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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

ADMIRE: Art and Design Module to Inspire and Rejuvenate Elderly

In the last quarter of 2013, I attended a course at Golden Age College (GAC), Fei Yue Community Services at Tiong Bahru Central Plaza, a new ADMIRE class  (3rd run) on Wednesday morning, the details are as follow:

Course Title: ADMIRE

Course Period: 23 Oct 2013 to 11 Dec 2013 (8 sessions, Every Wednesdays)

Time: 9.30 am to 12 noon

Classroom Location:  
Level 3 Training Room  
Tiong Bahru Central Plaza 
Singapore 168730
(3 min walk from Tiong Bahru MRT Station) 

Cost Fee: $100 (Includes Materials) (Usual Price: S$350)

Entry Requirement: Singapore Citizen
Age 50 year old and above
Understands and speaks English

Language: Conducted in English

Course outline and course trainer:
 

I enjoyed Kuan's training methods with art theory that inspired the Right brain.  Now I can see details in things and draw them out with patience.  

Before attending the ADMIRE class, I always tell people that I can cut out images, do some simple painting with water colour, yet have no talent in drawing. I can see the "Whole" item in things, yet cannot draw them out.  I am not good in handling lines that should flow according to the shape of the objects,

Now, I am able to draw outline, do contour sketches, understand different types of colours in art, have the ability to appreciate and differentiate shading and learn to add tones to objects.

Photo/Picture journey, i.e., drawing picture text that give the drawing a higher dimension is something I like best in this class.  A picture may speaks a thousand words, yet a short essay may lead the viewer enter your unique picture world and enjoy the lively world you projected.  It allows the readers to read beyond a thousand words... and create a new meaningful world in their own mind. 

After the 8 sessions, we fulfilled some of our dreams in drawing. 

The joys in this acquisition process is written on our face!

If you ask me to define happiness in life, my answer is:

Fulfilling your dream in learning something like drawing, and learning it with joys!

If you have little moment of joys in life and you add that moment 
with the same joyful moment bit by bit, you have a joyful life...


As a participant of ADMIRE course organised by the Golden Age College (GAC), I am now  a member of the GAC Alumni and look forward to many exciting programmes and courses that GAC will be organizing for the members.

 
If you are interested in attending a similar class, kindly contact

Stella Ng (Ms) | Programme Officer, Elder Education  Department


Family Central - a service by Fei Yue Community Services
298 Tiong Bahru Road |#03-02 Tiong Bahru Central Plaza | Singapore 168730
Mainline: 6593-6456 ·  DID: 6593-6457 Fax: 6274-5453· Website:  family-central.sg





Saturday, January 25, 2014

Have you heard of Aberystwyth

Have you heard of Aberystwyth?

"Aberystwyth? What?"

Most of the people will respond this way!

Well, if you Google "Aberystwyth Singapore" (Quote not included in the search string),

you will find these entries:


=== 


Aberystwyth is 48% cheaper than Singapore :: Cost of Living ...
www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/singapore/aberystwyth
Cost of living comparison between Aberystwyth and Singapore. Find out the prices of more than 30 everyday goods in Aberystwyth vs Singapore. 
www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/comparison/aberystwyth/singapore
Cost of living comparison between Singapore and Aberystwyth, including food, housing, transportation, and more. Current prices for more than 50 products in ...
===



When we studied there in the early 1980s, the exchange rate for the UK Pound was S$5.00+ to One UK Pound.  



For a simple meal like Chinese style fried rice, it cost 1.99 pounds, and that was about 5 times more than what we used to pay in Singapore.  



We seldom ate out, and I saved money on haircuts by keeping my hair long.

My hair grew to shoulder length after a year, it looked great as I have straight natural hair and with that, styling hair was just tying them with rubber bands!  



Keeping long hair in Aber is rather practical, it kept me warm in cold summer, autumn, winter and spring time. (To me, a Singapore girl, all 4 seasons were cold!)



Being a tropical lady, it was cold even in summer. The summer temperature was around 15 to 20 degrees Celsius on good days, and I wore winter clothing when I arrived in August 1981.



Notes:
===
I seldom kept long hair in my early days as I find it too hot to have long hair in Singapore. Cutting and perming hair was a routine cycle since my Uni days.



Hence, when I returned to Singapore after one year of studying in Aber, my family members could not recognise me at the airport as they were not used to my Look then!.

So, within that week of arrival in Singapore, I returned to the short hair look and went back to my routine cycle of hair trimming every month, and perming hair every quarter.
===

This year is 2014, it is about 42 years since my study in Wales.  Unlike some Singapore classmates like Yan Chuin and Hayati, I have not returned to Wales and visit CLW in Aberystwyth.

If not because of writing this article, I will not know the cost of living in Aberystwyth is 48% cheaper than Singapore now!

How I wish I could visit Aberystwyth in the near future and and experience it personally.


After reading some search results from Google, I also managed to find out the Archive of CLW:

===
College of Librarianship Wales Archive
http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb982-clw 

This material is held atAberystwyth University
Reference Number(s)GB 982 CLW
Dates of Creation1956-1990
Name of CreatorCollege of Librarianship Wales
Language of Material English, Welsh, French, Italian, German.
Physical Description 0.375 cubic metres 
Scope and Content


The archive contains the administrative papers of the College of Librarianship Wales, along with a selection of teaching papers; the papers of the CLW library; papers relating to staff and student societies, and a number of works published by the nearby Bronpadarn Press.


Administrative / Biographical History


The College of Librarianship Wales was established in 1964. Located at Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth, it was the first library school in Wales. 

CLW was therefore of great importance in training and developing the skills of the Welsh library community, especially as it offered Welsh medium modules. Yet from it's inception the college adopted an international outlook, and established a reputation for high quality teaching and research.

CLW was also the first UK independent college of further education specialising in library science, and the first library school to offer residential accommodation. It's courses prepared students for Library Association examinations offered at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and the college consistently received a high number of applicants from the UK and abroad.


The college merged with the nearby University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1989, becoming the Department of Information and Library Studies. It is still located on the original campus in Llanbadarn Fawr.


Conditions Governing Access


The papers may be consulted through application by e-mail to: archives@aber.ac.uk or by post to: Aberystwyth University, Archives, Information Services, Llandinam Building, Penglais, Aberystwyth, SY23 3DB. Tel: 01970 628593.


Other Finding Aid


Basic finding aid available on request from Archives staff.


Subjects
Library schools
Library education
Corporate Names
College of Librarianship Wales
University of Wales, Aberystwyth -- Department of Information and Library Studies
Cataloguing Info [ show ]



Administrative papers
Reference Number(s)GB 982 CLW/1
Dates of Creation1956-1990
Physical Description 0.17 cubic metres 
Scope and Content


The group contains the administrative papers of the College of Librarianship Wales, including correspondence; prospectuses; pamphlets; handbooks; policy documents; papers relating to scholarships; papers concerning conferences and summer schools hosted by CLW; papers relating to degree congregations; papers concerning exams, and papers relating to the opening of CLW.


Subjects
Universities and colleges Administration



Teaching papers
Reference Number(s)GB 982 CLW/2
Dates of Creation1964-1983
Physical Description 0.07 cubic metres 
Scope and Content


The group contains teaching papers of the College of Librarianship Wales, including student assignments and reports on study tours to libraries abroad.


Subjects
Libraries



Library papers
Reference Number(s)GB 982 CLW/3
Dates of Creation1965-1989
Physical Description 0.11 cubic metres 
Scope and Content


The group contains papers relating to the College of Librarianship Wales Library, now known as the Thomas Parry Library. 

The papers include pamphlets; handbooks; library guides; bibliographies of CLW Library holdings; photographs of visits to the library; correspondence; newsletters; CLW Library Occasional Papers; library supplies catalogues; minutes of meetings and reports.


Subjects
Academic libraries
Library administration 
Corporate Names
College of Librarianship Wales Library
University of Wales, Aberystwyth Thomas Parry Library



Bronpadarn Press publications
Reference Number(s)GB 982 CLW/4
Dates of Creation[ca. 1979]
Physical Description 0.01 cubic metres 
Scope and Content


The group contains copies of works published by the Bronpadarn Press, including The Dragon of Wantley and other beasties ; Skyline Pigeon and Other Poems and A Selection of Elizabethan Songs and Words Without Music .


Corporate Names

Bronpadarn Press


Papers of staff and student societies
Reference Number(s)GB 982 CLW/5
Dates of Creation1967-1980
Physical Description 0.015 cubic metres 
Scope and Content


The group contains papers relating to the CLW Staff Association; CLW Students' Union and CLW Old Students' Association.


Subjects
Universities and colleges Employees
College teachers
Social groups
Student activities 

Souce of the above information:
College of Librarianship Wales Archive
http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb982-clw
GB 982 CLW - College of Librarianship Wales Archive

Other relevant search results:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/College_of_Librarianship_Wales

https://www.google.com.sg/#q=clw+aberystwyth

http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb982-clw

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Listening

Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don't have to do anything else. We don't have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen.

   --  Margaret J. Wheatley

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Aber or Aberystwyth, Wales, UK floods

UK floods: do you remember Aber?
 
Aberystwyth! If you can spell it, never mind pronounce it, you get full marks! 


"Aber" is a small coastal town in Wales whose population ebbs and flows depending on whether it is university term time or vacation. 

So why should a Singaporean blog on Aberystwyth?

The answer is simple: 

* it is dear to a select professional group who studied there in the seventies and eighties. 

* and which professional group would this be? Why, librarians of course! 

Many of us from Singapore, studied librarianship at the college there when it was known as College of Librarianship Wales (CLW). 

According to Wikipedia, CLW ceased existence as an independent college and merged with the University of Aberystwyth in 1989. 

The latest news to come out of the UK is that Aberystwyth is one of the towns badly affected by the recent floods:
http://news.sky.com/story/1190644/storms-uk-braced-for-more-flooding-and-chaos
 
Includes: "Aberystwyth seafront - including 600 rooms of the university's student halls of residence facing the beach - was evacuated and rescue centres set up amid a high tide as strong winds battered the coastline."
The round-up as at 8 Jan 2014 is as follows:
 
 
 

The damage to the Aber sea front was quite extensive, but we can be thankful there was no loss of life or serious injury. Some university students may even be happy that exams have been postponed!
 
Text written by Ms Yvonne Yin Yee Ying, Graduated from CLW with Post-graduate Diploma in Librarianship, 1984.
 
Blog version re-formatted by Dexterine Ho Soo Miang, Graduate from CLW,  with Post-graduate Diploma in Librarianship, 1982.