I may not be a GEPer, but I identify with them more than other students in a class after teaching for 1.5 years in SBGE classes, a mixture of talented and hardworking 'mainstream' students and a group of gifted students. I do the ' ' for mainstream is because this is just a term used to group different students with the same characteristics together, but I don't think such grouping do any good in education.
Anyway, I digress.
Why do I identify with GEPers? Well, I shared common characteristics with some of them.
1.) I practically 'sucked' in all subjects that I don't like to study (Which includes geog, chem, EL, chinese, chinese lit)
2.) I have great difficulty remembering and completing my homework on time
3.) Somehow, I put in sufficient effort to get the results that I want (which is just a pass then, but I did failed my examinations in one occasion though, not a good experience to get a principal breathing down your neck and had to get my sis to bear the brunt of his fury)
Due to my active contributions to the economy (via arcade and comics) during my secondary school years, I was placed in one of the worst classes in Sec 3.
Anyway, what does identifying with GEPers got to do with the title?
I came from a premier school that is comparable to the premier school that I'm teaching now, both in terms of academic results and status in education right now. And I remember 2 types of teachers clearly, obviously they are categorized into the good and bad types.
The good ones truly believed in every student's abilities to do well academically, after all, we all had a PSLE score of 250 and above so our quality cannot be that bad. Most important of all, they taught us how to learn. Hey, here you have a kid who like failed your Chemistry for like 2 years and you believed in him getting an A for 'O' levels. Here you have a kid who either 'forgets' his homework or submits 'duplicated' copies of it and yet they could see pass these flaws and believe in our abilities.
The bad ones are those who deep in their heart already condemned their students, that they couldn't handle the workload and will fail in exams and in life. They teach us so that we could clear examinations. Hey, here you have a kid who like failed your Geography for like 2 years and you believed that he will be one of the many in the class who will pull down the average grade of the school. Here you have a kid who either 'forgets' his homework and gives them a heart attack chasing for it, or a kid who have no integrity by copying his homework just so to appease you.
Needless to say, I was inspired by the good ones while I loathe the bad ones. When I was asked to write an essay for my application for scholarship, I wrote about them. When I went for interview for teaching positions, I talked about them. They are the reason (Both good and bad ones) why I'm here at the moment. I believed we need to have more good teachers and do away with the influence of the bad ones.
As a teacher in a premier school, I don't believe the crap that many students couldn't cope with physics or any other subject for that matter. I believe that every student, barring special circumstances, would be able to do reasonably well (i.e. B) in every subject as long as they put in good effort to try to do so. Because the limiting factor is not the student's aptitude or potential here, it is their attitude and motivation to excel.
If you believe that you can, you will find motivation to work hard and go for the grades. If you believe that you can't, you will find excuses to account for your failure. I hope you found inspiring teachers who made you believe in yourself and not be affected by those who made you believe that you can't. I found mine.
Learning is not about assessment. So why should we teach to prepare for examinations when we can inspire students to learn?
Easier said than done. But I'm trying.
Labels: Blog - Random Rants, Blog - Teaching
extracted from questionable content here
Since we were on the topic of nuclear stuff (year 4) and Singapore was on the topic of morality (repeal 377a) issue.
Oh man, I should stop feasting on Pringles by bringing them to the staffroom and share with my colleagues.
Labels: Blog - Random Rants
Singapore is certainly not cheap. Loads of fun thinking and working on our new home but very damaging on our pockets. If only we got loads of money and loads of time
Some late late late photographs
ODAC trying to charm people with their tricks and stunts
First Old timer trying out the ODAC tricks
I'm flying! (Well, keeper rate will be better with better AF using an A700 plus faster frame rate and also more effective DRO to bring the best out of the environment)
The DJs doing a free live show for the day. (Plus they managed to mixed up my song... sigh.. needs to be more professional)
Non-CCA exhibition related, just happened to be taken on the same day.
Labels: Camera - Sony A100, Lens - KM 28-75mm f2.8
Some people believe in getting a 30 year loan and if they manage to earn sufficient money, they can pay off their loan early and lose little interest. Well.. No chance man! It doesn't work for car loans neither does it work for housing loans. Some information I dug out from CPF that your housing agent may never tell you.
I'm going to quote 2 tables computed from www.cpf.gov.sg for hdb housing loans. The first table is a $220,000 loan taken over 10 years, the next is the same loan taken over 30 years.
Detailed workings - 1 | |||||||
Year | Opening Loan Balance | Monthly Instalment Payment | Total Interest Paid for the year | Total Principal Paid for the year | Cumulative Interest payment | Cumulative Principal payment | Closing Loan Balance |
1 | 220,000.00 | 2,083.96 | 5,488.48 | 19,519.04 | 5,488.48 | 19,519.04 | 200,480.96 |
2 | 200,480.96 | 2,083.96 | 4,974.89 | 20,032.63 | 10,463.37 | 39,551.67 | 180,448.33 |
3 | 180,448.33 | 2,083.96 | 4,447.79 | 20,559.73 | 14,911.16 | 60,111.40 | 159,888.60 |
4 | 159,888.60 | 2,083.96 | 3,906.84 | 21,100.68 | 18,818.00 | 81,212.08 | 138,787.92 |
5 | 138,787.92 | 2,083.95 | 3,351.61 | 21,655.79 | 22,169.61 | 102,867.87 | 117,132.13 |
6 | 117,132.13 | 2,083.96 | 2,781.81 | 22,225.71 | 24,951.42 | 125,093.58 | 94,906.42 |
7 | 94,906.42 | 2,083.95 | 2,197.02 | 22,810.38 | 27,148.44 | 147,903.96 | 72,096.04 |
8 | 72,096.04 | 2,083.95 | 1,596.83 | 23,410.57 | 28,745.27 | 171,314.53 | 48,685.47 |
9 | 48,685.47 | 2,083.96 | 980.86 | 24,026.66 | 29,726.13 | 195,341.19 | 24,658.81 |
10 | 24,658.81 | 2,083.96 | 348.66 | 24,658.86 | 30,074.79 | 220,000.05 | 0.00 |
There may be minor rounding differences in the calculation |
Detailed workings - 2 | |||||||
Year | Opening Loan Balance | Monthly Instalment Payment | Total Interest Paid for the year | Total Principal Paid for the year | Cumulative Interest payment | Cumulative Principal payment | Closing Loan Balance |
1 | 220,000.00 | 880.75 | 5,661.80 | 4,907.20 | 5,661.80 | 4,907.20 | 215,092.80 |
2 | 215,092.80 | 880.75 | 5,532.67 | 5,036.33 | 11,194.47 | 9,943.53 | 210,056.47 |
3 | 210,056.47 | 880.75 | 5,400.16 | 5,168.84 | 16,594.63 | 15,112.37 | 204,887.63 |
4 | 204,887.63 | 880.75 | 5,264.16 | 5,304.84 | 21,858.79 | 20,417.21 | 199,582.79 |
5 | 199,582.79 | 880.75 | 5,124.58 | 5,444.42 | 26,983.37 | 25,861.63 | 194,138.37 |
6 | 194,138.37 | 880.75 | 4,981.34 | 5,587.66 | 31,964.71 | 31,449.29 | 188,550.71 |
7 | 188,550.71 | 880.75 | 4,834.30 | 5,734.70 | 36,799.01 | 37,183.99 | 182,816.01 |
8 | 182,816.01 | 880.75 | 4,683.41 | 5,885.59 | 41,482.42 | 43,069.58 | 176,930.42 |
9 | 176,930.42 | 880.75 | 4,528.56 | 6,040.44 | 46,010.98 | 49,110.02 | 170,889.98 |
10 | 170,889.98 | 880.75 | 4,369.62 | 6,199.38 | 50,380.60 | 55,309.40 | 164,690.60 |
11 | 164,690.60 | 880.75 | 4,206.49 | 6,362.51 | 54,587.09 | 61,671.91 | 158,328.09 |
12 | 158,328.09 | 880.75 | 4,039.08 | 6,529.92 | 58,626.17 | 68,201.83 | 151,798.17 |
13 | 151,798.17 | 880.75 | 3,867.26 | 6,701.74 | 62,493.43 | 74,903.57 | 145,096.43 |
14 | 145,096.43 | 880.74 | 3,690.93 | 6,877.95 | 66,184.36 | 81,781.52 | 138,218.48 |
15 | 138,218.48 | 880.74 | 3,509.96 | 7,058.92 | 69,694.32 | 88,840.44 | 131,159.56 |
16 | 131,159.56 | 880.75 | 3,324.22 | 7,244.78 | 73,018.54 | 96,085.22 | 123,914.78 |
17 | 123,914.78 | 880.75 | 3,133.61 | 7,435.39 | 76,152.15 | 103,520.61 | 116,479.39 |
18 | 116,479.39 | 880.74 | 2,937.96 | 7,630.92 | 79,090.11 | 111,151.53 | 108,848.47 |
19 | 108,848.47 | 880.75 | 2,737.16 | 7,831.84 | 81,827.27 | 118,983.37 | 101,016.63 |
20 | 101,016.63 | 880.74 | 2,531.11 | 8,037.77 | 84,358.38 | 127,021.14 | 92,978.86 |
21 | 92,978.86 | 880.75 | 2,319.60 | 8,249.40 | 86,677.98 | 135,270.54 | 84,729.46 |
22 | 84,729.46 | 880.74 | 2,102.56 | 8,466.32 | 88,780.54 | 143,736.86 | 76,263.14 |
23 | 76,263.14 | 880.75 | 1,879.78 | 8,689.22 | 90,660.32 | 152,426.08 | 67,573.92 |
24 | 67,573.92 | 880.74 | 1,651.15 | 8,917.73 | 92,311.47 | 161,343.81 | 58,656.19 |
25 | 58,656.19 | 880.75 | 1,416.52 | 9,152.48 | 93,727.99 | 170,496.29 | 49,503.71 |
26 | 49,503.71 | 880.74 | 1,175.67 | 9,393.21 | 94,903.66 | 179,889.50 | 40,110.50 |
27 | 40,110.50 | 880.75 | 928.53 | 9,640.47 | 95,832.19 | 189,529.97 | 30,470.03 |
28 | 30,470.03 | 880.74 | 674.85 | 9,894.03 | 96,507.04 | 199,424.00 | 20,576.00 |
29 | 20,576.00 | 880.75 | 414.53 | 10,154.47 | 96,921.57 | 209,578.47 | 10,421.53 |
30 | 10,421.53 | 880.74 | 147.34 | 10,421.54 | 97,068.91 | 220,000.01 | 0.00 |
There may be minor rounding differences in the calculation |
Here's a few things to note.
1.) The interest paid for 30 year loan is more than 3 times the interest paid for a 10 year loan.
2.) If you took up a 30 year loan and decided to clear your loans in 10 years, you would have paid up to $50,000 for interest compared to $30,000 if you started off with a 10 year loan.
3.) That for the 1st 3 years of loan repayment in the 30 year loan version, you are paying off more for interest than for your principal amount
4.) It takes more than 6 years of loan repayment in the 30 year loan version before your principal amount payment catches up with the interest payment
Now that's depressing. I'll go for a 10 year loan and save myself $67,000 which I could use to pay for a decent car. So why wait? Go shorten your loan hdb loan.
Update (29/11/07) - I stand corrected. Read here instead for an updated and more detail analysis
Labels: Blog - Random Rants
I have 3 goals in my life.
- To start a happy family
- To make an huge impact in the lives of my closed ones
- To make an significant impact in the lives of many others
Engaged September 2006, ROMed September 2007, Traditional September 2008, dream home coming soon in 2008. Things can't get any smoother and I can't get any poorer. I guess I fall into the boring category of people who study - work - get married kind. But so long as I'm happy with it (and Sucre is happy with it too), who cares about what other people thinks? That's why I'm a mastermind.
Recently we took part in a balloting exercise for the first time and we were pretty lucky to be number 111 to select our flat. I didn't believe that I could get our dream top floor unit but we manage to get it (a day after our selection it was all gone). Life is good.
Image of our home to be
Our new home will be next to MRT (ready by 2009), next to a sports stadium with other facilities such as indoor swimming pool and gym. It is 10 minutes walk from a shopping mall and a wet market, 3 minutes drive away from AYE and PIE, sold as a premium contract (more about it later) and it is cheap! Sure, it has its fair share of problems too but I realize that you can't find a house that fits all your criteria so I'm happy to find one that fits most. Most importantly, I get to be the first batch of home owners to enjoy the new CPF housing grant rule so I get even a better deal out of it.
The rooms may seem dark due to two reasons. A camera is not as good as human eyes in looking at high dynamic range scenes like these leading to an apparent dark room and the sample unit is located at 6th floor while my is in the 18th floor. Plus, I get full height windows for my bedrooms too
The living/dining room is big and even though it does not come with a balcony like other 5 room flats, it does include full height windows for the living room. Plus I get a nice garden view. Did I say I got a top floor unit, so it includes nice sky view too.
The kitchen is tiny compared to the older flats like the one that I'm staying now but I guess Singaporeans will just have to resign to fate and accept these tiny kitchens since almost all HDB flats comes with micro kitchens. Maybe they are into nanoscales too.
Well, as you can see, the flat is basically done with renovation. Just need to top up with your furniture and you are almost ready to move in. Wirings and pipings are concealed so you won't see all the pipes and wires popping up here and there. That's what the benefit of a premium contract. I wished I could lay my wires for lan connection but Sucre wants wireless (as if background radiation isn't enough) and what about wires for my 4.1 speaker systems. (Darn, I thought I would upgrade to a 6.1 system in the future, maybe I'll go wireless again)
A shot taken with the Sony's new Alpha A700 dSLR in Sony Gallery. ISO6400, 18mm f9.0 (18-70mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens) without postprocessing
Yes.. I handled evil for like 10 minutes and managed to slip in my CF card to grab a few snapshots in jpg home. Had some raws too but without Photoshop CS3 or Sony's 2nd generation converter, there is little I could do with it.
If I didn't mention, bet you can hardly tell that the photo taken above was at ISO6400. The output looks usable for small prints.
Another ISO6400 shot but this time at 70mm.
The black colour patch you see on the right of the last crop shot is the back of a lady. All the noise mashed up the details. It wasn't in focus anyway and another amazing shot I would say.
The last set of shots I'll be showcasing here. This time at ISO1600 with the 50mm af f1.4 lens at f8.0. It looks almost as good as ISO400 on my A100.
The A700 in another guy's hand.
There's one thing that I noticed first after handling the evil A700 compared to my good old A100, the speed. The A100 isn't really slow in its class but I'm faster than it in many ways. I could leave it in continuous drive mode and take single shot with it because of shutter lag and the comfortable 2.x fps burst rate. I wasn't prepared for the speed of the A700 when I held it and fired off some shots, unknown to me that it was left in drive mode. Click click click. It fired off 3 shots before I could take my finger off the shutter button. The speed proves that A700 is a different class of camera, right up there with big boys in photography.
Except that they prefer to be in the other end of the camera.
Cherish every moment because you are a very special group in the school. It's history in the making here.
Labels: Camera - Sony A100, Lens - KM 28-75mm f2.8
It's officially out for a month in the states and officially out in Singapore today. The Sony Alpha A700, the high amateur model of dSLR offering for the A-mounters, the daddy of A100. Packed with a weather sealed body, 5 fps burst, ISO6400 max (usable ISO 1600 from what I have seen), much improved AF in terms of speed and accuracy according to those early adopters and a useful DRO function (unlike the less than reliable gimmick version in A100) and a more consistent metering and a vertical grip to die for... I'm getting poisoned slowly....
On top of everything, its now offered with the kit lens of my dream, the Carl Zeiss 16-80mm lens. All for the retail price of $3400 in Singapore. The only antidote to this poison is to compare with Hong Kong price (less than $3000). Even if you include GST it's still about $3200. Now if only I could get my hands on it for $200 less than the retail price... or wait for the vertical grip to be thrown in and get it as a combined deal that might set me off by almost $4000. Gasp!
Then again, all my dream of the A700 will be gone by the time I put my name on the dotted line tomorrow. That is until next year (or when they have a Christmas promotion that I can't resist).
Labels: Blog - Random Rants
I should be sleeping but I want to wait for my medicine to take effect (a.k.a. drowsy) before I lie on my bed. Meanwhile, something relevant to all the year 4s students, especially after all the 'negative' comments from the year 5 representatives
Adapted from here
Top 10 Reasons Why Physics Is A Difficult Course10. Big, long words like electromagnetic radiation.
9. Wacky experiments like the Schroedinger Cat Experiment and the Milliken Oil Drop Experiment. (Comment - Year 5 will know Milikan for sure, if they took Physics)
8. There's a whole lot of math.
7. Physics is like a whole other language.
6. It is VERY comprehensive.
5. There's a whole lot of math.
4. It makes you think critically about things that don't make sense.
3. You have a preconceived notion that it is going to be tough.
2. There's a whole lot of math AND we do some things that your math teachers told you never to do. (Just don't tell them I said so.)
1. It crosses over into subjects such as history, astronomy, biology, chemistry, literature, English, art and geology. Oh, yeah... did I mention there's a lot of math in it too?
Top 10 Reasons Why Physics Can Be A GREAT Course
10. Your teacher may catch himself on fire this year.
9. It's alright to be a nerd! In ten years the nerds in your class will be making the most money.
8. Help is only one question away.
7. If you are good at math or you like to study foreign languages then you're in the right place.
6. We do a lot of laboratory exercises that allow you to be a leader!
5. Science can be one of the most rewarding things to study - it is very dynamic!
4. You may surprise yourself with how much you already know about science!
3. You might just find that physics will lead you to a rewarding career.
2. Physics is all around you! If you've ever heard anything, walked anywhere or driven a car then you've experienced some phenonomea that physics describes.
1. You've got a teacher who wants everyone to succeed!
Labels: Blog - Physics, Blog - Teaching
not to do work... haha... but the work will get pilled up if I don't recover soon. 2 tests, 2 presentations and 1 proposal waiting for me on top of regular post exams teaching work load. I don't understand why I keep falling sick lately... maybe I can't live without my daily dose of Jia Jia Liang Teh. Darn them for increasing the price.
Labels: Blog - Random Rants
Saw this in the HOD staff room... always wanted to blog about it but gotta wait till now when it's comparatively stress free to put it up in case someone really follow the prescription during their stressful period. I for one was tempted to use it in more than one occasion.
Labels: Blog - Random Rants
I have so many things going on concurrently, it's not easy being a student but it's not exactly easy to be a teacher too.. Images of the recent Nanoscience electives.
Very important figure, sucre's boss, my HYP supervisor, Dy Head of Department, the guy who made all these possible in our school behind the scenes.
The wayang bit
I love that expression, like watching horror movie. But more like the horror of insects up close and really personal.
Totally random
Working in the dark
Portraits from a bright fast lens