The Dawn of a New Year

The first day of 2012 dawned just like any other day for the last fifty years of my life.  I woke up before the sun even got up, did my Suboh prayer, took my bath and by 7.30 I was out of the house, searching for shops to buy breakfast for my family.  Unfortunately here in this town, shops, in particular restaurants, surprisingly don't open on weekends even though it is during this time food business would usually be booming!  I managed to chance upon one shop, bought some Roti Canai and was about to leave when, as a second thought for my girl who is very picky about her food, I decided to buy Fried Koay Teow specially for her!

Good-bye 2011

Over here in Malaysia, today is the last day for the year 2011.  For me, it has been a tremendous year in many senses of the word be they from the aspect of myself as an individual, a family man and even professionally.  As an individual, I think I have managed to do good for my own being by avoiding things that would have otherwise made me regret doing albeit the many opportunities that came knocking on my door.  I know I have made some people hate me for the decisions that I made, but those decisions were for my own betterment and they were not meant to hurt anyone.

Sayonara Samura!

After two years of travelling up and down along the many Gemas - Muar roads, I can now finally say au revoir, to the all those scenes and sights that I have encountered throughout my many journeys; the quaint little villages, the lush greenery and the hustle and bustle of city traffic!  Ever since early 2011, after a choice that was made by my daughter herself to enrol in that school, I have made countless (at least that's how I felt) trips from Gemas to the school in Muar, and back, which usually took up a total of three hours or 200 kilometers in distance each time.


I would have very much preferred her to be in her old boarding school which was just about half a hour trip from my house, but seeing that she was persistent in going to a better school (at least that's how she felt!) and also not wanting her to blame me for not letting her go to a school that she felt would offer her a greater chance for better achievement, I gave in to her wish.  I knew, that once I said yes, it meant long trips to visit her come rain or shine.  And did I mention I hate driving long distance!


Well, anyway, 2011 school year has finally come to an end and she has sat for her last SPM paper.  Did I say  that the trip fetching her home was the last?  Actually, the last and final trip there will be when I take her there to collect her SPM results next year somewhere in late February or early March.  But, compared to all the previous trips, that particular trip will be one that all of us will be looking forward to.

The Right to Write

I have noticed a positive trend among students nowadays and that is the interest to write especially in blogs.  This is especially true with some of my students (former students to be exact!) whom I have taught in the past years, whose blogs I have silently followed with much anticipation.

Of course being teenagers and young adults, most of their entries are affairs of the hearts and things that go on with them and their friends, which include the things they do and the things they share.  It is always enjoyable to read about their feelings!

Some have even included a few new things inside the blogs some of which are worth more than skimming and scanning through.  One of my former students have included short stories inside her blog; whether or not they are based on the writer's real life experiences, is not for me to judge.

Another interesting development is where another of my former student has decided to include recipes inside her blog, which bloggers call a foodie blog, just like one of my blogs (I actually have three active blogs!)  I notice that she has a creative way of getting the reader to read her blog and try out her recipe.

In essence, the main thing here is, the interest to write no matter what the material or subject as long as you don't hurt other people's feelings or get in trouble with the law with what you write!  So, these two students plus a few more that I have not mentioned, I hope you continue to express yourselves positively (a few English entries please!) and hopefully more of your friends (including my present students, please!) will find it just to follow in your foot steps!

My MUET Warriors!

These guys are the bravest of the bravest who never seem to stop trying to give their all in order to achieve what is best for them.  These guys are my form six students from the 2010/2011 batch.  These are the same guys who have left quite an impression on my colleagues.


This morning, Saturday the 19th of November 2011,  these guys are now actually sitting for the Malaysian University English Test for the second time.  I tip my hat off to you (not hat actually, but songkok!) for having the tenacity and determination to take this examination yet once again in order to fulfill you future dreams.


Frankly, I have never liked the idea of being with my students right before they enter the examination hall, but today I made an exception because these students, in retrospect, have left an impression on me, too.  So, as all the students and I raised our hands and listened to Mustafa reciting the prayers, my heart turned into soft putty and started to melt, wishing that I could be with my students when they answered the questions.  I wished that I could be there all along.

But, alas, as the boys held my hands and shook them in respect; and as all of them walked silently into the examination hall, I recited my own prayers in my heart.  Let this group of students, who seem to persevere and who know not the meaning of surrender; let them be successful and may Allah guide you in your quest to be the best! Amin.

Befriending Yassin.

I suppose it's the age thing that's catching  up with me lately because I seem to find it more difficult to relax or feel at peace especially when there are things that are bothering me or things that I can't get out of my mind.  Just last night, my wife told me that I screamed in my sleep.  I was probably having a nightmare about all these things that are worrying me.

I suppose it all comes with the responsibility I carry as a father of three children; one studying in his second year in a local university and the second, a daughter, who is today, as I am typing this entry for my blog, is sitting for her all important SPM examination.  I seem to feel weighed down by so many questions pertaining to the situations they are in; have they eaten well before they sat for their examinations?  Or how well will they do in their respective examinations?  Or will they be satisfied with their performances?  All these questions and more, I dwell upon with a heavy and worry heart, so much so that I need all the spiritual help I can get to calm my wary nerves and emotions.

There is nothing more calming when I take time, any time I can find, to read the Surah Yassin.  There are at least forty benefits of reading this surah which include those who feel afraid will find their fears all diminished and also those who read this surah will find solace in what they see.   Our Prophet has told us to read the Yassin because in it contains many barokah.

I pray that Allah gives me strength with every breath that Allah gives me and every step that I am allowed to make on this earth.  Give me the strength to pray for my children and my family, because everything I do, with Allah's will, is all for them.

SPM 2011

14th November 2011 will see another batch of my Form 5 students sitting for their life-changing examination; that is the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.  I say life-changing because being such an important examination, it touches and affects each every individual within its vicinity, whether directly or indirectly.

The first group of people who will have their life altered by this examination is without doubt the students sitting for the exams themselves.  Everything that they have studied (or not!) for the last two years, will be manifested here.  It can even be considered an accumulation of all the knowledge these students have gathered in the whole eleven years or so of school life.  It is this examination that will prove that they have gathered that knowledge to its full potential or otherwise.  And it is this examination that will be the stepping stone to what important things these students will do in the future.  Will they pursue tertiary education?  Will they join the rat race?  Will they dwell on the past thinking that they could (and should) have done better?  All will be revealed when the examination results come out next year.

Another group of people who will be affected by these students performance is the teachers who have taught these students for the past two years.  The students' performance will determine the workload that will ensue the following year when the results come out.  It will determine the level of praises (and criticisms!) that they will get from the people who sit in their comfy chairs and air-conditioned offices.  And it will determine whether the teachers themselves can sit back in self-contentment or pick up where they left off and start aiming for the stars (or in this case, STAR!) all over again!

And finally, not forgetting the all important group of all and that is the parents.  Like me, who has a child who will be sitting for the examination tomorrow, hopes are high and prayers abound for the offspring's success; quiet in personal meditation that the child will be calm during the examination; her thoughts clear and her memory laden with all the knowledge she has accumulated, at the ready to be dispensed with according to the questions in the examinations.  Rest assured that as a father (who has his masculine ego to look after!), his prayers for his daughter's success (and all his children in fact!) even though more subtle and less conspicuous, are indubitably non-stop and always straight from the heart.

Aidil Adha : A Sister's Sacrifice

As a young girl, she had already started to make sacrifices whether it was out of her own choice or forced upon her by others.  I remember the day when the form three examination results came out, and she did not do well in it, nothing was done for her in order for her to continue her education because at that time you could not pursue your form four if you did not do well in your form three examination.  Contrary to what is going on today, where any Tom, Dick and Harry can enter form four, even if you fail all the subject in form three!

She was not even sent to learn any kind of skills like sewing for example because back then the daily school just didn't have any provision for the study of living skills in upper secondary, and I suppose my father was not financially equipped to send her to a private school!  And so, my sister was forced to stay at home and spend those early years of her life becoming my late mother's assistant, when other teenage girls her age were busy studying in school or chasing boys or both. She cooked our food, she cleaned the house, she washed our clothes (by hand no less!) and other household chores a person twice her age would normally do!

But her biggest sacrifice was when she helped to care for our ailing late mother until the very end (almost, because she had to care for her ailing husband next, until now!)  There was never a moment that my heart did not cry out for her every time I met her, always the giving person; tending to my late mom's every need (and my dad as well!) including when nature called, preparing the meals (separate meals for mom and dad!),  washing the clothes right up to feeding the many cats which she adored; and the days would end by her sleeping in the small room (if you can call it a room!) and on a rickety old bed!  On top of all that she also had to care for her growing son!

I never shared the grouses that people made about her not really sweeping the house or doing the dusting, because, I think, after doing all the housework, she wouldn't have had any energy left to do anything else.  Plus taking care of my late mother was a full time responsibility which she shouldered on behalf of all of us.  

This was the young girl who was not liked by my father; this was the girl who bore the brunt of our father's anger when ever he was angry, but, with the Grace of Allah, this is the same person who have sacrificed herself for about five years to care for our late mother and indirectly, our father too.  Something which my other five siblings and I would have found difficult to do!

I am writing this only on my behalf and I know I can never repay all the kindness you have done for our late mother.   And so today on this auspicious Aidil Adha, as I do every time after I solat, I raise both my hands and pray that Allah bestow upon you, my dear sister, all the blessings, for only Allah can repay you with rewards unbeknownst to either of us.  Thank you, An, for being my sister and thank you Allah for giving a sister like her to me!

A Reunion To Remember

It wasn't my reunion, but the one I attended yesterday was one I wouldn't have missed for the world.  I say this because for someone who has never had a reunion of any sorts (except family reunions) this reunion between old students and old teachers of this school where I am teaching in, has indeed left an indelible impression on me; one that I will never be able to emulate in any other kind of situations.

To see the former students chatter in excitement with their former fellow students and former teachers, catching up with thirty years (at least!) of lost time, really made my heart swell with amazement as to how these people can go to every extent to get this group of one hundred and eighty people together in the aghast hall!  I tip my hats off (or my my case, my 'songkok'!) to the organizer!

I was even more at awe when I noticed that some of them actually made the effort to attend even though they came with the help of a walking stick and one even had to have someone else to help him walk!  However, a dusting of grey hair and a few weak bones, did not dampen these people's spirits as I heard rapturous laughter and shrieks of happiness from the crowd!

I may not get a chance to experience such a gathering, but at least I had the chance to attend someone else's reunion.  For now I know how it feels to meet long lost friends and teachers live!  I guess meeting these people in Facebook will never be the same!

Small Sacrifices

My friends often asked me why I waited so long to join the teaching profession when I could have done so when I turned eighteen right after my SPM examinations.  They asked me why I waited seven long years before I finally decided to enrol into teachers training college.  In fact, the biggest question was why I waited until I was twenty-five, the maximum entry age, to enrol.  The answer was always the same; that I wanted to check out all my options before I committed myself to becoming a teacher.

The answer I that I have held on to all these years is far from the truth.  In reality I hesitated from embarking into the teaching profession at that early age, merely because I found myself holding back my desire from achieving that ambition and making way for my younger siblings to achieve theirs first. 

Nobody actually forced me to make that choice.  However, I realised, at the early age of seventeen, that I had no choice but to deny my own ambitions because I realised that my father, the bread-winner in the family, could not possibly send so many of his children through tertiary education with his salary, all at once.  Thus, I patiently waited until my second sibling graduated and my fourth sibling was about to graduate. 

I guess, not pursuing my own tertiary education before my siblings, made it financially easier for my father.   And, even though my contributions may not have been much, at least what salary I got working as a clerk, helped to ease my family's financial burden.  At least, then my father did not have to worry about spending extra money on me.

I have never regretted that it took me so long to become a teacher.  In fact I am glad my siblings graduated well before I did.  My sacrifice may merely be a small one.  In fact, it may not even be suitable to be called a sacrifice.  But I'm happy I did it.

A Whisper of Love

Someone once said that the best inheritance a parent can give to his children is a few minutes of his time each day.  A wonderful statement when looked at carefully, can somehow only be applied in the days gone by because as everyone very well know, in the present day, your time is not something your children would want to inherit when you die.

On the one hand, as a parent you do all you can and sometimes go out of your way to provide for your children that little bit of that materialistic satisfaction that your children want other than demanding that you also set aside some of your time and attention for them.  Children nowadays don't live on love and attention alone.  In fact they thrive on the worldly things that life, and their parent, can offer; things that seem to make them feel more alive and apart of their community; things that make them less ashamed to be a part of the community. 

On the other hand, worldly possessions and love do not flow well on one-way traffic because it takes two people to make either one succeed; and more than that they require a lot of give and take.  True when it comes to materialistic gains, the parent seems to be doing all the giving while the children do all the taking.  It would be nice, once in a while for either situations, for the parent to be on the receiving end.  After all a parent has needs too.

A parent can survive if the children in all honesty and reality cannot, or do not, give him any kind of gestures in the form of materials.  However, a parent, like any normal human being will not survive if his children, after demanding that he showers them with love and attention, does not get those two things in return from them.  In fact, unlike the children when they were young, a parent does not really have high maintenance.  A mere whisper that he is still needed by his children will make his day.  Anytime!

Modesty Blazed!

OWC sex book a cheap stunt, say women¿s groups - Yahoo!

Once in a while you get situations that cause shame to a larger part of the community due to, as the title suggests, cheap stunts by a small (and perhaps insignificant) part of the society. But no matter how insignificant that small number of people may be, the things that they say and do can, in some ways, implicate others who have nothing to do with them what so ever!

I feel these small groups of people have the right to say what they want, and to a certain extent, do whatever it is they want to do, as long as they don't say or write things that make other people think that they represent the vast majority of people around them. Try to be precise in mentioning that what they say or do is specifically targeted for their own small community and does not involve others.

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, what you say can actually affect the people around you and later on in life, people whom you hold close to you. These people may one day not share your idealism and indeed rebel from them for they would by then recognise the idiocy of the things that were done and written by the elders and by that time they would have caused them so much damage and shame.

Again, I implore to these people, think a thousand times before you say or do something because the future, which you may think to be far ahead in front you, will be at your doorsteps before you know it!

The Pen Is Mightier...

I guess it is true when we say that everyone has the right to speak his (allow me to use this pronoun throughout this post and don't blame me for being politically incorrect!)  But I am sure that in the process of practising that right, people can express what they want to say in many different ways.  People can be straight forward, people can be blunt, people can beat around the bush and people can be subtle; all are means and ways of using words to get ones views across in order to be heard or read.

However, in the midst of doing this, some people have no qualms or reservations about using abusive language to express themselves.  I think in general, some people just enjoy using them and in a way it can be a form for them to let off some steam and even some of that pent up emotions.  Of course, when requested for a reason why they use such vulgar language, they would quickly and unashamedly say that, that is the way they are and that is the only way for them to get their opinions, which in the first place are personal, across; fast!

No doubt using such language does have an immediate impact on whom ever the opinion is targeted upon but do remember that anything said, worse of all written and engraved in time for posterity, can indeed have a lasting impression; one that, in future, will be read by their children and their children's children.  There may be a few of those offspring who may share similar emotions and expressions as the writer, but think of the impression that those writings may have on the future offspring who do not share your ways of expressing your views and the consequences that may arise from them.

Don't ever be comfortable in the knowledge that some people enjoy how you write your views just because there are those who do, but think of those people who don't.  True, you cannot satisfy everybody but I guess you can make an effort to be a little less scathing and in a way be more impressive in expressing those views of yours.  You may even increase your readers!

Fare Thee Well, Tn Hj Mazlan

A retirement ceremony is never a happy occasion (even though the retiree gets many farewell presents!)   There is always a sombre feeling when one's friend has reached the ripe old (sic!) age for retirement because of the things that once were shared and mostly so because of the faults and mistakes that were made.

Today, on this beautiful Friday October the 7th 2011, saw the retirement of a senior teacher, Tn. Hj. Mazlan Abu Zaharin, Senior Assistant (Academic) of SMK Tuanku Abdul Rahman; a man who first brought me into the world of exam invigilation in 1996.  And I suppose through his confidence, I later gained enough confidence of my own to become a Chief Invigilator myself.

I also remember him most for that small favour he did for me way back in 1997.  I wanted to take my wife who was at that time about five months pregnant to the clinic for her routine check-up, but since I had just started teaching, I did not have my own car.  Besides, the public transport was quite unreliable then.  So, I asked him if I could borrow his old Datsun LY to take my wife to the clinic.  Instead, he offered to let me use his new Proton Saga NAF 9526 (if I'm not mistaken)  I tried to refuse but he did not take no as an answer.

These are but two of the many things that may be insignificant to others but which mean a lot to me.  I have learned a lot from him and for all that, I thank him.  I wish him all the best of health and prosperity in his retirement Insya Allah.

Bringing Up Children

It goes without saying that children nowadays are totally different from children of yesteryear, in all sense of the word.  My argument may not apply to a small group of children but it may in a way, apply to most children that you and I know.  Of course, this entry will be one of my many entries in future about this topic.

One great difference that I notice is that children nowadays simply love to wake up late sometimes late in the afternoon.  No matter how many times you tell them to get up from bed early, it always falls on deaf ears.  Of course, once in a while they are allowed to sleep in late if the night before they had been studying or the likes.  Otherwise I fail to see the reason why they should lie in bed, when every one else is up (don't get me going about sharing the house chores!)

Worst of all when they do get up, just in time for lunch, they leave their beds undone with the slightest effort to try and make their beds.  The room is strewn all over with soiled clothes, books everywhere and gadgets galore on the cold floor.

Of course, it was different when I was a child.  My late mother only needed to tell me once to do my chores and I would do them immediately and for the rest of my days, my mother never needed to remind me of my chores ever again.

What is it then about the children of yesteryear (some I guess) that they never needed to be told countless numbers of times to do things when compared to the children of today (also some I guess) where they need to be continuously told (then they would say that the parents are nagging!)  Were the parents of yesteryear better than today's parents?  Is there something that is lacking in the parents of today take makes their children care less about them?  I wonder!

Found : Radziah Abdul Yamin!

Saturday is never a good day to hold activities in the school especially those that require teachers to adhere to formal code of ethics for their attire and also conduct and especially so when they have to attend professional courses like the one my colleagues and I had today.

I really did not feel like attending the course (a few of my colleagues actually did not!), this morning most of all because I was tired from the travelling I did yesterday from Port Dickson after attending a two-day meeting (yes, at THAT resort!)  But I went nevertheless, albeit with a huge rock of laziness on my shoulders.

When I got to school, I saw the person who was going to present the course materials and I thought I recognised the face, different but in similar in ways that I can vaguely remember.  My hunch was right when during the 10.30 break, I walked up to her and asked her if she went to school in Port Dickson during her primary and secondary school.  She didn't answer but straight away asked me for my full name! 

That was when we realised that we were childhood friends who had gone to the same primary (standards 5 and 6) and secondary school (forms 1 and 2)  We did manage to catch up with old times, but the course schedule was so tight that there was no chance to continue the conversation.  And by the end of the course she and her two children were in a hurry to go back (to Port Dickson, no less)  that we merely bade each other goodbye and hoped that good fortune will give a chance to cross paths again, hopefully in a more unhurried circumstance!

Radziah Abdul Yamin.  One of my close school friends, have now become an Excellent Teacher (Guru Cemerlang)  I feel happy for her.  I am even happier that I have had the chance to meet her once again after thirty six years! 

Nigella Lawson once said in one of her cooking programmes that only mothers can see the beauty in their children and I must agree with her because my wife seems to see beauty in our children and in almost everything they do, even to the extent of conspiring against me!

I have always felt that children should do their share of the housework, they way I was taught by my own mother.  I remember when I was young, my late mother would delegate the housework that she felt we, as children, were able to do.  Chores like washing the toilet, sweeping the house, dusting the furniture, watering the plants and most of all helping her out in the kitchen.  I understood even then, that she needed (and appreciated) all our help because there were eight of us (including my dad!) whom she needed to tend to.  and we, as her children never once tried to escape from doing those chores which eventually became more of our own responsibilities, which we later continued to do without ever being told to do so.

My own children however, are in a way pampered by their mom, so much so I end up helping her with the house chores when I see her getting tired and exhausted from doing all the work.  Surprisingly, when I suggest that the children should share some of the housework (like the ones I did when I was young) she would say that the children would not do the chores properly  like the clothes would not be folded neatly or that there would still be dust in the hard-to-reach corners of the furniture.  And when I express my displeasure towards the children for not lifting a finger to help around the house, she would take the children's side and gang up on me, like refusing to eat or pretending that I am not around!

I am sure that is not a good example to set to one's offspring.  However, I always lose out in the end because in a family of five, how can one father win when the rest of the family gives him the silent treatment!  I guess my suggestions don't count when it comes to expressing my views.  I guess the only view I have is silence!

Breakfast? Give Me A Break!

Imagine a lump of clay in your hands, then shaping it into a certain form and then baking it in the kiln.  However, after some time when you take it out from the oven, the clay did not turn into porcelain but just a semi-baked crumbly lump of clay!

That was the unpleasant experience I encountered when I happily (initially anyway!) sat down for breakfast on my second day at this resort, when I attempted to have what the house called chocolate muffin!  The unpleasant experience continued when I attempted to wolf down the house pancake and scrambled eggs.  The pancake was too doughy and extra sweet and the scrambled eggs were, well, in a word, scrambled.  I use the term 'wolf down' for two reasons; one, I hate wasting food that I have taken, and secondly, I was forcing the food down to avoid tasting it any further.

I must say that the food here has not improved in anyway since the new management took over a few years ago.  I remember staying here about ten years ago when this resort was called Regency Hotel and back then everything about it was regent!  And since I am writing about food here,  I can contentedly and pleasantly feel safe and secure in saying that the food then was by far much better and was in a league of its own.  In fact, I remember going to the kitchen, searching for the head chef and complementing him for the beautiful and delicious dishes he had prepared!  Not many people would have the hind-sight to do that!  At least not amongst my colleagues!

I can safely say that I will not be coming here again, and on the same note, I am sure the management would not want to have anything to do with a guest like me!  However, if I do come here again, which I doubt, I hope they would have made some kind of effort to improve their food and of course their service.

Here's to improving our country's tourism industry!

Selesa Beach Resort : Not So Comfortable



I'm in Port Dickson today attending a meeting that I have attended countless number of times.  So, you may assume that I could do without attending this meeting because everything the people here want to say, I would have heard before and memorised to heart.  But I have taken the time to come here thinking that I would at least have a relaxing time at this resort.

Unfortunately all my good assumptions about this resort have flat and have caused much dissatisfaction.  First of all is the food served during lunch.  I (sadly) expected at least one or two of the dishes served at the buffet table to of resort standard but it turns out that the food are those that I can (surely) prepare myself in my own humble kitchen.

Second of all, is the time taken by the staff to allow their guests to check-in.  One would expect the resort (and their staff) to be more empathic towards their guests especially those who have travelled more than 150 kilometres, by promptly checking them in and allowing them to get a good rest.  Unfortunately, at the time this entry was written, that is 1.11 p.m., I have yet to check-in into my room.  What is more distressing is that, we have been informed, much to our dismay, that we can only check-in at 3.00 p.m. at which time we would be attending another meeting.

In reality we will only be able to check-in at about 4.30 p.m. and finally get to rest in our rooms at about 5.30 a.m.  If we are lucky!

I have promised myself that last year would be my final stint as a chief invigilator for this exam, but people in the department still insist on enlisting my services.  I am sad to say that I shall be ending my stint as an invigilator with a negative note.  All because this resort has resorted to not to live up to it's name of being comfortable!

Passing of a Good Friend

Today saw the passing of a good friend, Cikgu Kamaruzaman bin Joned, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for the past sixteen years.  I know that may not be meaningful compared to others who have known him for more than thirty years or so ever since he started teaching here in Gemas.

A multi-talented man, I have always admired his artistic approach to things especially in the way he decorates his house.  Not surprisingly his wife, Cikgu Siti Marzian also shares the same interest.  I remember the first time I went to his house (the old single-storey one) I was taken aback at all the brick-a-bracks and knick-knacks that he had in the house, which indeed added to the charm.

 

The charm continued to develop when he moved into his new house, a colossal three-storey house with a unique roof (a testament to his artistic prowess)  I mostly remember one day when he held a prayer in his house, and after that provided dinner for the guests, I was awed at the way he presented the dishes; in hollows on some bamboos decoratively arranged on the buffet table.  One would only expect to see that kind of presentation in a hotel, but that was how Cikgu Kamaruzaman was.

To say that he will be missed is an understatement because no amount of words can probably describe the hollow place that he leaves with his passing especially in the hearts of his family.  Al-Fatihah and may he rest in peace.  Condolence to Cikgu Marzian (or Kak Mar as I call her) and her children; be patient and let us pray that he is placed amongst the pious.  Amin.

Cronies In Cahoots over Computers!

When you think about the extent to which some people would go to in order achieve or in this case acquire the things they want, you fail to see the reasons why they insist on making themselves less than human.  It is quite sad actually to think that these people would stoop so low to be above (sic) the law.  A case in point is the distribution of the Netbooks to deserving students in schools. 

What turned out to be a good gesture on the governments part to enable qualified students to be able to broaden their knowledge horizon through the internet via the use of Netbooks, has now become more of a ferocious feline hording the lion's share; the lion here being the people in schools who have been given the responsibility (and I mention this word with much disgust!) to distribute the Netbooks to only those who really deserve them!

I feel disgusted when I learned today (I wish I hadn't!) that the person in this school who has been given the responsibility to do so, has misused his position to distribute the Netbooks to those who do not really deserve them, just because they are his friends.  I was made to understand that one of the criteria that entitles you to a Netbook is your monthly income. 

I was utterly surprised when I was told one of the teachers in this school, got one on behalf of his son, even though his wife is also a teacher.  Another husband and wife duo who are both teachers also got the Netbook even though they do not have a child studying in the school!  Even more surprising, a teacher who is a bachelor and does not have any child at all, got the Netbook on behalf of his nephew, when in fact the boy's parents are both teachers!

I am resigned to say that I now feel sad and I have lost all respect for these people who have not made any effort to decline the Netbooks given to them knowing that they are not truly entitled to them; knowing full well also that there other people who are more deserving than they are. 

I have also lost all respect for the institution that I have held so dear for almost twenty five years now.  It really makes me feel sad that I have taken this long to realize that this profession that I love so much with all my ageing heart, can possibly still have people within my proximity who pretend to be humans.

Half-Baked Idea

Some ideas (if you can even call them that!) from the system should remain where they first came from; in the system.  They should just remain there and not elicit unnecessary sighs and displeasure from people who are forced to carry them out.  One idea in particular, is the One Student One Sport (1S1M) Programme, which among it's many flaws ( which are unfortunately seen by the people who implement them and not by the people who suggest them!) include attendance (or lack of it) by the students (we shall leave the teachers out of this for the time being!).

                                     

Students don't seem to see the point of attending such an activity which does not actually provide them with any kind of real purpose.  I mean, attending for the sake of attending, without any merits or awards, would make anyone in his right mind to just abandon this unwelcome idea.  Besides having to go back late after school every day, an extra day of going home late, is really stretching a person's obedience too thin!

Some ideas, like a good cake recipe, should be allowed the proper time in the oven to be baked, so that it will turn out well; eagerly awaited by every one who cannot wait to devour every crumb of the cake.  However, if the cake turns out to be half-baked, it will definitely have to be thrown out into the dustbin because nobody in his right mind would want to eat it.  Not even a hungry stray dog would want it!

So, I feel that this half-baked idea should be taken back by the person who started it in the first place, put in back in the oven, look into it with care and attention, and if it, after much thought and consideration (and I do mean much!) turns out to be something commendable, then bring it back to us, and we'll take it from there!  I'm sure no one will throw it away then!

School Sightings

I'm on medical leave today because of the severe condition of gout that has affected my right feet.  I blame myself for being such a glutton during Eid for consuming too much beef, which is a definite no-no for people who have this condition.

And as I was having my breakfast at eight this morning,  I heard some loud voices coming from the school bus-stop (the school I'm teaching, incidentally, is right behind my house!)  Armed with my camera, I decided to investigate the source and unsurprisingly saw a group of school boys just having fun (without any concern that I was watching them and taking their photographs, even though they did see me!) without making haste to enter their classrooms!

My significant other told me that this situation has been going to quite some time.  She says that some students seem to make it a habit of going to school late as if school starts the same as office hours.  I even noticed that two parents sent their children on motorbikes at 8.10 a.m. and dropped them off just a few yards from the school's main gate.

Does this show that people around the school are the only ones who notice these situations?  I hope people don't think any less of the school authorities for this shortsightedness.  Sometimes the school just cannot keep an eye on every single student.  And this being true, students (if you can call these group of students that!) should take advantage of this shortcoming and continue to be delinquents!



It's The Time For Sharing

It's that time of year again when we celebrate Hari Raya Aidil Fitri after a month of fasting (in all sense of the word!) and this is also the time when we get together as a large family; where all of our siblings and their families, wherever they may reside, get together to rejoice!  It is also the time when we go around visiting other extended families like aunts, uncles and cousins (no matter how many times removed!)

At my current age, I now feel that getting together with my immediate families would be more than sufficient and I also feel that the younger siblings in the family should be the ones to converge with the eldest in the family.  Not just because I am the eldest, but with age catching up with me, I would probably be the first one to collapse due to too much travelling on this happy occasion!

And while on the subject of collapse,  I realise that this festive season is also the time for all to eat anything and everything they could possibly eat (part of the blame is always put on the fact that people have been fasting for a month!) and that the food are always laden with delicacies that are largely oil and fact based, ultimately leading up to a build up of cholesterol.  Something an elderly person like myself can definitely do without. 

So, to contend with the eating desires of the majority, I usually consume my food in moderation (or less!).  And I usually cannot wait for the celebrations to be over when I can get back to eating food that are more age and health friendly!

But then again, festivals like this is the time for sharing.  So, go ahead and share.  But, in moderation, please!

Ramadhan Al-Mubarak

Masjid Jamek Gemas

Alhamdulillah, it is that time of year, when Muslims once again rejoice in the coming of the fasting month of Ramadan.  It is not really rejoicing in celebrating the first day of this month with much fanfare and gastronomic goodness but more so about the feeding of the soul.

Immediately after the official announcement informing Muslims in Malaysia about the first day of Ramadan, people, young and old, men and women, put on their clean attire and head for the nearest mosque or musalah to perform the Terawih prayers.  It is indeed something to note, that this particular auspicious month is not celebrated with the normal brouhaha of how other occasions are celebrated.   In fact we begin this month by reinforcing our faith in acknowledging that there can be only one God and that is Allah.

It is also on a happy note that this blogger writes that the mosque last night was full to the brim (at least someone told me about it later after the Terawih since for the whole of the prayer, I was at the very front 'saf') and happier still to note that I saw two of my form six students there after the prayers (trying to slip away from bumping into me!)

Indeed, I pray and hope that I will be given the determination and tenacity to continue my nightly journey to the mosque for the whole of this month of Ramadan (and Insya Allah, many more Ramadans in future) and that my plight in being a Muslim will be accepted and find its way into Allah's grace.

Seri Tanjong Astana Rumbia

Remember......

I have never been one to meddle in other people's business nor have I ever paid them any notice.  The main reason for my blase attitude towards them is most probably because I think that these people have a reason for doing what they do and that their reason is valid.  I also suppose the other reason could be that I feel empathy towards them and that my heart goes out to them.

On the other hand, I have no compassion for those whose business it is to jeopardise all that I (and others!) have worked hard to achieve, especially when these people seem to have nothing at all to lose but everything in the world to gain.  It is this unfairness and unjust that I do not condone and have no place in my social vocabulary. 

I know it is useless to speak out my feelings when you consider the fact that I am just a mere lowly teacher who has no significance at all to the cause (sic!) that these people are trying to justify as valid, compared to they themselves who are high up there in the social heirarchy, irregardless of how they got there in the first place.

Hence, I can only turn to Allah Almighty and hope and pray that things will not turn out so badly and that the intentions lobbied by those who do not deserve them will not be fulfilled.  We all know that Allah works in mysterious ways and in the immortal words of one of my former students : if Allah brings us to it, Allah will bring us through it.  Amin.

Working Visit to Ministry of Works

On the 22nd of June 2011 at 7.00 a.m., the Upper Six Formers headed to Kuala Lumpur to participate in a study-visit to the Parliament house.   Ten teachers accompanied the students during the trip, and for the second year now, I was also amongst the teachers.  And since it was my second trip to the aghast house, I literally sat this one out by waiting outside, under one of the gazebos, for the group of students and teachers who went inside, chatting with Kak Mariya, who also decided not to follow them inside.  It was also her second trip!

 I must say that I did not enjoy the trip whole-heartedly because, like I mentioned earlier, this for me was a working visit because I had work to do, especially during our visit to the Ministry of Works.   I had been asked by the Form 6 Senior Assistant (he was unable to attend) to speak on his behalf during the reception held for our group by the Secretary to the Minister of Works.  I know that I am so used to speaking, most of the time as master of ceremonies, but this beats everything I am used to!

However, luckily I managed to keep my composure because I knew that, other than having the familiarity of being masters of ceremony, I also am quite used to protocol.  Thus, I breezed through the speech that I gave (at least I thought so!) and I managed to suppress my hunger when lunch was served since I was sitting at the same table as the Political Secretary to the Minister of Works and other officials from the ministry.  The Minister himself could not be with us because he was still at the Parliament.

I must say that the trip had been a fruitful one.  Anyway, we reached home at about 11.30 p.m.  23rd June would be another working day.  After seeing the people work at the Ministry of Works, work here is workable.

School Re-opens : Ready or Not?

The two-week holiday has certainly passed rather quickly, with a flurry of activities in between, making it seems unbelievable that tomorrow school will re-open, yet once again.  That's a strange feeling on my part because I always feel that these longs holidays to be, well, long.  I usually cannot wait for school to re-open as I could not stand to count the days that the school holidays would pass.

This time I feel like I still have not had enough of the holidays, perhaps due to the fact that I have used it to the fullest.  Having said that, I feel quite nervous about going to school tomorrow, not unlike a new student who will be entering his first day in secondary school.  I feel like I want another week of holiday!

I shudder in silence as I think about all the duties and tasks waiting in the second-half of the year; with special occasions like the school's Sports Day (albeit a little to late!), a district level activity (at least one that I know of) which the school has been appointed as the host (yet again!), countless exercises and papers to mark ( if only they were MCQ's!), plus all the other menial tasks, that if mentioned, will leave every body not in the know, utterly and totally shocked (or at least they pretend to be!)  Worse of all, I will be susceptible to unsolicited comments and the prying eyes of people who think they know my job better than I do (even though these people are not teachers, sigh!)

I guess, I will have to contend myself with my positive thinking and doing things to the best of my ability!  Best wishes to all those returning to school tomorrow!

Country Road

This first week of the mid-semester school holiday has been a hectic one with a list of things to do, so much so, that I have not found the time to make a new entry for the month of June, until now of course.

Amongst the flurry of activities carried out last week, and after coming home to actually sit the rest of the holiday out, I suddenly felt a sense of loss of not having returned to the village.  Actually, its my wife's village that is located away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

One can actually get tired of living in the city amongst the concrete jungle, jostling with the crowd and joining in the rat race.  The mundane of every day life can be a boring monotony that I can actually do without, especially when I feel that I have not achieved what I have set out to do.

What I miss most about the village is the greenery.  Every where you turn, there are trees all around.  Let's not talk about the scientific benefits of these tress.  The fact is, they're just good to look at and to be around with.

I guess if I were given the opportunity to settle down in such an environment, I would not think twice about doing so.  In fact I would immediately pack up my things and leave life in the city and all it's worldly offerings and head to the village, even though it does not have any of the luxuries of life.

Being in the village with all the greenery is luxury in itself.



School Holiday.... Not!

The much awaited first semester school holidays are finally here, bringing a state of euphoria to the students and a sense of foreboding to parents and teachers.  School holidays usually bring happiness to students because they don't have to wake up early, go to school, stay cooped up in cramped classrooms, listen to teachers  babbling and staying on for god-knows-what activities until late in the day.  Parents on the other hand, simply hate school holidays because they now have to contend with bringing up their children, the noise they make, the quarrels and what-have-yous; all the things that their part-time nannies, the teachers, had to put up with during the school days!

Teachers, however, are a different lot altogether.  True, every teacher in the right frame of mind, waits longingly for the two-week school holidays.  But, when the holidays do come, reality sets in because a teacher's work knows no boundary.  Let's do a check-list!

One good deed deserves another.

I believe that a person who has done work deserves to be paid or at least get some kind of reward or compensation, especially when one was asked to do the task.  Of course, one would not be too outspoken and boldly ask for that compensation since the person who had ask the work to be done in the first place should have thought about it.

A case in point was the Negeri Sembilan School Music Festival held in this school for two days which saw quite a number of the committees that ran the festival requesting the assistance of form six students.  Any one who has had the experience of organising an event on such a scale would agree that when it comes to work, it's all hands on the pump, and in this case it included the form six students.  Pictures of other students involved can also be seen by clicking here!

The Roots and The Tree Top : An Analogy

The Tree



The Roots and The Tree



Once upon a time there was a huge tree.  For years, it had been providing shade for passers-by to either shelter from the burning afternoon sun or from the slight shower.  The tree had also been a favourite spot for families and couples to set their picnic baskets and have a lazy day, enjoying the cool shade.



One day, the leaves suggested to the tree that they should finally bear fruits that could be enjoyed by the people who frequent their shade.  The tree agreed and did all it could to do just that.  It asked the branches to help but they said that they couldn't because it did not have the expertise.  The tree then asked the bark to which it too gave the same response.  After getting negatives responses from every single one of its members, the tree finally remembered the roots!

The roots, which were always hidden underground and were so used to being trodden upon by the people who frequented the tree, was indeed happy and proud that the tree had finally remembered to ask them and promised to do everything within their means to extract as much nutrients from the soil so that the tree could be fertilized and the branches could produce delicious fruits! 

Teachers Dazed Part II

Berita Harian Online Sabarlah cikgu

A short and simple response followed by a long list of excuses which should by now become familiar to those in the teaching profession especially teachers at the grass root level. These teachers should learn not to get their hopes too high, or in fact not to have any kind of hopes at all, when it comes to monetary benefits or grade advancements, because when ever they do happen, those who benefit most are those who are the top of the hierarchy, or those at the tree tops!

The thing about being at the grass root level is, like grass, people step on you all the time, no matter what kind or grade of grass you are, and these people who step on you don't give a second thought about doing so! But if you are at the top of a tree, which is where people usually look, people usually cannot step over you, instead people will reach up to you with outstretched hands or use what ever is within their means to be with those at the top, since this where all the best things are! I mean, analogically and logically, if your tree bear quality fruits you would thank the tree. You would be considered totally crazy if you were to bend down, touch the roots and thank them for providing the tree with nutrients in order for it to produce quality fruits!

I mean, if you want to enter a good school, it's the people at the top you go to see. If you want your child, or nephew or niece or anyone related to you, or even your friend's child to get enter a good class or get good co-curriculum marks, you would also see the people at the top. Hence, that is why there isn't a single logical reason to butter those down-trodden insignificant teachers. True, it is the teachers who produce results and help to raise the institution's grades, but rewards usually don't go to them. The only thing they get is a simple and useless phrase: "Selamat Hari Guru. Terima kasih cikgu"

This is all we have been getting for two years in a row!