Category Archives: Educating

Educating

Behavior & Predictability

Leave a reply

Was just looking at a “neighbor’s” behavior and it hit me that sometimes being predictable provides the certain form of security, especially for little kids.

 

So there was this time  when he got onto the bus, kinda squeezed in cos there wasnt enough space, he slammed the door when he got on, he slammed the door when he got off.

 

he kicked the door really hard, kinda normal cos the door was stuck.

 

But seriously, whether there is anger or not aside.. if I’m a child I’ll be frighten. “My dad has that kind of capability and strength to do that…”

 

and then the next day, he lost his usual seat, he commented ” <person name>, seriously?”

 

I didnt remember him asking to make a reservation.

 

 

If we put both of that incident together, me as a child would be damn frighten, because, “dad blames me for things he didnt make arrangement for… and he could have beaten me up with that kind of strength…”

 

I hope you get my point.. just saying that, dont allow your child to ever be frighten and feel insecure.
If possible, explain and be rationale.

 

Children learn from your behavior. Be the father they can look up to.

 

🙁

 

Thanks for coming by

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

Different Language

Leave a reply

images

Was watching Mr Bean’s Holiday on tv the other day. His adventure while he was trying to get to Cannes for the film festival.

 

and it struck me, how would it be like if I were to travel and spend a little time in lands of language I do not know…

pic_1322432694_6

 

Those countries that Speaks Spanish,

countries3

 

Japanese,

Korean,

heck, even Chinese,

or where I am now, Bahasa Indonesia,

 

hmm…

 

I think the euphoria when who ever I was seeking help from and I finally figure out something together. 😀

Or it’ll just be damn frustrating.

 

😀

I’m too trusting to be experiencing all these adventure I think. Too innocent, naive and ready to part with my resources I think. 😀

HA!

 

My life is boring, because I seldom travel without a plan. Its almost to the extend that I plan things down to the dot in the “i” and the cross on the “t”.

 

Well thats if I’m alone.

 

But if i’ve set time aside to explore, I believe I would 😀 *as I did in Hong Kong.
Then again these are still residential and “civilized” locations.

 

I wonder if I would survive if its a nature park or some island with volcano? 😀

 

Whats your adventure like?

 

Thanks for coming by

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

“lets-clear-the-air-and-speed-things-up-ism”

Leave a reply

Was just looking through the books on the shelf while Iris and I was at Popular Bookstore the other day.
I wanted to look for some guide books and assessment books for my students.

Was at the Model Composition section when I overheard a daughter chatting with her mother and the multiple shutter sounds that came from the mother’s camera phone.

Turns out the mother was trying to digitalize pages of the guide book that she was browsing.
It went on for a good 5 clicks, I turned and said:

 “Why dont you put your camera on silent mode, so it is not so obvious?”

okay, so maybe she has no intention of taking more than 10% of the book — which is the bar for infringement.
Guess what she replied:

“You shut the f**k up.” “I can do whatever I like to do.” “This is not the library”.

I didnt respond to that. Or to her for that matter. Cos:

1. She didnt get my point. The shutter sound is not the disturbance, for the matter, the conversation with the daughter was louder than that. 

2. The point is in the infringement. 

3. Your daughter is next to you and you are scolding me in vulgar language? 

It was about the infringement of the intellectual properly.
Then she went on and attempt to educate her daughter saying:

“One kind of rice feeds many kind of people” a chinese proverb that is. Meaning to say there are many kinds of people in the world, some better than the others.
“Come so near to listen to me and scold me.”

and whatever whatever she was saying.

The funny thing was, I am more irritated by the idea that she addressed me; in the presence of someone she should be an example to, in vulgar language, than the infringement.

 

So I began again.

“Its not about the sound, its about the infringement of intellectual property.” — she heard it.

 

I carried on browsing for a good book, suitable for my students.
She carried on taking photos, carried on sharing points with her daughter.

 

Soon after, perhaps she understood or that she has gotten what she needs, they walked away.

 

and then guess what,

She came back on purpose, pretending she was trying to neat-en the stack of books that she was taking photos from; she proceeded to scold me.

 

With glaring eyes, and the face of a ferocious tiger, she said something along the line of:

“Don’t browse too long, that is taking other people’s intellectual too.”
“You are sick in the brain.”
“YOU LEARN A LESSON TODAY OKAY?”

 

I am very upset at that point of time, I was trying to be nice, and you are so mean. and the worst part was showing a bad example in-front of your daughter (the cursing part). Good Lord…

and by the way, my intention was to pick and buy the book. I pay. It goes back to the writer. Whatever little amount it is. :/
not so sure about you.

So me being me, I stood there, look her straight in the face,

“Oh sure”, “Yes”, “okay”.

Then she walk away.
Perhaps because of my body language? 😀
Or that she felt she has made her point and the situation is beyond her? Just like I do? 😀

and thank God I didnt see her again.

😀 yes, I’m pretty sure I learnt a lesson.

I dunno man… haiz.. maybe too much of being “righteous” ba.

Perhaps I can be more tactful next time. 🙂

–

 

Then, we went to Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

The customer on the next counter asked for: something something “MoCha”.

Opps……. the poor server, she repeated “Mocha?” or “Matcha”
Its a coffee+chocolate thing (pronounced as Mo-ca)  or a green tea thing (pronounced as Ma-cha).

and the customer repeated: something something “MoCha”.

My goodness… I wanted to help. But after that incident that happened at Popular bookstore, I decided not to.

 

The server chose Mocha and it went fine.

Has my years of pronouncing Mocha been wrong?

 

I dont know man.

 

But well, perhaps like Iris pointed out, the western would appreciate such facilitation, asians may not. Individualism vs collectivism.

 

 

I say its a “lets-clear-the-air-and-speed-things-up-ism”

 

😀 I love me.
Perhaps my take away should just be to be more tactful rather than not do it at all.

 

One step at a time. 🙂

 

Thanks for coming by

 

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

Indomie has invaded..

Leave a reply

IMG_4932

 

This week’s topic is on Singapore. I thought instead of Singapore, I could get students to tell me more about their home country.

 

and ladies and gentleman…

 

Indomie has invaded their hearts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

😀

The whole class cheered, excitement arose and many nodded in agreement as one student mentioned Indomie.

 

 

 

I am speechless… definitely a non-routine answer.

 

thanks for coming by

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

Value

Leave a reply

IMG_4763

 

What is 20cents to you?

In Singapore, 20cents can buy…
5 candies,
hmm…
Probably pencils.
Erasers

Negligible isnt it?

 

But well, 20cents coin is useful when we pay for stuff thats like $5.20, $3.20 and so on.
We understood the value of 20cents
and definitely would pick up the 20cents thats on the floor should be stumble upon on.

What about 1cent then? If it still is going around.

 

Whats the point of this entry really?

See that coin sitting in my pencil case?

200 rupiah. Thats almost equivalent to 2cents in Singapore.

 

But guess what, it was used to throw at someone, picked up by another, studied and then discarded like it was a useless piece of … metal object.

 

Good Lord….
You know whats the best part? They dont give a crap about it.

Nope, not at all.

 

I dont know is it bcos thats how they are brought up?
Or is it because of the currency in that country?

Taxi drivers, Starbucks cashiers and some cashiers doesnt really dispense these coins. Like you have to ask for it………

But doesnt many adds up to much?

Probably its a matter of value and sense ba.

I questioned them, can we not buy anything with it?
They answered “1 candy” with so much glee, as though proving the point that it is indeed worthless.

So I was chatting with a banker and he concluded that its not a problem of the currency, it’s the problem of upbringing.

Was on my way back from a grocery trip when a thought came to me.
Yar… Actually you know what, looking at the state, the poor and the rich,
I realize that the currency needs to be like that, the small must be really really small, bcos there are the really really rich and the really really poor.
So the currency has to be able to be stretched to that extend in order to meet that cost of living.

That same 200rupiah definitely means a whole world of difference btw the rich and the poor here.

In SG where the standards and cost of living is high and the gap of poor and rich isn’t exactly big, then currency can be that way.

Noting that the landmass and demographic profile of SG and Indonesia is really different.

Interesting thought..

 

On the side note, this entry on Smith’s is funny: “Worst Super Hero EVER!” 

Go get cracked up. 😀

 

thanks for coming by

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

 

Storytelling

Leave a reply

Someone complimented me saying that they thought I was a great storyteller.

Thank you, but anyone can be a great storyteller if they can be a great story-getter.

People fail to tell a story because they fail to see a story.

My friend said I make something out of nothing, that I make big things out of small things.

Thanks again, but life and death fascinate me.

Every moment, every person has a story. A wow!

If you look with wonder can you see a story right now?

Of course you can, everything illustrates something.

Look until you see the story.

 

Phil Pringles – Leadership Files

 

Thanks for coming by

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

Long Time

Leave a reply

Patience.

James 1:4

 

Wah… I think this is a very long season of learning and understanding Patience.

But I think with the new lessons, comes the new provision to get through.

 

I never use to need to wait at all, I usually get what I want, when I want it. Or I’ll just go out and get it.

But this season, it doesnt seem to be so.
Everything is just long suffering, slow, and refusing to arrive. and as it, its not within my control. 😀

 

I was quite “oky…” with a friend who always tell me, “its okay, slowly, we have a long time to learn that. we have a long time to do this, we have a long time to do that.” I always wanted to pull my hair out.

Cos seriously if we dont treasure now, or make plans for things to happen, what happens when its gone? What happens if someone just pass away, what happens if its a fleeting moment?

Obviously the person is much older than me.
Guess thats the problem with people of my generation. We want it fast, we want it now.

 

My dad’s Class 5 Driver’s license is 34years now.

A country is established by people’s work experiences (and innovations of course), not someone’s 3mins excitement.

A family with children is established based on a relationship of 2 that has lasted and will continue to last.

Knowledge and understanding is gained on years of reading and learning.

The light bulb is invented after not once, twice, thrice or even 4 times of failure, but multiple times, through a long period.

A good broth takes hours to brew.

 

I realize, a lot of things, needs time to prove itself, a lot of things need time to come true.

 

As Pst Phil pointed out in Impatience

BUT, James 1:3 declares that the time to exercise patience is exactly when you dont want to – when you’re under pressure.
If you develop patience and become great at waiting and coping and putting up with … everything … you will be “complete and entire, lacking in nothing’ (verse 4)

 

Thanks for coming by

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

 

http://youtu.be/cdygEzfbhqc

Dignity

Leave a reply

Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs-of-a-Geisha-memoirs-of-a-geisha-19182137-800-375 

Full movie: http://youtu.be/TBgvjMD5xmM

Rewatched Memoirs of a Geisha the other day (2013), the movie was released in 2005, that makes it 8 years ago.

Its fascinating how watching the movie in 2013 gives a different perspective and helps gained new understanding different as per 8 years ago.

Cant recall and neither (oky wait, let me go search…)
oh, I did blogged abt it back then ( woh, I’ve been blogging for that long)..

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Just watched the movie Memoirs of the Geisha on Monday. You guys watched it yet?

… (text removed for clarity of entry)

It reminds me of life, not in the sense the everyday life that we are living. But rather this life that we have. This breath that in inhale and exhale continuously.

While we do have the freedom of choices, we have already stepped on this journey that is (not) gonna stop for anything or anyone. Not having the opportunity to say “No, time is gonna stop for me.”

You just have to walk on. Like a Geisha, your sole purpose is to live on ..

So, 2013… Aft the disruption of attending to dad after the movie, and the many things that had happened over the years. I had these thoughts written down:

(a) “Dignity is the prideful way of not being negatively persuasive.”

(b) “Dignity is the prideful, quiet rebellion when accused.”

(c) “Dignity is standing tall and having it all although in the slums.”

What is Dignity?
the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect
a sense of pride in oneself; self-respect

What is Pride?
a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from qualities or possessions that are widely admired

 

(a) was about positive persuasion, different perspective, tough language, smart usage of words and qualities to gain one’s objective, without the need to stoop low and attempt to achieve with other means such as threat, manipulation of lust and flowery persuasion. — notice the many times Sayori had verbal exchange with Hazimomo, or moving words with Noburu.

(b) When Sayori was accused of giving up her chastity for a Kimono

(c) Was the post war period when she was working with the Kimono factory, how quick she was in regaining the composure and demeanor of who she was.

 

–

The change is pretty profound I feel. While the young me captured thoughts of living life and having control over it. The now-me went further in and looked at character development. The need for dignity, the acts of a person, the language it portrays, whats of the left and whats of the right.

 

I wonder whats it like perhaps another 8 years down the road and I watch the show again. Hows it gonna be? 😀

 

Thanks for coming by

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda

 

P/S: Are you one of those that has been reading since 8 years ago?

Psychopath .. CEO

Leave a reply

Talking about being sick, or in this case being a psychopath.

Was reading an article on knowledge magazine and lucky you it is available online.

Could You Spot A Psychopath?

Source: http://sciencefocus.com/feature/psychology/could-you-spot-psychopath

While he tested their performance and overall potential, Babiak was permitted to use the Hare Psychopathy Checklist – the psychometric test typically used to assess whether criminals have psychopathic tendencies. Babiak discovered that out of the 203 people he tested, one in 25 of them were classified as psychopaths, despite having no criminal background. That’s four times the number he would have expected to find in the general population.

When Hare took a closer look at the data, he discovered something else. “The company’s in-house evaluations of these people often said stuff like ‘this guy/gal is a team leader – innovative, bright, can be trusted, lights up the room when they step in, and so on,’” says Hare. “In fact, the higher they tended to score on the Psychopathy Checklist the better an impression people had of them.

“But when we measured their performance scores, by looking at how effective they were at furthering the company, they went right down as their checklist scores went up. In fact, when you get up at the high levels of the psychopathy scale, their performance was generally unacceptable. They should have been fired, but they weren’t because they were viewed differently by the people – they were great at managing impressions.”

 

…

 

They’re also thought to control our inhibitions and our attention. So far it seems his scans back this up. Inside the MRI scanner, when an individual classed as a psychopath is asked to weigh up a serious moral dilemma – like whether they should divert an out-of-control tram to hit a bus full of schoolchildren or one headed to a retirement home – their brain doesn’t seem to work as expected. Their amygdala – an almond-shaped brain segment that deals with raw emotions like fear and rage – should reel in horror at this hypothetical disaster. But the scans reveal that it remains relatively sedate in psychopaths. In fact, the more severe their psychopathy the less this part of the limbic system seems to react.

It doesn’t seem to be just one isolated portion of the brain that’s affected either. “The Orbito-Frontal Cortex (OFC) is supposed to attach emotional salience to fear stimuli,” says Kiehl. “In other words, it helps make sense of the basic emotions formed by the amygdala. When the psychopaths were asked to rate moral violations, this circuit also demonstrated much lower levels of activity than non-psychopathic prisoners. Not only were they not picking up on the emotionally charged content, but their brains didn’t seem to be equipped to attach meaning to it either.”

The result of this faulty circuitry is that they either fail to empathise or understand an emotion in the first place, or don’t know the appropriate way to react to it – something Kiehl has witnessed first hand.

 

 

Go read it, its pretty damn cool. 😉

 

Thanks for coming by

 

Be Bless
Love,
Amanda