Of public speaking and debate...

Thurs 1 May 2008 (Labour Day) - Hurray, it's a holiday - thank God for small mercies!

The topmost picture is that of Emily Uma from Form 5K2. Emily did the school MGSS proud by emerging as the runner-up in the State-level Public Speaking Competition that was held on the 22 Apr at Mahkota Parade. Right from the moment I asked Emily to represent the school for public speaking at the Tanjong Zone level (she was runner-up), she agreed almost immediately and was BRIMMING with enthusiasm with lots of ideas as to what she wanted to say for her prepared speech. Congrats Emily and thank you for neither letting me nor the school down!

For the 2nd consecutive year, MGSS played host for the State-level Parliamentary Style English Language Debate (28 - 30 Apr). MGSS was represented by (top 2nd picture from left) Cristal Tan, Shahirah and Noelle Tan. On the final day (30 Apr), when MGSS met St. David, the panel of adjudicators [3rd picture, from left - Indera (ex-principal of Cannossa Convent) , Noora (PPD Jasin), Noor Lena (PPD Melaka Tengah), Sheela (UiTM Alor Gajah) and Loh Wen Khin (ex-JPM, now director of Edu-Excel)] declared St. David as the (deserving) state champ. I heaved a sigh of relief when the 3-day intense competition was over. I must thank the MGSS staff for helping me to run the debate - I couldn't have done it alone without them. Congratulations and thanks too to the MGSS debating team managers, Lim Chow Khoon and Rajendran, who poured heart and soul (and money for Pizza Hut) into the training of the debaters. Better result next year!

Happy Labour Day!

Losing battle against the bulge, unlike Koh Tuat Guek

Mon 28 Apr - MGSS welcomed her new principal,Koh Tuat Guek - ex-Mgss girl (1971) and ex-MGSS staff of 24 years until 2003 when she left for Notre Dame Convent. Today she has come full circle and is back in MGSS as principal.
Koh Tuat Guek has always been fair and slim, sigh, much to my envy. You can see from the picture above taken at today's school assembly that she looks very much the same despite having been away from MGSS for 5 years. Many of us who know her would testify to that. Compare to this scenario - Just the other day I was having dinner with my good friend Jo and her family in Bukit Baru. I hadn't seen her for three weeks and she commented that my face was "puffy" (in other words, fat-lah) and asked me whether I was on any medication. Huh... if Jo weren't my good friend, I would have been eternally insulted. If all the big buttered prawns, 'yew char kuay', 'bachang' and 'roti canai' be the food of love, well then, let's eat on!

With a little help from my friends

Mon 21 Apr 2008 - How time flies! The days and weeks roll by and soon we will be saying goodbye to the first quarter of the "new" year 2008. This blog has been inactive of late as I have been busy and lazy, as usual. Between my last blog (in March) and now, I have been up to mundane as well as crazy things. The school inspectors came to see me, adding to my flurry and blood pressure in the process. The latest news about extending retirement age among civil servants sends me the shivers - truly, enough is enough! The upcoming school debate next week will also prove to a challenging time for me. So far, I have managed to get all 17 adjudicators required to run the debate and hopefully, none of them will pull out. More news about the debate in my blog next week.

Through all the insanity of work and the family, I have managed to stay sane with the help of good friends around me. They say that laughter is the best medicine and today when I discovered the picture above (taken last Christmas), I couldn't help but be tickled. Where did these two reindeer come from and how did they land in my house? Wait a minute, they look really familiar. Huh, they resemble my dear/deer husband Henry and my daughter Victoria. Coincidence?