Friday, April 30, 2004

This is a song from the musical The Music Man...at least i think it's a musical. but anyway i heard it years ago on this episode of Ally McBeal (the one where Josh Groban makes a guest appearance for the 1st time). It's nice...sort of calls out to your special someone, though you don't know who that person is YET...=)

Goodnight, My Someone

Marian:
Goodnight, my someone,
Goodnight, my love,
Sleep tight, my someone,
Sleep tight, my love,
Our star is shining it's brightest light
For goodnight, my love, for goodnight.

Sweet dreams be yours, dear,
If dreams there be
Sweet dreams to carry you close to me.
I wish they may and I wish they might
Now goodnight, my someone, goodnight
True love can be whispered from heart to heart
When lovers are parted they say
But I must depend on a wish and a star
As long as my heart doesn't know who you are.

Sweet dreams be yours dear,
If dreams there be
Sweet dreams to carry you close to me.
I wish they may and I wish they might
Now goodnight, my someone, goodnight.
Goodnight,
Goodnight.

This girl posted at 10:05 PM

another weekend coming!! realised nowadays time passes by SO fast! i wonder why...

anyway the big controversy surrounding the resignation of Nan Chiau High principal after hitting a female student (with severe discipline problems) with a soft cover book. and the fact that MOE accepted his resignation and released their statement seems to give a lot of power to the students and the parents. the question of whether parents are over-protective of their children is now being challenged again. i obviously think so. every little single thing the parents march straight up to the principal's office demanding justice. be it a mere scolding or a big one... if discipline is not instilled at home...it has to be done in school..or else where?? i seriously think that if this trend persists the future generations are going to be spoiled rotten.

this issue has been brought up at our family dinner tables quite frequently..naturally 'cos 5/6 of my family is in the education service. my dad would always say if now parents sue teachers etc. for every single little thing done to their child(ren)...when these kids grow up..they will develop a similar mentality of having to go to the courts over every small and trivial matter..including division of inheritance and assets...=)

speaking of education..today i was so pissed!! first this male student of mine was supposed to do the lecture test as an assignment...in the end he copied all the correct answers from his friend in another CG who has gone through the post mortem. blasted him....then 2 female students in another class talked NONSTOP during tutorial..while i was explaining crucial issues concerning genetics and DNA replication! if they ask me to explain again i'm not going to! irritating. i ignored them 'cos i wanted to focus on the rest of the CG...then after the tutorial blasted the 2 of them...and this was NOT the first time!

today council camp starts....the elects look quite ok....tomorrow going for campfire...quite exciting. first campfire as a senior.

emailed mr. tan...(a little weird since i see him in school...) he told me he was suprised my relief teaching stint hasn't discouraged me from going for the MOE scholarship. well...the primary school one has...but i think JC teaching is much better. still haven't heard from them. but if i do get into medicine i'll stick to that...confirmed...not forgetting the MOH one...s'pore's short of paramedics..so if i get that MOH one it's worth considering....many choices and yet i'm not at any position to make them yet...this feeling sucks...=)

john stevens's out of american idol!! i feel very sad...but yet relieved that he has escaped the limelight and criticism america has given him...true to what simon said...he has taken every bullet thrown at him silently..without complains. he's the strongest and most courageous 16-yr-old i know of! *cheers to john!* america..give this guy a break...it's not like he bribed america to vote for him regardless of whether or not he's good enough for the show...those who criticise...blame your fellow americans for voting for the wrong person! and as for john..i heard he has recording deals...good for you!! please do better than william hung! i really can't stand that guy now...and he's coming to singapore!! when is Clay coming?? oh Clay......

This girl posted at 9:38 PM

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

to Azarael, ian, john and liss...thanks so much for dropping by...ian...you should drop by...to the other 3...thank you!

oh yah...to ms. ng and jonathan how...happy birthday!! =) sorry for lying to you ms. ng! couldn't spoil the suprise....

well well....i survived THE interview! haha~ the one with the profs was quite stressful...had prof david tay, prof chia and one more....they're nice men...so wasn't too bad. we all laughed at times during my interview. *don't know if that's good or bad..but certainly calmed a few nerves*

anyway it was pretty obvious they're there to make sure i know the career, the course, what to expect etc...the usual why medicine? question...plus have i read about medicine...so i rattled about SMA (s'pore medical association's online newsletter..the recent one on ethics which i skimmed through)(ah and prof tay asked me who's the president of SMA i was like...in my head..do i care?? haha~ but anyway i'm there to read articles..not find out who's in the exco!!)...SMJ...s'pore medical journal...and also jen jen's blog...frequent chat sessions with yiyong and christine...talked a bit about Sars and whether it discouraged me from being a doctor...so rambled no..it encouraged me..which is true! asked which field i'd like to specialise in...so said paediatrics...why...love working with children..want to reach out to unsuspecting parents with children who are disabled...then rattled about autism and my experience with CAS volunteering...then asked about what kinda stress would young doctors face..talked about US doctors suicide rates...talked about if i were a policy maker with MOH and we are running a tight budget...would i rather have docs work longer hours with more pay, or shorter hours with less pay...so i rattled...then asked if i have other interests other than science so i babbled about music, reading, TV....what inspired me to be interested in medicine...i said ER!!! which is true..then prof chia asked is there any difference btw ER and reality...then asked me how i deal with stress....music!! then they got so weird and went to talk about how music helps..if i was doing a shift in hospital and going nuts 'cos there're so many patients..so i said during my eating breaks or toilet breaks i could sing! haha~ so funny....

anyway...am i supposed to keep details of my interview secret? ah..they'll probably ask different questions each day...i was quite a *quote yilin* scatterbrain today..i changed my answers twice...argh...

the 2nd interview was more relaxed...one doctor and one nurse interviewed me. both seem to be in mid thirties. basically the questions are quite similar. so my answers were pretty similar as well...the doc told me it's gd that i'm optimistic, but there's a pessimistic side too...so i told him when i set out to do sth i'll nvr give it up..then told them about my wanting-to-drop-physics during jc...but didn't and in the end it turned out ok....

oh well...it's now out of my hands....so just have to wait and see...i don't want to have any expectations...just hope for the best. and all the best for those whose interviews are coming up! jiahui, shuqin, aziz, pamela, ivan, wei chern...

i still wanna say thank you to all those who helped me tide through this interview...jen jen, yiyong, christine, jiahui, ms. ng, those whom i thanked above..thanks to the profs and interviewers who listened to me babble,. even though i was standing between them and their lunch...

ah..just received an email from ntu's school of biological sciences...they're willing to extend the deadline of acceptance from 3rd may to 31st may...but till then med results won't be out!! argh....anyway good move ntu...after those letters to the forum complaining about the deadlines and stuff...then having to pay $100 deposit.

speaking of the deposit...today in the car to NUS...my dad, my sis and i were just talking about this stupid issue...how schools are being run like a business...talks about money and deposits and quality class awards (like the tj one!) how about those who are poor? my sis was super pissed and indignant...what if this guy paid $100 for a place, then realise he's offered a scholarship...so the uni forfeits his deposit..but that $100 can go feed his family for one week! sigh~ true....my dad just says it's the kiasu mentality of the unis..getting desperate for students. scared we go to other unis or overseas. so make us pay...

is the deposit of NUS really $500 like what i read in the papers? hmm...that's daylight robbery in my opinion...

This girl posted at 9:32 PM

Monday, April 26, 2004

yesterday had a lovely dinner of mushroom risotto..salad...medium steak with some jamie oliver's sauce...or was it donna hay? and wine poached pear crumble...together with lovely red wine..chardonnay probably...didn't see...after that did research for my med interview while my eldest sis played with my dad's new nokia 7200 phone....very nice!!! i'm so tempted to get it...but no $$...is not no $$ lah...just cannot splurge so much....must have self control...

just went by Dr. Oh Jen Jen's blog..or spacefan...she mentioned me!! haha~ her blog is well visited by many as you can see from the counter...she's such a sweetheart...sending me a lengthy email on preparing for my med school interview...=) thanks so much!!

today had a mini pep talk/mock interview with ms. ng and jiahui....ms. ng really knows how to present a response so that it reflects the best of you...which is important in interviews. well...it is always a pleasure to talk to her. oh and today was her suprise birthday party...so jiahui and i were told to wait in the general office after flag raising...so we sat outside mrs lim's office and wrote the gift tag for her...then she appeared while i was signing my attendance...so asked why we were all sitting around the GO...i had to LIE to her!! and i'm a bad liar so i almost burst out laughing...saying another bio teacher wanted to tell us sth..so since she's the head of bio and science..she was puzzled...i quickly evaded b4 i burst the bubble. when she left we finished the card and met up with the other bio tutors outside her office. ms. teo and mrs. lam kept her inside her office by tricking her into a SPA discussion...so jiahui and i knocked...opened the door..she peered out at us while we launched into a birthday song for her...she was SHOCKED!! so funny...after recovering..we sat in her office and ate breakfast together...and bantered a lot...very nice!! =)

anyway louisa may be coming along to be the science fair slave...haha~ can't wait for her to join us...ah i miss jazz dance class...didn't go today 'cos tmr is the big day...speaking of which....

tomorrow's the INTERVIEW!!! today sau yin and eunice had theirs...well...sauyin told me the one with the students was quite relaxing and fun...but not for the one with the professors. i hope they don't ask me questions then my brain goes blocked...or they grill me till i'm stumped for answers....

just finished reading the shopaholic trilogy...the last book which was shopaholic ties the knot. got me thinking about marriage...(again..yesyes...) but this time with medicine and being a doctor in mind. one of ms. ng's questions was obviously where do u see yourself in 10 years' time...whether you would give up the career to start a family....obviously if i do become a doctor i won't ever want to give it up...it's not my style anyway..(haha~ i'm complimenting myself...) the thing is to make sure my husband (and my family and his too) understands my work and it's demands, my passion and my time. and i understand his' too. if not the marriage won't work anyway...regardless of whether i'm a doctor or not. yes i know the career is an extremely demanding one. (just read Dr. Oh's blog..though her free time is spent in front of her TV..like me!!) but if there're tons of people who could do it..why can't i? just be prepared to put in hard work..sacrifice some stuff...

but i also couldn't help but wonder why some women after working their butt off in medical school...go through years of hard work..and ultimately quit the noble profession to have a family and babies...i suppose some really can't juggle...but it's such a waste...

hopefully they really lift the quota on women in med school...sorry i can't help but be skeptical about such stuff...=)

off to do more research....

This girl posted at 8:24 PM

Sunday, April 25, 2004

beautiful weekend...=)

yesterday went to autism children's association with the CAS people...had a wonderful time wrapping presents for the upcoming outing on 8 may...colouring...as well as getting assigned to children for the outing. my child is jun hoi(the handsome one)...he has trouble with balance so i'll have to keep my eye on him...the teacher also told me he'd hold your hand and talk to you about MRT trains and computers. SO cute! =) looking forward to it a lot.

went shopping and dinner with louisa, melody and prajakta (who's back from india for interviews)...went to the nice restaurant outside wisma atria (sounds like the chambers in our heart...atria and ventricle...haha..) the food's nice and it's quite affordable!! my vietnamese pork chop served with special sauce, jasmine rice, salad and egg is only $12!! and i had a non-alcoholic cocktail called sunrise...no tequila...their cocktails are $15!! so ex...chijmes cheaper. so never order...loui ordered pretty in pink. it's not bad but mine is VERY nice! i liked it so much i felt like ordering another glass...but stopped myself...cannot spend so much....the ambience was nice...but i could go blind 'cos only one candle btw the 4 of us. =) then we went shopping at *suprise* mango...and i bought *suprise* another TWO tops...this is a curse to my wallet...a blessing to my wardrobe...in melody's words...

today went to NUS for the medicine essay and psychometric test. essay topic...tell us about a failure u've experienced (academic, extracirricular or personal)...what were the consequences and what have u learnt. i wrote about that time during grad night planning where i screwed up the finances...sigh~ bad memory....had to tell them. but i figured it'll be better and more unique..rather than talk about grades...the psycho test was exactly the same as the one we did in tj's student leadership camp....so just breezed through it.

just now went to tampines mall to get a birthday gift for ms. ng...crabtree & evelyn...i feel like buying it for myself 'cos it's SO nice! haha~ and got a precious moments photo album...

anyway was doing some homework to prepare for the medicine interview...surfing around the MOH sites on S'pore's healthcare system. realised the doctor to population ratio is 1:700 plus...and they didn't think this was a shortage! i was quite mortified...ok not mortified but slightly appalled. i should think it's quite a shortage as compared to other countries..esp the scandinavian ones. they did mention a shortage of nurses (ratio of 1:200 plus which i admit is definitely a shortage) and paramedics (dieticians etc.)...

christine (a fellow CAS friend who's a 1st yr med student) told me about scenario questions...like you're a director of a hospital in a 'ulu' place...only hospital for miles. only one life support machine. 2 patients. one is a 6 yr old down's syndrome kid with a rich father. the other is a 50 yr old alcoholic. who would u choose to save and why....any thoughts? yiyong (a friend of mine who's a 2nd yr med student) told me her answer and i thought she's SO smart...she is...and she's christine's idol...haha~ also i had the privilege of knowing Dr. Oh Jen Jen..fellow CAS friend and a A&E medical trainee officer...you can follow my link to her very very nice blog (spacefan's)..she too offered much advice...thanks a lot girls...=) really appreciate it... wouldn't know how to pull through without talking to you experienced people. ah not forgetting ms ng, friends, teachers etc....thank you!!!

This girl posted at 7:31 PM

Friday, April 23, 2004

it's amazing how one week passed by SO fast...i haven't even had time to breathe...

well...big news is NUS med school granted me an interview!! was grinning so much when i received the letter...but composed myself and told myself..it's just an interview...you're not even in yet!! u have to go through a stupid essay...psychometric test...(which both will be happening this sunday..how weird is that?)...and sit through 2...TWO interviews....i wonder what kinda qns will they ask....i hope it'll be relaxed and happy kind...but i doubt....

on the same day...the letter of my acceptance into NTU school of biological sciences came....along with a 3 may decision deadline and request for a $100 deposit...which i'll have to invest and see if i'd get into med school or get a teaching scholarship....(which i haven't heard from yet...getting jittery...wat if not even an interview was granted??)...

anyway school's been quite normal...did a bit of science fair things....marked the horrible lecture tests of my dear classes....average marks....12/30, 10.8/30 and 10.7/30...how pathetic....it's scolding/wake up call time....next week they'll all die....hee~

ah the staff lounge has been our source of fellowship with the other tutors and discussion...jiahui's offered the BS-phd A*star scholarship!!! so excited for her...but she still wanna do medicine...yilin's offered firefly-EDB and PUB scholarships....that girl applied for at least 8 scholarships...other than serious talk...there's talk of winnie the pooh...relationships..american idol...the nicoll highway collapse....and a secret party on monday...shall not elaborate in case someone comes along and spoils the secret!

been reading my elder sis's books...secret dreamworld of a shopaholic...by sophie kinsella...if she's a shopaholic...then i'm not!! cos she's really bad....like my sis...haha~ just that my sis has her finances under control. a funny book...i classify loosely as 'trashy' reading...'cos it's not a serious book like virginia woolf or LOTR....it's funny! typical british humor like bridget jones' diary...now reading it's sequel shopaholic abroad. it's so engaging i finished the 1st one in ONE day!..and the second one..i'm left with 20 odd pages...and it's 7.20 pm now...

i can't believe jennifer hudson is out of american idol!!! she's good....americans are quite weird with voting...i wonder why....the voting made more sense in season 2....but this season is just so twisted. or are AI producers manipulating votes to keep viewers interested?

grace came over to do math yesterday...talked a lot...just like old times when we were in sec 3 where my house used to be her second home. feels nice...as always to catch up heart-to-heart with an old friend....

turns out nishant is in the same platoon as my cousin! haha~ in SISPEC...ivan and tsang yew are in there too...weixiang's in combat medic...burton's in BMT...for those who don't know..these are my class guys....

been guiltyly downloading clay's independent tour (with kelly clarkson) video clips from airplay central...haha~ discovered this very nice song by celine dion which he covered during his concert. it's When I Need You....

WHEN I NEED YOU

(Albert Hammond, Carol Bayer Sager)

When I need you
Just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so want to give you
It's only a heart beat away


When I need love
I hold out my hands and I touch love
I never knew there was so much love
Keeping me warm night and day


Miles and miles of empty space in between us
A telephone can't take the place of your smile
But you know I wont be traveling for ever
It's cold out, but hold out and do like I do


When I need you
Just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so want to give you babe
It's only a heartbeat away


It's not easy when the road is your driver
Honey, that's a heavy load that we bear
But you know I won't be traveling a lifetime
It's cold out but hold out and do like I do
Oh I need you

When I need you
I hold out my hands and I touch love
I never knew there was so much love
Keeping me warm night and day


When I need you
Just close my eyes and I'm with you
And all that I so want to give you
It's only a heart beat away

nice....

tomorrow gonna go volunteer with CAS people again! hee~ exciting....=)

This girl posted at 7:12 PM

Saturday, April 17, 2004

another saturday...

this week has been busy...more busy than usual 'cos got to cover extra lessons...had to mark supplementary question...i still have 3 classes of lecture tests to plow through starting monday...not to mention the whole science fair business... this morning finally sorted everything into 12 stacks for 12 judges for the prelim judging...and tidied the whole conference room...

yesterday was tj's track and field meet. half the time was spent in the conference room where jiahui, denise and i were finishing up with science fair stuff..listening to class 95 on the net, talking and playing 'win, lose or draw'...then we locked up to go watch the cheer leading competition..which alpha and beta won...ms teo actually wanted jiahui to run the 8x100m staff race and denise and i to do a novelty race thingy. in the end jiahui missed the race and science department got 2nd...and both denise and i missed our race 'cos we were eating at the reception. =) haha~ but science department won 1st for that. we cheered like crazy anyway..in front of our students. then we also went to cheer the tugof-war btw. the council and the tutors. mr. simon foo was on MC!! sigh~ so not enuff power...hence the tutors lost. but the 3 of us led cheers after that for the tutors...and they gamely cheered too...=) very cool.

anyway been pondering about choosing between being a doctor and being a teacher. jiahui and many others often ask me what if i'm offered a place at NUS med and a teaching scholarship to imperial....which would i choose. honestly...i have no idea. though i tell them i'm more inclined towards the teaching scholarship. need to seriously think about the medicine road...'cos the teaching road is pretty much manageable..as compared to being a doctor. but even if i'm not offered the teaching scholarship (of cos hopefully they'll offer it to me...=) ) and med place i'll be going into science fac. we'll see how it goes....

choices and decisions.....

This girl posted at 9:27 PM

Monday, April 12, 2004

yes ian..i haven't blogged in quite a while..sorry about that...don't ask me why...

anyway...my DSTA scholarship interview is tomorrow! i don't feel too nervous...maybe 'cos i won't be THAT disappointed if i don't do well...can't say so much for the teaching one or the speech therapy one. today in school ms. ng went "go do medicine! go be a doctor..don't be a teacher!" ah she and her ramblings...

anyway i changed job! from teaching in my old primary school to teaching in my old junior college! i'm thankful for this change...as i'd rather have intellectual discussions (most of the time...) than mindless nagging and scoldings with the kids. Ms. Ng was the one who msged me about the opening. asked if i was interested to teach JC biology. was quite honoured that she approached me...=) well...the situation is this...tj has 15 bio classes and only 3 permanent teachers...so jiahui my friend is there...together with me. help ease the load until the new teachers from NIE come in july.

i started last week...my time table's quite slack...only 3 classes of tutorials. we relief teachers can't take practicals cos it's SPA now...it's SPAstic i tell you...while we were at tj we did dry runs for SPA...and it sucks. so during my free time i help ms. ng with her science fair stuff....which is a super long story...in short..Science centre was supposed to organise it and tj just provide the venue for the event...in the end..ms ng and the science department becomes the organisers. so since ms ng is SOSO busy with a mountain load of stuff and the teachers are so stressed over SPA...we relief teachers help her do the admin work...data entry...catalouging...barcoding..sorting...

anyway the teaching is quite fun...=) being on the other side now...managed to answer questions...hope i don't teach them the wrong things.

aside from my job...i have been making new friends at the Clay Aiken Singapore forum boards...=) they're such nice people...and some of us go do volunteer work at Autism Children's Centre at Simei...(last sat i even drag louisa along). inspiration came from Clay himself...i think it;s such a sweet thing to do as a group of fans...for last sat i was the events journalist...i've written the article which will be part of a big article meant for the Blubel/Aiken Foundation website...

here it is....the weird names are the nicks of the CAS forum members...fynn, starry007, ixiem, grania, iadoreclay etc.

Clay Aiken Singapore
Volunteering at Autism Children’s Centre – Simei
10 April 2004
1030-1230

From the words of fynn, who is one of the people at CAS who initiated this project, "Clay's an inspiration – so as fans, we should do something worthwhile and something that actually matters."

This is her 3rd time here, volunteering with CAS members, spending her Saturday mornings cutting, pasting, laminating and coloring. "Feels like an art class," she quips cheerfully, drawing smiles and laughter from the 14 of us present.

For many of us, this is not only a chance to see CAS forum board members in the flesh, but also to learn more about Autism, an "invisible" developmental disorder which distorts senses, hinders social interaction and speech communications. Instead of just blindly coloring pictures, cutting and pasting photos of bags, shoes and clothes, we took the opportunity to ask Siow Ing, one of the 4 teachers at ACC – Simei, to explain to us how our work every other Saturday helps the children.

First she explained to us the different kinds of educational materials that we helped prepare. File folders with colored pictures in them help children who are naturally not motivated to learn to engage in a session of color matching. It's hard to get them to work independently; hence this training process takes quite a while. The children are seated next to 3 shelves which contain a puzzle, a folder or an educational toy. Each child will take an item from each shelf, complete his task and place it in the "finished" box. Teachers will start with concrete materials before moving on to worksheets and assignments.

As for those colored pictures of bags and shoes, they help children who have problems with language to learn names and to classify similar objects. For example, they start off by matching identical bags, followed by different bags. After which the teacher will teach them the word "bags". Other than object matching, gender matching is also taught. As learning can take quite long, different materials are used to demonstrate one similar concept/skill and this exposes the children to different things with no repetitions.

After this, Siow Ing gave us a tour of the school and its classrooms. Teachers work with their students one-to-one in one of the classrooms and each session lasts 1hr 45 mins. In each classroom, there are play toys as well as educational toys. A slide to a normal child is a play toy, where he can climb up and slide down. But for an Autistic child, the slide is part of an "obstacle" course for them to go through. Social skills such as 'waiting for your turn' or 'follow your friend up the slide' can be taught. The child can also be taught communication skills if he experiences trouble climbing up the slide – he can be taught to ask for help from the teacher, and words such as "help me, teacher" must be taught specifically.

A water play set is also an educational tool. Many children love to play with water, hence it gives the children great joy to be able to play with water at the centre. As many children can play with the set at one time, it gives them a chance to socialize and interact with each other. This allows them to pick up social, language, sensory and communication skills.

Educational toys aside, play toys are also available. A rocking horse, a trampoline, bean bags and soft toys are just some examples. Speaking of soft toys, they can be used to teach language and communication skills too. Siow Ing then showed us a cute pink pig which walks and oinks. "Factual information such as a pig is pink in color, has 4 legs and 2 ears and says 'oink' can be taught to the child," explains Siow Ing. She goes on to add, "Also, communication skills like 'Teacher, I want a pig' can be taught."

To help the children move around the school, they are given visual cue cards. Each room has a name (like Grape classroom), and a picture of grapes is pasted on its door. So when a child is given a cue card with grapes and the words 'Grape classroom', he knows to find the matching picture on a door. This is done for work stations (with the shelves), play corners and toilets. Each child also has a timetable where these visual cues are stuck to it. The child will go to his own timetable to obtain the visual cue cards and find where is he supposed to go next. For older children, their timetables are given in the form of words instead of cue cards. This timetabling gives the children a kind of mental preparation and helps them cope with their lessons. In addition, the children prefer predictability in their lives and such schedules gives them an idea what to expect.

Children with special needs are also well taken care of. Two children currently in the school cannot work in big spaces. So they have their lessons in a smaller room where it helps them to focus and learn more effectively. Some children are sensitive to light, so the classrooms have special light controls that can adjust the lighting in the classroom.

A quick check with Siow Ing confirms that there is no known cure for Autism. Some speculate the cause of the disorder is genetic, however it is not proven scientifically. As for 10% of the children, they are known as savants. They have special abilities in music, or drawing or numbers. On the bright side, some still manage to cope in society later in their lives, having received special education.

Siow Ing then explains the current statistics of the centre. There's a total enrolment of 24 children, with 4 teachers and a program director. Each teacher sees 3 children a day, one each time for 105 mins. Each child attends sessions with their teacher for 20 weeks and this costs parents a whooping $1800 plus. "It's already cheaper than private schools, who charge between $2000 - $3000!" Siow Ing exclaims as our eyes widen. Unfortunately, due to the lack of teachers, there is a waiting list for students. In the past, the new teachers used to do the work we are doing now. But since there are no new teachers around, Siow Ing told us they were so grateful for our help.

To other people, what we are doing at ACC seems like a small task. But to the teachers, we are easing their already-heavy schedules. Some may ask why we go through all the trouble. fynn then explains, "The centre is shorthanded, and new. So they are really thankful we came along to help. Also, we are a fan group, not a volunteer group. I believe we are probably the only fan group in Singapore doing stuff like this." starry007, our impromptu organizer for today’s session, adds, "This is fun – to be doing something meaningful for the kids with people whom I know and who share a common interest."

Ixiem, one of the 'regulars' on CAS boards agrees, and confesses, "It's good to do something for the kids instead of bumming around on a Saturday morning surfing (the net) and downloading (Clay) stuff." Once she said it, nods of agreement and much laughter were evident around the room. She then continues, more seriously this time, "I've learnt so much about Autism through this experience, and these are things you would not learn from a classroom or through books." Andromeda_Aiken seconds that, saying without a hint of hesitation, "I did this to help the children, to enrich myself and of course, to meet more claymates."

Some may think CAS is doing this for publicity. But fynn thinks it is wrong to carry that kind of mentality. We are not just fans who are perpetually obsessed with what Clay wears or what kind of milk he buys. Instead, through Clay, we become more aware of the existence of this gripping mental disorder. We believe we can make this difference, by making use of our time to help them, as well as to get more Clay fans in Singapore to know about an issue their idol is passionate about. Not just Clay fans, grania and iadoreclay have both brought their friends (who are neutral about Clay) to lend a helping hand.

fynn was most thankful to see this happening. "I'm very glad to see so many people! Clay fans bringing their friends along. This is essential because you won't appreciate till you learn it first hand." She then continues to say, "Autism is an "invisible" disability. It doesn't manifest physically like Down's syndrome. Hence when people interact with autistic kids, they are just brushed aside as rude, incompetent or aloof. Adults are discriminated against in society. Little do these people know they are suffering from a disability which has no known cure. Therefore, they do not get as much funding and attention as the other disabilities."

fynn ends off her interview aptly, with a thoughtful expression on her normally cheerful face, "It's just the right thing to do."

today i cut my finger while trying to help a student put her blade into the handle...sigh~ some of the girls are scared of the water bath!! quite funny to watch them getting freaked by the steam when they open the water bath...and using their cloths to carry the beaker of hot water as if it was SO hot...=) oh i was covering for ms ng who is away on course...and i shadowed mrs lam...today was their 2nd lecture test. very evil paper...brings back those nightmares where i didn't pass a single lecture test in yr 1....

been doing a lot of shopping...as usual..with melody and louisa. watched the prince and me (which is wrong english according to louisa...shld be the prince and I) with melody on maundy thursday...quite nice...=) the script wasn't gd...but the chemistry was good...and luke mably was SO gorgeous...

will check in again soon....and grace and sher..please don;t get so high at zouk k?? =)

This girl posted at 9:41 PM