Ramblings...

What a bummer.... Here's the story: My typical Saturday for the past 9 weeks or so has been like this - I wake up at 7am, go to the family centre, start teaching at 9.30am, end lessons at 11am, then I'll hang around in school to study or do some work(which is not exactly convenient to go from Boon Lay to Kent Ridge) until around 2.30pm before going for Jazz class. After which I'll usually proceed to some line dancing jam session until around 11pm when I finally reach home. Anyway, the thing is, I always dread that 3 hours where I either have to do large amounts to travelling and walking (and not to mention spending on MRT and bus) or spend my time loitering around or simply looking for a suitable place to study, although that dreadfulness usually gets offset with Jazz class which I really enjoy. However, yesterday after enduring 3 hrs of waiting, I proceeded to Jazz only to receive a call from Ecnad (the dance company which is holding the course), "The instructor is sick..."

Hello??? Couldn't you have informed me earlier??? The class is at 3.30 and you had to call me at 3.20 just to tell me that class was cancelled?? Use some brains, would ya???

Ok ok, but YC did make a valid point that non-profit arts groups are usually under-funded and under-staffed which means that the admin is usually handled by volunteers from the organization, which kinds of explains why it's probably uncoordinated. Yup, that's very true. It's tough being in the arts in Singapore.

Actually experiencing something similar with that family centre where I teach basic English for adults. After I finished my lesson plan for the day, I realised that there was 15 minutes left of the lesson, and since I thought it wasn't enough to go into something new (and since my class was getting restless and bored...), I decided to have a chat with them instead, thereby uncovering some apparent 'grievences' they had about the centre...

Remember I was saying that my enrollment in my class is very small, in fact only 11 where the max was supposed to be 20? According to some of my students, they complained that some of their friends actually wanted to enroll in the class but the centre kept telling them that the class is full already... A case of poor coordination, I believe, as I also went through the same thing with the centre. When I taught my first course there, there was only one person i/c of coordinating among course matters, me and the students. In fact, she came across as a helpful and kind-hearted girl who was very popular among the middle-aged people (most of whom make up my class). However, after I agreed to teach the 2nd course she resigned and from then on it became an administrative nightmare. Nobody contacted me on the start of the class, I see a different person i/c every week, things I tell or ask this person doesn't get to the other... One of my students, a middle-aged lady who has been volunteering with the centre, complained to me how the centre seems to be abusing their generosity and has become calculative... I can't speak for that but if that's really the case, then it's pretty sad... I do feel that there's something different, though; When I first went there the centre gave me a very warm feeling, like a safe haven for those who just want a place where they can find a belonging to, be cared for and be someone who matters. But now it seems to have been getting more and more business-like.... The constraints of reality, perhaps?

Updates

See anything different with my blog?? A BIG THANKS to FUNN, who so patiently helped me with all these new additions through numerous emails, mainly the LINKS section and the TAGBOARD!!! Still improving on that to make it look even better ^^. In the meantime, let me take you through the new features:

Links: Well, self-explanatory. These are some of my favourite links categorized according to entertainment (TV and movies), useful resources and things that I thought are interesting. What I wanna talk about is the one link that I've included under 'interesting...' (will be adding more when I come across them) Harvard Uni devised this as a measure of implicit biases, meaning the biasesness which you think you do not have, or you may not want to admit you have due to social pressures, yet is actually residing in you. For example, you may think that you have nothing against homosexuals, but through this test, you'll see if that's really the case. Has been shown to be highly accurate. Try it!

Tagboard: For any comments you might just wanna get off your chest! However, one rule: Keep it clean. ;)

Once again, thanks Funn!

Other updates includes a new song. I fancy the previous one, Love is Like a Tide (愛如潮水) by Jeff Chang was too soft. So this is a new one, Flying Alone (一個人飛) by Hacken Lee. A very nice song and currently my favourite track in my MP3 player. Enjoy!