Back in Singapore yesterday, 14 Nov at night. It was a smooth flight from Mumbai which I boarded at 11.50am (SQ421). As Tuesday was my my last day at Mumbai and SIS is still closed for Diwali, I managed to get the car to fetch me to a saloon for my hair-cut. A haircut and wash and set cost Rs230 which is less my usual 10-minute haircut at QB House or Speed! Then it was to Goregon Mall to get some titbits for my Singapore colleagues and friends, enough of the city I suppose. Then it was back to Thakur Mall to get the spices my wife wanted from Star Bazaar Supermarket. At SIS, Sid and I decided to catch the blockbuster film Om Shanti Om at FAME Cineplex in the evening.

THANKS to one and all !!


It was a great film with lots of fine songs and great dancing with a captivating storyline....as if I understood Hindi, haha. But one needed no Hindi to love this hit, lah. The star Shah Rukh Khan must have made the gals cry for more, not least, the guys too . The hit song where he gyrated to the beat showing his 6-pac abs was exhilirating. No wonder Sid has seen the movie three times earlier. If only I had a few more days in Mumbai, I would revisit this Diwali hit movie again. To me, it was a great end to my stay at Mumbai, having grown accustomed to the Bollywood movies and trailors on TV night after night in between blogging, reading the papers and msn-ing my folks and students back home....and what a HOME SWEET HOME it really is to be back in my Singapore, clean and green and fresh air! Goodness, the sight at Mumbai airport when I reached there to check in my luggage was a scene not to be forgotten. People and vehicles jammed packed the drive-way leading to the entrance into the passenger terminal. You literally have to fight your way in with your trolley. And I had a hard time looking for one as all available trolleys were loaded with what looked like bags of flour, queuing to get in. I really appreciate my SIS driver for plucking one from out of the blue...wonder really how he managed to get it.


Inside the terminal was a 2-hour wait after a very smooth checking in....kudos to the ground staff handling this SIA flight. On the dot at 11.50am we took off for Changi Airport and as I peered out of my window seat, I could see the slums around the airport perimeter and then I was struck with sadness really for leaving this city of contrasts and a wonderful learning and sharing experience in SIS Mumbai. I shall be posting my full report to MOE at a later date and will certainly make it a point to thank the very people who had made my PDL attachment here possible. Now that I am back in school with all the admin tasks and planning ahead for the new year, I will indeed find time to post also the procedure for any teacher who would like to follow my path to Mumbai, or for that matter, any PDL attachment overseas. I am sure this would help to smoothen the processes one has to put in place from deciding on the instituition to serve and learn from, to the completion of the PDL.


It leaves me now to close this blog and thank all who had spent time following my experiences and adventures in this city, especially to Greenview colleagues and students for sharing their comments in the blog and on msn.

Surprise for me....I was asked to call SIS driver to fetch me to school but no one was available...still away for Diwali. The HR Manager is still out of town so no way I could go to SIS to clear my stuff and bid all farewell. Perhaps will try again tomorrow. So it gave me another opportunity to roam Mumbai city. The trains were not so crowded today...post Diwali blues?

Mission accomplished! Got three pairs in the city for my dear wife, hahaha... Also met up with SIA General Manager, ChaiWoo in his office - had a chat on life in Mumbai and SIS. Nice chap lah he. Got my PNR printed for flight home. For those coming to Mumbai, remember to print your e-ticket details of flight home, otherwise you may not be able get into the airport terminal. You need to show this to get pass the tight airport security (proof that you have a flight to catch) ...wah...tighter than Changi Airport, lah.

Day 3 of train adventure in Mumbai!

Some pics taken during rides: While on train from Dahisar I realised that the train I was on, will not be on track to Malad station, my destination for Inorbit Mall for lunch at China Pot where I had previously enjoyed stir-fried chicken noodles.
When I realised this, I was already at Andheri. So I alighted and was rewarded with great pasar malam stalls, miles of it !...so much like Pratunam in Bangkok.
After searching unsuccessfully for Pandirian shoes, I decided to board the train again, this time around asking around for directions and so finally managed to reach Malad. However, Inorbit Mall was nowhere to be found, so boarded the auto rekshaw again. The ride was quite a distance away and it cost Rs25 (just a dollar anyway). After trying on the Nike sensor shoe on the treadmill as I entered the complex, went straight for my Spore-style noodles. Shiok-la with green cut-chilli and red chilli sauce! I was surprised to see the Pandirian shoes in two of the shops here, one was a departmental store selling for Rs399 while the other specialised store charges Rs 1190 ( looks like the same thing but terribly expensive for a pair of slippers).
Went to the cineplex on same floor as the foodcourt and checked ticket pricing for the Hindustani Diwali-released blockbuster, Om Shanti Om - Rs220! Wah !$$#%# more ex! than S'pore. Went over to Hypercity Supermarket and bought corn flour, yes! haha.. you read correctly...corn flour. Even my wife didn't believe this ..haha.. I wanted to try making goreng pisang in the apartment for two reasons - one, I had bought too many bananas and two, the bottle of cooking oil was still half-full. Then I learnt from the information counter staff that the nearest station is Goregon (7mins away, cost Rs17) not Malad; and to think that Inorbit and Hypercity are in Malad!! That explained why it took Rs25 on the rekshaw from Andheri to Inorbit. Then another surprise was in store. From Goregon you cannot simply climb on a train to Dahisar. You have to transfer at Borivali for train to Dahisar! Guess all this is only beneficial to anyone deciding to come to Mumbai SIS...haha

hmm...the goreng pisang turned out very well...thanks to a recipe I had read long ago...it was as good, if not better than those I used to buy at one goreng pisang stall the old Bedok Corner Food Centre.

Headline in Mumbai mirror today: " BMC TO CATCH ITS TEACHERS ON CAMERA".

Click on picture and zoom in to read the details of the report. briefly, it says teachers' performance will be captured on video to check on teaching standards, supposedly the cause of the high dropout rate. So, Greenview or for that matter, Singapore teachers, are you game on this? As professionals, we should be proud being videoed whilst teaching. I remembered being videoed wayback in the seventies when as a trainee teacher we had to video each other's teaching and critique by fellow trainees and I remembered the lecturer complimented "my mesmerising eyes which would hold the attention of students". Hey, Greenviewans, true, right..howelse did you enjoy my teaching .?.... haha!

This morning continued on my mission. At the same time, to find best way to get to TajMahal Hotel /Gateway of India area. To avoid the hassle of looking for a MacDonald's Restaurant (no guarantee there'll be one around), I packed my own lunch haha....grilled chicken, tomato and lettuce salad with bread and bananas.

Took the rekshaw to Dahisar again and understood from the security that the Gateway of India could not be reached by train. He advised to get a taxi from Churchgate. I did exactly that and the ride cost only Rs25 (about a dollar, cheap la!). Alighted at Gateway of India where the tour agents are located and was bombarded with tour and sightseeing packages. They even have this Rs1100 for an 8-hour busride with sleeperette on board! Locals and tourist were queuing up for the ferry to Elephanta Caves, which we had visited last Sat.

Walked to back of Taj Hotel where SIA logo stands and passed Lings restaurant but it would only open at 12pm. Signboard indicated the area around Taj is called Colaba district. Walked all along the main road at Colaba and there were many "angmo" tourists here. Guess this is the 'angmo' hangout - there were many shops selling souvenirs, clothings and shoes. Found my wife's Pandira indian slippers but was not sure if they were a good bargain. Guess there would be more around so postponed to look around further.
But then soon I was immersed in the midst of "pasar malam" vendors on both side of a main road. Some slum dwellers make the roadside their 'hotel'....

I was in for a big surprise when after a 3-hour walk, I was back to Churchgate Station where I had first started! A painful discovery though - this area is devoid of a park where tired tourists could rest their feet and have a quick bite. Had covered such a wide area in the 3hr walk and I couldn't locate a place where I can just rest my feet !

At about 4pm I decided to head back. Instead of stopping at Dahisar, I continued to the next station, Mira Rd (SIS is on this same road BUT the station is at the far end of Mira Road, easily more than 10km away) Mira Road area looks a little upmarket. There were high-rise buildings everywhere and new blocks were being built. However, the area is just as dirty and dusty as my TimberHomes area and there were slums everywhere too though not on the main road. The shops were located on the void decks of apartment blocks. There were many shoe dealers but seem none were selling the simple pandira slippers here! So looks like I have to make another trip to Colaba again for the slippers. Anyway, with the trainpass and the inviting city, I will be in Colaba again, most likely on Monday after SIS. And the next time around, I must remember to bring along my camera!... for some snapshots of the city!

Day 2 of Diwali holidays....and a fruitful day!
My wife sent me on a mission - she wants a pair of Pandrina slippers, some flat beaded Indian slippers...so a good excuse to have to take the train to the city...what with no SIS to attend and no Sukriti to call for the SIS car, I was ready for some adventure!
At 10am, I set out for the city. Just outside my Timber Green Homes apartment security guardpost, I waved for an auto rekshaw (no mistake here - it's spelt such), told driver "Dahisar Station" and was glad he understood me - my very first experience on a rekshaw! - have been getting there on foot the previous few Sunday afternoons. The ride took less than 10mins and cost Rs12 (less than 50cts!). I walked to station ticket counter and there were only two people ahead of me - was happy to hear the ticket-seller said 'OK' as I enquired about a tourist-pass which I had read about when I first arrived in Mumbai but dared not try till now. Bought a 5-day pass with unlimited rides on Western Railways (the railsystem serving Mumbai). Paid Rs390 for 'FirstClass' as I thought it would be less crowded.... thought that was a great deal ....(sigh).. should have bought the better deal, a SecondClass ticket is only for Rs105!

..well, first disappointment of the day - the 1stClass cabin was just as crowded as the 2ndClass cabin! Packed like sardines, my guess that the Mumbaikars ride on 1stClass with 2ndClass tickets held true when a ticket inspector caught a man with two kids who were just standin next to me. When questioned, believe me, the inspector simply let him off at the word "Diwali" .. .hahaha... no wonder 1st Class cabin does not look any different from the 2ndClass except for the red colour of the cabins. Blue indicates 2ndClass. Nevertheles, the ride was an eye-opener. I was just like any other Mumbiakars, clinging onto the door of the moving train ...but no danger lah, it's safe.... all the doors are similarly packed with people clinging onto them - they remain open throughout the journey (so unlike our world-class MRT trains ... I proudly remind all who read this). All the way, I could see the slums and its poverty-stricken people going about their lives. At times, I could even smell the 'aroma'… you got the drift, ya?

An hour later, reached Churchgate, a huge terminal station. I emerged out onto the main road and walked along the road lined with street vendors. Then turned right into Marin Place and saw a familiar sight, the sea !..recalled having been driven past this beach before. Then my second disappointment - when I asked for the direction to the Gateway of India where I hope to get slippers for my wife and perhaps lunch at Lings(which we missed the last time with Mr Suparman and Dr Vanitha), to my surprise, was told that it could not be reached by train! Alamak! my effort wasted lah. Continued to walk along the beach and realised I was walking the wrong direction when I saw a train and then the names of the stations I had passed earlier on my way to Churchgate station…sigh....

After 2 hours of walking with no 'city shopping' in sight except the street malls, I hopped back onto the train and headed backward. Alighted at Grant Rd station to check but just as disappointed. Next stop was 'Mumbai Central', another main station but similarly no city shopping belt though plenty of street malls. Walked around a little and back to the station where I stopped at MacDonald’s. Lunch was chicken burger combo meal….and such is the comfort with MacDonald’s. Wherever... be it London, Paris or America (eh, LPA lah!! Haha..) or Australia, Singapore or I'm sure Timbuktoo if there’s one, the Mac'meal always tastes the same, ..world yummy goodness !! So guys, when travelling and you don’t like the local food, go for Mac meals!!! guess most of you would already know lah...haha. Finally, it was straight back to Dahisar..and believe you me that the rush in and out of the train cabins was real pandemonium. The pushing and shoving reminded me of the time I was queuing for the Malaysia Cup match outside our National Stadium many years ago, at the height of football fever when hell broke loose rushing for tickets to (if I recall correctly) the Spore-Penang semi final.
Anyway, mission still not accomplished, I decided to make one final stop at Borivali station and surprise! saw the slippers!!... but I suspect it's not genuine leather as it's selling too cheap for Rs160 by the side of a street. The other pair, "sure leather!" the vendor swore was for Rs275. Not taking any chances, I decided not to buy any. Better to try the city shops the next day. Once more, took the auto rekshaw home and this time meter showed Rs15.

Now for the sickening part of the day or should I say night….residents were firing crackers like there's no tomorrow. They would fire loud crackers the whole night long and it's almost midnight liao! The only consolation is that the night sky has been beautifully illuminated by the showers of fireworks......alamak! yet another loud burst which gave me another shock..…now I can hear a chain of crackers firing from back of my room…aiyah how to get to sleep lah………sigh... wonder how long will this last tonight... anyway…Happy Diwali lah…

HAPPY DIWALI!!!Today..
... but yesterday was real frustrating - my datacard did not work properly till almost 5pm. Was quite fedup at the way things turned out. Firstly, the data card was 'closed' because of some admin problem in SIS...then when it was restored yesterday, there was intermitten connection....either connected to local area network only or limited access - whatever, it means I cannot connect to the internet!
whew ! Thank goodness, all that is past! It's been working fine and good since yesterday evening. Guess, it's while in Mumbai, one needs to get accustomed to the frequent internet disruptions!
But something good turned out when I'm without internet access! I have learnt to appreciate Hindi music and songs...haha. The past nights without internet access, I had been watching videos after videos and trailers on the movies opening on Friday 9 Nov! I even recorded some of the trailers on my PDA! There's two great blockbusters -"Om Shanti Om" (OSO) and "Saawariya" have great songs, music and dancing! Shah Rukh Khan (SRK)and Deepika Padukone (DP) in OSO are really stunning. SRK with his 6-pack and DP's beauty, great combination. Mayb I should go watch the movie tomorrow but Times of India reported tickets are nearly sold out by yesterday. Both are neck to neck in the race to be the number one movie of the year!

Was subjected to frequent shocks today - those loud burst of fire crackers! Happy Deepavali lah!! Actually, the indiscriminant firing started since last night but residents are quite considerate as no firings were heard after 10pm....perhaps there's a law here banning firing after 10pm?...I doubt it. Took a walk in the evening to look for bananas.....great Del Monte-like bananas and very cheap too! Went to the area just before Dahisar Station and the festive mood was all over the market place. Stalls were decorated with Diwali lights. People seem to be in great festive mood, poverty or not.
Right in the middle of the market place smack a sign which says 'St Xavier High School' - an arrow on the sign pointed to the end of a filthy canal but there was no school in sight... hmm...maybe it's further away. Great name for a school but my personal opinion, in an area not befitting its name... perhaps it's a rural school lah.

Anyway got a big bunch of the bananas for Rs25 about a Spore dollar..really cheap lah!

Oh no!! A blackout while I am typing............wait, got to look for my torch.... alamak ! the lights come on again....aiyah, just like the internet connection lah....that's Mumbai for you...hahaha!!! Thank God, the lights came on immediately or else i would have to spend time in darkness as there is no one to call - all SIS people have gone back to their "kampong" for the Diwali break. When I first arrived, there were also blackouts on a few occasions and I had to call Sukriti or Siddarth from SIS to come over to take a look and they got power restored quickly. But I understand that to be an internal wiring problem, unlike this present blackout which is area-wide because it was also darkness outside.
Ok it's midnight now and I have better to paste this into MSWord for BoonLong before another blackout comes along....haha...

Did not blog since last Thursday! My data card has been closed since Friday evening, I think. Only realised the access has been blocked on Monday due to some accounting problem...seems the credit limit for the card has exceeded. Was told the service will only be restored today ( anyway still no access this morning!) after the account has been restated yesterday.

As Mr Suparman and Dr Vanitha were returning on midnight flight on Sat, the 3 of us decided to maximise our time here. Friday night we went to an Indian restaurant at Inorbit for dinner after school. Thanks to Mr Suparman for the treat in appreciation for our contributions to SIS.

Oh, by the way, Friday morning was my first cricket match after easily 25 long years! We have a staff versus students game in the Oval (the huge open field). The staff team had a great start but we lost to the students eventually.

After dinner, we made arrangements to visit the Elephanta Caves (eh, no elephants here lah, only historic carvings on marble rocks) on Sat morning when we set off early at 6am with Siddarth as our escort. Arrived at Gateway of India, opposite Taj Hotel (7-star!). Booked for the one-hour ferry trip to the Caves. Had coffee at Taj Hotel coffee house...a real bomb...4 cups in-house coffee with refills for Rs1,200...that's S$48 ...yah, 7-star price!!! Anyway, the aromatic coffee was a great start for our ferry ride. On the island, had to climb a great number of steps to reach the Caves. The stoned passage was lined with vendors selling the usual wares for tourists. Poor Dr Vanitha! She didnt expect this climb. So we only visited the first huge caves after the exhaustive climb. There were tunnels to other caves from here. Once back on mainland, we hunted for Lings restaurant (recommended by SIA General Manager, Foo ChaiWoo when I first arrived but did not manage to locate it). This time we found Lings with ChaiWoo's specific directions (behind huge SINGAPORE AIRLINES signboard on back of Taj Hotel, opposite Apollo Hotel). Once there, I asked for Mr Nini, the owner who caters to S'pore tastebuds. However as ChaiWoo wrote later...I am not destined to eat at Lings as we found out that the cooks share a common kitchen although food is halal. So for Suparman's sake, we had to eat somewhere else but told Nini I will be back before leaving Mumbai, haha.. So we found an indian restaurant opposite Metro Plaza. We had bryani and it was superb, just like our Spore bryani, if not better!

After lunch, we had to return as both of them had to set off for the airport at 7.30pm. In Mumbai, one must give ample time allowance for travelling in the huge jams along the whole stretch of the still-under-construction highway. So Sat, was too exhausted to blog.

Sunday morning walk was great. Adventure took the better part of me! Walked to Dahisar Station as in previous walks. Stood at the railway platform to admire the happenings here. People were locked in train cabins. Many stood or sat on open doors, some were simply clinging on to the doors of the moving trains, and yet some were seen sitting on top of the carriages. What a way to travel! When a train came to a halt. I saw many people shoving baskets of goods out of the train cabin, rushing to clear out the baskets from the cabin before the train moves off again. I was aghast that the trains do not wait for people! You board and alight at your own risk! Phew!

Then, I decided to use the underpass and cross over to the other side of the tracks. I found myself in Dahisar (West). Walked through a slum area, passed street vendors and shops lining the road. Soon I come across a wet market, very much like our Sunday market ages ago. Fish, meat, fruits, vegetables and other wares were all sold on makeshift stalls. I chanced upon a stall selling big tempting yellow pineapples, I bought one for Rs40 (ya, expensive, la). I then lost my way and asked for directions to Check Naka, the area where my apartment is located. Soon I was back on familiar territory. It was a good 3-hour walk and it was the first time I had perspired so much... hmm...a great workout indeed!

Never did I realise the pains in cutting a pineapple especially with just my Victronix swiss knife (a real handy more-than-20 gadget tool I bought in Switzerland many years ago and has been with me wherever I travelled). The fruit was simply tasty and sweet. Early to bed, early to rise for school and that was when I discovered that my data card is being rendered useless....account closed...wth....and it's still locked..now 12pm, Wed 07 Nov 2007!

This week was a real hectic one for teachers at SIS. Return of CA exam scripts for checking, review of paper and corrections and completion of progress reports all seem familiar grounds for teachers be it Singapore, India or am sure anywhere else in the world of teachers. In SIS, being an IB school, the progress reports takes on a holistic form - a very detailed profiling of students are done based on the 10 attributes in the IB Learners' Profile (see pic in earlier posting in September). Marked scripts are kept with the school after the review and corrections done. I do not quite agree with this as I feel that parents need to take a look at how the marking iwas done and how students fare in tackling the exam style questions, which then prepare them better for the next CA or exam. Anyway, that's the school ruling...so advised Maths teachers to get students to redo those they got wrong in their note books for future reference when they revise. I learnt that the students here are more "kiasu" than our Singapore students...they even copied the questions and jot down whatever the teacher wrote on the whiteboard....even those they got correct! So Greenviewans, you are not alone, haha!!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, students were also participating in Diwali decorations and competitions. The PD and MD classes had Rangoli and Poster Drawing competitions. Discovery Learning Labs were organising Harry Potter events for the Kindergarten, PD and MD students since Tuesday. Today, a Harry Potter Party was held for them and the tiny ones really had a wonderful and memorable time. Today, a Diwali Bazaar was put up by the PD teachers and students' art and craft work were sold to raise funds for the tribal villages. SIS will be donating food, clothes, blankets and the money raised (over Rs2,000) to two of these villages tomorrow morning. Sounds familiar, Greenviewans? Some of you did something similar in your class-initiated CIP programme. Yes, the well to do SIS students do have a heart for the have-nots. Hats off to SiSites!!

Tomorrow I shall be taking part in the Staff versus Year 9 and 11 Students Cricket game. Wish me luck! All progress reports will be given out tomorrow, tpgether with the second issue of SIS newsletter, SPIRIT. Dr Vanitha and I each wrote a short reflection on our stay in SIS. Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mike Thiruman was in SIS today. We had a short chat in my room. In the afternoon, Head of School and I discussed the tentative schedule I had drawn up for our student exchange programme set to start rolling in mid-2008. Yes, Greenviewans, you are coming over to SIS, Mumbai next year! Present Sec 2 and 3 students will get the opportunity to travel to India and get a first hand experience of an international student in SIS, Mumbai. We shall select about 20 students and 2 teachers for this programme. Mumbai, anyone? See me for an application form early next year! Don't forget this is on top of the present STEP and twinning
programme we have with our Thai partner school. Greenview Secondary has gone international indeed!

Discovery Learning Lab conducted science activities for PD and MD students and their parents. Turn out was great. My presentation was a rush through what with all the hand signals from the back asking to stop. What a distraction. Jessica of DLL and Head of School had taken a great portion of the time allocated for the talks. My jaw almost dropped when the teacher who liaised with DLL for this event, bent over to where I was sitting waiting for my turn to address parents on the Singapore ducation experience, to tell me that my address had to be dropped BECAUSE WE WERE RUNNING LATE!! Goodness it was only 10 to 15 minutes behind schedule. Dr Vanitha and I were assigned by Director of SIS, Mike, to deliver this address and both of us had taken pains to plan for this. I dont know if Dr Vanitha was also asked to cancel her talk. I just had to put my foot down and asked that I run through my slides and was told to take 5 minutes when I said I will take 10. Quite distressing actually. I moved over to Dr Vanitha and told her of the situation and she also mentioned that she had to rush through and rush through we did. Both of us took less than 10 minutes! Hope this did not leave parents with a bad impression that we were simply paying lip service to SIS, Mumbai. We need to prioritise given the importance of the Singapore speakers. In events like these, there will be parents who will complain that the talks are taking too long. In the end we were only 15 mins behind schedule but our talk was a real let-down. Anyway, at lunch all was forgotten and the parents approach us for questions on the Singapore education scene. Guests and students enjoyed the ice-cream making and the water rocket events after lunch.

Head of School, Mr Suparman had assured parents that their children's education will be well looked after in SIS. I think he delivered a very thoughtful and convincing speech that SIS will grow from strength to strength and will become an institution to be proud of. The fact that he mentioned that he would be bringing his daughter to join the IB class here in November, 2007 won the hearts of many parents! From the interactions with many parents, I sensed that parents are assured that their children's future is in good hands in SIS. And I sincerely believe so with the wonderful support from the owners and Directors, students and their parents, a great campus and the highly qualified staff, which with continuous teacher development, will certainly propel SIS into the elite class of educating the youths of India and the world! Greenviewans, or for that matter Singaporeans, want to come over to join SIS? Seek me out and I shall help you get here....

A piece of good news for all Greenviewans! CEO of SIS has tentatively agreed to send 20 SISites to GVSS in 2008. I shall plan the programme with the Head of School, along the lines of our twinning programme with Suankularb in Thailand. So Sec 1 and 2s who are reading this and wish to join in this twinning with SIS, Mumbai....start saving now! You may have to fork out quite a sum if your MOE subsidy is small.

I have also started to write my first draft report on this attachment for MOE. I kept writing on and on and it's almost half done. I planned to complete this before taking my flight home as once back in Singapore, it will be back to reality.....100% workout..in school lah. There is the school's strategic planning at the SMC Retreat, School Cockpit roll-over tasks, staff deployment for 2008, Sec One orientation and registration, wa...no end lah... AWOL in Mumbai? Haha..no way man! Singapore is still my greatest place on Earth, believe me! Having visited so many countries, there is no place like my sunny, beautiful, sweet-smelling and super-clean Singapura, The Lion City! Alamak, I think I am going nuts.....Seriously, I don't mind coming back to SIS, Mumbai bcos' I think it's a great institution to work in - the owners of SIS, the teaching and non-teaching staff and of course the lovable students from Kindergarten to IB students...they are all simply a joy to be with. They brighten up your day, so to speak. I will write more about this just before I leave in three weeks' time. Lots of post-exam activities have been planned for next week.
For the PD and MD classes, there is the Harry Porter Week, where students will take part in some 'magic' as well. MD students and above will participate in a Rangoli Competition and taking part in a traditional ethnic design competition and a Poster painting Competition in preparation for Deepavali. And the theme of the competition? FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS ! .... my suggestion was adopted ....wow! There is also the Diya Decoration and Flower Rangoli decoration for the PD classes. Then on Friday, there is a cricket match between staff and students! I am definitely going to be in this event although I know nothing about cricket! Softball, anyone?
Infact post-exam starts tomorrow, Sunday! All parents have been invited for an Open House and I will be making a presentation on The Singapore Education experience together with Dr Vanitha Saravanan from NIE, who is also on attachment at SIS. She will speak on the IPW project while I will focus on curricular, co-curricular and other programmes with TSLN, I&E and TLLM as the backbone of my presentation - had spent the whole of last night and this morning preparing the slides...haha. And then after lunch, took my usual two-hour walk through the streets of Mumbai...amazing ! ..you'll never feel a dull moment watching those people and traffic manoevering and avoiding each other through the constant bottle-necks and jams.
Three cheers to Mumbai! Hip, hip, hooray! (3 x)

Head of School conducted his very first staff meeting today. This morning prepared SIS Staff Particulars Form for him, which all teaching staff need to complete...my contribution for the day.
CA exams are still on. SIS teachers are busy invilgilating and preparing their students progress reports. Their progress reports are a vast difference from ours in Singapore. here the students are given detailed profiles patterned along the requirements of the IBDP. The usual grades for all the subjects and the homeroom (we call ours the form teacher) teachers' remarks are shown.

Mr Superman took teachers through the mission, vision and core values of SIS to remind all the roles teachers need to accomplish for SIS to become a premiere institution.

SKN....WELCOME TO GVSS !!!

Welcome to Greenview and Singapore, my Thai friends from Suankularb Wittayalai Nonthaburi School (SKN) especially to Siriwan Pothiti(Toy) and Nopawan(Aoy). I have known Toy and Aoy since 2002 when the two schools first come together in the Singapore-Thailand Enhanced Partnership (STEP) Programme. They arrived in Greenview at noon today and I couldn't help feeling lousy for not being in Singapore with them for the next 6 to 7 days. I have put a packed programme for our Thai partner school and certainly hope that they would enjoy their stay here.

Today I also received Mr Sin's email reply that we could start a twinning programme with Singapore international school in Mumbai! What an auspicious day it must be! The arrival of our Thai partner school in Greenview coincides with the birth of another twinning programme with our next partner school, SIS, Mumbai. I certainly hope SIS, Mumbai would be able to travel to Greenview in Singapore sometime next year and Greenview could also make a trip here with 20 students and 2 teachers. I have sent to Mr Nilesh, CEO and Founder of SIS, Mumbai and the Head of School, Mr Suparman Adam, a copy of Greenview-SKN visiting and hosting programmes for their study. I look forward to come back to SIS, Mumbai again on an exchange programme as early as 2008.

A meeting was held to run through the programme for this Sunday's Open House to be followed by 3 days of Harry Potter activities to be coordinated by a team specifically flown from Singapore. Dr Vanitha and I will be speaking to parents of SIS students on The Singapore Education Experience. It would be a real learning experience for me to address a group of mainly Indian nationals in Mumbai on Singapore education. My focus will be on the MOE's Teach Less, Learn More initiative. I may also speak on how Greenview carried out the IDPW programme as a follow-up to Dr Vanitha's talk on this.

Today's Add Maths Paper 2 was slightly harder than yesterday's paper 1, so I heard. But most of you should get an overall A. Well done, guys and keep going for the other subjects coming up the next few days. Soon you'll be on top of the world! (Hey, Andrius, cheer up and remain optimistic and a good grade will come by...not to worry at your little slip up.)

I continued to be amazed at the linguistic ability of the SISites, as students of SIS are known as.
As I was making my way to the dining hall for tea, a Grade 4 boy came in my opposite direction, stretch his hands out to me and said, " Have a nice day, Sir!". I was stumped. Such graciousness from a tender, loving kid. It is a real marked difference between the behaviour and attitude of the students here at SIS and in Greenview, or for that matter, Singapore. Perhaps these are kids raised by the elites or the children of highly educated individuals. Their dressing, manner of speaking and attitude clearly shows that SISites are in a class of their own. Can't help but compare them to a top British primary school.

MD teachers met John for a short while to discuss the progress report.

Students on msn tell me that the Add Maths Paper 1 was easy...hahaha, 4E1 and 4E2 if you are reading this, good for you all....looking forward to your As come January, 2008!

CA assessment week for SIS.

Took Mr Chander through on Scheme of Work for Sec 3 and Sec 4 and Maths and Add Maths as well as the resources used by singapore schools in Maths teaching. He had shown interest in improving his teaching pedagogy and methods of delivery for Year 9 and IB mathematics. Later in the morning, introduced him to Mr Suparman.

Sheela from Heymath visited SIS. Met with Mike to look into feasibility of SIS using the lessons. Set up a meeting with Year7, 8, 9and 11 teachers for a demo and discussion on using heymath. Strangely, internet access in the classroom was superfast today. It was real slow when teachers were trying to use these lessons a few days ago. Teachers were glad we are attempting to get this resource for SIS after Sheela showed the use of heymaths in class teaching and how students can benefit from the portal..

Mr Suparman Adam put forward an organisational structure for SIS and held discussions with Mike and Nilesh later in the afternoon.

Quite frustrated later in the afternoon when laptop was not able to connect to the internet. It kept giving error message 619: connection could not be established or that the comp port is closed. Tried to fastconnect again but the same problem occurred - comm port is closed! Called reliance support centre but was unsuccessful to get operators to help as they wanted certain information which I did not possess - MDN number, data card purchaser, etc. Exasperated, I gave up calling support. Kept checking and then all of a sudden, connectivity returned.
Spent time chatting with Bryan and Lynda on msn.

The usual Sunday walk but today walked all the way to Dahisar Station. And it was another walk down memory lane. As a teenager, I used to walk from my kampong at Whitley Road to Thomson Road/Balestier Road junction where Singapore Traction Company (STC) Bus service No 19 terminus was located and then along Balestier Road all the way to Jalan Rajah. The side of the road was littered with pasar malam makeshift stalls...here in Dahisar, Mumbai the road is congested with pedestrian shoppers and traffic, mainly the auto rekshaws. Stalls and shacks were set up all over the place alongside the road. Dahisar station was in an old building located at the end of one of the sideroads. It has with dirtied counters and signboards with people queuing for tickets. Surprised to see two computerised ticketing machines, like those found i our MRT stations. This is not an MRT-like train service but a land train line. Must try to take a ride in the train one day, perhaps to Mumbai City at least. Just wonder how the ride will be like.

Some unusual sightings:
1 A cinema house showing movies. Cinema is actually a shophouse dressed to become a movie theatre. Some were showing videos actually. And they were crowded with mostly men.
2 There were a number of mini-processions celebrating some festival or belief along the streets. There were drummer boys and men and women folks dancing on the road as the procession moved along. At times, firecrackers were let off freely. These were loud blasts indeed.
3 Vendors frying some delicacy in huge frying pots placed along the road and there were queues to purchase this...all in the dust.
4 There were stalls selling fish and prawns, like our wet market amidst the other stalls and you could smell that they were going stale. Still people were buying them.
5 Alongside the roads are drains and you could literary see men ease themselves and the foul smell of urine was quite bad on some stretches of the road.
6 Small time traders selling hard-boiled eggs
7 Makeshift barber stalls...yes people were having their hair done by the side of the road.

Mr Koh BL, Dr Vanitha and I went over to pick Mr Suparman and we stopped by at MacDonald's at Thakur Mall for lunch and then to SIS for a discussion. Later, John joined in and left. Then, the four of us went to Star Bazzaar Supermarket at Thakur Mall for our groceries. Boon Long returned to hotel for a rest before catching his flight home. The 3 of us had dinner at Papa Joe Pizza restaurant.

This morning Year 9 again had a good lesson in maths. The Year 8 class was yet again poorly managed in spite of all the handholding done. Year 7 had a revision test.
A Daniya dance was organised for the K1 and 2 classes. The tiny tots were dressed in their traditional outfits and were simply gorgeous. Cameras went into action when the dance started.

Teachers were invited. Many members of the teaching and non-teaching staff joined in the traditional dance holding two sticks.




I was roped into the act too, haha.




Staff meeting was called again to streamline CA exam invigilation schedule. Come Monday, students will take their CA exam papers. Boon Long & Vanitha picked me up at 9.30pm and together we went to receive Suparman Adam at the airport. His flight landed at 11pm but he exited only at about 12.30am. Went over to his apartment at Kandavali, 15 mins drive from my place.

Glad that Year 7, 8 and 9 teachers were given heymath trial accounts. Since my arrival I have been encouraging the teachers to use my trial account and they found the lessons a rich resource for the Singapore mathematics curriculum. However, the slow internet has dampened their spirits quite a bit. Lessons took quite a long while to load. SIS need to customise this resource to overcome this problem. Am real glad for SIS teachers that Director, Mike, has contacted Sheela from Heymath to come over to SIS for a meeting on this. In fact this morning at Year 7 class, I tried to download a Sec 2 lesson for Mr Rakesh but it just took too long to download. Also flash was needed to be installed. Got to get the IT guy, Som, to fix this for all computers in the classrooms before adoption.

Received Director, Mr Koh BL, at Mumbia Airport at 10.40am. Good thing I checked with Saloni, the Exec Director as to Mr Koh's car pickup as Sukriti, had to return to her hometown out of Mumbai, to attend her grandfather's funeral.

A meeting was held this afternoon to discuss examination procedures and rules and arrangements for the Open House. This being the first examination to be conducted by SIS, all teachers were briefed on these. Was glad that Director picked up my point on the need to remind invigilators to be on their toes while invigilating when he spoke on the subject.

A great day today. Sat in TOK class for round two of presentations by IB students for their CA.
Hand-holding of teachers the past few days paid off today as teachers were putting into practice the finer skills in classroom management and lesson preparation. IG and IB teachers were kept real busy, getting their test papers ready. Teachers were following closely the format for IGCSE papers. Managed to vet some of the IG papers and picked up some useful learning points in the IGCSE format and syllabi. Spoke to VP on setting a high standard format for all exam papers as had been done for the PD and MD. She then instructed all IG and IB setters to pass all papers for me to vet, "Sir being an experienced senior teacher" , so that SIS will have a common high standard in exam format. That was a great compliment indeed! Yes, I sincerely want SIS to set the right tone in examination style and format following the high standards of Singapore examination papers adopted by our schools and colleges.

I have been wearing my new pair of CLARK'S shoes since Monday and it is very comfortable and stylish..haha. I have also started to grille chicken parts for dinner since Sunday using the masalla seasoning as well as the Singapore seasoning packet. Now my dinner, in addition to that provided by SIS, is simply yummy lah.

Evening was spent on writing my reflections on my stay at SIS for the second issue of SPIRIT, the school newsletter. Tomorrow, SIS Director, Koh BL will be here and I will be meeting him at Mumbai Airport in the morning. He is carrying a special package for me from my wife in Singapore besides books for SIS. Much appreciated the kind gesture shown by Director Koh BL. He is indeed one great guy ....yup.. "a jolly good fellow that nobody can deny"....

Peer observation by teachers continue into the second day for the Maths teachers. Primary Division math teacher, Binu sat through a full hour in a Year 9 class. I took him through from start of lesson to end touching on classroom management techniques and lesson planning. The IB meeting was cancelled as the teachers had to get their CA papers ready for submission and vetting. You can feel that some of the teachers were quite stressed out. Yes, teachers everywhere face this especially during the period before their students' sit for the examinations.
Questions need to be sourced, moderated and set according to specifications outlined. Submission datelines for vetting, printing to be done, collating the papers take up a huge chunk of teachers' time. I guessed, being in service for too long, all this has become second nature to me...haha. Some of the teachers seeked help in formatting of the papers, setting the questions and some examination procedures to clarify. The CA Timetable was issued by the Office today to all teachers and students.

Started peer observation for SIS maths teachers this morning. Arranged for Year 7 and 8 teachers to observe one of the better teachers and at the same time go through the good and not so good practices observed in the classes. All these pointers were listed on paper, 22 points in all, and teachers were given a copy each. Call it on-the-job training, instant training, ad-hoc training or whatever but the teachers certainly did see through the finer points in the skills of teaching, good classroom management at work and progressive steps made in lesson planning.
They will be putting these into practice in the next few days. It would be great if the teachers could continue to learn from each other through peer teaching and observation.

After lunch, I popped into a TOK class as I learnt that IB students will be doing their CA presentation on the topics they have selected and researched for the past two weeks. Topics as diverse as Dreams Appreciation, UFOs a Myth?, Is there GOD?, etc were discussed and presented. They were of high quality and standard as expected of IB students. One thing though is universal, yes, Greenviewans...you are included, too much reading off powerpoint slides!

A meeting was conducted for all IGCSE teachers by VP pertaining to filling up of progress reports for Year 9 students. IB teachers will meet tomorrow to discuss the progress reports for their students. PD and MD had already completed their early but teachers have yet to be briefed on filling these up as the principal wants to make some modifications to it.

Sunday, 14 Oct - Got up at 7.30am latest since my arrival at Mumbai! Must be the tiredness after spending the whole day at EsselWorld yesterday. It was really wonderful that Sukriti, HR/SIS called us on Friday night, to tell us that a car would be fetching us there at 7am on Saturday without us booking for it. Thanks to Sukriti for her great understanding. Also thanks to Elvin and Dr Vanitha for providing hints to her about EsselWorld.

The ride was an eye opener indeed. The car took us down to end of Mira Road, which was fairly well developed with modern buildings and brand new apartments. Then it entered a small road and we were in the middle of a slum! Yes, really poor people live here....makeshift tents and shacks lined the road. People were just sitting by the roadside, some having a bath (yes, in the open but clothed lah!), some cooking and children having fun. These people were indeed carefree and happy. Clearing the slum, we continued along a narrow, meandering road all the way to EsselWorld, which took us about 45mins. Along the way, we stopped for breakfast at one of the many bed-and-breakfast type "hotels". The place really reminded of my kampong days again, haha!! It was really nostalgic....when as a boy, I used to walk through a forested road in the midst of a Chinese cemetry, to reach a small provision shop to get groceries for the family. Got the creeps? Not me, lah...I remember studying hard, like many of the graduating students in Greenview now, for my O levels ( was known as School Certificate then) in one of the graves next to my attap hut! Now, you all know how poor I was then back in the 50s and 60s !!

OK, back to the present...EsselWorld is a theme park, like Disneyland, but not as grand! Entrance ticket costs s480 each (about S$20) including all rides but excluding Water Kingdom, like Sentosa's defunct water theme park, Fantsy Island, closed down after a fatal accident there some years back. I was surprised that the park was kept clean. It was real big and literary took us a day to walk and went on the rides. Yes, there were the roller-coasters, many rides which make you want to throw out, a water ride which plunged down to a pool and got fully drenched! ( yes, many rides were similar to rides at Wild, Wild Wet at DowntownEast but more terrifying).

Dr Vanitha, Elvin, Siddarth (our SIS Support Staff and guide) and I really enjoyed our stay there. Elvin and Siddarth especially as it was their first time on many of the terror rides. Both took some time to recover their water balance and composure, but did not, like some student visitors, throw out after the rides. Dr Vanitha was the wise one as she stayed away from these, but poor from the experience, haha! Also, the three of us, guys, played 4 games each in their 6-lane bowling alley. Yeah, I had the highest score at 137 ! There was a free discotheque next to the bowling alley and Elvin especially and Siddarth had a wonderful time boogying to the extremely loud music...even Dr Vanitha got into the act for awhile, haha! Believe it or not, I did not get to the dance floor....maybe miss my wife lah....haha hope my "laupor" is reading this, hahaha! The pics are in Elvin's camera and will post them once I get them. For lunch we had chicken bryani and it was yummy, just like ours, but the helping of chicken meat was meagre!

In the evening, we wanted to go to The Taipan, a chinese restaurant we saw earlier, for dinner but it was closed by then...what a pity. Siddarth and I had bryani again while the other two had some veg meal, as all the other restaurants were closed. That was the opportunity cost we had to pay for all the dancing. After dinner, it was to the open air concert where a Dandiya festival was organised. Dandiya is the 10-day of festivities before Diwali (Deepavali). There were dances by performing artistes and there was supposed to be some Bollywood performances but we did not stay to watch these as it was getting late. We got out of the park at about 8pm but the driver was not able to come into the entrance by the security. So we had to walk about 300metres to the security gate-post but I took the opportinity to jog this stretch. It was a wonderful feeling really... jogging in the faintly-lit road to the car where our driver had been faithfully waiting for us.... the past 10 hours? Speak of dedication and devotion to duty, this is it, Bublu! .hope I got the driver's name correct! The ride back was ANOTHER NOSTALGIC experience....driving through a dimly-lit country road littered with the occasional village huts, pedestrians and motors.

It was a real exhausting Saturday and the Singaporeans must indeed thank the kind and wonderful hospitality our Indian hosts shower on us. Three cheers to Sukriti! Hip, hip, hooray!!!

So this whole Sunday morning was just resting and blogging. Just prepared my own "larp cheong" rice with "bak-hoo" & egg for lunch. hmmmm...taste great, man!!!

The house-maid came to clean the apartment at 4pm as usual. At about 5pm, set out for my Sunday walk. This time around, I chose to walk on the opposite side towards Hotel SunShine Inn, which supposedly was to be my place of stay for my PDL stint but was switch to this apartment at Timber Green Homes. It was a better walk than the other routes taken. There were lots of shops and eateries in better shape than on the other side of the road. also happen to come to an auto rekshaw makeshift passenger terminal...haha! Rekshaws were lining up neatly in a long line barricaded off on one side of the road and passengers at the end of the line queued to board and off they go. Believe this! They ride against the flow of very heavy traffic on the expressway and somehow managed to cross over to the opposite and correct side of the highway! Speak of dare-devils and these rekshaw riders take the cake anytime! Inspite of all the dust and dirt, I remained rooted witnessing the scene of chaotic criss-crossing of passengers and rekshaws on the supposed expressway. What an experience! On the way back I had to cross this expressway and the dare-devil in me simply had to take over and then found myself on the same side of my abode. Bought a bunch of 13 big, green bananas for Rs18, dirt cheap lah.

Dinner was again my own larp cheong, bak-hoo and tomato with white rice as no SIS dinner was delivered. Thank God, I was prepared with these "imported" products from my beloved Singapore.

Below, some good read............

Balance Sheet

Our Birth is our Opening Balance !
Our Death is our Closing Balance!

Our Prejudiced Views are our Liabilities
Our Creative Ideas are our Assets
Heart is our Current Asset
Soul is our Fixed Asset
Brain is our Fixed Deposit
Thinking is our Current Account

Achievements are our Capital
Character & Morals, our Stock-in-Trade
Friends are our General Reserves
Values & Behaviour are our Goodwill

Patience is our Interest Earned
Love is our Dividend
Children are our Bonus Issues
Education is Brands / Patents
Knowledge is our Investment
Experience is our Premium Account

The Aim is to Tally the Balance Sheet Accurately.
The Goal is to get the Best Presented Accounts Award.

Some very Good and Very bad things ...

The most destructive habit......................Worry
The greatest Joy...............................Giving
The greatest loss................Loss of self-respect
The most satisfying work...............Helping others
The ugliest personality trait.............Selfishness
The most endangered species.........Dedicated leaders
Our greatest natural resource...............Our youth
The greatest 'shot in the arm'..........Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome.................Fear
The most effective sleeping pill........Peace of mind
The most crippling failure disease............Excuses
The most powerful force in life..................Love
The most dangerous pariah..................A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer........
The brain The worst thing to be without................... Hope
The deadliest weapon.......................The tongue
The two most power-filled words...............'I Can'
The greatest asset..............................Faith
The most worthless emotion..................Self-pity
The most beautiful attire......................SMILE!
The most prized possession................Integrity
The most powerful channel of communication.....Prayer
The most contagious spirit.................Enthusiasm
The most important thing in life..................GOD

Accompanied the PD classes on an outing to Byculla Zoo at Mumbai City. The ride to the city took nearly 3 hours due to the usual Mumbai bottlenecks everywhere. The students enjoyed the ride in the SIS bus though. The zoo was nothing compared to our Spore zoo, similar to the one in Bangkok where the Greenview STEP and Twinning students went to in June this year.

There are few animals there. Whereas the animals in the zoo at Bangkok were livelier, the ones here were either sleeping or lethargic. There was a large aviary where the birds flew freely. The kids love to watch the storks, pelicans and emus. The return trip was smoother as it was non-peak.
Once back in my room at SIS, the teachers pounded me on their papers for final vetting and printing. So it was back to work and was glad to have vetted all the format for most of the papers for Years 7 and 8 and some PD Maths papers.

Greenview Seconday School Graduation Ceremony today!
Greenviewan graduates, see below the messsage I posted last night

Quite an achievement today...managed to hand-hold SIS teachers individually on the papers they have set. All had proper cover page and they were well typed out. All the Maths and Science teachers had reverted to use of the MS Equation Editor to edit their questions set. The teachers had shown professionalism and care in the questions drawn up in their papers. I dare say SIS examination paper format is now in place and will take pride in its annals in years to come.

Also principal, John had adopted my suggestion that the exam papers after printing are kept in envelopes, labelled (Name of Setter, paper, Year, Date of Exam), sealed and kept in the principal's office under lock and key for safe keeping and secrecy. Yes, exam procedures had been put in place...yes, some semblance to Greenview exam committee procedures, or for that matter, procedures adopted for any typical Singapore school for exams.

There was a surprise item in the lunch menu today - Singapore noodles! Although it does not contain any meat ingredients, the noodles was well prepared and I dare say it is comparable, if not better, than the one I had eaten at the Inorbit Complex food court. There was that smell of Hokkien mee with lots of vegetables. With tomato ketchup and Tabasco chilli sauce, it was real yummy...believe it or not, I had 3 big helpings! Never had I eaten so much at lunch in Mumbai. I got the uneasy feeling that the Indian teachers and students see my appetite as simply outrageous. What to do, this is our local fare in Mumbai! Cannot help, lah! As if that was not enough, big and crispy triangular-shaped samosas were served at tea break. Add ketchup and tabasco, it was simply delectic. Then I was brought back to reality when dinner came. It was the usual veggy affair but who cares, I already had my fill in the day!

Yes, today was the best day in SIS - exam procedures in place, yummy food, great day!

To All Graduating students in Greenview Secondary....

Congratulations on your Graduation Day on evening of 11th October!

You have come a long way, four to five years in fact.
You have worked hard all these years
Your teachers have great faith in you
I am confident that you will do very well in Os
Do continue to strive for the very best, work doubly hard
And, as the saying goes, you will soon be laughing all the way to the bank (not in terms of money but in results, haha...)

God Bless!

A number of Mathematics teachers were away today and I took the opportunity to do some revision work with the Year 7 and 8 classes. Gave the classes questions from Greenview's 2005 mid-year papers! Yes, Secondary 4 people reading this, note - you did this paper when you were in Sec 2 and Sec 3 people, you were in Sec 1 then when you did this paper for the mid-year examinations. Yes, the Indian students find them tough! So those who did well then, you must be proud of your math capability...hahaha.

Photo-taking continued today. The photographers came to the IB class and snap away. Chander and I were there for their Mathematics lesson. Yes, these were mock-ups but then both of us have been teaching these IB students day in, day out and we were all at home even with the cameras around. The students were angels really, participating actively in the shoot out.

I conducted a training session on the use of Microsoft equation editor for the Middle Division teachers. They are in the midst of setting the CA exam papers and I had arranged for this training as I felt that some professionalism and style needs to be put in place in SIS exam papers. And indeed was I satisfied! From all the Maths and Science teachers' reaction and questions, I can sense that they were very appreciative that I showed them the MS Equation Editor, like they have found a new toy to play with!

Also, I took this opportunity to impress on the teachers that the quality of the exam paper will definitely reflect on the standard and quality of the education we deliver here in SIS Mumbai. All papers, just like our Greenview papers, or for that matter, all exam papers set by Singapore teachers, will have a standard cover page with the school masthead on top , followed by name of exam , year, name, class and instructions for candidates. Some had already followed this as I had provided them with guidelines and sample papers from Greenview earlier.

Staff group photo was taken by a professional group today. So I took the opportunity to capture some shots on my camera as well.

From left:
Front row : xxx, anupa, poonam, siddarth, binu, henry (on PDL attachment)
Middle row : vinay, vijay, chander, john last (principal, secondary), paramesh, elvin goh, rakesh, neil....
Back row : shanon, xxx, arjana, shirley, xxx. irija, prita, robyn, vanitha (on attachment from NIE) ;
Absent : mullick sharonee (vp) , sumi

Year 9 class did a presentation on the Golden Ratio during their Maths lesson. Students presented their small group research on powerpoint slides. The standard of presentation varied as some groups were not thoroughly prepared.

After lunch, I sat in a TOK lesson for students doing Maths Studies. Mr Paramesh got the class to view a Bruce Willis movie and students were given several broad-based questions on their beliefs and understanding of "spirits".

Prepared document for training of MD teachers tomorrow on use of Microsoft equation editor after the tea break.

As usual, during each morning lessons, proceed with hand-holding teachers in the classroom. First lesson today, assisted Year 11 teacher in teaching of matrices. Later co-teach on simple interest and compound interest for Year 9. Assisted SIS teachers in formatting their CA exam papers after morning break. Vetted some papers. Had to hand-hold a couple of teachers as for many, this is their first time setting papers based on the Singapore examination format for most papers.

In the afternoon, the principal called for a short meeting. He would like to see teachers be in their places on duty during the breaks and during meal times. Also schedules were given to teachers to relieve classes under Sumi, who had to return to Singapore on an urgent family matter.

Yesterday, I shared on what I had learnt about the subject, Theory of Knowledge (TOK). Today, I shall touch on the other two core areas in the IBDP, namely the Extended Essay (EE) and the Creativity, Action and Service (CAS) programme.

Extended Essay ( equivalent to our JC students' Project Work )

The EE is a vital part of every student's Diploma programme. The aim is to teach students the research skills that they will need, firstly at university, and secondly, in the workplace. In many respects, it is similar to an undergraduate thesis in that it allows each student to pursue a course of research in an area of interest to them. This course of research is decided upon between the student and the subject teacher.

The EE must be no more than 4000 words in length. The essay should include detailed footnotes, a comprehensive bibliography and an abstract ( a brief summary of the main findings of the essay).

Students are encouraged to underake work in an area where they already have a firm understanding of the material. They should also consider areas of study which might be of most benefit to them in the long term, be that in anticipation of a particular university programme or career path.

Students will start research for the essay in Term 2 of grade 11 and are expected to carry out, independently, research into their chosen topic.

All students will have an EE Supervisor to provide support, guidance and expert information.
The EE will be tightly supervised to ensure that students manage their time effectively and do not fall behind.

The IBO recommends that a student devote a total of 40 hours of private study and writing time to the essay. The essay permits students to deepen their programmes of study, for example, by selecting a topic in one of their higher level courses.

Creativity, Action and Service (equivalent to CIP and CCA hours in our junior college)

Students in the IBDP have to fulfil a total of at least 150 hours of non-academic endeavour over two years. Weekly activities are conducted for students.

The three areas of activity covered are: Creativity (e.g. working in the school play or yearbook);
Action (e.g. sport); Service (e.g. community service both withinn and outside the school).
A log book (CAS Diary) must be kept documenting the components over the two years.

At the end of the 2 years, each student will complete a self-evaluation form, which includes a description of the activity and the student's view on how he or she has personally developed from engaging in the activity. Some elements to include in the evaluation are:
- evidence of initiative, planning and organisation;
- the amount of commitment and effort displayed;
- personal achievement and development as an individual, taking into account attitudes and
skills at the start of the activity.

Oh yes, I prepared my own wonderful lunch today - instant beehoon, scrambled egg, a grilled chicken thigh, lettuce, tomato and MacDonald's chilli sauce! ..wah, shiok, man! (sorry, greenviewans and friends, "talking" to my wife and kids la..)

Managed to chat with "Liu Tai Tai" before she left for Grand Copthorne to meet Boon Long and Mullick Sharonee. Was told by Marcus on msn that she will be driving there in heavy rain... .. alamak! Then got sms that she has reached Robertson100, parked the car and waited for rain to stop before walking to the hotel. So my Tai Tai has met up with Sharonee. Thanks to Boon Long!

Took an exercise walk in the other direction towards Borivali after lunch. The route was strewn with run-down shops where people conduct businesses. There is a row of shops dealing with marble slabs, many shops engaging in repair of buses, lorries and motor rickshaws. Although the area looks dilapidated, the people were generally happy going about their businesses. I do get the occasional stares here and there (what's a china man doing in a place like Mumbai haha!) I managed to cross the highway the Mumbian way...just simply walk across like you are a vehicle and the real vehicles will negotiate past you....frankly I got the scare of my life!!! Phew! I dont think I will ever do that again but you see it being done and no one got grazed not to mention get knocked down...surprise!

Ok, now I want to write about what I had learnt about TOK....not the TOK, TOK mee-pok man selling noodles of a bygone era in Singapore...but Theory Of Knowledge...a subject all Year 11 students at SIS must take for 2 years ( like Knowledge and Inquiry and General Paper taken by our JC students). Click on Theory of Knowledge on the right to learn more.

Yesterday I had posted that we would have to stay put in our apartment or hotel this weekend as "drivers need to rest and the city is too far way". Then my SIS colleague, Elvin, called to say that a car will be sent over to pick us up as we wanted to go to Thakur Mall. After the mall, Elvin requested for car to to go to Nehru centre at Worli where a Travel Fair exhibition was on. Permission was granted and so we were off. Poor Sumi and Dr Vanitha! If only arrangements could have been confirmed yesterday, they would have been in the party.

At Nehru Centre, we picked up lots of brochures to many exotic destinations in India but may not have a chance to visit these places. We walked to the Nehru Planetatrium but the English version has just ended. What luck! We decided that we shall visit this place again with the rest of the Singapore team perhaps when Director, Boon Long is here.

As we were in the city, we got the driver to drive us to Taj Hotel and to look for the chinese restaurant, the SIA general manager had recommended. The driver helped asked the locals if there was a restaurant here selling Singapore food...no one knows but when we mentioned chinese restaurant, one pointed round the corner. We walked through the streets lined with vendors (just like Pratunam in Bangkok, but not as congested) and found The Imperial Palace and went in for dinner. There wasn't any Singapore dishes here except for the commomn Singapore noodles! Must check with the SIA Manager again for the right one and bring the rest of the Singapore team for authentic laksa, chicken rice, kway teow, ....walau, do they have all these? Really missing on our local food liao!!! Got the Bongo drum for Marcus for Rs200!

Strange feeling today...did the usual handholding of teachers at the school..felt feverish late morning.....eyes were droopy..nearly fell asleep on the comp! Not that I did not sleep well last night....something was just not right...anyway.. wanted to write about TOK , that's Theory of Knowledge, a subject the Year 11 students are taking for their IBDP. But really not in the mood to dwell on this...perhaps on a better day.

In the evening, I made a request to arrange for a car to fetch us to the city but was discouraged...reason being on a Saturday, the drivers need a rest? Earlier, Dr Vanitha, Sumi, Elvin and I thought a good idea we visit this chinese restaurant (was told that Singaporeans call it a home away from home...must be the food what else) in the city (recommended by SIA Station Manager in Mumbai) . So we have to stay put this weekend then.

Yes, it was a lousy day alright.

Here are the four pages of SIS very first newsletter named SPIRIT . [You can read by pointing the cursor on the picture and double click and drag to the corner you wish to read].

The SPIRIT has been the brainchild of Director/SIS, Mr Mike Thiruman and alot of work was put in by Miss Sumithra Kalidas, the school's Primary Division Coordinator and English teacher. She had worked feverishly meeting datelines with the printers and at the same time vetting all the articles. In fact she had to miss our weekend outings in order to meet the printers twice!

Cheers to Sumi for a great job. Well done, SIS!

This afternoon, many teachers worked hard at setting their CA test papers. It was indeed a pleasant sight to see teachers cuddled together round a table discussing their table of specs, the format and the questions their papers. I have helped various subject teachers identify resources for their lessons as well as test and exam papers since I arrived a month ago. I had vetted two sets of papers today. One was the PD paper for Year 4 and 5 for Maths and the Year 7 paper for Business Studies. My professional advice was sought for the form the paper was to be set, the layout of the questions and the marking scheme. The Singapore standard was applied for all papers in the primary and middle divisions. For English Language papers, teachers sought Dr Vanitha's advice.

Teachers have until 10th October, 2007 to submit their papers for vetting. Tests begin on 22nd Oct during their subject periods as far as possible.

SIS first newsletter was released today. Although only four pages long, it is colourful and is of a high quality. I was featured in the section welcoming new teachers to the school..haha.

A short staff meeting was called to iron out details in connection to the coming CA examinations. Letters will be sent to all students to inform them of the dates for the various papers. Subject tests will be held during lesson time from 22 Oct 2007. I will be helping to vet all papers for the PD Maths papers and all Year 7 and Year 11 papers to see that it is up to the mark and that the format matches our Singapore standard. Years 9 and Year 11 will stick to the IGCSE and IB standard respectively and will be assisting the teachers in vetting the Maths papers.

SIS Motto, Vision, Mission and Core Values

The motto of SIS is “Carpe Diem” which means “seize the day”. Simply put, it means making the most of each day having fun while at the same time working hardtowards achieving one’s goals.

Its vision is to become a vibrant, outstanding institution of learning recognised globally as one of the finest.

To provide quality international educationthat will groom students to become responsible global citizens, while retaining their Indian values is the school mission.

The school core values stands on 4 main pillars which are Engaging minds, Touching Hearts, Dignity in Action and a sense of enterprise.

SIS, Mumbai supports and actively engages in teaching the IB Learner Profiles (see picture).. The school curriculum, which is modelled on the lines of the systematic, scientific and practical aspects of the Singapore Education System, with affiliations to IGCSE ( “O” and “A” Levels). In addition, SIS will be affiliated to International Baccalaurete (IB) from Geneva, Switzerland for Grades 11 and 12, which is accredited by universities in India, Europe, America and Australia. Advanced placements and extra credits are given by many universities in the United kingdom, United States of America, Canada and Auatralia. Singapore International School is already a candidate IB school. The IB Diploma Programme is a challenging two years curriculum primarily aimed at students aged 16 years to 19 years. the programme prepare students for university and encourages them to ask challenging questions, learn how to learn, develop a strong sense of their own identity and culture and develop the ability to communicate with an understanding of people from other countries and culture.

Tomorrow I will give more details of the IBDP.