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wow..back again since nov....
actually i forgot how to log in, and hence no post...
but actually was too lazy to write anything also, haha...

tonite got the inspiration from tomato, as she also posted her blog recently, haha..

well, nuff air talking ...will think of more meaningful stuff to write next time, cheers :)

Education

Education cannot be overstressed. Confucius once said “(teaching’s) Responsibility is heavy, and the path long. With moral as one’s own responsibility, isn’t it heavy? Till death does one stop, isn’t the path long? “

I think its time the country tighten its grip on quality of graduates, and only allows those who really made the mark to pass, and not simply pass them just to fulfill some so called “quotas”.

By stressing the importance of skill, and communications(in english especially), we can move towards a better educated population, and hence, more competitiveness.
For example, the government may post an early warning that in 5 years time, they will only employ those capable of communicating in English, regardless of race or religion. Of course, this must be done in a gradual manner, with much planning in advance, and not just any other “plans” that are sprouted out from the mouth at the spur of the moment.

Skills training will also be provided. For example, those who studied for medicine, and still cannot pass within 5 or 6 years, will have to retrain for other skills, eg pharmacy or nursing. As some courses may be too tough for a person to follow through.

Such plans will take about 20 to 25 years to execute, with periodical review and changes every 5 years. But the changes should not be too drastic, else the whole plan will be in ruins again.

Having said that, I’m not the PM or education minister, but just doing my part as a citizen to voice out my exasperation. Really wonder what the top guys are doing…

Destress method

Whenever I feel tired or stressed, I will use the following method to relax.

First, find a quiet place and sit down comfortably with back straight. Then close the eyes and relax whole body slowly.

Start by relaxing the scalp, moving down to the forehead, eye muscle nose, mouth, face, ears and neck. Next, relax the shoulders, forearms, wrists, palm and fingers. Feel your muscles relaxing as you focus your attention to them.

Move next to the chest, stomach, groin, then to the upper back, lower back and buttocks, and on to the thigh, knee and calve muscles. Lastly is the ankle feet and toes.

Sweep thru the body from head to toe, and see if any of your muscle is still tense. Focus your attention there, and slowly relax it. Feel it let go, just relax.

After taking care of the physical body, move on to the mind. We have to make it soft and relax too.

Start by wishing our own self to be happy and care free. Free from all problems(work, money, relations, etc..). imagine we are happy and healthy. See ourselves smiling, happy and healthy.

Next, radiate this wish to our parents, teachers, relatives, friends, colleagues, and everyone around. See them happy and smiling in front of us(mentally).

After making our body and mind relaxed, we are ready to recharge and relax further.

Bring our attention to our breathing. Note the in’s and out’s of our breath. Notice when we are breathing long or short. If we get distracted(by other thoughts, eg bored), just gently bring our attention back to our breathing.

One method I find useful is to count the breathing as it goes in and out. I will count from 1 to 10, then back from 10 to 1. whenever I get distracted and lost count, I will start from 1 again.

After sometime, fully relaxed and recharged, I will slowly open my eyes, noting how my brain send signals to the eyelids to open, and how the eyelids slowly pulling up. Then slowly unfold my legs, lie down, and sleep…

I notice I will have less dreams(or less tiring ones, where I am working, or got chased around by monsters) if I do it before bed…

Guess I have to be more hardworking and destress before sleeping. Winks.

Idol

Since small, I was enthralled by detectives such as Holmes, Poirot and Dupin. They are my idols. Love the way they solve complex cases using simple logical deduction. It has influenced my way of thinking. Whenever I face any problem (non-mathematical) with limited information, I will try to link the available sources and get new info from the existing sources. It has worked well for me, and sometimes I cannot stand people who are too lazy to use their brain to dig a little further, and ask for solutions. Solutions don’t fall unto our lap, we have to work for em.

Oldies

Listened to some oldies, and love Over the Rainbow, elvis – are you lonesome tonight and it’s now or never, If by bread(played for mom on her bday once, and promised to play for someone…), To sir with love by lulu(according to mom, it’s a story about a group of white kids headed by Lulu who hated their black teacher, but their black teacher finally won them over, and they sang this song out of gratitude), red river valley( one of the earliest guitar song I learned)..and lots more…its like a trip down memory lane…

Deepavali

Went to Indian temple with colleague for his deepavali prayers. This year, there’s a lot more people. The temple is painted with a variety of colors, and the ladies also wore a myriad of colorful saris, with purple, yellow, blue, red, green…it really is a festival of colors. Then we had a simple lunch of putu mayam (something like mee hoon) and dhal curry, with a vegetarian curry puff. All in, a fun time : )

Bishan

Met a secondary school friend online, and she’s working in bishan, Singapore.

I asked whether its beside ang mo kio, and she remarked I’m familiar in sg. To which I replied no lar, just that I have a frenster friend who’s staying at ang mo kio (I call her tomato, cos and mo kio means tomato in hokkien), and mentioned bishan to me a few times.

Realized that I’m having quite a number of frens in sg, and can save hotel bill by squatting at their place next time I visit sg :P