Eunos CC WEC Fun Bowling 2009

7 June 2009

After setting up the stall and orientating my family members to the Metta Carnival, I left the stall for 2 hours to attend the Eunos CC WEC Fun Bowling 2009, organised by Mdm Fatmah. I had been asked to help emcee for the event.

We were so lucky that at the very last moment in time, a group of us from the YEC was able to form a team to participate in the competition. Calling ourselves Marvel Heroes (yes, that's my input), the team comprised of Hock Rong, Huzaifi, Pristine and myself.

I thought it would be easy for us to bag some prizes, but we faced formidable opponents. We ranked 11 out of 16 teams at the end of 3 rounds of games. However, we did win some lucky draw prizes.

One interesting set of prizes, called the Novelty prize, went to the 2nd team from the bottom. Indeed, that's a difficult prize to win. It's easy to be the last team but to be the last second, it's really luck.

The Marvel Heroes:

Metta Charity Walk cum Family Carnival 2009

7 June 2009

This is the third year that I'm volunteering at this event, and the second time with my family. Metta Charity Walk cum Family Carnival 2009 is an annual event held to raise funds for the Metta Welfare Association. The event starts with a charity walk by the Guest-of-Honour, who happens to be Ms Jessica Tan Soon Neo, MP for East Coast GRC, same as last year.

After the charity walk, participants as well as members of the public will use the coupons to purchase food and other items from the various stalls lined all around the Metta School compound. These food and products are brought in by sponsors, hence all shoppers are actually donors on this day.

I was accompanied by my Mother, my maternal aunt, my paternal aunt and her daughter. Some of us had volunteered last year, so we were experienced in a sense. We were assigned to sell the same products and we finally got to meet the business owner. She told us that she was supposed to come last year but had other appointments.

Mother unpacked the Lavender products with experience:

Setting up the booth:

I had to emcee an event, so I left the carnival for about 2 hours. When I returned, I was impressed by my cousin who was actively promoting the sale of the products. It is a real-life practical lesson on business skills.

Everything seemed to be the same. Even though I don't know many of the staff and volunteers, I could recall seeing many of them in previous years. There was even a family that came to our booth and asked for the same products we had sold them last year!

All in all, we managed to help raise more than S$1,000 for charity, an amount comparable to that of 2008. This is despite of the economic downturn.

Parting off with the shop owner, we all said, "See you next year!" And yes, we will certainly be back again :)

2009 Family Picture:

2008 Family Picture:

2007: No picture...

I guess the fun of volunteering is when you do it with your family and loved ones. The quality time spent in communicating, in doing charity work is simply an enjoyment. I remember last year when we volunteered, Father had just found out that he had contracted cancer. Despite the bad news, he still came to do charity work. There are many fond memories that Metta Welfare Association gives me. And in memory of Father, I shall always do my part in helping others, in my capacity and whenever I can.

PAYM Introduction to Youths Tea Session

6 June 2009

As the Biennial General Meeting for all the PAYM Youth Executive Committees draws closer, a series of tea sessions are arranged to introduce PAYM to youths. This is planned and executed by the Central Youth Council. Hock Rong and I decided to encourage and accompany our newer members to attend the session.

After an ice-breaker game of Bingo, where one has to complete tasks to fill the boxes, we then enjoyed the presentation. The presentation started with a few amusing and hysterical videos to bring across some messages to the participants.

It's very youth-style to keep the session short and sweet. Participants then enjoyed lunch while interacting with peers and asking questions.

It was a great opportunity to catch up with our delegation that went to Hong Kong for exchange programme.

Team Eunos:

After the tea session, we rushed back to Eunos Community Club to attend the talk on "Effective Family Communication" and "Massage Techniques for Better Health". We were in time to pick up some massaging techniques. The speaker shared to us that a lot of times it is possible for us to massage ourselves. At the correct angle, we can be more effective in massaging the various acupoints.

Also mentioned was a brief summary on Effective Communication. The speaker listed 3 important factors: Trust, Listen and Being Honest.

Think the GSS is really effective in countering the recession. Everywhere from the arcade to the restaurants, were all packed with shoppers.

Multi-Racial Dumpling Celebration

31 May 2009

The Dragonboat festival is held on the fifth day of the fifth month in the lunar calendar. In Singapore, probably due to it being a paradise for food lovers, we call it Dumpling Festival. It is held to commemorate a mythical figure - Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan lives in the state of Chu, in the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty. When he opposed his king's intention to ally with the state of Qin, he was sent to exile. 28 years later, the state of Qin invaded the state of Chu. In despair, Qu Yuan jumped into the Miluo River.

The celebration started with Karaoke singing at 9am. The dumpling demonstration also took place concurrently. The picture below shows the H-dumpling which signifies Harmony.

The Guest-of-Honour for the event is Mayor Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and MP for Aljunied GRC. He was accompanied by Mdm Cynthia Phua, Chairman of Aljunied Town Council and MP for Aljunied GRC.

After their arrival, I commenced the gameshow with a 9-question quiz for participants to know more about the festival. 

I had a capable assistant to help me issue out the prizes and he did a great job. He's none other than Hock Rong, who is always present at our events. This is despite the fact that he was just discharged from hospital 2 days ago.

Each participant was entitled to a dumpling and green tea. Mayor and grassroots leaders also made Muah Chee for everyone.

Together with grassroots leaders, Mayor Zainul and Mdm Cynthia Phua also went on stage to sing 2 songs - 朋友 (friends) and 爱拼才会赢 (ai bia jia eh yia). That totally hyped up the residents.

This is Mayor Zainul's last day serving as the Mayor of North East CDC District. Before he left, he led everyone in a cheer:

Eunos... Huat Ah!
Aljunied... Huat Ah!
Singapore... Huat Ah!

Participating Bodies Briefing for Matriculation Fair

30 May 2009

Represented NUS Students' Political Association to attend a briefing by the Matriculation Fair Committee at 10am. Tried to navigate myself around Engineering Faculty to find LT6.

On the date of Matriculation into NUS, students will all gather at the Multipurpose Sports Hall to receive their Matric cards. A Matriculation Fair would be held on the second level for CCA groups to market themselves and recruit new members. The new students would be overwhelmed by the wide variety of activity groups in the campus as they clear the maze of booths and publicity materials.

Went to Daiso (Vivocity outlet) where every item costs only $2.

This is my first time combing Daiso and I'm amazed at the wide range of products that they sell. They even sell Bingo tickets! (No more photocopying and cutting in the Community Club for Bingo games anymore!!!)

We enjoyed dinner at Phin's Beerhaus N Grill (Tampines Mall), beerhouse and grille. We were greeted by a non-Chinese waiter who rapped in Mandarin when listing the drinks available. Very entertaining. The beer-flavoured fish 'n' chips was awesome.

Eat With Your Family Day

29 May 2009

Mother's company gave its employees an early day off to encourage them to have dinner with their family. We decided to eat out at BBQ Chicken at Tampines 1 Shopping Mall.

We ordered a family feast which included spicy drumlets, crispy fried chicken and grilled chicken. The spicy drumlet is wonderful. It instantly gives you the "flame-on" ability of the Fantastic Four. The crispy fried chicken is not as oily as that of KFC's. According to the brochure, BBQ Chicken is the first in the world to use only olive oil in cooking. That sort of alleviated my guilt for savouring the fatty stuff.

After dinner, we toured the mall and entered the sky terrace. From there, we can view the neighbouring shopping malls. It would be a splendid space, if not for the stench in the air caused by the exhaust from the eateries.

After the weekend, Lin Qiang will commence his second phase of training as a Naval Diver.

Later in the evening, went for the last YEC meeting for this term. Was glad to see many new faces who are keen to join in the next term of YEC.

Eunos CC CDEC Appreciation Night

28 May 2009

The event is held at East Coast Hua Yu Wee (华友园) where more than 100 grassroots leaders attended. The Civil Defence Executive Committees in Singapore would be dissolved and merge with the Emergency Preparedness Group to form the C2E - Community Emergency and Engagement Committee. To appreciate the efforts of the grassroots leaders who have contributed to the success of Eunos CDEC, a dinner is held.

A video compilation was screened to play tribute to the CDEC volunteers, followed by a slideshow depicting the activities of Eunos CDEC over the past years. Tokens of appreciation were also presented to the committee members as well as supporting agencies by the Guest-of-Honour, Mayor Zainul Abidin Rasheed.

Eunos CDEC Chairman Mr Pang Loo Seng PBM hosted a short game. Each table had 3 sets of worksheets which dictated the tasks of the game. Enthusiastic participants quickly followed the instructions and started scribbling on the sheets. Little did they know that the last instruction was to ignore the previous tasks. The moral of the game was to highlight the importance of staying calm and looking at the big picture during crisis.

Eunos CDEC members then presented a song item - entitled "我在你左右". It was translated, literally, to an English song as well - entitled "I Am Beside You". Mayor joined in and sang the English version.

The Karaoke session then commenced, with Mayor closing the session with his signature Hokkien song "爱拼才会赢".