Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Toastmasters International D80 L1 Club Officers Training II

16 January 2010

Attended the Club Officers Training II at Leng Kee Community Centre.

After recapping on the Distinguished Club Programme, we went into our respective groups according to our club position.

The various Club Presidents shared recruitment problems and strategies for their clubs, and the steps to achieve club goals.

Esther drove us to Tiong Bahru Plaza where we had a "mini-birthday-celebration" for Joanne.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Double Whammy for the YEC

11 January 2010

It was a pleasant surprise to see the article on YoSpinz.

Here's an excerpt of the article:
Capitalising on the revived interest in yoyo, Mr Fong Yoong Kheong, 23, Vice-chairman of the Eunos CC Youth Executive Committee (YEC) initiated a yoyo interest group at his CC.

He thinks an interest group is an effective way for the YEC to reach out to more youths. He also believes that when people are grouped together by interest, it will allow more interaction and for them to bond together.

“I was walking around the neighbourhood, and I noticed bubble tea shops selling yoyos,” Mr Fong recalled. Not only that, he also saw many young children playing the yoyo while walking back home from school. So, his YEC placed banners near schools, recruiting members for the yoyo interest group, hoping for at least 30 participants before launching the group.

Within three weeks, there were already more than 30 members. Mr Fong was pleased with the response, and the group, month-old group, YoSpinz, meets every other Friday.

Meanwhile, the "Happy Smiles, Joyous Hearts" event, which was jointly organised by 5 PAYM Service Learning Clubs and Eunos CC YEC, was also featured in the Berita Harian.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Happy Smiles, Joyous Hearts

10 January 2010

Under the People's Association Youth Movement (PAYM) Service Learning Club (SLC) Young Ambassadors Programme, a group - led by Eunos CC YEC Chairman Sear Hock Rong - of Youth Executive Committee (YEC) and SLC members went to Kampar, Malaysia for a service learning trip. After returning home, they planned a Community Service project - "Happy Smiles, Joyous Hearts".

As early as 7am, preparation work commenced at the Eunos Community Club Multipurpose Hall. Balloons, popcorn and candy floss stalls were rolled out.

At 9am, children from homes, such as the Jamiyah Children's Home, as well as needy residents from Eunos Division of Aljunied GRC. Performance items are lined up throughout the morning to bring smiles and joy to the participants.

Our Eunos CC YEC Yo-Yo interest group, YoSpinz, was one of the performing groups that hyped up the more than 200 participants.



The event was graced by the Guest-of-Honour, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, MP for Aljunied GRC and Adviser to Eunos Grassroots Organisations. He was accompanied by the Chairpersons of committees that supported the event, including Mr Ho Ying Sang PBM, Eunos Zone '2' Residents' Committee (RC); Ms Jennifer Chew, Eunos Zone '5' RC and Mr Phua Hing Hong, President of Bedok Reservoir Shop Merchants' Association (BRSMA).



The event was also covered by reporters.


Learnt something new:
Eunos Community Club YEC in Malay is juga cabang belia Kelab Masyarakat Eunos
People's Association Youth Movement in Malay is Gerakan Belia Persatuan Rakyat
Service Learning Club in Malay is Kelab Kemahiran Khidmat

YEC/SLC Appreciation Lunch

9 January 2010

An appreciation lunch was organised for members of Eunos Community Club Youth Executive Committee (YEC) and Bedok North Secondary School Service Learning Club (SLC). The lunch was held to celebrate the outstanding achievement by the SLC, which won the Project Accolade for both school and community level at the inaugural People's Association Youth Movement (PAYM) Service Learning Festival 2009.

YEC members act as mentors to the SLC, guiding them in organising community projects.

Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, who is also the Member of Parliament for Aljunied GRC and Adviser to Eunos Grassroots Organisations, also joined in the lunch.

In his opening speech, Hock Rong mooted the idea of setting up a SLC alumnus so that graduating batches of SLC members can continue to contribute to the SLC.

Mr Zainul also encouraged SLC members to contribute as grassroots volunteers after they graduate from their school.

Lin Qiang flies to Tamworth

3 January 2010

Lin Qiang came a long way to fulfilling his dream to be a pilot. After a setback during Secondary 2 when he failed English and had to be channeled to Normal Academic stream. Since then, he worked hard for his sole aim of being a pilot. He aced in his "O" Levels, entered Serangoon Junior College, where he took up leadership position in his CCA, won awards for SRJC in shooting competitions, and was commended for his outstanding academic achievements.

His concentrated pursuit to his dreams reminded me of "The Secrets".

So here we are at Changi Airport sending Lin Qiang off as he departs to the airbase at Tamworth, Australia for the Air Grading Course.

Aljunied GRC YECs Dialogue & North East District YECs Gathering

2 January 2010

Youth Executive Committee (YEC) members of Aljunied GRC & Hougang SMC had a dialogue at The Serangoon with Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Minister, Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Finance & Transport and MP for Aljunied GRC.

After Mrs Lim shared her opening remarks, the various YECs presented their focus areas for 2010.

After the dialogue, we then met our other YEC counterparts from Tampines GRC and Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC at the North East District YECs Gathering.

People's Association Youth Movement (PAYM) Central Youth Council (CYC) Chairperson & Pasir Ris-Elias CC YEC Chairperson Lina Chong shared about her experiences as a young grassroots leader and how her YEC members were behind her when she was at her down moment. Lina also won the prestigious Singapore Youth Award in 2009.

During refreshment, we got to interact with other youths from other YECs.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Seoul Garden @ Downtown East

1 January 2010

My family and I spent the first day of 2010 together, enjoying a dinner buffet at Downtown East. This is an early reunion dinner as Brother would be spending Chinese New Year abroad.

The Seoul Garden restaurant there is somewhat different from the other outlets. Here you can select the food that you want to cook via the computer screen and have them delivered to the table.

Gone were the days when you have to walk all the way to the buffet counter and bear with oily, misplaced thongs. With just a click on the mouse, your food will be served neatly.

I remember one marketing strategy - to increase consumers' involvement in purchasing decision - and how the choosing of food via the screen would aid in that.

I thought Seoul Garden looked more Korean now, with the longer thongs for cooking, the sunken frying pan and the Bibimbap.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Last Few Moments of 2009

31 December 2009

Hua Lian Gong temple held an auction dinner beside Blk 150 Bedok Reservoir Road. It's really a weird timing to hold it at New Year's Eve, but the crowd was still supportive and the bidding was ongoing.

Eunos Zone '3' RC members and family also gathered at the RC centre for a 2010 countdown, with steamboat meal sponsored by our RC Secretary Mr Yap.

Revamping the Youth Room

28 December 2009

It's the time of the year when spring cleaning starts.

Pristine, Jordan and I embarked on our ambitious mission on revamping the youth room at Eunos Community Club.

Jordan's Mum fetched us to Ikea Tampines for our furniture shopping.

It was quite a challenge, having to source for the most value-for-money furniture. There were so many different shelves and cupboards, that we were practically walking in a maze.

To save cost, we had to give up bringing this ideal cupboard back as we would have to pay for delivery.

To give ourselves a treat for the hard work, we rewarded ourselves with the delicious hotdog bun and the Ikea smooth ice-cream!

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Trip to KL, Cameron Highlands, Malacca

25-27 December 2009

Day 1 - 25 December 2009

After 3 hours of sleep, I dragged myself up to spend the Christmas long weekend in Malaysia with Mother and Baohui. The tour is organised by Eunos Zone '3' Residents' Committee.

Just about 2 weeks ago, I went to Malaysia to attend the One Asia Forum and WAY 60th Anniversary Celebrations. Memories of Malaysia were still vivid in the mind.

Our tour guide, Bernard Yeo, is a very experienced one. His sharing of his knowledge on Malaysia really engaged us tourists. He also has a great sense of humour. Referring to the old cars in Malaysia, he said, "马来西亚的车是没有投胎的" (Malaysian cars don't undergo reincarnation), unlike Singapore cars which have to be scrapped after 10 years.

At Kuala Lumpur, we visited the National Monument. It was constructed to commemorate the heroes who lost their lives fighting against the Communists, led by the Malayan Communist Party. The communist insurgency ended with a peace negotiation between Malaya and Thailand. The communists were given plots of land in Southern Thailand. Those who returned to Malaysia had to face imprisonment.

The statue shows victorious Malayan soldiers stepping on defeated Communists and waiving the Malaysian flag proudly.

The park adjacent to the monument had this ASEAN sculptures that were created by a Singaporean.

Next, we visited Malaysia's largest Chocolate paradise - Cocoa Paradise.

We tasted samples of chocolates of coconut, durian, strawberry and sesame flavours. Too bad they didn't provide samples for the Hot Curry chocolate. Couldn't imagine how it would taste like.

Before checking into the hotel, we spent some time shopping at the Megamall.

At night, we walked around Sungei Wang.

And had our supper at the roadside. The Hokkien Mee is totally black, with sauce and whatever is on the "seasoned" wok. Awesome!

Day 2 - 26 December 2009

It was a great morning. The travelling to Cameron Highlands was smooth and without delays. Although it was a festive season, we didn't experience traffic jams.

We pulled over at a warehouse for a break.

We drank strawberry coffee and tea.
For the first time in my life, I ate raw corn. It was crispy and sweet and feels real healthy.

Our next stop was a Water Cress plantation. Father used to cook water cress soup for us as its a cooling drink. I finally get to see how a living water cress look like.

Before departing to the next stop, we drank some water cress tea.

Some random cabbage:

We also visited a bee farm. The bees at this farm roam freely around the whole farm, so as to enable the flowers to be cross-pollinated.

According to the sales attendant, hot honey water can help soothe sore throats but the cold version can cause phlegms.
Bees & Honey

On our way to Cactus Valley, we encountered a traffic jam and missed its closing time.

So we ended up checking out the shops instead.

Tomatoes:Cactus:Grapes:

And Hydroponics:

For dinner, we had steamboat vegetable buffet. Consuming plates after plates of vegetable really purifies the body.

Day 3 - 27 December 2009

En route to leaving Cameron Highlands, we passed Kampong Raja, the largest town there and also Tanah Rata (flat land).

Tea Plantation:

The tour group took a group photo at Malacca:

Malacca is well-known for its Peranakan culture. The architecture of minarets of mosques have a strong Chinese influence. The traditional Nonya would don 3 hair pins, representing the 3 countries of heritage - namely, China, Indonesia and Britain. In Penang, the Nonyas would don 5 hair pins, which represent Myanmar, Thailand, China, Indonesia and Britain.

Had the delicious Chendol.