Facebook: Set childish things aside

WINSTON Churchill once said that eating words never gave him indigestion.
If anything, I hope that a certain female Singaporean teacher will be spared a tummy upset as she stomachs the furore over her poor taste in posting a note detailing grammatical errors by her students on Facebook. Snippets from their English essays had been posted [...]

Saying no to liabilities – future kids included

THE current recession has made me more attuned to current affairs and instigated a burning desire to take charge of my financial life.
What disturbed me deeply were newspaper reports about elderly investors hit by the DBS High Notes 5 saga and young families downgrading their homes to cope with wage cuts.
Determined never to put myself [...]

For fresh grads, a Catch-22 situation

IT HAS been nine months and 10 days since I graduated – for me, a transitional period that I call bittersweet.
Now, with a recent letter from the Central Provident Fund Board requesting I repay in cash the amount withdrawn for my university education, I’m reminded that I am among the statistics of fresh graduates struggling [...]

‘Elite’ isn’t the only way to go

I ONCE thought I was being subversive by choosing a polytechnic over a junior college.
After all, I had attended a so-called elite secondary school where students aim for top junior colleges, go on to ace their A levels, land prestigious scholarships, an Ivy League education and soar through corporate ranks at lightning speed.
It is a [...]

School’s a journey, not an end in itself

I KNEW I was from a different school of thought when my colleague, with a perplexed look, asked me what the word gatal meant.
I tried my best to put across an explanation in proper English. I told her gatal, literally ‘itchy’ in Malay, is also slang for being perverted or lewd. Offended that someone had [...]

QING MING: More than just a ritual

Apart from the offering of prayers or food at ancestral graves, Qing Ming is also a time for extended family bonding. — TNP FILE PHOTOS

IT IS that time of the year again. I am falling asleep in my parents’ car. The inside smells vaguely of incense and home-cooked food. Drizzle dots the car windows. [...]

Seven things about American youth

YOUR article on the youth of Singapore tickled me. Having studied and lived in the United States, I adore the people I have met, and I miss my friends. Here are my own observations about the American youth.
1.They love Singaporean youth.
Every conversation would begin with, ‘Where are you from?’ To the reply ‘Singapore’, they would [...]

A shared identity goes with Mandarin

THIRTY years ago, the Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched to promote Mandarin as the lingua franca of Singapore’s Chinese community.
Thirty years on, I think we have a success story – me.
In the 80s, I was born into an English-speaking family. Even though I speak English at home, years of mother tongue lessons have moulded me [...]

I will survive – as my parents did

MY PARENTS’ tales of their early struggles have stayed with me.
As baby boomers, they and the majority of their peers had to toil hard to rise up their career ladders – without university degrees. They knew tough times and enabled their children – those of my generation – to stand on their shoulders.
They gave me [...]

Spare us the dinner-time economics lecture, dad

THERE is a new dish during dinner time at my home: Economic Recession.
It has become a daily staple and comes in a variety of flavours. Some days it is sprinkled with hints of Credit Crunch, other days it is dressed with Job Loss.
The recent recession has not left anyone untouched, including my parents, who feel [...]