NOTE: The details below are excerpted and translated in English from the following Chinese articles in 新快报:
1. 钟南山：研究基本支持病毒来源于蝙蝠 疫情未来十天至两周或现高峰
2. 警惕！广州首次在门把手上发现新型冠状病毒核酸
3. 新型冠状病毒在空气中能存活多久？专家解答
4. 女子到汕头探亲发热咳嗽未报告 确诊后四人被立案
Related Blog:
Sa Pagharap sa 2019 nCoV ARS, tandaan itong “1-2-3-4-5” – Dr. Miu Xiaohui, Infectious Disease Department, Changzheng Hospital
WHAT SCIENTISTS KNOW ABOUT 2019 nCoV ARD.
The 2019 Novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease (2019 nCoV ARD) is one of the seven, and one of the three severe coronaviruses known to have infected humans. The other two categorized as severe are SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. Please note that several coronaviruses are prevalent among mammals and birds, i.e. CoV-229E, CoV-OC43, CoV-NL63, and CoV-HKU1.
03 February 2020
IMPORTANT DETAILS ON 2019 nCoV ARD (February 3, 2020)
31 December 2019
惊喜 (Don’t worry. This is an English blog entry.) [Part 2 of 2]
For the first part of this blog series, click here.
TSA 120. The glorious 120th Anniversary Celebration of our dear alma mater Tiong Se Academy, the oldest in the country. One word to describe everything that has transpired: unbelievable.
Sure I have crammed myself into doing something major in the past, but I was never this tired. Now that everything is done, when I look back, I always feel it was just utterly hard to believe that we actually made it!
November. One month. Six events. Three of which I have personal involvement in the organization. The school had Student Ground Demonstration (November 8), Student Work Exhibit (November 16), Grand Celebration (November 16), Repeat Performance (November 18), and Grand Alumni Homecoming by the TSA Alumni Youth (November 30). But the most taxing for me is the TSA Historical Exhibit (which by the way is still open until February 2020) at the Chinatown Museum.
30 December 2019
惊喜 (Don’t worry. This is an English blog entry.) [Part 1 of 2]
I tried to look for other terminologies for “surprise.” Google gave me “shock” and “thunderbolt”, but both of them are usually attributed to unpleasant events.
2019 is neither a shocker nor a thunderbolt for me.
So instead of just giving a cliché title “2019: A Surprise Year,” I just resorted to give you the Chinese word. I am Chinese teacher by the way.
Most entries in the internet as of this posting are leaning towards looking back at the entire decade. If I were to do that, might as well I write a Wattpad series.
To be fair with the bandwagon going on, I feel the urge to do a decadal recall: I graduated from high school on my birthday in 2010, went to China for four year tertiary studies, made many friends from around the world, attempted to have relationships but to no success, started working at my alma mater Tiong Se Academy in 2014, willingly went back to China for a hundred-day training, working contract expired in 2019, extended service afterwards… That’s pretty much of my 2010s. Anyway, you can read some bits of my decade in this blog.
27 March 2019
Year 25 Checklist
To make things easier for me this year, I intend to make a checklist (a bunch of yes-no questions) of what has happened to me in my silver (25th) year. This also serves as a reflection on which aspects I did perfectly well or horribly wrong.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT.
Outlook mostly positive? YES
Felt any changes in personality? YES
Exerted effort to correct imperfections? YES
Are you a patient person? NO :(
Find ways to de-stress? YES
Had a "Me Time"? YES
Do you forgive to forget? NO :(
When in fault, do you apologize? YES
Pride and ego hurting others? YES :(
Faced fears and obstacles? YES
Notes:
I am starting to look on the brighter side (a trait which my students got me affected) whenever "bad" things are happening. But I need to check on how I see myself, so that I can improve my persona.
09 April 2017
Songs that Bring Back the Old Times (Part Three: Hear Me Out)
Introduction. High school days, yes, it is indeed one of the most memorable moments in our lives. It is when we had our first crushes, first heartbreaks, and for some, first taste of "romantic" relationships.
To some of my closest friends, they knew what I went through. They may be laughing while they are listening/reading the words and songs that I am about to post here, because they may remember everything, all my crushes and all the stupidity that I did, all the moments I had in China and the Facebook posts that said it all.
It is good to know that we have songs to relate to the events that made us. It is consoling to have songs that can actually speak our hearts out.
So, to all the readers that happened to pass by this post, there's only one thing I ask of you...
Hear me out.
Songs that Bring Back the Old Times (Part Two)
For the third and last part of this blog series, please click here.
31 March 2017
Songs that Bring Back the Old Times (Part One)
For the third and last part of this blog series, please click here.
Introduction. This post was supposed to be published to mark my 24th birthday, but due to luckless circumstances, I chose not to. I never expected bad spirits came over on the very day when I should be celebrating. I never assumed spoilers can’t pick their dates and persons of interest. Hence, the worst birthday I’ve ever had.
27 March 2016
Year 22: A Sentimental Lookback
The year that had just passed was a year I felt the most pain.
Back in February, a respected figure in the Chinese education circle went to school to listen to several Chinese classes, which included mine in her itinerary. After she witnessed my teaching, I asked her opinion on my performance, and she said, “If I could only give you zero, I would give you zero.”
Well, this new teaching fella is shocked and hurt. I thought I did well and was able to let my students comprehend my teaching. How could she say that, I told myself. I protested to my superiors and was too adamant to receive opinions for some time. Months after, that same personality called me to introduce myself and speak briefly in front of hundreds of teachers from China in a Chinese education gathering. There, she praised me for being good at speaking Mandarin and she reminded everyone that all who just started in doing something might not be successful at first try, so she encouraged all of us inside the venue to strive harder to excel. So by those words, I bury the hatchet and forgave her.
In August, my teaching task with some of the Immigration officers ended with not so satisfactory results. The short-term Mandarin Conversational course started on May and I was really looking forward to begin. At first, the attendance was good, but several weeks passed, more and more students there were just absent and some even never returned to classes, citing conflicting schedule and work leave as their reasons. I was disappointed for as the end date of my teaching nears, the greater I felt that they do not consider my class important, that they lack enthusiasm in learning the language, though they knew they ought to learn it for easier conversation.
Even though there were still at least three lessons untaught, I decided not to continue anymore. I felt my time is wasted there, travelling for an hour (if my class is at NAIA 3, Pasay), teaching for at least 90 minutes, travelling back to Manila for another hour, and having dinner by 10PM was never easy. And for the record, I did it for at least twelve weeks, so the stress on me was getting heavier and I was unconscious to that at first, until our school principal pointed it out to me when I burst in “full anger” in front of my students one day in mid-August and to another student days later. I then realized that I only get paid for the teaching, but not for the stress and other inconveniences.
In November, there was double jeopardy. One Saturday, while I and a friend were walking along Reina Regente Bridge, my wallet was stolen by a guy. In my wallet are a three-digit amount of money, two debit cards, National Library ID (with my picture on it), some loyalty cards, and my laboratory membership card (which has my complete personal information). Of course I was shocked and feared for my life for some time, but luckily I was able to block the cards and no one (as of now) has used my identity to engage in whatever illegal activities.
Days later, I had to face the biggest family problem yet in my entire life, which involved my mother and my biggest younger sister. They had misunderstanding that resulted to a six-day standoff. (It's not hyperbole, it is heck real!) I was dragged into it for I have to stand to who first needed the understanding and guidance, and had to decide how to make them reconcile. I am very sorry if I needed to make things vague in this particular matter, for this is a family matter that should not be tackled around outside. But I included this for I think this was the worst I encountered ever! I was the most affected person. I had less sleep, I had to shed tears, I had to endure the cursing and criticisms of some relatives who I thought are wiser but are no better at all. Nevertheless, I knew I made the right choice in settling everyone down and I have no regrets for my position. Now, all is well and I hope it will remain this way forever.
The year that had passed also brought me the most joy.
First off, my students – my very first advisory class, which I handled for two years. Before I started teaching, some Chinese teachers dubbed them as the worst Chinese class, for they were always a pain in the neck to their previous Chinese class advisers, and also because cheating was rampant in their class during examinations. But when I came in, well, it was initially difficult to implement things they were not used to do, like “no cheating”, “don’t make fool of your Chinese teacher” and the like. Nonetheless, all those reprimands paid off. Why? Because my class, I can say, has the lowest “cheating rate” (only at least 3 times in 400 school days, or at least 0.75%), has the lowest “guidance counsellor rate” (only one time in 400 school days, or 0.25%), and has the highest improvement at a Chinese diagnostic test conducted this school year.
I take delight when it comes to their improved performance, for they learn to read Chinese characters and to pick up its meaning by just looking at the character itself, and I believe they can understand Mandarin and Hokkien way above what they have learned previously. Most of them are very competitive, they strive hard to beat their previous performances, and this time, they did it the right way. They reviewed and studied, and not a single cheat sheet was seen in my class. (The school even did not bother to assign an extra proctor during the final exams and rather chose to keep eagle eyes on other class.) Even my over-aged students are very participative and competitive, too. They knew they will never make it to the top three honors, but they actually dominated among the rest. I am positive they will carry on to the next school years what they have put in their minds and in their hearts. With this feat is the reason why I put my class first in my “joy list”.
Second, is the chance to talk in front of hundreds of people. Last December, I and my youngest sister were invited by a very compassionate Buddhist organization to share our life experiences at their twentieth founding anniversary. My youngest sister is a scholar of the said org, hence the invitation. Before the event, I took mental notes on what to say and share, however, after watching several videos of their continuous effort to help the needy, my heart was so touched and my mind was so overwhelmed that I cannot find my mental notes anymore, so I just had to go and share what I think.
I shared to people that my family is not a well-to-do one, thus we need help to sustain our education. I emphasized that I am a product of the help of numerous generous people and organizations, for my education was sponsored until I finished college. I thanked the org for giving all of us exemplary actions of compassion and charity and called to the people to emulate and to duplicate what the org has been doing for the past years. It brought me joy, not because of the loud applause and the positive feedback that I received, but I had the opportunity to talk to people, to share what I had really experienced, and to tell them what I really had in my mind.
Third, are my colleagues. The school principal, from the beginning, has been very supportive. She has been a helping hand and a source of morale boost especially during that November double trouble. Special mention also is our school registrar who also helped me get through those difficult times. My colleagues from the mainland China are very awesome as well! Though most of them are not of my age, but they can relate to a 90’s person like me, and in return, I learned so much from them. I feel comfortable when I am with them. I can freely express myself when I converse with them. I am very fortunate to have them as my colleagues in school. And because of that, …
I bring you to the fourth in my joy list, which is being out of Manila to have vacay, and that’s all because of God’s grace and of my generous Chinese colleagues! We went to Boracay last APEC Leaders Meeting in November (after the double jeopardy!), then to Cebu and Bohol during Christmas Break, and finally to Corregidor Island in January. I never had a series of out-of-town opportunity in my entire life, until I met these vacay-loving co-teachers! We have had a lot of fun and had so many first-time experiences on land, sea and air! Those were the best times ever! I was happier than ever, I appreciated life, I appreciated nature, I appreciated people, I appreciated places… Thank God for these vacay, I started to have positivity back in my life again!
The last one in my list is the chance to sing. You may find this corny and invaluable, but I really cherished the times I challenged myself to sing songs that I “fear” to sing. During our Teachers Concert at school last September, I sang “Perfect” by Simple Plan. Another song that challenged me is “I’ll Be” of Edwin McCain, I sang it when we were at Corregidor. Those two songs really pushed my voice range to the limit. Well, to further keep myself on pushing, I sometimes go to a certain mall to sing. But I just sing when there are no people around who recognize me. I feel free and sing better that way! Haha!
Just recently, I and my other younger sister were invited by my Chinese colleagues to see the last day of an international fireworks competition at Pasay. I really don’t appreciate fireworks, but when we got there, the flashing lights just made me say wow a lot of times. I think to myself, if I could just pretend that all those fireworks are to represent my bitterness and negativities, they are always bound to shoot up high into the sky, burst in mid-air, and be gone forever. What will remain is the impression of seeing the light that comes from it, which brings joy and hope to the people who have seen it.
I wish that my twenty-third year will give me more happiness and accomplishment, so that I, too, can bring more people to positivity and true faith.
23 December 2012
{E} A major change in my online accounts
By Jan. 1, 2013, all of my social network profiles and e-mail addresses are systematized to a unified, easy-to-remember username.
The username is "JoeCo0327", taken from the first syllable of my first and last names, and from my birth date March 27.
As of Dec. 23, 2012, the following web accounts and e-mail addresses were changed to the said username:
1. Twitter
twitter.com/Joe27Tweets, @Joe27Tweets(Changed to...)- twitter.com/JoeCo0327, @JoeCo0327
2. Wikipedia
2. 4shared
- joeco0327
3. Yahoo! Mail (Primary E-mail)
joe_at_phil_chi@rocketmail.com(Will be inactive after Jan. 1, 2013)- joeco0327@yahoo.com.ph (New e-mail address)
4. QQ Mail (Chinese E-mail)
roadrunner272008@qq.com(Changed to...)- joeco0327@qq.com
5. Windows Live Mail (Alternate E-mail)
joe_at_phil_chi@rocketmail.com(Changed to...)- joeco0327@live.com.ph
All other web accounts will follow the renaming spree, such as:
1. Facebook
facebook.com/roadrunner272008(Dead link after Jan. 01, 2013)- facebook.com/JoeCo0327
2. Blogger
joeunderprocess.blogspot.com(Dead link after Jan. 01, 2013Redirects to...)- joeco0327.blogspot.com
Moreover, my online accounts have better inter-connectivity to prevent and discourage hackers from controlling them.
Just in case, if hackers successfully take control of one of my web accounts (for example, Facebook), I will use other accounts (such as Twitter) to refute any statements they may post and will utilize all of my e-mails to recover the hacked account.
Another thing, I will change my usual "digital signature" at the end of every Facebook and Blogger post. Well again, in case of hacking (or not permitted access), is for my FB friends and blog readers to differentiate the real from not. You'll just see the new one at the start of the new year.
For now, I greet everyone Happy Holidays!
>> rrj@chn_2012-12-23