Photos taken using Canon Powershot SX740: https://mathtuition88.com/2018/12/27/canon-camera-and-camera-case-singapore/
On the last day of 2018, my husband and I decided to visit Jurong bird park in Singapore.
It’s amazing. All the beautiful, lovely, and talented birds: parrots, penguins, flamingoes, emu, owls, vultures, lories, etc.
Here are some pics of birds:
And here is my favorite pic:
A white bird just stood in among a group of flamingoes. Well disguised! 🙂
Happy new year, everybody! 🙂
One of the search terms for my website is “Where can I buy Staub cast iron cookware in Singapore”. I did some research and it sounds incredible, but one of the cheapest option is actually to buy from Amazon and ship it to Singapore.
This is a good idea for several reasons.
Staub Cast Iron Round Cocotte, 4-Quart, Cherry
2. Local e-commerce websites may not necessarily be cheaper than Amazon. Be aware of a process called “drop shipping“. That means that the local website may not keep physical stock of Staub. When you order from them, they in turn order from USA and ship it to you! Hence, if you order directly from Amazon, you skip the middleman and it should logically be cheaper.
3. Amazon has extremely good customer service (that is how they became one of the richest companies in the world). If for any reason, your cookware is damaged (highly unlikely given the durability of cast iron), you can just lodge a complaint to Amazon and they will compensate you accordingly.
See also: Cast Iron Pan Singapore Review
This is the dark side of the Integrated Programme, parents and students should read this (and definitely watch the video).
Something in the video is quite shocking: According to the interviewee Edwin, someone in his HCI batch “hacked into the files of another Project Work (PW) group to sabotage them so that they wouldn’t do well”. This is certainly “absurd”, as Edwin put it. (Note that PW is widely considered the least important of all subjects.) Such is the level of competitiveness in the top tier IP schools? Such unethical students are really the black sheep of IP program and society in general, it reflects the “black heart” of the student.
Good luck to Edwin, he seems like a nice guy. Perhaps this may be a blessing in disguise for him, his path less travelled may lead him to a better life in the Land Down Under (Australia).
Source (Text and Video): https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/i-flunked-the-ip
Excerpt:
“With his top honours in finance and economics, Singaporean Edwin Chaw, who recently graduated from the University of Melbourne, should enjoy good job prospects when he returns home.
But the 26-year-old is applying for jobs in Melbourne, Australia, instead, as he believes that his past as a “dropout” from the elite Integrated Programme at Hwa Chong Institution still haunts him.”
A very nice song. “Maranatha” means “Come, Lord Jesus”.
Entering IP is not all smooth sailing, there is still much work to be done. Most IP schools will set a minimum criteria to proceed in the Integrated Program (i.e. skip ‘O’ levels). Those students who don’t make the criteria may be streamed into the ‘O’ level track.
A recent post from Kiasuparents summarized nicely the situation for the top 4 IP schools:
At the end of the day, it’s each sch’s perogative to set the IP promotion bar at a level it deems fit. For HCI/NYGH case, that bar was set at 65%, while RI set it at 60% and RGS at 50%. The R sch students also have the flexibility to choose the best subjects for GPA calculation (and not have to include all subjects).
Source: Kiasuparents
Hence, basically for HCI/NYGH an average grade of B3 and above is needed to proceed in the IP track, while for RI it is B4, and RGS is just pass (50%). Note that IP exam papers tend to be tougher than usual, hence it is not as easy as it sounds to get B3 in an IP school, or even to pass.
While the ‘O’ level track is not bad in the sense that it provides an ‘O’ level certificate as a backup, the problem is that IP schools are so entrenched in the IP system, and so used to teaching IP syllabus, their teachers may or may not be proficient in teaching ‘O’ level material. See this news: RI’s O Level Scores: Only 1 student out of 10 made it to JC. Hence, there is always an inherent risk in being streamed to the ‘O’ level track.
Ideal for primary school kids who need a smartphone to keep in contact with parents. (iPhone XS is too expensive and unnecessary for a Primary 1 kid.)
It can do all the basic stuff like internet, camera, apps (WhatsApp, Wechat, Facebook), etc. At just $98, it is essentially affordable to all Singaporeans.
WWW.QOO10.SG
This is probably the cheapest laptop around with such stats. 8GB RAM and 240 GB SSD is definitely enough for any kind of school project, and in fact should be enough for casual computer games too.
An excellent choice for students/adults looking for a budget computer that is not too slow. (Do not get those with 2GB RAM, no matter how cheap they are. You will regret when you discover that they take 20 min just to start up and 10 min just to open internet explorer.)
Refurbished means it is not brand new, but on the good side it means it has been repaired and checked for any errors.
WWW.QOO10.SG
This is just posted 6 days ago. It is much much better than Disney’s The Last Jedi. Do watch it if you are a true Star Wars Fan.
Language Legos is the leading German Language Institute in Jaipur. They are well known for speaking Practice Sessions with Native Speakers, and Goethe Certified teachers.
Click here to check out online classes from Language Legos.
German is a very useful language to learn due to Germany being a world leader in industry and education sectors.
中学的华文口试题目通常包括以下几种：社会题材，学校题材，家庭题材等等。
涵盖最广的就是社会题材。比如说：环境保护，义工，公共秩序，助人为乐，种族和谐等等。
学校题材包括：课外活动，师生关系，课堂形式，华文的学习等等。
家庭题材包括：家庭教育，亲子关系，老人的赡养等等。
大部分问题都是：你对xxxx这种现象有什么看法／作何感想／观点是什么？你认为造成xxxx这种现象的原因是什么？你有经历过这种事情吗？／参加过这种活动吗？谈谈你的经验。你赞成这种活动吗？为什么？这种活动有什么优缺点？这种活动有什么意义？（如果是好的事情）你认为该如何推广／宣传这种活动？（如果是不好的事情）你认为该如何避免这种现象再次发生？（有些问题可能会进一步放大到国家和社会层面）你认为这种活动对国家未来的发展有什么好处？／谈谈你认为xxx对一个国家的重要性。由于中学生都是青少年，很多问题也会从青少年的角度出发，让学生来谈谈与青少年的关系，或者青少年该怎么做。
其实，这些问题有很多是重复的。比如这个活动有什么意义，这个活动有什么好处，重要性是什么。这三个问题是重复的。
回答这些问题也是有规律可循的。
1，关于意义，重要性，好处，益处。
需要学生尽可能多得考虑到许多方面。比如，关于课外活动。
这是针对某一方面或者是某一个人的好处。学生可以结合自己的体验来回答。你在自己身上或者在其他人身上看到了哪些课外活动的好处，都可以写出来。
关于义工活动的意义
这种和社会相关的话题，则需要尽可能广得去思考，这个活动对于各个方面的意义是什么。
2，对xxx现象有何看法／观点／感想？
通常问这种问题有两种回答方法：一种是需要学生来表明自己的立场，也就是说回答中要有“我认为这种做法是不对的（这不是一种好的现象）／我认为这是一个很好的（很有意义的活动）”之类的比较明确的回答。当然只表明自己的立场是不够的，还要说明为什么支持／反对，或者说明造成这种现象的原因有哪些。另外一种是不需要学生说明支持／反对，只是单纯针对某一种现象谈谈自己的感受，或者自己认为可以改善这一现象的做法。
例如，学校举办捐赠旧书的活动，你对此有何感想？（第一种）
答：我认为这是一个非常有意义的活动。
例如，很多学生认为华文课枯燥，华文难学，对此你有何想法？（第二种）
答：我认为造成很多学生这样认为的原因有很多：
3， 你认为国家／政府在xxx方面做得充足／好吗？为什么这么说？
首先，学生需要给出明确的答案，充足／好，或不充足／不好。然后要给出理由。理由可以分为两种，一种是正面的一种是反面的。
例如，在种族和谐方面，你认为新加坡做的好吗？为什么？
答：我认为在种族和谐方面，新加坡政府做的很好。
因为政府在种族和谐方面做出了很多努力：
所以新加坡政府在种族和谐方面做的比较好。
4，比较A和B。
这种情况下，要首先列举出A和B各有什么优点和缺点，列举完之后，再表明自己的观点：总体来说，我认为A比B更怎么怎么样，或者B比A更怎么怎么样。如果A和B难分上下，则可以说“我认为A和B各有各的优点，各有各的缺点”。一定要在比较完之后加上这么一句总结的话。
5，口试中，学生有一个误区，就是每一个问题我都要给积极的正面的回答嘛？即使我可能不这么做，也不喜欢。
答案是NO。不是说所有的问题都这样，关键在于理由，只要学生给出的理由足够充分即可。
例如：你有阅读的报纸吗？为什么？
这个题目，如果学生回答有，那么后面的原因比较好回答。但是就算是说没有，这也不算错。
理由可以是：
这些理由应该也是很多人不读报纸的原因，所以是充分的理由。所以不必担心，即使否定地回答了问题，只要理由充分也是可以的。
1， 她那熟睡的面孔好像大理石浮雕一样，恬静、温柔，显出一种端庄纯净的美。
2， 瞧左边这个，微笑时露出两个酒窝，稚嫩的脸上浮着醉人的笑容，眼睛里透出柔和的光，宛然暖房里未经风雨的小花。
3， 他的脸庞长圆，额头上布满了一道道皱纹，两只眼睛深深地陷在眼眶中。
4， 小妹那圆圆的脸蛋沐浴着霞光，红红的，好像一个红苹果，又像一朵含苞待放的花。
5， 自从我懂事起，父亲就是那样一种形象：黝黑的脸庞，粗糙的皮肤，深深的皱纹，粗壮的身体。父亲是个送报工，每天风里来雨里去，在烈日下，在狂风中度过了一个个春夏秋冬。送报工，在我眼里一个普通的有些渺小，平凡的有些卑微的职业，因为这个职业，我曾经无数次觉得在同学面前抬不起头。
6， 一个矮胖的中年人走到客厅门口，容光焕发，脸胖得像一个圆球，下巴的肉往下垂着。看上去年纪不过40左右，实际上他已经是50的人了。头上没有一根白发，修理得很整齐，油光发亮，镜子似的，苍蝇飞上去也要滑下来。
7， 他是太苍老了，他的脸是瘦削的，黑黄色的。那眼角和嘴角布满了凌乱的皱纹，像一块老柏树皮；他突出的前额上刻着几条深深的皱纹，好像是被鞭子抽打出来的，他的眼睛是细小的，微黄的，他的背佝偻着，像枯枝似的手……
8， 小红长得很白净，高个儿，脸上总是泛着红晕，笑起来脸上两个浅浅的酒窝，别人都会醉到里面去。
9， 她有许多漂亮的衣服，配她匀称、矫健的身材，总那么合适，那么好看。可最新人的，还是那松软柔滑的黑发衬托下的俊秀的脸庞。当她笑起来的时候，腮旁两个浅浅的小酒窝和被睫毛遮住的隐隐发亮的眼睛，仿佛向外辉映着难以形容的柔和的光芒。
10， 在他被太阳晒黑的脸庞上，有一双炯炯有神发光的眼睛，它像两面镜子似的透亮，似乎能一下子照见我的心底。
11， 这深邃的目光，像碧天里的星星，那样明、那样亮，迸发出无限激情，流露出深深爱意，饱含着殷切希望。
12， 他有一双充满美丽的大眼睛，眼睛里包含着智慧的神奇与力量，每当你的眼神和他的碰到一起，便有一种说不出来的感觉。他的眼睛就像一潭神圣的拥有神奇力量的湖水，美丽而又宁静。
13， 在他高高的鼻梁下边，长着一张小巧的嘴巴。平时总是笑嘻嘻地，要是生起气来，两只嘴唇翘的老高老高，这时大家都打趣地说：“真可以挂上两只油瓶呢！”
14， 那圆圆的小脸蛋上嵌着一双水灵灵的大眼睛，嘴唇薄薄的，一啸小嘴一咧，眼睛一眯，还露出一对小酒窝，着实可爱。要是谁惹他生气了，他就会瞪大眼睛，小嘴一翘。
15， 由于多年的操劳，爷爷的手背粗糙得像老松树皮，裂开了一道道口子，手心上磨出了几个厚厚的老茧。流水般的岁月无情地在他那酱紫色的脸上刻下了一道道深深的皱纹，他那原来是乌黑乌黑的头发和山羊胡子也变成了灰白色，只有那双眼睛一就是那么有神，尽管眼角布满了密密的鱼尾纹。
16， 树丛被拨开了，一个小孩的脑袋钻了进来，这是个男孩子，大约有12三岁，又黑又瘦的小脸上，满是灰尘，头发约有二寸多长，乱蓬蓬的，活像个鸟窝。
修辞手法在华文学习中是肯定会接触到的。学会修辞手法可以更好地赏析一篇好的文章，也可以在写作中运用，让学生的作文大放异彩。
常见的修辞手法有以下几种：
1，比喻
把A比作B，则A为本体，B为喻体。而且A和B有相似的地方。比喻的好处是可以让被描述的对象，即本体，更加形象和生动。
例如：
多少年来，富士山就像一块巨大的磁铁，每年都吸引着成千上万的人前来攀登。——中三快捷华文《富士山》
为什么要把富士山比喻成巨大的磁铁呢？我们知道磁铁有磁力，可以把铁制品吸引过来。而富士山是一个很有名的旅游景点，吸引了很多游客前来观光。所以富士山和磁铁的共同点就是有吸引力，所以把富士山比喻成巨大的磁铁，能够把人们吸引来。
2，拟人
就是把物品当作人来写。让这个物品可以做出人的动作，表情，甚至心理活动等等。
例如：
远望富士山，它就像一个巨人，昂首挺立于天地之间，召唤着来自五洲四海的游客。——中三快捷华文《富士山》
富士山是一座山。可是在后面的描写中，作者用了”昂首”（即抬着头），”立于天地之间”（站在天地之间）。富士山没有头也没有脚，所以不可能抬头，也不可能站。这里完全把富士山当作成一个人。想象一下，如果一个人抬着头，一动不动得站在那里，是不是很有气概？这里就是用拟人的修辞手法来形象地表现出富士山的雄伟。再看最后面”召唤着来自五洲四海的游客”，富士山没有嘴巴，不可能”召唤”别人过来。所以也是拟人的修辞手法，把富士山形容成一个高高地抬起头，稳稳得站里并且召唤别人过来。这就会让读者在脑海中有这么一个生动的场景。
3，排比
排比的特点比较突出，就是几个意思相关，结构相似，语气相似的词组（三个或三个以上）并列出现。
例如：
这里没有高楼大厦，没有车水马龙，没有城市的拥挤与匆促，只有悠闲和宁静。——中三快捷华文《乌敏岛》
“没有…没有…没有…”三个”没有..”并列构成，这就是排比句。
排比的作用是用来加强语气，增强文章的节奏感。因此，在演讲，议论文中会经常用到排比句。
4，夸张
用夸大或缩小事物的特征或形象来增强表达的效果。
例如：
唯独晓敏是不大吃饼干的，因此她那个别致的青瓷罐里的饼干，比起我们的总是又多又满。每次休息时，我们一边嚼着饼干，一边叽叽喳喳地品头论足，或嘀嘀咕咕地发牢骚，而晓敏总是在一旁读着她那本似乎永远也读不完的小说。——《饼干罐的秘密》
“读着她那本似乎永远也读不完的小说”此处就是夸张的修辞手法。一本小说不可能永远也读不完，这里只是用来说明每次当大家坐在一起吃饼干的时候，晓敏总是在读小说。次数久了，让人不得不怀疑小说是不是很长，长到永远读不完。
It’s like a egg meat sandwich.
Ingredients:
Minced chicken 100g (season with salt and pepper)
Bun (I chose hotdog buns, you can choose baguette or any other bread you like)
Eggs 2
Chili sauce 1/2 tablespoon
Butter
Salt
Black pepper
Slices of 1/2 onion
1. Cut 2 hotdog buns into halves, don’t cut through.
2. Heat a pan. Add in a little butter. When melted, place buns in with cut side down to fry a bit.
3. Heat pan again. Add in a little extra butter. When melted, sauté onion till transparent. Add in minced chicken. Stir fry till chicken gets white.
4. Beat 2 eggs in a bowl, add in 1/2 tablespoon chili sauce and a little salt to taste.
5. Pour egg into the pan to mix with chicken and onion.
6. Place 1 bun with cut side down onto the egg. Turn to low heat. Tuck the…
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随着网络在生活中的普遍应用，网络相关主题也成为考试的热点，无论是口试，阅读理解，综合填空，还是作文，“网络”成为了一个高频词。
和“网络”有关的词汇主要有：
网络：wǎng luò， network；The Internet
社交媒体：shè jiāo méi tǐ， Social Media
社交网络：shè jiāo wǎng luò，social network
图片：tú piàn，picture
音频：yīn pín，audio
视频：shì pín，Video
多媒体：duō méi tǐ，multimedia
上传：shàng chuán，upload
下载：xià zài，download
更新：gēng xīn，update
浏览：liú lǎn，browse
删除：shān chú，delete
卸载：xiè zài，uninstall
屏蔽：píng bì，block
隐私：yǐn sī，privacy
个人资料：gè rén zī liào，personal information
软件：ruǎn jiàn，software
账户：zhàng hù，account
黑客：hēi kè，hacker
智能手机：zhì néng shǒu jī，smart phone
平板电脑：píng bǎn diàn nǎo，tablet
笔记本电脑/手提电脑：laptop
应用程序：yìng yòng chéng xù，APP
系统：xì tǒng，system
病毒：bìng dú，virus
链接：liàn jiē，link
摄像头：shè xiàng tóu，camera
密码：mì mǎ，password
垃圾邮件：lā jī yóu jiàn，spam
诈骗：zhà piàn，scam
虚拟：xū nǐ，virtual
转发：zhuǎn fā，repost
留言：liú yán，Leave a message/comment
点赞：diǎn zàn，like
博客：bó kè，blog
面簿/脸书：Facebook
谷歌：gǔ gē，Google
搜索引擎：sōu suǒ yǐn qíng，Search engine
推特：tuī tè，Twitter
匿名：nì míng，anonymous
评论：píng lùn，comment
论坛：lùn…
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Canon sells excellent midrange compact digital cameras that are good for those who are interested in photography, but yet not professionals (professionals need to use DSLRs which are heavy and hard to use).
The Canon PowerShot series (latest version is SX740 HS, which stands for ‘High Speed’) is the best in its price range, for instance it beats Nikon Coolpix A900 in several key metrics. Megapixel wise it is 20 megapixels which trumps all iPhone models (best is iPhone XS with 12 megapixels). The key thing is 40x optical zoom, which no phone can do. The phone zoom is called “digital zoom”, you lose resolution when you zoom in.
The best camera case for Canon is by MegaGear. “Ever Ready” means that you don’t have to fully take out the Canon camera when you take photos. You just have to open the flap. Hence it saves time and increases the chance that you can capture the photo. (Imagine you are photographing a butterfly, by the time you take out the camera from your bag it would have flown away!)
The bad news is that no local stores, including online stores like Qoo10, Lazada carry MegaGear stock. The good news is that the Amazon stock ships to Singapore (and possibly other Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, do check)!
MegaGear do make camera cases for many other brands, including Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm, Panasonic etc. (Hmm… I just noticed that almost all are Japanese brands?)
The Canon camera I bought will be used in my food blog https://foodrecipe33.com/, do check it out in the near future for nice food photos!
I used to play 1. d4 as White, and had a terrible record against the Benko Gambit (something like 20% win, 80% loss). It improved slightly to 30% win after I switched to the Qc2 line. I have since switched to 1.e4, hence I do not encounter Benko Gambit as White anymore.
I decided to play the Benko Gambit myself as Black, and it gave surprisingly good results. The plan for playing Benko Gambit is very simple, fianchetto the dark-square bishop, line up both rooks on the a & b files, and play on the Queen side. The dark-squared bishop is very powerful as it has an unobstructed diagonal. White will have a very hard time hanging on to his two a & b pawns. The only way you can lose (other than obvious blunders) is if White checkmates you first (which is not that easy to do). In endgames, it is almost always the case that Black has an advantage.
From online research, it is stated that most players who are below master level don’t know how to play properly against the Benko gambit. Due to the simple and standard plan, you can also move very fast without having to calculate much and hence that is why Benko gambit is very good for rapid or blitz games. On the other hand, playing White against Benko gambit is very hard and tedious, hence white players tend to either lose on time or make a blunder in time trouble.
My rapid game against a 2100+ rated Lichess player: https://lichess.org/Yflbsg5H/black#1.
White made a blunder by playing b3. What is the best move for black? (There is more than 1 correct answer.)
This is a book by a Singaporean author, Junior Tay.
The Dynamic Benko Gambit: An Attacking Repertoire for Black
This book is by Grandmaster Sergey Kasparov, who shares the same name as the famous Garry Kasparov. (See also Garry Kasparov Masterclass Review.)
Wishing all readers “Feliz Navidad”, which is Merry Christmas in Spanish.
“Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad” meaning “Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness”
Most students will prefer to read a concise, and to-the-point guidebook that really cuts off all the unnecessary stuff. Unfortunately, school notes are often the opposite, including tonnes of irrelevant information that at the end of the day is not tested. Though good for general knowledge, school notes are too long and wordy for a speedy and efficient revision session. When your exam is next week, you certainly don’t want to read through the history of Calculus, or all about the Galapagos Islands, for instance.
For example, reading the standard textbooks like “Halliday” (Fundamentals of Physics
The legendary guidebook series for A Level is by the author C.S. Toh. He has a knack of summarizing all you need to know into one book. His books are now available for sale on Qoo10, which means you can order it and get it delivered to your home without having to step out of the house. (Many people comment that sometimes bookstores do not have stock of this book.)
The store URL and the links are below. The subjects available are H2 Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics. (Click on the images for the URL link)
WWW.QOO10.SG
WWW.QOO10.SG
WWW.QOO10.SG
WWW.QOO10.SG
The books of C.S. Toh are a well-known secret weapon for H2 students. Both forums Hardwarezone and Kiasuparents have good reviews on C.S. Toh books.
Poor little girl gets beaten up severely for no apparent reason. In the video, it is quite clear that there is another boy (probably the brother of the girl) who is not beaten at all. Hence, many netizens say it is a serious case of gender discrimination, or 重男轻女. Gender discrimination is especially serious in China due to the One-Child Policy, which although has since been scrapped, but its after-effects remain.
Currently, the Shenzhen police has stepped in, hope something can be done to help the little girl.
By the way, in case someone is wondering who is taking the video, it is probably the landlord. Shenzhen is one of the most expensive cities in China to buy a house, probably the house is rented by the family.
Translation from https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_2766187:
@北京青年报 On December 23rd, today, a video of a suspected child abuse in Shenzhen has attracted attention. The video shows that during the October of this year, a girl was beaten repeatedly by her parents during homework and eating at home. In addition to slapping her hand, she grabbed her child’s hair and the child’s mother beat the child with a broom, a plastic chair and other items. When the father wearing the “Meituan” team take-away rider’s overalls appeared, the girl was beaten. This scene was filmed by the camera.
In response to this, at noon today, the “Meituan” company responded that the video explosion was very heart-wrenching. We conducted a quick investigation of the identity of the man in the video. After investigation, Liu was a Shenzhen rider. He joined the company on August 26, 2018 and left on December 6.
Liu’s behavior seriously violated the basic ethical norms that the “Meituan” group riders should have, breaking through the basic behavior of the society and violating the conscience. He is not a qualified rider, not a qualified father. Violence against minors must be curbed! At present, we have linked the police and provided all the information of Liu. At present, the Shenzhen police have intervened.
Next, in addition to actively cooperating with the police investigation and handling the involved personnel, the Meituan group’s take-out and Meituan group charity will take action for the injured girl, and actively contact the Women’s Federation and other support agencies to provide her with the help.
At 13 o’clock on the afternoon of the 23rd, the Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned from the Shenzhen police that the relevant departments of Baoan District Police, Women’s Federation and other departments have been involved in the investigation. At 14:20, the reporter contacted the Baoan District Women’s Federation on the incident. According to the staff, the Women’s Federation is currently investigating the matter and will issue a statement on the incident.
(The original title is “Shenzhen Baoan District Women’s Federation and the police involved in the investigation of child abuse incidents”)
(“Meituan” is a food delivery company)
Sometimes, we get caught in situations that just make us feel like failures. Here’s Nick’s answer to a question from our friend Claire. Watch the full video here:
Kiasuparents have distilled a rule of thumb when choosing your secondary school after receiving your PSLE score: “make sure that at least the 6th choice is about 10 points below the child’s score to ensure no “surprises”.”
This is quite a good advice. For example, if a child scores 250, it is very risky to choose all 6 choices with COP very close to 250. Based on the collective experience of parents over the years, this 10 point gap rule of thumb works.
You will never know in advance, so it’s wise to follow the scheme that floppy and many others have outlined over the years: make sure that at least the 6th choice is about 10 points below the child’s score to ensure no “surprises”. The first choice can be a “reach” (a few points above the child’s score) and the remaining ones spread out in between. It does mean “losing out” by having fewer choices in the middle range, but it does ensure that the 6th choice is selected by the child, not MOE!
Source: https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=92659&start=290
URL: Enfagrow SG products
When students receive their PSLE Score, it is in the form of a 3-digit number (e.g. 240, 252, etc.). Few people actually know that it is rounded off, and your actual PSLE score has decimal points!
Source: Straits Times
•First, pupils are ranked according to detailed aggregate scores that extend to decimal points. The No. 1 pupil is posted to the school at the top of his list of six choices. Likewise the second pupil and so on, until there are no more vacancies in the school. The pupil who fails to get his top choice will be posted to the next school on his list. If that school is also full, he will be sent to his third-choice school, and so on.
Hence, if your score is the same as the Cut-off Point (COP), there is a minuscule chance that you may not get in, reason being that of the decimal points. For instance, if the school Cut-off Point is publicized as 250, it may be the case that the last person to be admitted has a score of 250.36. Hence, if your PSLE score is 250.18, you would not be admitted into the school.
Case Study from Kiasuparents:
Online wrote:My girl at 254 could not get MGS O levels (1st choice). 2nd was MGS IP, 3rd NJC IP. Got posted to 4th choice – SCGS IP. The cut-off for MGS O levels is more than 254!@ Online, don’t panic. It is possible that the cop is 254 and your girl missed by decimal points. I think you can call MGS to find out the COP for O level. If miss by decimal points you can appeal.
In that case, you may appeal and there is a chance that you will be admitted, subject to how many cases the school can handle. See also Appeal from RGS to NYGH (Success).
Good luck to everyone for their PSLE Posting Results!
According to the official MOE PSLE Posting Page, the results will be released through the following channels:
According to Kiasuparents, the result can come very early, at around 6am for some.
Do check out our post on PSLE Cut Off Points.
For appeals tips, check out Appeal from RGS to NYGH (Success).
The official document for PSLE Cut Off Point is the MOE PSLE Cut Off Point Booklet. Comprising of 200 pages, it contains all the official past year cut-off points for the various secondary schools for express and normal streams.
We showcase some of the PSLE Cut Off Points (for 2017 Sec 1) of various schools. Basically, Cut Off Points are unlikely to vary much throughout a period of 5 years, hence this list of cut-off points should be valid for at least 2018, 2019, 2020, until the new PSLE Scoring takes effect. Though, if your child is very close to the borderline cut-off point, it is wise to study the latest trend of cut-off points carefully.
The Cut Off Points List shown below are non-affiliation scores. If your child is affiliated, possibly a discount of 10 points or more are allowed. E.g. for Nanyang Girls’ High School, the non-affiliated cut-off is 264, but for affiliated students, 250 is sufficient to get in. Some schools have two tracks, IP track and O-level track, in which case the O-level track cut-off point (COP) is invariably lower than the IP track COP.
Tier 1 Schools are universally agreed “top schools” in Singapore, the “creme de la creme”. Due to their popularity, they usually have a very high PSLE cut-off. Do note that one should not choose a school solely by its cut-off point, school culture and the right fit is very important too.
Read our previous blogposts on how to choose schools not solely based on cut-off points:
Tier 2 top schools are universally considered good schools too. Most of them are very established schools with a long history in Singapore, with a strong school culture. Some of them have specialized CCAs which they are strong in.
A very notable mention is top neighborhood schools. Neighborhood schools, as the name suggests, are close to densely populated towns with many HDBs. Hence, it can be immensely convenient for many people. Imagine walking to your school in 5-10 mins, the amount of time you save in 4 years can be staggering. It can be a nurturing environment, with much less of the competitiveness present in the Tier 1 top schools.
Something interesting I observed, all schools who list Chess/Chinese Chess/Weiqi CCA in the MOE Official PSLE Cut-off Book are mostly top schools, either Tier 1 or Tier 2 Top Schools, or else Top Neighborhood Schools. Note that some schools may have Chess CCA, but did not list it in their specialty in the MOE Official PSLE COP Book. Is it correlation or causation, i.e. does chess help to improve academic results, or are students with good academics naturally attracted to chess?
Thanks to a helpful reader of our website, we provide the following corrections to reflect the updated 2019 PSLE COP:
Corrected:
ST. JOSEPH’S INSTITUTION : 250 (O level – 245)
https://www.sji.edu.sg/admission/o-level-n-integrated-programme/entry-into-secondary-1
TEMASEK JC: 250
https://www.temasekjc.moe.edu.sg/others/frequently-asked-questions-faqs
Based on the new update, St. Joseph’s Institution and Temasek JC can also be classified under Tier 1 Top Schools in Singapore.
The letter ‘X’ is a problem. For all that the letter ‘x’ is important to mathematics there aren’t many mathematical terms starting with it. Mr Wu, mathematics tutor and author of the MathTuition88 blog, had a suggestion. Why not 90s it up a little and write about an Extreme theorem? I’m game.
The Extreme Value Theorem, which I chose to write about, is a fundamental bit of analysis. There is also a similarly-named but completely unrelated Extreme Value Theory. This exists in the world of statistics. That’s about outliers, and about how likely it is you’ll find an even more extreme outlier if you continue sampling. This is valuable in risk assessment: put another way, it’s the question of what neighborhoods you expect to flood based on how the river’s overflowed the last hundred years. Or be in a wildfire, or be hit by a major earthquake, or whatever…
View original post 1,440 more words
Popular Singaporean destinations like:
Most Singaporeans are only free to travel during the school holidays, unfortunately that makes December the most expensive period to buy air tickets. Book through Expedia to try to find the cheapest air tickets during the peak season of December:
Recently received the following update:
With effect from 2 January 2019, please note that the following changes will be made to your Citi MaxiGain Savings Account.
A base interest rate equivalent to 70% of the 1-month Singapore Interbank Offer Rate will be paid on the first S$150,000 of your MaxiGain account
A daily end of day balance of at least S$70,000 must be maintained to earn base interest
Bonus interest rate will be paid on the first S$150,000 of your MaxiGain account
Source: https://www.citibank.com.sg/gcb/deposits/mxgn-savacc.htm
Basically, for accounts below S$70,000, the maximum interest rate is now 1.2% provided there are no withdrawals. Hence, effectively it is like a Fixed Deposit with 1.2% interest with the slight benefit that you can still perform withdrawals if you want, but the interest rate drops to 0.6% (6 counters).
Previously, the interest rate was exceptionally fantastic at around 2.2% (depends on the SIBOR rate). This fantastic rate is still available for amounts of S$70,000 and above.
Possibly a short term fixed deposit like CIMB or ICBC may be a better choice now, for amounts below S$70,000. Both CIMB and ICBC have offers of around 1.9% interest rate for their fixed deposits.
Read our previous post: Best “Do-nothing” Saving Accounts in Singapore (Better than Fixed Deposit)
There seems to be an increasing demand for kindergarten Maths tuition for children of ages 2-6. (I have received many such requests lately.) Many parents are worried that their child may lose at the “starting line” which is Primary 1, hence are preparing beforehand during the ages of 2-6.
Possibly, at this age the best way to learn is through play, that is why Math Toys are very useful.
Skoolzy Rainbow Counting Bears Toy is suitable for age 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 year old preschoolers to learn to add, count, sort & stack.
Goodnight, Numbers is an award-winning bestselling bedtime story for kids, that help them familiarize with numbers.
The Pattern Blocks and Boards toy is useful for developing pattern recognition and visualization skills; all very useful skills when it comes to the GEP Logic Section at age 9. PSLE has some very tough visualization questions on nets of cubes, only children with strong visualization skills will be able to solve them. It is notoriously hard to train for such questions (though there are some tips and techniques), it is almost like either you see it or you don’t.
Times Tables the Fun Way Book for Kids: A Picture Method of Learning the Multiplication Facts
Times Tables would be the most challenging Math for children of the age group 3-6. Hence, early mastery of this subject will give your child a headstart to learn other more advanced math.
LeapFrog LeapStart Preschool 4-in-1 Activity Book Bundle with ABC, Shapes & Colors, Math, Animals
This 4-in-1 book bundle enables your child to learn about the alphabet, shapes, colors, math, as well as animals.
LEGO Education Set 45008 Math Train
This LEGO (Duplo) set teaches numbers, basic math skills, and includes fun activity cards. Very educational and fun toy.
Do you know that there is a decent digital piano selling for just $599 on Qoo10?
Qoo10 Link here (with other piano recommendations): https://www.qoo10.sg/gmkt.inc/Special/Special.aspx?sid=7452#subtheme_53572
It is the Casio CDP-135 Digital Piano, with 88 Weighted Keys. It is an excellent choice for parents with children who are starting on piano. The child may show some initial interest in learning piano, but who knows, children may just give up after a few weeks. Buying a upright piano will cost at least S$3000, and if the child gives up it ends up as a “white elephant” collecting dust.
$599 is certainly affordable for most Singaporeans, and it will serve as a first piano for young children. If they have a sustained interest, after a few years an upgraded piano can be bought. An additional benefit is that digital pianos never go out of tune. With Singapore’s humid weather and young children hitting the keys, actual pianos may go out of tune frequently.
Video of the Casio CDP-130, which is an older version of Casio CDP-135. (That means the CDP-135 is even better than what is shown in the video below.) The pianist plays Fantaisie-Impromptu, which is a difficult classical piece (above Grade 8 level). Hence, playing grade 1-5 classical pieces is no problem on the Casio CDP-135.
If you are willing to fork out a little bit more cash, the Yamaha P-125 is a good catch (around $950). (Also found on my Qoo10 piano recommendations page.)
Basically, the Yamaha P-125 is the top tier of the P range, P for portable. For Yamaha, the ranking goes like this P<YDP<CLP (Clavinova). For beginners, P-125 will be more than enough. YDP is for intermediate players, and Clavinova is for musicians and for actual performance.
Finally, if your budget is around S$1800, the best digital piano is probably Korg G1 Air.
Also, read our previous post on Cheapest Digital Piano Singapore.
Sheng Siong is a popular supermarket chain in Singapore. Many people like Sheng Siong because of its unique advantages of cheap price and wide variety of goods including exotic meat/vegetables not found in other supermarkets. Its pork section is exceptionally good and cheap compared to other supermarkets. This is apt as Sheng Siong’s CEO was formerly specializing in selling pork.
Sheng Siong outlets come in different sizes, from very big to very small. One of the biggest and largest Sheng Siong Outlet was the one at The Verge, also known as Tekka Mall, in Little India. Unfortunately, it has closed.
The biggest Sheng Siong seems to be now the one at Tampines Central, occupying 2 storeys.
How about in the West region, which is the biggest Sheng Siong? Please leave your comments below if you know.
According to Google Review,
544 Jurong West Street is “Not too bad but it’s kinda narrow and not much space to move around. Quite a number of variety considering it’s a much smaller store compared to the one at Teban Garden or West Coast”
Hence, we know that Teban Garden or West Coast Sheng Siong is bigger than 544 Jurong West Sheng Siong. I have been to Teban Garden Sheng Siong, it is not that big actually. Hence, probably the biggest Sheng Siong in the west is West Coast Sheng Siong?
Important Update (2019): A very highly rated big Sheng Siong is the one in Clementi West, rated 4.2 on Google Reviews by over 1000 reviewers. For people living in West Singapore, this is probably the big and huge Sheng Siong that you are looking for. It is supposedly full of live seafood: “live seafood? This supermarket has it all!! GongGong, white clam, Mussels, crab, prawns, fishes and more!!!” (quote taken from Google Reviews)
Address: Blk 720, Clementi West Street, 2 #01-144, Singapore, 120720
Hours: Open 24 hours
Related posts:
Nanyang Girls’ High School has the highest Cut-off point among all secondary schools in recent years.
For 2018 Secondary 1 admission, the cut-off was 264 (inclusive of bonus points for Higher Mother Tongue).
In the last 5 years, the cut-off point ranges from 261 to 264.
Source: https://www.nygh.edu.sg/news/direct-school-admissions-dsa
Its close competitor, Raffles Girls’ School (RGS), is slightly behind at 260.
The school’s cut–off point will only be made known by MOE after the results of the PSLE posting every year. We have yet to receive information from MOE on the cut-off point for our 2017 Secondary 1 students. RGS’ PSLE cut-off point last year was 260.
Source: RGS Website
The historical situation used to be reversed; RGS used to traditionally have a higher cut off point (COP) than NYGH, in the early 2000s. It is hard to find the historical data, but all students during that era will remember clearly that RGS cut off point was higher than NYGH by a few points.
Cut-off point reflects the popularity of a school, hence it can be said that NYGH is slightly more popular than RGS at the moment. Some benefits of NYGH is a strong Chinese traditional culture; while RGS is strong at leadership and all-roundedness.
Also check out the following posts related to Nanyang Girls’ High School:
Apple (US) has already started some form of price reduction for the iPhone XR, though only for trade-ins of iPhone 7 Plus. One can guess that their sales must be not as good as expected.
Though iPhone XR is indeed a good phone, the pricing of over S$1200 is absurd and unaffordable to the middle class. Note that the iPhone XR is supposed to be the cheapest model in the latest X-series. Even loyal fans of Apple are more likely to stick to older iPhone models like iPhone 7/8 than to upgrade. Other brands like Huawei and Samsung have much more affordable phones that are also decently good.
Basically, it is not sustainable for Apple to keep increasing the price significantly for every new model. Otherwise, the iPhone 20 will cost like S$3000? A corollary to Moore’s Law is that electronic devices are supposed to get better (but cheaper) as time passes. One of the first Apple Macintosh cost US$2495 in 1984, which is around US$5694 when adjusted for inflation.
When will iPhone XR start price reduction in Singapore?
This case will be good for protecting your iPhone XR if you get it after the price reduction:
Spigen Tough Armor Designed for Apple iPhone XR Case (2018) – Black
Quite a nice calendar template that I frequently use. From Calendar Labs.
For those looking for a more awesome and colorful calendar, do check out this “Hubble Space 2019 Calendar”. Possibly one of the most impressive calendars you can buy on the internet.
With a few days left for the JEE Main Exam 2019, the stress of the candidates is at its peak. One of the cohesive and most scoring subject out of the three subjects in JEE Main is Mathematics. To prepare well for this section, you need to know the most scoring and important chapters of the subject to score good marks.
The subject which is based on calculations and formula and has the vast syllabus need lots of practice and smart strategies to score good marks. Having 16 chapters in the syllabus and everything is dependent on each other, the JEE Main Mathematics can be mastered yourself only by more practice. So, here we are discussing some of the important chapters of the subject Mathematics that you need to have at your fingertips to crack JEE Main 2019.
How to Score More Marks in JEE Main Mathematics?
After completing with your JEE Main syllabus 2019, you need to focus on the scoring topics in every section which demands little extra effort and time. Your revision days must include the clear idea of important and most scoring topics in JEE Main Mathematics subject. We have listed the scoring topics in Mathematics below for you:
The complete syllabus of Mathematics is divided into 4 sections which are:
Now, before moving ahead with the important chapters, let’s study the complete syllabus of the maths. We believe that the subject Mathematics takes lesser time as compared to other subjects of JEE Main Physics and Chemistry. You can easily cover the major portion of the subject during the preparation of your boards. Check out the complete syllabus for the JEE Main 2019 for Maths Section:
| Topics | Units of Topics |
| Algebra | Complex Numbers and Quadratic Equations
Matrix and Determinants Permutations and Combinations Mathematical Reasoning and Induction Binomial Theorem Sequences and Series Statistics and Probability |
| Calculus | Sets, Relations and Functions
Limit, Continuity and Differentiability Applications of Derivations Integral Calculus Differential Equations |
| Coordinate Geometry | Straight Lines
Circles and Conic Sections Three-Dimensional Geometry Vector Algebra |
| Trigonometry | Trigonometric Identities and Equations |
After the complete syllabus, we are providing here the important chapters which you need to put more focus on. The important topics which we have mentioned are based on the analysis of previous year question papers. The topics which we have started with are based on the weightage in the JEE Main Examination.
JEE Main Mathematics Topics
| High Weightage Topics | Low Weightage Topics |
| 1. 3-Dimensional Geometry
2. Vectors 3. Straight Line, Circle 4. Probability Distribution 5. Determinant and Matrices 6. Limits, Continuity and Differentiability 7. Complex Numbers 8. Quadratic Equation 9. Binomial Theorem 10. Conic Sections |
1. Trigonometric Equations
2. Statistics 3. Mathematical Logic 4. Set and Relation 5. Height and Distance 6. Properties of Triangle 7. Permutations and Combinations 8. Indefinite Integral 9. Trigonometric Ratio and Functions |
Now, it’s the right time to peep into the scoring topics by checking out the number of questions asked from these topics in last years and the maximum marks these topics cover. Here is the tabulated form of the scoring topics of Mathematics in JEE Main 2019.
Also Checkout here – Top 5 jee main preparation apps
| Topics | Number of Questions | Maximum Marks |
| Differential Calculus | 7 | 28 |
| Integral Calculus | 4 | 16 |
| Coordinate Geometry | 3 | 12 |
| Coordinate Geometry (3-D) | 2 | 8 |
| Matrix and Determinants | 2 | 8 |
| Probability | 2 | 8 |
| Trigonometry | 2 | 8 |
Some Points to Remember for Mathematics in JEE Main 2019
Spend your time considerably in the reading theory of all the chapters and then move ahead with the practice. If you cover all the scoring topics which we have provided, we are sure you can score good marks in Mathematics in JEE Main 2019. Keep these points in your mind and start with your revision confidently.
Don’t forget to download JEE Main preparation app. It provides free study notes, quizzes, mock test, previous year papers, and all the updates related IIT JEE exams.
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Everyone knows milk powder is very expensive in Singapore. Here is a good opportunity to buy Enfagrow Milk at discounted prices at the Official Enfagrow store:
Buying from the Official Store is very important as it eliminates the risk of “fake milk powder”. It is well known that unscrupulous merchants (e.g. in China) sell “fake milk powder” with questionable ingredients packaged as branded milk powder.
Watch out for the dates (between 10 Dec and 15 Dec) where you can get the maximum discount.
Mechanics – Up to 14% Off* & get $30 Voucher^. T&Cs apply
Dates – 10 Dec (12pm) to 15 Dec (12pm)
Terms and conditions:
*Promotion is valid from 10-December (12pm) to 15-December (12pm)
^Voucher is valid from 16-December to 15-January 2019 and applicable only with a minimum spend of $200. Voucher will be emailed to you in your order confirmation email.
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