I is robot. Suck laser evil doer.

Q Sums

Boys A and B are students of Miss X, who's birthday is on the Nth day of the month, M. Both students know that her birthday falls on one of the following dates,

March 4th, March 5th, March 6th
June 4th June 7
September 1 September 5
December 1 December 2 December 6

Miss X only told A the month and B the day. She then asked them both if they knew her birthday. Here's what the boys said:

A: If I don't know the answer, B would confirm not know.
B: At first I didn't know, but I do know now.
A: Oh, then I know the answer too.

What's the birthday of Miss X?

I can't believed i spent the last few minutes solving the question. But thanks to collective efforts, we're pretty much sure the answer's correct. Let's see if I'd be able to solve stuff like that in time to come..

Incensed.

New Paper says:

IT is the country's last all-boys government school.

But Victoria School (VS) has decided to take a knife to tradition - it wants to go co-ed.

The school has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Education in what looks like a move to play catch-up with some of Singapore's top schools.

It hopes that turning co-ed can make it the main feeder school for Victoria Junior College (VJC) with the possibility of merging into one Integrated Programme (IP) in the long run.

That would make it similar to the Raffles and Hwa Chong families, where the boys' and girls' schools are linked to their respective JCs. Their students study a six-year course bypassing the O levels.

MOE confirmed receiving the proposal and said it had asked the school to submit a detailed proposal of its overall long-term plan for evaluation.

If it gets the nod, VS will leave behind a 129-year-old tradition of being an all-boys secondary school.

The school did have girls in pre-university classes from the 1950s until as late as the '80s.

Right now, it is the only government all-boys' school left in Singapore.

PRINCIPAL'S E-MAIL

VS principal Ang Pow Chew, 46, is away on a school trip to China and could not be contacted.

But in an earlier e-mail to his staff, he said the school is suffering a brain drain following recent changes to the education landscape.

In 2004, 38 students, about 10 per cent of that cohort, left VS to join the IP offered by Junior Colleges and some of the independent schools.

The school predicts that the number leaving the school could go up to 100 or about a third of the cohort.

Said Mr Ang in the e-mail: 'VS will experience a deep hollowing out effect. In anticipation of the challenges and opportunities generated, VS and Victoria JC see merits in both institutions working closely together to offer linked programmes.'

VJC is already offering its own IP programme for students from Sec 3 onwards.

The plan is for VS to be the main feeder school for VJC. To do so at least 50 per cent of each Sec 3 cohort must meet the JC's cut-off mark. That may not be possible if it remains an all-boys school.

Said Mr Ang: 'As it is unlikely that this target can be reached with VS remaining a boys' school, we believe that turning co-ed will raise the quality of the intake.'

Eventually, both schools hope to run an Integrated Programme just as the Raffles and Hwa Chong families are doing now.

Many old Victorians were unhappy.

Old boy Chan Joo Peng, 27, said: 'I don't think the aim is to bring about an IP programme at all. It is just to help VS climb the rankings ladder.

'While I am all for better performance, I am not for it to be at the expense of some strong traditions. I would rather see an an all-boys VS moving up the ladder on its own steam.'

Old Victorians Association president Aaron Tan said they would respond after a meeting on the issue.

VS is going co-ed. Would being part of the rising tide of resistance be enough and timely enough to stop things in motion?
We've lost of to the AC family in terms of money, the R family in terms of brains, and even the Cat high boys in the last ranking exercise.
What more is left, when 129 years of tradition is broken in the quest of academic excellence?

I am deeply saddened and totally devastated. No amount of tears shed is enough to describe the sense of hopelessness and despair. The future looks bleak, and the past given a clean slate. No sorrows, nor exuberance; just tabula rasa.

Audacity

The pro(re)gress of the following evolving student can here be summarised as such:

Yr1 Sem1: Going to class with bag and txtbks, complete with writing material & case
Yr1 Sem2: Going to class with bag and notepads complete with stationery case
Yr2 Sem1: Going to class with smaller bag with notepads complete with stationery case
Yr2 Sem2: Going to class with notepads complete with stationery case
Yr3 Sem1: Going to class with notepads and stationery (sans case)
Yr3 Sem2: Giong to class with stationery
Yr4 Sem1: Giong to class with ... NOTHING?
Yr4 Sem2: At this rate, I don't think I'd even be going for class in Sem2.

So how desperate was I? I rushed back from neighbouring furniture mall, borrowed a pen (at a friend's insistance) den snooped around the photocopying counter for waste paper (luckily they were out-for-lunch) before going to class with a bunch of A4 material, complete with some weird guy's photocopy of malaysian passport and PR IC photocopy - being the gd samaritan, I did some manual shredding for the bugger, of course.

The PR Test

Sometimes, the very few things that we take for granted about home are actually less intuitive than you know it. Some of the answers to the questions featured seem very simple to us, but may well actually stump the average PR (C), english speaking or not. So I present to all: the PR test!

Q1: Who is Fandi Ahmad?
(For this, some guessed that he's some important WW2 figure, sports personality, but to the true blue Sgrean, the answer couldn't have been simpler. Quote:"I think I've learnt about him in my history textbooks, but I can't remember" ROTFL. OFCOL!)

Q2: What about Ang Peng Siong then?
Human resource, cliched but true is a local commodity. Hence, whatever local about us comes mostly from its people.

Q3: What does ECP stand for? AYE? PIE? BKE?
They're expressways. Knowing what the last letter represents doesn't count.

Q4: What is the no. 1 rumour for the reason behind the banning of chewing gum?
Unverified, hence rumour. But I'm sure people local enough would have heard it before.

Q5: What major contributions did Zubir Said make to the nation?
Ok, so this falls under the NE column, but hey, we should know stuff like this!

Q6: How do you get to pulau blakang mati?
Technically not a trick question, it's all in a name.

Q7: What structure on Christmas Island most resembles us and why?
A vague question begging a not so vague answer.

Q8: What is the myth about the merlion?
Myth, as I have yet to confirm the source.

Q9: Where does JBJ like to sell his books and which party does he come from?
And of course, being local doesn't necessary mean you need to wear white all the time. I know of at least 2 places, but maybe you can tell me more..

Final Challenge!
Where's the most popular place to have babies?
An unfair question one might ask, but the name's synonymous with the trade.

Birthday? What birthday i hear someone say. Well I'm belated by 2 days, but better late than never.