Chancellor's Challenge Shield 2009

21 February 2009

This is an annual event organised by NUS Political Association to create awareness in current affairs. It is a contest in which teams of students from various Junior Colleges and Universities sit for a mini-exam to test out their level of general knowledge and current affairs.

My team was SpideySense, comprising of Minru, Gary and myself. After the preliminary round, we discussed our answers and found out that when one answered wrongly, the other 2 answered that right. As a team, we neutralised each other... but we didn't get to the finals.

During the lunch break, we went for the free health check-up at MPSH 4.

The Guest-of-Honour was Mr Steven Chia, Channel NewsAsia news presenter. He was humorous in his speech and his charisma won over the participants.

The finals was held after lunch. It was a battle among Hwa Chong Institution, NUS and Victoria Junior College. HCI students were impressive, clinching the top award, followed by NUS and then VJC.

Even though I didn't win the top 10 individual award, I enjoyed myself very much. I got to make a new friend (Gary) and also had a brain-squeezing session during the finals.

YOUTHSpeak on Budget 2009

19 February 2009

Had a long rest after the exhaustion incurred from the 7-day Hong Kong cultural exchange. Reached People's Association Headquarters at 7pm to attend the first national-level PAYM Policy Forum. Being overseas in Hong Kong had deprived me of the updates of the Budget Debate, so thought of learning more about it through the session.

The Guest-of-Honour was Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean. He gave a brief lecture on the Resilience Package and explained the governments' decision.

Also speaking was Associate Professor Tan Khee Giap, Associate Dean, Graduate Studies Office and Co-Director, Asia Research Centre, Nanyang Technological University. He predicted that Singapore would be among the last to recover from the recession, a point which was dismissed by Mr Teo.

Most of the concerns from the floor were targeted at the availability of job opportunities. Questions were raised spontaneously.

Hong Kong Exchange friends:

Eunos CC YEC:

PAYM Singapore – Hong Kong Youth Exchange Programme 2009 Day 7

18 February 2009

Checked out early in the morning and had a debriefing session. Enjoyed the complimentary drink from the hotel and departed to the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

A staff from the International Relations office told us more about CUHK. NUS students participate in the CUHK Summer Programme as well as exchange programmes with the varsity. I'm very tempted...

CUHK is built on a mountain and the sceneries are fantastic. Jonathan and George are from the school and they came to join us.

George succeeded in persuading Shirley into letting us view his dormitory. He claimed to be a jip yan (folded man), a term to describe students who stay in the dorm most of the time and don't participate in hall activities.

We had lunch at the Clubhouse Restaurant of Chung Chi College Staff Club. CUHK is divided into different colleges. I believe it's something like the house system we have in our junior colleges. Each college would have its own dormitories as well.

Hock Rong and I bidded farewell to Jonathan and George, the two energetic youths who home stayed at my place. It was quite a dreadful feeling to have to bid farewell for the second time.

Thanks to Wee Keong for the consolidation of the ordering of Wife's Biscuits!

At the airport, everyone took the final chance to capture the memories...

A picture with my saviour for the day:

I was the last to enter the departure gates. Can't imagine how time flies and now we have to say goodbye.

We departed at 6pm on flight SQ 865 and reached Singapore at about 9pm. I tried Singapore Sling for the first time and felt proud of this cocktail drink.

Goodbye Hong Kong. Hope to see you again soon!

Special thanks to Shirley & Nicole (for guiding and taking care of us around Hong Kong); Cher Ling, Derrick & Kenneth (for ensuring the safety of the Singapore delegate); all the Hong Kong delegates (for their energy and the unforgettable memories we had); as well as all the Singapore delegates (for all the fun and friendship).

Photographs from:
Shirley, Liling, Connie and Vivian.

PAYM Singapore – Hong Kong Youth Exchange Programme 2009 Day 6

17 February 2009

In the morning, we went on a visit to Magic Kingdom, a social enterprise. I had heard of social enterprises in Singapore but I had a deeper understanding of the concept after the presentation. The magicians performed some entertaining shows to us and also taught us a little magic trick.

We had lunch at Tao Heung Restaurant.

The Chinese has a saying that in every 10 gambles one make, one would lose 9 of them. Asia is seeing the expansion of its gambling industry. 3.1% of the population experienced problem gambling in Hong Kong (2005) while 2% of Singaporeans were affected in the same year, said Ms Elda Mei Lo Chan, Centre Supervisor & Certified Gambling Counsellor and Trainer.

Gambling is risking something valuable in an activity that has a time limit; and which one cannot use skills or intuition to know the results. In this sense, the Centre also handles problem “investors” who are addicted in warrants, accumulators, and contra trading.

With the IRs soon to be completed, measures have to be taken to ensure that problem gambling rate is minimized. There are many learning points from the approach taken by TWGHs Even Centre.

TWGHs Even Centre adopts a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach, assisting problem gamblers through hotlines, counselling and therapies. Having a dedicated counselling channel for problem gamblers is useful, considering that the waiting time for a session with a psychiatrist in public hospital is nearly 2 years. Problem gamblers are given financial and debt counselling, emergency relief and temporary refuge as well as psychological treatment.

Group therapies aim to create a holistic person, developing new lifestyle holistically to rid off the addiction of gambling.

TWGHs Even Centre also actively engage in community education. Advertisements targets at the importance of family and how gambling could destroy it. It has also created a board game specifically to educate about the low chances of winning in gambling.

The Centre’s social workers are professionally trained and participate in research and conferences. Accredited training is also provided to teachers and police.

Next, we went to The Peak via the Peak tram. The weather was breezy and cooling. I kept my sweater to enjoy the chilling effect, something I could never enjoy in Singapore.

We were given free time to browse the shopping malls. Shopping at a tourist attraction spot didn't seem appealing, so we went to take pictures instead.

At night, we had our Farewell dinner at the Crystal Ballroom, YMCA The Cityview Hotel. Time had passed so quickly that not too long ago, we were in the same room enjoying our welcoming lunch.

The emcee struck a chord with all of us by saying that there is no longer "Hong Kong delegate" and "Singapore delegate" because we are all friends. Indeed, the friendship fostered during this stay had been a deep one.

There were stage games and I was glad to be able to participate in one of them. The objective of the game was to transmit a message (in Cantonese) across 4 people, 2 of whom were Singaporean.

The whole long of mouth twisters turned out to be a list of food items. I guess Shirley must have had a hard time understanding my Cantonese.

After the dinner, Hock Rong, George, Jonathan, Karen and I went to Mong Kok to do some shopping for souvenirs. Jonathan was a very powerful bargainer. Hock Rong also wielded his power with his limited Cantonese phrases. Karen shared how her Mum managed to buy a big travel luggage at around HK$50. Amazing.

George and Karen had to return home early. Jonathan brought us to meet up with the others at the Big Tree Pub. At the MTR station, Hock Rong wanted to go to the toilet but there weren't any in the station. Jonathan then told us that there were secret toilets that the staff would bring us to if we (tourists) asked. True enough, one of the staff guided us all the way into the staff toilet. Good service!

At the Big Tree Pub, we played some games until some of us began to doze off.

Back at the hotel, we assembled at Alex's room and chatted about the happenings of the day. Hock Rong and I managed to smuggle Jonathan into our room until the next morning! While waiting for Hock Rong to return, I had a candid chat with Vivian at the freezing cold hotel lobby.

PAYM Singapore – Hong Kong Youth Exchange Programme 2009 Day 5

16 February 2009

I really love eating the pork sausages in the breakfast buffet at the hotel. The variety of food was exactly the same as the first day's. At least I have my pork sausages.

Everyone took the MTR to Lantau island. There, we took a bus to view the Giant Buddha.

We were very lucky that the weather was good and we could see the Giant Buddha clearly. It was foggy just the night before.

The Giant Buddha was slightly before Hong Kong's return to China. It was to commemorate the 1997 return of Hong Kong. The Giant Buddha faces mainland China which means blessing China. There are 168 steps to the top.

Chatted with Nicole and found out that she was also interested in starting her own business. We had vegetarian lunch at Po Lin Monastery.

After lunch, we trailed along the Wisdom path, towards the Lantau Peak.

Then, we did a mini-tour in Tai O Fishing Village.

We started the tour with a boat ride. During the ride, we were lucky to be able to see several pink dolphins.

The houses on water are similar to that of Thailand's but the houses here are built with zinc sheets.

After the boat ride, we walked around the houses. They are all linked together in a loop, so even without boats, one can still go to all the places. Hock Rong and I tried their beancurd. It had a tinge of ginger taste.

There were many people playing mahjong in their houses. There was also a Cantonese opera show.

After dinner at hotel, we visited Y's Men's Deaf Centre. I participated in a record breaking mass song signing with 4,000 other people at the NDP Marina in 2005. The song we had signed was "Uniquely You". I was surprised that Rick also knew the signing and we tried to recall how to sign the song.

At the centre, we learnt that there is a special emergency number dedicated to the deaf. They could SMS to 992 in case of emergency. We also learnt some sign language.

At night, Rick, Hock Rong, Liling, Yu Long, Vicki and I went to Neway for Karaoke.

PAYM Singapore – Hong Kong Youth Exchange Programme 2009 Day 4B

15 February 2009 (Part 2)

The most exciting part of the whole exchange programme is finally here - Home Visit!

Connie played host to Vivian and me. From the Yau Ma Tei 油麻地 station, we took the MTR to 荔景 and then took a minibus which took us up a hill to Connie's residence.

According to Connie, she is the only Hong Kong delegate residing in public housing. I thought it would provide a more meaningful experience to visit a house where the commoners would be staying in.

Walking along the corridors remind us of the familiar setting of Hong Kong TV drama. I asked if residents could alter their gates into more fanciful ones and the answer is NO, because those are government's property.

As compared to Singapore's unit, the units here are much smaller. Anyway, Connie's Mum prepared some home delicacies for us. Soup was served before dinner. We enjoyed dinner with the occasional chat and the television.

From our discussion, I understand that there are minimal interactions among neighbours. There was a residents' committee but Connie's family had never been approached by the members in their many years of stay. Also, there is a big divide between the rich and the average citizens. They reside in different areas (the rich would usually stay on high grounds or near the sea).

After dinner, Connie brought us up to the top floor of the apartment for us to enjoy the breathtaking view.

Residents' Committee noticeboard:

As we walked down the alleys towards the shopping centre, Connie explained to us about the indigenous Hong Kongers. The Hong Kong Government had given them land in compensation for their relocation. Each clan would usually share the same surname. They can also inherit the land to their descendants.

Vivian and I weren't so into shopping, so we didn't stay in the malls for long. I had my first bargaining experience, trying hard to push down the price for my new bag and which I got it.

It was raining and fogging by the time we reached the ferry terminal. We were afraid that the ferry ride get cancelled due to the bad weather. Luckily it didn't. Along the way, we saw the Hong Kong's version of Big Ben.

Purchasing the ticket for the ferry ride:

We got to see the International Financial Centre (IFC)

Some roads are closed during the weekend...

Connie brought us to see the Legislative Council Building.

And then we embarked on a tram ride. Hong Kongers call it "Ding Ding", the sound of the horn from trams. We enjoyed the breeze and the beautiful night sceneries.

I attempted many shots and finally photographed the tram in front of ours. I found it amusing when the lady in that tram was also trying to photograph our tram.

A New Year greeting banner by a politician.

Stefanie Sun!!

Our tram ride took us from Central to Causeway Bay.

After bidding farewell to Connie, a few of us went to MacDonald's for supper. Vivian and I were so certain that our home visit was the most exciting, thanks to our host Connie!

PAYM Singapore – Hong Kong Youth Exchange Programme 2009 Day 4A

15 February 2009 (Part 1)

Breakfast at Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village was bread toasts with boiled eggs. This reminded me of the Kopitiam breakfast set I had with George. George recalled how the half-boiled eggs looked gross and told me that most of the other Hong Kong delegates thought it so too.

After breakfast, Jonathan briefed everyone about the City Hunt! game. It is a popular orientation game for University students. It is also the case in Singapore. The game resembles Amazing Race, but with some activities that need to be done when at the designated checkpoints. Through City Hunt!, I got to experience Hong Kong in a very wholesome manner. Just like what delegation leader Derrick says, as a normal tourist, one would probably not be roaming around New Territories as complete as we did.

My group comprised of Derrick, Wan Chien, Randy, Kailing and led by Bear, Susan and Jonathan.

Leaving the Youth Village, we took a minibus which took us to our first destination. I learnt that there are two types of minibus services in Hong Kong. The Red minibus drives at a higher speed than the green minibus. Minibuses have speed displays at the front, allowing passengers to view.

First, we went to a public park. As it was Sunday, there were many domestic helpers gathering at the park, enjoying their day off. Some of them were learning dancing near the pond.

We went to Hong Kong Museum of Art and... Snoopy World!

It was an enriching trip to the market, where we get to see so many live creatures that we can't see in the market in Singapore.

As we were enjoying ice cream bought from an ice cream van, we saw some rural settlements.

I realised that New Territories is more newly developed than Hong Kong island and Kowloon. Also, the roads are not as narrow.

To travel on the MTR, we bought our single journey tickets.

We visited a Chinese Temple 车公庙. The temple is characterised by the windmills. Locals believe that if one had experienced bad luck and wanted to change one's luck, one would need to turn the windmill in the clockwise direction and vice versa.

Our quest at the temple is rather cheeky. We were to find out the interpretation of No. 27 sortition stick 灵签, which was the one that spelt the fortune of the Hong Kong government in the year 2009. We found out that it was a very inauspicious one.

When Hong Kongers dine at restaurants, they would soak their utensils into a cup of hot water/tea to cleanse it before eating. Anyway for lunch, I ate 鲜茄会鸡臂饭或意, a dish which fulfilled the quest for its name having more than 7 words.

With some time left before returning to the hotel, our group decided to go So Gai 扫街, meaning trying all the food down the streets, at Mong Kok. I smelled and tasted the fermented beancurd for the first time.

We were lucky to witness a political rally along the streets. It was organised by the Civic Party. There, I chanced upon a party member who had been to NUS as an exchange student. He was wearing the Eusoff Hall shirt, while I was wearing the NUSSU shirt. What a small world!

Special thanks to Jonathan and friends for planning this meaningful activity. They must have put in a lot of effort to ensure that the game is detailed and wholesome.

Everyone checked into the hotel and washed up for the Home Visit...

PAYM Singapore – Hong Kong Youth Exchange Programme 2009 Day 3

14 February 2009

We checked out of the hotel in the morning since we would be staying in a camp later tonight. At 10.30am, we departed for a visit to Home of Love - Sheltered Workshop (Rehabilitation Centre) in Sheung Wan.

The centre houses the mentally handicapped and provides training so that they can be employed. Social workers work on shifts to ensure that they are available round the clock. Some of the clients are provided work opportunities at the centre i.e. placing letters in envelopes and packing.

For lunch, we enjoyed some toasts and noodles at Tsui Wa Restaurant in Central.

After lunch was a mini-historical tour in Central. On foot, Connie guided us through the streets of Central. I noticed that there are no cyclists around on the road, and she highlighted to me that it was due to the hilly terrains in Central. She shared to us that the only person who rides a bicycle down the slope is Comedian Stephen Chow. He would ride it down and then be chauffeured up to his place.

We get to see the historical Hong Kong Police building. The building had been used during the colonial era.

We were very lucky to be able see some "stars". Some of us even saw Li Xin Jie.

We also travelled along the longest escalator in the world.

And on this Valentine's Day, this couple kissed all the way throughout the longest escalator...

After the tour at Central (Hong Kong island), we then headed towards YMCA Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village at New Territories. All the guys checked into one air-conditioned bungalow.

The Youth Village is well equipped with facilities - a shooting range for bow and arrows, stadium, soccer field, Karaoke rooms, arcade room, etc.

Felt great seeing George again. I had hosted him during his stay in Singapore. I remember the night where we went cycling till 5am and then having to wake up at 8am that morning to attend a function.

Everyone was so into Mambo dance that night, dancing along the tune of Loving the First Degree. Valentine's effect?

There is a stark difference in the way Hong Kongers barbeque and how Singaporeans do it. Singapore's style is the lazy way of doing it - one person doing the cooking and everyone else eating. Hong Kong's style is more interactive, with everyone sitting in circles around the campfire and cooking their own food.

While Singaporeans use fire starters to get the charcoal heated up, Hong Kongers use newspapers to burn the charcoal and cook the food with burning flames.

I am terrible at this way of cooking, getting all my food overcooked and carbonated.

At night, Hock Rong entertained everyone with his comical expressions and performances. Yi Ki and Aska tried to prevent us from falling asleep, but we did...

PAYM Singapore – Hong Kong Youth Exchange Programme 2009 Day 2

13 February 2009

The buffet breakfast at the hotel was great, especially the customised omelette prepared by the chef. Little would we know that the breakfast would remain the same throughout our stay.

We departed at 9.30pm for a visit to the Agency for Volunteer Service. AVS is a non-profit organisation that provides volunteers from other organisations a platform to interact as well as be trained. As a centre for volunteers, it is represented by many Hong Kong celebrities including Karen Mok and Alan Tam.

We returned to the hotel for the Welcoming Lunch Reception at the Crystal Ballroom. We were joined by representatives from the Hong Kong Commission on Youth and Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong Government.

Alex and Wan Chien presented a skit to depict the Singapore way of life. She acted as a tourist from Lala land and he acted as a Singaporean trying to show her around the island. After the skit, the NDP 2007 song Reach out for the Skies began and the Singapore delegation danced in sync, bringing accolades from our Hong Kong friends.

In the afternoon, we went on a visit to Maryknoll Convent School. This is a redbrick school, with part of its structure preserved as a heritage. Walking around the school reminds me of Jay Chou's movie. Our Hong Kong friend Florence, who is also the former deputy head of the student council of Maryknoll Convent School, facilitated this visit.

We broke up into small groups and interacted with the students. The students are all leaders in their own groups. Some of them also participate in volunteer organisations outside school. They were knowledgeable, answering our queries as well as also asking important questions to find out more about Singapore.

I learnt a lot from the one-to-one discussion as we explored the school compound.

This photograph reminds me of schools featured in movies.

The students gushed in to take this photo!

Next, we had a sharing session with YMCA Young Members Council. Our counterparts presented their organisation structure and then our delegation leader Kenneth presented PAYM's structure.

We were divided into groups where we shared our experiences in organising youth activities with one another. We learnt about how the different organisations set out to reach youths of various age groups.

We settled dinner at the traditional Mido Cafe.

In each of the dinner sessions, our Hong Kong peers would mingle with us and we get to know one another better. At Mido, Hock Rong and I enjoyed our chat with Khezar, a Pakistani born Hong Konger. He caught my attention when he came to Singapore, but I didn't have chance to interact with him the other time.

We learnt that he is volunteering in an organisation that stands against the discrimination of South East Asians in Hong Kong. He had organised protests which involved a few thousands of people. He lamented to us how discrimination of the minorities is that severe in Hong Kong. As a Muslim, he usually eats at home as there are few Halal restuarants. When we were dining, he only ate vegetable noodles.

After dinner, we went on a visit to YMCA Young Night Drifters Service. YND social workers patrol the streets at night (from 11pm) to look out for youths. The social workers would reach out to these youths by checking to see if they are experiencing any family problems, by providing them a place to develop their skills (music, hip hop dance, etc) and also a place for them to perform. This is to minimise youth crimes.

We were honoured to be able to join in their night patrol. We stopped by a pier where youths like to hang out at. There was a group of teenagers dancing at the open space. The social workers told us that they already knew the group and we interacted with the youths to find out why they stayed out late and also watched a break dance performance.

As the bus drove past a wholesale centre, Shirley shared with us that apples were her favourite when she was young. One day when at the wholesale centre, her parents bought her a crate of apples. She ate several in one day and then grew tired of apples.

It was a long day, ending at 1 am, but it was a very fruitful experience...

PAYM Singapore – Hong Kong Youth Exchange Programme 2009 Day 1

12 February 2009

The day has finally arrived. I'm going to Hong Kong for the first time of my life. With the excitement also comes a terrible dreading feeling of homesickness. After kissing my parents goodbye with a tinge of tears, I brought my luggage to Eunos Zone '2' RC centre to meet Hock Rong. The time was 3 am.

We chatted about our visions of Hong Kong and imagined what we would be experiencing. Then we dozed off till 5am, when we headed towards Changi Airport. Our delegation did a group check-in and we embarked on our 3 hr 15 min flight on SQ860 to Hong Kong International Airport at 8am.

A few of us started sneezing when we touched down. Alex lost his luggage. Apparently someone took the wrong one and he had to wait for the airport to contact him.

We were greeted by Shirley and Nicole, the two representatives from Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong. I remember Shirley as the staff in-charge of the Hong Kong delegates when they came to Singapore. I was rather surprised she still remembered me when we did our self-introduction in the coach.

When I first look at the itenary in the first meeting at the PAYM HQ, I thought we would be staying in a YMCA hostel. So when I saw that it's actually a hotel owned by YMCA, I was on cloud nine. Hock Rong and my excitement was so badly restrained that our neighbours, Liling and Vivian, could hear our constant laughters.

Our first destination for the day was the Hong Kong Museum of History. I thought it was useful for us to first understand Hong Kong's history before we could appreciate other aspects of it.

The guide brought us through a time journey to look at Hong Kong as early as 6000 years ago. It was totally cool! When it comes to history, I had never read about events before the Opium War. Hong Kong has a history that is much documented than that of Singapore's.

I learnt about the origins of the Hakka people. They gathered at the New Territories after being purged by the Manchus. As such they were called the "guest" people. This is how a Hakka house looks like:

This is a classic pawnshop:

The man who led the war against the imperialists during the Opium War:

and the pact that gave away Hong Kong

Everyone was so excited with the exhibits that we kept posing and taking pictures. There were many similarities in the lifestyle of the people in both Singapore and Hong Kong, especially in the '70s onwards.

We also went to take a look at the artistic exhibits of the French Revolutions.

We had dinner at a Brazil BBQ restaurant, a short walking distance away from the museum. There, we met some of the Hong Kong delegates.

After the meaty meal, we went to the Avenue of Stars. There we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the city landscape of Hong Kong island, across the Victoria Harbour. It was bright and colourful with laser effects.

After returning to the hotel, Shirley brought some of us (Rick, Hock Rong, Yu Long, Leng Kiat, Marilyn and myself) to Mongkok to do some shopping. There was a street name that caught my attention - 西洋菜街. I learnt that the area where we went shopping used to be a farmland and thus the streets were named after the plantation.

We ended the window shopping session with some delicious mango desserts at 许留山.

Eunos Zone '3' RC Chinese New Year Gathering

7 February 2009

With just less than 4 hours of sleep, I started my Saturday with a 1.5hrs journey to NUS for a committee meeting on the Policy Series event that we are organising in March.

After lunch at home, I rushed down to the RC centre to do the final preparation for the event taking place later in the evening. For the past few days, I had been looking down from my window to see the progress of the setting up of tentage at the basketball court. Tonight, a record of 1,000 people will be within that tentage celebrating the prosperous new year. Despite my minimal sleep for the past few days, I still feel the excitement burning to continue pushing forward.

As this is the first time we are organising a dinner at such a large scale, the logistics was a nightmare. The 2 caterers each set up their own tables and we have to ensure that the arrangements are correct. As we started ushering in the crowd, it was initially chaotic but fortunately everyone focused on their duties and we managed to seat everyone just in time for the programme to begin.

At one point, we encountered a problem of having not enough tables. As we gathered and with the participants looking at us and waiting for us to respond, the mood was tensed. RC Vice Chairman Willie was decisive and ordered the caterer to set up an additional 5 tables. We allocated front seating and better view seats for those affected. This was a real life crisis management lesson.

I was thankful that Hock Rong and Chee Lee came at the right time to assist. I was about to go bonkers. I remember when everyone had found their seats, I quipped to some of them, "Isn't it amazing how we pulled it through?"

My relatives, paternal and maternal, came. Lin Qiang and Shi Hui rushed down from their class chalet. Jian Hao and Zhi Yong also came to support. Hock Rong "abandoned" his RC function to join in the dinner. Biyu came upon my invitation for a mini birthday treat. And not forgetting Wei Kiat and Chee Lee who helped kept some food on my plate when I was roaming about.

The Guest-of-Honour for the night was Mayor Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Mayor of North East CDC. Lion Dance and Dragon Dance troopers as well as the God of Fortune welcomed our VIPs in. CCC Chairman Mr Sim Wai Chin BBM also came to support us.

The compere for the evening was MediaCorp DJ You Fa. Among the performers was Ming Zhu Sisters who sang the 881 theme song. Residents flocked down from their flats and lined around to watch the entertaining performance.

It was a pity Baohui could not join in. She was sick and had to rest at home.

Seafood Dinner at East Coast Jumbo

6 February 2009

Jasmine invited me to the Chinese New Year Dinner at the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant at East Coast Park. From Shirley, I got to know that this is an annual gathering.

I think I have reached my personal best in having the most number of Lo Hei and yusheng this year. I'm going to have 2 more, one with my family and one with Zone 3 RC. Total = 5.

The ambiance of the restaurant was soothing. Fish tanks with cosy blue wall paints. Soft lights with the cooling sea breeze. I particularly enjoyed the fried rice, combined with the chilli crab's sauce. Marvellous.

Stephanie suggested going to Changi Airport for coffee, and so we left for Changi. I sat in Shirley's car and had chatted. When she knew I had my driving licence, she offered her car for me to drive. Haha.

We went to Yakun for some toast and coffee, before leaving to meet Ming Choo to work on our Hong Kong Exchange Programme Booklet till 4am...

NUSPA Membership Relations Committee Meeting

4 February 2009

I enrolled myself into NUS Political Association Membership Relations Committee as Secretary after I passed the interview some weeks ago. After getting heavily involved in grassroots and community work, I thought I should participate in some school activities when I still have the chance to. Also, I'm sure I can learn from my experience gained from school and apply them to community work. With my little experience in organising events, I'm sure I could also contribute to NUSPA MRC.

NUSPA has a spacious room for Directors and members to utilise. The members are pretty friendly. Coincidentally, I met Huilin who was from my secondary school.

Shayne, the Director for the committee, happened to stay in Eunos as well, so we had a good chat all the way home.

2nd PAYM Hong Kong Exchange Programme Meeting

2 February 2009

Bishan Community Club is a very spacious club with a pleasant and green environment. Alex had booked his youth club room for the meeting.

Other than presenting to our Hong Kong counterparts, we are also going to prepare a performance. Rick had choreographed a dance, based on the song - Reach Out For The Skies, a National Day song by Rui En and Taufik Batisah [See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzgH0dbv0p4].

I enjoy mass dance. The first mass dance I could recall was also a National Day song, Stefanie Sun's We Will Get There. Later in JC, the whole school of students who danced to the same beat for various popular songs. In University, all the freshies Mambo danced in the beaches of Sentosa.

After the meeting, I helped out at the MPS.

Eunos Lunar New Year Dinner

1 February 2009

Went New Year visiting to Baohui's place. Her toddler cousin, Jewel, was self-entertaining and as a result became an entertainment to us. I think it a pity that Baohui did not take up Early Childhood as a study since she like children so much.

Baohui also showed us some of the plastic models that she created in her lab experiments. Unfortunately, I had to leave early for my Remedial Training at Bedok Camp.

When a combat fit operationally ready National Serviceman fails his physical test, IPPT, he is bounded to sign up for Remedial Training, a 8-week period of training. Chee Lee was a good companion, answering all my queries on RT.

RT is seriously a very demoralising activity. Most of the participants looked spiritless, reminding me of the first few weeks of SISPEC where everyone had yet to come to terms with not being able to enter OCS. I regretted not committing enough to clear my IPPT, and promised myself never to step back into RT again next year.

Immediately after RT, we dashed back home to prepare for the Eunos Lunar New Year Dinner. I'm honoured to be able to sit in Arthur's committee in organising this gathering for grassroots volunteers and residents of Eunos.

More than 300 of us enjoyed a delicious yusheng as we yelled wishes for the new year.

I managed to capture precious memories with Chee Lee's semi-SLR camera. They include the flexible acrobat who nearly could help to change the bulb for us:

and the agile camouflaged man who could place the lid over bowls with his legs:

Eunos Zone '3' RC members were ingenious to reuse the backdrops used for the event to decorate the entrance to the carpark.

fish for luck 2009 @ Bedok Reservoir Park "年年有鱼2009"

1 February 2009

Managed to reach Bedok Reservoir Park at 7.30 am to help set up the stall for redemption of fishes. It is the 7th day of the Chinese New Year and it's 人日(ren ri) or people's day. The 5 MPs of Aljunied GRC were all present.

Buddhists believe that releasing of animals and fishes is an act of compassion and respect for life. The event, fish for luck, is also a fund raising event for the grassroots organisations in Aljunied GRC.

I noticed that Eunos had the most number of fishes and I am proud of that.

Paya Lebar grassroots volunteers were very helpful and they initiated to help us fill up the bottles with gouramis. We had fun in a Sunday morning.

Mother, Aunt and Lin Qiang came to release fishes as well.

A total of 1388 gouramis were released into the reservoir at 9.09am, the auspicious hour.

There were performances by Wushu teams, the Chinese Orchestra from Temasek Polytechnic and Taiji.

All the MPs and grassroots volunteers later congregated at the Blk 739 coffeeshop for some light breakfast.

City Alive 2009

31 January 2009

City Alive 2009 is Singapore's biggest street dance party. I was glad to be a volunteer for the event.

We reported to Peninsula Hotel where we were briefed and received our event tees. As ICs for the Party Dance Ambassadors (PDAs), our role was to ensure that the atmosphere was kept high, a role similar to the motivators during National Day Parade.

We stationed ourselves at the entrance where PDAs would come to meet us. City Alive is a post-Chingay event. As we were early, we managed to get a glimpse of the many bright and colourful floats. PAYM's float this year is a giant caterpillar with the tagline "It's all about YOUths!"

It was Rahayu's birthday. Jialing accompanied her to the event but they couldn't be admitted due to their age. Security was tight, with officers searching bags and scanning for metallic objects. Ming Choo also dropped by later in the night.

Minister Lim Boon Heng and People's Association's CEO Tan Boon Huat arrived in a Hippo Bus. The crowd was so pumped up that we were more motivated by them than the other way round.

The Hip Hop performances by the dance groups were amazing. Dancing with the old City Hall as the backdrop makes it even more cool.

Over at the other side of Padang, a different genre of dancers were enjoying themselves. And these are the line dancers. There was a line dance jam night which see dancers from various organisations and community clubs dancing in sync.

I wonder how line dancers dance the same style to the same music with different instructors.

Anyway, we joined our Eunos line dancers on the bus back home.

The President's Beat - Fund Raising for Boon Lay Community Development & Welfare

30 January 2009

Mr Sim invited some of us to attend a Thanksgiving dinner at Raffles Institution.

The comperes for the event were Suzanne Ho and Dasmond Koh. The Guest of Honour was President S.R. Nathan.

Boon Lay Grassroots Organisations had initially targeted to achieve about $1.5 million in donation. At the end of the fundraising campaign, they had hit $2.68 million!

Boon Lay MP Ho Geok Choo turned emotional when talking about her Father (an ex-MP) and how she respected him a lot.

I happened to see Mrs Lim Lai Cheng, my TJC principal who was now Principal of RI.

Mr Sim drove us back in his car, and I thought his Winnie the Pooh seatbelt cover was cute.

Searching for the Car

29 January 2009

Was so careless that I went to school and found out that my tutorial had not begun. Since Hock Rong was released from Istana after work, I met with him to enjoy my favourite Terriyaki Chicken.

Back at Bedok, we were trying to locate a small car, but to no avail, to deposit a sacred piece of document. To identify the car, we analysed the interior displays of the cars to work out whether that car could have belonged to "pounds".

After exhausting ourselves scanning the entire carpark near Bedok Interchange, we finally gave up and retreated to Kg Chai Chee CC's KTV.

Chinese New Year 2009

25 January 2009

After a successful event at the market the day before, I had a great rejuvenating rest.

I managed to make the karaoke system working and started to sing a few songs as the steamboat dinner was being prepared. It is the tradition of every Chinese to enjoy reunion dinner on the eve of Chinese New Year. We have always adhered to this practice. I remember Grandma would always cook great Hakka dishes, with the help from my relatives. There were so many of us that we needed to take several shifts to eat at the table.

This year, my family and I watched an exciting Ip Man film as we dipped our utensils into the steamboat.

Also on the eve of Chinese New Year, there is a practice of 守岁(shou sui). It involves staying up late into the night. There is a belief that doing so would increase the longevity of the parents. I think this is related to the legend which says that the mythical beast 年 (nian) would come by during the new year and to guard against it means staying up late. Even though it passes out as a good story to coax young children, but I strongly believe in 守岁 and I do it every year. This year, I slept at 6am on Chinese New Year's Day.

From Wikipedia,

守岁(守歲) (Shou Sui) occurs when members of the family gather around throughout the night after the reunion dinner and reminisce about the year that has passed while welcoming the year that has arrived. Some believe that children who Shou Sui will increase the longevity of the parents.

一夜连双岁，五更分二年 means that the night of New Year's eve (which is also the morning of the first day of the New Year) is a night that links two years. 五更 (Wu Geng – the double hour from 0300 to 0500) is the time that separates the two years.

26 January 2009

Went to visit my Grandma at Aunt's place. We ate vegetarian dishes as a usual practice on the first day of Chinese New Year.

My little cousin, Felica, is so cute, always giving me a signature blank stare. I was heartened when she patted on Grandma's hands and told the maid that Grandma was her Papa's Mummy. When Grandma coughed, she even patted on her chest. I think Grandma would be so happy to have such a kind granddaughter.

And yes, it rained on Chinese New Year.

27 January 2009

Mother, Lin Qiang, Shi Hui, Baohui and I went to my fraternal Uncle's place for a New Year Gathering. As per past years, we had steamboat lunch.

The house was very crowded. Uncle Roland is a distributor for Chang Lao beer and brought some for everyone to sample. It was made with mineral water instead of tap water and thus the beer tasted sweet.

Interestingly, Baohui shared the same Secondary school with cousin Joseph and his girlfriend. After the luncheon, I sent Baohui to her dinner at Pasir Ris.