Chinese New Year

For every year that I get to celebrate CNY with both of my parents, I consider it a bonus. This year was a more relaxed CNY in the sense that Mom decided to 'eat out' and I think it is a very wise choice. When I think back of CNY in those long ago days, Mom would always be up at 4 or 5 a.m. in the morning to go to the market to get the ingredients for the reunion lunch... in my house we've always done reunion lunch and not dinner, even from those days.

Mom is getting along in years. She no longer has the energy for the big cookout. By the time we get home, we are tired from the travelling. She understands that and hence she would book the table for the makan. Still, it hasn't really totally spared her from the preparations. We still get to eat our favourites from her. Those dishes now feel even more of a truly a labour of love... A labour despite the discomfort from the a bad back, and everything age related.

I appreciate too my bros making the long journey home. Mom and Dad could always just celebrate CNY nearer to them but my bro insists that he comes back so that our kids could get together, renew ties. 365 days feel like a very lengthy time these days.

CNY is also a time when I see the women folk slogging it out in the kitchen. And I sometimes feel the senselessness of it too... Cos the cooking remains the women's domain. True some may argue that they do the hard work of driving, but increasingly I see this. During a time of supposedly a reunion, much if not all the food preparations are done mainly by the women folk. What is the point of reunion then... Half a morning or even a full morning of preparation, and throw in an evening of preparation as well... the women are cooped up in the kitchen. Makes reunion feel like a reunion of everyone else in the family except the one who is in charge of the food preparations.

The kids had a great time playing cards and firecrackers. I think I have not lighted this many firecrackers in many years. It's wasteful, I know... burning those crackers, but the kids had a truly good time.

CNY too is a time I meet up with my old friends. Old friends from a carefree past. Old friends who grew up known by our parents and in many cases many of whom who watched out for us almost like their own too. My friends and I are trying to make a trip when we turn 50.... just the bunch of us minus our families. So much time has whizzed past. A whole generation!

My oldest friend and I sent our friend back after our little gathering (this year there were six of us) and along the way I passed by my alma mater. We stopped right beside the my Standard One class which was just opposite her mother-in-law's place. The buildings have remained unchanged in the last 40 years! I have not passed that block for ages. How time has flown by... I guess that's how every former who passed by those corridors would feel too.

My friend stopped by to have a chat with my parents and I could see how their eyes light up from the visit. I went to visit my old friend's parents after that too and I see that same lighted faces. That's what celebrations is supposed to mean... lighted faces from the get-togethers, the meet-ups, the rekindling and renewing of ties... the remembering.

As I sat over conversations with my brothers too, I realise that no matter how well we have done, or how successful we have become, that which remain meaningful in our what will be the soon forgotten presence of us on this earth would the be the connections that we made and leave behind. But that too will fade with the passing of time.

Generations will come and will go too. Life probably will remain as what we now experience... the constant struggle and chase for something we deem better. Yet if I ask myself what truly is important, I find myself going back again and again to this thought about my roots, my connections and the people in my life. Sometimes, we forget that and go for stuff which we can measure.... the chase for a better life, the journeys that we embark on to make that a reality, the people whom we leave behind, the comfort zone that we cocoon ourselves into....

Everyone of us.. we get caught up by the busyness of our lives. We chase and chase for the rainbows that we think we need to light up our lives.... very often forgetting that we need to be the lights.

Chinese New Year 2015. It's a quiet New Year this time around. Economy is on the downslide. There seems to be less of this feeling of festivities outside. Times don't look so rosy. Changes are afoot. But I think, all those are actually quite secondary. Good times come and they go too. Bad times too. What matters in the end... the relationships that we are able to forge. I think that probably sums up the whole point of living....

Weeding Revisited

Weeding... I have not been weeding my garden regularly these last few years. I would do it when I couldn't stand the sight of the weeds especially when they were long and stood out like sore thumbs but there was no concerted effort to really get rid of them. As a result my yard would only look neat after a mow.

Getting rid of the weeds required a lot of effort as I have rediscovered. I was painfully aware how the years of neglect had allowed the the different weeds to spread their roots.

Well three months have passed. The skin of my thumbs and index fingers are hardened by the constant friction of pulling the weeds, making sure their roots came out too. Last year too, some signs of athritis began to show. The tell tale signs of knobbly fingers have begun to appear.

The first month of weeding netted piles of unwanted grass. It was a lot of hard work. It is always impossible to get rid of all the weeds. Life is like that too. One can likened bad habits to weeds (or not too). Bad habits can never quite go away too. You can correct and try to change them, or even try to get rid of them but they always come back. What we can do is like managing the weeds. The carpet grass if given a little help eventually will grow thick enough to squeeze out the weeds. Eventually you will still find the weeds tucked between the carpet grass, with a yellowy tinge from the lack of sun or looking scrawny but they'll still be there, waiting for the opportunity to break forth.

When we mow too, I realized, we can never cut the grass too short for the want of a flat, neat perfect kind of appearance. The grass must be allowed to keep a certain length to prevent the weeds from spreading. It brings to mind our efforts to raise perfect kids. I think many of us probably realised too that by trying too hard, many of our kids seem to lack that overall well-adjusted with little flaws here and there overall character. Weeds will always be there, no matter how hard one tries to get rid of them.

I shall try to keep the garden as weed free as possible. Consistent weeding will be required. I don't know if I have the time or the energy to persist but I will try. After all weeding is therapeutic as I have discovered too. The time spent draws me away from the incessant pull of the tablet. My mind goes free range when I weed too. And occasionally when I have company while I weed, it is also a time to simply just enjoy the company of another, be it in silence or chatter. We live in a world filled with too many planned activities and rushes... and one that is dictated by the whims of electronic gadgets.

Weeds... Just realised too weeds as I call them are grass too. They are just not the type of grass that I want.... just another personal preference. Same grass and of all things brought to mind the K-Pop singers hugging the girls. The bemusement and horror that came to mind. We are such sticklers to uniformity.... Adults bent on one tract expecting kids to be perfect (their version) when they themselves must have been less than perfect too at that age. One forgets the hormonal surges, the crushes that keep posters of their 'idols' on their room walls. The mind goes free range.... Maybe I should be kind to the weeds too... 8)

School is hectic but I am enjoying the work generally. Adapting to new tools and ways of doing things... It is also nice to be part of the agent of change too. Everyday poses new challenges. It may be tiring but so far I have found them to be challengingly fun.

 

Fluid

When I was a kid I used to think my parents knew everything. Then the teenage years came and the 'I know all phase' began. Before long secondary school ended and university beckoned. There was so much to read and so little I knew. University was an eye opening experience. The internet age followed soon after and so much information suddenly became available. And it highlighted the fact that I know even less than I thought.

Books used to be what we depended on for knowledge and we set the contents of those books to be true, that they are correct and accurate. And that is how many of us treat the digital information that is stored in the web too. We deemed them to be true too like the books we are so familiar with. But it might not be so....

I have learned that actually what is deemed as true may not be totally so. Facts.... they remain that until a point when error is pointed out. Knowldege is fluid. The wealth of knowledge that we have, I feel, is shaped and formed by the environment.

In the beginning it was the primitive environment which gave shape to knowledge. Knowledge was quite basic, I guess. How to start a fire, hunt a wild animal for food, skin it, etc, etc. Then as the environment became more sophisticated, knowldege took on a more refined form too... different ways to start a fire, various materials that aid combustion, multiple tools to hunt animals, curing skin, making intricate designs out of them.... in short knowledge undergoes changes too along the way. It is fluid.

Sometimes fluidity means add-ons.... a rewrite or even a rehash. Other times it means a total write off. It is rendered useless and new information replaces the outdated one. Point is it is constantly changing. And perhaps because of this particular nature that knowledge, it is also a tool for power. It can be used to control, mould and shape, enhance a status, subdue, subjugate and even cripple. Even a taboo is knowledge and we know how taboos can be used to stop actions, practices.

Fluid... Life is a cycle. That itself, I think points towards an untold fluidity that perhaps many of us might be afraid to face sometimes. I just read that the Church of England is fast tracking those with management skills upward... to stem the decline of membership. The hunt is on for the talented ones, those with the right knowledge (read as skills too) to be singled out for roles which will arrest the tide.

From brawn to brain... We have seen that evolution in our lifetime. Might or brute strength used to be the only path to power. Then brain came into the picture. For over 200,000 years life was basically ruled by the might of brute strength. But in the last 5000 years, we have seen brute strength giving way to a more refined yet more devastating aspect... Might driven by brain. And amazing changes have taken place in this short span of time.

As we seek to be more knowledgeable, as we embark on new adventures into the unknown..... I guess that's where we need the wisdom to differentiate. These are probably the most challenging and exciting times in our midst..... Yet wisdom is lacking. But sometimes I think the powers that are don't want us to be any wiser too. Enough to be useful but not too much to question.

Ramblings during the week when school is delayed because flood waters caused so much devastation in many states of the country.

 

Volleyball 2014

I supposed volleyball is a game which can be considered a game I picked up seriously in adulthood. I have always enjoyed games. Over the years, I actually became quite good in the game. Being a badminton player and also endowed with good arm strength gave me an advantage of powerful serves. It used to be the only thing I could contribute to the team. I would go in for the service and be promptly replaced after that. But even then, service was more of brute strength without the finesse of control.

But over the years too, due to the encouragement and support of friends I improved. My friends put up with my very basic skills and tolerated the mistakes I made in the game. Not wanting to disappoint them, I bought a ball and dug against the wall. And there was one year when guidance from a young friend honed my digging skills. I continued to improve.

The teachers have their own sporting event and that became my bench mark. I took part as and when I could. There were some years when we participated and other years when we would just not. One thing though, coming together was always nice. Over the years too, I learned many lessons of life from there. Some of us have been playing together for a long time. Friendships grew.

I think it is probable that many find it hard to imagine why a bunch of ladies, ranging from 24 to 50 plus; in this age where we seem to do everything we can to keep our skin blemish free, go under the hot 3.30 afternoon sun, disregarding the tan which will definitely occur to play an outdoor game of volleyball. The same group too would brave the evening thunderstorm and resume play after the rain had stopped. Or dealing with the bruises, cuts and muscular pains during and after the game. Many of our spouses just cannot understand why we 'torture' ourselves too.

Yet for the many of us who are reaching our 50s, we have been pleasantly surprised by what we still find ourselves able to do. And that is why I believe sports is good. It builds resilience. It teaches a thing or two about life. It enables us to allow the kid in us to come out and play. In a game like volleyball, it is about being a team player too. No one player should be jaded. We cover and bear each other's mistakes. We encourage and pick each other up. We play the roles assigned to our best ability. And learn to grit our teeth and plod on when the going gets tough.... together. And we learn to take the mistakes one member makes as a team.

I think many of us, as we grow older, we tend to have a mindset how we should 'behave', that we should behave our age.... We should not. Mindsets should not be static. Retesting old limits, setting new ones and testing them... All these are good for us, regardless of our age. It keeps us young in the mind and heart. It teaches us a thing or two about being flexible and malleable. It is actually lifelong learning at its best.

One week being out of school has its merits too. I think schools should encourage teachers to continue to be involved in 'co-curricular' activities too. It makes us better teachers cos staying just within the walls of a classroom sometimes is sterile too. Academic prowess is mainly theory with no practice. It puts ideas into our heads with no practice. And sometimes it makes us behave as though as we know everything. We don't.

I am glad I still can play. I am playing my best volleyball. I am learning new skills which I never imagined possible. My friend says the same too. Ageing is no excuse for not learning.... There will no doubt be physical limitations which only the young can break but there are always new things for each of us too.

We won but the highlights of this season... I met up with a young lady I used to carry when she was a toddler. Her mother was one of the people who watched out for me as a rookie teacher. She is my equal now. Leya, as she is fondly known to us.... Without volleyball, it would not have been possible to reconnect. Another highlight... I can still pack power in my serve. I served a couple of aces which made a difference to the outcome. Plus, I can finally feel the game. My team mates no longer need to cover my mistakes. I can hold my own.... and cover my team mates too. But the best of it all remain this... the people I met. The stories and struggles that some have gone through, of grit and resilience, they remain the most priceless.

 

In The Name of Progress

The water pressure to my house was so low that water cannot go up to the tank upstairs during the day and the it comes out in a trickle from the garden tap at any given time of the day. The problem started about 4 years back, if memory serves me right... I wrote about it here. Back then we refused to install a pump because we felt it was not right.... And those old pipes... their diameter becomes smaller over time. Ours is more than 10 years old and the quality of water which we have been getting of late has deteriorated even more. These days, my garden water container always have sediments at the bottom. I supposed that too contribute to the pipe getting smaller.... faster. My own home's pipes only was change after 30 years!

Well, we have had to do a rethink. A couple of days back,  the water treatment plant in Bukit Pinang experienced a breakdown. After one particular heavy use on Monday, my house ran out of water. It was after I called the Helpline the next day that I realised water had not been going up for a while due to the problem at the water treatment plant. SADA has a website. While they do put up water disruption notices there, how many people make it a point to check SADA websites everyday... Schools, town halls, kopitiams... I think they have to be more resourceful in getting information to the consumers.

Anyway, after that 'dry spell', we decided it was enough and time to fix a pump to draw from the mains like everyone else. Much to my chagrin, water was still not coming in after that. Bear in mind that 4 years ago, SADA officials came to my house after I complained about low pressure. They told us to fix a pump. They didn't send anyone to check the pipe from the mains to our house this time around. This time around, toilets without water.... I finally caved in and fixed the pump.

After the pump was fixed, the problem persisted. This time around, due to my insistence and repeated calls, somebody from SADA called up. And this was what I was told... that I had to get a licensed plumber to lay a new pipe from the main to my house. And I have to pay for the laying of the new pipe. The plumber we called has yet to come. I think including online complaints, I made a total of probably 5-6 complaints over a period of 5 days, thereabout. 

This morning when I called their Helpline again, I was told that they deal with 60-70 complaints a day. And that they could not be sure when they will look into my complaints. I think back in those old days when JKR was in charge, the response time was way faster. So much for privatisation. Can't say we have better service. Can't say I am getting better advice too. 

As for licensed plumber.... I think most people don't even know where to find one. There is no online list on SADA's website. I think most of us just have to depend on the SADA people to recommend or point us to someone. There is always room for abuse when not everything is efficient or transparent.

Water is a basic necessity. And we have privatised that. Question is, when the water company does not deliver the service that is expected, who do we bring the matter to? Privatisation is supposed to mean better everything. But it feels like we are paying more .... for less?? Water metres get stolen and the onus is on the owners to pay for the replacements... for something not totally their fault. Metal water metres are an attraction as they fetch some value.

Progress ... it's subject to interpretation like everything else. In my line of work, better sets of results equals to progress. Winning more competitions means progress too... Owning a big car, living in an even bigger house... we call it progress. Progress is when we have things to show... the more, the more progress.

Progress for water delivery?? Well, I guess inside, outside... we have to pay to ensure delivery. That is the price for progress. We need to pay more for everything...

That water crisis cost me more than just $$$. The eventual cleanup that I had to do after the 'renovation' caused my old injury to revisit with a small vengeance. Sigh.... 

Boys Like Blue, Girls Like Pink

Two thirds of the year more to go... and another year would be soon over. Time has flown by and crawled in the past few months. I had a chat conversation with an old friend recently. Our conversation drifted to work... and we chatted about the things we were both doing and she said I should get a male collegue to help me.

I pondered a while over her statement and shot back a short sentence. "Why must it be a man?" Will getting a man to help enable me to move faster, achieve more? Or it could be women just don't have the time or maybe even the aptitude.... Women are just as guilty sometimes in putting their own kind into straight jackets.

Even among my most independent minded friends, their frame of mind is still carved along gender. I have been doing some thinking about gender roles. We'd like to think that boys and girls should be given equal opportunities. And I think great strides have been made towards that end. But what we have, how we live out our societal norms..... gender roles are still apparent.

Blue-pink, engineer-nurse, leader-follower, housework-yardwork, boss-secretary.... I wonder how much of it is hardwired and how much is conditioned. In 2007 a study came out claiming that colour preference was hardwired. Recently another study said colour preference is conditioned. Actually, we do not know much...

We like to think there is equality. But is there real equality? There are religions which teach its believers that women are not meant to lead. There are social norms which lay down gender roles. Men must be the bread winner. He goes out to work, she keeps the house clean. He makes sure that food can be put on the table. She makes sure that it gets to the table. Well, unless you come from the remote Lugu Lake in China where things are somewhat different. There, the gender roles are a little different in this little known community. There are still exceptions....

Yet, as society evolved, we see changes in the gender roles too. Women are in the work force now. Some men are house husbands. I read sometime ago this theory called the Malthusian Trap. Apparently data now shows that we have broken out from the trap for the first time in 3000 years. Big corporations can no longer dictate everything. Governments too. Free flow of information is apparently good for the little people. Once upon a time one needs capital to start any ventures. You need to depend on banks for loans. You pay interest for that service. These days, there are the little people in the crowd you can holler over the net... for your banking needs. Cool?

And because of that, anyone can start anything. Crowdfunding made possible by the net has enabled many wonderful products to reach the masses and turned many into entrepreneurs. Other Half has bought stuff from Kickstarter. A friend of mind recently jumped onto the crowd funder group too. More are becoming aware of such a thing. I was told that now we have peer banking too... supposedly will free us from being at the mercy of the banks. Something more tolerable than the Ah Longs.

And tecnology has something to do with it. So, I wonder too whether gender roles too are experiencing that sort of breaking out from its own version of 'Malthusian Trap'? When it happens, I think there is probably going to be another social revolution. I think too that we have to change the way we raise our sons. We have to teach them what equality really means. We have to teach our daughters the same too. So maybe boys like pink or maybe pink and blue??? Or maybe still continue to like just blue? But it will just be because it's a personal preference and not a gender one.

The world that we live in is full of surprises and unknowns. And because a human life does not exceed a century for most of us, a lot of what we think or hold to be true sometimes may not be the simple truth because we actually do not know. Each of us try to make sense or perhaps even create sense within the finite constraints that we each have. When I was a kid, I learned that the highest peak was Mt. Everest. I recently learned that the highest peak is somewhere along the fault line under the ocean, somewhere between the Americas and Europe. I recently learned from the same explorer that there are rivers under the oceans too.... There are many surprises..... many unknowns even in the world we think we know.

Thoughts on Labour Day... a day I labour more around the house doing what is perceived a woman's domain.... Lol!

 

 

Knowledge is useless...

Knowledge is useless if we don't know how to apply it... That's what I see happening in many of our students these days. They go to school, learn things... we call it knowledge but seem too see very little application of the knowledge that they learn into their every day lives. School loses its meaning....

I just taught my girl geography... about landforms, rivers, highlands, flatlands. She had actually learned them in school but it seemed not to have registered. Well, either she has not been listening in class or like what I have been seeing in many, our students just don't feel that learning is fun. And perhaps too they are not challenged in their classrooms to think, see the bigger picture, apply what they have learned and make knowledge meaningful.

Knowledge to many is basically a meaningless memorized set of information only to be regurgitated to score A(s). I recently gave a topic on GMO to a group of 17 year olds. I drew mostly blank. Maybe if I had given more time for them to think... But generally, I see mostly students who don't seem to be making sense of what they are learning. Many are doing well, but seems to lack that passion. Or maybe we have failed to ignite the passion to learn.

Geography is a fun subject. I showed her on Google Earth how where the Kenyir Dam was placed and how they built the dam. She was surprised to see the Nile Delta as the only green patch of life in what is an arid landscape of Northern Africa. I talked to her about it being one of the places for early civilizations and I could see flicker of understanding and interest as it dawned on her the importance of rivers in early civilizations. I explained to her why rapids are found at the source of rivers and how the flow tapers off as it heads to the sea. I told her about the importance of geography and linked it to the how a good understanding of Geography and Science helped the traders from China and India sailed to Malacca.

Lessons should be fun because it helps us understand our surrounding And we have technology to help us these days. Maps can be called up in an instant. Google Earth enables the learner to see the actual place... some in 3D! I wanted my girl to see the tectonic plates and a simple search got me the graphic I wanted. It made it easier to get the point across.

Anyway, why do we learn? Is it to pass exams only? To hone our skills?? To fill our time? I think knowledge that cannot be applied is like data that is just numbers without any real world associations. Knowledge that is not shared is useless too, cos it sits in our heads for our own consumption only. It's kinda like some of us who sit around and lament about the state of our surrounding but do not do anything about it. I think for knowledge to be useful, we need to be able to associate it with its context or relate it to other contexts. Or perhaps use it to improve ourselves.

Which brings me to this... If teachers cannot ignite the passion for learning in students, then we have failed to pass the torch. Learning if not ignited, dies???? I don't know but it feels like it's quite dead in many of our young.

Memories

This was one of those days when I was in a more reflective mode. I was sitting on the floor of the back room of the house I grew up in. Mom was busy pottering in the kitchen. Memories of yesteryears came back.... though some now, hazy and many now tucked and hidden in the recesses of the brain. I read somewhere that we forget many details of our past but sometimes being in a certain place, we get flashbacks. The same goes for meeting people too. I was back in the room of my childhood... Could almost hear our own voices and imagine my younger self with my siblings... And of all things we were fighting... Some other memories included my bro and I playing...

Mom was always an early riser, still is. She is in her mid 70s now. The morning I was home, I heard her pottering in the kitchen at 4 something. She was trying to minimize the noise but still it woke me up. And so I lay in the room listening to the water running, clothes being rinsed, the sound of the mug landing on the marble table..... Familiar sounds in any home. Mom is bent now... her L5 and L4 crushed because of osteoporosis. She walks with difficulty most of the time but she still plods on. That's mom... Dad walks with a shuffle now. He has just come out of an eye op to replace his lens.

The children come home so rarely these days. And when we do, it's only for a short while.... which makes me think. Are families supposed to stay together? The wandering spirits that led my fore fathers from a distant land still plague my generation. Somehow the urge to seek for a better life... it never ends. And I see the cycle being repeated. The hope that the settling in another land will mean a better life for the next generation... The wandering spirit never stops wandering... And so, the old are left behind.... on their own. Sometimes I wonder...

Pictures are painted into our minds. I label this picture painting social conditioning. Of late, I have been contemplating more. We are all products of social conditioning. In the grand scheme of things, actually none of us can claim to know much. We are taught to claim in faith, to believe.... yet as life continue to evolve, I see many things which were held true by the generations before coming apart. Sometimes I wonder too... whether life is a series of matrices?

And we call it What's App-ing....

One of the marvels of technology is how it connects us...

CNY, and this year my 'oldest' friend, as usual, in her spontaneous way asked if we could meet... even though at the time of the request, she was still around 100km away from our hometown. This old friend... We went to the same kindy, primary and secondary school and even same the university. And we managed to stay in touch all these years.

A few hurried messages and we discovered 4 of us were available... So she picked everyone and we ended up in a packed mall. On our way home, we thought it'd be nice to try to rope in our childhood friends and form a group. And that gave rise to our What's App group. Within 2 days we managed to round up around 10 of our old friends... mostly friends from the time we were 6 or 7. We are now in 5 countries.

What this has turned into is a group or place for us to chatter about our days, share our stories. And it can go on throughout the day. We've had hillarious moments like when the group first started and how one after another would say their phone was out of juice... something which has never happened to many of them. Some will say women like to chatter...

Holidays have been shared... Being able to snap a photo means you can snap flowers in your garden and everyone can see them without you having to pluck them. We've shared recipes, talked about everything under the sun and the moon.... very much like those days when we were youths. Conversations flow and ebb. Anyone is free to come and go. And because we are located on different continents, the conversations continue throughout the day. There is no obligation to be involved in every single conversation. Anyone is free to scroll up or down or none at all. Anyone is free to add or not to add to the conversation.

I think this is a wonderful thing about technology. It enables people to come together, stay connected like never before. Lives are shared.... support given and received... It's quite amazing. Oh well, we might have a few arguments perhaps too, down the road.

What's App, Tango, Line, Skype, We Chat... There are plenty of apps out there who keep the communication lines open. But whatever they may be, one thing for sure. They keep us connected in a most heartwarming way.

In the early days, I could go to sleep and wake up with 1000 messages unread... It is not that intense any more but the messages are still coming in, conversations are still running. We talk about the mundane, from the flowers in our garden, our children and their quirky behaviours, the sights along our jogging paths, our daily routine, the falling snow, our kid's bicycle ride and even mourn together the disappearance of MH370.

Being Connected

I read somewhere that as educators we should be connected... It got me thinking. I recently was invited to give an inhouse training to a school. This has been a year of changes, challenges and a time of revisiting the past for me. It's been a while since I addressed a crowd of people other than students. Over a decade ago, I had the opportunity to attend some IT related courses in Universiti Tenaga and Universiti Telekom. They were short courses running for 2-3 weeks. And soon after, I was again fortunate enough to be involved in some projects. Those days, even the use of PowerPoint was something of a novelty. And I was one of the early adopters.

Yet, because I served under a visionary Principal who was visionary in every sense of the word, I was given many opportunities...... opportunities which would not have come my way if not for the way he 'fought' for me to be included in the courses I mentioned above, courses which I attended and where I would often find myself the only or if not, one of the very few teachers of other than those from the dominant race. But I have since also learned that unequal opportunities and treatments come in all forms.... and the worst sometimes come from within the same race itself.

Anyway, going out to give a course allowed me to reconnect with an old friend of mine. And it reminded me too how despite everything, there can still be opportunities. And if one continues to work and improve oneself from the opportunities that come along, we can still move forward. My early exposure to the world of Photoshop, Macromedia, sound editing planted long lasting interests in things related to IT. And over the years, it has somehow been sustained. My home became a 'hotbed' of innovations of sorts as my other half was just as interested. We scrooged and saved but IT stuff were things which we'd 'invest' in. Till today, purchasing gadgets out of curiousity remains a practise in our house. Gadgets like Raspberry Pi, the NAS have made their presence felt

The internet was a boon. Where once we had to search high and low for information. The world wide web opened up possibilities. I am a fervent believer of lifelong learning now. I might also add that the net has also enabled personalized Learning in a way not imagined a decade ago. I read about Flipped Learning some time ago. And it works for me too! Theories abound these days in the field of education. I believe that there is much to be learned still. There is no end to learning.... If we can continue learning, I guess it also points to us still being able to progress... to live.... cos life is about challenges. Learning something new is a challenge.

The inhouse training my friend and I conducted was on the use if tablets (namely the iPad) in classroom teaching. It was an experience of sorts. I have carried out 2 of such courses in my own school this year. We are slow in adopting technologies which enhance our teaching as well as the students' learning experiences. We are too bogged down by too much of our own self interests very often which affect a school's abilities to make school meaningful to many of the students. The system that we're in, coupled with the political practices create a situation where sharing is somehow dampened. But I guess too, without such a climate, such things will still rear their ugly heads.

One thing I mentioned in one of my closing statements to the participants of the course though.... Technology if adopted for the 'wow' factor will not impact the learning experience very much cos the focus would be on either the tool or the 'deliverer'. At the end of the day, that which makes the greatest difference, is still the teacher. Tools such as the iPad (and the other tablets) serve to assist the teachers and students. How effective a lesson turns out....... well, it still depends on a big part on the educators.

Being connected. We were among the earliest adopters of the internet where we are many years ago. How did I know that? When we went to Telekom to sign up, they showed us this list that had names of those who had applied for the service. We were among the first 5 who signed up! We were early adopters! Lol! And oh how this connection has enabled us to learn stuff never imagined before. Most of us take the Net connection as something that is just there these days. For me, the Net connected me to a world of amazing stuff, one made possible when we decided to journey on the roads it paved for us.

Thoughts in the cold wee hours of the morning.... It's the end of the year when the northern winds are blowing. The cold woke me up and connected me to these thoughts.

Yet Almost Another Year Gone By

This blog has been kinda quiet this year. But it's not for the lack of things to write. It's just that I've been preoccuppied..... with things, changes.... the mundane existence of life. I've been busy. Have kept myself busy too. Age is also slowly and surely catching up. The stamina takes a beating these days. Joints ache more. Tiredness sets in more easily too. And it's also a time for lots of reflection.
New work environment. Old challenges with a new face. Almost the same sets of problems too. I guess it shouldn't be surprising. After all, our lives are surrounded by people. One thing though, I try to maintain my old pace as much as I can. But bones are creaking and muscles protest quite readily these days.

Tonight I had a visit from a young lady I used to teach and mentor. She is a young lady now. I kinda miss those days when Son was schooling and I used to have kids over for lessons. They have all grown up now.... all in college and in a year or two, all of them will be graduating. Time flies. Those mad years! Yet I cherish such visits now... Young men and ladies they are now...

I still have kids over for lessons. I guess I'd probably do it for as long as I can. Working with kids... I discovered that I actually enjoy it. Each one of them is different, yet same at the same time too. It's always a nice feeling realizing that one can make a difference in another's life.

It's been a challenging year at work too. I finally got to teach history. For the first time since I started teaching, I actually got to teach it for the whole year. And it's been a learning experience for me. I have experimented with different approaches, trying to make kids understand a subject which they've not been able to make sense of the whole time they have been at school, either through the lack of interest or language. It remains that vernacular school kids continue to be at a noticeable disadvantage when it comes to language mastery. And that lack of mastery impedes learning and puts them at a disadvantage.

One nice thing though, when kids come back on their own accord for lessons.... It's one of those things I cherish. Somewhere, at some point of time, we connected. And history lessons have gone into ideological arguments of communism vs capitalism. How is that for a bunch of kids with no inkling or interest for history at the beginning of the year?

But while I have made some headway in some, in a few, the battle seems lost for some too. Sometimes all it takes is just the lack of presence to seal a kid's fate. The lack of presence can be due to so many reasons too, and some of our own making. Schools are not without blame too. Too much effort in window dressing often leads to the loss of such students.

The year has almost gone by... I thought I'd continue to try to keep this going too. More to come, I hope.... cos I have been up to quite a bit too...

Midlife... Second half

My generation of women has it different from previous generations of women. Many of us work and are financially independent, successful. I am at midlife, or Second Half; Bob Buford's book would label this as the Second Half of my life. I find myself thinking more about many things... Some say the financial muscles, skills and independence are causing many women of my generation to act out their frustrations and resolve them. I don't see much of that resolve in my mother's generation. Most women of her generation bore out their roles as mothers and wives with stoicism, but often at a cost much later in their lives. I have seen many of them sink into depression in their later years, very often, I suspect, due to the inability to resolve many of their frustrations.

Most of us spend the First Half of our life, busy building our lives... families, careers. Much if not all our energy is spent there. And many of us forget to set aside time to reflect. For some, it's a luxury not afforded because there is just so much we needed to build, we feel. And through the years, we forget... we forget to reflect and pause... pause for the important things in our lives. The work and sacrifice which are supposed to give meaning sometimes become the quicksand to our own selves....

Add that to a society which expects them to play out their roles with no complaints and husbands who were clueless that their wives are complex creatures who need support, you have a whole forgotten generation Unlike men, certain studies show that midlife renewal for women seem to see them achieve more. And midlife crisis for women often stems from family problems or events, through introspection. Family life stresses the wife more than the husbands. An interesting study from the UK came to this conclusion that women need friends, men need families. Increasingly I find too that most of the household tasks fall on women. As children grow older, the stress builds up. And it can become quite numbing. It is very probable that as women hit their late 40s, in a household with growing teens, midlife crisis sets in.

And so the second half becomes of time for reflection... of values and traditions that sometimes seem to make not much sense. And because of that sometimes life feels intolerable... As women grow older, many become sicker and sadder. Sicker probably because women often take on the overfunctioner role. Women work outside and they are the domestic engineers too... I don't think the human body (or mind) can take on this charade of the two worlds without getting sick or going crazy. There're just too much to do.

I wonder too for the generations of women before me, those who had no financial clout nor the confidence to question. They suffered in silence, bore with the expectations of traditions and culture, silently; living with their frustrations and dealing with all of that the best they can. They are a generation who had no opportunity to realise their potential nor live their lives as they see fit. They lived as expected of them. Women tend to lose out.

I guess midlife crisis (or maybe call it Second Half) is probably due to the fact that many women are trying to come to terms with the loss of youth, beauty and roles. I guess too many start to get tired of nurturing and want to be nurtured. I think women sacrifice more because of this role of nurturing... For most husbands, life goes on with less adjustments...

Midlife... Second Half... or even Menopause.... They can be engines of change, either for the better or worse. And I approach mine with caution.

Moving On...

Most of us don't like change. The familiar is comfortable, even though sometimes having the all too familiar all the time might not be the best thing for us....

My little corner for the last nine of my ten years at work. And I thought I was going to retire here. Making a decision like this is never easy... yet it's been a lesson(s) of sorts. I think I am heeding the still small voice, but I don't know where it'll lead. My own voice drowns out a lot of other voices very often and gotten me more than my share of trouble.

I've always wondered why abused wives stay on with their abusive husbands. I think I understand better now. We feel that it's the only thing we know.... because we prefer the known to the unknown. Change is difficult to come by because we are uncomfortable with it, especially when it involves something that is routine.

The process of leaving behind the familiarity of the last decade has been hard. I don't think that I'll miss the work place much. It's the friendship which I'll miss... lots I think. Ever since I got news that I was going to move, this has been a day I sort of dread... I mean, I am really looking forward to the hols but some things change somewhat from this point. I'll miss some of my favourite food at school. We have a few food arrangements of our own ever since we decided to stop eating at the canteen a few years ago. I think I'll miss that too. I doubt I'll ever have another friend strong headed enough to forgo a convenience like that. And I'll miss having a friend who stands for what (and who) she believes in.... even when it cost.

I remember a series of talks on relationships during my MYF days; the different types of relationships that we have in our life - colleagues, acquaintances and friends. The first group is made up of people with whom we are thrown together. We have no choice but meet them daily because we work together. Acquaintances are people we meet at functions, through other friends... basically people we bump into, off and on but have no real ties. The last category - friends. They are the ones who mean something to us... but this group is perhaps hardest to really have..... and easiest to miss.

Good friends are hard to come by. A good friend who stays true to us is even harder to come by. I'm blessed to have a friend like that at work, loyal and steadfast. Though our friendship extends to beyond our work place now, it's still something that brings an ache in my heart when I think about it. I'm a sentimental fool when it comes to relationships. But if I were to sum out the support I've had from this friend in one word, it's 'unwavering'. That is the greatest blessing in my years there. And the hardest to leave behind.

There can be a few reasons why going to work can be an everyday event one looks forward to. I'll leave the 'earn money' part out cos we work for a living. Modernisation and specialisation have virtually ensured that all of us need to work because we are no longer self sufficient. Anyway, why work can be 'fun'. One, because we enjoy it. Two, because of friends. For the latter, I've learned that even the worst of days become very bearable and turn into lessons of sorts because there's someone to soften the blows, reason stuff together, watch out for each other....

Good friends represents a world not born because they help us see different perspectives positively. And also because they interpret our world in light and not shades. And the result is often the birth of a world of possibilities and discovery. That I'll miss loads. Most of the time, we tend to add fuel to the fire.... that's why we love gossips.... they come naturally. But truly good friends do better than gossip. They make us into better people and make this journey of ours very bearable.... even enjoyable.

I realise too that change is something that I don't embrace readily this time around. If I can turn the clock back to that particular point when I started this wheel turning, I think I might just have let that moment passed.... But change is necessary in life too, I think. If we sit too long in one spot, we become complacent. We tend to become set in our ways... (I don't think being set is good...). But, today, I hovered longer than usual, staying on a little while extra, doing what we usually do, talk... and that is a routine I'll miss.

This is another journey into another semi unknown, with probably lots of adjustments to be made. I'd probably miss my little corner with the comforts that we've added along the years and the plants I've tended to. And oh.... the space. But what I'll miss most will be the company of a truly good friend. When next year begins in a month or so, I think I'll be missing quite a bit of everything that has summed up our last few years.... 8(

Coursera 6 Weeks On

I am still hanging on to my A History of the World since 1300 by Jeremy Adelman from Princeton University on Coursera. Going into my 7th week, with 3 essays done, 10 peer reviews and 12 hours of lectures. And that's minus the extra hours spent re-listening to some parts of the lectures again. From the feedback given to us, there were 83000 people who signed up for the course. But for the first essay writing assignment, 1800 or 2% submitted their essays. But according to Coursera that's quite an awesome figure. And I made up the 2%... #grinning from ear to ear#

Going on a course like this takes great discipline, especially when I have work and family commitments. Making time to write is a major problem but I've done all 3 so far, not my best effort though, given all those other commitments. But this is something I took up on my own free will. The thing that has kept me going on are the lectures and insights which I've found quite fascinating. Interest has kept me going and having a good teacher makes a world of difference too.

The listening part was easy. It's the writing that I found needed effort. Lectures were easy becasue I could stop them any time and listen to them any where. For the writing assignments, one actually has to read up, re-read, think through and re-hash the ideas. Essay writing is a good way of consolidating what one has learned. It makes us think. One thing which has been reinforced is the importance of writing skills. At school, what we are doing now is just getting kids to memorise essays. This dumbs them. The skills for memorising at best are just remembering, perhaps a certain degree of understanding and maybe some application skills.

If one is to further develop the abilities to analyse, evaluate and eventually create, one has to be made to write. Anyway, this is what I've learned from this endeavour.

Back to the course. What would be helpful would be some real feedback instead of the awards of 1-3 for peer reviews. But I guess for a course of such magnitude, it would be difficult to have that personal feedback. Anyway it's free. I think the people involved in Coursera are fantastic people and must be quite passionate about what they do. Hats off to them. I don't know how far reaching the effects is but I think this is one sure indication that education is changing. And I think too this will make our education system obsolete.

Education in Malaysia is politicised. Well, if we don't revamp and make it relevant, it's going to be obsolete. Who needs to go to school when school comes to us... and none of our institutions even come close to those universities offering courses on Coursera... And guess what, many of these courses apparently count towards the credits too for many universities too. Anyway, having gone halfway for my present course, I can see why. 12 weeks of lectures up a semester's worth of work. With 2 hours of lectures, they do meet some of the requirement of 'contact hours'. Just that in this case there is no face to face meeting or discussion. But the course content is what we do at university level.

Going through the last 6 weeks have taught me to look at events and how they affect us from yet different angles and perspectives. It's a process of mind sharpening. And an exercise of enlightenment too, liberating in a way. Learning from the past, reading about world history, I've discovered that the world is actually smaller than I had imagined.

Finally, why even bother with World History? It actually liberates the mind and reminds us that who we are, where we are today... well, the past had everything to do with it. Or that there were other great eras. Every century, every decade, every lifetime has had its share of great achievements, folly and misery. Many same outcomes, different players. Many shared goals, different players. What goes around, comes a round. Life is a circle and in walking down the world's timeline, you somehow learn to see it. One learns humility.

This is education... when stuff like this go online and one actively seeks it out, that's education one is seeking. And I think we've got to inculcate into our young such an attitude - to seek for an education and not just passing exams. Passing exams is seasonal. Seeking education is lifelong.

Another Raya Gone By.....

Another Raya, another year gone by.... I was looking forward to it being over, mainly because the roads have been jammed up quite a bit these last few weeks. There seemed to be more food stalls everywhere this year, I feel. I could be wrong. People are cooking less? Convenience? And this year, I didn't go food hunting. The thought of traffic was enough to put any of those thoughts away.... though I missed the daging with air asam.

We took a drive around on the 1st day of Raya... all the way to Kuala Kedah. From there we went onto the bund roads and found our way to Gunung Keriang. Many of the kampung houses we passed have out-of-state cars parked in their compound. Signs of changing times. The children of these farmers are now working in the urban areas. From the cars, one can also surmise that they are doing okay economically. It's a also a sign that the Malays are no longer economically backward...

We went onto one of the bund roads which led us from Kuala Kedah to Gunung Keriang.

Along the way, we stopped to let our girl see paddy close up. The view of rural Kedah is actually beautiful, except that these days it seems more marred by rubbish. All sorts of rubbish can be seen floating in the canals, strewn by the roadside and in unsightly heaps along the road.

This year too (or was it a missed observation in yesteryears?) I noticed an increase in fireworks activities. Driving on the highway one night, we saw the sky lighted up ever so often with flashes of sparkles. Sparks of fireworks decorated the night sky. We had booming and cackling sounds accompanying us for a couple of days. In fact I heard these loud booming sounds yesterday and thought that the kampung kids were playing the meriam buluh. When Other Half walked in the house, he said the sound was coming from one of those huge fireworks which we saw neighbours playing during CNY. And they do not come cheap as one box is more than a hundred ringgit. Yet another sign of economic prosperity for those firecrackers do not come cheap. To be able to burn them is also a sign of disposable income.

So, to have the government keep harping on how the Malays need economic assistance or different levels of playing field, I think is no longer valid. It's time we move on. It's time we create a level playing ground so that we can achieve better Policies on crutch create invalids. If we're honest with ourselves, if it's any group, it's the natives in Sabah and Sarawak who need more. Development has kept moving and left them behind. And it's not for the want of resources but lack of leadership.

My time was packed... in a way. And again too I am reminded how dumbed down my kids have been by our education system. Long nights of academic discussions after an equally long time of reading. Conversations, visits to and from people, lessons (yup... it's the time of the year, when exam beckons) with kids on the last legs of time...

This Raya has sort of imprinted into to me that many things are changing. Friends are leaving... kids I've taught for years have left or are in the midst of moving on to further their studies. Nests are getting emptier.

Loss

We will always feel a sense of loss, I feel. It's part of life. We lose things. We lose bits of ourselves - hair, eyesight, teeth, memory, etc. And we lose the people around us. People come in and out of my life. Death, moving away... They're all losses. In the last 2 days, I've spent time with friends who are moving away. Both to faraway places; one is uprooting for good, another is half uprooting.... It's a sense of loss... One couple is nearing retirement age. Another couple is just starting together in life, with a young kid in tow. And both are leaving in search of better life, to be nearer kids, to have a better shot at career advancement.

It's sad. The older couple is leaving because our country cannot give their children fair opportunities. The younger couple is leaving because our country cannot give them further training in their career... The opportunity to advance one's career, especially in the civil service is very much dependent on your race. Both husband and wife are our cream and have much to contribute. But they'll most likely be denied the opportunities despite their abilities and talents; and it boils down to racial prejudice.

A sense of loss... cos these are people who mean something to me. And they're leaving... because we are still very much a country divided by race which has caused us to compromise our values and act in a skewed manner.

These are rubber bands which snapped soon as I stretched them in my attempt to use them to tie a bunch question papers together. I took 6 from a new bag of rubber bands. I was not able to use a single one of them for my intended purpose because they were of such low quality. And there was a whole big bag of them. Somebody ordered from the supplier. The funny thing is, it wasn't returned to the supplier even though they were mostly defective. That's how it is with our system now. We continue to accept mediocrity or worse and not do much about it. We think that like these defective rubber bands, one day the mediocrity that we've been promoting will magically evolve into excellence. But the rot is setting in, values are getting skewed.....

These are spools of strings. I cut them into shorter strands to be used by students to tie their scripts together. The string needs to be of a certain diameter so that the students will be able to tie their scripts easily. But guess what, we did not get the specified thread from the supplier. Is somebody making extra profit here? It happens a lot. The sense of accountability and public funds are skewed. I attended a briefing once where we were told that even if prices quoted by bumi suppliers are higher, we should get it from them. Taxpayers' money are not well spent. The AG reports after all, have highlighted exorbitant sums paid for stationery, etc. This might be no different. The school is short changed. The students too... And we seem to be okay with it. Poor management of resources and we accept it (or are told and forced) to accept it.

That's how it is with our management of our country's human resource. No effort is made to retain our best and brightest, if not from the 'right' race. But these days, even those from the 'right' race are sidelined because the end product of what is skewed will be skewed. Every effort, on the other hand, is made to give identity cards to any unskilled immigrants who can speak Bahasa. A former revered leader said they should be given, as long as they speak the national language. Never mind if they are unskilled or have very little education. We accept breakable rubber bands. We settle for inferior quality strings when we have already spent for better strings...

Racial politics that divides... brain drain... it adds on to the losses of life, hastening it prematurely....

Yours and Mine

Flew Firefly recently... I was early at the airport even though I had done the web check in. Decided to go to the check in counter just the same and was told that my flight had been re-timed. It would depart 1.5 hours late. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to just walk around Subang Airport. I last stepped into the airport more than 20 years ago! And what used to feel so big back then is actually quite a small place. My perception has been tampered by time and experience.

Walking around, I spotted that the screen which showed departures and arrivals only showed a 20 minute delay. This time I went to the Firefly Office to double check. The ticketing clerk checked and told me the time on the screen was the correct one, which made me very happy since it was only a 20 minute delay. I decided to check-in after wandering around a while. The waiting area was quite full as there were passengers for the Penang and Kota Bahru flights. Those flights were called by 6.30 p.m. While waiting to board, I busied myself with a book.

When I looked up, the place was quite empty. I thought my flight would be quite empty. I was looking forward to go home after a tiring day on the road with Son. As I was walking to the plane I suddenly saw a familiar face. This friend said she had a coupon issued by the airline company for free makan at one of the outlets as the plane was supposed to leave at 8.30 p.m. She said she only knew about the 'error' from another friend (whom I presumed must have looked at the departure and arrival screen like me). Later I found out that those who did not do the web check in mostly had free makan coupons.

At 7.00 p.m I boarded the plane. It was quite empty. 7.20 came and went. Then the Captain announced it was time to buka puasa. And I was thinking that it was quite ridiculous to wait till after buka to take off... 7.45 p.m. By then many of us on the plane were plain annoyed. But I noticed that passengers were still boarding. At almost 8 p.m. An apolegetic but equally frustrated Captain announced that we were waiting for one more passenger as the Duty Manager insisted that we had to.... We finally took off at 8.05 p.m., after sitting in the plane for an hour!

Made me realized that even after I went to the airline office to enquire about the time discrepancy, no effort was made to inform the check-in counter of the error. I must have been the first to 'check-in' at the check-in counter cos I did not get the free coupon... There seemed not be any communication between the office and and counter even after an enquiry about the discrepancy of time was made and noted that the check in counter had made an error. It was a you do your job and I do mine... Any problems arising from it, well... just hope somehow it'll solve itself.

Kinda very much a reflection of a lot of things in our country. Different races are 'taught' to mind own race so much so that we've turned many blind eyes on many things. Even in neighbourhoods, break-ins can be happening right next door, and we just mind our own business too. And in recent days too, I noticed too many of our kids go sesat because of the same attitude. It takes a village to raise a good kid. These days, parents better hope hard that their kids aren't one of those with a penchant to go sesat, cos if that happens, it's a lonely path you traverse. Many of us seem to subscribe to as long as I am doing fine, my kids are doing okay.... anything that happens outside that circle does not deserve my attention or effort.

Another observation, majority took the word of the check-in of the change and did not look further on their own; which is a norm. Many of us take the word of our political and religious leaders without question.... (how nice if our kids do that when we talk to to them, 8))

As for my flight... 50 people would translate to 50 hours lost. Add that to the extra time those family members waiting at the airport in Alor Setar and the stress, etc, etc. So much wasted.... which could have been saved if the ticketing clerk just picked up the phone and informed her superiors... but then it's not her time.

Demi Agama And So On, So Forth....

How often have we heard this? For country, God, family, etc, etc. Only that lately, I feel that many of these have become mere tools for us to advance ourselves. Ancient history regales the role of the God-King. Somehow, the man who became king always became the mouthpiece of God because his ears seemed to be able to tune into this special frequency, the chosen frequency.... audio highway to to the furthest reaches beyond the comprehensible. This is instrumental in sealing his position as ruler of his people. After all, if God is for him, who then can be against him. And always, great sacrifice would be required of the people, to appease the gods. The God-King became the High Priest. Sacrifices of humans, animals, harvest, first fruits, they were part of the rituals which reflected the power shifts. And the mortal God-King became empowered, revered.

The mortality of life ensures a degree of unknowns in life. Life can be taken away in a second. Sometimes, I think this unknown creates in us a mix of fear, awe, humility to tamper the arrogance and pride which are so natural to us. And it is also this unknown, perhaps which reminds us of the Creator - the need to rely on something, someone. And I think those are understand this well enough understands too that this can be manipulated to their advantage.

Invoke the name of God, and we can stir people to rise up. Romanticize the lure of afterlife and people willingly give up their lives. Hide behind the authority of God and we get to dictate how lives are run. Use the Word of God and we can give a reason for everything. We call on the name of God for many reasons. But the funny thing is we cannot seem to agree which God is real. Every monotheistic faith claims their God is the true one. And the world has been at loggerheads over this 'yours' and 'mine', to the point of mortal combat and death.

And within the same faith, the same kind of turmoil. We seem be numbed to dumbness sometimes, even when our leaders lead lives which are questionable. A speaker I heard recently commented on a scandal involving a church, that there hasn't been an apology issued. The best and most expensive legal mind have in fact been employed to fight the case in court.... the best that money can buy. Faith that God will see the righteous through???? I guess that's only true for followers... leaders hsve different set of rules.

I think God does not need us to defend Him. Yet we are at arms doing that. At church, in selecting musicians for worship sessions, we select those we think are good enough and leave out those whom we deem not ready. Somehow, the story of Cain and Abel seems to have been conveniently forgotten here. In choosing leaders we look for willing people.... Everyone will give you reasons why. Have we forgotten the reluctant leader in Moses? In choosing people to head various ministries, we look for people whom we think have talents. Have we forgotten Jesus' disciples? We choose the best and brightest because we think there is not much value in the rest.

I came across this in one of the FB postings. Interesting, huh, how an ulama can issue fatwas just like that. Read in between the lines and you realize that we're all taken for suckers. And is this thing really one of those 'demi agama' sentiments? Or this is one of those ploys that plays on the emotions to ensure that the divide between us and them continue to exist. God of love or God of division? A God who sows compassion or one of hatred? And on the same page, Mano's apology.... Not accepted! Gosh! God of forgiveness or God of vindictiveness???

God and politics... When certain men believe they are the divine mouthpieces, havoc!!!! Perhaps halal certification is also required for political parties. Religion for man or God, I wonder????

Might as well just focus on Azizulhani's effort right at the top of the paper! At least that one... It's not hard to feel his disappointment cos that one truly shouldered all our aspirations! A medal at the Olympics!

Lifelong Learning

Life is a journey and one just has to keep learning as we move along. Lifelong learning isn't a new concept. It's a concept as old as Man. I guess somewhere, someone coined it into a word and it has caught on. These days, we talk a lot about lifelong learning, maybe because the comforts of life has made us soft and lazy.

Anyway, in education today we tout lifelong learning as an essential, something that is necessary because everything is changing so fast. I think it's just a illusion. Reading novels about the eras before this one has taught me that lifelong learners have always been around. When I read 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks', I was amazed by how innovative the doctors were. They built their machines and tools from scratch and imagination.

Today, I think it should be the same too, except that knowledge is now available at giddying quantities and speed. But many of us are not bothered about it. Cos we feel we have everything we need. There is less hunger in us these days.

Anyway, continuous education, lifelong learning...they've become easier. Once upon a time, you have to find a master willing to take you in as an apprentice. These days, you need to have an attitude, well not that sort of negative attitude but the sort that quietly propels you to learn and continually improve yourself. And learning has taken on a new dimension with the Net, which is very liberating.

Other Half recently introduced me to this site, Coursera, where you can sign up for courses; all disciplines. A gamut of courses are available and many of them are by professors from very well known universities. I am currently following this course 'An Introduction to Finance' conducted by a professor from the University of Michigan. Because I am a week late, I have decided to just listened to his videos. I won't be participating in the forums or assignments. No certs but this course is giving me an opportunity to learn some basics in Finance. I've done 4 lectures in 2 days and I've found his lectures to be most informative (and entertaining).

I've also signed up for some other courses which will start in a couple of months; World History by a Princeton lecturer, Critical Thinking and Sociology (which I did in uni more than 20 years ago). And I am super sure that all these will be many folds better than anything my school or state department can ever offer me because the facilitators have been downright boring and come across as quite clueless in the subject matter which they should be experts.

Coursera is not the only avenue. The Net has opened up many other possibilities. There are talks one can listen to like those from TED and RSA Animate. You can also try iTunes U which is a great resource. Also, you have forums where you can discuss with like-minded people. There are online articles, ebooks, interactive sites. If you are an occasional space buff like me, there is also NASA you can check out. It has great pictures of everything to do with space! Incidentally, they've just put another Rover called Curiousity onto Mars! I used to show Spirit and Opportunity to my boy and co, trying to spark their imaginations years ago.

You can learn anytime, any place... as long as you are connected to the Net. 8) Apps on tablets have also enabled anyone to learn stuff which needs real expertise.... like astronomy for example. These days, you can just hold your iPad to any location and with the right app, the constellation of that particular location you're pointing at will just pop up onto the screen. The rest is easy because there is Google!

So yeah! I am a lifelong learner, not because I am forced to but because I have an 'attitude'. LOL! But I'm truly amazed by the offerings. I think being a student today is really fun, cos there are so many sources you can look into. The only thing is to drag oneself away from the distractions... also from the Net. And it's a bit sad that our schools aren't preparing our students to be lifelong learners. One of the prerequisites is independence. Spoon fed students make poor lifelong learners cos they need external stimulation and are not internally generated.

A university degree may not mean very much in the future. It's your 'attitude' that will matter more. And to sell that attitude, one needs good communicative skills. So yeah... lifelong learning has been happening from the beginning of humanity. And it just got more complex.

Prius C

I learned about hybrid cars many years ago but back then it was not available here. Protection for our local car has resulted in the government imposing hefty taxes on imported cars. Then when they did become available about 3 years ago, it was prohibitively expensive. Believe it or not, trying to go green in Malaysia is not exactly easy. There are so many taxes in place to protect our local car industry that I feel we are getting the shorter end of the deal. Proton has been around since 1987. For more than 20 years, we've had to pay more for less. And the end doesn't seem to coming....8(

I was convinced even more so to do my part for the environment after listening to Jane Goodall on TED. And 2 years ago, the government announced a temporary tax break for hybrid cars below 2000 cc. This will end in 2013 if no more extension is given or I suspect, if Proton starts producing hybrid or electric cars. Then, early this year, a new but smaller Prius C was launched. A few months ago, I found out that the local Toyota Service Centre is now able to service the car. Before that, the nearest centre was in Penang. We test drove both models and decided to get the smaller Prius.

 

Okay, what I like about the Prius C. It comes with lots of cool stuff. The first which goes without saying is the fuel consumption. One tank easily lasts me for the whole month, and even beyond. No more going to the petrol kiosk every week. Don't like the fumes at the petrol kiosk. Prius C meets the stringent California emission laws too. So I know I am getting more for less. I know the extra paid for the car will never quite make up for the fuel but it's nice to know that I am reducing my carbon footprint. Anyway, I find it amazing that it's 36-litre tank can get me all the way from JB to Alor Setar (almost 800 km)!

The second is the smart key system. It took some getting used to, but to be able to just walk up to the car, open the door, press a button and then start driving is quite, quite convenient. No more rummaging through the pockets or handbag for the key. The car is super silent too. The only way you know that the engine is up and running is the dashboard lights up. There is no familiar roar of the engine. If you listen hard enough, you might just notice a silent whirring sound. The car glides almost very silently under low speeds of below 40 km. If you are on foot, you might just hear the sound of the wheels crunching the gravel on the road. Many a times, I see my students being startled in the morning when they realize that a car was coming up behind them. Lol!

And locking is just as easy. One swipe or touch on the door handle and the car locks. Keyless entry has been around for quite some time but it's usually found in the more expensive cars. We used to eye it in the Nissan Latio 1.8 a few years ago.

The dashboard is cool too. I learn that my driving style is generally quite economical but there is room for improvement. It has all these charts, graphs and information to tell you that you are driving right (or wrong). I find myself trying to improve my scores very often. Driving becomes like a game cos the charts keep score - you get instant gratification. People go for that these days, the instant thingy.

The sound system is good too. And the best thing is I can plug in my iPhone and listen to whatever that I've stored in them. Current flavour is TED. I've learned new stuff like liquid metal batteries, birth control, how an engineer repaired his own heart, releasing creativity, the Arab Spring and even the uniqueness of the tissues that make up a male anatomy. LOL! And they are delivered by the best in the world, MIT professors, thinkers, movers and shakers of the world! I know I will probably be moving on to something else soon but to be able to plug in and learn while I drive. This morning I listened to Jamie Oliver talk about food. Awesome!

Safety wise this small and compact car comes with 7 airbags. So I guess that makes it safer than most cars, The space at the back seats is quite narrow but that should be quite okay with me since most of the time, it's for me to drive to work and to be my gal's driver. BTW, it's silent only when it runs on electric mode. At higher speeds, you hear the engine sounds. It took some getting used to, pressing the Power On button and not hearing the whir of the engine. When you power up, the electric motor kicks in, hence the lack of an engine roar.

The Prius C is a compact car but it's zippy enough. We actually tested its bigger bro, the Prius V but settled on this because we thought the latter felt sluggish, though it comes with even more cool stuff. Price wise there is quite a hefty difference too.

One more thing I learned from the salesman... in towns away from the bigger cities like KL or Penang, Prius C doesn't sell well. It seems people still want size for the amount paid for the car. Spending more for the environment - still a long way to go.