Muslims Are Not Malays

How I wish I had a photo for this blog entry!

Anyway, it is 1 September 2008, 7.05 am. I did try to sleep but I simply could not get back to the dream world.....it was as though I had missed the train to the dream world.

It is the first day of Ramadhan and before I start to rattle on about Islam, the teachings of Islam and the cultures of the different nations that embrace Islam; I had better talk about why Muslims are not Malays.

Firstly, have you tried looking at someone without automatically diverting your thoughts to his race? Secondly, are you in the habit of selecting your friends based on their colour? Next, does it hurt you if you see or hear someone curse or talk bad about another person by mentioning the person's race? eg "Mamak" or "Cina....." or "India...." I consider it a blasphemy.

Anyone can embrace Islam and Islam does not say that it is mandatory to change one's name after embracing this religion.

You still have the same parents, respect them.
You can still use chopsticks for eating, who says you must change that culture?
You can still cook and eat with your parents, they are not dirty.
You can marry any Muslim, not necessarily a Malay.
You just change your aqidah, which requires you to understand that whatever you do, the aim is to please Allah, not a person or the ringgit notes. That is the final destination!

To all Muslims , Happy Fasting , this is more important than Hari Raya. Yes, to Iskandar Zulkarnain The Emperor too....

I Am Just Passing By

A friend of mine just lost her father last night.

I was in tears when I left her house this morning after listening to Pn Noraidah's explanation of our friend's father's 'final moments'.

It made me think of my destiny which I can't foretell when exactly it's going to take place.

About 15 days ago, I was in the hospital and here I am today, able to enjoy 85 per cent of my normal life which I used to have. In fact, after I return to work, I am even happier than before. Thursday was a 'trial', Friday was getting more real and Saturday was a good one! Of course, I met two people who made statements like "The surgery was only a minor one, right?" and "OK, there's work for you...". Hey, please learn to be more understanding!

Never mind, back to my destiny.

43 years have passed and I have breathed in the wonderful oxygen (and other gases) , and perhaps I should also add that I have escaped a number of mishaps unscathed. Let's have a quick check at the list of events that I may have encountered along my 'path':

-went to school, yes; went to uni(s), yes;
-fell in love, yes; fell out of love, thank God no;
-have a family, yes; have a career, yes;
-hate my workplace, no 'coz hate is a strong word;
-lost my loved ones, yes I lost my father 10 years ago and my grandparents whom I adored so much and my uncles (I loved them too);
-financial difficulties, yes; receiving unexpected 'durian runtuh' ( a windfall), yes 3 times at least excluding the bonus for the government servants (ehem, be nice to me this month);
-lost my belongings, ..... (can someone answer this one for me?),
-feeling appreciated, yes; feeling neglected, unfortunately yes also;
-being slim, yes (not so long ago); being not so slim,.....(answer this one for me, please).................oh, the list goes on.

When I reach my destiny, I wish that I'll be ushered to the door marked 'Heaven'. But for now, I need to do the right things, and I shall always want to do just that. Excuse me, let me pass now.

*I wish to offer my condolences to Pn Anita and her family (I know Hanani Hani F2 and Hazwani Hani F3).

Two Heads Are Better Than One!

What a melodious voice that was heard today at the Dynasty, Perangsang Templer Golf Club (at about 5.20 pm).

My boss, the head of SEMEKAR showed off her singing talent, much to our surprise! She sang a duet with the (ex) head prefect of our school.

I'm sure you wish you were there!.........

Time Flies and That Sacrifice

A Sacrifice?

With Aaron on 29 August 2007

A Year Later on 27 August 2008

T Mei Jun, the Sweet 17, with yours truly.

I sang a birthday song on 29 August 2007 and it seemed as though it happened only yesterday.........

T Mei Jun and H Carl Choon are a pair of twins , who were born two days before Merdeka in 1991. What a wonderful event to commemorate the Independence Day!

Of course, if you analyse the photos above, you will notice that time simply flies!

Just hope that they will be :
- not just a pretty face,
- able to think on their feet,
- a bright spark,
- a whizz-kid,
- able to keep their head(s), and last but not least,
I also hope that they will each have a good head for figures, like Mr T, their A Math teacher.

Then, what about the sacrifice? Only Carl Choon knows what it means........

Nightmare

Thursday 28 August 2008 - 7.00 pm

Even before I went to register at the Selayang Hospital on 14 August 2008, I was having sweet dreams about so many things. Dreams? - the whats and whys - A dream is an imaginary series of events that you experience in your mind while you are asleep. The other definition is - a dream is also something which you often think about because you would like it to happen.

I guess I never stop dreaming (both types of dream).

But last night, after convincing myself that I was fit enough to test the 'treacherous waters' of life outside my safe home, I decided to retire at 12.30 am. (I know, Pn Mastura was the first person to read my latest blog post because she read it a few minutes after that,.... hi! Mas!)

To my surprise, this time sleep was difficult and almost impossible!

I got up at 3.30 am, feeling my head spinning and heavy. I switched on the light and turned off the fan. Oh, no progress! My sympathetic partner got up to give his moral support but I knew that I should not disturb his sleep. I got up and found a glass of water and quickly I took two panadols. Not much progress....

I went out of my bedroom and arranged a few cushions on the living room floor and there I was, dozing off slowly.

The bad news was that the dream that I had, involved my boss and my colleagues and I was forced to solve a mystery that really baffled me! It was a NIGHTMARE!

When I finally got up at 6.00 am, my better half checked my temperature and he recommended that I take a bath and see if I was really fit to go to work.

You can guess what I finally decided to do.

Those Beautiful Smiles

HCChoon, CKMing, YBYoong (in front), Joel, Evon (in front), ACheok's friend, ACheok, PhunaYM, LR Fuh and FPKim."Hello! Hello!", "Teacher!, teacher!"

I was performing my zohor prayer but it was very clear that I heard the students' voices calling from the gate. The voices were familiar to me.

My daughter , Zainab, who escaped the afternoon Agama class, came to the rescue by announcing, "Tunggu sekejap ye!"

As soon as I finished praying, I came out of the house to welcome a group of students from 5A and one from 5ML to my house. As a few workers were busily working with the tiles in the bathrooms, I had to apologise for the inconvenience and instead, I offered them to sit / stand outside, .....it was improper but I hoped they didn't mind.

Anyhow, I convinced them that I would go back to work tomorrow. Someone mentioned "Alhamdulillah!" even though initially they argued that I should rest more. I guess I should be doing just that but I have some unfinished business to attend to.

Thank you for visiting me, I don't mind others who could only send messages to me, knowing that they are simply busy and normally they come to visit on Fridays (favourite day).

The photo above was taken by the boy, or the young man in the picture (far right) below. He's AaronKJF. Smile!

Patience

Wednesday- 11.20 pm
Patience. Something which I learn to accept and to practise it in my life.

All praise to God who understands my level of patience and thank you for giving me a partner who makes me understand how to put it into practice. In other words, walk my talk. Or do what I preach.

Ramadhan is a month that is synonym to the learning and practise of patience. Even though I have secretly and openly learned about patience, (for more than 40 years), I find every new day as another challenge to my building of character. I remember telling someone just now about my character, I wonder if that someone shares the same opinion but time will tell and the truth shall prevail.

Thank you to Mr Right for his understanding and perseverance in 'moulding' my character. Thank you!

It's Wednesday, Mr Anwar

It is 5 minutes to 1 am, Wednesday 27 August 2008. I can't sleep yet.

It must be either because I am already immune to the medicine , or because of the discomforts which I have to bear at the moment, or sadly because I have been overdosed by too much sleep during the day.

As I was checking on my handset, I saw an unread message. Phew! I hate this...... , being slow in responding to messages. Why did I not hear any sound?

After writing about my ex-student, who must be 30 years old now, I spent most of my time in bed. Today I did not leave my house at all, it was just like most of the days, lately. So, my lack of activity may have caused the pain, no! no! I think the problem must be in my refusal to take the pain-killer.

I guess I am quite excited with the official results of the Permatang Pauh by-election. Somebody has to win it and this time it is Mr Anwar Ibrahim.

By the way, I am going back to school on Thursday, God Willing! So, see you there............

My Ex-student and Being Responsible

What a quiet Tuesday morning. It was 11 in the morning and I just got up from my morning nap...actually the new medicine given by the doctor yesterday was only making me sleepy. It made me sleep early, hence I could not reply to the messages which I received last night.

About four hours ago, before 7 am, I had to make (frantic) calls to the school to inform them that I would be on leave for the next two days. My arms and tummy still hurt. However, my efforts were in vain. I had to call the person doing relief today...who? me? No, no, the other person, Pn Noor Anisah. Fortunately, even though she was also not in school (she had to go to Kuala Lumpur), the relief duties were already prepared by her. But I knew I had to let Cik Rahimah know about this.

Before taking a bath, I also replied to a message received last night.

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The familiar sound of rain trickling down could be heard faintly. Oh no! My laundry! Hey! I couldn't run!

I made a dash (?!) out of my house , oh Thank God it was only drizzling! No need for me to hurt my body by making fast movements. But as I looked through the gates of my house, I saw a young man riding a motorcycle, obviously he was performing his duties . In a split second, I was able to recall his name, R, a former student of mine, a form 5 student in 1997.

Yes, everything suddenly flashed before me. How I first entered his class, how he was able to influence his friends, how he enjoyed being the big boy (not in size, mind you) compared with the other fifth formers.... as he was already 19 when he sat for SPM, how he talked about his house in Rawang, how he said "Teacher, you are really brilliant" because I got to find his genuine address ....(you see, he had been using another person's address all his life in that school to avoid receiving letters from school), how I heard from another teacher that he had kicked the big dustbin outside a class because he was angry and also how frustrated he was not being able to take part in athletic events as he was already past 18 years of age.

That was one h@#$ of an ex-student of mine!

I must be quite young to be able to recognise my ex-student easily.

Yes, they come in different sizes, bringing with them their own problems and not to forget, their own dignity. Yes! (Again), I wish to emphasize that in a way, I did respect this boy, despite his cranky behaviour.

One good thing about him was that he was a responsible person as he took responsibility for what he did and for what he said. (That can't really explain why he acted foolishly, at times) Strangely, this guy did not like to talk bad about others, not even about his teachers. If he had to say something bad, he would say it sincerely, it may sound rude at that time, but he was speaking the truth.

Will I be telling the same thing about my other ex-students? Or my future ex-students?

The moral of the story is : take pride in your school , your friends, your family and your teachers. When you meet others, don't make any sweeping statement about them (above). Instead, re-evaluate what you have now, take responsibility of what you tell others about your school, your teachers etc.

What you say can hurt other people. Even when you did not mean it.

A Real Progress

Judging from the above photo, one might think that I am as fit as a fiddle. Actually, it was taken two days ago when I had no choice but to reverse the car a few centimeters .

Progress? The car was safely parked. On the other hand, the action that took up 5 seconds to complete resulted in the doer being treated to a light massage on both arms. I felt pain but the caring treatment from my children had soothed the pain.

On a lighter note, my second daughter, Naimah, who is sitting for UPSR tries to break the dull routine of this holiday by baking a cake for us, especially for her brother , Mukhlis, who is going back to his school on Sunday.

Checking through the ingredients, she realizes that we have only one egg...that's not enough to bake one decent cake. Eventually, after a discussion with Aisyah and me ( I suggest mayonnaisse in place of eggs), she puts all the ingredients in a bowl and starts whipping the batter.

Progress? The cake is ready after one hour and before every body in the house knows about its existence, the cake is only a quarter left.

Finally, it is Sunday and it is time to say bye2 to the wonderful holiday. Even though my movements are very restricted, I would like to take Mukhlis back to his school. However, his handset needs to be replaced first.

So, in the morning I went to Parkson Ria with him and we were chauffered by my husband. I did not really scrutinize every handset on display. Instead, I let him choose one which he liked. My husband suggested he get a simple one as the more sophisticated ones have become the targets of those 'thieves'.

Being a typical man he was, (I'm referring to my young man), it took him less than 10 minutes to decide that he only wanted the cheap one which the salesman mentioned to have 'just the bare necessities'. I looked at the brand and design...Hmmm, not bad. Just that, it was cheap.

Progress?

I looked at him, looking for any signs of satisfaction, or otherwise. Yes, indeed he was satisfied and completely sure of his decision (did I ever mention about my sixth-sense?). So, without wasting time, I settled everything and slowly we left the booth , in order to make our next purchase which was 'Essence of Fish With American Ginseng' at a nearby pharmacy.

I was almost dragged by him ( 'cos I was slow and I had to hold on to him) . I whispered to him "I am sorry that I could only get you this handset today, but I am glad you like it". He turned to me and replied, "It's ok, thank you mum. I'll get 10 A1s, I'll try my best, I promise!"

Well, I call that A REAL PROGRESS!!

20.08.2008 (4.04 pm , Wednesday)

It's a magic date! 20th August of 2008. Exactly 5 days after I underwent a simple yet painful operation.

As you can see above, Pn Fauziah, Pn Nuni , myself and Pn Ramlah have given a special pose to capture a special moment together in my humble abode.

My students sometimes pose me an expected question: "Teacher why do you like to take photos?" My answer (when I am sober) is ,"Well, this very second will not repeat itself, so I 'd like to keep it as a remembrance". I widen the scope of 'remembrance' to involve beautiful moments that we wish to reminisce about, one day in our life.

On this special day, I feel a lot stronger, co-incidentally I am also able to perform my solat, 5 times a day, hence it is indeed a special date.

By the way, thank you every one for your support.......To Aisyah: Thank you for today's special menu, which is nasi minyak , ayam masak merah and acar sayur. Hmm, I am hungry now......bye2, time for late lunch.

Home

After last night's defeat, I think our badminton players will come back home, safe and sound minus the victorious celebration on their home ground. Well, that's the norm - to punish the losers with an unsympathetic treatment from our Malaysians.

Come on, surely they deserve a better treatment. Stop criticizing them unless they purposely path their way to the losing end.

As far as our players are concerned, they were in high spirits and they had wanted to win the match as much as you did. Just that they did not come out as Champion this time.

Remember, home is not where you live but where others understand you. Welcome home, guys!

I See Gold!

My mum, sis and brother had just left my room. Now I am again alone with Aisyah.

The second photo was taken yesterday when Pn Mastura was visiting me whereas the first one on top was taken one minute ago. Any difference?

I am actually anxiously waiting for the badminton match between Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan to start as this is going to be a very important match. Too bad there is no tv in this room. If I am not sleeping yet, I guess I should contact home to know the progress. So much is happening outside and I don't mind keeping tab of the latest news.

Hopefully there is a gold medal for Malaysia this time....

Keep Bleeding

The photos didn't turn out well but as you can see Pn Mastura and hubby had come to my hotel room to pay me a visit.

In the other photo, my mum, sis, brother, daughter and son too were in my room, a little later than Pn Mastura. Actually Pn Jamani and Pn Noraidah too had come to see this 'big baby' in the hotel room. We were having a good chat until I forgot to capture this wonderful moment together.

My progress is that I am able to walk at a snail's pace , Blood is still dripping fiercely from one of the wounds, although pain is not greatly felt on that site. My tummy is giving an intermittent pain that I sometimes fear that I will not be released from this hotel soon.

However , the visits from friends and family members have eased the pain greatly because they try to cheer me up and soothe my bleeding heart- no, no I was just exaggerating, my heart is not bleeding. Enough of the bleeding from the wound.

See you soon.

The Op

I am surrounded by tubes which have red liquid running through each of them. I can hardly sit without feeling great pain. Thank God Aisyah is with me to look after this 'baby'.

The hotel is very quiet. I doze off a number of times.

Yesterday, as soon as I published my blog post, a nurse came in, bringing with her a really white dress and cap. "Puan, OT is waiting for you."

"Gosh, my turn, already!" I took a quick shower and immediately put on my new dress.

When I was in the OT, I was transferred to another bed and an oxygen mask was placed over my face. "Puan, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in......"

As soon as I opened my eyes, I felt an extreme pain at the 3 places which were cut by the surgeons. Hey, presto, I finally came out of the OT after 5 hours .

Slowly,I was transported back to my room where my family was waiting for me. Now, I am undergoing the healing process. God Willing I'll be OK.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

It is 10.52 am, Friday morning, 15 August 2008. What a lovely morning!

I am very much alive. Gazing out of the window of this hotel room, there is absolutely nothing that I can see apart from rows of other windows. The shape of this hotel is fabulous , modern, airy (not eerie!) and numb(?) like "There's Been A Death In The Opposite House".

The cute(?) faces of my students (be it the 4ML, 4 MW, 5A or 5KJ students) come to mind during this critical hours. Also the four boys who are now travelling from Kajang to Rembau, to take part in a national level competition.

The nurses come in to check on me every few hours, more often than the doctors whose visits can give me the creeps! It is not my intention to scare you guys, but sometimes their intelligence and ability to communicate politely spurs an overwhelming respect from me. They don't demand any respect, but their mere existence....they've got style! And their professionalism is shown through their conduct (and just to add- through their handwriting too).

I think when I get to go back to school (the time is indefinite?), I should encourage more students to become doctors. I still remember telling the 2 Harapan students to choose medical as their profession (that's way back in 2005). I am sure some of them are now seriously considering it, not because of me, but because they have realised that they are capable of doing it.

Anyway, in one and a half hours, the school bell will ring (shrilly) and the students will begin a journey of 9-day-holiday. Just wishing all of you- a very happy holidays. I sincerely hope everyone will be refreshed on 25 August!

As for yours truly, she is still waiting to be called to the OT. She'll be fine.....God Willing!

What's Up, Doc?

Yesterday evening a woman rang up my husband (why did she use my husband's number, eh?) only to ask to speak to a Puan Haslina. Hey, that's me!

She claimed herself to be a doctor. Hmm, this was the first time I received a call from a doctor. (Well, I mean a doctor who wants to speak about other things instead of, "Hi, how are you Has? Long time no see! What? You are a teacher now?......")

The doctor wanted me to have my holiday earlier than my students and all the school children and school teachers in Malaysia. "Is it ok, Puan?"

I immediately turned to my husband, whose attention was 50% at the Games coverage and 45% at my conversation, "Ok, bang?" The 'bang' is not a sound you hear when your car hits something or when the police are trying to arrest a merciless serial killer. A nod from him was enough to signify an approval.

So, eventually, the night was well-spent checking my to-do list and actually materialising it. I began my multi-tasking at about 8 pm and finally decided to call it a day after 6 hours.

So, guys, no hard feelings.....see you later. Anyway, school holidays start tomorrow. Adios!

"Is this the little girl I carried? Is this the little boy I played with?"

'A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.'

These are the words of wisdom which you can find written on the white board when you are eating in the canteen ( in the teachers' dining area, that is).

I don't object to it, since I am the person who is always expected to scribble something on the white board. Psst..if you have any idea, please share it with me. I might consider it, serious!

When my second boy mentioned about going to a boarding school before sitting for his UPSR, I didn't wish to object, fearing that it might cause an adverse effect on his performance. Alas, the offer letter to the boarding school came in early December 2004. By then, I knew without doubt that I had to let him go.

He took it in his stride , whereas mum had mixed feelings which could only be consoled by the fact that communication was quite easy (the school is not far from our town, actually). Furthermore, handsets were and are still secretly allowed. Obviously, it is an open secret which every Tom, Dick and Harry in the school knows. On the other hand, the impact of thefts or losses is supposed to be born by the owner of the handset. Well, I guess it is fair enough since the onus is always on the owner to take good care of their belongings.

The last sentence above holds true in other schools too. Remarks like "Why are you so careless?!" are the norm when you lose something.

OK back to the words of wisdom, now I might 'lose' more children because I have a daughter who is leaving primary school ; not to mention a son who is leaving school after SPM. He has already shown me an advertisement to further studies in Australia!

The moment of truth will come one day when I might live long enough to experience the empty-nest-syndrome. I can't imagine it yet.

A Love Story

It has been nine days since my 5A students wrote their version of love story.

Perhaps they dread the idea of writing this sort of essay , furthermore the person reading it is me! I may seem to be a bit 'past it' to really understand their love story. But remember, I was once 17 years old , hence I should be able to somehow figure out the head and tail of their stories.

I accept all their stories, considering that most of them came from their imagination. You can tell that they did not mean any harm with their stories, well...just take a look at the loolipop that they suck after break (or 'recess' as used in American English).

What more important is that they believe in the magical power of LOVE and they learn the subtle nuances of stages in their everyday lives. This in turn will change their perspective of life and they learn to handle difficulties better than their elders.....one day, hopefully.

It is not obvious to them yet, but one day in their life they will remember this essay and they will realise just how long they have left school.

Chicken Soup For The Soul

"Yeah, I know, your soup doesn't have the daun sup?" My daughter made a wild guess.

I smiled.

"Or it doesn't have that what, daun bawang?" Another wild guess.

"It does have both, honey", said I.

"Oh, I don't know. It tastes a bit strange today."

Complaint and more complaint. If you look at it negatively, then it is a complaint. On the other hand , if you look at it from a different angle, positively, then it is actually a constructive comment.

Well, the truth hurts , sometimes. But neither do I like living in a pretentious world surrounded by 'boot-lickers'. However, I always appreciate a mature discussion done in a tactful manner.

My world is quite restricted to a cohort of very young people. They come in different sizes, personality, mentality and beliefs. As an adult I really should not bulldoze my way of thinking on them as much as I hate any other human being trying to practise the same injustice to me. (To tell you frankly, some back-stabbers are worse than these known devils!!!). I know, quite a number of people are still licking their wounds after being back-stabbed.Ouch!!!

Oh! I'd better hide today's soup until everybody is VERY hungry for late lunch. Now they are glued to the tv, watching the OLYMPICS coverage. Hehehe......

Boy Oh Boy!

I was again smiling today after a very enlightening Staff Development Course in my school. "How To Counter Stress?" Err, when I read the topic I thought I liked it (even though to me it was very ordinary.....).

But this speaker was quite extraordinary. Fortunately I sat right in front of him, just the right place to 'absorb' every single word uttered by him.

At home, I was quite pleased to find that everyone had something productive to do. As I was cleaning my house, I stumbled upon my eldest son's trophies. I am proud to say that he has been chosen as "Tokoh Sukan (L) 2008 of SAMER" and "Tokoh Olahragawan SAMER 2008". At least his efforts have paid off! I had a tough time convincing him to attend tuition last year as he was extremely concerned about his co-curricular activities. To him these activities were very important but his obsession with the co-curricular activities sometimes irked me!

He finally earned his reputation not through club activities (even though I heard that he is a versatile emcee) but through the athletic event (long jump) that he took part in this year....(see who his mother is, ehem).

He finally gave in to my persistent 'nagging' at the end of 2007 and I think he would like to thank me for doing so as the tuition centre is really an eye-opener to him.

A few hours ago, I received a call from an unfamiliar caller, the ringing was brief and I decided that it could be a wrong number. When it rang again, I discovered that it was from my boy (no. 2). who had asked me to return the call immediately. As I looked at my husband with a puzzled look, my wise husband's reply was "He must have lost his handset".

Thanks to the OLYMPICS coverage from Beijing for taking 50% of my husband's attention while I was talking over the phone with my boy. True enough! "Mom, someone stole my handset. Could you please bring my old handset tomorrow? Also please can I have a new Simcard?"

I am pretty sure all those words will never reach my husband's ears 'coz mom is always the one to turn to when things get stolen, or need replacement....

Boy oh boy. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

The True Meaning of A Wedding Anniversary

Told you! August is a fantastic month. So far, I feel good waking up in the morning to another wonderful day!

Last Tuesday was no exception as I marched to my room after clocking in at the office. As usual, I arranged my books and files and I started recalling my plans for the day.

I knew that Tuesday was always my busiest day. But my morning duty was checking the teachers' attendance and assigning people to do relief duties, for the morning lessons as well as Memburu Bintang. But in the back of my mind I still remembered how my other half grabbed my hand this morning and wished me "Happy 18th Anniversary".....I was all smiles....

My smiles were shortlived when this very Tuesday turned out to be such a busy day..... Almost everybody in school was buzzing around the school, fixing the Resource Centre and putting up notices etc etc, all in the spirit of taking part in a National level competition for the best School Resource Centre (PSS) in Malaysia.

To my horror, and perhaps to my relief, during the morning housekeeping, my boss no. 2 mentioned about the Pondok in the school which was one of the important venues that needed to be spruced up. Hey, wait a second, Pondok? Which one was mine?

Actually I had spent a number of days hibernating in the Language Room, also going to a few hardware shops and persuading our gardener to do some 'touch-ups'. Little did I realise that apart from that room and another room (Bilik Intervensi), I should also check on the pondok! But as far as I could remember, my teachers had already decorated our pondok.

So, I went the the pondok just to confirm that I need not do anything else and I was already set for a memorable wedding anniversary celebration!

Eventualy, I found that the pondok was already decorated by my teachers plus a sign board which was full of materials put up by ???? , but, but....there was a sign "Balai Ilmu Jabatan so and so". Hey, that's not my department! There must have been a mistake!!!!! I was then left with 2 other old and abandoned pondoks! There was one more pondok but I could not figure out whose!

To cut the story short, I immediately contacted a few people , arguing with them, venting out my frustrations.... but of course I did that just so that people realised that a proper communication and proper assignment was to be given when implementing any school programme. No hard feelings, really.

This time my husband was not spared the task of repairing the dilapidated pondok. I contacted my husband asking him to help me out! I really did not expect him to agree without any hesitation but that was exactly what had happened. A few teachers (who were the hardworking type) offered to help me but I only asked them for ideas and for any materials they could lend me as I knew how terribly busy they were.

We completed the task with the support from Pn Norwapidah who sent a few students to carry the flower pots and not forgetting the Form 1 Melati boys who were so obliging. It was cute that they wrote down their names on a piece of paper and reminded me to record their contribution in the Merit Files.

At about 6pm my husband and I left the school with the little energy we had left. Thank God I did not let Aaron stay back to help me as he had offered to do so.

Indeed I treasure this 18th wedding anniversary spent at the 2 pondoks!

A Fish(y) Therapy

And so my trip to the PC Fair was worthwhile. I came back with a 'souvenir' which would be used accordingly as planned.

I also met a bunch of my students (Aaron, Mahesan and Joel) in the crowded hall. Obviously, they were scrutinizing some computer gadgets (not to mention some girls who were scantily dressed), but oh no,no....these boys I bumped into simply belonged to the 'high-minded' group.......judging from the essay each of them wrote. These girls were not in their list, I know.

OK, so that's yesterday. Today, after loading my shopping stuff in the car, I whispered to my other half that I felt like trying a 'fish' therapy. When we reached the place, there were four women enjoying the treatment and I was forced to wait another 6 minutes.

As soon as they left, I was invited to dip my feet in the water. Gosh! All the fish came to my feet and a stinging sensation was immediately felt. I think you can guess my reaction! An "Awwwww..." was heard for the next 5 seconds before I realized that the faint scream had attracted a number of onlookers. What an advertisement!

If you are wondering just what I mean by the fish therapy, see it for yourself.....

1 August

It's August again and it's Nurfarahana's birthday today. This month many 17-year-old babies are going to celebrate their birthdays. After Farahana, it's going to be Ah Cheok, Koo Bin, Intan, and the twins , Carl Choon and Mei Jun.

I remember singing the birthday song on the 29th last year, followed by a photo-taking session. Unfortunately, most of the photos disappeared together with my laptop....

Phew! As a firm believer in 'Every cloud has a silver lining' and 'Failure teaches success', I wish to point out that I'd rather think of something positive and move ahead instead of letting my mind preoccupied with an undesirable past event.

Speaking of August, I simply love the month... Thus, I started off by asking my students to write about 'Love' on this first day of August. You can guess what is piling up in front of me now. The exercise books are all wanting to be marked. I wonder who is able to produce the most touching story about 'Love'......