Can we save the Earth in air-con comfort?

Yesterday at 8.30pm was Earth Hour. If you don't know what that is, Earth Hour is an international event organised by the WWF which calls for households and businesses around the world to turn off non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness on the need for action to stop climate change. Earth Hour is held on the last Saturday of March each year.

Flashback to about a week ago when a flyer for Earth Hour arrived in the mail.

Me: What's that?

Kenneth: Earth Hour, supposed to turn off lights for one hour.

Lesley-Anne (self-professed tree hugger): Let's do it!

Me: Hmm... I guess I can still play computer games in the dark.

Andre: Ok, I can watch tv.

Kenneth: Cannot lah, you're supposed to turn off all electricity!

Me: What? I thought it's just lights?

Andre (alarmed): Hah? Cannot turn on air-con also?

Lesley-Anne: We're supposed to save the earth!

Me: Then what, we just sit around in the dark for one hour?

Andre: Without air-con?

Kenneth (reading the flyer): Oh, we're invited to go the shopping centre where the lights will be turned off for one hour.

Me: Then what, we all stand around in the dark for one hour?

Andre: Never mind, there got free air-con!

In the end, we dutifully sat in the bedroom in the dark with one lit candle. From 8.30-9.30pm, we played word games and had Lesley-Anne attempt to explain global warming to Andre... but with the air-conditioner on. Sorry, if you want Andre to join the revolution, you'll have to move him out of the tropics.

Fun Chinese reading, thanks to Xiao Ding Dang

If you think Andre's English reading is dismal, wait till you hear about his Chinese. It's practically non-existent - limited to his school textbooks and assessment books. Once in three weeks, we go to the library and we'll borrow a whole armful of English books, plus the cursory Chinese book thrown in for good measure (and out of guilt). By the time the books are due, we'll be lucky if he even picked up the Chinese book, let alone read it.

Of course we parents are at fault too, Chinese is Kenneth's duty and he has so far only focused on getting homework and tuition work done. You probably can tell the lack of priority by the fact that this is the first and only post on Chinese since I started my blog half a year ago.

Chinese is just not my favourite topic - it's like a foreign language to me. This is despite having scored B grades at 'O' and 'AO' level Chinese, which only reinforces my belief that the Singapore system rewards those with exam skills because I say this in all honesty - that my pathetic standard of Chinese is somewhere between the p2 and p3 levels. I am a living example that the old methods of teaching Chinese HAVE FAILED. I sometimes hear people who complain about the new methods, that they place too much emphasis on hanyu pinyin or rely too much on English, yadda yadda. I think it's just the usual rejection of anything new and inclinations to hang on to tradition. To me, anything is an improvement on past methods which relied purely on rote learning, memorising and killed any love of the language. Kenneth took Chinese as a first language for 10 years, he was from a SAP school. Now, he communicates haltingly with the tuition teacher and his conversations are sprinkled with English. FAIL!

Just as I'm keen to improve Andre's standard of English through reading, I think it's important to foster his love of Chinese via reading Chinese books. The problem is Andre views this as work - reading + Chinese = double whammy. So when Adeline told me about the Xiao Ding Dang comics, I immediately grabbed at the opportunity to ask her to buy them for me.

Here they are, six volumes of Xiao Ding Dang comics for only about $4.80 each (why is it that Chinese books are generally so much cheaper than English books?) When I first showed them to Andre, he went "yay!" and then, "hah? why not in English?" At first, he only looked at the pictures, then later I made him read the Chinese and it wasn't too painful (after he'd gotten the hang of reading up and down, from right to left). The Chinese is pitched at just the right level - for lower primary so he knows most of the words (more than me *blush*). Plus the comics are in full colour and the stories are so funny. Here's one where everything from a book comes alive and Xiao Ding Dang and Da Xiong have to deal with a giant mammoth.


Of course I know that he can't just rely on reading comics forever but this is one small step towards cultivating an interest in the Chinese language. Thanks a million, Ad!

Holiday reading... and a breakthrough

During the one-week March holidays, my kids got more reading done than usual. This was a conscious effort on my part because I'd been feeling that my kids don't spend enough time reading. Lesley-Anne because her schedule is always so packed and Andre because he lacks interest.

So during the holidays, I made the kids fit "reading time" into their timetables (I find that with my kids, if I specifically pencil something in instead of vaguely leaving it to "when you're free", it's much more likely to get done.)

Finding books for Andre has always been a perplexing task for me - he just isn't interested in reading. I find that this seriously handicaps him in his use and comprehension of the English language. Then at a recent family gathering, Kenneth's niece said she stumbled upon this series of books that her son loves. Her son is a year younger than Andre and also dislikes reading, so I was instantly all ears. The series is Beast Quest by Adam Blade. It's about a boy who goes on a quest to free the Magical Beasts of Avantia which have been enchanted by the evil wizard Malvel.

So during the holidays, I borrowed one of the books from the library and guess what? I couldn't believe it - Andre was so engrossed he overshot his allotted reading time and finished the book in one sitting. After that, he recounted the story to me very enthusiastically and asked if I could get my hands on the other books in the installment. Wah! Tio beh pio (touch lottery).

The appeal is that it is in the fantasy genre with lots of imaginative monsters and creatures that boys just love, and the writing is simple and easy to understand, unlike most other fantasy books. That night, we went to Borders but they were practically all sold out of Beast Quest, it's that popular. They had only two titles left - I bought one and get this, Andre offered to pay for the other himself out of his savings. Later that week, we bought another two from the Popular Expo sale.

The thing is, I'm reluctant to buy too many of them because it's a very expensive endeavour. There are a total of five Quests in the series with six books in each Quest, so that makes it a total of 30 books (and that's at last count, I believe the author is still churning them out). Plus each story is very short so it's not really value for money. So we've decided to borrow them instead, from Kenneth's niece who has generously agreed to lend whatever her son has.

Lesley-Anne too caught up with her reading during the one-week holidays. She was browsing through my library and caught sight of A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I didn't recommend this in the past because I don't think it's that great (even though I went on to collect the whole series just because I'm obsessive that way). To my surprise, she was so absorbed in the series that she devoured all 13 books before the holiday ended. Which is a reminder for me that I should keep an open mind when it comes to my kids' reading.


She's currently very taken with a book that I highly recommend: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's basically a holocaust story tracing the life of Liesel, an abandoned German girl, but it's told in an extremely imaginative way - from the point of view of Death. The theme that runs across the book is the use of colours as imagery, and the deaths of people are seen by Death as certain colours depending on the sky. Interestingly, Death is not portrayed as sinister but as a perceptive figment going about doing its job. It even comments that it is "haunted by humans". Beautifully written - two thumbs up for this book.

Reading has slowed down again, now that school has resumed but the progress over the holidays has been very encouraging. For Andre especially, it's delightful to see him engrossed in a book other than Tintin. Hope this inspires you to persevere with your reading efforts, mummies!

Giving back

For many years, the word "volunteer" would make me shudder. Strange? This was because when I was working in the arts industry, part of my job was managing volunteers and I will outrightly say that this was one of the tasks I disliked the most.

It was the hypocrisy that grated, most of all. Although I can't generalise this to all, many of the volunteers were expat wives or tai tais with egos to match the size of their bling. Their primary motivation for volunteering was far from altruistic - it was to be seen and their activities evolved around getting the most public recognition for themselves. Instead of helping, they often created more unnecessary work for already loaded admin staff and the bitching.. oh, the bitching! It was so traumatic for me it almost made volunteerism a bad word in my books.

In recent years however, I had to acknowledge that my experience was not a valid reason for not volunteering. Giving back to society is an intrinsic part of being human. It reinforces the notion that we are obliged to help our fellow human beings or contribute to a larger cause like education, the arts or the environment. It keeps us from being self-centred - something we're already inclined to be in this greedy, material world - and in the process of serving, hopefully it makes us better people. I wanted my kids to learn this and so I needed to set the example myself.

Volunteerism involves some form of giving. But I think some people mistake this to mean sacrifice. I don't really buy that. Ok, when you see someone in need, you should respond if you can, even if you don't really like it. But in general, volunteerism comes in many forms - if you don't enjoy being around kids, you don't have to volunteer to help out at an orphanage, for example. No one is asking you to be a martyr. To me, the best way to volunteer is to give of what you enjoy doing, that might help someone. This idea is upheld in the bible:

"Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Cor 9:7

So when I made a conscious decision to volunteer last year, I checked out the National Volunteer & Philanthropic Centre online e-match service. It's very useful - you can choose to volunteer by cause, activity, beneficiaries and even location, so you can work around your interests and schedule. I wanted to work for youths as I like kids and it turned out that one of the youth organisations needed a writer for their newsletters and website. Hey, I can do that! So that's how I got started.

I also practise Corporate Social Responsibility under my business. Not much admittedly, but when I get requests for writing by non-profit organisations, I usually do them at discounted rates. One such organisation was the National Parks Board and I wrote a brochure for their Plant-A-Tree Programme which I'm taking the opportunity to highlight here. If you're looking for a volunteering opportunity that you can do with your kids, this is a very worthwhile venture. For just a mere $200, your whole family can plant a tree at one of the local parks. You are sending a direct message on the importance of preserving the environment and the act of planting the tree, not just giving money, makes you an active participant in caring for nature.

Some people mistakenly believe that they need special talent to be a volunteer or that giving has to be in a big way. Not at all. Last Sunday's sermon at church was a timely reminder of the widow's gift of two mites (Luke 21:1-4). She gave quietly and generously. Because of that, her simple gift was more appreciated and blessed than the fancy donations flaunted by the Pharisees. No need for flashy gestures. As long as they're sincere and from the heart, even the simplest gift or service will count.

The talented George Michael released Praying For Time in 1990 - a poignant song which laments social apathy and injustice. Carrie Underwood, one of the past American Idol winners, gave a powerfully moving and gut-wrenching performance on the show last year as part of Idol Gives Back. Funny, I didn't like Carrie when she was a contestant but after she'd won, she really came into her own and wowed me as a singer. How far this farmer girl has come!

Anyway, I'm posting this video in the hope that it will further inspire you to give back in your own way. Do listen to the song, it's beautiful. The lyrics are posted below.


These are the days of the open hand
They will not be the last
Look around now
These are the days of the beggars and the choosers
This is the year of the hungry man
Whose place is in the past
Hand in hand with ignorance
And legitimate excuses

The rich declare themselves poor
And most of us are not sure
If we have too much
But we'll take our chances
Cos God's stopped keeping score
I guess somewhere along the way
He must have let us all out to play
Turned his back and all God's children
Crept out the back door

And it's hard to love, there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
Well maybe we should all be praying for time

This is the year of the empty hand
Oh you hold on to what you can
And charity is a coat you wear twice a year
These are the days of the guilty man
Your television takes a stand
And you find that what was over there is over here

So you scream from behind your door
Say "what's mine is mine and not yours"
I may have too much but I'll take my chances
Cos God's stopped keeping score
And you cling to the things they sold you
Did you cover your eyes when they told you
That he can't come back
Cos he has no children to come back for

And it's hard to love when there's so much to hate
Hanging on to hope when there is no hope to speak of
And the wounded skies above say it's much too late
So maybe we should all be praying for time.

Play at your own Risk!

Risk - a game of world conquest, the ultimate test of military strategic prowess. Or so claims Parker Brothers.

Last night, we brought out our old game that had been languishing in the storeroom and introduced it to the kids for the first time. We thought we might need to give chance a bit, since the kids were greenhorns. Never happened - we were too busy trying to save our own skins.

Kenneth, the old pro at Risk, was the first to succumb, so malu. Next, Lesley-Anne fought valiantly over war-torn Asia but in vain. Kenneth tried to advise Andre to fortify his troops instead of battling down to his last man, but the advice fell on deaf ears - Andre was on a crazed rampage for world domination and no one, least of all his daddy, was going to stop him. Every country conquered was greeted with an evil cackle worthy of Hannibal Lector.

Africa, Europe, South America - one by one the continents fell like dominoes to the 8-year-old dictator. Finally, I was the last bastian of freedom, desperately defending North America but to no avail as bloodthirsty Napolean steamrolled over me with an uncanny, unrelenting stream of sixes on the dice. White flag.

Strategy, my foot. Plan all you want - it boils down to pure, dumb luck which Andre always seems to have an abundant supply of. "This is FUN!" he declared gleefully. I'm sure Hitler thought so too.

Imagine if you were a cartoon character...

Since it is the one week school holidays afterall (or what's left of it), here's a post on games.

There's a terrific board game that we love to play with family and friends called Imaginiff. A friend helped us buy this from US, it's not available in Singapore, except maybe from specialty stores.

This is how you play: A set of names is chosen, usually of all the players and friends that don't even have to be present. At each turn, a name is chosen as the subject. You pick a card which has six possible answers, for example, "Imaginiff _____ were a musical instrument. What would he/she be? (1) Triangle (2) Bagpipes (3) Electric Guitar (4) Saxophone (5) Violin (6) Organ. Which would he/she be?". Insert the subject's name. Each player picks an answer and those who have picked the most popular answer get to move forward.

This is a hilarious social game especially if you are the subject because you get to see what everyone thinks of you (and it often doesn't match what you think of yourself!) Some of the questions are downright wacky, like "Imaginiff _______ were a body part" or "Imaginiff ______ were a cartoon character". Once, we had Andre as the subject and the question was, "Imaginiff Andre were a car part. (1) Steering wheel (2) Accelerator (3) Brake (4) Horn (5) Engine (6) Reverse signal. Which would he be?" Andre picked Accelerator, the rest of us chose Horn. Meaning he sees himself as quick, whereas everyone else saw him as loud. When we play this with my sister, she often wins, which indicates that she's the most socially astute among us.

This game usually results in plenty of laughs (and protests!) and often leads to side discussions that are rather enlightening. When asked what type of dog breed my kids are, I said Lesley-Anne was a spaniel ie dainty and sweet (left pic) and Andre was a Jack Russell terrier ie hyper and mischievous (right).










This game is very versatile, Andre could successfully play this at age 7 although some of the cards might be too difficult for young kids to understand. The game is also skewed towards American culture which may be lost on Asians. No biggie, we just take another card. If you're looking for a great board game that is fun, easy to learn, non-competitive (winning isn't the main objective) and socially meaningful, this is it. It gets a 5-star recommendation from me.

A picture of poise and grace

Warning: image heavy post!

So this week, in addition to Andre's piano exam, Lesley-Anne had her Grade 4 ballet exam. (Holiday? What holiday??) I didn't grow up learning ballet, so when Lesley-Anne started going for ballet exams, it was a complete surprise to me that so much work went into preparations on the day of the exam itself.

We had to be there an hour before the exam time. First - hair. Getting the hair into a perfect bun takes a good 20 minutes. It's held up by a tonne of gel and hair spray, and some 16 hair pins. (See all the products on the table?)

By the time it's done, not a strand is moveable even if she did a series of cartwheels. It takes two thorough shampoos to release the bun after.

Next, shoes. By Grade 4, the girls wear ribbon shoes and these have to be tied perfectly so that they don't come loose during the exam. Here's Lesley-Anne's teacher applying her expert skills.

Then it's last minute brushing of shoes and ironing of character skirts to ensure that everything is picture perfect.

There's just something about ballet that makes it such an alluring subject for art and photography. I suspect that's why it's such a favourite among masters like Degas - even unposed, ballerinas generally look angelically graceful and elegant.

Before exams, Lesley-Anne's ballet teacher usually gets the girls to pose for pictures. This series of pictures are of Lesley-Anne's exam group. They look happy and their nerves didn't show at all (believe me, they were nervous!)

These next photos are with their character skirts and shoes.

I think you can tell these three girls are great friends.

To teacher with love

It's time for the annual Parent-Teacher meeting again and this year, the school has instituted a group briefing instead of individual sessions. However, a few parents whom the teacher feels require an individual face-to-face session were notified. As you would have guessed, we received a summons from Andre's teacher... uh oh.

These meetings are never good news. Here's some of the less than desirable feedback we received about Andre:

• He rushes through his work because his goal is to finish it quickly
• His English vocabulary is weak
• In English comprehension, he makes up answers not from the passage
• He's competitive but only in PE
• He doesn't file his work
• He was told to bring a set of files in Week 5, he eventually only brought them in Week 10
• He doesn't pay attention
• He plays in class
• His handwriting is so bad he confuses himself
• His pencil is always blunt

Aiyoh. I'm just about ready to faint. But there is a silver lining and that's his teacher. This was the first time I'd met her and I found her to be fresh, earnest and enthusiastic. Most importantly, she obviously connects with Andre and wants to inspire him to do better, in spite of himself. She says he's imaginative, creative and she enjoys having him in her class, something I know more jaded teachers will never say. She believes in incentivising good work and I've seen her comments on his worksheets and journal - they're always encouraging and thoughtful.

It was also heartening to learn that Andre is one of the stronger ones in maths in his class and his English is average (bearing in mind though his is not the most academically-inclined class). Basically, his biggest issue is his attitude - his lack of interest in his studies means he doesn't apply himself and he performs below his potential. But it was somewhat comforting to know that at least it's not a question of ability - it's a question of motivation.

The down side of having a teacher Andre likes is that he's not afraid of her and completely takes advantage of her sunny nature. But I discovered that he's not entirely unsympathetic to his teacher's predicament, as evidenced by this conversation we had in the car on the way to the meeting.

Andre: Miss xx works very hard.

Me: Why do you say that?

Andre: Because there are 44 pupils in the class and it's mostly boys.

Me: Why is it harder to teach boys?

Andre: You know.

Me (amused): I don't know, you tell me.

Andre: Talk lah, play lah.

Me: So you're one of them.

Andre: Yah lah!

Me: That's not nice. Since she's kind to you, you should pay attention and listen to her.

Andre: Ok. (pause) This year passed so fast, it's March already.

Me: That's right.

Andre: When the teacher is nice, time goes by very quickly!


High praise indeed. Andre has been truly blessed this year.

Exam fever

Yesterday was Andre's theory exam and I'd been quite at ease as I knew he was prepared for it. His music teacher is quite ingenious - he came up with funny phrases to help Andre remember the corresponding major and minor keys, eg.

G major + E minor = Giant Elephants
F major + D minor = Fat Donkey

And Andre's personal favourite:

C major + A minor = Crazy Andre

Despite knowing that Andre was ready, in the morning before the exam, I suddenly experienced an irrational attack of exam anxiety and felt the urgent need to bombard him with instructions.

"Read the questions carefully."
"Check properly whether it says 'with key signature' or 'without key signature'."
"Do you have enough pencils?" (I hastily packed two extra ones, in addition to the two mechanical pencils already in his pencil case).
"Make sure you write dark enough."
"But don't keep going over the notes until they're messy!"
"If you erase your work, make sure you rub it away completely."
"Take a packet of tissue in case you need to blow your nose."
"Don't draw your notes too closely until they're joined together like Siamese twins."
"Don't draw your flat so round like a 'b'."
"What is con moto??"

This barrage continued unabated all the way to the exam centre, right to the door of the exam room.

"Remember to paste your name label on the paper."
"If you finish early, you can come out."
"But don't rush to come out! Take your time!"
"Wait for me at the corridor if I'm not here."
"If it's cold, wear your jacket."
"Do you need to go to the toilet?"
"Check your work properly!"

I was not the only restless parent. A few, after watching their kids find their seats through a small glass panel on the back door, proceeded to tap on the panel to get their kids' attention and mime last-minute instructions. It's a marvel our kids are able to retain anything - I'm sure after a while, they learn to tune our voices out like white noise.

I proceeded to the kopitiam to have my teh while waiting for Andre to finish his exam. And there, on a nearby chair, I saw this vision of jaunty carefreeness and total serenity.


It was mocking me: "Relak lah!"

Creative English definitions

Someone emailed me this list, supposedly the latest in a yearly competition by the Washington Post. Trying to be the responsible blogger, I checked out the authenticity and turns out, it's fake. (In fact, it has been in circulation since 2005).

Nevertheless, it's creative and funny, so I'm publishing it, but no credits to Washington Post. You're supposed to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. This is the list:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus (n.): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication (n.): Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realise it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation (n.): Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Hindprint (n.): Indentation made by a couch potato.

7. Giraffiti (n.): Vandalism spray-painted very,very high.

8. Sarchasm (n.): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the Person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte (v.): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Hipatitis (n.): Terminal coolness.

11. Karmageddon (n.): It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido (n.): All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler effect (n.): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor (n.): The colour you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

18. Nazigator (n.): An overbearing member of your carpool.


Also check out this list of alternate meanings for common words:

1. Coffee (n.): The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted (adj.): Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

3. Abdicate (v.): To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.): To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Negligent (adj.): Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.): To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.): Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.): Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.): A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Rectitude (n.): The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

12. Oyster (n.): A person who sprinkles his conversation with yiddishisms.