hquek:

The beautiful thing is that there is nowadays a lot more emphasis on learning through play. While I do not dispute the 'absorbality' of such lessons, thing is, when kids go into mainstream learning, they have to sit for long long periods on a single chair, in a classroom that probably looks plain compared with their kindy days, won't there be problems adjusting?

absolutely, while it's gd to try to make learning fun, we have to remember, it's serious business n will never be more fun than an Xbox, PSP or just the plain old playground. If it ain't fun, too bad, it isn't meant to be in the first place!!

carebear:

How often do you have to clean the dishwasher and does it take long to clean one?

It doesn't just wash dishes, it also washes pots, pans, cups, basically every cooking/eating utensil, except claypots LOL So unless they invent disposable pots/pans.......hehe

If u scrape all the leftover food into the dustbin before putting inside the dishwasher, the machine itself requires NO cleaning. Just run on full power mode once a month and it will clean itself.

If some joker in the family doesn't clear the plate before putting inside the machine, then just remove the food-particle-filter and throw away the offending chicken bone and stuff stuck there, that's all.

It's a wonderful machine

sunflower:

Hi, hi, me use Electrolux too! ...and I agree with what you said abt the dishwasher. Do you use salts and rinse-aid for all dishes or just glassware? I only use dishwasher powder as we don't use glassware. Does the salts and rinse-aid make washing cleaner? :?

I use salts and rinse-aid for everything. It makes everything cleaner.

I agree that for most part, Finland is doing the right thing with regards to education, but there are a few points i do not agree with.


1) What’s wrong with longer school hours? School is the place where children are trained for adulthood. Training should be as tough as possible, so that children are more than adequately trained for adult life. Adults, even in relaxed countries, typically work 9am to 5pm. School hours should mirror that, so that from a young age, children get used to such a pattern of life. In SG, school hours are generally too short, school holidays are too frequent and too long. Children grow up expecting to have "June and Dec holidays", they get tired the moment they have to study/work beyond 3pm. The precise recipe for grooming a population of lazy people.

Even as a pri sch student, my dad woke me up at 6am every single day, even school holidays and made me do homework. The result is that i grew up expecting life to be such, and i see the benefit. My wife, on the contrary, had a hard time adjusting to adult life, and she suffered a lot. (We were teenaged lovers, so i watched her grow up LOL)

With longer school hours, children have more time to learn and have a wide variety of subjects, such as philosophy and maybe even martial arts. Now, lesson periods are too short, and leads to needless cramming.

2) It’s not a good thing to keep children in a familiar environment for too long. Once in a while, teachers, school and fellow classmates should change. This will train the child to learn how to adapt, in an occasionally changing environment. This will foster the child to become more adaptable, not to mention the changes will allow the child to learn more, from different people and environment.

The same environment for too long, can foster bad traits as well. Imagine a teacher with bad traits teaching the child for so long, the child acquires the traits? Or being in the same class with the same bloody class bully/gangsters for 10 years?

The world is always changing, and children must grow up ready for it.

3) People, including children, always do better in a relaxed environment. The environment can be relaxed, but the atmosphere must be formal, not informal. School is serious stuff, and learning is a discipline, not a hobby or for leisure. An informal environment only trivialises the importance of knowledge and education. The workplace and industry is also an informal one, why should children grow up thinking it’s all fun and games?

It’s possible to be informal, yet relaxed. Sounds strange, but can be done, and is better for children this way. School isn’t play, and they must know that from the start. Want to play, go to the playground.

I’m using a dishwasher. It’s Electrolux and costs around $900.


If u r the type who’s able to wash an entire dinner set using only 2 pails of water, then yes, the dishwasher uses more water than that.

But for me, it actually saves water, because the way my wife washes dishes is with the tap running away :x But i would say, for the average person, it uses less water than washing by hand.

Yes, it uses electricity, but considering average wages in SG costs more than electricity, u r actually "saving money". Would u rather spend 30 mins with your child and pay a few dollars in extra electricity, or spend the time washing dishes?

It’s less clean than hand-wash, but clean enough lah. Big hotels and restaurants use it, clean enough? The 75-degree hot water will kill most bacteria u can think of, not to mention the ultra-strong detergent that dishwashers require. But for glassware, it’s actually cleaner than hand-wash, because of the use of salts and rinse-aid.

U gotta stack the dishes properly though, according to manufacturer’s specifications, and soak heavily stained dishes first (actually hand-wash also have to do that wad).

Overall, a wonderful device, i wonder why Singaporeans are so resistant to it. My mother actually commented, "why u so lazy ah?" LOL

Cheval:

What do you mean by 'true-blue' Singaporeans? Do you consider expats' kids grown up or even born here as Singaporean? If not, I'd rather find you narrow-minded. LKY is patiently waiting for the 2nd generation of the expats to serve Singapore. He is a genuine far-seeing leader.

kindly read carefully before commenting n think carefully before calling someone narrow minded.

Of course anyone with a pink IC n is fully patriotic n loyal to the country is a true Singaporean. Why does it matter if their parents r expats? Ridiculous question.

Adam Khoo said FOREIGNERS aka expats will one day rule Singapore,he didn't say naturalized children of expats. Totally different idea.

Ridiculously narrow-minded view. Singapore has a dearth of talent by virtue of our small population size.


What makes him think that China, India or any other "powerhouse", don’t face their own problems with over-pampered kids who lack hunger? The need for talented individuals is a global phenomena, if he thinks that that will lead to Singapore being "taken over" by foreigners, that’s a surprisingly shallow view.

Parent1:

As a Singaporean, I am not complaining. I think that in a meritocratic
society like Singapore , it is only fair that the very best get rewarded,
no matter their race, religion or nationality. Like Lee Kwan Yew said, I
rather have these talented and driven people be on our team contributing to
our nation than against us from their home country.

Another load of meritocratic crap. Meritocracy is not everything, which unfortunately, our country has come to worship.

Why not sack your own parents and get someone better qualified to be your parents? There are always better people out there mah LOL

I rather have moderately adequate true-blue Singaporeans running our own Motherland, than highly capable foreigners ruling our own homes. The guest, no matter how highly qualified, remains a guest, and can only sleep in the guest room, not beside my wife.

atrecord:

My grandma cried when she heard that, but understood my grandpa's slogan of 国家: 先有国 ，才有家 (the Chinese phrase of country, made up of the characters 'nation' first, followed by 'home' behind it), and so agreed with him.

I hope your grandfather has inspired you to be patriotic. In this day and age, don't say young people, I find that even those who grew up with the nation, those in their 50s, are not patriotic at all. Selfish bastards. In the old days, men were real heroes. Now they're just cowards.

winth:

If only I had such genes for my eyes...

Blue eyes is a recessive gene. It is apparently most common in northern European populations, although i suspect some north Indians have it, as they were descended from the soldiers of Alexander The Great when he conquered north India.