Fengshan Primary School Primary 1 English Spelling List - 1E

Walking Through The Jungle

1. A lion roars.
2. The elephant has a long trunk.
3. A crocodile has sharp teeth.
4. Mrs Tan enjoys having tea in her garden.
5. A tiger is covered with hair.
6. The train goes through the tunnel.
7. A snake is covered with scales.
8. The monkey swings from tree to tree.
9. You can find the box of toys over there.
10. Most jungle animals are fierce.

What The SNAAPP?

I received a letter from my son's school IT department to download this mobile app SNAAPP, School Notification And Attendance App. 

The idea of the app is that my son's teachers can use the app to communicate with me and vice versa. 

From the introduction letter, it showed how the teacher can submit consent forms and I can digitally sign as proof of acceptance. 

I assume from the description of the app that I can also be notify of my son's attendance in school. 

There are also individialnlog-ins for both father and mother. 

However after a few days of installation, all I got was just a blank screen, not even a welcome message from the school or head of IT. 

I wonder if this app is still being tested by the school teachers on how to send information, consent form and attendant list. 

I do have high hopes for the app. Maybe the teacher might share the day's lessons or activities with my son. 

The teacher should start working on this app soon so that they can stop printing on pieces of paper. 

Ironically, paper still rules in today 21st century.

If You Are Proud To Print A URL On A School's Textbook, Make Sure The Site Doesn't Suck

While I was reading the Health Education book with my son, I saw a url to go to http://www.childed.com.sg to go play the "Head and Shoulders" video.

But when I got to the site, got this "undergoing reconstructing" and the site looked as if it was forever in reconstruction.

Anyway, I was here to see a video of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes".

A embedded video coming from their server and it refused to load. I found that they  Have they not heard of Youtube?

They wouldn't need to worry about server space, bandwidth, etc.

If you proud enough to put your url printed in a textbook, shouldn't your website also look good too?

I guess I am one of the rare fathers who actually go to the website printed on a textbook and blog about how much the website really sucks.

First Day Of School For My Six Year Old

Time flies and before you know it, the boy, who was trying to stand up, has now entered a new phase in life for the next six years.


One of my aunties did warn me then that in a blink of a eye, my boy will be in Primary One.



Unlike the stories I hear about how some parents have to convince their children to be excited about Primary One, mine was quite excited to go to school. New environment, new friends and a chance to buy food and drinks, especially drinks, from the canteen.

Waking at 6am for school was the first challenge for him. Luckily he had a early night. Thank goodness that the first day was on a Friday and he could sleep in the next day. I wonder how he will handle the waking up at 6am for the whole week.

I did not go the canteen during his recess as I was at Beach Road shopping for a sleeping bag for his day care session later. However, I heard some parents had to shout to their kids from the outskirts of the canteen to cajole their child to go buy something for recess.

Mine didn't have any problem with that. A parent, whose child was from the same kindergarten, saw my child just running up to buy food.

When my child returned home, we asked what he bought. He said "Fried noodles and sushi." It took us awhile to believe the sushi part. Canteens have gone upmarket since my days.

The most eventful thing that happened was after school. As parents, we were waiting at the day care to welcome him from the school bus and ease him into the day care routine.

While waiting for him, we received a phone call from the school's general office that my son was waiting to be picked up. He forgot that he had to board the bus to bring him to the day care.

Day care was also fun for him. He had a Kindergarten friend in the same day care and had the chance to meet new friends. Something old and new so adjusting was quite easy.

Still early days, but I look forward to the challenges Primary school brings in the next weeks and months to come. 

Night At The Museum Review: The Secret Of The Tomb - The Magic Ended With This 3rd Installation

The Magic Never Ends For Robin Williams, but it did for the movie.

I bought the family to watch the third installation of Night At The Museum and  I could only say that the movie was a fine tribute to Robin Williams, one of his last recorded film. Other than that, the movie offered nothing new and I was glad this was the movie's swansong.
There are spoilers ahead so continue at your own risk.

The movie started off with a little "Indiana Jones Raiders Of the Lost Ark" where we see the Americans, British and Egyptians working together in the desert looking for a lost tomb. By accident, the son of the American archeologist fell through a hole and into a tomb which his father took years to find. He should have bought his son earlier to dig for the tomb.

They found the tomb and ancient tablet, and before moving it, an Egyptian worker panic and warned "The End Will Come". You think after this warning, the Night At The Museum would end in an apocalyptic adventure for humans, but it ended up as just the end of the museum statues.

One other thing I found uninspiring was that this boy, who found a long lost tomb and look to become an archaeologist to find lost worlds, ended up being a night watchman at the museum, played by Dick Van Dyke.  Maybe it is the Asian parent in me, but if your child found a long lost treasure or world, wouldn't you, a parent, want him to go and find more lost treasures and worlds?

Sorry for the digression and back to the movie.

So Larry Daley, played by Ben Stiller, found out that the magical tablet was "dying" and he had to travel to London to find The Secret Of The Tomb. The Secret Of The Tomb was with Ahkmenrah's father who is at this London museum.  Ahkmenrah was the pharaoh prince who was brought to the US museum and appeared in the first movie.

At the London museum, the statues come alive for the first time due to the presence of the tablet. Guess who they meet? Sir Lancelot looking for the Holy Grail for King Arthur. Ironically, Sir Lancelot is a fictional character that is not displayed in the London museum.

If you thought this would be a great 3D tour and shout out for the London museum, it seems the curators are horrified by the movie inaccuracies.

I actually noted one inaccuracy. When the cute Garuda idol came out warning the group not to enter the exhibit with the XiangLiu snake, Larry Daley read the description of the Garuda which stated the origin from the hills of Taiwan. But just looking at it and you can see that the Garuda is of Indonesian origin.

Maybe the script writers were trying to link the Chinese XiangLiu Snake and the Garuda coming from the same area. They should understand that Asia is not all Chinese. 

The British Museum has also set up a site to highlight the inaccuracies of the movie at http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/family_visits/night_at_the_museum/fact_vs_fiction.aspx.

However, the most touching part of the movie have to be from Robin Williams, as Teddy Roosevelt, who bid his farewell to Larry Daley as the statues at the US museum could never come to "live" as the tablet was now at the British museum. I cried when Teddy said goodbye as if Robin was also saying goodbye to us throughout the movie.

If you have to go see the movie, see it for Robin Williams and discover how the magic never ends. Sadly for the movie as a whole, the magic did end for it.

Taxi Taxi App - Why LTA, why?

There should be 20,000 taxis plying the streets of Singapore. Why only 3,533?

LTA, Singapore's Land Transport Authority, announced, in November 2014, they were launching a taxi app and commuters were taken aback to why the authorities would want to this.

Today, LTA's Taxi-Taxi SG app is made available for iOS and Andriod, and  the public was shocked that this taxi app was not what it was perceived to deliver.

The Taxi-Taxi app doesn't allow users to book taxis. It just lets users to identify if there are taxis nearby so that commuters can "can better decide whether to continue waiting for a taxi on the street, walk to a location with more available taxis, book a taxi instead, or make alternative transport arrangements".

Even The Straits Times found it hard to phrase its survey.  "Which would be your go-to app if you need a cab?" to give the government endorsed app an edge over commercial counterparts. As of this post, GrabTaxi leads the survey with 44.44% while LTA's Taxi Taxi app is lagging behind in fourth with 6.67%.

Being able to locate a taxi in the vicinity will only just locate and help me get a cab when I need one.

LTA's other argument is that when the surge of users at a location waiting for a taxi and if taxi drivers can identify the location, taxi drivers will swarm to that area.

I can easily think of a scenario where this can happen but the means may not justify the end.

The easiest example would be Vivocity taxi queue where you can see long lines of people queuing for a taxi. In order for the taxi drivers to identify this surge of commuters, there should be a huge number of using the Taxi Taxi app. However to get these commuters to download the Taxi Taxi app would require LTA to spend on offline and online advertising. Such spending on advertising to promote an app should not be done at the expense of taxpayers money.

Even if taxi drivers see this surge, would they respond to this demand?

Probably not, as the taxi driver would have their GrabTaxi app switch on rather than the Taxi Taxi on the front screen. With the GrabTaxi app, taxi drivers can earn additional booking fee minus the GrabTaxi booking charge of $0.30 without GST. As such, there is no incentive for the taxi driver to open up the Taxi Taxi app, let alone the responding to the swarm.

Taxi drivers are also self made business people. and they would want to make the most out of each trip. Responding to a booking gives them more money than responding to LTA's Taxi Taxi app.

Some have supported the app saying that this give them information on whether if taxis are nearby. Really, we need a government funded app for this?

can better decide whether to continue waiting for a taxi on the street, walk to a location with more available taxis, book a taxi instead, or make alternative transport arrangements. - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/lta-launches-new-taxi-app-show-available-taxis-the-vicinity-20141217#sthash.GfGXejqU.dpuf

can better decide whether to continue waiting for a taxi on the street, walk to a location with more available taxis, book a taxi instead, or make alternative transport arrangements. - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/lta-launches-new-taxi-app-show-available-taxis-the-vicinity-20141217#sthash.GfGXejqU.dpuf

Goal...

Turning a youtube video into gif..

Boys & Girls, This Is Why You Need To Double Check Your Work

Image Source: From A Facebook User

Can you spot the mistake?

From the Party that insist "too many checks will lead to checkmate", this MP shared that error was because that "The contractor made a mistake and the constituency office did not proofread (the banners)".

As the result of this gaffe, they have to take down nine banners and possibly have to reprint the posters. Talk about the lack of the productivity.

I also love how this MP shared that we have to be "gracious" with those who make mistakes.

Wrote The Straits Times,

Mr Lim added: "I think we all can look at it and say that mistakes happen. None of us are perfect. I told my constituency office to be more careful next time.

"I believe we ought to promote graciousness and allow people to learn from their mistakes," he said, adding that he would not refrain from hiring the contractor again.

Yes, we should be gracious to those who make mistakes. MP Mr Lim Biow Chuan should share this with his colleague, Mr Desmond Lee. 

Apparently, PM Lee Doesn't Play Chess Either

Too many checks "will lead to stalemate", not checkmate.

In tradition of his Mee Siam mai hum gaffe, PM Lee attempted a pun on chess but got his terms mixed up.

Wrote The Straits Times,

But for every "checker" in Parliament, there will be one fewer "doer, thinker and leader" in the government, said Mr Lee, who is the PAP's secretary-general.
"You will have a lot of checkers, you have no workers... There will be gridlock, like in other countries," he said.
- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/too-many-checks-will-lead-checkmate-20141208#sthash.HR8W48gH.dpuf

But for every "checker" in Parliament, there will be one fewer "doer, thinker and leader" in the government, said Mr Lee, who is the PAP's secretary-general.
"You will have a lot of checkers, you have no workers... There will be gridlock, like in other countries," he said.
- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/too-many-checks-will-lead-checkmate-20141208#sthash.HR8W48gH.dpuf

 But for every "checker" in Parliament, there will be one fewer "doer, thinker and leader" in the government, said Mr Lee, who is the PAP's secretary-general."You will have a lot of checkers, you have no workers... There will be gridlock, like in other countries," he said.

"Eventually, there will be no PAP to check... That will be the last check, because it will be checkmate for Singapore."

If there is a gridlock in a chess game, the right term to use is "stalemate" - this is when a side, not in check position, cannot make a move because the next move will lead to a check. As such, the chess game is considered a draw, where no sides win or lose.

I have to agree that too many checks and counter checks can lead to a gridlock, or a stalemate, where no sides can either win or loss.

Given the current disproportion of PAP members in parliament, the PAP has been able to checkmate, by the numbers, their oppositions in policy making.
 
I would prefer a government that checkmates  the opposition and the people by giving the right and argument that these two would have to agree that government's policies are the right one to follow.

If the opposition and the people checkmates the government, then the government should have a relook at the policies to make it better for the people to decide.

I guess nobody on the PAP team decided to check on PM Lee's puns which resulted in the statement ending in a checkmate from "real" chess players. This is what happens when you have no checks and counterchecks.

UberTaxi Singapore Offers "No Booking Fee" Till End 2014

UberTaxi Singapore has extended their "No Booking Fee" till the end of 2014 in their quest to get more Singaporeans to Uber On.

From Uber Taxi Singapore Website,

NO TAXI BOOKING FEE FOR ALL UBERTAXI RIDES EXTENDED FROM MONDAY THE 8TH DECEMBER TO WEDNESDAY THE 31ST OF DECEMBER 2014

From Monday the 8th of December request your uberTAXI and your driver won’t charge you their standard booking fees – saving you between $2.30 and $4.50 on every ride before Wednesday the 31st of December.

UPDATED DETAILS

• No promo code required
• Offer available to existing and new uberTAXI riders
• Only valid with uberTAXI (UberExec and uberX don’t have booking fees)
• ‘No booking fees’ with uberTAXI is valid from 00:00AM Monday the 8Th of December until 11.59PM Wednesday the 31st of December 2014. Rides ending after this time will be charged normal booking fees
• uberTAXI follow normal taxi costs
• The driver will enter the meter amount minus the standard booking fee and we’ll email you your ride receipt. Uber will ensure your taxi driver is not out of pocket
• If you cancel, a $2 fee applies – nobody likes being cancelled on
• Valid promotions you already have on your Uber account will apply with this offer. If you have Uber credit this can be used with the ‘no booking fee’ offer
• Need help? Visit support.uber.com

The "No Booking Fee" will make it more attractive to use the UberTaxi App to book taxis here but the question remains if UberTaxi have enough taxis to meet the demand.

It is a catch22 situation for UberTaxi. In order to get taxi drivers to use their app, they need to get more users. However, UberTaxi can only get users if the users can get a taxi on a single try and the only way UberTaxi  can achieve this is when they have more taxi drivers using their app.

The money used to offset the booking fee could come from its recent raised fund which the CEO plans to make use to make "substantial investment" in Asia Pacific.

The taxi booking app wars could abruptly come to an end in the second quarter of next year when LTA, Singapore's Land Transport Authority, introduces regulatory framework for taxi book apps.

In the meanwhile, may consumers reap the benefits of this war of attrition.

Bumblebee Transform - A Toy Review

My son's exposure to Youtube watching people reviewing toys and games has inspired him to be a Youtube toy reviewer. 

I thought it would be best, as a father, to help him create his first toy review video.

First, he would have to write his script, especially the intro. I helped him to write his firs intro. In the process, it was like a introduction in writing a short composition. This would be useful when he enters Primary 1 next year.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. Here is my son's first toy review of Bumblebee.

Weirdest Game Ever - I Am Bread

Goat Simulator is a weird game, but this is because you have not heard of "I Am Bread".

In this game, you play a slice of bread. You, the bread, try to move yourself from one spot to another to complete the objective. This is done by pressing the keys corresponding to the corners of the bread and you try to flip yourself from one end to another.

You can even be a bread gone bad and destroy porcelain cups and plates on your quest.

This must have been the best invention since slice bread. (Not really, I found the whole concept ridiculous that I gave up after a few minutes.

You can visit the site at http://www.bossastudios.com/games/i-am-bread/. The game is still in alpha mode though.

Man vs Network - Maxis CTO Put His Life On The Line

If you are a CTO of a Internet Service Provider, how far would you go to prove that you have made real improvements to the network infrastructure.

Morten Bangsgaard, Chief Technology Officer, chose to demonstrate his confidence of the new Maxis network infrastructure by putting his life at risk against it.

Though these are advertisements from Maxis and the CTO may not be at any risk during the stunts, it does raise the question if those at the top are willing to bet their life on the network they push.




To the top management of local providers in Singapore, Singtel, Starhub and M1, are you willing to put your life to prove the worth of your network?

ABC Song Is So Passé To Prepare For Primary One

 

 

My son is entering Primary One next year and it will be exciting times. 

Unfortunately, my son wasn't ready to answers during the school's orientation and ended having to go for to go to preparatory classes immediately at the start of the school holidays in November. 

The preparatory class did introduce some interesting new teaching styles that were different from my generation 30 years ago.

I was taught to sing the ABC song but it seems that is quite passé today. 

Today, primary school kids are taught to sing the Phonics Song. It does have a nice ring to it, though.

Parents, today, have to learn new approaches that primary schools take these days and they should spend time preparing their children for it. In today's Internet age, all it takes is Google to find the right resources to learn together as you children progress in school.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Have you felt it?

Everybody is talking about the Crossguard Lightsaber. If J.J. Abrams tilted the crossguard to an acute angle pointing upwards, it wouldn't have caused so much of a hoo ha.



Lightsabers are dangerous stuff as the light itself can cut through human flesh and bone.

There is this cutie soccer ball droid in the 29 seconds and I can only hope that it doesn't become another Jar Jar Binks.

J.J.  Abrams did add some 2010s visuals with the stunning flight of the x-wing fighters across water. The Millennium Falcon also returned and it would be interested if the original Han Solo is flying it now.

There is about 365 days till the movie releases in Dec 2015 and it won't be long before new trailers are released to share more into the movie.

Singapore Flag Fly Past

Singapore Flag Fly Past

Touch Down By The Final Red Lion!

Touch Down By The Final Red Lion!

Here Comes The Singapore Red Lion

Here Comes The Singapore Red Lion

Celebrating National Day

Singapore Apache Helicopter Flying Into The Sunset

Singapore Apache Helicopter Flying Into The Sunset

Flying the Singapore Flag

Flying the Singapore Flag at the National Day Parade 2013 Preview

National Day Parade 2013 Preview (Part 1)

I was lucky enough to get four tickets to the National Day 2013 preview this year and was my first time at the parade after many decades.

Like any other National Day Parades, there is always the preshow entertainment. One of the most dangerous was the appearance of the Kacang Puteh men.

Dressed in the traditional Kachang Puteh sarong and headgear, these NS boys were hurling packet of peanuts like if they were throwing away a "live" hand grenade at the audience. A little gentler hurl would have been more appreciated. 

If you are heading down to the National Day Parade itself, make sure you brush up on your Singapore history too. 

Randomly selected audience will appear on the huge video board and will be asked about the history of Singapore. Some questions were easy, some were like the final questions of "Who wants to be a millionaire Singapore?". Unfortunately, there is no helpline or a million dollars to win. 

You start to appreciate the theme "Many stories, One Singapore" right from the pre-show segment. The organisers searched Youtube to find Shimona Kee and she did a solo redition of her La La La song and The Social Media song in front of thousands.  This is how Shimona tells her Singapore stories to one Singapore. 

The Social Media Song

La La La song

The Parade proper started with the arrival of the Singapore Red Lions. 

Anticipating the Red Lions

This year is particular special because we have the first woman Red Lion to take the plunge. 

From the sky... 

...to the ground in minutes.. 

The organisers also decided to turn this year parade of military and civil hardware into a short action packed series. It would have been better if there was a storyline to this parade instead of the rush from point A to point B. Maybe this is the typical "Wait to Rush, Rush to Wait" experience all army boys encounter serving their years in the army. 

Our Apache Helicopters Ridding Into The Sunset..

World of Tanks segment..

Showing how ready we are for the Terrorists..

Hooray.. We caught one..

Keeping Singapore Safe.

Here is how you drift on water.. 

Just before the march past, there was the tribute to the NS boys starring the stars of Ah Boys to Men and a tens of primary school students. 

Not exploiting Ah Boys To Men

Great job.. but wonder why the organisers made the students climb those stairs..

Going Baldless Is Better For School Image?

My Facebook newsfeed today is flooded with comments about the news of a school principal at St Margaret Secondary School who asked three of her female students to wear a wig to cover their bald statement in their support for Children's Cancer Foundation.

According to the story in Straits Times, the principal Marion Tan insisted that the three girls kept to their agreement to wear a wig when they returned to school bald. The girls didn't wear their wigs on Monday and the principal was worried about school image than anything else.

Wrote The Straits Times,

The school's rules do not allow "punk, unfeminine or sloppy hairstyles". Said principal Marion Tan: "It's very clear in our mission: it's about their turnout as a young lady."

The principal would had have a better case if she focused on the girls breaking their agreement than the unbecoming of being a young lady. Bertha Henson also agrees.

Wrote Bertha for The Breakfast Network,

She would have done better to keep to the issue of broken promises. Whatever promise has been made, must be kept, as one parent of the five said.
That’s a good principle to live by and to reinforce in our young people.

The whole incident is an example of the unease and stereotype that the Children's Cancer Foundation is trying to stop by getting friends and family to go bald so that children who go bald because of cancer treatment do not feel out place.

The three students should be encourage for their bravery to go bald as one can easily understand how difficult it is for a teenage girl to shave off her locks in support for a worthy cause. This is their real education in their turnout as a young lady.

Warming up to running at 800m

What better way to start a new post on a new blog to show my commitment to start running.

I have always detested running, always giving the excuse that I can't focus on the run, giving up immediately after a few meters. 

Out of the blue, I decided to go for slow jog on Sunday evening of 800m. Yes, the body was cursing but I decided to run it out. 

The aftermath was aching thighs and calves. I decided to give Monday a break and returned to the track on Tuesday. 

The second slow jog was not that bad this morning and it felt more refreshing. 

Hopefully by doing something different morning, I look to get different results.