Sport’s Day With Jayne

Jayne had her first Sport’s Day and we were invited to join her and her class. It was scheduled on a Friday 530pm, so we were quite sure no other parents would be free to attend. But we were so wrong. Almost every kids’ parents took time off to attend the event.

Ms Barbara, the principal of the CDC started the presentation with a few slides showing us the activities of the centre. She is a very nice person and we were so happy to leave Jayne in her care.

Can you spot Jayne?

It’s time for sports, the kids were already out on the basketball court waiting for their parents. The older kids formed a cheering team to welcome us too. Cute!

Jayne and her classmates were seated quietly waiting for us. She looked so happy just to see us. This made all the effort worth it!

The sports event will start from the youngest to the oldest, so Jayne’s class will be second to play. Here she is getting ready with her teacher-in-charge, Ms Nurul standing behind her.

 

Before it starts proper, there was also a short time of warm up for the kids and parents. As you can see, I conveniently excused myself because I was the photographer.

Jayne followed the exercise with perfection. Ok, I am biased. Which father isn’t?

  

  

Why that pitiful face?

Jayne actually used sign language to ask for water. So funny.

Finally, it’s her turn to play. Poor girl, she is already quite tired after sitting on the basketball court for 15mins waiting for the first class to finish their games.

The N2 kids are playing ‘Passing the Egg"’ game. Hence, the chicken headgear.

Jayne was in second row. Do you see the small girl behind Jayne? Her name is Huixin and she is so adorable, and also so small-size. Both Yixin and Huixin are good friends in class.

And the race begins!

 

After her individual game, it was time for parents to be involved. Thankfully, Kless was with me and you would see the reason why. Opps! Only one lady on the starting line.

The game was to hold a balloon in between the child and parent and run towards the finishing line. You can imagine if it was me playing, poor Jayne would be hugging my knee instead.

 

All set, Klessis & Jayne, jiayou!!

It started quite well, but half way down the line, Kless ended up carrying Jayne instead of Jayne stepping on her feet.

Can you see that my dear wife was still holding on to her phone? Why ah?

Well, I guessed from their facial expressions, Kless probably enjoyed it more than Jayne.

 

It was a fun day for Jayne and for us too. Looking forward to more of such parent-child sports event.
Kless will play, I will take photos.

IMHO

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but before we know the truth or the entirety of any matter, it is always wiser to stay mute and be a responsible individual. In fact, being able to stay quiet about any matter before its end is a sign of maturity.

From 15-23 May, the first tranche of trials started for the highly solicitude CHC case. As a member of CHC, I am very excited that the trial has finally started. This would mark the beginning of the end. Whether it would take 2 or 3 tranches more, at least we are finally seeing the end of the tunnel.

In these 6 days of trails, I have witnessed a lot and learnt plenty. For the judicial department, this is probably the first time they have witnessed members of the public queuing up as early as 4am (on the average), to get a ticket to attend the court sessions. For the Defence Counsels (DC), many of which are Senior Counsels (SC), it has been a long time since they have stepped into the Subordinate Courts to fight a case.

I did not have the chance to attend any of the sessions, but from what I gathered, it was very technical till the point of being boring to those who do not really understand accountancy. It was definitely not like the HK dramas we have grown up watching. Nonetheless, it was still a good fight between the DPPs and DCs.

As expected, there were a few embarrassing email correspondences that were presented during the trail, the Prosecution Witnesses (PW) may or may not remember some of the details, but IMHO, I think it would be wise to wait till the defenders have their say before we pass any judgments. We must remember that it is not only the 6 individuals who are going  through this trial, but their spouses, their children, even their elderly parents are going through a tough period most of us cannot even imagine. Just based on that level, I feel it would be just plain humanity to keep our comments to ourselves and let the truth be told eventually.

Another thing I learnt from one of my friend, is to be objective in this period and do not become personal against any certain group of people. To put in plainly, the Prosecutors are not ‘devils’. They are paid to do a job and they are assigned by the Judiciary System to handle this trial. Again, we can only try to imagine what they are going through right now. Due to the massive media coverage of this case, they are inevitably thrown into the lime light too. Like the defenders, they too have their families and parents who are worried for them. Like mentioned by my ‘learned friend’, maybe in future our children maybe a Public Prosecutor too. Are we to say it is a bad choice?

All in all, I choose to focus on the positive. From this six days, I have seen how the various departments in the church came together as one and supported one another like never before. Supervisors dropped their ranks and served like any other. If anything, I believe the unity of the church, and I mean members, have gone up one level. Friendships have grown deeper. We have once again found the calling of true servanthood and humility.

I  thank all who have come and make it possible for the first tranche. Your sacrifices, be it queuing for tickets, sending water and snacks, driving, ushering, praying, encouraging one another, only God can truly reward you in full. I salute you!

If you have missed out on some of the reports for the first tranche, and don’t mind hearing from an alternative media coverage (City News), click on the following links to understand more.

City News – Day 1
Exclusive

City News – Day 2
Recap of Day 1 / Session 1 / Session 2

City News – Day 3
Exclusive

City News – Day 4
Exclusive

City News – Day 5
Session 1

City News – Day 6
Recap of Day 5 / Exclusive

The Reading Room

Mondays have become unofficially ‘cafe day’. Since it’s our only off day and with both the girls in school, we are free to explore the different cafes in Singapore. So far, we have been to a few in Tiong Bahru, Beach Road, Orchard, etc.

Last Monday, Kless recommended The Reading Room (TRR). It’s situated along Bukit Pasoh Road. The look from outside may not be too inviting, but once we entered the cafe, we were immediately greeted by the old deco in the place, especially old telephones.

 

Hearsay from the staff, the boss of TRR especially like old phones but sadly, none of them are usable.

 

If are like to read a book while enjoying your afternoon tea or coffee, this is the perfect place to just pick up a book of the shelves and you will be lost in time for hours. Or pick up one of those card games / board games, you and your friends will easily have a wonderful time.

What about a game of chess on a mini board? Ask my wife and she will vouch that I am totally in love with such wooden stuff.

Interesting decos found in every little corner.

My usual cup of latte. Even the accompanying cookie is the old-fashioned ‘flower biscuit’.

Look what I found hidden in a corner? Walkman! If you have never seen one before, you are definitely not my era.

Or one of these? I’m not sure what is the actual name but it’s those film thing where you can insert a round film and toggle the switch besides to change your view.

Some of the books are for sale if you found something interesting.

If not, you can just be like us, bring a book and settle into one of the comfortable armchairs or sofas.

 

Or if you are feeling stress, they have a special wall for you. Directions for use provided.

It’s a happy cafe and I can foresee myself going back more often.

The Reading Room
19 Bukit Pasoh Road, S(089833)
Tel: 6220 9019
Opens daily from 11am to 2am

They are also available for corporate events, private parties, film/photography shoots, art exhibitions, book signings, etc..

I Hug My Mom 2013

Supported by the Singapore Kindness Movement, CHC organised the ‘I Hug My Mom 2013’ project. And this year, the families in our CG decided to join in and be part of this community project to show love and bring the message of Mother’s Day to the residents in Woodlands.

More than just that, our family was selected to be filmed for this movement.

The girls are totally natural in front of the camera, in fact they were more than happy to be filmed. On the other hand, Kless who was a bit camera-shy. But I think she looks so happy and pretty!

Happy Mother’s Day!

After the preparation was done at home, we headed to meet Claire and her kids. This was truly a family community event.

Jayne and Chernise were the 2 youngest members in this project. At 4, both of them played their part to encourage other children to give their Mom a hug.

Probably due to the filming or we were just too excited for the project, we arrived at the meeting point 45mins early. Thankfully the meeting point was at Causeway Point, we just sat down for some breakfast and coffee.

 

A group photo for those who were early, before we were all drenched in sweat from the scorching sun. Did you realised that the colour code was red? Some of us wore the ‘I Hug My Mom’ t-shirt too.

Yifei is the girls’ favourite uncle. Every time we go out, Uncle Yifei will be their tireless playmate.

The pretty mommies who were on duty for the day.

After the briefing, we are all ready to go! Target was at least 100 hugs!

My able partner for the day, Joey. She ran tirelessly inviting the people to hug their moms. So proud of her!

I Hug My Mom! To see more photos or find out what is the project about, click on this Facebook link.

 

It was a hot afternoon, and after almost 2 hours of hard work, the kids retreated to the comfort of the aircon area.

Jayne started her version of ‘horror’ drama. So cute! Jayden was the male lead cast.

Stole a photo from Kless. The beautiful kids from our CG. *FYI, I was the one holding the placard*

It was a resounding success @ Woodlands – I Hug My Mom 2013. Thank you all who came and supported the project.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Technorati Tags: Singapore Kindness Movement,CHC,Mother's Day

Celebrate Fatherhood - Guest Post @ Ai Sakura

Approached by Ai Sakura to guest post in her series of Celebrate Fatherhood, I was both honoured and shocked. I set forth to reflect on my short tenure (7 years) of being a father.

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Year 0
Getting ready to receive our first born into the family, nothing can be prepared beforehand of what is to come. I have decided to be a hands-on daddy, be it feeding, bathing, changing diapers, making milk, etc. Fatherhood is anticipation.

Year 1
Baby is more interactive now, more attention seeking. But the joy of seeing my darling Joey always out-weights the tiredness from work. Fatherhood is enjoyment.

Year 2
Experiencing the so call ‘terrible two’ symptom. It seems like fatherhood is no longer easy or fun. It is during this period I questioned my decision of having kids. Without Joey, I could have enjoyed life with the missus. I missed my ‘freedom’ nights. Fatherhood is tough.

Year 3
Time to think and plan for another child. Seriously, I have never thought of a boy, I mean girls are so cute and I am quite enjoying Joey’s ‘daddy’s girl’ attention. Fatherhood is heavy responsibility.

Year 4
Birth of a second girl (yea!). Reliving the entire experience of sleepless nights and 2-hr shift work. However, the sight of seeing Joey carrying baby Jayne really ensured me that all is worth it. At the same time, I have to grapple with the cruelty of seeing how Joey cries non-stop when she starts to attend Nursery. Fatherhood is heart wrenching.

Year 5
This is probably the easiest year of all. Joey is enjoying school and Jayne is super duper cute. Fatherhood is heaven.

Year 6
Another round of ‘terrible two’. No amount of experience or preparation is enough cos every child is so different even though the factory is the same. Fatherhood is unexplainable.

Year 7
Joey attends Primary 1 in my alumni school. This is exactly how I have imagined on the day she was born, my child studying in the same school as me. Amazing! Jayne starts Nursery and I have grown emotionally stronger, to stay calm when I see her cry in the morning but laughingly tells me her day when I pick her up after work. Fatherhood is growing up.

Are fathers appreciated? Who and how should we appreciate fathers?
I believe family (wife and kids) should show love and support as fathers do go have to make tough decisions and usually we do not have much support from other fathers around (unlike mothers). But personally I stand on the belief that a father should learn to appreciate himself. If we do not know how important our role is, or if we do not have a healthy self-image as a father, we will not be able to live strong and do well.

Daddy is a choice! The moment I have decided to be a father that decision stays forever!