Zaky’s Saturday Morning

Zaky had his braces since September 2024. It had been 1 year 9 months and he had been looking forward to them coming off. We thought that would happen the last appointment a month back and I even took a picture to commemorate. 

It didn’t…. The dentist said that something else needed to be tightened/ corrected. That means another month to go. 

The time has finally come! Or so I hope. 

Indeed it has. The braces came off, his teeth cleaned and new x-rays taken. 

The payment had been in instalments, after a lump sum in the beginning. Then, it had been $200 every visit. Yday, we paid the balance, the dental procedures and the new retainer, that he is supposedly to wear forever. His parents were $1k poorer. 

Zaky said that it felt so different; something is missing. 

His smile looks different too. He happily flashed me his pearly whites. 

After the dental, we hopped down to Singapore Polytechnic. Four years ago, he was offered a space in SST, and we know that almost half of their students eventually opted for Poly. These are smart (or at least academically inclined) students who achieved 10 or 11 points during their PSLE, often dragged down by their language ability. Many of them are attuned to the Poly route, bcos of how SST scopes their curriculum, often favouring project work and discard the conventional way of teaching. Zaky rarely needed textbooks; the ones passed down from Nana were mostly untouched. 

In the early years, he would still comfort his dear mother’s heart and tell me that JC is his preferred route. SST has an integrated program with Ngee Ann Poly and students in the program skipped O levels and progressed to Poly year 1 after Secondary 4. Zaky didn’t opt for that in Secondary 3 then, and was still telling me that he would go to JC. 

I duno what has changed but earlier this year, he had a changed of mind and started telling me that he is considering going to Poly after the O levels bcos Poly would suit his way of studying a lot more. My heart broke. Since then, every now and then, we would try to convince each other that the other route is better. 

I don’t think any parents can win against their kid. There are many more universities in Singapore now compared to our times and getting into “an” university in Singapore after Poly isn’t as tough as before. There will definitely be an university that he can go to. I was also convinced that he would struggle mad in JC after the mugging that we had done for Chinese O levels. 

Anyhow, he did his own research, and thought of  Mechatronics Robotics Engineering in Singapore Polytechnic. SP has an opened house bcos the application for the EAE (early admission) is around the corner. Those offered would be guaranteed a spot so long as they cleared O levels. 

At least he gets an exemption of up to one year if he goes into a relevant course in University. I am not sure if Zaky would apply but seriously, even if he doesn’t get in via the EAE, I am confident that he would get in via the O levels route. The COP for the course is 13 for L1R4 and I think that is highly achievable for Zaky. 

The funniest thing? Zaky pointed out that all teenagers dressed the same way now. Indeed! Every teenager boy was in grey sweats and black tee. Why did they go Poly to escape uniform but created their own uniform? lol. 

Mummy Lim

O Levels Chinese P1 and 2

Oh yes, it had been 2 years. 

2 years ago, it was the same struggle with Nana. I just read back on the blog post and the struggle with Nana was intense bcos it was a lot of last minute work. She (we) worked darn hard in the last 2 weeks leading to the papers. With Nana’s experience, Zaky and I started earlier. 

Zaky surprised me in many ways. He worked hard (for Chinese), he said that he would burn the TYS after the papers and had never study so hard in his life. I am not sure if the TYS is now ashes. The point is that he did many TYS papers without me asking him to. He also willingly learn his 词语. The difference? Nana simply didn’t know the 词语, while Zaky could read many of them but didn’t know the meaning. It puzzled me a lot in the beginning. Bcos he could read, I assumed that he understood what he was reading. Apparently not. He has fully utilised his ability to 有边读边, 无边读中间 ability. 

The drill was the same though - 词语, TYS, paper 1 大纲. Zaky was so turned off by Chinese by the end. Did he improve? I duno, I can’t tell. His tutor, 黄老师 was also very impressed with his TYS hard work and said that his comprehension did improve a fair bit. While he doesn’t have and can’t use bombastic 成语 and 词语 for his paper 1, his tutor thinks that he wouldn’t do too bad for paper 1 if his 语文 isn’t too screwed up as his points are usually quite valid. I lost count of how many times I made him repeat his sentence to correct his structure. Direct translation from Singlish is really killing their Chinese. 

The other concern is 离题. That was the same problem with Nana. All it takes is to have words in the question that they don’t understand, guess wrongly, interpret wrongly and/ or missed reading and their 作文 can go south. Interestingly, Nana would attempt the story type of question while Zaky goes for the argumentative/ opinion kind. Nevertheless, we prepared for both bcos if they could not understand their favorite, they would just have to attempt the other type of question. 

I flew off for my Japan business trip on Monday night. I can’t help even if I was in Singapore. 黄老师 continued to be very chill, and didn’t think Zaky needed extra tuition. She doesn’t even want to do tuition with Zaky in June and said that we can continue in July (after I requested) to help him prep for oral in mid July. 

Zaky’s P1 took place yday morning. Then a short break before P2. He messaged us and sent us the questions during the break. 

He attempted Q1 and 5. Thank God for answering our prayers. I prayed that God would give him questions that he could understand and no words that would stumble him. I think his points are valid. At least he didn’t 离题. I think so lah. 

I think his p2 wasn’t as confident. He said he screwed up the 1st 2 parts. I expected that too. His last minute work can only get him so far ah. Lol. 

We have done our best. Meanwhile, I will go and read some Reddit and entertain myself. Hahaha. 

Mummy Lim

Zaky’s Recovery

It had been about 6 weeks since Zaky injured his ligaments. I thought it was longer. Anyhow, the wheelchair has been returned, the crutches and aircast banished to the storeroom. He had been in ankle guard for the past 1+ weeks and had started running and monkeying around. Fortunately, no aggravation so far. The swelling has all gone down. He only complained about soreness at the back of his right heel and tightness in the same ankle. I get the tightness, he hasn’t really exercised in weeks. I can’t explain the soreness, which is supposed to be from an old injury. 

Anyhow, we booked him a physiotherapist session. The clinic is right at Potong Pasir. Thankfully, my company insurance covers up to $800 annually for specialist referred physio. 

The physiotherapist did some testing and measuring, some massaging here and there. Then, she taught him the exercises to strengthen both ankles. His ankles are both screwed. The left one was injured just as frequently. The physiotherapist described the ligament as a rubber band. Once stretched, it becomes loose and thus the ankle gets unstable, twisted, sprained easily. While torn ligament heals, the more important thing is to strengthen the muscles around the ankle to prevent the “stretched rubber band” from wobbling the ankle too much. 

The session was about 1 hour and the next appointment was originally fixed for early next week. Zzzzzz… the session cost us $235 and the insurance cap wouldn’t last us very long. I pushed the appointment out to the following week. Isn’t Zaky supposed to just practice these exercises on his own? How much can muscles grow in 4 days? 

I asked the physiotherapist about when Zaky can get back to sports but was told that he had already started playing basketball. He is to take things easy and stop when there is too much pain. 

Zaky is eager to get back to action and intended to cycle on Monday morning. I asked him to join me for the PPCG ride instead. It was a 50km ride and through Mandai. Good training. 

I was already worried when the group met up bcos the slower riders didn’t join the ride yday. They claimed that they would wait for us. I told them that we would break away if Zaky can’t catch up. Then we just have to find our way home with Google’s help. 

The beginning part of the ride was really fast. We were rolling above 30km/hr. Zaky was still fresh and could kept up. Fortunately, the ride leaders controlled the speed thereafter. We were generally rolling about 28 to 30km/hr.

By the 20km mark, Zaky was visibly tired. The ride was alright for me, the usual distance and speed with the group. He just isn’t used to cycling at this speed and duration. Nevertheless, he kept up the whole ride, conquered Mandai and completed 50km. Woohoo! 

The moment we reached home, Zaky made himself supper and ransacked the house for food. Lol. 

I am a good mother, I am helping my son to train up after his long break. Now that he has witnessed, he can tell his friends, “my mother can cycle faster than you ah”. Haha. 

Mummy Lim

No More Paika

The MRI report made it sound really bad. In the end, it was diagnosed as a very bad sprain, no surgery is needed, just restraining ankle movement and give it chance to heal and rest. Dr Foo did mention that in cases of competitive athletes, they would consider surgery to ensure that the ligaments heal like they should. No, we are nowhere there.

Zaky’s recovery was obvious. The swelling was bad in the 1st 2 weeks but it went down quickly after that. Bcos it wasn’t time for his review and we didn’t know what the doctor would say, we still make him wear his aircast constantly. He also took every chance to ask me for an ankle massage. Zzzz. 

His review with Dr Foo was on Monday afternoon. Dr Foo took time to explain the MRI and report, which I wasn’t too concerned since Zaky’s ankle is seemingly doing well. The MRI noted some old injuries too. I am not surprised; we are all so active and every now and then, there is always somebody in the family with some kind of injury. 

Dr Foo gave his ankle a physical review thereafter. I did warn him of the potential smell attack. Lol. Zaky almost had no pain anywhere, except for some aches where the old injury is. We were both amazed at his speed of recovery and can only marvel at how fast young boys recover. If it had been me, I would probably still be in a wheelchair. 

Speaking of the wheelchair, we rented it for a month bcos we played doctor and thought that he would be immobile for a long time. I mean, the swelling, the crutches, the aircast - it all looked serious enough. The moment Dr Foo emailed to update on the MRI and that Zaky could try putting weight on the ankle, Zaky immediately ditched his crutches and the wheelchair has been totally isolated. We should return it this weekend, it is only taking up space at home. 

During Monday’s review, bcos Zaky is healing so nicely and almost all the swelling had gone down, Dr Foo said that he can go back to normal well supported shoes with ankle guard. Zaky’s reaction was immediate. 

His striking pink basketball shoes that he didn’t really quite utilised last NSG has been put to good use. The poor aircast has been abandoned and I am giving it some time to air before it finds itself in the storeroom. 

Dr Foo had already recommended physio about 2 weeks ago but I had been lazy. We should if we want him to go back to sports and to do so without another preventable ankle injury. The muscles need to be built up again to protect the ligament. Zaky is dying to be active again, he is full of envy when we go for snowboarding classes and he wanted to do surfing too. His school basketball coach, who didn’t know that he is injured, had asked him to go train at the club that he is coaching. Yes, there are so many interesting things and he is held back by a silly bad landing while playing mini hoops in class. I really don’t  understand how he did that to himself. 

Anyhow, Dr Foo said that it should be another few weeks before he can start slowly ease into physical activities. Of course, he has to be able to jump and jog 1st. 

We had all be warning Zaky about putting on weight bcos of his inactivity. We worried too much, teenage boys just burn calories as easily as breathing. We shall worry about ourselves, who put on weight even if we drink water. 

The next review will be 3 weeks later. Thankfully for Company insurance. 

Mummy Lim

Zaky Pai Ka Update 1

We got the referral letter from WhiteCoat. I found a panel specialist at the Farrer Hospital, which is near to our place and an appointment was made for 11.30am yday. Thankfully for WFH and flexi working. 

Dr Foo examined the previous Xray and could not see any fracture. He had to do the smelly job of removing the half cast and examin Zaky’s foot. Zaky had already warned the doctor beforehand of the smell attack. Lol. Bcos his foot is still very swollen and he could barely put weight on it, the doctor suspected a ligament tear and suggested a MRI scan. 

There are 2 ligaments in our ankle. The treatment is similar to fracture - plenty of rest, limited movement and little weight on it. In a very bad tear situation, surgery would be required but Dr Foo didn’t think we would end up there. MRI is expensive, which is why when he last sprained the same ankle, his coach suggested MRI and I conveniently ignored the suggestion. It was too troublesome to get referral letter and specialist appointment and all. 

Bcos the half cast is uncomfortable and there isn’t a visible fracture, the doctor also recommended an aircast. Nana had that too, after she progressed from a full cast. I have thrown hers away, it couldn’t fit Zaky anyway. The aircast is very much welcome. Zaky can now air and wash his stinky foot and is happily without any cast at all at home.. until we nag at him.

Zaky got to comfortably sit in the wheelchair while I mummy him around. I even have to help him wipe down his stinky feet before the staff help with the aircast. I was worried that the staff will faint from the stench. He commented that his ankle is so swollen. I cannot see the “really swollen” part.

Bruises have appeared on both sides of the foot too. 

The aircast is very expensive, more expensive than a good pair of branded shoes and it is only 1 boot. It cost us $250. Zzzzzzzz.

The MRI was done at the HMI medical center across the road. Zaky was comfortably wheelchaired over. New achievement unlocked - the 1st in the family to get a MRI. He said that it was very boring; he basically laid on the bed for 20 mins in the same position while the scan takes place. 

What was very funny was that the clinic staff (2 of them) thought that Zaky was my “brother”. For a while, I was super pleased, thinking that I look very young. Actually not; they both thought that Zaky is very old. Hmmmm… ya, he probably looks 30 YO. Lol. They took a 2nd look at him and still commented the same. Muahahaha.

The MRI report took a couple of days. I just received a very medically worded report and thankfully, there is copilot. I asked copilot to explain in simple terms. Copilot says: 

“You have a severe ankle sprain with torn ligaments, bone bruising, and irritated tendons, but no broken bones or tendon ruptures.

More plainly:

Two of the main outer ankle ligaments are badly torn (one is completely torn)

One inner ankle ligament is partially torn

There is bruising inside the ankle bones from impact

The ankle joint and nearby joints are inflamed and swollen

Several tendons around the ankle and heel are overused and inflamed, but not torn

Overall, this represents a serious ligament injury to the ankle, often from a strong twist or roll, with associated inflammation — but importantly, the joint surfaces and tendons are still intact.”

I also asked copilot if surgery would be required for situations like this and copilot says: 

“ Most people with this injury do NOT need surgery.

The usual treatment is non‑surgical (conservative), especially at the beginning.

Usual treatment approach

1️⃣ Early phase (first few weeks)

Goal: reduce pain, swelling, and protect healing ligaments

Immobilisation

Walking boot or ankle brace (often 2–6 weeks depending on pain/stability)

Rest, ice, elevation

Anti‑inflammatory medication (if suitable)

Limited or protected weight‑bearing initially

2️⃣ Rehabilitation phase

Goal: restore strength, motion, and stability

Physiotherapy is essential, focusing on:

Range of motion

Strengthening surrounding muscles

Balance and proprioception (to prevent re‑injury)

Gradual return to normal walking, then sport/activity

✅ Even with a complete ATFL tear, many patients heal well with rehab and never need surgery.”

So, the good news is that no surgery would be required for now. The bad news is that Zaky may not recover in time if we decided to go for a snowboarding trip at the end of the year. Then, he can build snowman while we go snowboarding. That was exactly what Nana did when we went snowboarding in Iyama Japan in end 2024. Lol.

MRIs are very expensive and copilot says that MRI is usually not required for the monitoring of the recovery, but the state of recovery is more based on the doctor’s assessment. Another MRI may be needed if recovery doesn’t happened as planned after a period of time. 

Accidents that happened in school are actually covered by the school’s insurance, though I duno what kind of coverage it will be. We will file a report anyhow and decide later if claims from the school is needed. 

It is time to rent that wheelchair. 

Mummy Lim

Another Pai Ka

On Tuesday afternoon, Zaky called me. The kids would usually text and calls would normally mean bad news. I was right. Zzzzz.. 

He was in the General Office. He fell, landed wrongly and had a bad sprain on his right ankle. It was a bad one, such that he could barely put much weight on the ankle. Bcos he had sprained his ankle so many times, he could no longer tell if it was an aggravation of an old injury. How did he fall? He was dunking on the mini basketball hoop in his classroom with his classmates during break time. How stupid is that? 

Luckily, Daddy Lim was on leave. He had a car servicing in the morning. But unluckily, we couldn’t reach him. My guess was that he was napping. Zaky had the choice to wait in school until we found Daddy Lim or get a Tada home. Even the General Office staff called. Zaky eventually decided to tada home and hopefully find Daddy Lim at home and then decide the next steps. I had a full day of meetings and didn’t make sense for me to move my calendar when Daddy Lim was on leave. 

Just when Zaky got a tada, Daddy Lim responded. Oh yes, the man had just roused from his slumber. The decision was for Daddy Lim to go collect the car and Zaky to head direct to the Farrer Hospital A&E nearby our house. They would meet up later. 

Zaky’s ankle was swelling. I wasn’t surprised. 

He had his xray taken and a faint transverse lucency was seen. In layman terms, there was a faint line and the doctor cannot tell if it is a hairline fracture for now and/ or a ligament tear. Anyhow, he was given a pair of crutches, a $700+ bill, a half cast and a referral letter to the specialist. I know that private hospitals’ medical cost would be expensive but I didn’t expect it to be this expensive. Let’s hope my company insurance covers a decent portion of this. 

Bcos he needs a specialist appointment, I had to get him a referral letter from the company’s panel doctor to have full coverage of the specialist fee. We went for the online white coat and was told that the Farrer Hospital doctor has yet to confirm that it is a fracture. So the half cast would be good to stabilise his ankle, prevent him from putting weight on it and allow for the swelling to go down, before the next specialist decides if it is really a fracture and if a full cast is required. I think a MRI will be required to ascertain if it is a ligament tear, which is a more prolonged injury and takes a longer recovery time with a higher possibility of future ankle instability. MRIs are freaking expensive. Thankfully for insurance. 

Zaky was given a week’s MC but an MC that allowed him to go to school (?). Anyhow, he self declared that he would skip school on Wednesday and he had HBL on Thursday. He went for tuition at Beauty World on Thursday afternoon and complained that it took him very long and a lot of effort to walk to the bus stop on his crutches. He also complained that his armpit hurt from the pressure. He has hinted that a wheelchair would be good. Dream on… until we see what happens at the specialist appointment. 

I have made him an appointment on Monday late morning. He gets to skip school again and seems to be very pleased with it. Pai ka gets a lot of privilege, including mummy having the tendency to say yes when he asked to take grab. My pocket. 

Mummy Lim

Happy 15th Birthday, Zaky!

This time next year, Zaky would spend his bday mugging for O levels. Speaking of which, I proudly showed him what I bought over the weekend. 

I am excited but he is obviously not. Hoho.

Zaky’s birthday fell on Tuesday this year. We almost didn’t get to have a birthday dinner together bcos the kids were at the church’s youth camp over the long weekend. They kindly remembered us and we had dinner on Monday evening. 

The bday boy’s request. 

He said that he wanted crab, but he ended up eating little bcos he was so slow in dissecting the crab. Lol. Look at the size of the Thai milk tea.

Bcos we are so near to Little India now, we had the privilege to drive through it on Deepavali, on the way home. 1st time ever in my life wor.

We got to see people spilling onto the road bcos the walkway was too narrow. 

On Zaky’s bday, Nana had tuition from 7pm to 9pm. It was just Zaky and me. We had Swensen - Zaky’s favorite restaurant. Hahahaha. We barely eat at Swensen bcos I found the food normal but expensive. I duno what Zaky exactly likes about Swensen but he was thrilled. 

Look at him studying the menu so intently. I think he studied it harder than for his exams. Lol. 

He was very happy with everything that he ordered, such that he needed to do a little happy dance with every other bite. Lol.

Of course he finished every bit of food. 

Bcos it was his bday, he got a free sundae. Again, he took some time to decide, looking at the ingredients in details.

That is not all. He got an ice cream bday cake to bring home.

Happy birthday Zaky! 

We are very thankful that Zaky has grown up to be a joyful good teenager and that God has kept him physically safe for the past 15 years. The only broken bone is that of his little pinky. Given how active and lack of spacious awareness when he was a toddler, I thought that we would have more. Hoho. We are also thankful that he had found God as his personal saviour and is surrounded by people who aid in his journey with God. 

Zaky, continue to be happy and may you find a gf soon. Lol. I am glad that you have grown so brave that the USS Halloween night is not scary. Hoho.

Mummy Lim

NRIC Finally Approved

With Nana, it was an easy affair - take photo, submit, approved. 

I had so many issues with Zaky’s photo. He was happy to have his permed hair picture in his NRIC. Our 1st attempt was this super oppa picture. So oppa. 

It was rejected bcos his eyebrows were covered. Why need the eyebrows when there are already so much hair? 

We retook the pictures and I submitted this one. I thought it looked really good too. 

Right after I clicked on the submit button, I remembered that wide smiles with teeth showing are not allowed for NRIC photo. Zzzz.. the rejection was quick. 

This was eventually submitted. 

Don’t ask me what happened to his hair. At least the photo had been accepted. This NRIC photo taking is so painful. 

I was so times tempted to use this. 

This was taken shortly after he entered SST and “proudly” displayed by the school on some notice board when he was made the Junior Leader for his Sports House. He said that he now has a “better” picture on display; one where he looks less chubby. Hahaha. 

Mummy Lim

NRIC for Zaky

Zaky turns 15 this year and it is time for him to register for the NRIC. I have to go online to do some registration and submit the picture. The finger printing would be done in school. 

The timing is perfect; Zaky had wanted to have his curly hair in his NRIC. We had been procrastinating for so long and finally got down to doing it before the 22 July deadline. He was grumpy bcos I woke him up as we needed natural lighting and we barely have time to see each other during day time. 

Thankfully, there are many white walls in the current unit. I took several pictures, asking him to make a choice. 

He got upset with me. Zzzzzzz.

Finally the chosen one. I like how the app makes the photo in the required format but it is chargeable at $6.

I forgot my son looks like this. A while ago, he was looking at this. 

Mummy Lim