My Specialty

After Tai Pi was born, my mother-in-law moved in with us and I have not cooked much since then; not that I cooked very much before that either. So it is nice to see that my culinary skills are not lost and that someone appreciates my specialty - instant noodles! Tai Pi says I cook better instant noodles than her grandma, tastier she says. Take a look at the birthday card that Tai Pi made for her grandma:

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Dear Mama,
I love you alot! You are the best grandma ever! You cook the food very nice ecept intase noodles. Mummy can teach you how to cook it.
Love Tai Pi.

Hello Auntie

A few days back, Pumpkin told me that her girlfriends at school were exchanging their Mummies' handphone numbers but she wasn't able to give them my number because she didn't know it. So the next day, I wrote my number on some scraps of paper for her to give to her friends. That evening, one of her friends, Zee, promptly called me.

Zee: Hello. Can I speak to Pumpkin?

Me: She's not with me. I'm still at the office. I think she's at home. Who's that on the line?

Zee: I'm Zee. My birthday is 1st Dec. This Saturday and after that another Saturday and then it's my birthday. I'm having a BBQ on my birthday. Pumpkin said that she will have a BBQ at her place on my birthday.

Me: Er.. it's your birthday, don't you think you should have a BBQ at YOUR place?

Zee: Pumpkin said that there is a table downstairs.

Me: Actually, we'll be moving house soon so we will be very busy; I don't think we can have a BBQ. And our new place has no BBQ pit.

Zee: Which floor are you on? I can drive to your place.

At that point, the conversation was getting too bizarre so I gave Zee our home number and asked her to call Pumpkin at that number. I don't know what possessed me to give my handphone number to a bunch of six-year-olds but I must remember never to do that again!

Tai Pi ends the school year on a high note

Yesterday was the last day of school for Tai Pi. She rang me while I was at a function, to tell me that she had exciting news. She was named "Pupil of the Month" for October! Every month, one student in the class gets named "Pupil of the Month" (I think it might have something to do with good behaviour) and receives a laminated "Pupil of the Month" certificate. Tai Pi was absolutely thrilled! The next piece of exciting news - she is being put into the "sports class" next year! At Tai Pi's school, children identified to have sporting talent are put in the same class. I remember the School Principal mentioning this before but I'm not sure how it works. Tai Pi says that the class gets to play different sports and they get to have PE everyday. I think Tai Pi will have a lot of fun and more importantly, this as well as being named "Pupil of the Month" makes Tai Pi feel really special and can only be good for her self-esteem.

Oh and her exam results are out - Band 2 for English, Band 3 for Chinese and Math. We'll just have to try harder next year.

Five minutes' peace

As any mother knows, it is a luxury to be left alone by the kids even for a few minutes. I can't read the papers, blog, take a shower or even use the toilet without the girls yelling for me or coming to talk to me. So when I saw this book, Five Minutes' Peace, which tells of a Mummy Elephant whose three little ones would not give her even five minutes' peace, I knew I had to get the book. I wanted the girls to understand how it feels for me to be constantly hounded by them and how much I, like the Mummy Elephant, would appreciate just five minutes' peace.

Last evening, I read the book to Pumpkin and Sai Pi (Tai Pi had read it by herself earlier), and as I read the story, I could see that Pumpkin recognised herself in the book and there was a look of guilt on her face. Sai Pi just thought it was a funny book. This morning, as the girls went Mummy this and Mummy that, I reminded them of the story and asked them if they would ever give me five minutes' peace.

Tai Pi had this to say:
"We'll give you two minutes' peace. Do you know why we don't give you five minutes' peace? Because we like you so much [Tai Pi hugs me at this point] and we want to spend a lot of time with you."
Aww... now how am I to argue against this?

Pumpkin graduates

I remember when Tai Pi graduated from kindergarten, KK and I were feeling a little teary-eyed at her graduation as it seemed the end of the most carefree years of her childhood. We were not quite looking forward to the next phase of her life where she would be faced with homework, exams and big class sizes where she would not get the kind of care and attention from the teachers as she did in pre-school. But it hasn't turned out to be as bad as I imagined - Tai Pi doesn't get much homework and her school doesn't give the children much pressure or make them feel their self-worth is tied to their academic performance, so she's still the happy child that she was in pre-school which is a relief to me.

And now it is Pumpkin's turn to graduate from kindergarten. Although I still feel a tinge of sadness, I have much less anxiety about her entering primary school. Last Sunday, we watched with pride as she walked up the stage in her graduation gown. Some 500 graduating children from the various branches of the school performed at the concert. Pumpkin was a coconut dancer performing in an item based on a traditional Thai folklore. She looked so cute in the costume and danced really well.

So now it's two down and one more to go. I think I will feel more than a little sad when it is Sai Pi's turn to graduate from pre-school; they are growing up so quickly.....

Tai Pi the street hawker

A week ago, Tai Pi announced to me that she was going to sell origami creations "downstairs" i.e. our condo grounds. In the past, she had sold her drawings to me and KK and to the next door neighbour, and she had also sold hair accessories to her friends, so this show of entrepreneurship from Tai Pi was not new.... but origami, er... When she presented me with her idea, she had already prepared a display table, which was a big box she covered with colour paper, on top of which sat a few pieces of origami. She had to explain her creations as otherwise it would have been quite impossible for anyone to figure it out. She had priced her wares at "1 for $1, 3 for $5". Clearly Tai Pi is not numerically inclined but math aside, I didn't think anyone "downstairs" or anywhere else would be interested in her origami creations. I didn't know how to tell her this without hurting her feelings....so I roped in Pumpkin.

I asked Pumpkin, "Would you buy this for a dollar?"
Pumpkin who either does not know the value of a dollar, or really likes origami creations very much, or both, says "Yes."

OK, let's move on to Plan B. I suggest to Tai Pi that if she wants to sell something, why not sell some old toys they don't play with anymore. We would be moving soon so it would be the perfect time to get rid of those.

We didn't discuss it any further and as the days passed, I thought Tai Pi had forgotten about the whole thing. Then nearing the weekend, she said to me, "I'm opening my shop on Saturday." I didn't take her seriously as I thought she would get distracted by TV and computer games come the weekend and forget about her origami venture.

But I was wrong. Yesterday, she presented me with her display table now covered with origami creations. Incidentally, all this took place during exam week so now I know what she was busy with while kids everywhere else in Singapore were studying hard for their exams. Now I had to be blunt and I told her I really don't think anyone "downstairs" would buy origami, not even at 10 cents (she had lowered her price). And I quickly picked some stuffed toys they didn't play with anymore and placed them in a tub for her to sell "downstairs" and instructed her to sell them at 1 for $1, 3 for $2.

The girls and I then went down and while Sai Pi and I sat at a bench and played with bubbles, Tai Pi and Pumpkin whom she had recruited as her sales assistant went about to peddle their goods. Tai Pi was a bit shy but did approach a couple of people but they weren't interested ("I have no children," said one of them). They then stationed themselves at the drop-off point near the entrance of the estate. They took the toys out of the tub and displayed them on a bench. Tai Pi instructed her assistant to play with a toy monkey, swinging its arms and legs about wildly to attract attention and create a buzz. It seemed to work as it caught the attention of a group of children who called out to their parents that someone was selling toys, but nothing came of that.

Tai Pi became discouraged and we went home soon after as it was getting dark. I told Tai Pi it didn't matter that she didn't sell a single toy. The important thing was that she didn't give up so easily; "that's perseverence and it's a good thing," I said to her.


Origami anyone?

What have we been up to?

A friend of mine learnt from a child psychologist that it is not a good idea to leave a child studying in the room while the rest of the family does something more fun, like watch TV. It seems obvious but yet I realise that this is exactly what we have been subjecting Tai Pi to - telling her to do her work while her sisters play computer games or watch cartoon. So it appears that not only does misery love company, it NEEDS company. And now as Tai Pi's final exams loom near, I will have to see that she prepares for them, and I have to somehow get the other two to engage in activities where they do not look like they are having too much fun. We'll see how that turns out.

I've told Tai Pi that she is to revise her work for the exams starting tomorrow so today was her last study-free day. After Taekwondo, we went to view The Art of Cartier exhibition at the museum. Cartier classics such as the Panther Brooch and Tutti Frutti Necklace were on display. They were really breath-taking and the girls went "wow" at all the pieces. I told Tai Pi, the aspiring jewelry designer, that she should create exquisite and expensive jewelry instead of the cheap mass market types. She doesn't seem to get it, still prefering to create items that are affordable; it may be that I have turned the word "expensive" into something bad - "Mummy, can you buy that for me?" "It's too expensive!" "Mummy, I got this for $1." "So expensive!".


The weekends before this, the girls have been having enough fun I believe to last them till Tai Pi's exams are over. Just last week, to celebrate Ron's birthday, the kids went to Snow City. They had wanted to go to Snow City for the longest time. I was curious about the place too, imagining a winter wonderland. But it turned out to be just an oversized freezer compartment with a faulty defrost function. And just getting ready was so draining - getting the girls (and myself) into the jackets, boots, gloves, arrgh!!! But it was pretty fun I must say, sliding down the slope although we got our butts wet and Pumpkin got so cold towards the end that she declared that she would not come to Snow City again. After Snow City, we went to Palawan Beach at Sentosa. As much as I dislike the artificiality of Sentosa, I do like it that I feel like a tourist whenever I go there.



Last Friday was Tai Pi's Sports Day which for the lower primary levels is more of a telematch. Tai Pi took part in two events with some classmates and won a bronze in one of the events. She was so happy, she has been sleeping with her trophy since. Great job Tai Pi!

Fear Factor Birthday Party

After weeks of planning, the big day was finally here - Tai Pi's Fear Factor Birthday Party! Tai Pi has always been quite adventurous and game for most things, and she likes watching Fear Factor, so I thought it would be fun for her to have a Fear Factor party for her 8th birthday. I didn't want to make the games too scary as most of the kids were pre-schoolers. Ok, so the Fear Factor Happy Meal was a bit too much for some of the kids to stomach. One of the little girls gagged on the hamster brain and spat it out but the older ones happily lapped up the eyeballs (lychee stuffed with chocolate buttons), the dog poo (marshmellow coated with chocolate), hamster brains (marshmellow coated with cordial), dirty worms (gummy worms covered in crushed Oreos) and drank up the pig's blood (cordial).



The other games were not so gross. There was pin-the-spider-on-the-web where they had to pin a spider as close to the centre of the web as possible (Pumpkin hit the bull's eye!). There was burst-the-balloons and a game involving sticking their arms into icy cold water to scoop out marbles from the bottom of a container.


But the best game of all was the final challenge, also the scariest, or so I thought. The kids had to stick their hands into a tank to retrieve some rubber frogs. The catch was that there were some thirty crickets crawling about in the tank. There was much apprehension and for a while I thought no one would take on the dare till finally Brain, in a grand show of courage, stuck his hand into the tank and pulled out nine rubber frogs in the given time. After that, more and more of the kids found the courage to do the same. Tai Pi cried at first but I said to her "it's all in your mind" and she overcame her fear and pulled out ten frogs and emerged the winner of the game. Before long, even the little ones like Sai Pi were reaching into the cricket tank. If nothing else, the party will be remembered for taking away any cricket phobia the kids had!



Later, the kids had a whack at a monster pinata and cake after that. It was definitely the best birthday party ever for Tai Pi and I had fun putting it together too. Happy Birthday Tai Pi!!!

Why you should never leave a shaver in the shower

You would think that as an experienced mother of three, I'd know better than to leave a shaver in the shower. Well, technically speaking, it was not ME who left it there. KK has a habit of shaving in the shower so he leaves his shaver there and that has never been a problem until yesterday.

I was having dinner with the girls when suddenly I noticed that Pumpkin's right eyebrow looked odd. At first I thought it was just the light bouncing off her brow bone but when I had a closer look, OMG her eyebrow was gone!!! There was still some part of it left, but quite a chunk of it was missing. When I told her that her eyebrow was gone, she started crying and pulling at her fringe to cover her brows. I tried to find out how she lost her brow but she refused to tell me. I suspected that she shaved it while she was showering just before dinnertime but she would not admit it, claiming that her brow dropped off by itself.

Later that night, I interrogated her again.

Me: What happened to your eyebrow? Can you tell me the truth?

Pumpkin: I haven't decided whether I want to tell you the truth. When will my eyebrow grow back?

Me: When you tell the truth!!!

Today in school, her teacher noticed her missing brow and asked her about it but she simply changed the subject. We did finally have our suspicion confirmed in the evening when she decided to come clean and admitted that she played with KK's shaver, using it to brush her face and shaved off her eyebrow without realising it.

So if you're wondering where to leave your shaver, whatever you do, don't leave it alone in the shower with a six-year-old!!!

We are Pretty Cure!

We are having Pretty Cure live performances in our home earlier than expected because KK said to me that it holding back Tai Pi's birthday present may not be such a good idea. Afterall, we expect her to take good care of her school socks and shoes not just till her birthday but after that as well so why keep the girls waiting for Tai Pi's Cure White costume. So I got Tai Pi the costume and a Card Commune (now I realise the handphone thing is known as a Card Commune) thinking that the girls could share Tai Pi's Card Commune and Pumpkin's Rainbow Bracelet. But Pumpkin now whines incessantly about not having her own Card Commune, apparently the accessory they need to unleash their power (why didn't you say so earlier Pumpkin?!!). So I've told her to get herself a Card Commune with her own savings. And now she wants the Card Commune holder as well. This Pretty Cure craze is going to bleed us dry!!!

Don't mess with Sai Pi

I remember when Tai Pi was in kindergarten, she got into a catfight with a classmate over a sweet and ended up with a long scratch on her face. Pumpkin, on the other hand, has survived more than 3 years of pre-school without injury and is not known to have caused bodily harm to any of her classmates. And then there is Sai Pi....

Two days back, I was on my way to a company function in the evening when I got a call from KK telling me that Sai Pi had punched one of her classmates earlier in the day. The boy ended up with a swollen eye that had to be treated with ice. Apparently the boy tried to snatch a block from Sai Pi and she gave him the block....in the eye. When I got home, I spoke to Sai Pi and tried to find out if she really did hit her classmate.

Me: Did you hit Justin with a block?

Sai Pi: No.

Me: [whew]

Sai Pi: I use my hand [demonstrates a punching action].

Well, he did try to snatch the block from her....

Black thunder!!!

Every generation of kids has its own favourite superheros, some with more staying power than others. The only kids' targeted superhero I remember from my time is Ultraman. Strangely, there were more superhero shows targeted at adults at that time, such as Six Million Dollar Man, Bionic Woman, Wonder Woman and Green Hornet. Over time, there has gotten to be more and more TV programmes for children and with that, more and more character merchandise. I've told Tai Pi that this is all a ploy that manufacturers use to make money from consumers, creating cartoon characters in order to sell merchandise. And now I am a victim myself.

After weeks of eyeing the Pretty Cure merchandise at the store, Pumpkin has now got an early birthday present from me - a Pretty Cure costume and a Pretty Cure Rainbow Bracelet. Pumpkin is Cure Black, one half of Pretty Cure, who yells "Black thunder" when she unleashes her power. The other member of Pretty Cure is Cure White who yells "White thunder" (what else?) and is played by Tai Pi (at least in our home).

The merchandise is not cheap. Those two items cost me $100. And there's lots more Pretty Cure accessories they "need" - handphone, handphone pouch, card commune, etc. I'll be another $100 poorer next month when I get Tai Pi her Cure White costume and Rainbow Bracelet for her birthday. But this is only if she doesn't lose any more of her school socks and shoes. She had to dig into her savings to buy some school socks and shoes a while back to replace the ones she lost. I've warned her that if she loses any more of them, I'm getting her socks and shoes for her birthday. She's worried and so is Pumpkin. If Tai Pi doesn't get the Cure White costume, Cure Black will be without her partner. Pumpkin reminds Tai Pi everyday to take care of her socks and shoes. Will Cure White join Cure Black in the fight against the evil forces? Stay tuned to find out.

Dear Mummy

I like you very much. You always read us stories and draw for us. I also like your drawing. Your voise is sweet and woderful. But daddy is not sweet because he always funt and burb. And he doen'st say "excuse me" But he is nice because he likes kissing us.

Yous truely
Tai Pi

2nd Grading

Yesterday, Tai Pi and Pumpkin took the grading test to obtain the Yellow Belt. As is becoming the routine, they had a sleepover the night before, kindly hosted once again by Auntie D who was ambitious enough to even prepare a BBQ. I was in KL for work but came back in time to savour Auntie D's fabulous kebabs and to see Shing get a scolding for yelling at Pumpkin who had accidentally knocked his drink down, the boys being made to dive into the pool to retrieve pebbles they had thrown into the pool, and the (accidental) smashing of one of Auntie D's potted plants. Gee, I can't wait for my turn to host a sleepover....

Paint the town brown

I mentioned in my previous post that there was a gathering of a group of people dressed in brown in support of Mr Brown, the humour columnist who had his column suspended because the Gahmen took offense with his article "Singaporeans are fed up with progress". Well, over lunch today, some colleagues and I decided we too would wear brown in a show of support for Mr Brown.

Then just this evening, I read in Singabloodypore about the Brown Freedom Movement which involves wearing brown and looking out for others similarly dressed and calling out some kind of code. The movement will go on till National Day. So I'm getting out all my brown clothes and fortunately I do like to wear brown so I have quite a number of brown pieces, and I'll be trying my best to go brown between now till National Day. If you believe in the cause, join the movement too and let's paint the town brown!!!

Last week's news

Before I get caught up with the happenings this week, I thought I would reflect on some news from last week that caught my attention. No sorry, not the World Cup. Didn't quite follow the World Cup this time. Congratulations to the Italians though.

Newsy news #1:

You know how I detest lavish show-off weddings. Well, this one takes the (wedding) cake!!! A $10m Indian wedding in Singapore between the only son of a Calcutta millionaire and the eldest daughter of a couple that runs a worldwide steel supply chain. The wedding took place at the Ritz Carlton where the groom arrived on a white horse and 300 guests were flown in from India and stayed at the hotel courtesy of the bride's family. The bride's mother said that she had been setting aside money for the past 10 years for the wedding so that they would not end up having to pull together the money at the last minute. I hope she also saved enough to pay for the wedding of her other daughter.

So anyway, I was reading about this wedding and wondering how on earth it was possible to spend $10m on a wedding. And of course I was thinking what a waste of money it was... oh how sinful... blah blah. And then I realised that hey these are the people that stimulate our economy!!! Because they spend, people have jobs, incomes, money to spend.... yes I almost forgot - money makes the world go round. We should be thankful for these rich people and their free-spending ways. In fact I think it is their social responsibility to spend money and not hoard it. This is what you call redistribution of wealth.

Newsy news #2:

This 2nd piece of news also involves money. Two months' earnings to be precise, that a fresh graduate of the Singapore Management University, Darren Lim is giving away to a scholarship named after his parents. This nice boy just started work and wanted to give his parents something special and also wanted to thank his university and hence the scholarship worth $4,500 which is about two months of his salary. And he will be supporting the scholarship every year for an indefinite period of time. I imagine that most fresh graduates would be happily spending their first pay check on themselves thinking they deserved it having studied so hard all those years and here you have this nice boy who gives his first pay check to a good cause and in his parents' name. His parents must be so proud of him!!!

Also in the news:

This last piece of news I found most troubling. The fact that it didn't feature very much in the news made it doubly so. A Today columnist who goes by the moniker Mr Brown had his column suspended by Today editors. The editors didn't want to comment on their action but it was in relation to an article that Mr Brown (his real name is Lee Kin Mun) had written about Singaporeans being "fed up with progress". The article was written in his typical satirical style. Unfortunately, the Gahmen did not take too kindly to it and got one of their guys to write a letter to the newspaper's Forum page chastising Mr Brown and boy they really didn't mince their words. And we are not talking about a trouble-maker here. Mr Brown's column is meant to be a humorous and light-hearted take on Singapore life. His other pet topic is his family, particularly his autistic eldest daughter. If this is the Gahmen's attitude towards a humour columnist, imagine what they would do to more serious writers.

So of course the Gahmen linked newspaper I suppose had no choice but to show their support for the Gahmen and perhaps it was also their way of apologising for allowing the article to be published in the first place. While there has been a strong show of support for Mr Brown online, there's hardly anything about it in the papers and no letters from readers. No prizes for guessing why this is so. But at least they did report in today's papers that a group of people gathered outside City Hall MRT wearing brown T-shirts to show their support for Mr Brown. They were just gathered there, no chanting, not carrying any placards or anything, and yet the police said "they are looking into it". Crime rate in Singapore too low izzit?!! Nothing better to do than to investigate a bunch of people dressed in brown!!! It really is a wonder how Singapore could be a first world country and yet still be in the dark ages as far as some basic freedoms are concerned. When will our people be truly free?

Phuket....again

This is long overdue but better late than never.

We got back from a short holiday in Phuket a few weeks back. It was the girls' second trip to Phuket in as many years. This time we went in a bigger group - 4 couples, 2 maids and 11 kids. We stayed at Holiday Inn where we had the Family Suite which is a standard room with an adjoining kid's room. The girls were absolutely thrilled with their room (and I was too) - it was a Treasure Island room with pirate ship beds, X-Box, DVDs.... and even the peep hole was child height. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the room in the daytime so I only have lousy dark photos of it.

The hotel was near the girls' favourite beach - Patong which I don't think is great as the water is not clear but they just enjoy playing in the sand and having the waves crash on them. We did our nails on the beach and the girls also had their hair braided; it seems de rigueur for little girls to return from a holiday in Phuket with beads in their hair.

Unfortunately we didn't go jet skiing this time round. On our last trip, I brought Tai Pi out on a jet ski and she loved it. Pumpkin didn't want to try it as she was afraid she would fall off the jet ski "and the sharks will get me". She decided to give it a go this time but we didn't get round to it.

All too soon our holiday was over and I didn't even get a decent massage (the pathetic nudging and squeezing I got from the massage lady on Patong Beach doesn't count).

To anyone planning a Phuket trip, don't go to Khai Island and don't dine at Sabai Sabai Restaurant!!!
Khai Island is heavily promoted by tour agents in Phuket but I thought the place was quite pathetic - just a litttle stump of land, very hot because there are no trees lining the beach, lots of rocks along the shore, dead coral. We didn't go to any other islands so I can't say if there is some place better than Khai Island but I don't imagine they could be worse.
As for Sabai Sabai Restaurant, the lady there was grumbling and giving us such dirty looks when she saw that we had so many kids with us, we walked out of there.

I think I'm going to give Phuket a rest for now and consider Bali for our next beach holiday. In the meantime, here are some pics of our trip.

News in Brief

Just got back from our holiday in Phuket. More on the trip when I have time to upload the photos into the computer. In the meantime, here's some news in brief:

Finally did the unthinkable and got a tutor to help Tai Pi with Chinese. What's good is that I don't have to worry so much about her Chinese anymore and no more feeling guilty about doing nothing. It's always the easiest way out - just pay for someone else to do the job for you.

Less than one week left of the school holidays and Tai Pi has not finished her homework, and not like she has much homework to begin with.

Oh and happy birthday to Kong Kong and Mama no.2!!!

Little Miss Fairy Tale

"It's the happiest day of my life!" declared Tai Pi today. She and Pumpkin have performed many times before at various school concerts but this was the first time in their lives they were giving individual performances. Taking part in the Little Miss Fairy Tale at the club's annual carnival, Tai Pi sang Trouble Sleeping by Corinne Bailey Rae - a very adult song and not quite the typical karaoke tune but she likes it and she does sing it pretty well. Pumpkin did a dance which she performed with her friends at her last school concert. They won consolation prizes for their effort and were very happy with their presents. Well done Tai Pi and Pumpkin!

Name game

You know how some housing estates get named after the road or area where they are located or they get named for their views. The condo where we live is named after a tree, pinetrees to be specific, and indeed you will find pinetrees on the estate grounds. Yesterday as we were driving off to Taekwondo class, I asked the girls how they think our estate got its name.

Tai Pi: Because there are many pinetrees. They didn't notice at first. Then when they were building the houses, they saw the pinetrees so they decided to name the place after the trees.

Me: You think the pinetrees were here first?

Pumpkin: They built the houses first and then they dig a hole and plant a little pine seed and put a bit of water and then grow grow grow into pinetrees. They look at the pinetrees and they said I think I will name this place Pinesville [that's not the name of our estate but Pumpkin keeps confusing it with Townsville where the PowerPuff Girls live].

Tai Pi is adamant that she is right, and well, it does make sense to name a place after the trees you see in the area. But Pines are not native to Singapore so most likely Pumpkin is right in saying that the trees were not already here. I guess we can't always name housing estates after what we see there before the place is built. If not, we would have condos like Swamp Gardens, Muddy Mansions, Kampong Tower and Mosquito Lodge. Don't think those would sell very well.

Time to panic?

Thank goodness I'm a bochap parent. Because if I were a kiasu parent, I surely would have suffered a heart attack today when Tai Pi showed me her mid year results. Just 6 months ago, she was graded Band 1 for English and Chinese, and Band 2 for Math. And now? Band 2 for English and Math, and Band 4 for Chinese!!! Band 4!!! I think that means she flunked Chinese. And she didn't do so well in English either, although she's actually pretty strong in English.

Me: Do you know Malay or Indian?

Tai Pi: No.

Me: Well, you're no good in Chinese and your English is also not so good now. So you know some other language or what?!!

Sigh... I'm not surprised really. Her results are very much reflective of the amount of effort we have put in. I guess you reap what you sow. What Tai Pi lacks is discipline and what's worse is that I'm also lacking in discipline!!! Although she has a home timetable, she doesn't follow it and I don't bother to enforce it. Nearing the exams, KK and I did get her to do some Math practice papers, but I dreaded it because once she was done, I had to mark them and then she had to do the corrections and then I had to check her corrections and then she had to do corrections on the corrections and then I had to.....what a pain.

I did try something easier, something requiring less effort on my part. I resorted to threats.

Me: If you do badly in Math, I'm going to have to get you a tutor and I can't afford to get a tutor so I'm going to have to cancel your Taekwondo class and use the money for a Math tutor and you will be a yellow tip belt forever.

Tai Pi: Nooooooo.......

It didn't help that we only had some idea of how badly she was doing in Chinese just a couple of weeks before the exams. Great. Now I have to worry about her Math AND Chinese. We knew her Chinese was rotten but she somehow still managed a Band 1 last year so how bad could it get, we thought. Then just before the exams, we were told by her teacher that she had to attend a weekly remedial class for Chinese. The others at the class have a good excuse for their poor standard of Chinese - one is European, another is a girl with an Indian name who claims to be Taiwanese, couple of Indonesians, etc. You know it's bad news when you get grouped with this bunch for Chinese remedial.

So now I'm thinking I really really have to instill some discipline into Tai Pi and myself or face the prospect of all her grades sliding to Band 4 by year's end. We'll start tomorrow. Or maybe day after.... or day after.....

Munchkin

The first drawing Sai Pi created at the age of two, KK and I couldn't quite believe that it was hers although one of her sisters said it was. It was of a face complete with eyes, mouth and other features. It seemed too advanced for a child her age. I kept the drawing for a few days and then threw it away thinking that it couldn't have been drawn by her. Later she reproduced more of such drawings which was when I realised my mistake.

Since then, Sai Pi has moved on from head-only drawings to head plus body drawings. And now I see she is a Edvard Munch in the making. Look at her drawings. Don't they bear a strking resemblence to Edvard Munch's The Scream?

The Mess

I can't take it any longer!!!!!!! I am fighting a losing battle and I feel about ready to throw in the towel!!!

I'm talking about the Mess in my home. I know I should pack up the place every night to keep things from getting out of hand but I'm just too tired after work to pack up and come the weekend, I pay for it when I am faced with a whole week's mess to clear.

It used to be that I could beat back the Mess but over time, the Mess has slowly gained strength and is now getting quite formidable. Look at how it threatens to overwhelm us.

Look at the Mess sitting on top of the shelves!!!

The Mess relaxing on top of the shoe cabinet. The inside of the cabinet is a more pleasant sight than the outside.

Interior decor tip: Do not waste your money on a B&B Italia dining table if you are going to hide it under a pile of rubbish. And look in the background - we believe in multi-functional furniture so the ironing board also acts as a side board for items such as bills, magazines, plastic bags, clothes that need mending, clothes that have been ironed, clothes that need ironing, etc. What happens when the ironing board is actually used for ironing? The Mess considerately shifts itself over to the designer sofa.

Every home should have some conversation pieces. I have some on the TV cabinet that would inspire conversation such as, "Er, why do you have a big ceramic peanut on your TV cabinet?". Keeping the big ceramic peanut company are - a ceramic rabbit, a bronze tortoise, two Narnia snow globes, two tael-shaped nian gao, a clock, a bonsai plant made of wire and stones and a scattering of ang pows. I owe my eclectic taste in TV cabinet decor to well-meaning relatives who take it upon themselves to improve the feng shui in my home. Despite putting up with the eyesore, I have yet to be rewarded with a lottery win.

The Mess likes to hide behind bedroom doors but here you see that it has grown so much that it no longer confines itself to dark corners. Look at how the Mess unabashedly displays itself like a hideous piece of installation art.

HELP!!!! Get me outta here before the Mess swallows me up!!!! I need to move to a new home and start all over again!!! I promise to be good this time. I promise not to underestimate the unstoppable force that is the Mess. I promise to appease the Mess and build lots of storage cabinets for the Mess to reside in comfortably. Yes, that is the only way we can hope to achieve peaceful co-existence.

Opposition Politics 101

Note: This posting is about the kids and is not political in nature. As I mentioned in my previous post, I am refraining from posting persistently political content on my blog.

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On our way home today, seeing a Worker's Party poster on a lamp post reminded Pumpkin of the "TV programme" last Saturday night and she commented, "Aiyah, why always Worker's Party, Worker's Party", in reference to our sporadic chanting during the telecast. (At this point, Sai Pi starts chanting "Worker's Party! Worker's Party!") I explained to the kids that last Saturday's show was a coverage of the results of the election where we would see which party wins.

Tai Pi: So did Worker's Party win?

Me: They won in Hougang. There are many different parts of the country. Worker's Party won 1 seat. In many other parts of the country, it was the PAP who won.

Tai Pi: So who was the winner?

Me: PAP

Tai Pi: So why do you support Worker's Party?!

Daddy: You can't always support the winner.

Tai Pi: [Pause] I cheered for ALP (her best friend) on Sports Day even though she can't run very fast.

That's opposition politics lesson no.1 for you:
If you intend to run for elections as an opposition candidate in Singapore, be prepared to lose. That's what Mr Low Thia Khiang says to his team and that's Tai Pi's introduction to the world of opposition politics in Singapore.

GE 2006

Yesterday, between 11pm and 1am, as I witnessed the TV coverage of General Elections 2006 results, I experienced such as range of emotions - anxiety, excitement, jubilation, disappointment, disgust. Now the day after, I don't know what to think or to feel, still numb from the thought that the number of opposition representation in Parliament is as miserable as it was for the past 5 years.

But the following are for me the most memorable moments of GE 2006:

Lee Hsien Loong's slip of the mind/tongue -
"What is the opposition's job? It's not to help the PAP do a better job ... because if they help the PAP do a better job, you're going to vote for me again and they're going to be out of a job for a long time. So their job is to make life miserable for me.
Right now we have Low Thia Khiang, Chiam See Tong, Steve Chia. We can deal with them. Suppose you had 10, 15, 20 opposition members in Parliament. Instead of spending my time thinking what is the right policy for Singapore, I'm going to spend all my time thinking what's the right way to FIX them, to BUY my supporters votes, how can I solve this week's problem and forget about next year's challenges?"

"FIX" the opposition? "BUY" supporters votes?
When I heard him say that, my first thoughts were, my oh my, he is going to get a thrashing from his daddy for being so unpolished. Having enjoyed walkovers the last three elections perhaps made him a little rusty and maybe he made that slip under the pressure and stress of campaigning. He later apologised or I should say clarified what he meant by "fix" the opposition. But he neglected to explain what he meant by "buy my supporters votes". I would be very interested to know what the deal is, although my vote is not for sale but I want to know what it is worth anyway - how many millions worth of upgrading works, or abalone porridge perhaps?

At one of the WP rallies I attended, Sylvia Lim, referring to a "I love Sylvia" poster held up by supporters, said, "If 2 or 3 of you love me, it's OK. But if 10 of you love me, I can't concentrate" - a joke in reference to Lee Hsien Loong's comment that he would be distracted if there were more opposition MPs in Parliament. That's another thing I will remember of this GE - the Worker's Party was really back in form this time, with candidates who not only appeared credible but also displayed a sense of public spirit, humility and graciousness I felt was lacking in most of the ruling party candidates. Led by Mr Low Thia Khiang whom I hold in great reverence, they did not resort to name-calling or mudslinging while the same cannot be said of the ruling party who looked like they were out to smear the opposition candidates when really they should have concentrated their energies on more important issues. While the ruling party and the media continued with the circus act, the WP touched on issues of concern to the everyman. And in contrast to the PAP's colourful brochure filled with smiling faces and vague statements, the WP had a 52-page Manifesto (available from their website) with concrete proposals on a variety of issues.

And what about the people of Potong Pasir and Hougang? I am so proud of them and also grateful - I'm sure they know that many people across the island depend on them to keep the hopes of opposition politics alive. They proved to be people of integrity, refusing to be bought over by the multi million-dollar upgrading works promised by the ruling pary and even gave the incumbent opposition MPs Mr Chiam See Tong and Mr Low Thia Khiang a better margin than at the last GE. And we're talking about serious piles of money here - $80 million upgrading for Potong Pasir, a ward that consists of only 8,000 households which works out to $10,000 per household! Chiam See Tong's daughter said, "We really worked hard and we managed to beat abalone porridge and that $80-million carrot," referring to the abalone porridge the PAP candidate organised for residents. Similarly, the residents of Hougang did not fall for the tempting $100-million carrot that the PAP dangled before them. In any case, Goh Chok Tong had already said that $100 million was earmarked for upgrading works in ageing Hougang. So let's see if they keep their promise.

But the one thing I will remember the most of GE 2006 is the recitation of the National Pledge at the WP rally at Serangoon Stadium on the night before polling day. I am not naive and I know that this was a nice touch by the WP to move the crowds but it was pure genius anyway. Saying the pledge that night reminded me of my duty as a citizen to work towards a "democratic society based on justice and equality"; it was exactly what the WP was preaching. And yet ironically the pledge was written by one of PAP's founding fathers, the late S Rajaratnam, which served to remind the crowd that night of how far the PAP had veered away from what they had set out to achieve for Singapore so many years ago. I can see Mr Low Thia Khiang's political savvy and this is going to help him do well against all the odds that are stacked against any opposition member in Singapore.

This is my second consecutive post about politics and it will be my last at least for a while, because if I go on like this, the powers that be may decide that I "persistently promote political views" and I may be asked to register with the Media Development Agency and who knows, maybe they will ask me to change my blogname to better reflect the content, but I like "Road to PSLE", I don't want to change it to "Road to Political Freedom" leh.

If you are interested to read more about GE 2006, I would recommend these websites:
Singabloodypore
Yawning Bread

So it's back to the regular broadcast. But before that, I leave you with a glimpse of my own "renewal process" of raising the next generation of pro-democracy Singaporeans. Majulah Singapura!

I have a choice

Today, I have the privilege that not every Singaporean is lucky to have. I have the privilege to vote for my representative in Parliament while many wards in the country go uncontested, leaving the ruling party to bring in more yes men to fill up the backbenches in Parliament.

Last night I attended the Worker's Party rally at Serangoon Stadium. As with all Worker's Party rallies, the crowd was a huge swarm like an army of ants, with the crowds spilling out to the surrounds of the stadium. And as with all their rallies, the closing speech was made by the charismatic Mr Low Thia Khiang. But last night's rally ending was especially emotional, not just because it was the last rally before polling day, but because WP closed the rally by saying the National Pledge with the crowd. This is the same pledge that everyone recites, PAP supporter or opposition supporter; it is a pledge we make as citizens of Singapore, committing ourselves "to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation."

With the National Pledge in mind, when I go to the polls today, I will use my vote wisely, for my future, my children's future and the good of our country.

Bank of Mum and Dad

It was just crying out to be blogged about - page 14 of yesterday's Sunday Times - "All grown up... and still getting handouts from mum and dad". The article describes young adults who are gainfully employed but depend on financial assistance from their parents to sustain their lifestyle.

Meet some of our parasite singles (names have been withheld to protect the guilty):

1) A 24-year-old pupil at a law firm whose parents pay for her $340 monthly parking bill and extravagant purchases such as a $3,000 Chanel handbag and $600 Ferragamo shoes.

2) A 23-year-old PR executive who uses supplementary credit cards from his mother to indulge in shopping at Hugo Boss and DKNY. Mummy Dearest also pays his mobile phone bills which can reach $600.

3) An auditor who received $1,000 spending money from Daddy when she went to New York for a holiday and also has her bank account topped up occasionally (hey, a bit like our Gahmen).

Says the auditor, "Everyone wants to be independent but I don't think I can support my current lifestyle on my pay. If he is willing to give, I'm willing to take."

And this is very funny - the father of one of these kids says that he sees giving his daughter financial support as a way for them to bond. Wah ha ha!!! How absurd!!! Giving money as a way to bond!!! Wah ha ha!!! (Eh, maybe our Gahmen also thinks this way, that's why they give out money now and then to everyone whether you need it or not).

Don't these kids have any shame?!!! But you know who I blame? I blame the parents!!! Parents who allow their children to think that their parents owe it to them to give them the good life.

I reckon that these kids were already enjoying a certain standard of living as they were growing up - eating out at nice restaurants, designer clothes, the latest gadgets, etc. It is a lifestyle that they have grown accustomed to and are loathe to give up and it is a lifestyle that Mum and Dad funded all the while. So really this is the reality that these kids grew up with and therefore perceive as the norm. Who's fault is it that these kids see this as the norm? The parents!!!

That brings me to the question of whether parents should indulge their children in their growing years. I think a little treat now and then is fine, but too much of the good life courtesy of Mum and Dad and the danger is that the child may

1) develop a materialistic outlook and become a slave to material possessions

2) become depressed or suffer from low self-esteem when he can no longer enjoy such luxuries either because his salary does not enable him to, or his parents' financial circumstances no longer allow for it

3) experience financial troubles and in turn marital problems as a result of an inability to manage his expenses

4) choose not to have children (which means no grandchildren) as that would mean cutting back on extravagances; in any case, I don't think such people would want any children since they know they can't even take care of themselves so why would they want to take care of someone else?

5) realise at the age of 40 that he will have to keep working till his dying day as he has neglected to put money aside for retirement

6) dump his parents when they are old and have run out of money (financial drain caused by selfish kids of course) and need him to pay for their medical fees. "But I thought you were supposed to give and I take?! How can you now expect me to do the giving and you do the taking?!! It's not fair!!!"

Many adults of my generation grew up in humble circumstances and only experienced a more indulgent lifestyle when we started work, also the time when Singapore's economy enjoyed strong growth. As we enjoy a higher standard of living, our children too get to come along for the ride. It is all too easy to forget that children who grow up with a very comfortable lifestyle will find it hard to adjust to something less. They have to realise that either they make do with less or they make sure they land a very well paying job (or a rich husband!).

As for me, to save my children the pain of possibly adjusting to a lower standard of living, I make a conscious effort not to indulge them too much and to always remind them how lucky they are. Yes we live in a condo and go for overseas holidays, but no extravagances (well ok, there's the occasional luxury holiday villa) and no giving in to their whims and fancies. But maybe I am not doing enough. Maybe we should switch from Ben & Jerry's to Meadow Gold..... gee that's hard... very hard.

Tai Tai for a day

"You need money?" asks the husband this morning and offers me his wallet. Very fitting start to the day, for today is "Tai Tai" day!!! Charm, Jan and I would be ladies of leisure, doing Tai Tai things like visiting the spa and chit-chatting over hi-tea.

On a typical weekday, I would barely have time for breakfast, but today I had 2 breakfasts. The first with KK at Chin Mei Chin at Katong. We love the nostalgic charm of this old confectionary and the food is very good too - half boiled eggs half boiled to perfection, good balance of kaya and butter on the toast, yummy luncheon meat bun, etc. Later in the morning, I had breakfast with Charm at Moomba Tuckshop located at the Bank of China Building. I'd been wanting to have breakfast there for the longest time. The Tuckshop is inspired by Bill's Cafe in Sydney, said to serve the best scrambled eggs in the world. I had scrambled eggs with roasted mushrooms and tomato on toasted brioche, and a glass of Earl Grey - only $4, very good value (but of course we Tai Tais don't concern ourselves too much with price, ahem). The food was pretty good and the place unpretentious and quite charming.

After breakfast, Charm and I went around the banks to see if there were any interesting investment products, but we didn't find anything to excite us big time investors (where oh where to park our millions?).

Then it was off for some shopping. We stepped into a luxury watch shop and the sales staff behind the counters all rose from their seats. Wah, like I was royalty or a First Lady or something!!! Charm, with her big hair, looks more the part of a Tai Tai, so she assumes the lead actress role and asks to see a Chopard Happy Diamonds watch. She puts it on her wrist and shakes it about so that the diamonds dance and spin about. The happy diamonds work their magic on Charm. She looks happy; she has a lustful look in her eyes; I sense a longing growing in her. The salesman offers her a 20% discount and she asks if they carry the oval face model. Aww, they don't have the oval face model so we walk out empty-handed.

And now for the main event - a visit to Amrita Spa. This is supposed to be quite a high class spa so I was eager to see how good it really is. The reception counter looks like an over-staffed hotel front desk; why do they need so many people there?! And after we sign in and settle the bill, there is no one to lead us into the spa - not very high class leh! Charm and I are early so we make use of the hot and cold pools, the steam room and sauna. Jan joins us later at the relaxation lounge and then we have our massages. I had the hot stone treatment; quite good. Overall, I would say Amrita Spa is not as good as my regular spa at the Laguna National Golf & Country Club in terms of ambiance and service.

My stomach was growling during the massage so I was very glad that there was a hi-tea buffet to look forward to. The buffet spread at Orchard Hotel was alright and with a credit card promotion, we only paid the price for two (not that we Tai Tais are concerned about price, ahem). But what we were really there for was the chocolate fountain. Yum!!!

After all that pampering and indulgence, I was feeling tired. So after a little bit more window shopping, we parted ways. I made my way home in a most unglam, un-Tai Tai way - by MRT. What was even more unglam - I forgot to suck in my tummy and got offered a seat. Urgh!!! I have got to remember to use the Trimax!!!