Commitment

George Clooney ---- the most eligible bachelor on earth --- is single once again. In my opinion, this guy has serious problems with commitment. Don't we all too? How many times have we taken a fancy to something irresistible, only to abandon it all too soon because commitment would require certain sacrifices, give and take and hard work? We crave for the attention, thrill and fun of new experiences, but are often unwilling to hang around when these experiences take on a comfortable familiarity that is dismissed as unexciting and non-adrenalin-pumping. Such is our use-and-discard and instant-gratification mentality. Few people value long-term commitments and loyalty is a rare trait these days.

My Indie!

I'm a die-hard Indiana Jones fan. I love that guy. I'm unashamedly enamoured of Harrison Ford who plays the protagonist. Brought four of my six this afternoon for "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull". Yeap, we lapped up every bit of the movie. Okay, so Harrison Ford's a little old and not too up to his usual level of energy in his action moves. But he's still such eye candy to me! So what if the storyline's rather predictable. . .I'm a bit of an escapist: I like my hero to emerge triumphant and unscathed at the end of all his adventures! Sigh! We all know how reality is quite the opposite! Will get hold of the DVD release and complete my collection of all the Indie movies. Then the whole family can watch and re-watch them over and over again . . .

When I have the time, I shall watch all the 007 movies too. Sean Connery is my favourite actor for the role of Bond. Now you know, I have a weakness for handsome guys . . . Aiyo..... so many handsome men, so little time . . . .

Tired

Am very tired. Must have been all the crying as I took in every bit of the Mediacorp Sichuan quake fund-raising show over channel 8 last night. Can't help weeping when they showed all the injured and dead people, how mothers wailed for their lost children and how families were torn asunder by the calamity. I was moved by accounts of brave acts of heroes / heroines in China, and by the poetry recitals and renditions of hastily composed songs by fellow Singaporeans who rallied to raise the needed funds. Wow, about 6 million dollars raised! Proposed to the six that maybe we should make a trip to China to help rebuild the schools and give free English lessons. No . . .no. . .help with English will do. They just went through a disaster, . . . no need to punish them with our embarassing command of Maths and Science. My daughter pinched me . . . how could I still joke while shedding tears uncontrollably?!

Colours

For quite a while now, I've not stepped into a lower Primary classroom. Was amazed at how different it is, compared to an Upper Secondary one. The brilliant splashes of colour everywhere caught my attention. Rainbow hue posters, drawings, photos and cut-outs dorned the tastefully-done up notice boards and classroom walls. Cheery poems, reflections and model group projects were displayed for all to see. They spoke volumes of the spirited young ones' time spent at their special space in school. And the especially low desks and chairs, thoughtfully designed and ordered to suit the young ones . . . . they brought a tinge of nostalgia of my primary school days . . .

Then I thought of our Secondary School classrooms. They're definitely dirtier, more cluttered and ill-organised. The notice boards are often not up-to-date, and little thought often goes into making the place cheery and proud to be in. Colours . . . seem to be missing in our surroundings and in us!

Best Wishes for your Mother Tongue Exams

Yeah, hard to believe that the first of your"O" levels is just a few days away. "Jia you!" and to Airil, do "baik baik" okay?! Every good grade will count towards a satisfying "O" level certificate, and we all hope to "save" some time for our other subjects with a good Mother Tongue performance this time round, right? Currently, I'm kinda struggling to coach one at home with his Mother Tongue. Hope that he'll be able to make it for his year-end PSLE! It's been an uphill task motivating certain characters in the family to appreciate the Chinese Language, but I'm hopeful. After all, I had one who literally walked round the classroom during her kindergarten Chinese lessons, but who is now pursuing Higher Chinese. Patience, patience, Ms Quan ..... some people just take a longer time to bloom! Can you empathise with what I am feeling as a Singapore parent caught in our competitive education system?

Have a swell time

Have a good time at the Sports Carnival tomorrow, people! Enjoy the blood, sweat and tears! Many years down the road, you will be glad for the chance to reminisce these moments. I remember how I used to go all out for my various Sports Days ---- from running bare-footed in soggy fields at my primary school , to sprinting at stadiums for Teachers' races. Even sustained ugly scars on the knees that would remind me of them forever! Haiz, too old for any overly exertive physical activities now ....

Vesak Day

On this day, we try to go vegetarian, give thanks and reflect on all things good. The Significant Other has gotten up early to whip up vegetarian stuff in the kitchen. It's also to remind us to eat healthy sometimes. Hmmmmm, but he's now doing some vegetarian pancake topped with sinfully rich ice cream. ???????!! Later, we're all taking some visitors to a couple of Buddhist temples to commemorate the birth and enlightenment of a Great Teacher. Also to make donations towards those affected by Cyclone Nargis and the China quake. As we enjoy this day freed from work and school, let's spend some time to reflect on what good we can do to others and how to better our inner make-up.

There has got to be a way

The mother who killed her 13 year-old son must have been driven to desperation. Perhaps she was facing financial difficulties, pressure at work or depression. How I wished she had someone to turn to when she contemplated that life was not worth the living for her son and herself. Must death be the only way out? But then again, I can empathise with the feeling of hopelessness when everything does not seem to be going right. Hungry stomachs, tired bodies, money problems, emotional void, and relentless work and familial demands can be lethal triggers in one's weakest moment. I feel sad . . . why didn't God show her a way? The boy, . . . he was only in Sec 1. I shared with the 6 over breakfast this morning about how we should be sensitised to the people around us. We should also not take what we have for granted. Let's make do with what is necessary and not drive ourselves crazy worrying about what we can perhaps put off until a more opportune time. As for obstacles that seem insurmountable, let's look out for one another and try to pitch in to figure out solutions. There has got to be a way out . . .

Not lost in translation, I hope!

I hope that these past two day's English lessons went down well with most of you. I had intended for you to appreciate that we can use English to talk about almost everything under the sun. I had also wanted to explore a myriad of themes in our lessons and get you to feel comfortable expressing your views on different topics. So why not Art? Okay, okay, some materials were not for the under-sixteens, but look at it from the artistic point of view, right! Our minds should not wander and we should not dwell perpetually on unpure thoughts. Tsk! Tsk! I have lined up some irreverent debate topics for a debate next week. Think you will recover sufficiently from this week's lessons to take on more of our English sessions next week?

A very special day

I don't care if this post is going to make you green with envy. You aren't mothers yet (I hope!), girls, and boys (esp Chee Hock), you'll never be, technically. Today, I had the best day ever! Yep, the little ones all remembered to make me feel special. They shopped, baked and gave me cupcakes that I'll remember for the rest of my life. I was touched that they parted with significant portions of their savings to make the gift of love possible. The littlest one shall have to make instalment payments for a while yet to the older ones till he pays his due share .... Awwww... The Significant Other dedicated dialect songs. Okay, okay, give the chap perfect marks for perseverance and more than perfect marks for being so very bold and shameless. I swear I didn't laugh at him. In fact, he brought a lump to my throat... We finally went bowling together as a whole family. We had a hilariously good time. The other bowlers at the alley must be wondering how there can be so many noobs in one family. The kids also played arcade games. Dinner was wonderful. Never mind how I was blackmailed into letting them order anything that they fancied . . . down to outright sinful desserts! What more could I ask for? ... Well, maybe later on tonight, all 6 kids can take turns to massage me, feed me grapes, while the Significant Other go on and on to count the ways that he loves me? . . . Dream on . . .

How did your day go?

Tough call

In an irrational outburst, the daughter said that one should just ditch all calls for the pursuit of an all rounded education, hire a personal tutor for ALL academic subjects, and then get on the conventional route to a university education. It's just too tiring being a student in Singapore, she lamented. She is desperate for sleep time. The eye bags are seriously becoming luggages! Where is the time to socialise? Argghhh!

I'm resisting. Resisting the urge to just give in and push the 6 of them onto the bandwagon of what I call a "heavily-assisted" and boring educational route. Hire personal tutors to prime them in every single subject? Take them out from all "unnecessary" school activities? Cut out all the "crappy" stuff about moulding them to be good leaders , compassionate people and good team workers? Sometimes, I just want to take the easier way out, hold their hands and spoon-feed them. My heart aches when I see them learn through trials and errors and lots of bruises along the way. But I know that free-range souls would be a lot happier and wholesome in the long run. I hope that I am right. And that they would not hate me for being so "uncool" and an ogress of a Mum!

How's that for logic?

Just read about how the monster dad in Austria, accused of keeping his own daughter prisoner for 24 years, raping her and causing her to have 7 children whilst in captivity, argued his way out of his horrendous deeds. He said that he could have killed them. The fact that he didn't and that he brought his seriously ill 19 year-old daughter and granddaughter for medical attention proved that he wasn't a monster after all. It fact, he argued that in a way, he 'saved' them. Now how's that for logic?

I hope that none of you would give lame arguments like this in your writings or oral communication.

Ms Quan

T3

Mum's finally off to Taiwan to be with the brother and family. Good for her. She was happy this afternoon. We were all there to see her off at T3. Mighty impressive airport terminal we have here. Had tea at Yakun's. Of course, I baulked at the prices -- 90 cents for a kaya toast! Tsk! Tsk! I borrowed the daughter's droopy skinnies. Had trouble keeping the pants up to protect my modesty. Can't figure out this thing about droopy pants. No wonder designers are coming up with 2-in-one (i.e. visible undies accompanying droopy pants) bottoms to cater to the hungry-for-skin-showing youngsters! On the way back to the car park, I witnessed a very patient elderly father slowly walking his stroke-stricken son back to his wheel-chair. Bless them! If only all children could understand the unconditional love of a parent. I said a tiny prayer for them and wish them well.

Ms Quan

Yippee . . . crabs!

So sweet of the Significant Other. Came home late from work armed with fresh crabs and thence proceeded to whip up a mouth-watering platter of black pepper crabs for all of us. What a supper we had! He's off early this morning to get ingredients to cook us a Labour Day meal. Hyper-active chap. Energiser-bunny type. Sometimes I just want to take out his batteries for a while, so that I can rest.