National Philosophy of Education

Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards and who are responsible and capable of achieving a high level of personal well being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of the family, society and the nation at large.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

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.



Tuesday, July 24, 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