I was just driving back to Malaysia the other day to attend my dad's sister Birthday, we call her Tua Kor, well I am not sure what is that in english maybe grand aunty ? ya I know, I am a lousy chinese, so please dont hate me for this, I sometimes feel that I am lost in a chinese body, can't speak chinky cant write chinky, to be honest I AM ASHAMED of myself, I do see some Caucasian speaking mandarin far way better than I would ever have, Not to say that I am not good in mandarin, well maybe 30% grasp of conversation but I doubt that people will really look at me as a banana anymore,

Back in the year 2000, I was working for Starbucks and most of the people I meet are business people from all over the world, but mostly they are from America cause of the store that I use to run, it was smack at the end of Orchard Road, where Orchard Parade was situated, I was there for a good 2 years and I have seen and meet people of all sorts, I had a great time working for Starbucks and it was one of the best memories that I will never forget, I have forge friendship working there like friendship I had forged back in my school days , this were kids I was working with back then, kids as young as 16 till 18, that time I was in my early 20ties, and it was really fun working with them. I have seen most of them grew up to adult and successful people, I feel kinda proud knowing this kids, who when was young worked hard for tuition fees and own pocket money, they totally have my respect ! some along they way have migrated to other countries and sad that we have lost touch, so speaking of mandarin I remember when Jonathan thought I could speak chinese, he asked me to string a sentence and I reluctantly told him NO, he said come on try it, so I went and string this words which I knew and he started laughing like mad. It was
Wor Ming Xhi Shi Isaac ! it means My name is Isaac, I could still remember his facial expression when I said that out when we were in the office closing up the store. Well well well.. those were the memories everyone had...

I am now reading "Chaotic Thoughts from the Old Millennium" written by Mr Sim Wong Hoo and I can say at the moment he is my idol, he is the classic example of business man from hardship and also with a great attitude, I have not finish his book yet but I can say that I am liking it, It was written in 90ties and its a good read, best of all that book from written to print only took 6months which people say is impossible, well he proved them wrong with his BHAG "Big HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL" ok i wont know why the word hairy is there, you have to ask the man himself. I would like to meet him myself. Let see if I am able to do that next year ! He kinda reminds me of myself, but I am not so adventurous as himself, Imagine he asking his sister to send him to the airport and with no destination in mind, the next thing he knew was that he was on a plane to Kathmandu and going to scale Mt Everest. well, I am not going to spoil that book for you guys, please pick it up at your local library, dont go out and buy one cause its not going to help the world. Save the world,  Why buy when you can loan !

I will try to remember to post pictures more , its just that my blackberry is not connected to this laptop, my Acer laptop died on me and I have not find the time to repair it, I also started using my Fuji S304, people laughed at me because its only 3.2 megapixel camera, I had bought that in the year 2002 and HELLLOOOOO , in that year 2002, 3.2mp DIGITAL CAMERA was like only high end in Singapore ok !! most guys weren't even using digital back then,
I got that for a good $700 dollars cause I still have the receipt. sad thing is that I lost the cable so I was not able to transfer the picture file to my other laptop. I need to go to Sim Lim to look for a card reader, If you have a unwanted xD card reader to spare, please send it to me, cause I dont want to go out to buy another plastic and kill the world ! I will pay for your postage. Will repay your kindness if I can. Thank You in advance

anyway, got to continue reading the book, its another way to relieve stress from thinking of my 42k Singapore Marathon this coming Sunday. I am sure to bleed, cause I did not even train for this, I feel lousy and I am sure to regret it ! but hey, as I always say, dont regret what you do just blame it on others ! hahah just kidding , but Do not regret what you have done, just learn from the lesson!

I have to share this with everyone, its about education systems around the world and how it affect one self, but this is not my writing and I found it on the net reading the news, its really comes to show that is education that important ? or life skills ? or compassion ? well you decide for your self. I feel we need a bit of all but not being extreme over one thing, and I feel that traveling for a year or two is not too crazy because that is not in Asian culture to do so, but if they can do it why not us ?  please read and I do believe that you would agree at some point. What do you think ?

I got this article from www.theonlinecitizen.com, I wanted to put a link and direct readers to the writers site so you guys can comment, but I feel what happens if one day they decide to take it down, so I have blogged it up here instead, anyway here is the link Education Systems

Why I prefer Canada’s education system – world-ranking or not

Wing Lee Cheong / Canada

“Singapore’s ranked 1st in quality education system in the world” – Global Competitiveness Report 2007–2008

“Singapore ranked one of the world’s best-performing school systems” – McKinsey Report, published September 2007

“Singapore students ranked among the top in Mathematics and Science” – Trends in International Mathematics and    Science Study (TIMSS) 2007

“Singapore ranked 4th among 45 education systems” – Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006

Those are very impressive achievements that one can be proud of.  Dr.Ng Eng Hen, the Education Minister of Singapore, cited a 2007 survey by the Fraser Institute that shows 94 per cent of Ontario students were dissatisfied with the Canadian public school system. Dr.Kishore, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, proudly claimed that educational leaders around the world are flocking to Singapore to copy Singapore’s successful educational model. He said that some North American schools are even using similar textbooks in their schools.

Canada may not have a perfect education system but I seriously doubt the reliability of the survey cited by Dr Ng. One has to question the criteria and sample size used for the survey.

Most Canadians are proud of their education system and will not trade it for the aggressive streaming system of Singapore where one’s future and career is based solely on academic results. Studies have shown that passing standardized examinations with good grades does not necessarily mean that one has a better knowledge of the subject than another with lesser or failed grades. In most cases, it simply shows that the person is better in the art of taking examinations. There are controversies amongst Canadian educationists if standardized examinations can accurately assess students’ subject knowledge and the application of that knowledge. Not knowing how to apply the knowledge is no knowledge at all.

In the pursuit of academic excellence, Singaporean parents force their children to study long hours to make the grade.  In the fierce process, Singapore children are denied the joys of childhood. This explains why Singapore children are more stressed and tensed compared to Canadian children with their happy and carefree outlook.  Children of Singapore friends who visit me in Canada tend to be more reserved and do not interact well. More interestingly, almost all of them would bring their school work during these visits. The parents made sure that their kids did certain hours of studies everyday despite the fact that they were on holidays. It is a strange trend amongst Singapore parents who want to be one-up on others. It is a reflection of the typical Singapore “kaisu” culture.

Life is a marathon, not a sprint

Canada is one of the few countries that do not have a central or federal education ministry. All the thirteen provinces and territories have their independent education ministries to coordinate the national system through the Council of Education. This system has worked well for the country. Canada’s literacy rate is 99 per cent and placed at 19th in world standing, while Singapore’s  is 94.4 per cent and placed at 74^th, according to UNESCO in its 2007 annual report.

Canadians believe that life is a marathon and not a 100-meters sprint. Children are encouraged at a young age to develop at their own natural pace. There is no streaming. Mentally-challenged children are put in the same class as the normal and gifted children. Exceptions are made for severe mental cases. Under this environment, Canadian kids learn to develop compassion towards the less fortunate and realize that the world comprises different kinds of people. Hence they grow to be less arrogant and less prejudicial.

It is mandatory for students to do part-time jobs or perform volunteer duties at seniors’ home and other charity organizations in order to graduate from high schools. The students get marks for doing charity or part-time jobs. It is not uncommon to see volunteers in the hospital reception areas, families picking litter on the streets, distributing food/clothing to the needy, volunteers in senior homes, even the mentally and physically challenged are taken care of by volunteers. While in Spore the handicapped are considered an embarrassment and kept in the homes by their families, here in Canada volunteers bring them out shopping and they are encouraged to participate in recreational activities.

Canadians constitute less than 1 per cent of the world’s population but provides 10 per cent of the world’s peacekeeping forces in its selfless and unceremonious way. Volunteerism has become second nature to Canadians.

Singapore – just study and get good grades

This is in contrast with Singapore where an increasing number of parents would have maids attend to every need of the children. The maids carry the school bags, bring the drinks and food. All the children need to do is to study and get good grades. It has come to a point where many kids cannot do without maids. I have friends whose kids would scream to their maids to do simple chores like getting a drink. Few of these kids know how to make a cup of tea let alone a simple meal for themselves.

Even our much respected figure of MM Lee, despite all the fine education and good grades he had, did not know that one needs to peel off the egg shell before a hard-boiled egg can be eaten. (As related recently by his daughter in a Straits Times article.)

It is a common practice for Canadian university students to take a year or two off to travel the world and return to complete their studies later. My daughter took a full year off to backpack in Australia two years ago. With another classmate, they bought a used car and drove all over Australia. Most of my friends in Singapore thought I was crazy to let a young girl postpone her studies and travel aimlessly for a year.

Perhaps to most Singaporeans, it was a complete waste of time and money. My two other boys similarly backpacked in Africa, South America, Asia and Europe during their summer holidays. They learned more from their travels than from textbooks. Most importantly, they enjoy their lives. It is difficult to reconcile how forcing our children to go on a relentless paper chase can be the right thing to do.

Canada may not compare well with the Singapore education system in world rankings. Canadian students may not compete well in mathematics and science tests against Singapore students. Despite these, however, Canada has produced eighteen Nobel Prize winners, 44 Olympics medalists, with 9 Gold Medalists in the last three games, plus hundreds of world-renowned entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, writers, actors, singers, etc. By population ratio, Singapore should produce at least three Nobel Prize winners and scores of artists and writers, etc. Even Hong Kong and Taiwan each managed to have one Nobel Prize winner, many Olympic medalists and entrepreneurs.

Trade-off and compromise

The Canadian and the Singapore education systems are built on different premises. Singapore trains its students to be 100 meters sprinters for fast results to show the world whilst the Canadian system train its students to be marathon runners for the long haul in life. Canadian public education is free for all its citizens and permanent residents - from kindergartens to high schools. Tuition fees for most universities cost an average of C$6,000 per year.

The unscientific assumption by Singapore’s leaders that if you are not good at passing examinations with good grades, you are unlikely to make good for the rest of your lives, is laughable. History has shown us that there are scores of high achievers without degrees, i.e Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Richard Branson, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc.

History teaches us that we cannot get something for nothing. If we push our children hard to be super human beings, we may push most of them over the edge. There is always a trade-off and compromise.

These children would grow up to be blinded by materialism and money, potentially resulting in a lack of compassion, failed marriages, poor social interaction skills, aggressive behaviors, and so on. No one has managed to social engineer a super society. There are already signs Singaporeans are stressed out before retirement. If the people are pushed at an early age, they will wear out at an early age. Few people can last being stressed for their entire working lives.

Singapore may have a better education system (according to certain rankings and studies) and the citizens may be contented and proud of it. However, I still prefer the traditional Canadian education system where we are taught to be human beings rather than human machines. We may not be high in world rankings but we are happy. That is what life is all about. All the millions of dollars a year would not necessarily bring you genuine joy and happiness. We were born with nothing and we will leave with nothing.

Alvin and me was talking on messenger about BPM, it's not what you think, well its our heart rate to be honest, he claims that his resting 93hr is worrying him and that this is a an indication of Heart Attack? he just brought kiasuism to new heights haha .. Dude you wont die with an elevated HR of 13 beats. Anyway I always recommend a good HR monitor and only check your RHR when you wake up in the morning, its the most accurate, *what I think elevated his HR could be on his PC screen on that time* LOL

I recommend POLAR HR monitor, which I use, I recently tried NIKE but I found that its pretty good also but not as functional as POLAR's I have seen a few of its model and its getting pretty expensive, I dont know why they dont bring down the prices of those watches, POLAR should do a collaboration with National Health Agency and gives discount for people to use and FREE for people with Heart disorder, Anyway the last time I checked my RHR is 63bpm wanna bring it down to 50bpm but that could be dangerous because my body would always be in a state of Bradycardia. But its nice to know that Human can achieve that state of Heart Beat.

Tomorrow is my NB 15km Trial Run and I figured that this is going to be totally different as the normal races that I have done, this is going to be my first Trail run to be honest, Gravel? sand? Mud? wow pay to play with mud, nice ! but here enjoy the pictures I have taken during the Nike Human Run, Sorry no race report because its a terrible memory for me of 10k run. nearly 1hr for a 10k run? that is shameful for me, but nevertheless it was a fun run !

I always wondered why people go crazy for Hannah Montana the alter ego of Miley Cyrus, well at least I would like to think of it that way, She is a real teen bopper, to me she is more of a Star worthy than Britney. I do like this song cause of her energy that she portrays, I bet she had fun singing it. Just look at her dance. Its not like she was instructed, I could she that she was really feeling it ! LOL ! hey Miley if you are seeing this, You are awesome !  This is the clip of her dancing to the song! Feel the POWER, feel the ENERGY, feel her FUN ! oh yeah I wanna party in the USA, I hope I will get to do it soon !

It was the day where the World Runs in Unity and this can only be done by NIKE, its called the Human Race, well not much of a race but I can tell you there is confirm to be human, 10 thousand and more to be exact, the sea of red



Bryan forcing me to get up as I didnt wanna haul ass that morning, So many red protesters looks like we were in thailand, Luckily I wore my blue to be more OUTSTANDING ! haha, I brought my red to be safe, cause this event is a STRICT no other tshirt event, If you do you are BARRED from running no kidding, gurl confirmed it



See I have changed into my red protester Tshirt which I didnt want to, no choice.. the say do or die, It was a hot day with no breeze, imagine its only 7am in the morning, and its already with a temp of 32degrees Celsius. Pretty hot I would say. More pictures to look at


My Greatest Support and WORLD best Cheerleader came today, Glad she did, Always my inspiration to run faster as I dont want her to be waiting for me. Always tell myself that gurl is waiting under the hot sun *but in reality she is under the shade sipping Starbucks FRAPPE la.. but I have to think that she is waiting for me so legs will go faster. THANK YOU GIRL !!



I would say CONGRATS to all runners who finished this race no matter how fast or slow you have gone, it just come to prove that you are already a winner by Joining the race, you have haul ass by putting that every little step to fnish that hot and sweaty 10k. Just look at all our happy faces in the end. Manage to bump into Joanne at the end. It was fun till next time the New Balance Trial 15K run. Lets see what kind of timing I would get out of that. going to be a First for me, running in Gravel, Sand maybe water and indulating Hills ! lets wait and see.. 8th November another 2 weeks to go ! run run run !