trade school singapore

we are in the debut issue of august woman, a publication that...

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 04:44:11 +0800

we are in the debut issue of august woman, a publication that celebrates women of style and influence. thank you for the feature!

trade school singapore season 01: a retrospective, part i

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 06:05:00 +0800

here’s a quick look at some of the classes we were fortunate enough to host during trade school singapore’s season 01 :) a big thank you to all teachers who made them happen!

we kickstarted the season with economics & financial literacy - it’s a parent+child thing.

the boisterous class consisting of parents and their 6-12 year olds were guided through the basics of financial literacy by the very patient james and lynn.

kudos to the wonderful pair for being able to juggle both kids and finance at the same time!

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next up was the very hands-on beginner street magic class by raymond, terry and darren.

we picked up a few neat party tricks ourselves and will be looking forward to seeing what else these three have up their sleeves next season ;) mad props to you guys!

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for the more crafty among us, micro-publishing & book-binding served up some great hand-made publishing techniques and ideas. this may come in useful for creating trade school singapore collaterals in the future!

a big thank you to winnie and amanda for being so generous with your time and creativity.

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what’s a school without some coursework? students in melvin’s art of collage class were told to bring a whole plethora of material from whence unique art pieces were created.

and “exercise the lyrical potentials of objects” they certainly did, thanks to the guidance of one very effable melvin :)

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now we encourage the sharing of snacks during class - particularly for those who come straight from the office on an empty stomach - but the food table at silvia’s how not to be a tourist in spain class was exceptional.

students brought homemade spanish frittata, sangria, and singaporean delicacies for the teacher (who’s born and bred in madrid) and the rest of the class to feast on!

nuestro amigos - our (newly made) friends!

thank you for bringing your unique spanish flavour to trade school singapore, silvia!

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at our first off-site class venue, trade school singapore was hosted at a craft initiative’s very lovely studio for their workshop on how to make your own re-useable baggu (baggu is japanese for bag).

functional bags were fashioned out of old shirts and blouses - pure genius, and green, too. here’s ms chan from a craft initiative demonstrating her mad sewing-and-crafting skills. thank you for having us!

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to complement all the crazy hands-on creative work we’d been exposed to in previous classes, hans tan’s class on imagination aerobics was an exercise in creativity that only involved one’s most basic yet powerful tools - the mind and a chosen language (in this case, english).

we explored the theory and practice behind “creativity”; and by the end of the class, walked away with a heightened sense of the abilities of our imagination.

based on this (gratuitous) shot of the food table, we trust that students also walked away with satisfied tummies!

thank you for the mind-workout, hans. a truly inspiring class :)

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that concludes part i of our season 01 recap, but stay tuned for the next. there’s more that transpired and we can’t wait to share.

we're back!

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 00:51:37 +0800

hello tradeschoolers!

we’ve had a long hiatus since season 01 ended, but we’re now recharged and excited to be back in action.

over the next few months, our team will be engaging in a social project that will (hopefully!) contribute to the collaborative change movement in singapore. it’s an initiative that’s close to our hearts and very much in line with the values of trade school, so we’ll be sharing more about that here and on facebook over the coming weeks. :)

until we iron out the details, we thought we’d share a couple of awesome, like-minded collaborative change projects from people across the globe. these folks inspire us, and we hope they inspire you too!

1. caine’s arcade went viral almost instantaneously, and it’s not hard to see why. it’s a good example of how a community can collaborate to make a very tangible impact on someone else’s day (or life!)

2. the sharing engine is a social commerce start-up that provides all the features you need to build a dynamic, effective site for the sharing economy and collaborative consumption. it’s a good place to start if you’re looking to build your own collaborative change platform.

in our next entry, we’ll be sharing some of the highlights from season 01. look out for that entry ‘cause it’s gonna be a good one ;)

How do I join Trade school?

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 04:43:04 +0800

trade school singapore is closed for the year, but we will be back for a new season in early 2013. please follow us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tradeschoolsingapore for the latest updates and info about how to sign up! we’re always happy to see new faces in our community.

Are u in need of teachers for any type of classes?

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 04:40:39 +0800

hi there, we welcome teachers for all types of classes! please do submit your class proposal(s) during our open call early next year and we’ll be happy to review it :) thank you!

profile 14 yong, teacher

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 13:42:00 +0800

as far as designers go, yong is a huge favourite for his awesome body of work and a client roster that includes some of singapore’s coolest hangouts and creative projects. with his forte in visual communication down pat, yong will be sharing a class on typography - one of our hottest classes that filled up an hour after going live!

here’s more about this creative thinktank:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

Prior to founding Somewhere Else in 2011, Yong spent 4.5 years as a senior designer at Asylum where he crafted a wide spectrum of projects. During his stint at Asylum, his works have gone on to receive both local and international awards like the One Show and The Art Directors Club. His works have also been featured in numerous publications worldwide.

Aside from his work commitments, Yong actively helps out in the design industry, having served jury duty for the Creative Circle Awards 2010 and Noise Singapore 2010, 2011.

In his free time he dreams of parallel universes.

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five things that you see every day

I do a lot of research work so these are the stuff I spend the most time looking at outside of actually working.

– Graphics work / Clothes / Materials & Finishes / Physical Spaces / Art

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

1. A cooking / baking class

2. How to make a tie

3. How to relax

4. A skydiving class

5. How to speak better English

profile 13 john and wei'an, teachers

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 17:35:50 +0800

john

wei’an

wei’an and john are active kids who keep their bodies nimble and their minds sharp. they’re also incredibly hard workers (they were a huge help to us at our launch party), modest, disciplined, passionate, and great company to hang out with. if you’ve heard them talk about the reasons why they practice martial arts, you’ll know that these boys are also incredibly kind - they’re never out to harm anyone! read on to find out more about these teachers:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

john is a recent psychology graduate from nus. he has dabbled in boxing, muay thai, and capoeira, but started doing judo and brazilian jujitsu in nus, which he has stuck with because they accommodate his inflexible limbs and ever-decreasing level of athleticism. besides having quite a good memory that lets him remember random useless facts, like that a crab’s blood is blue, he is pretty normal.

wei’an is just your regular singaporean male - was very, very chubby when young, but ever since he took up judo and brazilian jujitsu, his life took a turn for the better with the new sense of discipline instilled. he plays cricket and soccer as well, but would rather be a spectator. outside of his regular 8-6 job, he enjoys reading thrillers, listening to (most forms of) music and mimicking people (especially his mother).

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five things that you see every day

john:

my dog

my bed

my laptop

my glucosamine

my nus merch

wei’an

my room

the view in front of my van

my laptop

my desk at work

shi yi’s bag

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

john
i. class on fiction writing
ii. a class on graphic novel writing
iii. yoga
iv. a guided tour of punggol’s new waterways
v. someone else’s self-defense class

wei’an

i. how to not stutter when excited/nervous

ii. how to drive a manual car and still have your hands free to do other things

iii. how to appear photogenic in pictures

iv. how to tap dance
v. how to rap like Eminem

profile 12 suria mohd, teacher

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 20:02:00 +0800

suria is driven, highly qualified, and the sweetest lady you might ever meet. when we met her in person we were tickled silly by her wicked sense of humour, but also humbled by her sense of knowledge - this lady knows her stuff! lest you think she’s just a strict don’t-eat-this nutritionist type, she revealed that her sinful indulgence is ben & jerry’s… and she just had some before teaching!

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

suria is an ex school teacher who quit a cushy stable job to pursue entrepreneurship as the road less traveled. she is a qualified nutritionist with a bachelor of science from edith cowan university, australia & illinois state university usa & post graduate qualification from the nanyang technological university. she is currently pursing her doctorate in natural integrative medicine.

her journey has led her to now be a public speaker on motivation marketing, nutrition & parenting. also, she is asia’s 1st reality tv nutritionist for celebrities. having persisted by investing in herself and soaking up business & marketing know-hows, she re-launched her 2nd business in education with over 2000 clients in 2 years. her business has now grown to malaysia, brunei, chile - latin america & kuwait.

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five things that you see every day

gratitude : with everything around me

love : for the people I connect with my family, kids, my team, souls I meet

peace: prayer mat - when I have my space with God in prayers

knowledge : books & my library

technology: my mac: technology as tools to help me connect with people & resources that creates happiness :)

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

i. how to create & edit video images using simple tools on mac

ii. how to create slides and recording using camtasia

iii. how to use wordpress

iv. how to use photoshop to create flyers

v. how to use create great presentations with powerpoint

profile 11 tricia tan, teacher

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 14:52:00 +0800

tricia is a longtime friend of one of our co-organizers and a homely animal-lover who’s also a hopeless romantic. this sweet girl will be teaching tonight’s class on friendship-band making. here’s tricia in her own words:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

* Work with Wildlife Reserves Singapore - Singapore Zoo, Night Safari Jurong Bird Park

* I am in travel trade sales - meaning i promote these 3 parks to agents in SIngapore and frequently travel overseas (mainly to China, HK, TW as this is my market segment) to meet overseas agents via sales calls or networking and work with them to “push/promote” our parks to their guests when they travel to Singapore. -> this is the simplified way of explaining my job.

* my sisters and i are DISNEY fanatics and at least my younger sister and I are hopeless romantics. we love happily ever after, prince charming and all that.

* i am quite the homely girl - i enjoy cooking (once in a while when i’m in the mood), packing & cleaning (may be a slight OCD) and staying home to watch tv shows.

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five things that you see every day

1. i wake up to my bedroom and my bookshelf

2. make sure i do not step on my half-asleep 16yr old dog who sleeps at the most inconvenient spots (right outside my door)

3. step out of my house to see my lovely garden which my dad tends to diligently

4. spot little frogs in the pond outside my office at the zoo or watch the african penguins exhibit when i’m at the bird park

5. if i’m lucky - the sunset when i’m home. (:

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

1. typography - got into that class ! wheet wheet ! (:

2. photo editing class

3. hair braiding

4. roller-blading

5. cooking class

profile 10 rodney ee, teacher

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:10:33 +0800

we’ve had many requests for a photography class, so when rodney stepped forward with his class proposal, we knew the community would be more than enthused. rodney may be a serious photographer, but you’d never guess that his day job doesn’t revolve around photography! rodney tells us more about himself:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

I work in the air cargo and aviation industry, and had overseas stints in the US and in the Philippines. Been dabbling seriously into photography ever since I got my first DSLR in 2004. Area of photography that interests me the most is travel photography. Other hobbies include writing, reading, soccer and squash.

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five things that you see every day

1. My I-Phone

2. My VW Golf

3. Aircraft

4. Cargo

5. My I-Mac/Macbook

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

1. How to set up a home studio.

2. Conversational Japanese

3. How to get a better nights sleep

4. How to keep and maintain a herb garden

5. Advanced photoshop

profile 09 hans tan, teacher

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 03:14:00 +0800

as one of the brightest and most well-respected creative thinkers in singapore today, hans’s brilliant and extensive portfolio of work continues to inspire us. how better to learn from him than to sign up for imagination aerobics - an exercise in creative thinking?

here’s more about this inspirational educator:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

Hans Tan is a designer and an educator. As a practising designer, he focuses on contextual research that yield conceptual propositions through design. His investigations in the field of design employs function as a medium, making objects that often explore values, rituals and materiality, with outcomes that saunter on the thick line between design and art. His penchant for design pedagogy includes developing imaginative thinking tools that provide novel approaches to the design process based on generative deformations, use of language and systematic reflection.

He teaches at the National University of Singapore.

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five things that you see every day

1. macbook pro

2. toothbrush

3. bed

4. sky

5. iphone

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

1. How to use Adobe Lightroom 4 effectively

2. Professional cleaning techniques for the home

3. Photography lighting techniques

4. Car maintenance

5. Technical knowledge of print media

Just wanted to say that this is a fantastic thing that you guys are doing! :)

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 02:31:00 +0800

thank you! we really appreciate your support :) say hi if you see us in class!

profile 08 chris leow, teacher

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 20:54:31 +0800

you’d never guess that this sea-loving surfer dude also brews a mean cup of coffee.

pop by the Muffinry on telok ayer street this thursday to pick up a thing or two about everyone’s favourite morning beverage!

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

After living and studying in Sydney for a few years, Chris found his love and passion for cafe culture and good coffee. He spent some time learning and training to be a barista, and was encouraged to bring his knowledge and positive experiences back home.

He takes great pride in his coffee, and helped launch the Muffinry bakery and cafe where he baristas and bakes.

As a water and adventure junkie, Chris is always looking for his next surf or dive trip. He has a strong interest in meeting people and learning about their culture, history and way of life - all of which he draws inspiration from.

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five things that you see every day

1. the great, wonderful people and customers at work everyday

2. tall majestic skyscrapers that dwarf my small shophouse

3. pockets of history, mismashed with globalisation

4. I see (and smell) flour, water and basic elements formed into beautiful bread

5. somedays I see a bottle of beer, a small table, and a cheerful face

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

1. learn Nordic culture

2. how to play American football

3. how to discern wines

4. how to discern whiskeys

5. learn how to cook Spanish food

profile 07 james chia and lynn koh, teachers

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:32:00 +0800

james

lynn

we’re big believers in the powers of family and community, as well as advocates of intergenerational learning, which is why we’re so excited to be kicking off our inaugural season with james&lynn’s parent-child class. we’ll have kids from 6-12 in our classroom alongside their parents!

here’s more about these two nurturing teachers:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

james

Before founding Innervative Learning, I spent almost a decade with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, as a portfolio manager and Deputy Director of Regional Development. I stepped out of corporate to regain control of my schedule and spend more time with my young family. I have an MPA and B.A. (Econs) from Cornell, and am an Associate Economics lecturer with SIM and a social enterprise volunteer with the Tsao Foundation. I am married with 2 girls, love reading, current affairs, financial markets, playing music, running, and am a long-suffering Tottenham supporter. The days that I love most are quiet ones with my family where technology isn’t omnipresent.

lynn

I’ve always liked nurturing the younger generation. I’m taking time out of my consultant career at Ernst & Young to fulfil my dream, by starting Innervative Learning to empower youths with the skills to realize their dreams. Back at E&Y, I provided financial planning, investment advisory framework and investment portfolio management advice to banks, and am a master of the ‘framework’ approach to solutions. I am also a passionate trainer of finance to internal stakeholders. I used to be a portfolio manager at MAS. I taught at Fairfield Primary and gave free tuition to less privileged students. I have a Bachelors in Accountancy (1st class Hon, Dean’s List) from NTU and am a CFA holder.

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five things that you see / use every day

james: the 3 women in my life (wife and kiddos); east coast park; my coffee cup; my piano (which i’d like to play more); my new favourite book - Cartoon Introduction to Economics.

lynn: my hubby (my pillar of strength…to wake me up every morning, else I will just snooze all the way!); coffee (I gotta have at least 2 a day!); tv (my form of relaxation — catch my favourite drama); candies (just love candies…can’t live without them!); myself in the mirror (i can never ever leave home without seeing myself in the mirror!)

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

james: grow vegetables; ride a horse; play the saxophone; spin records; speak all Chinese dialects fluently

lynn: how to play the drums (I always find the drummers really cool!); cooking class (any cuisine is fine…haha); photography; mixing cocktail like a bartender; how hypnosis works

profile 06 winnie & amanda, teachers

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 04:19:00 +0800

amanda

winnie

it’s risky business amalgamating the disparate realms of design and copywriting, yet winnie and amanda succeed both visually and editorially in their work. naturally, their class on micro-publishing & book-binding will combine both these art forms.

this is them, in their own words:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

By day: studioKALEIDO. A design studio & curatorial practice, where Winnie Goh helms the design, whilst Amanda Lee steers the communications. We curate interdisciplinary art exhibitions and work on a range of commercial projects ranging from brand identity to editorial to campaigns. We also run the local independent lit journal Ceriph with a co-editor, as well as GRAPHEME Zine Lab.

By night, we moonlight, we make art. Winnie illustrates and Amanda writes. We’re interested in small beasts, unearthing niches and producing good work, as well as making things happen with our hands.

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five things that you see / use every day

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

Winnie: Motion graphics, bento-box making, terrarium-making, furniture-making, animation.

Amanda: Finger-wave perming, digital painting, Post-modernism, Super8 film-making, shoe-making.

profile 05 melvin tan, teacher and volunteer designer

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:45:00 +0800

melvin is part genius, part extremely talented designer (check out his portfolio below), and all around a very helpful friend who’s been helping us meet people and get things done! fun fact: he designed our edm flyer for assembly, trade school singapore’s launch party.

he’ll be teaching the art of collage during season 01.

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

i am midway through a degree program in ADM studying graphic design. i stopped school for one year. since then, i have been working and taking part in different forms of creative outlets, exploring the many core and fringe industries affiliated to art,craft and design.

i dabble in graphic design, creative projects and niched crafts. i plan to start something on my own. i do not know exactly what yet.

www.be.net/melvintan

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five things that you see every day

1. i like the MARK and FRAME magazines from my work place.

2. i love yezhen comics especially the SINGAPORE SLING & SINGAPORE WARBABY issues.

3. ryan trecartin book I borrowed from the library. i like his video art installations.

4. this cosmic bag is a bag designed by me and my friend. this is a prototype that we are still working on.

5. cataclysmal excess, a comic book I drew. i always refer back to it because it is a very personal work.

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

1. how to tailor your clothes to fit your body type and your trendy ideals

2. a session addressing the New Aesthetic in design

3. how to buy and assemble quick healthy meals for busy people

4. how to trick the government to fund your crazy ideas

5. how to download music illegally

profile 04 vikas kailankaje, teacher

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 05:05:56 +0800

as a professional designer and teacher of the subject, vikas’s chosen profile picture speaks volumes of his creativity. he’s also very sweet and well-spoken in person. we can’t wait to take his wildly popular ‘designing for offset printing’ class!

in the meantime, here’s more about him:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

i was formally trained in design & architecture at temasek poly and nus and established STUDIO VBK in 2011 as a collaborative platform for projects requiring print design, copywriting and research on design and architectural subjects. i started as a freelancer and am still going solo. the ambition was and still is to gain an intimate knowledge of the processes involved in art and copy, the graphic arts and the publishing industry and i have been fortunate to receive guidance from good and kind collaborators, clients and suppliers. while my projects tend to revolve around architectural subjects, i am equally concerned with the language and the graphic artefact that is crafted to convey the message as i see each body of work as a ‘complete art’.

i am also a part-time lecturer at orita sinclair school of design, new media and the arts and a teaching assistant at the nus department of architecture. the quality of information is key to what i do and i conduct personal research in anticipation of projects or teaching assignments that i will be undertaking. the research also serves to forward my theories, which are usually penned as a reaction to what i see around me. teaching is an extension of my professional work and i consider my own studio to be ‘a critical practice in information and document design’.

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five things that you see every day

clouds
my growing pile of books
uniform blandness in my surrounds (on the road, vehicle livery, architectural graphics)
my computer screen and a cutting mat
ulu pandan canal

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

1. how to write good long-form prose
2. coding and programming for web or interactive platforms
3. learn calligraphy as practised by particular masters
4. archival quality book binding
5. the unofficial histories of peoples as explained via tours

profile 03 norvin chan, teacher

Sun, 03 Jun 2012 01:31:00 +0800

norvin’s very intriguing class on ‘how to remember everything’ is just the sort of “unpredictable education” we hope to offer at trade school singapore. we can’t wait to see what memorisation techniques he has to share in class! in the meantime, here’s more about the man himself:

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please introduce yourself to our tradeschoolers

norvin likes to learn random skills in his free time since he is trying to master meta-learning (learning about learning). after learning how to roller blade, pick locks, and hypnotize, he stumbled across memorisation techniques. after realising how with a mere 50 hours of self-teaching, he could remember a thousand numbers, norvin has now teamed up with Openlectures for a simple mission - to end the miserable practice of rote memorisation in singapore. a nation wide circuit of lecturing at junior colleges is already planned, and you can see a snapshot of one here.

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five things that you see / use every day

http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/slw/index.php
http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/3quarksdaily/
http://www.aldaily.com/
a planner
a diary

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five classes that you would like to take at trade school

1. how to start a business with low capital
2. drawing on t-shirts
3. magic tricks that require no props
4. origami
5. breaking out of the box

hey the whole idea of the school is awesome! but i wished you guys had more classes hah i found about this later and most of it is full. any future batches of classes?

Mon, 28 May 2012 01:46:13 +0800

hi there!

we’ll be adding a couple of classes in the weeks leading up to our first season. all updated will be posted to our facebook page, so please like that page for the latest details!

we’re also aiming to organize season02 in the first quarter of 2013. good luck and thanks for the kind words!

x trade school singapore

strangers & friends

Sat, 26 May 2012 01:40:26 +0800

strangers and friends alike gathered over dinner at belly good deli for our first ever volunteers’ briefing.

thank you for coming and being so generous with your time.

we’ll see you guys at the party. ♥