Happy Birthday Joseph

Today I had a lunch outing and a dinner party. In the morning, I was supposed to meet Bro Alwyn at 10.50am, commonwealth MRT station to meet Kang Fei's parents for lunch. But, i woke up only at 10.50am!!! my goodness...in the end we changed to Dover MRT , and i took a cab there. Later i put my wallet on alwyn's dashboard, and when he braked, a $1 coin dropped into his car! What a cockster i am! :P

Lunch was at this italian restaurant, it was good together with some of Fei's other friends. We talked of the good times that we had together with Fei, and it was relieving to see that his parents seemed to be coping well with his loss. I also realised that Fei's mum is quite a senior official in MOE, in fact I had seen her name somewhere before. Small world..

After that, Alwyn drove down to church so i ccompanied him, after that went to JP to get some stationeries... and went home. Later in the evening still got Joseph (my RV best friend) birthday party.

It was at some restaurant-style country club with two tables going to his relatives and two tables to his school friends. Had a good time of catching up with everyone and getting to know new friends. Joseph is another one who is flying off soon (alwyn is flying off this sat) so i wish him all the best in his studies over there.

This was a great day.

relief teaching experience part 2

time really flies, and now i am left with but two days to the end of my relief teaching at RVHS.

at this point, i feel really apprehensive because i am about to enter a new stage of life also called NUS. And I know i am going to miss RV for sure. I do not know how much I can continue to stay behind to contribute to St John.. Much as i want to, i know that time is limited and very soon I will need to let the cadets (and OCTs) run on their own.

Much as i want to stay on, i cannot. tuesday will be my last day and after that, it will be back to normal life as an instructor, coming back once in a while...

The past week was okay. I caught the flu, but that was during sec 3 camp which i was not required to go down to school so it was okay. But when I went back on Thursday, i was required to take one of the classes where the teacher was not in. And boy, they did turn havoc. I had to scold them. But not easy, with my nose still blocked from the flu. As i type this, it's better now, but still not 100% okay yet.

On Friday, there was a directive that CCA has to stop by 5. So i was tasked to ensure that. And they conducted last parade at 4.15, just like i instructed them. But as usual, the cadets dragged on until i had to finally stand outside the st john room and really chase them out. I didn't like it. They are the same cadets whom I had built up a rapport with. But work is work. Got to be done. I can be nice to them at other times.

Well, what's done is done... got to re evaluate my priorities now..

My pets

Here, i shall introduce my two cats at home, Mee Mee and Miaow Miaow.

In late February, my brother wanted a pet. My mum wanted a cat. So we got Mee Mee, a 3-week old kitten. Back then she was small enough to fit in the palm of the hand. Over time she grew to be part of the family, and as the lone cat, became something for us to constantly entertain lest she sleep during the daytime and keep us awake at night.

When I was the only person at home, Mee Mee would come to my room and rub against my legs as i used the computer, and when I hugged her, she would purr ("on motor" as my mum puts it) and we loved the sound of her purring.

It was after a while that my mum decided to get another cat. So we got a little white kitten. By then Mee Mee was 5 months old, and it, 2 1/2. On the first day, she had not gotten her vaccinations, so we kept her in a rattan cage inside our kitchen. Before I left the house, however, I opened the door and fed her. That night, when I went near the other kitten, it would purr and rub its head against my hand. I gave her the name, Miaow Miaow.

Miaow Miaow's arrival was met by resistance from Mee Mee at first, but they got along with each other before long. Now, our lives are filled with both cats chasing each other around the house, keeping each other occupied. Both are lovely and adorable, but Miaow Miaow is still not so receptive to us cuddling her, so Mee Mee is still the more adorable among the two.

I don't have pictures yet, but I will post them when i have time!

NKF

http://somethingstickythiswaycomes.blogspot.com

Very interesting cartoon parody of the NKF saga!

relief teaching experience

Well, it's been three tiring but enjoyable days since i started relief teaching...

Day 1... Came to rv where Mr Tan met me at the office. Had total of three lessons at the com lab. Its basically some 3D design program (i think it will be interesting for engineering!) . Mr Tan took the first two lessons and i took the last one.

Some of the sec 1 cadets recognised me, hehh

It was , uh, a challenge. In com lab basically once the students start to do their own thing and its a challenge to get them to listen. I even shouted at them once. Got to improve on my skill of managing a class.

Day 2... Essentially the same. I combed my hair neater to have the more 'authoritative' look. Slightly better now

Had a long day today, cos had CCA in the afternoon and after that rushing for heritage day. after that rush for tuition... $8.60 since the driver went by Clementi Ave 6! I din feel good about that already cos i was there for 2yrs 4 mths and know that time always jam! So true enough it jam and my cab fare kept jumping!

After tuition went back to work out the solutions for maths tutorial. Stayed up till pretty late.

Day 3 ... Last minute request because one of the teachers was on MC. But it was good! I met the group of people i wanted to meet! Anyway, covered sec three and sec two maths and... took another class for PDP (Pupil Development Programme). During my time its called lifeskills. Very interesting.
This is the first (and probably only) day I get to teach in classroom, but i like it. i want another relief teaching assignment next year!

Went off at about 2 ... went to NUS to settle my hall.

It's something like SAF bunk... twin sharing. A bit small but looks okay to me. Like that single room may be even smaller... cos what i heard is that there's normal single room and large single room which is the same size as a double room... well if double room is this small... what about single? *shudders*

Had dinner at Yusof Ishak house after which I went home and slept from 6pm to 10 plus.. woke up by sis xiaowei's call. Wanted to know if joseph is coming back again. which unfortunately, he is not, but good to know that he has been blessed all this while!

relief teaching - disappointed

i received a call from one of the HOD in my school today, informing me that my relief teaching assignment only commence next monday and there would be no lessons on wednesdays. Hence I have a grand total of 10 effective days which means that I would get only $650 for the whole assignment when by my previous calculation, it's $915. Also, I was told that I am only required to teach D&T and not Maths also as the teacher i would be covering only teaches D&T.

The glimmer of hope would be that I would be covering the form teacher duties, which means i have to be there every day, else they may even tell me i only need to be there for lesson and pay me hourly rates which is peanuts already.

Nevertheless, half a loaf is still better than none. i hope this opportunity would give me an insight into life as a teacher and more importantly, whether this job is for me or not.

I have a few more chances, during the main vacations to come in and teach.. after my graduation, i will go on to NIE and after that come back as a full-fledged teacher.

My main regret about my 3 months break since ORD was that i got started on my job hunt too late. If I had started while i was clearing leave, none of this would have happened. MOE took *two months* to approve my relief teaching application (like what the hell? next time i must submit it earlier, in March or something) and also, no responses from JobsDB!! Maybe only one, which called me yesterday before i knew about this... And what with not taking up tuition assignments during my 2 1/2 years for fear of being disciplined for moonlighting??? In the end the one to lose out is me...

national com & other thoughts about St John

today was the judgment day of first aid competition training for my St John cadets in RV - the Inter-Zone First Aid and Home Nursing Competition, or in short the National Com.

I should first elaborate on what my cadets go through if they are to be a competition representative and why I consider the Nat Com to be the judgment day.

At the start of sec2, we normally group the cadets into teams of 4, to train them up for the competition. by mid sec2, we have an intra-Corps competition to decide which among them will be sent for the Inter-Corps First Aid Competition, known in short as the Zone Com. (not to be confused with Zone Commissioner). The zone would send the top team in each category (Nursing Adult, Nursing Cadet, Ambulance Adult, Ambulance Cadet) for the National Com. (Normally there are very little Ambulance teams, so the Ambulance category is simplified to just one.)

Normally our school would always win, so we would represent the Zone for the National Com.

By the time National Com takes place, the cadets would be sec3, at the prime of their time in St John. Currently they are going through Advance NCO course at that time too, but hopefully with the new system, that would be done away with, allowing them to fully concentrate on the National Com.

The winning (and possibly runner-up) team(s) in National Com would then be considered to mount the Singapore team for the International Competitions. There are two kinds: the bi-annual Singapore-Malaysia First Aid Competition, and the International Cadet Camp. Where this fits into the timeline remains to be seen.

To me this is a punishing system. If they are determined for a 2nd chance, they will have to do it in JC because by the time they are sec4, if the Nat Com is in the middle of the year, the school would not allow them to go for fear of parents shooting letters. They are experts at that.

Perhaps, when we introduce the 6-year through-train system in RV, it would be better. Perhaps train up in sec2, then in sec3 send them for zone and nat com, then sec4 another shot at nat com, say the adult team before sending them for officer course in pre-u1, together with a tour of duty as NCO course instructor before standing down for A levels or IB exams in pre-u2.

Like my previous blog post mentioned, this is exactly the same as being a one-chance society. Cock up the sec3 nat com and your chances of posterity is gone. Want a second chance? You've got to do it in JC... if you are still interested by then.

So far I've known only one team which continued taking part in Nat Com more than once. One was Jianhong, Jun Jie, Shurong and Zi'ang who took part in 1997 in 1998 (against the rules but no one found out). I believe Ee Soon, Jun Jie, Shurong and Jianhong even took part in 1996 possibly. Jianhong and Zi'ang went on to take part in SinMal Comp in 1997 and Jianhong took part in International Cadet Camp cum Competition in 1998. The next team to achieve this kind of glory is Wee Seng, Junyuan, Junhuang and Wei Yang who underwent a punishing schedule from Zone Com in 2000, winning the Nat Com in 2001 as AC and finishing third in the International First Aid Competition. Sadly none of the above people stayed on as officers.

The next one was Nicholas who represented us in the SinMal comp in 2003 and won! Glad that he is coming back to help as officer, the future of RV St John is in his hands! He's the only one who has went overseas for competition who has come back as officer since Charlotte (think it was 1995).

I feel that RV Corps is a far cry from its heyday. In the past, our strength was easily in the hundreds, about half of the school was from St John and the whole training center, as it was then known, was able to field seven divisions and the Principal was also one of the Divisional Presidents. The big names of St John like Dr Low Cheng Hock, Miss Chia Su Lin, Mr Chua Wee Kwang, Mr Foo Si Kwang to name a few could all trace their roots to River Valley. In the past, the ex-students of River Valley would heartily volunteer to return as officers, be it to continue in their own divisions or to take charge of newly formed divisions from other schools.

Now? I have to practically beg each batch of juniors to step forward to come back as officers. And most of them want to simply come back, but "not for OTC". Pls lah, last time want to go OTC also no chance to go... Then those who want to simply come back.. most of the time it is only for a few months. After that they simply disappear. History has proven itself year after year. If I am to be told that they just want to come back as helper it is as good as telling me they don't want to come back at all.

For this batch of sec 4s, there are a few of them whom I have in mind should come back and become officers. But whether they want to, is up to them. I will respect their decision either way.

finally found a job!!

posting again after a lag of 2 weeks! heh. i finally found a job. relief teaching at river valley high school which happens to be the school which i am running the st john's unit there!

Good to get a job whereby i can get paid for doing what i love to!

Of course, besides that, I've also got to teach sec2 maths and technical. Got to brush up on my knowledge especially technical. hehh... it will be a good experience returning to rvhs but on the other side of the river.. :)