Koh Tee Huat

Breakthrough-Modern Dance & IBEX

2009-04-19T16:54:00.002+08:00

Congratulations to the Modern Dance for their Breakthrough in SYF 2009. In the other light, I believe All students in all CCAs work hard in their own ways in making their CCAs GREAT. Some students in some CCAs cried/were disappointed when they obtained Silver or lost in tournaments. It is part and parcel of LIFE about winning & losing. Important is that we & the students have put in 100% EFFORT in the process and we enjoy/learn in the process. Chinese sayings go: " There are always higher mountains." to tell us there are always opponents better than us & "When the green mountains are still there, need not worry there are no wood to use." to tell us if we lose this time, as long as we are persistent, willing to continue to work hard & determined, we can compete and may win next time. Never, never, never give up.

Wish to add that a Breakthrough for my sports day house, IBEX, this year too for being the CHAMPION for Sports Day, I think it is the 1st time for IBEX to be champion in Kranji History. Nothing is impossible, right? It is about ATTITUDES & STRATEGIES. It is whether who have BETTER & STRONGER ATTITUDES (attitudes include willpower & other things) & STRATEGIES (strategies include hard work & other things).

More Breakthrough on the way for Kranji, right?

Are we taking things for granted in Singapore?

2009-03-20T18:32:00.006+08:00

The following are some abstracts from newspaper (TNP) readers and some reflection posted by someone:

In a letter to The New Paper (TNP), Madam Kam Choo Choo seemed to agree and felt we should count our blessings. Having travelled to 38 countries and 175 cities had helped Madam Kam appreciate the efficiency of the MRT system in Singapore. She liked many things about the MRT, from the cleanliness of the stations to the multi-lingual announcements reminding commuters to be careful and alert. Another TNP reader Dorian Teo, a 17-year-old Singaporean living in Panama, agreed with Madam Kam. He said that having been in "13 countries and 50 cities are enough to make me realise how wonderful this country is". He described the environment there as being very different from Singapore and Singaporeans should "open our eyes to what we have" and take pride in what we have. He further emphasised that, "Here I can be out with my friends at night without being afraid, as I know my country protects me. However, most Singaporeans do not know what they have. We should gain more knowledge of our country and know that we have been given something most people around the world don't have." Do we take things for granted in Singapore? If you have lived or travelled overseas, how have your experiences affected your opinion about life here? Would living or travelling overseas help Singaporeans better appreciate what we have?

Toward Success We Go

2009-01-05T18:34:00.011+08:00

During class discussion on the first day of school (2/1/09), for my form class, it was great the class participated in the class activities and the students built on ideas from one another on the class motto/taglines, which finally were constructed as follow:

1) TOWARD SUCCESS WE GO (The Direction)
2) LISTEN MORE + ASK MORE + DO MORE = LEARN MORE (The How to succeed in study)

Today (5/1/09), 3 hardworking girls volunteered themselves and stayed back after school to create the posters of the class motto/taglines. The posters are now displayed in the classroom.

I am really happy that they help and work hard. In life, it is always good to help and work hard. For the short term, it may be troublesome, tedious and 'very inconvenient' (as some like to put it). In the long term, the helpers/hardworking ones will benefit in special way. There is a saying: "Give The World The Best You Have & The Best Will Come Back To You." Wish to see more helpers/hardworking ones in future.

My Beloved Wife and Son - The most dramatic day in 2008

2008-12-31T15:06:00.022+08:00

It's the last day of 2008 and I tell myself I better post something. It would be the most dramatic day for my family in 2008. It was the day my wife gave birth to my third child in April and that day's incident is still vivid in my mind.

In the delivery suite, just after 2pm, while I accompanied my wife waiting for labour, my wife suddenly lost consciousness. The nurses called her and there was no response. It was a life-threatening emergency and the emergency was announced through the Public Address System through the speakers to the whole hospital to call for doctors' attendance. A lot of doctors and nurses rushed into our delivery suite. I was asked to wait at the corridor. The gynaecologist had to deliver the baby immediately while my wife was unconscious At the corridor, I saw a nurse shooted out of the delivery suite carrying my baby son and she ran across the corridor to the natal intensive care unit . The baby's heart rate was very low after delivery. A paediatrician from another building across the road ran and rushed into the natal intensive care unit to save his life.

After delivery, blood could not stop and my wife was wheeled into the Intensive Care Unit. In the ICU and then the operating theatre for a major operation to stop massive blood loss, what I could only do is to PRAY. What I am going to say next may be controversial/spiritual to some people and it is up to you to believe (remember: Respect Others' Mental Model of the World). I prayed hard to 'higher spiritual being/form' for her life to be saved and that I would do 2 things: 1)Never eat meat again and to become a vegetarian (life for many lives) and 2)I would donate blood every three months.

On that dramatic afternoon, in the ICU and then the operating theatre, as my wife's blood could not clot and therefore stop, packets of blood transfused to her just flow out from her. A lot of blood (the doctors said 40 packets) has been transfused to my wife. The blood clotted and stopped after three capsules of some form of blood clotting agent is injected into her body. The ICU's cleaner said to me that working so many year, this was the first time she saw a bed soaked with so much blood. I realised the importance of blood donation (and I wish to thank the donors). I also donate blood more regularly, every 3 months, from that day onwards. I used to donate blood during my army days (1989-1991) and only occassionally after that. I donated blood 3 times this year. Till today (31/12/08), in total, according to blood bank's record, I have donated 15 times, since 1989, and I will continue to donate blood.

Both survived and recovered fast in the next few days. I slept at the hospital's visitor lobby the first 4 nights to stay close to my wife and baby. They were discharged after a week stay. During the week, a lot of the doctors and nurses said that it was a miracle that both survived. They said that it was 'fortunate' that it happened during daytime when there were more doctors around in the hospital. It happened during the nurses' change of shift too and there were 2 shifts of nurses there to help out. I could not thank the doctors and nurses more. It was frightening when I occassionally think about it again. I almost lost my wife and baby and my daughters would have lost their mother forever. We tend to take things for granted until crisis happens. I count my blessing and I treasure my wife even more nowaday.

My DVD Player

2008-04-22T22:44:00.011+08:00

You may be wondering what the photo above is about. See the VCD near the top right of the photo? What happened was that when my 3 years-old daughter loaded the VCD, it went inside the DVD player and we could not retrieve it. Naturally I did not blame her as she is only 3 and she may not have placed the VCD properly. I took it as a challenge to retrieve the VCD.

It took me an hour to slowly dismantle the player and locate the VCD stuck inside. It was not as simple as I thought. The VCD was in an enclosure that my fingers could not reach. Also, along the way, I had to memorize how I dismantle the parts or else I could not reassemble them. I observed carefully which screws to remove, which ones not to. I was concerned that irrelevant parts would come off and I would not be able to fix them back. It really tested my patience and persistence. After several attempts with help of different screwdrivers, I managed to extract the VCD (Thank goodness).

When I played the VCD and the DVD player still worked fine despite that it had gone through a ‘surgery’, I suddenly felt a strong sense of satisfaction for accomplishing a task. It makes me realize that it is always great to take challenges, face it head on, goes against all odds and completed it. It makes me mentally stronger and knowledgeable.

Knowledgeable in a sense that I now know more about the different components of the player and I am amazed about the sophisticated electronic and mechanical components that have to work together to create the sound and video I as end-user just take for granted. There must be many people that have worked together to see that the design of this player works.

In another perspective, we have to realize that we could not work alone in this world. We need to collaborate and cooperative with one another (teamwork) so that we achieve more which we, as individual, cannot manage.

It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward

2007-06-22T13:02:00.009+08:00

Something inspiring to share from the movie Rocky Balboa which I find meaningful.

Rocky said to his son:

"Then the time come for you to be your own man and TAKE ON THE WORLD...and you did. But somewhere along the line, you changed. You stop being you. You let people stick a finger in your face and tell you you're no good. And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame... like a big shadow.

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and i don't care how tough you are... it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it... You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.

But it ain't how hard you hit; IT's ABOUT HOW HARD YOU CAN GET HIT, AND KEEP MOVING FORWARD... HOW MUCH YOU CAN TAKE, AND KEEPING MOVING FORWARD. THAT'S HOW WINNING IS DONE!

Now, if you know what you're worth, then GO OUT AND GET WHAT YOU'RE WORTH! But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!

I'm always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You're my son and you're my blood. You're the best thing in my life. But until you start BELIEVING IN YOURSELF, you ain't gonna HAVE A LIFE."

Sometimes, it is good that we hear some inspiring speech from someone and remember to face life CONFIDENTLY and take own initiatives to improve by yourself instead of self-pity yourself and blame people or situations for what happen to you.

View the video clip by clicking on the link below and do spend sometime reflect on how you face life:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfXw-E7HUq8&feature=related

Inspirational Quotes

2007-04-24T19:19:00.000+08:00

I was attending a workshop at Teachers' Network and saw a series of motivational posters outside the seminar room.

Success: Success is a journey, not a destination.

Challenge: Winners must have two things - definite goals and burning desire to achieve them.

Attitude: What happens to a man is less significant than what happens within him.

Opportunity: The future belongs to those who find opportunity in the beauty of their dreams.

Imagination: A man who has imagination has wings.

Leadership: Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can fly.

Endurance: The difference between the possible and the impossible lies in one's determination.

Perseverance: What the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

Vision: The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.

It is not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love for the lonely.
- Leo Buscaglia, author & university professor (1924 - 1998)

Happenings before March Holiday

2007-03-29T07:24:00.000+08:00

1Mar to 8Mar
The 2 weeks before March Holiday was hectic as I did alot of marking, compiled and did the PPR for students, buying things at beach road for NCC March Camp, 'lecturing' 2A-ians and during CE(Character Education) lesson on Thurs(8Mar) I did a 'Sharing' with 2A-ians on how fortunate we are comparing with so many people around the world so instead of having the 'self-pity' mentality at the low points in our lives, we need to self-love. I also 'shared' with them why they must WORK HARD and ALWAYS DO THEIR BEST . The learning points from the 'sharing' is now pasted on class 2A notice board on the right side of the whiteboard.

9 Mar
The term ended with Meet-the-Parents (MTP) session on Friday (9Mar). I always enjoy talking with parents and students. I'm a parent myself and I know I want my children's teacher to share more on their behaviours, attitudes and progress in school. I sincerely wish to spend more time chit-chating with each parent. However, as I look at the parents waiting, I told myself better stop and move on to the next ones. On and off, the last parents left at 9.30pm and I've a chitchat with co-mentor, CL, on the unhappy things that happen among 2A students in term 1. Let see whether 2A-ians have more TEAMWORK and whether 2A-ians HAVE SHARED VISION AND WORK TOWARD COMMON GOALS in term 2.

The term ended with NCC Camp from friday(9Mar) night, 9pm to sunday(11Mar) 4.30pm. The NCC Specs and CLT took turns to look for me to ask some questions after MTP session. By the time I finished with them, it was 12am. Drove back home and my daughters were already asleep. Read through the SOP of the march camp well prepared by the Specs and previous CLTs. A new day and the March Holiday started with me sleeping at 2 am on Sat(10mar) (very early morning), haha!

Sleepless Night-IAG and Rocky

2007-02-05T05:27:00.000+08:00

Slept 1 hour, felt very awake and can’t sleep anymore.

Reread Adam Khoo’s bestseller book ‘I Am Gifted, So Are You’ (IAG). This is the N times I have read it. Good to recap the motivation/studying strategies and I always learn new things from it each time I go through it.

Watched ‘Rocky II’ VCD after reading IAG. I’m watching the Rocky movies series (Rocky I to Rocky V) again as the sixth installment ‘Rocky Balboa’ is coming to theatres here in Singapore on 1 March 2007. I’m a great fan of the ROCKY film series (Check up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky) that tells a very inspiring rag-to-riches story of a good hearted debt-collector turned boxing world champion (starring Sylvester Stallone) and up-and down episodes of his life in the sequels. It pretty much parallels Sylvester Stallone’s life. I can still remember vividly Rocky IV (1985), which I watched in a theatre and I felt so motivated and inspired by the story on perseverance and resilience with its storyline, action and music. I started buying the VCDs series 2&1/2 years ago (starting from Rocky III on 26 June 2005.I remembered this date as it was a very significant day for me).

End of School, Beginning of Holiday

2006-10-31T15:49:00.000+08:00

End-of-Year Holiday has started for the students. GCE 'O' level started yesterday and I am the 'Chief Presiding Examiner' for it in another school till 20th Nov. It's a new experience for me, more responsibities and more exposure.

I managed to take a break last long weekend, visiting the new Vivo City (I liked the roof garden alot) and the newly renovated Botanic Garden building with Food Court (There is a nice man-made stream behind the building).

It's good to take time-out to recharge as there is a chinese saying, rest is to walk a further road.

Wonderful Mt Ophir Expedition

2006-09-08T19:48:00.000+08:00

I'm finally back from Mt Ophir! Shoulder and thighs aching badly, but I feel wonderful. It has been 15 years since I last climbed Mt Ophir, and never have I thought before that I will touch that same monument at the summit again after so many years and a great emotion just came to me at the summit.

Thank goodness there was no rain in our 3 days on the mountain. Great to be in touch with nature again; sleeping in the jungle, bathing in the stream with fishes around me and drinking water straight from the stream for 3 days.

The climb was tedious with steep slopes that seems never-ending and some dangerous cliffs where we can only use a rope to climb. When I were going down the steep slopes back to base camp, I just wondered how I managed to climb all these slopes and I felt very happy for achiving the climb.

Some reflection I made were that "when the going get tough, the tough get going.", "when there's a will, there's a way.","Important is not the destination, more important is the journey."

At the resort on tues, I read in the newspaper that the Crocodile Hunter, Mr Steve Irwin died on Monday when doing the thing he loves best; playing and teasing animals. I have watched some documentaries in Animal Planet, showing him doing dangerous stunt with animals and I told myself:" This guy is crazy!".

It is really not up to anyone to judge whether what he did was silly or worthwhile. I always like this quote from Abraham Lincoln, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s the life in your years.”

Teachers' Day Celebration 2006

2006-09-04T07:16:00.000+08:00

It has been 4 months since I last blog.

I am very honoured to receive the 'Innovative Teacher Award' this year. A million thanks to the people who nominated me. I will definitely continue to think of interesting ways to conduct lessons.

During the concert, the 2 dances were also good; the dance moves were great and well coordinated and I can see there is cohesion. I am really glad to see that the 2 teams have the passion and teamwork to make the dance performance a reality, after I approached them last term whether they wish to perform during teachers' day concert.

The band performance was very lively. I kept looking at the drummer's movement as he was so skillful and animated. Well Done. The instructor was also so sporting to perform. Great job, band. SYF 07, here we come.

Sorry to 1A-ians I can only stay in the classroom for 5 mins, as I am helping the staff well-being committee and I am leaving school early to bring lucky draw prizes to the restaurant where we have a teachers' day lunch. (It is a tradition to have teachers' day lunch every year.) Sorry 2C & 3I, I did not manage to go to your classes. You all are always in my heart.

Thanks for all the handshakes, cards, souvenirs and well-wishes.

Thanks for all the motivation and inspiration for me to carry on with my duty as a teacher. Teachers need motivation too.

For the Sept school holiday, I am going to scale Mount Ophir (Malaysia) with the Sec 3 NCC cadets, (4days, 4 nite, 4/9 Mon nite to 8/9 Fri). I am looking forward to it, as I always like outdoor activities (I grew up in a kampong) and the last mountain I climbed was 8 years ago in Nepal. Hope my knees can stay intact.

Bye for now.

You get what you focus on!

2006-04-29T13:43:00.000+08:00

I finally completed the Sec1 Express Maths syllabus for MYE last week with class 1A & 1C (Yeh..) and started revision for Mid Year Examination. On Friday, after a Maths quiz with class 1C, as my laptop’s wallpaper showed a tiger, I took the opportunity to talk to 1C’s students about how an animal is focused when it is going after its prey. I also told them how a magnifying glass placed under the sun can create fire and burn a paper because of focus point. However, if we keep moving the magnifying glass, the paper will not be burned as there is no focus point. I said that it is the same in life. Be focus and we can create something (like the fire) out of nothing. I ended the ‘philosophical’ talk by leaving them with the phrase:

“You get what you focus
on!”

About Maths Target Setting

2006-03-28T20:21:00.000+08:00

Hi folks , Just some sharing of ideas. I get my 1A & 1C classes to set STRETCH goal (high target), meaning all to indicate a number >=80 for 1A and >=90 for 1C (Maths A* class). I told them that the purpose of the target is to put a number HIGH enough for them to feel EXCITED about, always reminded themselves of and WORK towards to. Even though reaching a target is important, eventually, if they fall short, at least they have raised their standard, or better still, near there, which is still A1 or A2 (From the quote: Aim for the Moon; if you fall short, you are still among the Stars). Ex-Sec 4 classes have shown that they gave high distinction percentage in Maths.

Maths is a subject where getting 100marks is POSSIBLE (all agree, right? ). A student of 2C is a very good example. She had a 'B' in Maths for PSLE. She gained her Confidence last year in 1C (I gave alot of motivational talks to them last year), work hard and smart, obtained FULL MARK in one of the common test last year and FULL MARK again for maths CT1 this year.

This will work for students who are COMMITTED to get EXCELLENT results, and they will MOTIVATE and INFLUENCE others along the way.

Reflection as a House Master

2006-03-28T20:09:00.000+08:00

As IBEX House Master this year, I have learnt, grown and gained valuable experiences along the way. As house master, I am ‘stretched’ to stand in front of big group of students to talk, organise and motivate them. I also learnt to liaise with colleagues to do different tasks.

I feel heartening when some graduating students volunteered to be IBEX cheer leaders in leading cheers and staying back after school to do accessories for the House.

Competition is a process to gain learning experiences. I mentioned to IBEX students during the very first briefing that whoever take their courage to ‘stretch’ themselves and step out of their comfort zone to participate, they will be given a opportunity to run. So I put in all names in the participant lists in various events. For me personally, participation is more important than winning in the school sport meet (different story for inter-school tournaments; best players will be chosen then).

Strategy of Winning to share with future House Masters: Choose students who are in Sports and Games(S&G) CCA. They are physical fit, have faster speed and more endurance. However, this will take away chances for other students who are interested but not as fit physically. So, the question comes back to : Are we aiming for more students’ Paricipation or Winning? For me, I aim for Participation as the S&G students already have other opportunities to be in competitions and tournaments. So, I gave opportunities to non-S&G students to have a taste of physical competition and tournament.

Lastly, once again, Special thanks to IBEX teachers and the IBEX cheer leaders and all IBEX members for your support.

I Ran in the Annual Road Run!

2006-02-27T18:12:00.000+08:00

I wish to share that I ran with the Lower Sec boys during the Annual Road Run last Friday, 24th Feb 06. The route is 3.2km in the neighbourhood around the school compound. I just recovered from a flu before the run, and I have not jogged for a month. The run was tiring in the process. I told myself to PERSIST and press on. Along the way, good to see that some pupils that I overtook, caught up and overtook me again. It was very satisfying when I reached the finishing line and I felt a sense of achievement.

When I finished my run, I went behind the classroom block to cheer the rest of the boys and girls (including Upper Sec boys and girls) that are coming in till the last ones. Hopefully, at that moment of concentration at the final lapse, words from me like “You are reaching the finishing line, 100m less! PERSIST ALL THE WAY!”, “That’s right , PRESS ON!” which I shouted for them stick in their mind and is useful in other areas of their life, like study, CCA and other things (this is some psychological subconscious mind staff, which I learned somewhere).

1A & 1C Maths Common Test Results

2006-02-27T18:06:00.000+08:00

I marked the Maths common tests for my 2 maths classes, 1A and 1C and I am surprised and very interested with the results. IC is the class where pupils have a lot of A* in Maths in PSLE. Although they did well in CT 1, IA did even better in CT1 than 1C. I taught the classes the same things. I analysed that the differences in the 2 classes are the class spirit and hardworkingness of the pupils which determines the current result. I always tell the pupils not to be proud of the past results and be humble always. I will share studying strategies and positive thinking strategies so that the 2 classes can improve further.

CNY Classrooms Decoration

2006-02-04T14:44:00.000+08:00

Photos with my students during Lunar New Year Classroom Decoration.

About Marking Maths Homework

2006-02-04T14:32:00.000+08:00

Maths is one of the subjects that have a lot of homework so that the concepts taught are reinforced and rehearsed. Pupils spend a lot of time doing Maths homework. So far, I have to spend a lot of time marking like a machine and the homework keep coming in as we have homework every lesson. I can’t finish marking homework.

Thinking through, I am thinking time can better be used to prepare more interesting lessons or marking tests instead of marking and marking the non-stop homeworks. Pupils can have self-directed learning and feedback by marking on their own as basically the answers for the homework are at the back of the textbook. I can go through some of the more difficult questions in the classroom. I also have regular class test every week to test pupils understanding of the important topics.

I will discuss this with 1A and 1C. I find that so far, they have a lot of initiative on their own learning. Let experiment this like a science experiment and check the result.

My Dream on Discipline of School

2006-02-04T14:31:00.000+08:00

During Staff Meeting, we discussed about Discipline. My dream of a self-disciplined pupil is that he/she does the right thing even when no told or nobody is looking. Also, if he/she does not know, he/she does the right thing when instructed once only. To sum it up, pupils take initiative, and they take responsibility and accountability of their behaviors and action.

Slogan of Class 1A

2006-01-16T10:05:00.000+08:00

During class interaction last thurday in Pupil Development Program, when prompted on the type of class spirit my form class(class 1A) wish to have and which others can say of when mentioning class 1A, the pupils enthusiastically suggested quite a number of slogans and finally voted for the following slogan for class 1A:

“Some People dream of Success, while 1A WORKS for it!”

I find it heartening as I myself strongly believed in always TAKING ACTION (works) in order to achieve my dreams. Or else, it is only daydreaming. Let’s see a lot of ACTION from class 1A.

Sec 1 Orientation-'Amazing Race'

2006-01-06T08:41:00.000+08:00

I wish to talk about the “Amazing Race” the Sec 1 Mentors organized on Thursday (5/1/06).

The sec 1 Mentors were only informed about this event a day before it as the original program on CCA selection in the morning was cancelled. Quickly the mentors have a meeting in the staff lounge and everyone chipped in ideas how to fill the time slot and we decided to have an “Amazing Race” in school, so that the pupils can know the environment better and know about the Heritage Gallery.

When I checked with some pupils subsequently, they said that the “Amazing Race” was the one that is the most fun program in the Sec 1 Orientation. Good effort, Sec 1 Mentors! It shows the cohesiveness of the teachers and the sense of helping one another out among our colleagues.