I recommend this book, Cookies : Bite-Size Life Lessons written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. These are life lessons children should learn, and ingeniously told in a childlike manner by weaving out lessons from a plate of cookies.


http://i47.tinypic.com/6f39ci.jpg\">

SAHM_TAN:

Ya, academic result is a bummer. I don't know why I'm so hang up abt it. I don't remember my parents being so particular abt it when I was young, I don't remember much abt my life actually. Late last year I have decided not to bother so much abt the results but I've not been very successful. I know she's a good child and I should be happy that I don't have to deal with real problems in regards to her. Maybe I no problem find problems?

Yes, please do not be TOO kan cheong with regards to children's academic, especially girls, who bear grudges more easily than boys. My friend badly strained her relationship with her daughter because of academic results. I'm worried for them as to how are they going to reconcile. The hurt and damage done were really very deep.

WeiHan:

You can iron it without steam on. The principle is to toast the bread fast. Don't need to press completely flat on the bread..just slightly press it. The heat will go to aluminium foil and then to the bread...which will toast and turn it crispy and the cheese will melt also....and is suppose to be done in less than 30 seconds.

Wow, interesting and thanks for the tips! Learnt something new today!

insider:

That friend whom I mentioned above. He gave permission to remove the life supporting machine of his dad when doctor gave the dad's children's option to do so during his dad's last moment. He thought it was a rationale move. Then his Master told him he had committed a very big sin for doing that and that he therefore had incurred much 业障. This piece of note from his Master troubled my friend a lot and therefore he started chanting scripture hopefully to remove part of the 业障.

After he shared with me about how he was troubled by his Master's note, until now I am still pondering about the 'truth' of it. More or less, I go back to my orginal Guiding Principle of I do things out of pure goodwill. if I have to remove any life supporting machines of a person for the purpose of relieving that person from pain and to move on, perhaps I will still do it. If there's 业障 incurred, then so be it coz basically I still feel 问心无愧 and I would still classify the removing act under 仁 (compassion to want to end the sufferings), 智 （a well thought decision), and 勇 (the courage to pull the plug).

So as you can see from my friend's case, not everyone is suitable to have their fortune told...

尽信命不如无命，
尽信人不如无人，
尽信书不如无书。

We still need to activate our 慧 to interpret many things personally in face of so much information available around us...

I really feel sad for your friend. He is in bondage. I agree that not everyone is suitable to have one's fortune told. In fact, I would advise NOT to seek such information.

I knew of someone, a very nice, kind-hearted and caring man, who listened to wife and doted on son. I do not know why but he went fortune telling one day when wife was pregnant with 2nd child. The fortune-teller told him that if the 2nd child would be a son, he (and family?) would encounter misfortune (exactly what I’m not sure). He was VERY troubled by it. It tuned out that the 2nd child was really a son and he some how went to self fulfill the “prophecy” by taking his own life. I still feel sad for the loss of his life while writing about it. :sad:

WeiHan:

pirate:

Mini chiffon cakes and pork floss buns etc are a want, not a need.

I recommend plain sliced bread from NTUC.

If you toast the bread yourselves with cheese and pork floss, all self-prepared, the cost is less than $1. Big serving somemore and taste very good....you just need to wrap the bread with the cheese in between in aluminium foil and iron it. The cheese will melt inside the bread and the bread will turn crispy....very nice and cheap.

Do you really IRON the bread? On High? With or without steam function :scratchhead:

ChiefKiasu:

BigDevil:

What I need is one that will empty itself.

Have. But it costs about $500 per month, but works on all bins at home.

My first thought was some blue liquid that you could place at the bottom of each dustbin and whatever rubbish was thrown in would be dissolved into thin air!...and was thinking…Wah, so expensive, need monthly replacement some more! …..and THEN, I realised….it’s the MAIDS! :rotflmao:

I think the book “The 5 Love Languages” by Gary Chapman may help. Read it together with your wife and practise the strategies as described in the book.

The following books may be helpful:


1. How to behave so your preschooler will too! by Sal Severe.

2. How to talk so kids will listen & listen so kids will talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish.

3. On becoming toddler wise by Gary Ezzo.

Sun_2010:

sunflower:

I feel that we should not possess only one-way-track thinking that increasing population is the ONLY way to achieve desired growth. With re-structuring, re-engineering, creative innovations etc, who knows, (and may Singapore be the first to be able to prove it), we may be able to overcome the problem of population dilemma after all!

Definitely.
There must be a different way. It probably needs a totally different minset to think of it. The Govt more than others must be desparate to find solutions too. Till then what? We dont plan, we dont have a road map? We dont prepare ?

Oh no, no…of course we need to plan and prepare. We can’t wait for solutions to manifest themselves. We need, however, to PURSUE the solutions with the right motive. It seems to me though, that the brainstorming might have been constrained or limited.

Hmmm… how should I put it, let’s just say that I did not have the impression that exhaustive and thorough thought process had gone into producing the White Paper.

WeiHan:

sunflower:

My point is, humans are able to invent such powerful computers for spying purposes, and I’m sure if we invest enough time and resources, super robots or machineries can be created to help humans do a lot of mundane stuff and boost productivity, that ultimately, we may not need THAT many people in a country’s population.

All it takes is some out-of-the-box thinking, creativity with technology expertise to produce innovations that’ll amaze the world. Just an example, 50 years ago, who would have imagined that palm-sized smart phones would be used by so many people now?

I feel that we should not possess only one-way-track thinking that increasing population is the ONLY way to achieve desired growth. With re-structuring, re-engineering, creative innovations etc, who knows, (and may Singapore be the first to be able to prove it), we may be able to overcome the problem of population dilemma after all!

Growing through innovation and increased productivity isn't a new idea. Easy way out by increasing population isn't something new and creative too.

S. Korea with one of the world lowest fertility rate and the fastest aging population did not succumb to using wanton immigration policy to\"bypass\" their problem. In their version of \"population white paper\" , immigrants will only constitute 6% of their population by 2030 compare to 2% presently. They too have business lobby pressurising their government to open the floodgate for cheaper labors but their government is sensible enough not to betray the majority by pleasing minority elites. Instead, they ambarking on a path of innovation and increase productivity with minimal augmentation from carefully selected immigrants.

http://singaporemind.blogspot.sg/2013/02/s-korea-growing-economy-through.html

Precisely! As I've mentioned before several posts back, I’m really puzzled as to why are we so fixated in the notion that increasing population is the ONLY way to ensure desired GDP outcome. It’s a too “no-brainer” way and not innovative at all!

Would it be possible that we take a leaf or two from other countries on how and what they did to tackle the problem of declining population, and perhaps modify their strategies to suit our unique situation, or better still, come out with original strategies that even other countries would want to emulate!