MPT56

Tradition, tradition.

Once you have set a good pattern, the legacy stays. Last evening was one. After a laborious and stressful time of trials after trials the upper formers needed the break. A break from the norm and a time to foster friendship among themselves. After tonight many will go their own ways and some may not cross paths again. That's life. We meet and then must go different routes with some after the road less travelled. So they let their hair down. They became beautiful ladies and handsome gentlemen. They had the annual prom at Empire Gallery !

I was amazed at the physical transformation. So, so, so different. But a pleasant difference. I love to see then dress up.

So, let's scour through the evening together with me, the arm chair critic.

First, we talk about the gallery. As it is newly opened and as the saying goes; new broom sweeps clean, the organising committee grabbed at the opportunity to try the place. On the Likert Scale of 1 to 10, I would grade the ambience of the place at 7. The lightings are good and the 'stage' is modern but a little too cramp.

The food...argh...ok, ok only la and I would scale it at 5.

The service is bad. The VIP tables are badly served and the scale is 3...oh super critical I can be but it is so. Mr. Kang had to serve coffee and Madam Wong had to walk in and out to lay food on the table.
So Holiday Villa ( classics) and Summit Grand Ballroom; our usual haunts offered a better deal.

To offset some of the unexpected confusion of the place, the lower sixes headed by Soo Yi and Audrey at least performed the opening dance with some oomph and caught our hearts. This group is active and very very vocal.

With Louis and Debbie as the MCs of the evening, they held the audience's attention with their display of wit and helped the upper formers to a time of real ESCAPE... the theme of the evening. By the way where can they escape to? Your exams just round the corner. Face it and don't try to escape ! Oh I am such a spoil sport.

See, I could hardly recognise them. They seem strangers to me. Mr. Bryan Low is so so so good looking ! Teaching him English in Form 3 was a pleasure. This guy is somebody to notice. Fierce scorer. Next year in March, he will be in the limelight, I am sure.

Oh Carlos, Carlos. I like your casual style. You are frindly, amicable and so very easy to get along with. Have you got any enemies? No one will find you a potential contender except in the MPSJ padang! Handsome oh.

How quickly they matured last night. I see Jihan and Hanan grow up from form 3 till now. They are almost like grown ups. Oh why do they have to grow up so fast? And beautiful. At the lift after I left, a group of Japanese kept ranting about the pretty girls at the ballroom and asked me about them. How old are they? Where are they from? 17? Oh they kept saying that the girls are all so prettily dressed up. So I went ranting too with oyasumi nasai and anata wa namae wa nan desu ka? They raised their eyebrows and I told them that was about all I knew in Japanese!

This is a father and son team. Representing the PTA, Mr. Azlan told the children to enjoy the evening and his son failed him not. He was like a pro and sang with gutso. A potential stage performer. His dad watched him with much pride and sometime with his mouth partially opened in awe of his son's talent.

There were many string instrument performances and all were really good. They played the instruments well and I think someone sang KISS ME... was it Liesl? Well sung.

I could not imagine this scorer at the guiter. He sprang, sang and strummed the instrument like a pro. The mama must have decided that he had tried hard enough at the exams and allowed him to develop other potentials...




Nicholas is the most surprising. Wow really boleh tahan. He sang with the right expressions in vocals and bodily movements. He can dance ; he is a dancer.




Midway through his performance, he decided to take off his coat, tie and rolled up his sleeves and drooled away like who ? .... He thinks he is Adam Lambert!



He even got his nails painted! Emulating to the very core... But it's ok Nicky. It's your night and tiada tindakan disiplin ; I promise not to breathe a word to Madam Ung.





A highlight before the greater highlight...who is best dressed? Many were chosen but the best of them all were...

Rishi and Ken !

Next, who were the king and queen?

So many to choose from...Farhan, Haziq, Leon, Jun Wei, Jihan, Hanan, Alyaa...

Pretty girls all in a row...but my choice was not the audience's choice...we differ in taste...

So... the King and Queen ! Leon and Jun Wei. Congratulations !

After the crowning, we the older ones took leave. We left to give them more time to mingle in the way they like. When I saw the girls, they reminded me of Michelle Ng, Esther Lau, April Cheah, Ada Chee and the gang of 7 of 2004. How time flies. Now they are really grown ups. Not joking. I actually miss their sweet dispositions and I see how they mature in life and taking all challenges in good strife. That's life. You face the challenges squarely.

To my form 5 and 6 leavers of 2010, may you find light at the end of the tunnel and live a life worthily and bring joy to all around you.

God Bless you all , my children.

A Mother's Prayer

The plea before God.

Each time I am in contact with my mum she will say this : every morning and night I commit all my children into the Lord's hands. I pray for their well-being, health, safety, financial situations and ability to go through the challenges of life. I ask for peace from the Lord for my children.

She strongly believes that our gracious God hears the prayers of a humble mama and extends His hands in answer.

My mother always says that he prays for dad (my children's father) that all his clients will pay him in good time and not play him out and keeps him in prayer each day.

All mothers love to see their children safe and strong ; don't we?

When our children make mistakes, we help rectify the situation; hoping they will learn great lessons.

When they are at crossroads, be it carreers, relationships and friendships, we offer advice that may bring light.

We unrelentlessly commit them into God's hands that should perils and dangers come to them, He will shield them from harm.

When it comes to matters of the heart, we ask for God's divine intervention and preservation; that which should be done will happen.

When they go through challenges we pray for strength and stamina.

When we see them happy and adjusted we beam before the Lord in gratitude.

Somehow, somewhere there is divine help when God sends angels to help our children wherever they may be . Do you believe? I do. I believe God surrounds our childen with angels and keeps them protected when we commit them to the Lord each day.

Psalm 121 ; our prayer O Lord for our children.

Entertainment

Creativity

Teachers are supposed to entertain and stage programs that will draw the interest and attention of their protege during this time of the year.
The Post PMR challenge is really greater than normal daily teaching. The poor counsellors of the school scratch their heads and wear their thinking caps to sustain the children.

Parents' expectations are high. They expect the school to come out with the best ever programs to keep their children out of trouble and get upset if their children play truant and skip school. But alas; it sure is a great effort everyday...

These young and boisterous ones are all ears and eyes if you are entertaining and interesting enough; otherwise they get bored and get us teachers into trouble!

The counsellor is versatile. He has to be. He comes out with ideas and games which cause the children to laugh and clap happily. We have to keep the examination classes away from them. Their laughter is contagious and may just cause others to lose concentration! That will be detrimental!




Look at them. Shoes, socks, bottles, watches, coins, shoe laces, family photo...everything out.



Now what are they up to in groups?


Of course the green factor . Recycle. To wear costumes through recycling efforts.




Some entertain themselves by dancing...ring a ring of roses; a pocket full of roses ; atishoo !





The more aspiring ones repair and repaint. They even repainted the walkway outside the school! Thanks to Madam Ng.




This one is scrapping off old paint and replacing it with newer one. Creative fun.

And more and more to come in the weeks ahead.

Good Sons

SPM 1999

Hmm... some 11 years ago? But they still drop by to say hello and to render some help.

James Jan , a computer science lover is at the beck and call of Madam Patricia whenever the library goes through some stress in the cyber world. Look at his diligence. He would drop by early in the morning before he reports to office for work. Madam Patricia says when she has reached the epitome of problems, James like a deer, will swiftly run to rescue her. He is a good son of Seafield. He extends his hand in times of need. A gem indeed.



This is another good son of Seafield. Based in Boston, he never fails to look us up whenever he is in town. Yesterday, he brought a few of us out for tea and told us about his life in the States. Every inch an outstanding worker, he is highly appreciated by his company and is well rewarded. He is now the proud owner of his own abode and cheekily says he lets out a room to help pay his mortgage ! A typical Chinese who never believes in renting except to possess! Kenn Min once led the school as the head boy and still preserves himself in good stature. He brings in huge profits to the company and travels to China for business too. He gets away with conversational Mandarin ; believe him when he says if it's China you are looking at, learn the language.

The bachelor says he is ready for greater committments only after he has established himself further; he will be a good provider, protector and partner ! Catch him !

The boys brought home memories.They were the first batch of students to start off in Form 1 and right through to Form 5 in Seafield. They reminded us of others like Cherry, Jun Liong, Baljit, Kian Yang, Chai Yen, Stephanie...all I am sure are doing well in their fields of work.

Who among them will start the alumni for the school?

Good Memories

Capture them and put them in your pocket !

It is good to reflect on the good times when we are alone; to sustain us in our journey here and to bring smiles into our lives.

Some many months ago when the sun was hot enough and the precipitation was just sufficient, flowers bloomed in the garden of my house.

I love to see them at their prettiest.

Frangipani so pink and pretty...



The hardy orchids which stay lovely for a good many days...

The captivating drunken sailor which exudes sweet fragrance in the nights...

And the everlasting blooms of the bougainvillas that never fail to make your heart skip...

Good memories are meant to be kept and cherished.

Create many good memories in life.

Discard the not so lovely ones and get on with life.

The Pen

At an Interview.

I remember Grace telling me that at the interview for admission to IMU, several questions were thrown at her to test her impromptu responses to surprises. On the hindside it is really meaningful because a medical officer would be expected to respond as creatively as possible under even the most stressful circumstances.


Give 10 uses of the pen :

• to measure
• to colour
• to poke holes
• to defend
• to stir
• to draw
• to exercise the fingers
• to point
• to touch the screen
  
  
  
  
  

And finally to hold Esther's hair in a bun.

Anymore?

Guilty

Even if it's a dollar note.

The church is therapeutic and good for the soul. Each Sunday when you hear the minister speaks, you will tend to reflect the value, teaching and maybe chiding upon your own life. To be honest, it is a tough job because there is bound to be some corrections be it your attitude, thoughts and actions based on the teaching of God. It is not an easy job to stay right all the time. But we can at least reconcile and be humble enough to admit mistakes. After all, the faith is a walking relationship with a Living God who is there to whisper, tell and persuade you to walk in the light.

Next, Pastor narrated that he received a torn and tattered but cellophane-taped one dollar note from a vendor while purchasing some goods. So while exiting from a mall and when given the opportunity to pay the parking toll, he simply produced that tattered note. Who with a right mind would want that note? Not that the Pastor had none when he received it except that it was just too tedious to turn back; so he graciously spared that vendor the agony of rejection.

So now Pastor had to rectify the situation himself. When the parking attendant naturally asked for a new note ... lo and behold dear Pastor's first response was a No. When else could he get rid of it? But greater than the lie was that Voice. That's a lie ; be it a small one. Sensitive to that Voice, Pastor quickly retracted his action and gave a new note to the attendant. Pastor said if he chose to ignore that, then maybe there will come a day when he can no more hear it. You become less and less sensitive and that is detrimental as we harden.

Thank you Pastor, for the sharing.

Breaks

Everyone needs a break; young or old.

So we thought it's time that nooks and corners be created for breaks. Today was a good day. The Principal while preparing herself for a real break from the school officiated a sweet ceremony on the opening of some nooks of the staffroom.

A Principal with a heart for her staff, she took it to challenge us to set up cosy nooks for the teachers to have ownership of the room and to cater to their many pot luck sessions where interpersonal and intrapersonal transactions take place. You will be surprised how pleased the teachers were with this new feature as they gather in heartfelt joys and appreciation for the simple opening ceremony this day both in the morning and evening...two kitchenettes ; one for the morning staff and the other for the afternoon. Madam Teh is always adamant that there should be fairness and minimises partiality.



The teachers are great. They are compliant and well-trained to receive instructions. It's indeed a pleasure to reward them in big and small ways; for to make them comfortable and happy is fundamental to a happy working ethos.




The motherly and fatherly group are most at home with the new addition. You feel their sense of ownership for the place and they keep the place clean after use. Why oh why did it take such along time to happen? ... foresight amiss!

Look at the great beams ... smiles.

Just as excited and elated, the young afternoon teachers, many of whom are of Grace's contemporaries, are teachable and happily set up an afternoon tea together to celebrate the occasion.

The nooks needed to be named ... guess them.

Yes... it's D' Teh Corner for the afternoon nook, the naming being at the request of Doris and Praba. It's tea and it's the Principal's initials! Appropriately decided.

And...what can be closer than this for the morning nook ? It's Coffee Breaks at the request of Periachee!

So, it's coffee and tea...and maybe milo too; one day at another nook of the school?

One day when we the pioneers of the school leave the school, we have these for the rest of the school to remember us by. When reality sets in and as we, the older ones take turns to retire, it's heart-jolting because much feelings and expressions of love have been poured into the school. On the one hand our bodies tell us it's time for the rest but on the other , there seems more to be achieved and work for. There's no denial there is this sense of forlorness to depart for another journey in the days ahead. We leave behind teachers many of whom have been our colleagues for the past 15? 16 years. Has it been that long? Yes, it has.

Yes, coffee and tea breaks to almagate and tie us together in good memories and friendship.