Saturday, December 30, 2006 11:55 p.m.
We just had a new year's party for my dad's side of the family at my house! We didn't have a huge variety of food (thai salad, peking duck, fish noodles soup and chocolate fondue for dessert) this time round but the quantity was way too much. My mum seriously overestimates and I am definitely growing fat from all the eating. Went down town this afternoon with the housegirls and tried looking for my dress but they don't have my size! We couldn't stay for long because the crowds were such a big turn off but we managed to get belts, accessories and the little knick-knacks! I don't know if time goes faster as you get older but every year seems to be going by more quickly! Before you know it, it'll be the end of 2007.Saturday, December 30, 2006 11:46 a.m.
My cousin's 22nd birthday yesterday so there was a barbecue party at his place for his church friends, army guys and our family! The night before, E and myself ended up not watching any movie because by the time we got to the cinema, the museum show was going to start in 15minutes and we needed to eat. So we settled for dinner at Marina Square, walked around the shops (I'm training him for Bangkok and Hong Kong), took a slow drive down Orchard since it was drizzling before coming back to my place.
I think I ate way too much chocolates plus the weather has been so erratic so now I'm down with a flu and a terrible sore throat. Augh.
Thursday, December 28, 2006 08:31 p.m.
The examination results were released early this afternoon and they were far better than I had expected them to be so I have much to give thanks to God for. They aren't the best results but looking at how the semester played itself out, I can't complain and I think, more importantly, I bring with me the lessons learnt and I don't let pride or complaceny set in. I am finally breathing and many thanks to the people who prayed for me and reassured me. I think I recognize that it was definitely God's grace and blessing that I got what I got. I'm going out now to watch a movie with E and have supper after that! I want to watch The Holiday but he thinks it's too chick flick so we're probably going to settle for The curse of the Golden Flower or some museum show.Thursday, December 28, 2006 07:20 p.m.
It's quite funny reading the article about Miss Heng and seeing my ex teachers names like Mrs CO Lee who used to teach me Art in Sec2. My parents claim that on my first day of school in Primary 1, they went down to Centerpoint to get me McDonalds because they didn't think I could buy the canteen food and Miss Heng yelled at them and said "Parents! Do not buy McDonalds for your kids! Your kids will grow fat!!!" Haha. After that, my dad got really scared of her and he never dared bring McDonalds for me ever. Just the other day, E and myself were walking along the pubs at Somerset and we passed the old SCGS building at Emerald Hill and I was happily pointing out to him (in the midst of the darkness) the carpark my dad used to park to send me to school, the canteen, the haunted blocks (or so they said), my primary school classroom, the secondary school science blocks and all! I really have some fond memories of the school. E remembers some parts of it too because he used to be one of those small, cute ACS boys that would hang around the canteen waiting for their older sisters to finish school and his mum would always always buy him meepok. Haha. SCGS girls! Michelle, Tab, Sarah and Clara: When are we going to meet up? I miss you guys! :)Thursday, December 28, 2006 07:10 p.m.
Dec 28, 2006UPFRONT
Formidable Miss Heng steps down as principal
By Ho Ai Li YOUNG girls cowered at the sight of her, pranksters knew better than to set off stink bombs in her class and a former Defence Minister once declared she had the better army. In a black and white photo, Miss Rosalind Heng looks formidable in army uniform, beret and boots. As a teacher in charge of the National Cadet Corps at the Singapore Chinese Girls School (SCGS), she came in for praise when the late Defence Minister Lim Kim San inspected a drill put up by her girls in 1969.
He told then principal S.K. Tan: 'You got a better army than I!'
Miss Heng had joined the school that year after graduating from the then University of Singapore. She became principal in 1979 when she was 34, stayed 38 years, devoting her entire career to the school.
'She was very hardworking but rather loud,' a retired SCGS teacher, Mrs C.O. Lee, 64, recalled with a laugh.
'When she scolds, the whole school knows!' The towering headmistress with a weakness for floral-print dresses became synonymous with SCGS, which was founded in 1899 as a school for seven Straits Chinese girls. It has about 2,200 students now.
Today, she is stepping down and giving way to the new SCGS principal, Madam Sim Ay Nar, formerly head of Xinmin Secondary. Miss Heng, 61, is among the last of Singapore's legendary principals who stayed at their posts and became identified with their schools.
To Ms Sie Siok Hui, 45, a former SCGS teacher, Miss Heng's retirement marks the end of an era.
She reflected: 'When I was a trainee teacher 20 years ago, we heard of principals by word of mouth. 'Fearsome', 'awe-inspiring', 'slave-drivers', 'uncompromising in standards', 'undying dedication' were usually associated with principals of prominence.'
But many of that generation of principals have retired and the Education Ministry rotates principals so that they bring new ideas to schools and learn from their new environments. Today, 50 principals, including 17 being made heads for the first time, will receive their new appointments. Miss Heng is among 20 who are retiring. The others include Mrs Goh Hwee Choo from Tampines Junior College, Miss Chan Mee Leen from Chestnut Drive Secondary and Mr Loh Ai from Yuhua Secondary. Miss Heng stands out also for heading a full school with primary and secondary sections.
She declined to be interviewed, but those who know her well related the successes chalked up during her years. SCGS produced nine President's Scholars, gained independent status for its secondary school in 1989 and moved from Emerald Hill to its Dunearn Road location in 1994. It has also won many fitness, dance and value-added awards.
In the 2006 school achievement table for secondary schools, the school was ranked in the top band with five other schools.
But Miss Heng's legacy goes beyond facts and figures. As she has said before: 'What I want for the girls when they leave school is that they have confidence in themselves, that they are emotionally stable girls, happy that they've had a happy school life.' More than anything, students and staff say she stands for integrity.
Nothing infuriated her more than parents who thought they could get their daughters into the popular school by offering a hefty donation or trying to impress with their connections.
School registrar Julie Lee, 52, said: 'I tell them no, but some insist on seeing the principal.
'So I say, 'Sure, but let me do you a favour. Please do not mention anything about donating or drop any names. It's sure to throw you to the back of the line'.' Despite competition from other top-ranked schools for bright students, Miss Heng decided against introducing the Gifted Education Programme or starting an integrated programme to bypass the O-level examinations.
There was pressure from old girls and parents for the school to have these programmes, but Miss Heng insisted that she did not want to cause divisions among her girls.
And where other independent schools worked at raising the cut-off for enrolment at Secondary 1, SCGS retained all its primary pupils who qualified for the secondary Express stream.
So this year, for example, it took in girls with Primary School Leaving Examination scores of 201 to 265. Some might criticise Miss Heng for being conservative, but Mrs Lee, who was taught history by Miss Heng, begged to differ: 'She's a historian, and makes decisions with a good understanding of where the school has come from.'
The school emphasises character development and good values and aims to produce 'kim geks' - a Peranakan-Hokkien metaphor for women who are treasures because they embody the virtues of filial piety, gentility, kindness, propriety and diligence.
SCGS board member Euleen Goh, who is chairman of International Enterprise Singapore, said of Miss Heng: 'She has left a deep imprint as a principal in the way she has cared for each student, so that they have a confident, well-balanced life.' On a lighter note, Miss Heng's reputation of being fearsome is such that some swear she has eyes in the back of her head.
An SCGS legend has it that one class who tried to play a trick on her received a taste of their own medicine instead.
The girls had planned to ambush her with a stink bomb in class. Miss Heng turned up, wrote a few history questions on the blackboard and said, without turning her head:
'I think I have a cold. Could you close the windows?'
After the windows were shut tight, she said: 'Okay, girls. Do the questions, and I'll be back.'
She left, slammed the classroom door shut and left the pranksters with a lesson to remember. Beneath her no-nonsense persona, staff and students say, there lies a good sport prepared to laugh at herself, and someone who never fails to give support to staff or students in need.
Once, she arranged for an entire level of girls to visit a drug rehabilitation centre to help a girl who had gone astray, and to show them the harmful consequences of drugs. Even though she has retired, Miss Heng plans to help out at SCGS as an adviser as long as she is needed.
But one thing not on the cards, contrary to a hot rumour in circulation, is marriage.
Mrs Lee said with a laugh: 'That rumour follows her with every long holiday she takes.'
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 04:32 p.m.
The Christmas weekend went by really quickly! On Saturday, we had our last older girls' cell for the year and we did some reflection. There was some change of plans so I ended up having lunch with E at Din Tai Fung and then shopped around for christmas gifts, dropped back at his place to pick up the wine before we went over to Adrian Zheng's new house for christmas dinner/housewarming party with some other church folks. Dinner was great, company was excellent and Adrian's house is really cool. Haha.
On Sunday, the boyfriend came over for breakfast and we went to church, had a quick lunch at Novena Sqaure, did a bit of walking around velocity before I came home to sleep and later, helped my mum prepare the food and all for our annual family christmas party at my Uncle's place! We had a whole variety of food - seafood pasta, salad, turkey, mashed potato, honey baked ham, salmon and other side dishes (my lamb was missing!), I was so stuffed at the end of the night. Our family finished off 6 bottles of wine, had a whole load of desserts (wheatgrass and bean paste log cake from Meritus Mandarin!) and then it was the time of the night where all of us cousins would tear open all the presents and leave the wrappers lying around! Haha. I got lots of accessories this year and I'm quite happy with my loot though there would be no better christmas present than passing all my modules and getting a decent grade for the exams! I'm still gripped with fear that I'll have to retake one particular module.
On Christmas morning, instead of going to Barker for Christmas Service, we went to Calvary Baptist Church because my grandmother and my eldest cousin were getting baptised! My mum's entire family is at Calvary except for ours but we used to be from there too! My parents got married at Calvary and Sarah and myself attended primary sunday school there till my dad decided to move our family to Barker when I was in Secondary 1! Anyway, it was nice being back and Calvary is definitely smaller than Barker and it's a real family church! I met most of my childhood church friends and we had lunch together after the baptism cum christmas service! After lunch, I met the boyfriend, we went back to his place and he played X-box (I am going to confiscate it one day), had dinner with his family, watched Cats and Dogs before he came over to my house to have my mum's udon for supper!
I'm super tired from the past few late nights and I've been lazing around the whole day because the weather is perfect for lying around. I don't think I'm functioning properly or doing anything productive because I'm really scared of my results. It isn't the scared scared about not securing the A's but I'm serioulsly scared scared because I don't know if I'll pass 2 of my modules. I know I can't do anything about it but seriously, it's eating me and I'm completely gripped with fear and if I'll have to retake my modules, I think I might really just roll down the stairs. Augh.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 12:10 a.m.
My father got promoted this year and so he ended up as our official turkey carver (under the watchful eyes of my Aunt) at our family christmas party! Haha.
This is the world's best grandfather. Haha. My father is the chip off the old block. I'm really encouraged by my grandfather because he's a really devoted Christian! He recently went for a missions trip to give out bibles to the mainland Chinese and I heard he's always the first in church because he wants to help arrange the chairs. He even went for carolling! I like my grandfather too because he always helps me to repair my broken stuff and he buys me these cool handy gadgets! 
Thursday, December 21, 2006 04:18 p.m.
Sometimes I really wonder what I'm doing with my life. I feel so neither here nor there.Wednesday, December 20, 2006 11:09 p.m.
Is there a solution to every problem?Wednesday, December 20, 2006 01:44 p.m.
Mum took leave yesterday so sarah, mum and myself went down to Orchard to buy christmas presents! It was pretty fun and we walked from like 11.30am till 7.30pm buying the presents! I managed to get a pair of pants and a shirt from Mango and mum wanted to get me this short trench coat but it was really heavy so we didn't get it in the end. Mum was also going to get me this nice pair of shoes but they didn't have my size! We haven't gotten everyone's presents yet but I really enjoyed myself with my mum. Met E after that and we went for dinner at Serangoon Gardens, rented the movie 'Cars' and went back to his place to watch it! I love 'Cars'! It's so cute and it has a really touching story line! Last night, as I laid in bed, I wondered if I was putting my 'treasures' in the right places and if I'm spending enough time with the people who matter most in my life. I thought about what I did during the day and I realized that I really enjoy spending time with my mum. Not because she buys me clothes or brings us to nice places to eat or that she isn't like those irritating mums people complain about but it's because my mum teaches me about humility, contentment, generosity, about loving others and not being selfish and so much more through her life itself.Monday, December 18, 2006 01:52 p.m.
The planning and execution of the games at the Bukit Batok christmas celebrations is finally over! I think it went pretty alright except that it got a little chaotic at some points and we were terribly short staffed especially at the candle station. Haha. I met all sorts of kids there and there was this one girl who was a little naughty and she wanted to use the gas lighter to light all the candles up and after I allowed her to, she started playing and she poked my upper arm with the gas lighter! It was super hot and now it has left me with a mark! :( Anyway, as I was just standing around after we were done with the games preparations and I was listening to the sunday school carollers, a few thoughts came into my mind. I think I recognize that there are still many people living in Singapore's heartlands who haven't heard of Jesus Christ or know of what God has done. We talk about going to the tribes in Thailand and the islands in Indonesia to tell the people there about Jesus but there's still unreached people right at our doorsteps! That was also when I realized the importance of speaking proper mandarin. We try to learn Thai or bahasa Indonesia to reach out to others but what about mandarin because I think many of these heartlanders are more comfortable speaking in mandarin. To that, I don't even know if it's fair to label them as heartlanders. I know the government calls them heartlanders but I don't know if it's wise in our ministries to call the people living in the various neighbourhoods in Singapore, heartlanders, because when you use such terms, it makes you feel as if you're so good and you're doing these people a favour by serving them and telling them about Jesus. Well, at least I felt that way. Remember how I mentioned that God uses circumstances to either convict me of His truth or to remind me of His word? On Saturday, I was also reminded that serving others in any capacity requires us to be humble. It requires us to put aside our social standings, pride or wealth or intelligence and just serve. It's amazing really and I'm so glad for the opportunity to help out at the bukit batok christmas celebrations! Before I went down to Bukit Batok, E and myself went to meet his ex teacher, Noel Ong, to have sushi for lunch. We had quite a good chat and Noel Ong was telling us about his travels! I want to travel to Greece and Turkey and all the eastern European countries too! After cleaning up the games stall at Bukit Batok, I drove down to meet E and we went to Chomp Chomp for dinner, rented "the breakup" and went back to his place to watch it. On Friday, I went to his older guys cell because they were having a get together at Zhen Yang's place and I realize that guys can't sit round a table and talk for more than an hour! Haha. They need to do something and thankfully E brought his xbox along because after dinner, the guys were happily playing the games. While I'm pretty sure they bonded over the games, I realize that guys are just so different from girls because I'm sure that girls can sit round the table and talk for 5 hours nonstop! Haha. Yesterday, after church, Adrian, Raymond, Steve & his girlfriend, E and myself went down to Tanglin Mall for Japanese again. Haha. After that, E and myself wanted to go down town to buy presents but it was pouring and there wasn't any carpark so we went back to his place before I went to my grandma's in the evening. My grandfather's over at our house right now so I'm going to spend some time with him and in the evening, I'm going to do christmas shopping with E!Monday, December 18, 2006 11:45 a.m.
The boyfriend loves the christmas season and all the christmas songs and carols that are being played during this season. He loves singing and listening to the christmas songs so much that he wants to go for all our church services so that he'll have more chances to sing the carols. Haha. Anyway, he wants to share this song with everyone here so that everyone can sing along with him and join him in his christmas joy and celebrations!Friday, December 15, 2006 01:59 p.m.
Mum's email: "Watch your thoughts; they become words.Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."
Friday, December 15, 2006 01:14 p.m.
I picked the boyfriend up from work yesterday evening and we were supposed to head down town to meet my JC classmates and have dinner there but there was this massive jam going to town so we ended up at Katong having chicken rice. After dinner, we went down to meet Sophie, LQ, Eebing, Bridgitte and Terence at Village for a short catchup session and oh my, it was absolutely wonderful talking to them again, laughing, catching up, jacking Terence and getting all our news updated. Haha. E and myself walked around town after that and I saw a really gorgeous handbag from Coach and I really want to get it but I don't know if I should be spending such money when I'm only a student. I've been thinking about the semester that has just gone by and the lessons I've learnt and I realized that God has used circumstances, both pleasant and unpleasant, to either convict me of the Truth or to remind me of his Word. It's really humbling and I'm thankful that He is real to me and I think one thing I need to do next year is to spend more time in prayer. Reading the bible comes easy to me but I get very lazy when it comes to praying. So yes, more time in prayer next year.Thursday, December 14, 2006 12:07 p.m.
I went to Settler's cafe at Holland Village yesterday afternoon with Juan Juan, Waifong, Jiahui, Colin and Lazarus! We had lunch and then we spent the next 4 hours playing a few different games and it was a heck lot of fun! The first game we played was some cash flow game where we had to get out of the rat race and that, plus the last game involved a little strategy and was a little serious but the other games we played? We were making animal noises, laughing at the top of our voices and banging on the table. Haha. Dropped them off at Newton and then went to church to pick up some games material for Saturday. Then I went to Giant supermarket to buy 390 packets of potato chips/snacks. My whole entire car boot was full so I couldn't buy anymore. Haha. This little boy saw me and he went "WAH! So lucky!!" Haha. Came home for about half an hour then dropped sarah off at church for carolling, picked huiling and dorcas up then we went to daniel long's house for dinner! He invited our older cell girls over to his place and as the night progressed, we started sharing more, talking and discussing about various things. Just sitting and listening and sharing really blessed me. I only reached home at about 1.15am and then I laid in bed, thinking and reflecting about what we talked about. I couldn't get to sleep till about 2am but it was good, really.Wednesday, December 13, 2006 06:12 p.m.
I pumped $50 worth of petrol and it's doesn't even fill half my tank!!! Augh.Wednesday, December 13, 2006 10:49 a.m.
Yesterday afternoon, I went down to meet the boyfriend for lunch and I think he got sick of eating lunch boxes and fast food so he brought me for sushi. Haha. I met Kristy after that and we chatted for a little while before I went back home and in the evening, picked the boyfriend up from work and we went to Vivocity to have dinner at Secret Recipe! E had to buy some shirts so we were at the shops and we were surprised to find so many people there buying clothes and they were mainly men who were carrying piles of clothes. He was curious so I told him that these men probably went out on saturday and sunday but refused to buy any clothes and then on monday, their wives/girlfriends/mothers nagged them to their grave, they decided that for the sake of domestic peace, to come out on Tuesday to buy their clothes. Haha. In his own words, "They're all buying next year's clothes so they won't ever have to go shopping till next Christmas." He tells me it's a once a year thing because men are practical which explains the pile of shirts they're buying. I rolled my eyes.Tuesday, December 12, 2006 11:26 a.m.
Tea with Charlotte yesterday afternoon at Toast! We need to do this more often but it was good talking and sharing our thoughts! I had dinner at home then E and myself went down town to watch Casino Royale! It wasn't too bad a show and I was surprised the cinema was three quarters packed when it has been showing for quite a while now. I have the car this whole week but mum the empress has instructed that I pay for my own petrol and top up the cashcard. All part of her "I'm teaching you that owning a car is not cheap" lessons. I much rather have my dad's car because it means I have the Shell fleet card and I don't have to pay for ERP! Last night when I came home, I had a run-in with the security guard and it wasn't pretty so my mum's pissed off with me now. Great. Anyway, going down to Shenton Way now to have lunch with the boyfriend!Sunday, December 10, 2006 09:07 p.m.
I went to Vivocity today! I'm probably the only one in Singapore who hasn't been there yet but I don't think it really is worth all that excitement. The mall is huge but the shops are boring! It's not like I can't find Zara or Gap or Forever21 or Topshop at Orchard Road! The only nice thing about Vivocity is that it has so many nice eateries like Modestos and Corduroy cafe all under one roof. I bought stuff at La Senza today but other than that, I can't decide if I should get the army green or black trench coat and I can't find a nice bag! I don't quite know what I've been doing except that I'm physically drained and my sleep cycle is screwed up. I went down to E's workplace on Friday to have lunch with him, met my sunday school kids after that at Wisma for lunch again and then some of us girls went to Gap which is so terribly disappointing, I'm boycotting it. Met E after his work, went for cell then Debbie came over to stay the night because we were going to send the mission trippers off the next morning. We were supposed to sleep early but we ended up talking till 1am, woke up 330am, picked up some others and drove to the airport to send half my cell off. Haha. It was the first time I went to the budget terminal and oh my goodness, it really is budget. It's just one single floor with this open area for you to park your car and all of us agreed it kind of looked like Disneyland from the outside with Santa and his sledge. Haha. I came home at 6am, slept and woke up at 830am to go for older girls cell which was very good. We talked about the guidance of the Holy Spirit and somehow, I think that forced me to think about the ways God speaks to me. Very good because now I think it isn't that God doesn't use other means to guide me but I realize he has especially used this one particular way to guide me in the past few years. Met E after that and we went for lunch at the new Ikea at Tampines which is also so huge, I thought I was in some mall in America. We went out for dinner before going back to his place to watch Miami Vice. Anyway, today at church, Pastor David preached about whether it was necessary for God to become human and in my opinion, he gave a really good explanation of why it was necessary for God to send his own son, Jesus, down to Earth and he also gave 2 instances in Mark where Jesus showed that he was truly God. I think I'm very clear now on why it is necessary for God to become human. It's good really. This week is going to be another busy week because I've got to prepare the games for the christmas celebrations at Bukit Batok on Saturday so there's going to be alot of running around to get stuff and all and I think I might go pluck my wisdom tooth out. Well, we'll see if I'm bold enough first.Thursday, December 7, 2006 12:31 p.m.
Camp group photo!
Thursday, December 7, 2006 10:16 a.m.
I kind of registered my subjects for semester 2 and right now I'm just waiting to get my 2 electives. I hope I get them though if not I'll have a really hard time completing them in year 3. It isn't my desired timetable because I had originally wanted marketing on Tuesday at 1230pm so that my mondays won't be so packed but there wasn't any vacancy so I'm stuck with an 8hour day on Monday with no break at all. And if I do get my elective, I only end classes at 830pm on Wednesdays. But I still have to give thanks to God because I got my friday class for AB228a (career foundations) and after 5 weeks, I'll be done with this module so I'll be back to my 4 day week! I also end classes at 1130am on Tuesdays! After all, I guess I still have much to be thankful for!Thursday, December 7, 2006 12:53 a.m.
E came over for dinner just now because mum prepared shabu shabu! It wasn't too bad and we even had dumplings and tempura as appetizers and mochi ice cream for desserts! Good time indeed and I truly appreciate it when the boyfriend makes an effort to spend time with my family.Wednesday, December 6, 2006 02:24 p.m.
The 1st December birthday girl. Happy belated birthday sis!
Wednesday, December 6, 2006 01:57 p.m.
I'm back from camp! I had a really awesome time and the theme talks were really fantastic! Pastor Malcolm talked about the nature of God and touched on the doctrine of creation vs the spontaneous generation in the first theme talk. In his second theme talk, he talked to us about the fear of the Lord and he mentioned that the fear of the Lord + love for God = Wisdom + Favour from God = Success. Of course, we know that this success may not necessarily be material success. In his third theme talk, he shared with us his testimony and various stories relating to the Holy Spirit including the baptism of the Holy Spirit and that got us all laughing and all but he made it a point to tell us a learning point from each story that he told and it was really good! I thought it was really nice for him to share with us his experiences. Besides the theme talks, the games were fun, I managed to catch up with a few old friends and I had a real good time! This year, we did something different too and so on Monday, we all woke up at 4.45am, headed down to East Coast Park to watch the sunrise, have worship and do our quiet time and after that, we all went to various homes. For my group, we went to Andrew&Grace home and it's a christian home for female youths who have either committed some petty crime or whose parents cannot control them and all so they leave them at that home. The girls were supposed to befriend the girls there but due to some unforseen circumstances, we ended up helping the boys with some cleaning and weeding but it was nonetheless, an eyeopener. Anyway, camp left me terribly sleep deprived! Haha. After coming home at around 1pm yesterday with sarah, I jumped into the shower, turned on the aircon and slept till 6pm before I met the boyfriend after he was done with work. We had dinner at Manhattan Fish Market, walked around plaza singapura (I am so shopping deprived) then went back to his place. He got a new LCD tv for his room! It's really nice and huge! I am still feeling so sleepy and there are so many emails to read and reply to, I just feel like crawling back to bed but I think I've been sleeping too much already. Tomorrow, I register my subjects for next semester and I pray I get the timetable that I want! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------