CCA enhances the overall portfolio of the student, but at the end of the day, the foundation of the portfolio is still ‘A’ levels.


Especially for local uni admission, CCA is not really taken into consideration.

For top tier scholarships / top local courses, it would require good ‘A’ level results + good CCA though.

"but the school focuses a lot on other areas of development like CCA and etc so i want to know that is it really that important cos i don’t feel like taking part in all these activities anyone got experience in these areas??":

I would think for majority of students, it would be better to prioritize to get:
Good ‘A’ level results & Mediocre CCA
rather than Mediocre ‘A’ level results & Good CCA.

Of course, if one is all-rounded, one can aim for the ideal goal of:
Good ‘A’ level results & Good CCA.
(To be realistic, not everyone can achieve that…)

The only exception is if your CCA results is so excellent (e.g. win top award at national or international level), it can potentially lead to special case arrangements for university admission even with poor ‘A’ level results.

Red Wine Oxtail Stew


(read more at https://foodrecipe33.com/2019/07/08/red-wine-oxtail-stew/)

Prepare oxtail. I used about 600g, 4 pieces. Place them in a big bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Dust them with flour. Just let them be coated with a thin flour layer is enough.

Heat a pan. Add in oil. Fry oxtail with patience till each side turns beautifully golden brown. Transfer them into a deep pot.

Prepare vegetables. I used 2 carrots (chopped into small chunks), 1 onion (diced), 1/4 head of cabbage (chopped into medium slices), and 3 chopped cloves of garlic.

Use the same pan (the one used to fry oxtail) to fry vegetables. Fry for, let’s say 2 mins, or till they become slightly soft. Add in 2 tbsp flour, later while slow cooking, it will thicken the soup. Stir fry evenly.

Season with salt and pepper.

Add in 2 tbsp tomato paste. Stir evenly and pour into 1/2 cup wine. Boil a bit to let the alcohol evaporate.
Transfer everything into the deep pot. Add in 2 bay leaves, 1 star anise. Turn to high heat to boil it. Then turn to low heat and slow cook for 3 hours. Try to have a taste to see if it needs seasoning again before serving.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48231895471_a1d3f3ae11_c.jpg\">

If the roach and ant problem is moderately serious, you can try roach/ant baits.


Baits are more effective than sprays, because they have "secondary kill" effect. Those dead roaches will be eaten by other roaches, setting off a chain reaction. For sprays, you only kill the one that come into contact with the spray.

floppy:

mathtuition88:

...
(https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/new-psle-scoring-system-to-have-8-grade-bands)

I think when that happens it will be truly a matter of luck?

Undoubtedly, the new PSLE scoring system will involve an element of luck due to the tiebreaking system when 2 scores are the same. With only 29 possible scores in the new system, the likelihood of that happening is high.

That said, strategy will most likely plays a bigger role in future - which schools you choose and the order in which you choose them will matter. Gone will be the day where you can choose 1. NYGH 2. RGS 3. MGS and be confident that you will get in one of them if you clear their COP. Suppose NYGH ballot but MGS will not, due to it being your 3rd choice, you will lose out to those who have placed it as the no 1 or 2 choice.

Sounds quite scary. Imagine someone with 4 AL1s choosing 1. NYGH 2. RGS 3. MGS.
but fail to secure any of them due to unlucky balloting. That unlucky student sure cry...

Possibly MOE need to make it like HDB BTO balloting, whoever fail the ballot for the first choice get higher chances for the ballot for second choice.

I am wondering what will happen in 2021 when the new scoring system takes place?

Currently even PSLE T-score (rounded off) is not enough to differentiate, decimal points have to be taken into account.

In 2021, \"Students will no longer be as finely differentiated, as there will only be 29 possible PSLE scores, compared with more than 200 T-score aggregates under the current system.\"

(https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/new-psle-scoring-system-to-have-8-grade-bands)

I think when that happens it will be truly a matter of luck?

I have been contacted quite a few times for kindergarten maths tuition (age 4-6), not to mention P1. In certain cases, the parent asked me to teach the kindergarten child Primary 3 mathematics, as he has taken IQ tests and has been classified as gifted.


I did not accept as I teach secondary level and above only.

I think it all depends on how the child is learning during kindergarten. If he/she is learning well, probably there is no need for tuition.

However, it is quite well-known that many "kiasuparents" teach (or hire tutors to teach) in advance to the extent that the child has probably covered the entire P1 syllabus (or beyond) even before stepping into the school. This is probably easier than it sounds, since the P1 syllabus is quite basic.

Laser printers are fast and value for money. One thing is that they should be kept in well-ventilated rooms (ideally not the bedroom), the laser toner dust is regarded as carcinogenic by some scientists.


Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toner#Health_risks

Possibly consider the age of the HDB as well. The first "dangerous age" seems to be age 34, i.e. 65 years lease left.


This is because, whoever buys your flat, 5 years later they may have problem selling due to CPF usage restrictions when less than 60 years of lease is left.

For yields, REITs (real estate investment trust) have a yield of 5%-7% which is similar to HDB rental yield.

A good alternative would be cast iron pans. It is quite "rare" in Singapore though. It requires some maintenance (keep dry and oiled) as it can rust if not maintained properly. For those more advanced types with enamel, it is more resistant to rust.


The high-end cast iron brands are Le Creuset, Staub. These are not cheap.

The cheaper brand is Lodge. Overall, such cast iron pans are extremely durable, and can last generations if maintained properly (e.g. can pass to your grandchildren).

Google: "cast iron pan singapore review" for more details.

Careless mistakes for math is quite common even up till upper secondary level.


Careless mistakes in mathematics sometimes cannot be avoided just by "trying to be more careful". (If only it were so simple to avoid careless mistakes, it wouldn’t be a problem in the first place.)
The so-called method of "double-checking" can easily fail: if a student fails to spot the mistake in the first round, there is a high chance that he/she will not spot it in the second round of checking either.

I have written some tips for avoiding careless mistakes (google "How to avoid Careless Mistakes for Maths mathtuition88"). It is more geared towards secondary level students and above.

A general guideline would be to solve the problem using two different methods. If both methods give the same answer, it is virtually guaranteed that the answer is correct. Note that time is required for this, so speed becomes an important factor here.

Overall, things tend to get better with age, as the child becomes more mature the carelessness usually reduces.
(Two of my students with quite severe carelessness - one with ADHD, and another left-handed, managed to score As for O Level Mathematics eventually.
Left-handed students tend to have poorer handwriting which is not really their fault as the entire writing system is geared towards the majority right-handers.)