Many more than thirty pupils contributed poems for this celebration of thirty years' development, growth, learning and experience. It was impossible to include all, but we hope the poems contained within this little book perhaps best represent facets of Singapore as observed through the keen eyes of thirteen year olds. Some poems are reflective, some a little poignant, others capture the humour and pleasure of everyday life. Whatever you find between these pages, we hope you enjoy the experience.
~Mrs Carolyn Grainger - Literature Teacher, Nan Hua Secondary School 1995
My Homeland
A Country that is clean and green
filled with green trees everywhere.
Standing upright with their lanky straight backs
bestowing upon the lakes a majestic image.
The shoppers' paradise, ever so crowded
with busy people rushing to sales.
Always packed with people who are so.....
Kiasu!
The King of fruits - a mouthwatering sensation.
The aroma of durians drifting through the market place.
The sight of it makes you stare with envy.
Taste it, try it; it is so delicious!
The waxy petals of the orchid
brilliant and regal on tall stems.
Jewels precious diamonds
glittering image after image
assails my senses.
The familar chicken rice
welcomes me.
My mother country,
Singapore.
~ Yap Eng Yee, Ivy
My Singapore
A little island, set in the sea,
Is glittering and bright as anyone can see.
A tiny nation that's packed with love and more,
I'm proud to say it's my dear Singapore.
Just take a walk down a Singapore street,
It is where friends and strangers will meet.
Though it's a settlement covering a small area,
It's actually a paradise without a barrier.
The faces of Singapore - always transfixed in ecstacy,
The smiles and the warmth - all set in reality.
The sights, the smells and the people so carefree,
As always, living in perfect harmony.
Singapore really is a most wonderful place,
Full of surprises, to be found and embraced.
Singapore! Singapore! My desired home,
It is my abode where I am never alone.
~Kong Wanpei
The Lantern Festival
The last Lantern Festival,
I celebrated with my lover.
She was as beautiful as the moon
in the sky.
We walked together,
holding a lantern each
in the moonlight.
Candles were lit,
twinkling stars in the sky.
The burnt smell
of the candle smoke,
as if we were having a barbecue.
Lighted lanterns were
as gorgeous as the moon.
Screams and laughter of children
smiles on grown-ups' faces
showed the happiness, fun
and the joy of the festival.
But this Lantern Festival,
My lover is gone.
My heart is full of sorrow.
I let my tears drench my sleeves,
and the Lantern Festival,
will never be the same again.
~ Shen Peixin
Tropical Night
The night replaces the sun,
Twinkling stars light up the sky...
That's where our bright moon lies
Casting a warming hue over the evening's fun.
Our exotic night life begins in Chinatown,
Which is famous for its late night bazaar;
Selling Chinese antiques... pots and jars
And also handmade hats resembling crowns.
Walking briskly along the soft-lit pathways,
sharp eyes feasting on richly vividly sights...
from mystical Chinese temples to primitive cock fights
these are scenes which make Chinatown gay.
As time slips by quietly away,
Singaporeans retire to their beds,
The night is like broken jade;
Magnificent but slowly dwindling away...
~Yeow Minyi
Style of Singapore
No matter how small our island may be
The secret of success is what you can't see.
How could a fishing village so many years ago,
Become a country the whole world knows?
Just walk onto the bus and see,
the different races chatting happily.
Work, childhood, school or even food,
there is always much to cheer up our moods.
Now walk along the river and view,
our ancestors' heritage proud and true.
Because they were willing to sacrifice,
therefore we live such wonderful lives.
Food here is cheap and nice,
Singapore is the FOOD PARADISE.
Curry, steak, just name your choice,
we'll try our best to make you enjoy.
Celebrations are held throughout the year,
from Easter, Christmas to Chinese New Year.
Just let yourself have a happy heart,
you'll enjoy the fact you played your part.
Peace, peace is what we believe,
And no wars around is our greatest relief.
Rejoice, rejoice that you live here,
The little place, with least to fear
~Elizabeth Pang
You Are 1: The Reformer |
 You're a responsible person - with a clear sense of right and wrong. High standards are important to you, and you do everything to meet them. You are your own worst critic, feeling ashamed if you're not perfect. You have uncompromising integrity, and people expect you to be fair. At Your Best: You are hopeful, honest, and inspiring. You bring out the best in humanity. At Your Worst: You are intolerant, judgmental, and picky. Your Fixation: Resentment Your Primary Fear: Being corrupt. Your Primary Desire: To be good. Other Number 1's: Al Gore, Martha Stewart, Gandhi, Celene Dion, and Spock from Star Trek. |
p/s I know it is broken because the other morning, I used my ezlink card to tap myself into office. For a moment, I was wondering how come this is not working? Then I realised with shock I had used the wrong card. This has never happened to me in my entire working career; which led me to conclude that my mind is so exhausted, it has stopped functioning properly. In addition, I am starting to repeat myself and stop in mid-sentence not quite remembering what I had said earlier.
It pains me to resign from JPMorgan; I still remember the good days when I was offered a temp position after graduation and at $6.50/hour (before CPF) - it was like a big break for me. June 20, 2005 was an exciting day for me; I knew I had my foot in the door and I will make my opportunity good in JPMorgan and prove myself.
My plan sort of worked out; although the temp to perm conversion took longer than I anticipated. Luckily, I had a good manager in CDG who valued my work and saw the potential in me. I know she fought hard for my permanent headcount and for her hard work; I am willing to give it my all for her. Unfortunately, she left the bank shortly after I became permanent and it took 10 months to find her replacement.
I transfered to another job function within Credit Risk Management Operations as a fresh start to my 1.5 years in CDG. Decided that I needed to move beyond the documentation space and learn more about banking products and systems. It was hell of a move; I never did such long hours (7 a.m. - 7 p.m. and then back home for dinner and continue again from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. I had to work on the weekends too to catch up with work). It felt like I was working non-stop. I only slept, worked, had my meals, showered and travelled to and from between work. My social life is non-existent and I had totally lost contact with reality; trapped in my little bubble of overwhelming work.
Initially, I consoled myself that the long hours were due to my new jobscope which I was unfamilar with. Plus, the hubbing migration was going on which meant that there was alot of remote training going on in addition to my daily work. So I bore with it and marched on.
The months zipped by and there was no additional resources for my team. Both my team member and myself raised our hands for additional coverage (there was only 2 of us doing Asia Ex-Japan so if one member was down, the other person had to do everything which was not possible). Higher management (i.e. not my direct manager) said "Yes, yes, we will do something about it."
The months flew past again and whatever crap they had proposed did not materialise due to "timing issues". All these while, I have repeated again and again that our team is drowning in work and we NEED the additional resources. Nothing was done. All higher management said was "We are working on it". I do not fault my direct manager because I know she is on our side. She has been repeating the same stand to higher management that we need additional resources but it fell on deaf ears.
Enough is enough. I love JPMorgan for its wonderful people (excluding my current crappy higher management) but I think some issues are beyond my manager's control. The bad workload has taken a physical toll on me mentally and making me bitter. I was complaining about work to my boyfriend and being so unmotivated and tired at work; it was scaring me. Therefore, I decided it is time to leave.
Luckily for me; good work always shows for itself and one of the Credit Executives I supported in Sydney headhunted me to join his team. He had left JPMorgan back in May and was now in Singapore heading the Treasury Credit Risk team. He got to know I wanted to move from my ex-CDG manager and was happy to invite me to his team. He gave me a good pay increment; promotion and 24 days of leave.
I accepted and my last day at JPMorgan is August 31, 2007. They are making me serve one month's full notice and encashing my leave. My other colleague is leaving August 17. I hope my departure (and my colleague's) serves as a big wake-up call for higher management that they need to take us seriously. I am leaving for the better pay and better jobscope; but ultimately, I think it was the bad management that drove me away. I felt that I was working my life away for a management that did not care about my hours despite me raising this many many times. So all I was doing was to work my life away while higher management look good without increasing headcount and still "coping" with the work.
I want to thank everyone who has been patient with my incessant complaints the past months. It is time to look forward to another good beginning where management values good work.