Happy Eid-Al-Adha

HAPPY EID-AL-ADHA TO ALL MUSLIM FRIENDS AND BROTHERS

My horoscope failed to read this...The sukecitter

What a happy day and good news for me. All Praise to God... Alhamdulillah.

The moral of the story:
Reading a book is better than reading your horoscope. I suggest you read Rowling's Harry Potter he heh...

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Want to know how my mood looked like ? Watch the clip below (wait until you can hear the song)..... Let's ride the horse cowboy!!! yeah haa...

Let the picture speaks...

Hmm... just came back from Ipoh. Met a digital camera crazy cousin there and I took some photos from him. But this is my favourite. I have heard a saying: a picture speaks thousand words. So what do you all interpret?

How music was discovered?

This video gives brief idea how music was first discovered. Funny thing...

The best teacher

The very primitive methods of learning is learning from nature. My teacher once said "Nature is the best teacher". He said nature provides us very wide classroom, various topics and subjects as well as many things await to be explored. For me nature also provide us with unexplained mystery as well. For example why apes which is nearest species to human can not learn human language?... whatever the answer is, I agree with what my teacher suggested and I would like to add that nature always educates us explicitly as well as implicitly.

Watch this video that tells us we are part of nature. Watch.

How they did that?

This photo was taken few weeks ago by my friend, a friend from the disciplinary committee. He sent me this photo via his ‘bluetoothed’ device (and very proud of it!). That is not the main idea of this post. The important idea is a question, a big question mark. How can this kind of vandalism happen in present day education system? Is this a kind of showing off the sprit of 'Malaysia Boleh'? or an indication of the type of 'Modal Insan' that we are producing? Even though I have no answer to it yet I believe the answer/s should not be in ‘finger-pointing’ point of view. I am still looking for the answer.

Get away for courses

End of October and early weeks of November required me to travel. It was not for leisure but for courses that gave me few knowledge on new MOE's programmes and some administrative inputs. However, it was time for me to have my leisure in the end of the course. The food, the room, the place even though were not 5 stars, they gave me time to get some ideas and plans. Hmm, I call this Cuti-cuti Kursus Malaysia.

Photo: The room at Impiana Resort, Cherating, Pahang

The gift of towering view...

Being a teacher, I am given a towering view since I have to stand in front of the class for every lesson. Therefore anything happened in a class's compound obviously can be seen. The picture below is the thing that I grabbed when one of the students was busy admiring it as it was the more important thing in the world than the lesson of that day. (Click the image for bigger view)

The old but memorable melody

This melody is my favourite one during Ramadhan. When I was little kid, I stayed with my grandparents since my parents had no house. This melody was played by a radio channel (perhaps RTM) before azan. At that time radio was the only entertainment that we had. While the radio was playing this melody, I always looked out of the window to see the sun set. The combination of the melody and the scenery produced very serene and harmonius effect on the surrounding. Hmm... that good old time. Miss my grandpa and his favourite 'bubur kacang' and 'strawberry jam bread'.

To listen to the song from its original singer Fairuz, click here

The Ramadhan

To all muslims, may this Ramadhan full of blessings for all of us.

A friend of mine

There's a guy, named Fahmi, a friend of mine. He requested to put his Merdeka Day thought in this blog. I invited him to be one of the contributors but he was reluctant to be one. So Fahmi.... Behold! ye request is answered!

What Merdeka means to me.... by Fahmi Mohd Fadzillah

The 31st of August 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of our nation's independence. It is the day we as Malaysians remember the struggles of our forefathers to give us the gift of freedom. Throughout the country, people congregate and wait for the stroke of midnight to shout the magic word "Merdeka!" as we celebrate our freedom. What is freedom? Freedom means a lot of different things to different people. Some see it as their right and others perceive it as their privilege. If freedom is a right, therefore everybody deserves to have. However, do thieves, murderers and rapists deserve freedom? Some of this "humans" don't deserve even life. Therefore this means freedom is not a right because not everybody deserves it. If it is not a right, is it a privilege? If it is a privilege, only a select few can have it. Would freedom still be what it is if it is only enjoyed by certain people? To me freedom is neither a right nor a privilege. Freedom is a responsibility. It is a responsibility to choose what is right and what is wrong. To have freedom means to have the moral obligation to decide to do the right thing. This is a big responsibility. That is why during the early years leading to our independence, there were people among Malaysians who were sceptical about whether we can achieve Merdeka. They may have had many reasons. Perhaps some of them were afraid. To some people, it is easier to do what they are told to do than to figure out what to do by themselves. These are people whose minds and souls are still not independent. They do not have the courage to decide what is right for themselves, their family, their people and their country. Our forefathers fought for independence not just for us to live free. They fought for independence so that we can decide the future of our people. What they have done is to give us the responsibility to determine our destiny and not let a bunch of invading colonials dictate our lives. To honour their sacrifice, we the people of Malaysia, regardless of culture or religion, should always have the courage to take hold of this responsibility that they have fought so hard to get. Whether we achieve greatness or fall in our stride, we must have the responsibility to do it as one people, Malaysians. Even if we stumble along the way, it is our responsibility to pick ourselves up and keep our heads held up high as one people, Malaysians. That is our responsibility. That is what freedoms means to me. That is what Merdeka means to me.

The Password Protected USB Flash Drive

I am using a brand new Toshiba U3 drive and satisfied with the protection system and its user friendly. Now my data are all protected with my own password. I love this device because when I insert it into the USB port, it automatically launches the U3 software.

Read more about this at...http://www.toshiba.com/taec/news/press_releases/2006/memy_06_441.jsp

Ooops... Teacher did it again...

Since I entered the teaching profession, I found that teachers were the most unfortunate creature in Malaysia. Teachers’ conducts are always under the spotlight. The worse thing is media loves to create wonderful story from any mistakes that teachers did. Media speaks people’s mind (I heard this from someone, perhaps a politician). So, it can be concluded that Malaysians has no more respect on teachers (who cares about teachers, even Mufti’s Fatwa nobody wants to follow).

Last few weeks, teachers were reported as cruel entity that whacked their subjects without mercy. Slap, cane, soak, hit, slam, kick, whack were among the famous verbs used in media. Teachers were given barbaric image. The most interesting story and most published was the ‘Pond Squat’ case of Sarawak.

THE STORY: TEACHER WEE, THE PONDY SQUATTY TEACHER

Wee Yim Pien, an English teacher and a hostel warden had gained a bad reputation from her effort to enforce discipline on his ‘anak didik’. She wanted them to live in a hygienic environment but the students reacted negatively towards the rules that she and the school authority set.

The students were punished for their failure of following the rules set. Some of the students failed to understand that sanitary pad is a solid object that is able to stop water flow. They simply threw it into toilet bowl after it was used. Warnings after warnings did not seem to work or to teach them any lesson. Teacher Wee’s patience came to its threshold. The students were soaked in a fish pond after it happened again. This was because there was nobody admitted the offence.

THE EXAGGERATIONS: MEDIA’S FAVOURITE
Media loves to exaggerate. It was reported that the students were soaked in the fish pond during a heavy rain. Teacher Wee denied this statement. She said that the situation was only drizzling and last only for a short period.

The pond was described dirty and contains waste from the nearby canteen. Wee denied this statement and said “We often draw water from the pond for washing. The school has also conducted obstacle courses there.”

SOMETHING TO LOOK ON…

Question:
What are the benefits if Teacher Wee managed to educate the students to throw the sanitary pads into appropriate disposal container?

Answer:
Malaysians will get hygienic environment, pipe leakage can be avoided and can save millions of RM for maintenance cost. The money spent for the maintenance cost can be channelled to any other beneficial matters (such as bonus for civil servants perhaps.. he heh) To get a better idea, read the newspaper extract below,

KUALA LUMPUR: Improper maintenance has resulted in plants and rubbish clogging water outlets, causing water seepage from the roof of the Parliament building, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said. He said the ministry was not going to blame anyone for the situation and that the Government had approved RM12mil for an initial study and immediate repairs to the building...

…..Samy Vellu said the ministry would submit a paper to the Treasury, seeking an allocation to undertake the repairs as well as waterproofing. On the leak from the ceiling of the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital cafeteria, the fifth such incident since the hospital started operations in December last year, he said the ministry would liaise with the Health Ministry on the possibility of putting sanitation boxes in the ladies’ toilets. Hospital director Dr Hariff Fadzilah Che Hashim had blamed the leak on pipes clogged with sanitary pads and disposable napkins. (Source: The Star Online > Nation>Wednesday July 25, 2007)

MY CONCLUSION:
It is very simple and Malaysian. Teachers are the engineers of ‘Modal Insan’. Thank You. Ilalliqa, Ma a’ssalama.

Photo: Teacher Wee, source:The Star Online> Nation>Wednesday July 25,2007.

Le Arome du Sud-Est de Asie

Coming soon.......! How nature teaches us...

I posted this photo on 10.07.2007 but the article was delayed due to the KOF fiesta (My own term. Refer article below for explanation). As promised here is the article.

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July this year is the time for Malaysians to welcome the arrival of ‘His Royal Highness King of the fruits’ (KOF). It is well-known as ‘durian’ {doo-ree-yan}. I have asked somebody who loves durian like bear and its honey-comb about why do we call this durian as King of the fruits. His answer was rather simple and very Malaysian; “I don’t know lah… I just like to eat durian. That’s all”.

As usual, I spent most of my weekend at this KOF feast at my grandma's inherited orchard. While waiting for the HRH KOFs to follow the law of gravity, my ears enjoyed the nature's musical orchestra of mynahs, crickets and merbahs (I do not know its name in English) but my mind kept on spinning with questions. If Sir Isaac Newton thought of why things always fall down to earth not the reverse way (please do not compare me with him okay..), my thinking was more on the sociological aspect. I was wondering who the first man to eat durian was. However, this thought then produced another question, how did he (perhaps she..who knows?) know that the durian was consumable?. I had no answer for those questions though nobody would dare to find it for me. I just made my own imaginative hypothesis. Man learns from nature.

My Hypothesis: Man learns from nature:

The hypothesis follows these imaginative procedures:

1. Man was hungry.

2. Man found durian.

3. Man did not like its smell.

4. Man saw a creature (perhaps squirrel’s ancestor) ate the durian.

5. Man's curiosity reacted towards the creature's behaviour.

6. Man tested the taste.

7. Man liked its taste.

8. Man’s thought concluded that 'bad smell does not mean bad taste'.

9. Man ate the durian.

10. Man enjoyed it.

Result:
Man happy and had full stomach.. burrppp. Praise God!

Chain Reaction:
Man spread the findings, community got the benefit.

Durian’s Personal Impact:
Durian became a famous entity.

Cikgu Farish:
My grandma's civic-minded motto: Fruit, fruit jugak. Sampah tolong kemas!
Le Arome du Sud-Est de Asie= The aroma of south east asia

Never ever shake a baby: Protecting the 'Modal Insan'

A baby is the raw source of the 'modal insan' (Human Capital). In the PIPP (Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan 2006-2010), In chapter 5, it is mentioned that "Development of human capital is the determination for increasing the competitiveness and the productivity of the country" . So never ever shake a baby! But you can baby a shake.. hah.. hah.. hah. This video tells about never shake a baby thing...



p/s:

• PIPP, some people make a joke on it, they change it to -"Pelan Ini Perempuan Punya". An escapism from Malaysian male teachers to let their female colleagues to do all the implementations. LOL
  
• Teachers who have not gone for their interview yet, should read and understand the PIPP.

Cikgu Farish: I posted this just for a relief from all of the stressful afternoon session matters. (Never ask me what...)

I got the power! (Don't scratch my car, please...)

I attended a meeting for the first time at the school. After a few matters had been discussed, I was shocked (even though I had some hints before) to know that I had to replace a teacher's (who left the school for Institut Bahasa) position. I was appointed as a disciplinary teacher for the afternoon session. I got the 'license to cane' according to the senior teacher. I haven't got this opportunity before. (opportunity??? Is this mean my car will got scratch?) Having negative perception makes this thing appears as an opportunity for me to punish the problematic students. However, my positive mind has more percentage than the negative one. Caning is not the main solution for the problematic students. Only if there is no other way I will use it but under permission of the principal. I accept the 'license' with responsibility. Hopefully my emotion will not defeat my rationality.

(Hmm... Do I have the 'disciplinary enforcer' look?)

Knowledge bite: Rattan cane for disciplinary and coercive implement

Cikgu Farish:I like rattan chair :)

A letter from a caring mother

It has been almost a week since I first started my service in the school. I found something interesting when a girl (student) approached me to give me something to be filled in. She handed me a book which I had to give comment after every English session.

I have to fill in the book every time after the class ended. The book is prepared by his caring mother who seriously wants to see his daughter's success. Her effort, I believe can encourage parents-teachers relationship. The photo below describes how serious and caring she is...

(click photo for a larger view)

National Research and Innovation Competition (NRIC 2007-USM)

At last, my hard work has been paid off. Even though I had to struggle for my 18 credit hours subjects, I managed to complete my research and it was selected to represent UPSI's Faculty of Languages and The English Language Department for NRIC held in Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Pulau Pinang. I received silver medal for my research. Thanks to everybody who had given their support. My special thanks goes to Dr. Raja Nor Safinas Raja Harun for her help and support and Puan Ainon Omar for giving me a chance to compete in the national level competition. I managed to proved that PKPG students are not spoon fed type of creatures. Here are some photos during the competition(click on the photos for bigger view):

Me at my booth No.118: Category: Information Technology and Communication

The silver winner

With other UPSI's participants and The Museum director of USM.

At the Faculty of Arts and Music's booth

At my booth after the judgment (the borrowed laptop had been returned)

The Silver Medal and The Plaque

The Pewter Plaque

The Silver Medal

Happy Teacher's Day: The bilingual messages

'GURU PENJANA MODAL INSAN GEMILANG'
(Teacher is the generator of human capital)

Happy Teacher's Day to all Malaysia's dedicated and beloved teachers. As usual since yesterday till this afternoon my hand phone has received many messages wishing me Happy Teacher's Day. I would like to share some of the messages here..(I also got the naughty ones but dare not to share it here..).

From Selvakumar,

1. Congrats to us... we made them all-doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, accountants, thieves, murderers, and even loan-sharks...
2. Kehebatan guru bukan terletak pada Ijazah yang dimiliki, harta benda atau kemewahan yang dikecapi ataupun lama mana anda bekerja tetapi kepada banyak mana hati yang anda telah sentuh. Selamat Hari Guru.

From Robert Collins,

1. Dulu DIA pegang rotan kau kata dia garang, kalau DIA lambat masuk kelas kau kata DIA malas. Bila DIA marah kau kata DIA melampau.. KINI kau adalah dia... SELAMAT HARI GURU.

From Norhaslini,

1. Teacher is like PEPSI "Ask for more". Teacher is like NIKE "Just do it." Teacher is like NOKIA "Connecting people". Teacher is like Mc D "I'm loving it". HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY.

From Shamsudin,

1. Bukan material yang kita kejar, bukan sanjungan melangit yang kita impikan, bukan pujian yang kita perlukan, bukan pangkat yang kita harapkan, bukan hadiah yang kita idamkan. Sebenarnya harapan kita adalah kejayaan membentuk keperibadian dan keintelektualan sebuah generasi. "Benih yang baik dicampak ke laut menjadi pulau". Adakah kita 'benih' itu? SELAMAT HARI GURU 2007.
   

I'm waiting for the 'surprise' from the government for teachers tonight. Live telecast at TV9...

Should we or shouldn't we?

THE GOOD NEWS
I think the news below is a kind of good news to us and we can use it as one reason to avoid wearing necktie. (For those who don't like only). Now I realized that not only certain teachers are reluctant of wearing necktie. I think in our tropical climate; it is quite weird to wear that hanging thing plus blazer. But... but... sometimes it makes a man has that 'handsome and professional appearance' isn't it? Hmm... this shows I am in dilemma.

KNOWLEDGE BITE
The necktie (or tie) is a long piece cloth, either woven or knitted, worn around the neck, under the shirt collar, and knotted at the throat, with its blades resting on the shirt front, covering the buttons.... (read more)

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Malaysia doctors say neckties are a health hazard

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian doctors have declared neckties a health hazard and called on the heath ministry to stop insisting that physicians wear them.

Citing studies that show ties are unhygienic and can spread infection, the Malaysian Medical Association says they are not often washed and carry germs that can cause pneumonia and blood infections, the Star newspaper said on Tuesday.

"And when doctors are doing their clinical rounds, they dangle all over the place," the paper quoted association president Dr Teoh Siang Chin as saying.

But the Star quoted a ministry official as saying it needed more proof that neckties were a danger before it relaxed the dress code for doctors in hospitals.

News Source:http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070501/3/3156a.html

Installation of The XIII King

DAULAT TUANKU

Salutations and Heartiest Congratulations
to
HIS MAJESTY THE YANG DI-PERTUAN AGONG
AL-WATHIQU BILLAH TUANKU MIZAN ZAINAL ABIDIN IBNI AL-MARHUM SULTAN MAHMUD AL-MUKTAFI BILLAH SHAH
D.K.M., D.K.T., D.K.R., D.M.N., S.U.M.Z., S.S.M.T., S.P.M.T., D.K.(Perlis), D.K.(Johor), D.K.M.B. (Brunei), D.K.(Perak), D.K.(Negeri Sembilan), D.K.(Kedah), D.K.(Kelantan), D.K.(Selangor), S.P.M.J., Commandeur de la Legion d'Honnoeur (France)

And

HER MAJESTY RAJA PERMAISURI AGONG
TUANKU RAJA NUR ZAHIRAH
D.M.N., D.K., S.S.M.Z., S.S.M.T.

on the occasion of
The Installation of His Majesty The Yang Dipertuan Agong XIII
26 April 2007 (8 Rabiulakhir 1428H)

May Allah Bless His Majesty's Reign

with utmost sincerity from
Cikgu Farish @ http://myedutalk.blogspot.com

THE NATIONAL PALACE (ISTANA NEGARA)

Volcano in Malaysia?

My geography teacher taught me that Malaysia has no volcano . I just found a fact that Malaysia does have a volcano and its name is BOMBALAI, located in southern part of Sabah. You can find the fact here... Malaysia Volcano. I do not know how far it is true. I have never been to Sabah. Only Sabahan can confirm the fact. However I have checked the longitude and latitude (4.40° N 117.88° E) and found this image...(the image is available at google map)...

This information was really giving me a shock and can't you all see the advantage of the internet in knowledge dissemination?. I really support the MOE's effort on strengthening our Smart Schools and promoting IT savvy among teachers. Go on MOE. Ignore the criticisms that say "technology doing no good for human being, human can do more great things than computers". But they forget the fact that computer is one of the great things that human has invented.

I just surfed the wikipedia to find out something about volcano. Why I looking for volcano; I will write about it in my next post. This piece of information really grabbed my attention and made me to write about it first.

A teacher without internet in this millennium onwards, is like Aladdin without his magic carpet which he used for showing Princess Jasmine how the world looks like. (Cikgu Farish)

The teacher-student ratio issue

Today's newspaper reported that cluster schools demand teacher-student ratio at 1:20. I would like to say that this demand is not new. I still remember that I had fill in a set of questionnaires when I was still teaching at school in 1999. One of the questions asked teacher-student ratio that we prefer. I had chosen 1:20.That was few years ago but until now I do not know what action has been taken based on the action research. May be MOE has its own reason for the large teacher-student ratio. Whatever it is, this problem need to be solved to make our learning session become more effective.

From school to the world virtual community

THE WIRELESS THING
I just want to try out the wireless internet connection of this school (I'm giving tuition to the students). It's satisfactory. Thank you to SCHOOLNET and our MOE for providing us with this access even though severals access are blocked. This indicates MOE can avoid access to illegal and prohibited websites.Teachers should make use of this access otherwise it would be wasteful. There is no excuse for us to have least knowledge because the door to the knowledge is now opened without any barriers (except to the unnecessary knowledge)

TEACHERS' PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS
In this month there was a case where an ESL teacher hit her heeled shoe on her students' head. I chose not to discuss it (hey, I am discussing it now!). The only thing that I can say is, not only students have psychological needs but teachers also need them. So, think of it.

Students aren't guinea pigs

A GUINEA-PIG BUSINESS
NUTP has raised out their disagreement on the suggestion to extend English language learning sessions for Year 1 students. (as reported by a local newspaper) (perhaps to enhance students' proficiency) NUTP refuses to back MOE's action because they are not consulted before. To show their concern on students affair, NUTP's secretary-general says that our students should not be treated like guines pigs. In addition she says Science and mathematics classes has turned out into language lessons nowadays.

I agree with NUTP's views. We should not gamble our students' fate with projects which the success is uncertain. About the ETEMS, it is true that we cannot see its result in few seconds. It takes time but what I know so far the problems are more on the subject teachers (Sc & M3). Now they have to sit for some sort of special English competency test. If they failed they have to go to Teachers Institute for a course. Isn't that look... ( I do not know what to say). It is not to say that I against ETEMS but I do not feel the implementation is good enough. Something has to be done. May be we should hear the teachers' voices.

ANOTHER BURDEN?
On the same day NUTP's response was reported, in local TV news there was a suggestion to introduce an anti-corruption subject as single separated subject in school. Teachers will be trained in one of local higher institutions in Perak. Oh.. come on... hasn't our 'nilai-nilai murni' and 'Pendidikan Islam' good enough to cater this corruption matters?

SOME FACTS TO CONSIDER:
Year 1 English Language Lesson hours per week:
Previously: 8 hours/week... New suggested hours: 18 hours

Guinea Pig:
Scientific name: Cavia porcellus, Family: Rodents, Popular for: being experimental subject.
(more info...)

How will our pupils learn Science or Mathematics if their lessons are turned into English classes?« - LOK YIM PHENG, NUTP SECRETARY GENERAL as cited in The Star

Nice to hear...

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Bosnian groups have nominated Malaysia's former premier Mahathir Mohamad for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for helping the country after its bloody civil war, according The Star newspaper.

(source: asia Yahoo News: AFP)

My related post about TUN M

Ohh..ohh not teacher again...

NUTP today, in a local newspaper reveals that there is a female teacher who is now suffering trauma even though she is a dedicated teacher. This is due to a punishment given to one of her student for not completing homework. The consequences she had to face were:

• The student's parents sued her.


• It gives her bad reputations to the community


• Her job and salary were impeded.

However, she won the case and NUTP paid RM60,000 for the lawyer cost because she is a member of NUTP. NUTP’s General Secretary, Yim Pheng advices teachers to act carefully when dealing with any punishment. Punishment such as toilet cleaning might be harsh to parents view.

Today’s Teachers.

This is what teachers get from present day parents. They are no longer respected. Punishment which is to educate is seen as hidden hatred of teachers to the students. If all parents continuously embrace this attitude I feel that in the future we will have majority of citizens who are law ignorance. This will force our law enforcer to work harder and again the blame will come back to teachers (educators?).

Punishment I: Psychologist perspective
A devoted psychologist, B.F. Skinner proposes his operant conditioning theory in explaining how human behaviour is affected by its consequences. He believes that both reinforcement and punishment can be used in shaping children’s behaviour. Punishment is given to avoid the repetition of desired behaviours (delinquency). Punishment will decrease the desired behaviour because punishment is a kind of undesirable consequences. Therefore, it is not wrong for a teacher to punish their students in shaping their behaviour and attitudes.

Punishment II: Religious perspective
There are so many scenes appear in both the Quran and the Bible that depict the punishment given by God to human misconduct such as:

The mass flood to the people of Noah
The plagues in ancient Egypt
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

Flashback: I was punished for my careless of did not bring my
English Language text book. The teacher still gave me a chance to follow the
lesson of the day but my place was near the front door outside of the classroom
and... HERE I AM TODAY! A teacher like her...

A start of a journey

In the news today, it is reported that vase area of Johor was flooded. The state of Johor was the first state where I started my career as an ESL teacher. It is still fresh in my mind some of the events happened. One of the events gave me a major impact where I made up my mind to continue my study in UPSI. I felt that I need more knowledge to be a better teacher. I felt that 3 years in Teacher’s training college were insufficient for me to be a good language teacher. Let me tell you the story…

It was the first class that I had to enter on that day since it was also the first day of the new school session began. As usual, with the gadget that we call a record book, in it there was a fully prepared lesson note; I entered the class with full of confidence. The class was occupied by 34 pupils; 8 girls and 26 boys. I started the lesson by using teachers ‘common ritual’ which is called the set induction. The set induction was related to the topic that I was going teach which was ‘Personal Details’. I began introducing my name and a little background of mine. I believed it was the simplest way to relate it with the topic. After that it was their turn to tell their details. It was a big shocked! The response was negative. In fact it could be no response at all (at least some of them provide me with simple facial expression, smiling.)They did not even know the meaning of the word ‘name’. They only knew the meaning after I spoke to them using the ‘apache’s language’ like what a Red Indian chief used to talk to white settlers in cowboy movies… i.e. “Me, Farish. You what?” plus a little bit of hand signals. My set induction took me about 80 percent of the lesson. It was no more a set induction. Then only I realised that they learnt no English since they were in Year 1. According to a reliable source, their ESL teacher was fed up because she felt that the syllabus for Year 1 were not suitable. The syllabus itself ‘assumed’ that the all students were able to read and write. The students knew no alphabets when they were in Year 1. Therefore, she felt teaching new ‘alien language’ by following the syllabus was irrelevant because the students could not read and write in their first language. This incident made me put a thinking hat but the only solution that I had was I had to put aside the Year 5 syllabus and started to teach them with my own ‘modified’ Year 1 syllabus. Don’t ask me the content of it. I just taught them to get them to know certain meaning of words in English and shape their interest in learning the language. I believed that it was the best way that I could help them with. Starting from that moment the desire to further my study was getting stronger. I filled up the form and now here I am at UPSI in Semester 6.