Common Tests (Part IV)

Geography, my last paper for the Mid-Year Examinations. The seating plan in the hall is a little different today. Students taking English Literature and Chinese Literature have to sit at the far left of the hall, where 3BN was sitting for the past few papers. The students taking Chinese Literature have to sit on the first few vertical rows, followed by the students taking English Literature. As for students from 3HM to 3MD, we were sitting at our original seats. 3RP arrived a while later and they were seated at 3GR’s original seats.

The duration for the papers were also different. The duration for the Chinese Literature paper was 1½ hr. The duration for both the English Literature and Geography papers was 2½ hr. The students taking Literature started their paper before the students taking Geography, yet the students taking English Literature ended their paper at the same time as the students taking Geography!

The Multiple Choice Questions were straightforward, and the answers could be spotted easily if one did revise. The Structured Essay Questions (SEQ) were quite all right. The case study for Floods, Droughts and Volcanoes did not appear in the paper. Climatic zones, Deforestation and Earthquakes came up for the SEQ.

Well, I dwelled too much on Plate Tectonics while revising, I can almost list out all the key words when describing a plate movement, e.g. continental plate, oceanic plate, subduction, mantle, oceanic trench, mid-oceanic ridge, volcanoes, island arc, fold mountains, earthquakes, constructive plate boundary, destructive plate boundary, conservative plate boundary etc. Gosh, have I been studying too hard for Plate Tectonics? Will it be my fault if I did not fare too well for the other topics (maybe it‘s San Adreas Fault :P)? Hot water may be steaming out of my head like a geyser then…

Luckily, Factors influencing weather and climate was not tested, or else, I might do slightly badly, maybe a whole lot worse.

Invigilators (Part II)

As I was saying, something about Mdm Rose happened yesterday. As you know, I was seated in front of the cluster of students, on the 1st row, I had a clear view of what the invigilators were doing at the tables right in front of the stage. After the collection of the scripts of HM to JT, I saw Mdm Rose’s “unique” way of counting the scripts. What did she do? Well…this is what happened:

Mdm Rose licked her finger once she counted every 10 (or is it 5?) scripts and dabbed it on the top right corner of the 10th (or 5th) script. I saw the whole procedure, and I was not the only one who saw it, some others from IT saw it too.

I told Eunice about this and she went, “Yeee… Better not touch *someone’s* script!” Well, I think some people do have that habit, but I strongly do not recommend anyone to follow.

I remembered another invigilator who had this other habit. Who is this invigilator? He’s none other than the black faced Mr Marcus Kuek. His face is ever that black, it’s even darker than Justice Bao’s face (and I‘m not talking about skin tone). He was invigilating my class for a short while, during the Physics paper, when Mdm Tan was away. He sat on an empty desk and rocked his feet on the empty chair.

Such actions are not advisable for a teacher. If students were to portray those same actions, do you think is reputable? I guess not. Mr Kuek better think twice (or trice or even four times and more) before he does those actions in front of students again.

One amusing invigilator was Mr Vincent So. He was the invigilator for CL listening comprehension. When he played the compact disc, there was some music at the introduction. He then asked the students sitting at the back of the class if they could hear it. They did hear it, and some wanted Mr So to fast forward so that they need not listen to the music. Mr So then commented, " Actually, this music quite nice what…” In the end, he did not fast forward the disc.

After the CL listening comprehension, it was only 10.50am. The compact disc played for less than half an hour. Mr So then told my class, “They said this paper is 1 hour leh”. The boys went groaning and complaining, saying that the paper had ended. Mr So went to double check with Ms Soh Guat Ee, who was invigilating 3JT, if my class could be dismissed. It turned out that we could.

Common Tests (Part III)

It was the last day of common tests for……Lin Hui and classes such as 3FG, EP, DL and CR, not for me :( . CL paper 2 and CL listening comprehension was on today. I managed to concentrate better as the venue was in the classroom. It wasn’t that warm and I’m sitting right beside the window, where there’s a breeze blowing by.

The CL paper 2 was quite all right, except for my usual poor time management. I better hope for the best… The CL listening comprehension was easy. It was the easiest paper so far, and I bet it would be the easiest throughout this common test.

After school, I walked out of school with Eunice and we met up with Lin Hui, Pak Nian and company. On our way to the bus stop, we had several conversations, and I told Lin Hui that she had Cong2 Huo4 Zi4 You2, and she replied, “Ya lah”. I continued, “But I’ll have to struggle with one more paper…” Lin Hui went, “Ya Hor”.

Next, I asked Eunice if she knows when Mdm Rose will be leaving. Well, Eunice was not very sure, but talking about Mdm Rose, I remembered something that happened yesterday… (To be continued in the next post)

Lin Hui and I boarded bus 197. As she was alighting, she turned around and said, “Happy studying…”, in a cheeky way. I don’t really mind it though, but I do envy her somehow.

Common Tests (Part II) + Philosophy

The next venue for my common tests - the new hall (it isn’t that new though). The Additional Mathematics paper and Chemistry paper was on today’s schedule. I was so unlucky to be seated right in front of the cluster of students, on the 1st row! What I really hate about sitting in front is that invigilators will usually stand in the area in front of you when they invigilate. You might think it’s no big deal, but it truly disturbs me and that will disrupt my concentration. Furthermore, SOME teachers have their little conversations when invigilating and that is indeed annoying, especially if you could hear it…from where you are seated.

Well, back to the topic, the venue was warm (from where I was seated) as usual, despite that several fans had been switched on and were blowing across the hall. Both papers were…on the 50 : 50 stake. I did not have much confidence in them, though Chemistry ought to be my best and most preferred subject that is in my syllabus currently.

Additional Mathematics had been one of my poorest subject. The question on Sets is all right for me, but for Functions, I could not figure out the equation for f99(x). I should have paid more attention during A Maths lessons, it’s just that I could not seem to concentrate when Ms Sharmila is speaking. There were some complaints about Ms Sharmila, by ******** and the bunch of loud mouth critics. I do not understand why they would say such things, but if BN and GR can cope with her lessons, I don’t see LY can’t. As all teachers would say, it’s not about one’s IQ that allows them to attain excellent results, but it’s about one’s attitude and effort one puts towards one’s road to success.

Invigilators

A week ago, the period of common tests started, and for each paper, there is a different invigilator. There are a few invigilators who left me an impression. Who, you might ask. Well, here they are…

First, it is Mrs Michelle Wong. She was the invigilator for EL paper 1. While my class got our bags and notes outside the classroom, Mrs Wong started placing the papers on our desks and told us not to come into the class yet. I stood by the front door for the next set of instructions. Mrs Wong walked to the door and announced, “2 seconds, run in. Those who sit down first can start.” I was one of them who ran in first. It was so cute of Mrs Wong. She is the first invigilator who gave such an interesting set of instructions.

Secondly, it is Mr Ambert Khoo. He was the invigilator for EL paper 2. There was not anything interesting till we were about to start the paper. When it was time to start, he said “Okay, your paper is 1 hour and 40 minutes. I’m timing it on the stopwatch here. All right, begin.” It was the first time an invigilator ever used a stopwatch to keep track of time for an examination.

Thirdly, it is Mdm Tan Lay Gin (aka Chen Liren). She was the invigilator for Physics. She is simply the most calculating invigilator I have ever seen! She stepped into my class and started writing some instructions on the board in Chinese. “Only pens, pencils, rulers, erasers and calculators are allowed. ALL other belongings are not allowed, even pencil cases.” was written. Everyone was like thinking…"What the hell! Pencil cases are also being prohibited?” She then added "staplers" when she realised that we needed it too. I was smart enough to have it in my pocket before placing my pencil case outside.

She is the worst invigilator I had ever seen for the time being. She did not collect and count the scripts by herself. All the work is done by students (including me, somehow unwillingly).

(To be continued…)

Movie Update

I have noticed that several movies in favour of me are and will be in cinemas. First, it is Shrek 2. The trailers of Shrek 2 tantalised me to watch it. I had watched Shrek last year, and this year, there are several new characters featured in Shrek 2, e.g. Puss in Boots, the Gingerbread Man, Prince Charming etc. The storyline of Shrek 2 seemed particularly interesting. I will have to find someday to watch it.

Secondly, it is Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. I knew about this movie since February, and the movie has a moral behind it. This movie was in cinemas, in the US, on 20th February. It will be in cinemas, in Singapore, on 27th May. I may be watching this movie. I think Lindsay Lohan is a true Teenage Drama Queen.

Thirdly, it is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It will be in cinemas on 3rd June. I am also looking forward in watching this movie in the June Holidays.

Common Tests :(

One word to describe the 2nd day of common tests - dreaded. For Elementary Mathematics, I did not manage to finish the paper. I cannot solve some of the quadratic equations… I hope the results will not turn out in red…

As for Social Studies, I chose question 3. I had a lot to write for every question, except for question 3b, for which the facts did not get into my mind. I had tonnes, truly tonnes of information to write for the other questions, but I did not manage my time too well, therefore, I did not manage to complete a few questions.

Ms Gan was the invigilator for Elementary Mathematics, and Mrs Goh was the invigilator for Social Studies. I stayed back for the Physics supplementary after the Social Studies paper. The previously stated time for the supplementary was 12.30pm, as Mrs Goh said that she will be invigilating a class, so she had to collect the scripts and deliver them to the office before she could return to my class for the supplementary. Little did she know that the class she is invigilating is my class! As a result, we had our supplementary at 12.15pm, which was a good sign as we need not waste much time.

I shall be having the EL paper 2 and Physics paper tomorrow… Wish my luck!

Time Constrain...

Common tests and debriefs, they are getting on my nerves! Right after common tests, debriefs will be next on line! From 20th May to 3rd June, my schedule is almost fully packed! There are only a few exceptions, e.g. 23rd May (Sunday), 27th May (Marking Day), 30th May (Sunday) and 2nd June (Vesak Day), but these days are not in favour of me.

I am planning to visit the Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy - The Exhibition at the Singapore Science Centre. The last day of the exhibition is on Friday, 4th June. I may not be able to fork out time to visit the exhibition on 23rd and 27th May, but by hook or by crook, I WILL visit it on the other days, most probably on the 4th June, the last day. I will most probably be visiting the exhibition with my cousins, since one of them is a huge fan of LOTR. It is such a pity that bags, cameras and camcorders are not allowed to be brought in, so I will have to purchase some souvenirs in memory of this exhibition.

The movie of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be in cinemas on 3rd June. It had been almost 1½ years since the movie of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was in cinemas. I bet Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be another box office hit.

Common tests! Argh….. Stressed, stressed, stressed! My cousins are now relaxing at home without that stress currently since their examinations are over… I better get through this smoothly and obtain better grades compared to my 1st common test!

Flasher on the Run!

Everyone in CCHMS must have heard of the Flasher! He is currently active again, therefore, our Discipline Master (DM), Mr Soon warned us about the flasher, and if one chances upon him, call the police at 999...

Now, this is the interesting part. Mr Soon is my brother’s EL cum SS teacher. During every EL or SS lesson, Mr Soon would spend at least 10 minutes talking about current news and issues, both concerning and not concerning our school, e.g. the red string death, the Nicoll Highway collapse, the stepping down of the principal of Nan Chiau High School, Lake Odyssey et cetera.
This week, of course, is on the flasher! This is the discussion session of the topic:

Mr Soon: It was said that the flasher gets to work at 3pm. He targets at females (he would be AWFULLY perverted if he targets at both genders), both solo and in a group. The last case was at a group of 5+ girls. He travels in a green and blue motorised bicycle.

Mr Soon demonstrates a person riding a bicycle.

Mr Soon: Usually, he is dressed in a tee and baggy pants. When he notices his target, he would park his bicycle in the shade, like under a tree or behind the bushes. He will then stand in the path of the target. After which, he waits patiently for the target to come his way. When the target is in front of him, he would attract her/their attention by saying “Hello” or start a conversation with her/them. It was then he would do……what he is supposed to do.

Student: Was it the top or bottom?

Mr Soon: Basically, it’s the bottom. He would not be considered as a flasher if he did it only on the top.

Student: So did the police take action?

Mr Soon: They haven’t caught the flasher yet. In the past, the police went patrolling on bicycles, but now, for the welfare of the Police, they came patrolling the areas in police cars. Since the flasher strikes along the path of the canal, now, they have less mobility since cars could not drive along the path.

Student: So how?

Mr Soon: I did suggest that the police to come as plain clothed police. They should send policewomen over and they can borrow Chung Cheng uniforms and set an ambush.

More stories to come….

Down Memory Lane

Time indeed flies. It was 4 years ago since the new millennium; it was 4 years ago since the last Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia; it was 4 years ago since I had my 1st chance in watching a circus show; it was 4 years ago since I started playing the drumset; it was 4 years ago since I had my 1st Higher Chinese examination, now all these are history.

I clearly remember the experience of a lifetime - the Countdown to 2000, the Countdown to the new millennium! I went over to my cousins’ house and we had a great party there, whilst watching the Nation’s Countdown 2000 live on Mediacorp Channel 5. It was, is and will surely be a once in a lifetime experience for all!

The 2000 Olympic Games, held in Sydney, Australia, was extravagant. Although I did not get the chance to watch the Opening of the Olympic Games live, I did watch the encore telecast. Singapore had won a sliver medal in weight-lifting 44 years ago. It was the one and only medal ever won in the Olympic Games for Singapore. This year, the Olympic Games will be held in the land of origin, Athens. I hope the athletes taking part in this year’s Olympic Games will do Singapore proud. MediaCorp is the official Olympic network for this event!

After watching the commercial, I comprehend that the Stars of the Moscow Circus will be here in Singapore once again. I had watched their performance in 2000, and from the commercial, I can see that they had some new items created for the show. I may not be watching this year’s show though.

The drumset, how could I have missed that out! Well, it was a new skill and it indeed added some music to my life! It had become more than a practice during CCA, I simply love playing the drumset! I may consider becoming a professional drummer if offered a chance… :P

The Hair Issue

A lot of 3JT and 3LY students should have heard of the Hair Issue on Tuesday, 11 May. A disgusting hippy-wannabe (whose name I do not wish to mention) in 3LY sent an SMS to a girl named Samantha(3JT).

The SMS was so disgusting, and it goes something like this: "Your hair is long, silky and TASTY!" Almost everyone in 3JT and 3LY have been reciting that line on Tuesday. I even heard the news of Samantha’s mother calling the hippy-wannabe and giving him a warning.

Yesterday, Mrs Lim-Soon noticed that the hair of the hippy-wannabe is too long, and urged him to cut it, or else, Mrs Lim will be a free hairstylist for him. She also asked him, “Why is your hair so long? Are you trying to be a hippy?”

Now, you know why I addressed this person the hippy-wannabe.

Life => Fate or Coincidental?

Life’s full of surprises. Is it fate or is it just plain coincidental? Personally, I had stumbled upon lots of them. Here are a few of them:

1) Jolene Pang was my classmate from NURSERY SCHOOL! Our parents registered us into different primary schools respectively. (More stories behind the scenes…)

2) I got to know De Xin since primary 4. We went to the same tuition centre for CL creative writing. I did not confirm my intuition till she recognised me during the 2nd day of the Secondary 1 orientation in 2002.

3) Ms Soh Lay Na is the younger sister of 1 of my CL teachers in primary school. (Coincidental or...?)

4) Mrs Lim-Soon is my present EL teacher. In term 1, she did not report to school on Mondays and Thursdays. Mrs Lim-Leong is Jolene’s present Chemistry teacher. Coincidentally, she does not report to school on Mondays and Thursdays too! (Maybe not much of a surprise…?)

There's more to come... Be patient...

Lake Odyssey (Part III)

It had been quite a day. It was the last day for the performance of Lake Odyssey, and I’m selling the programme booklets for the day. I reported at the Esplanade Mall at 12.30pm as told, to meet Ms. Sharmila, the teacher i/c. There were about 9 other student helpers. We collected the stacks of programme booklets and transported them to the Foyer entrance of the Esplanade Theatre. The sales of the programme booklets yesterday was extremely low, only around 250 of them were sold.

Ms. Sharmila briefed us on the procedure for the day. We transported the booklets to the various stands and I sat there patiently for the audience of Lake Odyssey to approach and purchase a booklet at $3 each. Some of them were approached me and purchased the booklet willingly, without any complaint; some were rather unsupportive of the idea of selling the programme booklets at $3 each, but in the end, they bought it still. Others were simply too disobliging of the idea and one even muttered in Mandarin cum Hokkien, “Selling programme booklets at $3? It there a mistake?”

My duty ended as soon as all the audience had settled in the Theatre and the performance starts. We collected all the unsold booklets and transported them down to the Foyer entrance. They were then transported to the loading bay by some of the officials of the Esplanade. The next assignment was to remove all the calligraphy scrolls and artwork displayed along the corridor of the Foyer. The artwork had to be wrapped in newspaper and tied up securely; the calligraphy scrolls had to be removed from the display bars, rolled up neatly and tied up securely. By the time we were done with our job, the audience had already started exiting the Theatre. All the artwork and calligraphy scrolls were then transported to the loading bay as well.

I did not accompany the rest of them as I was granted permission to go to the backstage. This time, I brought along a digital camera and took several snap shots of the performers in the backstage. One of the pictures was taken on the stage itself. I was so energized when I stepped onto the stage. Can you imagine, I actually stepped onto the stage of the Esplanade Theatre without the identification of a performer! The whole stage is really deep and wide. The height of the stage floor to the ground of the musician’s pit is 3 metres, which is also equivalent one storey!

Eunice and I waited for Prescilia while she was removing her makeup. I met up her a while later and we went taking snapshots. She took pictures with several teachers too. Eunice, Prescilia and I went home by MRT that day.

I bet Monday’s assembly will be interesting…

P.S. I'm part of the Front of House (FOH).

Lake Odyssey (Part II)

I've just returned from the Esplanade Theatre after watching a spectacular performance of Lake Odyssey. I did not know that my CL teacher (Mr Wang Feng) had certain hidden talents beneath his sleeve, like the Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon.

The performance consists of 4 stories, each upholding one of the school’s values, which are With Passion we learn, With Perseverance we strive, With Integrity we live and With Pride we progress. The performers were remarkable, but I think the animation put up on the screen was emphatically unorganised. Not only that, the subtitles appeared a little later than that of the performer’s line; some of them are jumbled up too.

Besides the flaws, the whole show was astounding, and it was a real success. Since I’ll be on duty tomorrow, I had been issued a backstage pass (to collect the programme booklets), which allows me to have access to the backstage. Eunice and I went to the backstage after the show to search for Prescilia, who was one of the performers. On actual fact, I went there to search for both Prescilia and my brother (who was in Concert Band), as well as to take a look at the backstage. To me, being at the backstage of the Esplanade Theatre was totally awesome, and I’m going to bring a camera tomorrow and take a few snapshots of the place and the performers.

My father drove both me and my brother home that night. That’s all for tonight, I’ll be blogging again tomorrow.

Lake Odyssey (Part I)

In conjuction with Chung Cheng High School (Main)'s 65th anniversary celebration, the school had set up a performance, at the Esplanade Theatre, entitled "Lake Odyssey"on 7th & 8th of May. The 1st show of Lake Odyssey will be on tommorow. I have been waiting for that very day. The preparations for this major event had been going on since last year. Many CCA groups, which include the Chinese Orchestra, Concert Band, Dance, Chinese Drama, Wushu, Choir, Chinese Calligraphy etc, are all taking part in this event.

They had been practising hard and rehearsing seriously these days. Yesterday, they had to rehearse till 11pm++. It's sure tiring, so Mr Yue broke the news to them that they would not need to attend lessons today. But, they had to report to school at 3pm for yet another rehearsal, and the time for their dismissal is also 11pm++.

I'll be watching the 1st show, therefore, I'm really excited and looking forward to it. I will be on duty(Front of House), selling the programme booklets, on Saturday, 8th May. Well, that's all I can think of now. Maybe I'll add more to this entry later on.