Oxymoron In The Tropics

When I was much younger and more impatient with the world, I had difficulties dealing with people who did 'stupid things'.  Such as : - not releasing an important report because it was incomplete (what was incomplete was a minor detail, such as page numbers). As a result, the report missed its deadline. - not answering a question, even though he knew the answer because ' it wasn't his job '. - teachers inconveniencing students about attendance at certain school activities because they cannot make sensible judgments of their own.  E.g. A school I won't mention set a date for all students to come and update their clubs and societies' files and reports.  So a student who had already completed his work asked to be excused from that particular activity.  The teacher demanded that he attend school that day as 'arahan sudah keluar' (instructions have been issued).  So the student asked what was he to do since he had already finished his work.  The teach...

A junior teacher once asked me... what should she focus on in school? She was finding the multitasking a bit wearing and she was losing focus. She found herself deep in typing worksheets, analyzing numbers, preparing powerpoints and she instinctively felt that she was going the wrong way. She was lucky because she asked a senior teacher. I didn't ask... and I only figured out the answer for myself after about four years of teaching. To give you an idea of how busy I was, just picture a cat running around after its tail...LOL... Anyway, this is what I told her : A teacher's most important duty is to make the student hunger and thirst for knowledge badly enough that they will take charge of their own learning. Not to finish the syllabus or textbook chapters Not to prepare and grade test papers... Not to sit in class and make sure everyone is doing something. And most definitely NOT to condemn a child for his disinterest in his books. I have a secret to share : when a colleag...

What breaks my heart every time it happens is watching a student fail to continue his or her studies because of financial barriers. I have lost count of the times I have personally witnessed a student do well in exams but cannot continue because of money problems.  C was one of the top three students in a previous STPM exam.  She could've easily got a place in university but for reasons known only to her, she chose to help her family in their shop.  Q was in the top TWO in his school in an SPM exam.... but family pressures and financial obligations steered him away from a confirmed place in matriculation.  Now I do not know where he is. J was the TOP student in a school.... but because his father didn't live up to his responsibility as a parent, J dropped out of school. I cry inside when I see these things happening for I know education is their best route to a brighter future.  I feel so so SO frustrated because if it is not their own family that 'drags' them down,...

Finding Love and Acceptance Finding Love and Acceptance Part II Continuing my reflections on how people seek love and acceptance, it is inevitable to talk about what happens when love is rejected. Authors and playwrights like to write about unrequited love because there are so many variations and so much more drama. Besides, such tales sell better than ones where the hero and the heroine meet, fall in love and get married. Yawn. For those who have felt the pain of unrequited love, they know that it is a pain like no other. Imagine feeling strong emotions for someone and that someone doesn't even know you exist. Or perhaps does realise you are alive but isn't interested to know more. It is no wonder that some are driven to send endless smses and make endless calls to the object of their affection. They know that they are probably driving the other person away but they feel frightened of not being able to win the other person's affection, either through inactio...