The Learning Desk

I am a working adult, single, in my (late) thirties, and am living with my parents.  I would like to believe that it isn't really an anomaly, in an Asian context, for a child (just slightly above-age) to be living under the same roof with her semi-retired parents, since we are big on filial piety and having a close-knit nuclear family, and the "be independent" and "go fend for yourself" types of parental attitude are less vehemently enacted.  I may be grossly misrepresenting the truth of the matter for those who may or may not be experiencing the same "housing conditions" as I am, but I am merely speaking from personal observation.  Living with my parents (even and especially at my age) is a constant act of adjustment, and the gratitude I feel towards their solicitude is not simply post-bad-day sentimentality. In fact, because I am financially independent and get to do whatever I please (a far cry from my teenage years), I am more aware of the little ...

Living in a pandemic can be quite isolating. As much as I’d like to think a team meeting on Zoom feels as collaborative as one done in person, my brain can’t be convinced otherwise. Doing work by myself can be exhausting. Design is a collaborative process. Being able to ask my friends around me, “Hey, how’s this colour?” or “Which photo suits the theme better?” keeps the gears in my mind working. As much as my ego would like to believe otherwise, I am not the authority on all things. This is the reason why I like to work in small groups. There’s something motivating about having a friend by your side while doing work. The pandemic’s made me realise that I’ve taken this collaborative experience for granted. I miss being able to revise my work with my friends at a cafe, sipping on overpriced sugary, barely caffeinated drinks, scribbling notes down. It’s not the same as sitting by myself in my room - my body knows this, and that’s why that B+ for a science module, instead of an A, staring...

  “Whatever lies within our power to do lies also within our power not to do.” ― Aristotle I try to be a shoulder to lean on for my students. I often ask them how they are, especially when they look sullen, and even more so when they’re just staring into blank space. When asked, they often chant: “I just can’t seem to get down to my tutorials, I just let them pile up, I got no more motivation ‘cher” “How to do work? I feel so lazy.” “What’s the point?” “ZERO motivation right now, ‘cher. But there’s exams.” Work is hard, work is tough, and work can be excruciating when you don’t have much choice in whether you can do it. Teachers have to get students through a syllabus and having structure can be limiting, but there are expectations to fulfil. So how do we make do with what we have? Most students lead very hectic and active lifestyles, and the demands of our school curriculums are extremely rigorous. I believe a measure of self-discipline and self-control can be harnessed even when ...

Be Patient With Yourself  How do we work and wait for the grades that may not come? We are always in a mad rush to get things done.  Schedules are often packed to the brim - heavy school curriculum, CCA commitments, remedial lessons, tuition classes, enrichment programmes etc. - with very little room for rest or a "real break" from all the necessary work that need to be accomplished.  It is not easy to be a student.  Drowning in the demands of student life, it can be difficult to take a breather and ask yourself: How am I doing? Am I coping well? What am I learning? Do I understand my work well? It seems almost counter-intuitive to pause amid the deadlines we all have to meet. Yet, sometimes, it is essential to take stock of where you are before you can make a greater leap toward self-improvement.  Here are some things we can remind ourselves: 1. Patience is a virtue - not only in the face of seemingly immovable obstacles or irresolvable conflicts, but also and...

 “The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” ― Robertson Davies, Tempest-Tost ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A good friend of mine said to me recently that to be able to step into another person's shoes and understand for a brief moment what he/she is going through is one of the most precious things about friendship. This reminded me of the quote from To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, where the character, Atticus Finch, articulated emphatically, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it."  My friend and I were in the same Literature class where this quote was used to explore the notion of perspective-taking and empathy, alongside the major themes of discrimination and racial segregation. Many a time, we are limited by the worldview that is shaped by our own subje...

The Divine Image   ~ William Blake - 1757-1827 To Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love All pray in their distress; And to these virtues of delight Return their thankfulness. For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love Is God, our Father dear, And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love Is Man, His child and care. For Mercy has a human heart, Pity a human face, And Love, the human form divine, And Peace, the human dress. Then every man, of every clime, That prays in his distress, Prays to the human form divine, Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace. And all must love the human form, In heathen, Turk, or Jew; Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell There God is dwelling too. ------------------------------------------------------------ A Divine Image   ~ William Blake - 1757-1827 Cruelty has a Human Heart And Jealousy a Human Face, Terror, the Human Form Divine, And Secrecy, the Human Dress. The Human Dress is forgéd Iron, The Human Form, a fiery Forge, The Human Face, a Furnace seal'd, The Human Heart, its hungry Gorge. ------...