Photos again

I went for 'photo hunting' again. This time was looking for various entrances.

Ibu Kandung Suluh Budiman's call

Was it a deja vu?

Today, I attended the registration session for my Master Degree at UPSI with a friend of mine, Selvakumar. We met new friends and submitted the essential forms and certificates. We have registered for Master of Education (TESL) which in this semester we have to fulfill the requirement of 9 credit hours.

No, not deja vu…
Hah, here we are! Enroll in the same ‘Ibu Kandung Suluh Budiman’. There were new faces in the new class of 27 students. Actually, we were looking and hoping for any familiar faces to meet but in the end of the session we found out only two of us who were the ex-students of our faculty (faculty of languages). We were really expecting our former classmates would enroll in. But we believe some of them did the same thing at other varsities.

Something I like…
It is typical for every new registration to get souvenir from the university. Usually the set would be an umbrella, a pen and a bag. However, today’s set was quite unusual (but I love the set very much). The compilation of a bag, a 2 gigabytes flash drive and a Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association book, has made them most valuable things that I have ever received as souvenir so far.

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Heh... again... these two guys showing their 'muka tak malu' at UPSI compound...

Briefing Session; short, simple and accurate... started by the Dean of the Institute of Graduate Studies, Prof. Dr.Omar Abdull Kareem.


I love them...


Dreaming of being a scholar... Read! In the name of your Rabb who created-

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Salam Aidil Adha to all Muslims

I wish all my Muslim brothers Salam Aidil Adha...

Understanding history...

I thought of writing the things I've learnt from days at the hospital. Yet I found this is more interesting than that. This video clip is produced by a group of students and I feel that they really understood the history that they have learnt.

Became sick..

I was admitted to Hospital Slim River Ward 5 for diarrhea on Thursday. Only been discharged this morning after the doctor found me had no more fever. 4 days in ward was quite boring yet I learnt some things also. I will write on the next post because I just returned home and have to rest. See ya...

Don't you dare!

This is not an attempt to commit suicide but....

Never ever do this at home!

to know what it is, click here to read more

Mathavan's Wedding

PHOTO STREAM OF MATHAVAN'S WEDDING

View Album

Get your own

Read This: To get the bigger view and to download the photos, click on any photo in the slide show.

The video is available here.. (click here)

Learn from the Holy Scripture

"Say: He is ALLAH the One and Only".
Surah al-Ikhlas starts with the urge of accepting the Oneness of ALLAH. It states the foremost and fundamental doctrine of Islam (Tawhid) in 4 brief sentences, impresses on human memory and can be read and recited easily.

The quiet old abandoned train station.

Having the guts...
Driving to school everyday since last year have forced me to pass by this abandoned train station. I do not know when it was firstly built and started operating. But I have known this station since I was a small boy who loved and admired train travel.

Visiting the old buddy...
One day, after school I dropped by at the station and grabbed my camera to snap some photos of the station. The signboard actually made me reminiscing something I learnt from the past. It was a day when my family and I (Abah, Mak and me) were on the way to the station. (It was my first time getting chance to be there and boarded a train). My eyes were spontaneously attracted to the signboard. I was unable to read at the moment, yet I asked Mak, for what was that.. Mak answered me, by pronouncing a proper noun 'KUALA KUBU ROAD' which immediately saved in my schemata. From that day until I gain reading ability, I marked that as 'KUALA KUBU ROAD' even though I could not read.

The learning process...
What I did actually was making the whole thing as a symbol. Instead of identifying the alphabets carved on the signboard, I took Mak's answer of 'KUALA KUBU ROAD' as a mental image. It is similar to showing a toddler a real rabbit and say 'RABBIT'. The toddler definitely will have it as a mental image. If we say 'CAT' for rabbit, the toddler should have that as 'CAT' until he/she grown up and somebody corrected the concept.

Make use of it...
Now I use this learning nature to teach my children reading. Instead of spelling the alphabets "B-A" -->> "BA", I just showed them a card of single syllable which written there "BA" and say "BA". Believe me it works...

Scouts could be given 'smodnoc'

This foreign news report questions me whether this is the purpose of education in modern days? Getting students involve in co-curricular activities is to help them to build up their discipline and moral, but by providing them with 'smodnoc' is totally out of objectives and what is the teachers' role in this situation? as facilitators I guest.. I also don't think that when Baden-Powell first established his scout movement he had this in his mind too. Perhaps this action is a kind of providing sex education that is needed for teenagers, however providing 'smodnoc' is not the best way towards implementing sex education. Instead of doing that why don't we integrate religious or moral teachings for the students (scouts) to know what is good and what is bad and to help them to have self resistance on sex before marriage.

You can read more of the report here...

p/s: to get the meaning read the word 'smodnoc' from right to left.

PMR is here!

To all my students, I wish you all good luck and may you pass this PMR with flying colours. I forgive you all for any wrong doing you did because I love all of you and want you all to have brighter future...Amin..

Losing the passion

"You can say anything about teachers, blame them for their inefficiency, scold them when their students don't like them, accuse them of being lazy when they just had their chance to sit for five minutes teaching relief or anything that you all can describe and picture the teachers as worst thing that the world ever have. The only result that you all can get is, you will get a teacher with no enthusiasm and a passion-lost teacher." - ME

Do my words sound upset? Actually I just read an article about teachers lost their enthusiasm, for I thought that it is common Malaysia's teacher is facing. However it's world's teachers problem... You don't believe? Read this...

The Aidil Fitri wishes and greetings...

My phone have had uneasy time since 12midnight.... of course from dearest friends and family. Here are some messages that I received... anyway, thanks everybody, SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI to you all too...

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Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin Semoga di rahmati Allah hendaknya.
Dari, Osman dan Keluarga.

Assalamualaikum wbt.
Kalau dilipek sebosar kuku... Kalau dibontang sebosar alam...
Kok hilang dicaghi... kok hanyut dipinteh...
kok tonggolam di solam... Datang biarlah nampak muko...
Kok poei biarlah nampak belakang...
Jauh diimbau... dokek digamit...
Seuntai salam, sejambak kato...
Dogup bicagho... meghisik ghaso...
Salam Aidilfitri Maaf Zahir dan Batin buat seisi keluargo...
Ikhlas dari Meor, Linda, Ifan, Fatin dan Fazlen.

Meredah hutan di pagi hari,
Hajat mencari si daun palas,
Tersusun rapi sepuluh jari,
Kemaafan dipohon dengan ikhlas...
Dari, Faisal dan Yane

SMS pengganti diri. Bukan lupakan tradisi,
Tapi ikut teknologi di hujung jari...
Salam Aidilfitri Maaf Zahir dan Batin
Dari Faquan sekeluarga

SELAMAT HARI RAYA to you and your loved ones.
Maaf Zahir dan Batin.
From Selvakumar, SMK Convent, Butterworth

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI.
Jika langkah membekas lara, Jika kata merangkai dusta,
Jika tingkah menoreh luka, Jika suara menikam rasa,
Ampun maaf dipinta...
Dari mustafa, azwa, danial haziq & qaisara irdina.

Di Aidilfitri mulia, maaf dipinta jika:
Terkasar bahasa, Tersilap bicara, Termarah tiba2,
Tertanya x tentu hala, Tersasul yang x sengaja,
Terpinjam harta benda, Termoody x semena2,
Terumpat bila-bila dan mcm2 lagi yang ada.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
Dari Zainab dan keluarga.

Andai ku tahu ya Allah kemaafan itu maha agung di sisiMu,
Akan ku jaga setiap kata yang diucap dan tingkahlaku yang boleh
mengguris hati saudara seIslamku,
Ya Allah kau lembutkanlah hati-hati saudaraku untuk menerima keampunan
dari hambamu ini,
Allahuakbar Walillahilhamd..
SELAMAT AIDILFITRI ku MOHON MAAF ZAHIR BATIN
Dari: Osman dan keluarga

Dalam kelembutan lidah ada juga keterlanjuran kata,
Dalam gurau dan senda tentu ada khilaf dan dosa,
MOHON MAAF ATAS SEGALANYA,
MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN,
SELAMAT HARI AIDILFITRI...
Dari: Adam Rafik dan sekeluarga

For things I did wrong,
For words which might hurt,
For jokes you can't take,
and for advise you can't accept, 1001 apologies,
SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI
From: Ruziah Ahmad

Adat manusia tidak sempurna,
Tersilap kata terlanjur bahasa,
Salam dihulur maaf dipinta,
Semoga lebaran berkat dirasa,
Hubungan terjalin bertambah mesra.
SALAM AIDILFITRI, MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN
Daripada: Aisyah, Syamsuri, Syukri dan Samihah

Gemersik Takbir memuji Ilahi,
Bermula Syawwal, berlalu Ramadhan,
Sembah salam tulus di hati,
Mohon Maaf sempena lebaran.
Dari: Azniwati Ishak

Enough of politics... it's time to work

It is not my intention to change this blog into a political blog. It is just an expression towards the political turmoil happened in our country recently. I am tired of all these finger pointing, non-stop political predictions, power crazy and tendency of manipulating racial issues. Being dissatisfied and fed up made me took my camera and chess set to create some photo works. Just guest what political issue each picture represents.... (click each photo for bigger view)

Photo o1: Seeds of Tension

Photo 02: Play racism

Photo 03: The Popular Unwanted Detention Act

Photo 04: I wanna be Premier

Photo 05: Foreign Interference

The unexpected response...

Being a teacher is not as easy as non-teacher thought. A teacher has to deal with many things; the most important is his/her patience. Teachers’ ability to control emotion is beyond any instructional theories. It is easy to say about controlling emotion theoretically, but sometimes it is harder than what we thought. 

Today, in class I didn’t know why I couldn’t control my emotion. I felt being ignored by my students even though what I shared with them was really important and related to the examination which is just around the corner. The pictures below speak what had happened in the class. 

(click on the picture for bigger view so that you all can read what is written there)

The unpleasant sensation...

FROM HEARTBURN TO GERD...

I was diagnosed for having GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease). So, yesterday I went to hospital for a 'simple procedure' (as the doctor described) to know anything serious in my stomach. True, it was simple procedure yet it gave me very unpleasant sensation. It was not easy to get the optical equipment getting through my mouth then throat then esophagus and then deep into the stomach. If you feel that I am wrong, try to insert your finger into your throat... How'd it feel?... 

THE UNPLEASANT SENSATION...

During the procedure, at the time the 'thing' getting through my throat,  spontaneously I burst out everything inside my stomach. It was like congested pipe line being cleared from blocking wastes. My goodness! At first I felt like I had lost my ability to breath. Lucky it was only panic. The surgeon asked me to calm down and breath through nose only. Everything like gasses, undigested food, fluid etc.. came out one after another as the 'camera' was inside my stomach. The unpleasant sensation occurred again when the surgeon pulled the camera out.... BLUEKK... finally a relief... It's over but the whole day I still felt the pain and feeling like the camera tube was moving happily in my stomach. At night I couldn't sleep because still felt the pain.

'TRIVIA'

After the procedure, the surgeon complained to the nurses that he had lost his pen. Huh! Hey doc! Don't tell me that you left the pen inside!...

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Photo: The 'alien' which went inside my digestion system... BLueekk..

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flexibles_Endoskop.jpg

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p/s: There went my second day of Ramadhan. What do you expect? What else... I have to replace the undone fasting of the day...

The continuation of Malay culture: A friend's wedding

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Singapura negeri baharu,
Tuan Raffles menjadi raja,
Ku ucapkan selamat pengantin baru,
Moga bahagia selama-lama.

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Starting this post with a Malay 'pantun' is just the expression of my gratitude to the invitation I received from my friend Muhammad Faisal bin Abdul Jalal (I also wanted to try my 'pantun' skill actually :-)). I attended the wedding ceremony with my friend Selvakumar who came all the way from Kulim. So. Mr. Faisal a.k.a Jinggo, the 'pantun' above says thank you and the photos below are captured for our friends who couldn't come to your wedding to see.

Photo 01: The couple walk to the dais.

Photo02: The bride and bridegroom depict their felicity on the dais.

Photo 03: Who else... Farish and Selva, the two special guests :-)

Photo 04: Their smiles describe their... (fill in the blank)

Photo 05: The V.I.P's car

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>> A short but precious video <<

>> A short but precious video << ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Kalau merendam biji selasih,
Minum mari dalam cawan,
Sudah jodoh bertemu kasih,
Laksana paku lekat di papan.

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Quick Info:

PANTUN (PANTOUM), a form of verse of Malay origin. An imitation of the form has been adopted in French and also in English verse, where it is known as "pantoum." The Malay pantun is a quatrain, the first and third and the second and fourth lines of which rhyme.>> read more...

My Artocarpus Altilis has got a baby!

Finally, after long periods of waiting, my only one bread fruit (buah sukun in Malay) has produced its first fruit. I planted the tree in year 2004 and at that time she was a cute skinny little tree. Now she has grown up... Ohh... so touching...

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Knowledge Bite:
Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a tree and fruit native to the Malay Peninsula and western Pacific islands. It has also been widely planted in tropical regions elsewhere. It was collected and distributed by Lieutenant William Bligh as one of the botanical samples collected by HMS BountyBritish slaves in the West Indies. in the late 18th century, on a quest for cheap, high-energy food sources for British slaves in the West Indies. ( Read more )
(Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Can you see the 'egg-shaped' green little baby?

Looking at 'the baby' from beneath...

The second baby that only I realised when I was zooming in the lens.. so, she has two babies actually.

Another achievement...

Here is another one after the one I received from NRIC 2007 at USM last year.

Award: Guru Inovatif, Daerah Hulu Selangor.
Occasion: Hari Guru Peringkat Daerah Hulu Selangor.
Date: 18.06.2008 (Wednesday)
Category: Individual
Title of Innovation: (rahsia/secret)

No not again....

Today (since yesterday actually) is a thinking and planning day for me. I have to revise my routine budget and expenses for this month onwards. I didn't expect for the petrol price to change by a what I call flip flop statements by the leaders and economic thinkers up there. Thank you very much for this immediate long term plan. Malaysiaku Makmur!

My students are sexy, aren't they? (Part II)

THE MINISTER HAS A SAYING:
This is the comment of the minister himself as reported by Yahoo! News...

"It is unfair to punish women and children and the clothes they wear for the act of rapists," The Star daily quoted him as saying. "From what I have seen, clothing is not the main consideration of those who commit despicable acts."

Hishammuddin's aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing protocol, confirmed the comment.

Cikgu Farish: I agree with you Datuk...

My students are sexy, aren't they?

A BIG GULP...

It's quite a long time I have not buy daily newspaper, perhaps it is my way to clear up myself from hectic and tiring political issues and disputes. I just have my internet connection as my source to the news updates and other personal purposes... but I could not help my eyes from dragging themselves to this particular headline 'Sexy Uniforms' in Malaysia Yahoo! website...

Oo oh... never make early judgment on me please... I am not a pervert and not a pornographic addict either... It's the issue that gave me a punch... Dusyumm!!!... "Hey! Wake up teacher! Don't you realise you have sexy students around! Come on, help yourself with such pleasure!..."

Ha ha... my goodness, for so long I have been a teacher, only this time some people out of the classroom have had their eyes on my students 'boobs' and claimed they are sexy... How come this people can see but I cannot see... I think something is wrong with my eyes that requires me to go for a check up... or.... something is wrong with those people?

THE NEWS:

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21, 2008 (AFP) - A Malaysian Islamic group on Wednesday condemned the uniform worn by girls at government schools, saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital sex. "The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it becomes a source of attraction," National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari said in a statement. "It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it," she said, calling for a review of uniform policy so that it did not violate Islamic ideals. In multicultural Malaysia, home to majority-Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, female students at government schools have a choice of wearing a white blouse with a knee-length skirt or pinafore. They may also wear a "baju kurung" which is a traditional long top and skirt, and a headscarf is optional for Malay students. (Read more...)

p/s: Marina Mahathir also has something to say about this issue here

Source:
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080521/
tap-malaysia-religion-islam-education-0193655.html

Happy Teacher's Day...

Happy Teacher's Day to all my friends who are teachers, my former teachers and teachers that visit my blog....

Click the card for bigger view

The crazy of English Language...

I received the poem below from a friend showing certain hard to explain and understand grammatical aspects of English Language. Looks like a joke but make sense. LOL

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
and the plural of cat is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother we never say methren.
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.

Anonymous

Image source:Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:8FamousEnglishPeople.jpg

Now have time...

At last I have a little moment that I can spend and share something in this blog again. Some photos at least... these photos were captured during the implementation of the new invention of mine in the teaching of English language. I am not going to give full description on it until I can see success. The main objective is to help students who are unable to make correct simple sentences in English. Most of my students have problems in constructing simple sentences in English due to lack of vocabulary and lack of knowledge in grammar rules.

Of oil price and Mr. Farish

Oil price in the global market shows no sign of lowering down. It had reached USD 100.00 per barrel. I wonder how long our government can stand for not increasing local oil price. I believe sooner or later there’d be increment for this commodity. As an oil consumer I am the one who make high demand and cause oil price hike. This is due to the amount of litres of petrol consume of my car where I have to travel 120 kilometres daily to work and back home. Therefore, this morning I have taken an initiative to lower down my demand on petroleum. I joined other Malaysian commuters using ‘KTM Komuter’ to work. Hmm… at least I am proud that I have made a minor (major perhaps?) contribution to our economic growth.

The early bird

The advertisement

The daily route

Several good news

Happy New Year everyone!

I received a lot of SMSs yesterday due to the completed rotation of the earth as we call it New Year. Thank you very much for your thoughts friends!. Let's talk something interesting that I see as starting good news for teachers and students. There are many good things await our education sector for this year. They are all going to be implemented this year. According to The Star newspaper here are the good news:

1. School will get an additional teacher for every five classes in the Education Ministry's move to improve the teacher-to-student ratio for secondary schools.

2. Free uniforms for students from families with monthly income of RM1000.00 and below.

3. Technical and vocational education in schools will be revamped to enhance skills to meet requirements of employers.

4. PSD sponsorship and scholarship to be increased from 5000 to 10000 for undergraduate students.

5. Inculcating patriotism: a pilot project will start on national service-type training for students at PMR-level as part of their co-curriculum activities.

6. Free school books for primary and secondary students and no more school fees.