Showing posts with label Goh Yan Han. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goh Yan Han. Show all posts

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Learn English the fun way - with Kumar

My Paper, Thursday, May 29, 2014, Page A8, Top Stories
From http://epaper.mypaper.sg/emnd/fvxen/fvxp/fvxpress.php?param=2014-05-29
Source Website: http://mypaper.sg/top-stories/learn-english-fun-way-kumar-20140529
By Lim Yi Han, limyihan@sph.com.sg, mypaper, myp@sph.com.sg, Published on May 29, 2014


Kumar Goes Back To School
PHOTO: Kumar Goes Back To School
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http://www.tmvc.sg/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/poster_carousel_1-1024x576.jpg
http://www.tmvc.sg/


DO YOU say 50-over dollars, or over 50 dollars?

This is something that Singaporeans often trip up on.

To help them speak with precision and accuracy, the Speak Good English Movement is focusing on grammar rules this year.

And it will be fun.

The campaign, which was launched yesterday, will use a series of six light-hearted videos featuring local comedian Kumar to teach grammar rules for spoken and written English.

The videos will be posted weekly on the Speak Good English Movement's Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Notebooks with grammar rules pertaining to tenses and countable and uncountable nouns, among others, will also be made available to schools and others who are interested.

This is the first time that grammar is taking centre stage since the movement was launched in 2000 to encourage Singaporeans to speak a form of English that is grammatically correct and universally understood.

Goh Eck Kheng, chairman of the Speak Good English Movement, said: "Singaporeans are particularly weak in tenses, subject-verb agreement and prepositions. We also use the syntax of other languages for English."

Mr Goh urged Singaporeans to "consciously" speak standard English.

"We tend to code-switch when we think that someone can't speak good English. But if you continue to do that, then the people who are weaker in English will never learn what good English is," he noted.

"If you feel that the person you're speaking to is not very strong in English, be aware of that, be sensitive and use simple vocabulary and speak simple English."

Adrian Tan, a committee member of the Speak Good English Movement, noted that grammar could be an issue for some Asians, as their mother tongue might not have the same syntax.

Mr Tan, who is also the director of law firm Stamford Law, said: "If you look at the Chinese language, there is no concept of past tense or subject-verb agreement. When it comes to English, the syntax is completely different. Being brought up in a society which is multilingual, people mix up the concepts."

Using light-hearted videos is a good way to help others learn English as Singaporeans respond well to humour, he added.

Patrick Sum, a General Paper teacher at Anglo-Chinese Junior College, said: "We should have standards, but I think that if you try to force these standards on young people who are struggling with the language, it's going to backfire. It's going to make them even more tense and nervous about their mistakes."

The 39-year-old won an award last year for being an inspiring teacher of English.

Sng Xu Yun, 14, a student of St Hilda's Secondary School, said: "At school, teachers usually give us worksheets and go through them with us. I think it's definitely more fun to learn grammar through watching videos, especially when the videos are humorous."

And, by the way, the answer is "over 50 dollars", with "over" meaning "more than".

By Lim Yi Han, limyihan@sph.com.sg, mypaper, myp@sph.com.sg, Published on May 29, 2014


Laugh Till You Drop with Kumar
PHOTO: Laugh Till You Drop with Kumar
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc-9A0poDcUTNS48AZJU1yxgcHicB3gjOAZ27Si9Z6mkl8k8Gm6g9f6CAyd8ZkWRusJxSC058BqLcnySglej10XH74WXhPBdD_bLbdoj8nrjEl_zOT8eT5kew2_JXmR0LFUKLPDuq6V0I/s1600/laughtillyoudrop_kumar.jpg
http://www.timeoutkl.com/uploadfiles/image/Events/Performance/Big/laughtillyoudrop_kumar.jpg
http://www.timeoutkl.com/performance/events/Laugh-Till-You-Drop-with-Kumar



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Saturday, May 10, 2014

Big python surprises housewife in the loo

My Paper, Friday, May 9, 2014, Page A8, Top Stories
From http://epaper.mypaper.sg/emnd/fvxen/fvxp/fvxpress.php?param=2014-05-09
Source Website: http://mypaper.sg/top-stories/big-python-surprises-housewife-loo-20140509
By Goh Yan Han, The New Paper, myp@sph.com.sg, mypaper, Published on May 09, 2014


SLITHERY SURPRISE:
PHOTO: SLITHERY SURPRISE: Madam Noraslinda, 34, was in for a rude shock on May 1, when a 1.8m-long python bit her while she was sitting on her bathroom's toilet bowl. Officers from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society searched the house, but could not find the snake.
PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uv2UNf9AwMGaczH8VSfx-OavS4wfuhu1KfehDSGVwZricS5ElvUmrQLEU_FEaU3DLYlBsezkk3NVkySmeinF40i5RcRmeDWs_j2pUq5SLWlPxRzAI12ZxmVvK3OmzvWoqsYKa9ebQJs/s1600/Big+python+surprises+housewife+in+the+loo.jpg
My Paper, Friday, May 9, 2014, Page A8, Top Stories


SHE had just sat down on the toilet bowl when she felt a sharp pain.

She looked down and saw a 1.8m-long python writhing in the toilet bowl, its jaws clamped on the back of her right thigh.

Petrified, Noraslinda Asat, 34, screamed.

Her husband, who had seen the shadow of the snake through the folding plastic door, said it was as thick as one of his forearms.

Mohammad Fitri Kassim, self-employed and also 34, recounted the incident, which happened on the evening of May 1.

His wife was in the bathroom of the master bedroom of their first-storey home at Block 826, Eunosville, in Sims Avenue.

Madam Noraslinda said she had just sat down when she heard a soft, bubbling noise and felt pain. The housewife said: "I looked down and I saw a snake."


I looked down and I saw a snake.
PHOTO: I looked down and I saw a snake.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgghPE-sdpRq_sgOGbTDxBPcc5arvoRa34xJl5W7Gf39gd1JwByjZIUOkXJ8rNglKSLNpw9YxxcGQCIk26UfUqLeuNqOkFBUmfL385p3YdVRQ3rRnYCKiqe9lR3frBH8E5FDU0D9fTnn0/s1600/zmija_sholja-47f45c79-2.jpg
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http://portal.com.mk/zabava-interesno/zmija-go-griznala-za-penisot-dodeka-bil-na-wc-sholja.html


She stood up and tried to grab the snake. But its body was so wide, it kept slipping out of her grip.

She said: "So I grabbed the head and pulled it off me. Then I backed out of the toilet and shut the door."

Their four-year-old daughter - Adriana, who had used the toilet five minutes earlier without incident - told Madam Noraslinda: "Mama, your tail was moving."

After the shock, Madam Noraslinda felt weak and drowsy. Mr Fitri called an ambulance, which took her to Changi General Hospital, where she was given an injection and discharged.

Doctors and nurses praised her bravery. They said "most girls would have fainted", according to Mr Fitri.

Describing the snake, Madam Noraslinda said: "It was brown, with patches of dark brown. I could tell it was a python. It was really long, I couldn't even see its tail in the toilet bowl."

Officers from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society were called by police to capture the snake.

They searched the house but could not find the python, so the officers suspected it had slid back into the toilet bowl, said Mr Fitri.

Madam Noraslinda also called her brother's friend, a pest controller, for help.

He arrived close to midnight and, with Mr Fitri, checked the manhole outside the unit.

"We opened it and the snake's head was there," said Mr Fitri.

"The python looked tired and scared," said the pest controller, who declined to be named.

"I managed to grab part of its tail, but it slipped out of my grip and disappeared into a crack."

Madam Noraslinda's mother, Madam Fatimah Bee, 66, said she, too, had seen a snake in their common toilet. This was two weeks before Madam Noraslinda was bitten.

"I thought I saw a snake's head going back inside the toilet bowl," she said.

Following that sighting, Madam Fatimah poured pots of hot water down the toilet bowl, put the lid down and put bricks on top.

Mr Fitri has also been pouring hot water, sometimes with bleach, into both toilet bowls.

Madam Noraslinda now has a phobia about using either of her home's two toilets.

She is so traumatised that she has been using toilets at petrol kiosks, coffee shops and other public areas.

"I still feel very scared, because the snake has not been caught," she said.

By Goh Yan Han, The New Paper, myp@sph.com.sg, mypaper, Published on May 09, 2014



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