Search the Community

I am not exactly a dinosaur in terms of age but it was normal to get canned or whacked by my kampong school teachers those days. Mind you I got my knuckles knocked by a steel rule till they bled by my form teacher together with other rowdy boys in the class and when I told my mum what happened later, all she said was "Orbi good!" So much so for being a loving mother [laugh] No parents I know raised an eyebrow when their kids got corporal punishment in my days and the common reaction back then was something like well-we-are-busy-earning-a-living-&-good-that-the-school-help-us-to-discipline-the-little-rascal type of response. Well having said that we are in the modern age so the school authorities have to be extremely careful and of course tactful when dealing with parents especially the loud ones. If not later bo tai bo chi kena police report During the latest meet the parents session, our P2 gal's assistant form teacher provided a "feedback" that our princess was very talkative and not paying attention during lesson time. My exact words to her was "We are sorry that she disrupted your lesson and please discipline her on our behalf if she does that again. We will appreciate that. Thank you" Well that's just us. From ST Forum: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-...achers-20120926 Principals shouldn't be afraid to support their teachers Published on Sep 26, 2012 IT IS heartening that the Education Minister has taken a strong public stand against parents who are excessively and unreasonably demanding, and who intercede on behalf of their children over trivial issues of disciplinary and related matters at school ("Standing firm against unreasonable demands"; Sept 13). School principals should follow suit and stand by their teachers when parents demand explanation or redress for disciplining their children. Principals are the mentors, advisers, confidantes and role models to their teaching staff. It is their responsibility to provide the sense of understanding and strong leadership on any issue of parental or societal complaint made against their teachers. During my 40 years in teaching, I have seen principals turning white at the sight of aggressive parents visiting them to complain about teacher misconduct. The standard procedure was to cave in to the complainants' demands for apology even if there were strong extenuating reasons for the teachers' action or inaction. In my view, parental interference was trending up when I retired in 2003. This is not to say there were no principals who stood up for their staff and mollified parents at the same time. One school head, upon receipt of a complaint against his staff for the corporal punishment of a schoolboy, visited the parents the same night, with his vice-principal and the offending teacher in tow. He apologised to the irate parents on the teacher's behalf, offered to pay for the medical fees and also assured them he would ensure there would be no more corporal punishment in the future. His quick and decisive actions, and his powerful plea on behalf of the teacher, convinced the parents to drop their intended court action against the teacher. There was also no hair pulling on the principal's part. He counselled the teacher in private and made a general advisory on the issue at the following teachers' contact time. School principals can do much in the concerted effort to raise teacher-parent cooperation and synergy by playing the role of a resourceful, impartial yet compassionate facilitator. Also, a thorough, objective and calm investigation into any allegations against a teacher would go a long way in empowering our nation builders to discharge their duties and responsibilities with confidence, passion and conviction. Ho Kong Loon

Straits Times Forum Homes shouldn't undermine levy A HIGHER foreign worker levy was one key factor cited in the rise of charges in some nursing homes ("Some nursing home operators raising fees"; Monday). Yet, the reason that spurred the Ministry of Manpower to hike the levy was to encourage lesser dependence on foreign labour and to encourage employers to redesign jobs that will attract Singaporeans. It defeats the Government's dual aim if nursing homes pass the buck in the levy increase to their clients via stiffer fees. Instead of merely awarding subsidies to families based on income level, the Government could consider providing nursing homes some form of subsidy per resident to help them stay sustainable. These subsidies could come with caveats such as an increased number of Singaporeans taking up patient-care jobs at the homes over a specified period of time. The ministry and the National Trades Union Congress could also help nursing homes redesign patient-care jobs so as to attract more citizens, especially retired nurses, to consider working part time there. The ministry needs to ensure there are more teeth for its policies to work. Using a blunt and simplistic instrument like raising the levy lets employers off the hook by simply passing the buck to consumers. With an ageing population, more could be done to help the nursing-home sector as its role will only increase in importance in the years ahead. Edwin Lim

All banks should perhaps operate a central webpage/ site with various options: No unsolicited advertisements via: Phone, SMS, Email [choose accordingly]. No circulation of personal details to any other external agency or bank subsidiary. e.g.: [pict source]

Shark Survivor Good show..happened to real people. If this happened to you, do you think you would have survived?

I just happen to look through this series of pictures in Somalia...... I thank God for what I have in SG. Shouldn't complain about this and that...... imagine your kid ends up looking like this? What worse can it gets? http://sg.news.yahoo.com/photos/somali-chi...%253B_ylv%253D3

10) Your turf is frequented by middle aged couples and little kids 9) You angrily confront a cameraman whose camera is still filming your face 8) You bring fists to a knife fight 7) Your brothers always watch your back - from 100 metres away 6) You name your alpha male gang after a feminine bird 5) You think four men sharing a honeymoon suite is natural and low profile 4) You jump 3 storeys into a shallow pool because you missed physics class 3) You think its a good idea to cause a commotion when you are supporting a bro who is in court for causing a commotion 2) You think repeating the same crime within 1 week is a good idea because the cops are busy with the first case 1) You can only recite the first 3 numbers of the 3 times table.

Quite a funny article.

1) 10 year loan $1 downpayment 2) Need to ask the internet whether your salary can afford a car 3) Car loan financed by BoDM (Bank of Daddy Mummy) 4) Your mood swing is not caused by menstrual period but by COE fluctuations 5) Badger the SE to give more discounts and throw in more freebies for buying a QQ 6) Buy a 50k budget car and add mods only a 500k racing car needs 7) Wash the car every week ...... at the beach 8) No problem borrowing $50k but want to scrim on a 50c coupon, then ask for tips on writing appeal letter 9) Need to clone a car plate to avoid repo man 10) It is PAP / LTA / Traffic Warden / Society's fault I should be able to cheese off quite a few people with the above list so now is a good time to say goodbye and thanks for all the fish.

Got this from email, quite nice, so thinking of sharing it here. sorry if u have read it before Why Chinese shouldn't have Christian names: Ann Chang => Dirty (Mandarin) Ann Chin => Keep Quiet (Mandarin) Faye Chen => Dusty (Mandarin) Carl Cheng => Buttock (Hokkien) Monica Cheng => Touching your buttocks (Hokkien) Luce Leow => You are dead (Hokkien) Jane Tan => Frying eggs (Mandarin) Suzie Leow => Lose till death (Hokkien) Henry Mah => Hate your mum (Mandarin) Corrine Tai => Poor fellow (Hokkien) Paul Chan => Bankrupt (Mandarin) Nelson Tan => Bird laying eggs (Mandarin) Leslie Tong => Rubbish Bin (Mandarin) Carmen Teng => Leg hair long (Hokkien) Danny See => Squeeze you to death (Hokkien) Rosie Teng => Screws and nails (Hokkien) Pete Tsai => Nose droppings (Hokkien) Meicy Koh => Never die before (Cantonese)

This shouldn't have happened: NEA I REFER to the letters, 'More recycling bins needed in HDB estates' by Mr Jonathan Kwok last Tuesday and 'A picture speaks a thousand words' by Mr Tay Yong Hong last Thursday. We appreciate Mr Kwok's commitment to recycling and are pleased to note that the National University of Singapore (NUS) has provided recycling bins extensively within its campus. To facilitate and promote waste recycling in HDB estates and landed homes, we have arranged for public waste collectors (PWCs) to provide recycling bags or recycling bins to households to store their recyclables, which can then be placed outside their doors on a scheduled day every fortnight for collection. In addition, we have arranged for the PWCs to place 1,600 sets of recycling bins within HDB estates, in consultation with town councils as well as residents' committees. Most HDB residents will be able to find a recycling bin within 150m from their block. Recycling bins are generally well used by residents and sufficient to meet their needs. On average, each set of recycling bins collects about 100kg of recyclables per month. Although most residents use recycling bins properly, incidents of misuse occur when residents throw liquid, food and other non-recyclable waste into them. We will continue our efforts to educate residents on the proper use of recycling bins. The recycling bin next to Mr Tay's block was filled before the scheduled weekly collection, and recyclable waste was placed outside the bin. The PWC should have ensured this did not happen by clearing the bins regularly. The National Environment Agency (NEA) will work with the PWC to either increase the frequency of collection, or provide larger bins. Residents can contact the NEA on our hotline, 1800-CALL NEA (1800-2255-632), or the PWC on the hotline number printed on the recycling bins should they come across any overfilled recycling bins. We thank Mr Kwok and Mr Tay for their feedback. Ong Seng Eng Director, Resource Conservation Department National Environment Agency

Got this from an email... More added features of name... _________________________________________ Why Chinese shouldn't have Christian names: Anne Chang (Mandarin)-Dirty Anne Chin (Mandarin) - Keep quiet Faye Chen (Mandarin) - Dusty Carl Cheng (Hokkien) - Buttock Monica Cheng (Hokkien) - Touching your buttocks Lucy Leow (Hokkien) - You are dead Jane Tan (Mandarin) - Frying eggs Suzie Leow (Hokkien) - Lost till death Henry Mah (Mandarin) - Hate your mum Corrine Tai (Hokkien) - Poor fellow Paul Chan (Mandarin) - Bankrupt Nelson Tan (Mandarin) - Bird laying eggs Leslie Tong (Mandarin) - Rubbish bin Carmen Teng (Hokkien) - Leg hair long Connie Mah (Cantonese) - Call your mother Danny See (Hokkien) - Squeeze you to death Rosie Teng (Hokkien) - Screws and nails Pete Tsai (Hokkien) - Nose droppings Macy Koh (Cantonese) - Never die before

Was having some discussion with friends...the topic : What is in our SG drivers' mind when car on different lane trying to switch in front of your car....given you could slow down (without any danger but somehow in convenient), would you give way? Usually few types of action: 1. Slower down (ease off pedal) and give way; 2. Since no car behind, just maintain speed, the lane switching car can always do so after my car pass by; 3. Maintain the right of way, do not want to do any adjustment (slow down or pick up); 4. Pick up speed - especially if no signal given ; 5. Depend on mood..... What would you all usually do? What is the 1st thing that come to your mind when you notice the intend of such situation? Why should I slow down and give way? or Why should I not slow down and give way?