A Good Choice, A Silent Hope

My school attachment programme started this Monday. The purpose of the programme is to give us a glimpse of how the various policies are implemented in schools, observe how teaching is conducted in schools as well as get some hands-on teaching experience. Also, we are all given a project to do and the principal convinced us that our project was important to them because they really needed some ideas on how to deal with a particular group(or should I say class) of students.

I was posted to a school in TPY together with 3 others. It is not the kind of school that produces top scorers in the GCE exams but still, I must say that it is a great school with a compassionate, understanding and realistic discipline master, quite a number of caring teachers and fantastic students. Not in academia but in many other aspects. A number of them have already experienced many of the various 'sufferings' of life and even though many teachers say lots of unpleasant things about them, I strongly INSIST they are not 'bad' after observing them in the past few days.

On the very first day(Monday), the four of us who were posted there spent the whole day with the principal and the vice principal of the school. They gave us a lot of information about the school and shared with us the students' background. The information were mainly statistical and were presented in pie charts and graphs but they certainly were useful in helping us to have an idea of the students that we would be seeing. For example, we were told that majority of the students speak their Mother Tongue at home and not many speak
English at home so from here, we can roughly infer that most of them are not proficient in English and may not understand English that is 'too proper'.

Next, we were given an overview of the programmes that they have in place in the school, including their CCA programme which I feel really needs improvement. Other than that, I was impressed by the programmes that they have in place for the students' welfare. They appeared to be a school that cared a lot about the students who have lots of 'emotional baggage' and students whose families are not earning enough to make ends meet. That sure made me feel heartened for I had always believed no student should be left out in the 'rat race'. In short, it seemed that the school was making a serious attempt to ensure that no student is 'left to die on his own'. At least that was the impression which the Principal and the Vice Principal gave me.

In the midst of the briefing, I was already considering going back to the school when the time comes because I could identify with the school's values, mission and vision. The only disappointing thing is that they did not have table tennis and had very few(only about 4) 'sports and games' CCA. To make matters worse, I bumped into this girl playing table tennis with her PE teacher at the table tennis table in the canteen that day when I was eating and the girl was actually good! I saw that she had the basic strokes and was one with good potential. Being unable to restrain myself, I walked over to them and asked her where she was from. I then found out that she was previously from PCPS which is also my alma mater. She enjoys playing table tennis and feels disappointed that the school does not have table tennis as a CCA. She also mentioned that there were a few others in her shoes. I felt quite sad to hear that... its really such a waste! If only the school had it as a CCA and gave students like her some support, I'm sure they can get into top 4 in the Zone competition at the very least because that zone does not have that many schools that are good in table tennis. Well, perhaps I *might* be given a chance to do something for such students in the not-too-distant future...

The rest of the day was spent meeting the HODs and being introduced to them because the HODs are supposed to 'mentor' us during our attachment period. We were then briefed about the project that the school has assigned to us. Basically we had to find out more about a sec 1 NT class students. According to the school principal and teachers, this class of students is very different as compared to the previous batches of NT students, for their behaviour was much more 'atrocious' and their result was not as good. We are supposed to
interview the students and the teachers teaching that class to get information about them and try to find ways that will help them to learn better. We are also required to observe each subject teacher teach for 2 days(Tue and Wed), after which it would be our turn to teach the class.

Thus, I spent the past 2 days observing the lessons. One pattern which I observed - in certain lessons, the students were better behaved during class and would pay more attention. In some other lessons, the students would behave terribly, talk loudly in class, run around the class during lesson, throw things around, 'fight', etc... almost everything that you can think of in your wildest imagination, you will see it happening there. As a result, during these lessons, it is almost impossible for lessons to be conducted because the teachers spend most of the time scolding students. However, in the lessons which the students were better behaved, the lessons could be carried out(with hitches here and there) and the students were able to learn something from the lessons. They will also do work that is given to them, though their ability vary greatly. There are students who can finish the worksheet given to them in less than 5 minutes while others are still struggling with the first question. In any case, the main point that was gathered from this observation was that discipline is a must in the classroom and if the teacher is unable to discipline the students effectively, it will be difficult to have a 'proper lesson', not to even mention an 'effective lesson'. Nevertheless, disciplining these students seem to be the greatest challenge for every single teacher of that class as it seems that many of them love to move about, disturb their classmates and come up with 'games' to entertain themselves. Alas, the situation was much better during Maths lessons when the students were split up into 2 classes. Each teacher will then handle a class of about 20 students and learning was much much better in that situation. However, of course, the students still do talk quite a bit and disrupt lessons occasionally.

This morning, I started to interview students during their 'student-teacher interaction' time which is from 7.40am-8am, before they start their first period of lessons. This is something which the school had arranged because they felt that the teachers needed to get to know the students better and vice versa, in order to find out if they are troubled and to 'counsel' them if they always misbehave in class. Personally I think that this is really an excellent programme because from conversations with many teachers, it seems that many students
actually open up to their teachers during this session and many problems are thus discovered by the teachers, who will then try to help. I specially requested to 'interview' this particular boy this morning because I found him to be of a very interesting character. He would often play during lesson time and disturb his classmates. He would also answer back to the teacher whenever the teachers shouted at him. However, I noticed that he was actually quite good in his work and was able to finish up work given to him quite quickly. As a result of walking around the class the past 2 days, I managed to strike up some conversations with him and feel a sense of closeness with him. Found him to be an extremely likeable person with a great personality. Thus, I chose to speak to him today and got to know a lot more about him. The more I got to know about him, the more I appreciate him as a person and as a student... I hope that in the next few days, I will continue to get to know more students better during this 'interaction time'.

On another note, I finally got the chance to teach the class(half of the class to be exact, since I'm teaching Maths) today. Thanks to the past 2 days of observation, I was able to know most of the names of the students in the class so I could skip the 'introduction'. I further split them into 4 groups and told them that we would have a 'game' whereby students who answer questions correctly will earn points for their groups. However, points will be deducted if they misbehave. I then asked them what are the 'offences' that they often commit and how many points they suggest will be deducted for each offence and they were enthusiastic in suggesting the various offences and how many points they think should be deducted. Then the 'game' commenced. To my pleasant surprise, they co-operated very well and were very well-behaved... no one moved around the class and no one disrupted the lesson. I was very surprised because I recalled that even when I was teaching in primary school the last time, I never had a class that responded so well to this 'game'. I felt encouraged and
elated by this fruitful lesson I had with them and the more convinced I was that this group of students are teachable and fantastic.

After today's lesson, I know that I have made a good choice to take up the scholarship and I start to silently hope to be back in this school 2 years later...

Last Few Gatherings

Been 'neglecting' my friends the past few weeks due to my hectic schedule. Finally had the chance to meet up again witH FY and ZW today after training. Rushed off right after keeping the tables to avoid being late. For I don't wish to be like someONE who is often either very late without notice or simply 'puts aeroplane'. It is sometimes disappointing to see how some friends change over time. And to think that that someONE could actually just not turn up for another friend's birthday celebration even after he had agreed to turn up. Refused to answer calls and SMSes and finally decided to give a call to the birthday person to say that he won't be coming only 2 hours after the supposed meeting time. How 'wonderful'! I'm sorry to say I am utterly disgusted by such behaviour. I repeat... DISGUSTED is the word. When such things happen once, we can understand and we forget it quite soon. When it happens twice, we may still forget it soon. When it happens thrice, well, we may still just try to be understanding. BUT when it happens AGAIN AND AGAIN, I'm sorry to say that such behaviour speaks for itself and I'm afraid trying to justify it is simply difficult. Convincing us that you too feel bad is even more ridiculous for your actions don't reflect what you speak.

Anyway, I hope that posting this here would serve as a reminder to all as well as to myself that we all ought to have some basic principles and not turn out to be people who do not have 信用 (xin4 yong4). In life, I strongly believe in having 信用 otherwise others would find it extremely difficult to place trust in us. It strongly affects one's reliability and integrity as a person. Who would ever dare to entrust something important to a person who does not have 信用!?

In any case, I enjoyed the 'gathering' with FY and ZW. The cheese fondue was excellent I thought, though I think after today, the next time I will want to have any cheese will probably be at least a month later. What made this gathering more 'special' was the fact that it was probably going to be one of the last few gatherings that we will be having before both of them fly off... ZW will probably be flying off about a month from now, while FY will probably be flying off about 2 months from now. Yet another parting... one has already left, and 2 will be leaving soon. I can't help but wonder how things between the few of us(including 'Wupo') will change years later when they return...

That brings me to the topic of 'parting'. It is just so inevitable that 'parting' has to take place all the time. I believe the first time most people will experience parting is when they are in primary 6. I still remember that the last day of school was quite an emotional one for many then, though not quite for me. As we sang the graduation songs in the school hall, many students' tears just flowed... perhaps the words just struck a chord with how they felt. The completion of secondary 4 is also another moment of parting for many. People will then head towards wherever their dreams or results bring them to... but by then, most of us would already have accepted the fact that such parting is just part and parcel of life. I guess its more or less the same after the A levels and I shall not carry on otherwise I myself would feel like clicking on the 'x' at the top right hand corner of the screen.

Personally, the first two times I experienced emotional partings was when my beloved hamsters passed away about 1 year 3 months ago and 1 year 9 months ago respectively. The first one left me suddenly, without having any visible illness. She probably left very peacefully, for when I went home to 'clear' her body, she was resting in one of her favourite positions inside her favourite log. As I stretched my hand out to lift up her fluffy but stiff body, her 'sister' came running over and stared at me as if she did not want me to take the body away. When I eventually removed the body, her 'sister' ran under the 'dust'(can't remember what that thing is called) and newspapers to hide and just didn't want to see me. She looked visibly upset and so was I. I gently stroked her clean white fur repeatedly but it didn't help much in alleviating her emotional pain. Hence I left her alone for a while after that. After all, they had both been living together since they were born so I guess its natural that they grew really close despite those 'play fights' which they had quite regularly. (Look at the picture below which shows them 'quarreling'. One turned to the left, the other turned to the right).

For once I realised how emotional animals could also get. I didn't expect the 'sister' of the hammie who had passed away to react in such a manner. To the extent that I felt worried for her. I was worried that she would not be 'strong' enough to accept the death of her sister. Hence, after the death of that hammie, I would often go back home from hostel even during weekdays to spend time with her... and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed her company and I could see that she was also happy to climb onto my hand and run around on it. Maybe its just me who 自作多情(zi4 zuo4 duo1 qing2) but I really did feel that way. =P I also enjoyed the times when she would 'kiss' me. Whenever I placed her near my face, she would lick it and I would stroke her fur in appreciation. ;) Until one day (about 5 months later), when she started biting me for some reason which I did not understand. I did not sense anything amiss with her either, which made things complicated. I couldn't understand why she bit me each time she ran onto my hand. I thought that perhaps she was sick of playing with me so I tried giving her more 'peace' after that. Only after a few days/weeks later that I realised her eyes seemed a little red. I thought that perhaps she was having an eye infection so I brought her to the vet. The vet did a check on her and told me that she was having diarrhoea and it had probably been quite some time she had diarrhoea judging from the amount of weight she had lost. I felt so terrible then... for not noticing that she had lost weight and that she was having diarrhoea. Then I recalled that she started having the habit of biting me a few days/weeks ago and how she suddenly stopped biting me after I had brought her to the vet and gave her medicine. SO SMART SHE WAS! Biting me was probably her way of telling me that she wasn't feeling well, but silly me didn't understand it earlier. =( Thank goodness her diarrhoea stopped after about 2 doses of medication. The vet was actually worried that she might not make it because of her meagre weight... but I was sure relieved that she pulled through. The vet also gave medication for her eye infection which I faithfully applied for her every day. She seemed fine after that and was once again happy to play with me without biting me.

Unfortunately, several days later, her eye infection came back and this time there was pus. I saw her scratching it very often and so I brought her to the vet again. The vet decided to give her a round of antibiotics to see if it would help. Sadly after a few days, the pus still did not disappear. I had to bring her to the vet again and this time, the vet decided that there was a need to 'manually' squeeze out the pus, but it would be done with anaesthesia. I was worried sick... as I had heard of how my friend's hamster went through a successful operation but did not wake up from the anesthesia. I asked about the risks and the vet seemed confident that that should not be a problem. Thus I signed the papers to 'permit' her to undergo those procedures and before sending her to the 'operating theatre', I took her out and played with her for a short while, kissed and stroked her, before handing her over to the vet while telling her 'Please be careful and gentle with her.' (So long-winded hor?) After that, I was to leave the veterinary clinic and they said they would contact me once my dearie woke up from the anaesthesia and after sufficient 'observation'.

I waited impatiently for that call. I started calling after 2 hours and was told that she was still sleeping. It got me worried. After another half an hour or so, I called again and this time, I was told that she had woken up from the anaesthesia. I heaved a sigh of relief! However, they said that they would have to observe her for a while more. A few hours later, they called me to tell me that I could go and take her home. Whew! I was overjoyed to see her again. However, she still looked tired and weak... and it certainly pained me to see her in that state. I brought her home and let her have some rest and she seemed better a few hours later. I checked on her quite often to ensure that she was fine...

The next morning, I woke up early to find her lying motionless. I was shocked and lost. I wrapped her body nicely with cloth and tissue, placed it in a box, and brought her to be cremated at the vet's place. Before I took the box out of the car, I opened it and looked at her body one last time while thinking of all the great times I shared with her.

The vet's assistant was shocked to see her body as she still saw her alive just the day before. She gasped and I managed a helpless weak smile while fighting back tears. After filling in all the forms for her cremation, I went back to the car, lay back, and teared. I kinda blamed myself for allowing her to undergo the 'supposedly simple procedure' but I knew there was no better choice. If I had let her eye infection carry on, no one knew what could have happened... but still, I was overwhelmed by guilt and sadness, realising how much she had to undergo before leaving this world.

Perhaps it 'helped' that my exams were nearing... I was 'forced' to concentrate on my studies and try not to think about the whole episode.

Wow. An entry on 'last few gatherings' could remind me also of my 'last few gatherings' with my darlings. Unbelievable. I guess I still miss dearly those moments I spent with those 2 cuties but I wouldn't want to keep any more hamsters until at least a few years later when I have graduated and perhaps can afford more time to play with them. Alas, I ought to thank the 2 of them for making me a 'better driver'. If not for the number of times I had to drive them to the vet, I would probably not be so 'gentle' with my brakings. It was almost entirely because of them that I learnt to be gentle when braking and not drive in a manner that would scare them.

On another note, my brother can get quite irritating at times. I reached home at about 6 after training and was already in a hurry. Yet he refused to open the door for me... instead, he took out his 'dirty' and silly-looking stuff toy 'Dino' and asked me to kiss it before he would open the door for me. I refused and so had to spend quite a few minutes outside waiting for Mel to be back from buying stuff. While its also my fault for not bringing the keys, I wished he could be less irritating and disturb me less. Anyone wants an 'exchange programme'? If you are one of those who think that its great to have an older brother, how about this... I would gladly 'exchange' him with your sibling for a week and let's see if you still think its great to have an older brother. =P

Lastly, today's training went on well and I felt touched and amused by the girls who suggested that I went up with them to receive their trophies on 18 July, probably because I am around their size and can easily pass off as one of them(WAIT... is that really a compliment? =P ). YR and a few others(I can't remember who exactly) also suggested that I keep one of it since there would be 'extras' but I would certainly refuse to do so as it was entirely their hard work and fighting spirit that won them the trophy. Also, there are others who contributed selflessly for years, especially Shizhi who would often travel all the way down from his house in Bedok to train with them, and I think its people like him who truly deserve credit.

Have also informed those who were present today about the plans for 26 July and I guess that would again be another one of the 'last few gatherings' that I will have with many of them.

I will certainly treasure all these last few gatherings...

The End & Memories

Yesterday marked the end of the Nationals for the team. The past 2 weeks have been hectic, with the past 3 days being the most hectic of all.

I'd say that every player has played her part well and has contributed to the team coming in 4th. All of them deserve a treat from me, which will take place on 26 July, Wednesday. I will give more details soon.

As for yesterday's matches, the players did well too, but not well enough to clinch the 3rd place. It was quite a waste... nevertheless, they have all done their best. Sometimes, the best just ain't good enough... but I guess its alright, so long as everyone is happy.

Personally, I made some important realisations in the course of the week. I realised that I had 'wronged' JM and S. They are not stubborn. Neither did they intend to 'defy' advice that I gave them. Its just that they tried but were not able to do it due to nervousness. For example, they may have intended to serve a short ball but it ended up being 'long' because the hand stiffened up(one's muscles tend to contract when one is nervous) during the game and lacked control. They had intended to serve to the right but somehow it still ended up on the left. All these made me discover that when it comes to table tennis, I may have the 'hardware', but I still lack the 'heartware' at times. =S Anyway, this realisation made me feel bad about having those negative thoughts the previous week but hey, I have discarded those thoughts already! Started to find S very likeable too... I like her character because it does remind me a lot of myself when I was young, like how stubborn I could be towards certain people and how I can't be bothered with what they have to tell me. Plus the kind of 'look' I'd give them when they talked to me and how I pretended to be listening when I was totally not. Hehe I'm so proud of her... she's really a reflection of myself(when I was young) in the mirror, though I was probably not as 'cute' as she is now. (At least she smiles more than I did and has 2 cute ponytails)

Maybe I should elaborate a bit more. Even though I was really terribly stubborn towards those coaches/people, they were completely helpless about it and still tried to be nice to me. Why? Because I was still able to produce exceptionally good result, hence they just had to shut their mouths and bear with my stubbornness and perhaps even rudeness because their rice bowls kinda depended on the results that I produced. When I was young, I didn't really know what was their intention of trying to 'teach' me (the wrong things) but as I grew older, I realised that it was because they wanted to 'claim credit' for my achievements and they had falsely believed what they have taught to be correct and the best. Oh well... too bad for them. Everyone knew and still knows who was responsible for my decent achievements and in my heart, I am still extremely grateful to them. They had the right attitude towards 'educating' me... especially a coach with the initials LSH. He totally couldn't be bothered about 'claiming credit' for my achievements even though he was really totally responsible for all my major achievements. All he really bothered about was that I improved under him and that he passed his skills, techniques and knowledge down to me. He would patiently explain to me all the theories behind this and that technique and why it should be done in the particular way, what are the advantages and disadvantages of doing it this way, etc. Very comprehensive and logical, such that till date i still remember most of what he had told me then. All that helped me to appreciate table tennis much much better on a micro level rather than on a macro level. It is towards coaches like him that I have utmost respect for. I remember him being the first person I would call after every important match to tell him how I fared(luckily my parents didn't know that else they would probably be jealous). I realise I have digressed a lot... once I start talking about my beloved coach LSH, I would just go on and on... simply because he has a special place in my heart even till date.

I am suddenly also reminded by what was mentioned by a principal at the sharing session at MOE yesterday and how it struck a chord with me. "Most students only remember 2 kinds of teachers - the very good, and the very bad." I would say the same goes for coaches. I remember fondly my 'good coaches' like LSH who really did me good and helped me improve, as well as the lousy coaches who taught me all the 'wrong things' that caused me to waste time trying to correct them later on. And wait... one more category of coaches that I remember - the clowns. =P Anyway, that sentence which the principal said made me ask myself once again, what kind of teacher would I want to be, and what kind of coach would I want to be? Do I want to become a 'I believe I know everything and I know best' kind of teacher? Or do I want to be a realistic and down to earth teacher who learns together with the students? When it comes to things that I myself am not proficient at, do I falsely believe to know it best, or will I get others who are more proficient at it to guide the students? It really got me thinking...

I am amazed by how a few simple realisations made me think so much and how they raked up my memories of the past. Our mind is indeed so fascinating that I can't help but wonder how it managed to link up so many things. Or I guess I'm just tired, so off to bed I go!

A Question

I asked Isen a question yesterday. 'If you feel upset or pissed off by someone's behaviour, would you tell the person straight to the face that you feel offended by his behaviour or just 'hint' by talking around the topic?'

I was truly impressed and amazed by Isen's reply. He said 'Well if its me, generally, if he/she close to me, I'll tell him/her straight. Think its worse if I beat around the bush. If not close to me, I'll just keep quiet, bear with it... but thats me lah. Oh another thing... depends on person, meaning, even if he/she is close, but I know he/she will be hurt or can't take it if I say, I'll let it be also. Similarly, if not close but I know he/she can take it, then I'll say.'

Seeing his reply immediately cooled me down. The fact that he would be more willing to 'bear with it' than to hurt the other person who pissed him off first made me feel that I ought to learn from him how to be a kinder person...

Specially For All NH TT People

I have created a forum which is something like an online chit chat corner for all the NH Table Tennis people. Didn't create a blog as suggested by the person who left the comment(I don't know who but I can make a good guess) because I'm afraid many of you might feel shy to post and it will die down very quickly. You may access the forum here:

http://tabletennis.uni.cc/nhchitchat

Invite all your NH TT friends there and have fun!

A Roller Coaster Ride

The 'excitement' set in today, as we played the 2 relatively weaker teams in our group which we had to beat if we wanted to get into the top 4.

We started off playing SNG. S was in good form today and overcame her opponent, the 1st singles, quite easily. For the first time I saw her perform so cool-ly! Next came our doubles against their first doubles. It was a tough fight as we made far too many mistakes. I think YL was very nervous... but its understandable because I believe that everyone of us was dying to win the matches today. Thank goodness we managed to clinch the 2nd point as well. Next we had JM to play the 2nd singles. The first set saw her being 'trashed'. However, after adjusting her playing style, she actually managed to put up an excellent fight against her steady opponent and stretched her all the way to the 5th set where she lost very marginally. What a waste! For once I saw JM play well... all along she has been just serving and smacking and losing really fast(except the first match which she won). This time round, I think it was really heartening to see that she too could be quite steady at the competition table. I am definitely not saying that cutting is the best way out at the competition table but I think that in order for one to be able to attack well while playing on the competition table, one really needs to train regularly... so I guess this playing style that she displayed today fits her better at the moment since she has very little time to train. After JM played her match, our 2nd doubles played. Even though the opponents seemed weaker than them in terms of skills, I think we were a bit too nervous and made too many mistakes, thus making the scores really close many at times. Thank goodness we clinched the winning point after 4 gruelling sets. The last match was played by WL. We had an advantage for we had already won the game against SNG. Alas, WL didn't manage to perform well and sucuumbed to her opponent quite quickly. I was quite disappointed, considering the fact that she was playing very well during the past 3 trainings. Thank goodness this disappointment didn't last...

The 2nd match of today was against NY, a school which we had never won before. Just 3 months ago we lost to them in the zones and hence we were definitely expecting a tough fight. Sure enough, it was a tough one and watching it made me feel like I was on a roller coaster ride...

We used the same line up against them. S played the first singles and it was really great to see her beat the NY first singles! She played so well and was able to attack such that the opponent wasn't able to block most of her smashes and topspins. The tactics which she used were great too. If only she had made less mistakes in her attacks, I think the score would have been less marginal... but anyway, I rejoice in the fact that S played well and won. She really deserves praise for being so cool-headed and for performing so well today against both her opponents.

Next came our first doubles playing against the opponent team's weaker pair of doubles. It wasn't entirely unexpected... for I had already thought that they might swap in order to secure 1 point from their doubles. We definitely expected to win this doubles, perhaps even with ease... but expectations aren't always met, sadly. We won the first 2 sets, then went on to lose the next 2 sets. In the last set, we were leading 9-6... then came this ball that flew off the table. I saw it fly off. The girls saw it fly off. The umpire saw it fly off. Thus he flipped the score and it read 10-6. Strangely, the opponent team's teacher in charge stood up and claimed that the ball hit the edge of the table. Their players also claimed that it hit the edge of the table. Then the umpire awarded them the point. Baffling it was. Alas, things happened very quickly... even before I(or anyone else) could react, the game resumed and guess what? We lost 4 points in a row to lose 11-9. Everything just happened too fast for me to believe what really happened then... after I realised what had happened, I felt really disappointed for I strongly believed that this point was one of the 'must-get' points if we wanted to win the match against NY. I could feel myself lose 'enthusiasm' after this match...

JM went on to play the 2nd singles, against one of the 'NY's sisters'. Once again she did well, but not well enough to win, unfortunately... Alas I gotta admit that it was a good attempt and I ought to give her credit for putting up such a good fight. She was really in quite a good form today and it was just a waste that she didn't manage to win any of her 2 opponents.

Now we were down 1-2. YR and J went up to play against NY's stronger pair of doubles. Could see that they, especially YR, were still really pissed off with NY for claiming that the ball hit the edge of the table in the previous doubles match. Could see her 'burning hot inside' when she played. The first set saw them losing marginally, due to excessive mistakes in attacking(made mainly by YR). Think the 'fire' got her somewhat too impatient. Coaxed her to cool down after the 1st set and tried coaxing her to be less aggressive... it proved to be slightly better, as they went on to win the 2nd set. The 3rd set saw them trailing 1-5 from the start. Alas, don't know what happened to J, she suddenly started smashing and all the balls went in! Surprise surprise... they managed to catch up and ended up winning the set quite easily after catching up. The 4th set saw them doing well too as their opponents started making many 'careless mistakes'. We thus won the match and the big score now read 2-2. Kudos to YR and J for fighting their hearts out against the better pair of NY's doubles... They sure do deserve praise.

The deciding match was then played by WL, against the other sister. The opponent sure was an aggressive and good player... as we had all seen during the zone competition. Alas, WL started off extremely well and managed a 8-0 lead before winning the first set 11-7(somewhere around there I think). The 2nd set saw the opponent attacking fiercely and more accurately and I could see that WL was quite 'shocked' by the accurate and fierce shots coming over to her. Yet she still put on a good fight but lost this set. The 3rd set soon started and WL again fought hard to keep up with her opponent. With her variations in service and steady 'cutting' with her anti-spin, she managed to get her opponent to 'commit suicide' in attacking and won this set very comfortably and if I don't remember wrongly, the score was something like 11-2! Amazing it was! Unfortunately, the opponent made less mistakes in the subsequent set and won it back, forcing the game into its last set. Could see that the NY girl wanted to win really badly as she probably felt that she 'ought to' win the match. This urge to win probably translated into nervousness for her, as she went on to make more mistakes in the last set, with WL winning it 11-7(if I don't remember wrongly). PHEW... We all were overjoyed! WL sure deserves the most praise for being such a great fighter against a well-skilled opponent. Could tell that she was also 'heated up' during the match as she did several 'funny things', like shouting out loud to herself 'STEADY', and at one point of time, when Thomas shouted 'relax' to her, she actually responded by shouting out the word 'RELAX' as well. Almost fell off my chair laughing despite the tense atmosphere. But all these just show how much she wanted to win and this I certainly applaud!

Left CF Pri feeling indescribably elated after that. I don't even remember feeling this happy when I won a SEA Games gold medal 7 years ago. I was simply glad that they have successfully gotten into the top 4 of the National Schools Championship and will be receiving the coveted medal, even though we do not know what the colour of the medal will be yet. This medal is a precious one... one which they had fought hard for with lots of sweat and perhaps even some tears. It is certainly a good 'souvenir' for the primary sixers and a source of encouragement to the younger ones to keep up the good work.

3 cheers to them~! Hope that they will continue to fight hard in the coming matches and earn themselves a medal of a 'nicer colour'.

Getting Squeezed Out Of A Seat

Something happened yesterday while I was on board the NEL on the way to harbourfront to celebrate a friend's birthday. Thought of sharing it because I think it is quite 'educational' and one would probably learn something out of it after reading about what transpired.

As usual, the NEL wasn't too packed and I got a seat the moment I boarded the train. I don't normally sit down on trains because many at times, just a short while after sitting, I would need to give up my seat to some elderly person or some pregnant lady. Remember thats what we learnt in 好公民 in primary school? If you have forgotten, please flip through your 好公民 textbook now! Alright thats besides the point for now. What happened was my butt whispered to me that it was aching after the training with the NH students so it wanted a rest. I decided to be kind to it for once and allowed it to have the empty seat that was frantically waving to it and saying 'sit on me sit on me'. So my dear butt had a good 10 min rest until the train reached Dhoby Ghaut...

The person seated on my left alighted from the train. So did the one on my right. Thus there were 2 empty seats beside me. I then saw 2 ladies who were friends walking towards the seats beside me. I decided to move over to the seat on the right so as to enable them to sit together rather than with me sitting in between them. Unknown to me, they had a 3rd friend. I must say those 2 ladies did not forget their 3rd friend... they 'moved in' a little to give the 3rd friend some space to squeeze in(yes 3 grown up ladies trying to squeeze into 2 seats on the train...) and guess what? I was therefore squeezed out of my seat... Ended up standing for the rest of the journey and amused by what had happened.

You may wish to try that the next time you take the MRT with your friends. At your own risk! =P