Thursday, 29 October 2015

Fried Garlic Rice

Ingredient (Serves 1, easily)
A bowl of left-over white rice
1 beaten egg
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped. Make it three cloves if you want it more garlicky. I normally use 2 cloves.
1 tablespoon of cooking oil
3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
a dash of pepper
some spring onions for garnishing

Grandma only used 1 egg to fry a big portion of fried rice that serves two during olden days. But I make it 1 egg for 1 portion of rice now.

Make it three cloves if you want it more garlicky. I normally use 2 cloves if I'm cooking for one. Probably 4 to 5 cloves if I'm cooking for two. It depends on the size of the garlic too.

Method
1. Oil on the wok, fry garlic till fragrant. Add in rice. Stir fry it madly under high heat. Until you feel that the rice are all evenly heat up (about a minute).

2. Add in beaten eggs, stir well. Add in soy sauce & a dash of pepper.

3. Heat off. Dish up. Sprinkle some spring onions & serve.

It's easy, comforting, and welcoming.

Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Genes determine exam results

英国一项研究发现，当地学生的考试成绩与他们的基因有直接关系，成长环境反而不太重要。

英国《每日邮报》报道，研究人员对6500对双胞胎，根据他们在英文、科学和数学成绩的差异作调查，把拥有相同基因的双胞胎与另外一对双胞胎比较，得出基因比其他因素更影响学业成绩的结论。

研究显示，其中62%成绩差异的原因来自基因，另外38%由其他因素引起，如家庭教育、健康、饮食习惯等。而性格、行为这些影响学业成绩的因素，都跟基因息息相关。研究人员表示，要改善孩子的学业成绩，可以透过提升他们的自信心达到，家长也可多花时间陪孩子温习及给予教导。

本地资深儿童培训导师许蕙讌指出，性格和个人兴趣是相连的。她曾碰到一个个案，小三男生其他科目的考试成绩都考到80或90分，唯独英文考零分。“他就是不做，考卷上什么都不填，把父母给气坏了！”

她说，从性格分析，这类孩子表面上似乎属于叛逆型，但是思维想法跟其他孩子不同，解决事情的想法与做法也不一样。这种行为好像跟人唱反调，我行我素，不会为了父母或旁人开心而做违背自己意愿的事。

本地资深儿童培训导师许蕙讌：影响学业成绩的性格主要包括逆向思考型、追根究底型、按部就班型和模仿型。（受访者提供）

先天因素是性格形成的自然前提

一般认为，先天因素是性格形成的自然前提，而后天因素（主要是环境）则对性格的形成起决定作用，其中尤以社会环境的影响为大。许多研究表明，对性格形成起重要作用的最初是家庭，它在儿童的性格形成上有着深远的影响，尤其对性格的影响最为全面、深刻；学校教育对学龄儿童性格的形成具有重要意义，它可全面影响学生的意志特征和理智特征；宏观的社会背景也影响儿童性格的形成，且在情绪特征中表现尤为突出。

许蕙讌另举一例：一个喜欢模仿的女孩，在考试时唱歌自娱，完全无视其他人的存在。她说：“这个女孩在托管中心也不喜欢冲凉，应对这样的孩子，我就跟其他同学和老师说，从今天开始，不要再叫她冲凉！”不过10多分钟，这个孩子马上冲好凉。

对于上述小三的孩子，性格属于逆向思考型，必须先从他感兴趣的事／科目着手，例如他的科学成绩很好，不喜欢英文，那么可能先找一些科学有关的课文，启发兴趣，慢慢地养成他对英文的兴趣。她说：“我们可以告诉这个孩子，考试是一场游戏比赛，其实要考不到10分，也不是容易的事，随便作答，可能都有几十分，所以这不是孩子笨或不会作答，心里叛逆也可能是因素。”

除了逆向思考型外，影响学业成绩的性格还包括：追根究底型和按部就班型。

许蕙讌指出，有些孩子凡事都问：为什么要上课，为什么要考试，为什么要温习等等。如果不及时给予他们想要的答案而随便打发，这将引起更多后遗症，孩子对学习兴趣索然无味。

按部就班型，学习较为慢热，其他人已进入情况，他还神游太虚，或是保持一个“事不关己”的心态。她说：“这些孩子很注重学习环境的‘安全性’，不喜欢复杂的东西，只要给他简单、重复性的学习，除去心中的恐惧与不安，驾轻就熟后，容易跟上学习节奏与步伐。”一旦心里害怕，即便你反复教导，孩子也无法吸收。这些孩子的脑子像海绵，一旦吸收，就可发挥最大效益。

所谓近朱者赤，近墨者黑。对于模仿型的孩子，若碰上损友，可能迷失方向，对学习完全丧失兴趣，反而沉迷于网络或手机游戏等，甚至染上不良嗜好，对学业成绩造成影响。“数学是必须通过练习才能有所进步，不像一些语文科目一样，可以临场发挥，也能考出好成绩。”

性格类型可能随成长而改变

许蕙讌说，上述四种性格类型可能随着孩子成长而逐渐改变。“但是，一些喜欢逆向思考的孩子，这种性格延伸到职场，也同样喜欢跟老板唱反调，甚至起冲突，可能就无法取得好表现，跟其他同事和朋友等的人际关系也可能不好。”

除了四大性格类型影响学业成绩外，许蕙讌指出，学习模式也是关键，例如听觉型的孩子，喜欢把题目读出来，温习时，可以重播老师的教导录音，或是读出声音，父母或师长如何能配合孩子的需要，相信能让他们更好地调整心态，考出好成绩。

视觉型的孩子，则对颜色、图案、图表等较有反应，因此必须在课文重点用颜色笔标示，或是做图表等加深印象，提升考试成绩。

总之，孩子成绩好坏，除了个人努力之外，也必须关注其他导因，尤其是性格形态，是许多父母经常忽略的。

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Wednesday, 21 October 2015

When to stop chemo?

This is a very hard conversation to have, when the doctor acknowledges that cancer treatment is no longer achieving results. You and your father have to weigh the negative aspects of treatment, such as uncomfortable and painful side effects, against your father's need to keep seeking a cure. It's one of the moments in care giving when the role reversal is very intense -- you're going to have to be the parent in this situation, and help your father decide what's the best thing to do, just as he did with you when you were young.

The fact that your father's oncologist raised the subject is a sign that she's a good doctor. Because oncologists are in the business of curing cancer, many times they feel such a sense of failure when a patient is getting sicker that they just keep treating even when it no longer makes sense.

You could start by suggesting to your father that the two of you talk to the oncologist again and ask a few specific questions, such as, "Is continuing treatment going to make a significant difference in the progress of the cancer?" You can also ask, "If we discontinue treatment, can we expect the nausea, pain, and other discomforts to diminish?" If the doctor answers that treatment at this point won't make a big difference, but discontinuing it will improve your father's quality of life, that may help clarify the decision for both of you.

You may find that your father is more ready to talk about these big issues than you think. So often for family members it's actually their fear of bringing up difficult issues that's getting in the way, not the cancer patient's refusal to talk about them. We as a culture are death-phobic, and family members are very fearful that stopping treatment will be perceived as "giving up" on the patient, when it can be just the opposite.

Sometimes this moment can be the catalyst for a really important conversation; you could ask your father, "If you only had six months or a year to live, what would be most important to you? What can we do to make it as wonderful as possible?" I always remind people that there's a difference between hope and what we call "expectations for outcome." Just because the treatment is no longer expected to bring about a cure doesn't mean it's time to give up hope. And as time goes on, hope can be about being out of pain and suffering.