A Decision I Won’t Regret..

Had Npcc training last Friday and it went well for the unit as a whole. I interacted with the 3 levels of cadets and I was pleased to able to talk and know more about them. Normally, due to lack of manpower, I will be with only one level and didn’t have enough time to interact with the rest. Friday was the day whereby I was able to move around, thanks to my fellow CIs.

We had a award ceremony at the end and the whole unit was down on the parade square. It’s been some time that I see every single level falling in together and I was glad that everything went well. One of the sec 4s NCO has been promoted to Station Inspector while the rest received their ranks and badges. It was a very proud moment for her.

After training, we decided to snap some photos with the sec4s due to the fact that everyone was in full uniform.

These batch of sec4s, I’ve seen them since I was a NCO. It’s a feeling which can’t explain truly in words and it’s just so happy to see them graduate on a high. This batch of kids, is one of the more mischievous ones I’ve ever taken. However, they are also the ones who always don’t fail to put a smile on my face. They are also the ones who never fail to greet me even when I’m not in uniform. It’s been a joy teaching them.

I would like to wish all of you “All the best in your upcoming years and always be cheerful as you guys always are.”

These are other pictures that we took! (By the way, Sir took a long time uploading this pictures, better thank me when you guys see me )

Took pictures with my beloved Sec3s as well. These guys still have to be with me for quite some time.

After the cadets were gone, the instructors decided to have some fun with the camera as well.

Formal..

Here comes the informal..

Being a Cadet Inspector is a something which I’m really enjoying and it’s just feel great interacting with my cadets, my fellow CIs and of course my officers as well. Although I may not be the best CI, however, I always believe in my own ability and till today, I’ve never regretted being one.

Cheers.

Public Speaking..

I’ve not been typing entries these few days as nothing special happened recently and partly, I wanted to wait for my feel of blogging to be back. I believe friends out there who blog, we will always tend to wait for the feel of typing our feelings and thoughts into the entry, otherwise, typing just for the sake of one more entry doesn’t have any meaning at all.

A few months back, I’ve written an entry about teaching the secondary 1 students my secondary school song. It was an experience and singing a song with my standard of voice is something which I took up courage to do.

Today, I was invited by my ex-science teacher to be back to secondary school to give a motivational-talk to the current batch of students. In the beginning, I thought it was just a small group of people, maybe a class or two.

However, when I reached the school, I realised I’m going to be standing in front of the stage and be speaking during their assembly period. I’ve prepared the powerpoint slides beforehand and somehow, I was having butterflies in my stomach. There were 4 speakers and I was the last speaker.

I saw many familiar faces, my ex-teachers, my cadets especially. I was feeling less nervous as their faces appeared. When it’s my turn, I gave my everything. I gave the best I could and the talk went well. When I was up there, I wasn’t feeling any butterflies nor any stage fright. I was feeling comfortable and it just pleased me to see the students really listening to you. You could see from their faces whether they are listening to you.

Now I could understand why teachers get so frustrated whenever students are not listening to you. It’s really irritating when you are speaking to an audience who aren’t listening to what you are trying to convey.

Talked to my ex teachers after the talk and I was delighted to see them again. They were wearing a smile upon seeing us. I’m just glad to be back. (Even though I go back weekly for Npcc trainings)

Caught a movie after that, Mr Bean, the Holiday. Upon hearing this name, everybody knows that it’s a comedy. Yes, it is. The show was not too bad, humorous and most importantly, I’ve enjoyed it. Laughing out loud is something I really enjoy.

Went back home for home-cooked dinner by Mother. Just love home-cooked home than anything. Watch TV programmes for several hours. I’ve not been watching TV for quite some time. Switching channels with the remote control is something quite enjoyable as well. Sometimes, such minor actions and things in life can be pleasing and entertaining.

We just overlook such stuff everyday in life, didn’t we?

Cheers.

Leadership..

I was back to ADSS this afternoon after a month of absence due to examinations and my medical leave. (Wisdom teeth) The feeling of going back is good and of course, I miss my cadets. From secondary 1 to 4, I miss all of them even just a month away.

Training went quite smoothly and I had fun teaching my secondary 3 cadets. Enjoyed my session with them. Went around to see the rest of the levels and I’m glad that they all seems to be enjoying themselves in their own respective activities. Of course, there will always be some cadets who would give you problems, but still, as a whole, a smile appeared on my face.

Everything was alright until something unpleasant happened during mass dismissal. Somehow, this affected me and my fellow cadet inspectors as well. I was quite concerned and reflecting on myself as a leader and an instructor. My fellow instructors was also pondering and wondering what actually went wrong. To be frank, I wasn’t sure of what’s the best solution even though the instructors had sat down and discussed about it.

When our cadets don’t perform to standards, is it us, instructors the main cause of this? Are we the ones who didn’t teach them well and hence, this led to such poor performance? I was really thinking hard since mass dismissal. Am I the one who didn’t guide them the right way that cause them to under perform?

Since primary school, I’m assigned roles such as prefect and class monitor. I could still remember I was the class monitor of 5A in Sembawang Primary School. I was overjoyed. At that time, I was not prepared and I didn’t know what to do. Soon after that, I was a prefect and was holding two roles at primary 5. By the time I reached Primary 6, I was appointed the head-prefect of the school. Oh yes, it’s really scary. I was like 12 years old and I needed to give a speech at the prize-giving day.

I was so nervous and I could still remember that my speech didn’t went well. I had flu and the whole speech was simply not the best I expected to be. I was hitting myself of not grabbing the chance of giving the speech well at the back of the stage. I told myself, it’s okay, learn from it.

Here comes secondary school. I was a student councillor at the end of my secondary 1. Went on to serve the school well, gave my everything and I was determined to be the best I can be being a councillor. When I reached secondary 3, I was given the opportunity to be in the executive committee. There was one interview conducted and it was tough one. I was shot upside down in the room and I fell into the trap by losing my cool. I was stubborn and refused to answer any questions.

I was given a post which I didn’t really wanted in the end. It was a mistake made and I was paid for being unable to control my emotions. Still, I kept to my post and did all I could in my department in the council. My efforts did pay off. My members in my department became leaders in the council after I’ve stepped down, which was something I’m proud of. It was a mistake and I was hitting myself of not grabbing the chance of doing the interview well. I told myself, it’s okay, learn from it.

Back to this very moment, I’m a Cadet Inspector and I’m wondering after all these years in taking leadership roles in primary and secondary schools, did I learn from my mistakes?

I’m a football fan and whenever a football team is not playing well, the first person who gets the blame would be the manager or the coach. Whenever a company is not doing well, the first person who would be shot would be the boss. When a child misbehaves, the people who are responsible is his/her parents.

So for my case, when my cadets are not performing to standard, I guess I’m the one who is is responsible for their poor performance. It’s never easy to be a leader and it’s even harder to motivate people around you to do well and be the best. However, there are also times whereby I see my cadets grow up and performing well and that just totally makes my job worthwhile.

My fellow instructors and I had a talk about this and all of us were puzzled about what’s going on until one of them mentioned to me this, “Maybe we are the ones who are the problem.” These words somehow woke me up and I gave it a deep thought. She made sense. She may be right. I may be the one who is not performing my job well.

Being a leader over these years and I guess these are some of the barriers you would face along the way. No doubt this is something which shook me and I see it as a new challenge. Be it I’m the one who didn’t do my job well or my cadets who simply do not care about learning, I will find a solution really soon and make sure that I learn from my mistakes.

Cheers.

Results..

Today is Monday, the start of the week. Sadly, it’s not a great start to a new week. Results were out 12am this morning. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I didn’t expect much of a pleasant surprise for me. It turned out to be true and results were disappointing and poor.

Though I expected such results, somehow, I was hoping that things would have turn out slightly better and at least something which I can smile about. Unfortunately, I was not able to do that. Disappointment, definitely a yes. But I know all these were all done by myself and I have to stick with it no matter how hard it is for me to take. Nevertheless, year 1 is over and I have to make sure I DON’T make the same old mistakes again.

I didn’t sleep well. Although I slept long, I have a massive headache upon waking up. It’s pretty awful to wake up having a headache and it just totally spoils your day.

Monday is almost gone for me and I guess I have to put my chin up for the rest of the week. I can predict that it’s not going to be smooth and maybe even rocky at some times but I just can’t afford to break down and cry.

“Come on, hang on there..” I really hope so.

Cheers.

Queensway..

Just a short entry..

Went to Queensway Shoppping Centre with Jiahao today and yes, it’s a very far journey for us who live at the northern part of Singapore. Took the bus and being a bus for too long isn’t the best thing can happen to me. I have motion sickness and the bus ride was about 45 minutes. Stopping and jerking throughout the journey caused me to be giddy. Nevertheless, I just felt like heaven when I alighted from the bus.

The main “mission” of going there was to find the Liverpool red jacket which I’ve been aiming for a long time. I couldn’t find it at VIVO adidas shop, so I decided to look for it at one of the shops over there. Sadly, there was only one left and the size is L. It’s simply too big for me. Hence, I just moved on.

To my pleasant surprise, I found a long sleeve shirt which is appealing to me and I didn’t hesitate of buying it. It’s a Liverpool shirt and added another into my Liverpool’s shirts collection.

Went on to shop around and as always, I was lost in there and ended up walking rounds in the shopping centre. Jiahao was looking for shoes and I was browsing through the shelves as well. A pair of Nike shoes caught my attention and almost single shop I went, I saw that pair of shoes. I was tempted at first and after much consideration, I decided to buy it. It costs me $70 for the pair of shoes.

After buying these 2 items, I decided not to spend anymore. On just these 2 things, my pocket has credited $140. The Liverpool shirt and the pair of Nike shoes cost $70 each. I guess, I’m going to save up from now.

A good trip down to Queensway with 2 bags in my hands back home.

Cheers.

Movies..

Has been watching movies lately and I’ve just caught 2 in 2 days. Was at VIVO with my friends yesterday and yes, although the mall is so gigantic and full of varieties, I went home empty-handed. I didn’t bought anything. Somehow, the mall is too big and I was having difficulties of settling down on what to buy. In the end, I went back with both hands in my pockets like how I went there.

Sadly, I’m very choosy in buying things and very particular about little details. My mum also complains that I’m more “auntie” in buying things than her. The first impression of the item must attract me and yes, I would buy it provided the service is good as well. Sometimes, the service for me is so bad that I just turn and walked out of the shop, even I would like to buy that item. That’s probably partly why I left VIVO without bags in my hands.

Nevertheless, watched Music and Lyrics over at VIVO and tried out the cinemas over there. It’s nothing new besides that the seats are pretty comfortable and the screen is big. Maybe because I was sitting 4 seats from the front, which is also 5 seats from the back. What a joke.

The show was good. It involves music, comedy and a little bit of love. Not a bad movie to watch. A pleasant movie and I can now see the process of recording songs in a album. It’s not as easy as it seems. It needs a lot of time and effort to even just record one song, let alone an album of 20 songs.

This is the soundtrack of the movie.
Music And Lyrics

Today, I watched Just Follow Law, the movie. It’s a Singapore’s production movie and I went along with my fellow CI, Carol. The movie is about the current Singapore society and working world. It’s of course a comedy, Jack Neo is the director. Funny scenes and I was laughing my heads off.

Yes, there are some parts which has hidden meanings which tell us Singaporeans should do. As the show mentions, in our world, there are many rules to follow and I truly agree on that. However, we have to be more flexible and sometimes, rules can be changed and implemented in a different way which is much more convenient for us. Certainly, we need rules to be around so that things goes well properly and in a systematic way, still, we have “think out of the box” and rules are dead, we people are the ones who is living in this world.

Not a bad movie and spending 2 hours laughing in a cinema was comfortable though the air-con was rather cold.

My wisdom tooth is getting better and I can almost be back to normal in terms of eating. Left one more dose of antibiotics and I would have finished my medicine. Dislikes taking medicine, just so troublesome and tasteless. By the way, who loves eating medicine?

Results are coming out real soon and somehow, I’m afraid of facing it. Praying hard that it would turn out better than I expected. But I guess, 99% in studies is hard work while the 1% is luck. Hopefully, the 1% would be enough.

Holidays are going to be long and I should plan on how to spend it with much satisfaction and happiness. Shouldn’t I?

Cheers.

Wisdom Tooth..

I had my wisdom tooth surgery last Thursday and yes, I can tell you, the experience was something which I would not like to go over again.

A few years back, when I needed to extract 4 teeth due to the braces, I was telling myself not to go back to the extraction room again. Sadly, I had to go back there and this time, it was more serious. It’s a surgery.

I had to be in the waiting room for quite some time till I fell asleep on the seat. When I was being called upon, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. After some briefing by the doctor, I had to enter the “operation room.” Now I can understand why people dislike going to a operation room. It’s really full of equipments and there will be huge and bright lights shinning upon your face.

I was given injections all over my mouth and my lips were numb in no time. Before I can settle down, the nurse told me, the surgery was going to start. Yes, it sounds scary. But I was mentally prepared. At about 20 minutes, 4 of my wisdom teeth were gone. There were stitches on my lower bottom gums.

I was just glad that everything was over. I was feeling giddy after the surgery, I guess it’s probably caused by the 8 injections given to me. Finally, my set of teeth is completed. Extracted a total of 8 teeth and putting of braces, there shouldn’t be any problems for me in future.

Back home, I was only allowed to eat porridge and soft food. I was hungry, but still have to endure and eat those plain food. This seems to be a week of diet for me. Still, I was able to get used to it and it’s already the 3rd day since the surgery. It will be over really soon.

Cheers.

BM0613 Chalet..

We had a chalet on the 2nd of March 2007, directly after our exams which ended on the 1st. It was held at Elias Road, People Association Holiday Flats. That place is quiet and many of us love their space out there.On the 1st day, Jiahao, Minghao, Zihui, Clara, Meiqi and I booked in first. We checked the stuff and arranged the place properly as the rest of the class would be coming the day after. I was feeling excited to see all of them coming down.

Qiaoling, Hid, Claire came first and yes, majority of the chalet, we played mahjong. Taught many of our classmates mahjong and everyone seems to be playing mahjong! Ash brought DVD player and Jang brought PS2. Thanks guys for all these. These players were important as many of us used that to watch movies in the night, played games.

It was a 5 day chalet and of course, not everyone would be staying throughout, however, as long they came down, I was pleased. It’s great to see everyone interacting with another. Sleep together, eat together, and of course, taking care of each other.

Let the pictures talk..

Sunday came and yes, it’s the barbeque night! It’s the night everyone was looking forward for, where everyone eat together and chit-chat with one another. Besides, we bought a lot of food for everyone, making sure that everyone was full.

That’s our chief bbq man. Ash!

That’s all of us enjoying our food!!

Our beloved PEM, Miss Diana Tan was there as well. She prepared salmon for us. And I tell you, her salmon was awesome! Everybody just grabbed a bite and the fish was gone within seconds. It’s really that fast!

Some pictures taken during the bbq..

After some time, it’s time for photo-taking!!

These pictures were candid! Taken without any warning..

OKAY! It’s the actual thing now!!

Sadly, after the barbeque, many left. Somehow, I was feeling disappointed as the chalet was getting empty. Nevertheless, there were still some of us and we just entertained ourselves with mahjong, the tv as well as each other’s company.

On the last day, just left the few of us. Jiahao, Minghao, Jang, Claire, Meiqi and I. We packed the place and make sure everything was ready by tomorrow when we checked out.

Some other pictures..

I was reflecting throughout the 5 days and I’ve really enjoyed myself during the chalet. It just flew by us and we’ve been together as a class in less than a year, however, we seems to be so comfortable with on another. I will definitely miss Bn for sure. Definitely.

Special thanks to you guys..

Clara, Meiqi and Zihui! You guys are awesome! Thanks for cooking and making sure no one went hungry!

XiaoEn, Cindy and Connie. Thanks for coming down and planning of the Amazing Race. Although we didn’t play, I could really see your efforts on that! Thanks!!

Tiny, Qiaoling and Hid!
Thanks for everything! Your camera! Your cards! Your jokes and laughters!! Most importantly, your presence!!!

Ash, YeeChing and Helmi.
You guys really rocks! Without you guys, the chalet wouldn’t be fun! Thanks..

KokWee, Kenny, Xiujuan, Xuewei, Bee Chin and Ben.
Thanks for coming down! It’s great to see all of you around and played mahjong on the bed! Cool idea. I really hope you guys enjoyed the stay!

Jang, Jiahao, Minghao.
Thanks you brothers! Without your support, I wouldn’t be able to handle this all alone. You guys are great and always been supportive.Thanks..

Thank you BN for all these sweet memories..

Cheers.

Back From Chalet..

I’m back!
5 days away from home and was with my beloved class Bn at the chalet.
Away from the outside world and stuck in the 3 room flat.
Sleeping together and eating as much as possible.
Laughters, jokes and of course, not to forget, Mahjong!
Played PS2, cards, and of course, barbeque was totally awesome!
Soccer on the field, mosquitoes bites and cooking.
Many left and we just slacked.
Watching tv.
Sleep was great, comfortable.
Air-con was cold.
Blankets was important.
Drooling and snoring.
Last but not least,
it’s the people who matters.
BN.

(Details will be coming up with the pictures taken. Stay tuned.)

Cheers.

Exams Are Over..

Due to my exams recently, there’s the main reason why I didn’t blogged for the last few days or so. Yes, finally, my exams ended today. However, somehow, I was not that relieved or glad that exams were over. I just felt nothing.

For this examinations, sad to say, I didn’t have the best preparation and the right mentality facing this end of year exam. This exam will determine which specialisation I would go and it’s very important. Unfortunately, I do not have much high hopes on it. Though I tried my best during the examinations with that amount of preparation, I still believe that something can be improved and I know this deeply in me.

Still, examinations are over and though I know that my results would not bring me any pleasant surprises, I have to look up and move on from here. These few weeks had been hard on me. Stress, pressure and sleepless nights. My mind were thinking about notes, revising and studying non-stop. No doubt, it’s part and parcel of a student and to be frank, I didn’t like those mind-exhausting periods and I struggled throughout these weeks.

I reflected and realised that my body and mind were not ready for it and despite this fact, time couldn’t wait for me and I have to take the examinations. I tried my best to absorb as much as I can and credit to my friends, they did push me and it helped me. I’m prepared for the worst.

After examinations, I’ll be as busy as ever. We will be having our class chalet tomorrow and I’ll be back on Tuesday. It’s going to be our last BN’s gathering together as a whole class and I believe it’s going to great fun.

On the 8th of March, I will be having a operation of my wisdom tooth. Have to remove the widsom teeth due to prediction of problems in future. It’s going to painful I guess. Four wisdom teeth at one go and I have MC for a WEEK! 7 days! It’s not the first time having such things happening in my teeth. Few years back, I extracted 4 teeth before wearing braces. There’s always a price to pay. 

It’s been a tiring week for me and finally, I can breathe normally now. I miss playing my football in the field and I would be able to do that during my stay at the chalet. Really wish to enjoy the next few days to the fullest and have real fun!

Cheers.