The Carpenter's Tools

I was preparing a little farewell gift for my form class when I stumbled upon this story which Pastor Kong shared some time back...

"Brother Hammer served as the chairman. The other members of the tool belt informed him that he must leave, because he was too noisy. But brother Hammer said, "If I have to leave this carpenter's shop, then brother Gimlet must go too. He's insignificant and makes a very small impression." (A gimlet is a small tool with a screw point, grooved shank, and a cross handle for boring holes).

Little brother Gimlet arose and said, "All right, but brother Screwdriver must go also. You have to turn him around and around to get anywhere with him."

Brother Screwdriver turned to the other tools in the belt and said, "If you wish, I will go, but brother Plane must leave too. All of his work is on the surface; there's no depth to what he does."

To this brother Plane leveled his terse reply, "Well, then, brother Saw will have to depart too. The changes he proposes always cut too deep."

Brother Saw complained, saying, "Brother Ruler will have to withdraw if I leave, for he's always measuring other folks as though he were the only one who is right."

Brother Ruler then surveyed the group and said, "Brother Sandpaper doesn't belong here either. He's rougher than he ought to be, and is always rubbing people the wrong way."

In the midst of the discussion, the Carpenter from Nazareth walked in. He had come to perform his day's work. He put on His tool belt and went to the workbench to make a pulpit. He employed the ruler, the saw, the plane, the hammer, the gimlet, the screwdriver, the sandpaper, and all the other tools. When the day's work was over, the pulpit was finished, and the carpenter went home. All the accusations against each of these tools were absolutely true, yet the carpenter used every one of them. No matter which tool He used, no other tool could have done the work better.

Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. (1 Corinthians 12:20-22 NLT)"

'What the Modern Woman Wants' by Amanda Chong Wei-Zhen

I got the following piece off a note from FaceBook.
And yes, the piece was beautifully written.

Singapore girl wins Commonwealth essay prize!

You will be amazed at the maturity of this 15-year old girl. It's worthwhile
taking 5 mins to read this essay.

A 15-YEAR-OLD Singaporean, competing against 16- 18-year-olds, has won the top
prize in a writing contest that drew 5,300 entries from 52 countries...

In the annual Commonwealth Essay Competition, Amanda Chong of Raffles Girls'
School (Secondary) chose to compete in the older category and won with a piece
on the restlessness of modern life.

Her short story, titled "What The Modern Woman Wants," focused on the conflict
in values between an old lady and her independent-minded daughter.

'Through my story, I attempted to convey the unique East-vs-West struggles and
generation gaps that I felt were characteristic of young people in my country,'
said Amanda, who likes drama, history and literature and wants to become a
lawyer and a politician.

Chief examiner Charles Kemp called her piece a 'powerfully moving and ironical
critique of modern restlessness and its potentially cruel consequences'. The
writing is fluent and assured, with excellent use of dialogue.
Amanda gets (S$1,590). A Singaporean last won the top prize in
2000, said Britain
's Royal Commonwealth Society, which has been organising the
competition since 1883. Singaporeans also came in second in the 14 to
15-year-old category, and fourth in the under-12s. Other winners included
students from Australia , Canada and South Africa.

===================================================

"The old woman sat in the backseat of the magenta convertible as it careened down
the highway, clutching tightly to the plastic bag on her lap, afraid it may be
kidnapped by the wind.


She was not used to such speed, with trembling hands she pulled the seat belt
tighter but was careful not to touch the patent leather seats with her callused
fingers, her daughter had warned her not to dirty it, 'Fingerprints show very
clearly on white, Ma.'

Her daughter, Bee Choo, was driving and talking on her sleek silver mobile
phone using big words the old woman could barely understand.


'Finance', 'Liquidation', 'Assets', 'Investments'... Her voice was crisp and
important and had an unfamiliar lilt to it.

Her Bee Choo sounded like one of those foreign girls on television. She was
speaking in an American accent. The old lady clucked her tongue in
disapproval......


'I absolutely cannot have this. We have to sell!' Her daughter exclaimed
agitatedly as she stepped on the accelerator; her perfectly manicured
fingernails gripping onto the steering wheel in irritation.

'I can't DEAL with this anymore!' she yelled as she clicked the phone shut and
hurled it angrily toward the backseat. The mobile phone hit the old woman on the
forehead and nestled soundlessly into her lap. She calmly picked it up and
handed it to her daughter.

'Sorry, Ma,' she said, losing the American pretence and switching to Mandarin.
'I have a big client in America . There have been a lot of problems.'

The old lady nodded knowingly. Her daughter was big and important.

Bee Choo stared at her mother from the rear view window, wondering what she was
thinking. Her mother's wrinkled countenance always carried the same cryptic
look.


The phone began to ring again, an artificially cheerful digital tune, which
broke the awkward silence.

'Hello, Beatrice! Yes, this is Elaine.'


Elaine. The old woman cringed. I didn't name her Elaine. She remembered her
daughter telling her, how an English name was very important for 'networking',
Chinese ones being easily forgotten.

'Oh no, I can't see you for lunch today. I have to take the ancient relic to
the temple for her weird daily prayer ritual.'

Ancient Relic. The old woman understood perfectly it was referring to her. Her
daughter always assumed that her mother's silence meant she did not comprehend.

'Yes, I know! My car seats will be reeking of joss sticks!'


The old woman pursed her lips tightly, her hands gripping her plastic bag in
defence. The car curved smoothly into the temple courtyard. It looked almost
garish next to the dull sheen of the ageing temple's roof.


The old woman got out of the back seat, and made her unhurried way to the main
hall. Her daughter stepped out of the car in her business suit and stilettos and
reapplied her lipstick as she made her brisk way to her mother's side.

'Ma, I'll wait outside.. I have an important phone call to make,' she said, not
bothering to hide her disgust at the pungent fumes of incense.

The old lady hobbled into the temple hall and lit a joss stick, she knelt down
solemnly and whispered her now familiar daily prayer to the Gods.


'Thank you God of the Sky, you have given my daughter luck all these years.
Everything I prayed for, you have given her. She has everything a young woman in
this world could possibly want.


'She has a big house with a swimming pool, a maid to help her, as she is too
clumsy to sew or cook. Her love life has been blessed; she is engaged to a rich
and handsome angmoh man.

'Her company is now the top financial firm and even men listen to what she
says... She lives the perfect life. You have given her everything except
happiness. I ask that the gods be merciful to her even if she has lost her roots
while reaping the harvest of success.

'What you see is not true, she is a filial daughter to me. She gives me a room
in her big house and provides well for me. She is rude to me only because I
affect her happiness. A young woman does not want to be hindered by her old
mother. It is my fault.'

The old lady prayed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes. Finally, with her
head bowed in reverence she planted the half-burnt joss stick into an urn of
smoldering ashes.

She bowed once more. The old woman had been praying for her daughter for
thirty-two years. When her stomach was round like a melon, she came to the
temple and prayed that it was a son.

Then the time was ripe and the baby slipped out of her womb, bawling and
adorable with fat thighs and pink cheeks, but unmistakably, a girl. Her husband
had ticked and punched her for producing a useless baby who could not work or
carry the family name.

Still, the woman returned to the temple with her new-born girl tied to her
waist in a sarong and prayed that her daughter would grow up and have everything
she ever wanted.

Her husband left her and she prayed that her daughter would never have to
depend on a man. She prayed every day that her daughter would be a great woman,
the woman that she, meek and uneducated, could never become.


A woman with 'neng kan
'; the ability to do anything she set her mind to. A woman
who commanded respect in the hearts of men. When she opened her mouth to speak,
precious pearls would fall out and men would listen.


She will not be like me, the woman prayed as she watched her daughter grow up
and drift away from her, speaking a language she scarcely understood.

She watched her daughter transform from a quiet girl to one who openly defied
her, calling her laotu, old fashioned.... She wanted her mother to be 'modern',
a word so new there was no Chinese word for it.


Now her daughter was too clever for her and the old woman wondered why she had
prayed like that. The Gods had been faithful to her persistent prayer, but the
wealth and success that poured forth so richly had buried the girl's roots and
now she stood faceless with no identity, bound to the soil of her ancestors by
only a string of origami banknotes.

Her daughter had forgotten her mother's value. Her wants were so ephemeral, that
of a modern woman. Power, wealth, access to the best fashion boutiques and yet
her daughter had not found true happiness. The old woman knew that you could
find happiness with much less.

When her daughter left the earth, everything she had would count for nothing.
People would look to her legacy and say that she was a great woman but she would
be forgotten once the wind blows over, like the ashes of burnt paper
convertibles and mansions.

The old woman wished she could go back and erase all her big hopes and prayers
for her daughter now that she had looked out of the temple gates. She saw her
daughter speaking on the phone, her brow furrowed with anger and worry. Being at
the top is not good, the woman thought, there is only one way to go from there –
down.

The old woman carefully unfolded the plastic bag and spread out a packet of
beehoon in front of the altar. Her daughter often mocked her for worshiping
porcelain Gods. How could she pray to them so faithfully and expect pieces of
ceramic to fly to her aid?


But her daughter had her own gods too, idols of wealth, success and power that
she enslaved to and worshiped every day of her life.

Every day was a quest for the idols, and the idols she worshiped counted for
nothing in eternity. All the wants her daughter had would slowly suck the life
out of her and leave her, an empty souless shell at the altar.


The old woman watched the joss stick. The dull heat had left a teetering grey
stem that was on the danger of collapsing.

Modern woman nowadays, the old lady sighed in resignation, as she bowed to the
east bone a final time to end her ritual. Modern woman nowadays want so much
that they lose their souls and wonder why they cannot find it.


Her joss stick disintegrated into a soft grey powder. She met her daughter
outside the temple, the same look of worry and frustration was etched on her
daughter's face.

An empty expression, as if she was ploughing through the soil of her wants
looking for the one thing that would sow the seeds of happiness.


They climbed into the convertible in silence and her daughter drove along the
highway, this time not too fast as she had done before.

‘Ma,’ Bee Choo finally said. 'I don't know how to put this. Mark and I have been
talking about it and we plan to move out of the big house. The property market
is good now, and we managed to get a buyer willing to pay us seven million for
it. We decided we'd prefer a cosier penthouse apartment instead. We found a
perfect one in Orchard Road
. Once we move into our apartment, we plan to get rid
of the maid, so we can have more space to ourselves...'

The old woman nodded knowingly. Bee Choo swallowed hard.


'We'd get someone to come in to do the housework and we can eat out – but once
the maid is gone, there won't be anyone to look after you. You will be awfully
lonely at home and, besides that the apartment is rather small. There won't be
space. We thought about it for a long time, and we decided the best thing for
you is if you moved to a Home. There's one near Hougang – it's a Christian home
and a very nice one.'

The old woman did not raise an eyebrow.


'I"ve been there, the matron is willing to take you in. It's beautiful with
gardens and lots of old people to keep you company! Hardly have time for you,
you'd be happier
there. You'd be happier there, really.' her daughter repeated as if to affirm
herself.

This time the old woman had no plastic bag of food offering to cling tightly
to, she bit her lip and fastened her seat belt, as if it would protect her from
a daughter who did not want her anymore. She sunk deep into the leather seat,
letting her shoulders sag and her fingers trace the white seat.

'Ma,' her daughter asked, searching the rear view window for her mother. 'Is
everything okay?'

What had to be done, had to be done.


'Yes' she said firmly, louder than she intended, 'if it will make you happy,'
she added more quietly.

‘It's for you, Ma! You will be happier there. You can move there tomorrow, I
already got the maid to pack your things.'


Elaine said triumphantly, mentally ticking yet another item off her agenda.

'I knew everything would be fine.' Elaine smiled widely; she felt liberated.
Perhaps getting rid of her mother would make her happier...


She had thought about it. It seemed the only hindrance in her pursuit of
happiness. She was happy now. She had everything a modern woman ever wanted;
money, status, career, love, power and now freedom without her mother and her
old-fashioned ways to weigh her down...

Yes she was free. Her phone butted urgently, she picked it up and read the
message, still beaming from ear to ear.


'Stock 10% increase.'


Yes, things were definitely beginning to look up for her and while searching for
the meaning of life in the luminance of her hand phone screen, the old woman in
the backseat became invisible and she did not see her in tears."
-Amanda Chong Wei-Zhen

This made me wonder, am I a 'modern woman'?

'Money' - who doesn't want it? Of course I dream of being well-off and living in a big house, but I don't think I'd sacrifice my family/passion for that; my being a teacher (instead of a full-time tutor) is a reflection of that.
'Career' - I'm a teacher; although I love my job and do wish to climb the ladder, I'd still let it go for my family.
'Power' - What power is there in being a 'teacher'? I gotta stay long enough in the service and climb the ladder to "gain power".
'Freedom' - I don't think any woman can have total freedom; my mum once told me, "Before marriage, you're my daughter; after marriage, you're someone's wife. What freedom do you think you'll have?"
'Love' - I'd been through 3 dysfunctional relationships before finally finding Daniel, the one with whom I am going to settle down ;)

'Filial piety' is a virtue I value - I'm quite sure I want to take care of my parents (and his) when they grow old; after all, who took care of us when we were younger?

At the end of the day, I'm sure I want a "home" and not a "house". :)

'penfriend'

In line with reading a passage, 'The Penfriend', I showed students a video of Ryan Halligan, a 13-year-old victim of cyberbullying who committed suicide. (Video can be assessed here.)

With the current technology, bullying is not confined to the school premises.
Bullying follows the victim 'home'.

My main message to my students was for them to be careful who they 'befriend' online, and to be careful what they say/do online; And of course, for them to no be a bully - "Do unto others what you want others to do unto you."

Always put yourself into the other party's shoes before you do anything...

'Have you grown up or just older?'

"IN A few days' time, we're going to leave 2010 behind and welcome a brand-new year.

At this juncture, I would like to pose a question to everyone: "Have we grown a year older or have we grown up by a year?"

Readers who have been following my column would know that I love to embellish my "viewpoints" with stories which I have read. This piece is no different! Take the story of an 87-year-old woman, Rose, who was determined to pursue a university education.

She enrolled in a university and - because of her bubbly personality and affable demeanour - quickly became the campus icon, making friends easily wherever she went.

Rose's sense of humour, coupled with her love for dressing up, went down very well with her much-younger peers.

When invited to speak at the annual football banquet, she gave a memorable and inspiring address.

She said: "We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success. "You have to laugh and find humour every day. You must also have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

"We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! "There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are 19 years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will still turn 20.

"If I am 87 years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will still turn 88.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability.

The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change.

"Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."

Rose died one week after her graduation, and over 2,000 students turned up at her funeral to pay tribute to the wonderful woman who taught them by example that it is never too late to be all you can possibly be.

Although I never knew Rose personally, reading this inspirational story has certainly stirred up the somewhat-complacent giant in me.

And, being a music man, I can appreciate what Rose meant when she challenged the people around her to live out the lyrics of The Rose, a heartrending ballad made famous by Bette Midler.

The second verse of the song goes: "It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance.

"It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. "It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give.

"And the soul afraid of dyin' that never learns to live."

This reminds me always to take the bull by its horns and live life with passion - passion fuelled by a determination to find opportunity in change.

May next year signal the start of a new journey for you and me, a journey during which we "grow up" more than we "grow old".

Happy New Year everyone!"
-Tuesday, 28 Dec 2010, my paper, Geoff Tan

When I read this article, it brought to my mind this picture I saw when travelling in Canada.

My caption for this photo on Facebook reads, "I'm growing old, but I'm not too sure if I'm growing up. I think I'm still pretty much a kid."

What struck me the most about this article was the idea of having no regrets; Life is about not having regrets for things you did not do, and not about things you did.
Just yesterday evening, Grandpa exclaimed when he learnt that I'd registered for Class 2B license.
I must admit I was a little taken aback, considering how into bike-riding my family is - my dad, brother, uncles ride bikes!
And then Grandpa said that I wasn't young anymore, he was worried I'd have psychomotor problems with a bike! :|
Anyhow, I am only 23 (going 24), and really, if not now, when?
I have procrastinated the registration for my 2B License since 2008; I finally registered for it on 31st December 2010, when two other teachers went to register for their Class 3A.
I believe I wouldn't regret learning another skill, but I'm sure I would regret if I do not get it. ;)

We only have one life, live it.
The change that you want to see in your life, lies in your hands.
The world can judge, but only we can decide for ourselves what they should see.
Ms Tay never said it would be easy, Ms Tay only said it would happen only if you try.

P.S. I found abovementioned 'The Rose' performed by Bette Midler on YouTube, enjoy! :)


"It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance.
It's the one who wont be taken who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dyin' that never learns to live."

P.S.S. I went through this article in class today, the words in bold are 'vocabulary' words for the students; have hyperlinked them to dictionary.com so that meanings (and pronunciations) could be checked up easily. :)

Don’t wait...

Another reason why everyone should respect and treasure the seniors – grandparents and parents alike – in their families.
Don’t wait till they have forgotten you before you care.

Don't Work. Be hated. Love someone.

Written by Adrian Tan, author of The Teenage Textbook (1988), was the guest-of-honour at a recent NTU convocation ceremony. This was his speech to the graduating class of 2008.

"I must say thank you to the faculty and staff of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information for inviting me to give your convocation address. It’s a wonderful honour and a privilege for me to speak here for ten minutes without fear of contradiction, defamation or retaliation. I say this as a Singaporean and more so as a husband.

My wife is a wonderful person and perfect in every way except one. She is the editor of a magazine. She corrects people for a living. She has honed her expert skills over a quarter of a century, mostly by practising at home during conversations between her and me.

On the other hand, I am a litigator. Essentially, I spend my day telling people how wrong they are. I make my living being disagreeable.

Nevertheless, there is perfect harmony in our matrimonial home. That is because when an editor and a litigator have an argument, the one who triumphs is always the wife.

And so I want to start by giving one piece of advice to the men: when you’ve already won her heart, you don’t need to win every argument.

Marriage is considered one milestone of life. Some of you may already be married. Some of you may never be married. Some of you will be married. Some of you will enjoy the experience so much, you will be married many, many times. Good for you.

The next big milestone in your life is today: your graduation. The end of education. You’re done learning.

You’ve probably been told the big lie that “Learning is a lifelong process” and that therefore you will continue studying and taking masters’ degrees and doctorates and professorships and so on. You know the sort of people who tell you that? Teachers. Don’t you think there is some measure of conflict of interest? They are in the business of learning, after all. Where would they be without you? They need you to be repeat customers.

The good news is that they’re wrong.

The bad news is that you don’t need further education because your entire life is over. It is gone. That may come as a shock to some of you. You’re in your teens or early twenties. People may tell you that you will live to be 70, 80, 90 years old. That is your life expectancy.

I love that term: life expectancy. We all understand the term to mean the average life span of a group of people. But I’m here to talk about a bigger idea, which is what you expect from your life.

You may be very happy to know that Singapore is currently ranked as the country with the third highest life expectancy. We are behind Andorra and Japan, and tied with San Marino. It seems quite clear why people in those countries, and ours, live so long. We share one thing in common: our football teams are all hopeless. There’s very little danger of any of our citizens having their pulses raised by watching us play in the World Cup. Spectators are more likely to be lulled into a gentle and restful nap.

Singaporeans have a life expectancy of 81.8 years. Singapore men live to an average of 79.21 years, while Singapore women live more than five years longer, probably to take into account the additional time they need to spend in the bathroom.

So here you are, in your twenties, thinking that you’ll have another 40 years to go. Four decades in which to live long and prosper.

Bad news. Read the papers. There are people dropping dead when they’re 50, 40, 30 years old. Or quite possibly just after finishing their convocation. They would be very disappointed that they didn’t meet their life expectancy.

I’m here to tell you this. Forget about your life expectancy.

After all, it’s calculated based on an average. And you never, ever want to expect being average.

Revisit those expectations. You might be looking forward to working, falling in love, marrying, raising a family. You are told that, as graduates, you should expect to find a job paying so much, where your hours are so much, where your responsibilities are so much.

That is what is expected of you. And if you live up to it, it will be an awful waste.

If you expect that, you will be limiting yourself. You will be living your life according to boundaries set by average people. I have nothing against average people. But no one should aspire to be them. And you don’t need years of education by the best minds in Singapore to prepare you to be average.



What you should prepare for is mess. Life’s a mess. You are not entitled to expect anything from it. Life is not fair. Everything does not balance out in the end. Life happens, and you have no control over it. Good and bad things happen to you day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. Your degree is a poor armour against fate.

Don’t expect anything. Erase all life expectancies. Just live. Your life is over as of today. At this point in time, you have grown as tall as you will ever be, you are physically the fittest you will ever be in your entire life and you are probably looking the best that you will ever look. This is as good as it gets. It is all downhill from here. Or up. No one knows.

What does this mean for you? It is good that your life is over.

Since your life is over, you are free. Let me tell you the many wonderful things that you can do when you are free.



The most important is this: do not work.

Work is anything that you are compelled to do. By its very nature, it is undesirable.

Work kills. The Japanese have a term “Karoshi”, which means death from overwork. That’s the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there’s nothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.

There’s a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are “making a living”. No, they’re not. They’re dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaningless and, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.

Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach that end anyway.

Resist the temptation to get a job. Instead, play. Find something you enjoy doing. Do it. Over and over again. You will become good at it for two reasons: you like it, and you do it often. Soon, that will have value in itself.

I like arguing, and I love language. So, I became a litigator. I enjoy it and I would do it for free. If I didn’t do that, I would’ve been in some other type of work that still involved writing fiction – probably a sports journalist.

So what should you do? You will find your own niche. I don’t imagine you will need to look very hard. By this time in your life, you will have a very good idea of what you will want to do. In fact, I’ll go further and say the ideal situation would be that you will not be able to stop yourself pursuing your passions. By this time you should know what your obsessions are. If you enjoy showing off your knowledge and feeling superior, you might become a teacher.

Find that pursuit that will energise you, consume you, become an obsession. Each day, you must rise with a restless enthusiasm. If you don’t, you are working.

Most of you will end up in activities which involve communication. To those of you I have a second message: be wary of the truth. I’m not asking you to speak it, or write it, for there are times when it is dangerous or impossible to do those things. The truth has a great capacity to offend and injure, and you will find that the closer you are to someone, the more care you must take to disguise or even conceal the truth. Often, there is great virtue in being evasive, or equivocating. There is also great skill. Any child can blurt out the truth, without thought to the consequences. It takes great maturity to appreciate the value of silence.

In order to be wary of the truth, you must first know it. That requires great frankness to yourself. Never fool the person in the mirror.



I have told you that your life is over, that you should not work, and that you should avoid telling the truth. I now say this to you: be hated.

It’s not as easy as it sounds. Do you know anyone who hates you? Yet every great figure who has contributed to the human race has been hated, not just by one person, but often by a great many. That hatred is so strong it has caused those great figures to be shunned, abused, murdered and in one famous instance, nailed to a cross.

One does not have to be evil to be hated. In fact, it’s often the case that one is hated precisely because one is trying to do right by one’s own convictions. It is far too easy to be liked, one merely has to be accommodating and hold no strong convictions. Then one will gravitate towards the centre and settle into the average. That cannot be your role. There are a great many bad people in the world, and if you are not offending them, you must be bad yourself. Popularity is a sure sign that you are doing something wrong.



The other side of the coin is this: fall in love.

I didn’t say “be loved”. That requires too much compromise. If one changes one’s looks, personality and values, one can be loved by anyone.

Rather, I exhort you to love another human being. It may seem odd for me to tell you this. You may expect it to happen naturally, without deliberation. That is false. Modern society is anti-love. We’ve taken a microscope to everyone to bring out their flaws and shortcomings. It far easier to find a reason not to love someone, than otherwise. Rejection requires only one reason. Love requires complete acceptance. It is hard work – the only kind of work that I find palatable.

Loving someone has great benefits. There is admiration, learning, attraction and something which, for the want of a better word, we call happiness. In loving someone, we become inspired to better ourselves in every way. We learn the truth worthlessness of material things. We celebrate being human. Loving is good for the soul.

Loving someone is therefore very important, and it is also important to choose the right person. Despite popular culture, love doesn’t happen by chance, at first sight, across a crowded dance floor. It grows slowly, sinking roots first before branching and blossoming. It is not a silly weed, but a mighty tree that weathers every storm.
You will find, that when you have someone to love, that the face is less important than the brain, and the body is less important than the heart.

You will also find that it is no great tragedy if your love is not reciprocated. You are not doing it to be loved back. Its value is to inspire you.

Finally, you will find that there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

Don’t work. Avoid telling the truth. Be hated. Love someone."

My thoughts -
Play.
Appreciate the value of silence.
Do right by one’s own convictions.
Fall in love - there is no half-measure when it comes to loving someone. You either don’t, or you do with every cell in your body, completely and utterly, without reservation or apology. It consumes you, and you are reborn, all the better for it.

How would you feel if...

"...How would you feel if that was your son? Or your daughter? How would you feel if that was you? He's a person, the same as you and I, with feelings..."

Do unto others what you want others to do unto you.

Just one more try

"Today, I have a question for you.

We all know who invented the light bulb, Thomas Edison. But the question is, how many times did he try before he succeeded?

I'm going to tell you the final bit of his success.

It was the 21st of October 1879. Thomas had been working non-stop to make a cotton thread filament. The filament had failed twice and he did not want it to fail again. Sweat trickled down his throat as he switched on the new light bulb. It's burning... But for how llong? Thomas dozed off as it burnt.

On the 22nd of October 1879, it carried on burning. It burnt for thirteen hours and thirty minutes and stayed alight. He did it! After five thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine failures, he had finally done it!

Thomas Edison succeeded in inventing the light bulb because he did not give up and that brings me to the quote of the day,

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. -Thomas A. Edison

We had once give up before, right? When we give up, we simple put away the situation and leave it, never to be solved. That is what Thomas Edison was trying to say, don't give up. When we give up in life, life will never be successful. You will not prosper in life. If Thomas Edison gave up, someone else would have invented the light bulb and won fame and glory. We will never hear about Thomas Edison. Same for us, always try one more time.

Remember, our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

Do bear that in mind. I wish everyone, especially the Sec 4s and 5s all the best for your finals. Hang in there!"
- Matthew Chua, 104'10

Bad student or bad teacher?

Watched 'The Karate Kid' this afternoon and one thing Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) said struck me.

"There is no such thing as a 'bad student', only 'bad teacher'."
-Mr. Han

This was very much like what Mr. Jeffrey Goh shared at a talk for NIE Student-Teachers (who're graduating from NIE soon to become Beginning Teachers) earlier today.
He kept stressing how our attitudes affect everything we do; and the very fact that we are teachers meant that our attitudes would radiate and influence many more people, beyond what we could possibly imagine.

Anyway, back to the movie...
Watching 'The Karate Kid' showed me the kind of damage a 'bad' teacher could do.
It also showed me how every child wants to please his teacher, even if it meant doing something that didn't feel right; the kid would do it, in a bid to gain acceptance or even recognition from his teacher.



I still remember what a colleague once told me, "All children are nice, all they want is to please their teachers regardless or what they do. They can misbehave, but all they wish is for us to notice when they do something good and for us to praise that. No child is bad."
I always bear this in mind when I teach, and I always try my best to see that glimmer in my children.
I believe that all my children are diamonds in their own ways, just waiting for the right teacher to come by and polish them up so they shine ever so brightly.
I hope, that I can be that 'right' teacher for some of them... :)

I ♥ 2B! ;)

My weekend was an awesome one!
Met up with “老人帮” for a 'senseless' night on Saturday.

Sunday was lovely...
Baby Tibbit, softball, mahjong, Prince of Persia.
I heart such days! :)


Found it an awesome show, quite a number of take-aways - three, to be exact.

Blood ties are strong.
Sometimes though, greed weakens it.
Always be contented.

Everyone wants to go back to a certain point in their lives to fix their past.
Should that be possible, history would be changed, and could possibly be changed drastically.
But alas, no such time-reversing thang.

To hold on or to let go?
When you hold on to something too tightly and too dearly, you gradually but surely lose grip of it and all you're left with is nothing but a clenched fist.
And you're unhappy holding on.
When you let go, the whole world is in your hands.
And you get to change your destiny!
(Maybe even acquire a different insight on how to get what you were holding on to... ;) )


Yea, whatever will be, will be! :)

I'll leave y'all with this quote, which started and ended ze movie. :)

It is said that some lives are linked across time, connected by an ancient calling that echoes through ages. Destiny.

TIPs for Teachers

Something to share from the Beginning Teacher (BT) Induction Course I'm attending at NTU now, from the welcome address by Mr Winston James Hodge...

Three Important Points (TIPs) for Teachers:
1. Care for your pupils
2. Learn and work with your colleagues
3. Take care of yourself

Care for your pupils
All students, in fact everyone, has a "Care-O-Meter" installed in them; they don't care how much teacher know until they know how much teachers care.
Teachers also need to be the ones to discipline them, students do respect the teachers for that because they know that teachers are caring for them - yes, they might behave all bad on the outside but on the inside, these "naughty" ones are hurting and are waiting for someone to help them stop the destruction they are doing.
Sometimes, the teacher is the one and only one to support a child at a certain point in time; don't miss those opportunities!

How do then should we care for our pupils?
i. Get to know them well - our pupils behave at phases: primary, secondary, tertiary; we have been through that, we just need to rethink how we were them and try to see from their perspectives. Remember, there is a story behind every child.
ii. They are work in progress - our calling as teachers is to help them learn, mature and find themselves. Not the easiest thing, but it's something we do best (or at least, should do best). Oh, every child is work in progress, not just the 'rascals' of the lot; sometimes even the most brilliant of the lot needs our guidance.
iii. Be friendly, be nurturing but know your limits. We are their teachers, not their friends. We can be their listening ear, we can be their guide, but we cannot be their best friend. Would you call up your best friend's parent to feedback about tardy work? Maybe some can. But think for the child... The role-switch is easy for us but it is confusing for our pupils because they are not cognitively mature enough to understand how we role-switch between being a 'Teacher' and 'Best Friend' so quickly - in class/school, I'm your teacher; out of class/school, I'm your best friend. No! It's confusing for the poor child!

Learn and work with your colleagues
Your colleagues, mostly more senior than you, have more experience than you. Speak to them, ask them for advice, they'll be more than willing to share!

Take care of yourself
We all love our job but don't burn out. Find time for yourself. See the big picture, there'll be time when work floods in and you have "no time"; but there're also "dull periods". Plan your year and make sure you get enough rest.

Take care of yourself - emotionally, mentally, physically. Take care of your relationships too.

To all student-teachers preparing for practicum, good luck in your next 10weeks in school. It's kind of like the last phase of NIE, have funt!! :) Don't stress yourself out too much, enjoy the journey!

To all beginning teachers, it's now time for us to head out to the "real" world and live up to what we joined the service for. Always bear in mind the reason(s) you joined the service, we're all here because of our pupils, in one way or another.
Oh yes, do find time to meet up with your NIE classmate for group therapy sessions during the term breaks, I'm sure we all need each other! ;)
All the best, y'all!!

Poem by Kevin William Huff

I've been back in NIE since practicum ended for me.
Loadsa review of lessons and some trainings, one of which was the NIE Pre-Service Training Teaching CME Workshop.
Came across this poem at the workshop, thought I'd share it with educators out there. :)

Teachers
Paint their minds
and guide their thoughts
Share their achievements
and advise their faults

Inspire a Love
of knowledge and truth
As you light the path
Which leads our youth

For our future brightens
with each lesson you teach
Each smile you lengthen
Each goal you help reach

For the dawn of each poet
each philosopher and king
Begins with a Teacher
And the wisdom they bring

Put your future in good hands.

You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands - your own. -Mark Victor Hansen

What's in Your Backpack?

Watched 'Up In The Air' this evening.

A question that was brought up over and over again in the show was, "What's in Your Backpack?".
Imagine you have a backpack, in it you have to fit everything you own...
Your house, car, laptop, wardrobe... ... ... photos...
That's pretty heavy a backpack right?
Carry that and walk.
Can you feel the strap cutting into your shoulders?
What if I set the place on fire and you need to run?
What do you take out so you run faster?

Now again, imagine you have a backpack...
In it you have to fit everybody you've known in your life.
Acquaintainces, colleagues, friends, close friends, best friends, family, other halves.
And again, it's pretty heavy a backpack.
Carry that and walk.
Can you feel the strap cutting into your shoulders?
Naw, not gonna get the place on fire so you need to run again.
Would you take anybody out if you have a choice?
Would taking this person out change the course of your life?
That's the thing about relationships - every relationship you have with people change and mould you into who you are now...
Taking away anyone would change the entire course of life - it could be yours, it could be the other person's.
Yes, no matter how big or small an encounter you had with that person.

Ah well, 'nuff thinking.
Enjoy the trailer!

To all teachers...

"

National Development and Ministry of Education, at the Caring Teacher Awards 2010 on Thursday, 8 April 2010, at the NTU Alumni Club

Professor Lee Sing Kong,
Director, National Institute of Education,

Mr Loh Pin Chuan, Manager,
Public & Government Affairs, ExxonMobil Asia Pacific,

Dr Nick Aplin,
Chairman of the Caring Teacher Awards Organising Committee,

Colleagues,

Students,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1 I am very pleased to be here today at the presentation ceremony of the Eighth Caring Teacher Awards.

21st Century Competencies

2 Much attention has been placed on the education landscape in recent years. We have taken steps to introduce greater diversity and flexibility into the system in order to give our students more choices, and to allow them to progress according to their individual abilities. With greater diversity and flexibility, our schools have also been given greater autonomy so that they can respond quickly and effectively to the profile of their students.

3 As we reposition and reorient our schools to meet the demands of the future, we must provide our students with the core knowledge and skills that will be relevant in the future. We must instil in them the physical, emotional and mental toughness that will position them to take advantage of the new opportunities arising in an increasingly globalised world.

4 MOE recently announced a new framework to enhance the development of 21st century competencies in our students. These competencies underpin the holistic education that our schools will provide in order to better enable our young to thrive in the fast–changing and highly connected world of tomorrow. They include critical and creative thinking skills, cross–cultural skills, civic literacy, and information and communication skills.

5 At the core of the framework are the values that define a person’s character. Knowledge and skills must, of course, be anchored by values for they shape a person’s beliefs, attitudes and actions. They are therefore central to our approach in nurturing 21st century competencies in our young. In a globalised world, amidst an onslaught of competing images and ideas, it is easy for our young to lose a sense of who they are and what they stand for. Our students require sound guidance, not only in the pursuit of academic excellence, but also in adhering to basic moral and social principles to live by.

The Role of the Teacher in the 21st Century

6 In the age of the Internet, the role of a teacher has also changed. He is no longer the sole purveyor of information, though core knowledge of his subject remains vital. Rather, the role of a teacher has shifted towards that of a facilitator who passes on ways of learning, guides his students across the often overwhelming terrain of the information superhighway, and cultivates in them an open and yet discriminate mind towards multiple versions of facts. Yet, despite these changes, the central mission of teaching remains constant — to develop every student to his or her fullest potential and to care for the welfare and wellbeing of every one of them. Teachers remain at the very heart of educating a child.

7 Teachers, not textbooks or exams or syllabuses, are ultimately what makes education succeed. And the teachers who make a difference to their students’ lives are those who demonstrate care and concern for their students as individuals, who help them up when they fall, and give them the confidence they need to beat seemingly insurmountable odds. The best teachers are also the most caring teachers. Caring teachers help their students develop the right values and attitudes through personal interactions. Their students look up to them as role models. The young take the cue from their beliefs, values and hopes. They are sometimes most strict with their students as they care for the wellbeing of the students. They are the ones who are able to identify and harness the innate abilities of each and every one of their students, who never give up on even the most recalcitrant, and who enables and empowers them.

8 Today, we honour 15 individuals who have been nominated by their peers and students as Caring Teachers. With a strong sense of mission, these teachers have gone beyond the call of duty, expending time and energy in order to help their students realise their potential. They have shared the wisdom gained from their own life experiences selflessly, in order to help students overcome personal adversities and challenges. They lead by example, serving as beacons of inspiration not only to the many students who lives they have touched, but also to their fellow teachers.

9 I would like to acknowledge in particular our three National Award winners— Mrs Rosiah Giri from Da Qiao Primary School, who devotes time and energy beyond her normal duties to looking after the needs of students from disadvantaged backgrounds; Mr Chan Kar Hong from Kent Ridge Secondary School, whose dedication to his students as a counsellor in the pastoral care programme have helped them confront their personal challenges with courage and resilience; and Mdm Wong Kwai Yeok, more fondly known as Mrs June Fong to her students, who attest to her sincerity in reaching out to them and helping them in times of need.

10 My congratulations also to the 12 recipients of the Award of Commendation. You have all demonstrated that caring teachers can make a difference in our young people’s lives.

Conclusion

11 On a final note, I would like to thank ExxonMobil Singapore for their continuing support of the Caring Teacher Awards. You have helped make possible a very meaningful award.

12 I wish all of you every success in continuing the excellent work.

13 Thank you."
- Speech by Ms Grace Fu at the Caring Teacher Awards 2010

Alice in Wonderland

Went outta watch Alice in Wonderland with a selected group of students late this afternoon.
It's their first trip out and with everyone from different classes, so they were all quite excited.
When we entered the theatre, a handful of them were calling out, "Ms Tay! ... Ms Tay! ... Ms Tay! ..." from around me.
Cuz I teach/taught 4 out of 5 Sec 1 Express classes and so most of the 23 students know me... =.=
Luckily for me, everyone settled down proper when the movie started. :)

I like such an experience/feeling and hope to do this again! :D

Wanted to go get the book but it's all sold out at Page One. :(

Walked around a bit and ended up in The Face Shop cuz I wanted to get eye gel.
I ended up with more than what I wanted to buy, but I'm a happy 'cher! :D

Just used the products - eye gel, toner, moisturiser - a while ago, I'm lovin' them!! :)

Some 'word play' (in bold) for you readers...

"...Come, we shall have some fun now! thought Alice. I’m glad they’ve begun asking riddles. I believe I can guess that, she added aloud.

Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it? said the March Hare.

Exactly so, said Alice.

Then you should say what you mean, the March Hare went on.

I do, Alice hastily replied; at least . . . at least I mean what I say . . . that’s the same thing, you know.

Not the same thing a bit! said the Hatter. You might just as well say that “I see what I eat.” is the same thing as “I eat what I see.”.

You might just as well say, added the March Hare, that “I like what I get.” is the same thing as “I get what I like.”.

You might just as well say, added the Dormouse, who seemed to be talking in his sleep, that “I breathe when I sleep.” is the same thing as “I sleep when I breathe.”!

It IS the same thing with you, said the Hatter, and here the conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and writing-desks, which wasn’t much..."

So...
Is "I see what I eat" the same as "I eat what I see"?
And is "I like what I get" the same as "I get what I like"?
And is "I breathe when I sleep" the same as "I sleep when I breathe"?

What Teachers Make

Got this in an email and thought I'd share this...
"The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued,
"What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in
life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who
can, do. Those who can't, teach."

To stress his point he said to another guest;
"You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"


Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to
know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't
make them sit for 5 without an IPod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and
every person at the table.)

''I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't
everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain,
not the man-made calculator.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know
in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.

I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, One Nation Under God, because we live in
the United States of America.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given,
work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life."

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

"Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money
isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because
they are ignorant... You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

What do you make Mr. CEO?"

His jaw dropped, he went silent."

THIS IS WORTH SHARING WITH EVERY TEACHER YOU KNOW.