my ajumma notes

With public transport getting a very public airing recently, here are some of my thoughts. Bus campaigns First, I noticed, as some of you must have too, these ads painted on buses telling us that there are reasons why two buses might arrive at the same time. Then, there is this campaign exhorting passengers to flag the bus early. I don't mean to be rude or to trivialise the plight of passengers or drivers but I couldn't help laughing. I mean, do these two issues warrant campaigns? I'm sure (most) people know there are reasons why two buses might arrive at the same time. Wouldn't the effort be better spent reducing the incidence of buses arriving at the same time? I'm also sure (most) people know they should flag the bus early and, although I no longer take the bus regularly, I'm pretty sure most people do flag the bus early. Why would anyone want to flag the bus late? I mean flag the bus late deliberately ? Youthink articles I read the youth contributions to y...

In contrast to the article which my last post was about, I enjoyed reading Tay Yek Keak's two-pager on Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth in yesterday's ST. It was a rare interesting and 'light' article on the sombre topic of global warming. Then again, it wasn't actually about global warming, but about the film , which is about global warming. Having said that, I'm not sure if I'll be rushing out to watch it. From what I understand, most of the show is Al Gore doing his multimedia presentation on the topic, which sounds to me like a rather glorified GP lecture. No offence to any GP lecturers, for whom I have high regard. I just mean that it sounds like it's a glorified GP lecture. You know what I mean... I have a high regard, in fact, for both GP lecturers and the discussion about global warming. It's just that I'm not sure if I want to spend the time and money in a cinema watching Al Gore doing the lecture. No offence to Al Gore either. As...

Something else to rant about. If you read the Sunday Times the other day, you most probably would have seen that 'brilliant' piece on page 3 and 4 about our top shuttler and paddler. A two-page spread, no less, a pseudo -analysis of their relationship based on comments and stories from anonymous 'close' friends. At least that old story we read sometime back about the top actor who had to sleep overnight at the bus stop came (purportedly anyway) from his own mother. Ya, great work, Sunday Times ... such a newsworthy bit of journalism, don't you think, especially after the two said persons requested to be left alone to concentrate on training... What was the big idea?? Incidentally, this was the same paper that brought us that tongue-in-cheek nonsense about IJ girls ... and which I once complimented ... sigh... Well, with Doha less than 2 months away, the rest of us should just continue giving our moral support to our athletes , whatever our papers choose to wr...

Are there rules for or against the use of handbags by schoolgirls? You know, like how there are rules against multiple earrings, coloured hair, nail polish, and, in my time, pom-pom socks - which I'm sure trendy young ladies nowadays wouldn't dream of using -, and other such 'fashionable' things? I recently noticed some girls around here carrying handbags to school. For example, one girl carried a small handbag and a bigger bag for her school stuff. Then, there was this girl who had a small sling one and carried her files and books in her hand. And then, there was this girl who carried a (not very big) hobo type bag and I don't know where her books and files were. Maybe she rolled them and stuffed them into her bag or something. Is it the fashion these days? I have nothing against bags, of course. Actually, I love bags. In fact, I think about clothes bags shoes very, very often. And in fact, there are days when I think I'm obsessed with clothes bags shoes . Ju...

I just have to get a few more things about Full House off my chest. 1. Why do Song Hae Gyo and Charming Man, both twentysomethings, need reading glasses? 2. I love the huge fridges found in both Rain/SHG's and Charming Man's houses. 3. What exactly is an Internet novelist? SHG is one at the start of the story. Does one make any money as an Internet novelist? How exactly does it work? 4. Why does Charming Man take her on as a scriptwriter when she is supposedly a third-rate Internet writer? Does anyone know of any lobang of this kind? Please let me know. He doesn't even need to be charming or whatever or in love with me. As long as can make money legally, can already. 5. The two girls have such lovely earrings. SHG also has some rather pretty dresses towar ds the end of the show, after her hair suddenly straightens. 6. I liked Rain's dad. He is so kind to SHG when he meets her at the wedding, quite unlike some of the dads in other K shows who beat their sons up ...

Some of you will be bored out of your mind with this post but I’ll write it anyway. On the whole, I enjoyed Full House though it definitely wasn’t as good as Sam Soon . Hop on the merry-go-round with the love quadrangle. First, the rich and talented trio (childhood pals) with their amazing blend of complexes and hang-ups: Rain , popular actor, leftmost (sorry if that picture is rather unflattering!) Pretty Girl , fashion stylist, 3rd from left Charming Man (played by this guy called Kim Sung Soo), big shot in the media industry, right Last player in the quartet: Song Hae Gyo (henceforth SHG), aspiring writer, ‘ordinary’, kind-hearted girl, 2nd from left At the start of the show, Rain is secretly in love with Pretty Girl (has been since they were nine!). Pretty Girl is (not secretly) in love with Charming Man (but apparently he’s the last to know it). Charming Man is not in love with anyone. SHG tumbles into their lives. Eventually, Rain and Charming Man are struck with the Mark Darc...

I do know the ending of Full House but I will write some thoughts about it only after I watch the last episode. In the meantime, just for fun, if you had to choose one of these two guys, who would it be? Mr Left or Mr Right? Based purely on how they look to you.

Yesterday, one of our friends wondered if our children were truly 'lucky' to 'escape' the streaming business. That was the first time in recent days that I've heard anything vaguely positive in relation to streaming. It made me ask myself if the whole thing could have worked out well. After all, there is educational basis for 'streaming' - children learn at a comfortable pace, differentiated curriculum for different abilities, etc. And, realistically, how were teachers supposed to manage the range of abilities, talents, interests and behaviour of 40 children in each class? It is done, I believe, in most educational contexts all over the world - 'talent identification', 'placement tests', what have you... Unfortunately,we can't run away from the problem of 'labelling'. People will associate certain ideas with specific labels. Singapore is so small, competitive, achievement-oriented and class conscious. The term 'foundation'...