between us.. there's the chemistry

To correct misperceptions..

2008-03-14T00:44:00.001-07:00

Alright I'm going to do this, cos I'm quite miffed at hearing the comment/assumption/question that RJ has done very poorly compared to the nearest other competitor...

THAT IS TOTALLY NOT TRUE. Just because we chose to be low key in our announcement of results does not mean we fared poorly, and just cos some other college is louder in their pronouncement of their results does not mean that they did better, or much better for that matter. Another college may have done well, but we have also done well, very well indeed.

I also think that our own graduates who believed in that rumour(that we did poorly) or spread it around have too little faith in their learning, effort and ability. The misperception also doesn't do much for our reputation, and the confidence of the juniors.

Right, some numbers:

-------------RJC %A--------- Bkt Timah Competitor%A

GP-----------47------------------ 30 -----------so we beat them by 17%
Physics-------75----------------- 60----------- so we beat them by 15%
Chemistry--- 78.8---------- 78.5 Comparable.---- we beat by a little.

I don't have the numbers for other subjects, but I do know that they are all good (many subs at 80% As, quite a few at 100%), and either better or comparable to the nearest competitor. Overall, RJ did very well against any other college. Our only numbers that weren't too good were the PW (done in 2006 for this 2007 batch) as well as MT, which affects the number of "perfect scorers"

With a larger cohort for RJC, it means its harder for us to beat averages as well (cos you got more weaker candidates to deal with), and also more effort is required

Well, enuff said, stop propagating the rumour that RJ didn't do well.

A level results for the class of 2007

2008-03-07T08:26:00.000-08:00

haha OMG I am so happy for my (chem) students. Congrats everyone!
Yea I know I know, this blog has been dead since halfway through 2007. And do you know why?

Cos I was working my ass off teaching. But I am glad to have worked with you all (mostly)

Anyway, I revived it specifically just so that I can congratulate everyone! Yea. Hopefully I can keep it around though. lets see how, this year is really busy for me...

Oh yea I digress. Congrats congrats!

(edit) RJC Chem %A grades: 78.8% ~830 candidates out of 1050 candidates
(edit) bkt timah contemporary %A grades: 78.5% ~ 610 out of 780 candidates

3R Chem % A grades: 100%
3R H3 chem: 10 distinctions, 1 merit, 3 passes

3H Chem %A grades: 82%
3H Chem %A&B grades: 100%

7B Chem %A grades: 82%
7B Chem %A&B grades: 95.6%
7B Chem %pass: 100%

Really good stuff. Our college average %A grades beats our friendly competitors in Bkt Timah even in % terms.

Anyway, to 3R, well done! What else do we expect from the strongest class in RJ right?(havn't heard any other class getting 100% A's yet...) That includes both halves of the class! 3R folks will know what i mean :)
And its been gratifying to teach you pple.

To 3H: Great job! Its also been nice to take you pple for Civics as well, and I'm glad to say most of you have come so far on so many fronts, not just chem, but across other subjects, and achieve so much in so many other areas like CCA and CIPs.

To 7B: I am so amazed by you people. I mean, we started out at 3rd class from the bottom in RJ during JC1 CT1 (Ya now you know. And I was so stressed) Well look where you are now?Almost everyone got an A! So you learn another thing (other than that doing chem is a painful choice), persistence and hardwork pays off, and you can apply yourself to anything, even if a task sucks, if you only see it another way and try, you may actly learn to like it or master it.

To all of you, your hardwork, especially those who've worked consistently, has really paid off.

Remember how when you first read my blog, I was also talking about the results of my previous batch? Well I'll say the same thing again, I am glad I was firm and demanded the best from you :)

So whatever you do, always demand the best from yourself even if it hurts, cos, when the day of your harvest comes, you will be happy with the fruits of your labour, with no regrets.

Take care everyone, and keep in touch..

(edit: I cant understand why word is going ard that RJ chem didn't do well;just cos we didnt publicize our results doesnt mean we didn't do well... we topped the cohort.)
In fact, we got more A students than their entire cohort (in absolute number terms).
(edit:) some people also don't understand this, considering that this is a through train batch, where the bottom 20% candidates which traditionally wouldnt be in RJ(wouldn't have done well enough at O levels to gain admission) are now part of the cohort, we have done really well! (past RJ batches obtain around 80% As); it means that with this cohort, we have value added. In addition, some people don't understand also, that the situation is that the more candidates you have, the more difficult it is to get a high %A( %A is not a random event, its probability doesn't necessarily increase with a larger cohort) Consider what happens with some through train systems that sets admission exams for their students to move from secondary to JC level: only the best candidates make it to JC level and take the A lvls, and you would have more of these scoring A's thereby increasing %As. So in fact, the stricter you select for a smaller cohort, the better. So imagine what might have happened, if we didn't admit our bottom 20%.... we'd get nearly 100% A's... But thats not the way; we take in everyone, and do our utmost to let them blossom to their fullest potential, in all areas.

anyways, I'm glad most of my students had great attitude and really put in hardwork to do well, don't discount your efforts and think otherwise!

Nice try, everyone

2007-02-16T06:21:00.000-08:00

Just read this article in the straits times review, 16th Feb 2007.. by Janadas Devan.

Although I do not hold any presumptions that Singapore is infallible and right in everything it does, I do agree very much with this article about the situation we find ourselves in.

Again, reproduced here for your educational reading purposes.

------------------------------

Nice try, everyone

By Janadas Devan
FORMER Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said of Singapore on Thai television recently: 'You'll get nowhere with them either being nice or being tough, they only think of themselves.'
That statement is only partly true: It is certainly important for a small country like Singapore that large countries, near and far, know they cannot get anywhere with it by being 'tough'. What that means is that they realise they cannot bully Singapore, for that is what 'being tough' means here.
Since refusing to be bullied happens to be Singapore Foreign Policy 101 - a line the country's leaders established within a minute of 10am, Aug 9, 1965, when Singapore became independent - it is excellent that Tun Dr Mahathir can recognise it so readily. It means Singapore has adhered to this line so consistently over 42 years that its obviousness is obvious - even to Tun Dr Mahathir.
What Tun Dr Mahathir does not seem to realise is that he could easily have smudged this line, converted it into a scratchy wiggle, if he had been 'nice' to Singapore.
You want water? Sure, we'll give you as much water as you want, way beyond what an internationally recognised treaty obliges us to supply, for 3 sen per 1,000 gallons - or less if you wish.
You want a common market with Malaysia, as you were promised before you joined the federation in 1963? No problem at all. Your air force wants to fly through our airspace to get to their training areas over the South China Sea? Sure, since it costs us nothing.
What if Tun Dr Mahathir and his predecessors had done all that? To begin with, Singapore may never have felt it necessary to go it alone in 1965, may never have indus-
trialised in order to leapfrog the region and link up with the rest of the world, may never have become anything more than an entrepot trading post for the region.
It would not have converted almost the entire island into a water catchment area, and developed Newater and desalination so as to become self-sufficient in water in the near future. And its air force pilots would not have become so expert in making sharp right turns immediately upon take-off, and sharp left turns soon after, to get to their South China Sea training areas. I am told those are handy skills to have for dogfights.
'Challenge and response' - that is the primary mechanism by which civilisations have emerged throughout history, said the historian Arnold Toynbee.
Why did the resource-poor North defeat the resource-rich South in the American civil war? Quite apart from the fact that right was on its side, eking out a living was a tougher proposition in the North and it was forced to industrialise earlier.
As the Greek poet Hesiod put it more than 2,700 years ago: 'The price of achievement is toil; and the gods have ruled that you must pay in advance.'
'You'll get nowhere with them either being nice or being tough' - no, that's not quite it, Tun Dr Mahathir. Singapore became tough in large part because you and your ilk were never particularly 'nice'. You might have enfeebled us if you had smothered us instead with treacly love. We should thank you for desisting.
Some sections of the Indonesian establishment have yet to catch up with the partial lesson Tun Dr Mahathir has learnt. The aim in banning the export of Indonesian land sand to Singapore was to pressure the Republic on some bilateral matters, especially the negotiations over an extradition treaty.
The calculation was: Sand is a natural resource; Singapore doesn't have any of it; so deny Singapore the sand it desperately needs and it is bound to fold.
It is the kind of calculation that resource-rich countries, especially, are prone to make, only to discover (too late, usually) that human ingenuity is the most valuable resource and it tends to thrive when it is denied easy access to natural ones. Challenge and response works on this front too.
Some Indonesians have expressed surprise in private that Singapore has not been panicked by the sand ban. They did not realise that the country's reclamation projects are mostly near completion; that there are other sources of sand for construction purposes; and, most importantly of all, that they did Singapore a favour by not being 'nice'.
The not-so-secret secret in Singapore is that construction is among the least technologically sophisticated sectors in the country. Nothing would be better calculated than the denial of sand to force this sector to upgrade, use other materials in place of sand, and become less labour-intensive. Challenge and response - it never fails.
The sad thing about all this is that our neighbours should be focusing less on challenging Singapore and more on the challenges that Asean as a whole faces.
As The Economist noted recently in commenting on the series of bilateral Asean spats with Singapore as the object of blame: 'It is hard to avoid the suspicion that the little country's unforgivable offence is being richer and more successful than its neighbours, and being not particularly apologetic about it.'
But this 'little red dot' cannot possibly make Indonesia, Thailand or Malaysia poorer or less successful. China and India can - and it is those countries, not Singapore, that they should focus on as existential challenges.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono realises this, which is why Jakarta has supported strongly the formulation of an Asean Charter as a means of hastening Asean's integration, economically as well as politically.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and his deputy Najib Razak realise this too, which is why the latter has dismissed the bizarre claims of the Johor Menteri Besar, in the teeth of all the hydraulics laws known to man, that the reclamation works around Singapore's Tekong island had somehow caused the recent floods in Kota Tinggi and Batu Pahat in his state.
Singapore has shown over 42 years that it can survive by leapfrogging the region and linking up with the rest of the world. It can go on doing this if necessary.
The region as a whole, however, cannot leapfrog itself for it is stuck here forever, sandwiched between two rising giants, China and India.
Those are the challenges. Respond as one, for goodness' sake, instead of posing these incessant challenges to Singapore.

Let's all bash singapore

2007-02-10T00:38:00.000-08:00

Wow its been along time since I've been here...guess I've been rather busy lately; on top of the regular work in school, I've been involved in some planning and preparation for enrichment and competition programmes. Ok I admit a wee bit of laziness nowadays to blog haha.. I wonder if anyone even comes here anymore... heh a big hello to you who's reading this! I promise I will try to update with somemore interesting stuff..

I've also been rather busy following some investments of mine... so far things have been looking good... actually I was very tempted to post about how I trade and do technical analysis on the charts... just as a record for me to reflect on how I'm doing .. eh since its more for myself... I do wonder if such posts will be appropriate to the audience here... My most recent position has been doing really well, up by abt 25% to date and still has potential for more. If things pan out the way I projected... Whee!!!! But not enough for retirement yet hur hur so need to keep doing my research.

I was inspired to a new goal: I'm going to take on a half year to one year tour in the mediterranean region! like south of france, italy, crete, turkey.. egypt maybe..I hope I can survive the food there tho. Its probably going to be part luxury and leisure (ie nice hotel eat and drink and shop and sight see) part backpacking(a better way to get to know the local scene) and maybe even part working .. haha anyway this is some super stretch goal as in reaaally stretched out! before that its wealth accumulation to make sure everything I need to take care of is taken care of. (need to pay for parents, gf/wife, house, car blah blah)

Anyway about the title of my post...I just read an article that was carried in today's Straits Times, quoted from The Economist, and it set me thinking about the sad hard truth; The way I see it, in this world, there are lots of mediocre people trying to bring down those who are ahead/successful. People jump at the latest chance to tear down celebrities/CEOs/leaders/professors etc etc. Neighbours are upset cos your garden is nicer (did you watch that episode of desperate housewives?) Chinese have a saying "Shu4 da4 zhao1 feng1"...cos people are just not comfortable/not happy .. and mostly JEALOUS if you are different/stick out/better; they want to make you just like themselves, bring you down to their level of mediocrity.

I also find another camp of mediocre people trying to achieve the same (bring you down) by doing the opposite. They go around proclaiming, every1 is special, every1 is unique. every1 has sth valuable. Bleah. Hogwash to me. A celebration of mediocrity I say. There's this feel good element to having the underdog win, and a feeling its so politcally wrong or unpopular to criticize some1 and call a piece of crap a piece of crap. Why? Because deep down, most mediocre people feel like the underdogs. They are jealous of the elite, the high achievers. That's why they cheer when underdogs win. Just look at american idol. People boo when Simon gives a scathing critique of a contestant.. but you know what? I think very often, he's simply calling a piece of crap, a piece of crap. At the end of the day, the idol winners .. are mostly ordinary .. they can't compare in star quality to say.. mariah carey (she's got great vocals and presence k! Just a screwed up psyche..) American Idol was in a sense, a celebration of mediocrity..

Why can't people just accept that our human gene pool is not homogenous, and that some people are just more crappy/more lazy/less talented/less intelligent/less fit? Its the sad hard truth. The good news is, for most of us, although we can;t be good at everything, we can be at least proficient in a thing or two. With the right amount of effort invested and direction from a great coach, its possible to maximise, perhaps even exceed, natural potential.

I'm not saying that mediocre people are any less valuable as human lives.. in that respect I feel all men are equal(morally speaking). And those truly gifted, while celebrated, need to be thankful of what they have, and make a proportional contribution to the world.

So I say celebrate those who are really special, and not feel apologetic about it, or feel a need to do/say something "feel good" for the mediocre. (Oh yes, on a side note, bosses shouldnt hesitate to fire an incompetent employee who's been given a reasonable number of chances to improve, cos if such an employee stays around, the burden of getting a good job done falls on the shoulders of the rest.. some of my friends have suffered this sort of situation; they have to work twice as hard to do a good job cos their team mate is crap. Why? because the boss felt bad to fire the POS)

At the same time, those who are gifted need to be made aware of their enormous potential to really change our world, and not let it go to waste.

Ooops I digress! yes the article in the newspaper, reproduced here, in full, from The Straits Times (who got it from The Economist) for your educational reading pleasure.

Let's all bash Singapore

SINGAPORE won South-east Asia's football championship on Feb 4 in a final against Thailand that was mostly peaceful, despite a bad-tempered first leg in which the Thais stomped off the pitch and sulked for 15 minutes.
The players were doing no more than imitate their military-run government, which has been in a strop with Singapore since Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister met Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, the deposed Thai leader, last month.
In protest, top-level meetings with Singaporean officials were cancelled. General Sonthi Boonyarataglin, the Thai junta's leader, accused Singapore of spying on Thailand, using the telecoms business it bought last year from Mr Thaksin's family. He told his soldiers to stop using their mobiles and go back to walkie-talkies.
Despite 40 years of expressing fraternal warmth at Asean meetings, the region's leaders never miss an opportunity to pick a fight with Singapore.
In recent years, Singaporean firms, many of them state-backed, have bought businesses across the region, giving cause for paranoia. Indonesian parliamentarians claimed this month that their military secrets were also at risk because Singaporeans had bought into a local satellite firm.
Even sand is a matter of national security. On Feb 6, an Indonesian ban on sand exports came into force, following a similar move by Malaysia some years ago. Singapore buys the sand to reclaim land from the sea and increase its puny terrain. Indonesia's official reason for the ban was to stop the environmental damage caused by sand mining. But a senior navy man let slip that it was motivated by various diplomatic spats with Singapore. The Indonesian navy has now sent no fewer than eight warships to its maritime border with Singapore to intercept suspected sand-smugglers. At the same time, the Indonesian sand-shovellers' association, facing unemployment, is threatening to sue the government over the ban.
The Malaysians, always up for a row with their estranged ex-spouse (Singapore and Malaysia were in a brief, unhappy union in the 1960s), are blaming their recent floods on Singapore's land reclamation. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia's disgruntled former prime minister, has sought to undermine his successor, Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, by accusing him of secretly negotiating with the Singaporeans to lift the sand ban. Tun Dr Mahathir also added his voice to the Thai junta's attacks on the Singaporeans. 'You'll get nowhere with them either being nice or being tough, they only think of themselves,' he said on Thai television.
There is always a plausible-sounding reason for the fights that Singapore's neighbours pick with it. The Singaporeans' kiasu (win at all costs) negotiating style does them few favours in a region where saving face is important. But it is hard to avoid the suspicion that the little country's unforgivable offence is being richer and more successful than its neighbours, and not particularly apologetic about it.
-THE ECONOMIST

Tun Mahathir has added his voice to the Thai junta's attacks on the Singaporeans. 'You'll get nowhere with them either being nice or being tough, they only think of themselves,' he said on Thai television.

Financial education

2006-12-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

Hey people, I'm going to start a series of posts about planning for your finances; and also about planning for your future job.

Now you may be thinking, I'm still young, this really doesnt concern me. OR, I got no finances to plan for whatsoever... Now if you are thinking that, you got it all wrong!

A friend of mine started investing his savings of about SGD$2000 back in 1999. By 2004, he had close to SGD$150,000, a whooping growth of 7500% in 5 years. And he did all this while he was still an undergrad in NUS, did not take part time jobs or depend on pocket money from his parents. On top of that, he was a malaysian and didn't have a place to stay in singapore so, he had to rent and pay for all his own living expenses. He also paid for his undergraduate course fees ( about $10000 a year). To top all that off, he could afford to buy macbooks, ipods, new zealand holidays for himself and for his family these past few years. All his expenses he paid for with his investments.

He's got his own condo now; I should think he'll be getting his million soon at 27. Oh yes, in 1999, this friend of mine just turned 20, Just 3 years older than what some of my students are. So I think, its a good idea for you to become financially 'aware' right now, as a start.

What were some qualities this friend of mine had that made him successful?

1. Drive. This friend of mine was highly driven.

While the rest of us were idling our time away with games and shopping and eating, he made productive use of his time. He did what he had to do to do reasonably well in school and in hall activites, but on top of that he did a lot of due diligence on what he wanted to invest in. He read a ton of books about investing, financial management, technical analysis, fundamental analysis and so on. A year before he started investing he had already been following the markets. He did his charts, planned his entry and exit points and read the companies' balance sheets. All this work enabled him to make smart investment decisions so he was correct most of the time and wrong only occasionally. This of course translated to lower risk and higher profit.

In between all that he did find time to go out with friends and catch some concerts.

2. This brings me to my next point, focus.

He was focused on what he wanted out of his life. While I'm not going to touch on how focus impacts every aspect of your life, it's interesting to look closer at how focus impacts investment strategy. Lets take a look at a growth of 7500% over 5 years. It can be averaged in to a 50% growth per year compounded. Can it happen? Yes it can; Just this year, the stock price of Apple computer (AAPL on the nasdaq; chart ) went from $50 in mid July to $91 in early december. The price movements of smaller cap companies can be even greater.

So if your insurance broker, financial planners, unit trust managers etc tell you that they can only grow your portfolio by about 5 to 8% per annum, they're not good enough.

What is their problem? You realize most of the sundry financial peddlers recommend diversification to minimize risk; What they are not telling you is that it minimizes risk to themselves. They don't really know whats good to buy, so they tell you to buy a bunch of everything. They also don't tell you the fees they charge eat up a large part of your profits, while you invest all the capital and shoulder all the risk.

Read this article.

Now is it really a good idea to trust these managers? Most people don't really know what to buy or understand what investment is about; they're financial idiots, so they diversify. And they rely on funds.

What's not risky is focused investment, what's risky is ignorance.

If you really know what you are doing, you focus. Warren Buffett (go wiki or google him) didnt diversify randomly. He focused, taking large stakes in businesses one at a time after careful research and understanding exactly what he's going into ( Go read a book about him so you'll understand what I mean). Oh yes Buffett was at one time the 2nd richest man in the world after Microsoft's Bill Gate, until he recently gave away huge portions of his own wealth into the Bill and Melinda Gates Trust, which spearheads some noteworthy philantropic efforts(I'll talk about that some other time). Again even in philantropy, Buffett adopts a focused approach; he gaved a lot (US$33bn) but only to what he thought was the most effective philantropic organisation in the US; he didnt 'diversify' his giving to other philantropic organisations.

Buffett became the 2nd richest man in the world purely by investing; he didnt inherit the money or run businesses; he simply invested.

So are you going to listen to the sundry financial advisors who tell you 8% is max, and diversify? or are you going to listen to the oracle of Omaha (as Buffett is called) who tell you to focus?

3. Remember, ignorance is risky so start learning!

I think its been good to get started by looking at qualities of drive, focus, and a wilingness to learn; however, to motivate you on this area, lets pull out some numbers.

All the following has been reported in recent editions of the Straits Times or Today newspapers.

This year, Goldman Sachs, the largest invesment bank in the US, is giving its CEO $138 million for his bonus(does not include salary!)

Morgan Stanley is giving its CEO $40 million for his bonus.

Back in singapore, the banking industry has seen average wages grow by about 5% this year, and expects 5% next year. Executives can expect 6 months' to a year's bonus.

Some young investment bankers(in singapore) are taking about US$450000 this year; according to one of them, most of them, even those who just started out should expect at least $100000 to $200000.

So really, if you just want to get a job to make a living, why follow the singapore herd into the professions of medicine or law or accountancy? Just take up the job with the best pay :)

You really should go into professions only if you have real interest in them; ie you reaaaally want to heal people, so you'd like to be a doctor. For me, I like to teach.

Finally you may ask, why the focus on money? The focus is not on money. Rather, its on making wise choices, and on achieving financial freedom which means you don't have to work, but instead spend time doing what you dream of.

In almost every great endeavour, a lot of resources, money is required. You want to fight disease on an epidemic scale? Help victims of natural disasters? Feed the poor, and beyond that, help them to become self sufficient? Lots of money helps. If you have just enough money for yourself, all the talk about benefitting others and being a blessing to others is just that: talk. You can't afford to help others, and your time and energy will also be expended to meet the needs of yourself and your family ( you have to feed your aged parents, your young children, your car, your house, and your wife. It's tough.)

Even in teaching and educating people, you can make great impact if you have the wealth to spearhead programmes, as what Bill Gates has done. He's recently been voted to be the most influential in US education(ranked above the US president, Department of Education etc etc)

Of course, investment banking isn't really an easy job. But really, which job is easy? (more on that in a future post)

And even if you don't become an investment banker, it still pays to figure out how to manage your wealth. My friend's a computer programmer.

You can start by reading great articles or books about investment attitudes and mindsets to get some inspiration before going into really detailed research. A nice author to read will be Robert Kiyosaki; he;s the guy who wrote "Rich Dad, Poor Dad"

He has a column in yahoo finance, and I'll leave you to a link to one of his articles. More to come.

Hohoho

2006-12-17T06:16:00.000-08:00

my pc is still dead :( as in my desktop.

So how do I blog? I've to use my office computer(which thankfully is a laptop). But then this being an office laptop cant be used to play PC games, listen to itunes etc etc blah blah.

So how do I while my holidays away??

well..there's the PS2..... hah well i did do some constructive things! First off there the Singapore Chemistry Olympiad! I'm so so so happy for RJC's team (which i coordinated and conducted training with). Its nice to work with a bunch of bright(ok they got brains.. but its whether they use it or not.. heh heh) kids who like chemistry. Ok ok the good news is, that its over and the results arrrrrrrre (drumrolls..)
i) all our 15 candidates made it to final round and got a medal (not true for any other college)
ii) we had 6 gold medals (out of the total of 13 awarded, that means we swept half the golds) plus assorted silvers and bronze
iii) we had the top scorer for the entire olympiad (xinyang from 6D if you wanna noe; the olympiad had 2 theory papers and 2 practicals)
iv) we had the top scorer for the theory papers (ben chen from 3K)
v) RJC team won the best team award!

hmm we didnt get top for practical.. hmm will need to look into that
wooohoo welldone!

hmmm on top of that I found time to do quite a bit of reading (eh? so geeky? yar, i'm a geek)
wikipedia's great! I read about the origin of malays and malay language, and then more ancient civilisation stuff, on mesopotamia, the phoenicians (they're the canaanites), child sacrifice, the roman empire. It also interesting to think that, while Judaism is one of the many religions amongst the middle eastern region in ancient times, its offshoots Christianity and later, Islam came to influence such large populations of peoples and geographical areas. (These religions are called the Abrahamic religions; Abraham, Ibrahim, the same you know)

For Christianity, intense persecution under the Romans forced believers to scatter, and along with that, their message spread. But 2 other important events happened to bring Christianity into such dominance over the western hemisphere. 1) Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, 2) Emperor Theodisius I (he was the last emperor of a unified Eastern and Western Roman empire) made Christianity the state religion of the roman empire. Now if you didnt know, the Roman empire at its peak stretched from the British Isles, the whole western europe, much of the north coast of Africa (basically all round the mediterranean region) including some of egypt, Most of what is modern day turkey and iran(persia).

Western Roman Empire later collapsed under the barbarian invasions(quite a few other factors also cotributed to its fall, such as economics and currency issues, disease, and environmental degradation), in any case the Roman empire declined, but the incoming conquerors(the germans,gauls, franks, angles, saxon, vandal and visigothic "barbarians") assimilated and later adopted Christianity till modern day Europe (colonization of the rest of the workd by europeans then brought Christiantity everywhere...)

From the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), Christianity made its to Russia. Later on, the Ottomans conquered the Byzantine Empire (The capital at Constantiople itself became Istanbul later on) and brought in Islam (which now dominates the area)
Incidentally, the Ottomans were quite tolerant of the Christian church and also of Jews(the Sultan Bezayid II actually gave refuge to Jews escaping persecution from Europe) while the Protestants and Catholics went at each other's throats in Europe, executing heretics, purging Jews and all...

ehh quite enough talk for now, you can read all these for yourselves; but really, some knowledge of history is so useful, especially for us young people who view many things, including religion in the modern world through simplistic assumptions, when in fact many factors eg social, political, geographical and cultural go into making the world what it is today.

Oh and if you like, Greek mythology is pretty fun too, think Hercules, Achilles.. ahh the body of greek gods (and goddesses) are so fantastic! Did they workout in a gyms with persoanl trainers or sth?

My PC is dead

2006-11-28T04:38:00.000-08:00

AAAAAIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!

My desktop has died. Thanks to the numerous diseases it contracted. Probably because it participated in lots of unprotected relations with other computers. Damn!

Always use protection. Be safe, not sorry.

AAAIIIEEEEE!

Now i'm using my office laptop. Cannot MSN.

acceptable statements..

2006-11-12T19:31:00.000-08:00

Do read my previous post first before reading this one..

..

So, whats an acceptable way to phrase our observations in the ATP example?

you can say:
1) HYDROLYSIS of ATP releases energy (automatically hydration is assumed to be involved as part of the process)
2)Formation of ADP(aq) and phosphate(aq) from ATP releases energy
See? the above 2 statements are simple but harbours no misconceptions;

However misintepretation of statement (1) often leads pple to make statement (3):

(3) Breaking of the phosphoester link/ P-O bond releases energy.
This statement is wrong.; since breaking the bond requires energy. subsequent hydration of the phosphate and ADP is what releases energy.

So now you learn, while 2 statements may seem/sound the same, they essentially mean very different things, because a statement may contain implications, assumptions(as in statement 1) and context. These subtle things are what what people misread or miss out, because of their incomplete understanding.

Remember, in making statements, beware of implications, assumptions and most importantly, context.

Oversimplification breeds misconceptions

2006-11-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

For all students who've done biology and chemistry at O lvls and Alvls, have you ever wondered about this: in biology you are taught that ATP is a high energy molecule, when its phosphoester link is hydrolysed ie ATP -> ADP + Pi (inorganic phosphate) energy is released.

Yet in chemistry you are taught that bond breaking (as happens during hydrolysis), REQUIRES energy? So which is correct? why the apparent contradiction?

This really stems from the oversimplification of the hydrolysis process taught in bio.
1) the so called inorganic phosphate is simply the phosphate PO4^3- ion or the hydrogen phosphate HPO4^2- ion. (they in equilibrium under cellular pH conditions)

2) ATP and ADP do not exist as neutral molecules either, their phosphate groups are deprotonated and so ATP and ADP are anionic.

Rewrite the eqn ATP^4-(aq) -> ADP^2-(aq) + HPO4^2-(aq)

The key difference is something as minor as the (aq)!
The P-O bond in the phosphoester link is actually quite weak so it requires little energy to hydrolyse (but energy is still required). However after the reaction, you've got TWO ions instead of just one. The phosphate ion is a small ion that forms ion dipole interactions readily with water; ie formation of HYDRATED HPO4^2- ion releases large amounts of energy.
Having two ions instead of one means more energy is release from hydration. and for those who take thermodynamics at higher levels they should also know that the entropy of the system increases.

So overall the reaction releases free energy.

Ther are many other misconceptions actually propogated in sec sch science eg ..octet rule as a driver of reactions in chem.. and in bio some people use the word oxalate for example to refer to oxalic acid, when in fact oxalate is the anion of the acid (after its deprotonated)...

I think simplification is good when it allows you to deal with issues without getting bogged down by too many details. But it should be done accurately and also set in a right context.
Oversimplification of anything, not just science but also in many current affairs issues, philosophy, religion, on the other hand, propogates misconceptions, clouds sound judgement, and mislead people.

Look at the masses of ignorant, misdirected people in this world....myself included

Last words on SPAA

2006-10-29T04:42:00.001-08:00

Some last words on SPA

1. Make sure you study the suggested solutions to extra practice SPA. Note how each of the section is presented. Compare against you own and see the difference.

2. For theory and reliability please take special note.

3. Also note that you MUST still study for the functional groups not discussed in the extra practice.

4. So sorry I didn't manage to mark the extra practice. As it was submitted to me only on wednesday afternoon, and i had meetings for the whole wedneday afternoon still late evening; usually i would completely mark all your work. Regardless, please take ownership of your learning and work; make sure you self-mark using the answer key and correct as necessary. Good luck!

Last words on SPAA

2006-10-29T04:42:00.000-08:00

SPAz Again!

2006-10-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hi pple! ready to go SPAz?

Somethings i wanna highlight so you dun go spaz during SPA. (haha i'm so punny)

1.When creating ur mtd make sure that for the test u choose you are careful to predict the correct outcomes.

2. Make sure the procedure you write is IN STEP with your method! some students propose a mtd like say use 2,4 DNPH first then use Na2CO3, but in their procedure its some other order!!

3. THEORY and RELIABILITY: again pls, be specific for the question. like for eg when describing the theory abt silver halide test for R-X, since we are using chloroethane, you should adapt the theory for that compound. So you'd write that OH- hydrolyzes chloroethane, to liberate Cl- ion. Dont bother to write general things like RX and X- ion.

What I mean is, answer the question!!!

4. LIMITATIONS. many students are not good at this. they tend to copy wholesale from notes.
i)Please answer in proper qn context. Like for eg 24DNPH test for aldehyde, the notes limitations says that it can give +ve for ketones too... now, whats the point of writing that if there arent any ketones ard anyway?? in this context, 24 DNPH gives an unambiguous +ve

ii) note that hydrolysis requires strong heat, while acid base neutralisation does not ( for amides vs ammonium salts for eg)

5. SPELL the name of the reagents. 2,4 dinitrophenylhydrazine

6. CONDITIONS!! be specific. like especially (aq), state symbols, and warming.

7. when giving procedure, be specific about the + and - observations!!
so again dont give general statements like.. observe for gas that turn red limus blue.

You should write:
add 2 cm3 dil NaOH(aq) to 1 cm3 of sample and heat strongly for 5 mins in boiling water bath.
Test for gas evolved using moist red litmus paper.
N-methyl propanamide will evolve gas turning moist red litmus blue, while compunds x y and z will not.

Notice If you have to test for gas, you shd describe how you are going to do it, as in "test for gas using..."

You should also specifiy the observations (both +ve or - ve) for the compounds being tested on.

8. Remember to DISSOLVE SOLIDS.

9. Remember to specify, "to fresh samples of cpds..." when describing procedure

10. for safety concerns, write both the measures taken and WHY these measure are taken. eg, do expt in fume cupboard to prevent toxic fumes from escaping to environment.

ok break for now

This is for the frenchies!

2006-10-14T03:53:00.000-07:00

Haha you gotta watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NhSQARojp0

Haha la marche de l'empereur!!!
Its damn funny.

bounce!

2006-10-10T03:25:00.000-07:00

You gotta try this! its so fun. you can pick'em up and throw them around. haha

Erm its done by this guy.

How religious words slip, slide, perish

2006-10-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

I read this article on the straitstimes, 1 Oct 2006, sunday, by Janadas Devan. Its so good I am reproducing it here in full, for educational purposes.

---Article Begins ---

JOHN Duns Scotus, Byzantium, jihad - Pope Benedict XVI mentioned all three in his controversial address to the University of Regensburg on Sept 12. His Holiness didn't say so, but those proper nouns also gave us 'dunce' (an idiot, a dullard), 'byzantine' ('extremely complicated, inflexible, underhand', especially in politics, as the Oxford English Dictionary defines the adjective) and 'Holy War'.
How did that happen, and why? What do these transformations, or transmogrifications, tell us about religion - or rather, about some aspects of it?
Let's begin with Duns Scotus. Born in Scotland in the town of Duns, he became one of the 13th century's most eminent theologians. Doctor Subtilis (the Subtle Doctor) was the title popular opinion conferred on him, for his philosophy was thought to be especially intricate and subtle, just as Thomas Aquinas, the other great 13th century theologian, was known as Doctor Angelicus (the Angelic Doctor).
Pope Benedict criticised Duns Scotus for his voluntarism - the theory that God should be conceived as Will, not Logos or reason. In contrast to Thomas Aquinas, Pope Benedict noted, Duns Scotus believed that one 'can only know God's voluntas ordinata', or His ordained or established will.
God said, let the bird fall off the tree, and the bird duly fell off the tree; no use asking why, we can only know it was God's will. Such notions gave rise 'to the image of a capricious God, who is not bound to truth and goodness', Pope Benedict noted. Rejecting this view of God, His Holiness stressed: 'God acts with logos.'
Duns Scotus, though, didn't become a derogatory eponym - a name that becomes an everyday word - because of his voluntarism. Indeed, his influence lasted for centuries, and his followers, known as 'Scotists' or 'Dunsmen', dominated English universities up to the late 16th century.
The Dunsmen became known as the 'Duns', a byword for 'pedants', and later 'Dunce', a byword for 'dullards', because of the intemperate manner in which they had opposed the humanism of the Renaissance. No need to ask why the bird fell, they said. All one need know is that there is a first cause - God's will. An undue interest in second causes - the province of science - will only serve to diminish one's faith in the first.
It is altogether apt that our word 'dunce' commemorates the religious obscurantism that almost throttled modern science at its birth in the Renaissance. Sub specie eternitatis, or in the light of eternity, faith and reason may not be opposed, as Pope Benedict argued. But sub specie history, let's not forget, faith did indeed try to stifle reason for centuries. That the first 'dunces' were religious men registers that important truth.
Now, for our second word, 'byzantine', the adjective: It derives, of course, from Byzantium, the ancient Greek city on the Bosporus that Constantine the Great rebuilt as Constantinople in 330, and that is now known as Istanbul. It became the capital of the eastern empire when the Roman empire was split in two in 395. The Byzantine empire lasted for 1,123 years, till May 29, 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II.
John Julius Norwich, in his magisterial history of Byzantium, blames the 18th century historian Edward Gibbon for the bad press the Eastern empire has received. 'Like all classically educated Englishmen of his day,' Norwich writes, Gibbon 'saw Byzantium as the betrayal of all that was best in ancient Greece and Rome.'
Its art seemed sumptuous and intricate, lacking the balance and proportion of classical Western art; its Eastern Orthodox religious practices seemed familiar and yet bizarrely foreign; its politics were devious and complex. In a word, Byzantium seemed byzantine to the West, primarily because it was eastern.
Interestingly, Pope Benedict quoted one of the last Byzantine emperors, Manuel II Paleologus, on the subject of Islam. 'Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new,' Pope Benedict reported him asking a learned Persian in 1391.
'God is not pleased by blood,' Manuel II told the Persian, 'and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature.' Such a statement was self-evident to Manuel, Pope Benedict argued, because he was 'shaped by Greek philosophy'.
Manuel II, by this account, seems altogether rational and non-violent - a Byzantine Mahatma Gandhi almost - compared to the marauding Ottoman Turks who were pressing in on Constantinople.
Actually, he was nothing of that sort. 'He shared a love of literature and the traditional Byzantine passion for theology,' notes Norwich, but he was 'a man of action' - and devious and underhand, a byzantine man of action, one might add.
He fought with his father and brothers, his fellow emperors in the constellation of small states that made up the shrivelled Byzantine empire of his time. He travelled to Venice, Rome, Paris and London, trying to drum up support for another 'full-blown international Crusade' against the infidels. He made common cause with the infidels, taking part in their campaigns to expand their sultanate, even at the expense of the last remaining Byzantine strongholds in Asia Minor. Manuel II resembles nothing so much as a contemporary Lebanese Christian politician, navigating the byzantine politics of that war-ravaged, multi-religious country.
It is not in the least surprising that such a man, trapped in the politics of his time, would have said: 'Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.'
Manuel tried to do the same himself, inviting the Western Christians to join him in another Crusade against the infidels. 'Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye,' asked the gentle Galilean in his Sermon on the Mount. Christ's words, needless to say, apply as much to Christians as they do to Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists. And of course, all - Christians as well Muslims, Hindus as well as Buddhists - are united in believing that while casting out the motes in the others' eyes is a matter of the utmost urgency, casting out the beams in their own is an irrelevance for they are but mere figments of the others' crazed delusions.
Finally, jihad and jihadist, which are often translated loosely as 'holy war' and 'warrior', respectively. As countless Islamic scholars have pointed out, these translations misrepresent grossly what the words mean.
Jihad derives from the Arabic root ghd, meaning 'to strive', 'to make an utmost effort' or 'to struggle'. The struggle in question covers everything from striving to attain perfect faith to promoting justice. To equate jihad with terrorism is sacrilegious.
'While Al-Qaeda may call themselves 'jihadists' to legitimise their atrocities, I do not see why you need to trumpet their misrepresentations,' a Muslim Singaporean wrote to me recently, objecting to my use of the word in an article. My correspondent was right.
James Fallows in a recent Atlantic Monthly article listed 'an alternative lexicon', assembled with the advice of Islamic scholars, that he hoped would deny terrorists the legitimacy of sanctified language. 'These include hirabah ('unholy war') instead of jihad; irabists ('terrorists') instead of jihadists; mufsidoon ('evildoers') instead of mujahideen; and so on.'
That is sensible advice, but it is doubtful if the meanings of religious words can be cleaned up so easily. Consider, for instance, how the following simple words have come down to us: 'giddy', 'enthusiasm' and 'fanatic'.
Giddy is from the Old English gydig, meaning 'possessed by God'. Enthusiasm comes from the Greek en, in + theos, God, meaning 'inspired by God' or 'God in us'. And fanatic comes from the Latin fanaticus, 'of or relating to a temple', deriving as it does from the noun fanum, temple.
How did giddy come to mean 'overexcited, mentally intoxicated, excitable, frivolous'; enthusiasm, mere 'strong interest or great eagerness'; and fanatic, 'frenzied, mad' - and now simply 'fan', as in 'football fan', which derives too from the same fanaticus?
Religious words slip, slide, perish, lose their meaning, get distorted, become corrupt, precisely because the religious, like the irreligious, slip and slide, distort their faith, give way to irrationality, become corrupt. Corruptio optimi pessima.
Corruption of the best is the worst.

for 3R

2006-09-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Hi 3R

Solutions for the revision mini test.

Consultations ogay.

2006-09-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

Dear all, if you want to see me for a consultation, please make prior appointment with me.

best is sms or write me a note.

Even those who have already made appointments with me verbally, please sms me!! Cos, I can't remember them :P bad memory

All the best to all of you out there!

Some useful online chem resources

2006-09-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

Rod Beavon: one of the chief examiners in UK for edexcel exam. http://www.rod.beavon.clara.net/chemistry_contents.htm

Chemguide: Good for building foundation and explaining and visualizing concepts http://www.chemguide.co.uk/

Some exam techniques

2006-09-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

This is with regard to time management and how extensive you need to answer your questions.

Elucidation Questions:

1) Most importantly you must give proper deduction of FG and reaction linked to observation:
eg A reacts wtih 2,4, dinitrophenylhydrazine to form hydrazone--> A has carbonyl group.
These are most important, since without proper deductions you may make mistakes in structures.

2) Give structures and label: these will be 1 mark per structure.

Normally for 10 marks, elucidating 4-6 structures plus all deductions will give full marks.

3) equations?: give these only if the question demands for them. IE the question states:" give equations for ALL reactions that take place"

If question implies that equations are optional: for eg, "deduce structures, and use eqns where appropriate", it means that the equations are used in place of deductions, so they share the same marks. IE if you are able to give full and complete deductions, equations become redundant and do not score more credit.

In these cases, I recommend especially when you are short of time not to write equations; simply do a good job with observations->deductions and structures and you will score.

But if you've got time, write the equations to secure 100% marks.

During tutorials I always demand a higher standard(120%) in order to train you up, and you need the practice to ground your foundation. But during exam, learn to discern good time management.

remember: 1 mark => 1.5 minutes. you may need to be faster than this for organic chem, because for stoichiometry, 1 mark may take a long time (calculations etc) to obtain.

That's it for now.

Something abt proteins

2006-09-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION: Some texts regards -S-S- disulphide link as part of primary protein sturcture. This is from definition that primary structure is made by covalent bonding. Also certain proteins exist as crosslinked polymers, hence the inclusion of -S-S- as primary structure.

BUT PLEASE TAKE NOTE: at A lvls, the primary structure is defined ONLY by the amino acid sequence joined up by peptide links. Please do not include S-S in its definition.

-S-S- link is weak and considered to be part of tertiary structure.

Please make sure you highlight this on your notes.

oh well.. i knew it!

2006-08-20T02:46:00.000-07:00

You Are 72% Cynical

You're a full blown cynic... and probably even skeptical of these results.
You have your optimistic moments, but most likely you keep them to yourself.

How Cynical Are You?

Promo Goals

2006-08-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

I hope by now my students have set a good goal for their promo results... I know I have: top 5 in the cohort for 3R and 3H, and top 10 for 7B!

I know that many of you out there are stressed out and really busy, and I'm going to say here the same thing I wrote to my class' yahoogroups:

Life is like a marathon, and through it, sometimes we may feel discouraged or tired; the good thing is, how you end matters more than how you start. So PRESS ON! Lets end this year well!

Plan now and take necessary, proactive steps to attain your goal. Spot your weaknesses and plug them. Work on your basics if you are weak at them. Summarize your learning to key points. Summarize and define the strategies used to solve problems. Use these to make your practice more productive. Balance your equations.

Remember its not just practising a lot, its also practising the RIGHT WAY. So insist on doing your practice properly - proper understanding as opposed to copying, proper format as opposed to poor expression, properly writing out key points rather than have it all in one big mess(and missing out key and marking points). That's whats meant by studying smart. But still lotsa practice is needed for things like, helping with memory, and familiarity so that you can solve problems fast. If your old way of doing things didnt work for you, then you have to do it through new ways! No change = no improvement.

I've been too busy to blog recently yep so sorry for the lack of updates. I'm trying to press on till the end too :) - New notes coming soon.

SPAz

2006-07-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

nuts about chem spaz? don't wanna be a spaz in the lab?

Watch the videos!

Seriously, go watch the videos, and visualize what you need to do for chem spaz. you need to get a level 8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnQJ2q36d2E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIZ39gFsfqU

Make up SPA practice

2006-07-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

For those who missed out on SPA practice, these are the make up schedules. Please inform me if you wanna go for any of these.

Also, for the real SPA, if you cannot come please have valid reason (its a national exam) like MC etc.If it is due to some school sanctioned event(away for competition etc) please let us know in advance as well.

Thanks.

Thursday...13 Jul...2 to 4pm...Chem Lab 1...Practice 2.........Chem Lab 4 Practice 1
Monday.....17 Jul...2 to 4pm...Chem Lab 4...Practice 1
Tuesday....18 Jul...2 to 4pm...Chem Lab 4...Practice 2
Thursday....20 Jul...2 to 4pm...Chem Lab 4...Practice 2
Wed..........26 Jul...2 to 4pm...Chem Lab 4....MOCK
Thursday....27 Jul...2 to 4pm...Chem Lab 4...MOCK

The doctor is IN!

2006-07-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

Yo peeps,

i decided to set aside time to have consultations with pple

Its based on the free period/early days of the classes.
So if you are from a certain class and you got to see me, just approach me to make and appointment (otherwise i will assume i got no business for the day and close shop)

Make appointment in ADVANCE!~

The appointment will then usually be the timings we set aside here. Unless we make other special arrangements

So..
3R: Tuedays 11-12 or 1-2. I till take my lunch at the other slot tho
3H: Fridays 12-2
7B: Fridays 2-4

cya.

omg, i have sub average logical skills

2006-07-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

Your IQ Is 120

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional

Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

What it all means is that i got no logical reasoning powers in my brain, although i look like i can really analyse stuff cos i can talk my way out of stuff. And Math is illogical dats why i'm exceptional. That includes general knowledge too. I mean stuff like the chemical formula of vanilla and chilli's capsaicin is similar is very illogical.

And finally i dunno why i'm a verbal genius, cos whenever i type or write, it comes out dsyelcix.

Shopping

2006-07-09T05:01:00.000-07:00

Its been so frustrating shopping for records. I was looking for Death Cab's albums and I went to them all, Gramaphone, HMV, Borders... they've only got the EP- Stability, I managed to get Plans from gramaphone tho. But what I was really looking for was Transatlanticism and Photoalbum

And only HMV had Transatlanticism.. at a mind blowing 43$!!! I almost flipped when i saw the price OMG double-eww-tee-eff daylight robbery.

So I was resigned to just listening to music over Pandora... fortunately Pandora linked thru to Amazon..

So off I went to Amazon.. Transatlanticism was selling only for 12.99$ USD! That works out to be 20$SGD only!! I figured since I was going to pay for S&H, I may as well order more CDs..... so.. I bot Photoalbum, We got the Facts and We are Voting Yes, and Something about Airplanes!

All in all that worked out to be a total 56$USD incl. S&H. Onconversion thats about 90$SGD. Which works out to 22.50$sgd per CD. Amazing! Buy original!..
.
.
....

....

Oh If you dunno what's Pandora, its simply amazing
Its an internet radio station, with a twist. You key in your favourite artiste or song title, and they produce a playlist of songs which are similar just for you. Great for discovering new music or artistes you'll like. After I got Pandora, I completely gave up on Singapore radio. Its all noise.

Go check it out --> www.pandora.com

Passion

2006-07-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

Your True Love Is a Scorpio

Why you'll love a Scorpio:

Strong and sexy, Scorpio will overpower you into falling in love (before you even realize it!).
You'll love being swept away by Scorpio - into a world of insane passion.

Why a Scorpio will love you:

You don't mind letting your Scorpio take the reigns, as long as you know you're truly cared for.
Loyal and devoted, you would never do anything to set off insanely jealous Scorpio.

What Sign Is Your True Love?

Haha I'll love a Scorpio?? but I am one! maybe dats why I love myself so much :P

Anyway, I think anything you do in life is fun only if you've the passion :D

I laffed when i saw the result

2006-07-09T04:52:00.000-07:00

You Are Scary

You even scare scary people sometimes!

How Scary Are You?

3N

2006-07-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

hey 3N peeps.. there were somethings I wanted to say during my gdbye and all da best speech today.. that i didn;t manage to say... well i was too focus on trying to deliver the message for you to press on and be consistent and reach your highest goal.

I wanted to say I'll be missing you all, and erm I never mean to "abandon" you all. its just.. an administrative thing i gas, distribution of workload and such. Hopefully I can catch you pple for lunch someday? tag on my blog if you are here!

love you all.

Common Test Results 2

2006-07-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

I'd also like to announce good news more systematically

Technicals: MSG(Mean Subject Grade) almost works like reverse of GPA, A is 1 point, B is 2 points.. etc etc E is 5 pts, S is 6 pts, and U is 7 pts

So MSG is the average grade point for the whole class.

%A-B is the percentage of candidates from the class that obtained either grade A or B, and % pass is obviously the percentage of candidates that passed (obtained E and above)

There are a total of 40 JC1 classes taking Chemistry.

Against the entire cohort,
3R has been ranked #1 for MSG, #1 for %A-B, #2 for %pass. #1 for overall. congrats!

3H has been ranked #6 for MSG, #5 for %A-B, #5 for %pass. #4 for overall. congrats too! Though I think 3H should have done much better....

7B beat 7A, keep persevering people!

3N I'm not gg to post your results.. since technically I don't teach you anymore.. but all I gotta say is, you guys are smart enough to do well k, just be more focused, and attentive, and learn on a daily basis!

Congrats to individuals who made top 5% of the entire cohort
Ranking....Name.......... Class......Score(%)
#11............Lawrence.....3H.......... 83.1
#19........... Shimin..........3R...........79.1
#24............Hwee Juin... 3R...........77.7
#37............Bibianna.......3R...........73.0
#48............Xinhui...........3R...........70.9

Common Test Results

2006-07-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

After days of gruelling non-stop marking, and data entry and processing, followed by compilation of statistics, the collated common test results are out!!

Overall, cohort wise, it was somewhat ....discouraging... to put it mildly.

For a straightforward paper with mostly fact and recall with some application and evaluation question.. we really expected better. I just feel sad.

Ah well I do have one good piece of news for myself and prolly some of my audience here...
.
.
.
.
.

errr no there is no moderation in view of world cup

The good news is, 3R is the top class amongst the whole cohort, in terms of class average score (mean subject grade or MSG).

See 3R, I did tell you in class that I was least worried about you and you all will mostly do fine yah? I was right! This is a tribute to your consistent efforts and great attitude...Most of the time I'm right about stuff.

So as an encouragement to others... it's not too late!! remember, building knowledge is like constructing a building. It takes effort, planning, deliberate action, and most of all consistent effort and time. You can't build a great piece of architecture overnight! The foundation must be laid, and usually that is the slow and ugly part. you cant see the building for a long long time. But once the foundation is laid carefully and firmly, through day after day and month after month of careful consistent effort, the rest of the building can spring up easily and quickly.

If the foundation is not laid properly, the whole building cannot stand and will collapse. And yoiu simply can't build a good or wondeful work or architecture if construction is done hastily. With hasty work, you just end up building a couple of shacks.

And so it is with learning. Learning is a daily affair, when you give thought, deliberation, and meticulous attention to what you are seeing and hearing- that builds foundation. Last minute mugging just doesnt cut it, you don't learn anything, but just have a hodge podge slum of desperately memorise snippets.

For some of you who've been trying hard, don't worry, maybe your building takes longer to materialize but keep at it; one day it will appear! You might want to check on the building plans tho...

So there seeya folks

perseverance

2006-06-28T07:24:00.000-07:00

yo people, persevere for your common tests k, dun let the trauma of the previous papers get to you when you do the next few papers.

And yes, it shd be said that diamond _HAS_ a giant covalent structure. you can't say that it is a giant cov structure. cos it isnt. its simply a chemical element. which possesses said giant cov. structure get it?
*sigh* and its not right to say that I2 is a simple molecular lattice. It HAS a simple molecular STRUCTURE.

and i dun even wanna talk abt the abuse of because, therefores, hence, and thus.

In the past, exams used to have this phrase in the instructions: "Candidates are to note that marks will be awarded for proper/appropriate use of language in expression of answers."
which really is an euphemism for marks will be deducted for bad language. :)

ughh

2006-06-28T03:40:00.000-07:00

i'm so dead.. the marking is killing me.. and so many students have such a poor ability to express themselves,.. its as if when they do science, their english gets thrown out of the window...

very often i see statements like "diamond is a giant molecular structure"

the answers written are at times are not structured in a logical fashion, or similar points are repeated, or lots of irrelevant points are written while key points are omitted... ( these are the trying to smoke the examiner/just whack type of answers)

this is such a trying time!

answers to alkane quiz

2006-06-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

its CDCCADDBCC

How to study for exams.

2006-06-24T02:45:00.000-07:00

After observing students' performance for tests, revision tests, remedials, and doing a postmortem with them for why, even those who worked hard and are smart, don't do very well in exams, i've concluded that they are not preparing well for exams.( for the revision tests, which are a lvl std, most are getting 40/80)

I should say they find find it difficult to bridge the gap between theoretical facts and application/evaluation/problem solving. This is because they do not understand the following principle: learning to prepare for exams is not about just mugging, its also acquiring problem solving skills. In devising solutions to problems, its not just sufficient to arrive at the "final answer". All key factors should be addressed, and given due consideration. Problem solving skills are not just useful in exams, they are useful in a whole lot of situations in life...

I think in fact singaporean students tend to treat exams as a... i dunno how to say, as a....unnatural animal. what i mean is that to them exams are just exams and somehow not related to problem solving in real life. this is at the same time true and not true.
Under the old A lvls/ and even o lvl exam system, many singaporean students have learnt, and teachers have also encouraged, a drill approach with a mindset of "memorising" without real understanding, answers to questions (problems). to them, they do not need to understand why/how the answer is crafted in particular fashion. Students, witha desire to feel secure and to do well, as well as teachers even, are equally guilty. They want to be able to simply regurgitate facts, to supply a direct and PREMADE answer to any question. so that they will never be wrong.And they just want the final answer. And if the marking scheme requires the working, then the working is also part of the "final answer" to be mugged for.

This is not the right mindset, to exams, and indeed to life. This is , to me, one of the major shortcomings of our system. To highlight what i mean, I've met graduates, and postgraduates, in the course of doing research work.

Now the nature of research work should be.. RESEARCH! that means dealing with the unknown. So skills like analysis, evaluation, generalising, deduction, induction all need to be used. Suppose we want to investigate a certain system, what do we do? well we hypothesize about how the system might be like. We compare with perhaps similar sorts of examples in nature that we already know something about. We take a similar experiemental protocol for those systems and modify them based on our hypothesis abt the current system we want to study. we conduct our experiments, and record data. based on the data collected from our system, we analyse and deduce the actual state and properties of the system as well as evaluate out modified protocol. make assessments, modify the protocol somemore,and try again. sounds very tiring and challenging yes? as well it should be.

The thing is, the typical singaporean graduate doesnt want that. they want a secure job, make enough money.. that sort of thing( so the mindset they bring to their school as kids, they also bring to their life as adults). and if the govt wants to make research one of the economic engines, then thats what they'd do. so i've met people who say, they are at a loss or don't want to create a their own/new experiment protocol. they don't want to read up and trawl the libaries, journals, an internet for similar examples/info where they can learn from and adapt solutions. They wish for a boss who would think the whole thing through and just give them instructions on what to do. They just want to be .. robots.. secure robots that is. (same as students who do practicals. they just want to follow the lab manual. they do not question, or understand even, why certain steps, apparatus, and reagents are used. to me.. thats like being robots. you dont need intelligence to follow instructions. you just need training.) I always feel a strong urge to tell these people, dude, you are in the wrong job. research means dealing with the unknown duh. In fact I like bosses that simply share with me ,a goal, a vision, and perhaps offer some advice and teaching in terms of experiential stuff like where to start, like look for info, and perhaps important factors to consider and pitfalls to avoid. and then after that leave me alone to figure out the answer.

Ok haha i digress...i should address some of the major components of info mgmt and problem solving(and adapted as exam technique) on the next post.

i have a fragile ego.

2006-06-24T02:31:00.000-07:00

I came across the brochure for ballet under the stars and thought of suggesting that as a class outing, so i smsed this girl.. call her CL
me: hey lets go for ballet under the stars!
CL: what, you mean for class outing right?
(i was thinking like duh .. of course.. but i decided to play a prank so....)

me: no, its just you and me.

after a looong pause..

CL: HUH?? why me????....<--------at this point i was like.. waaah wat a response.. like she was called up for detention or punishment.. like the prospect of going out with me was torture!!! *sigh*

white slip for CL the next time she's late. hmph.

haha actually i just laughed my head off. :)

The Idea of God

2006-06-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

I was just chilling this afternoon and as usual when i chill, my thoughts start to wander off ... and I started think, how come I can never be as pious as other christians.. or for that matter as pious as any other person is to his/her own religion?

but then, I've never been atheist or gnostic- i truly believe in and love God... so i figured, its because i really treasure the idea of having God. To me, if there is no God, no eternity, no karma, then perhaps life will seem more pointless( ala john lennon's "imagine").. like whats the point of doing anything? in the end it all becomes dust... and whats the point of planning, or trying hard, or being good? just eat, drink and be merry. So yep there must be a God. And of course i've experienced God in my life.. tho i won't go too much into that... anyway..

But I don't want to be too near to God... i think his holiness will burn me...

and when i look around at the immense suffering brought about by religious fanaticism( wars, genocide, injustice to women etc etc,) , i wonder.. is it worth it? and almost every religion/cult has been guilty of bringing about suffering. but maybe its not the religion itself.. but its the people in the religion... imperfect human beings thinking that they are acting in the infallible will of whichever God the believe in, but in fact they don't know better than any other human being .. or perhaps they are downright worse, manipulating others to think that they alone possess special knowledge of the divine.

I'm so unholy; men are so evil, how can anyone ever say that they can execute the will of God? I'd rather just cherish the Idea of God.

INTJ

2006-06-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Try this! http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Your Type is INTJ
Introverted
Intuitive
Thinking
Judging
Strength of the preferences %
11
50
75
11

-----------------

To outsiders, INTJs may appear to project an aura of "definiteness", of self-confidence. This self-confidence, sometimes mistaken for simple arrogance by the less decisive, is actually of a very specific rather than a general nature; its source lies in the specialized knowledge systems that most INTJs start building at an early age. When it comes to their own areas of expertise -- and INTJs can have several -- they will be able to tell you almost immediately whether or not they can help you, and if so, how. INTJs know what they know, and perhaps still more importantly, they know what they don't know.
INTJs are perfectionists, with a seemingly endless capacity for improving upon anything that takes their interest. What prevents them from becoming chronically bogged down in this pursuit of perfection is the pragmatism so characteristic of the type: INTJs apply (often ruthlessly) the criterion "Does it work?" to everything from their own research efforts to the prevailing social norms. This in turn produces an unusual independence of mind, freeing the INTJ from the constraints of authority, convention, or sentiment for its own sake.
INTJs are known as the "Systems Builders" of the types, perhaps in part because they possess the unusual trait combination of imagination and reliability. Whatever system an INTJ happens to be working on is for them the equivalent of a moral cause to an INFJ; both perfectionism and disregard for authority may come into play, as INTJs can be unsparing of both themselves and the others on the project. Anyone considered to be "slacking," including superiors, will lose their respect -- and will generally be made aware of this; INTJs have also been known to take it upon themselves to implement critical decisions without consulting their supervisors or co-workers. On the other hand, they do tend to be scrupulous and even-handed about recognizing the individual contributions that have gone into a project, and have a gift for seizing opportunities which others might not even notice.
In the broadest terms, what INTJs "do" tends to be what they "know". Typical INTJ career choices are in the sciences and engineering, but they can be found wherever a combination of intellect and incisiveness are required (e.g., law, some areas of academia). INTJs can rise to management positions when they are willing to invest time in marketing their abilities as well as enhancing them, and (whether for the sake of ambition or the desire for privacy) many also find it useful to learn to simulate some degree of surface conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality.
Personal relationships, particularly romantic ones, can be the INTJ's Achilles heel. While they are capable of caring deeply for others (usually a select few), and are willing to spend a great deal of time and effort on a relationship, the knowledge and self-confidence that make them so successful in other areas can suddenly abandon or mislead them in interpersonal situations.
This happens in part because many INTJs do not readily grasp the social rituals; for instance, they tend to have little patience and less understanding of such things as small talk and flirtation (which most types consider half the fun of a relationship). To complicate matters, INTJs are usually extremely private people, and can often be naturally impassive as well, which makes them easy to misread and misunderstand. Perhaps the most fundamental problem, however, is that INTJs really want people to make sense. :-) This sometimes results in a peculiar naivete', paralleling that of many Fs -- only instead of expecting inexhaustible affection and empathy from a romantic relationship, the INTJ will expect inexhaustible reasonability and directness.
Probably the strongest INTJ assets in the interpersonal area are their intuitive abilities and their willingness to "work at" a relationship. Although as Ts they do not always have the kind of natural empathy that many Fs do, the Intuitive function can often act as a good substitute by synthesizing the probable meanings behind such things as tone of voice, turn of phrase, and facial expression. This ability can then be honed and directed by consistent, repeated efforts to understand and support those they care about, and those relationships which ultimately do become established with an INTJ tend to be characterized by their robustness, stability, and good communications.

formatting

2006-06-20T08:25:00.000-07:00

i really need to figure out this litle formatting glitch.. its so irritating.. sometimes its centred, other times its left or right justified.. grrr

up-update

2006-06-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

21 Jun Make up revision test @ SR10: 10am to 1pm(includes break and gg thru the paper)

the following people are going:

from 3H:Changxun Debbie Jheeva Samuel Charissa YYY, mie, lawry, kenny

from 3R: kelly, natasha, natalie, angie, melu,

from 3N: Joash, Ryan David, Gerald, CZQ, Charlene, laila, aisha, teresen kristel+ fren,

from 7B: Sherine

23 June consultations

1100-1200 terese and abby

1300-1400 yanheng and angela

1430-1530 jheeva

1530-1700 melu and nat

updates

2006-06-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

16 Jun:
1130am: 7B: paul n chen zhen

21 Jun Make up revision test @ SR10: 10am to 1pm(includes break and gg thru the paper)

the following people are going:
from 3H:Changxun Debbie Jheeva Samuel Charissa YYY
from 3R: kelly, natasha, natalie
from 3N: Joash, Ryan David, Gerald, CZQ, Charlene, laila, aisha,
from 7B: Sherine

22 Jun
filming of SPA video!
Hey people! we are thnking of making a SPA video! the vid will teach you all about the next skill coming up for exams. in this way, all students will get the same teaching (as compared to different tutors coverring their own classes) maybe we'll make it downloadable.

The video will be hipper than hip, cooler than cool, hotter than hot and MTVisque. What I need is:
1; suggestions for soundtrack. must be exciting k. and no propella heads or moby ala matrix or james bondish stuff.
2: if any of you are skilled in videop editing, we welcome you to volunteer! you won't get paid, but this is your chance to impress us and earn major brownie points....

23 Jun
The End of the Holidays!
*sob*!!!

11am : 3N: Terese and Abby
1pm: Yanheng and Angela

Oh yes, on a separate note, 3N will be getting a new chem tutor! he's a nice and enthusiastic guy & ex rafflesian. so yep I'm sure they will be in capable hands. ...I will miss them and their antics

More notes! haha no not chem notes.. just random stuff.. mostly to do with music...I just bot the Snow Patrol's latest album "Eyes open"..limited edition CD + DVD

http://www.snowpatrol.com/music/albums.aspx?pid=36

buy original!

Recent movie i just watched: Cars!

Its really funny, and thoughtful, and meaningful.. did i say its really funny? Pixar animation really has great production values.. you should all catch it! In fact I think we should make a learning journey out of it...

Winning isnt everything.. its the relationships that you build that give meaning to your life.

.. On a note about learning journey though, I'd like to suggest to the students from 3H: lets go for Ballet Under The Stars!

Paradise Falling

Performed by Sngapore Dance Theatre (SDT) (personal note: they are good, i've seen them before)

Music: Blue as the Turqoise Night of Neyshabur

Performed by : Yo-Yo Ma

http://www.singaporedancetheatre.com/performance/buts.asp

21 July Friday evening

its 18$ per tic: but we can get 15% discount if we order more than 5 tics, plus we can get a TOTE board arts grant subsidy of up to 60%. meaning you guys only need to pay 25% of 18$ = 4.50$

wanna go?

Other performances worth going:

Coldplay: Twisted Logic concert, 10 Jul 2006, Singapore Indoor Stadium

SIngapore Lyric Opera: The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

14-17 July 2006

Check them out at www.sistic.com.sg

What an exciting July! Every1 should go watch something esp after the very very exciting common tests :)

Remedials, consultations, and revision tests

2006-06-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this to consolidate whats taking place:

5 June:
Revision test 1 @LT2: A lot of absentees!!

Consultations:
3N: I was suppose to see some people for 3N, but they never turned up.
Darren & Hanxin: yes I know they are from 3N, but they made separate arrangements with me and I met them at about 1030 am
3H: Qingyuan was suppose to see me, but didnt bring his stuff, so I will see qingyuan on 19 Jun

12 June:
3H: some fellas were suppose to see me, but did not follow up and confirm, so cancelled.

14 June:
7B: 9 - 11 am @A21: arenes, and any other topics they might want-> chem bonding and organic chem
Paul Yap: needs to see me for consultation after that.

19 June:
Revision test 2 @LT2

21 June
Make up revision test @ SR10: 10am to 1pm(includes break and gg thru the paper)
the following people are going:
from 3H:Changxun Debbie Jheeva Samuel Charissa YYY
from 3R: nil
from 3N: Joash, Ryan David, Gerald (if more coming, please let me know!)
from 7B: nil

consultations
from 3R: Huanghuan, Melu and Nat at 2 pm

Thats what i have so far. I suspect that I've missed some out pls let me know!
And I'm suppose to meet Ryan from 3N but I don't have his contact. So Elizabeth if you are reading this please call him and get him to confirm with me. Thanks!

Anyone who wants to see me pls sign up via sms or email thx.

K i just came back from a short trip to phuket... now my skin's burnt and peeling.. ugh.
And on an interesting note, some fellas in ACJC have come up with a CLUBBING CIP! its so innovative!

check this out:
http://www.knowideas.com.sg/thehighlife/

Answer to a question

2006-05-31T10:10:00.000-07:00

some anon tagged a question and i tagged the answers. but i figure i better post this, since its like a FAQ.

here goes:
anon: erm.. just wondering why OH is activating and Cl is deactivating when O is more electro-ve than Cl.

me: oh.. i mentioned it in the notes, the O atom is able to donate its lone pair to the benzene ring readily; the O atom does this(donation of LP) to a much greater extent compared to the Cl atom

but here's more

The donation( or delocalisation) of the lone pair to the benzne ring is the resonance effect
This is different from the shifting of electron density due to electronegativity differences, which is called the inductive effect.
In the case of the OH grp and the Cl grp attached to the benzene ring, you realise that the resonance effect and inductive effect are working antagonistically.
;(resonance effect means that the O and Cl atom donates electrons to the benzene ring, inductive effect means that they withdraw electron density from the ring)

its helpful if u realise that the O atom has a similar size to the C atom, so orbital overlap and electron delocalisation is an easy affair. IE, resonance effect for the O atom is very strong.

for the Cl atom, its much bigger, and so delocalisation of its LP to the C atoms in the benzene ring takes place to a much lesser extent

so in conclusion, the resonance effect for the O atom outweighs the inductive effect. The OH group is an activating group on the benzene ring.
whereas for the Cl atom, the inductive effect outweighs the resonance effect, so the Cl atom is deactivating on the benzene ring.

New Notes!

2006-05-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Heh anybody out there miss my notes? well here's something new...

I've made a set of notes discussing why substituents are activating or deactivating, and why the substituents are 2,4,6 or 3,5 directing

Click here!

you can also get the link from my notes homepage.

Oh yes, Please note that for deduction questions, writing line by line (as per my alkene supplementary deduction question) or in table form ( as per arenes tutorial Q5) are both alright.

But really, writing in table format is much nicer. Also something thats not been emphasized is that to do deduction questions, identifying the type of reaction is useful and important. I'll come back to that another time, maybe in another set of notes..

Meanwhile, its the holidays!! yay!!!!! actually i'm half in holiday mood. But like you all, I have lotsa work to do during the hols too. so plan your holidays well, and so that you can have fun, relax, and yet get the proper amt of work done.

have a good holiday people!

One moment in time

2006-05-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

I was just cataloging my song collection, when i came upon this dusty old song... I've almost completely forgotten about it, but the moment i heard it, I had to listen closely again.

Its a really beautiful song, and its super super inspirational, in term of both lyrics and the melody and voice.. You can find this song moving you, whatever station in life you are at. The youngsters out there may not have heard it before.. what a pity. I will post the lyrics here, but you gotta hear the song itself.. nobody does this like whitney houston. Read the lyrics!!!

One Moment in Time - Whitney Houston

Each day I live
I want to be
A day to give
The best of me
I'm only one
But not alone
My finest day
Is yet unknown

I broke my heart
Fought every gain
To taste the sweet
I face the pain
I rise and fall
Yet through it all
This much remains

I want one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity

I've lived to be
The very best
I want it all
No time for less
I've laid the plans
Now lay the chance
Here in my hands

Give me one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will feel
I will feel eternity

You're a winner for a lifetime
If you seize that one moment in time
Make it shine

Give me one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will be
I will be
I will be free
I will be
I will be free

chilling..

2006-05-11T04:58:00.000-07:00

heh chilling out after a long day of work again.. today ran the perfume workshop for JC2s this time round.. so closed shop at about 630pm.. its been almost a non stop 11 hr work day!

so anyways here's something chlling
happy tree friends!
funny if you like violent cartoons :P

Revision test make-up

2006-05-11T04:23:00.000-07:00

Forthose who cannot make it to revision tests, I will conduct a make up on 21st June wednesday
9 am. venue to be cfmed.

I will do test 1 and 2 back to back.

now i think there was screw up in the database,; it got corrupted or sth so the shortlisted names are all wrong.

So if you did well in lecture test 1 and got shortlisted, you may elect to skip. but pls let me know

And if you did poorly but was not called down, my advice is, for your own sake, go.

Consultations

2006-05-10T11:32:00.000-07:00

Dear students, I will make myself available for consultations during the june hols, for your benefit. Make sure you devise a revision plan and do your studying first. Then you can accumulate ur doubts/problems/ questions that you tried to solve but cannot do it easily.

Take the initiative to make arrangements to see me via sms, and we can work out a schedule k?

another thing about sms-ing me. Pls remember to greet me! and to identify yourself.

Also for those of you who do not understand what i'm going through in class, if so at anytime, please raise your doubts.

Another thing you will realise that the tutorials will also be more beneficial to you if u read up before coming in, since i'm more likely to focus on analysis, problem solving, and techniques, rather than go through facts covered in the notes or lectures.

I really hope that we can bring out the best thats in you.

bonding II

2006-05-09T01:11:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry, I was wrong abt the Mm-Sr bond. apparently its just an ion-dipole interaction...

tee hee.

but on a serious note I do love the 28 atoms...

and also to all students out there, I'm sorry if i've snapped at you recently.. i've been having a bout of insomnia and so i'm tired and impatient... that plus my bad traits = grumpy teacher.
still thats not an excuse i know.. so yes i apologise.

but in the same breath, i wish to say there are some students i'm worried about, and that's probably the reason why I'd grill them or get really ..upset with....

like for eg sometimes i ask simple recall questions with super obvious answers, and give hints, and every other student in the class has got the answer except for that one or two student.
... will resolve to find out from them whats bugging them..
for some maybe chem is not their thing, so we will need to persevere, but there are some who are not trying.. not reading notes even (so cannot answer recall questions) what should i do? punish and discipline(breeds resentment)? counsel(may fall on deaf ears)?

><

Poetry

2006-05-08T02:10:00.000-07:00

I think i've gone mad
can you tell, what I'm writing?
Japanese haiku!

insomniac

2006-05-08T01:59:00.000-07:00

struck with insomnia
i've lost sleep all sunday night
monday became blue

bonding

2006-05-07T04:42:00.000-07:00

I was just observing this little container, labelled tree age.
there are 28 atoms inside and they all mostly have some happy hydrogen bonding... of course some hydrogen bonding is stronger than others..

but anyways, recently i've observed some instances of particular strong bonding formed...
like for example, element Mm and element Sr. I'm not quite sure if its just some super strong hydrogen bonding, but most likely its a stronger type of bond; the bond lengths are getting shorter and shorter.

with Mm and Sr, i wonder if its covalent or dative or ionic... do they share electrons?.. or maybe Sr has donated electrons to Mm?? Tee hee. well whether they go thru electrophilic addition to give new products, time will tell, but in the meantime, i hope their octets will be complete and happy..

I also wonder if there are more reactive species that wanna react.. I do know of at least 1 nucleophile Al that wants to donate electrons to some other unknown mysterious element. Now the question is, how do we speed up a reaction, or make it happen?

its very easy, you need to find out how to complete the other species' octet! sometimes a catalyst is also required... but most importantly, instead of just hovering around, the reactive species needs to overcome activation energy to start the reaction.

tee hee!

The worst things about me

2006-05-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

There are three really horrible traits that i have, that i've found it so hard to change... so what's the worst things about me? here's the low-down..

1) patience.. or the lack thereof.. I have absolutely no patience.. with normal pple, i expect them to understand stuff/instructions after one repeat. at most 2 or 3. with students.. i've been conditioned after all these years to lose patience after 50 repeats. yep

2) I have a very very bad temper. Few students have really seen me lose my temper (what any of you have seen is the tip of the tip of the iceberg). When i get angry, its like a raging storm, and all hell breaks loose. I mean, when i was 18 yrs old, i was so pissed off with my (ex)girlfriend's dad so i started to scold him ( i know i know.. not a good example.. but i was young and ignorant k?).. not once, not twice, but on 3 occasions.. but yes.. once again i've been conditioned to be extra gentle with students.

bad trait (1) + bad trait (2) = errr... very bad anger management.

haha I will try to be more patient and slow to anger!

new look!!

2006-04-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

YAY!! my blog's template is up again!
Thank you Chris Zhou!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pomp and Circumstance

2006-04-08T00:13:00.000-07:00

Today we had the official opening ceremony. I must say, it was rather nicely done. Not overwhelmingly complex or pompous, but nonetheless a dignified affair. I like the tents! and the dancers had this little green costume that reminded me of the pixie in moulin rouge... yea the kylie minogue one haha. I like the indian dance bit too, so energetic! If only i could do bhangra dance... ah well no talent in that area.. nuh uh.. couldnt see the malay dance and lion dance cos i was seated so far away.

The guest of honour was really pleasant, and what I appreciated most was that he was on time. On the dot! It was amazing, cos i've experience guest of honour's arriving really late for various functions, and they are nowhere as important as our GOH today.
so we actually managed to finish the whole thing 20 minutes ahead of time, which was cool cos I had duties to perform and didnt even have time to eat breakfast or eat something...
Only one little incident made me somewhat upset. at the end of the ceremony, as is usual practice and decorum, the GOH and VVIPs get to leave first, while every1 else waits. There was this uncle, a parent presumably, who insisted on leaving from the side(while the VVIPs were still at it). So of course a student usher, this young lady, asked him to wait. The uncouth parent simply shouted at her, like "NONSENSE". I felt so bad for the poor girl, who meekly stood aside.

Whats with these arrogant parents anyway? who do they think they are? president sr nathan?
firstly, the student usher is just doing her job. secondly, she is the daughter of some other parent too. I mean how would this uncle feel if his son/daughter was shouted at like dat by some other adult for no valid reason.
I wanted to walk up to him and say, pls lor if you dun wanna be here, dun come! we don't need him. duh. In fact if he dun like this place, dun even send his kids here can anot? duh. there are many kids out there who want the PRIVILEGE to be here.

Whats his problem? the rest of us, we all have to wait. and the GOH was already so punctual. and the whole event ended slightly early.

But of course I cant say sth like that. I would have to say, sir, pls forgive the young lady who's just trying to fulfill her duty, just as your own child as a responsible young man/lady probably would. I'm sure as an enlightened parent, that you would be happy to set a good example for your child to follow.

ugh.

anw since i was not in charge of the ushers, i figured i shd not overstep authority and let the ushers in charge manage the scene... sigh, how are we going to raise good kids if the parents are so screwed up?

Extra Stoichio questions

2006-04-04T06:02:00.000-07:00

I've placed 2 sets of extra stoichio questions with your chem reps. Includes redox

Those who didnt do well in chem lecture test, or are weak or slow at stoichio/ redox, please get a set and practice. See me to discuss answers.

Oh the following must get the notes to work on. You must do proper working with sig figs and dps all correct.

3H
Changxun, Qingyuan

3R
Kelly, Yuklun

3N
Sophie (sufei), Ryan

7B
Yanfen, Cassandra

GTS!

2006-04-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

Since i've been talking about cars, i figured I may as well post some pics of the dreamiest cars!
besides the usual ferraris and lambos, there's another car that's absolutely HOT.

Its the Ford GT. check it out!

Hot eh?

The classic looking BMW Z8 (limited edition) is also a babe.

Unfortunately, I need to teach abt 100000 hrs of tuition before i can afford any of these babes above.(anybody knows any openings?)

Balance

2006-04-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

There must be balance in everything you do in life.. like after you have too much fun out with your friends, you should have fun alone playing computer games. or after you eat a lot of hot curry, you should balance that out with some cool ice cream.
okok i shall give model answers, like you need to balance work with exercise, family and friends. Or you need to eat a balanced diet.. And chemical equations needs to be balanced!

so, to balance off my earlier post about cabbies, I should say something nice...

Like, there are some nice helpful cabbies around, who drive really smoothly.
and and many cabbies offer interesting insights into social trends, politics, etc etc. seriously!

yep.

3 words about cabbies

2006-04-01T03:48:00.000-08:00

I was just tagging in response to 6c old bird (henceforth 6COB, since he has never intro his own name) little comment about cab drivers.. and ... and I'm just so *arghs* about them that I HAVE to post about them. I've resisted so long against complaining abt cabbies.. but no more! ogay. again comments here are personal and general and of cse there may be exceptions k k so if ur fave bro/sis/mum/dad/uncle/aunty/granny/grandaddy happens to be a cab driver I dun mean to insult them ok!

For people who should have so much driving experience, they really have either bad driving skills or attitude!

1. Quite a few of them hog the right lane on major roads and expressways; they are going so slow why not just go on the middle lane and let the faster cars pass on the right lane?

2. Another important point is the way they change lanes. Quite a few cabs actually put me in situations of significant danger or inconvenience due to bad lane changing. either they dun care or have really bad speed + distance judgement,

For eg one time.. on an expressway.. i was cruising smoothly at quite a high speed on my own lane..there's no car in front or behind of me in my lane. All of a sudden this cab from the left, without signalling, switched into my lane, right in front of my car! And he was like crawling at 50 kmh!!! I was omg blare my horn, shine high beam lights, and jam my brakes all the way.. he did this abt 10m in front of me so there was barely enough time to react. I almost smashed right into him... what anIDIOT! it was so dangerous. I was going so fast, he shouldn't have cut out, without signalling somemore (even signal also cannot make it, our relative speeds are too different; driving sense tells you that you must match the speed of the cars on the lane you wanna change into).
And he should have seen me on his wing mirror (he prolly didn't check or didn't care, the stupid fool) he could have wait for me to pass since there were no cars behind me and he was way slower than me. idiot. As i driver i always look 10 cars ahead of and behind me when i drive and assess the situation properly, like who's fast who's slow and what their intentions are(like going to filter, turn left or right ahead etc etc)

many other incidence of this nature always happpen; eg another time on lornie road the exact same thing happened; i pressed my horn all the way as he happily swerved in front of my (rather fast)car while he was travelling so slowly. yes i could brake in time and slow down to avoid hitting him, but why'd he do that even when i was horning continuously at him? he can simply quit his lane changing and go back to the slower middle lane. and there's no car behind me so he can change out to the right lane when he's behind me. it makes sense cause i'm going fast and he's slow. I suspect that they have a bad attittude and just couldnt care. UGH. Anyways in this case I simply slowed down, and switch to middle and then to the left, accelerated again and overtook the vehicle on the middle lane and switched back to the right lane, IN FRONT OF THAT STUPID CAB. He's that slow. so why cause me that inconvenience? He should have let me pass before cutting out. And I was nice enough not to jam my own brakes and cause him the same inconvenience.

3. really bad spatial judgement. as i drive behind cabs , I noticed that on viaducts/ tunnels/anyplace with railings immediately on the left or right or the road, many cabs on either the right or left lane will begin to straddle lanes. Half the cab will be on the right lane, the other half on the centre. because the cabby is so scared of the tunnel/viaduct wall.
DUH what lousy drivers. the cab is a small vehicle that fits nicely into one lane (* with lotsa empty space on the left and right to boot) it isnt as if its a BMW 7, or a bus ( even a bus fits nicely into one lane) so if they keep to their own lane and drive PROPERLY, they will never hit the wall on the left or right! for the simple reason that the wall doesnt cut into their lane duh. I mean i can drive along curvy lornie road at 130kmh and keep my vehicle at an almost constant 5-10 cm from the right kerb(so i give more space to the lousy drivers on the centre lane), why cant they keep their cabs on the the proper position within a lane when they drive at a slow 70 kmh?
And since they are so scared or lack the skill, travel in the middle lane lah! they are already straddling half of it anyway, might as well be considerate and take the middle lane so I can speed on in my right lane

4. They have really bad attitude.
Ok the reckless lane changing and cutting into my path was bad, but in the last few years that I drove it wasn't that bad. I didn't have to use my horn all that much.
But recently, my bro just got his license. So I put some P plates on my car to let him drive. Heh so that when things got really worse.. many cabs try to cut into my lane and bully me on the road. DUH WHAT COMPLETE STUPIDITY. I've had abt 7 years experience and will NOT let these stupid cabbies do that...they wanna cut me? Forget it. and so since the P plate has been put up, i've had to use my horns very very often.. like at least once a day. This shows how the evil cabbies like to bully newbies.

I always give way to P plate and L plate drivers, cos they are new and need the space. Nowadays I never give way to cabbies.

5. the final straw is this hit on phoebe's bum. the errant cab driver actually refused to pay me a small amt of cash ( i was asking for just a small amt of abt 90$) to cover my costs if i let my super efficient and cheap mechanic do it. She(the cabby) was going like "aiyah xiao di(yes i always get that when i'm in t shirt and berms) its just a small scratch you pay your own repair costs ok, see my cab is also damaged(of course since my car is harder than teh cab.. it was more badly damaged)"

I was like ...why shd i pay if its not my fault?? The cabby was tailgating me on a rainy day, its too bad her reaction/brakes are bad. So my gas is that she thought I was young (looks young lah and got P plate somemore) so easy to bully. Ah well. so i simply went to claim against her insurance company. Now the appointed mechanic is so much more expensive.. and actually stripped the entire bumper (its just a small scratch actually) I think it will cost the cab co's (insurance co) about 10x more. and what my usual mechanic takes abt a day to do, they have already took about a whoole week!!!

my losses due to inconvenience.. i dun even wanna talk about it. what? like today is a saturday and i didnt even go out (no car) and just stayed at home to blog. ugh.

3 words for cabbies: CANNOT MAKE IT.

Streamlining of links

2006-03-31T10:11:00.000-08:00

I've removed the links to my notes.... have no fear, they are all still there! What i did was create another index page that links to all my archived notes.

So its not so cluttered on my links section. The link to the new index page is placed under.. the links section of cse.. where else?

However.. you still have to surf in to my blog for any NEW notes. I will use that index page only for old notes (maybe a term by term update)
hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Run

2006-03-30T05:43:00.000-08:00

wow its been another tiring day! I actually left school at 815 pm and .. yes had to crawl to J8 to eat dinner and then crawl home...phoebe's still not well yet, she's still in hospital.. what i heard is she needed a complete a$$ overhaul.

well at least she gets a shiny new bum FOC. but in the meantime, i think i need to crawl for another few days. UGH.

oh it seems that J8 is crawling with 3N pple.. bumped into a few of them XD

and looks like every1's quite busy. I stayed late in school to help run a perfumery worskshop.. its pretty fun! we got to extract essential fragrance from some fruits.... maybe someday we can try that for flowers and other stuff blend our own perfumes. but really, extraction from nature gives such a low yield.. its far better to obtain the fragrances directly through organic synthesis from cheap raw materials. after workshop had to do some admin and datamanagement.. and before i knew it its 8pm. I think i need an extra 2 hrs a day.

chilling out to snow patrol now.. its so emo haha!
here's my fav:

"Run" - Snow patrol

I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done

And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Anyway from here

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbyes I nearly do

Light up..

louder...

Slower slower
We don't have time for that
I just want to find an easier way
To get out of our little heads

Have heart my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess

healthy lifestyle!

2006-03-27T05:28:00.000-08:00

for the next two days, I'm resolved to have healthy lifestyle and walk to school and back from home!

eh... actually it has to do with pheobe.. she just got her rear end hurt...

.. oh err yea pheobe's my CHIO red car! it all started with this cab driver..... couldnt wait to kiss pheobe's a**

ugh.. too tired to blog now... i only slept for like 2 hrs (4 am to 6 am today) after working on my entire sunday.

cannot take it oredi..

oh yes.. pls go get the cehm bonding discussion k! btw, the table on page 8 is like a sumamry to chem bonding in itself, so use it.

ciao.

Chem bonding Discussion

2006-03-26T09:03:00.000-08:00

I finished doing up a chem bonding discussion notes.
Its like a summary of key points and perspectives, except that it is expanded to include Key explanations.
-->Click here<-- to get it

A real summarized summary will come soon

Chem lecture test 1.

2006-03-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

For those who are mislead into thinking that chem lecture test 1 is a supergeniusrjc paper, please do not have this misconception. It is exactly fair A lvl standard. Why? because the questions are generally taken from TYS.

But don't be discouraged, most likely if one of the items below are improved, you'd soon find chem a breeze.
1. approach, perspective and method of learning and problem solving
- some think that chem is mysterious, cheem or cannot be visualized
- some try to memorize without understanding. this leads to pt 2

2. confusing between too many facts and points
- break down complex problems/observations link each observation to the main causative factors.
- examining factors 1 by 1 to solve problem/exaplain observation
- have a systematic methodology (like step by step mtd) to solve problems
- summarizing all the above 3 points into gd summaries for each topic

3. Experience and mastery. comes with practice and application of pt 2 above into regular problem solving situation.

in short, some need a paradigm shift of how they treat the subject(esp those that find chem senseless or mysterious), some need problem solving skills(those that read a qn and dunno whats expected of them), and most need experience and practice.(those that out of time, miss key points, careless)

agony anonymous!

2006-03-23T08:08:00.000-08:00

OGAY!

Wow so many anonymous taggers on my board... pls dun be anon next time.

alright i get the point of these students. I'm sorry, i didnt mean to say that ALL students who did badly have bad attitude or didnt try or don;'t care. I know there are those who studied and those who tried.

Right let me be more specific.

1. In each class there are always some students who are truly lazy/illdisciplined/ dun care. How'd I know?
I observe. These fellas always :
a) hand in late work,
b) when i go around tutorial during discussion they have not prepared, but instead have a blank piece of paper.c)
c) when i discuss points in class, they'd stared blankly.
not bothering to:
-process respond, clarify doubts, paritcipate
-take dopwn important key points and notes
-usually when the bell goes but i'm not ready to dismiss yet, these pple will pack their bags while i'm still discussing something! amazing!

2. Those who do not respond in class.
while this is not a "bad" attitude, its an undesirable one. they just get lost.. and keep quiet about it. How to learn?

3. Those who study AT THE LAST MINUTE and not consistently trying/understanding/following
Last minute work doesnt cut it. busy during the hols?? come on so was I and every1 else. manage your time. if you work consistently during term time, your wouldnt have to do last minute work, or expend too much of your holidays. its only 3 topics. all u need is about 3 hrs for 3 days and you're pretty much done. DO NOT tell me you cannot spare 9 hrs of your 1 week holiday, plus the fact that these things shd be clear during the term itself.

4. certain people refuse remedial when i asked them if they wanted it. too bad.

5. certain people never visit this blog and they don't bother to get the notes. too bad also.

6. corrections, see me's....
some people refuse to learn from their mistakes. they don't mark their work properly when we go through or comparing with suggested solutions, they don't do corrections. Some people don't bother to see me when i write see me in their work.

7. people who got 5 marks or less.
how's that even possible unless they didnt study?!?! are they that inept?? I think its an insult to say that 5 marks is their standard.

So there, if you do not belong to on of the 7 categories above. I don't mean to scold you. When i admonish students, especially for common issues, I have to admonish the class together. but i know who are the real black sheep. So if you've been really trying, you have my respect, and know that my admonishings are not for you.
If you've been reaaally trying and dint do well, perhaps you need to reflect on why is that the case, and maybe to see me to discuss some solutions.

If you belong to any1 of the 7 categories above, please accept the criticism and improve.

so there i still love all of you k! (perhaps thats why its painful to see the horrible results and the above probs 1-7, if I dun care, i'd be unaffected)

oh btw about the notes. At the very least I will not give out the chembonding 1 assigment worked solutions. why?
because on wednesday, in a certain class, there were these 2 students who refused to mark their work as i went through the solutions in class. Even when i told them directly, twice, to do so. And all they had was their bag(packed up and eager to leave) in the desk.. no work, nothing, not taking down anything. this was on wednesday 22/3/06 11-12 noon.
I will not let these bochap students benefit without putting in effort. Therefore no worked solutions will be released. too bad.

Chem notes

2006-03-22T18:16:00.000-08:00

I'm utterly disappointed with the attitude, response, and performance of all classes at the lecture test 1. Some of the qns(esp AS) can be answered so easily if one bothers to understand and work through the notes/summaries i've given.

highlight main points in your notes.

For summaries, 1st read the notes, understand the concepts and jot those concepts down beside the sumarized key points

Anyway, once I complete chem bonding 1 and 2 summary, I will not make or post further notes, since so many pple have a bochap attitude.

~~This blog will only be used to make announcements from now on.~~

Every girl should have a....

2006-03-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm going to broadcast something for an ex-student of mine who's doing this project.

And its a community service message! remember: EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES!

here are the details:

About The Project
We are supporting the Breast Cancer Foundation - specifically to help them to increase awareness of and knowledge on breast cancer and related issues amongst young women aged 20-39 yrs. Our focus is to encourage young women to make Breast Self Examination (BSE) a part of their lives from a young age, as this is the best way to protect one's self.

To aid us in this endeavour, we will be selling custom-made planners that include suggestions and information about how women can protect themselves.

Dates: 20th - 22nd March (Mon-Wed)
Venue: SMU, The Concourse (outside Kopitiam)

BCF Notebooks with Planner

Our team has specially designed custom-made BCF planners which includes a Monthly Planner, reminding women to examine themselves on particular dates of the month. The planners will contain facts and messages from the BCF including, how to do BSE, myths and truths about breast cancer and the various know causes of breast cancer, to name a few. The highlight of the planner is the calendar as it will contain periodic reminders to the owner to do BSE on particular days. The planner will also include a few inspirational stories from breast cancer survivors about their struggle with and victory over the disease.

These notebooks are sold at a minimum donation of $5. All proceeds will go to the BCF.

Guys, you can buy the pink book for your loved ones too! Like your mum, aunties, sisters, girlfriends etc etc!

super secret studying technique

2006-03-20T08:11:00.001-08:00

Ever wonder how some pple (heh who who?) can remember the 10000000000 bits of chem concepts/ formulas/ reactions/structures blah blah blah?

cos there's a *super secret studying technique* teehee.. teach you k

Ok its based on a chem and bio idea. We know that stuff will diffuse from a region of high concentration to low concentration right?
Assumptions: the notes contain more knowledge than our brains k.
right so when you sleep you put the notes under ur head. or maybe on top of it (but it may slip off..) during the 4-8 hrs that you are asleep the knowledge will diffuse into your brain! In fact, I actually dreamed of studying some stuff before... and the qns came out for exams before! (ok i was really desperate)

Heh this technique will definitely save you time so that you can surf really cool blogs such as this one :)

super secret studying technique

2006-03-20T08:11:00.000-08:00

Chem Bonding 1 Summary

2006-03-20T07:58:00.000-08:00

I tried summarizing key points in chem bonding 1 to help you guys. It'll only make sense if you read your own notes and understand though. The summary is meant to supplement and highlight MAIN POINTS.

Its meant to be complete and seamless with chembonding 2. so when that's about done, i'll do the summary for chembonding 2 too. So please file up the whole thing together then.

so ----> CLICK HERE <------

Chembonding assignment solution

2006-03-20T07:25:00.000-08:00

--> click here <--

I wanna visit Christmas Island!!

2006-03-18T02:10:00.000-08:00

Check out these huge red crabs man! I wonder if they can be eaten....

we can try steamed, chilli, black pepper, butter fried, temakied, teriyakied, BBQ.. omg there are enuff to go around for every recipe in the book.

:) :) :)

Mid life angst

2006-03-18T01:23:00.000-08:00

time really flies, somehow, the "holidays" are over.. a quarter of the year is over...somehow one cannot help but have this feeling of angst creep in... i wonder if i am alone in this... I NEED therapy!

i mean 1/8 of the jc life of this batch is over! and things are only gonna get more intense. and then all of a sudden they will graduate and disappear... ~~sigh~~. kk before this little bout of angst morphs into a really morose dispirited wail of resignation.. i will.. get a haircut!!! Hair Inn at centre point very nice!! :) :) heh cut and wash for only 20$ ++ nice service, good cut, and a really comfy wash.. d*** therapeutic i tell you!
that plus i actually do need a haircut for that mop thats growing on my head.
ohoh and plus some Robinson's vouchers i have to spend :D

oh haha those jokes in my previous postings (if you didnt get them, they are jokes ok.. so LAFF!) they are not originally from me of course. some of you might have seen it before. I just happened to surf onto them again and decided to do a little cut n pastin.

heh later on i will talk about really funny bio and chem stuff i just read. Like Trombicula fujigmo and cummingtonite.

but yes back to angsty stuff....

pic is (c) Kurt Halsey

check out Kurt Halsey

really nice angsty stuff.

Beware of Dihydrogen Monoxide: A dangerous chemical!

2006-03-17T08:39:00.000-08:00

BAN DIHYDROGEN MONOXIDE!
Dihydrogen monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there.
Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.
Dihydrogen monoxide:
· is also known as hydroxl acid, and is the major component of acid rain. · contributes to the "greenhouse effect." · may cause severe burns. · contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape. · accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals. · may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes. · has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.
Contamination is reaching epidemic proportions!
Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage in the midwest, and recently California.
Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:
· as an industrial solvent and coolant. · in nuclear power plants. · in the production of styrofoam. · as a fire retardant. · in many forms of cruel animal research. · in the distribution of pesticides. · as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products.
Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The impact on wildlife is extreme, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer!
The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its "importance to the economic health of this nation." In fact, the navy and other military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use

German rocks!

2006-03-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

For all you linguistic freaks out zer...

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU rather than German which was the other possibility.As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five year phase-in plan that would be known as "Euro-English".In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of the "k". This should klear up konfusion and keyboards kan have 1 less letter.There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20% shorter.In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be ekspekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e"s in the language is disgraseful, and they should go away.By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. Ze drem vil finali kum tru! And zen world!

March holidays remedial ROUND 2A

2006-03-14T00:43:00.000-08:00

The next time some1 askes me why I chose to become a teacher.. I will surely. guaranteed. confirm. double confirm, say thats its bcos i am so da**ed MASOCHISTIC.

Dats right.. i'm asking for it.. remedial round 2 for 3R! The usual suspects pls turn up. and it wil be thursday 8 am B33.

*Sigh* I'm so sad I didn't really get to join the archery camp properly cos i got all these remedials and sci pjts and whatchamacalit commitments.

Mr Wong Is masochistic.
Hehe but did i tell you I'm sadistic too? wait till we set exam papers... TEEHEE

Chembonding Assignment for ALL students

2006-03-10T02:54:00.000-08:00

All students are to download Chembonding 1 Assignment and to attempt it by the time school starts again. I will discuss/collect your homework for that immediately when school starts.

March holiday remedials

2006-03-10T02:14:00.000-08:00

As arranged with certain classes, we will have remedial for those that didn't do well in the quiz, as well as for the newbies who just joined us.

Topics covered will be Atomic structure as well as Chembonding 1.
So please read all your notes fromthe college and then read the notes I've posted online for you to download, and bring them and bring your tutorials along.

Also please download remedial assignment for atomic structure and chembonding1 and attempt them before coming for the remedial.

Holiday remedial schedule:
3R: Tuesday 2-4pm B33
Kelly
Alamelu,
Angie Goh
Dharshni
Crystal
Shuyu
Natalie Chang
Natalie Low

7B: Wednesday 8-10 am b33
Shirong
Tania
Sherine
Neeti
Chengwei
Siqi
Ruolin

3N: To confirm a day when term starts. for 2hr slot
Abigail
Terese
Juee
Noraisha
Emelyne

Remedials and Consultations

2006-03-10T02:02:00.000-08:00

I will open up the following timeslots for consultations during term time. We will also use these time slots for any remedial that needs to be scheduled on an adhoc basis.

Tues 4-6
Wed 9-12, 2-4
Thurs 10-2, 4-6
Fri 11-2
Sat 8-10

Subject to availability and prior appointments need to be made. Please feel free to make appointments with me to clear up your doubts. Be warned that you need to prepare your work adequately before you see me (this applies to lessons, remedials, and consultations)

Roll of Honour - AS Quiz

2006-03-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

Hi every1!

As promised, I'm going to reveal the names of those who did well (scored 80% and above) and their scores in the AS quiz, and also some class statistics(A grade is 25marks and above) so that we can honour their efforts and achievement.

07S03H
1. Teo Si Rui 35/35
2. Lawrence Wu 35/35
3. Kenny Lim 33/35
4. Tabitha Quake 33/35
5. Nazirul 31/35
6. Michelle Chua 30/35
7. Amanda Lai 29/35
8. Samuel Wong 29/35
9. Benjamin Low 28/35
10. Christopher Tang 28/35
11. Vivek 28/35
S03H class average score 26.3
S03H class %A : 70%

07S03N
1. Adam 31/35
2. Kristel Low 30/35
3. Audrey Ng 30/35
4. Subash 29/35
5. Hyqel 28/35
S03N class avg score 19.7
S03N class %A : 24%

07S03R
1. Lee Xin Hui 33/35
2. Teo Yi Lyn 33/35
3. New Jin Rou 32/35
4. Lee Hwee Juin 31/35
5. Joshua Lian 31/35
6. Tan Shimin 29/35
7. Matthew 29/35
8. Toh Jia Yi 29/35
9. Bibianna Yeo 29/35
S03R class avg score 24.8
S03R class %A: 63%

07S07B
1. Chen Yanheng 30/35
S07B class avg score 18.3
S07B class % A 13%

Important Final Discussion on Atomic Structure

2006-03-08T07:39:00.000-08:00

Hi every1,

I've bursted my brains compiling all the atomic structure clarification questions not answered during turorials. That was quite abit of work so do take the time to look through them,; you may find interesting nuggets there.

Finally i want to discuss something important which I didnt touch on in tutorials very much. That is the electronic configurations of Cr and Cu.
While your notes have all the details, I want to highlight the key points to you

A) Cr is [Ar] 3d5 4s1 and not [Ar] 3d4 4s2
Why? because:
1. 4s and 3d orbitals have comparatively similar energy. So electron residing in either orbital will have not much energy difference
2. So the 4s electron is transferred to 3d orbital to minimize repulsion; 4s2 electronic configuration has paired electron whereas for 4s1 3d5 electronic configuration has no paired electrons. This is a sort of application of Hund's rule

B)Cu is [Ar] 3d10 4s1 and not [Ar] 3d9 4s2
Why? because
1. 3d10 electronic configuration has all d orbitals fully filled. resultant d subshell has a symmetrical distribution of charge which confers extra stability.

Finally. I have posted up some notes, the links are on the "links" section ---->

Atomic Structure Clarification Questions Part Deux

2006-03-08T07:37:00.000-08:00

Q1. Are 5p orbitals filled before 4f, since they are of lower energy level?
A: Yes! In fact the f block elements start at lanthanum in period 6. That means 4f is filled after 6s.

Q2. What are the properties of plasma?
A: What a big question. You can read all about plasmas here.

Q3 What does IE graph of ionization energy after the 3r IE look like?
A: Go and get the data booklet from SEAB. This is part of the exam syllabus and provides the 4th IE of many elements. You can use that to plot a graph and see for yourself. The 4th IEs and all follow the same basic rules. Refer to Qn25 in my earlier post.
Basically IE increase across the period due to Zeff. Trhe irregularities due to s vs p subshell or paired vs unpaired electrons may still be there.
You should also note that the elements having inner shell electrons removed will have high IE due to large Zeff(which is due to the smaller shielding in inner shell electrons)

Q4. If quantum nos are not important, do we need to know all these?
A: Its cause they are the basis for our knowledge of atomic structure

Q5. Why is 4s filled before 3d? If it is a 4th shell how can it be closer to the nucleus?
A: 4s is filled before 3d because it is lower in energy.[ 4s shell is still LARGER than 3d orbitals. But its shape makes 4s orbitals more PENETRATING and allows the electrons to move nearer the nucleus ON THE AVERAGE. This is what makes the 4s orbital lower in energy. The maximum boundary and distance of a 4s electrn is further from the nucleus than 3d electrons]

Q6. Are there any exceptions to the 3 rules for determining electronic configuration?
A: Yes note the electronic configs for Cr and Cu.

Q7. What does the f-orbital look like?
A: Google it.

Q8. Are there hybrid orbitals?
A: Yes! These are used in making bonds. You’d have seen them in chem bonding lessons.

Q9. How do you deduce electronic configuration from successive IE?
A: Please read my notes on Ionisation Energies Discussion

Q10. Why does repulsion for paired electrons matter less in s orbital than in p orbitals?
A: Please read my notes on Ionisation Energies Discussion

Q11. Can electron spins be changed?
A: Yes! This requires energy.

Q12. What is meant by orbitals become more diffuse?
A: The orbitals are larger and so the electron density is spread out and diffuse.

Q13. Are there remedial lessons for clueless pple?
A: we can work on that. But remedial lesson involve a lot of work on your part as well.

Q14. How is the colour change in chemical reactions brought about?
A: In a chemical reaction one compou8nd is transformed to another, and if they have different colours, there is a colour change! But why are compounds coloured? Very often its due to their electronic structure! Most of the time, electrons absorb light energy to transit from ground state to excited states. The energy and therefore colour of light absorbed depends on the particular electronic structure. Light that is not absorbed but reflected is what give the colours of compounds. Refer to qn12 on why beta carotene is orange.

Atomic structure Clarification Questions

2006-03-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

Q1. How did scientists discover the shape of orbitals?
A: Well keep in mind that the orbitals are simply areas where you have a 95% probability of finding the electron. The electron, being a very small particle, can actually behave like a wave (eg like light waves), which is one of the reasons why electron microscopes work (electrons instead of light is used!). Anyway, this is why we cannot pin the electron down to defined orbits, but rather in a space where the probability current is high. Basically to define the wave behaviour of an electron, the Schrodinger wave equation is used. Once you got that, you can use a probability flux equation (like a Gaussian curve) to describe the space its in.
This probability space derive from the equations defines the shape of the orbital itself.
The nasty bits of maths and physics can be found ->here <- For those that can’t stand the math and physics, just know the shapes of s p d orbitals k?
There is experimental evidence for the discovery of the orbitals. Its answered in Q13. But for all the bio enthusiasts, it is useful to know about the electron microscope. This is especially true if you are interested in viral work or work on cell organelles.

Q2. What new improvements can be made to the current model of the atom?
A: I dunno, but if I do, I probably can get a Nobel prize for that.

Q3. How can this knowledge be useful in our daily lives?

A:Well, it really depends on what your daily life is like. See, if you only like to watch tv and blog, you probably won’t use the knowledge. But know that this knowledge is what makes modern advances possible. For eg, medicine: without the electron microscope, it is impossible to gain our knowledge so far about viruses, and about cell organelles. You can see some interesting electron micrographs here.

So if you wanna be one of those people that improve our way of life and create new advances, you are going to need a good foundation in knowledge and knowledge skills. If you can’t even understand old discoveries, how are you going to make new ones?

Also, some very interesting properties of matter lie in seemingly trivial differences between s-orbitals and p-orbitals. For eg, Why is SiO2 a solid, with giant covalent structure, while CO2 a gas with simple molecular structure, when both are group 4 oxides? To answer this qn, you have to know how the orbitals are used in bonding which I will not go into right now. But if CO2 is a solid, there probably won’t be life on earth. Oh by the way, if the speed of light or mass of proton or electron is different, there probably won’t be a universe. Read Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of time” for some details. Nice book and not too much hardcore physics.

The understanding of the model of the atom paves the way for the understanding for much of the rest of chemistry. Such as structures and shapes of organic molecules, and the mechanism of how reactions work. For eg, organic molecules have certain structures which give them function and properties, but heir structure actually depends on how the atomic orbitals combine to form bonds. Another example: rearrangment reactions, a knowledge of atomic orbitals and molecular orbitals (formed from atomic orbitals) enables us to explain how and why rearrangement reactions take place. and rearrangement reactions are important in areas such as chemical synthesis (where we can make new chemical such as drugs) and also in biochemistry (many biosynthesis reactions involve them)

By the way, quite a bit of your A lvl stuff are century++ old discoveries.

Q4: Are there any other factors that influence attraction of electron to nucleus?
A: The main factors are always the i) nuclear charge, ii) shielding from inner electrons (depends on principle shell), followed by iii) penetration power of subshell iv) repulsion from electrons in the same shell/orbital)

Q5: Are there any flaws to the spdf atomic model?
A: You mean quantum mechanical model? Well not really, the QM model is most accurate and predicts and explains most observations we make, including bonding, emission and absorption spectra, electrical conductivity, chemical reactions, biochemical reactions including rearrangement. The only problem is that the description is rather complex. But then, nature is not always what it seems, and our little human brains find it challenging to understand nature.

Q6. I still do not understand the behaviour of 3d orbitals.
A; I do not understand your question. What behaviour?

Q7.How did democritus know for sure that matter is indestructible?
A: He didn’t! hah that is why the old theory of matter was incorrect! (as in atoms are not the smallest particles you can get. I guess he postulated this based on observations he could make at his time. With more advances mankind made, better theories were developed. So when you study, know that the method to develop knowledge is just as important.

Q8. What is the use of drawing orbitals?
A; So you can see what they look like (haha). Seriously, Q1-7 to get whats the point of knowing all this.

Q9. What is electron density?
A: Exactly what it says. Althought more accurately the statement should be electron probability density. It is the probability of finding an electron present in an area.

Q10. Which atom has the highes ionization energies?
A: Ne and F.

Q11. How do we know the electrons fill up different orbitals and shells?
A: 1. Schrodinger wave equation/( refer to Q1)
2. Ionisation energy experiments.
3. Atomic emission and absorption spectra.

Q12. Why do we need to know where to find an electron?
A: The idea was actually refine our idea structure of atoms. The old model of spherical orbits for example, just don’t cut it. For eg. The from the old model we cannot explain why molecules have certain shapes for example. And if molecules don’’t have certain shapes, then our universe would be messed up. Matter would look different. Biomelecules such as enzymes and DNA won’t be the same and won’t work.

Carrots won’t look orange!

I’m serious! Beta-carotene is orange, because it has lots of conjugated double bonds. Why does that make it orange? Because, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals. The conjugated pi molecular orbitals have an antibonding and bonding orbital that allows electrons to jump between them and absorb light energy in the process. The energy absorb happens to correspond to blue light energy, so only orange /red/yellow light is reflected.

Haha so to answer your question, why’d we want to know anything? So we can explain how everything works! So we can understand nature. And hopefully master over nature after that. See Q3.

Q13. How was the different energy levels found out?
A: Ionisation energy experiments were proof of different energy levels. Electrical discharge tubes were used to ionize gases. Modern methods use light energy(photons) to do the job more accurately. This method is called spectroscopy, and electrons from different orbitals interacted with photons differently. Using spectroscopy, emission and absorption spectra could be produced that allows us to deduce the existence of different orbitals.
Check out this paper on the determination of IE of CuO and FeO

Q14. Are the graphs for f orbitals the addition of s and d orbitals?
A: NO! Again pls refer to Q1

Q15: Applications of spin quantum no?
A: They are part of the quantum mechanical model of atoms.

Q16.: Is there anyway to calculate the exact location of an electron?
A: Not humanly possible at the moment. It appears nature doesn’t allow it.

Q17: Why do electron have different spins?
A: so that 2 electrons can occupy 1 orbital.

Q18: How fast do electrons orbit?
A: it depends, the large the orbital the faster the speed. For eg, f orbital electrons in gold atoms approach the speed of light. Incidentally, this actually explains why gold is such an inert metal.

Q19: Are there scientists who dispute this model? What are their arguments?
A: A good question! Unfortunately I don’t know the answer. First of all, very few mortals are brilliant enough to even completely understand quantum mechanics, much less dispute it. And because this model has worked so well, many critics have been effectively silenced… Any new model proposed would have to be just as rigorous and work even better

Q20: Why can’t there be standard rules with no exceptions?
A: Well, because this is nature. Remember science is man made, but it is a study of nature, which is not subject to our whims and wishes. Actually its because science is manmade that’s why there are so many rules, most of which are empirical and man made.

Just look at the octet rule debacle. Most of the time the many rules are due to Man’s incomplete, piecemeal understanding of nature. For eg.in the octet rule debacle, an understanding of energy and quantum mechanical model actually unifies things, such as why some elements can have more than an octet? Why does xenon form compounds even if if is noble gas?

Q21: why were the s p d f orbitals names as such?
A: You might expect that the 's' stands for 'spherical' and 'p' stands for 'polar' because these imply the shapes of the s and p orbitals, but unfortunately, the letter designations have nothing to do with the orbital shapes.
Spectroscopists associated transitions involving energy levels with different values with different groups of lines in the line spectra of the alkali metals. The line groups were called sharp, principal, diffuse, and fundamental. When the angular momentum quantum number was used to describe and explain these groups of lines, s became an abbreviation for = 0, p meant = 1, d meant = 2, and f meant = 3. For consistency, higher values of the angular momentum quantum numbers are designated alphabetically (g means = 4, h means = 5, and so on).
Q22: How were the different orbitals discovered?
A: Refer to Q13 and Q1

Q23: Why cant there be only s orbitals, why is there all the s p and d orbitals?
A: That’s nature. If things were so simple, the universe won’t have human beings. It will only have electrons and vacuum. Then we won’t be sitting around here to wonder about stuff.

Q24.”What is the effect on neutrons on deflection of nuclei in electric fields?
A: Neutrons add mass. So go figure.

Q25: How does IE increase across a period?
A: Across a period, generally 1. nuclear charge increase, 2. shielding effect stays constant, 3 therefore effective nuclear charge increases, 4 hence IE increases.

Q26: How can knowledge of atomic orbitals help me in making of new materials?
A: Nice question. Go read up on how atomic orbitals hybridize and combine to form molecular orbitals. Molecular orbitals are what makes bonds, and bonds are what make materials. You can start from here.

Q27. Does IE affect reactivity series?
A:Most definitely! For eg, potassium K is more reactive than sodium Na. Why? Because, K has a lower IE than Na and will lose its electron more readily. Later on, if you learn about f orbital effects, you will understand why gold is so inert.

Q28. Are you so free? What a long Q and A! A: Ugh, I’m too busy. But I take my work seriously, and so should you. I still manage to make time for family, friends, but I want to make sure my work is done well. Just don’t waste your time on unproductive things.

you can always use a pair of tweezers

2006-03-05T07:50:00.000-08:00

current song: Stay by U2

dismayed.

I've got a quite a few things to blog today. Like:
1) results of the Atomic structure quiz
2) shaving blades
3) table lamps
4) cab drivers.

I'm done marking the atomic structure quiz and analyzing results. They were very unimpressive. If you consider that the test is so easy, the results for some kids are awful, appalling and utterly disappointing. Please do not think this is some supra-ohmigosh-intelligent high level RJC test k. Its just a normal standard A lvl test. Sth like what I'd give in AC also. .. but its 1 am in the morn and I dun wanna go into the details. Oh but there are some students who did well too! And i'm going to post test statistics and a roll of honour on this blog soon.

moving on to shaving blades. Huh?? yep they R for shaving off the hair of those slackers that did so poorly in the quiz. eh hahaa ok as much as i wanna do that, I was kidding k. really kidding. some1 from moe may be reading this. I was KIDDING K! but maybe info can diffuse into those bald heads more efficiently? Its already hard enuff getting past those thick skulls, we really dun need the overgelled hair.

ok I'm KIDDING K!

rar thoughts of nice clean sharp shaving blades actually came floating around as I was rubbing my stubble. Can you imagine, i shave in the morning everyday, and by the afternoon, the shadow has grown out. by night its stubble. ugh what a waste of protein. i could really use all that protein somewhere else. but no, my face insists on growing hair! and I 've run out of shaving blades. the current one has gone blunt and i need to shave the next morning for work right?? so i turned round and ask my bro
me: hey lets go out for a drive, I need to buy some shaving blades and maybe get some sweets
bro: ehh.. you sure you can get your kind of blades? not all 7-11s have'em
me: i gas I'll have to try, its so irritating i run thru my blades so quickly
bro: well you can always use a pair of tweezers. just pull em all out and no shaving for weeks!
me:.....omg ugh... lemme use those tweezers on your ~~leg~~ hair first.

bros say the darndestdest things.
oh I think repeated use of shaving blades causes pimples. some1 should stardee that.

eh the table lamp and cab drivers are going to have to wait. nuff of blogging today.

IMPORTANT! read the following!!

2006-03-05T04:51:00.000-08:00

warning: the contents below are very hardcore and intended for mature audiences only.

Ok, we've been using, very loosely, penetration power and penetrating power. as in 3s orbital has more penetrating power vs 3p orbital.

I mean, if sth is highly penetrating, it'll achieve high penetration? non?

non. The more common usage is PENETRATING power.

So there be warned!!!!!~~~.. talk about penetrating, not penetration in the future.

Man, stuff on this blog is going really deep. and very hardcore.

Atomic structure strikes back aaaagain.

2006-03-05T03:54:00.000-08:00

hi all,

Ok i realised that the earlier post the link to the ionisation energy discussion couldnt work. Apparently I can't share out of my yahoo briefcase. So, i simply created another website to host the document. *tee hee*. This should work fine!

simply -->click here<--

:)

look there! ------------------------------------------------------->

2006-03-04T09:49:00.000-08:00

scroll down a little...

There's sth wrong with this blog.... what? the tag board... its all the waaaaaay at the bottom!

bleh I have no idea how to get it back up (i mean the tag board)

frustrated....

about that plus the non stop chinese techno music my bro is currently blasting from his hi fi.

Suddenly I feel like increasing the levels of entropy in my immediate neighbourhood.
><

whats entropy? go google it can?

The atomic structure strikes back

2006-03-04T09:29:00.000-08:00

I've refined, compiled my set of notes on ionisation energy discussions and converted it to flash! Now if any of you out there can clue me in on how to upload files to share with people on the net and to link from here to that file easily, please let me know!

For now, as a temporary measure, I'm going to rely on yahoo briefcase.

Here's the link!

btw its a flash file, so you'd need to have macromedia flash plugin installed..

--> Click here <--

Have fun!

Fallacy of the abused Octet

2006-03-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

The octet rule is a neat rule that allows us to predict the number of electrons that are transferred or shared usually by elements. However, because the term “stable octet” is used so often (its used to justify the octet rule), a common fallacy that arises is that the formation of the octet is the driving force behind a chemical reaction.
Say for example,

Now lets consider another situation

With the octet stability fallacy, most people will actually consider Na+ to be more stable than Na, or think that Na+ is easily and spontaneously formed.

But we know that for reaction 2 , ionization energy is required. So Na+(g) is higher in energy and is unstable. In fact it doesn’t want to be formed and we need to inject energy. So what of the stable octet of Na+ then?

Let us relook at reaction (1) This reaction is extremely exothermic and spontaneous. Why? Because the NaCl formed has very strong ionic bonds, and its formation releases energy. So its not Na+ that’s stable, but NaCl that’s stable.

Diagrammatically the energy changes of reaction (1)can be represented like:

In other words, the driving force of the reaction is NOT the formation of the stable octet. It is the release of energy that drives this reaction (and all other reactions). There is no such thing as the desire to achieve a "stable octet" being the driving force of electron sharing or transfer.

Hence, the use of disruption of octet to justify large IE (eg of Ne)
or the formation of full octet to justify small IE (eg of Na) is incorrect.
Ne has a very large 1st IE compared to Na since its electron is taken from the 2nd shell which expereinces much less shielding, compared to Na's 3rd shell electron. The same is true for Na+ (it has no more 3rd shell electrons, only 2nd shell electrons left)

So the octet rule should be framed as tool to predict no of electrons that are transferred or shared.. that’s all it is.

So why does the octet rule work? What makes it predict rather accurately the number of electrons transferred? Investigating our NaCl example, we can question, why only Na+ is formed? Why not make Na2+?

The answer is :
- Successive IE increases, and
- removal of inner quantum shell electrons is very difficult
-since they experience very much less shielding.
-As a result Na loses its valence electron easily (small 1st IE) but the
-2nd inner shell electron is not easily removed (very large 2nd IE)
-So the formation of NaCl takes place, but not the formation of NaCl2. (refer to diagram above, making Na2+ will require so much energy that NaCl2 will be higher in energy and unstable)

The octet rule exists due to energetics! Therefore the octet rule is an empirical observation cannot be applied to explain ionization energy. It is in fact the other way around.

The regions round echo the sound

2006-03-02T08:54:00.000-08:00

I was just reflecting upon the A lvl results... now that the dust has settled, I can finally compose my thoughts..

What an emotional ride. I felt such joy for some students, and also empathised with the tears of others.. very often I was lost for words.

First off I am mostly contented and happy and relieved. My classes all scored above average against others of their own subject combinations, both in terms of %As and mean subject grade.

most of the students that I have seen potential in them have managed to get their As and Bs. and some who were getting Fs actually passed nicely with a C. For them I thank God. ACJC also did very well this year, more 3 and 4,5,6,7,8 As, and 2 fellas with 9 distinctions (one of them the student council president, no less). Truely, the best is yet to be.

But there were one or two complacent individuals who refused throughout the two years to be consistent, to put in effort, to even attend classes, despite persuasion, encouragement, counselling, threats from me, and other tutors. They did badly. How do we react? Only that its a pity that their potential was wasted, and will continue to be so until they realise that potential, or natural talent is akin to a rough uncut diamond. Without the hardwork that goes into shaping the diamond, without the creative energies injected by a craftman, that diamond will never shine to the world. Hopefully then they will learn to put in that hardwork, discipline and perseverance, and work with their future mentors to unlock their potential.

All in all, I am glad I had a firm hand on the students that I had the privilege (or pain) to work with. While sometimes I had to be so strict, take unpopular action and risk being misunderstood, I think this day is a day when what matters become so clear. The students have grown stronger, more mature. Their mental capacity has expanded They've seen their hardwork pay off, and learned the value of discipline and perseverance. Their great potential is reflected on their results, and they are thankful for it. To be firm, to demand the highest standards from my students, and to have faith that they have potential, this is the best way to love them.

wow, I've rambled for so long! i'm so brain dead from all the excitement, all that catching up with old friends and ex students... so dazed now... some marking not done yet.. I'd better go!

Coming soon, the fallacy of the abused octet, and the atomic structure strikes back.

RJC class of 2005 also did very well; clinching the highest number of 4A's in 25 years.
I'm so... preoccupied now.... with paranoid thoughts of what I would write here 2 years from now, when the current batch of J1s in RJ gets their turn.

Students say the darndest things

2006-02-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

I was just telling an ex student of mine, call him xr, about my little blog here.. so I said, my blog's about chemistry..

me: come check out my blog its about chemistry
xr:... you mean like chemistry between two people?
me: yea! and bonding too!
xr: thats one sick naughty blog..

and we havn't even got to nucleophilic Sn2 backside attack..
did i tell you? students say the darndest things

My psychic crystal ball

2006-02-27T20:14:00.000-08:00

how nice it'll be if I'm psychic.. or maybe a have a kinda omniscient prescient crystal ball contraption. Really. I was hoping that I can hit the chinese new year toto hongbao draw with the crystal ball, and make off with a cool 10m$$$. And I won't have to work a single day after that!

Other people seem to think that I've got something like that.. I mean as I am describing or explaining stuff, many students who don't understand a single thing simply refuse to voice their doubts, and so I go on and on to serenade the really responsive concrete walls. Talk to me man! let me know if you've got what i'm saying and if i'm too slow, or if you re clueless and I gotta backtrack abit.

....

ugh, I'm better off getting psychic powers to read their minds....

hey wait a minute, I should get psychic powers to transfer my knowledge directly over to any hapless target! just zap, and presto! knows everything that he's suppose to know.. tee hee thats the ticket!

is anybody reading this? sheesh I need a counter to track the number of hits I got.

Lost

2006-02-27T17:52:00.000-08:00

I'm so lost with this blog thing.. how'd you put pictures, or frames, or tag boards, or even do a the sign off in each post in a custom way? how'd we not use the template and make our own? My blog is ugly. ugh.

meanwhile I'm off to do more marking. ugh.

wish me luck.

Newbie on the blog

2006-02-26T03:48:00.000-08:00

Wow this is my first blog.. hmmm I always thought that blogging was a really weird thing to do, like, why would I wanna broadcast whatever I thought to others? But then again... considering that I'm one of those guilty of being overly verbose.. blogging seems to be a nice way to let off some steam... and then I always enjoyed reading the very interesting blogs that are around, especially from some of my (ex) students. Or those that had really nice pictures.. eh.. heh.

Anyways this place is a nice forum where I can hopefully address the many fascinating bits of chemistry, especially issues where you have questions about. Enjoy your stay here!

between us.. there's the chemistry

To correct misperceptions..

A level results for the class of 2007

Nice try, everyone

Let's all bash singapore

Financial education

Hohoho

My PC is dead

acceptable statements..

Oversimplification breeds misconceptions

Last words on SPAA

Last words on SPAA

SPAz Again!

This is for the frenchies!

bounce!

How religious words slip, slide, perish

for 3R

Consultations ogay.

Some useful online chem resources

More on tutorial 14b and proteins

Some exam techniques

Something abt proteins

oh well.. i knew it!

Promo Goals

SPAz

Make up SPA practice

The doctor is IN!

omg, i have sub average logical skills

Shopping

Passion

I laffed when i saw the result

3N

Common Test Results 2

Common Test Results

perseverance

ughh

answers to alkane quiz

How to study for exams.

i have a fragile ego.

The Idea of God

INTJ

formatting

up-update

updates

Remedials, consultations, and revision tests

Answer to a question

New Notes!

One moment in time

chilling..

Revision test make-up

Consultations

bonding II

Poetry

insomniac

bonding

The worst things about me

new look!!

Pomp and Circumstance

Extra Stoichio questions

GTS!

Balance

3 words about cabbies

Streamlining of links

Run

healthy lifestyle!

Chem bonding Discussion

Chem lecture test 1.

agony anonymous!

Chem notes

Every girl should have a....

super secret studying technique

super secret studying technique

Chem Bonding 1 Summary

Chembonding assignment solution

I wanna visit Christmas Island!!

Mid life angst

Beware of Dihydrogen Monoxide: A dangerous chemical!

German rocks!

March holidays remedial ROUND 2A

Chembonding Assignment for ALL students