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...

Sigh, it's that time again.... of choices, dilemmas, adjustments and ANGST. Yesterday was a deadline for the Form Six Academic Teacher Post applicants to verify their data with the Unit Naik Pangkat (Promotions Unit?) of the Sabah Edu Dept. As I have already moved to the District Education Office, I had to contact my previous school to do the verification. The teachers were whispering about a possible appointment briefing in March or April. Hmmm, wonder what that would mean for me. A Senior Assistant friend of mine sat for an hour, unloading all her grief related to this promotional exercise. There were teachers who applied for posts in Phase One but didn't get any offer, while others who applied in Phase Two were given offers. So the aggrieved teachers were complaining to her, asking why how who what and whyyyyy ...( imagine sad eyes and upset hearts ). I think (my own personal opinion, okay??) that this may have happened because a number of teachers in Phase One turned ...

I should be happy....I get requests to add friends almost every day. But how can I be happy when these requests come from Mawar Putih, Duitbah Dragon, Shmily Love, Mary Mz, Hellstrom, Freddie Mercury, Shadowrunner Daus, Friday Starz and the list goes on and on. I thought Freddie Mercury died a long time ago. I've tried squinting at the pictures but they are usually taken at odd angles (the current craze is to make your eyes look super big and your chin almost embedded into your neck) or of various body parts (e.g. one eye, half a forehead or a foot). I've also got requests from babies (well, the pictures are of babies... and the names are cutesy ones like BubbleBee or AngelPuff). Although I didn't think the babies actually typed out their requests. I usually don't bother with those who have 'killer' combinations of weird nicks and weirder pictures (a skull, an X, a burger, Spongebob etc). And of course, there are requests from people whose faces I don't know...

... you have so much work to do that you forget mealtimes. ... you have so much data to compile that you compile more than you analyse. ....you have so many emails to download that you forget which folder you put them in. ....you eat drink breathe live your work till you can't even blog! &*^%$#%&**&@&%^$!!!!!!