Friday, May 28, 2004

hi!!!

it's been a crazy week! everyone was going mad...

last saturday was College Day.

very well organised! kudos to Mrs. Than and Mrs. Beetsma. with ms. leong, ms. foo and mrs. kay...handled the prize winners very well. i got awards for 4As and students' council. GOH was prof. Leo Tan, director of NIE. the food was not bad! =) had a great time hanging around old friends...eating talking catching up. check out the photos here .

had a FEAST at home for dinner...here's the yummy menu prepared by jonathan, my eldest sis lian ian and me!

Five course dining selection:

Mixed Herbs Bruschetta

Roast Pumpkin Soup

Caesar's Salad

Wine: Columbia Crest Chardonnay Columbia Valley Grand Estates 2000
Rich and creamy, a plush mouthful of peach, pear, nutmeg and cream flavors that wind themselves nicely all the way through the finish...”

Lamb Cutlet topped with Mint Pistachio Pesto

Vongole Pasta in Smoky Tomato Clam Sauce
Wine: d'Arenberg Shiraz-Viognier McLaren Vale The Laughing Magpie 2002
A lithe, lively red with a lovely subtle streak of apricot and spice running through the blackberry, blueberry and peppery spice flavors, beautifully balanced right through the harmonious finish…”

Muesli Fruit Crumble

Wine: de Ladoucette Pouilly-Fumé Baron de L 2000
Lovely elegance here, with floral, stone, chalk and white peach flavors augmented by touches of smoke and nuts. Flavors build on the finish, where the texture gains depth and creaminess…

the menu's so detailed because we were 'rehearsing' for the actual feast next saturday where we will host VIPs...including Ms. Ho Peng, founder and 1st principal of NJC Mr. Lim, heads of some of the stat boards who were formerly njc students, and dad's students.”

School

we hosted the Singapore Youth Science Festival 2004...and organised the science fair. on tuesday we (teachers and relief teachers) started setting up for the exhibition after school at around 5pm. worked all the way till 10pm! together with Ms. Ng, Ms. Teo and Ms. Tiew. it was fun 'cos we were all sleep deprived and going mad...tired but hyper...entertained ourselves with jokes and ...ourselves. ms. ng treated us to dinner...on wednesday afternoon...was the judging...judges from all over singapore came...and we the relief teachers hosted them...we assisted them with judging forms..logistics...reception etc. so we followed them around and showed them the projects they were supposed to be jugding. some were SO boring! but there were a few good ones...so wasn't so bad. after the judging ended at 5...they went into deliberation...while we prepared for the results. after collation and everything the winners list was in at 7 plus...needed to paste 'gold, silver, bronze awards' labels on their exhibits as well as call up each team to inform then they won. a LOT of work!! so we finished at 10 plus pm... by that time everyone was SO tired...started sprouting nonsense.

on thursday morning..the real madness started. everyone got VERY stressed about the opening ceremony..maybe cos it wasn't very well planned (because our dear science teachers already have so many teaching SPA and PDP responsibilities)..and cos acting minister for education tharman shamugaratnam is the GOH. (the reception food was VERY good!! better than college day's). so overall IC for opening ceremony mrs lam was very stressed...so she was in a super pissed mood for the whole morning. many drama and irritating things happened that pissed us off too. too complicated and controversial to post on the net. some of the working ethics adopted by some tutors i disliked...and how some tutors gave us the impression we are literally 'slaves' and not showing us the proper respect. yes we are just relief teachers and we just finished A levels. but excuse me we are not your slaves who do all the dirty work for you ok. ok...must not cross over to pissed mode.

anyway after the ceremony it was the launch of the Bio-IT portal at tj...2 computer labs are renamed Watson and Crick (discoverers of DNA structure)...labs are loaded with Mac powerbooks and 2 flat screen LCD monitors. VERY nice!!! here's the press report from TODAY newspaper.

Bio-IT knowledge hub goes online
A portal for scientists, teachers and students to spawn ideas Tay Tsen-Waye

waye@newstoday.com.sg

TOO many cooks spoil the broth? Not when the chefs are scientists, teachers and students and the ingredients, a fusion of biology and information technology ?or bioinformatics.
.
With the launch of a bio-IT virtual portal called Primer yesterday, there is now one more avenue to share and exchange scientific resources, knowledge and research.
.
The idea was conceived in the middle of last year by Temasek Junior College's (TJC) head of science, Ms Ng Chen Kee.
.
It was developed with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.
.
Costing about $70,000 to set up, Primer was designed and built in one month by TJC alumnus Yang Le, 21, a first-year computer science major.
.
All heads of science departments in secondary schools and junior colleges will be offered accounts in Primer.
.
Students and teachers can register for free server space that will enable them to create Web-based projects and upload files online.
.
Other research tools include bio-computing software programmes and a moderated forum.
.
Besides facilitating students to tap the advice and expertise of scientists without imposing on their valuable time and space, Primer allows students from different schools to work together on projects that interest them.
.
Ms Ng hopes the Web portal will help accelerate the growth of Singapore as a regional life-sciences research and development hub.
.
By generating dynamic interaction and discussion between students across schools and the scientific community, she thinks that ideas from various perspectives can synergise and multiply. "The true spirit of science involves a lot of knowledge building. It is not about keeping ideas to myself but spawning more ideas through collaboration rather than competition.".
"Collaboration could lead to greater rewards both tangible and intangible and this is the purpose of the portal," she said.
.
Acting Minister for Education Tharman Shanmugaratnam launched Primer after opening the 27th annual Singapore Youth Science Festival yesterday.
.
"The 21st century belongs to cities and nations which create the conditions that spur the growth of new ideas and enterprise," Mr Shanmugaratnam said.

more school stuff...

there was Temasek Idol...a singing competition for tjcians. 2 categories..individual and group...judges were Mr. rajesh (randy jackson), Ms. winnie chew (paula abdul) and mr. daniel chung (simon cowell..only mr. chung can sing..unlike simon). mr. chung was actually quite evil sometimes...ditto mr. rajesh. some were quite bad...=) but there were good ones. charles won the title...expected..since he's already very popular in tj...

there was the 28th Students' Council investiture. (photos uploaded already!) only caught the 2nd half...busy with science fair stuff. but it was not bad..only the video the 27th put up...they copied some of our 26th SC video ideas that we played during our de-investiture last year!! sigh~

there was the temasek sports carnival lasting 2 whole days. could see the whole sports complex was bursting with activity. also the 200km relay to raise funds for tj's student welfare fund. they ran in the rain..throught out the night!! amazing feat...so proud of them...=)

there was my last tutorials with my classes...=( can't bear to leave...it was a great experience...it was fun...it was nice...had good times...had bad ones..(with horrid students!! haha~). had tons of fun crapping with jiahui, denise, yeelin, louisa, ms. ng, ms. teo, mrs. lam, ms. tiew (she and i keep dissing fantasia barrino and her thick lips...it was SO hilarious!) and mr. cheng. just thinking about those times brings a smile to my face...teaching i still think...is a noble job. teachers make plenty of sacrifices for their students. and i'm sure some do it willingly...because i know if my students ask me for help during this june hols..i'll help them..even though i'm not paid...i get joy out of teaching...when i see my students progress from not knowing ANYTHING about for eg. DNA...and after me explaining...they are experts! =) it's a great feeling...of course i know teachers don't just teach..quote ms. ng.."teaching's my part time job". all the admin work PDP etc...i also got to experience it because of science fair. yes it can be really tiring and draining...but the next day when i go back to teaching..it doesn't look that bad afterall...and now that science fair is over...the sense of relief washes over you and a sense of satisfaction follows. i know this small experience of mine doesn't even begin to sum up the reality of being a teacher in singapore (maybe i'm living a fantasy world!)...but i'm SO thankful and grateful for this experience. and i've enjoyed myself so much at tj.

which brings me to my next rambling...i didn't get into faculty of medicine. of course with every rejection..there's always the initial disappointment. it wasn't a BIg deal because i told myself not to expect too much...this is how i keep myself sane during the waiting period...and sane during this period. also the main reason is my faith in God. truly i believe that He has His plan for me and that when He's ready, He'll tell me. evidently He didn't meant for me to become a doctor. and once i looked at it from this perspective, it's alright. so now that i've made the decision to go to NTU to study biological sciences, i feel at peace with that decision...in a way i think that's God's way of telling me that this is the right way for me to go. so after this tj teaching experience, maybe i am going to be a teacher...which is a comforting thought. =)


this is getting too long...shall just end here...tmr then i continue with my other stories...gonna watch nip/tuck! =)

before i go..song today is You Raise Me Up. I like to think of 'you' as God...gives so much meaning to the song...especially in times like these.

You Raise Me Up - Josh Groban
Closer

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.

This girl posted at 10:25 PM