Aung Myat Kyaw joined us as a member. Let's us remain the Symposium spirit till 15 May 2010. We will celebrate our accomplishment on the last day of this 2-month shared learning journey. How? I'll keep it confidential, but I am sure you will enjoy the moment of celebration!
Words of the day
Relegate – to send to an inferior position
Abhorrent – hateful; offensive
Pain point – driving force to do something
Carbon date – to estimate the age of an object of plant or animal original by radio carbon dating
Bequeath – to leave personal belongings by will
Resurrection – Jesus returns to life again after 3 days of his death
Precarious – can get back to the ill situation any time
Phrasal verb
Bring off – succeed
Shove off – go away
Rip off – cheat
See off – send off
Get off with – elope
Tip off – give information
Mingle with – socialize with
Quote/ Proverb
The more we learn to know, the more we come to know is we don’t know.
Haste makes waste.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
Learn to walk before you run.
Empty vessel makes more sound
A drop in the ocean
To be in love is the best way of living the life
Talk by Ko Myint Naing “Climate Change”
Kyoto protocol
– To control green house gases not more than (level as of1990 + 5%)
– Carbon trading (not counting the emission from the planes and ships)
– Maldives, Nepal
– Who is going to bare the costs
– To go green, what do you do?
What is your personal opinion on the importance of Climate Change? Do you think everyone must play their role to reduce impact on the ecological system? What actions do you take in order to protect the mother earth?
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Week 5 - Importance of Culture
This Saturday, some of us went to Swe Daw Yeik Thingyan. It was a mixture of cultural and modern performances. Although the timing was way out of the schedule mentioned on the ticket and in my opinion it is becoming more commercial, the performances still carry the essence of Myanmar Culture. Yes, I said Myanmar Culture not Myanmar New Year. This year, although Myanmar songs and dances are presented, I found it bare cultural values but not much of water festival. The performance of Pa Dauk Chit Thu and Thingyan group dance are the only things impressed in my mind as Thingyan performance. What I like were
1) the jokes during traditional duet dance
2) Pan Dauk Chit Thu song, Shwe Pyi Gyi,
3) The short story (Opera)
3) The dance by a group of youth (I think it is hip hop)
What I didn't like are
1) Wrong information of timing (on the ticket) - it was completely wrong to mention 4:45-9pm and the actual performance was 5:30-11:30pm.
2) Too many songs by the band
3) Poor audio system and equipment
Like Thingyan and Tasaungtaing performances in my younger days, the slogans (Than chat) are the highlight of the whole show. They reflect what the ordinary people think and it was proved by the thunderous applause. They also highlight the history-making facts of life (both in Myanmar and Singapore).
Not forgetting the fact that the performers are the armatures, I would say it was a big success to showcase some facets of Myanmar Culture and tradition. Thank you very much for the RIT alumni and the youth who put so much effort to make it happen for (if I remember correctly) 10 consecutive years.
Since there are more and more Myanmar settling in Singapore, we have opportunity to enjoy more cultural occasions such as Thingyan, Kahtein, Saya PuZaw Pwe and even a literature talk last year. Do you think such events are important to you? Why is that so? How about the significant contribution to the community, do you think these events are important to the community?
1) the jokes during traditional duet dance
2) Pan Dauk Chit Thu song, Shwe Pyi Gyi,
3) The short story (Opera)
3) The dance by a group of youth (I think it is hip hop)
What I didn't like are
1) Wrong information of timing (on the ticket) - it was completely wrong to mention 4:45-9pm and the actual performance was 5:30-11:30pm.
2) Too many songs by the band
3) Poor audio system and equipment
Like Thingyan and Tasaungtaing performances in my younger days, the slogans (Than chat) are the highlight of the whole show. They reflect what the ordinary people think and it was proved by the thunderous applause. They also highlight the history-making facts of life (both in Myanmar and Singapore).
Not forgetting the fact that the performers are the armatures, I would say it was a big success to showcase some facets of Myanmar Culture and tradition. Thank you very much for the RIT alumni and the youth who put so much effort to make it happen for (if I remember correctly) 10 consecutive years.
Since there are more and more Myanmar settling in Singapore, we have opportunity to enjoy more cultural occasions such as Thingyan, Kahtein, Saya PuZaw Pwe and even a literature talk last year. Do you think such events are important to you? Why is that so? How about the significant contribution to the community, do you think these events are important to the community?
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Week 4 - Ego
Words of the day
Conscience – the voice within you that judge your actions
Egocentric – self-centered
Black tie – formal dress code
Match fixing – dishonest activity to make sure that one team wins a particular sport
Reminiscence – the act or process of recollecting past experience
Phrasal Verbs
Screw (sb) up – damage (sb) personality
Zonk out – to collapse from exhaustion
Off hands – without needing references
Zone out – to completely relax one’s mind
Make out with – kiss someone passionately
Freak out – lose emotional control from extreme excitement
Proverbs/Quote
I am the only person in the world I should like to know thoroughly (Oscar Wilde)
The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.
Blood is thicker than water.
Variety is the spice of life.
Do not judge a book by its cover.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
Sponsored Program “Ego” by Ah Kyi Ma & Khant Khant
Ego = I (Latin)
It is a profound topic for discussion. Yet, we had an 1-hr long engaging conversation as ego is inside all of us. We have been having too abstract topics two weeks in a row and it lead us to spend more time for writing. I promise to select a simple topic for Week5.
Some guidelines for this week's journal entry:
Do you believe in helping others especially those who are close to your heart like family members and close friends? What do you think drive you to help them - your satisfaction for being a good daughter/sister/friend or the fact that they are relieved from the problem/need. On the other hand, how do you feel when you are helped by others? What do you do to acknowledge their kindness, help, etc? How do you return their gratitude?
Here are some good use of language from BBC documentaries: 10 days in Haiti
Blame game of the failure
Started work in earnest
Pockets of people; lines and lines of people
Cruel destruction
Pan-caked down
Rubbish tipping
parents just abandoned the body
We are alone
Epicenter
Dramatic and dreadful
Nightmare of falling buildings
Haitian
Trashed/ scrap
Slam area
Patch of filthy open ground
Resilient
Slowly some emergency medical care was established
Psychological trauma – keep hearing the noises
Creole language
Displaced people
Fleetly? glimpse of normality
Bleak and dusty plane
Conscience – the voice within you that judge your actions
Egocentric – self-centered
Black tie – formal dress code
Match fixing – dishonest activity to make sure that one team wins a particular sport
Reminiscence – the act or process of recollecting past experience
Phrasal Verbs
Screw (sb) up – damage (sb) personality
Zonk out – to collapse from exhaustion
Off hands – without needing references
Zone out – to completely relax one’s mind
Make out with – kiss someone passionately
Freak out – lose emotional control from extreme excitement
Proverbs/Quote
I am the only person in the world I should like to know thoroughly (Oscar Wilde)
The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.
Blood is thicker than water.
Variety is the spice of life.
Do not judge a book by its cover.
Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.
Sponsored Program “Ego” by Ah Kyi Ma & Khant Khant
Ego = I (Latin)
It is a profound topic for discussion. Yet, we had an 1-hr long engaging conversation as ego is inside all of us. We have been having too abstract topics two weeks in a row and it lead us to spend more time for writing. I promise to select a simple topic for Week5.
Some guidelines for this week's journal entry:
Do you believe in helping others especially those who are close to your heart like family members and close friends? What do you think drive you to help them - your satisfaction for being a good daughter/sister/friend or the fact that they are relieved from the problem/need. On the other hand, how do you feel when you are helped by others? What do you do to acknowledge their kindness, help, etc? How do you return their gratitude?
Here are some good use of language from BBC documentaries: 10 days in Haiti
Blame game of the failure
Started work in earnest
Pockets of people; lines and lines of people
Cruel destruction
Pan-caked down
Rubbish tipping
parents just abandoned the body
We are alone
Epicenter
Dramatic and dreadful
Nightmare of falling buildings
Haitian
Trashed/ scrap
Slam area
Patch of filthy open ground
Resilient
Slowly some emergency medical care was established
Psychological trauma – keep hearing the noises
Creole language
Displaced people
Fleetly? glimpse of normality
Bleak and dusty plane
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Week 3 - Courtesy
This week, we welcome Tun Tun Win as a new member.
Words of the week
- Refinement: politeness/ change which improve something
- Ethos: moral ideas and attitude that belong to a society
- Bigotry: the state of feeling or act of expressing strong and unreasonable belief or opinions
- Zephyr: a gentle, mild breeze
- Illicit: illegal
- Clairvoyance: the supernatural power
- Zealot: enthusiast, fanatic
- Courteous: having or showing good manners
- Shroud: cover or hide
Phrasal Verbs:
- Stand up for: defend something one believe in
- turn out: end up being
- chip in: contribute or donate
- run into: meet by chance
- fizzle out: enthusiasm fading away
- beef (smth) up: spice up (e.g. you need to beef your presentation up)
- pan out: happen as expected
- fork over/up/out: hand over/deliver/pay
- kick in: to begin to have an effect
Quote/Proverb
- “Life is short but there is always time for courtesy.”
- “Death makes everyone equal” “Death is a great leveler”
- “All’s well that ends well”
- “Stolen fruit is the sweetest”
- Barking dog seldom bites.
- Discretion is the better part of valor
- Love is blind.
- You never know what you can do until you try.
- “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."
Sponsored Program: Courtesy by Ah Nge Ma and Ma Saint (7:35 – 7:55/8 pm)
- Definition and explanation of courtesy
- Examples of courteousness
- What is behind Courtesy and what can challenge one’s courteousness?
Some example of people losing courteousness was also given:
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/03/24/pap-mp-grace-fu-organizing-water-festival-is-a-way-of-telling-foreigners-that-we-respect-them/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/03/23/netizens-up-in-arms-over-bukit-batok-grassroots-organizations-plan-to-organize-water-festival-for-foreigners/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/04/02/pub-water-festival-is-similar-to-charity-car-wash-events-and-does-not-require-its-prior-approval/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/03/29/unhappy-singaporean-writes-in-to-st-forum-to-complain-about-water-festival-organized-by-bukit-batok-grassroots-organizations/
Listening: The Road to Rwanda
It was about the Rwandans going home years after the genocide. What amazed me was the ability to stay together (again) after the massive man slaughter. I wonder this comes from the real RESPECT to each other or simple mindedness.
Journey Entry for Week 3
What does Courtesy mean to you. Is it important to be courteous or just get the job done? Tell us about your own act(s) of Courtesy or lack of Courtesy or shift of pattern in response to the people's behaviors.
For the next week, we need to make some changes to fit into 2 and 1/2 hr. We will do listening exercise only half of a podcast i.e. 12 min.
Words of the week
- Refinement: politeness/ change which improve something
- Ethos: moral ideas and attitude that belong to a society
- Bigotry: the state of feeling or act of expressing strong and unreasonable belief or opinions
- Zephyr: a gentle, mild breeze
- Illicit: illegal
- Clairvoyance: the supernatural power
- Zealot: enthusiast, fanatic
- Courteous: having or showing good manners
- Shroud: cover or hide
Phrasal Verbs:
- Stand up for: defend something one believe in
- turn out: end up being
- chip in: contribute or donate
- run into: meet by chance
- fizzle out: enthusiasm fading away
- beef (smth) up: spice up (e.g. you need to beef your presentation up)
- pan out: happen as expected
- fork over/up/out: hand over/deliver/pay
- kick in: to begin to have an effect
Quote/Proverb
- “Life is short but there is always time for courtesy.”
- “Death makes everyone equal” “Death is a great leveler”
- “All’s well that ends well”
- “Stolen fruit is the sweetest”
- Barking dog seldom bites.
- Discretion is the better part of valor
- Love is blind.
- You never know what you can do until you try.
- “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."
Sponsored Program: Courtesy by Ah Nge Ma and Ma Saint (7:35 – 7:55/8 pm)
- Definition and explanation of courtesy
- Examples of courteousness
- What is behind Courtesy and what can challenge one’s courteousness?
Some example of people losing courteousness was also given:
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/03/24/pap-mp-grace-fu-organizing-water-festival-is-a-way-of-telling-foreigners-that-we-respect-them/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/03/23/netizens-up-in-arms-over-bukit-batok-grassroots-organizations-plan-to-organize-water-festival-for-foreigners/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/04/02/pub-water-festival-is-similar-to-charity-car-wash-events-and-does-not-require-its-prior-approval/
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/03/29/unhappy-singaporean-writes-in-to-st-forum-to-complain-about-water-festival-organized-by-bukit-batok-grassroots-organizations/
Listening: The Road to Rwanda
It was about the Rwandans going home years after the genocide. What amazed me was the ability to stay together (again) after the massive man slaughter. I wonder this comes from the real RESPECT to each other or simple mindedness.
Journey Entry for Week 3
What does Courtesy mean to you. Is it important to be courteous or just get the job done? Tell us about your own act(s) of Courtesy or lack of Courtesy or shift of pattern in response to the people's behaviors.
For the next week, we need to make some changes to fit into 2 and 1/2 hr. We will do listening exercise only half of a podcast i.e. 12 min.
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