So glad that the 4 "gruelling" days of communication course has ended. Afterall, communication was not my forte and will never be my forte. My writing is better than my speaking.
I am going to take a hiatus next week. I will not be online from Mon-Thu.
A song by Zoe Tay 《如果》
Reproduced from my memory…
如果没有风雨，
尘埃怎洗脱，
小鸟不会在树上唱歌。
如果世上没有，
青春热情的我，
谁来点燃时代的火。
没有事我不能做，
只愿肯让我错，
跌倒了，我爬起又再来过。
虽然不是第一个，
但总会轮到我，
到底成功一定属于我。。。
Lady luck was not smiling at me this year. From the geomacical point of view, it may be due to the fact that my desk had been messy for the entire year.
Did a thorough spring cleaning on my desk today. The entire clearing and cleaning processes will take approximately 3 days to complete. Guess what, there was a highly decomposed and dessicated carcass of a monitor lizard below my cabinet. I did not even smell its decomposed carcass for the past weeks. Three months ago, Suat Fong complained seeing an emanciated monitor lizard in the staff room. She called it "Xiao Ming". I had a few encounters with Xiao Ming in the printing room too. Never did I expect the lizard to choose my cabinet to end its remaining life. My seat was 10m from Suat Fong and 15m from the printing room. Why choose my place when Lady Luck does not even take a glance. That was hard to fathom. Imagine hearing the loud "diak" sound when I swept its carcass onto the dustpan. So grosteque and hair-rising.
In one week’s time, my desk will be very neat and tidy. I want improved luck next year. That is seriously lacking in the present moment.
Crescent 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner was held with a big bang at Meritus Mandarin Hotel Ballroom on 2 Sep 06. That was a special occasion when principals, parents support group, students, past and present, gathered together for a big reunion. The guest-of-honour was the current executive director of Temasek holdings, Ms Ho Ching — the wife of PM Lee and an ex-student. She was recently ranked the 37th most influential woman in the world by Forbes magazine.
The whole event was heart-warming albeit the food was only average (considering that was a 5 * hotel). Nevertheless, it was very well-conducted after many months of meticulous planning by the PSG and some staff. The event was also attended by some of the current Sec 3 and 4 students who wished to immerse themselves in the electrifying ambience. So, it was like a pre-empt or a replica of Sec 4 graduation nite.
The section of the event which I was looking for was the lucky draw as it would be a testimony of my luck after the dismal outcome at the Teacher’s Day draw. As there were 800 guests and 100 prizes, each person only had an average of 12.5% chance of being drawn. The outcome turned out to be equally (if not more) disappointing for me as Lady Luck was not smiling at me. I guess I have to bath myself in the Fountain of Wealth to improve my luck.
The Gala Dinner marked the end of all major events for this year. This coming week would be a challenging week as there are so many things to accomplish within a short period. I will be the ultimate decider of the fate of 349 people in this coming week….
It is sheer STUPIDITY for a STUPID person to say someone is LOUSY when "YOU" are in fact the MOST LOUSIEST person. ASK YOURSELF and REFLECT why others can do it and not you? The answer is obvious. It because of your IMMENSE ARROGANCE and FOOLISHNESS plus some elements of LAZINESS that contribute to your current precarious state.
Don’t place your blame on others for your downfall. You are in control of your own fate. You, yourself determine your own success.
WAKE UP FROM YOUR SLUMBERLAND or else it’s too late. Check your stupidity, coz only a stupid person reacts in the most stupid way.
My hopes of winning $8888 vanished with Brazil’s hope of winning the World Cup. So the Magic Number of 3964 does not work this time.
Success is controlled by humans. The sudden dismal performance by Brazil is definitely 咎由自取. They have underestimated their opponents’ ability to beat them. The Brazilians have treated success for granted.
好汉不提当年勇. This is an awakening call for anyone who still harbours the thought of "past successes = present success". We never know when others are coming back strongly on us.
Germany, you are my only hope now…
For goodness, I have not written an entry for so many months. Anyway, I can’t imagine my June holidays are burnt completely. Initially, I was thinking and rejoicing that June holidays will be the period to recharge my battery.
These are the results of a highly screwed-up system and organisation which totally exploit employees. No wonder the turnover rate is so high. (No surprise.) Whatever was done ended with 事倍功半 effect.
In the past, I used to take Bus 51 which passed by Hajjah Fatimah Mosque and Arab St. Never did I have the chance (or urge) to explore the alleys and the rich Arabian and Muslim cultures. Yesterday (16 Mar), I finally have the opportunity, together with Siew Huang and our CCA — Innovation and Enterprise (I&E) Club to explore the mystiques of the Middle East, all condensed in Arab Street, Baghdad Street and a few others which I have forgotten the names.
It was supposed to be a "Treasure Hunt" for the lower secs and Sec 3s to discover the names of the shops based on the clues given. While the girls were frantically combing the streets for the answers, we (together with the senior members) happily sat at Blue Oasis to chit chat and have drinks. In the midst of our conversation, I was asked to guess the age of the lady boss at Blue Oasis. The answer I gave was 40+. The answer turned out to be near 70. For goodness sake, how is she able to maintain the collagen level beneath her skin. I guess I need to use 56487437 SKII masks with 200 times pitera to look as youthful.
After that, the ladies went to Four Seasons to purchase the accessories while I explored and roamed around Arab St on my own. I bought a magnet which bears my name "Desmond". Now I know my name means Man from South Munster which has its origin from Irish Gaelic. What I found to be quite true was the characteristics which states a "studious, upright hardworking and peaceful guy who is faithful in love but inclined to be jealous". Haha… I agree.
After that, we had lunch at a restaurant called "Semar", situated at Baghdad Street. I would never think that was a restaurant in the first place coz the interior and deco did not look like a restaurant. We had to remove our footwear before we were allowed to go up to the second level. There were no chairs. We had to sit on the carpeted floor which looked similar to Japanese style. The food, which tasted a bit unusual, was generally ok though — in fact better than I expected. I was challenged to eat an olive from the Middle East that was claimed to taste like oil pastel. I really tried! Verdict: Not too bad la. Though it did taste a bit like oil pastel, it was ok lol. Just a bit too saltish.
It was indeed a new experience for me to learn and immerse in the cultures of the Middle East. Hope I can have more opportunities like this again. In fact, the next thing I am keen to know is the cultures and food of the Mediterranean countries. Maybe next time?
This year is the most challenging and unfortunate one for me. Never did I know I have such an arduous task to turn the table round for so many people. By right, this batch of sec 2 is supposedly the best batch ever. But it turned out to be the reverse (at least for my classes), be it in terms of attitude and performance. I always say PSLE T-score is not an accurate indicator of one’s performance in secondary school. Looks like my premonition is going to be true again.
The tablet is a good servant but a bad master. If used wisely, it will engage students’ learning. If used inappropriately, it will pull down the grades greatly. The latter is currently taking place now. Whatever the case, we should always be aware that everything has a limit. Beyond the limit, trouble and harm will befall us. We should 好自为之!
In this world, there are many types of people. Some people are perfectionists. They want everything to be 100%. Any result below 100% is considered a failure. On the contrary, there are people who are happy-go-lucky. As long as they can manage to scrape through, they are contented.
Whatever the outcome, the people in the organisation will be pressurized. If the results are below expectations, there is a need to push harder. If the results are above expectations, there is a need to maintain the standard…
I did not expect that there is so much coincidence that two people of the same calibre are in the same organisation, same level and bear the same name. If I have given you false hope, my apology goes out to you. It was really unintentional and negligence on my part. I should have ensured that my facts are right and confirmed first before I reveal them to you.
Anyway, my feeling on the above incident is very strange — a mixture of apathy, regret and discomfort…