions on Wed, Fri and Sat. As Feli is too young to take the public bus home herself, I fetch her on Tues. If she enters choir, I would be leaving Tiff too long on her own on Tues and I'm torn between fetching Feli from Fri choir practice and Tiff's tuition. Being PSLE year, I need to constantly revise with Tiff and being away too long, her revision would not be so fruitful as having it done with me. So Feli and I compromised...try for the church choir. Thankfully, she got in after her audition, and I guess it was the best birthday present for her!
Now suddenly, the school scheduled THREE excursions ALL in July!! There were NONE prior to this for P2!! (Strangely, there were at least 3 excursions for the P6 this year whereas there hardly were any during Tiff previous 5 years in St Anthony's Canossian!!).
Anyway, Feli INSISTED I volunteer as a parent volunteer on her excursions. Under her duress, I was made to write a statement, dictated by her, that I want to volunteer for this excursion to little India cum Chinatown. Amongst the 3, this was one that I was least adverse to. However, I was not selected. I sighed a relief when Felicia told me that. But her little determined face didn't show a slight sign of disappointment. Why? She's now badgering me to volunteer for SDC (Discovery Centre) as the teacher said there's vacancy for that one. I told her to let the teacher know I would step in if she cannot find an parent volunteer. Felicia was so so disappointed. Her face literally fell! So to appease her, I told her let me check my calendar. Being the persistant little person she is, she asked me how was my schedule. I then decided to make her happy and volunteered. Today, she happily burst out news that I was selected as she stepped off the school bus. She immediately told the teacher the 1st period that she stepped into class BEFORE at least 3 other classmates could approach the teacher. She was so elated!!
Then, I asked Felicia, what's my duties as a parent volunteer. And you know what she said? "Pick up the garbage of the kids." What did I get myself into?? I just hope the kids won't throw up along the way, as SDC is way in Jurong and St Anthony's is way on the other side of the island. The things we do for love, ya? ;)
Love Theresa
Felicia is a very "si-bay-on" kid. Just 2 weeks ago, 2 of her classmates wanted to audition for the school's choir. Practices are twice a week, on Tues and Fri. She currently has a CCA on Tue. Tiff has supplementary classes on Mon and Thurs. Tuitions on Wed, Fri and Sat. As Feli is too young to take the public bus home herself, I fetch her on Tues. If she enters choir, I would be leaving Tiff too long on her own on Tues and I'm torn between fetching Feli from Fri choir practice and Tiff's tuition. Being PSLE year, I need to constantly revise with Tiff and being away too long, her revision would not be so fruitful as having it done with me. So Feli and I compromised...try for the church choir. Thankfully, she got in after her audition, and I guess it was the best birthday present for her!
Now suddenly, the school scheduled THREE excursions ALL in July!! There were NONE prior to this for P2!! (Strangely, there were at least 3 excursions for the P6 this year whereas there hardly were any during Tiff previous 5 years in St Anthony's Canossian!!).
Anyway, Feli INSISTED I volunteer as a parent volunteer on her excursions. Under her duress, I was made to write a statement, dictated by her, that I want to volunteer for this excursion to little India cum Chinatown. Amongst the 3, this was one that I was least adverse to. However, I was not selected. I sighed a relief when Felicia told me that. But her little determined face didn't show a slight sign of disappointment. Why? She's now badgering me to volunteer for SDC (Discovery Centre) as the teacher said there's vacancy for that one. I told her to let the teacher know I would step in if she cannot find an parent volunteer. Felicia was so so disappointed. Her face literally fell! So to appease her, I told her let me check my calendar. Being the persistant little person she is, she asked me how was my schedule. I then decided to make her happy and volunteered. Today, she happily burst out news that I was selected as she stepped off the school bus. She immediately told the teacher the 1st period that she stepped into class BEFORE at least 3 other classmates could approach the teacher. She was so elated!!
Then, I asked Felicia, what's my duties as a parent volunteer. And you know what she said? "Pick up the garbage of the kids." What did I get myself into?? I just hope the kids won't throw up along the way, as SDC is way in Jurong and St Anthony's is way on the other side of the island. The things we do for love, ya? ;)
Love Theresa
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Pope's Speech at World Youth Day and other thoughts
Dear All
I heard excerpts of the Pope's address to youths today over Channel 5. He spoke in English and it was a beautiful speech. It addressed the way man are overconsuming our natural resources that it has caused islands to sink and natural disasters. In a gist, he told us how can something like nature, being so beautiful, be created to destroy us. We are reminded that we are only stewards and have to be careful in how we use God-given resources.
There was also an article, a tiny piece, in the Straits Times today. It's about this footballer who finally decided to quit football at the age of 26, as he had discerned that he was called to be a priest. When he was younger, he thought his call was to have a successful career as a footballer. He said something at the end of the article which made me think. "To delay obedience is to be disobedient". That is why he had decided to immediately enter the seminary as God is calling him.
Remember the story of the 2 sons who the father asked them to do certain things, found in the bible? 1 son said he'll do it. The other said no, but in the end, he carried out his father's wishes, whereas the 1st son who said he'll do it, didn't. When I ponder on the footballer's quote, not only not doing something which you have promised is wrong, it's also DELAYING doing it is also wrong. In our Act of Contrition in the mass, it is also wrong on our part to fail to do things that we should have done.
Coming back to the Pope's address, he said something about our forms of entertainment. It is wrong for us choose entertain with violent contents .
I have been vexed as to whether to let the girls watch the 7pm chinese show called "When love blossoms". My main purpose is to expose them to chinese so that they'll improve it. So far, I've seen a slight improvement. It is the content of this episode/series that perplexed me. This week, it was about womanising and VD/aids. I was hopping about like a monkey between the kitchen and the TV to make sure I impart good values to the girls and counteract the possible ill-effects of the programme. I then decided to ban the show. Then Tiffany was very very upset. As she's already stressed with PSLE preparation, PC was out, and what was left was only 6:30 chinese news, 7pm chinese show and 10pm Ghostwhisperer (because I watch it lah). There was a "tug-of-war" and tears from Tiffany. She feels so stressed out and bored with just storybooks to entertain her. (She stressed that she love reading, it's just that she needs other relaxing activities). Hence, we agreed to 2 hours of PC on Friday night and still have the 7pm show, but I told them that they should not follow the values of the show. Tonight's one was good - about the evils of gambling.
I am very afraid that Tiffany would breakdown. She's quite fragile as she cannot be "pushed" too hard. A friend whose child is in Tiff's class was sharing with me that her daughter is almost at the edge. You must remember that their class is only average. My friend's child is her only child, so she's pushes her alot. Now she's so afraid her daughter would lose her marbles and that will be the end of her. Both mother and daughter are now attending counselling/psychiatrists sessions.
Seeing her, I'm thankful that Tiff is managing reasonably well. I was quite glad of yesterday's outburst as now I try to really listen to Tiff's needs rather than imposing my rules on her all the time till she just can't breathe. Being a mum, I am very worried for her. I want the best for her. And I know she can do better. Being a child, she reminded me that I'm seeing things all from an adult's point of view and not from a child's. What is easy for me and is not easy for her. Afterall, she's only a child. That's true.
Having children with different abilities, I realised that studying hard and it's corresponding results are very different with Tiffany and with Felicia. For Felicia, she remembers things fast and easily. So even if she neglects her work, she still manages quite a good pass. Feli is definitely not a gifted or talented child, just a slightly above average child. I can imagine for those parents with really gifted of talented kids, how easily their child would breeze through their studies and other areas of their life. For Bert and me, we only have a glimpse of it through Felicia. We also have to remember not to compare Tiff with Feli as they are both very beautiful in their own rights. What Tiff lacks academically, she more than makes up for it in her nature, and she's always surrounded with very nice and caring/helpful friends who try to speak to her in chinese to help her improve her chinese. Some also call up to remind each other to do their homework or to learn their spelling. True friends are hard to come by and she's very blessed by God to have this magnet to attract such nice friends.
Sorry for such a long post...it's just that it's soo very difficult to bring up children, especially when they are entering their teens. They are part child and part grown-up. Smart and yet not so discerning. Wanting to speak their mind and be independent, and yet we know our choices are better than theirs, so we have to guide them and not break them. I'm also thankful that I'm at home to have this instant communication with them. To quickly counteract the effects of society or the media with the moral standings of the Church. For parents who are working full day, it is very very difficult to have this "real-time" counter-balance to what our kids are watching and absorbing everyday. Parents have to get and keep in touch with their kids, and what they are doing, and what they are interested in. If they are into techno-music, listen with them. If they are into handphone or PC games, be a member with them and play with them. We have to get involved with them and learn their lingo. They will definitely view us as very odd and embarassing, but at least you can guide and correct them along the way.
It's really tough being a parent. It's easier when they are younger!!
Love Theresa
I heard excerpts of the Pope's address to youths today over Channel 5. He spoke in English and it was a beautiful speech. It addressed the way man are overconsuming our natural resources that it has caused islands to sink and natural disasters. In a gist, he told us how can something like nature, being so beautiful, be created to destroy us. We are reminded that we are only stewards and have to be careful in how we use God-given resources.
There was also an article, a tiny piece, in the Straits Times today. It's about this footballer who finally decided to quit football at the age of 26, as he had discerned that he was called to be a priest. When he was younger, he thought his call was to have a successful career as a footballer. He said something at the end of the article which made me think. "To delay obedience is to be disobedient". That is why he had decided to immediately enter the seminary as God is calling him.
Remember the story of the 2 sons who the father asked them to do certain things, found in the bible? 1 son said he'll do it. The other said no, but in the end, he carried out his father's wishes, whereas the 1st son who said he'll do it, didn't. When I ponder on the footballer's quote, not only not doing something which you have promised is wrong, it's also DELAYING doing it is also wrong. In our Act of Contrition in the mass, it is also wrong on our part to fail to do things that we should have done.
Coming back to the Pope's address, he said something about our forms of entertainment. It is wrong for us choose entertain with violent contents .
I have been vexed as to whether to let the girls watch the 7pm chinese show called "When love blossoms". My main purpose is to expose them to chinese so that they'll improve it. So far, I've seen a slight improvement. It is the content of this episode/series that perplexed me. This week, it was about womanising and VD/aids. I was hopping about like a monkey between the kitchen and the TV to make sure I impart good values to the girls and counteract the possible ill-effects of the programme. I then decided to ban the show. Then Tiffany was very very upset. As she's already stressed with PSLE preparation, PC was out, and what was left was only 6:30 chinese news, 7pm chinese show and 10pm Ghostwhisperer (because I watch it lah). There was a "tug-of-war" and tears from Tiffany. She feels so stressed out and bored with just storybooks to entertain her. (She stressed that she love reading, it's just that she needs other relaxing activities). Hence, we agreed to 2 hours of PC on Friday night and still have the 7pm show, but I told them that they should not follow the values of the show. Tonight's one was good - about the evils of gambling.
I am very afraid that Tiffany would breakdown. She's quite fragile as she cannot be "pushed" too hard. A friend whose child is in Tiff's class was sharing with me that her daughter is almost at the edge. You must remember that their class is only average. My friend's child is her only child, so she's pushes her alot. Now she's so afraid her daughter would lose her marbles and that will be the end of her. Both mother and daughter are now attending counselling/psychiatrists sessions.
Seeing her, I'm thankful that Tiff is managing reasonably well. I was quite glad of yesterday's outburst as now I try to really listen to Tiff's needs rather than imposing my rules on her all the time till she just can't breathe. Being a mum, I am very worried for her. I want the best for her. And I know she can do better. Being a child, she reminded me that I'm seeing things all from an adult's point of view and not from a child's. What is easy for me and is not easy for her. Afterall, she's only a child. That's true.
Having children with different abilities, I realised that studying hard and it's corresponding results are very different with Tiffany and with Felicia. For Felicia, she remembers things fast and easily. So even if she neglects her work, she still manages quite a good pass. Feli is definitely not a gifted or talented child, just a slightly above average child. I can imagine for those parents with really gifted of talented kids, how easily their child would breeze through their studies and other areas of their life. For Bert and me, we only have a glimpse of it through Felicia. We also have to remember not to compare Tiff with Feli as they are both very beautiful in their own rights. What Tiff lacks academically, she more than makes up for it in her nature, and she's always surrounded with very nice and caring/helpful friends who try to speak to her in chinese to help her improve her chinese. Some also call up to remind each other to do their homework or to learn their spelling. True friends are hard to come by and she's very blessed by God to have this magnet to attract such nice friends.
Sorry for such a long post...it's just that it's soo very difficult to bring up children, especially when they are entering their teens. They are part child and part grown-up. Smart and yet not so discerning. Wanting to speak their mind and be independent, and yet we know our choices are better than theirs, so we have to guide them and not break them. I'm also thankful that I'm at home to have this instant communication with them. To quickly counteract the effects of society or the media with the moral standings of the Church. For parents who are working full day, it is very very difficult to have this "real-time" counter-balance to what our kids are watching and absorbing everyday. Parents have to get and keep in touch with their kids, and what they are doing, and what they are interested in. If they are into techno-music, listen with them. If they are into handphone or PC games, be a member with them and play with them. We have to get involved with them and learn their lingo. They will definitely view us as very odd and embarassing, but at least you can guide and correct them along the way.
It's really tough being a parent. It's easier when they are younger!!
Love Theresa
Friday, July 11, 2008
Must See!! Shadow Puppets
Dear All
Felicia's Performing Arts (PA) teacher told her class yesterday, of a site in UTube where there's this fantastic hand shadow puppets performance. This is incredible, especially seeing that it's all performed by just 1 person.
Just follow this link:
Felicia's Performing Arts (PA) teacher told her class yesterday, of a site in UTube where there's this fantastic hand shadow puppets performance. This is incredible, especially seeing that it's all performed by just 1 person.
Just follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlbQPmXg08
Love Theresa
Thursday, July 10, 2008
I have chose to revisit this book again..
It seems that it has been quite a while that I have moved on to other books but then this morning as I am leaving for work, I chose to revisit this book...(BTW, I never read a book twice, but this one is exception)
I told myself this time round I must flag up those pages that makes an "umph" in me...St Therese has left this world since 1897...and that is 111 years ago, and as I read her writings, I have always wondered where is she now, and how is she now....?Happy? What strike me most about her is her deep and profound love for GOD...and I always wondered what is the xfactor in her that makes her to be like this state? and how can I be more like her? She is just a very ordinary person in the beginning but has very extraordinary impact on the a lot of people including me. But I wish she has written more books about herself instead of just one "A Story of my Soul" but then her stay herein this world is indeed a very a short one, having to leave this world at the age of 24. Her level maturity also strike me most coz at the age of 20+, I remember I was still very much small boy, blur, blur still do not know what is going on...
If she is still alive today, definitely I will go to France and pay her visit and to have chat with her...
Have a nice day!
AlbertY
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Excuse me...can you "ta pau" ice kacang?
This morning it rained dogs and cats...wasted must go to work othewise I will be sleeping at home for at least 12 hours...sigh! train somemore so crowded and everywhere is so full of people..nowadays..
Today also a busy day..tutorial class at 11am..expected turnout not so good because of the rain...then lecture at 1pm...so since now I have 30 mins before I lecture for 2 hours so I choose to blog..immediately after lecture need to go for WSQ meeting...sigh!
A day like this I should be sleeping at home...what a waste!Anyway I am trying to download the e-version of the autobiography of St Therese to my pda so that I can read it whenever I am free..but still can't get the .lit version of the book...
Feel so lethargic now...maybe will go for a run this evening at YCK if not raining...just recall last week on one of the day that I took a half day I stopped by at Eastpoint Banquet to have a nice bowl of Ice-Kacang by myself and the lady ask me this stunning question: Ice Kacang? Eating here or take away?
My reply: Hah.....?
Have a nice day!
AlbertY
Today also a busy day..tutorial class at 11am..expected turnout not so good because of the rain...then lecture at 1pm...so since now I have 30 mins before I lecture for 2 hours so I choose to blog..immediately after lecture need to go for WSQ meeting...sigh!
A day like this I should be sleeping at home...what a waste!Anyway I am trying to download the e-version of the autobiography of St Therese to my pda so that I can read it whenever I am free..but still can't get the .lit version of the book...
Feel so lethargic now...maybe will go for a run this evening at YCK if not raining...just recall last week on one of the day that I took a half day I stopped by at Eastpoint Banquet to have a nice bowl of Ice-Kacang by myself and the lady ask me this stunning question: Ice Kacang? Eating here or take away?
My reply: Hah.....?
Have a nice day!
AlbertY
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The 2 missions of St Therese
After reading the autobiography of St Therese (Story of a Soul), my perpsective of the people in general has been changed somewhat for the better...more often than not, whenever we comae across some nasty people in our lives we would try not to associate ourselves too much with them...but then St Therese has 2 missions in life and that is:
Mission 1: To save as many souls as possible and lead them to heaven
Mission 2: To pray for our beloved priests
So bearing these 2 missions in mind, every nasty person that we come across in our lives has a good chance to go on to heaven...so don't write them off in you first encounter though we tend to discociate ourselves from them.
Every single soul is worth saving and they are created in the image of God...
So, now I understand fully God's love for the human race better.
Have a nice day!
AlbertY
Mission 1: To save as many souls as possible and lead them to heaven
Mission 2: To pray for our beloved priests
So bearing these 2 missions in mind, every nasty person that we come across in our lives has a good chance to go on to heaven...so don't write them off in you first encounter though we tend to discociate ourselves from them.
Every single soul is worth saving and they are created in the image of God...
So, now I understand fully God's love for the human race better.
Have a nice day!
AlbertY
Monday, July 7, 2008
Invitation to Felicia's 8th Birthday Party
Dear Lovely LC Couples & Children
You are cordially invited to Felicia's 8th Birthday party.
Date : 12 July 2008 (this Sat)
Place: Function Room, Simei Street 1, Melville Park
Time: 1:30pm - 4:30pm
There'll be fun games, family games and food galore!
We will adjourn to BBQ Pit No. 1B at around 5:45pm (after the party) for our LC meeting.
You may wish to bring your swimming costumes for a fun dip after the birthday party, as the BBQ pit is booked from 6pm - 10pm so there's some time before the meeting starts.
Love Albert & Theresa
You are cordially invited to Felicia's 8th Birthday party.
Date : 12 July 2008 (this Sat)
Place: Function Room, Simei Street 1, Melville Park
Time: 1:30pm - 4:30pm
There'll be fun games, family games and food galore!
We will adjourn to BBQ Pit No. 1B at around 5:45pm (after the party) for our LC meeting.
You may wish to bring your swimming costumes for a fun dip after the birthday party, as the BBQ pit is booked from 6pm - 10pm so there's some time before the meeting starts.
Love Albert & Theresa
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Farewell lunches at work place
On Friday (4 July 2008), I attended a farewell lunch for one of my colleague who is leaving us in 3 weeks time..thinking back, in my entire working life i have attended countless number of farewell lunches for departing colleagues and each time the feeling is the same....on one hand I felt sad, sad because you know that you will not see the person again anymore (most likely) but at the same time you feel happy, happy for that person who has found a job with better career prospect and perhaps better pay, better working environment etc. Well, I guess that is what working life is all about......you just gotta let go and move on.......and well said, come monday, I was assigned to be the buddy for a new colleague who will be reporting for work on Monday (arrrrrrrrrrh...have to wake up early to receive her as you know new recruit usually report very early for work on their first day)...but as for me who has been around for so many years...guess what time I reach my working place? ...tell you some other time, He! He! ....and since no one remember to bring along a camera to this farewell lunch, so I ask the waiter to take a group photo using my Samsung Soul U900 but the quality of the photo taken is s0mewhat not up to my expectation; here is the photo taken:
AlbertY
Organ Trading Saga
Dear All
It seems the reasons for and against organ trading are so persuasive. Those for organ trading are for the patients whose organs have failed. Those who are against say the poor will be exploited. The issue is not a simple one. When I showed Tiffany the newspaper regarding organ trading, she immediately said trading should be allowed. I was taken aback and asked her why. She said people are dying from organ failure so allow trading so that those people can live. It seems a straw poll by the Straits Times reveal as high as 60+% are agreeable to the idea of organ trading. For me..my gut feel is that is doesn't seem right. I guess if I or a loved one has organ failure, we would be very desparate to get an organ no matter the cost. But if you look closely, organ failure cuts across all social strata. Organ failure affects both the rich and the poor.
If you look at the cost of getting an organ, it is not a small amount. If organ trading is allowed, only the rich can afford to purchase the organs. A vast majority of the poor patients would not be able to afford to buy one. And who are the ones selling their organs? No prize for guessing the answer to that...of course it's the poorest in society. As it is, no one wants to part with their organ. However, when a sizable carrot is waved, it's those who are in desparate need of money for survival who would grab the carrot.
When I read the latest report able the 2 Indonesian men who were fined and jailed, the one who already had his kidney removed opened my eyes to the real potential for exploitation of the poor. After his organ was removed, he didn't bargain for poor health and constant pain on the operation site. He could not afford long-term medical care for his affected health, and his poor health affected his ability to find a job to support himself and his family. And what happened to the lady who took his kidney? Apparantly she has a new lease of life and never a care of the "donor" because it was a commercial transaction, and the "donor" was the sucker for it! Those who are for trading asked that a health insurance be purchased by the recipient for the "donor". That sounds quite pausible but which insurance company wants the burden of footing the medical cost of the "donor"? Ultimately, who will bear the true cost of insurance but the general public.
It seems like society is so de-sensitised to the evils of the world. I remember Father Bruno told us to pray for the sin of the world. When I asked him what sin, he said for society's sin of allowing abortion as an example. I would guess that allowing organ trading could be considered as another sin of the world.
I ask myself...if Jesus was here, what would he do or say? When his disciple cut off the soldier's ear, Jesus did a miracle healing. He did not make his discipline replace the soldier's ear with his own ear, did he? Bert mentioned sometime back, that without the advancement of medicine, his mum would not have lived that long. His mum had to go through a surgery some years back where the chances of survival from the operation was only 5%, but since technology was available, they agreed to the op although the chance was only 5%. As children, we are obliged to give any chance to let our loved ones live. On hindsight, he doesn't know if what they had done was really the right thing to do. Should we let our love one go peacefully or are we doing it for ourselves, or in fear of God, i.e. are we doing the right thing in the eyes of God? If medical advancement is not what it is today, we won't have the issue of organ trading. If a person is sick, we just do the best we can to relieve the pain, and then let him/her go. Medical advancements are both a boon and a bane. Anyway, I told Tiffany that a clear yes or no is not so clear, but I would think that I would lean towards a stronger no as the poorest in society would be clearly the losers. Afterall, it is to the poorest of the poor that Jesus came for, and as followers of Christ, we should follow His example and guide.
Sorry for the very long post, as this issue has been bugging me, and I've finally let off some steam and off my chest.
Love Theresa
It seems the reasons for and against organ trading are so persuasive. Those for organ trading are for the patients whose organs have failed. Those who are against say the poor will be exploited. The issue is not a simple one. When I showed Tiffany the newspaper regarding organ trading, she immediately said trading should be allowed. I was taken aback and asked her why. She said people are dying from organ failure so allow trading so that those people can live. It seems a straw poll by the Straits Times reveal as high as 60+% are agreeable to the idea of organ trading. For me..my gut feel is that is doesn't seem right. I guess if I or a loved one has organ failure, we would be very desparate to get an organ no matter the cost. But if you look closely, organ failure cuts across all social strata. Organ failure affects both the rich and the poor.
If you look at the cost of getting an organ, it is not a small amount. If organ trading is allowed, only the rich can afford to purchase the organs. A vast majority of the poor patients would not be able to afford to buy one. And who are the ones selling their organs? No prize for guessing the answer to that...of course it's the poorest in society. As it is, no one wants to part with their organ. However, when a sizable carrot is waved, it's those who are in desparate need of money for survival who would grab the carrot.
When I read the latest report able the 2 Indonesian men who were fined and jailed, the one who already had his kidney removed opened my eyes to the real potential for exploitation of the poor. After his organ was removed, he didn't bargain for poor health and constant pain on the operation site. He could not afford long-term medical care for his affected health, and his poor health affected his ability to find a job to support himself and his family. And what happened to the lady who took his kidney? Apparantly she has a new lease of life and never a care of the "donor" because it was a commercial transaction, and the "donor" was the sucker for it! Those who are for trading asked that a health insurance be purchased by the recipient for the "donor". That sounds quite pausible but which insurance company wants the burden of footing the medical cost of the "donor"? Ultimately, who will bear the true cost of insurance but the general public.
It seems like society is so de-sensitised to the evils of the world. I remember Father Bruno told us to pray for the sin of the world. When I asked him what sin, he said for society's sin of allowing abortion as an example. I would guess that allowing organ trading could be considered as another sin of the world.
I ask myself...if Jesus was here, what would he do or say? When his disciple cut off the soldier's ear, Jesus did a miracle healing. He did not make his discipline replace the soldier's ear with his own ear, did he? Bert mentioned sometime back, that without the advancement of medicine, his mum would not have lived that long. His mum had to go through a surgery some years back where the chances of survival from the operation was only 5%, but since technology was available, they agreed to the op although the chance was only 5%. As children, we are obliged to give any chance to let our loved ones live. On hindsight, he doesn't know if what they had done was really the right thing to do. Should we let our love one go peacefully or are we doing it for ourselves, or in fear of God, i.e. are we doing the right thing in the eyes of God? If medical advancement is not what it is today, we won't have the issue of organ trading. If a person is sick, we just do the best we can to relieve the pain, and then let him/her go. Medical advancements are both a boon and a bane. Anyway, I told Tiffany that a clear yes or no is not so clear, but I would think that I would lean towards a stronger no as the poorest in society would be clearly the losers. Afterall, it is to the poorest of the poor that Jesus came for, and as followers of Christ, we should follow His example and guide.
Sorry for the very long post, as this issue has been bugging me, and I've finally let off some steam and off my chest.
Love Theresa
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
My Chat with an Indian Tourist
Dear All
Tonight was a night of revelations and "insults". As I was at the bench at our condo's playground keeping an eye on Felicia around 9:30pm, an India lady sat down next to me. She was keeping an eye on her niece and started to talk. As we talked, I came to know that she's on 26 days holiday in Singapore and currently stays with her sister at this condo. She's a broadcast journalist with aajwat - according to her, the top India news channel in India, Delhi. I couldn't help feeling that she likes to boast a little. So I let her talk. She's works in crime news and legal/court stories and asked if I know where posh district is? As I didn't, she told me it's where the most expensive properties are in India and she stays there with her parents. (So there, wasn't I right in my feelings?).
I must say I couldn't argue with her insults to us Singaporeans, as what she say are actually quite true.
Insult Number 1: Our standard of English is quite bad considering that it's our 1st language and daily usage as compared to Indians. Sadly, I cannot argue with that. We sometimes don't speak well and hence, we tend to write how we speak it. We don't read widely, and hence, our vocabulary is quite limited. She pointedly asked me if I know what's a creche. Sounds quite condescending to me, but of course I know the meaning of that word. We just don't call it that nowadays. It's now called childcare. Anyway, it came up by the way in our conversation as you will see in Insult Num. 2
Insult Num 2: Singaporeans complain of long hours of work. She says we speak very slow compared to Indians, and she claims people in India work 6x faster than Singaporeans. I told her in journalism, I would expect hours to be long so it's not a fair comparison. So she said that's true as she sometimes don't finish work till 2am. But she said her friends in corporates to our corporates work longer hours. Her observation is in Singapore, people are able to come home at 9pm and still squeeze in a swim or a run. For them, official hours are 10am to 6pm but they come home later. That led me to ask who then takes care of the kids as they are becoming more nuclear in families too. Same as us, they depend on creches or maids or become stay at home mums.
Insult Num 3: We Chinese Singaporeans don't eat healthy. She's vegetarian and as India has large agricultural land, Delhi gets milk direct from cows and fresh produce everyday unlike here. India cuisines are healthier as they eat lots of yohurt and fruits like tomatoes. Her mum makes her own ghee which is the top layer of boiled milk. I looked at her - she's apparantly single but her hips are big. As I looked at the India ladies around the playground, they all look fat to me! I figured she's be all defensive if I pointed this out (anyway, ghee is oil and oil being oil, it's still fattening) so I kept that thought to myself and put on a polite smile.
I must say that they are some truths in what she said. We do need to incorporate more vegetables and fruits in our diet. We just have too much meat. A point taken is, our Singaporean signature dish is the Chicken rice....it's full of chicken meat and oily rice, right?
Also, I am sad to agree with her that our standard of English usage when spoken, needs to be improved. Take Felicia for instance. I was surprised that she keeps getting her noun-verb agreement mixed up... I then caught myself speaking wrongly (is that singlish?) but since I'm understood, I used to let it go. Now, I try to speak in full and grammatically correct sentences to Felicia. I must say, I put on my best English front when I spoke to her and to Felicia when her insult on our English standard was made!
Regarding her insult on who works faster or more, I take it with a big pinch of salt. I guess we speak slowly to Indians as we can't understand their accent so we slow down and articulate more so that they can understand us. Hence, we appear dense to them!! So dear fellow Singaporeans, forget about being sensitive and courteous to our Indian counterparts and just speak our normal speed.
Insult Num 4: Our nuclear families are very different from Indian nuclear families. In India, the community is very strong. 1 person can have 200-300 friends, whereas here, Singaporeans tend to have 20 - 30 very close friends. I tend to disagree with her here. But as I am myself quite an introvert, my numbers seem to tally with her numbers. But I believe most Singaporeans have a higher number than 20 - 30. Anyway, I don't see any Indian friends helping another Indian neighbour who gave birth 2 years ago. She was so desperate she longed for my friendship so I dropped by now and then to give her Felicia's old pampers as an underlying mat as her baby kept on urinating directly on the bed. I also gave her some advice and companionship till she went back to her mum in India for a few months. I don't see any so called Indian friends coming over to help her. Anyway, 200-300 seems more like acquaintants to me rather than friends. For me, a few good and close friends are better than knowing the whole world or hi-and-bye friends. I guess most Singaporeans know that. Anyway, if we are so bad, how come her sis and bro-in-law wants to be PRs, and she herself, just 5 days ago, is thinking of relocating and working in Singapore? Action speaks LOUDER than words, yah?
Love
Theresa
Tonight was a night of revelations and "insults". As I was at the bench at our condo's playground keeping an eye on Felicia around 9:30pm, an India lady sat down next to me. She was keeping an eye on her niece and started to talk. As we talked, I came to know that she's on 26 days holiday in Singapore and currently stays with her sister at this condo. She's a broadcast journalist with aajwat - according to her, the top India news channel in India, Delhi. I couldn't help feeling that she likes to boast a little. So I let her talk. She's works in crime news and legal/court stories and asked if I know where posh district is? As I didn't, she told me it's where the most expensive properties are in India and she stays there with her parents. (So there, wasn't I right in my feelings?).
I must say I couldn't argue with her insults to us Singaporeans, as what she say are actually quite true.
Insult Number 1: Our standard of English is quite bad considering that it's our 1st language and daily usage as compared to Indians. Sadly, I cannot argue with that. We sometimes don't speak well and hence, we tend to write how we speak it. We don't read widely, and hence, our vocabulary is quite limited. She pointedly asked me if I know what's a creche. Sounds quite condescending to me, but of course I know the meaning of that word. We just don't call it that nowadays. It's now called childcare. Anyway, it came up by the way in our conversation as you will see in Insult Num. 2
Insult Num 2: Singaporeans complain of long hours of work. She says we speak very slow compared to Indians, and she claims people in India work 6x faster than Singaporeans. I told her in journalism, I would expect hours to be long so it's not a fair comparison. So she said that's true as she sometimes don't finish work till 2am. But she said her friends in corporates to our corporates work longer hours. Her observation is in Singapore, people are able to come home at 9pm and still squeeze in a swim or a run. For them, official hours are 10am to 6pm but they come home later. That led me to ask who then takes care of the kids as they are becoming more nuclear in families too. Same as us, they depend on creches or maids or become stay at home mums.
Insult Num 3: We Chinese Singaporeans don't eat healthy. She's vegetarian and as India has large agricultural land, Delhi gets milk direct from cows and fresh produce everyday unlike here. India cuisines are healthier as they eat lots of yohurt and fruits like tomatoes. Her mum makes her own ghee which is the top layer of boiled milk. I looked at her - she's apparantly single but her hips are big. As I looked at the India ladies around the playground, they all look fat to me! I figured she's be all defensive if I pointed this out (anyway, ghee is oil and oil being oil, it's still fattening) so I kept that thought to myself and put on a polite smile.
I must say that they are some truths in what she said. We do need to incorporate more vegetables and fruits in our diet. We just have too much meat. A point taken is, our Singaporean signature dish is the Chicken rice....it's full of chicken meat and oily rice, right?
Also, I am sad to agree with her that our standard of English usage when spoken, needs to be improved. Take Felicia for instance. I was surprised that she keeps getting her noun-verb agreement mixed up... I then caught myself speaking wrongly (is that singlish?) but since I'm understood, I used to let it go. Now, I try to speak in full and grammatically correct sentences to Felicia. I must say, I put on my best English front when I spoke to her and to Felicia when her insult on our English standard was made!
Regarding her insult on who works faster or more, I take it with a big pinch of salt. I guess we speak slowly to Indians as we can't understand their accent so we slow down and articulate more so that they can understand us. Hence, we appear dense to them!! So dear fellow Singaporeans, forget about being sensitive and courteous to our Indian counterparts and just speak our normal speed.
Insult Num 4: Our nuclear families are very different from Indian nuclear families. In India, the community is very strong. 1 person can have 200-300 friends, whereas here, Singaporeans tend to have 20 - 30 very close friends. I tend to disagree with her here. But as I am myself quite an introvert, my numbers seem to tally with her numbers. But I believe most Singaporeans have a higher number than 20 - 30. Anyway, I don't see any Indian friends helping another Indian neighbour who gave birth 2 years ago. She was so desperate she longed for my friendship so I dropped by now and then to give her Felicia's old pampers as an underlying mat as her baby kept on urinating directly on the bed. I also gave her some advice and companionship till she went back to her mum in India for a few months. I don't see any so called Indian friends coming over to help her. Anyway, 200-300 seems more like acquaintants to me rather than friends. For me, a few good and close friends are better than knowing the whole world or hi-and-bye friends. I guess most Singaporeans know that. Anyway, if we are so bad, how come her sis and bro-in-law wants to be PRs, and she herself, just 5 days ago, is thinking of relocating and working in Singapore? Action speaks LOUDER than words, yah?
Love
Theresa
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