Escaped from campus today to attend a course on the New Subject which will be introduced into the curriculum next year. It's a fascinating examination of how it is we know what we know, and how it is that we trust what we know to be the truth. Well, that's just a simplified version of what we expect our kids to grapple with, even as I am grappling with it in this blog. The subject really should be called, "quid est veritas?" because this little Latin phrase summarises its objectives quite succinctly.

No question, it is a difficult subject and certainly not for the fainthearted. It is for those with an undefeatable sense of adventure, a drive for discovery, and a passion to challenge the known for the sake of gaining greater understanding of the unknowable. This, of course, leads to a small problem: how to teach this subject in such a way that the students will develop their innate curiousity and turn it into a sharp, practical tool of inquiry as they strive to seek answers throughout the rest of their lives? This, no one can teach us pioneer teachers facilitators of this new subject. We will have to learn on-the-job even as the kids struggle to make headway exploring the human mindscape. Wonder how many intrepid explorers we have out there amongst the next year's batch of 16 year-olds? How many of my previous batch might have taken up this challenge if it was offered to them?

Being in town for this course meant being just a short distance from the original Killeny Road Kopi Tiam, the one that was closed for CNY a couple of weeks ago. Today, NBS and I got to try their nasi lemak which was generously spread over with sambal chilli. Very basic, no-frills and no add-on options either. The kaya toast is different from Ya Kun's in that Killeny Road uses thicker slices of bread, lightly toasted, with warmer, meltier butter and a subtler kaya spread. I don't know which kaya toast I like better. Given a choice, I'd prefer to let someone else make the decision and I'll just go with it.

It is now evident that my parallel parking is better than my reverse bay parking. No problems parking at Lloyd Road, though I forgot to display my parking coupons and had to run back before the URA auntie came along. Good thing I hadn't gone far before I realised my mistake. Also, coming into town into the ERP zones is very expensive. The $10 I had in my cashcard diminished suddenly to slightly more than a dollar just from entering the zone! How do people drive in on a daily basis? It must cost a fortune!