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Cybergarden
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An E-mail to My
Cyberguide Friends 27 Dec
2008
Dear All
When our RSVP Singapore started
the Project Cyberguide in 1999, with Manfred Shultz as the project's
first chairman, our goals were pure, simple and noble: 1. to help
senior citizens become truly IT literate and 2. to train good
ones to be Cyberguides so that they can in turn guide others. At
that time we did not have our own computer centre. We therefore had to use
computer centres at some CCs and also at One Learning Place at Toa Payoh Library to
conduct practice (also known as hands-on) sessions and IT courses for
beginners. By the end of 2001, we had set up our own IT centre. And our
goals were still the same ... with practice sessions as the mainstay
of our Cyberguide Movement. Attendance at each practice session was always
good mainly because there were always bits of new
IT skills for the participants to learn during the session. Even now, I
still maintain that a little class teaching is necessary to sustain the
interest of the participants. Without some class teaching, the
participants will have no reason to come again and again. And, like
many practice sessions at other IT centres, ours will also fold up in no
time. For more detailed explanations regarding the importance of on-going
practice sessions, please click and read this article:
Feedback Nine - https://www.angelfire.com/oz/cbg/feedback.htm
The present leadership, unless they
themselves have a lot of experience in teaching the elderly computer skills,
may not fully understand the importance of regular practice sessions for the
elderly learners to hone their IT skills. Some years ago, some
leader remarked at a Cyberguide meeting that he was concerned that at any practice
session he visited, he saw mostly old faces!. Waliao! He wanted only
new faces! This clearly shows that some people at the helm haven't had the
slightest idea why practice sessions are held. It is getting worse now.
The Saturday practice session, for example, is now relegated
from 2.00-5.00 slot to 12.30-2.30 slot (only 2 hours), with no time for
fellowship to build the spirit of camaraderie! And worse: No class
teaching is allowed!
Do you want our IT centre to be run like
a money-making computer school where only structured courses are held? No. Besides
structured courses, we should also provide practice sessions for the elderly
to hone their IT skills and to learn a little bit more during the session to
sustain their interest in coming regularly. This should be the main
objective of our Project Cyberguide.
David Tan
Click:
2. Dog Lovers and Dog Owners
3. Are We Ugly Commuters?
You see in it what you show in it. If you stand before the mirror and make a pleasant face, a pleasant face looks back at you. If you make an unpleasant face, an unpleasant face looks back at you. What comes to you from the mirror inside the mirror is created by you standing outside. Because happiness and misery, favourable environment and unfavourable environment, to a large extent depend on our state of mind, how we look at things. HAPPINESS IS NOT CONTAINED IN THINGS, SITUATIONS OR THE ENVIRONMENT OUTSIDE. Happiness or unhappiness is in how we look at things through our mind. It is therefore, the situation within. It is the state of our mind that makes our happiness or unhappiness. A traveller once asked a shepherd: “How do you think the weather will be like today?” The shepherd answered: “It will be the weather that I like.” The traveler asked: “ How can you say that, how do you know it will be what you like?” The shepherd explained: “It is like this, sir: knowing that over such things such as the weather I have no control, knowing that I cannot change it , long ago I decided that whatever weather comes I will like it. And therefore now I am at peace. Instead of always trying to get only the thing that I like, I decided that it is wiser to like whatever thing I get. So, I always like the weather I get.” The key to happiness is inside. Just as a picture does not paint itself, it must be the artist with his brush that paints it. If he dips the brush in green, he cannot expect blue to appear on the canvass: neither should he blame the brush. Whatever colours he applies, that will appear to him. So too should this truth to the canvass of our lives: “I am the one who makes my day: I make my own happiness and misery: I can make either darkness or light; from within I create it.” Apply this truth and then see what happens---you will create a masterpiece.
2.
Dog Lovers and Dog Owners There are three types of dog lovers: 1. They love dogs but they don’t keep them. They would if they have the time and a house big enough for their pets to move around freely such as a compound house. They would rather forego the pleasure of seeing their pets jumping up and down with pleasure on seeing them coming home because these true dog lovers think it is not fair to torture their pets by confining them in a cramped place most of the time. 2. They love dogs and keep one or two. They have the time to take good care of them. They know that dogs are their best friends but not necessarily friends of their neighbours and passers-by. So these dog lovers train their dogs to behave themselves so that they don’t bark unnecessarily, especially at night and early in the morning to disturb their neighbours. They respect the rights of their neighbours. 3. They may or may not be dog lovers, but they keep dogs anyway. They know they have the rights to keep dogs but many of them ignore the rights of their neigbours to have peace and quiet. They are selfish and inconsiderate. If the dog owner of the third type is your neighbour and is considerate, you are lucky. You can listen to the news on TV or sleep peacefully without being disturbed by his dog/dogs. If you are "sway"(unlucky), you get one who enjoys listening to his dog barking. You either go and tell him off or suffer in silence. If you do the former, you are in trouble. Reason? Well, you are sure to end up quarrelling with your neighbour. Why? Because your neighbour is not a kid. His ears are sharp enough to hear his dog barking but has chosen not to stop it from barking. The word “consideration” is not in his vocabulary. He will argue that dogs are dogs and they bark, and: "Dogs have the right to bark, you know!". One thing leads to another, and you may end up calling the police to stop the noise pollution. But you can be sure that the matter won’t end there! I know of a dog owner who belongs to the third type: the one that has no consideration for his neighbours. He keeps three dogs. In the day time, when he is around, the dogs behave themselves. But the moment he leaves the house, the dogs start fighting among themselves. They bark at the dogs and cats passing by, and another dog next door would join in the "chorus". In addition to this noise, one of the three also enjoys howling. The howling would start out of the blue, and each howling would last one minute. This would happen at least 10 times a day. At night, whether this dog owner and his wife and children are in or out, the dogs have their freedom to bark and howl. What can we do to these so-called dog lovers? We have dog centres where dogs are given the training to behave and do tricks. I think it is more important to train dog owners in Singapore. The department issuing dog licence should have courses available to teach first-time dog owners how to be considerate and responsible. They should sign an undertaking that they would restrain their dogs from “harassing” their neighbours with incessant barking and from dirtying their neighbours' main gates with urine and faeces. Only then would they be licensed to keep dogs.
3.
Are We Ugly Commuters? I have been to Washington twice. On both occasions, I went to see my daughter who was working as a senior officer in Singapore Embassy. My wife and I stayed with her for about 40 days on each visit. During my stay there, my daughter was unable to take leave and therefore could not take us to places of interest in and around Washington except on weekends and public holidays. My wife and I would therefore go shopping and visiting places on our own. Most of the time, we would travel by Metrorail (we call ours MRT), the most convenient and cheapest means of transport.
Our train rides in and around
Washington DC were always smooth and pleasant. In fact we had only kudos
for its good and efficient service. I also want to compliment the
commuters riding on the Metrorail train. Unlike many of our inconsiderate
Singaporean commuters, they do not push and shove themselves into the train when
the doors open. The elderly passengers are sure to be offered a seat. This
is because those sitting do not pretend to be sleeping and are kind and caring
enough to promptly give up their seats to the elderly ones. Over there,
you also do not see passengers talking loudly on their mobile phones or see
children playing and running all over the place. A gracious society is not determined by how rich the citizens are, but how kind and caring they are towards their fellowmen. Besides amassing wealth, the government should also educate its people to be considerate and caring. Exhorting them to work hard and make more money is not enough. You can judge whether Singaporeans are gracious or ugly by the way commuters behave on the train.
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