At the end of week one i've somehow managed to get up at 5:30am every morning thus far (and at 5:31 have each morning then muttered to myself that i won't be able to keep that up in the long run), have already been on two learning journeys (and at the least have learnt how to better jaga very energetic and restless students), and have yet to eat at the purported best thing about being posted to the particular school (though on the plus side even the fare in the school canteen already beats that at nie).
This upcoming week will feature my first (of so many) attempts at conducting lessons in this school, and to that end i was racking my brain trying to think of interesting ways to lead up to a compo for monday's lesson (and no success yet). Somehow though doing up lesson plans now seems less of a chore than it did all of two weeks ago. Maybe cos this case they're done with a tangible audience in mind (and maybe also just cos this is not nie). Thankfully the people at the school (at least thus far) have been real nice and welcoming, so things are hardly as daunting as i thought they might have otherwise turned out to be. Workload has also (again at least thus far) still been manageable. Still a long way to go, of course, but at least it's a promising start :)
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
at long last
I was pleasantly surprised to read this news a day or so ago. After having written more than one's fair share on Filipino Americans, including if i remember correctly one whole chapter on the veterans' fight for proper recognition of their efforts in WWII, it was heartening to see that whoever still is around got what they deserved. Almost makes me want to write a follow-up paper (just kidding!). Pity the more than sixty years it took for this to happen and thus also the tens of thousands of veterans already dead and therefore unable to claim these very belated benefits (and of course relatives of the deceased aren't eligible...). US$9000/15000 isn't exactly a real big amount of $, though maybe when factoring in inflation it may differ, i dunno...
And while initially i was not too thrilled with the fact that this distinctly non-economy-boosting measure somehow figured in the so-called stimulus package that was just signed into law, on the other hand i suppose this provision simply needed to be tucked within this much larger package, where many of the lawmakers would not have been afforded the time to look through each and every of its constituent components, if it were to have any hope of being signed into law in the first case. Well i suppose those who will benefit will take it whatever way it comes, even if the way in which it did come really screams for lots more articles to be written...
And while initially i was not too thrilled with the fact that this distinctly non-economy-boosting measure somehow figured in the so-called stimulus package that was just signed into law, on the other hand i suppose this provision simply needed to be tucked within this much larger package, where many of the lawmakers would not have been afforded the time to look through each and every of its constituent components, if it were to have any hope of being signed into law in the first case. Well i suppose those who will benefit will take it whatever way it comes, even if the way in which it did come really screams for lots more articles to be written...
Saturday, February 21, 2009
the bane that is boon (lay)
Coming not a moment too soon, yesterday was the last time, for a while, when i'll have to go on a long journey to the west, and certainly not on a daily basis for a longer while. The past seven or eight or so months of taking the mrt, more often than not during peak hours, has reminded me of the sheer inconsiderateness (this word exists?) of many S'poreans, and hence needless to say has been quite the test of my patience.
There have been the pesky youths who receive texts or calls but after taking out their phones hold them up for the whole train car's worth of passengers to hear their already loud and jarring ringtones at least until more than half the tone goes by before finally reading the text/answering the call. Along the same line, those who find it within the kindness of their hearts to compensate for the lack of tv mobile (the bane of my sbs bus-sitting existence) by broadcasting their own selection of choice (read: crap) music for the listening pleasure (read: where's my earplugs when i need them?) But worst of all, the motley crew of passengers awaiting entry into the train who either are color-blind (oops i'm an English teacher now so i must use the British spelling eh? - make that colour-blind) and hence cannot see the yellow arrow markings on the floor, or just don't care for anyone apart from themselves. Hence they form a crowd immediately outside the train door and hinder the way of those trying to exit, and even worse, attempt to push their way past the alighting people. Must have mentioned this before. Anyways, it annoys the hell out of me. This problem is especially prevalent in boonlay in the morning, which has let me to the uncorroborated conclusion that people in the far west are just about the S'poreans most lacking in social graces. One day (must have been a bad mood day) i lost enough of my patience to not only push back at one auntie who were trying to worm her way in to get a seat, but also scold her (in Chinese, no less) and then scarper before she could react. Not my finest hour, but well at that moment i felt that it was warranted.
Well hopefully those days at boonlay will soon be gone, now that the two new stations are opening and the western mob will be spread out to these stations as well. Inconsiderate S'poreans aside though, the trains are seriously getting too crowded for my liking. The other day, on the rare occasion that i headed to nie during an off-peak hour (3ish pm), the trains came at six-minute intervals, and needless to say, each train was packed to the brim. I've definitely taken the train before at those times, and the intervals were not so spread out as they were this time. What alarms me is that this nonsense is apparently the intention of SMRT, since Saw Phaik Hwa (the President and CEO) actually believes that packing as many people into the train is what our trains are important for. Something tells me she drives to work...
There have been the pesky youths who receive texts or calls but after taking out their phones hold them up for the whole train car's worth of passengers to hear their already loud and jarring ringtones at least until more than half the tone goes by before finally reading the text/answering the call. Along the same line, those who find it within the kindness of their hearts to compensate for the lack of tv mobile (the bane of my sbs bus-sitting existence) by broadcasting their own selection of choice (read: crap) music for the listening pleasure (read: where's my earplugs when i need them?) But worst of all, the motley crew of passengers awaiting entry into the train who either are color-blind (oops i'm an English teacher now so i must use the British spelling eh? - make that colour-blind) and hence cannot see the yellow arrow markings on the floor, or just don't care for anyone apart from themselves. Hence they form a crowd immediately outside the train door and hinder the way of those trying to exit, and even worse, attempt to push their way past the alighting people. Must have mentioned this before. Anyways, it annoys the hell out of me. This problem is especially prevalent in boonlay in the morning, which has let me to the uncorroborated conclusion that people in the far west are just about the S'poreans most lacking in social graces. One day (must have been a bad mood day) i lost enough of my patience to not only push back at one auntie who were trying to worm her way in to get a seat, but also scold her (in Chinese, no less) and then scarper before she could react. Not my finest hour, but well at that moment i felt that it was warranted.
Well hopefully those days at boonlay will soon be gone, now that the two new stations are opening and the western mob will be spread out to these stations as well. Inconsiderate S'poreans aside though, the trains are seriously getting too crowded for my liking. The other day, on the rare occasion that i headed to nie during an off-peak hour (3ish pm), the trains came at six-minute intervals, and needless to say, each train was packed to the brim. I've definitely taken the train before at those times, and the intervals were not so spread out as they were this time. What alarms me is that this nonsense is apparently the intention of SMRT, since Saw Phaik Hwa (the President and CEO) actually believes that packing as many people into the train is what our trains are important for. Something tells me she drives to work...
Friday, February 13, 2009
oh hush rush
This image was circulated in certain Christian circles (and remarked upon as being a pic which will never make it to the mainstream media) - thought it was somewhat heartwarming to see this taking place. While i have doubts with regards to the theology of the pastors/church leaders who are laying hands, it's a reminder nevertheless of the importance of praying for those whom God has put in authority, and for that matter whether you agree with them being there or not (which i think i should remind myself more of from time to time), rather than unapologetically and openly denounce them with unnecessarily harsh and partisan invective, and even worse, take pride in it. Speaks volumes about one's (lack of) humility and (abundance of) ego, and not to mention also reflects really poorly on conservatism to have such folk so highly esteemed among its ranks.
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