Taking a short break from travel blogging to write a post on my favourite season - Christmas!
In our household, the Christmas feeling begins when we take out the Christmas tree and trappings from the storeroom. This ritual has become something of a tradition and an event that Lesley-Anne and Andre look forward to every year.
The first sight of the decorations is always an exciting reminder of the season (for me, it's a reminder of how quickly the year has flown by!)
Christmas music sets the ambience, the tree is carefully erected, the lights draped on, then negotiations ensue as to which decorations should be used and where each should go. Even hanging decorations has to be a fair process, which each kid given an equal number.
(Wearing the Santa hat was Andre's idea, I guess it puts him in the mood!)
Then the other accessories come out of storage, like these Christmas toys (below). They only emerge once a year which make them seem especially precious.
Also these reindeer candle holders, in danger of rusting but carry much sentimental value.
Finally, here's the tree.
If you don't have a special Christmas tradition, I highly recommend starting one - it's very memorable for the whole family and something that I'm sure your kids will look back with much fondness.
You would've thought that after 7 days of holiday in a terrific city, I would be all relaxed and zen but nooo... today, I'm a ball of tension - it feels exactly like BEFORE I left for the holiday. Why? Let's see...
I happily thought I could blog while on holiday since I would be staying with my cousin and she has a computer. But as petit fleur pointed out, I couldn't blog in Beijing cos the authorities there block certain blogspot accounts. Apparently it's not all accounts, and the blocking is random, doesn't matter whether you're blogging on something as innocuous as fishing. So there I was with all these great photos and memories still fresh from each day of adventure and unable to share it. I couldn't even log in to publish the comments, for Pete's sake. I thought of posting a comment on Lilian's blog and would you believe it, I couldn't even access her blog to read it! I couldn't go into Facebook either, I felt completely cut off from the world.
We touched down late last night and the first thing I did on waking up this morning (even before breakfast), was to turn on my computer. Or at least, try to turn on my computer. IT WOULDN'T TURN ON. It seems that one week of neglect was just too much - it died sad and alone. I realised right then and there that the joke I made about how a bunch of us (with Lilian as president) should form the IAA (Internet Addicts Anonymous) was not really a joke. Cold sweat, curses, short of hallucination, I could've sworn I was going through withdrawal.
How am I posting this, then? Well, thank God we have a spare laptop that Lesley-Anne uses - she's not getting to use this today, I'm commandeering it until the IT service guy comes this afternoon to see if he can revive my baby. I'm praying the miracle happens - me and my Compaq have had many precious years together (plus too much un-backed up information).
So I will still post on my travel blog as promised, but delayed. I just hope it will be via my baby and not the substitute.
I haven't been blogging because it's been a mad rush trying to settle all my work before we leave for Beijing. There is also that business of packing - this will be the first time the kids are experiencing winter in any part of the world, so we've been trying to get all the warm stuff together. I hope the smog won't be too bad.
Beijing will be an interesting experience as this is the first trip we're taking with the kids that's not to a destination with theme parks or lots of kid-friendly places. It's going to be primarily culture - thousands of years old. I'm curious to see how my kids will react. Will they be enriched? Or will they be bored out of their minds after the first day? Already, Andre has expressed interest in climbing the Great Wall only so that he can take the ride back down!
The next time you hear from me may be from Beijing, if I can get internet access. I will try to blog from there, but if so, it will be on my travel blog, so do keep checking in there, ok?
Since it's Sunday, here's a little soul food for thought.
Last Sunday at church, the pastor gave a particularly thought-provoking sermon which I felt had a worthy lesson for parents. He was explaining how as Christians, we all know intellectually that God loves us despite our sins. Yet, we often feel that He somehow loves us less if we do something wrong. Does this speak to you? I know I feel that way sometimes. Eg. if I miss my quiet time, I feel guilty because I think that God disapproves and He probably loves the other more devoted person more.
This stems very much from our own relationship with our parents, and more importantly, mirrors our children's relationship with us. Although our love for our kids is unconditional (as with God's love for us), our kids haven't necessarily internalised it. And can you blame them? We only praise them when they do good things or get good grades. When they do something not to our satisfaction, they are scolded or punished. I think that's why so many kids get caught up with chasing achievements because they think that will earn them their parents' affection.
It's a sobering thought - that our kids do not know (or believe) that we love them no matter what.
In case you're thinking, "but if I don't scold them, they will keep making mistakes and stop trying hard!" I think it's ok to correct but be careful that it's not perceived by our children as a withdrawl of love. Again using the parallel of God's relationship with us, as the pastor put it, God's love is like a safety net. Once we are secure in the fact that God loves us (and blesses us) regardless of what we do, we will no longer have performance anxiety. Instead, we will strive to do good because we are grateful for His grace and we want to love Him in return. We won't feel guilty because mistakes are ok - they don't deprive us of His love.
Likewise, if our children are assured of our unconditional love, I believe it will motivate them to do good and work hard, because they will want to please us, not because they are afraid of displeasing us. Get the difference? In this manner, they will also be more willing to try, to make mistakes because the degree of our love and approval is not dependent on them being perfect.
"But where sin increased, grace increased all the more." - Romans 5:20
Last day of school yesterday! But I suspect my nightmare is just about to start. My two kids were not home together for 5 minutes before they'd already started to bicker.
I stuck an imaginary microphone at Lesley-Anne and asked, "So how do you feel about your school year?"
Lesley-Anne: "It was fun! The most fun year I've had, I think. My p5 class is very lively and we all had such a great time together."
I asked Andre the same question, "So how was your school year?"
Andre: "Good."
Me: "That's it?"
Andre (thinking): "Very good."
I had spoken to Paul's (Andre's good friend) mother just a couple of days back and she told me that many of the boys in their class were in an uproar because they didn't get into the same p3 class as their friends. (At their school, the kids are streamed at the end of p2 according to their results). The group of boys that Andre hangs out with will be completely split up. One of them was so upset despite having gotten into the best class because none of his friends did. He protested by refusing to go to school the next day (see what happens when you're smarter than all your pals!!) Paul's mum told me Paul was upset that he wouldn't be in the same class as Andre.
When I mentioned this to Andre, he said nonchalantly, "Tell Paul (me? Tell Paul??) that I will meet him at the same place at recess and we can play badminton." I asked him whether he was disappointed that they wouldn't be in the same class. He replied, "yes." Pause. "But maybe when we go to p3, we will make new friends and forget our p2 ones."
Wah. Very insightful but I never took Andre to be so pragmatic and unsentimental. Not sure if it's due to his live-for-the-day attitude, and not sure I like it. Sometimes out of the blue, he comes up with these views that belie his innocence. Just the other day, I overheard Lesley-Anne complaining that our maid didn't cook her macaroni the way she liked it. Andre piped up, "Don't be like that, che che. Everybody makes mistakes." Nothing you can say to that!
Anyway, back to the friends issue, I think Paul has been a great friend to Andre. Andre had recounted how he was being called names by one of his classmates and Paul was there to comfort him. More than once, these two have stuck together so I will try to encourage the friendship as long as I possibly can.
The Advent season is drawing near, so I want to share something nice you can do for your kids - an Advent calendar.
An Advent calendar is a calendar which counts down to Christmas from 1 December. If you see the one in stores, it normally has 24 windows taped shut. Each day starting 1 December, you open one window, the last one you open on Christmas eve. Behind each window is an image of either the Nativity story or something related to Christmas. Some others have a piece of chocolate or candy behind each window.
I came across this idea of making an Advent calendar when I saw it in a kids' activity book. Lesley-Anne was in p1 then. I thought it would be a great way to build up the excitement, as well as make the wait for Christmas more bearable (kids always feel that Christmas will never come!) But I didn't like the thought of just putting pictures or candy behind the windows - what's so interesting about that?
So Lesley-Anne and I made an Advent calendar with 24 pockets - she decorated the pockets with stickers (right pic, it's very beat up I know, it's 4 years old!) I created 24 little rhymes - each night when she was sleeping, I would creep into her bedroom and slip one into the appropriate pocket for her to find in the morning. (Andre was only 4 then, so the Advent calendar was primarily for her.)
It gave her something to look forward to everyday - each rhyme described a word, and she had to solve it. When she had finished opening all 24 rhymes, the starting letter of each word in that order would form a sentence related to Christmas.
Here's the first one I did for Lesley-Anne. She was only 7 then, so the rhymes are pretty simple. I'm happy to share this and you're welcome to copy the rhymes if you like (but of course change the ones that don't apply to you!) The part in purple is the answer to the rhyme, so when you print out the rhyme, don't print that part. The final sentence spells out "Christmas means love and joy".
1. C is for Candy Cane
Red and white Sticky and sweet Plenty at Christmas What a treat!
2. H is for Hope
A toy, a book, a bike All children are alike Hope for presents galore What do you hope for?
3. R is for Reindeer
Dashing in the night With Rudolf’s nose so bright Delivering lots of toys For all little girls and boys
4. I is for Ice
The Eskimos build igloos Made completely out of ice They’re freezing all year round Which isn’t very nice
5. S is for Story
We tell this every night Of three bears and three pigs Why not have some new ones For 2005 and 6?
6. T is for Tree
Tall and majestic Green or white Pretty and dressed up In tinsel and light
7. M is for Mummy
She’s not very good at sports She really can’t cook too She is a terrible driver But she’s great at loving you!
8. A is for Advent
A calendar like this one Makes December really fun Starting out each day In a very special way
9. S is for Snow
Something in Singapore We have not got I wish it’ll snow some Then it wouldn’t be so hot!
10. M is for Manger
Born in one God’s only Son On a bed of hay Little Jesus lay
11. E is for Eternity
It’s a really long time It means forever and ever Sometimes it seems like Christmas comes never!
12. A is for Angel
They live up high in heaven Watching us from above Sent to us by God To show us care and love
13. N is for Noah
When the flood came Everyone ran helter skelter Except his family and animals Who had the perfect shelter
14. S is for Stocking
It’s what Santa uses To stuff his presents in But since it’s very narrow You may only get a pin!
15. L is for Lesley-Anne
Pretty, smart and sweet An example to the rest God made you with love You are truly blessed
16. O is for Obey
Do what God asks Do what your parents ask With respect and love No matter the task
17. V is for Vacation
Six weeks you’ve had They’ve flown by very fast But indeed I truly hope Your holiday was a blast!
18. E is for Evangelise
Learn a new word today It’s really good for you It means tell others about God Which is a great thing to do
19. A is for Andre
I know you don’t like A pesky little brother But later on in life You’ll want no other
20. N is for New Year
In a few days more It’s goodbye to 2004 I hope you had your fun And enjoyed Primary 1
21. D is for Daddy
Sometimes he’s smiley Sometimes he’s not But whether he is or isn’t He sure loves you a lot
22. J is for Jesus
Born in a manger Though he knew the danger He is the reason We celebrate this season
23. O is for Overeat
The danger of Christmas Is everything looks so yummy First we stuff the turkey Then we stuff our tummy!
24. Y is for You
Someone special Someone unique Tomorrow is Christmas Let’s get to bed quick!
Lesley-Anne brought home her service learning file so I thought I'd write a post on what she'd done during the year. Service learning is their form of community service. This year, they had to mentor p2 kids who were weak in English. As part of service learning, the p5 GEP had to create their own lesson plans and materials for the sessions, in teams of two. They met up with their p2 buddies for an hour every week for a term. For the first week, the teams used the materials they developed, then for subsequent sessions, they swapped materials with other teams.
This was the lesson plan Lesley-Anne's team came up with:
Trigger/Introduction Show the children the picture and tell them to talk about it (like in oral). If they can't, show them examples and then, let them try again. Also, encourage them to use adjectives to describe things. This is to help prepare them for the composition they are going to write on the picture.
Development/An English Game Instructions: Each player will be given a set of cards and a picture. On each card is a sentence. The sentence describes the picture. The cards are all jumbled up. The players must rearrange the cards to form a coherent composition based on the picture. The first player to rearrange the sentences into a coherent composition will win.
Reward: Winning person get chicken crackers while losing person gets two sweets.
Closure Give them the composition template with the same picture (as introduction) and tell them to write a composition. Tell them to use adjectives like they did in the introduction to improve their story. When they are done, go through their mistakes with them and tell them how to improve on them. (Covers grammar, punctuation, spelling and tenses).
Objectives At the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to write a four to six sentence essay and to sequence and organize sentences.
It's not the most sophisticated lesson plan but I think it's great to get older kids to help younger ones. Kids tend to relate better to each other and understand where the possible stumbling blocks might be. (Too bad Lesley-Anne won't mentor her own brother!) According to Lesley-Anne, they make their buddies take a simple English test during the first session and at the last session of the term. All of them had scored significantly higher in the second test, which I took to mean that they had benefited from the mentoring sessions.
For the GEP kids, I feel it gives them perspective to help kids who might not be as mentally agile as they are, to shift the focus from themselves and onto others.
Since the school holidays are approaching, I'll be writing more about leisure activities and less on school work (I'll probably have plenty to post about those during term time!) Today, I want to recommend some fun games for kids, in case you're wondering what they can do during the long vacation without having their brain completely disintegrate by the time school re-opens.
This game is not very new - it's been on the market for a while, but I think it's worth highlighting because of its entertainment and educational value. It's called Rush Hour by Thinkfun. Its objective is simple - basically, get the red car out of the gridlock using problem-solving and sequential-thinking skills (now you know why I like it! Yet another puzzle!) You set up the traffic as provided on a card and try to slide the vehicles around until you can get the red car out.
This game has won a whole string of awards - it's ingenious because it's visually interesting and easy to play, yet it makes you think. A set comes with a deck of 40 cards in increasing difficulty. Rush Hour is so popular that the makers created refill cards that you can buy if you finish the original 40. You can play all 40 of the original cards online, but I do recommend you buy the actual game because it's just more fun to physically move the cars around. Plus you don't really want your kids glued to the computer any more than they already are, right? It comes in a handy box that can be easily packed away and it can be played alone (great when you need your kid to entertain himself for a bit!)
Thinkfun has created some really intelligent games for kids that are simply terrific. We've since bought some others, including River Crossing (left) and Tipover (right). You can find them at any department store.
But my kids' (and my) favourite is still Rush Hour. The original and the best!
One of Lesley-Anne's long time ambitions is to be a vet because she adores animals. So naturally, the subject of pets came up. Both Kenneth and I are animal lovers, but we are also very pragmatic, forward-thinking parents. We've heard too many stories of how kids pester their parents for a dog or a cat, then once the fun wanes, it's the parent who has to bring the dog out for a walk, clean the poo, etc etc.
We resisted for a long time, but we also know that owning a pet instils a sense of responsibility, so we were two-minds about it. I had a mental list of disadvantages in my head: Dog - must walk, must clean poo, can be noisy, can be smelly. Cat - will drop fur, will scratch furniture, maybe will scratch children. Both - expensive. So we were at a stalemate... until a friend of mine offered me two hamsters. The story was that someone had given his kids two hamsters, but he had also just purchased a dog so the kids were now no longer interested in the hamsters. (In pet hierarchy, generally the bigger the pet, the higher the priority).
Well, since he was offering me free pets with free cage and trappings, I thought, why not? Hamsters would be easy pets to start with. We brought them home, the kids named them Hammie and Hyper. These are dwarf Winter White hamsters, very pretty. Lesley-Anne chose Hyper (and named her so) because when we were at my friend's place, that hamster kept running on the wheel at top speed, so she thought she'd like the active one.
Little did we know that Hyper was active because she was trying to escape from Hammie who was quite the queen tyrant! This one was a real spitfire alright - for the first few months, no one dared to take her out of her cage because she would hiss like a cat and bite any hand that wandered into the cage - vicious enough to draw blood. I would curse and swear everything I had to take her out to clean the cage. In fact, she attacked Hyper so badly that we had to separate the two eventually. Kenneth found another friend whose kid's pet hamster had just died and we took over the cage. (Look hard enough, you'll always find abandoned pet homes because pets die or kids lose interest!)
Hammie and Hyper are a great source of amusement to the family. If you think hamsters are not real pets, think again. They have their own personalities like all other pets. If you've watched Ratatouille, then you'll understand when I say that Hammie is exactly like Remy (the chef) and Hyper like Emile (the brother). Hammie (left pic) is super active, picky about food and now that we've tamed her, very affectionate. She's great fun to play with and will even lick my hand and let me rub her belly. Hyper turned out to be the antithesis of her name. She is fat, lazy... and fat. Her sole interest in life is eating. Ever since she's been released from the torture chamber with Hammie, her life consists of eating and sleeping. Sometimes, she even sleeps in the food bowl, probably to save herself the trouble of waddling to her munchies.
It's been over a year, the two hamsters are living the good life, though probably not for long as the life span of hamsters is only up to two years. Lesley-Anne is quite good about looking after the hamsters, which convinced me that her love of animals is not a passing phase. However, we've long delegated the washing of the cages to the maid (any surprise?)
Hamsters are great starter pets because they're very low maintenance. Fill up their food and water, clean the cage once a week and they're happy. If you use recycled paper pellets as bedding, you hardly get any smell. We've even left them unguarded in the house when we went to Hong Kong for 4 days, they were still happy and alive when we got back. In fact, we enjoy the hamsters so much that I suspect when they go on to Hamster Heaven, we might not move on to a cat or a dog, we'll just get more hamsters.
Over the weekend, Lesley-Anne was invited to a friend's birthday party. It was a theme party, so the guests were asked to dress up in costume. But since the guests were all self-conscious 11-year-olds, it must have been quite a task trying to find outfits that were "costume-y" enough without being too attention-seeking.
I brain-stormed quite a few with Lesley-Anne before she finally agreed on one which wasn't too "embarrassing". Eunice, I'll confess right now, I borrowed the idea from the Garfield costume you made for Sean!
It was very simple to make. A regular black t-shirt and bicycle shorts, a mask copied from the internet and painted black, two cardboard ears stuck onto a black hairband, and a bag strap as a tail.
Tah-dah - Catwoman! I told her not to cross anyone at the party or they'll all end up with seven years of bad luck, hehe.
In June 2008, JK Rowling gave a commencement address at Harvard University. Some of you may have read it as it was widely circulated on the Internet. Since I write speeches occasionally, I immediately recognised how well-written the speech was - with dazzling clarity, masterful use of the language, a generous dose of humour and wit, and delivered with impeccable style and sincerity.
But more than being an articulately written speech, the address touched on extremely pertinent issues for parents - the key ingredients that breed success in children, however we define success. It also makes an impassioned plea for us to remember our larger responsibilities as human beings - to make a difference to the lives of others.
The speech itself is about 20 mins long - it's well worth listening to because JK Rowling is a very persuasive speaker, but in case you prefer to just read it, I've reproduced the full text of The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination below the videos, which are divided into Part 1 and Part 2.
President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.
The first thing I would like to say is 'thank you.' Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honor, but the weeks of fear and nausea I've experienced at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and fool myself into believing I am at the world's best-educated Harry Potter convention.
Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.
You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals: the first step towards personal improvement.
Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.
I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.
These might seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.
Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.
I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.
They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.
I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.
I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticize my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.
What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.
At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.
I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.
However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person's idea of success, so high have you already flown academically.
Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.
Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.
So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.
You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.
Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.
The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.
Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.
You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.
One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London.
There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.
Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government. Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had been forced to leave behind.
I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.
And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country's regime, his mother had been seized and executed.
Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.
Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.
And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.
Amnesty mobilizes thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.
Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people's minds, imagine themselves into other people's places.
Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathize.
And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.
I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the willfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.
What is more, those who choose not to empathize may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy. One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.
That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people's lives simply by existing.
But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people's lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world's only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.
If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.
I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children's godparents, the people to whom I've been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I've used their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.
So today, I can wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:
As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
I'm still trying to keep up with my one-post-a-day target but some days, I just hit a blank (I suspect I'm gonna break the streak soon, finally I'm getting busy with work again! Yay!) On days like these, you either get fluff or something I dredged up from my writing store somewhere. This is one of those days.
Since my last music post brought all the closet '60s and '70s singers fans out of the woodwork, I thought I'd write another music post. Someone more contemporary this time - Sheryl Crow. I love Ms Crow because her voice has that unique wistful quality that projects her inner strength. She writes her own music and often, the instrumentation in her songs is so reminiscent of the Flower Power days of the 1960s. That's why I thought the parents here might enjoy her albums, if you haven't already discovered them.
Her latest two albums are very reflective and soulful. "Wildflower" I absolutely love because it so fits in with my melancholy streak, but don't listen to this if you're feeling blue because it will likely make you utterly miserable! I really feel she was robbed of her "Best Pop Vocal Album" Grammy in 2006 for this album (which went to Kelly Clarkson! What a miscarriage of justice!) Sheryl Crow's lastest offering is "Detours", which I feel is not on the same level of brilliance as "Wildflower" but still well worth listening to. Anyway, this is a review I wrote on "Detours" for a youth organisation that I volunteer with (that's why it's addressed to youths).
Detours – Sheryl Crow
In recent years, Sheryl Crow has blossomed into a serious artiste, moving into more thought-provoking and artsy songs. This is very different from her early albums which were full of sunshine-y and bubblegum pop like “All I Wanna Do” and “Soak Up The Sun”. Her previous album “Wildflower” (another terrific production) showed a more soulful side of Sheryl Crow and her latest album “Detours” continues this vein of heartfelt self-expression.
Sheryl has never kept secret her strong views on issues such as politics, the environment and relationships. In Detours, all these come across with conviction and sincerity. “God Bless This Mess” talks about the trauma faced by soldiers who return from Iraq while “Gasoline” hazards a guess at the uncertain future. “Peace Be Upon Us” is her passionate plea for people to live in harmony and features very catchy Indian instrumentation. She also shows great vulnerability, singing about her personal life. “Diamond Ring” laments her broken engagement with Lance Armstrong, “Make It Go Away (Radiation Song)” is a poignant reflection of her breast cancer experience and “Lullaby for Wyatt” is a tender dedication to her adopted son.
But at the end of the day, it is the music that Sheryl excels best in. She has the knack of writing captivating melodies that are simply lovely without being sugary and superficial. Examples are “Love Is All There Is”, “Love is Free”, “Detours” and “Now That You’re Gone”. These songs have the ability to transport you to a world of sweet (or maybe bittersweet) memories and happy times.
Sheryl has come under some fire, with some saying that she thinks her views (especially political) overly important. I say, it’s a nice change from the usually mindless pop. It would be an inspiration to all youths who wish to express themselves through their music.
And the great thing about Sheryl Crow is that her songs continue to have very appealing tunes, especially with repeat listening. So if you find the themes too heavy, you don’t even have to pay any attention to the lyrics and just enjoy the music. If you want a change from the usual teenage angst of Avril Lavigne, just for a while, I highly recommend giving this album a try.
Here is a video of one of my favourite tracks in the album, "Love Is All There Is". Enjoy!
Being clueless is part of Andre's DNA. Take a recent incident for instance. One of his friends called and he chatted away animatedly on the phone for a full ten minutes. When he finally hung up, I asked, out of curiosity, "Who was that?"
Andre (shrugs): I don't know
Me (incredulously): Huh? You talked on the phone for so long and you don't know who it was?
Andre (indignantly): He didn't tell me his name!
Apparently, the name of the caller was just a minor, unimportant detail. I told him he should always know who he's talking to, so since then, every time he gets a phone call, he would demand, "Who are you?"
But yet it is this same cluelessness that enables him to enjoy life. Sometimes, I think it must be great going through life as Andre - never worrying about tomorrow, always living for the moment. He doesn't care what other people think of him, not as a strategy for a happy life but I suspect because it doesn't even occur to him to care.
Just this Monday, Andre told me it was "Be Yourself Day" at school, so he could wear anything he liked. I had recalled reading it in a note but had misplaced it. Nevertheless, I took his word for it and let him wear his Ben 10 t-shirt to school.
When Lesley-Anne came home from school (she's in the morning session, he's in the afternoon), I happened to mention it to her. She exclaimed, "It's not today, it's TOMORROW!" OMG, I almost died. (Lesson: never take Andre's word for anything, always check with the clued in elder sister.) I imagined him sticking out like a sore thumb in his Ben 10 t-shirt amidst a sea of school uniforms.
My dread deepened when Lesley-Anne recounted how a girl had mistaken the wrong day for Racial Harmony Day and starting crying because she was so mortified to be in her red cheongsam when everyone else was in their school uniforms. If this had happened to Lesley-Anne, I'm sure it would have scarred her for life.
So you can imagine my concern while waiting for Andre to return home. When Andre stepped through the door, I casually asked, "Wrong day?" To my immense relief, he smacked his own forehead and laughed, "Yah!! It's tomorrow!! Hahahaha!!!" Andre has a very infectious laugh, so pretty soon, we were all in stitches. Then he added, "Can I wear my other Ben 10 shirt to school tomorrow?"
It's not often I learn something from Andre but this is a valuable lesson: when you don't take yourself too seriously, you're more likely to enjoy life to the fullest.
My late piano teacher, having taught hundreds of kids over the years, used to say, "Something happens to kids once they hit p5 - suddenly, they think they know everything." I never took this seriously... until Lesley-Anne entered p5.
Overnight, my sweet, thoughtful little girl, who's as close to an angelic child as you can get, became sulky, rude, emotional and hyper-sensitive (ok, she always was a sensitive child, but now magnify it x10). What happened? I was bewildered to say the least. After speaking to some parents who faced the same problems, we decided it was probably hormonal and a bad case of "growing pains".
Now that we're nearing the end of the year, I can say that Lesley-Anne has calmed down somewhat compared to the beginning of this year. Maybe she has managed to resolve some of the issues on her own, or maybe I'm learning better how to deal with them in a way that is acceptable to her.
Last week at the library, this book caught my eye - The Everything Tween Book: A parent's guide to surviving the turbulent pre-teen years. I thought, hmm... interesting! So I borrowed it.
For those of you who don't know, tweens are defined as those between the ages of 8 and 13. There is lots of talk about the "terrible teenage years" but hardly anything before that. But considering that during the tween years, kids go through a whirlwind of physical, social and emotional changes - it deserves proper attention.
The book itself is nothing ground-breaking, in my opinion. Like most of the books in the series (as well as the For Dummies and Idiots series), it is meant to give a general overview on the topic, written in a simple way. It covers all the related topics but doesn't go into in-depth discussions, if that's what you're looking for.
But there are some interesting titbits in this book that I thought would be worthwhile sharing. First, a quote that captures it all in describing tweens:
"Tweens are a mass of contradictions. Even as their bodies are maturing in preparation to create other human beings, they can have temper tantrums worthy of a two-year-old, sleep with stuffed animals, and need Mom to remind them to wash their ears when they take a bath."
That is so true. Lesley-Anne is mature for her age - she has the patience of Job when mentoring a p2 student, yet she needs to be told repeatedly to dry her hands after she has washed them.
According to the book, here are some of the characteristics of tweens:
1. All-or-nothing logic. Tweens tend to see everything in black-and-white. People are either good or bad, situations are either fair or unfair. There is no middle ground with them. But yet, these perceptions can change in an instance. You can be the world's worst mum, but do something nice and suddenly you're the best mum in the world.
2. The silent years. Those who have tweens will know you sometimes need to pry information out of them. Standard answers to your questions are: "Dunno", "Whatever" or even just a shrug. What I found comforting was that the book says it's not that you are losing touch with your child, rather, your child has lost touch with herself and is unable to identify and express her emotions.
3.Looking for authority. In the early tween years, parents or other adults tend to be the kids' role models. In the later tweens, this authority is transfered to their peers. Mum and dad know longer know it all. (In fact, sometimes they know nothing!) Instead, their friends are the fonts of wisdom. This is also the time when peer pressure is very strong.
4.Emotional basketcases. Tweens (especially girls) have intense and unpredictable mood swings. Even a normally placid tween can suddenly become emotionally charged and explosive, sometimes for seemingly no good reason. Tweens often over-dramatise events ("my life is over!").
So what can we do to help our tweens (and parents!!) during this difficult transition period?
There is one very interesting point in the book I want to highlight. I'd always assumed that hormones was a big reason for the roller coaster emotions. But apparently, this belief has not been established scientifically. I was surprised to learn that the testosterone level of boys at age eight is approximately five times that of boys entering puberty. Wah! So if we believe that hormones influence behaviour, Andre is more likely to act aggressively now than when he's a teenager. No way!
According to the book, the more likely reason for emotional older tweens is a combination of immaturity and social pressure, NOT hormones. It was a little disturbing to read this (of girl tweens):
"By age twelve, too many girls define their self-worth almost exclusively in terms of what their peers think of them - or in terms of what they think their peers think of them. No matter how much emotional support and reassurance you try to give your daughter at home, you may feel impotent to combat a peer group that seems to be catching her more tightly in its grip with each passing day."
In fact, many older tweens will hide or give up their special talents if they feel their peers will not approve. As parents, it's all too easy to tell our kids, "Don't give in to peer pressure! If your friend jumps, will you jump too?" But in reality, it is very difficult for tweens to stand tall in their individuality, especially since kids in school can be very cruel. The solution offered by the book is to take your tween seriously and don't belittle or shame her for feeling the need to fit in. Acknowledge her feelings and just keep telling her that when her peers mature, their values will change and they will be more accepting and even appreciative of differences. Continue to be supportive so that she will know she can approach you to share her feelings.
Here's the encouraging part: even if your tween talks back to you, tells you that you're the worst parent in the world, most girl tweens still consider their mothers as their biggest role models, and boy tweens their dads. So look out for the moments that they are most communicative (which may be rare!) and show your affection and support either physically or verbally.
I find that sometimes, when Lesley-Anne is in one of those black moods, it's not that she doesn't want to come out of it, she doesn't know how. Snapping at her almost always makes it worse. I find that humour sometimes diffuses the situation. By saying something totally silly or doing a funny action, it lifts the tension and she'll then laugh and say, "Mummy, you're so silly!" Or sometimes, she just needs time to be by herself, and the storm will blow over on its own.
In short, what I've learnt over the past year is that the main thing required to deal with your tween is patience - oodles and oodles of it.
Andre and his form teacher have shared a stormy relationship over two years. To say they have no rapport is an understatement - it's like Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono. There's definitely no love lost between them. I've collected at least a dozen complaint notes from his teacher over the two years and she has stopped trying to say anything complimentary about him in his report book. Andre has returned the favour by not bothering to give her anything for Teacher's Day.
But at the end of the day, Andre has done well in his examinations and he has always come home knowing his work. I have to give credit where credit is due - so here's a poem I wrote as a tribute (of sorts) to his teacher.
In p1, on the very first day of school You walked into the classroom, looking pretty and cool Told us your name was Miss Li While smiling kindly at everybody
English and Maths you tried to teach us 30 hyper children in one class Very soon, you stopped smiling a lot Only so much patience you have got.
“Miss Li, can I drink water?” “Miss Li, I can’t find my eraser.” “Miss Li, can I go toilet?” “Miss Li, he drew on my shirt.”
When you talked, I talked too So what you said, I never knew You made me sit behind on my own I really didn’t like to be all alone.
When I went up to p2 I thought I’d gotten rid of you Wah man! So sian! You are my teacher once again.
“I’m Mrs Wong now”, you say You got married over the holiday But the change is only in name You are still exactly the same.
“Andre, why are you dreaming?” “Andre, didn’t you learn your spelling?” “Andre, what is 71 - 43?” “Andre, are you listening to me??”
I can’t remember what is 8 x 4 Learning times tables is such a chore Is it “everybody likes” or “everybody like” again? Grammar is driving me insane.
Mrs Wong, why do you keep scolding me? Don’t you know I have homework allergy? English and Maths are so boring, you see I only like recess and PE.
You wrote to my mother to complain "Andre didn’t do his work again.” My mother got mad, she yelled at me. “Another note I don’t want to see!”
Your next note I hid from my mother So that a scolding I wouldn’t get from her Alamak! I didn’t think at all That you would give my mother a call.
Teaching is much harder than you thought You must have thought of quitting an awful lot But still you try and try Even though sometimes you wonder why.
You taught us everything bit by bit Repeated yourself until we got it Addition, subtraction, multiplication Grammar, tenses, punctuation.
When all is said and done You helped me get my Band 1 So Mrs Wong, to you I say “Thank you for everything, you are a-ok"
The kids have received the results for their year-end exams and I'm happy to say that on the whole, they've met their targets - ie in all their subjects, Lesley-Anne met the GEP baseline requirement and Andre achieved Band 1. So all the pre-exam screeching (me), sleepless nights (also me), sulks (Lesley-Anne) and tears (Andre) have been worthwhile.
I won't reveal their results in detail but I just want to highlight two that I'm especially pleased about. For Lesley-Anne, this is maths. If you've been following my blog, you will know that maths has been a constant struggle for her. I've been trying all ways and means to help her with maths but I think the biggest hurdle is not her ability but her antipathy towards the subject.
Well, this time she truly exerted a Herculean effort and accomplished 83/100. I am soooo pleased, I can't begin to tell you! It may not sound that great to some of you but for a kid who has failed to meet the baseline a couple of times, this score is truly cause for celebration. (Someone in her class actually pulled off 99½/100 but I'm so NOT complaining and not comparing.) Ironically (notice my life seems to be full of ironies), it turned out that she performed best in maths among all her subjects. Other subjects like Chinese that she usually performs well in dipped a little in standard. I told her jokingly, "How come your results like a balance scale like that? When one goes up, something else must come down!" But we're both so delighted with the maths result that we're just basking in that. It's as much a victory for me as it is for her, I think!
For Andre, the biggest surprise was his composition. Again, I've repeatedly moaned about the standard of his English and how he can't seem to write coherently. During term time, he regularly scrapes up just 5/10 or 6/10 for his compositions. It didn't assuage my fears when he came home the week before last and announced that his teacher mentioned most of the kids in the class didn't do too well for the composition exam. Then last Tuesday, he came home from school, bashed on my bathroom door (I was taking a shower) and shouted excitedly, "Mummy! I got 8/10 for composition!"
I couldn't believe it (you wouldn't too if you've read his compositions). I couldn't believe it even more after he'd told me that the boy who regularly scores 10/10 was the only one who got 9/10 in the class, and only a handful got 8/10 - these are the kids who write beautifully, I've seen their work in the class publication. I actually asked him skeptically, "Are you sure it was 8? Are you sure it wasn't 6 and you saw wrongly?" Ok, you are all going to now condemn me as this awful mum who has so little faith in her own son! Then hear this: when Kenneth came home from work and Andre told him his score, Kenneth asked him EXACTLY THE SAME THING!!! Bwaahaha!!
Thankfully, Andre was oblivious to any insinuation on his ability and just happily replied, "no lah! I thought I would get only 5, I didn't dare to look at my paper! Then I saw, I really got 8!" I don't know how he pulled that rabbit out of the hat but I say this again, this boy has some mad exam skills!
So another academic year draws to a close. It was hectic and stressful, yet I can't believe how fast it flew by (I say this every year, by the way). The holidays can't come soon enough - I need to recharge my mental strength and energy which is teetering at the almost zero level. I will need a double charge for next year - PSLE and p3! No joke.
Meanwhile, an unexpected treat has come our way - a holiday in Beijing during the school holidays, which was just confirmed a few nights ago. A perfect way to end the school year! And I promise not to bring any assessment books.
... one month too late. I know this post would've created a bigger impact if I'd written it earlier, when the excitement of the first Singapore F1 was still abuzz. But I was too pre-occupied lah, what with exams looming and everything - it just slipped my mind. Anyhow, what I wanted to show was this:
Yup, it's the winning F1 car. It's Andre's, it's remote controlled and I'm sure if you look real close, you can see the 27-year-old Spaniard Fernando Alonso tucked in the seat.
No, we didn't spend a bomb on this baby - it was a birthday present for Andre from a friend of ours, Isabelle. Here's the funny thing: she actually bought this before the F1 race and the only reason she chose the Renault was because she's French! In fact, when she came home with it, her husband told her, "Why on earth a Renault? You should have bought a Ferrari!"
Well! It turned out to be the buy of the season. More accurate than touching the lottery, I think! It did cross my mind that I could auction off this beauty on ebay, make a ton of money and buy Andre a remote control Ferrari with change to spare. But of course I didn't lah. Anyway, after Andre's mad-hared spins with it round our living room and repeated crashes into furniture parts, its front steering is no longer working. So this Renault ain't winning any races any time soon. It will just be our trophy piece.
The past few days, my back has been aching. It's no mystery why - my back aches when I'm under a lot of stress and the past two weeks have been unusually stressful for me, for a variety of reasons. Fortunately, I always know what to do when my back aches, thanks to the book Back RX by Dr Vijay Vad.
Just some background - I first encountered back pain about five years ago - I was in the gym at my condominium estate and was trying out some machines without guidance (this is a lesson - never try out gym machines on your own especially if you don't know the right techniques!) Obviously I did something wrong as I felt a sudden jolt of pain in my lower back. It was crippling, I could hardly stand up and I made it home (barely) by hobbling. Kenneth brought me to the GP and I survived on painkillers for the next few days.
Let me try to explain what happened: basically, our spinal discs are encased in this jelly-like substance fluid. When we overstrain our back, either via strenuous activity or consistent bad posture over the long-term, sometimes the jelly part protrudes out of the disc. When it makes contact with a nerve, pain occurs. The good part was that it's not as serious as the pain suggests. The bad part is... the PAIN. It is excruciating. For those who've never had lower back pain, I sincerely wish you will never encounter it. It completely delibitates you - you experience blinding pain when you sit, stand, walk, get out of bed, go to the loo, sneeze, cough... that's right, practically everything.
That was the first episode. Eventually, after lots of rest (and tears), the pain slowly subsided after a few months. Then two years ago, I had another attack. This time, it wasn't the gym, it just came on suddenly. One day, I just felt stiff in my back, then as the day went on, it got progressively worse. I went to bed and the next day, I couldn't get up. This time, the recovery was even slower. I went to see a specialist at Changi General Hospital, I went for physiotherapy. They told me the same thing - 80% of lower back pain is brought on by years of bad posture. Just because it came on maybe when you were at the gym or you were lifting something heavy, that was not the real cause of the back pain - it's just the straw that broke the camel's (or rather, your) back.
That's why I decided to write this post. Lower back pain is extremely common. Every other adult I've met has experienced back pain at some point. Parents of young children are especially vulnerable because they are always hauling their heavy toddlers around. And if you're reading my blog, chances are you are a fellow IA (Internet Addict), meaning you spend hours at a time hunched over your computer. (You know you do!!)
My recovery after the second episode was frustratingly slow. Physiotherapy only took away the pain temporarily but once I stopped, the pain returned. So I read up on the subject, trying to find an effective cure. I came across Back RX at the library. It's written by Dr Vijay Vad, a doctor who specialises in treating professional athletes and a yoga practitioner. The book gives a good overview of back pain and what to do once it occurs. It then gives three series of exercises in increasing difficulty, designed to restore long-term flexibility and heal the back.
Well, I had nothing to lose, so I tried them out. I am not exaggerating when I say this book is a life-saver for me. I had gone on pain killers, muscle relaxants, physiotheraphy and nothing worked like the exercises in this book. One set takes just 15 minutes - I religiously did them everyday. After I complete a set, my back immediately feels less stiff. Later in the day, it would stiffen up again, upon which I would repeat the exercises. Within two months of starting the exercises, the pain was completely gone. Soon after, I could even go for step aerobics and kick-boxing classes - high impact sports that back pain sufferers would usually never dream of doing - without experiencing pain. I've not had another attack since (and please God, make that never!)
I have since recommended the book to any back pain sufferer I meet (even the Singtel guy who came to repair my MIO box!!) I often encounter skepticism, it's like people only believe you if you tell them you spent thousands of dollars on a chiropracter or on physiotherapy. Even Kenneth was half-hearted when he had backaches and I told him to try the book. He was sold after the exercises completely eradicated the aches. A friend of mine had suffered back pain almost throughout her adulthood. After she tried out the exercises, she became pain-free even during her pregnancy. But there is a caveat: you have to do the exercises judiciously (especially in the beginning) and at the pace the book recommends, in order to see results.
The exercises look deceptively simple. Many of them are stretches you would have done previously in school or during exercise classes. The difference is that these are ordered in such a way to heal the back and they're done in ultra slow speed (most of them ask you to hold the stretch for 10 slow breaths). These exercises are adapted from yoga and pilates, but they are NOT entirely yoga and pilates moves. If you have back pain, please don't go for yoga and pilates classes just yet because the turns and twists can actually hurt your back further, not heal it.
After a while, I realised that from doing the exercises repeatedly, I found which ones worked best for me so I focused on those. Once your back is more or less healed, you can choose a few to keep doing, to keep the pain from returning and when you have slight backaches. (Yes, the aches can still occasionally return. You're still going to slouch over your computer, right?) Even more important, I became so in tune with my back that whenever I get an ache, I usually know which exercise to do to make it go away.
For me, these two exercises are the most effective. If you do the exercises right, you will feel your lower back aching but in a good way, like the muscle is being stretched.
Please do note I'm just sharing which exercises work for me. Depending on the specific area and reason for your back pain, different stretches will work for you.
The specialist at CGH advised that the best long-term solution to back pain is strengthening via exercise or sports. The problem is that when you're having back pain, you are just not capable of doing sports. So this book is a terrific way to eliminate your back pain so that you can go on to do the physical activity that helps your body (and your back) stay in shape.
I am a huge Fab Four fan, especially of John Lennon. What appeals to me most about the Beatles and I think most of their fans, is that they are very real. Even after all their fame and fortune, they were still at heart, four boys from working class families in Liverpool. They were quirky personalities with bad teeth who wrote their own songs with so much talent and genius it's mind-boggling.
Unlike many of the pop stars who achieve fame early today, they never tried to embody fake, bad boy personas just to be cool. Their songs often speak of their personal life experiences and ideals - they generally promote love and peace, none of that teenage angst. Ever so often, I'll play one of my Beatles or John Lennon albums and it makes me happy because the songs are geniune and remind me of a less complicated time in history.
I want to dedicate this one to all parents - John Lennon's Beautiful Boy. It's a tender ballad John wrote for his son with Yoko - Sean - and it encapsulates the protectiveness we all feel over our children. I particularly love this line in the song: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Isn't it true that sometimes we're so busy planning and worrying about life that we just forget to enjoy the moment? And more often than not, life never goes according to our plans - it just happens. This lyric is especially poignant and chilling since the song was one of the last John Lennon recorded before he was shot.
So parents, it's the weekend - go enjoy your kids and just let life happen. Here's a video of Beautiful Boy.
In our household, the Christmas feeling begins when we take out the Christmas tree and trappings from the storeroom. This ritual has become something of a tradition and an event that Lesley-Anne and Andre look forward to every year.
Christmas music sets the ambience, the tree is carefully erected, the lights draped on, then negotiations ensue as to which decorations should be used and where each should go. Even hanging decorations has to be a fair process, which each kid given an equal number.
Also these reindeer candle holders, in danger of rusting but carry much sentimental value.
Finally, here's the tree.
If you don't have a special Christmas tradition, I highly recommend starting one - it's very memorable for the whole family and something that I'm sure your kids will look back with much fondness.
