Ms Yang farewell

Hey class, I intend to post this on our class' blog, but I realize Ms Yang can access to that too, so i need to use my personal blog for this (which is about to die soon =.=). It is so hard for me to find a time that I can talk to you all without Ms Yang around, and I am currently in quarantine 'cause I have high fever and sore throat. So I really need your cooperation on this. A lot of peopl are excited about this party, and I hope everyone will read this blog and give me comments :D :x

Ok, let's get started.

1. Venue:

in my previous sms I send to all of you, I suggest that we can do a BBQ (like last time). However, Hsiu Yen gave me an idea which is pretty cool. He said he could book the Function room and we can use it for the party. This is better in a sense that if it rains on that day, we won't be affected. So I think we can do that. Singapore's weather now is so fickle that it is hard to predict :)). I hope everyone agrees with me. If not, I will tell Hsiu Yen to book it.

2. Date

SATURDAY 15th August 2009

3. Food

We can order some food from the vendor and ask them to bring it to the Function room. Hsiu Yen already volunteered to be in charge of food. However, I still need a few more to help him with ordering food. A few things to take note: please order food for 26 people, and take note of those who eat Halai (or Hala o.O).

4. Activity during party

So far I have come up with 2 activities:

a) some performances: this is a great time for you to showcase your talent. Maybe singing a song or playing guitar or something would be great. I believe Qian Yu, Wang Han, Amanda... might want to perform something? Just a suggestion :))

b) I have been trying to make a video for Ms Yang. But unfortunately i dont have a lot of pictures of her and our class. Does anyone have? if you do, please tell me so I can get it from you :). If I dun have sufficient resources, then this will be cancelled lol :D

5. Decoration

Since we are using the Function room, it would be a bit plain if there is no decoration. I need people who can be in charge of this. Well, those who are talented in art like Priscilla, Joshua, ... you may want to help out with this??? :D. You just need to come up with ideas, and then the rest with help you out :D.

6. Letter to Ms Yang

Ms Yang has been our CT for the past 3 years. I have to say she is very lenient and she cares about our class a lot. If you remember, she even cried when she said she had to leave our class. It is really hard to have a CT like that. I believe each of us has our own feelings towards her. So I think each of us should write a letter to her, to make her feel warm-hearted and to show her how much we love her. I don't want to have a piece of paper and pass around so everyone can write a few words on it. It is not meaningful enough. So I hope each and everyone of us will write our hearts out, so Ms Yang can smile in happiness when she leaves our class :)

May I collect all the letters on either Monday or Tuesday next week. I will buy a nice box and put it all together :D and give it to her on Saturday.

So in summary, this blog is about:

- Venue: Function room at Hsiu Yen's place

- Date : 15th August

- Food IC: Hsiu Yen + a few more (please volunteer)

- Performances: please contribute to the party

- Ms Yang and our class photo: if anyone has, please tell me

- Decoration IC: please volunteer as well :D

- letter to Ms Yang: each of us should have one letter, so I can compile them all and give it to her:D

So if anyone want to volunteer to do any of these, please post a comment on this blog so everyone can see. I will talk more about this next week, on Monday (hopefully). I hope to see this blog is flooded with comments :D ^^. have a nice day everyone :)

In the last post, I opened my blog with a few thoughts about the significance of music. Today, I shall boldly start with an unique topic: food. Food, indeed, is a necessity to everyone. Among all the Vietnamese proverbs, there is one that says " Troi danh con tranh bua an". In English, it means when the God intends to punish you for whatever the reasons are, it would not choose the mealtimes to execute. Isn't it sufficient to illustrate how important food is to us. However, that is not of my interest. There is something else that I want to talk about: how the food is embellished. In Stone Age, when the people followed the hunter-gatherer culture, roasting a piece of meat in the middle of a plain and eating it with blood still dribbling down along the chin curve were luxurious and satisfying. As time passed by, the perspectives of human towards food changed drastically. They started to use a pair of choptisks or the combination of fork, spoon and knife instead of bare hand. In addition, not only did the plate have on it the whole fried turkey, but also the flowered-shaped carrots or layers of salads to decorate the plate. Similarly, dried onion may look tiny but it greatly enhances the taste and the smell of certain soups. Moreover, human was so creative that it couldn't stop thinking of new way to whet its appetite. Moving from the attractive display on the plate, people decide to beatify the entire table with sets of plates and bowls arranged orderly, together with a knife on the right; a spoon and a fork on the left. That is for the Westerners. The Asian has its own unique way to set the table: choptisks are neatly placed in the napkins. On the other sides, a small ceramic spoon is placed upside-down, and right in the middle, a bowl decorated with elegant and simple mosaic is ready to serve. It is just getting better and more complicated each day. However, I wonder, in a world where the "e-formation" is spinning dizzily, how will it shape the perspectives of people on food? Will there be e-food in the future when people can satisfy its starving stomach with their eyes, not mouths? I wonder if it happens. If it did because of some innovative inventors, I would try hard not to forget how to set a table and at least make for myself a good-looking light meal before eating with my eyes.

Recently, I am stuck in quandary where I feel uncertain about what I should do. It is about my relationship and I would rather not talk about it here. However, my behaviors have become so erratic and unpredictable that even I am confused sometimes. People in Malay Dance, by now, would notice how hyper I am during dance or my dear friends would easily figure out the oddity in my responses during dialogues. It has been a long time since the last time I am afraid to go to sleep. I can't stand spending the night feeling lonely. Worst of all, I have no one to talk about the problems. My friends know about that, but it is something that is way beyond the normal placatory phrases. I hope it will get away soon. It is only 2 more weeks before my dream comes true. However, the funny thing this kind of situation seems to have recurring pattern. Before each time I go home, she and I will definitely have issues. They all soon fade away, but I am still worried. It is just my nature. Everyday I cross my fingers to hope for the best.

Lately, I try hard not to speak Singlish. As a matter of fact, whenever I interact with Singaporean friends, I always use Singlish as a mean of communication, but when I have conversation with the teachers, I use non-Singlish tone. I have no idea how to have British and American accent but Singlish limits my expression in both oral and written form. There are arguments about whether Singligh should be encouraged. It is a 50-50 situation where people have to use other method to decide: instinct. There are other names for it such as guard feeling, heart, to name a few. It is so persuasive that no one can refute it. Simply consider this simple scenario:

"why do you decide to confess to her?
my heart tells me to do so."

Can you say or ask any questions when the answer is something like that? Unless you are an inane person, no one will continue the conversation.

So according to what my heart whispers, I should stop and post this ridiculous blog immediately. Why do I feel so hopeless right now? Oh God...

P/S my blog, once more, has not become archaic.

Spontaneous moment of life

Listening to the song "Behind blue eyes", it suddenly occured to me how powerful music is. It can connect people who do not have any clue about others. They just instinctively sing along with the melody. From strangers, we all sing the common language, say the common language and share the common purpose: to halt our lives for a couple of minutes to have a temporary moment of being free from our different duties. Music, indeed, plays an indispensable role in our life. It shapes our sentiments. Some songs send a conciliatory tone when we feel down, others make us jump even higher in the hype of elation. Without songs, our life would be as empty as vaccum. Our ears would soon become deaf and apathetic to even a slight noise. However, that dystopia is not going to happen with the unstoppable proliferation of music nowadays. Thank you singers, composers and music producers for giving our ears a purpose.

I have been chatting with my girlfriends for 2 consecutive days. As we deepen ourselves in a long-winded conversation, I suddenly realize a 3-year relationship has turned us to be mind readers. Before I could type something out and press "enter", she already sent a smiley emoticon with the message on my mind. There are roughly 40 days left before the day we wished to come 10 months ago will come. I really hope our relationship will go somewhere. We have all planned out our future, how we will spend our time together in June, how I will meet her in the US and even more. My wish has become simpler than ever: everything goes according to plan. Oh, love...

I have learnt one more lesson about myself. It occured during the session when my Economic tutor asked us to give feedback to him. For those who do not know about my Economic tutor, here is a brief introduction: nobody in my class likes him. If you ask someone who know me well about how I think of him, they will definitely give you a shocking answer, an answer that no one would expect a person as playful and innocent (on the surface) as me could possibly say that. However, things changed 180 degrees on that day. Instead of glaring at him as usual, I felt sorry for him. I imagined how he would feel when he read all the negative comments everyone will give him. It would be a sad moment, even the saddest in a teacher's life. In the letter I sent to him, I wrote both about positive and negative aspects of his. However more than just giving mere comments, I set a placating tone on my message to make it less daunting. I told him that many people would get too emotional and they would be blinded away from giving fair comments, so he ought not to take them too seriously. I guess all of this is condensed into one word: sympathy. Is it always good to be sympathetic to someone who is in unfortunate situation? Whatever the answer is, it is hard to resist to do so... At least everyone knows by now that I can't hate anyone. Oh my God, this is gonna be horrendous to me...

I am glad I can scribble some words today. To conclude my blog, I want to say 2 things. Firstly, opportunities come and go. Grab it while you still can. Secondly, something about love. I have seen people falling to a pithole because of love, but others flying to heavan because of love. Love is a double-edged knife. It is how to make the other less sharp that matters. Everyone will have their own ways to deal with it. I also have my strategies. And I think I am talking crap right now... Ok, for those who are still hiding behind trees and peeking at your girls with a telescope, MAKE A MOVE once FAVORABLE, as I said "opportunities come and go". For those who are already in a relationship, cherish every single moment you have with your love and don't drag both of you down on a bottomless cliff. Have fun and good luck!

Happy Labour Day

P/S. No one can say that my blog is decrepit.

Dear Cikgu,

The journey with you in the past 6 months left an indelible mark on our heart and soul. 

It started at the moment when you first told us we would dance with plates - real plates. We felt a deep sense of anxiety together with curiosity. We wondered how we could ever manage to carry the plates properly, not even talk about dancing with it. However, when the heaviest fog lay ahead, you came to enlighten us.

Your dance - our dance - is always the best. The judges wouldn't drop their jaws when they looked at us without your marvelous choreography. We would not feel graceful when we danced without your superb movements. We wouldn't have deep passion for the dance without your meaningful message. We wouldn't be a complete family without you.

You brought us guy and laughter during training. You remained patient when we did our steps wrongly. You helped us get ourselves into correct shape and posture. You cared for us when we trained exhaustively. You...[you know what we are going to say, don't you:)].

SYF has passed but we still vehemently overwhelmed with our achievement. Some of us will say goodbye at the end of this year, some will continue to dance Malay dance. However, none of us will say goodbye to you. How can we possibly be ready for that? There is a famous say "Once a family, always a family". Indeed, you are part of our unbreakable family. Always.

Our journey may start when the plates were placed on our palms, but it will never end as we will always be together, side by side.

Cikgu, we all love you very much

Best wishes,

NJC Malay Dance.

It was my first letter today. I believe it was the only one that I could put my entire heart on it. Sadly, there were a few who read it hastily, even stopped in the middle. I suddenly felt a nudge at my heart...

Welcome back!

Again, I was not able to blow a fresh wind to my obsolete blog. I remember I used to ask myself whether I should raze it instead of keeping feeding it with a torpor tone. My friends urged me to write something to bring back the meaningful purpose of a blog – a platform where I can share my sentiments and reflections about my very own life. Well, I suppose I have no valid reason to refute this premise. It is true I have a long list of emotions and today, I will pick up a few most noteworthy points to share with everyone.
I can say with great confidence that I have met the extreme of tiredness and the zenith of lethargy after one week of so-called “holiday”. I once believed “holiday” was derived from 2 separate words “holy” and “day”, i.e. the days when everyone celebrated the joy of free from stress. These sacred days would not occur frequently and the word “holy-day” or “holiday” was come about. After the March holiday, however, it was so drastic that it turned my beliefs upside-down. From waiting earnestly for the holy-day to come, I nodded unwillingly at the Metallica’s song “The day that never comes” That is one side of the story. On the other hand, I suddenly appreciated “rest” more than ever. I found out a surprising piece of news in the Internet that inadequate sleep would impair brain’s function and result in decrease in IQ level in human. Rest is important because it enables your brain to work properly and to think more critically and reflectively. I found it astoundingly true. I was overwhelmed with study, work and CCA for the past few months and there were rarely any breaks for me to spend time with me. That may possibly attribute to the fact that I did not take a good care of my blog. I am glad that I have halted myself for a couple of minutes to write this blog, so that I won’t have to look back with a poignant nudge in my heart that keeps telling me “I should have…”

Facing a dearth of time, which one should I rank higher: schoolwork, CCA, LS, SAT… Hang on! Does it look too much? Does it look like I am trying to exhaust myself rather than exploit it? I can’t answer that question. SAT is of paramount importance because I can’t achieve my precious dream without it. I can’t abandon CCA because I am simply a zealous member of the team. LS is where I learn how to perform professionally in workplace in later life. Lastly, schoolwork is where everything starts. All of these elements coalesce when I am 17 and saturate my mind. Prioritizing is necessary at this stage but how to decide which one to relegate and which one to promote. Obviously, schoolwork is always at the top position, followed closely by SAT. Unfortunately, I could not come to a conclusive decision between CCA and LS. What should I do next year? Maybe I need a peaceful mind and a far-sighted eye to explore this problematic quandary. Help…Negative attitude won’t solve anything. Maybe sometimes, I should take a rest, go somewhere far to think about my life, to consider goals over grades, shouldn’t I?

Self-development is crucial, but relationship is equally imperative. Family, friendship and love. I want to devote the last part of my blog to talk about this. Family – the one who never turns its back against you. Friendship – the one who never fail my trust. Love – the one who I can’t live without. They encourage me to forget misery to pursue my dreams, give me transient moment of peaceful mind but lasting lots of memorable events. Father, mother, dudes (you know who I am referring to) and (please!). I thank you all. Distrust all of you is the last thing I will ever do in this life.

Resurrection

Hi everyone,

It has been quite some time since the last time I blogged. The blog has been silenced for a long period and many people have blamed me for not keeping it alive. I feel terribly shameful for not being able to fulfill my responsibility as its owner. This is exactly why I have come to a groundbreaking decision: it is time to awake it so it can serve its meaningful purposes once more. As its rightful owner, I promise I will not abandon it again. 

This year will witness many revolutionary events in my life. First of all, giving up is the last thing I will think of in everything I do. This is because if I give up, I give myself a reason to point to the mirror and shout out: "you are even worse than a kid". Do you know why I say so. Everything started with the first lesson: how to walk. To a one-year-old kid, learning how to walk is the most challenging lesson he has ever encountered.  He does cry sometimes because he feels painful when he falls down, but when he is able, for the first time, to stand straight resolutely, he opens wide his mouth and sprouts out a smile - an unmistakable mark of satisfaction and happiness. Similarly, I also taste the flavor of failure and success many times. However, why should I surrender to all the difficulties when a little kid can face his greatest obstacles and eventually overcome it (even some of the difficulties now I encounter are not the hardest)? Why should I halt myself for a couple of hours to give myself a nudge of regret in my heart for a lifetime? It is determination and faith that matters here. If you ever think of waving a white flag, I suggest you should start everything again with the first lesson: perambulate firmly on the ground.

Secondly, moving away from a memorable childhood, I need to prepare for the biggest jump of my life: entering the adulthood. It is not going to be a smooth transition but it is inevitable. I must undergo brainwash to get rid of all ridiculous characters: dependence, being irresponsibility, dishonesty,... If I continue to be a person who satisfied all characters above, I have already bought a one-way ticket to the outside land, where no one knows about your existence. It is time to leave back all the nonsense that used to make sense. It is time to be an independent person that would make my life less dependent. It is time to move out of the circle of protection to purchase a ring that protects you. It is time to be man, not a boy. I know one day I will wish to be a boy again but at least it is not a kind of wish that you want bring back time to make a change. There are more complicated steps to truly be an adult but preparing mentally is always a step that needs to be taken first.

Thirdly, I have visualized how this year will look like to me. Choosing career, picking universities, developing characters and on top of all, studying are the main factors that will affect my decision, my lifestyle and my personalities. Many may think it is too soon to get yourself busy. I think differently. If you do not start now, when is the right time to kick off? The sooner you start, the more mistakes or weak areas that you will discover and hence necessary amendments can be taken on time. Time is not limitless but gaining control of time will give you unlimited opportunities to be the winner. 

I will go the kind of school I want, enjoy the kind of career I love, and it will all have started with the relatively few hours I devoted to having a brighter future.