Wei Kiat's Blog

Today marks the end of 0205 Chalet 2006. By having fun halo-ing, drinking (that sounded bad, doesn't it?), eating and sleeping together for the past 2 days, 0205 had bonded even tighter together!

1) Collection of 157 photos [ View with captions | Download All ]

2) Chalet 2006 photos [ View with captions | Download All ]

3) Video of Gordon putting out the BBQ fire [ View ]

4) Video of us going wild [ View ]

5) Video of AJC J2 Farewell 2006 [ View ]

Tried drinking Tiger Beer last night. Felt like vomiting it out every sip, but I persevered and drank 1/4 of a can. Then I went a bit wild when playing cards, and got awed by stars and physics analysis at Changi Village. James drank a can and turned red in the face literally. His eyes became bloodshot and I almost thought he was turning into either a rabbit or a mutant. Luckily, he turned back into good old James 2 hours later.

Crazy marketing revenue generating and quality compromising guys over at the barely successful Jobsfactory portal BrightSparks sent me the third email to invite me to go to watch Eragon, and once again insulted me by calling me a mugger.

My reply to their email?

enuff of of this shit?

Reply from BrightSparks:
"dershing here from BrightSparks. the emailer above is a free movie given by BrightSparks. We sent it twice to JC students who opted in for emailer and who registered with us on their own choice. In total, 200+ JC students attended the session. I am sorry that the email bothered you, but you could have logged in anytime to change your email subscription options or could have emailed us at any time to delete your account.

As for the accusation of being barely successful and quality compromising, BrightSparks is used by over 5000 top JC students and hundreds find scholarships through us. There is very little ground to accuse us of being quality compromising. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. Thanks!

When to Changi Village to witness whose who had rebelled against nature and to glaze the beautiful stars blinking in the cloudless sky at around 1am. When we want to go back to the chalet at 3am, we splitted ourselves into small groups and took taxi back.



A taxi arrived at the opposite road, following path indicated by the red arrow, stopping at all the points indicated by the blue circles where there are people flagging for taxi. My position was at the blue circle with an inner yellow circle. The destination for people waiting at each of the spots were written in green. This information was later gathered from the taxi driver during our journey, after he rejected 2 groups of people going to the same destination as us, after we begged and argued with him. How come taxi drivers chose their customers like a patrons at a buffet?

We hoped on his taxi, and although had the lowest fee ($7.35 when it was $4.90 during off-peak hours) among my friends who had taxi drivers crawling at 60kmh on an empty road, my taxi driver reminded me of the game I played, Crazy Taxi. After properly fastening my seatbelt, he shot off at an average of 110kmh throughout the entire journey, dropping only to 90kmh for turns and 80kmh when a police patrol car was spotted. Because of the high speed and inertia when changing direction, my seatbelt locked a few times to prevent me from hitting my head against the window. There was also this hump on the road which escaped his detection, and rocketing at 110kmh over a hump gave me the general impression that the taxi had lost all its wheel for a fraction of a second.

Luckily, we arrived safely at Downtown East, and the Crazy Taxi shot off into the night.

gg chalet for nxt few days will blog on my psp if got wifi. now at
geylang lib meeting wif ang moh.

Super touching...

Burnout Legend (supposedly the BEST racing game on PSP)
Ridge Racer (getting it cheap)
Syphon Filter (best FPS on PSP, at least, I think until call of duty comes out)

Orientation ended, and we were being separated from our orientation friends with whom we had bonded closely over a period of 5 days. Unlike most other Junior Colleges that re-shuffle your orientation group so that you will be able to bond with your classmates after the first few days of orientation, Anderson Junior College decided to just let us bond closely with our orientation mate, then separate us terribly over the first week end.

Then, bonding need to start all over again, with your real classmates.

Being rather ambitious and due to my top notched maths results in The Chinese High School, my subject of choice were Further Maths, Maths, Physics and Computing. Lessons during the first three months were fun.

During Further Maths tutorials, I had fun copying homework from a particular girl, Chan Si Hui in my class, who would later go on to become my first and only girlfriend. During Further Maths lectures, I had fun sleeping to the droning voice of the lecturer, Mr Andy Quek.

Physics was wonderful. Lectures made by most of the lecturers really boasted your confidence that your physics are better than them. Tutorial by Mr Patrick Lim, one of the most remarkable teacher with unique personality was exciting and never boring.

Computing was a case of super poor planning on Anderson Junior College's part. There was no cure difference between lectures and tutorials, and there were three teachers looking after seven Computing students!

General Paper was the best of all. Every General Paper session were literally movie watching sessions. I love it most.

What I found out later was that the general order passed down from the top of the Anderson Junior College to the teachers was that, due to the high turnover rate (estimated 50% of students in Anderson Junior College for the first three months will leave), teachers were not to seriously impart any form of knowledge to the students. The justification for this was "No point spending time and resources on students who will leave Anderson after the first three months".

I joined cXtreme, a dying Computer Club with zero female member, with the intention of bringing the CCA to new heights by running for its presidential election. I found it amazing that computer related skills was one the lousiest in EC3, The Chinese High School's computer interest club, but I became the top in Anderson Junior College. The lack in standard motivated me to improve the CCA.

All was going on well in Anderson Junior College, with nothing to hate and nothing to love about it. So when my Olevel results was released, and discovering that I lack 1 point to get into Hwa Chong Insitution, I stupidly wrote down Anderson Junior College as my college of choice, and I am officially reposted to Anderson Junior College, for the one year and seven months that followed.

And that very gesture of pressing the submit button on my computer screen, signified the end of illusion put into place carefully by Anderson Junior College.

I bought a PSP recently for my multimedia needs on the go. Although during music playback, the sound quality stinks compared to my DH10P, PSP is still feature packed, and well worth the $230 I spent on it.

Some (badly taken) photos here.

In the lengthy three hours talk by various self proclaimed person of importance within the school, four poor students had their belonging suffered the diving fate, obeying Newton's Law of gravity and falling onto the floor with relative ease and grace, due to the poor design of the side tables in the auditorium. Because there was insufficient siting capacity, many who had to sit on the stairs complained of stiff and aching legs when it was time to get up. A handful of guys complained of nose bleed due to excessive upskirts. Nah, only kidding.

Due to the inability on the school's part to determine the proper temperature to maintain in the auditorium, tonnes of people were taking "toilet breaks" to thaw themselves from the cold. I remembered my Orientation Group Leader telling me that the auditorium is infamous for freezing people to death. Nobody died in that three hours, but it must be pure luck.

We proceed to some other venues, where ice-breaking games were played. A fitting name, because the games thawed us from the cold. Unlike many muggers whose formula to good O Level results involves senseless memorising of data, I did fairly badly during the introduction session when we were supposed to remember everyone's name in a pretty short period of time. I can only remember things that make sense. Calling a personwho looks like a pile of shit "Ru Hua" (like flower) doesn't make much sense, does it?

We had a first taste of Anderson Junior College canteen food after we had thawed. Lunch for that day was chicken rice and consisted of an additional otah. I wanted to complain about the lack of balanced diet, but in order to not behave like some weirdo, I decided to pass.

Lots of people commented that I ate slow for a guy. Almost all the girls stopped eating before me. However, the way I see it, the reasons are simple:

1) Food is terrible, and they didn't finish eating all of it.

2) Food was so bad, I find it hard to consume, so I ate slowly.

3) My first time eating in front of girls.

4) The food is too little, eat too fast, I'll finish it too quickly and have nothing to do.

Orientation T-shirts were given out, and we were asked to change into them. Half an hour later, some weird skit started on the stage unannounced. Good effort though. Good effort by the mother of the particular good looking girl on stage.

After the short meaningless skit of which understanding slipped me, we were told to move off to the multi-purpose hall, where we began to practise cheer. The complete lyrics of the cheer:

fight to win, win to fight.
All the rest can go fly kite.
Fly kite
Fly kite
Fly kite
Fly kite
Fly kite
Fly kite
Fly kite
Fly kite

I felt like making a kite on the spot and flying it.

Next we have this game tour, during which we were supposed to run around the school like mad dogs, trying to familarise ourselves with the school facilities.

After much running about, the ingenious planning for the orientation commands us to play Ice-Breaking games again, so we started smashing ice into bits.

Along other boring activities, the day ended with us being ordered to clean up one of Anderson Junior College's toilet. When we protested, the Orientation Group Leader said simply: Don't worry, just go and flush the toilet.

Gallons of water wasted.

The remaining four days were pretty much as senseless and boring as today. In fact, there were lots of duplications of activities and evidence of poor planning that I could not ignore no matter how hard I tried.

As god's way of punishing Anderson Junior College, a small fire accidentally broke out during the lighting of the camp fire on the last day.

And once the camp fire was lighted, God sent a big rain.

Sorry man, I am so busy with slacking recently that I am too "busy" to blog. PSP pictorial coming real soon, I promise. But the photos damn hard to take because of how easy it attracts finger print.

Link

WOW

What exactly makes Anderson Junior College, Anderson Junior College?

Today me and CyGiG spent more than an hour of our time, exploring and capturing interesting images around Anderson Junior College. We brought back over 100 photos on our 1.3MP and 3MP cameras respectively.

Click here to view.
You won't regret it.

"When we implement the GST increase, it's not a GST increase, it's a package which will fully offset the impact of GST for these groups and begin to strengthen the safety nets and tilt the balance in favor of the lower income Singaporeans," said Lee, according to radio station 938Live.

Translation: When I said mee siam mai hum, I don't really mean a mee siam.

By increasing the spending of the lower income group, they enjoy more benefits.

That is the wisdom of high income group.

... too busy playing to blog. Check back tml for AJC photos and updates about my PSP purchase.

Recently I received this email from AJCAA:

Dear Class of 05/06,

The Anderson Junior College Alumni Association (AJCAA) was officially established in March 2001, to promote friendship amongst AJC graduands as well as to build union with our alma mater. Over the last five years, the Alumni Association has organized many activities for our AJC graduands. For instance, we organized the Homecoming Dinner, the Night Cycling Expedition and the Flea market in 2001. In 2003, public performances such as ‘Chu Zhan 2003’ were staged successfully. In 2004, ‘Colours of Emotion 2004’ and the AJC 20th Anniversary Dinner received overwhelming response. In 2005, the AJC Dance Alumni staged the 'Qi' Dance performance while the AJCAA Exco organized the Tree Top Expedition, Pulau Ubin Adventure and started our very first AJCAA Bursary Award, which serves needy ex-AJCians studying at NUS, NTU or SMU. This year, the AJCAA did a Health Talk in February. The CO Alumni staged their cultural performance, 'Xian Xu Qin Yuan' while the CLDDs Alumni, 'Cha Dian 7, Wo Xin Zhong De Cai Hong' in August, not forgetting our annual and second AJCAA Bursary Award in late November.

Our Executive Committee is as follows:

The AJC Alumni Association Executive Committee 2006 – 7

- President: Ng Gek Hong Peggy

- Vice-President: Lau Kiat Meng (Marketing/ Funds Raising Committee Director)

- Honorary Secretary: Chu Siew Hwa

- Asst. Honorary Secretary: Koh Chee Kang

- Honorary Treasurer: Ong Han Wee (Marketing/ Funds Raising Committee Director)

- Asst. Honorary Treasurer: Kok Yi Ting (Recreations Committee Director)

- Members:

*
Tan Joy (College Events Director)
*
Teo Chun Yong (Special Projects Director)
*
Ting Siau Hui (Public Relations Director)

Whatever happened to year 2002? Cock up so no events?

Establishment of "AJCAA Bursary Award, which serves needy ex-AJCians studying at NUS, NTU or SMU"? The grand total of 1998 from the fund came from AJC Family Day, which according VP Tay was not organized with raising funds in mind. Hell, 2000++ of the proceeds went into paying for Uncle Ringo.

So I sent back a reply, since the message was sent manually (the sender email address was yuhong@singnet.)

Whatever happened to 2002? Nothing was conducted?
Alumni was established to seek funds from the school instead of contributing to the school?
So am i from class of 05 or 06?
Is there an option to unsubscribe from this mailing list?

And you guys know how much I love to revisit VP Tay's precious emails to me, and digging out insightful quotes?

Today's quote:

Remember the Sexuality Education issues , even if more than
90% of our students found the session useful and they have no issues...

I don't remember any survey being conducted, and even if it was conducted, how can a person who was conned know that he or she was conned?

Besides, unless you are a catholic or someone who knows about catholic beliefs (the former group definitely won't have any complains regarding the talk, and the later is rare in AJC mugging society), you definitely won't have problems with it.

Also, whether the talk is useful, or whether it broadcast truth are two different matter. I can say that a workshop filled with lies and misinformation is useful as it tells me how shallow other AJCians are and how the school care more about their reputation than providing students with proper education and information. In short, under VP Tay, AJC exists to win awards and reputation, not educate students.

it has aroused so much publicity on the presss
with the public giving their comments and questioning the college. It was
also mentioned by the MOE officials during meetings etc. It has created
quite a negative impact on the college and the school leaders.

Soon after, the Principal apologised to the students during one of the meetings insincerely, saying, other people have no problem with it, but if you are offended, then sorry lor. How about offering public apology? CNA happily reported that AJC is doing its part to educate its student sexuality, then this saga made CNA looks stupid. The earlier statement made by AJC regarding the workshop touching the values and heart of students is a lie. No apology. Lie and move on.

We can focus our energy and spend time on
more meaningful things than to answer to the press.

AJC won MOE's School Distinction Award.

Distinctive indeed. Distinctive disgusting. Totally unlike other colleges.

BrightSparks is Singapore’s only Scholarship, Higher Education and Careers portal for JC students. It contains hundreds of scholarship, higher education and career information with a state-of-the-art online scholarship application system. No more painful handwritten forms!

Seriously how many got their scholarships via brightspark? And brightspark is nothing but a spam mailing list because the admin constantly send offers of movies and what-nots to users' inbox. Rubbish.

I always thought that the word "mugger" has negative connotation, a word that meant "a student who is nothing but a harddrive who can only store and duplicate facts, with no thinking or understanding involved, and studies extensively."

I study everything with understanding. And I only studied for 3 weeks in these two years. I am definitely not a mugger, and resent being called one.

Another typical spam I got from brightspark. Is this related to scholarships?

And that is the last straw. Not only did I receive the above email TWICE, I perfectly resent being called a mugger.

And I don't give a damn about your freaking movies because I am getting a PSP on thursday.

If muggers are what scholarships are looking for, so be it.

I'm leaving BrightSparks. And if one day I have my own company, instead of offering scholarships to hire muggers, I'll invest on some computers.

Hell, access speed of computers is even faster than that of muggers, and you don't have to care about their welfare or education.

Reply from BrightSparks:

"dershing here from BrightSparks. I am sorry the usage of mugging has offended you. Read in context, all we are trying to say is don't worry too much about studying, just try your best and take a break and watch a movie on BrightSparks account. As for sending non scholarship/career related information, over 95% of our emails are on the topic of career and scholarships. It is not correct and fair to call us a "spam mailing list".

And WTF, it was really one hell of a struggle.

Drums and Piano Stop Motion Cool stop motion video.

Due to some safety feature inherent in the LRT system, manual drive is only possible at one super duper slow speed. And that speed is roughly 1/5 of the normal LRT speed.

 

By the time I reached home, what was a really pathetic 1hour of travel had became 1 and a half hour.

Seriously the only first class transport in Singapore is your own car.

 

That's why government claim Singapore's transport is first class.

FUCK UP!

Watch the above video before continuing.

When a person want something in life, so madly and so badly, desperation can really make people attempt just that one thing, that very thing, that will make the dreams come true, even at the expense of life.

Life is the very thing that makes that desire, that desperation possible, and it is only fitting that everything that comes with life end with it.

Then what is the purpose of life? To seek reasons to end it?

Various Singaporeans had attempted to exchange their own life for a better life of their dear ones. By ending their life, their plight is known and help is given. But isn't that an encouragement of escapist attitude?

Singaporeans should all follow and obey what Lee Hsien Long said. For once, he said the right thing.

Mai Hum(ji).

Live on.

 

How can you drive when you are blind? 

http://www.mrbrownshow.com/?p=455

Wow, Mr Brown is recommending the headphone I bought early this year. LOL. Now people will stop saying that my headphone looks outdated.

After overcoming maths, the number one focus of my short mugging lifespan for A levels, I found it hard to get myself to study once again. I need to study Physics for next week's paper, but my brain just didn't want to start working. Perhaps an afternoon nap will cure it.

Also, watch my blog next week as I'll be taking photos all over AJC next Wednesday to compile into an album, and will also be getting my PSP. So stay tuned.

General Paper 1
General Paper 2
Mathematics Paper 1
Computing Paper 1
Mathematics Paper 2
Physics Paper 1
Physics Paper 2
Physics Paper 3
Computing Paper 2

Then, NLB job, Escape Theme Park, Playstation Portable, Class Chalet, Genting Highlands, 3 months of REST.

Then NS :( 

Studying computing is super sian. Hell lots of notes. Nothing you don't already know. And then when the questions come out, you don't know how to answer them because it is hard to phrase and write down everything.

So no choice. Mug lor...

Just like Elvin.

I am quietly slacking at home, taking life easy, releasing stress despite the fact that there are two papers tomorrow. Life is good.

Time for another round of Gunz.

Kangaroo are human too!

 

And be amazed by "Made in Singapore" "Entertainer", Steven Lim

Testing out microsoft write.

Is it right? Seems quite good to me, just that image upload is NOT supported. Yawns

 
The above photo was taken in the final hours before maths paper 1 today.

I was damn stressed, as I was very weak in jc maths, and had never passed jc maths before in any of the examinations this year.

But after two weeks of solid mugging?

 

I do expect an A. 

 
 
 
 

This man was seen drunk, stripping before a female, molesting the white and blue vehicles, slapping the vehicles windshield, and yelling "Where are my keys?" this afternoon.

After taking off his shirt, he soon left the carpark and was trailed by a bangala who wanted to make sure that man didn't do anything weird. 

Nov 4, 2006
Reporting the news as it is

'If you listen to Reporters Without Borders, we rank very low down for press freedom because we don't allow this, we don't allow that. We are down with Iraq, Zimbabwe.

'You read our newspapers... We do not put out false news and we make sure our people are well-informed. What we do not want is contentious reporting and a clash of contentious reporting.

'If you watch American television, if you watch Fox, and you watch NBC and you watch CNN, at the end of the day...you don't know where is the truth because the truth does not support a certain line that they are choosing.*

'So we tell the press, don't shoot any line. Just report it as it is and if you have an agenda, you write a commentary, don't include it as facts, as news.

'And the question of press freedom, I say never mind, I've got the best-informed press in the world, they measure up.**

'We know our Chinese (newspaper Lianhe) Zaobao has six million hits every day from China. They (the Chinese) want to know what's happening. The Straits Times is being accessed by many think-tanks in America for regional news. They know it's straight, it's not biased, it's reported as it is.'

Is it just me, or something strange is going on above?

*"you don't know where is the truth because the truth does not support a certain line that they are choosing."
Something is not truth if it does not support their "line"?

**"And the question of press freedom, I say never mind, I've got the best-informed press in the world, they measure up."
Don't care about press freedom. As long as the press is best-informed, it is good press.

Did I read wrongly somewhere?

And next up, Johor Sultan

’Dismantle the causeway’
He says it undermines Johor’s economy, launches attack on ‘dirty foreigners.’ AFP.
Nov 4, 2006

Johor Baru - The sultan of Malaysia's southern Johor state Saturday called for the scrapping of the nation's first land link to Singapore, and launched an attack on "dirty" foreigners.

Speaking at the launch of ambitious plans to turn Johor into a thriving economic hub, the state's Sultan Iskandar al-Marhum said the 83-year-old causeway to neighbouring Singapore was undermining the state's economy and was a vestige of colonialism.

"The colonialists built it to develop Keppel Harbour in Singapore," Sultan Iskandar, 74, said in remarks broadcast live on television.

"Many people think foreigners are great but I think they are dirty," he added.

"If the causeway is removed, then the economy will develop," he told a crowd of some 2,000 onlookers, who cheered and clapped at his suggestion.

The causeway was completed in 1923 in pre-independence Malaysia and Singapore, then both under British colonial rule.

Carrying piped water from Malaysia to Singapore, it also serves as a road, rail and pedestrian link from the state capital Johor Baru to the town of Woodlands in northern Singapore, and sees daily heavy traffic.

The causeway has been at the centre of a bitter dispute between Malaysia and Singapore, with Malaysia calling for its replacement with a new bridge until dropping those plans in April this year.

Malaysians complain the height of the causeway limits shipping traffic to Malaysian ports and argue a new bridge would allow ships easier access.

"Let ships go through," said Sultan Iskandar, who was flanked by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the launch.

Sultan Iskandar, one of the few outspoken members of Malaysia's royalty, is the hereditary ruler of Johor and has a mostly ceremonial role.

He caused ripples in Malaysian society last month when he called on former premier Mahathir Mohamad to stop an ongoing feud with the government and "just behave like a pensioner" – AFP

The Malaysian daily, The Star, reported that the Sultan’s call shocked the 2,000-strong audience and thousands of viewers at home of the live telecast over RTM 1 and TV3

His call was a digression from his written text.

In his address the Ruler, who was clad in a T-shirt, said that he would not "give face" (bagi muka) to the foreigners (Mat Sallehs) and urged the people not to hold them in high regard.

He also reminded locals and their children to be wary of them as they were vultures.

He also paid tribute to former Johor state secretary Amar Abdul Rahman Andak who had fought against the British during his time. - Star

He has no idea how much tourists from Singapore are giving to Malaysia yearly.

And seriously, those very old should just retire.

Really.

Fourth Grader Suspended After Refusing to Answer Exam Question

By David Evans

Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Tyler Stoken was a well-behaved fourth grader who enjoyed school, earned A's and B's and performed well on standardized tests.

In May 2005, he'd completed five of the six days of the Washington State Assessment of Student Learning exam, called WASL, part of the state's No Child Left Behind test.

Then Tyler came upon this question: ``While looking out the window one day at school, you notice the principal flying in the air. In several paragraphs, write a story telling what happens.''

The nine-year-old was afraid to answer the question about his principal, Olivia McCarthy. ``I didn't want to make fun of her,'' he says, explaining he was taught to write the first thing that entered his mind on the state writing test.

In this case, Tyler's initial thoughts would have been embarrassing and mean. So even after repeated requests by school personnel, and ultimately the principal herself, Tyler left the answer space blank. ``He didn't want them to know what he was thinking, that she was a witch on a broomstick,'' says Tyler's mother, Amanda Wolfe, sitting next to her son in the family's ranch home three blocks from Central Park Elementary School in Aberdeen, Washington.

Because Tyler didn't answer the question, McCarthy suspended him for five days. He recalls the principal reprimanding him by saying his test score could bring down the entire school's performance.

``Good job, bud, you've ruined it for everyone in the school, the teachers and the school,'' Tyler says McCarthy told him.

`He Cried'

Aberdeen School District Superintendent Martin Kay ordered an investigation. ``My suspension was for refusal to comply with a reasonable request, and to teach Tyler that that could harm him in the future,'' McCarthy told an investigator. ``I never, for a second, questioned my actions.''

Tyler, who's 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall and weighs 70 pounds (32 kilograms), hasn't been the same since, his mother says.

``He liked the principal before this,'' she says. ``He cried. He didn't understand why she'd done this to him.''

Now, Tyler blows up at the drop of a hat, his mother says. ``They created a monster. He'll never take that test again, even if I have to take him to another state,'' she says.

Tyler's attitude about school changed. He became shyer. He's afraid of all tests and doesn't do as well in classes anymore, his mother says.

`Blatant Defiance'

McCarthy's May 6, 2005, letter to Tyler's mother detailed her son's suspension. ``The fact that Tyler chose to simply refuse to work on the WASL after many reasonable requests is none other than blatant defiance and insubordination,'' McCarthy wrote.

In the letter, she accused Tyler of bringing down the average score of the other 10 students in his class. ``As we have worked so hard this year to improve our writing skills, this is a particularly egregious wound,'' McCarthy wrote.

Her accusation was wrong, state regulations show. There is no averaging of the writing scores. Each student either meets or fails the state standard.

Tita Mallory, director of curriculum and assessment for the Aberdeen School District, says school officials feel tremendous pressure because of the high-stakes tests.

While there's no academic effect on elementary school children taking the exams, there can be repercussions for school administrators. When schools repeatedly fail to show adequate yearly progress, as defined by No Child, the principal can be fired.

``In many ways, there's too much emphasis on the test,'' Mallory says. ``I don't want that kind of pressure on our kids.''

Out of 74,184 fourth graders taking the WASL test last year, 42.3 percent failed to meet the state standard for writing.

Juanita Doyon, director of Mothers Against WASL and author of, ``Not With Our Kids You Don't! Ten Strategies to Save Our Schools'' (Heinemann, 144 pages, $14.95), says Tyler's experience is representative of what's wrong with tests like the WASL.

``They took a student who loved his school and crushed his spirit,'' Doyon, 46, says.

``We've elevated test scores to be the most important part of school. The principal and teachers are so pressured by the test that they've lost good sense in dealing with children.''

I guess principals like VP Tay are fact of life.

No use crying or whining over it.

What greeted me when I strolled into the foyer was this: a bee hive. There were literally thousands of people swarming around, each buzzing loudly and seemingly doing that bit of bee dance that bees perform whenever they spotted a new source and nectar, and wanted to tell others about it. In no way Anderson Junior College can be compared to nectar and honey. The excitement and crowd at the foyer cannot be justified.

Then something struck me. Something so simple but was able to explain away what I experience at the foyer that faithful morning. That something was this: What I saw at the foyer was nothing but an illusion.

The above explanation is highly justifiable. Anderson Junior College has got a very dark and narrow foyer, making the few hundred people there seems like thousands. The strange enclosed design that was evident throughout the school serves nothing but to amplify and echo noise.

To the hell with the illusion, I told myself. I crawled up the narrow stairs to the hall. I had to crawl, literally, as it the stairs was practically swarmed. Make any false movement, and I would have molested someone and brought over to the police on my first way of school. Luckily, I managed to exercise extreme caution and reached the hall without touching someone's butt or bust.

Then I realized that I had no idea which group I belong to. I had no idea where to go. I am lost. I stood in the middle of the hall like a small child who had lost his parents because he wandered off to look at Gundam toys in a mall while his parents went off to look at underwears. Granted, the previous sentence was too crappy and too long, but give it a little time and you will be able to digest it.

I had to squeeze my way down the stairs again, again mindful that I should not have accidental contact with anyone there. I took some time to locate my name on the notice board at the foyer where people had gathered around it like sperms around an egg. It was impossible to see what was on the board but somehow I managed it in the end.

Once again, I made by way up the stairs. This time, I was more experienced, and made it to the hall without too much of a chore. I sat down at where I was supposed to sit, and my Orientation Group Leader came and extorted twenty-five dollars from me. I looked at the equally lost soul next to me, and said hello.

At 8am we were moved the the auditorium. The chairs were of a dirty green color. Some of the chairs were broken, and cheaply replaced with classroom chairs tied into placed. Many Orientation Group Leaders and students had to sit on the floor due to lack of space, despite make-shift rows of classroom chairs conveniently added at the back of the auditorium. This led to tonnes of upskirt views which I was inclined not to look. The small table attached to the chairs were badly designed. To quote what I wrote on my blog when I got home that day, "It swings around in a strange way and makes it easy for it to swing back down allowing your belongings to fly your towards the ground. Maybe the ground is a nice thing for things to fly towards to." It was later when I discovered that the tables in all the Lecture Theaters were designed similarly, and lots of students before or since had lost or destroyed their stationaries due to the table swinging and dumping its entire content to the ground, at even the slightest contact.

I know, I should have taken the hint regarding the standard of facilities in Anderson Junior College then, but I was too busy glancing around and looking at girls siting on the stairs to think. The state of the auditorium foreshadowed the state of other facilities around the school. I hated myself for not realizing that earlier.

The principal, nicknamed by the Orientation Group Leaders as Mickey Tan due to his ears that came in XXL size walked up the stage and started to address us.

Using his fragmented speech as a cover, I began socializing with those around me. Time to make jokes and friends!

 
 
  

 
 
 
  

 
  

 
 
 
  

Maybe something in the baby's head is wired wrongly, but we all should learn from it.

Live life happily!

Remove that typical Singaporean sulk from your face now!

 
 
  

Featuring RJC Orientation 2006. AJCians, be stunted at your own definition of good orientation, as propagandized by the AJC councilors. Now look at what a real orientation is like!





And just to recap, watch as Wee Shu Min proclaimed, "I beg your pardon? We are gods!"



Source