AAC Appreciation Dinner

On Monday night, our Chairman, Mr Heng was gracious enough to host an appreciation dinner for all of the teachers and staff of the school. The dinner was to celebrate the awarding of Edutrust Certification for a period of 4 years.

The 8 course dinner at Roland’s Restaurant was delicious and the karaoke after dinner was fun. Here are a few shots taken with Ms Elaine’s iphone. (click to enlarge)
Before dinner was served, Mr Heng said a few words.

Mr Heng also proved to be an accomplished server.

Once dinner was over, it was time for some songs. Mr Roland and Mr Francis went first with their version of “Hey Jude”

Next up, the duet of Ms Pauline and Ms Cynthia gave us “Never Been to Me”

The evening would not have been complete without a good Chinese Ballad. Mr Michael Liew and Chairman Heng joined forces to meet the challenge.

Not to be outdone, Mr Brian serenaded a few of the ladies with the old Elvis love song “Are You Lonesome Tonight”. At least Dr Teo (foreground left) seemed to like it.


Finally, we all got together for a nice group picture.

Once again, a warm thank you to Chairman Heng for hosting this great event and to Ms Elaine for the memorable pictures.

Photo Contest Winners

In case you missed it, here are the winners of the photo contest held in term 4. We collected nearly 200 photos with the theme, “My Singapore”.

Third prize went to Ma Nan for this nice CNY picture.

Second prize went to Zhu Yun for these two great night shots.

And finally, first prize went to Kong Ling Yu for this colorful shot of a flower vendor in Little India at Deepavali.

Well done everyone!

Happy Belated Teacher’s Day

Ms Helen’s O level POA class presented her with this nice tribute on Teacher’s Day.

Congratulations teacher!

Different Worlds ~ Different Colours

Last week, the morning Elementary class held an art exhibit entitled “Different Worlds ~ Different Colours”. This was Miss Christine’s innovative way to have the students practice their writing and speaking skills and have some fun at the same time. Each student wrote a description of the picture and why they chose to paint it.

Before the event, the class made posters which they placed around the school to advertise the exhibition. They also made nice invitations for key staff to attend a preview before the exhibit was ‘open to the public’.

Mr Brian was invited as the Guest of Honour. Also at the preview was Dr Teo and Miss Elaine

Each student then gave a presentation to describe their painting.

After the preview, the exhibition opened to all students and staff. It was very impressive and a huge success!

Below are just three samples from this talented class.

“Golden Land” by Patcharaphan Khamma – Thailand

“Traditional” by Mack Van Hung – Vietnam

“My Childhood in the Lake” by Thein Oo – Myanmar

Congratulations to all of you for a great exhibition!

From Left to Right: Mack Van Hung, Miss Christine, Ni Xiao Ling, Patcharaphan Khamma, Thein Oo, Yang Ling Yan, Henry Leung, Gao Rui, Wang Wei, Huang Zhenhao

Trekking to Arab Street

Arab Street is a charming area of shops, museums and mosques located just east of the school. In week nine, we took the English Corner gang there to explore.

There were nearly 40 of us and we split into 3 groups. The weather was hot and clear.

This group headed for the mosque at the end of this lovely little cobblestone walk.

English Corner is a great place for students to meet and make friends with others from all over the world. Here Bao Vu from Vietnam, Saulo from Brazil and Ken from China are a perfect example.

BeBe, Darius, Ryan and Vivien visited the Malay Cultural Centre. The normally reserved Ryan couldn’t resist the cool waters of the fountain and proceeded to walk right in.

Darius offered to take us for a ride in this antique carriage. We all declined.

It was very hot so this group decided to stop for refreshments.

All in all, it was a fun and informative afternoon.

The Singapore City Gallery

On Friday, English Corner toured the Singapore City Gallery located next to the famous Maxwell Market in Chinatown. This highly recommended gallery contains several scale models of different parts of the city and the island that are truly magnificent. There are also many interactive attractions with stories and photos of Singapore’s colourful history. Click on the pictures for a clearer view.

The gallery is located on the bottom three floors of the URA building. We stopped for a quick group shot before going in.

This model shows the future of the central district including the new integrated resort/casino just to the left of the harbor entrance.

This model shows the Lakeside/Jurong area in the island’s southwest.

This model shows the entire island of Singapore and includes every building and block. It is an amazing replica and everyone tried to find their own place.

A closeup of the same model shows the central catchment area which includes McRitchie and the Upper and Lower Pierce reservoirs. Main areas are labeled to help locate specific landmarks.

This interactive theatre gave the students a chance to test their knowledge of Singapore by answering questions posed on the screen. They did pretty well, too!

This perfect model of the harbor and central district got the most attention. This view is looking down from the floor above where there are telescopes mounted to allow you to zoom in.

Another view of the same model from a different angle.

This closeup shows the amazing detail of the building and streets.

Finally, a cross view of that model looking into the harbor. How they keep this up to date given the constant construction on the island is a mystery.

Various kinds of interactive stations can be found throughout the gallery.

Looking down the famous Orchard Road.

Last but not least, a closeup of the National Library, Inter-Continental hotel and our school!

The Singapore City Gallery is located on Maxwell Road next to the Maxwell Food Court and Market and just a block from the Tanjong Pagar MRT. It’s open Monday through Saturday, 9am to 5pm and best of all, it’s free!

Hu or Who?

by Ken

One day, in the morning, Rice said to George Bush in the White House, “Morning Mr. President, there is  important news. Hu is the the new leader of China. “The president said, “Who is the new leader of China?” Rice said, “Yes. “The president said, “Pardon, did you anwer my question?” Rice said, “Yes Mr. President, Hu is the new leader of China.

P: “That is what i want to know.”

R: “That is what i just told you.”

P: “What? Then who is  that man?”

R: “Hu.”

P: “Tell me.”

R: “l said Hu.”

P: “Why do you keep asking me?”

R: “Sorry, Mr. President.  I did not ask you. I just wanted to tell you Hu is the new leader of PRC.”

P: “Who?”

R: “Yes, Hu.”……..

Impossible 0

by Ken

The Impossible 0

Gilbert Arenas is famous not only because of his fantastic performance in NBA games but also because of his persistence to realize his dreams when no one believed in him.

Full name: Gilbert Arenas(often called G.A or Gil)

Birthday: January 6 1982

Height: 1.9m

University: Arizona

Team: Washington Wizards

Position: SG (shooting guard）

Part One

The Number 0

“It’s impossible for you to play basketball in university,” said Arenas’ coach in high school. This changed Arenas’ whole life. So he got up at daybreak and trained really hard by playing one on one games or team games all day long.

“It’s impossible for him to enter onto the stage longer than 0 minutes in NCAA basketball games” said all the experts on basketball. So he chose 0 to be his number and finally proved that they were all wrong by averaging 25 points in the games.

“It’s impossible for a player who is not tall enough to play well as a SG in NBA games but not NCAA games” said the experts on NBA games. So immediately he went to the training center and soon proved this is the biggest mistake in NBA history by becoming the best new player the next year and then the all star SG.

There is an adidas advertisement about Arenas:

Hi, I’m Gilbert Arenas and this is my story. When I entered the NBA, the first 40 games of my career I sat on the bench. They said I was gonna play zero minutes. You know, I just think they didn’t see the talent that I had. They thought I was a zero. Instead of sitting there being bitter, I just practiced and practiced.

If no one believes in you, anything you do is a positive. It wasn’t even about basketball any more,
It was about proving them wrong. Now the reason I wear No. 0 is because it means nothing and it lets me know that I need to go out there and fight every day.

Part two

The ten thousand shots

When he was refused by the “Dream Team” namely the men’s basketball team of the USA, he did not just go to enjoy a nice holiday but returned to the play ground and did a great job. He finished shooting ten thousand times in only a summer and got a hit rate as high as 69.5% on the three point line.

From then on, Arenas became one of the best shooters around. That famous hot summer gave him the ability to shoot from two or three steps farther than the three point line as a symbol of himself-half angel, half demon.

Arenas had a very poor childhood. When he was very young, his mother left his father. In pursuit of his dream of being a movie star, his father went to LA with little Arenas with just 50 dollars. His father had to get up very early each day to work for the United Parcel Service. Just after his father went out, Arenas would get up to begin his whole day training. Because of his passion for basketball, he always kept far from drugs and all the troubles on the street.

Being fit and filled with dreams, Arenas began his career in the NBA. Among all the NBA players, GA looked very gentle and normal. He smiled like an angle but when he wanted a game so much, the fire in his eyes made him look like a demon with a ferocious tiger tattoo on his breast.

Gilbert Arenas is now one of the best players in the NBA. In his position, he can do almost everything, pass, shoot, assist and rebound. His skills and leadership bring victory to Washington again and again.

Number 0’s story tells us firstly to never stop our dream even if nobody believes in us. We just tell ourself where there is a will there is a way.

Secondly, we must pay for our dream. Action is always stronger than words. Practice to win. Say goodbye to the records of yesterday, say goodbye to the championship last season, say goodbye to the bench, say goodbye to “cannot”. The spirit of 0 is no pain no gain. It’s not only a key to sport but also a key to life. It tells us to start from the very beginning and makes us brave. Always remember impossible is 0.

Meeting the Great Names in History

Last Tuesday started out like any other day in Conversation 3. At one point, I asked the class which people in history had made the most significant contributions to mankind and world culture. The first name that popped up was Abe Lincoln.

A lightbulb went on in my head and I told them Abe was in town and asked if they would like to meet him. Of course they thought I was nuts but decided to humour me. So we quickly filled out our excursion forms and took off on foot.

I led them up North Bridge Road to the magnificent Parkview Square building just opposite Raffles Hospital.

I don’t know the history of this building but the architecture is impressive both inside and out.

By the time we arrived at the entrance to the beautiful open courtyard, it might have appeared as if I wasn’t so crazy afterall.

Darius took this group shot in front of this beautiful statue. From left to right: Wan Lin (Taiwan), Phuong Chi and Kim (Vietnam), me (US), Vivien (China), Ryan (South Korea), Ken and Huang Jun (China).

The courtyard is surrounded by bronze statues of great historical figures whose lives and work have had a lasting impact. Among them is Lincoln, Churchill, Plato, Einstein, Rodin, Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Dali, Dante, and more. Even Raffles warranted a spot. There are about 20 statues in all.

The present imitates the past. Special thanks to Darius for all the great photos.

Six statues are visible from the sidestreets outside of the building.

One of those on the outside is Rodin who Ryan knew was the sculptor of “The Thinker”. My impression was, well, not very impressive.

Darius managed to get this shot before the security guard told us that photos are not allowed inside. All in all, a nice quick trip that I recommend to everyone.

After we returned to school, each student chose one of the people represented and planned an oral presentation which was given the following Thursday. I found a few videos and pictures of each and even some audio of music by Mozart and Chopin to accompany the presentations. They were very well done and we all learned a lot about these influential personalities.

Trekking to Chinatown

Three weeks ago, English Corner bussed down to Chinatown. Although it is quite near, most of the students had never been there. As usual, this area was buzzing with activity. Time was limited so we were not able to visit some of the more historic sites like the Heritage Center and Chinatown market.

We filled out our excursion forms at school and then ambled over to the bus stop.

The students were excited and happy to get out of the classroom.

Once we got our bearings and arranged a meeting place, we were off.

Many of the streets are just narrow walkways filled with a plethora of shops and stalls.

The F1 models were a new addition to this metal artworks shop.

Special thanks to Vivien (center) for taking so many great photos. Mine are usually lousy.

Darius looked like he was having an especially good time.

The original architecture is well maintained and colourful.

Here, the old meets the new with typical shophouses being watched over by modern office buildings.

The Heritage Centre is a replica of living conditions and memorabilia from Chinatown’s past. It costs a few bucks to get in but it’s worth the trip.

The Friday after the trip students separated into groups and created itineraries for a one day visit to Singapore by their parents. Their presentations were top notch and even included lots of new ‘travel’ vocab.Good job everyone!