palestine

I find it hard to understand 

the situation is so politicised 

that if one sympathises with the Palestinians, one is considered pro Muslim. 

for me it's just pro people. 

if one says Israel responded with excessive force he is accused of politicising the situation 

I can't grasp my mind around it

people are saying awful things about people who have lost their lives 

they mis read the news. he said if you want to donate donate to the right org. not please donate! 

increasingly it feels like we are living in and world of uneducated keyboard warriors who say whatever they want whenever they want. aren't they concerned about how they appear to others, their friends? 

here are my views 

1. England had no right to give Palestine to Israel 

2..Everytime Palestine or other Arab nations tried to fight to get back land, they lost more and more.

3. There is a limit to how far back you can go to claim sovereignty over land. Biblical times is just too far away!

4. Of course Israel has a right to defend itself.  but defend does not mean crush the other.

5. Israel should stop occupying West Bank. 

6. People are people everywhere. go.back to basics. basic rights should not be denied, such as freedom of movement electricity jobs

7. hamas controls gaza. West Bank by someone else. and thst is occupied. who wouldn't want to turn angry and attack when provoked to such an extent?.

Indian in Singapore

Today I collected another child's swimming certificate for him, 

and passed it to his mum.

I'm Indian. She's Chinese. 

Our eyes met, our lips smiled beneath the masks we wear. A nod of thanks and we went our separate ways. 

In these strange times I wonder,

would every good deed that I do

validate a race ? 

Might every misdeed I do

incriminate a whole race? 

I am tired of explaining 

when another kindly neighbour 

tells me sympathetically,

that it's hard to go back to India now.

I don't go back to India.

I go to India

and come back to Singapore.

Singapore is my back,

my home.

I've said this before 

but it must not have registered,

the one or two things we say now 

cannot undo preconceived notions built over years.

So I smile and nod,

and think of the marks I may have made on people 

about Indians,

like one or two people 

can speak for a race.

When one is a minority

perhaps there is no other choice.

review of book launch

4 May 2021. Asian Civilisations Museum 

It was a lovely evening, to celebrate art and its posterity in a time of change and uncertainty.  Just that afternoon a slew of new guidelines were announced to protect us from the epidemic. As the world reels from the relentless onslaught of microscopic germs,  it was precious relief to disappear into the world of architecture and dance, brought to the fore through words and photography, in the process bridging cultures across oceans and time, truly no mean effort by dancer-writer Mohanapriyan Thavarajah . 

The evening started with a video relating a dancer's quest to find out more about Cambodia and Khemer art and dance through the study of the amazing Ankor Wat. It was powerful to hear of how the tides of time and art worked to get us to this point, to this lovely book . It started in 2013, when Priyan was involved in a dance production based on the timeless sculptures in Ankor Wat. He was so fascinated he went on to read and research more on the connections and pathways thru history that led to the construction of this amazing temple and how it stands testimony to the culture and dance of the time it was constructed in. What struck me most was this intricate tapestry woven through history, cultures, mythology, dance and sculpture.

This was an especial treat for me in the audience for my role in the world ordnance is that of the rasika. i cannot dance myself but I love to watch beautiful bharathanatyam unfold before my eyes. 

I've watched these lovely productions, Angkor the Untold Story, The churning of the milk ocean and Alapadma and Angasa and Aparna? 

I've travelled to Angkor Wat and marvelled at the beauty there. and above all, I am  a Literature student at heart. to now read  a book that puts these ideas all together, it's a treat. To marvel at the timeless in a time of intense change is especially poignant. 

I was transported back my Art History class where we studied the marvels of Greek architecture and mythology an culture and how such a book then sent me all the way to Athens to see first hand the marvellous ruins. Sitting there in the audience, I was thinking of how this book could open my eyes to the marvels of architecture culture and mythology in our region. For me I see this as a powerful contribution to the world of dance and architecture and mythology and I can't wait to revel in the glossy pages that beckon me. 

low tide

with the tide peeled back 

a whole village s unveiled 

the green moss are padi fields

the rocks are little houses dotting the plains 

little crabs the bullock carts carrying loads on their back 

when the sea washes over 

all will disappearing they've never been 

like ancient civilisations of the past 

kaveri poompatinum

Atlantis 

Alexandria 

Ayodyha 

islets that are peak of mountains

which cities and villages will today's oceans hide

Maldives 

Malaysia

Singapore maybe?.

tree

There's a tree outside my window

7 storey tall

Every branch is full of leaves, 

in layers alternating light and dark 

Twice a year it dances with yellow flowers,

drawing in bees, and birds of every colour 

This tree, standing tall outside my window 

needs no flowers to draw me in

new leaves reaching out young and green resting on the darker shades 

v4

No one quite notices the sparrow darting in and out of the eaves of the roof at the bus stop, 

not the lady working on her laptop while waiting for the bus,

not the old man with the Super Mario schoolbag, holding his grandson's hand,

not the jogger pounding the pavement to the beat of the music in her ears,

not the gentleman walking his golden retriever with the non-stop wagging tail, 

not the driver waiting for the stragglers

flagging his bus down from afar,

not the teenagers shoving one another, tumbling their way to school

and not the rest with eyes glued to their phones, scrolling their time away.

Meanwhile the bird flies to and fro,  carrying twigs and dried leaves 

from the bushes behind the bus stop

and from the trees across the road,

her twittering 

the high notes to complement the bass of this

morning's traffic.

The sparrow busy building its nest in the crevices of the bus-stop 

and us, building ours in each nook of our high rise flats, 

we are not always aware of the other, 

our petty squabbles,

tender kisses,

the hungry mouths we feed,

the news we share of our days

spent outside this nest 

to fortify it,

and our tired caresses at day's end.

To us, she is just another bird. 

To her we are but part of her background.

Each to its own and 

yet 

we are together, a community.

her babies chirping every time 

her wings part the air around them the accents to the melody  

v4

No one quite notices the sparrow darting in and out of the eaves of the roof at the bus stop, 

not the lady working on her laptop while waiting for the bus,

not the old man with the Super Mario schoolbag, holding his grandson's hand,

not the jogger pounding the pavement to the beat of the music in her ears,

not the gentleman walking his golden retriever with the non-stop wagging tail, 

not the driver waiting for stragglers flagging his bus down from a 100 meters away,

not the teenagers shoving one another, tumbling their way to school

and not the rest, scrolling their phones,

who don't see anything else mostly. 

Meanwhile the bird flies to and fro,  carrying twigs and dried leaves, 

from the bushes behind the bus stop

and from the trees all the way across the road,

her twittering the high notes to complement the bass of this

morning's traffic. 

Tiny unseen mouths chirp in response everything her wings part the air around them. 

The sparrow busy building its nest in the crevices of the bus-stop 

and us, building ours in each nook of our high rise flats, 

we are not always aware of the other, 

our petty squabbles,

tender kisses,

the hungry mouths we feed,

the news we share of our days

spent outside this nest 

to fortify it,

and our tired caresses at day's end.

To us, she is just another bird. 

To her we are just part of her surroundings.

Each to its own and 

yet 

we are together, a community.

Israel Palestine

Aside from Gadot, model Bella Hadid has also offered her thoughts on the situation in the Middle East, via Instagram.

"Future generations will look back in disbelief and wonder how we allowed the Palestinian suffering to continue for so long," said Hadid, whose father is Palestinian.

"A human tragedy unfolding right in front of our eyes.

"Politicians stutter neutral words in fear of being reprimanded, whilst the world remains silent to avoid offending the wrong people."

thoughta

how do we pull our selves up

qhen the world around us seems crumbling 

cities on fire 

disease raging all round 

lock down imminent 

and us steeling our hearts to the possibilities of not seeing loved family and friends for four or more years 

when rhe weight of this world that's to drag us down down 

how do we lift ourselves up?.

on think alouds

Those of us who have had the chance of carrying out some research in our own school environment know how beneficial it is for everybody involved: the teacher-researcher may recognise the problematic areas in her students’ learning and work out possible solutions, whereas the students themselves may learn from the process of research as well as from the improved techniques of their teacher. This is why teachers should be encouraged to carry out small-scale investigations themselves so that they have a better idea of their students’ learning habits and the problems the students encounter while grappling with the intricate system of the foreign language

Think-aloud as a research method

One of the methods researchers use to get a clearer picture of what learners generally do while reading in a foreign language is think aloud. This is one type of verbal reports, obtained from the readers during reading (Cavalcanti, 1987). Think-aloud means that readers report their thoughts while reading, but they are not expected to analyse their behaviour as in introspection (Cohen, 1987). By means of asking their subjects to say out loud whatever goes through their minds, researchers hope to get a more direct view of the mental processes readers are engaged in while reading (Rankin, 1988).

Verbal reports and think-aloud protocols have been widely used in both L1 and L2 reading research with the aim of tapping the mental processes of readers in different situations. The purpose of the different studies has been to 

• develop a taxonomy of reading strategies (e.g. Anderson, 1991; Olshavsky, 1977), 
• compare first and foreign language reading and find evidence of strategy transfer from the native to the foreign language (e.g. Sarig, 1987), 
• identify the reading strategies of ‘good’ and ‘poor’ readers (e.g. Block, 1986), 
• investigate the effects of prior knowledge on reading comprehension (e.g. Pritchard, 1990), and 
• describe strategies used in taking reading comprehension tests (e.g. Anderson, Bachman, Perkins & Cohen, 1991). 

for us, what do we want to investigate ?.

to find out how students naturally make sense of texts they read 

in the process 

to clarify if the lrf works as a model that represents holistic reading of a text 

to see how we can develop interventions support student understanding of texts starting from what they themselves bring to the reading process

Think aloud as pedagogical tool 

Think aloud as research tool

Think aloud as metacognitive learning tool 

As soon as the text gets more difficult due to its topic, organisation, poor writing or unfamiliar writing style, reading starts to resemble a problem-solving task and verbalisation can produce information other than the actual text. This is why think-aloud is particularly suitable for examining the strategies of those poor readers who encounter difficulties when trying to read an unfamiliar text (e.g. Olshavsky, 1977). 

karthik essay

how does the writer effectively portray the teachers attitude towards his students in this poem

what is the teachers attitude to the kids..

1. presents the shift from powerless to power 

2. shows increasing tension till the release at the end

3..use of vivid language to what effect 

4. use of hyperbole to what effect 

5. use of personification to what effect 

6. how the writer gets even the principal to support the teacher. 

e reading vs print

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/ 

modern screens and e-readers fail to adequately recreate certain tactile experiences of reading on paper that many people miss and, more importantly, prevent people from navigating long texts in an intuitive and satisfying way. In turn, such navigational difficulties may subtly inhibit reading comprehension. Compared with paper, screens may also drain more of our mental resources while we are reading and make it a little harder to remember what we read when we are done

Even so, evidence from laboratory experiments, polls and consumer reports indicates that modern screens and e-readers fail to adequately recreate certain tactile experiences of reading on paper that many people miss and, more importantly, prevent people from navigating long texts in an intuitive and satisfying way. In turn, such navigational difficulties may subtly inhibit reading comprehension. Compared with paper, screens may also drain more of our mental resources while we are reading and make it a little harder to remember what we read when we are done. A parallel line of research focuses on people's attitudes toward different kinds of media. Whether they realize it or not, many people approach computers and tablets with a state of mind less conducive to learning than the one they bring to paper.à

thoughts

We have a systemic problem. Self-censorship is an insidious, vicious cycle that feeds upon itself. -sudhir 

relationships

my dad started tearing up the other day thinking of kanna. 

I wish he would call them more often 

it's so one sided.

they miss him so much 

he is just fine. no issues. 

what do I do in the middle? 

I have to try right. he doesn't even know they are hurting.  this is not even about deepa.  just him 

things that matter to them don't matter to him

like it's been 4 years since they went to his house. he hasn't called them over. doesn't realise he should. or not should but that it's a decent thing to do? that these things matter. 

and no matter how much I do, I can't make up for that gap he is leaving. I can and should keep pouring in that love.  cannot make up but important. 

last year I got that diary done for them to let them know how much they mean to so many people. it was good. but doesn't make up for one person's love and attention they are craving 

sigh. 

but time to put into place what they say. can't change others. only themselves. 

I can't figure him out. he is kind. he keeps in touch with a whole lot of people. like he talks to annamalai and arun and periyappa more often than my parents. 

think it's not he doesn't care. he's hurting a lot inside but not dealing with it. and when he doesn't think about it he is not bothered  by it. escapist. 

he was always one to hold grudges. 4 years or more now already. sigh. 

they have so much love to give.  its his loss but he does not realise it

ashwin like me

my little boy is keeping a diary! I'm so happy. he reminds me of me, really. he's only 10 bit keeping this diary and saying things like I wrote in you 1 year ago am so happy to find you again and all! and he just writes sweet happy stuff. the fun things he did. yesterday was super boring it seems.  5.5 hours of studying! 

and how he felt bad about killing aphids. reminded me of how I felt bad about killing ants and a beetle once. 

my sweet boy am so blessed to have him. 

aatha

my mother my friend my guide my solace my everything 

I love you aatha

love the way you love my children 

love your care for saro though I tease you about it

everyday I am learning from you 

from the way you enjoy movies 

are so humble to learn from children  aso sensible and reliable in times of crises 

it is my blessing you are my mum and I can't tell you how much I love you and how blessed I am to have been born as your daughter 

thank you aatha. 

everyday I am learning from you 

from the way you enjoy movies 

are so humble to learn from children  aso sensible and reliable in times of crises 

v3

No one quite notices the little sparrow darting in and out of the eaves of the roof at the bus stop, 

not the lady working on her laptop while waiting for the bus,

not the old man with the Super Mario schoolbag, holding his grandson's hand,

not the jogger pounding the pavement to the beat of the music in her ears,

not the gentleman walking his golden retriever with the non-stop wagging tail, 

not the driver waiting for stragglers flagging his bus down from a 100 meters away,

not the teenagers shoving one another, tumbling their way to school

and not the rest scrolling their phones,

they don't see anything else actually. 

Meanwhile the bird flies to and fro,  carrying twigs and dried leaves

from the bushes behind the bus stop,

and from the trees all the way across the road,

her twittering the high notes to complement the bass of this

morning's traffic. 

Tiny unseen mouths chirp in response to every flight of hers, 

her wings parting the air around them to say they live, they matter. 

The sparrow busy building its nest in the crevices of the bus-stop 

and us, building ours in each nook of our high rise flats, 

we are not always aware of the other, 

our petty squabbles,

tender kisses,

the hungry mouths we feed,

the news we share of our days

spent outside this nest 

to fortify it,

and our tired caresses at day's end.

To us, she is just another bird. 

To her we are just part of her surroundings.

Each to its own and 

yet 

we are together, a community.

other notes ? 

1. how the dame drama may be unfolding in each nest 

community poem 2

No one quite notices the little sparrow popping in and out of the eaves of the roof at the bus stop,

not the lady rushing to catch the bus,

flagging it down from a hundred meters away,

not the teenagers shoving one another off the bus, masked with laughing eyes,

not the old man seating himself gingerly on the orange bus stop seat  

and not the lovers whispering to each other,

those two don't see anything else actually. 

Meanwhile the bird flies to and fro,  carrying twigs and dried leaves

sometimes from the bushes behind the bus stop 

sometimes from the trees all the way across the road. 

The sparrow busy building its nest in the crevices of the bus-stop 

and us, building ours in each nook of our high rise flats, 

we are not always aware of the other, 

our petty squabbles 

tender kisses

the hungry mouths we feed

the news we share of our days

spent outside this nest 

to fortify it,

and tired caresses at night

To us, she is just another bird. 

To her we are just another human being.

Each to its own and 

yet 

we are together, a community. 

Behind the bus stop, karate classes continue on the badminton court between our flats. 

Children stand, bow and take their positions,

some with iron in the eyes and steel in their limbs, 

others all soft and plaint, their half-hearted kicks a gentle massage to any would-be offenders 

The birds practise too, 

this time mynahs, 

squaking and squabbling over a piece of stale bread. 

They glare at one another, pluck the bread from another's beak, fly to a quiet corner to take a bite, 

only to have it plucked away again.

Children and birds

adding colour and music,

even as they learn self defence.

They are learning to stay safe,

though safe,

in this community.

add colour and music 

to this, our community,

notes from Billy Collins

to study poetry is to study the history of the human heart

a poem is a design that displaces silence on the page.

Formal poems remind us that the origins of poetry lie in its mnemonic features, in rhythm, end rhyme, assonance, alliteration

but it’s easier to memorize than prose because it does come in lines that are units—a units of thought, units of syntax

 I want graceful lines and graceful sentences. I try to write very simply. The vocabulary is simple, the sentences tend to be quite conventional—subject, verb, object. I try to be very unchallenging in syntax. I want the trip to be one of imagination and not completely of the language

. I want the poem to be an imaginative thrill. To take the reader to an odd place, or a challenging place, or a disorienting place, but to do that with fairly simple language.

If the reader doesn’t feel oriented in the beginning of the poem, he or she can’t be disoriented later

It’s not just Facebook, which is sort of the willing forfeiture of one’s own privacy. The sanctuaries of privacy are so scarce these days. Every banality, from “I’m going out for pizza,” to “JoAnn is passed out on the sofa,” is broadcast to the wide world. I think I read recently that we’re not suffering from an overflow of information—we’ve suffering from an overflow of insignificance

poetry pleasure and the hedonistic reader 

 

community poem

No one quite notices the little sparrow popping in and out of the eaves of the roof at the bus stop,

not the lady rushing to catch the bus,

flagging it down from a hundred meters away,

not the teenagers shoving one another off the bus, masked with laughing eyes,

not the old man seating himself gingerly on the orange bus stop seat  

and not the lovers whispering to each other,

those two don't see anything else actually. 

Meanwhile the bird flies to and fro,  carrying twigs and dried leaves

sometimes from the bushes behind the bus stop 

sometimes from the trees all the way across the road. 

The sparrow busy building its nest in the crevices of the bus-stop 

and us, building ours in each nook of our high rise flats, 

we are not always aware of the other, 

our petty squabbles 

tender kisses

the hungry mouths we feed

and tired caresses

the news we share of our days

spent outside this nest 

to fortify it.

To us, she is just another bird. 

To her we are just another human being.

Each to its own and 

yet 

we are together, a community. 

Karate classes continue on the badminton court between our flats. Children stand, bow and take their positions,

some with iron in the eyes and steel.in their limbs, 

others all soft and plaint, their half-hearted kicks a gentle massage to any would-be offenders 

The birds practice too, this time mynahs, squaking and squabbling over a piece of stale bread. 

They glare at one another, pluck the bread from another's beak 

and fly to a quiet corner to take a bite, only to have it plucked away again.

Children and birds

learn self defence through play

adding colour and music 

to this, our community. 

no time to grieve

I have a heartbreak scheduled in 30 minutes

I have to squeeze grief in between the next zoom meeting in which I cannot tune out 

and this class I am now teaching 

 

30 min is a luxury of time 

I have pencilled it in

I look forward to bawling 

then quietly sobbing

then dabbing at my eyes gracefully

I hope the tears come on time

and stop in time 

enough for me to arrange my face 

take deep breaths

and continue with life 

without you

a precious window of time to grieve us 

Walks

golden orioles hop from tree to tree

like yellow leaves that fly instead of fall

snails on an upward odyssey 

defying gravity 

morning dew shining like so many diamonds carelessly strewn 

white flowers sprinkled the top of the vush, like so many stars scattered across a green sky 

yesterday morning sky was liquid gold

spreading andglistening 

green mangos strewn carelessly, with abandon 

the one orange leaf on a green tree

are you the chosen one.to fall first 

or are you the show off

the one that stands out

but will fall first 

1sts and lasts have such poignancy 

the river holds up a bouquet to the sky

here take these yellow flowers

I love you

discrimination in sg schools

The truth is, Singapore’s schools have been suppressing, erasing, and bullying LGBTQ+ folks for decades. Yet this form of institutionalised discrimination has been so successful that most people don’t even notice that it exists. 

The scariest thing about institutionalised discrimination is the fact that well-meaning people placed within biased systems often end up doing biased things. Many times, people within these systems don’t act out of malice — they’re merely following the rules and policies in place. However, their collective actions can often result in discriminatory outcomes. 

But the erasure of LGBTQ+ identities goes beyond sex-ed classes. Mr. Loh, through his 25 years of teaching experience, has learnt that teachers shouldn’t discuss LGBTQ+ identities with students. (is this going to change?)

Yes, I fear repercussions to my career,” Mr. Loh says. “It may affect promotional prospects or attract possible disapproval from parents who may take such information to the media to protect their children from such ‘immorality’. So yes, teachers may be pressured from being [publicly out as LGBTQ+], let alone discussing LGBTQ+ issues in class.”

On top of not discussing LGBTQ+ identities or coming out as queer, educators have learnt that they should also never give affirming messages to their queer students. 

When Amanda turned in her composition homework, her form teacher refused to mark it and told her it was “inappropriate” because it featured LGBTQ+ characters. (Side note: Amanda would later become the youngest person to win the Singapore Literature Prize.)⁰2

In 2018 and 2019, for instance, 2 schools have separately banned queer speakers from their events, with both schools seemingly citing MOE’s regulations as their main reason for doing so. Even though MOE has publicly denied the existence of such regulations, the fact that their policies remain undisclosed made it impossible for the public to figure out who was telling the truth. We were essentially called to place our trust in MOE’s words and ignore contrary voices. 

MOE’s regulations remain unverifiable to the public, which makes it difficult to ascertain the truth behind allegations and denials. This not only gives teachers and school leaders discretion to practice discrimination in schools, but also makes it hard for anyone to hold them accountable. 

Apathetic ministers appear to complete this recipe and allow discriminatory systems to persist without change. As products of Singapore’s education system themselves, many ministers seem to know little about regulations that stifle public discussion on LGBTQ+ issues in the country. 

What results is a system that’s clearly broken, yet remains out of reach from the public and out of the minds of its leaders. 

Here’s my thought

I look forward to the day when lgbtq issues are discussed, they are accepted as people,  we can have books about them, featuring them in our curriculum 

and when.nurses can wear tudongs if they want

and more people call out sg gov for their double edged practices their hypocrisy no child left behind except if they are lgbtq. 

"don't rush into making life decisions"

paternalistic dogma

does every gov have to become self serving and have individual sacrifice personal ideals for a perceived wider good? 

I also look forward to the day one of our education leaders has an lgbtq child. 

why can't we accept people as they are for who they are 

religious texts are problematic 

they set down rules and people feel they have to be followed even of human understanding has evolved 

what troubles me is that ... I'm complicit in this system. no wonder some see me as the enemy

Well meaning, questioning but present  a united front 

they must be so fed up with me

my argument to myself 

can I do more good from inside or outside? 

I can't influence education too much from outside because now I hold the seat of power ( or at least have more direct access to that seat of power) 

from outside I still have to come to a person like me to make changes. so I tell myself better I swallow some stuff and stay inside and do what I can. 

learn from el harairar the trickster.  Greek heroes. manage my battles but strive not to lose myself 

like I don't want to for one moment really believe that our students will be corrupted by texts with lgbtq characters within. that mentions of.suicide will send them over the edge. 

I can say it. we are dealing with young people have to safeguard them, and I do believe that. but I don't believe we should keep out lgbtq stuff to protect them. I will do it as part of my job but I won't believe it. and the reason I do it is... comprise. swallow this so I can do much more good, hopefully. bring in ideals on a systemic level so in the future it becomes hard to accept rubbish like this anymore. lay the seeds for the destruction of such Prejudice slowly now..do what I can. 

like saying things like we should empathise with the other, don't demonise the other keep saying this... sooner or later someone will ask ofnso then how come we don't empathise with lgbtq? 

I can do it elhariarah style. with  a trick, not force 

end of April

 

April has ended with 30 days of poetry, that I must admit interfered with my work a bit. 

but I have at least 14 poems from these 30 days that I like. That's more productive than usual 

Now that April has ended, we seem set to slowly go back to the dark days of phase 2 and then circuit breaker. 

It's a sinking feeling. To feel you are getting out of things only to go back to things. we had such a slow and gradual coming back that this going back seems harder than ever. 

I pray kids can go to school okay, that they can mix at recess and continue CCA. those restrictions really made school tough. but better be prepared for anything. 

for my part, am just happy we went out for dinner with my parents that Friday. now we can't go out as a family anymore. 

circuit breaker sucked when my parents couldn't come over and we couldn't go there except on the pretext of delivering vegetables. 

but we have it so much better here

India. India India my India. I pray for my loved ones there and just everyone there in general. This is one of the worst crises they are facing. and to to think their politicking could have brought it on is just awful. 

can you believe a country running out of oxygen? but it's true. so many countries in this past year have said hospitals are full, have created make-shift crematoriums . Now it is in India. Glorious lovely messy beautiful India. Full of contradictions and life. I hope it comes out of this mess.