Déjà vu We are transiting to Home-based Learning again. I told my wife that i have a feeling schools and tuition centres are going to be shut down...imminently. As it turns out, i was right. The rise in unlinked community cases is ominous. This is a very good time to think about the trade-offs we have to take as a nation. Some friends around me are very pissed that Government did not handle the situation well and imposing lock-down again because they made the mistake of not restricting foreigners from high risk countries (from South Asia). Thinking a bit deeper, i find that Government is stuck in between a hard place and a rock. Restricting workers from South Asia will ...

Photography Recently, had a friend do a corporate photoshoot for me. Wasn't expecting too much as the previous photoshoots sessions i had were un-inspiring. But i was pleasantly surprised. He brought along the lighting gear and the prime lenses...also had an assistant to help with the set-up. Very different from the photoshoots i had previously. Not that the previous photographers wasn't professional, it was just a spirit of excellence that Ken (my photographer friend) put into the shoot. He captured the class in session without disrupting the lesson, knew exactly which is the better side to take my profile picture, generally gives people the feeling of a true professional. Now i know why he's so sought after. Below are some ...

Your Frame of Mind Was just re-watching a Youtube video by Simon Sinek regarding frame of mind, you may listen to it here: In the video, Simon talks about how elite athletes interpret their body signals due to the adrenaline. For the same symptoms, they've learnt to see that as excitement, which makes them look FORWARD to the competition, rather than nervousness, which makes them shrink back from the challenge. In the same way, much of life's events in and of themselves does not have any negative connotations, rather, it's our thinking that makes it so. When we have tests and exams, how do we look at it? Most students think of it as a drag, they hate getting back ...

Procrastination. It's the one silent killer that kills all our best intentions. Why do we always wait until it's too late? Prevention is better than Cure, but nobody believes it. It's the same with health, studies, career, relationships, income/sex inequalities, even global warming. We wait until the symptoms can no longer be ignored. A stroke, heart attack, diabetes, high cholesterol. Failing grades, retrenchment, divorce, societal unrest/revolt, rising sea levels, crazy weather storms. What do all these things have in common? Their decline is unnoticeable, minute. A slow boiling of the frog. And our adaptability works against us here. Mel Ribbons gives a great interview here with Tom Bilyeu about how we can stop procrastination. One of the best habits i ...

Clarity You might have heard the advice, "Work harder, practise more, listen attentively to lecture...." What i'm going to share is mindblowing. All those advice is good but diligence without clarity is nuts! I'm going to give a sports analogy. Soccer - Most teams will have the manager or coach give them a strategy briefing on how to play the game against the opposing team before the actual match. Why? Isn't more practise and training enough? Strikers know how to score, defenders know how to defend, midfielders know how to tackle and get possession. Goalkeeper just keep the ball out of the net. Of course not, soccer is a team game. The players need to know the objective so that ...

Learning and memory retention "During sleep, pathways form between nerve cells (neurons) in your brain that help you remember new information you've learned. Sleep deprivation leaves your brain exhausted, so it can't perform its duties as well. You may also find it more difficult to concentrate or learn new things." - healthline.com Guys who go to gym knows the importance of rest days, our physical body needs to rest in order to build up new muscles. If you keep gyming 7 days a week non-stop, pumping iron, without giving your body time to rest, it's actually detrimental to your body. In the same way, when you keep studying non-stop, deep into the night, getting less than 6 hours (JC students probably can't get 9 hrs as recommended!) ...

Recently i had a chat with one of my top students, she said something which surprised me. "Chemistry is really simple. Especially Organic. Just need to remember the reagents and conditions, or the standard long explanations." I was intrigued. Every couple of years, i get one of these students who actually enjoys studying chemistry specifically. Probing deeper, i asked, "Why Chemistry? How about Math? Or Bio?" "Math is not as straightforward as before, Bio is a LOT of memory work. Chemistry is more straightforward, i enjoy doing organic chem questions" "When did you start to like studying Chemistry?" "I used to fail Chemistry, until i attended Jeremy's tuition lessons. (Jeremy's my partner for O level Chemistry) He taught me how ...

Mr Khemistry Student Portal Hi all, this CB period has been a trying time for all of us, but with more time spent at home, we need to put it to good use. I have set-up a student portal to help students learn and access H2 Chemistry materials at their own pace. Inside the portal, there are notes, summaries, practice questions, challenging topical revision papers, video explanations, tys video explanation etc If you are a J2 student, do sign up to get free access to the TYS MCQ video explanation! Offer is valid from now until end of June 2020. If you are a J1 student, do sign up to get free access to Moles and Redox course! Offer is ...