In the Sunday Times Dan Buettner, the author of the book "Thrive, Finding Happiness The Blue Zones Way" placed Singapore as the happiest city in Asia. Of course the criteria in assessing happiness used by him relates a lot to security and safety. "Singapore shows that feeling secure is more important than freedom when it comes to happiness", Buettner said.
However of interest to me is his interview with the MM. Apparently on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is maximum, MM scored 5 for happiness when he was a PM and 6 at the time of the interview 2 years ago. He told Buettner that he didn’t want to reach nine out of 10 because “Then I would be complacent, flabby and walk into the sunset.”I am still wondering what he really means.
If he hadn't given specific reasons for not wanting a much higher score of happiness I would have thought that he is being philosophical about it. Perhaps he thinks that there is no such thing as an almost perfect score for happiness. He may think it is human nature to be always craving for the feeling of well being, irrespective of whether a person attribues happiness to having either loving relationships, status, power, wealth, a sense of achievement or being altruistic. However, as every person goes through the highs and lows of life it is inevitable that these cravings can be lost temporarily or permanently. Hence perfect happiness is almost impossible as long as we crave for these deemed attributes of happiness or feel their inadequacy or loss.
However his words, “Then I would be complacent, flabby and walk into the sunset” seem to paint a picture of his refusal to be complacent because once he feels complacent he will be "flabby" and going downhill. Hmmm....so puzzling... Does that mean he is actually happy about being unhappy where unhappiness equals continuous strive?
Actually in counselling, we called this scaling. So you ask a client to rate his perhaps anger or sadness etc. Say if the client rates 6 out of 10 for sadness, you ask him what needs to happen for him to bring it down to 4. Alternatively to pep him up and to get him to focus on any good things happening to him, you may ask why he doesn't rate it 8 ie. getting him to think of the things that aren't so bad after all.
Actually this technique is part of the Solution Focused Therapy. Another technique is to ask the client the miracle question which goes like if a fairy godmother grants the client a miracle quietly at night such that what he wants is granted, when he wakes up the next morning what would have changed such that he suspects a miracle has happened. Maybe Buettner could have gotten a more comprehensive answer from MM if he had asked the miracle question. However, MM could have answered that he does not believe in miracles and we have to work for what we want.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Earthiness
Inside the primary school where I work there is a student care centre. The school is a low ranking neighbourhood school in terms of academic performance. The majority of students come from lower income families. This student care centre (SCC) inside the school has a higher percentage of children from dysfunctional families compared to other SCCs. This is because children from our school with family problems that are brought to MCYS' attention are often referred to this SCC. This occurs when MCYS deems that the kids are better off at the SCC than staying at home. Their fees are substantially paid for by MCYS.
I was down at the SCC to do storytelling today. I went a bit early and had some time to look around before the session. As I have 2 student counselees attending the SCC I know some of the staff there. Today however was the first time I met the cook cum housekeeper. She is a short and stout middle-aged lady with short punky hair. Today she wore a loose red T-shirt hanging over her shorts and looked very much like a housewife at home. She caught my attention because she was disciplining 4 boys aged about 10 or 11 years whilst holding a feather duster in her hand. "My,my.." I thought to myself "How can they leave a cook to do the disciplining!", the high horse counsellor in me is at work. However as I pondered and listened to what she said to the boys, I became more and more intrigued. From her words which was in Mandarin I gathered there was a squabble amongst them. She then addressed each boy one by one, pointing out how each boy's actions affect the others. She however also spoke of the strength in each of their character. So she would say something like "You are actually very helpful and kind most of the time but when....da da da happens you go...da da da " I was surprised that the 4 kids did not put up fierce rebuttal and resistance but instead told her their side of the story. I had the impression that they respected her.
Half way through my story telling session she served me tea. When my session was over she offered me green pea soup and we chatted at length about the children. I was able to take a closer look at her. When she laughed I noticed her teeth were uneven, chipped and stained. However far from being repulsive they seem to reinforce the warmth that exudes from her. She had worked there for 8 years and has learnt on the job how to handle kids. I complimented her about the way she disciplined them using the slap and "sayang" (love) method. She told me she reads up a lot about child behaviour and ways to manage children. Wow "zhen de pei fu, pei fu" (my deep respect). I hope I am not romanticising her.
I left the place feeling somewhat light and cheerful. I don't really know why. Maybe I am infected by the woman's earthiness. I thought about the differences in people whom I interact with now versus those in my previous job. I used to admire the suaveness, eloquence and good looks of the bankers that came to peddle their products and occasionally enjoyed the witty banters with them. You can say they feasted my eyes (especially the good looking ang mos) and tickled my intellect. I would walk away feeling pleased when I managed to outwit them. However as these interactions weren't authentic they were not held in the heart and they evaporated like a mist. Needless to say there was also much pretences amongst colleagues for the sake of survival or avoidance of pain from the bosses. Such interactions are best forgotten haha.
After my resignation I have met people who are very very differnt, my classmates in my counselling class, my ex-colleagues at the Family Service Centre, my colleagues in school and my student counselees not the least. Just like the woman I met today at the SCC, we do not engage with our masks. Hence the feeling of warm earthiness.
I was down at the SCC to do storytelling today. I went a bit early and had some time to look around before the session. As I have 2 student counselees attending the SCC I know some of the staff there. Today however was the first time I met the cook cum housekeeper. She is a short and stout middle-aged lady with short punky hair. Today she wore a loose red T-shirt hanging over her shorts and looked very much like a housewife at home. She caught my attention because she was disciplining 4 boys aged about 10 or 11 years whilst holding a feather duster in her hand. "My,my.." I thought to myself "How can they leave a cook to do the disciplining!", the high horse counsellor in me is at work. However as I pondered and listened to what she said to the boys, I became more and more intrigued. From her words which was in Mandarin I gathered there was a squabble amongst them. She then addressed each boy one by one, pointing out how each boy's actions affect the others. She however also spoke of the strength in each of their character. So she would say something like "You are actually very helpful and kind most of the time but when....da da da happens you go...da da da " I was surprised that the 4 kids did not put up fierce rebuttal and resistance but instead told her their side of the story. I had the impression that they respected her.
Half way through my story telling session she served me tea. When my session was over she offered me green pea soup and we chatted at length about the children. I was able to take a closer look at her. When she laughed I noticed her teeth were uneven, chipped and stained. However far from being repulsive they seem to reinforce the warmth that exudes from her. She had worked there for 8 years and has learnt on the job how to handle kids. I complimented her about the way she disciplined them using the slap and "sayang" (love) method. She told me she reads up a lot about child behaviour and ways to manage children. Wow "zhen de pei fu, pei fu" (my deep respect). I hope I am not romanticising her.
I left the place feeling somewhat light and cheerful. I don't really know why. Maybe I am infected by the woman's earthiness. I thought about the differences in people whom I interact with now versus those in my previous job. I used to admire the suaveness, eloquence and good looks of the bankers that came to peddle their products and occasionally enjoyed the witty banters with them. You can say they feasted my eyes (especially the good looking ang mos) and tickled my intellect. I would walk away feeling pleased when I managed to outwit them. However as these interactions weren't authentic they were not held in the heart and they evaporated like a mist. Needless to say there was also much pretences amongst colleagues for the sake of survival or avoidance of pain from the bosses. Such interactions are best forgotten haha.
After my resignation I have met people who are very very differnt, my classmates in my counselling class, my ex-colleagues at the Family Service Centre, my colleagues in school and my student counselees not the least. Just like the woman I met today at the SCC, we do not engage with our masks. Hence the feeling of warm earthiness.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
One Door and Only One
Perhaps one symptom of getting old is when lyrics of songs which one sang as a child start playing in the mind. Of late this is happening quite a fair bit to me. My first exposure to music and songs were the hymns and choruses which I sang in primary school (other than the old evergreen mandarin songs of 50's blared over redifussion at home).
This particular hymn suddenly popped up in my mind after a visit to my student's home.The lyric goes like this:
"One door and only one
And yet its sides are 2
Inside and outside
On which side are you?
One door and only one
And yet its sides are 2
I'm on the inside
On which side are you?"
(Basically it is a Christian chorus which teaches about being saved when one chooses to be inside)
My recalling of this chorus has no religious angle. It is just so situational. This little Pri 3 girl is presented for counselling because of very high absenteeism rate. She could go for weeks without turning up at school. As the government now has a policy of compulsory education, there is a standard operating procedure to arrest the problem of high absenteeism. This includes home visit by school counsellor, family counselling by other agencies and court procedures when all effort fails. The MOE however hardly resort to the last step because honestly it is impractical to put more stress on the family which is usually already dysfunctional.
2 weeks ago I made a visit together with a social worker from a family service centre (FSC) to the girl's home. It was my fifth visit to the house. The first visit early in the year was the most successful because her mother was caught by surprise. So she acknowleged the importance of education, shared her health problems including her suffering from depression, spoke of her financial difficulties and promised to send the kids to school nevertheless. To assist her she was linked up to the FSC which offered free counselling service and which obtained for her a huge financial subsidy to put her child in student care thus enabling her to work etc. Effectively the family just needs to pay a nominal monthly amount of $5 to place the child in the student care which is directly opposite the school. After a short span of more regular attendance, the child reverted back to the routine of missing school and not turning up even at the student care as well.
At the second home visit, after knocking for almost 15 minutes, a tenant appeared at the door. We sought his help to get the girl's mum to talk to us. He reappeared after 5 minutes to pass a message that she was sick and unable to meet us. All other subsequent visits that followed were futile though we could sense that she was in the house. A neighbour shared with us that the kids are ferried every morning to a relative's house and return in the evening whilst the mother remains at home. Both the social worker and me are dumbfounded why she wouldn't bring the kids to the student care instead.
It is known that people sometimes find it hard to muster strength to reach out for help. In this case however help is at the doorstep for this family, within reach by just opening the door. As the knockings on the wooden door became louder and louder and the callings of her name became more of a nuisance to her neighbours (as if we were loan sharks) we took a breather and silence fell between us. The wooden door remained shut whilst we stared at the flame of the oil lamp hanging on the corridor. The flame fluttered a little but kept burning, casting a sense of sad incomprehension on the door that closed on us.
"One door and only one
And yet its side are 2......"
This particular hymn suddenly popped up in my mind after a visit to my student's home.The lyric goes like this:
"One door and only one
And yet its sides are 2
Inside and outside
On which side are you?
One door and only one
And yet its sides are 2
I'm on the inside
On which side are you?"
(Basically it is a Christian chorus which teaches about being saved when one chooses to be inside)
My recalling of this chorus has no religious angle. It is just so situational. This little Pri 3 girl is presented for counselling because of very high absenteeism rate. She could go for weeks without turning up at school. As the government now has a policy of compulsory education, there is a standard operating procedure to arrest the problem of high absenteeism. This includes home visit by school counsellor, family counselling by other agencies and court procedures when all effort fails. The MOE however hardly resort to the last step because honestly it is impractical to put more stress on the family which is usually already dysfunctional.
2 weeks ago I made a visit together with a social worker from a family service centre (FSC) to the girl's home. It was my fifth visit to the house. The first visit early in the year was the most successful because her mother was caught by surprise. So she acknowleged the importance of education, shared her health problems including her suffering from depression, spoke of her financial difficulties and promised to send the kids to school nevertheless. To assist her she was linked up to the FSC which offered free counselling service and which obtained for her a huge financial subsidy to put her child in student care thus enabling her to work etc. Effectively the family just needs to pay a nominal monthly amount of $5 to place the child in the student care which is directly opposite the school. After a short span of more regular attendance, the child reverted back to the routine of missing school and not turning up even at the student care as well.
At the second home visit, after knocking for almost 15 minutes, a tenant appeared at the door. We sought his help to get the girl's mum to talk to us. He reappeared after 5 minutes to pass a message that she was sick and unable to meet us. All other subsequent visits that followed were futile though we could sense that she was in the house. A neighbour shared with us that the kids are ferried every morning to a relative's house and return in the evening whilst the mother remains at home. Both the social worker and me are dumbfounded why she wouldn't bring the kids to the student care instead.
It is known that people sometimes find it hard to muster strength to reach out for help. In this case however help is at the doorstep for this family, within reach by just opening the door. As the knockings on the wooden door became louder and louder and the callings of her name became more of a nuisance to her neighbours (as if we were loan sharks) we took a breather and silence fell between us. The wooden door remained shut whilst we stared at the flame of the oil lamp hanging on the corridor. The flame fluttered a little but kept burning, casting a sense of sad incomprehension on the door that closed on us.
"One door and only one
And yet its side are 2......"
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Hypocrites
A few months ago I participated in a focus group for a research conducted by a friend's daughter for her university project. The focus group which I was in comprised of 5 people above 50 years and the feedback required of us at the tea session was our thoughts when the government first announced the intention to build the international resort and our thoughts now that they are in operation. Amongst the other participants there was a businessman and people working in finance, purchasing and journalism field. Surprisingly, it turned out that I was the one most worried about the negative social impact when the announcement was made and more so now. The others participants were more positive because of the economic benefits and the buzz the IRs brought about and believed that government measures would be sufficient to curb additction amongst the citizens. So I walked away thinking these people are not really very caring socially ( noble self image ).
When Genting Shares were publicly listed at 35cts I subscribed and got 9 lots. I sold 5 lots at just below a dollar and now the share is traded at above $2, more than 5 times IPO price. Everytime the share price rockets I would lament to my husband that I should not have sold and that I should have bought more from the market etc, etc. At the AGM when they ran out of lunch packs for the shareholders they gave out $50 vouchers that can be spent at the restaurants. I walked away feeling so happy. When I read news about businessmen losing millions at the IRs, I remarked jestfully to my husband that Genting makes money by bankrupting people. Now it dawns on me that I do have that "I love mankind but I hate people" mentality. This is a bit like Eliot Spitzer, former NY governor who was found to patronise prostitutes and who at the same time had prosecuted several prostitution rings in his career. He had risen in politics advocating ethics and integrity as cornerstones of his administration. So it goes to show that hypocrisy is in us (or at least some of us).
However the latest reports of foreign workers squandering their hard earned money at the casinos, office workers crossing over from Shenton Way to destress at MBS and busloads of housewives from Msia making a beeline for the gambling tables, I have been feeling less comfortable being a Genting shareholder (albeit a minor minor shareholder whose wish is for the company to make huge profits). No wonder the Muslims have guidelines for holding investments which must be Shariah compliant. Gambling and money lending businesses are amongst the forbidden investments. Seems like they understand human weaknesses and help people to avoid such dilemma or becoming hypocrites.
When Genting Shares were publicly listed at 35cts I subscribed and got 9 lots. I sold 5 lots at just below a dollar and now the share is traded at above $2, more than 5 times IPO price. Everytime the share price rockets I would lament to my husband that I should not have sold and that I should have bought more from the market etc, etc. At the AGM when they ran out of lunch packs for the shareholders they gave out $50 vouchers that can be spent at the restaurants. I walked away feeling so happy. When I read news about businessmen losing millions at the IRs, I remarked jestfully to my husband that Genting makes money by bankrupting people. Now it dawns on me that I do have that "I love mankind but I hate people" mentality. This is a bit like Eliot Spitzer, former NY governor who was found to patronise prostitutes and who at the same time had prosecuted several prostitution rings in his career. He had risen in politics advocating ethics and integrity as cornerstones of his administration. So it goes to show that hypocrisy is in us (or at least some of us).
However the latest reports of foreign workers squandering their hard earned money at the casinos, office workers crossing over from Shenton Way to destress at MBS and busloads of housewives from Msia making a beeline for the gambling tables, I have been feeling less comfortable being a Genting shareholder (albeit a minor minor shareholder whose wish is for the company to make huge profits). No wonder the Muslims have guidelines for holding investments which must be Shariah compliant. Gambling and money lending businesses are amongst the forbidden investments. Seems like they understand human weaknesses and help people to avoid such dilemma or becoming hypocrites.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Neuroplasticity
Today I learnt a new word "neuroplasticity" from listening to podcast.
The nerve cells in our brain or neurons are interconnected. Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the neurons to add or remove connections in response to new information and experiences.
The programme was an interview with Dr. Rick Hanson, a neuropyschologist. The basic takeaway are:
1)As the mind changes, the brain changes.
2)As the brain changes, the mind changes.
3)Hence we can change the mind to change the brain which then change the mind.
1) As the mind changes, the brain changes. This refers to information and experiences that sculpt the brain. For example experiments have found that regular meditation could thicken the cortical layer of the brain in parts of the brains which are important for cognitive and emotional processing and well-being.
2) As the brain changes, the mind changes. As an example, it is believed when the insula in a person's brains is thicker, the person has bigger capacity for empathic responses. The reverse is also true in widely known changes to the mood and perception of patients suffering from partial brain damage.
3) It then follows that one can use one's mind skilfully to change the brain which can then change the mind for the better. "Neurons fire together wire together"- repeated patterns leave lasting residuals. Hence if one allows one's mind to dwell on certain themes repeatedly, the brain structure that results will cause the mind to rest on these themes. Hence it makes sense for one to dwell on the good things and train oneself to be grateful for the well being of the mind.
That is probably the foundation upon which many approaches of psychotherapy are based, . These include strength based therapy, solution focused therapy and positive psychology.
The nerve cells in our brain or neurons are interconnected. Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the neurons to add or remove connections in response to new information and experiences.
The programme was an interview with Dr. Rick Hanson, a neuropyschologist. The basic takeaway are:
1)As the mind changes, the brain changes.
2)As the brain changes, the mind changes.
3)Hence we can change the mind to change the brain which then change the mind.
1) As the mind changes, the brain changes. This refers to information and experiences that sculpt the brain. For example experiments have found that regular meditation could thicken the cortical layer of the brain in parts of the brains which are important for cognitive and emotional processing and well-being.
2) As the brain changes, the mind changes. As an example, it is believed when the insula in a person's brains is thicker, the person has bigger capacity for empathic responses. The reverse is also true in widely known changes to the mood and perception of patients suffering from partial brain damage.
3) It then follows that one can use one's mind skilfully to change the brain which can then change the mind for the better. "Neurons fire together wire together"- repeated patterns leave lasting residuals. Hence if one allows one's mind to dwell on certain themes repeatedly, the brain structure that results will cause the mind to rest on these themes. Hence it makes sense for one to dwell on the good things and train oneself to be grateful for the well being of the mind.
That is probably the foundation upon which many approaches of psychotherapy are based, . These include strength based therapy, solution focused therapy and positive psychology.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Child Fantasies
For awhile I was rather disturbed by my client’s imaginations and fantasies. For several sessions he described with fine details how he drove his car from point to point, how he engaged his gears and where he parked his car. It started a couple of months ago when at one session he raved non stop about receiving driving lessons from a coach whom his uncle got for him. As the weeks went by his enthusiasm for driving raged as he shared with me how he controlled the wheels and outraced even his uncle.
He is a primary 3 boy abandoned by his mother and was physically abused by his step father when he was a toddler. At first I suspected that his wild fantasies might have arisen from visiting the arcades and playing with car racing games. However when his stories became more vivid I imagined that his uncle might have brought him to some simulation driving centres. I then called his guardian the grandmother. She laughed and told me that his uncle sometimes let him sit in the driver seat and did explain to him the way to drive a car. She told me that he is similarly obsessed talking about his driving skills at home. I suspect that the child gets a sense of control and security from his fantasies of mastering a car; and I allowed him air time with me about his car driving antics.
On my visit to New York I bought ( for a steal ) from “The Strand” (A huge bookstore buying and selling new and used books) Melanie Klein’s The Psycho-analysis of Children. Klein discussed how children find relief from internal and instinctive anxiety by projecting onto external objects. In very small children it is through play where the child is able to master the anxiety through control of the toy. So for example, a major anxiety in early childhood is missing someone who is longed for, the mother in most circumstances. Hence you find that small girls love to play with dolls as they are able to assure themselves of the presence of a loving mother when they nurse and care for their own doll. During the latency stage (between school going age and puberty), obsessive activities may take over as a source of projection. For instance a boy’s obsession to beat his rivals in games is the masculine way to deal with internal anxieties. Achievement in their games or sports is a mastery over their internal anxieties. “The small child’s play activities, by bridging the gulf between fantasy and reality, help it to master its fears of internal and external dangers”.
I believe my client’s obsession and fantasy with cars is his modus operandi to help him gain mastery over his anxiety of losing his mother. More than that I can now understand him better, how much he longs for her and how helpless he must be feeling about the whole situation.
He is a primary 3 boy abandoned by his mother and was physically abused by his step father when he was a toddler. At first I suspected that his wild fantasies might have arisen from visiting the arcades and playing with car racing games. However when his stories became more vivid I imagined that his uncle might have brought him to some simulation driving centres. I then called his guardian the grandmother. She laughed and told me that his uncle sometimes let him sit in the driver seat and did explain to him the way to drive a car. She told me that he is similarly obsessed talking about his driving skills at home. I suspect that the child gets a sense of control and security from his fantasies of mastering a car; and I allowed him air time with me about his car driving antics.
On my visit to New York I bought ( for a steal ) from “The Strand” (A huge bookstore buying and selling new and used books) Melanie Klein’s The Psycho-analysis of Children. Klein discussed how children find relief from internal and instinctive anxiety by projecting onto external objects. In very small children it is through play where the child is able to master the anxiety through control of the toy. So for example, a major anxiety in early childhood is missing someone who is longed for, the mother in most circumstances. Hence you find that small girls love to play with dolls as they are able to assure themselves of the presence of a loving mother when they nurse and care for their own doll. During the latency stage (between school going age and puberty), obsessive activities may take over as a source of projection. For instance a boy’s obsession to beat his rivals in games is the masculine way to deal with internal anxieties. Achievement in their games or sports is a mastery over their internal anxieties. “The small child’s play activities, by bridging the gulf between fantasy and reality, help it to master its fears of internal and external dangers”.
I believe my client’s obsession and fantasy with cars is his modus operandi to help him gain mastery over his anxiety of losing his mother. More than that I can now understand him better, how much he longs for her and how helpless he must be feeling about the whole situation.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
NLB
Attended a gathering of volunteer story tellers last Saturday at the National Library. They treated us like kids feeding us with party food, ice cream and popcorn.
The Director in charge (who shared that she has just received her 35 years long service award) gave a short speech about the library's initiatives over the years in promoting a nation of readers. Her personal account of her career in NLB was equally interesting. I believed she was a scholar because she mentioned that upon her return she was offered 2 jobs, one with the library and another with PA (People's Associations). Thinking that working with PA would involve lots of overtime she chose NLB. Little did she know she ended up spending much personal time in NLB spearheading various activities out of love for the job.
Some 20 years ago whilst attached to the Ang Mo Kio branch, she took it upon herself to conduct story telling sessions outside her working hours for the love of it. It became quite popular such that she had to conduct it at the theatrette. She invited the parents in as well with the objective to demonstrate to them the way to instil the love of reading in their children. Hence she was strict with parents and would ask those who stayed at the back and read newspapers to leave. The library received a complaint against her but her boss supported her.
This is not the first time I attended such event. A few months ago there was an appreciation event for "Friends of Library" (mainly all kinds of volunteers). The Dy CEO spoke during that function. What struck me as a commonality not only between both these senior officers but amongst a few supporting officers as well is the passion for their job.
Coming back to last Saturday's event, the Director took her leave after awhile and said she had to rush to AMK library to facilitate discussions at a Chinese readers club formed by taxi drivers. Apparently a couple of readers' clubs have been formed where readers meet say monthly or bi-monthly to share their thoughts about a book. Before she left she encouraged us volunteer story tellers to form our own book club and suggested the library officer in charge of us to facilitate.
Anyway my blog today has a mission. The NLB also conducts a reading programme known as "kidsREAD". It recruits volunteers from community self‐help groups and individuals to engage in reading related activities with children aged 4 to 8 years old from low‐income families. This nation wide reading initiative was launched in April 2004 and aims to promote the love of reading and cultivate good reading habits among all young Singaporeans, in particular children from low‐income families. We were told to spread the message that volunteers are still needed for this programme. By the way a lot of activities including story telling sessions at the libraries are conducted during weekends so working adults can volunteer as well. However as this kidsREAD programme involves the same group of children every week, it is preferable that a volunteer can commit for at least 6 months to build the rapport. Ah another message, Chinese and Malay storytellers at various libraries are lacking as well. So if anyone is interested do go to NLB website to register and find out more.
The Director in charge (who shared that she has just received her 35 years long service award) gave a short speech about the library's initiatives over the years in promoting a nation of readers. Her personal account of her career in NLB was equally interesting. I believed she was a scholar because she mentioned that upon her return she was offered 2 jobs, one with the library and another with PA (People's Associations). Thinking that working with PA would involve lots of overtime she chose NLB. Little did she know she ended up spending much personal time in NLB spearheading various activities out of love for the job.
Some 20 years ago whilst attached to the Ang Mo Kio branch, she took it upon herself to conduct story telling sessions outside her working hours for the love of it. It became quite popular such that she had to conduct it at the theatrette. She invited the parents in as well with the objective to demonstrate to them the way to instil the love of reading in their children. Hence she was strict with parents and would ask those who stayed at the back and read newspapers to leave. The library received a complaint against her but her boss supported her.
This is not the first time I attended such event. A few months ago there was an appreciation event for "Friends of Library" (mainly all kinds of volunteers). The Dy CEO spoke during that function. What struck me as a commonality not only between both these senior officers but amongst a few supporting officers as well is the passion for their job.
Coming back to last Saturday's event, the Director took her leave after awhile and said she had to rush to AMK library to facilitate discussions at a Chinese readers club formed by taxi drivers. Apparently a couple of readers' clubs have been formed where readers meet say monthly or bi-monthly to share their thoughts about a book. Before she left she encouraged us volunteer story tellers to form our own book club and suggested the library officer in charge of us to facilitate.
Anyway my blog today has a mission. The NLB also conducts a reading programme known as "kidsREAD". It recruits volunteers from community self‐help groups and individuals to engage in reading related activities with children aged 4 to 8 years old from low‐income families. This nation wide reading initiative was launched in April 2004 and aims to promote the love of reading and cultivate good reading habits among all young Singaporeans, in particular children from low‐income families. We were told to spread the message that volunteers are still needed for this programme. By the way a lot of activities including story telling sessions at the libraries are conducted during weekends so working adults can volunteer as well. However as this kidsREAD programme involves the same group of children every week, it is preferable that a volunteer can commit for at least 6 months to build the rapport. Ah another message, Chinese and Malay storytellers at various libraries are lacking as well. So if anyone is interested do go to NLB website to register and find out more.
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