updates

Salaam. It has been nearly a month I think since I last wrote anything onto this blog. July - is always a terribly busy time of the year for me... this is the time when all the PEKA (Science Practical Assessment) assessors would be after us science teachers for the students PEKA marks for both SPM and S=PMR. And I am involved with both. This is the time that I would sudenly realise that one or two of my nincampoops students have not submitted their work at all. Also for the very slow and weak classes, I must make sure that they produce something to get minimal marks at least. I never minded teaching, but its the chasing after students to get their lab reports that tire me off.

No matter how I try to keep abreast with the work that needs doing in this month, year after year, I will be hard pressed for time. This is the month (or just prior to this), that class teachers meet up with parents for a report of their children's performance. And yes...I am a class teacher as well. From collecting the marks, preparing the mark sheet, right up to meeting the parents themselves, can be quite stressful. We have to make sure that the marks that are keyed in are correct, but what is worse is chasing after the subject teachers for marks, and the odd one or two students for their report cards, just to be sure we meet the deadline for passing up the report cards to be signed by the administrators and returned to us before the parent-teacher day! Stressful...as a result, i was so exhausted and even blacked out in school one afternoon...bummer!!

This is the time too that the third monthly test papers needs to be prepared. By right I should be reprieved this month, considering I had prepared the midyear exam papers. But upon looking at my colleague who is pregnant, and as her Science Panel Chief, I have not the heart to let her carry that burden on top of the obvious burden she is carrying in her now. So, yet again, I assume the responsibility, at least in the name of frienship. Same goes with Biology paper. And, truth be told, I have yet to submit those papers for printing. But they will be ready, God Willing. I adhere this time to the saying, "IF not for the last minute jobs, many things would not be done," hahaha...lame excuse I know..

Still there is lots to rejoice in this month. Big brother Apek's birthday celebration was a blast. I finally got the chance to show off (hmmm) and try out the camera on my new Samsung smartphone. Got the chance to meet up with all my sisters and brothers too...something I always look forward too, not forgetting the food.

Then, it was also report card day for both my boys. Reports that came back make m ever more grateful to God for having them. Ashraf as usual with his string of all As, with his deeniyah scoring an almost perfect 100% score, 97 ++%...really I was and still impressed. As for his academics, all A1s except you know what...Biology! and Add. Maths. Well done son. And as for my little baby, he scored 4As for his UPSR subject, getting a B for BM. But as the teacher told me, no one got an A because the particular teacher had set an "extra" difficult paper - for what purpose I fail to see. I would rather he set a paper in line with the national exam standards and format. Well, he has his own reasons I suppose. But the best part, my baby Zakiy got 1st position in class this time, for the second time, You know what, I think he is slowly maturing, and catching up with his brother.

Still more to come, Finally I got the agreement letter to my novel. And the last information is that, God Willing the book will be out in the market in 3 weeks time. Look out for it okay. And please please please, support my first novel. Get them for your children, for your friend's children, for yourselves if need be hahaha...Please pray for me....and my first born novel...more on this later. But for now, I am looking forward to unwind with my siblings at mom's birthday potluck party tonight...inshaallah.

p/s: Uncle, I strive to update this blog for you and auntie ok...smiles...

My new Samsung i780

Salaam. You know what? I am so excited that as of yesterday, 29/06/08, I am the proud owner of a beautiful. slick black Samsung SGH i780 pda phone. Can't really believe I was actually getting it...

It happened that I am always getting hand-me-down pdas from hubby, except of course my 1st ever e-book which I won from the Pertandingan Membina Rancangan Mengajar together with Cikgu Karim fr SMK Kg Jawa.

Since then, hubby, everytime he wanted to change to a new pda, would hand down his old one, and then buys a new one for himself. Since I am not really pda savvy, I am normally just happy enough to accept whatever is given to me..especially appreciate the fact that I can do my writing, wherever I am and then to synch into my computer.

At first it didn't bother me much that after using the 2nd hand pda after some time, it starts giving me minor but irritating problems. And what is more, before it got too irritating, hubby was ready to get another new one... another, more recent hand-me-down for me. And I was happy again.

But I realise that once the problem starts, I cant enjoy the gadget anymore. And i get rather put off to even try to rectify the problem. It is like I simply give up because it is just a hand-me-down and so I can't really pinpoint when the damage originally started.

So when my present palm treo 650 started giving me problems bit by bit, I got really put off...especially when it started to switch off on its own. I thought deep and hard, and told hubby I want a new pda of my own - first hand this time!

Hubby then briefed me about the latest palm one pda - the palm centro. I was open minded, lets go and check it out. So off we went to Megamall IT World. The palm centro cost RM1300 - okay, affordable. Hubby had agreed to top up the price difference after rm1000. I was thinking 300 he could afford. But then suddenly, out of the blues, hubby suggested the samsung i780 pda. It costs a bit more than 1300.

One look at the slim, slick blak pda I was hooked to the looks. Yet I had to trust hubby about its functionality and so on and so forth. I was told of its multi functionality...3G, wi-fi, GPS - all terms I hear often enough, but have no idea what they are about. And what encouraged me more was the boys eager response to my choosing this pda. So the original plan to get a palm centro was changed to owning a black samsung.

So the pda is being charged now ..need to go for another 2 hours. And afer that I still cant use it..till big son Ashraf teaches me how to.

So, till then, I will try and keep the progress of my new pda updated...

Seeing that I am still awake, I might as well wait for the finals UEFA cup - Germany versus Spain....go Spain...

Errata

Salam. Due to certain reasons, the latest post was taken off this blog. Thank you for your viewpoints...

Busy World, Busy People

Recently I received an SMS text from a friend whom I have not been in contact with for a long time. The text just read this, "Busy World, Busy People".

And you know what? That simple message made me stop in my tracks. I am just a mere teacher, yet someone thinks I have been too busy to notice friends around me who might be missing my company, or my hello. It came as a realisation to me, how fast paced our life has become, and how sad the whole situation is. Everyone is so rushed for time, we hear constantly that we should manage our time wisely and prioritise our tasks. Unfortunately, we prioritise according to what that brings us profit/benefit. Just taking time to smell the roses, to pick up the phone and say "hi", is no longer particularly high up in our list.

I am just a simple teacher. Today marks the last day of the midyear school break. 14 days of no schooling, no teaching. But on the last day of school I brought back with me 11 sets of exam papers to be marked! In between, because it is a holiday, I had to make time for traveling - first to JB and then to KB to watch my son participate in his nasyid competition. That is time that needed to be allocated for traveling. Then, there was this day or two when I was feeling a wee bit under the weather and couldn't do anything much. Suddenly, before I know it, school holidays are over. And I find myself asking the question - when do I get the time to smell the roses, or to just watch the sun set or to just sit doing nothing but watch my kids play at the seaside/on the field? What with the rush between marking papers and traveling, I find myself just as exhausted as when I was before the school holidays.

So my mind wonders off to those high profiled individuals...morning meetings and evening discussions, the non stop business phone calls, the business emails to be answered, the papers to be completed and office tasks to be finished. Why are we so driven to rush, rush, rush...how did this come about? Why has everything else become so important, but the actions and efforts that can enhance our human relationships get progressively less and less attended to?

At the end of the day, when we claim to have made it, to have succeeded in life, I just hope that we dont turn around and look around us, only to find that there is nobody, no one beside us to share in our success, that we have gone up there ...only to find ourselves alone up there! I can only pray, that I never receive another such SMS with an added clause: busy world, busy people, lonely people...and God knows Best!

The Beauty of Time

It is now 1316. Wednesday,28/5/08. I am alone in Johor. Nothing much to do, nowhere special to go. The quiet surrounding seems to be very peaceful to me, and oh..for the luxury of having my own time to do as I please. And certainly what pleases me most is having the time to write...my mind, my thoughts, my opinion. Write and write and continue writing...
My son Ashraf, he would be the first to agree with me how much school demands of our time, he as a student, and I as a teacher. Almost all my time is dedicated to doing school work, and when the weekends come, it is devoted to becoming the driver/maid. Writing becomes a dream only. But now the school holidays are here, and what more I am alone here in Johor, I find myself very focused and you know what, this is my 3rd post in a row that I am posting.
I hope this fever stays on, and I pray that once I am back, I will still have precious time like now to do my writing...what a way to release all my stress..aah for the love of writing!
Alas...11 piles of exam papers await me at home...

Teacher's Day - ACS Style

Last Friday, 23/5/08, the last day of the first semester, we celebrated our Teacher's Day celebration. On the whole, it was a great celebration - some new innovations on the agenda. I particularly liked the multimedia show..an insight to the goings on in school throughout the year. Great job done - oklah...I will mention the names, Darleen and Amelia, and all the Fraternity club AJKs! Heartiest congratulations on a task well executed.

The point that I am interested to highlight though is this...you know what? On that particular day, we were instructed to wear our formal batik attire, the red silk batik designed specifically custom made to be made the ACS formal batik attire/uniform for teachers. Now if that wasnt an issue in itself. When suggestions were made to have teachers to wear a common formal batik attire, I was probably the only Malay teacher opposed to the suggestion. As to the other non malay teachers, quite a few objected as well. I wasn't particularly interested to be in uniform, it felt to me like a loss of one's individuality. Finally, a vote was made, and it was in favour of having that formal batik uniform - red in colour, never my favourite colour. But, a decision is a decision made, and I bow to the unanimous vote..., after all it was just an issue of batik dressing, the fashion is left optional to us. So I figured that it doesnt really affect my principles, except for my distaste to the colour red. This formal uniform is to be worn on special occasion, such as on this Teacher's Day celebration.

A bit about this batik wearing day. I think everyone knows by now that this is the idea of Pak Lah, in memory of his late wife, who championed the Malaysian batik industry. And this instruction is to be acknowledged by all government employees - from the highest ranking right down the line.

And so, on this auspicious teacher's day, reluctantly I wore my red batik baju kurung, telling myself it is a directive from the head of the government himself (...more frighteningly... from mdm Darleen hahahah...gotcha). But ironically, most ironic, in ACS, I was immensely surprised to witness some teachers not wearing the formal batik attire. And most disconcerting was that, those that purposely or unpurposely did not wear this batik were the higher ranking administrators...which made me wonder why? I have heard prior to this. that some teachers were not too happy with the choice of colours...what??then why did you guys agree with the colour in the first place? Once a vote is made, then the decision stands, over riding individual preference. And what is worse..was that, those who did not wear the formal batik were mostly the non malay teachers...how come, why so? My mind strays, I dont voice it out, but I am putting it down here on my personal blog. Is it because you guys associate it with something Malay? Perhaps it used to be...but now it is a nation's issue..propagated by the Premier himself. Maybe you guys do not like the pattern, the colour choice, but surely, it is not big deal to get another batik design...as long as it is batik..just to get into the mood of unity on that day.

Maybe some will argue that it is not compulsory. Well maybe so...but it is propagated and made as instruction by the PM, so as far as I can say, at least, at the very least. the administrators should show. even just apparently so, their support of the government's campaign. After all. they are the administrators, what they do, reflect the school and affect the other staff members. If an administrator does not see it in her/him to show respect for the government's campaign, what more is to be expected of the teachers...the students? You guys are the administrators, decision makers of the school, and the top liners who are supposedly the ones who preach implementation of the various government policies. I remember everytime a teacher is found to be lacking in his/her service, it will be droned into his ear. "If you don't feel you are up to doing this job, then leave...change profession". Then perhaps it should be said too that, "If you as administrators cant find it in you to appear to be supporting the government's campaign, even if seemingly so... then shouldnt you...." It is said that once you gain power in the government, then the more you have to comply to their commands, or else....It is for this very reason, that many people refrain from working with the government...any government today for that matter.

We are teachers, first and foremost. What we do, what we say, knowingly, or unknowingly, are being watched and evaluated by our students. Sometimes, I begin to glimpse the reason why some students here just dont seem to have the respect for other people's race and culture, and forever insisting on theirs. But...it is no longer that..the batik is now a national issue...a Malaysian issue, there is no need to prove that you have your own culture at this point...Wallahualam.

APC

Last Thursday, 22/5/2008, I finally went to Goldcourse Hotel in Klang for the APC award ceremony (see previous posts). Johari, Azman and Noradila car pooled with me, and we had Johari driving my vehicle...(thank God..on the way back, the town was heavily jammed). We left school in time to reach the hotel in Klang by 8 am. Once there, the others, Rajamokan, Mr. Surinder, Mr. Lee Tsai Fui and Jaja were alreaday there. They had come on their own.

I am not always comfortable in formal situations, but upon registration, I was happy to be greeted by so many friends from my previous schools - especially the teachers who were in my Science Panitia once when I was head of the Science panel in SMKKJ - Vanitha was there, and so were Romizah, Shafiqah, Rupitah, Cikgu Mat Aris, and a few others, whose names have escaped me right now. I am so glad they are getting the award too (APC = Anugerah Perkhidmatan Cemerlang/Excellent Service Award) for their tireless effort in teaching. Vanitha and Rumizah once worked with me in the Science Panel, and I must admit I admire their dilligence and commitment to their jobs. I am just glad that their efforts are being recognised finally.

We, the ACSians were placed upstairs in the hall, table 57. As usual, speeches were made by the VIPS. As we listened and waited, the butterflies in my stomach grew in numbers and fluttered wildly within. As I said, I am never comfortable in formal situations, where protocol must be observed, and even worse when I have to go upstage...for any reason at all. I prefer to be just one of the backbenchers...anytime. Thank God, messages from friends encouraging me proved useful in calming my nerves.



And then, as usual, the barrage of speeches ensued. I could see many were not listening, I try to as much as I can. Interesting to find out what our supreme education officers have to say. One comment made by the Selangor Pengarah Pendidikan, Datin Hamidah Nordin, caught my interest, and sparked off my brain into thinking. She made a reference to the present community today who dare speak up, in loud and clear voice, their dissatisfaction with what the government was doing. Point accepted. Then ironically she continued and questioned whose fault is it? that we have created a generation of citizens who dare criticise the government? And, according to her, guess whose fault it is? yup...she blames it on the teachers who have probably built a generation of ingrates.



Excuse me!!! What does the education system in our country really wish to achieve? Just a breed of "yes master", "yes massah" zombies? Just a generation of youngsters who are experts on sucking up? What is wrong in criticising the goverment, if the mass thinks it is erring in its ways? At least it acts as a check and balance mechanism, I should think. That the citizens of Malaysia can see and criticise, is an indicator that the new generation is a thinking one...able to discern what is acceptable and what is not.



And why are we teachers to be blamed? I believe the majority of us teachers adhere to the pledge we take...we realise our position is one that has high impact on the future generation. We adhere to what is good, what is moral, what is true...and we propagate it. And I believe, if the truth sometimes hurt, so it hurts! But the crucial thing is to learn from our mistakes..not blame others ..or what is worse..accuse others, such as us teachers as being the propagators of ingrates. I think that is a wee bit uncalled for. If an unjust is done, it will be seen somehow or rather, sooner or later, and we teachers certainly don't need to highlight it.

As a teacher, I am a paid employee, meaning I am paid for the service I render...and by saying so, what I do for my living, what my relationship is with my employer, should not, in any way, undermine my freedom of thoughts, the principles I believe in. My movements might be restricted to a certain extent because I work with the government, but certainly not my thoughts. The freedom to think and to discern what we deem good or bad, is our birthright, and as a teacher, I am not prepared to deprive my students of that right. Wallahualam.
P/S: You know what...when i returned to school that afternoon, the most beautiful hand bouquet of macdonald's lilies were waiting for me on my table..it was only signed from a "you know who". Boy..if I wasn't the envy of the day! Well You Know Who..you know who you are, thank you so very much...it was such a lovely and most unexpected surprise. Needless to say, it made this happy day for me, almost perfect...yea.. a bouquet for teacher Hafizah...