Monday, August 30, 2010
The only meal I ate on Sunday was just lunch. Had an extremely hearty buffet at The Line with my family. It was expensive but it's basically quality food that we paid for. Being the typical Singaporean, no breakfast was consumed prior to the meal. I ate tilll I was full but not to to the point where I was bloated and unable walk. Came home and slept till evening time before I woke up to have a piece of raisin bread. With that, I guess no more buffets for some time till I can burn off these extra fats that I've gained.
My tournament in the bp soccer tournament entered last Friday evening where we won all our games with no goals conceeded. An informal agreement was reached with the teachers that took part where we would not progress to the semi-finals because this wasn't our tournament - it's for the students. We've played our part and that's it. However, we're still gonna end off the tournament with a 'friendly' against the sec 4s or 5s at a yet to be announced date. It was supposed to be tomorrow afternoon but a couple of teachers couldn't make it after the Teacher's Day celebration. That was positive news for me as I actually planned to head back to my alma mater to visit my own teachers but the tournament had put me in a dilemma. It was a decision that I didn't want to make but luckily fate had other plans for me.
Lunch with my boss and the rest of the pe department was held at this rustic place called Farmart (Sungei Tengah). Luckily for me, my colleagues fetched me there for it was pretty inaccessible without your personal transport. It's a place where fresh produce are sold (with many other shops too, do check out their website by typing farmart in google) and a place where you can have a hearty meal - tze char and seafood etc. The food was not bad and prices were afforable too that I brought my family back for a meal at night and we were really surprised to see so many Singaporeans having their meals there. Considering how deserted it was if you don't have a car, I didn't expect business to be so good. Having not been to Malaysia for quite a while as my parents don't feel safe with regards to the crime rate there, this was the closest I could get.
The best piece of news I've heard during the lunch besides the company from my boss? The government and the ministry are planning to increase the number of pe periods for secondary schools (not just primary) by next year. It's going to be a pretty slow and gradual thing but for pe teachers like us, there's a huge impact. For schools without a huge department, it can create certain problems. While nothing is finalized yet, if we're given an option one day to eventually drop our second subject to focus on pe (depending on schools), I'm not so sure I would do that. It is every pe chap's dream to be able to only focus on sports and nothing else. However, Geography is my second love and enables my students to see a different side of me.
The speech yesterday by our prime minister on education was extremely important in my opinion as it concerned matters on education. How many countries in the world would spend so much of the country's budget on education when even first-world countries like the States are trying to reduce the teaching staff nationwide. It was great to hear that the ministry is expanding the headquarters with a new building aptly named after our first defence minister - Dr. Goh Keng Swee. That building will also be dedicated to all teaching specialists.
I was intending to take on the leadership route in the future. However, this piece of news ensures that I'll be keeping my eyes open for any developments on the specialist track. Teacher's Day celebrations tomorow at my alma mater. I hope to see a few teachers of mine and it'll be a day well-spent considering that many had already left.
