Happy New Year 2011

Believe it or not, yesterday was the 365th day of the year 2010.  I initially thought that the year would trudge along very slowly, dragging its feet through the months of the year, with much difficulty, to reach the end of the month of December.

How wrong I was!  It did start very slowly at first, but once the first day of 2010 was completed, the next day came and then the next and then the day after that.  The days got to be very busy indeed with school work abound, children to send to boarding school and university; and then fetching them back again for long holidays and festivals and tons of the things I did during the year that I now find difficult to recollect. 

2010 also saw me making new friends and getting acquainted with old ones.  It also saw me doing things that I like doing with huge feeling of self-satisfaction after accomplishing it.  Of course some kind of recognition would have been the icing on the cake, but I was satisfied to have just the cake, even it was without the icing which was surprisingly eaten by someone else.

Apart from that, 2010 also saw me losing friends whom I held dear to my heart.  They are still around but the choice to sever the friendship was not mine but those people whom I still consider as friends.  Aside from their unique individuality, I love them for various other reasons, but apparently they needed more than I could offer; which meant they wanted more than just friendship.

All in all, I have a lot to be thankful for.  Allah has given me health and reasonable wealth to get me through the days.  Allah did not always give me things I wished for, but I saw that as something to make me more determined and ambitious.  Allah has, for twenty years now, continued to foster my love for my spouse and has bestowed upon me offspring who are, well, offspring!  Allah is all knowing, but I continue to ask for his grace.  For of these and more, I am more than grateful to Allah.

New Year's Resolution

Insya Allah......

Every year, when it comes to the end of the year, it seems customary for people to make new year's resolutions.  Some make more resolutions that you ever think of while some make resolutions that are out of this world.  Some people make new year's resolutions just for the fun of it while others do it just to follow the crowd.

I, just like many other people, am guilty of making resolutions of my own.  But, unlike those that I mention above, I have always been satisfied with making only one new resolution per year, and I have always made sure that my resolutions are within my means to achieve.  Of course, some people may gasp in surprise at my single resolution in comparison to their long list of annual ambitions.  But, again, unlike them, I make sure I achieve my resolutions and continue to practise what I have achieved.

The year 2010 saw me striving to renovate the store room that was designated as the Form 6 teachers' room.  I resolved that I would do all I could to do up the place and make it more like a teachers' room and more hospitable.  It took me, more than a month to do up the place all on my own, which included removing old furniture and replace them with those that were in better condition.  I resolved to make a small rock garden near the entrance of the room and continue to maintain the well-being of the plants.  I resolved to draw some murals on the walls to spruce up the appearance to the entrance of the room.  And I also resolved to establish a small teachers' reading corner in the room.  I am happy to say that I managed to achieve all of them and am singularly maintaining the condition.

For the year 2011, I am making again, one new resolution.  This time my ambition is more to the spiritual side; a more personal and internal fulfillment.  I pray and hope that I will achieve this resolution and also continue to maintain it once it is achieved.



Football or Foot 'brawl'

I have always wondered what is it about football that makes it such a universal game.  Not a single country in this world is ignorant about the game.  Everybody, from the young to the elderly, enjoy this game, either by getting physical in the game itself or just by watching it.  I am at awe about the attraction that this game has on people!

But the thing that really strikes me dumb is the influence that it has on people.  Like a hypnotic device, football brings out feelings and emotions from the deepest and inner most recesses of a humans soul.  Feelings that has never emerged from those murky depths, make their way and emerge as something that is very difficult to comprehend or relate to such a universal game.

Most people who watch football are prone to outbursts of negative emotions like anger, revenge and hatred, probably because they want their team to win badly, thus they themselves behave badly.  Some football fans are more fanatical than others, so much so that they go to the extent of tormenting others physically and emotionally.

Perhaps one solution to this is for matches to be played on independent grounds where there is less, or indeed no chance of violence.  So be it if there are no supporters, as long as the game can be played safely and in the spirit of sportsmanship, as it has always been intended.



Christmas In Leeds

Mary Morris International Residence

Being in Malaysia, I have never been caught up in the thick of Christmas celebration.  That was not the case when I was studying in Leeds.  I, in fact, joined in the hordes of holiday shoppers weeks before Christmas with sales abound all over the city.  In fact, sales went well into Boxing Day!

It was not just the joy of joining other people in their shopping spree, but also seeing the sights and decorations put up in the shops and also the Christmas lights put up in the city.  Colourful lights in different shapes and colours adorning and criss-crossing streets as soon as it was dark and well into the early hours of the morning.  On top of that, to add the merriment, snow fell every day.  In fact, on one day we had 14 inches of snow!

To me Christmas should be all that plus the turkey that is slowly cooking in the oven, chestnuts roasting on open fire and gifts under the Christmas tree.  My Christmas in Leeds that year, was celebrated in Mary Morris International Residence with other students from different nationalities.  Of course those from the European countries had gone back for the holidays.

So, in place of the roast turkey, all of us cooked one dish each that represented our respective countries.  All of us were required to bring our dishes to the common gathering room.  Of course, every body wanted to show their expertise in cooking their national dishes.  I cooked chicken satay!  Unfortunately, I almost burnt the satay sticks because I had forgotten to soak them in water first before skewering the meat.  Anyway, nobody cared about the burnt sticks because we were busy enjoying the food.

My second year in Leeds, Christmas was celebrated in Beeston.....

Bring Up Children

Que Sera Sera?

All parents, regardless of race, creed or religion, want the best for their children.  They will do everything in their power to be the best provider to their offspring to ensure that these children have a good future.  Thus, in order to achieve this, parents provide their children with the best education, formal or informal, academically or religion wise.  On top of that, they will also do all they can to earn as much as they can to put food on the table, clothes on their children's back and roof over their heads.

However, after all they have done, fathers especially, seem to feel that they have fallen out of favour from their children.  This is not a matter of whether they love their mothers more than they do their fathers! This is just a matter of respect!

I am not speaking on other fathers' behalf.  I am just saying my piece.  I seem to feel that, apart from all that I have done to ensure that my children grow up to become well-educated and well-behaved individuals, I have to silently come to the conclusion that I cannot expect too much from my children.  My children don't seem to share my idealism about how youngsters should behave towards their elders, no matter how much I stress the matter to them.  Unfortunately for me, my spouse doesn't share my enthusiasm either!

So, I am confined to the fact that I shall be the lonely father figure who will not have his ideals shared my neither his spouse nor his offspring.  I may think that my ideals are the best, because they were taught to me by my own mother.  Sad to say that we are the only two who share similar sentiments and my mother has passed on.  My turn may be coming soon!  Perhaps then, and only then, my children and spouse will realize that I have been right all along!  But by then, it will be too late!



Teachers Unhappy Over Transfers

Teachers unhappy over transfers

In the move to Uphold BM and Strengthen English, teachers can expect many new strategies to be implemented by the Ministry to achieve this goal.  And obviously through this news article, it has not taken into consideration the human factor that is required to fulfil this goal.

Strengthening English is not just the Ministry's goal but also the goal of the teachers who are out there in schools to teach the subject.  These teachers, however much the Ministry pretends to acknowledge, are faced with arduous tasks of getting this task done especially the fact that English, in reality, is not a second language in Malaysia.  Consequently, teachers are faced with students who are not interested to learn the language, no matter how much coaxing is given or what ever resource materials are used. 

But back to the issue at hand, the Ministry, before strengthening English, should take precedence in strengthening the teachers moral.  Teachers after all are humans who have feelings and are affected and influenced by their surroundings.  The Ministry must realize that teachers who have set up root in a particular place would find it difficult to uproot themselves, especially to a place that is two or three hours drive from their current location.

The unhappiness does not only come from the distance but also from the fact that they would have to uproot their whole family like transferring their children to other schools, spouses to a different working place, finding new accommodations, looking for nannies to care for their babies plus the emotional transfer that all these people will have to go through.  All these weaken the teachers moral and spirit.  So, how then do you expect them to carry on strengthening English!

On one hand, transfer is good because you meet new colleagues and students, hence new challenges.  On the other hand, strong teachers can be weakened by transfers that they personally feel are uncalled for.  Perhaps the idea of this particular teacher transfer should have been opened to applications.

Noisy Neighbours!

I know it is such a cliche thing to write about, but being neighbourly is not something that people living in a society should take lightly.  Living in a society would require members of that particular society to respect not only the boundaries of each other's houses but also each other's emotional boundaries.

Of course it is easier to respect house boundaries because houses are usually separated by fences, whether they are wire fences usually provided by housing developers or concrete and fashionable fences or walls erected by house owners themselves.  Obviously the demarcation point where neighbours can cross is clearly indicated by these structures.

However, when it comes to emotional boundaries, neighbours, especially those who prefer to be ignorant about it, seem to just ram into it head on.  One reason for this is there is no clear definition as to what people can do or for that matter, to what extent, until a neighbour's emotional boundary is breached. 

Disrespectful and inconsiderate neighbours seem to think that they live in a world of their own and that they can do anything they like.  They don't seem to care if their neighbours are disturbed or offended.  Some inconsiderate neighbours are downright noisy, talking at the top of their voices, turning on their hi-fi at the loudest possible volume setting or even bickering with their offspring and spouses without a care in the world; and worse of all these things don't just happen occasionally but on a daily basis!

I think there should be a law against these noisy and inconsiderate neighbours.  People like these should be given like, three warnings before they are asked to leave the premises even though the houses may belong to them.  They should be instructed to vacate their houses and live somewhere else, preferably in isolation, until they know how they should behave to live in a neighbourhood as neighbours!

In Memory of Leeds!

Leeds Grand Mosque

Friday prayers have been something that I look forward to ever since I knew how to pray.  And in my almost half-century of life, I have had the chance to perform Friday prayers in almost one hundred different mosques all over the country and some overseas.  And where ever I prayed, the experience was always different as well.

I have prayed in so many different mosques in the state of Johor Bahru and of course some in Kelantan where I got my formal training as a teacher; not to mention the many mosques in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya where I was brought up and started work.  I must say that all these mosques have unique qualities and beauty of their own that draw people and me to pray within their vicinity.

But the most unique experience was performing Friday prayers in Leeds, United Kingdom where I did my first degree.  Not only was the building unique in structure and initial purpose but the people who went there to perform prayers were also both unique and varied.  Unique because they are quite different from the congregation that you would see in Malaysia and varied because of the different nationalities of people who perform prayers, who  have found the enlightenment to embrace Islam.

Praying in Leeds Grand Mosque was also a totally new experience because people did not wear sarong like us in Malaysia; they prayed in their daily clothes!  And, of course, the one unique thing that I will never forget was when I went to the mosque in heavy snow to perform my Friday prayer! 

Praying in different mosques does have its plus points but one must remember that wherever one prays, the main reason is always the same; that is to pray!

For A Lost Cause!

Rebels Without A Cause!

I know being an examination invigilator is not an easy work because I have been an invigilator for the past fifteen years, but the incident which occurred to me today is the straw that broke the camel's back!  It is such a sad turn of event when, year after year, I notice examination candidates are getting less and less interested in taking their examinations and are even less respectful to the people who conduct the examinations for them.

Candidates nowadays seem to have a couldn't-care-less attitude towards other people let alone for themselves.  The candidates seem to think that they rule the hall in which the examination is being conducted and that they can do what ever they like. 

Two such incidents unfortunately happened to me today.  One was when one candidate wanted to leave the hall only half an hour into the examination.  When told that he was not allowed to leave, he said that he wanted to go to the toilet, which was fine.  But upon given the permission, he grabbed his stationery and quickly made a dash out of the hall, never to be seen again.  Toilet indeed!  More of a toilet case to me!

Another incident was when a candidate wanted to leave the hall early because he was asthmatic and that it was time for him to take his medication.  In such a situation, I had to allow the candidate to leave.  I later found out from a candidate who sat beside him that, not only was he not asthmatic, in fact he was as fit as a fiddle!

I think, that is all the insult that I can possibly endure from these candidates to last me a life time.  And on that note, I have come to a decision that this year's invigilation stint would be my last time!  I can definitely find better things to do during my holidays!



Back To Nature.

Beauty In Nature

It's the long end-of-the-year school holidays.  Children are at home, restless, without anything useful to do.  Or so they think.  Because children will never be able to think rationally or think of useful things to do to while away their holidays.  For them spending the holidays usefully would mean spending time outside the house, no matter how much that may cost their father's expenses.  And for that matter also, they don't really care if their father has been painstakingly saving every single cent possible for the new school year!

Well, a holiday outing, no matter how small or how near it may be, will definitely incur some form of expenses.  I initially wanted to argue that I was tired after hours of invigilating examinations or that I wanted to prepare next year's teaching materials and that the only thing I wanted to do was to just stay at home and relax but my fatherly judgement told me that I would be at the losing end, especially when the vote was three children (plus one mother!) against one father!

So, as I searched my memory banks, I recalled this beautiful place my friend had once mentioned in passing.  Thus, it was decided that we all went to this natural waterfall even though I did not really know how to get there.  But, get there we did!  And we were not disappointed at all!  The waterfall was a wonderful place, unpolluted, unpopulated, undeveloped and best of all, free!  We spent three hours playing in the water and we promised that we would come again.  I hope it would be sooner than later, and hopefully before some greedy entrepreneur decides to develop this place and turn it into a money-spinning holiday resort!

Examination Blues

SPM or the Sijil Pelajaran malaysia is here again and more than four hundred thousand students around the age of seventeen years old started sitting for their first paper that was Bahasa Malaysia Kertas 1 on Tuesday the 23rd of November.  After eleven years of formal education, from standard one to form five, this examination is the pinnacle of an individual's educational evolution.  An experience that will determine the individual's future!  One would expect with such a high stature put on such an examination, students sitting for it would take the examination seriously.

Unfortunately, with some students, this is not exactly the scenario because they do not take this examination seriously at all.  I observed with a sad feeling some candidates leaving the hall within half an hour after certain papers, which usually last for more than two hours, have just started.  With a set time of two hours to complete all the questions, one can only imagine how much a candidate who leaves after half an hour can actually do. 

Some candidates do not seem to take examination rules seriously either.  Regulations stipulate that students need to be in the examination hall ten minutes before any specific paper starts.  Sad to say that some candidates, even saunter into the hall ten minutes or more after the paper has started without even acknowledging the invigilators who glare at their lack of respect for time.  Any advise given to these hardcore candidates just seem to fall on deaf ears.  Or perhaps they are deaf!

No amount of prayer would be able to change these candidates.  I pity their parents who have toiled hard to provide them with worldly necessities and education only to have all their hopes for their loved ones be thrown onto the rocks, broken into a thousand pieces, by their loved ones themselves.  Ironically, I do have a prayer for these candidates; I pray that they get what they deserve!

The Proposal (Malay Custom Style)

The Man's Side of the Family

Today was the day my sister-in-law's second daughter got proposed to, in true traditional Malay style.  Even though they were more than two hours late in arriving at her house, my sister-in-law and her siblings plus all of her eight children waited patiently in the hot afternoon heat with lunch already served and waiting for the man's side to make their grand entrance.

My sister-in-law, who incidentally is my wife's second sister, had not intended this to be a big affair.  The only family she initially invited to help her out with the reception was my wife alone since it, as earlier mentioned, was supposed to be a small affair.  But family bonding and close relationship insisted that brothers and sisters be invited to the event whether or not they could attend.  It was just a matter of respect without a single of intention of asking for their assistance.  But the bond between my wife and her siblings were so close, they all arrived in hordes early in the morning, some even the day before, to lend a helping hand or what ever form of assistance they could offer.

It would be quite some time before I will be in the same situation as my sister-in-law, or for any of my own brothers and sisters for that matter, since most of our children are still studying.  I guess I can use this proposal (merisik) reception as a learning experience for me and my wife to use as a guide when our turn comes to hold such a function.  Nothing beats learning than learning through experience!

Teacher Transfer

Out With The Old, In With The New

Every year there will be some of our colleagues who will be successful in getting their transfers to other schools.  The reasons for their need to transfer may be totally different from one another.  Some may site the need to be close to their spouses and children as their reasons while some may say that they want to pursue their education.  There are also those who ask for transfer just because they can!

What ever the reasons for their transfer, the school that they leave will no doubt suffer some kind of loss.  Man power aside, the school would without doubt lose the expertise of these teachers, especially when these teachers have made a considerable contribution with regards to the success of the school in national examinations.

However, we cannot stop these teachers from asking for transfers and eventually getting them.  We can only hope that these teachers will serve their new schools as well as they have in the schools they are about to bid farewell too.  And to these friends, I wish you good luck and forever keep us in your fond and loving memories.



It's The Weekend!

It's time to welcome the weekend again.  Even though, we had a rather long weekend last week and this week only consisted of one working day, that was yesterday, weekends are something all of us look forward to.  We go through the working week thinking and dreaming of the two-day weekend that awaits, always thinking of the things that we would be doing.

In reality, it doesn't really matter what you do during the weekend as long as you don't have to go to work.  Sometimes weekends can merely be spent lounging around the house, skimming through magazines and newspapers or just watching favourite programmes on the telly!  Unless, you have got something planned for the weekend, then it is usually any one's guess what can be done during these two days!

I, for one, am one of those people who look forward to weekends!  In fact, I prefer short days off from work rather than long stretches of holidays like four days or more, mainly because I usually get bored of it since I don't have much things to do.  But, nevertheless, weekends like this, is the day for me to just be a couch potato or an amature netizen.  In a nutshell, it is the time for me to be me!

A Good Night's Sleep

Return to Slumber land

I have always found it difficult to sleep when I don't sleep in my own bed like for example when I have to spend the night for a meeting or spending some time with my in-laws or even my extended families.  It's funny because the bed I sleep in when I go for courses or in other people's houses can be more comfortable than my own, and the pillows can even have goose down in them, but I still can't sleep.  And especially when spending the night for meetings, sleep is a very elusive thing, not only because of the unfamiliar surroundings but also because of the people who surround you. 

I guess, it's normal for people, friends especially, to chat way into the night when ever they meet.  This is probably because we seldom meet up with each other to strike a casual conversation due to our hectic work schedule.  With all this, it is not surprising when it is time to go home, I am usually the first few to start my car engine and be the first to leave.  The thought of being able to sleep in my own bed is just as inviting as seeing the smiling face of my wife as she opens the gates to greet me as I reach home. 

Come to think of it, that's probably the reason why I can sleep better in my own home!

A Relaxing Outing!

An Apartment By The Seaside

The three days spent there was supposed to be a meeting of sorts, but for me it turned out to be more of a relaxing experience rather than a difficult one.  It was supposed to be three days of listening to talks and going through documents but all those activities were overcome by the fact that my accommodation was located by the seaside, plus the company of very friendly room mates.

Being someone who had actually spent twelve years of his teenage life in this once idyllic town of Port Dickson, coming here for that meeting brought back many fond and happy memories of childhood days gone by.  Even though the laid back lifestyle of this seaside town has faded away with the advance of time, I could still see the charm in the soft crashing waves of the sea that endlessly caress the shore.

I found myself hypnotically called to the beach and as I lazily walked on the sandy shore, I couldn't help but admire the serenity of the environment and the sparse visitors to the beach; perhaps because it was a working day.  However, the lack of visitors actually made my walk a more relaxing and carefree one.  I even managed to cajole a young teenager into taking a photo of myself.

I do hope that I will have the opportunity to come to this seaside town, if not for a meeting perhaps just for a quiet holiday spending leisurely walks by the beach with its clear pale blue water.

Back To School..... Again!

Students, Students, Students!

It has indeed been a very long Deepavali Festival holiday.  The length of the holiday would have been bearable if not for the consistent fire-crackers that boomed and blared right from the eve of the auspicious holiday until tonight.  What, in my interpretation is a holy celebration, has turned out to be something that has caused uneasiness and much dissatisfaction to their neighbours.  You try and get a good night's sleep when all that ruckus continue well past midnight!

The holy festival seemed to be very a docile and modest celebration in previous years when neighbours drew beautiful and colourful 'kolams' and lit oil candles to brighten their homes.  The only sounds you could hear coming from these neighbours' houses were the sounds of prayers of the faithful and laughter of merry makers. 


Indeed one can argue that times change but it should not happen at the expense of morality and good values.  Children will turn into adults but their respect for elders should grow stronger not weaken.  Families may grow in wealth but that wealth should not be spent on unnecessary things like loud crackers and fireworks that can cause emotional pain to neighbours. 


Change is good; but only if it is for the better.

Second Time Around

Well, as the title of this blog suggests, this is actually my second attempat at writing a blog. I have been actively writing my own blog for two years now when suddenly my previous blog got locked down to the point that I could not access it anymore.

And I like to write! So, whether I like it or not, I have to create a new blog just so that I have an outlet to express my feelings. It's going to be like seeing all the things I have seen, all over again but putting them in a different light and worded differently. It's going to be like yesterday once more1