Buzan on Creativity

This 1 day course is also heavily on how our brain works and how to nurure them.

Leonardo Di Vinci once said :

"I am a student of nature. I observe, I study, I analyse and I copy."

So copying is actually the brain does well...with its certain bunch of mirror neuron cells. But do not just stop at copying, but instead...IMPROVE!!

Many of us thought art was tough and abstract...cannot be train and nurtured. So during the course we did afew examples to prove ourselves wrong!!. The example of the science of art are :

we then re-copy small squares of lines (no idea what the lines are) into the big picture with left hand...then we realise what we have created...

Then he ask if we have written any poem ...we all say never lah...impossible...(not in english anyway for me). Then he guide us to use mindmap to link 2 subjects together and write down the connection. Within 15 minutes I then complete my 1st english poem.

Then he summarise:

1. Drawing = Draws - u - in. When we are drawing away the mind maps..we are totally focus, concentrated for > 30 mins yet still relax. So it's very important to start drawing things to train up your brain.

2. If we use creativity the wrong way. The more powerful we are, the stronger we are, the more force we use, we actually sink deeper. How true. Just look at Ah Bian again.

3. The highest form of thinking is M______. This is how we connect things, associate thoughts, and able to combine things to creat new ideas. (any guess? put your answer in my coment area...1st correct answer get a lunch!!).

4. last not not least, remember to kep stimuating your brain...play mind gmes, learn something new each year, be as curious as a child, BELIEVE YOU ARE BRILLIANT (and so do every one else!) and set Goals and act to realise them.

we are actually using less than 1% of our brain capability...if you are willing, and u belive in it, u ca can actually expand the capability of your brain power...towards infinity. In a creaitive thinker's mind...every thing will have a solution.

Good luck!!

NTU revisit

Today got to visit NTU early to do some admin work with ex DT A. Arrived 15 mins early and while awaiting at the notice board, I realised that the stuent union has set up a "Scream your Heart out" section to allow some o the frustrated students to vent their anger. Most of the input are about canteen food...afew others...more more interesting :

There are opposition party in every argument of course :

Wonder if there will be any real follow up on such input...abit too generalise and oversweeping statement like this with citing details will not lead to anywhere I guess. It's just a venting corner I suppose...

Wonder if our own school is mature enough to handle this too...

The paperwork is actually very fast...but the waiting is much longer than expected. Almost become the gurantor of Mohd Ali Bin Abdul Halim instead of A. Lucky the official is more awake than the benefector. Almost make me refuse to sign...if not for the free breakfast...hahahahaha.

Met up with CX for a brief moment too, thanks for the tea leaves.

After that I still have aboyt 2 hours b4 my next appt for lunch, so decided to wake SY up and play a game of settlers in the hall.

It was an highly entertaining and enjoyble game...what elase to expect when SY is playing?? Strongly believe she is still 1/2 asleep most of the time. Wanted very badly to take out my camera to show you how she build road n settlement...she screamed so I had to stop.

after 1 1/2 game...(I had to go)..and wish we can have time in the future to leisurely play games. Hope they will be mercy on my leave next year onwards.

Mid autumn BBQ

It's been awhile we try to organise a gathering for the staff in school...last time we tired, intended to go JB for Go-carting, yet the next week some terrorist escaped and the customs was jammed pack ever since. So we never actuall fullfill that plan after all.



So I tried to organise a BBQ to celebrate term break and Moon appreciation last friday. About 20 turn up so the number is just nice to fit in the BBQ pit. Too bad many of the new staff who just joined us couldn't make it so there is no chance to show the graduate students their faces.

Food arrived v v early.

I spoke to the caterer about the ariival time:-
"please send the food after 5pm, can? "
"Sorry ... but I have no control over the driver.....Isn't there anybody home to received the goods earlier?"
"Sorry but I have no control over my wife... so you need to come after 5pm."


Quantity is just nice and the quality is really good. Thanks for the good recommandation and planning of Lulu and Xiao Peng You. Thanks to HuiLeng for the hard work of being the BBQ master too. I like the chicken wings alot.

Planned to have afew special guests ...in the end only Ah Ler turn up. The x-DTs are all busy with their Uni life. BB say my place is too far from NUS...i think she is hinting somethink but I pretend to act blur.

With the guys busy chatting away on work issues, children busy playing around the pool / playground and fireworks, ladies busy touring my house...I think all did have a good time.

GOOD THINKING!!

Attended this course in SIM for 2 days. Nice to see master Buzan again. This course is about our brain and our attitude towards its capability.

Here are the condensed summary of the content:

Revolution of the mind - from Agrian (10,000 yr) to Industrial (200 yrs) to Information (50 yrs) to knowledge (20 yrs) to Intelligence. We are now in the age of multiple intelligencies. Labour - this word would mean thinking ppl in the near future!

Correct formula for the brain to operate properly : so as to be more creative

1. Play imagination games (nuturing/sharpening)

2. Daydream!! and follow to make your dream real

3. Mirror / copy - and improve!!

4. learning for life - new subject every year - start with book suitable for 10 yr old

5. Healthy body = health brain so keep fit

6. Nature your brain cells...they will grow and connects - that's intelligence.

7. Attitude - I am naturally talented...as everyone else

So what did the brain need?

1. Oxygen!! plenty of it so exercise to have a gd heart and lungs to ensure supply

2. Sensory stimulation

- listen like musician

- Taste like Chef

- touch like a good lover

- move ike a dancer

- talk like a story teller

3. Rest, relax and solitute - this is where real good and deep thinking happens

4. Friendship / love and affection

5. Diet - - good food good brain, junk food junk grain...even worse...garbage in Garbage GROWS!!!

Next left brain vs right brain :

we always hear ppl say music / arts use right brain...science / engineering use left brain. WRONG!! All subjects uses BOTH side of the brains.

so we have to study the art (beauty of knowledge) of science, and study the science (geometry / lines shapes / numbers) of Art. And to believe every thing is connected to one another, so you are infact interested actually in EVERYTHING. Once interested...your senses will open up and your power of memory will increase.

Next the brain priciples:

1. synegetic

2. T.E.F.C.A.S.

3. Persistance

4. success

One of the exercise is to mindmap MY JOB. this is what I came up with:

IQ = verbal x mathematical x Personal x social x ethical x spacial x physical x senory !! multiply not add....!!

only the 1st 2 are overwhelmingly tought in school...the rest...is as important!!

Last but not least : our brain is naturally positive and is use less than 1%, so its capability is actually infinite!! So have a personal goal now and tell your brain :

I am becoming ______ ( something +ve). like : more patient, more non-judgemental. that's my own input. What's yours?

Yi Fan playing piano

We bought the 1st piano originally for our daughter. After 2 years of learning and still stuck at grade 2...she finally admit she do not have the interest in playing it. We decided to keep it for awhile longer just to allow Yi Fan to try if he like it. In the end it was a good decision not to dispose of the piano. BINGO!!

His current piano teacher is my HJC classmate. I once gave tuition to her two cute little sisiters for 2 years in Science. Still remember the days where we go Swensen for lunch together every month pay day.

Now that she is coaching Yi Fan, I think I pay back all the money I earned back to her already,...probably with interests too. hahahahahha.

Yi Fan is rather fond of writing his own compositions. We always allow time to let his manually scribble his own music ideas. From Grade 1/2 where he start writing short compositions like "the little cat" , "the cloudy sky" etc...till now his works are more mature.

Of all, I like this piece the most : (need to bribe him with a Ferrari 599 toy to allow me to video him)

It's has nice tune and also certain "grandness" about it. Used to fall asleep in while he plays this during weekends. It;s nice to have music in the family rather than quarrels isn't it?

Last week I spoke with the piano teacher regarding the local Uni music degree course. She said : "In terms of world music scene...singapore uni degree is ...nobody. Yi Fan is much better than that...dun waste his talent here...go overseas instead."

Woa cham...there goes my retirement fund!!!

GT 2009 Phuket/Krabi Details

Due to the fact that Tiger Airways are gaving a promotion currently, I did a follow up call with the agent and found out that there will be about $100 savings if we book now on our own than going to the agent for a full tour.

So here are the details of Graduation Tour GT2009 :

Date of travel : march 8 - mar 11 4 days 3 nights

Destination : Sin - Krabi (2 nights) - phuket (1 night) - sin

Departure flight : TR 152 @ 9.25am
Arriving flight : TR155 leaving phuket 10pm arriving Sin 11 pm

Cost of flight / taxes if u book now till 14 Sept = $170-190 depending if u want to select seat

Cost of land tour in Phuket / Krabi = $350-400 depending on the mode of transfer (Rd or cruise)

so far 9 of us have booked the ticket - GHH/Krish/hyisham/edgar/gavin/CCH/LHQ/Mel/edna

Will try to book for another 6 soon : Kabir/LPW/Celin/amanda/YY/Matt

Any of you who wish to join in the tour and would like to enjoy the early ticket pls register or call me. Of course you can also join in later...at a higher flight ticket.

See you all in Krabi next March!!!

Mooncake (Mid Autumn) Festival

It's that time of the year I bring my family to Takashumaya atrium to shop for mooncakes again. Abit crowded, but the kids enjoy sampling various variety of new taste mooncakes.

When we are in Taiwan markets, the sellers are usually extremely generous and forced one to sample hefty portions of their goods. Not that they are brainless to waste their products on strangers, in fact...they are extremely smart entreprenuers that convert curious passer-by into actual customers.

Normally if we have taken so much samples from them, we would feel abit guilty and buy something from them in the end...anyway most of the products we came across are rather nice and tasty...provided they do not contain seafood for me of course..hahahaha.

Back at home...I think the businessman consider fellow singaporeans as kiasu and thick skin. So to protect themselves, they either dun provide samples or the size is as big as their brain.

In Taka, I almost wanted dish out my card to buy a box of a nice looking mooncake from a brabded hotel chain. The kept their samples under the counter and when asked, the sample are so tinny wiiny and it contain only the skin flour and no fillings. They do not get my money in the end.

I buy 2 boxes from SHIZHEN, the boss handed out the freshly fried teochiew yam paste as big as size of fishball instead. the other box is snow skin yam/red bean mixture...both no yoke. The kids still love these 2 types, year after year.

Also bought 2 boxes of the newly arrive HK taipan frozen mooncakes. 1 box contains 8-mini assorted flavours for the school colleague to share during teabreak. The other box contains bird nest and is for my wife.

This year I also received 3 boxes of mooncakes as gift. 1 from cowgal - snowskin yam jelly / canberries jelly. The other from Lulu - assorted fruits flavour from intercontinental. XPY surprised me with another...tradional baked skin assorted, i think one of them is coffee...which will be 100% mine...hahahahah. Thanks very much for helping our skinny family to gain some weight.

During the teabreak mooncake tasting, it was suggested that we should have a mid autumn BBQ for staff. I took actions straight away and will be hosting the gathering this Friday. Will show you the picts soon!!!

Violin Mini Concert

Last weekend the music school of my son Yi Fan arranged a mini concert for the violinsits @ waterloo street.

Sent him there early for preparation / rehearsal / tunning etc and there are 2 hours of free time b4 the actual concert starts.

So my wife and I decided to visit the bras basar complex bookshops. It's really been awhile we can take as long as 2 hours to leisurely browse and hop from 1 book store to another.

In the end we bought 3 books, chinese books of course. Keeping in mind that the year end book buying spree is coming...I decided to buy just enough to cover me for the next 2 months.

Back at the concert, Yi Fan has changed up and he did well in the 3 songs. Much better than he practise at home...some how he can put the stage fright aside to deliver above par. Credit to him.

This is my 1st time posting a video on my blog ...would be nice to show him play nicely. Enjoy!!

K session @ $10Club

This outing, to me, is one of highlight of the semester. After testing them on the 15 questions WWTBAM style Safety quiz (which as usual all classes balantly trying to cheat to avoid deduction of VIVA marks), the classes are eventually all awarded the chance to sing song together after their last paper.

Fortunately, not all took up the offer (if not i will be borke). This semester, 20 students made it to Cow Car Water $10Club. Understood some cannot make it due to NE classes, which is really too bad...

As usual Allen has kindly to join in and also helped to foot the bill with me too. Thanks alot!!

Every semester, when I have the chance to K song with them, I would discover there are actually alot of good singing talents among them. Previous kingpins of singing includes Luis/WenJun/Anna/JianKun...such a joy to hear them sing. (not necessay a joy to mark their safety papers though...)

I feel particular happy yeaterday simply due to fact that I manage to locate and sing the song "你是我的眼" finally. I like this song alot but never had a chance to sing the full song at the right key...for months...and I think i did well considering it is my 1st attempt. 终于了了一桩心愿. YEAH!

Every semester, you also find the students split thenselves into different rooms with different clicks. This semester is simple...the Chinese Songs room and the English/Malay songs room (abit of Bollywood entertainment intermittenly I noticed).

I hope they don't present the same way they sing when they are back from plant attachment...more passion please!!!



Student M...you can do better !!! (Although this is your 1st K outing...I will be after you in Krabi GT 09...better train up afew more songs by then!! (start with 三只老虎!!!)