Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Boyzone singer Gately dies in Spain
MADRID : Boyzone singer Stephen Gately, 33, died on Saturday while on holiday in Majorca off the coast of Spain, the Irish band with a string of hits in the 1990s said on its website.
"Stephen tragically died yesterday whilst on holiday with his partner Andrew in Majorca," the site said on Sunday.
The Boyzone members, including lead singer Ronan Keating, were heading to Majorca following news of the death.
The circumstances surrounding Gately's death remained unclear but (Britain's) News of the World newspaper reported he died after a night out.
Boyzone manager Louis Walsh told the newspaper: "We're all absolutely devastated."
He said: "I'm in complete shock. I was only with him on Monday at an awards ceremony. We don't know much about what's happened yet... He was a great man."
Speaking to the newspaper late Saturday, band member Shane Lynch said: "Me and the boys are flying out in the morning.
"We just need to get over to where he's passed and work out what we need to do."
Gately, who married his partner Andrew Cowles in a civil union in 2006, sent ripples through the pop music world 10 years ago when he announced that he was gay.
He joined Boyzone in 1993 after answering an advert in Dublin to audition for Ireland's first boyband.
The band went on to enjoy huge success with six number one singles in Britain, but split up in 2000.
They reunited seven years later, but their recent 19-date Better tour failed to fill stadiums, despite offers of free tickets.
Gately also starred in West End musicals in London, including "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".
Boyzone lead singer Keating was "completely distraught", the News of the World said, and former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern paid tribute to Gately, whom he knew, on the BBC's Andrew Marr show.
He said: "The Gatelys are in my own constituency. I know the family, I know Stephen.
"He (Gately) was with us the other night with his boyfriend Andy, he came to my book launch."
Ahern, whose daughter Georgina is married to Nicky Byrne of boyband Westlife, continued: "It's just such a tragedy.
"Boyzone and Stephen, they've all been part of Irish life and far wider than that, the last 15 years, and so successful, so it's a huge, huge tragedy. It's so sad."
Gately last posted a message on his Twitter page on October 6, writing: "Still busy, lots going on. Focusing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here."
British actor and comedian Stephen Fry said on Twitter that he was shocked at the news.
"Just heard the very sad news about dear Stephen Gately. What a dreadful shock. He was loveable and sweet natured and will be hugely missed." - AFP/ms
"Stephen tragically died yesterday whilst on holiday with his partner Andrew in Majorca," the site said on Sunday.
The Boyzone members, including lead singer Ronan Keating, were heading to Majorca following news of the death.
The circumstances surrounding Gately's death remained unclear but (Britain's) News of the World newspaper reported he died after a night out.
Boyzone manager Louis Walsh told the newspaper: "We're all absolutely devastated."
He said: "I'm in complete shock. I was only with him on Monday at an awards ceremony. We don't know much about what's happened yet... He was a great man."
Speaking to the newspaper late Saturday, band member Shane Lynch said: "Me and the boys are flying out in the morning.
"We just need to get over to where he's passed and work out what we need to do."
Gately, who married his partner Andrew Cowles in a civil union in 2006, sent ripples through the pop music world 10 years ago when he announced that he was gay.
He joined Boyzone in 1993 after answering an advert in Dublin to audition for Ireland's first boyband.
The band went on to enjoy huge success with six number one singles in Britain, but split up in 2000.
They reunited seven years later, but their recent 19-date Better tour failed to fill stadiums, despite offers of free tickets.
Gately also starred in West End musicals in London, including "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".
Boyzone lead singer Keating was "completely distraught", the News of the World said, and former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern paid tribute to Gately, whom he knew, on the BBC's Andrew Marr show.
He said: "The Gatelys are in my own constituency. I know the family, I know Stephen.
"He (Gately) was with us the other night with his boyfriend Andy, he came to my book launch."
Ahern, whose daughter Georgina is married to Nicky Byrne of boyband Westlife, continued: "It's just such a tragedy.
"Boyzone and Stephen, they've all been part of Irish life and far wider than that, the last 15 years, and so successful, so it's a huge, huge tragedy. It's so sad."
Gately last posted a message on his Twitter page on October 6, writing: "Still busy, lots going on. Focusing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here."
British actor and comedian Stephen Fry said on Twitter that he was shocked at the news.
"Just heard the very sad news about dear Stephen Gately. What a dreadful shock. He was loveable and sweet natured and will be hugely missed." - AFP/ms
Source: CNA
Parents up in arms again over PSLE Mathematics paper
Parents up in arms again over PSLE Mathematics paper
By Teo Xuanwei, TODAY | Posted: 10 October 2009 0824 hrs
Primary school students in Singapore. (file pic)
SINGAPORE: The first thing her son did when he came out from the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) maths paper on Thursday this week was to gesture as if he was "slitting his throat".
"One look at his face and I thought 'oh no'. I could see that he felt he was condemned," said Mrs Karen Sng. "When he was telling me about how he couldn't answer some of the questions, he got very emotional and started crying. He said his hopes of getting (an) A* are dashed."
Not for the first time, parents are up in arms over the PSLE Mathematics paper, which some have described as "unbelievably tough" this year. As recently as two years ago, the PSLE Mathematics paper had also caused a similar uproar.
The reason for Thursday's tough paper, opined the seven parents whom MediaCorp spoke to, was because Primary 6 students were allowed to use calculators while solving Paper 2 for the first time. Paper 2 makes up 60 per cent of the entire paper and consists of 18 questions.
Said Mrs Vivian Weng: "I think the setters feel it'll be faster for them to compute with a calculator. So the problems they set are much more complex; there are more values, more steps. But it's unfair because this is the first time they can do so and they do not know what to expect!"
These parents' children are studying in both neighbourhood and "top" schools.
In response to MediaCorp's queries, the Education Ministry said this year's paper was "comparable" to those of previous years. "There is no change in syllabus, question types or number of questions," a spokesperson said.
"The introduction of the use of calculators does not have any bearing on the difficulty of paper. The use of calculators has been introduced into the primary maths curriculum so as to enhance the teaching and learning of maths by expanding the repertoire of learning activities, to achieve a better balance between the time and effort spent developing problem solving skills and computation skills. Calculators can also help to reduce computational errors."
But the parents MediaCorp spoke to said students were apparently so stumped that many - even top students who have regularly aced past school examinations - broke down in tears in right after the paper.
Private maths tutor Josephine Tan whose son studies at Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), said he told her that "many A* students in the top class... couldn't finish all the questions".
According to posts on an online forum for parents, one example of the problem sums given was: "Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim's sweets to chocolates became 1:7 and the ratio of Ken's sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy?"
Mrs Tan said: "They have spent months revising and preparing, but it's so much tougher than they expected. It really put a big dent on students' morale."
Another common gripe: There was not enough time for them to complete the paper.
A private tutor, who declined to be named, told MediaCorp she concurred with parents' opinions. "This year's paper demanded more from students. It required them to read and understand more complex questions, and go through more steps, so time constraints would have been a concern," the 28-year-old said.
However, the parents' fear of poor grades for their children may be unfounded since they will be compared against the entire cohort's performance.
And the answer to the question? 68.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia
Posted by MAJ Boner @ GS
By Teo Xuanwei, TODAY | Posted: 10 October 2009 0824 hrs
Primary school students in Singapore. (file pic)
SINGAPORE: The first thing her son did when he came out from the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) maths paper on Thursday this week was to gesture as if he was "slitting his throat".
"One look at his face and I thought 'oh no'. I could see that he felt he was condemned," said Mrs Karen Sng. "When he was telling me about how he couldn't answer some of the questions, he got very emotional and started crying. He said his hopes of getting (an) A* are dashed."
Not for the first time, parents are up in arms over the PSLE Mathematics paper, which some have described as "unbelievably tough" this year. As recently as two years ago, the PSLE Mathematics paper had also caused a similar uproar.
The reason for Thursday's tough paper, opined the seven parents whom MediaCorp spoke to, was because Primary 6 students were allowed to use calculators while solving Paper 2 for the first time. Paper 2 makes up 60 per cent of the entire paper and consists of 18 questions.
Said Mrs Vivian Weng: "I think the setters feel it'll be faster for them to compute with a calculator. So the problems they set are much more complex; there are more values, more steps. But it's unfair because this is the first time they can do so and they do not know what to expect!"
These parents' children are studying in both neighbourhood and "top" schools.
In response to MediaCorp's queries, the Education Ministry said this year's paper was "comparable" to those of previous years. "There is no change in syllabus, question types or number of questions," a spokesperson said.
"The introduction of the use of calculators does not have any bearing on the difficulty of paper. The use of calculators has been introduced into the primary maths curriculum so as to enhance the teaching and learning of maths by expanding the repertoire of learning activities, to achieve a better balance between the time and effort spent developing problem solving skills and computation skills. Calculators can also help to reduce computational errors."
But the parents MediaCorp spoke to said students were apparently so stumped that many - even top students who have regularly aced past school examinations - broke down in tears in right after the paper.
Private maths tutor Josephine Tan whose son studies at Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), said he told her that "many A* students in the top class... couldn't finish all the questions".
According to posts on an online forum for parents, one example of the problem sums given was: "Jim bought some chocolates and gave half of it to Ken. Ken bought some sweets and gave half of it to Jim. Jim ate 12 sweets and Ken ate 18 chocolates. The ratio of Jim's sweets to chocolates became 1:7 and the ratio of Ken's sweets to chocolates became 1:4. How many sweets did Ken buy?"
Mrs Tan said: "They have spent months revising and preparing, but it's so much tougher than they expected. It really put a big dent on students' morale."
Another common gripe: There was not enough time for them to complete the paper.
A private tutor, who declined to be named, told MediaCorp she concurred with parents' opinions. "This year's paper demanded more from students. It required them to read and understand more complex questions, and go through more steps, so time constraints would have been a concern," the 28-year-old said.
However, the parents' fear of poor grades for their children may be unfounded since they will be compared against the entire cohort's performance.
And the answer to the question? 68.
Source: ChannelNewsAsia
Posted by MAJ Boner @ GS
Farking hell, i see the qns also blur !!
Shagged by a rare parrot - Last Chance To See - BBC Two
poor cameraman :(
the parrot is cute thou lolz...
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