RCY Current Affairs Competition 2007

My health is definitely poorer this year, especially dealing with my form class. Just met 3 parents/guardian on Friday and I really wonder when will they learn to behave themselves. My whole body is aching with fever, cough and flu. Despite that, I still have to worry about the RCY Current Affairs Competition which was held last Saturday. I would have been more relieved if the team had been more cooperative and better prepared. Quite frustrated that the team still could not get the script ready even a day before the competition!

Learning from the points made by the judges from the previous competition, I highlighted to the team that when they present to the judges, they have to maintain eye contact with the judges and smile. I also told them not to read from the script and to make use of the posters to guide them through the presentation. I am glad that they finally rose to the occasion and won the champion for North District as well as got into the top 8 finalists for National. This is quite a feat as even the champion for the East Zone did not get into the top 8. Also quite surprised that a no. of top schools e.g. RGS, Cedar, SCGS ... did not win anything in the competition. I supposed our group did well in preparing themselves on the theme of disaster preparedness. It seemed that many teams focused on the disasters and the aftermath rather than the theme on disaster preparedness.

Our team tried to create an impact by bursting a balloon and then Reine started the presentation that a disaster can strike suddenly and quickly, just like when the ballon burst. Then she went on to explain what disaster preparadness is and how it can help people to react and minimize the no. of casualties when disaster strike. I think this is one of our winning points. The girls also made DIY button badges on disaster preparedness and gave them to the judges, emphasizing the importance of educating the people on being prepared for a disaster.

I was pleasantly surprised that they emerged as the Champion for North Dristrict and even the team themselves could not believe it! After that, they even announced that the team got into the Top 8 for the National round. However, I felt that their presentation is much better in the first round. In the National round, even though they used the microphone to present, I can sense that they are very nervous and were quite soft. They would have performed better if they had shown more confidence and were louder and clearer in their presentation.

Too sick to write further, will update when I am better. I will check with Mr Chia when to present the girls the cert and the trophy to the school. Congratulations to Xiao Li, Kit Man and Reine here.

Fun on Foot 2007

Pleasantly surprised to meet one of my ex-student @ Funan DigitaLife Mall after the fun on foot event. Imagine he could still remember my name after 17 years and the fact that I had put on at least 15 more kg! He should be in his 30s now as he was only 16 year old back in Rangoon Secondary School. Of course he called me by my maiden name - Ms Lily though I am known as Mrs Lily Lee now. I met many other ex-students from Hougang Sec and I must say I am proud that many of them were inspired by the teachers to participate in the fun on foot event even after they have graduated. I supposed this is what made teaching rewarding and pushing us on - knowing that we did make a difference in their lives!

I formed a team, Hot on Heels, with Ms Wong, her nephew, Melvin, and my son, Ian, for the fun on foot event today. We were flagged off from the Raffles' Landing site at 8.40 a.m. and we decided to proceed to the Parliament's house first. There we learnt about how the original site was occupied by the Temenggong's house and how the land was took over by Raffles and the architect was Coleman. We were asked to calculate the age of the building and also on who donated the stone elephants. After that we crossed over to the Supreme court. There was a reenactment of the signing of the treaty and I thought we had to find out the answers from the reenactment. However the answers are just presented on the carved murals - the centre part shows the signing of the treaty by Raffles and the Temenggong and at the sides the occupations/trades of the early days were shown.

After that, we went to the third checkpoint which was the Padang - the first place where Singapore National Day Parade was held. Over there we had to name two clubs and also to play a traditional game. click below to watch Ian play a traditional game.


After that we went to City Hall and took a train to the Paya Lebar MRT station. We thought that the checkpoint is at the Geylang Serai Market but it turned out to be the old site of the market! I remembered that for the Buzz my Day event, we also lost much time in locating the checkpoints there. They should make it clearer as the clue says that it's a place where people 'shop for Hari Raya Aidil Fitri'. We finally found them behind the fence and I am sure many went on a wild goose hunt for the checkpoint. We had to complete an activity which is fishing and we had to name the fishes from a named list. Melvin took the challenge in this event. After that we took the bus to the Badminton Association where a Singaporean won the All - England championship. It started to pour when we got down the bus and I saw many particpants drenched in the rain.

After the Badminton Association we took a bus to Amber road and walked towards East Coast road to look for "the best laksa in Singapore" as indicated in the clues. However when we reached the restaurant, there was no Marshalls there. We decided to try out the laksa as it was already lunch time and we saw many other participants doing so too. It was Ian's first try at eating Laksa and I am surprised that he actually like it as he is usually very fussy over the food he eats. After lunch, Ms Wong had a hunch that it might be at the Indian temple nearby - sure enough we saw the Marshalls stationed beside the temple.

After completing the questions at the temple, we took a bus to Victoria street and went over to the Arts Museum which used to be occupied by a school - St Joseph. The original tiles are found at the lockers area. After the Arts Museum, the next stop is the National Museum followed by Cathay. I was surprised to find out that the Cathay building was used by the Japanese as a propaganda office in WWII.

Our last 2 stops were the MICA building and Boat Quay. Can you believe that MICA has 911 windows? It used to be a police station and the first holding place for prisoners. As for Boat Quay, we were supposed to find out the answers from a show which had already ended so the Marshalls give us some indirect clues - some calculation needed. The weight of a sack of rice carried by the coolies was 100kg and the price for the journey from South China to Singapore was $35. The lighters were the earliest form of transport at the Singapore River.

We only managed to finish 12 out of the 18 checkpoints. I think the organisers should reduce the no. of checkpoints and also restrict the no. of questions at each checkpoint to 3. The locations of some checkpoints were also not clear from the clue given e.g. at the place where you can find the best laksa in Singapore is actually refering to the Indian temple!

Well I did learn much from the event and I must say I enjoyed it though Ian said he would not want to participate in it anymore. I think the organiser should relook at the event as it is "Fun on Foot" and yet the locations are so far apart that we had to use public transport. Either they change the title of the event or make sure that all the checkpoints can be covered on foot!

SoonR - Browse files remotely via your cellphone

Discovered this fascinating software from the internet - Your mobile phone acts as a remote control for your computer. There is nothing to install on your phone (must be 3G/browser enabled)because SoonR uses the features that are already built into your phone. You simply login into the SoonR website at www.soonr.com. In order to access your computer from your phone, you need to download a program (SoonR Desktop Agent) that runs on your computer, and define which folders you want to access from your phone. This program allows you to leverage applications installed on your computer such as Outlook, Skype, or Desktop search. That’s not all it does! It will optimize all the data that is sent to your phone, leveraging the superior power of your computer’s CPU.

Read about it @ http://www.soonr.com/web/front/how_it_works2.jsp

or watch the following videos:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Qzvge5ZYL-I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhn-6EnTazg

Anyone game to try? I have not tried it yet but it sounds so fascinating!

Settlement Studies for Sec 2:
There are many cities like ours. Many people live in cities. Do an Internet search for other cities and towns. You can start with http://city.jsc.nasa.gov/cities/map/ to get an idea of what some other cities are.
Also visit http://geography.about.com/od/urbaneconomicgeography/a/agglomerations.htm

Download Google Earth and explore the world you live in!
Click here to download Google Earth

Do you know that there are still rural environments in Singapore? One good example is the kampong which is located near to our school. Click on the link below to learn more.
http://geocities.com/hougangbuangkok/

SEC 2 Standard First Aid Test
I brought the Sec 2 to HQ to take their Standard First Aid Exam on Friday (6 July). Most of the cadets attained high scores - Marcus scored 29 out of 30 and many scored 26 out of 30 in the theory paper.They credited that to the training notes and the practices they had online. However, the cadets did not fare as well in Practical session. The examiner commented that the steps were not correct and actually went through the procedures with the cadets again:

1. Check for danger (which most of them did correctly)
2. Kneel down on the knee and position oneself near to the shoulder of the casualty.
3. Check for response: " Hello, Hello are you okay?" If no response ask bystanders to call for help "Call ambulance, call 995 and ask him/her to come back after making the call to assist.
4. Check for breathing: Look (whether the chest is rising), Listen and Feel (remember to place your chin near to the nose of the casualty so as to listen and feel for any breathing) 10 secs - 1 and 2...... and 10. Do not move from your position. Remember to tilt the head with 2 only 2 fingers at the side of the chin and not in the centre. Maintain Head tilt to ensure the airway is not blocked.
5. If there is no breathing - give 2 blows. Turn your head to see if the chest rises after one blow.
6. Make sure the head is tilted to maintain open airway and do 30 compressions. Make sure that one of the hand is still on the casualty's forehead when locating the correct position on the sternum - move along the edge of the rib cage and then position 2 fingers above the notch.
7. 30 compressions - 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5, 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 10.... .. until 30. Continue to look at the face of the victims when doing the compressions.
8. Give 2 more blows.
9. Continue CPR till casualty regains breathing
10. Check for external injuries. Check for head and neck injuries.
11. Put the casualty in recovery position.

The cadets were also required to do the following bandaging: Head, arm sling, elevation sling, half arm sling and palm bandage. They were also required to demonstrate the chest and abdominal thrusts for choking.

http://www.freewebs.com/lily_lee68/chokingdemo.wmv

http://www.freewebs.com/lily_lee68/CPRdemo.wmv

One thing which all learnt was that they must stuff part of the face shield into the mouth of the mannequin. All of them also suggested that we should ask the instructors from HQ to come over to the school to teach them first aid. They appreciated what the examiner Mr Ong Ah Hoe had taught them at the session.
The Sec 1 took their Footdrill Bronze exam today (7/7). This is their 2nd attempt. Though most of them passed the theory paper today - they did not pass the practical test as they are still not very confident in executing the commands. There will be another test for them again.

I will also be registering the students for the outdoor activities bronze (Kevin and Wei Woon) and evacuation bronze accreditation in Northbrooks Sec on the 21st July. Afidah mentioned that Northbrooks would like to have some combined activities with our unit e.g. fancy drills on 4 August. I will look into that as we also have to prepare the cadets for the national day contingent (8 Aug) as well as flag day on 11 Aug.

I am also nominating Xiao Li and Yu Ping for the Japan exchange program through HQ. We would also be conducting an exchange program to a school in Malacca from 14 to 16 Nov. Our ADD, Mr Andrew Ong will be our tour manager.

Case study of International Tech Park Bangalore

Click on the link below and answer the following questions:
http://www.intltechpark.com/home.html

1. What were the two most common locational factors that most of the industrialist cited?
2. How have these factors contributed to the productivity of the various companies located there?
3. Surf the 'event' webpages to find out what "moonlighting @techpark" is about. Why was such an activity introduced?
Write a report on why industries choose to locate their factories or companies in Bangalore.

E-game on the great transport challenge 2020

Play this game on line to win some prizes -this game is more like a survey. You assume the role of the Minister of Transport and experience for yourself how your choice will shape the transport landscape and commuters' travel experience in 2020.
https://www.transport2020.gov.sg/

Word Power contest

See how fast you can respond to the questions.

click on the image to participate in the word power challenge - the prizes are very attrative!