Valentine's Day

An Ustazah came out (it's in YouTube) and said that Valentine's Day is a day of maksiat, disco, couple bersunyi-sunyian etc, etc.... plus it's the traditions of the Christians. Read around and it's likely to find even more such statements from these narrow-minded 'religious' people... How is it that these pemikiran sempit people never get it that it is not in any religion's teaching for their believers to encourage wrong and maksiat definitely falls into that category.

Lots of religious people in our country are more interested in the do(s) and don't(s) of the narrow kind. And because Islam is politicized in Malaysia, it becomes a tool to sow seeds of distrust and suspicion. Many years ago, I was at the back of a class (there was a partition and sometimes the teacher would not know that another teacher was behind) when I heard an Ustazah teaching the students not to accept anything if they go to a non-Muslim's house.... the haram and halal thing. In Malaysia today, I think majority knows the food taboos of the Muslims... and also one more thing I'd like to note. I thought the Quran teaches its believers that what is given in good faith, the onus is not on the one who receives, it's on the one who gives. I'm sure they know their God is a compassionate God... yet they do not teach such things. They teach them only the do(s) and don't(s). And so, suspicion creeps in!

Sometimes I think they carry this too far... the air we breathe, pigs breathe them too. The water we drink, it's also recycled, water is a limited resource, remember? It goes in, gets filtered but these days with the environment so badly polluted, be my guess whether the filtration process is really clean... the water that comes out from our taps is yellow with lots of heavy sediments... LOL! Unless you kill all the pigs and boars into oblivion. But I could think of dozen other things which do us more harm than just pork. Makes me wonder whether God made a mistake creating the pigs.....

Anyway, back to Valentine's Day... Take a walk back into history.... in the old days, marriages were pretty much arranged by their elders. When a boy or a girl came of age, they'd be arranged into marriage.... I guess it was probably to kurangkan the maksiat since human beings are sexual creatures too...

Valentine's Day is just a day for people to 'commemorate' their love (and it's not necessarily the sexual kind) or infatuation .... over the centuries it has become something like an avenue for young people to let the one they admire that they've a secret admirer or for couples to affirm their love, etc, etc... It's just another one of those 'celebrations' for a reason, and very commercial too cos there are mega bucks involved. All the flowers and teddy bears (this year for the Chinese, it'll be the rabbits) that fly out from the nurseries and off the shelves... it's good for the economy. LOL!

We can never stop the young (or the old for that matter) to want to feel loved or to love. It's what makes us different from the other creatures. Anyway, I believe if the people want to commit maksiat, they'd still do it with or without Valentine's Day. Blaming Valentine's Day as a celebration that brings about maksiat goes to show how out of modal (capital) some people can be... many years ago, when I was in the university, there used to be a joke that we can never tell whether those girls who pakai jubah were pregnant or not... now will this same ustazah say that the jubah is a reason for maksiat too since it also can hide the consequences of maksiat??? That's me thinking narrowly now....

And go read up some of the tales about the origins of Valentine's Day... sacrifice and love were the themes... not the maksiat. The maksiat thing is our own doing, don't blame it on one day like the Valentine's Day.

BTW... I'm not such a big fan of Valentine's Day myself these days. It's way too commercialized. Everyday should be a Valentine's Day, if I have my way. He! He! Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day!

The Confession... by John Grisham

Have not read a Grisham book for quite a while. Other books by him which I've read include The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Partner, The Runaway Jury.... just to name a few that I can remember.

Like the rest of his books which I have, this one also has something to do with the law. And it doesn't quite end with a happy ending. Well, wrong were righted in the end, but not after great losses.

A kid gets arrested for murder. Corrupt officials wanting to see a quick resolution use all means to get a confession. He gets the death sentence. After 9 years on the death row, he dies after lethal injections were administered. Meanwhile, the real murderer confesses at the last minute, televised publicly. But officials think it was a nutcase vying for cheap publicity. So all the institutions which were put in place to ensure 'right' is carried out fail to right the wrong, not even in giving more time to clear the claim. And an innocent man went to his death....

We read about a State Governor who is more concerned about his ratings than show mercy, what more with a probable doubt. We see courts made up of judges who are more concerned about their golf rounds than see that a stay is given since there were probable reasons for doubt. And when they fail, we read about the government officials failing to be the check and balance. We also see court officials who are more interested to conclude a case because of their racial bias. And so a young innocent man who lost his youth to the system dies.

As in real life, innocence does not guarantee an absolution or exoneration. The system often fails us because it is made up of people. Our institutions are often formed with noble aims but the executors very often get carried way by the power and wealth after some time.

And in real life, that happens a lot... justice may prevail but sometimes it takes a long turn and time. Sometimes you don't get to see it prevail at all. The innocent often have to suffer. This read brings out more feelings of disappointment than anything but I feel it's a close reflection to how the world operates.

Recently a friend of mine was involved in an accident. She made all the necessary reports as she needed to get the copies for insurance claim so that repairs can be made. The Sergeant in charge told her that things would be faster if she were to send her car to the workshop he recommended than the one she wanted to send.... I find it strange and can't but wonder whether I smell rat here. Cos, it shouldn't matter where she wants to send her car for repair. The police officer's job is just to take the report and complete it within a certain time... which I think would be clearly stated in their work process documents. Now she is being told that it might take 2 weeks or maybe even longer.... now isn't this an indication that our institution is not functioning as it should. Now I wonder whether this Sergeant has been entrenched there so long that he feels he can dictate where accident victims must send their vehicles for repair....

Oh one more thing! Hosni Mubarak is finally out after 30 years as President of Egypt with a fortune worth about USD40 - 70 billion!!!! I wonder what of our rich tycoon politician in Bumi Kenyalang with his recently acquired young wifey....

Book 6... a real novel after a few 'pseudo' ones.. 8)

New Deal....

A total of 924 school heads have been shortlisted to receive the "New Deals' cash incentives promised under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP). And how much would these heads be getting??? Well, RM7500. Additionally 5% of the top teachers from these schools who have improved beyond expectations will receive RM1800 while the rest will get RM900 each.

I think this it's all skewed. Why reward the Principals more? It's the teachers who do all the hard work. The cash incentives should be the same... it takes a team to improve a school. After all, Principals only teach 5 periods a week. They spend a lot of their time attending meetings. And very often they take the easiest class or subjects to teach! Many of them are lousy teachers themselves. Also, in many schools Principals teach on paper only cos they get other teachers to go into their classes.

What this New Deal is going to do is many Principals will chase the teachers for paperwork while they sit in their air-conditioned offices (some with personal attached bathrooms). It's hard to see a HM walking round the school all the time checking on classes on a really regular basis..... you might see them once in a while but the walks around the school seem to tire them or give them knee pains. There'll be more forms to fill for sure, more meetings to hold so that there'll be more record of work done, more show of everything so that effort is seen.

New Deals... somehow every programme hatched with noble intentions inadvertently saddle us with more paperwork and bog us down...... teaching is not made up of people with noble hearts even though it is a noble profession.

Much Ado About Nothing...

ASTRO finally cut off my transmission and yesterday, one of their bill collectors (I presume) called me to ask me to pay the necessary to reconnect. I've always been a prompt payor, always paying 3 months in advance for the past one year. So when the bill collector talked to me in an intimidating tone that I should pay, I sort of flipped.

I told him I always pay in advance and this is the first time that I've missed payments. His answer was my last payment was in September.... he kept implying that I've not paid for the last 4 months. Yup! My last payment was in September but I was paying for the ensuing months too! All he saw was just 'the last payment date'. If at all, it would have cost them next to nothing just to check my payment records. Anyway, after much ramblings I said goodbye to the caller at the other end.... and I am quitting ASTRO! 8) Been entertaining that thought for a couple months actually. LOL!

And then Nissan. My car window got smashed by some good-for-nothing petty thief and after 3 days of being given a runaround by Tan Chong & Sons (their spare parts section), I had just about enough. So I called up their Careline and told them that it's actually quite inexcusable for their Service Centre not to stock something like a car window.... The reason they gave was their transport service would only begin this Friday, hence I would most likely only get my window replaced next week. Suffice to say, I told the lady manning their Careline that if that's the level of service that I can expect from them, this would be my last Nissan car too. Thank God that we don't have monopolies for cars!

Nissan Careline (KL) was more proactive, at least... Half an hour after our conversation, they called me up and told me that they would send by courier and should be here by today. Well, at least that cooled me down somewhat.

Service... good service. We talk about it all the time. A lot of it is glossy on the outside really. Good service still comes with a lot personal involvement. These days, we have nice packaging, nice sounding slogans, posters, etc, etc... but really good service is still a little harder to come by.

This morning, the whole school had to come to a standstill to listen to the Minister of Education give a speech.... what sheer waste of time. So students sat in the assembly area, in classes and labs to listen. Even the kids can mumble to themselves that 'election is in the air!' This being the subtle seeping of politics into the education system. Here's a good piece by Zairil Khir Johari on Freeing Education From Politics.

After 6 years...

In an English lesson....

"This is my book. This book is mine."

A Form 1 boy repeated it a couple of times.. and then looked up to the teacher and said, "Eh! Sedap bunyinya, ya, Teacher?" He liked the sound but didn't understand what it meant!!!

Going through students' written work, I find sentences chopped half, left dangling, as though their mind wandered off somewhere in the midst of copying them down into their books. I hauled a student up and made him do his corrections. The same 'chopped' sentences appear, even though I had painstakingly written down the sentences. He is hauled up again and made to do his corrections yet another time. This time, he gets the answer wrong but the sentence is complete.

Yet another girl makes a mistake in her corrections. I write down the answer and make her do her corrections again. Second time around, the answer is still wrong... so it's back to the correction board again... And finally after 3 rounds of corrections she got it right.

I notice that my Form 1 students tend to complete their work for the sake of completing it... blind copying; there is no or very little effort to understand their error. 6 years down the road after primary schooling, English comprehension is deplorable. We are hardly shaping them the right way for shipping into the real world.

When we moved up to secondary schools long time ago, our work habits were more or less set by the primary school teachers. I notice different patterns from students of different primary schools and I am convinced that the kind of Form 1 students we get also reflects the kind of 'training' or 'work habits' they were instilled with. And it goes back to a great extent, their primary school teachers....

CNY 2011

It's still CNY cos CNY is supposed to last for 15 days and today is just the 5th day. There're 10 more days to go. But for most of us, those days that really count are the New Year's eve and the first few days. Cos New Year's Eve is when the whole family from far and near gather together.

And this year, I got to celebrate CNY with my bros, something that I've not done for a long, long time. I think it meant a lot to my parents. Would have been perfect if my sis could make it. My gal had a whale of a time... with cousins from both sides.

I also met up with some of the guys in my year, many whom I've not seen for ages, some since Form 5. One was Victor. We were together for tuition under my dad at KL's place where we'd purposely go earlier so that we could play together... hide and seek being one of the games. We'd climb up to the roof, go into the huge longkang.... wonderful memories I have of those 2 years! ...of the whole wall of books at KL's place which used to mesmerize me! And oh! The space! Of Audrey, whom we teasingly called Speedy Gonzales cos she was so fast on her feet and of Jean whom I'm still in contact today.

The whole bunch of us bumped into Mr. & Mrs. Tay with their children at the restaurant. She's 81 this year. And it's amazing how all of us jumped to our feet when she came in, the deference and fondness we share for her. Many of our lives were touched by this amazing lady one way or the other. Her tireless, unending commitment to the young people through her work in the IMYF.... many owe what we've become to her. There's an African saying that it takes a whole village to raise good kids... she epitomizes the effort of the village. The humility she shows despite their social standing.... At 81 she is still serving God. I could think of a few of my bosses whom I'd not pay a second glance should I bump into them.... the arrogance they display.

I met up too with Jean, Yu Lin and Chin. It's always difficult to meet up with the 'girls'... but we had a good time, hanging out for a late breakfast and catching up. It's nice to share that sort of familiarity that only old friends provide... like the old comfy bolster. We visited Chin's mom too....

Time with family members, friends.... a reminder that our days on earth are limited too cos when we get together with friends who grew up with us, there are lots that we share. We watch each other's parents grow old, we see our kids gain inches over us. We hear of friends leaving us.... We empathize for each other in a deeper way... Life's cycle visits us at almost the same time....

Also the sights and sounds associated with CNY.... this year, the kids had a time of their lives watching the fireworks display. The sky was dotted with flashes of fireworks and lighted lanterns. Other Half and Son think that Tangled had something to do with the more than usual lanterns in the sky. We also took them to the fun fair. There were a lot of firsts for my gal at the fair. 8)

There were also some unpleasant moments... as always when there are meetings of people. But as long as the communication channels are opened, as long as there is willingness, there is always hope to move forward. Another one was my boss who refused to take the eve off, till she attended a meeting and realized most if not all schools were taking one day off. So at the eleventh hour, we took off too. But the opportunity for goodwill was lost...

One more was when our car window was smashed by a petty thief at church.... of all places! I find myself wanting to curse the perpetrator to a miserable existence. The window can be replaced but the inconvenience.... *sigh* But then again, perhaps we'd be moved to take more safety precautions after this. It's a bit difficult to make any headway with the leaders sometimes.....

So like all other celebrations.. meaning during CNY comes when there is meeting of lives and like the dessert above we had, they sweeten our lives. And this year, I'm glad that I was able to meet up with some more old friends. 8)

C for Corpse... by Sue Grafton

Book 5... the corpse in the book becomes the 'main character' only at the end of the story, where an old gun used in an old murder case was cleverly hidden in it. As usual, the main character of the novel, Kinsey triumphed, but not after some heart stopping moments. But then again, heart stopping moments don't quite stop hearts in series like this when you know the heroine won't die. She might get hurt but she won't die..... another one of the alphabet series by Grafton. An enjoyable read!

Book 6... The Big Four. Now this is an old book from the past. I can't recall whether I've read it cos I never did complete the Agatha Christie's Poirot series. But this was a nice enough book, the old spy thriller type.

So 'short' books for numbers 5 and 6, light reading for a busy time of the year.