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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Thank You, Teacher!

Should have said something, but I've said it enough.
By the way my words were faded,
I'd rather waste my time with you.
- Blue and Yellow by The Used.


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Situation: After a class one morning in school.

Class monitor: Stand up! Thank you teacher!

Class: Thank you teacher!
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Do you remember? After EVERY class in school, we were taught to thank our teachers upon their departure from our class. Oh, how sweet the memories. :) But do we remember why we said "thank you" to them? Was it out of genuine gratitude that our teacher had passed something down to us and in doing that, made us more knowledgeable, and overall better people? Or did we say it just because "that's what you do when the teacher exits the class"?

I'm not sure about you guys, but upon reflecting, I have found that I am in the latter category. There was nothing genuine, nothing honest in my "thank you teacher" for the whole of my 11 years of primary and secondary education. I've finally found the true meaning of those words, mere words, in tertiary education, where there's no class monitor to order you to stand up and greet the lecturer. If you want to give greetings, then it's because you truly want to. The same goes for thanking the lecturers. The situation depicted above does not happen in lecture halls. If you wanted to show your gratitude to the lecturer, then you would have to do it on your own effort.

The words "Thank You Teacher" carry a very big meaning. When you say that, you are actually expressing your appreciation to your teacher who has sacrificed an hour or two hours of his/her life just to make you a better person, so that you can make your parents proud, so that you can fulfill your destiny, so that you may realise your true potential and be great and take your nation to greater heights. You should not be saying it just because... That's not the way it should be.

Teaching, to me, is the most under appreciated profession there is, especially primary school teachers. They may be looked down upon in society, but their responsibility and significance towards the world is as high as any honorary Pullitzer-prize winning Professor, because if that Pullitzer-prize winning Professor did not have a teacher when he/she was young, there is no way that he/she could have achieved whatever achievements that have come his/her way. Yet, most of us cannot even remember the names of our primary school teachers, let alone acknowledge them for our accomplishments. (I am guilty of this too).

As a future teacher, I need to pledge to make my students understand the importance of the words "Thank You Teacher", because that will lead to a future generation of better people, and in making that, creating a better society. A better society creates a stronger nation. What more can we ask for, right?

So here's to my past teachers who have taught me so well until I have become the person that I am today. "Thank You Teacher!!!"

Dialah pemberi paling setia
Tiap akar ilmu miliknya
Pelita dan lampu segala
Untuk manusia sebelum manjadi dewasa.

Dialah ibu dialah bapa juga sahabat
Alur kesetiaan mengalirkan nasihat
Pemimpin yang ditauliahkan segala umat
Seribu tahun katanya menjadi hikmat.

Jika hari ini seorang Perdana Menteri berkuasa
Jika hari ini seorang Raja menaiki takhta
Jika hari ini seorang Presiden sebuah negara
Jika hari ini seorang ulama yang mulia
Jika hari ini seorang peguam menang bicara
Jika hari ini seorang penulis terkemuka
Jika hari ini siapa saja menjadi dewasa;
Sejarahnya dimulakan oleh seorang guru biasa
Dengan lembut sabarnya mengajar tulis-baca.

Di mana-mana dia berdiri di muka muridnya
Di sebuah sekolah mewah di Ibu Kota
Di bangunan tua sekolah Hulu Terengganu
Dia adalah guru mewakili seribu buku;
Semakin terpencil duduknya di ceruk desa
Semakin bererti tugasnya kepada negara.

Jadilah apa pun pada akhir kehidupanmu, guruku
Budi yang diapungkan di dulang ilmu
Panggilan keramat "cikgu" kekal terpahat
Menjadi kenangan ke akhir hayat.
Nukilan SN Dato Usman Awang

Assalamualaikum and good day!

Friday, April 24, 2009

ELOP With Me!!

Between the future and the past tense, lies the present in the distance.. - This is who we are, Hawthorne Heights.

Yo, so check it out. I'm posting my reflection on the English Language Outreach Programme (ELOP) here. Sorry for the lack of creativity in the use of language. I just did it the night before I had to pass it up, so it was a rush job. But I still managed to speak truthfully about it. Here it is.

I went to SK Titi Tok Bandar, Kangar, Perlis on the 17th of April 2009 for the TESL Cohort 2 Outreach Programme. Over there, I learned a lot of things. First of all, the programme brought me back to my younger days when I was a primary school lad. Something that really made me get goose bumps was when I was MC-ing the opening ceremony, and I greeted them like so. “Assalamualaikum and a very good morning to all of you.” And the reply was an overwhelming “WAALAIKUMUSSALAM WARAHMATULLAHI WABARAKATU CIKGU!” complete with song and all. That really reminded me of the time when I was their age and I greeted my teachers like that. Then, during our activities, I found that handling children was really a challenge. Controlling the standard 6 class was hard and keeping them focussed at the task at hand was also a challenge. I couldn’t imagine how it must be like handling the lower standards which have an even shorter attention span. Besides that, I also learned the reality that some students can’t understand English. Some can’t even read, like one student in our class. I had to accept that people like that existed and it was my job to make them succeed in life. That won’t be an easy job, but then again, who ever said teaching was an easy profession, right? Besides that, I felt an overpowering sense of joy when I got to help a few of my students understand the story which was given to them. I hope I don’t lose this sense of joy when I start teaching, because to me, that is the major motivator for teachers to continue teaching. That sense of fulfillment, there’s truly nothing else like it. There is one more thing that I would like to mention. It is the feeling of being appreciated when the students came and greeted us at the mosque when we went for our Friday prayers there. They all came down from the mosque and shook our hands while the Khatib was reciting the khutbah. This act beyond doubt touched us in a very deep way, and we, I, look forward to being a teacher even more so now than I ever was before.


Pictures will be uploaded at a later date, when the Internet connection isn't crappy..

Salam perpaduan!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Friends?

Mislike me not for my complexion...- Prince of Morocco (Merchant of Venice)

This is just something that has been circulating around myspace, and I thought to myself, "Why not put it as an entry in your blog Anak Pak Man?"
And so, here it is..

"FAKE FRiENDS: Never ask for food.




REAl FRiENDS: are the reason you have no food.





FAKE FRiENDS: Call your parents Mr/Mrs
REAl FRiENDS: Call your parents DAD/MOM

FAKE FRiENDS: bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong.

REAl FRiENDS: Would sit next to you sayin "Damn ... we fucked up ... but that shit was fun!"

FAKE FRiENDS: have never seen you cry.

REAl FRiENDS: cry with you

FAKE FRiENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days and then give them back.

REAl FRiENDS: keep your shit so long they forget its yours.





FAKE FRiENDS: know a few things about you.

REAl FRiENDS: Could write a book about you with direct quotes from you.





FAKE FRiENDS: Will leave you behind if that is what the crowd is doing.

REAl FRiENDS: Will kick the whole crowd's ass.





FAKE FRiENDS: Would knock on your front door.

REAl FRiENDS: Would walk right in and say "I'M HOME!"

FAKE FRiENDS: Are for awhile.

REAl FRiENDS: Are for life.





FAKE FRiENDS: will talk shit to the person who talks shit about you.

REAl FRiENDS: Will knock the fuck out of them."

That is all..
Owh, and another thing. I'll be posting on the Outreach programme soon enough..
Just sit tight boys and girls!
adieu~~

Friday, April 10, 2009

The Fingers Behind This Keyboard Relieve The Failure

Hello there, the angel from my nightmare, the shadow in the background of the mourge..

When you arrive home after not coming home since forever (seems like it), you would really love to arrive home to warm hugs from your family.. And that was just what I got from my father. huhu ;')
Missed him to bits. My mother is more conservative when it comes to conveying emotion. I don't mind really, because I know she loves me no matter what. I love you guys! *hugs*

"Yo dude, what's up with the emo alluva sudden??" What? Is it wrong for me to love my parents (my brothers unexcluded of course) and announce that very true fact to the world? Last time I checked, there was no Law prohibiting me from doing that.

As you can all guess, I've returned to my humble abode for the weekend. To disclose you guys, it's not even a full weekend yo. I'm only staying here for one night. Tomorrow morning I'll be off to Penang again. *Sad*. I really miss the carefree spirit when I am at home. Here, I feel like I've left all my burdens at the institute and here, I am just plain old (young) Abang, unencumbered by my responsibilities back at Bukit Coombe. *Sigh*. Just thinking about it all makes my head feel like maggi-leftover-from-last-night-when-you-thought-you-were-starving-to-death-but-after-cooking-it-you-lost-your-appetite. Thus, I won't think about it. Genius solution, no?? *Laughs hollowly*

But seriously, it's great to be around family. Yeah you can have great friends, but you only have ONE family, tied together by the very blood that runs inside your veins and arteries and cappillaries. You should not hate your family, because at the end of the day, they really ARE all you have. No one would sacrifice so much for another person if they were not their family. (I've lost my point here. No thesis statement, making this entry a bad one.)

Basically, I just want to say that I love being home, not having to stress out about English Language Outreach Programme (which I have "creatively" abbreviated to ELOP.. Get it? Elope?? hehe), Language Camp (I've been calling it LC for LC 135, the elegant motorcycle), Merchant of Venice (I'm actually looking forward to that one), Lela Mayang Drama (serves me right for being gila glamour..huhu) and all the other shiz i've gotta sort out.. Adeyh~ >__<" Assalamualaikum and salam muhibbah!!

p/s :- After rereading the post, I have realised that some of you might not know what ELOP and LC and Lela Mayang are all about.. So check it yo. I'll furnish you guys with the details whenever I get the chance. Promise? [Note that I have put a question mark. I have decided to not promise you, because I might not keep to my word.. It just adds to the mystery, doesn't it? I'm sure you're hitting your keyboards, demanding me to open the juice box which is all them gossipss.. (Macam la hang tu baguih sangat anak pak man oih sampai orang nak demand2 plak..) hehe]
B)


Wednesday, April 8, 2009

In The HQ

In sooth, I know not why I am so sad..


Maybe I'll apologize for not posting any updates for so long..
Let me deliberate for a while..
............
You know what?
Nah~ I don't want to..
XD

"Anakpakman! You've got a TONNE of work to do, and its already 1.25am! *Looks at wristwatch just to be sure but then remembers that watch is broken*", says my inner self.

I don't know about y'all, but I like listening to myself. I do have a point, sometimes.
Take now, for instance. I have really got to get back to doing work..
I'm posting this just because.
.
.
.
Okay! I'll admit it! I missed you guys!
It's just because I've been so busy lately, I haven't had the time to even THINK about posting a new one. Yeah yeah, "busy la konon.." I know that excuse has been used to death and reincarnated and died again a gejillion times before, but that's the fact. Take it or leave it.

I'll leave you guys with a poem I have just written for my Language Description class. Subsequently, this just happens to be the first real poem I've written.

This Long Hour

As we sit in this dreary class
The eyes have started to reckon
That day has turned to night
They try to block out the light

The mind doesn't consent
But the eyes stay adamant
That there is nothing else to see
Into the eyelids they try to flee

The man tries his utter best
To stop from there being a snooze fest
But try as he may it is all in vain
As the students fall asleep again

*Fin*

Excuse the comical nature of it. And its length (or lack of it). It is open for interpretation, but the 3rd stanza sorta spoils it for those critical thinkers out there. Oh, and by the way, I'm not going to use this poem in class. I'm afraid I'll get kicked out of class for writing such honest sh*t.
*Sigh*
Now the part that I don't like. Goodbyes.
Oh well, fare ye well a while!