So how, brown cow? Don't shoot me if I'm wrong...

With the so many changes in the education system in Singapore, it makes me think that perhaps it's about time that the government acknowledges the diversity and the different gifts in each child. With all the talk about more concrete and experiential learning experience, smaller classroom size and niche programs in schools, many children will have their different potential(s) and diverse talent(s) realised. But shoot me if I'm wrong, things are not really changing.

An early childhood colleague once mentioned to me that it's not the fault of the schools, but it's parents who are pushing their children to the edge, and in return pushed the teachers and principals. And therefore, it has become imperative for schools to upkeep their standards, thus stressing the principals and the teachers.

Let's say she is right but for a start why aren't the principals and teachers embracing the changes first and then changing the mindset of parents? Otherwise, the old and unwanted effects will just continue.

Here's a little snippet of something of this thing called the primary school registration in this little island of Singapore.

When I say I wanted to send my child to school A, a parent told me that it is not a good school, and suggested that I should send my child to school B instead. According to her, the academic standard in school B is better and even if your child is not doing so well, this school B is affiliated to a secondary school and your child will still stand a chance of a secondary school. (Affiliations or not, I just hope that my son is capable to get into a secondary school with his own abilities.) She, however, sent her child to school C because it is a SAP primary school, so-called the best in that area. (I will never have a chance to send my child to school C, for obvious reasons that my child will not take Mandarin as a second language in school.)

On my part, I have checked out the nearest available schools via their internet, and I was more impressed with school A's website rather than school B. And of course, I have my own reasons why I think school A will be better for my son. But with some non-highly recommended comments about school A, I decided to check out school A myself and met with the school principal. How I wished he would dispel some myths about his school and welcome me and my child to his school with opens arms. He did dispel some myths but the meeting that followed was definitely not what I was expecting.

According to principal of school A, not verbatim, "Our school is doing very well, in fact, our academic is very rigorous, and if your child is not able to read and write by the time he is in primary one, he will struggle and it will be stressful for him."

According to principal of school A, "our school is better that school B, because the aggregate of our top PSLE student's last year was higher than school B and many other schools around the district. In fact, we are better than school B in all subjects except Mandarin."

He also reiterated the fact that students who enter his school are mostly readers and they fall in the 3-5 categories. He does not have students in the 0 and 1 categories, meaning non-readers. He mentioned again that "if parents are not involved in their children's education, it will be difficult for the child to progress in his school." (Get the hint).

Two things here.

1) The principal's facts and figures actually show you that you should not just listen to any parents without checking it out yourself. The truth is better than hearsay. Also, don't let other parents change what you have in mind because only you know your child better. Firstly ask yourself, what is a good school to you and to your child? For me, I will not put my child in schools where there are major disciplinary and attitudinal issues with the children. Other than that, I have some faith in MOE and NIE for having one of the best curriculums in the world and some of the finest teachers.

2) I am definitely an advocate for parent involvement, but to keep reiterating the fact that if my son is not able to read and write in primary one, I repeat again, read and write in primary one, he will definitely struggle. Isn't he, the school principal, pushing the parents' to the edge and in return the kids will be pushed by the parents and the cycle continues? So who is stressing who now?

And I thought the schools are changing to accomodate the different abilities in students.

So how, brown cow?

It is not related to history

I'm having this perpetual cough that never seems to subside after the flu bug hits me. I don't know what is it about me or the weather here in Singapore that this sinus-cough ailment is stuck to me like a bad sore. Taking over-the-counter cough syrup does not do me any good. I need stronger dosage so in other words again, maybe another visit to the doc. Somehow, for the one year we were in Alabama, my health was good. Afzal had fever twice, but he never had a bad cough attack that we needed to scramble for his puffs. Here, when his cough sounded really bad, it looks like he was about to 'choke.'

Some four plus years ago, at least once a month, Afzal would always need to see a doctor. At that time, we went to a GP. But after no improvement, I decided that we should see a paeditrician. At the PD, we were told then that Afzal had mild asthma, something which the GP had not mention. We were surprised and rather doubtful about the PD's diagnosis. "It can't be!" we thought, because both me and my husband's side of the families have no history of asthma. That first time, however, Afzal was given those masked oxygen to breathe in that PD's clinic. He had a different cough, cold and fever medication than the usual ones that we had from the GP, and the PD prescribed us his inhalers as well as the "rocket."

Back in our car, I hugged him and cried, and once again the many times that I had felt so helpless and like a failure for not being able to help him welled up inside me. It did not help when we told our parents who refused to believe that Afzal had mild asthma because "there is no history in both our families." It made me feel even worst, as I felt like I was being accused whether intentional or not that I did not know how and did not take good care of my own son.

Just to be sure, we went to another doctor and was told the same thing. In fact, he assured us it may not necessarily be 'history' related but if any of the parents have sinus or eczema problems, that could potentially be a cause for asthma. I know I have this sinus problem and hubby too. So we both accept the fact that both of us could cause Afzal's asthma so as to shoulder the guilt together. Again, to be sure, we visited another paeditrician for a third opinion, and the results have not changed since.

But Afzal has been better, and has never ever needed to rely on his inhalers 24/7. And we are so grateful for that.

Trying to get back the momentum

It's not easy to get back to the momentum of writing in blogs, and I have saved a postings as draft. I'll come back to that later, I thought, well maybe yes, maybe not.

Being in home ground perhaps, I feel rather mundane to talk about things that I do unlike being in a different country where you get to experience new things thus you talk and blog about it. For one, changes in my life are not interesting materials to report about. And how I wish I have the gift of the pen like some other bloggers who write poignant stories and personal political statements.

Firstly, where do I start?

I'll be back, soon, I hope.

Has anyone notice that...

...I have not updated this blog for the longest time ever? Or the subtle changes that I have made in "About Afzalmom" and the addition of the "new Singapore time clock". Still sentimental about deleting "Mobile, Al's clock". Anyway, I'll try my best to update and to friends that have kept me company during my 'very on' blogging days, please pardon me for this cessation in transmission but you are still being remembered always.

It bugs me

Barely three months we are back in Singapore, I have made the local doctors even richer by having three visits already...i'm so bugged with the flu bug. As a Taurean, it has been said that my sensitivities are around the ears, nose and throat regions. Oh well, how true, and it is so often that my throat is affected that everyone would say I have an ultra sexy voice (aka the frog's croak).

Last Saturday, I guessed my body went into shock and my system crashed. I think I have been out of the adrenaline-pumping-super-long-hours-live-tv-show for so long (2 years to be exact) that I suddenly went on overdrive...

The World Cup ...

... and the neglected wife.

It comes every four years, where the lure of men kicking one ball is better than s**, or so it seems. So for every significant other who is not interested in the game, this is the time where you will have the whole bed to yourself, while hearing occasional oohs and ahhs and indiscernable shouts and grunts from your spouse (and maybe others) from the living room.

Have I turned my back at the blogging world?

I really don't know and I don't have the answers right now.

Blogging came to me when I was 'alone', when hubby left for the States back in April 2005. Now I'm back in Singapore and I'm not 'alone' anymore eventhough hubby is back in Alabama again since May 15th. But at least now I have my family, friends, familiarity and things to keep me busy.

Until then. I don't know when. Maybe tomorrow...?

Ah Choo!!!!!

My morning sinus is back. My nose is red. My sweat glands work triple time. Extra showers everyday. I can't move at the supermarket, and my, the drivers here are really impatient.

Welcome back to my Singapore, my birth country.

5 boxes at parent's place and another 5 boxes at my mil's place.

Half unpacked.

So what's the future plan?

Still waiting for the news, so that I can take action of Plan A or B or maybe C. Is there a Plan C?

Afzal is not in school. Me teaching him a few minutes a day. Minutes not even an hour.

Want to send him for enrichment like golf or swimming or music, I've to wait for the news. Again. Incapacitated.

Ok maybe I'll call to ask.

The final leg

The luggages are packed, and the house is almost litter-free. I have to get rid of all the food from the fridge, cabinets, and even all the itsy-bitsy stuff that we have accumulated for the short span of 11-12 months.

Adem's mother have asked whether we have leftover groceries, and the groceries that we and the other Muslim families have not decided to bring back home amount to many boxfuls of unused and half-used items. She is fine with even half-used items because she says she trust us being Muslims. We also gave Adem a white board, a set of badminton racket with shuttlecocks and a small chair. All these were Afzal's stuff and Afzal was willing to let it go.

And we had our big and final dinner at Carrabba Italian Grill earlier today because I have "hung up my wok". However I still roast half a chicken tonight for something on the sky. Because most times the food provided by the North American airlines are not palatable at all.

I don't think I can sleep well tonight for I have so many thoughts racing in my mind. I'm afraid I may have forgot to pack some things. And true enough as I was typing this, I ran to my room and checked one of our drawers, and there are 4 newly bought watches that are happily sitting in the drawers! It was hubby's repsonsibility to pack them and it seems that it had slipped his mind. Kalau kita dah sampai Singapore, nangis tak berlagu nampaknya.

Needs to check and recheck. And so much trash to send to the dump too.

It's almost a wrap

For our life here in Alabama. We're counting days, three days exactly, before we will board the flights home to Singapore, this time for good.

And with that come the frenzied final shopping, packing, repacking, getting rid of stuffs, donating stuffs, finishing up the food stuff, sending boxes back etc etc.



With this week being the Spring break, the kids will not return to school for the final term except Adem of course.

We're finally going home

It's confirmed that we are returning soon, but until the flight arrangements are not screwed up (like some other time), we will release the date. But it should be next week.

Oh yes...more packing to do.

Let's talk about happy stuffs

I was feeling so pissed yesterday that I told myself to sleep over it and maybe I would feel better when I wake up. I woke up with a heavy heart, and still reeling from the left overs. But it's so over now, well almost.

Let's talk about happy stuffs.

My tree is in its glorious green shades this spring. No pics here but will take a walk tomorrow to capture the tree that stands in front of the house.

I cooked a full spread of Malay dishes yesterday morning (before the pissing began..hehe). We had white rice with beef rendang, sambal goreng and bergedil, plus the serunding that has been frozen in the refrigerator since last Raya (note: I think it was two months before raya but it still tastes good). I was so tired after the cooking, really. I mean the three combination above is no easy feat for a novice cook like me. But it was well worth it. And after being pissed, gorging after the rendang tastes all the better.

Today I didn't cook because there were still so much food left.

Tomorrow, I planned to make tom yum soup for hubby. And maybe grill or microwave the salmon for Afzal. Also, I was planning to make white mee hoon (mee hoon putih) and fried chicken so that hubby can bring to work since they are having sort of 'farewell' party in his unit. And since hubby and his one other Malay/ Muslim colleague will not be able to eat the food that they themselves are buying for their local colleagues, I'm making the above for them.

Now that it's Spring, the swimming pool is opened again but I've yet to bring Afzal there, and also a dip for myself ...that will be so refreshing but I will have to wait for another week for me, geddit? If you geddit, there goes the hope of a bun in the oven...maybe next month?

It's really annoying

I find it so annoying and irritating that when some people lured others to agree with them on certain things but at the end of it, they have a specific hidden agenda to attain. They are so manipulative and calculative that they gained so much by playing out the others.

I shall not say more, as honesty in the blogging world will not help anyone, and may even jeopardize everything. For now, that is what really gets to me.

For those type of people, they don't deserve my respect and certainly not my friendship either.

I was so...

...not in the mood to update my blog for the fact that Afzal was having fever on and off last week. He only went to school for two days the whole of last week and furthemore, I was doing a lot of packing. Today, we sent 4 boxes back to Singapore by UPS and of now, we are still unsure of our departure date.

Some of hubby's colleagues will be returning anytime between 18-20th April but there are four of them, us included, that may have to stay for a little longer, probably till end of April or first week or even second week of May.

The uncertainty is the part that gets to me.

I've been 'headhunted' from back home but again, there was no finalisation of the offer, and that makes me feel unable to make a decision about my future. If they need me to start in May, I have to get going in preparing for my flight home at least a week or two before the start day so that I can get over the jetlag and everything. However there is still no news, and I don't know whether I should email or call to find out the status of the offer or just let it be, after all, they were the ones who contacted me.

Legoland

It was a one and a half hour drive to Legoland which is in the outskirts of San Diego. By the time we arrived, it was already 11.00 am and datuk was hungry for a hot cuppa of coffee. Though the rides at Legoland are rather gentle and most cater to the needs of toddlers or very young children, Afzal had a blast because according to him, it was not as scary as the other theme parks. As for datuk, it was time for some snooze.


In front of a Lego house.


Building blocks.


Afzal got his first driving licence here on a volvo.


Datuk and Ayah standing in front of NY skyscrapers made of Lego.

The next day

The adventure is just beginning. What better way to start the holiday with some glam factor.

Like Datuk, Like Cucu

With cool shades and stripey green polo, datuk and cucu glam'd up for some action as we started Day 2 with a trip north to Universal Hollywood Studio.

LA Traffic

Beware of LA's traffic even on the freeways during peak hours. A 30 minute ride could potentially become 90 minutes when the road is jammed up all the way.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Greeted with a red carpet welcome, datuk and cucu is already feeling celebrity-like. Nothing can stop this glam'd duo in storming the studios.

Spiderman

The word is 'Thrilled' with a capital T. As Spiderman signed Afzal's autograph book, mom-photographer strikes a conversation with Spiderman and asked, "Are you Tobey McGuire?" to which he replied, "Tobey is an actor. I'm spiderman." Oh yeah, whatever.

The Kong

With the new release of King Kong's movie, datuk did not hesitate to be pictured with the giant ape while my son is nowhere in sight.

Shrek

An ugly happy couple obligingly signed autograph for the boy in the stripey green polo while cardboard Donkey and what's left of Lord Farquhar looked on.

It's a Small World

This is the one ride that Datuk was searching for until the end of the day, to reminisce the time he was here 18 years ago.

Rusini and her darlings

The evening ends at Rusini's posh home and dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant later. It was a chance to see her new baby Aya and also for Afzal to meet his 'old friend', Erisa whom he refers to as the little girl with the heart. The first time they met, Erisa was wearing a t-shirt that has pink hearts.

Next change.

The journey began...

As Tahir's training stint is nearing its end here in Alabama, we made a decision that we would take a flight and drive holiday to one destination within the USA before we return to Singapore for good, bearing in mind that we may not have a chance to come here again as easily in future. After some contemplation and asking around from online buddies in Rantauan, we shorlisted a few - 1) New York/ Niagara/ Toronto (Canada), 2) Seattle, Washington State and possibly to British Columbia (Canada), 3) San Francisco down to Los Angeles and further down to San Diego and finally to Tijuana (Mexico) and back up to Los Angeles again. 4) Los Angeles to Las Vegas to Grand Canyon and San Francisco.

Being the travel bug that I am, it was hard to be realistic, therefore the shortlisting looked like we want to attempt it all even with an immigration hop to either Canada or Mexico borders. Unfortunately, we did not have an unlimitless budget or even time. Unless of course I'm married to John Travolta, that will be a different story altogether.

So one night, after watching American Idol, Afzal said, "I want to go Hollywood," that's when we finally decided, Hollywood it will be then.

We chose an affordable and fastest flight we could get, and with a stopover at Memphis, Tennessee, we did not hesitate to soak in a little atmosphere of rock, soul, jazz and blues as Memphis is not only the birthtown of these music and its musicians, it was the hometown of music legend, Elvis Presley.


The aerial view as we flew from the mid-west to the western part of USA was a study in geography in itself. Eventhough we did not cross any international borders, however we entered into two time zones from Central time where we began to Mountain time and finally Pacific time. That is how huge the country is, and how bountiful it is.

The massiveness of this land of the Almighty Creator is just awe-inspiring and breathtaking. With a view of the different terrains, vegetation or the lack of it, meandering rivers and other geological architectures, it was a sight to behold. Just flying below, above and into the clouds, we were full of trepidation of the turbulence but at the same time praying and feeling the grace of Allah, what's more if we had caught a sight of the Grand Canyon.

After nearly six hours on the plane, we finally arrived to urbanisation. As the plane approaches the city of Los Angeles, the busy and industrialised map of what's below us was a sharp contrast to the earth where we had flew by. It just goes to show how much mankind has changed the face and shape of our planet Earth, and with that, we landed safely on the runway of LAX airport.

More to come.

Note: I could only upload 4 photos per blog entry, therefore this has to be in chapters, episodes, scenes etc, unless there is a way that I don't know about.

No pictures to tell the story

If I have my pictures, it will tell the story of our trip to Los Angeles but the unseen dew has not disappeared from my viewcam despite "hairdrying" it. This is so trying, and with much disappointment, I'm definitely getting a newer, better and affordable digital camera. You hear me, Sharpviewcam!!!

I have many little stories to tell but in a nutshell, we had a great trip. We arrived on 13 March an hour after my Father landed in LAX airport direct from Singapore. And off we took a shuttle bus to the car rental place and got our PT Cruiser and cruised to the lousy hotel that I had mistakably chosen, in an area that I found out later was a crime-ridden part of LA. No wonder for the many sirens we heard in the wee hours of the morning. After checking in, we headed to find a halal eatery which we had selected via Zabihah, and unfortunately the one we chose, Belacan Grill, was closed on that Monday night. So we tracked Halal Grill, but we could not find the place and all of us were famished by then. Luckily we found our third choice, Bilal Cuisine. It was so nikmat when we had the nasi beriyani, naan and all the curries. It was definitely much easier to find halal eateries compared to 18 years ago when my family first came here for a holiday. But the lessons learnt are either to call the eatery first if you have a cellphone or have a few nearby addresses just in case.

The next day, off we drove to Universal Hollywood and spent an entire day there. The evening, I brought my family to my friend Rusini's and Dayan's house in a posh part of LA. So Afzal get to meet his 'old friend' Erisa and their new bundle, Aya.

Our third day was spent at Disneyland LA because Father wanted to revisit the happiest place on earth, the footprints of which he had left 18 years ago. So we went there, and at the end of the day, he was still searching for that one ride he wanted to take "It's a small world" ride to rekindle old memories but my son only wanted the "nascar ride."

The day after, we travelled one and a half hours to the outskirt of San Diego to Legoland. Afzal had a blast there, though I felt that the rides are too gentle, in fact more suitable for toddlers. Knowing my son well, this is his standard for now. It was also Father's 61st birthday and he received an Oscar from Afzal (newly bought from Universal Hollywood, hehe) for being The Best Grandpa and Afzal's very own self-made card. After Legoland, we had dinner at Jamillah's Garden, a halal Chinese restaurant. It was our usual dinner but Father told Mak that it was a six course birthday dinner for him from us. Well, we are happy as long as you are happy, Father!

We woke up late on Friday because we already had three days of theme parks, so it was free and easy today. We had lunch at Toko Rame, an Indonesian eatery, so we got our nasi campur with bagedil, urap and other ala Melayu food stuff. We could not find the mosque that Tahir had checked from the internet, so the men missed their Friday prayers. That afternoon, we headed to Hollywood's Kodak Theatre and Walk of Fame. Rusini and her two darlings met us there and later only Rusini and me had a girl's night out in old town Pasadena, just the both of us.

Off we went to Seal Beach on Saturday, and had lunched at an online friend - Sharifah's and Leland's cosy and lovely apartment overlooking the Pacific Ocean. I also had the opportunity to meet other Rantauan members there. It was a lovely day as Afzal experienced sand sledding on the beach. We went to South Bay Galleria for some shopping after that but we did not get much stuffs.

On the Sunday that we checked out, we drove to Santa Monica Pier, and that's where we got the Bubba Gump's souvenirs and later to Downtown LA again to get more souvenirs before we were stucked in LA traffic even on a Sunday afternoon. Had our final meals at Bilal Cuisine again before our flights back to our respective homes. Of course, Father back to Singapore and us to Alabama.

So until my Sharpviewcam decides not to merajuk, I have no pictorial memories to share. Oh barnacle!

Me - A Film Writer

You Should Be a Film Writer

You don't just create compelling stories, you see them as clearly as a movie in your mind. You have a knack for details and dialogue. You can really make a character come to life. Chances are, you enjoy creating all types of stories. The joy is in the storytelling. And nothing would please you more than millions of people seeing your story on the big screen!

What Type of Writer Should You Be?

Definitely not impossible but then again, it always happens that my film never really have an ending. I cannot find a good ending to my 'stories'.

Darn my viewcam

My Sharp viewcam is not so sharp after all. It has it's weather swings. Whenever we travel to cold places, the 'dew' sets in and therefore it crashes all our hopes to capture the precious of moments. I would not be able to shoot videos, but I could still take one still at a time before pooh! it goes off again. What happens is, moi, the unofficial camera woman, because as usual, men (aka hubby) is so helpless at this gagget, therefore you would see less of me in photos (sigh), would get everyone posed quickly, switch to the still mode and snap. Sometimes I would like to get a better frame by zooming in or out, but that could hardly happen because the viewcam would die off before I could snap. So I quickly on it again and snap! Sometimes well-framed, sometimes 'asal snap aje' hoping that the picture will turn out fine. Now, I need to let it recuperate, give it warmth and some tender loving care like using a hairdryer so as to get the unseen dew disappear. It hasn't as yet.