My New Gal - 13 July 2009

Long time no blog. Busy me. Here's my new addition to the Ng family. :)

Wow, this is CHEAP!

Found this cheap hair salon that charges only $4.80 for a hair-cut of any hair length. I just got my hair cut at the salon an hour ago. It's in Serangoon Central. If you would like to know where, just send me message and I will tell you. :D

A student is a student - not a customer

This comment was taken from ST Forum, dated 29 June 2009.

I WAS mildly perturbed when I read last Monday's report, 'Every student is a customer at this school'. It was essentially an elaboration of one of the five core values of Republic Polytechnic - 'Customer-oriented'.

The report started with a sensational statement: 'Republic Polytechnic is not your usual school - it treats its students like customers.'

As I read on with raised eyebrows, my concerns escalated. One statement read: 'Staff are appraised based on how customer-oriented they have been.' Another: 'If students were won over by the benefits the school provided, they would become 'ambassadors' to convince friends and family to choose it too.'

At the risk of sounding prudish, the modern model of education may have gone off track if students are treated as 'customers'. There is one business mantra that comes to mind immediately: 'The customer is always right.' This popular saying is essentially true if we consider the ultimate motivation behind all customer-provider relationships - not 'customer satisfaction' per se, but a deal which benefits both parties.

However, this philosophy, if transplanted to the educational arena, might prove not only unavailing, but also unhealthy. Educators might be considered 'employees' in the organisational structure of any educational institute, but when it comes to teacher-student relations, they are not merely 'service providers' who 'trade' knowledge, nor should they 'please' students with reciprocation at the back of their minds (a better evaluation perhaps?).

While it is true that student feedback is vital when it comes to course design and self-reflection and improvement, to treat students as 'customers' is as good as saying that teacher-student relations are largely transactional. I worry that this fashionable term might slowly erode the foundation of mutual respect, love and spirit of continuity that education is based on.

Out of curiosity, I visited the Republic Polytechnic website. Under the core value of 'Customer-oriented', a one-liner follows: 'Customers are the focus of everything we do.' Then it dawned on me, this core value was meant to say: 'Students are given the utmost priority here in Republic Polytechnic, like customers.'

However, the intuitive discomfort I felt when I first read the report probably shows that the ambiguity of a 'customer' label exists and wrong messages may have been sent to parents, students and educators.

Zheng Yi

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Bad luck!

I think this year has been not so good for me, except for my daughter who will be arriving in August. Last 2 weeks, I went for my In-Camp Training in Sembawang. It was a nice place with fruit trees growing next to it. I always smelt of durians whenever I stepped out of my vehicle, early in the morning.

The first Thursday of my training, I went for my physical fitness test early in the morning. It was supposed to start at 7.30am. I waited with 2 other reservists near the canteen. We waited till after 8am before I decided to text my NS IC who told me that the fitness was cancelled! The two NSmen had taken time off from work to take the fitness test but it was cancelled. One of them grumbled to me while he was making his way out of the camp.

Well, I finally took my test on the second Thursday at 6pm. But the test started only after 6.30pm. The bad thing is I failed my 2.4km run by just 1 second! I think the extra weight I have had affected my performance. Haiz...

Year of Ox

Somehow, something tells me that the year of ox is not a very good year, even to an "ox" like me! Things have not been going smoothly. My lucky star doesn't seem to be on my side. Recently, I got "bashed" by a heavy power adaptor on my big toe. I was cleaning up the table when I accidentally swept the adaptor down on my toes! It was very painful at first, but the pain soon subsided.

Last month, I was "charged" by SAF for not attempting my Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT). In fact, I had already took it during my last in-camp training last year. I even obtained a SILVER for the test! Anyway, after making a few calls to the NS Service and my unit, the charge on me was cancelled afer the unit rectified the problem. My IPPT results were not entered into the system, so the the system automatically generated the charge slip.

There were other bad experiences and things happened. Haiz...

Next month, June, I will going back to my unit in Sembawang and Lim Chu Kang. This is another round of annual in-camp training (ICT). I did not receive the callup until I called them to find out. I remember the ICT is in June, but when I checked ns.gov.sg website, I could not find the callup notification. Finally, I was notified of ICT last night. What a year! :(

Outside a restaurant in Jurong Point

This is Yu Hong standing outside a restaurant in Jurong Point. We were going to have a buffet dinner there. Notice the price for kids. :D

Wow! It's hot!

Well, the weather these days is so hot! This picture was taken on Monday morning. It was reported that the haze had caused the sun to 'change' colour!

Valentine's Day @ IMM

This was what we had on Valentine's Day at IMM. It was called the "Couple Fondue".

Broken Down!

Well, the beginning of this year is not very 'good'. Why? You see, I bought this little digital pocket dictionary for less than a month and it broke down. It just died off suddenly and I could not 'revive' it. I tried resetting it and taking out the batteries and put them back. Everything did not work, so I sent it down to the service centre for repair. The lady asked if I had tried replacing the batteries. Well, I told her that I bought it for less than a month and used it not more than ten times! She went in and came back a while later. It was working fine with new batteries! She suggested that I should leave the dictionary with her for further investigation. In the end, it was found that there was a manufacturer's fault and my dictionary was replaced with a new one.

The second thing that broke down unfortunately was my refrigerator! I found out last Sunday when my wife opened the door to the freezer. Everything inside had defrost! While searching for a replacement at an electrical appliance store, I learned that it was the condenser which had broken down. The saleslady told us that the condenser is the one that helps to keep the things in the freezer compartment frozen. The compressor should be working fine as the air in the other compartment was still cool.

I will be looking for a smaller and cheaper refrigerator which can save me on my electricity bill.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

I received a Valentine surprise this evening from a Secondary 2 student.
He is Daryl Ng. Very surprised to receive it from him as I only taught him last year. Thanks Daryl! :D

Guess what's inside the paper bag? :)



It's a little muffin!!! :D

Welcome the Year of the Ox!

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Anyway, the Lunar New Year is officially over as of Tuesday, which is the 16th day of first lunar month. A summary of the whole new year.

It was reunion dinner before and on the eve of Lunar New Year. I had so much food that my stomach was still bloated on New Year day. LOL!

Then, my whole family went visiting to parents, relatives and friends for the two CNY holiday. There were lots to eat and drink during the CNY season.

Last week was the birthday celebration week for my boy, Yu Hong. He turned 5 on last Friday. We bought him a birthday cake from Coffee Bean. We went to collect the cake just after noon. When the assistant manager opened the box for us to check the cake, we had a shock! The fruits on the cake were all over in the box while the chocolate with the wordings had broken too! The manager wanted to replace it with another one, but we had to reject her offer as the replacement was a pre-sliced one. It did not look nice to have a "sliced" cake for his birthday. Anyway, the matter was resolved after the manager got the production side to "make" another one. I collected it from the cafe after my work and in time for the birthday celebration at home. :D

He had a second celebration on the next day. He wanted to celebrate it in Hard Rock Cafe. He was very happy and excited after I made a reservation at the cafe. He started making invitation cards to family and relatives for his birthday "party". Actually, it was only a small private party.

His cousin celebrated his 8th birthday there last year. His cousin was made to stand on the chair with a cup of sundae in his hands in Hard Rock Cafe while everyone in the cafe sang birthday song to him. I wasn't there last year though. I heard the cousin was so "overwhelmed" that he had to rush to toilet after that. He had poo** in his pants!

This year, Yu Hong was also asked to stand on a chair with a cup of sundae and a candle. We were also afraid that he might be overwhelmed too. Well, he was "brave" enough to stand on the chair while the people in the cafe joined in to sing him the birthday song. Maybe he was more mentally prepared than his cousin.

Happy New Year!

Happy lunar new year! I hope everyone is having a time collecting red packets from your relatives and elders. Well, I started eating a lot even before the CNY. The "reunion" dinners were so sumptuous that I had my stomach filled with delicious food! I had my reunion dinner with my in-laws in a Japanese restaurant which serves buffet. The restaurant was newly-opened in the Jurong Point Extension. There was a widespread of raw and cooked food. There was also a good selection of desserts, from ice-creams to fruit, with free flow of hot and cold drinks.

I think it is worth the money if you do eat a lot. :D

Happy New Year!

It has been a long time since I last posted. The year 2008 has really passed so fast. I was still packing the room last week. It was so hard to do housekeeping. I had a hard time deciding what to keep and what to throw. I am so used to keep and keep as I always think (and still do) that someday this "thing" could be of use. I still remember the 3 Rs - Reduce, Recycle and Reuse! After two rounds of housekeeping, I still have a lot of things on the table and floor.

Can somebody provide me with some housekeeping advice?

Thanks in advance. :)