Visiting nursing home - my Thursday ritual

Every Thursday, I visit nursing home, and talk to those who are still mentally alert. I don't have any particular subject to talk about - travel, good old days, current affairs, foods familiar to their time, etc. In one nursing home I went to, there were former scientist, politician, accountant, university professior and very educated residents. I talked about politics, global warming and concrete jungle.

To many people, what I am doing is a waste of time and meaningless. However, the purpose of this exercise is to give these residents quality time, and as an attempt to stimulate their deteriorating mental state. We can't stop brain cells dying, but we can slow down the process.

I always come out of the nursing home NOT feeling tired, but recharged.

UNICEF - Gender equality - The big picture

Posted to Facebook on 26/7/2011 at 12:02 AM
Commenting on "UNICEF - Gender equality - The big picture"
http://www.unicef.org/gender/i​ndex_bigpicture.html

One woman cannot change the world, but one woman can influence and hopefully changes the mindset of another woman or more than one women. The process goes on.

To begin with, do not compare the differences between man and woman. It starts with what a woman wants to achieve in the near future, what's next after that near future, and what's next, etc.

Neil Armstrong could not get to the moon without the help of the scientists, technicians, factory workers, ordinary construction workers, cooks, tailors, shoe makers, etc. Most importantly, Neil Armstrong could never have the opportunity if no one ever came out with the suggestion that Man could land on the moon.

Women can do a lot of things, but what they fail to do is to come out with the suggestion that they are a better gender than the male counterpart. Without that as the goal, what hope do women have to excel.

Why should women be maniplulated and suppressed? Who defined equality - does it mean that women want men to do as much, or women want to do as little as the men? England is a small island by world standard, and yet it conquered large part of the world at some stage in history. Did England fight for equality to have bigger land mass?

An atom and the nucleus are very, very small, and when packaged in certain way, their explosive impact is unimaginable. As what I have said at the start, one woman cannot change the world. However, a woman can start a chain reaction, slowly but surely!

Government denies CPSU warning of job cuts in education department

Posted to Herald Sun (18/7/2011) on 18/7/2011 at 4:01 PM (Not yet published)
Commenting on "Government denies CPSU warning of job cuts in education department"
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/cpsu-warns-job-cuts-likely-in-the-education-department/story-fn7x8me2-1226096633731

Many sessional teachers have already lost their jobs since the downturn of international education sector. TAFE's are not getting the students/trainees because they cannot compete with the private colleges due to TAFE's higher fees and more stringent assessment.

Many private colleges provide government funded courses and print off certificates for Diploma and other qualifications without assessing the students/trainees properly. Since many assessors are paid by the number of assessments they assess, and quality is inversely proportionate to quantity. Many students/trainees complete their courses by RPL or RCC (recognised prior learning or recognised current competence). Colleges still receive full funding from the government even though the students/trainees have little or no face-to-face interaction with a human trainer.

The current VET system is based on competency-base-training. Many graduates do not make the grades at all. Plagiarism is a disastrous phenomenon, and the quality of some submissions are worst than a Year-10 student's.

Trainers are pressured to "pass" the "clients". After all, education IS a business!