Preteen Friends - Challenges for Youth

Glenn, Andrew and Aaaron - Friends and Tuition Mates

My younger son Andrew will turn 12 this year, as this is the key year where all children in Primary 6 will take the Primary School Leaving Examination,he is undergoing tuition 5 days a week for Math,Science,English and Chinese and diligently practising the past years' exam papers in preparations for this key exam in October. The current environment which youth are exposed to in Singapore and many parts of the world are plentiful and complex. I highlight a few :

a) Much heavier study workloads
b) Accessibility of computer games, dating sites, pornography through mass media like the Internet and handheld devices
c) Breakdown of marriages leading to single parent households or patchwork families
d) More competitive playing field due to foriegn scholars and permanent residents attending the local schools
e) The unstable economic situation due to the Global Financial Crisis, leaving some families with lesser incomes due to one or
both parents losing jobs,and henceforth changes in family lifestyles and spending habits.

There was a touching story today in the Straits Times whereby a family had to live on the streets because the parents were unable to make good the mortgage payments and the 2 children, a boy and a girl had to drop out of school,somedays with barely anything to eat, when there father was retrenched as a hawker stall assistant and their savings ran dry. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of such cases where the situations are not as dire but are 'nearly there'. That means to say, everything has to cut back, holidays, dining choices,pocket money, the little touches that one is used to. It is tough especially on the young ones,having to experience hunger at such a young age.

Fortunately, the School Pocket Money Fund has kicked in for the family and the children are back to attending school and the family is staying with a relative during these tough times.

Nowadays it seems that there are many youngsters willing to go to great lengths to achieve materialistic things and we as parents must be there to guide them as far as imparting values and behavior such as :

a) thrift
b) honesty
c) sacrifice
d) courtesy and manners
e) sharing
f) selflessness
g)empathy for the less fortunate

the list goes on. If the parents and especially the father is missing, away for long durations (by choice), then there is every danger of the next generation of youth undermining the success of our country these past 43 years.

I certainly intend to play my part.

New Bird's Nest - 3rd time this year

White Breasted Bulbul bird nesting on her eggs



Location of 2 nests ; current nest is on the lower branches of the Bamboo Trees



Another Shot of the Bird staying very still

This is the third time this year that birds have come to nest in corners of our house, the first one was on the top 3rd floor of our house, just on the open attic in the low clump of bamboo trees. In an earlier post I had written about how tine the birds were and their species were sparrows.

2 nests have come up in quick succession one last month and one this month of April. You can see quite distinctly the bulbul mother bird nesting on her eggs, normally 2. My son Andrew remarked that after a week of nesting, the baby birds will appear and they will want to be constantly fed on a diet of worms and caterpillars. They grow up very fast and within 2 weeks, the baby birds will be testing their wings and starting to fly.

My younger son Andrew has had the privilege of seeing the baby birds take their first flight, which is quite amusing, according to him, as they are fumbling alot and not coordinated, just like babies taking their first steps.

We feel very fortunate to witness these birds nesting and birthing right at our doorstep.

Games Teenagers Play Nowadays ; We can't go Back

Last Friday, being Good Friday, my elder son Noel invited 6 of his classmates to our house for lunch and some games.Nothing unusual about that, except that their games consisted of sitting around the dining table and playing a multiplayer online game very popular with the teenagers nowadays called World of Warcraft.They stayed for lunch and played for up to 6 hours at a stretch. This is the trend nowadays for online gaming is the accepted activity amongst practically all young men.

This contrasts with what I did as a teenager 30 odd years ago - swimming,club swimming competitions,playing table tennis,catching spiders,fighting these same spiders,karate practice - which I dreaded then and of course flying kites.

It was so different in those simpler and carefree days. No PC, No MSN, No Twitter, No Handphone, No Facebook, No connectivity.

I realise we can't go back to those days ever.

Gun Culture in USA - Time to Stop This

I'm sure many of us are stunned that week in week out there are reports of angry people, mainly from the good old USA who are pulling out rifles and shooting indescriminately or targetting people (love rivals,ex-bosses etc.) and causing substantial loss of life, injuries and massive grief for those affected. However, one thing strikes me, in almost all cases, the shooters are MEN.

Young, old, all races and dispositions they are MEN.The saddest thing is that, according to the documentary film-maker Michael Moore, the number of gun related deaths in the USA is 11,000 per year as compared to that of Britain or other so called developed societies like UK or Germany where the deaths are only in their 'teens. Psychologists also need to study the reasons for a) why only men or young men go berserk with the massive collateral damage inflicted on the population ever so often b) the desensitisation of death due to popular computer games making "killing" by beheading and shooting a Worldwide Online Multiplayer game.
Games such as Gunz, Counter Strike and Warcraft all come to mind.

Killing people is good, the more you do it the higher your score and status in the game. That is the indirect message played out again and again, of course the 'bad guys' are carrying swords or warlocks or guns of different tribes.

Somehow, there seems to be a blurring between the lines of reality and virtuality so much so that ONE cannot differentiate between one or the other. That can easily happen to mentally unstable or depressed people.

"After you die I will take over your game OK ? " is a phrase many kids waiting to play after their friends have used up their *Health, * Power or *Lives. Its so easy to kill and be killed in the virtual world and come back to life in the next frame.

IN THIS WORLD, YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIFE. MAKE THE MOST OF IT.

In the 2nd Amendment of the United States Constitution US Bill of Rights, it says it "protects a right to keep and bear arms". Yes, well and good when you have a war going on against the British 200 + years ago (1770s...1790s).

When you have semi-automatic and sub-machine guns, long range high powered rifles(OK, they have banned the use of these but people can still get them if they have the right 'connections'),when owning a handgun or a rifle is as easy as going to a shop and buying it off the shelf, it is a recipe for DISASTER.

I am thankful that Singapore is a tightly regulated country with total bans on guns and drugs as these 2 items seem to go hand-in -hand. We might appear too controlled but it is strict control with excellent results. "Land of the Free" - refers to Singapore in my opinion as our citizens, women and children can wander FREE from fear of being robbed, harassed,molested or worse. It is that FREEDOM FROM FEAR is the Ultimate Freedom.

"With great power comes great responsibility" - from the Movie "Spiderman"

Give a person a gun and he assumes the power to take many lives with a small amount of effort. If he is clinically depressed, has low self esteem, antisocial or just had a bad day there is this immense danger that a shooter can cause untold damege physically and for sure scar mentally all those involved in a mass shooting.Just look at the Columbine University, University of Techmology Virginia shootings. Many of those teenagers and adults involved will have psychological problems for years to come.Mental depression or insomnia can lead people to 'snap' and having a weapon of tremendous power at one's disposal can cause a tragedy.

The killers' rationale were simple : "Hey I live a screwed up life, but at least I can go down in infamy, most remembered by being a mass killer, the more killed the better." TWISTED LOGIC, TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES.

If you can get the psychiatrists and psychologists fast enough to counsel these guys the better, but look at the root causes : a) Pop culture glorifying violence and b) the 2nd Amendment. We can't do much about the first as each generation will have their own pop culture.At least the Powers that be must attempt to do one thing.

Its time to Demolish the real Weapon of Mass Destructon : the 2nd Amendment.

C'mon Mr. Obama, how many more innocent people will have to die or be haunted for decades in the name of Freedom ? !!

Legends in Our Own Minds ?

Several recent events by colleagues have left me thinking,some of us have a very high perception of ourselves and can literally 'walk on water'. Some claim to have predicted the wordlwide financial crisis, some know for sure the cure for cancer and next week's 4D Toto numbers and even some can tell me 'next week the stock market surely will go up'. The reality is that they can be so prescient but can't be productive enough or realistic enough to either do something about their predictions or make some capital gain from their ideas. They are most often located in the coffeshop or lounging around in cyberspace on various chatlines when the boss is not around.They have so grandiose thoughts that they forget the very mundane or obvious aspects of their life like a) coming to work on time, b) taking care of customers c) taking care of their boss or principals d) work colleagues emails e) being reliable and can be counted upon.

There seems to be a correlation between the Coffeshop Nostradamus (Accurate Predicter of the Future) and his Current Financial Status (which is quite desperate) normally. So I can Prredict this Principle :

Nostrudamus Socrates Principle : The more you Predict or Philosophise about things, the Poorer you will be !

That is because you will be so busy stoning or worrying about the future trends that you have no time to do a decent job and hence you will be fired, or have no time for a proper job. Come to think of it, the Greek gods were so full of themselves that one wonders if they could ever be gainfully employed !

The message here is : "Get Real, Legends are Created by Other People About You, Not by Yourself !!".

Meeting with ISKU President

Senior Black Belt Roland Teo, Sensei Chia Kwek Fah, Sensei Robert Burgermeister,Me

Yesterday I was honoured to be invited to have a meeting and dinner with Sensei Robert Burgermeister, President and CEO of Motobu-ha Shitoryu International Seishinkai Karate Union (ISKU) who dropped in to Singapore for a 1 day courtesy visit calling upon my Karate Sensei (teacher), 7th Dan Shitoryu Black Belt holder and Sports Coach, Mr. Chia Kwek Fah. It was a historic meeting as both Mr. Chia and
Mr. Burgermeister had known each other formally for over 20 years. Each was involved in many aspects of Shitoryu Karate in Asia and Worldwide with Mr. Chia founding the Ken Shin Kai Club in Singapore in 1997 (with hundreds of members) and Mr. Burgermeister, first with the World Karate Federation (WKF) and now with the ISKU.



The meetings and discussions were very warm and cordial reflecting the degree of respect and deference both these gentlemen have developed over the years.Sensei Chia has been very instrumental in wanting to evolve the ancient art of Shitoryu Karate under the legendary Sensei Mabuni adding sports science and physiological elements to our training so that overuse injuries and wrong training techniques can be minimised if correct KNOWLEDGE and APPLICATION is implemented. Senior trainees like myself (above 40) have different physiological makeup than the junior members in their teens and twenties (20s) and having a customised training for the senior trainees is very critical for the enjoyment and development of our art.



My dojo (class)mate,Roland Teo and myself were in attendance. We are all optimistic of our future cooperation and look forward to a mutually successful future.Like Sensei Robert put it so aptly :

"Karate belongs to Everyone".

Free Electric Band - Albert Hammond

This Song from Youtube is from the early 70s, when I was about my early teens. It was recommended by Roland Teo.Thanks Roland. They don't make songs like these anymore. It was the ultimate Anti-Establishment or Young Rebel Song by Sir Albert Hammond.

I almost forgot how great Pop Music was in my day and the lyrics were about simple life,love,anti-establishment and living without any care.

Long Live the 70s Music !