Darling Daddy

The 3rd time daddy received a poem from his latest family addition. So he's got one from Xian when he turned 30, one from Wen when he became 33 and now at 36, he's got one from Wei!

All's fair :) Except for the fact that I never get any poem as a gift. Perhaps when the girls are older one of them will inherit my wordsmith genes...

Darling Daddy
I’m Sook Mei the luckiest little tot
Being the youngest Leonglet of the lot
I’m privileged in many ways
‘Cos you bathe me during weekdays
Plus when you get home from work late
No thanks to school, my cheh-chehs are already in bed
I benefit and get your undivided attention
Since there’s no other competition
Though you were hoping that I’d be a boy
I know I’m still your pride and joy
Now I’d like to brag and boast
And say that you love me the most
But I know you’re a really fair dude
And you treasure us all equally like you should
I love to jump on your tummy
And make you gallop like a wild horsey
That’s our usual morning and bedtime game
No matter if others think it’s lame
But for the great Daddy that you are
There’s one thing that puzzles me by far:
Several times when I needed my calcium snack
And Mummy was unavailable or not back
I tried to drink from you Daddy
And it’s most annoying that you didn’t have any!
You just gave me that look of bemusement
As I seethed in anger and disappointment
You watched me throw my temper and kick a fuss
“No milk? I won’t discuss!”
But you being milk-less isn’t a big problem
‘Cos that’s not in your JD or your main department
Just continue being crazy and funny
My wonderful super darling Daddy

~ Baby Sook Mei ~

Teo Yuan Ching
25 March 2009

Copyright © 2009 Teo Yuan Ching

Aisha at peace

Last Saturday night I was at my 3rd aunt's home for a get-together with the family. I was enjoying the company of the kids, my cousins and aunts when I received a call at about 10.30 in the evening.

It was from Mary, my colleague. And the moment I heard her voice, I knew something terrible had happened. Although she sounded calm, the little quaver in the voice gave her away. But I honestly did not expect to hear the news that she was about to deliver: Aisha's gone.

Madam Aisha Hussain was my first section head (supervisor) when I joined the polytechnic in 2006. She was part of the interview panel who assessed me and was the very first person from my department whom I met on my first day of work.

Right from the start, she was patient and understanding, and helped me settle into the new work environment. We got along very well and she became more than just my supervisor. Aisha was my mentor, friend and confidante, always ready to offer her support, advice and help.

I remember in April 2007, dad was warded in hospital with the threat of prostate cancer looming, and our old German Shepherd Fanny had passed away only days ago. I was a bundle of nerves, fraught with unstable emotions during that period. I had kept the death of Fanny and dad's condition to myself, and Aisha sensed something amiss and asked if I was all right. It only took 2 seconds before the dam broke and my tears flowed too freely. She hugged me and gave me tissues, and said that things would be ok, that my dad would pull through.

And in those few moments when she spoke, I felt a great burden lifted from my shoulders. Her words were a source of great comfort to me.

When I became pregnant with Wei in the later part of 2007, Aisha was the first person in my office I shared the news with. Unfortunately, she soon broke the news that she was leaving the polytechnic (after 10 years of service) to help with her husband's business for a while and after she resigned, we didn't communicate much as we were both busy. Plus I was juggling with an exhausting pregnancy, older kids and work. I invited her for Wei's 1st month celebrations but she was busy too. And we didn't meet after that.

So Mary literally dropped the bomb when she told me that Aisha passed away last Saturday evening. My reaction was of shock: WHAT? HOW? WHY? I had no idea that she was sick, and that she'd trouble with her kidneys. I really wanted to attend her funeral, but there wasn't anyone to take care of the baby and it wasn't a wise to bring Wei along so I missed the chance to offer her my last respects.

Then again, perhaps it was a blessing that I didn't go. I'm very sure I'd be traumatised by the sight of her lifeless body. I want to remember her as a cheerful, bubbly, lively, loving and big-hearted person who gave endlessly and selflessly. She had an infectious and hearty laugh, and she was impossible to miss. But most of all, she'd touched the hearts and lives of all who'd come into contact with her, including myself.

It's been a few days, and life's gone on for us but the unspoken truth is that we're shakened. As of this moment, my Facebook status reads: "Y.C. Teo prefers to celebrate the life and times of the late and great MDM AISHA HUSSAIN instead of mourning her sudden, shocking passing away."

Aisha, thank you for your kind words and support, your guidance, patience and understanding. And I pray that you've found peace. You will be painfully missed.

Aisha Hussain (1962 - 2009)

Taking hours for minutes

I can breathe a little easier now.

During last Friday's Board of Examiners' meeting, I sat in the front row of the lecture theatre because I needed to power up my notebook to type the official meeting minutes. Also, I didn't think the battery would last more than 2 hours and thankfully I didn't take any chances because the whole session lasted over 4 hours!

The BOE minutes were required for checking and editing first thing Monday morning so I'm glad I brought my notebook down because the minutes were about 3/4 completed by the end of Friday's meeting. I just needed to spend time to reconstruct some sentences and check for factual inaccuracies.

Much as I dread to bring work home, I really had not much of an option since the minutes are expected to be out early on Monday. Plus, the hub offered to pick me up from work so I lugging around an extra file won't hurt.

On a side note: I grudgingly took over the wheel and drove back home - with the hub sitting beside me, of course. The fact that I'm trying this now is proof that I survived the 10 minute journey. A few baby steps at a time and hopefully in a few months I'll be confident enough to handle the car alone, I hope!

Anyway, on Saturday night (read: midnight) when the kids were finally asleep, I gathered my file and flipped through the reports with the intention of completing the minutes. To my utmost horror, the MS word programme crashed on me and I couldn't even open my file! It's been giving me loads of problems and I've even un-installed/re-installed the programme a few times.

Boy, was I hopping mad! That was my only window of opportunity to finish up my minutes since there's no way I can fiddle about with the computer when the kids are awake.

Since I was up and couldn't go to sleep, I created a Facebook Group for Woofy's Corner. Now that the hub owns the pet shop 100%, I thought I'd do my part to help him with some publicity for the business.

On Sunday, I came back to the campus to pick up my office notebook but couldn't squeeze out any time to work on the meeting minutes...

...until 4am this morning. Yes, I was up at 4am. It was peaceful and quiet, with no distractions and I thought I could finally finish up typing the minutes.

But I was sooooooo wrong.

At about 5am, the baby woke up wailing because she couldn't find her automatic milk dispenser. And then at 5.45am, it was Xian's turn to get ready for school. After Xian left with the school transport at 6.20am, I rushed back to try finish up, only to be disturbed when Wei screamed again for milk at about 6.45am.

*Sigh*

To cut a long story short, I managed to tidy up my minutes (on my way to work and in office)and sent them out at 8.45am. So far, there have been 2 rounds of revisions, and there are 3 more supervisors to go before I can upload the minutes into the system.

But at least the tough parts are done and I can relax for a bit before I start preparing for the new term.

Little Petals

After fiddling about with Windows Movie Maker, I decided to pull out one of the old vids to give it a makeover.
This is one of Xian as a flower girl. She was about 4-and-a-half years old then when I filmed her with my camera. She's turning 7 in May this year.
*Sigh* My firstborn's growing up too fast!

Flight of Fancy

Last Saturday I took some videos of Wei with my camera and decided to produce a short clip of her crawling up and down the staircase.

Enjoy. :)

March in, results out soon

Well, whaddya know? We're now in the month of March!

The last few weeks I've been rushing through marking, script moderation, results processing and reports etc. All too soon it would be the official end of yet another semester.

Many students don't realise this, but the academic staff are busiest after the exams. That's when the "fate" of the students are debated upon. As part of the exam results processing committee, I'm also involved in the administrative aspects of this rigorous exercise to ensure that, simply put, the students get what they rightfully deserve.

It sounds cruel and I don't mean it in a terrible way but it's obvious that some of the students are playing the system. They do minimal work (or nothing at all) at the expense of their other classmates and hope to get away with it. In such obvious cases, their bad results are a true reflection of their effort.

Of course, there are instances when these "free-riders" get away with a grade they shouldn't have been awarded. But I always believe that when these people get off their bums and try to make a living, they'll have to deal with other aspects of survival. And their honeyed words and truckload of excuses will only work for a while before their true colours are revealed. To these kids, I wish them all the best because they need more than luck to get by.

Granted, getting distinctions and good results don't always guarantee success. But that's the first step in kick starting a career. Someone with an average report card is usually seen in a better light than one whose results show too many 'D's and 'F's.

Anyway, my nightmare begins tomorrow. That's when the exam systems will close and the processing starts.

Looks like I need to stock up on more chocolates.