Bake-A-Cake

Last night, Son No 1 finally got a chance to try baking a cake. He followed the recipe closely (read: scientifically) and put in his best effort. His two brothers watched with rapt attention, while clamouring for their turns to stir the mixture every now and then.


Mummy here guided with theoretical knowledge, explaining why each step was necessary. Son No 1 expressed surprise that mummy had such knowledge (I think his quiet assessment so far was that I was hopeless in the kitchen - a fact that I don't dispute) and I had to tell him that I did home economics in school, and scored a distinction too.

The final product was not very successful - ok, the cake was burnt - but it was due to a faulty oven more than anything else.

After putting the cake mixture into the oven for about 10 minutes, Son No 3 alerted us that there was smoke coming out of the oven. Alarmed, we quickly summoned good old dad. As you can see, dads are real handy when things go wrong!

We thought the burnt cake would go straight into the garbage bin, but Son No 1 and Son No 3 both enthusiastically tried to eat the unburnt parts (see the yellow bits in the picture below) and proclaimed it, well, edible and quite nice. Typically, Son No 2, who is more circumspect and selective over his food, gave an "ew", made a face and declined to follow his brothers' actions.

Well, I will need to call the oven guy to come and take a look at the oven soon. For sure, this will not be the last time we are baking. It can be quite fun.

Toy Story

Since young, Son No 2 has always shown strong attachment to his toys and other belongings and he generally takes very good care of them... well, as good care as any 7-year-old can give.

Every night he sleeps with his most treasured belongings all around him. Topping this list is his perennial favourite, the cuddly jaguar (see right, with a baby tiger and 3 baby jaguar figurines).

Son No 2's fascination with the jaguar began with the cartoon, "Go, Diego, Go". In the cartoon, Diego's pet is a baby jaguar.

This particular soft toy is actually the second jaguar that he owns. He lost the first jaguar at Cheow Yang when he left it behind after his chicken rice lunch one day. Seeing that he is upset by his loss, his Faidu then looked for a replacement jaguar for him in Singapore. Three cheers for Faidu!

I remember for his 6th birthday party last year, I went to some lengths to look for a cake designer who agreed to do the jaguar design (left).

Besides his jaguar, Son No 2 also sleeps with a box full of his precious things. These are the things in the box (from left, in the picture above):

• a multi-coloured pen which is a gift from his teacher, Ms Lee
• the gold medal which he won for his race during his Sports Day
• a small picture which he drew and coloured in Singapore
• his Game Boy with his favourite game, Pokemon
• his cow-shaped piggy bank from Hong Leong Bank

In another smaller box, he keeps the tiny figurine of Yoda (right) which apparently can protect him with his light sabre at night.

Honestly, if I allowed it, Son No 2 would have even more things on the bed at night.

As it is, he sometimes furtively hides some other toys under his blanket before he sleeps. I got wiser and now do spot checks.

Well, there must be a stop somewhere. He already has little space to sleep because he has 3 bolsters. Yes, 2 adult-sized and 1 medium-sized bolsters. He likes his bolsters and all his toys around him when he sleeps because he then feels warm and cosy and protected.

Hmm... just like when it was in his mother's womb, ya? :)

Changes To Primary School

Interestingly, both Singapore and Malaysia chose to announce changes to the primary school education system on the same day.

But what I find incomprehensible is that Malaysia opted to re-format their UPSR, the primary school leaving exam, to include school-based assessments, while Singapore did not. Singapore instead chose to re-focus and re-balance its curriculum to incorporate more life skills, to aim for single-session schools and to have an all-graduate primary teaching force by 2015. But there is no mention of any changes to the PSLE.

Why I find this incongruous is that Singapore is infinitely more capable to implement changes to the examination format. They have the skilled teachers, the relative homogeneity of students and a culture that champions systematic approach, transparency and objectivity. Malaysia does not have any of these - but it has the derring-do (some may call it foolhardiness).

I have been advocating changes to the Singapore's PSLE for years. To reduce a student's total ability to a single score which will determine the child's progress into the next stage of life is draconian. This is the reason why the school system in Singapore is examination-oriented. Parents have little choice if they want their children to survive the school system here.

At this stage when Singapore's MOE recognises the shortcomings of its education system as being too examination-oriented, I am surprised that nothing is done to the PSLE format. Incorporating all the other changes is good, but it is not enough. Parents will not be convinced to support the new programme if the PSLE remains a Damocles sword hanging over their heads. I can only see more tuition centers fluorishing as schools aim to provide that well-rounded education which is not appreciated by most parents. There will be more complaints from parents about schools not doing enough while the teachers are already tearing their hair out and walking the tight rope to meet the demands of MOE. It's a classic case of mismatched expectations. Ultimately, it's the students who will end up more stressed than ever.

For once, Singapore should take a leaf out of Malaysia's books and, as they say, just do it. Slaughter the sacred cow once and for all.

As for Malaysia, I do not think I need to comment on anything right now. I dare not think how many U-turns this new policy will have before we see anything happening. However, if you were to ask me, I would say, don't do anything to the UPSR format. Malaysia is just not ready to do anything fancy with the education system. It cannot think it can leapfrog ahead of others. Things are not so simple. Get the basics right first. Err.. by the way, are they going ahead with the teaching of Math and Science in English or are they reverting to Bahasa Malaysia?

Driving Madness

Yesterday, I had three close shaves - and it is just all in a day's work.

The first near-accident involved a speed demon coming from behind as I signalled to filter left. I could see the multi-coloured speedster from afar in my rear view mirror. The next second, it was right behind me and intending to overtake me from the left as well. In a split second, I stopped filtering left and let him go.

A last-minute lane-changer almost caused the next near-accident. The pick-up cut into my lane suddenly, leaving me no choice but to slow down immediately. The traffic was heavy and I knew there were motorcycles all around me. Luckily, the motorcycle behind me managed to stop in time without losing his balance.

The third near-accident was the best of all. I was in a long queue in a traffic light junction and when the traffic light turned green, the cars ahead of me started to move off slowly (because cars from the next lane kept cutting into the queue). I saw the green lights started blinking (yes, there's such a thing here), then turned amber and finally, the lights turned red on the car in front of me. Is the car going to beat the red light? Yes! Then it was my turn. The lights were already red for a while. I made the instantaneous decision to beat the red light as well. Luckily I did. Because the car behind me followed closely and would have slammed into my car if I had hesitated. He had full intention of beating the red light.

Driving here is a daily menace. Careful driving or defensive driving or whatever you may want to call it may save you only in some instances but there are many occasions when it is really a matter of bad fortune. There are thousands of accidents everyday. Whenever I see one, especially a fresh accident, at the roadside, I would say a quick prayer - because I believe if I was at that spot a fraction earlier, it could have been me in the accident. That's why it's called an accident - and not planned collision.

This is not the last time I am going to blog about driving. There's a lot of frustrations all bottled up inside, you see. It is stressful. But like a fearless gladiator (cheh!), I will be out on the road again today. And many days thereafter. Say a quick prayer for me?

Calling Tooth Fairy!

Today is a happy day for Son No 2. One of his baby teeth finally fell off!

It has been a long and agonizing wait for Son No 2. This particular lower incisor has been shaky for a while. I was going to pull it out tonight (yes, me!) But in school today, while Son No 2 was playing, one of his friends accidentally elbowed him and the tooth fell out.

Son No 2 said there was only a little blood and he chose to ignore it. He proudly showed his tooth to his friends who were suitably impressed!

Son No 2 knows about the tooth fairy - he learnt about its existence from TV. He says he's going to put his tooth under his pillow tonight to earn some money. Ya, the tooth fairy knows what to do :)

Weddings 101

My three sons' cousin is getting married.

Yesterday, I mentioned to Son No 1 that his cousin would be back from Singapore next week to have her wedding photographs taken.

"I thought she is already married."

"Well, ya, she is registered. But she's going to the studio to take the wedding pictures."

"Why?"

"Hmm... It's once in a lifetime and they want to remember the occasion. In fact, she will be having 4 hours of outdoor shoot and 4 hours in the studio."

"Whhhhaaattt? Why so long?"

[Note: Son No 1 finds taking photographs a chore.]

"Ya, they will be taking maybe about 100 photos, so that they can choose, maybe 40? to put in their album. Next time, I'm sure your bride will want to do the same!"

"No way, we can take one photo.... she can take the rest by herself!"

Haha, that's the 12-year old male species talking. What a contrast - I remember when my girlfriends and I were 10 years old, we were already designing wedding gowns for our BIG day!

Wait til he hears that the wedding reception will be held in May next year. He would be thinking, when is this thing ever going to end?!!!

Explaining Race Relations

Issues on race relations are not something that can be avoided in Malaysia. Amidst the deepening racial fissures surfacing across the country, I believe I have reasons to be concerned how this will affect the upbringing of my three sons, particularly Son No 1.

I have noticed in passing that Son No 1 seems to have developed a mild disdain for a certain race. As usual, that throws me into a reflective mode. I wonder whether we, as his parents, have a role to play in his development in that direction. There have been occasions when my hubby and I would discuss events which troubled us, like the recent ISA arrests which were clearly racially-biased. And in the past, we would have discussed the money politics, the affirmative action policies and even the day-to-day management of the country which did not put the bumiputras in a flattering light. These were conversations that Son No 1 might have overheard and from where he might have drawn certain conclusions.

These national events might seem distant to a 12-year-old, but Son No 1 is hardly untouched by racial concerns in his own life. I reckon Son No 1's first direct encounter with racial issues happened some time last year when his school banned all home food from the school grounds to keep the school environment totally halal. The school had earlier caught some non-muslim students eating pork in the school canteen and deemed the act disrespectful to the muslim community. The school canteen had a halal kitchen but the pork in question was brought from the students' own homes for their own consumption. It is not like the Muslims were forced to partake in the non-halal food. I see nothing wrong in sharing that common space - and I let my view be known. As a result of the ban, Son No 1 could not even bring sandwiches from home. Nope, not even jam or peanut butter sandwich. Not even home-baked cakes or cookies. These are only allowed if they are manufactured commercially, and hence presumably have the halal certification, and the food is still in the original packaging. To me, the school has carried it too far.

This whole incident may not seem a serious matter by itself but the principle behind it encapsulates the basis of race relations in the country. In essence, non-bumis must at all times be racially-sensitive, but this rule does not apply to the bumis. The recent ISA arrests of the Chinese reporter and the Chinese MP in Malaysia, while the bumi instigators got away lightly, are clear examples of this one-sided principle.

Now, it is important to me that Son No 1 does not grow up with a coloured view of the world. But it is also important that he is aware of the state of affairs.

I knew what I needed to do. Yesterday, I had a chance to talk to Son No 1 about my concerns and explain to him that there are really two levels of race relations. At the State level, including all top-down directives, race relations are often dictated by a few and the policies and sentiments could be deeply prejudiced, racially- and politically-motivated and sometimes, plain senseless. It is this level of racial prejudice and injustice that we need to counter.

But at another level, in our daily interactions, we are talking about fellow humans who may be very similar to us in our walk through life, though they belong to a different race. At this level, we may find that we can actually be good friends with people from other races. They are fundamentally no different from you and me - in Michael Jackson's words, neither black nor white.

I don't know if I have succeeded but I hope I managed to get my message through.