Facebook is Evil..


      Yes. I am talking about the social networking site which most of us use. A report in Wall Street Journal found that the phenomenal amount of personal information shared by Facebook members might be sold extensively to marketers, advertisers and data collectors.
       It is estimated there are 500 millions users in Facebook. And there are hundred thousands of applications in Facebook. When you connect to any of the application, you agreed to share your information with them. I am sure many of us are familiar with FarmVille, Pet Society, Bejeweled, Mafia War, etc. These are some of the most popular games in Facebook. Once you connect to those apps, your personal IDs and profile will be shared to them.


     I also got a shock when I went to one of the website. I just need to supply some basic information without password, I can see whatever I have posted in Facebook - photos, status, comments,.. I still wonder how on earth that website able to get such information.

     When you put your photo, your profile, personal information on the internet, you will need to bear the risk of exposing your privacy. Although it is the website or company's responsibility to protect your privacy, you yourself have to be careful as well.

     Most of the kids nowadays have accounts in multiple social networking websites like Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc. It is worrying that their privacy might be compromised. Kids might unknowingly exposed their identity to strangers. So, as parents, I guess it is important to guide your kids.


Some of the tips that you can advice your kids:
     1. Do not post your latest status too clearly or the things you going to do, e.g. "Going to watch movie at Cineleisure tomorrow".
      2. Do not know actual name or spell your name in full.
      3. Do not 'connect' to unknown apps in Facebook.
      4. Remove/Delete the apps if you are not using anymore.
      5. Try to befriend with your kids in Facebook. This will help you to know what have they posted or how frequent they use Facebook.

     As a parents, you will have monitor, guide and protect your kids and their privacy. If you have any tips, feel free to share.

     This month and next are the tough time for many students. There are year end exams and other important assessment like PSLE for primary 6 students,  O-Level, A-Level in Singapore, PMR and SPM in Malaysia.

It is the busiest month for the parents too.


     Nowadays some of the parents are more nervous than the students! The parents will stay up late to do last minutes preparation with the kids, take week off to teach their kids and some even quit their job to prepare the kids.

   On top of that, Singapore newspaper reported that $820 millions was spent on private tuition in 2008. This is not something new. The students are burdened with tuition classes after school. Students have to attend tuition in English, Maths, Chinese, almost all subjects, every week. Imagine if one subject requires 2 hours per week, it will be 6 hours per week! Reported in another article that in 100 students polled in 2008, only 3 students do not have any tuition at all.

    This is worrying!

 
     Are the parents spending too much on the kids' tuition? Are we burdening the kids with too much tuition classes, enrichment classes on top of their school?

    With the highly competitive society, most parents think it is necessary!
Most parents are not hoping their children to be high flier or high-income earner. They just want their children to have a competitive edge and able to find a decent job. According to NUS admission statistic, there are 25984 undergraduates enrolled for 2009/2010. This is just one university, there are three local universities. There are about 60000 per year! Not to mention, graduates from overseas universities!

     Will you want your kids to be left out??

     Raising kids required a lot of love, patience and money. In Singapore, it is said that you will need about SGD350k to raise one child from baby till he/she can become independent.

     Scary??!?!

      Not quite! I believe it is quite true. In fact I think it is slightly underestimate.
To give you a rough estimate, here are some breakdown of the costs (for a middle income family):

Milk Powder 1.8kg for 2 years	$50 x 24 (months) = $1200
Meal for child till 22 years old excluding meal for first two years	$20 (per day) x 365 x 20 (years) =$146,000
Both parents working, babysitter or childcare, kindergarten service required	$600 x 12 (months) x 4 (years) = $28,800
Primary and Secondary School Tuition Fee, Enrichment classes	$700 x 12 (months) x 12 (years) = $100,800
University Tuition Fee (without subsidy/scholarship), Business in National University of Singapore	$26,490 x 4 (years) = $105,960

Based on the above assumption, it is about SGD382k. I haven't include other expenses like clothes, transportation, entertainment,.. and inflation!

     Want to be a Singapore millionaire? Get yourself 3 kids!

     It is over!



     The inaugural Youth Olympic Game has come to an end on 26th August.
I am no fan of YOG. In fact, I didn't quite like it as it had taken much of the TV slots.



    The game held in Singapore, started on 14 August with opening ceremony filled with fire, water and lights.  It started spectacularly with Darren Choy walked in water to light up the YOG flame.


      For the next thirteen days, although there were some complaints on the food and minor incident, Singapore has managed to put on a great show. Many had previously cast doubt about the ability of Singapore hosting the game. After the dazzling display, many has second thought.

     Before the game. there was this 12-year old boy who was so enthusiastic with the torch relay that he trailed the torch relay in Singapore for more than 2 and half hour in the rain or almost 15km. His action moved many readers and the organizing committees too. He was invited to be one of the torch bearer as well.

      I didn't watch any of the games, I don't think it is comparable to Olympic games. But I amazed with the performance of the athletes. Champions are not made in one day, nor one year. It is through perseverance, determination and hardwork that make one shines. The athletes, though are kids, have gone through years of training to come this far. They have put in great effort for the game. I guess their parents are very proud of their kids and they are the champion to them whether they win or lose. And I think they should be the role model for all kids in the world!

Give your best in everything you do, success will be yours one day!


 

     It was a sunny afternoon, worryfather and friends were having a meal and chit chat. One of my friend told us that she felt bad recently. She told us, her daughter were often teased by her schoolmates. As she was in a famous school, many of her schoolmates are from well off family. They always go to North Asia, Europe or even US during school holiday. While my friend who is a decent family, only manage to bring her daughter to nearby places for holiday, if there is. So, her daughter is always teased by her friends, like 'kampung girl' (village girl).
This lead me to think that this is part of Bullying, though not serious.

    Bullying in school is not new. It has been in school for very long time. During my primary school time, though I wasn't targeted, but I still vividly remember that one of my classmate shouted across the class to address a female classmate as Tigress. The female classmate broke down and cried. Luckily, the bully stopped his action. And recently, Princess Aiko of Japan, daughter of the Crown Prince Naruhito was a victim of pranks and harassment from classmate. She complained that she was been hit by a ball during a game. There was a case of 15 year old girl set on fire by her school mate over a text message.
     Bullying can be in physical and verbal context. Most parents are more concern about physical bullying as they can see the physical injury. But, verbal bullying can be deadly also as for the case of Phoebe Prince due to constant verbal bullying.
      As a parents, how are you able to protect your children? It is no easy task. Child expert, Dr Michele Borba has provided some marvellous advices if your child is teased or bullied.
     I think the first thing the parents must do is to able to notice your child is been bullied. The victim might become quiet, introvert or afraid/worry to go to school.One of the story I read from newspaper, the mother noticed her daughter asked for more pocket money when going to school, while she knows that the pocket money was more than enough. She questioned her daughter and found out that her schoolmates were forcing her to give them a treat almost daily. So, communication with children is very important.
      Like Dr Michele Borba suggested, it is important to stay calm and don't get offensive when confronting the bullies. Most of the bullies are usually just want to play a prank or making fun of others. They are just been playful. If your child able to stay calm, not agitated or take it too seriously, the bullies will just go away. Teach the child to stand up for themselves but not resort to violence. If they still harass you, you should let the teachers or the principal knows. Parents are not advisable to confront the bully or the bully's parent directly as this might complicate the matter.
      Bullying is happening everywhere. Most of the children will encounter some sort of bullying. Parents are advise to stay calm too, and not to teach their kids to hit back or become offensive with bully. Help your child to build confidence and teach them how to handle bully.