Patriot in pyjamas

I spent the greater part of National Day lying in bed, and running to the bathroom now and then, due to a VERY upset tummy. By the time the parade started, I was already in my pyjamas...

So much for celebrating...

I did notice, though, that RADM Lui, whom I mentioned in the last post, was singing with somewhat more gusto that some of his esteemed colleagues.

stars and crescent shine on me,
make us more than what we can be...

My home
Wherever I may be
I believe
You will always be a part of me

(Didn't whoever was in charge realise that 'everyday' is an adjective? Was wondering why that grammatical error was on TV and I now realise that the line 'where dreams are born everyday' can be found on the NDP website too. Tsk... tsk... use good English, leh!)

Our global city
Our home

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True train school

‘Having eyes, but not seeing beauty; having ears, but not hearing music; having minds, but not perceiving truth; having hearts that are never moved and therefore never set on fire. These are the things to fear, said the headmaster.’ How would you like to have such a headmaster? I finally re-read (read it first as a teenager) Totto-chan, The Little Girl at the Window , a ‘school story’ by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, translated by Dorothy Britton. Totto-chan is the name Tesuko Kuroyanagi called herself, and the book is about her life during her school days at Tomoe Gakuen. Totto-chan was expelled from her first elementary school because of her ‘disruptive’ behaviour, which included constantly opening and closing her desk top (because she was so thrilled by it), ‘vandalising’ her desk (because there wasn’t enough space on the piece of paper to draw) and standing by the classroom window waiting for street musicians to pass by or talking to swallows. Her mother, although probably alarmed about the ...

No wonder

According to a poll of about 300 people, reported in yesterday's Sunday Times, (how come nobody ever asks me these things?) , the Seven Wonders of Singapore are (in order of merit): 1. The Esplanade (a whopping 82 votes) 2. Changi Airport (53 votes) 3. Sentosa 4. The Merlion 5. The Singapore River 6. Food 7. Mount Faber and LKY (tie - 10 votes each) Some 'offbeat choices' which didn't make it to the top 7: aunties selling tissue paper at coffee shops, Singlish, kiasuism, 4D-Toto outlets and Newater (said someone of Newater: 'We are probably the only country with branded recycled sewage.' Well said, ha ha.). Maybe it's a personal bias but I feel that a 'Wonder' must also have strong historical and cultural/social value (so I'm rather miffed that Angkor Wat didn't make it to the 7 Wonders of the World; in fact it was never in the running for the top 7). Therefore, these choices are a little too modern for me. The Esplanade, for example, is a...

True train school - a bit more

I realise I didn't give the context of Totto-chan's story, so here it is: Mr Sosaku Kobayashi, the headmaster, started Tomoe Gakuen in 1937. Totto-chan was in school during the WWII years and the school was destroyed during the Tokyo air raids, before she completed elementary school. Here is something from the last chapter, entitled 'Sayonara, Sayonara!' "The school that had been the headmaster's dream was enveloped in flames... In the midst of it all, the headmaster stood in the road and watched Tomoe burn... 'What kind of school shall we build next?' he asked his university-student son Tomoe, who stood beside him. Tomoe listened to him dumbfounded. Mr Kobayashi's love for children and his passion for teaching were stronger than the flames now enveloping the school. The headmaster was cheerful." Indeed, a man ahead of his time. The school was never re-built, and Mr Kobayashi passed away in 1963. In her postscript, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi explained ...

my ajumma notes

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