Well, I guess most students will be traumatised by the letter ‘D’, especially when they see it in their results slip (nowadays, it’s the results screen). Moreover, the O levels results will be released this Thursday and I bet any O levels student will be traumatised if they see a "D" on their grades - doesn’t matter what number is after the "D" since there’s only D7 followed by E8.

For me, I am traumatised in another manner and it has nothing to do with exam results. Seriously, if I get a "D", I might as well just jump off some bridge. Let me give you some clues. It’d got something to do with "Big D", "Strong D" and "D-up". If you had been following the Slingers’ games, you’d know what I mean.

Yes, I can’t stand the commentator.

Every time the Slingers had to go on the defence, the commentator will switch to his bassy low voice and say one of the following:

• Deeeeeeeee-fenceeeeeeee…..
• Let’s give them a Biggggggg DDDDDDDDDDDDD….
• Let’s give a Stroooooooooong DDDDDDDDDDDDDD….
• Let’s D-up!

And if D stands for Defence… then why shouldn’t O stand for Offence?

• Offfffffff-fenceeeeeeee…..
• Let’s give them a Biggggggg OOOOOOOOOOOOO….
• Let’s give a Stroooooooooong OOOOOOOOOOOOOO….
• Let’s O-up!

Seriously, I think I’m going to be so traumatised by it that I can’t see another "D" for quite a while. However, at least I didn’t have to sit next to him on the way back form the stadium. I wonder if Nadnut feels the same. =P

Train service between Tanah Merah and Pasir Ris was broken this morning due to the break down of the maintenance work train. Commuters were unable to carry on beyond Tanah Merah MRT station and feeder services were available to ferry passengers stuck at the station to other stations. Taxis were also not available as most of them were full.

This puzzled me a little. Since most cabs are fitted with GPS that supposedly integrates with their radio system, would it really be that difficult for the operators to broadcast messages to let the cab drivers know of the break down and for them to be channeled to the affected stations? I mean… I have seen messages like "Reported lost luggage on taxi from Woodlands to Changi Airport" or "Heavy jam on CTE/SLE" and even "Traffic Police ops along Queenstown" appear on the touch panel - so what’s so difficult about alerting the cab drivers of train disruption services so that they may be channeled there?

Either there was literally a media blackout (for what?!) or the cab operators were waiting for people to call in for a cab, and I thought we had a world-class transport system. Wait - surely the cab drivers who picked up complaining passengers would know, wouldn’t they?

SOME 57,000 were stranded when MRT train services on the East-West line between Pasir Ris and Tanah Merah stations were disrupted on Monday morning.

There was no train service from 5.39 am till 12.45 pm between the two stations. Normal service resumed after that.

The disruption was caused by the breakdown of a maintenance work train which was carrying out works between Tampines and Simei (westbound) MRT stations, said SMRT in a statement on Monday.

‘There were some damages to the maintenance works train and we are investigating the cause,’ said SMRT, the train operator.

During the breakdown, eastbound trains were turned around at Tanah Merah MRT station.

Buses were deployed to ferry stranded passengers between the two stations, with the first arriving at Tanah Merah MRT station at 5.48 am.

Forty SMRT buses and 30 Singapore Bus Service Transport buses were sent to Pasir, Ris, Tampines, Simei and Tanah Merah stations to pick up the commuters.

The disruption also affected west-bound shuttle trains serving Tampines, Simei and Tanah Merah MRT stations from 8.28 am.

They were running at 28-minute intervals to ease passenger flow at Tampines and Simei MRT stations.

SMRT said passengers were informed of the service disruption and the free bus bridging services through train and station announcements, notices and rail travel information system in the stations and broadcast channels.

Many passengers also had difficulty getting taxis as most of them were occupied.

SMRT said passengers who were unable to complete their journey due to the disruption can claim a full fare refund from the Passenger Service Centre at any of the 51 SMRT stations within the next three working days, from Monday to Thursday.

SMRT has apologised for the inconvenience caused.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 21st January 2008

The O levels results will be out this Thursday. It does look a little different from the usual JAE exercise that usually follows. Do read the following article for more information:

THE results of the 2007 GCE O-level examination will be released on Thursday, the Education Ministry said on Monday.

Students can collect their results from their schools at 2pm that day.

Private candidates will be informed of their results by post. They can also access their results through the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board website at http://www.seab.gov.sg from 2 pm on Thursday.

Students can submit applications to junior colleges (JCs), Millennia Institute (MI), polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) via both the Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) and the Joint-Polytechnic Special Admissions Exercise (JPSAE) using their GCE O-Level results.

This year, students will be able to receive the posting results of their JAE application through an additional channel, via SMS text messaging, said MOE. They must provide a local mobile phone number during registration through the JAE Internet System (JAE-IS) to receive the SMS.

The JAE is conducted annually by the MOE to allow those who had sat for the GCE O-Level Examination to apply for admission to courses offered by the JCs, MI, polytechnics and ITE.

During the registration period for the JAE, all JCs, MI, the polytechnics, ITE and all secondary schools will also make available computing facilities for students to make their applications online.

The posting results of the JAE application are tentatively scheduled for release on Feb 19.

The JPSAE will be conducted, together with the JAE, from Jan 24 to 28.

A student can apply concurrently to both the JPSAE and JAE. Successful applicants may be offered a course under the JAE and the same or another course under the JPSAE.

Students who are offered courses under both JAE and JPSAE can decide to accept one of the two offers and exercise it during the enrolment period set by the polytechnics.

The JPSAE complements the existing JAE, by allowing polytechnics to consider applicants based on a broader measure of merits beyond performance in the GCE O-Level Examination.

Under the JPSAE, each polytechnic will be able to admit up to 5 per cent of their annual intake of students based on their special talents and aptitude.

Each polytechnic will have the discretion to determine its modes of assessing applicants’ talents and achievements, including portfolios and interviews, among others.

The polytechnics will set their own respective selection criteria to ensure that only applicants who are able to cope with the rigours of a diploma education are admitted.

Details on the JPSAE can be found at http://www.polytechnic.edu.sg/jpsae and on the respective polytechnics’ websites.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 21st January 2008

There is no train service in both directions from Tanah Merah to Pasir Ris in both directions. If you are heading towards this area, you are advised to:

• Plan for an alternative route
• Hop on a bus service from Tanah Merah to Pasir Ris
• Grab a cab (at your own expense, of course)
• Wait for train service to resume (time to resume is unknown)

It is not known why the train service is disrupted - and I do not think that this will be publicised - however, just note that there will be this disruption until further notice.