My Mum's Graduation - 14th March 2008

Last Friday, 14th March was my mum's graduation from Beijing University, a collaboration with UniSIM. My father and the rest of the family are so proud of her!
My mama is 55 this year and she took 5 years taking her degree part time to complete a literature studies in Chinese...cheem stuff if you ask me.
It really goes to show that learning never stops regardless of age! Her unwavering spirit has paid off!
Her graduating class, the Masters Degree graduants consisted of some well-known figures.
Remember the TV personnel, Mai Haowei? affectionately known as "Lao Hero"? He was a Masters Degree Grad in Linguistics in Chinese! wow...other famous figures are Liang Ping from Capital 95.8FM the news reporter..amazing...so proud of my mum!!
Anyway I met my dear old Dean from CEE in NTU last time, Prof Cheong Hee Kiat! He had since moved to UniSIM to be the Head there for the last 3 years. Miss him so much and had so much to catch up with him...missed the days that he taught us and when I chatted with him when I was in Civil main comm in school....sigh...
Time really flies...
:)

Mum receiving her degree from the Head of Beijing University


Me with my favourite Dean, Prof Cheong Hee Kiat

With my father and youngest sis at the Dining hall in SIM after the ceremony! :)

What He's Done

You know in times of extreme stress today? I blanked out in front of the white board.
Suddenly everything seemed so surreal: "What am I doing here? Why am I standing in front of the whiteboard and writing to the children?"

Extreme stress has caused me to break out in cold sweat yesterday along the streets after my violin lesson.
Lord, I need to release this all to YOU!

Heard this song at Trinity@Paya Lebar and it got stuck to my head for weeks. Can't get it out...Gonna figure out the chords pronto...it really ministered to me and touched me the first time I heard it and I sensed God really comforting me and my heart just overflowed with a lot of thanksgiving. Hope we can sing this too someday...What He's Done by Martha Munizzi, MP3 anyone?
Been singing this song to myself in the staff room...relieve a bit of all that stress la...:)


Found this on YouTube - a blind girl singing to this song

Martha Munizzi - What He's Done lyrics

Artist: Martha Munizzi
Album: No Limits: Live
Year: 2006
Title: What He's Done

[Verse:]
What He's done for me is so amazing,
the love He has for me I cannot explain.
All I know is I once was lost,
but now I'm found,
I was blind, but now I see;
and I know He will do for you
what He's done for me.[

Chorus:]
Amazing love, amazing love.
Amazing love, amazing love.

All I know is I once was lost,
but now I'm found,
I was blind, but now I see;
and I know He will do for you
what He's done for me.

[What He's Done Lyrics on
http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]

Weight Update: 7kg down...am I falling sick?

Played until my fingers hurt...

YES 19th March ...next Wednesday is the exam date...very scared and stressed...practising as hard as I can now...Lord, help me! :P

Whose child is this?

From Mountain Wings :)

Whose Child is This?
=====================
Whose child is this?
I asked one day
Seeing a little one outside at play.
"Mine," said the parent
With a tender smile,"Mine" to keep a little while.
To bathe him and comb his hair,
To prepare him that he may always be good
And each day do the things he should.

Whose child is this?
I asked again
As the door opened and someone came in.
"Mine," said the teacher
With a tender smile,
"Mine" to keep just for a little while.
To teach him how to be gentle and kind
And get the best he can from school.

Whose child is this?
I asked once more
Just as the little one entered the door
"Ours," said the parent and the teacher as they smiled.
And each took a hand of the little child
"Ours" to love and nurture together
Ours this blessed task forever.

~Author Unknown~

Spot him? This is posted on our staff room door...

You heard the saying "3rd time lucky?" Ladies and Gentlemen I caught the bouquet again... at the J & J Wedding today

Current weight check: 69kg scary sia...it's going down or is it my weighing scale is spoilt? :P

Encouragement for a dear friend KX

Dear UniSIM students

Regarding the recent announcement on Government Subsidy for part-time degree courses, existing students pursuing degree programmes awarded by UniSIM will qualify for the subsidy (subject to the terms and conditions set by the Ministry of Education). UniSIM is in the process of working out the details with MOE and shall make known the details to you once they are firmed up.

This post is for a dear friend if you are reading this now...got this off another friend's blog post...know that you have been actively searching MOE websites for degree courses offered at the various institutions and is a bit unhappy that part-time degrees are not offered in NIE at the moment...go for it man! Have great faith and trust in you that you can make it! Do take up courses at UniSIM if you can...the subsidy can apply to you too! Keeping you in prayers...

luv,
rac

Lost 6kg since school re-opened...this is really a stressful job...:P

And you thought teaching is very boring and mundane...

The following pics which you are about to see are actually uniformed personnel disguised as teachers at Edgefield Primary School...a few of us were specially selected to don the various uniform at the Total Defence Day which was commemorated nationwide in schools on the 17th February, two Fridays ago.

I was dressing up as an "Inspector" and had so much fun... even went to the Net and searched specifically for the ranks of the Singapore Police Force to find out what it means! Teaching does has its perks. We stationed around the school and simulated wartime Singapore with bomb blasts and all, then us the uniformed ppl will run out and alert the pupils to go to the hall for activities. There, the Total Defence Day message was read after a siren was heard all over Singapore at 12:25pm that day.

The kids had a chance to witness how all the Uniformed Personnel in Singapore played a part in Total Defence and Racial Harmony was promoted. The kids went hyper with laughter I tell you when they saw us...the following pics which you see are really painstaking efforts put in by us...


I could fit in the Police uniform! hahah..check out my "chiong" baton..

The HOME Team! Azhari as Policeman, me, and KX as Civil Defence

KX - the PE teacher also known now as "Halim" We all spot different name tags!

Eugene one of the P6 teachers

David - our Discipline Master

Azmadi

Haril with his aim at the "gun" - we even got cool look alike props

The "pout" after the whole thing

That crazy candid shot with all the NE-SS teachers who put in the hard work!

Valentine's Day

Ah the most asked question that people starts asking when you go back to work on Friday is ,"So, how's your Valentine's Day?"

I had promptly made a loud comment on Thursday, 14th Feb after the nth time that question of "What's your plans tonight?" was asked by another colleague. "I have no date. It's okay!!"
My school is not without the feeling of love, teachers are constantly called down to the general office mind you, to receive sweet flowers and balloons as announced over the staff room PA system. I think this year has gotta be different for me too. I had not felt so much peace and joy in a long time. I giggled at my previous years' tantrums of having no special "one" to spend the time with over this particular day...Realised now...Joy must come from the Lord first and His love must first reside in my heart. If I am with the one who truly loves me and I really love, EVERYDAY is a V-day!

Lotsa chocolate exchange today...teachers brandishing their new year cookies and chocolates and giving them out. I too dish out pretty pink wrappers filled with Cadbury chocolates for my close friends in the school. Nope still no flowers.

Wednesdays thru to Fridays are what I call "Mad Rush Days" for me. I have full timetables, lotsa stuff to do, CCA stuff to handle. Have to stay in school to at least 430pm after dancing with the children. Actually I came to school today without much expectations, if it comes it will come...no need to worry...God will take care of that "ONE" the special one for me. Got a few encouraging and heartwarming sms-es and realise that ..hey its not that bad after all. Got a very spontaneous last minute arrangement to meet up my two lovely younger sistas for a crazy night out....

Braved the crazy CTE traffic for a good one hour plus jam along Eu Tong Sen Street.
Can u imagine my tired look as I finally parked the car at Maxwell Market and walked to Chinatown Square for a Swensons' meal...boy was I ready to collapse!


Us 3, me, my youngest sis - Jiaxin, Second one - Yunxin (Kerri)

Here's some suggested tips to deal with your V Day flowers if you find them a chore:-

Things to do with your flowers (1)


Things to do with your flowers (2)


How to pass your time while waiting extremely long for your food - Check the utensils are in good working order ala Ariel the Mermaid


JN warned me about the thin line between nonchalence and acceptance towards being single. Don't give up hope! heheheh... Not yet wor!
I prayed to the Lord today, Lord Jesus, Today YOU are my Valentine! No date beats You today and You are simply awesome and a wonderful lover first and foremost! :D
It will come...soon...:)

Jesus my CEO

My father's one true love

Must quickly do some posting otherwise the next time I would have at least 2 girls who are so crazed up over the song "This Never Happened Before" by Paul McCartney. Two girls who always visit my site and click the link to watch the YouTube video over and over again...I think I am going crazy...zhuZhu can testify...that I have been playing the song and video countless times over the last 3 days..."50 TIMES!!" my youngest sis made sure I kept count.

Must snap out of it! Can't believe that these emotions seep through in my life again so easy like a thief in the night. This year's Chinese New Year is really different. Heeded the Pastor's call to spend more time with my family and praying and I really gained a lot of more insight than I ever imagined. Normally my sisters and me would scoot off on the 1st day of CNY to hide ourselves at some cinemas with some shows that we do not really wanna watch...but somehow this year's different. We actually sat there and spent quality time talking and playing with my cousins! I finally got to know them much better and it was so meaningful as compared to putting my agenda before others.

I knew the meaning of family

On the 2nd day of CNY, I started to fume at my mum for something that she had said that really hurt me. I went on and on until my dad just smiled and told me "Truth about marriages my dear? It's about putting up with each other in love."
Lightning struck, that's my dad talking about his one true love for you.
Was so touched. "There are many things that we do not see in courtship that can only surface in marriage and its all about choice to love.." Did we all not learn that something back in the Relationship Seminar? There I have a real time drama playing in front of me and I was so touched by this valuable lesson in love.
In conflict management, do I tend to be the "Critic" that constantly puts others down, the "Aggressive" which uses mean words to hurt and lobby support to my side? I wander. Certainly do not want to progress into "Manipulative" controllers who use words to get things my way...How much more to learn about love and respecting each other in a relationship? Loads....

I learnt about my father's one true love...

On the 3rd day I decided to come back to the house and help out ....have not done that in years since I started visiting my friends' houses and the 3rd day is always the OPEN HOUSE for my family where we would cook and wash and clean and clear and do that all over again...came back early and was soaked in the spirit of togetherness, felt so good...power of presence and working togther...its been 6 long years that God took to let me learn these lessons of appreciating your family more and I am glad that I made that first footstep homeward bound after all..Lord I am ready...help me be ready...:)Let Your will be done...

I learnt about family togetherness

Wow thank You Lord!


Me with my Edgefield Ballroom (Dancesport) Dancers

With Wan Yi and Dehua


with the cousins 1st Day of CNY :)

This Never Happened Before - Paul McCartney

This song got stuck in my head ever since CN and Christine's wedding.. from the movie "The Lake House" starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock...:P Guess I am in one of those melancholy moods again...when will I face up to my true self?
Do enjoy it with me...its very romantic :)

My "28th Dress"

Watched the movie finally yesterday with ZhuZhu...good movie and good clean fun...totally enjoyed it cos it speaks to me about how the main character dons out dresses and accepts the requests of her friends who asks her to help out despite the fact that she may not look good in those dresses....Learn to say 'NO' :) Sometimes, it is an obedience to God to not succumb yourself to things which you cannot fulfill out of your heart...:)

Took the quiz at the website and this supposed to my results?! Dun be fooled - it should say "classy and conservative" really...

He will wipe away every tear from your eye...

Thurs 31st Jan 2008

Took a break off clearing of "condos" of worksheets and compositions to post this.
This has got to be a very difficult day in my stint at a teacher. My class just got crazier to handle. It started off way in the morning while I was taking the pupils to the science Lab. There you have Boy J spitting at Boy B who promptly hit him with a pencil case and Boy F did a ala "Chun Li" kick at the boy J on the floor.

It happened so fast. If you ask me its really gangsterism at its worst. I have such a hard time controlling this class that everyday, I am so besot with anger that my soul hurts. I pray and fast for this class every single day and sometimes, I am really drained. Chasing after homework, consent forms, calling parents who do not seem to care...Its tough when you have a huge number of pupils with behavioural and academic problems all in one class. I have to constantly call the DM to come in to help.

I have a huge headache. Lessons are behind time cos everyday I have been spending time scolding the children and lecturing them for at least one, two periods everyday. This is really another blow to the soul. I told the Lord, please don't quench my zeal for teaching so early in my career. This is my calling, I firmly believe that I heard it from You 3 years ago. Thank God for the girls in the class who are sweet and really my saving grace.

I broke down and cried after remedial lessons at 3pm today. I cannot take it already. 8-9 boys disappeared during their lunch break and went to cycle on the main road out of the school. They arrived so late when the class had already started 30 mins and demanded still to be released early. I was so hopping mad that I screamed at the kids. Very hurt already. This is really more hurting to the soul then it has on the kids. I told myself, should I just focus on the kids who really want to learn? My heart was really torn....

Teared all the way to the staff room..Thank God for Deb who lent a listening ear to my woes. She being the form teacher of that class when they were in P3. Went to hug her for comfort...She understood how exactly I felt. We teachers face very strict scrutiny by the school and we certainly do not want the label of being "unable to control class" or "unable to produce results" being slapped on our backs. Was so stressed already with all the portfolio given to me this year.

Thank God for you sending a good friend like KX too in my life. Cannot imagine starting off this teaching career as a full fledged teacher without someone like him. You ask yourself why you need friends...sometimes its not what they say that we have friends just because they are just there to help you, you need friends as mutual support, as motivators, as "road checks" on the blind spots in your path and really offer spiritual covering in your race in life. Its a job full of hard knocks. KX really is one awesome guy like that, really comforting me when I am down. Thank God for you!! :D Who says we need to fight the race alone? God is with us! God the ulimate source of Comfort!

Then I begin to wonder myself, why did I cry? Was it this pride issue that was in me that caused me to unable to surrender this part to God? You see, I always portray myself as very independent and in control. When stuff happens, and this is one tough situation, I really cannot handle and start to yield under pressure. I thank God for this experience too that taught me to hang on more to God for my dear life.

The race is not easy. I still love children, I still want to see hope in those I can make an impact on. Not yet Lord, Not throwing in the towel yet...

On being a better listener

I find myself having a really short attention span and having a very low self esteem.
There are many times over the years that people have commented that why I dun look at them in the eye when I speak to them or my eyes seem to wander off in another direction after a while. You want the truth? I can't concentrate after 10-15 minutes.
It's a REAL STRUGGLE!

I have to resort to mechanical stuff. Such as repetitive patterns and a conscious will power to concentrate. Numbers are good for me too. There are only 10 digits but they are thousands of vocabulary. That's why I can do music. It has patterns and repetitive melodies which I can concentrate. I take quite fast to process what people say to me sometimes, but leaving the conversation behind after a few minutes much to the frustration of people.

I tend to wander off to a new topic suddenly, much to the chagrin of people as they are amazed at how fast I switch topic and can link to such a thing so fast.
I have such low esteem that I could not look at most people in the eye to talk to them also. That, after much prayers and teaching on how rude it is to talk not looking at the person directly, has certainly changed a lot. I trained myself (still trying) to not forcefully advance what opinions I wanna say or tell my friends and people when they tell me something, learn to process more and respond by active listening. I find that I learn more, and I discover more. More people gain trust in me.By active listening, I mean I respond at appropriate times and with comments to build up not to tear down.

It really takes a few hard knocks in my many friendships and relationships with people, when fights and arguments ensued or how distracted I am as a listener. Speaks to me as a Christian too. Do I just wanna blabber to God everyday on requests and forget about listening to what He has to say? His small still voice?
Since then, by the grace of God, I am still praying to be a better listener, to show genuine care and concern for people around me by active listening. To let the Holy Spirit lead me...

I always tell my class, "You talk, I talk, who listens?" haha...

So bear with me if I dun look at you in the eye when I talk to you alright? I am still trying to overcome my self consciousness, or you must be so drop dead gorgeous that I am afraid that I would blush :P

Congrats ZhiYuan!

I think some of you all know that yesterday was the release of the GCE 'O' Levels results. I am glad to share this testimony of my cousin, Zhiyuan.

It just started with a slip of the tongue last year from the picture above at my Popo's 72nd Birthday. He was taking his 'O' Levels last year and he was in bad shape. He had lost motivation to study and he gave his mother a really hard time. With tear strewn eyes, his mother, my auntie had told me about him falling drastically in his academic results. I just casually agreed to help him even though I am not very good in Sec school maths and science let alone Chinese.

It was such a huge promise that I immediately stressed myself out, buying assessment books to read, Chinese compos and made it point that he speaks only Chinese to me during my tuition. It took a lot of effort out of me cos I am not that good in Chinese. Little did I know that an initial 2-month commitment would stretch to the end of the year! I was juggling between graduating from NIE and my then workload as a Beginning Teacher. It was crazy all the weekends burnt and all the late hours spent giving him pep talks and encouraging him to study. I could still remember the faithful day when I started my tuition with him. I did not do much teaching at all, just plain pep talk and finding out about his interests and hobbies....

What he went through was what normal teenagers would go through, the ups and downs of BGR. He was so badly affected by his relationship with this particular girl, that I had no choice but to enforce stricter rules on him. Thank GOd after much prayers, he was able to see my point of putting the relationship aside and concentrate on his studies. I thank God that he does not hang around too much during the weekends but only hung up on golf...:P His grades then were devastating. I really did not know how I could turn things around. Needed God's help.

I prayed like I never before, putting all his exam dates on my diary. His English was a D7, Chinese D7, Humanities E8. He's never gonna make it I have told myself.

"What did I get myself into?"

I was so stressed, I started with drilling into Chinese and Chinese compo before going into the English summary question. God led me to show me how to answer all the analytical and commentary questions in the History paper, by printing for him interesting political cartoons from the Net for him to try on. The Holy Spirit must have led me to help him to summary for all the chapters that he was studying in History. That was the least I could do. But i firmly believe that the Lord's hand was certainly in this to help him and to protect him. I told him, "I have been praying for you and I thank GOd that you did not give up on yourself." Even took the courage to share to my uncle and auntie how hard I prayed and the significance of a Divine Help. :)

His 'O' Level grades are English :A2, Chinese:B4, E and A Maths : A1s, Physics: A2, Chemistry:B3, Combined Humanities:A2

Aggregate: 11

WOW! It is really God's mercy upon this boy, from a potential dropout to such amazing grades...It can only be You Lord! I thank God for anointing me to teach the Sec 4 syllabus even though I know nuts about teaching Humanities nor Languages at Sec 4 level. Thank God for allowing me a chance to motivate and encourage him. He is a living testimony of how You pulled him from the pits of life!

:)

Clips from the Concert

Don't laugh...think some of you know that my voice was hoarse on Monday...:P The clips are taken ahem..secretly by me...can still hear my screaming in the background...aiyoh...:P

"Jiang1 Jun1" (opening)




"Secret"

"An1 Jing4"

"Cai2 Hong2"