Our GOH for today's college day event was amazingly down-to-earth and clear of thought. She not only noticed how creative and expressive our art students are from the paintings we display all over campus, but also how angry, repressed and suppressed their subject matter was.

While she was sympathetic, her advice was practical and sound. Sure, students understandably feel constrained by the rules they live under, by the expectations people have of them, by having to do whatever they're told or face some arbitrary consequence, particularly if they are still in a school system. In contrast, the world promises freedom, everyone being able to do, dress, say what they like; and the difference just makes it harder to live in the suffocating environment of teenage student life.

But the school is pretty much the only place in which our young can learn that there have to be rules, lines drawn that set their standards and values for life. Without having to live under rules, being thrown into a world with no rules is more frightening than it sounds. As she put it, rules provide "points of reference" from which we can deal with the strange and the unknown.

Students feel they can't be creative or learn creativity under the pressure of their restraints. But it's in having to manouvre within our constraints that's where creativity can bloom. There's nothing creative about running off to live a hermit's life -- there's no audience for what a hermit does -- but it's in learning to live with others and to relate to them that's when we need to be creative, and that's also when other people can appreciate our creativity as well.

Our GOH is wheelchair-bound. She may be disabled, but she's so genuinely positive. I give her credit because she doesn't speak in platitudes, just from good sense. Hence, unlike other happy disabled people (or even happy abled people), she doesn't give me the creeps. Perhaps her disability gives her an added dimension of being able to enjoy life to the fullest, while the rest of us simply take life for granted. It's a timely wake-up call.

2 days' of sick leave and I feel so behind on my schedules. I wonder if codine really works for coughs or if it's real purpose is to knock people out so they won't have to endure cold symptoms until the cold decides to go away by itself?

Anyway, been back at work for 2 days already since my MC ran out, and these have been days of many long hours, trying to catch up on the 2 days I lost. Maybe that's why people don't go on MC when they need to. Just because we're sick doesn't mean the work will go away.

Currently in a semi-happy, drug-induced torpor. Got tired of having asthma-like symptoms at night for the past few nights, so I sought medical attention this morning. Got 2 days' medical leave and some pretty powerful medicine that makes my knees all wobbly, jelly-like. Seems to be working as I've been breathing quite normally this evening. Doc says it's probably some viral infection and that the antibiotics should take care of it.

June's just gone off to Japan, blissfully unaware of my state. Didn't tell her 'cos I don't want her to worry unnecessarily. She's a bit miffed 'cos her team came in second in the big staff race her company organizes annually. This year the company's racing dragonboats, and since I've had some experience in the area, June got me to give her team some 'secret' instruction with a paddle I borrowed from college last night.

With her strategizing and me instructing, she felt she was doing everything she could to get the advantage in the race. But today, her Boss's boat outpowered her boat to win the race. I dunno, I say if the Boss is happy, that isn't bad news.

I always have a good time working with Drama. The kids work with so much purpose and when they take on roles of responsibility, they carry them out so competently and with such confidence that these learning experiences are what they really remember from their college experience.

There's so much learning and growing that's taken place in the last few weeks as the Drama Club has been putting Othello together. So much innovation, so much creativity in the publicity machine (lovely posters and T-shirts!), in the props and set design, in the interpretation of characters; and so much hard work and dedication, just for 3 shows that are over almost before we know it. It was a wonderful journey getting there!

But I am quite upset when I hear that their subject tutors won't give them a break, but instead show displeasure or even punish the kids for the odd missed assignment or a tutorial. A person's energy is a finite resource, and when that person is giving his or her all for a cause, it's difficult to be 100% everytime.

We tutors tend to overstate the importance of our subjects without looking at the holistic development of the student. Just because they aren't scratching out answers on worksheets or scribbling essays doesn't mean they aren't learning anything. For example, there's so much historical knowledge to gain from immersing the students in Venice at the time of the Ottoman empire. And such background info will also help prepare them to play out their roles with better understanding as well.

It's the context that learning takes place in, and if we can make the kids feel that it's learning they can use, they learn faster and more willingly. Because it makes sense to them.

I'm sorry that our system makes learning so compartmentalized, so rigidly inflexible. I'm sorry our personalities and egos interpret students' lapses as signs of disrespect or negligience or laziness. I'm sorry we feel compelled to "regain control" of the situation by compelling attention from our students one way or another.

Sometimes, I wonder if we could arrange the subjects that the students take by CCA instead of an arbitrary subject combination by 'tikam' method. Classes will support the CCA by teaching background theory that the kids need to have, the CCA will put their learning into application and practice. That way curriculum and co-curriculum would be more symbiotic, as will the subject combination, and the kids won't have to feel so torn and divided dealing with everything.

Ok, enough rant. Wanna see a couple of pix from Othello?

Chief bigwigs of Venice, the Duke and 2 Senators.

The cast and crew of Othello 2007

We're in the middle of the matinee show of Othello. My scene's over so I'm just hangin' around waiting for the interval so I can buy drinks and ice-cream.

Shakespeare's stuff is a challenge for a school to perform. The language is different from what we're used to, and it's worse for the audience if the actors don't pronounce their words properly. There's no doubt that our actors know their lines and their motivations, but the delivery of those lines requires a speech therapist to perfect. Or, perhaps more time to practice, which we don't have. I hear the audience would like subtitles, but perhaps it's also an opportunity to practice their listening skills too, eh?

It was fun performing to friends in the audience last night, but this afternoon and evening it'll be a more scrutinized show. Our audience will be mainly students who are taking Othello as exam text, and I hear a couple of actors who are involved in their own Shakespearean productions will be in the crowd tonight as well.

1 more show to go!

Last night we ran Othello straight through in full-dress rehearsal mode. The set designers did a great job with our tiny LT2 space, draping militant-looking banners strategically around the venue. With the atmosphere realized and everyone in costume, all cast and crew could see the whole thing in a complete package, and Madames Directeur, Tina et Mel, liked what they saw, despite their anxiety from a week ago.

It helped that we were performing to a 'live' audience as well, comprising fellow students from the JC1 lit bunch. There's something about performing to a crowd that raises the energy of our output. I think we're peaking at just about the right time.

While I say we had a great run, please don't come in with expectation that we are the RSC or something. It's that we've reached our level of expectation for our standard, with the potential of exceeding it somewhat in the next couple of days. That's quite something already, seeing how much work and commitment the kids have put in to get us this far.

Looking forward to opening night...

Inter-house lunchtime debates took place at the library. We decided on some copyright issue to let the Drags and Griffs argue over. There was a lot of passion on the Griff side as they argued their case, while the Drags were quicker with raising and responding to POIs.

We had the library transformed into a small arena. I thought at first that setting up so many seats would mean lots of empty seats, but we did manage to get most of the seats filled in after all.

Thanks to Linc and Wayne for being co-adjucators.

Debaters still have a long way to go in terms of clashing on the issues, they're right now just at the stage of coming up with enough material to cover 8 minutes' worth of speech. Still, I must applaud their courage to continue their training. They will get good, given time and exposure.

It must be great to be as sociable as Amy is. She knows of excellent eating spots where she has friends working at, and because they're friends we know our service is in good hands. Amy introduced us to Ragazzi: Italian food, kopitiam prices. The ingredients come in fresh daily from Tekka Market, hand-picked by the chef himself.

My penne pascatore (mussels and prawns in tomato sauce) went down easily with teh peng (iced-tea), in just the right quantity -- not enough to bloat but enough to satisfy. The tomato soup was thick and creamy, almost the consistency of paste, and freshened up with chopped basil leaf. The mushroom soup looked really tempting too, but I resisted 'cos I wanted to keep something to look forward to next time I'm in the neighbourhood.

NBS shared a rather large tiramisu with HP and me. It was rich, though unusually watery where the cake pastry should be. Dunno if it was meant to be like that but it tasted just fine.

10 of us in 3 cars went for lunch, and then on to our seminar at which we heard from a couple of local bigwigs from ASEAN, yes our regional political, security and trading bloc. I notice that S'poreans tend to be, the bigger the title, the stronger the self-deprecating humour. Our 2 speakers were very candid as they expounded on the 40 years of the bloc's history, the necessity of the organization, and the realities of it's members' associations with each other.

In the evening, I rejoined the Drama Club to rehearse a full run before showtime this Friday/Saturday. Busy, busy...

So much controversy in today's ST forum pages, both print and online, about kids and education. There are concerns that kids don't speak good enough Mandarin, kids don't speak good enough English, and kids don't get to speak enough, period. The examinations are biased towards those who write well, so smart kids who can't write suffer because they are penalized for the one ability they haven't mastered. Kids are unhealthy because they spend too much time cooped up indoors doing an assembly line of homework, thus sacrificing the playtime in the sunshine that they need for a balanced, wholesome upbringing.

Who'd wanna be a kid in these times when everything has gone so wrong for everyone at schooling age? It's crazy! Sure, it seems like everyone blames the 'system' but kids are only hearing that in the end, it's them that's not good enough. They have nothing to say and no language ability to express themselves fully anyway. They are pale and pudgy, and though they are running non-stop like little cogs in a relentless machine they're still gonna lose out to the Chinese eventually. And conversely, in the words of good Brabantio, "Who'd be a father?"

Adults, I tell you what, if there's anything that's killing our kids, it's your endless worry and your inability to let go and let your kids grow up. All this hand-holding that you're doing, you may think it's for your kids' good, but you can't hand-hold them forever. The biggest liability your kids will have as they walk into the future is having to drag your corpse along with them by the hand. :(

Maybe if we can all stop our incessant teaching and preaching for a while, our kids might just find the space to poke their heads from under their shells and start learning for a change. So parents, teachers, adults, find the value in taking the advice you so love to repeat to your kids: shut up, please. And stop masterminding the future for them -- it's theirs to shape, not yours.

What's a well-dressed Duke wearing these days? Mel said my working black trousers were too casual, and that I would have to get a pair of "dress blacks" instead. Since my wedding suit was cut for a much smaller man, I had to go shopping. Picked up a pair from Centrepoint. Dress pants are much lighter and made of a thinner material than I am accustomed to. They flow a little better, and they do look more formal. Wonder what other occasion I can wear them on?

Then I had to get a pair of Doc Marten's to replace the formal shoes I keep under my office desk for special occasions. Like for example, last Friday's formal ceremony, immediately after which the right sole ripped off, hence requiring replacement.

So with pants and shoes, I can't wait to see what Mel picked up from the costume shop for the Duke's top. Actually, since my scene is supposed to be taking place late at night, perhaps the Duke should be wearing a nightgown and bedroom slippers, clutching a teddy-bear while discussing state affairs with his senators. That would make sense to me 'cos the Duke would need his beauty sleep ASAP. After all, the war begins tomorrow!

First time in a long while that I'm wearing my CLs again. Hope my infection has finally cleared up. What happened earlier was that before I had realized that I had an eye infection, I thought that the discomfort I was feeling would be solved by replacing my old lenses with a new pair. When I started wearing my new pair, my left eye was still infected , and it damaged my new left lens so badly it went blurry on me. No choice in the matter, I had to buy yet another lens to replace the new damaged lens. Fortunately, Leow charged me only half-price for the replacement.

It's great to be rid of my clunky old glasses again, but I'm gonna have to be more careful with my lenses. Clean and disinfect them as directed, and not wear them any longer than is healthy. Guess that's the moral of the day.

The day of our planned for long, leisurely lunch began with a little anxiety about where to eat. The weekday high tea is almost non-existent already, and because we could only leave at 1400, many set lunch type places would be closing their kitchens within the next half-hour.

It was Josh that brilliantly suggested the little tea shop within Eclectic Attic in PS. Eclectic Attic stocks an array of antique furniture and knick knacks in such variety that made Josh's head spin. As it was, at our table, Amy, HP and Belinda shared an ornate bench carved with an ivy motif that cost nearly $4k; while Josh and I shared another $1k bench cushioned and covered over with black & white Holstein cow hide. Bizarre.

The set up is like an English tea house -- dainty yet not stuffy. The service is attentive and good humoured, they have to be to put up with us. They respond to the little porcelain hand bell placed at our table, and they come round often with hot water to top up our tea.

The a la carte lunch menu looks appetizing, though they feature foi gras which I try to avoid, but Josh gamely tried it as a side to his hamburger steak. My own steak, though juicy and tasty, was unfortunately quite stringy, held together by muscle fibre that took quite some work chewing. But then I think the place is better known for their tea menu.

I was quite impressed with the scones Amy ordered. They came hot and very fragrant served with butter and Devonshire cream and a choice of honey or jam. There are other cake pastries for the sweeter of tooth, as well as gelati. Their earl grey tea is quite remarkable in that it maintained it's pleasant flavour over a couple of top-ups and because the tea never grew too strong with prolonged soaking, there was no need to remove the tea bag at all. Dunno what brand of tea that was, but I'd like to find out.

In the evening, I had another steak. Met up with June and introduced NBS and Vince to Pepper Lunch. June chalked up enough stamps on her incentive card to get a free soft ice-cream. Macha flavoured, sprinkled over with a layer of green tea powder which I though was quite ok for $1.70, though June thought it was quite ordinary.

Another memorable Thursday spent in good company.

Never seen Sun Plaza so crowded before. Must be because today is the opening day for Spider-Man 3, and it's the Labour Day holiday to boot! A blockbuster tends to bring in good business for the mall too.

How was Spidey 3? Well, it was slick with a bunch of amazing CGI effects. Venom came off quite believably, though he didn't have as much screen time as I'd hoped. The Sandman, well, we've seen before, not all that much different visually from the sandstorm in The Mummy Returns, and I think they tested some of that sand-cloud effect in Ghost Rider from a couple of months earlier.

Compared to the previous 2 movies, #3 had a rather patchy storyline. Too many story threads being woven into too short a time frame to tell it all in. There was also a lack of a strong villain character holding the plot together, the way the Goblin in #1 and Doc Ock in #2 brought focus to the earlier 2. The Sandman, I suppose, came closest, but while he had pathos, his psychosis was not really from within himself, but rather as a result of being in wrong place at the wrong time. With Venom and the New Goblin, there are too many villain types sharing the spotlight. That may be a great opportunity for lots of action sequences, but dilutes the characterizations of each.

Speaking of character dilution, poor Gwen Stacey got the short end of the stick. She got an exciting sequence in the movie, but what Peter did to her was unforgivable, black costume notwithstanding. I know allowances have to be made for the film genre, but Gwen was Peter's first love and her character should never have been treated so shabbily. I'll always consider Loeb and Sale's 'Blue' as THE definitive Gwen Stacey story. So there.

Nevertheless, Spidey 3 still manages to play with our emotions (though not up to the intensity of 2). Not often a blockbuster movie ends with grown men shedding tears for each other, and perhaps some of the audience along with them. And JJJ and the Maitre 'd played by Bruce Campbell prove that the funniest scenes belong to those characters that take themselves the most seriously.

The Spidey franchise still thrills visually and charms emotionally, but it is getting a little tired and needs a nice long rest after this episode. In showbiz you always have to leave the audience begging for more.

Campus got transformed into something of a mini-carny today. Apart from these air puppets which never fail to make me feel inexplicably euphoric, there were other inflatable devices to bounce on too. The occasion, of course, was to celebrate the College's 30th birthday.

'deep took me on at the jousting station -- Othello vs the Duke. Whoever stays on his pedestal is the winner, though in our game I think the results were rather inconclusive. One thing I discovered was that our pedestals were intentionally unstable, so while we're trying to push each other off with our padded quarter-staffs, our legs and knees were wobbling all over the place at the same time. It didn't take long for a grown man to fall.

The celebrations were both formal and informal. The task of making loud music to keep the carny side awake fell to me and my trusty little crew of DJs. Actually, "DJ" doesn't accurately describe them, they were running their playlists off my laptop, so I guess that makes them mp3Js.

These are them who've been keeping me busy for most of the past couple of weeks working out a balance of scripted and unscripted on-air chatter to go with the noisy music they selected to play. On the one hand, they were supposed to keep the carny lively and happenin' while making various announcements as required every quarter hour or so, but on the other, they also had to announce for the formal part of the programme too: basically informing the people stuck on the carny side what the movements of the GOH were, and where various sets of people should be at what time. AND deal with a wildly successful (free) song dedication service as well. Most of them are either debaters or journos, which is how they volunteered (no quotation marks) to take on this duty. Great kids, these, and I'm so grateful to them for the job they did today.

And a couple of old friends dropped by to say "hi!" B'lina and Cara met us for a caffeine fix in Gardens after the celebrations were finally over. That was, after NBS (on my behalf) confiscated the laptop powering our little makeshift radio station, and that was all there was to the evening's entertainment. Everybody just had to go home then.

Nice to catch up with Cara before she leaves for post-grad and possibly work in Holland. Yeah. Who knows when she'll swing by around here again? Anyway, happy birthday to the college, and happy trails, Cara!

Today marks another step for me up the hierarchy of the industry. The letter and the handshake confirm it. That must mean I'm getting more and more settled into this job. Odd because I never really meant to make a career out of it.

It's assuring to know that while I'm happy doing what I'm doing, Management is also happy to let me continue doing it. It's also ironic to be thus rewarded, because in the length of time I've been in the service, the one who's benefited most from what I've been doing is myself. While my job is to teach, I feel that I've learned much more than I've taught.

That, I think, is only possible with a great working environment; good friends among colleagues; and a sharing, open culture in which everyone is glad to lend a hand to shoulder each other's loads. When we can share our different strengths, talents and expertise within the staffroom it shows that the learning culture doesn't just stop in the classroom.

If I've stayed in the service longer than I originally intended, it's because of y'all who've made campus life so bearable. Thanks!

Suffice to say I've been unusually busy. Don't wanna say too much about that 'cos I don't wish to sound like I'm complaining, and indeed, I'm not. But it has been tiring and most nights I'm just too brain dead to do much more than zzzz...

Anyway, 1 task complete is the 5th print ish of NYconnex, college 30th anniversary edition. Must thank Jane and the publicity people for helping me finance the printing of this and subsequent issues. Download here.

Bought S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Boy, do I ever hate it. A major waste of money for me. But not because it's a lousy game or anything. It's more a reflection of my age and of my being unable to keep up with the sensory overload that the game prides itself in providing.

The graphics attempt to get as realistic as possible and I keep getting distracted with every dancing leaf, every swaying blade of grass. It gets so that I can't tell what's scenery and what's an enemy until it's 'Game Over'. I haven't even properly begun the game yet, but I'm lying face-down in a puddle of mud already. Killed by an enemy I didn't or couldn't see. Blech.

As so often is the case now, the movement makes me sick. No more FPS for this tired old man. I'll waste my time on C&C3 from now on. I blew a wad of cash on the limited edition DVD edition of STALKER but I willing to part with it already. Bidding opens at $30 (<50% of purchase price). Just drop me a comment, best bid by Friday 27 April wins.

Meantime, I'm gonna enjoy the free 29" Samsung HDTV Starhub delivered this evening. Yes.

Unbelievably busy this week, and zonked as a consequence. Some of it is my own fault, for accepting jobs I could have said 'no' to, but it seemed like fun at the time. They still are, though I wish they didn't all have to worked on and completed simultaneously.

Take yesterday... fresh out of having pulled off a near all-nighter on laying out the latest print NYconneX, it was debate training in the morning, 'Othello' in the mid-afternoon, college 30th anniversary rehearsal in the late afternoon ('nuff said), and June & I joined JY for part of the night-cycling activity with the Outdoors club. It was close to midnight when our group set off.

Each item on the list is a pleasure in itself, but all jam-packed in a 24-hour block, it gets quite draining.

Still, I did have time for a good dinner with June. We went to Pepper Lunch at Novena Square. It's like a do-it-yourself teppan-yaki . A thin slice of meat cut into bite-size pieces, served sizzling on a hot plate. One side is already being seared while the other is still raw. The diner must quickly turn the bits of meat over to get an evenly cooked meal. Each dish comes with a heap of bean-sprouts, and a couple of French beans and carrot slices. And a bowl of rice.

It's a dining concept so simple, there's no need for a chef. Just someone who can heat up hot plates all day long. And, of course, order-taking staff -- it is a fast food joint after all.

This year's night-cycling began with us already fatigued from the morning's exertions. No surprise that we didn't travel as far as we did the last time. What wiped June out was the uphill slope up Henderson, even before we got to ascend the long steep incline leading up to Telok Blangah Park, the 1st rest-stop. Nevertheless, that was a considerable distance from our starting point at Fort Road (ECP) while cycling almost continuously for about 2 hours straight. So no guilt giving up at that point.

The coming week isn't going to be any less packed. I say, bring it on!

Some days, I feel like I'm a hundred monkeys banging away at the keys of a hundred typewriters. The odds are that at random occasions, something coherent might actually come out of it.

Why do we love video games so much? Maybe it's because they provide a form of activity in which we can drop all our inhibitions, and simply revel in immersing ourselves in our raw emotions without the self-censorship of our social filters.

Living in society means living with people, and we all know that isn't easy. Getting along with others means having to compromise, giving up many of personal desires for some perceived "greater good". Often, we judge our desires as "selfish", or "perverted", or even "deviant", and so we justify to ourselves why we can't have them. It's all in the name of maintaining good relations with the people around us.

But with video games, There's no need for politeness or social grace, no need for masks or suppression of desire. There are only obstacles to overcome and rewards to reap. These desires are legitimized in the video game as goals, but they are so much more simple than in real life. Find. Kill. Heal. Upgrade. Win.

And since we aren't dealing with real people in a real context, we can truly be ourselves. But, you know what, human beings must really be social animals because when we do indulge in being ourselves, it isn't a pretty picture. Observe:

This mug is one in a series of photos of people at play on an Xbox. You can view the rest of the series here.