The series of photos below caught my attention.
Let's see for ourselves how time can make a difference.
I was told that on 17/08/07 (Friday), at around 1:30pm, something strange and rare happened at Tanglin Shopping Centre.
Someone actually took a few shots and shared.
Take a look...
A lady which I have not met for more than a year saw me and commented :
Mm.. Hey Nanzi, when have you become more maturely attractive?
Paiseh sia..
Made my face turned tomato-red only.
But wait. I thought that kind of description is meant for middle-aged uncle or ah pek?
Mm.. Aiyo.. Haha..
As if this is not interesting enough..
A few days ago, while I was walking into a coffee shop for dinner, I bumped into a group of *little-pals. The meet-up was totally unplanned, purely coincident, rather interesting.
We decided to dine together. We chopped a table and off we proceeded to order our dinner.
Wx and I returned to the table first. The rest must be ordering something more complicated. At that moment, another friend of Wx just happened to pass by that coffee shop. That friend (let’s call her A) saw Wx, continued walking, said hello to Wx. She saw that Wx and I were seated on the same table and commented ..
A : 你的爸爸啊？
Wx : 不是啦。
A : 你的大哥啊？
Wx : 不是啦。
A : Then?
Wx : 哈哈。。我的老师啦。
A : Huh?
(A was astonished and dashed off.. )
It was a simple and comical experience.
First time ever.. mm..
The phrase “你的爸爸啊” still rings in my ears.
Little kid C is only about 4 year-old.
During one of her art-and-craft lesson in class few weeks back, her teacher gave her colour papers, a pair of scissors and markers to make a gift for someone in mind.
C knew exactly what she wanted to make and to whom. She put in all her effort to make a card cut out from the papers. The card was in the shape of a cake with candles. Special effort was made to have different coloured candles. "I LOVE YOU MUMMY" on the card, she wrote.
She kept her card nicely in her bag.
The first thing she did when she reached home was to rush to the room where her mum was.
C cheerfully said to Mummy, "Mummy, mummy I want to give you a surprise."
"Okay, okay..", Mummy replied nonchalantly, not even looking at her.
Mummy was too absorbed catching a gan-jiong episode on TV.
C hunted for the card in her bag, found the card, took it out, hold it tightly in both her hands, then with both her hand out-stretched and still holding the card, "Mummy, mummy, you see, you see."
"Okay, okay.. see already.."
Brushing the card away slightly as the card was almost pushed in front of her face by C, who was so eager to amaze and to surprise her dear Mummy. Actually her dear Mummy didn't even know that was a card.
Anyway, she wasn't even looking at her (or the card).
C couldn't take it anymore.
"You where got see? You only watching TV! You where got see? Why you like that one?"
She burst into tears. Her glassy heart was shattered. She was only hoping to please her mother and she couldn't even get a wee bit of attention from her.
C couldn't be easily appeased.
At a certain stage, she said (almost mimicking what an adult would do when teaching little kids when they are in the wrong), "I want you to say sorry."
C was already choking in tears.
"Sorry."
The mummy said in half-heartedly as her eyes were still glued to the TV.
"I want you to say again."
C was still choking in tears. More badly actually.
"Sorry."
She was getter a little louder and in a tone that appeared a little rush.
"Why you never look at me when you are saying 'sorry' one." C wailed again.
"Aiyo.. I already told you this episode very gan-jiong. How can children demand immediate attention one? Can't you just wait a little while?" The mother reasoned.
- - - - -
Are you (mentally at least) siding with C or siding with C’s Mummy?
C’s reactions seemed rather demanding, too demanding for a kid. But isn’t she merely practicing how she was being taught? I mean adult always want children “to say sorry” when they are in the wrong. And many times, we (adult) demand them to do it sincerely also.
I was having my lunch, concentrating on it. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed a lady was walking towards me. She stopped just beside me. I sensed that she was looking at me. She even lowered her head and continued staring. Kaoz.. Shy lah.. I just pretended to be so concentrating on my lunch and acted blur. :P
“Mr Nanzi. Hi!”, she (almost) screamed.
“Still remember me or not? I’m R. Mummy mummy come over, this is Mr Nanzi, my tutor.”
Erps.. She is an ex-*little pal. :o)
It took me quite a while to orientate myself to recall which batch she was it. She keeps longer hair now. She is no longer wearing her braces. She is wearing a pair of trendier spectacle. In short, she really looks different. But of course, I still remember her.
After exchanging simple greetings, her next question was “I heard you got married already right?”
Erm.. I really don’t know where she got that news. Haha..
Certianly, they are also keeping track of some of their tutors’ movements. I shall take it as concerns of theirs and appreciate them.
- - - -
I recall not too long ago, a few *little pals stopped me half way while I was walking towards the staff room. Apparently, they were so delighted to see me. I don’t really know them actually, just that they happen to be in the same lecture group as the *little pals that I am currently tutoring.
“Mr Nanzi, you are the right person. We need your help.”
“Sure. I will be glad to do so.”
“You see, we need to do a survey.”
“That’s elementary.”
“We need to survey parents. And we believe you are the right person to help us. Please… ”
- - - -
I don’t think I know them that well. I can’t even recall their names, except for one in their group. Not that I have such a bad memory hor. This is because I am neither their tutor nor lecturer and we were never being formally introduced. But certainly we always exchanged simple greetings when our path crossed in the college compound.
I was walking towards a coffee shop for dinner. They saw me, they waved to him and merrily asked me to join them. I thought that would be quite a good idea too.
During the dinner, many light conversations were exchanged. I think I quite enjoyed the atmosphere in general. But some topics they brought up towards the end did make me worried for them.
Apparently, they were disappointed with many things. I don’t think they enjoy the stay in the college. They complained about almost every teacher they have, except their mother tongue teacher, I think. They find some teachers contradicting themselves at times when explaining concepts ; they find some teachers are biased and only demoralized them more …
They know I am teaching Mathematics and of course they have their reservation in complaining about their Mathematics teacher. Haha.. I’m kidding. I know the teachers in my department are all doing fine. :o)
Some comments blurted out from them ..
“Mr Nanzi, you see. If a student submits in 3 pages of seriously done assignment, would any teacher disregards the assignment, returns it unmarked and says ‘this is not what I want’ ”?!!
“Where got ask student to use the foolscap paper (with lines drawn horizontally in the portrait format) and insist to write the assignment in landscape format one? So weird right? Ya lah, I know in the landscape format the table can be neatly presented in one row. In the portrait format, the table needs to be broken into another line. But this is personal preference what. Not wrong lor.”
“Every time I want to find the teacher, cannot find. Never mind. Some more the teacher said ‘I don’t believe in consultation’. Then how?”
“Then got one question in our assignment, same as *JC one. I happen to have the solution from my friend, printed for his class by their teacher. And I copied exactly. For that 8 mark question, how come I get only 3 marks? Wa.. Our JC more powerful than the *JC lor. ”
“And hor, got one question, my friend answer is 12. My answer is also 12. I copied from him one lah. His work was marked correct. My work was marked wrong. But later I know the correct answer is 10. The teacher anyhow mark one lah. ”
“I thought teacher is supposed to motivate us. If cannot motivate us never mind. But how can demoralize us almost all the time?! The teacher keeps telling us we are not good enough. Keep telling us if we do badly, then something can be done so that we cannot do the subject again even if we were to repeat. Wa lao..”
“I still respect the teacher as a teacher. If not I would have consulted other teacher. But again I want to seek consultation also difficult. You know, I look at the teacher, I also don’t feel like asking any question. If not I would have complain to the principal. I have enough proofs. She will sure get it one. But again, the principal is also…. Don’t know lah.”
“The teacher don’t believe we can be good. You know N's English is very good. N submitted her drafts. Then the teacher doesn’t believe the drafts are her own work and said she must have copied from some books or internet resources. Now N is so sad.”
- - - - -
They actually went on for quite a while..
Some other comments were even more derogatory.
Letting them go on and on may be rather unhealthy. They will be just digging deeper and deeper into a dark tunnel. When will they then see the light?
I tried so be as neutral..
I tried to let them see all teachers want to help, just that these students may not have gotten used to their teachers’ approaches. And probably the teachers’ kind intentions had been misinterpreted. I tried. But I think I failed quite miserably. Haiz..
Of course, they are now worried about their promotional changes.
But sadly, they are now also worried about if they were to be promoted, will their teachers follow them to second year? They really hope for a change and a change for the better.
I only hope they can still stay motivated and strive to do well in the Promotional Examination, regardless.
I can only do so little. Mm..
Actually, I can nothing about it. Mm..
But still.... dreaming I could do something. Mm..
I heard through the news last night that there is such and such a cheating scam going on.
A typical scenario..
- Someone contact you (from Hong Kong or China), telling you that you have won a princely money-prize.
- They have official-looking website.
- You are informed that the money is parked in a bank (in Hong Kong or China).
- They even have a personalized code for you to call to the bank to verify your rewards.
- They asked for your bank account number so that they could transfer the money to you.
- But before they can make the money transfer legally, we must first transfer a certain sum of money as a form of “insurance fees” or “administration charges”. This amount can be in thousands, but still it is just a tiny fraction of the supposed rewards. They will give you detailed instructions of how you can make the transfer.
- They cannot deduct the “insurance fees” or “administration charges” reward and insist that you transfer the money within a certain time frame, before they proceed to transfer the rewards to you.
- They can sound very convincing.
- When you transfer the “insurance fees” or “administration charges” to them, you will be sure NOT to hear from them again.
Apparently, many people fell for the scam.
But there are also some smart ones and there are some playful ones that played along with them and confused them.
From You-Tube :
揭晓老千电话中奖的手段 (骗局)
Part 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A69zlMpmrP0
Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBi5eXGXpFY
Part 3 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqrwVYJ6Z-E
From Kennysia.com
http://www.kennysia.com/archives/2007/08/cheated_by_the.php
- - - - -
天下间既然有那么多骗人都不眨眼的人…
世间上果然有很多被骗得莫名其妙的人…
骗人的人是心术不正！
被骗的人是心………？
有人说是单纯、有人说是贪欲…
不要说我们很精明，也不要说我们都不贪。
我们自己碰到了考验、自己入了局，才会知道。
Just kidding you, I mean 「防火」知识 lah.
I had the pleasure to attend a brief talk about prevention of fire yesterday. Perhaps it is not a bad idea for me to pen down the things I could recall. In other words, what I’m going to write down now may not going to be 100% accurate (much due to my poor memory). You ought to think for yourself. :P
- - - - -
Do we know the fire-engine extended platform can be stretched vertically up to only about 53m, and that is about 13th storey?
Mm.. Does that imply anyone staying above 13th storey and hope to escape from a fire be prepared to jump?
- - - - -
Do we know that dust collected near electrical sockets is a perfect ingredient to spark off a fire?
On a related note, may I ask how we switch off your TV set?
Related question meh? Haha.. Let me elaborate a little.
Do we switch off your TV set by just using the remote control and leave the main switch on, out of convenience? In that way, the TV set is not really being switched off, it is on stand-by mode. Mm.. To put it more crudely, it is at the same time a stand-by mode to catch fire.
Why?
Mm.. Do we clean the electrical sockets regularly? Please take a look at those electrical sockets hidden at the back of our hi-fi, tv, computers, etc.. If these sockets are already collecting dust, and for some reasons there is a short-circuit, then liao liao.. The short-circuit causes sparks, the dust catches fire because of the sparks, and the fire gradually builds up.. and then really liao liao..
- - - - -
If it is burning at the six storey and thick black fumes are already forming and flowing upwards even through the staircases of the escape route and you are staying at a few levels above, would we take a fast dash dowards (through the thick smoke) or would we dash upwards instead?
Actually, the number 1 killer during a fire is thick smoke (which can be poisonous), the number 2 killer is heat. Many people who had tried to perform such stunt of making a quick dash downwards were either found badly burnt or dead because they were succumbed by the thick smoke easily. It is common to find reports of many people found dead along staircases a few levels above the main source of fire.
But the fire will spread upwards what?
True.
We are talking about chances of survival here. Walking through thick black smoke is never a good idea.
We should dash higher. Get into a house. Close all doors and windows to block thick fumes coming in. Use wet towels/blankets to block gaps below doors to further prevent thick fumes from coming in.
Go into a toilet, use the one in the master-bed-room and not the one in the kitchen because the toilet near the kitchen is nearer to the gas-source and hence more dangerous.
Go into a toilet for what? Go in and thoroughly wet ourselves. Better still, take a blanket and wet it too. Use the wet blanket as an extra shelter for our body.
Remember to call 995. Don’t be like a sitting duck. Call 995 and they must respond within 8 minutes.
- - - - -
What to do when we really need to move around to search for an escape route?
If for some reasons we need to walk around in search for an escape route, please keep low, but not leopard crawl. Leopard crawling is more energy draining and we usually ended up drawing in more heavy breath, that means drawing in more smoke, that means more likely to die faster as a smoked burnt leopard.
Also, we are advised to try to take a bottle of water with us, if possible. Not for drinking. If we are breathing in an environment already in fire, the breath we take contains poisonous particles from the smoke. These particles actually will stain our breathing track, then drinking actually draws in these poisonous particles faster into our system. Then take the bottle of water for what? To wet our mouth, our eyes, our nose, our eyes..
- - - - -
Saying this much, are we gear up? I mean.. Do we have a fire-extinguisher at home?
We should be responsible to fight small fire if we have the means to handle. I mean if for some reasons, our TV set caught a small fire and we happen to be around, it is only nature that we try to put if off and don’t let the fire spread. But please ran for cover if we know we cannot handle.
Do we have a smoke detector at home?
Every fire gives out smoke. Smoke detector gives off an alarm when fire is detected. Many people we badly injured because they were alerted of a fire too late. I mean they were sleeping in their room and the kitchen caught fire. By the time they realised, the fire was already rather unmanageable.
Hence, it is advised to have a smoke detector. One per house unit is enough. Just place it strategically between the kitchen and the living room.
Do we have a “fire-fighting mask” at home?
Such mask can let us survive safely in thick smoke environment for about 20 minutes.
- - - - -
Do we know the different types of fire extinguisher?
I know you already know many types.
I think from the talk, I concluded the dry powder type is still the best for home use. I mean it is good for all purpose.
Using the wrong type of fire-extinguisher can bring disastrous effects.
For example, if any electrical appliance were to catch a fire, an attempt to fight such fire with water is disastrous.
We must be extra careful when using CO2 type of fire extinguisher. Actually cold CO2 (dry ice) is used and hence any contact with our skin may not be a good idea. This is not the scariest part yet. CO2 fire extinguisher fights by depriving the fire of oxygen. But when the dry ice evaporates (that is after a while we have sprayed at the fire and thinking that the fire is arrested), a fresh gust of air carrying fresh gust of oxygen will rush into the source of fire. In other words, a little flame not killed by us may in turn cause another round of combustion to occur. Scary. The lesson will be if we are using CO2 type of fire-extinguisher, make sure we perform a good sweep to kill any little flame at the source, if not.. erm.. better don’t use a CO2 type.
Sadly, many fire-extinguishers being sold in the market are not really up to standard. They don’t even have a pressure gauge. Yes, we must have the right content in the tank, but we need the right pressure to let it shoot out at the base of the fire. It is unimaginable to have the situation that at the time in need, the fire-extinguisher refuses to shoot out the content accordingly. That will be so bad. In other words, if we are getting one, at least get one with a pressure gauge (and some kind of warranty).
Anyway, I also find the following steps of how to use a fire-extinguisher easy to follow :
PASS
Pull the pin – Aim at the base of fire – Squeeze the trigger – Sweep from side to side
- - - - -
A little true sad incident to share..
A little girl was sleeping soundly in her room. The fan in her room somehow got short-circuited and the thick dust around it caught fire. The fan sent the burning dust towards the girl and the girl caught fire also.
The little girl wake up in pain and screamed for help.
Her mother on the other room rushed in. The mother was panick-stricken to see her dear daughter in fire. Her maternal instinct was to save her. She drew a thick furry blanket nearby and tried to cover her daughter with the blanket to kill the fire.
She didn’t know the furry part of the blanket can catch fire easily also. Hence, sadly, in no time, the blanket almost burst into flame. In panic, the mother tried to pull off the blanket away from her daughter.
We must know the girl was already in fire. Then with the furry blanket on her, the fire only became bigger. The blanket actually got kind of melted and got stuck onto her skin. In other words, when her mother withdrew/pulled the burnt blanket away from her, the skin literally came off together with the blanket.
Mm.. Too sad to continue…
When the girl finally recovered, her facial features were unfavourably transformed. And the uneven skin structure of the entire left side of her body was a constant reminder of her painful experience.
As if this is not bad enough…
The little girl was asked to be pulled out / withdrawn from school. The reason(s)? When she returned to school, many parents of her classmates complained to the school that their kids started having nightmare upon seeing that poor little girl.
Thinking about it.. really feels like crying.
- - - - -
Maybe, you just need to google for “fire prevention”, you will get hell lot more useful and more professional information.
End. Finally. Sorry, I am being long-winded again.
He (A) excitedly shared : When you want to top up your petrol, you must do so in the morning.
Me : Huh? Why? Less crowd?
A : Possibly so. But more importantly when we top up our petrol, we are paying by volume pumped. In the early hours of the morning, the temperature is cooler. Hence the petrol is more dense. You don't know meh? Heat causes volume to expand. So, the petrol in the hot afternoon is expanded more and therefore less dense. This is no good.
A continued : Don't even think of topping up your petrol in the late evening. The ground has a poor heat capacity. It takes a long time to cool down. So only pump up in the morning. You can feel it one. Try it.
Me : Orh.
That little boy (I don’t think he is attending kindergarten yet) was just riding his bicycle passed me. He was chasing his elder sister who was also on her bicycle. He was riding pretty fast and was obviously enjoying himself.
In my heart, I praised him for being brave (for going that fast at that age of his) and felt happy to see him enjoying himself so much. Just when I was having those thoughts, that little boy fell as the speed his was riding, proved too fast for him. He fell less than 20 metres in front of me. 
Someone a few metres in front of me (he was nearest to the boy) broke from his quick walk to a run and ran to assist the little boy. Another man just in front of me, broke from his jog to a sprint and sprinted towards the little boy, intending to help the little boy also. Those were two good men.
I was .. erm.. watching.
Not that I didn’t bother about the boy hor. That little boy was already slowly getting up almost immediately after the fall. Plus, we already had 2 big men about to crowd around him. One more doesn’t help, I guess. I just continued to walk briskly towards the boy and then stood by to see how that little boy was attended to and to see that he was fine before I left.
He was shakened quite a little. No obvious injury, but he was sitting at the side looking at his fallen bicycle and crying softly. There must be some pain, but he was controlling it well. The two good men were constantly giving him some comforting and assuring words.
In less than 5 minutes, he slowly stood up, wiped off his tears, picked up his bicycle again, and rode off together with his sister. This time they were riding together, they were riding more slowly and leisurely, waiting for each other. Giggling could also be heard, and the giggles faded away as I was watching them riding away.
勇敢的小男孩
自己跌倒自己爬起来
开始的时候
泪水那么的真
没一会儿就
笑声那么的纯
- - - - -
我们常常会跟小朋友说“自己跌倒自己爬”。
我在想…
我们自己懂不懂这道理呢？
人生难免有挫折
虽然忆起旧伤还可能会隐隐作痛
但是前方的路还要走岂敢不振作
一次的成败便是一次的经验
经验的累积便有智慧的资源
我记住那小男孩所撒下的泪珠满面
我也忘不了他伤心过后绽放的笑声…
- - - - - - - - - -
Tech support : "Okay Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter "P" to bring up the Program Manager."
Customer : I don 't have a P.
Tech support : On your keyboard, Bob.
Customer : What do you mean?
Tech support : "P".....on your keyboard, Bob.
Customer : I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT
While seeing some National-Day-Related-Materials/Messages, I asked myself “Am I patriotic?”
I am singing the National Anthem and reciting the Pledge almost everyday, what do you think? Erps.. Singing the National Anthem and reciting the Pledge? So are thousands and thousands of people in the country. Weak point made.
One pal was telling me the other day …
"Did you see the long thank-you email sent by H?"
"Erm.. I have not read it yet.", I said.
"If I were to be asked to be in-charge of anything, I don't think I feel like doing that leh.", He continued.
Somehow, I agree.
Not that I agree of not thanking the people helping me, but agreeing to not doing it so loudly. Haha..
Thanking people so loudly is as if ___________ .
- - - - -
Once, after a major (so-called major or significant) event, I think we are quite accustomed to people (usually the people in-charge) going up on stage (or thru' the PA system) to deliver an official thank-you speech, deliberating the effort of each person or each team.
The event need not be too eventfully. As long as everything went through with no major hiccup or more or less as planned or with no complaints, it will be deemed as a success.
Alright, back to talk about such thank-you speech.
It is not that I don't like it. It is also not like I doubted the sincerity of the one delivering the speech. But I always thought that kind of public thank-you speech may not be important, since we are in an organization and we are all only working under top-down instructions most of the time. Heh..
Don't feel like doing, don't like to do, also die-die must do what??!!
Under such context, the thank-you element may appear a little strange. I mean we are merely following instructions, we also don't dare to disobey. Haha.. As if thanking us for being obedient, so that the in-charge will not get into any trouble? :P
I am slightly more for going to the people (personally) and thanking them individually, if I wish to really thank them for anything. Nevertheless (just to add a fairer tone), thanking someone/anyone publicly may be a good platform to demonstrate/teach (the students) the value of showing gratitude to all the kind things happening around us. This is an educational institute after all. Mm…
Sometimes, it is interesting to observe the following after the delivery of such speech.
A (Pondering with a heavy expression) : Wa lao. Never mention my name or effort.
B (A little of righteousness getting into him) : Hey, how can?! He forget to mention C.
A's superior and/or C's friend (B) noted and approach the IC delivering the speech : Hey, you forgot to mention A's and C's name leh.
"Yah hor..Sorry!"
Then a new note to thank A and C may be re-drafted and re-delivered.
- - - - - -
Wa.. While I feel that such speech was usually quite dull, unless more creatively done, there are people actually listening to it so attentively, and subsequently even subtly suggesting fine-tuning it.
Sometimes, we were told to print out such thank-you notes (from emails, especially those specially address to us) to keep it as evidences and may even become part of our portfolio.
Frankly, I feel like laughing.
Let me complete what I wish to write last night, but actually fell asleep in the midst of writing this entry.
- - - -
与他的年龄相差不多少
也与他从事同样的事业
谈着谈着…
他说…
During one of my secondary-school-friends-gatherings some years ago, I came to realize many of my friends are driving big cars and living in big houses. I asked myself ‘what have I got?’
I have nothing. I mean I have nothing tangible.
I felt not good. I still feel not too good.
Do you know Mr X. That big-shot of company Y? That guy was my secondary school classmate. I used to do much better than him in all subjects during all examinations. Now he is a millionaire. And what I am now? Haiz..
Yes, I do like my job, and feel good when my effort is appreciated by the students. But I need something tangible.
So I worked very hard. I wished to be recognized and to be promoted fast. I tried to buy more houses.
I’m still trying to have more tangible rewards.
- - - - - - - -
I am so certain many people (including me) possess much lesser (in tangible terms) when compare to him. Mm…
I feel that it is certainly alright to have goals and work towards them. But the way I see it, he is not having a very happy journey while pursuing his goals. Maybe some re-alignment / fine-tuning may actually do him good.
Of course, if he has what he wants and is happy about it, I am also glad for him.
Some thoughts rushed to my mind during our converation..
(1) We can easily attach a price-tag to anything tangible. In other words, intangible rewards are priceless. I shared this thought with him, but I am not too sure he gets it.
有人说「凡有形有相，皆是虚幻」。你认为呢？
(2) We came to this world with nothing tangible. We will also leave this world in the same way (i.e. with nothing tangible).
来也空空，去也空空。所遗留下来的是什么？
(3) Happiness is hardly measured by how much we possess. Maybe it is measured by how well we give and share?
纵然，每个人的生命价值观都不一样，我们还是可以问问自己「我快乐吗？」
(4) When one craves for the worldly possessions so much, and got them finally, wouldn’t it be a fact that they will feel more attach to this world. It will be more of a mental struggle when it is time for them to go.
「执着」容易让人放不下。很多时候，说放不下也得放下。
(5) On the other hand, what if one craves for the worldly possessions so much, and never seems to get a hand on them? I don’t think it feels good.
相信用「苦」字来形容这样的心情不会过分吧。
