I Am @ Youth.SG

Well, before I begin, let me confess something and get it out of the way first:

I work as an English teacher.

which lends itself to some complications since

Picture 1: The Sunday Times, 1st Oct 2006

my HOD will probably flip if i unwittingly misrepresent my college. oops. Nonetheless, youth = vitality and so I will valiantly place both my personal and professional lives on the line

Professional life

my pet peeve is that students never bother to address the question requirements (Why? Why? Why do you insist to go off-track and make my life miserable?). Lest my kiddos read this and lambast me for not practising what I preach, I resist the temptation to plunge into indulgent me-me-me promotion and brainstorm on the theme first:

I Am @ Youth.SG

I am = narcissism, personal take on theme

@ and . = digital lifestyle --> email, MSN, Youtube, Skype, blogging, podcasting

Youth. SG = okay, gotta think broader. how am i typical of a Singaporean youth? nobody really cares about my humdrum existence. Singaporeans like to speak Singlish, save "face" and complain (Picture 2). do i incorporate these tell-tale signs of being Singaporean here? if so, how?

Picture 2: my writing in Things that make us Singaporean. subtle score for narcissism!

I have perserved my credibility as a professional but am sibeh stressed now. wah piang, so many considerations to take note of!

Write-up

Picture 3: The Straits Times, January 1 2007

It's common knowledge that teenagers these days are so digital savvy that a term has been coined for this phenomenon: digital natives. it's also common knowledge, at least to teachers, that your students are keenly assessing whether you are qualified to teach and that if they perceive you poorly, heaven forbid that your good name doesn't get dragged down the drain as they pour out their displeasure to sympathetic peers.

but I didn't expect that as a result of my occupation, I am rather in sync with the latest developments of the Net.

My-era friend: hey, what’s ur new blog addy?
Me: oh, sanukseeker.blogspot.com. (shamelessly, like a true-blue teenager of today’s era) Tag! Tag! Tag!
My-era friend: Wow, ur blog got music!!
Me: Erm, yah. Surfed my students’ blogs and came across iwebmusic.com lor
My-era friend: cool. Btw, what do u mean by tag ah?

*shakes head* this friend used to blog so she isn't exactly behind the times. wow, teaching really does keep one young!

Of course, like any self-respecting blogger, I do my fair share of cam-whoring and sprinkle my honestly-too-kawaii photos all over my blog (see here and here). So, imagine my horror when I found this unflattering photo and more on my students' blogs. the hip and happening image that I take pains to cultivate mercilessly blown into smithereens. ji da glam!

besides stumbling upon how my students mock at me, I also didn't expect that the Internet would profoundly influence my relationship with my students. It is via MSN that I felt like I am a 24/7 teacher

Me: Why aren’t you studying for your mid-yr tom?
Student: Huh? Later lar. I very the stress
Me: U stressed wat stressed?! U hav been playing Maple the whole nite!!!

After bugging at him to get down to his books the whole night,

Student: Mr heng, tom’s exam study wat?
Me: (my turn to huh?!!!) k, study the grammar handout I gave the class earlier

14-year-old student: mr heng, I just met him earlier
student: we hugged!!!!
Me: too much information for ur ex-teacher!!
student: hmm, true.
Me: (hard to be the spoilsport but….) my dear student, u just met tis guy on frenster. you dun reali noe him yet.
student: dun worie, he’s the fren of my fren. It’s okie
Me: just b careful. go on grp dates

It is via MSN that i began to understand my students a little bit better

Student: I’m troubled by 3 women
Me: wah?! U mean the gal u like dun like u n 2 gals u dun like pester u?
Student: LOL. No lar!
Student: actualy, one of them is rite.
Student: my grandma died, my mum not v gd health becos of tis, then broke off wif my ex
Me: (tone turns sombre) hey v sorie to hear

It is through voyeuristic lurking at their blogs that helps me to establish rapport

Student: blah blah blah
Me: actualy hor, I been reading ur blog
Student: (scandalized) wat?! Since when?
Me: (trying to look non-commital)

from then on,

Mr Heng, if u r reading tis….

I wanna tell mr HENG KAILE tat

It is with the help of the Internet that I understand their psyche as the product of the Singaporean system and as unique individuals

their roller-coaster emotional ride as they cope with schoolwork, CCAs and relationships, explore interests and identify passions, find their own voice, muse about choices, wonder aloud if who they really are = university and high-prospect jobs, grapple with people's expectations, try to live up to their promise, despair about whether they really do have promise, reminisce backwards, plan forwards, think introspectively, feel at some times and remain numb at others

It is an avenue that affords me the privilege to learn and grow with tomorrow's leaders.

Join the blogbuster contest at http://www.youth.sg/

p/s: at this point, a cynical smart-alecky may point out that i haven't explained what i meant by putting my personal life on the line. well, i convinced one ex-student to participate in this contest and it's very the lose face (Singaporean trait!) if she wins and i don't. then again, it doesn't bother me because any teacher worth his salt will be delighted if his students surpass him. besides, she is likely to blog about YJC band and i will lend support here by declaring my faith that YJC Band will steadily flourish under her charge.