This incident reminded me of another that happened quite a few years back when I was teaching in a sec sch. It was in fashion for kids to dye/highlight their hair which was against school rules. So the students will dye their hair during school hols and dye black when term starts. Of course, a few will try to push their luck but will generally dye their hair black when asked to.


One day, a mum, with her daughter in tow, confronted the Vice-Principal. The mum, in between crying and scolding the VP, said that her daughter has a breast lump and she attributed this to repeated dying of hair and she blamed the school as her daughter was frequently caught for flounting the rule. In particular, she blamed the discipline mistress, who is my friend.

My friend was lucky - both P and VP supported her and rubbished the mum’s claim, pointing out that the sch won’t need to ask the girl to dye her hair black if she had not dyed it other colour in the first place.

Good news was the breast lump turned out to be a scare (not breast cancer after all) and the girl had the grace to apologise to the discipline mistress for her mother’s behaviour.

Back to this incident, I wonder what will the boy learn from this event, given his mother’s action and the school asking the teacher to apologise?

I agree that the confidence of the boy could be adversely affected by the act of his hair being cut against his will (that is, assuming that psle is important to this kid in the first place). However, in absence of information about what had transpired between the teacher and the boy, it is not fair to blame the teacher - for all we know, prior to the exam, the teacher could have warned him of the possibility of his hair being cut by her should he turn up on the day of the exam without cutting his hair.


I think the only thing for sure we know is the hair cut cost $60!

jtoh:

If the teacher's intention was for the boy to leave a good impression with the PSLE invigilator (as TNP reports), presumably it's also bec she wants the boy to score well at the Oral exam. If that's the case, giving the boy an amateur haircut minutes before the exam and rattling his nerves is definitely not going to achieve either.

MyBaby:

Seems like teacher get blamed for shaking the boy's confidence as incident happened an hour before his PSLE oral. But if the teacher had warned the boy enough times about getting his hair cut, and the boy choose not to listen, then why blame the teacher for the inappropriate timing? The boy asked for it.
[quote=\"jtoh\"]The teacher was too extreme in my opinion. If she wanted the boy to give a good impression to the examiners (as TNP article states), she could have made sure the boy's hair was neat by the day before. And if she deemed it really necessary, wield the scissors to him then (although I don't endorse this). Why go up to the boy minutes before his Oral, ruffle his concentration and shake his confidence by giving him an amateur haircut? Strikes me that the teacher was out to 'get' him and the other boys because her instructions were ignored.

[/quote]

Seems like teacher get blamed for shaking the boy's confidence as incident happened an hour before his PSLE oral. But if the teacher had warned the boy enough times about getting his hair cut, and the boy choose not to listen, then why blame the teacher for the inappropriate timing? The boy asked for it.

jtoh:

The teacher was too extreme in my opinion. If she wanted the boy to give a good impression to the examiners (as TNP article states), she could have made sure the boy's hair was neat by the day before. And if she deemed it really necessary, wield the scissors to him then (although I don't endorse this). Why go up to the boy minutes before his Oral, ruffle his concentration and shake his confidence by giving him an amateur haircut? Strikes me that the teacher was out to 'get' him and the other boys because her instructions were ignored.

I've just relocated and extended gas pipe and City gas gave me a list of contacts. After calling a few companies (some found the job too small and didn't even want to come down to quote), I decided on Whye Keong Pte Ltd (Jeffrey Neo).


You might want to consider.

Blk 1013 Geylang East Ave 3
#04-162 S389728
http://www.whyekeong.com
[email protected]
Tel: 68443233

Jennifer:

I am shifting the existing gas stove location to another side of the wall. Becos the existing gas pipes are concealed, the authority requires me to engage a licensed gas contractor to do the job.

Anyone has recommendations? Many thanks in advance.

Tks Tamarind for the info. So peeka is like a \"middle man\"? In that case, does it mean it is better to buy direct from dangdang instead? I am still not comfortable with ordering online from other countries.

tamarind:

Hi MyBaby,
Many parents have been buying direct from http://www.dangdang.com, this is the largest online bookshop in China with a huge variety of Chinese books. Any book that you want can be found there and they offer big discounts which bookshops do not offer. Even including shipping, books from dangdang are very cheap compared to Maha Yuyi.

http://buy4u.peeka.sg/ is a service that helps us order and ship from http://www.dangdang.com or http://www.taobao.com.

Tks for replying, markfch. Thought got a new source for buying books. I usually get Chinese books from Shanghai or Beijing but my contact is not going there as frequently anymore and I need to supply booklist.


If I want to browse or buy in Singapore, I go to the bookstore in Bras Basah (Maha Yuyi on level 3). But the selection is not as wide and rather expensive, especially if you know how much the same books are selling in China.

markfch:

MyBaby:

You are welcome, markfch. Glad my post is in someway useful to you. BTW, when you order from Peeka, are the books published in China (that is, words not printed vertically and using simplified Chinese)?

I haven't bought any books from Peeka yet. When I buy books from Popular written by Chinese authors, they're usually printed horizontally and in simplied Chinese. When I buy books from Taiwanese authors, they're usually printed vertically but I make sure they are being translated to simplified Chinese (since I intend to get ds to read the more suitable ones in future).

That's why to me, it's impt to read a few pages of each book before I buy. That's when your url will come handy in future

You are welcome, markfch. Glad my post is in someway useful to you. BTW, when you order from Peeka, are the books published in China (that is, words not printed vertically and using simplified Chinese)?

markfch:

Thanks MyBaby,

I can use your link to check out whether those books I intend to buy are within my level of comprehension. Then I can go Peeka to order (reading too long from screen gives me headache). That'll be very useful.

Hi markfch,


you can find free scanned chinese books from http://www.haodoo.net/. There are books from 倪匡, 九把刀, 三毛 etc.

I am using an android phone and downloaded this free app \"直读中文\" which allows me to read books downloaded from http://www.haodoo.net/.

Only eye doctors (opthalmologist) can prescribe atropine treatment. You might wish to discuss with your DD’s opthalmologist the next time you bring her for review.

Ha ha, same same. At the beginning, I religiously asked DD to go for her half hour walk around 5.30pm. Can't even remember when was the last time she did that!


I try to compensate by controlling TV, computer and reading habits.

JGMum:

In the beginning, very gungho, I really stuck to 2 hours every day outdoor activity for my kid. Now, slacken a bit, more like 30 minutes to 1 hour. :oops: