EDUCATION

Sometimes, I wonder why do people place soooooo much importance on EDUCATION - so much so that it seems to be THE topmost priority that overrides everything?


Maybe it's the Asian society. Or it's just that Singapore society - being totally lack of natural resources to fall back on - is just too competitive. 


While it's unanimous that education IS important, but it doesn't mean that everything else is secondary.





For one, moral values.






I DON'T BELIEVE in students being forced and being drilled to master the "technique" to impeccably answer national examination questions in structurally-correct statements, and yet - at the same time - neglect values education totally. In the blind pursuit of academics.


I DON'T BELIEVE in "brainwashing" kids with the so-called "model answer", drilling them, giving hours and hours of marathon extra lessons after school and nagging at them to studystudystudystudystudy - just so that they can do well in the annual national examinations, qualify for high school, only to drop out in the end because they couldn't cope with their studies eventually.


Not everyone is musically-inclined. Not everyone can sing in perfect pitch. The same, I strongly believe, applies to academic-inclination too.





I DON'T BELIEVE in creating fireworks. Creating a one-time miracle by forcing it through, and then watching it frazzle away.


I DON'T BELIEVE in giving a man a fish. Teach him how to fish instead. 



I DON'T BELIEVE education should be a one-all and end-all.






I see no point in investing in the brains, if the moral values are lacking.


I see no point in the society producing a brilliant scholar who scores straight aces and distinctions, if he grows up to embezzle company's funds one day. 
I see no point in the society producing a successful doctor, if he can't even empathize with others.
I see no point in the society producing a high-flier businessman, if he deals with partners unscrupulously.










It should be moral values first. Education, second.

ANNE FRANK : AFTERTHOUGHT

Finally finished reading The Diary of a Young Girl : Anne Frank. This book was purchased while holidaying in Korea in June. Books and bookmarks are my nerdiest purchase throughout that holiday trip!

Reading the book is like going on a tumultuous roller coaster ride. 

I hate how jolly the beginning of the diary started off; but yet am magically enthralled by how it fluctuates like the U.S. stock market as Anne's moods swung up and down - typical of a young girl who was in the process of learning more about this world, herself, and people around her. And I hate, especially, how the last diary entry went. A young girl in the midst of discovering herself, but yet having to have her life cut off so tragically short.

At times, I secretly felt bad reading the book. Because it makes me like I'm breaching someone's privacy.

Her insecurities. Feeling that her father's love is something that has to be earned. Feeling inferior to her elder sister. Her agonies with her mother. The Pete whom she first loved before the war started. And the Peter who she later grew to fall in love with in the hideout during the war. Feeling sorry for - and worrying about - her fellow Jewish friends whom she's not able to help. Being miserable. Being angry at her father and writing a heated letter to the latter; ending up feeling sorry for being rude and insensitive to her father. Scarce food source. Eating strawberry and green peas for weeks on end. Her struggles with her self-esteem. Questioning whether the relationship with Peter is out of pure love, or did it stem from boredom within the confines. Questioning herself. The internal struggle with her different personalities which she never articulated out. Searching for her true identity. Self-discovery. Self-identification.

At times, all these made me feel bad. It feels like I'm threading on someone's VERY private thoughts. When she was talking gushing about her first kiss, I felt sorry for reading it. Immensely uncomfortable. I mean, hello??? This is something private! I will not want people to hear me gushing about such girly stuff!

Another reason why I felt bad while reading the book is : it makes me wonder about A LOT of things.

Would Anne have complained about eating strawberries for weeks on end; if only she knew that - in a couple of months' time - their hideout would be stomped by the Gestapo? 

During the terrible times of starvation in concentration camps, did Anne ever think about how nice it would be to be able to taste strawberries again?

Some eyewitnesses who were in the same concentration camp reported that both Anne, Margot (Anne's elder sister), and their mother were very close to each other. Mother and daughters were rarely apart; and the supposedly hostility between Anne and her mother did not seem to be observed. 

Had Anne survived the war, would she have gone back and revised what she wrote - and thought - of her mother?

Otto. Oh, Otto Frank. How did he - the only survivor of the Frank family, as well as the sole survivor from the Secret Annexe - feel; reading the handwritten diary of his youngest daughter after her death, baring all her innermost thoughts, intense emotions, and deepest pain? And prior to reading her diary, have never had even the slightest inkling of it all? Of how deep - and, at times, amazingly mature - his youngest daughter's thoughts actually were despite her tender age?

Anne. If she had known that everyone hiding in the Secret Annexe would fall into the hands of the Gestapo 3 days after her last entry, would she have felt differently? There she was, writing about her confusion, her search for self-identity. Struggling between her two different sides with different personalities. There she was, so innocent and pure as a child should be. And, sadly, oblivious to what's to come in 3 days time.

Anne. If only she had hung on. If only she did not contract Typhus. Is it a good thing - that she never got to know that only a mere 2 months after her death, the concentration camp in which she was imprisoned in was liberated by the British forces?

OH MY. I can't stop thinking and wondering about these senseless questions. They burn inside my brain like coals.

Sometimes, I think my imagination is killing me.

BREAKFAST

It was Youth Day yesterday.


Made breakfast. Healthy.


After which, went out in the afternoon to bring some of my boys to watch the 3rd ASEAN school games at NTU. (errmm.. Excuse me? I thought it's a school holiday??) Geez~

Milk. Cherry tomatoes. Banana. Carrot + onion egg roll.


 

OCTOPUS

Packed up and tidied the bedroom yesterday. I think there's just this thing about homo sapien with the XX sex chromosomes : we are so sentimental. Ohmygosh~


And so, yesterday, sentiment was thrown unceremoniously out of the window. Discarded long-overdue clothes which I've not worn since, like, a couple of years ago. I should have thrown out earlier, I know, but - typical of all women - the fear that I might need it one fine day crippled any actions.  


Throw this away. And that. And that. That, too!
"But.. I don't own much of this style of blouse!" 
You hardly wore it for the past year(s)!!! 
"Yaaaaa.. Butttt.. What if one day.. An event calls for it??? Die leh!" 
You can always get a new one! 
"Buuuttt.. Waste money lar!! And what iffff... Not nice??" 
Then how long do you want to keep it for? 
"Buuuttttttttttt.... I might need it somedayyy.. Hhhooowwwww?????????" 
If you didn't wear it for the past years, you're not going to need it anytime soon, stupid. 
"Buuuuuutttttt... What if suay leh??? This type of thing very suay one! What if I need it tomorrow??? Next week??? Next month?? Next next month?????"






SIGH! It's such a pain to be a woman! 


What a mental torture! I'm glad that stage's over!






Anyway, I still feel so good. It's such a good feeling; cleaning out and tidying up till spick and span. There's something therapeutic about cleaning, I suspect.






I'm in one of those moods. You know, those moods in which you feel that's just SO MUCH that you WANT to do!!! I was tidying up the room yesterday, when all of a sudden, there was this urge to do MANY other things.


Ahhhh~ I want to cook! It's been so long since I last cooked a proper dish!! OOooOOohhHHhHHhhhH~!!! I want to start eating healthier again! I used to have such healthy breakfasts in Korea. It's definitely a good habit to keep up with!!! AaaAhhHHhh~!! I want to go online and search for recipes to try out!! AAwwwww~ I want to experiment the different recipesssss!! I want to explore Cold Storage!!! And Giant and Carrefour!!! AaaAAwwWWwwwW arrrgghhhhHHH~!!!! SAVE MEeeEeeEe!!!




It is one of those moods. There are so many things I want to do; time permitting!!! There are so many things jostling in my brain, crying desperately for my time and attention. It is one of those moods when I wish - dearly - to be an octopus. With all 8 tentacles limbs. How nice!

TOFU

Hi! My name is Tofu! Born on 20th April 2010. 
This photo was taken when I was 3-months-old. I don't look as cute now as I used to.

I eat a lot, I sleep a lot, I play a lot, but most important of all, I EAT a lot. Yeah, I know I’ve already mentioned that.

I eat all kind of food. 
Rice, ham, veggie, beansprouts, ginger, garlic, bittergourd, carrot, durian, mango, and, oh yes, even TOFU!!! 
My owner is currently cracking her brain over what to experiment feeding me with next. She’s crazy, I tell you. But I still eat, anyway.

I’m very playful. I jump and hop and race around whenever I’m in the mood to. Especially when a family member gets home after school / work, I would get into one of these crazy moods to exhibit my overwhelming exuberance.


I'm dubbed "The Killer" in the house. Whenever an insect is sighted, The Killer is set on the loose. Ants. Flies. Spiders. And my most recent victory is a baby lizard. My owner was absolutely mortified! She refused to let me come near her for the next hour after that. Sigh!
 

I honestly think my name sounds stupid. Of all things, my silly owner just had to name me after a bean curd. BEAN CURD!! Imagine that! That stupid girl. I can never fathom how that brain of hers work!