Heritage tours to Chinatown

As a parent volunteer in a pri school that is near my place, I followed the students for a heritage tour to Chinatown yesterday morning. The tour is conducted by a very experienced STB tour guide Mrs May. Her interesting commentaries made the tour really informative and I was surprised that being a Singaporean I didnt even know of such places and some of the things shared. It was really an eye opener for me. Though we walked for nearly 3 hours from Telok Ayer, Amoy Street, Ann Siang Hill to Pagoda street, Chinatown, I enjoyed myself admidst the hot scorching sun and tired feets. If given a chance, would like to bring my kids to experience such tours.

Unfortunately, I rushed out in the morning and forgot all abt my camera so dont have any photos to put in the blog.

Some of the interesting facts shared are :

1. Tan Thiam Hock temple is built without any nails. The whole structure is built so precisely on top of each other (just like lego blocks)

2. The 1st ACS school is along Amoy Street. The badge and the name is still at the shophouse and preserved but too bad , now is sold off to a PUB

3. Along Chinatown NE Line exit , we went to the shophouses which used to be an opium den and the coolie squarters.

4. At Telok Ayer Gardens (opp Hokkien Huay Kuay), there are those iron scupltures displaying the olden days lifestyles like the indian milk man, the old junk boat etc

5. We went into the Lee Clan Association where they still use blackboard and chalk for their announcement and there is an airwell in the centre of the hall for ventilation.

6. At the indian temple in Chinatown, the guide explained that the mango leaves symbolises welcome and to walk of evil and the leaves that are shaped like spears are to ward off evil. The banana leaves outside the temple symbolises that a special event is coming up. Apparently , today is Taipusum Festival .

Many many other interesting stuff shared...

My Bundle of Joy

The Yiangsters posing for a good shot (from left : Nathan, Nicole and Naomi)

Is never too hard to reach and lick my toes

With the addition of our 3rd kid, we are so so busy that we seldom take photos of baby Nicole. Was just commenting to Seb the other day, it seems that we are taking lesser and lesser photos as we have more kids. Baby Nicole is really a bundle of joy to our family. Naomi and Nathan loves her dearly and she is the inspiration to them every morning to get up early.

Nicole is a real cheerful baby, always smiling and giggling or screaming to attract attention. Thank God for this gift. By looking and carrying her, one can forget the tiredness and frustration from parenting and raising up the kids.

Learnings from Psalms

This morning, I began the day with a bad start. It was supposed to be good news to me but with a twist to it, it turned out to be a disappointment to me. It is not appropriate to elaborate the long story in this blog but it is work related.

Through the daily devotions on Psalms since the new year, the themes about injustice, about forgiveness towards people who have done me wrong , about standing victorious in trials are really applicable esp today.

I was feelling quite down and bothered by it that I went window- shopping with my two kids in the afternoon just to cheer myself up. Woman dont call "Retail therapy" for nothing, the shopping really helps , trust me !

I have learnt a lesson from both in the physical and spiritual side of things today.

Thank God for your test and trial, so that I may learn from it and emerge stronger than before. May God's promises and strength be a constant encouragment to me. Amen !

Spot the Difference

A favorite past time for my kids are "Spot the Difference" puzzles. Got some from bras basah before Christmas when they were having book sale. They especially like these puzzles as they are in sticker forms. A fun and interesting activity to keep your children occupy and also to train their eye for details.

Busy busy ...

Find that I am constantly busy especially after moving to new house and having a newborn. Now that Naomi and Nathan are older, more time is also spent on disciplining them, stopping the fights, nagging them to do this and that instead of wasting their time etc..

Find that my time is not well spent but rather busy juggling my work and managing the kids though I have a domestic helper. Especially when the kids are having the recent school break, I find that my day passes so fast without doing anything productive (in terms completing my work or doing something worthwhile with the kids). I think WAHM (Work at Home Mum) is even tougher than a WM (Working Mum).

Upon reflecting and reading the book "Terrific Toddlers" by Mel Hayde, I realised that I probaby need a schedule for myself and to put my kids in a flexible daily routine. In the book, Mel teaches how mothers can frequently feel calm and in control and children can learn self-control when they can play independently, to share and to be polite and obey. After reading the book, I feel inspired to make a difference in my home and to allow my day to be organised and to do what I need to do as planned in a day.

This is one of my new year resolution and I will blog further next time if this is going to help.

A Teachable Moment

While fetching Naomi from Sunday School today, Seb realised that she was holding a green bangle that doesnt belong to her.

S : Where did you get this bangle ?
N : My friend gave this to me ?
S : Then where is your necklace ?
N : I gave to my friend because she gave me the bangle

Both myself, Seb and my family were angry and disappointed by Naomi's weakness in this area. Though she is only 5 and is a time for her to learn from her mistakes,we were however tired of constantly reminding and telling her not to accept things from people or to borrow or exchange things in school.

Naomi was crying all the way from church to home as she felt bad that she has given away the pearl necklace that grandma gave to her.

I hope that she will learn from this lesson and to have self-control over this area. For me, the lesson to learn is to have the patience to help her to understand why she is behaving this way and to discipline her in love rather than give her an earful of lectures.

Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, don't make your children angry. Instead, train them and teach them the ways of the Lord as you raise them.

Lord, please give me a strength and patience to make use of every teachable moment to train my children in the ways of the Lord so that they will not depart from the truths when they grow up. Amen !

New plans for new year

This whole afternoon had a wonderful planning session with my G12 sisters and the pastor for the Year of Sabbath. This year, our church will concentrate on 3 main areas :

1. Intimacy with God (renew our first love with God), 2. Inter-dependance (build relationship with one another and renew ties with our loved ones) and to 3. Integration (rest and re-creation of the land ie to bless the community). I am looking forward to what's in store for us this year as we begin to draw closer to God and to renew and strengthen our ties with one another.

With the new year, there are new hopes and new plans..is exciting as I was planning what I hope to achieve this year. Some of the things I hope to do this year :


1. Spend deliberate quality time with baby nicole daily on a fixed routine- building her love for stories, literacy, play etc


2. To do up a flexible routine timetable for myself, Naomi and Nathan so that the day can be much more organised to learn, to play and to practise on the piano

3. To help Naomi with Math and Chinese which are the weaker subjects so as to prep her for P1 next year

4. To teach Nathan to read

5. To help them to have a mindset that learning is fun and not boring andnot to pass tests or exams only

6. To have time to play, communicate ideas and values, play or do crafts together, pray and read the bible together.

7. My personal plan this year, I hope to start a parenting website with information , newsletters etc soon so that I can share with other parents what I have learnt from parenting books, parenting courses,websites, my experience in Mindchamps and through teaching Kindermusik.

8. Hope to read one parenting book and one christian book every 2 mths.

9. On the spiritual side, I hope to be more diligent in my quiet time, to pray for my children and family needs on a daily basis and to enjoy the intimacy and to draw near to God.

10. As for family matters, I plan to have couple time alone with my husband once every month , to go out have dinner or lunch together , without the kids.

11. To incorporate on some of the teachings I have learnt during Focus on the Family seminar ie to draw up a family mission statement and to spend individual time with each kid and to discipline them using the methods taught.


12. To have family cell with/without my extended family.

I hope to achieve most of it if not all by end 2008. Hope is not wishful thinking : )

Let's see if I can do it when I blog at the end Dec 08.

"The Brat Pack" -- Are kids any ruder today than they were a generation ago?

A very interesting read indeed. Sarah Mahoney, in her article "The Brat Pack" (Parents, March 2007 Issue, pp 122-126), believes that there is a "manners meltdown" for today's children. One of the main reasons is that today's busy working parents are too tired to discipline their children after a hard day's work. That aggravates the children's rude behaviour because of such "permissive" response from the parents.

Some parents are also being over-protective over their kids. They think that their kids are already stressed up in their school work and it's okay for them to be occasionally rude to them or even others instead of rebuking and correcting them. Other parents are also guilty of feeding their kids with over-sized portions of self-esteem, so much so that kids have rendered themselves more superior than other kids (even adults in some circumstances) in terms of talent and other gifted abilities. The TV media has also promoted rudeness as a cool act.

In her article, she quoted experts' advice to parents to serve as role models to our children. This in fact places the children in good stead in life compared to their peers because of their ability to show empathy to others and not to develop a self-centred approach to the world. It is said that rude children are more likely to face problems in school and even cause trouble to society when they grow up.

What is mind-boggling to me is that the choice of play toys can be influential in a child's perspective of rudeness! Toys encouraging rude behaviours include th breaking of wind from a teddy bear when pressed on its tummy (it should say "excuse me" after breaking of wind), and an ice-filled water gun that makes the squirt hurt.

Sarah also urges parents to set clear standards and communicate them consistently to the children, telling them the reasons behind the rules. For example, telling them not to interupt when someone is speaking. TV programs should be selective and limited whenever possible.

Personally, I try to be consistent in my counselling of my kids. Be real patient that you may need to keep reminding your children to say "please" and "thank you", or to sit still while dining. And you know what, I think my persistence pays off. Nowadays, Naomi and Nathan are behaving much better at meal times instead of running around. The trick is to also get our domestic helper to cooperate with you to maintain consistency in your teachings.