Changes.... by Jim Butcher

8 books for the month of April!

1. The Politician (Andrew Young)
2. Sweet Land Stories (E.L. Doctorow)
3. Nights In Rodanthe (Nicholas Sparks)
4. The Veiled Kingdom (Carmen bin Laden)
5. The River Kings' Road (Liane Merciel)
6. Alex Cross' Trial (James Patterson)
7. House Rules (Jodi Picoult)
8. Changes (James Butcher)

Yoooooohooo!!! Finished my 8th book for the month yesterday. Didn't know this latest one is part of a serial (Dresden files) about the main character, Harry Dresden. I picked it cos it's on the NY Times Best Seller list.

This is another epic fantasy in a modern setting. A fiction where vampires and wizards can be killed by bullets but magic and spells seem the preferred choice in action. It's a story about faerie godmothers with magical powers, knights, retired angels, archangels.... the writer weaves everything imaginable into this book. Very subtle with many twists.

This latest sequel starts with Harry being told by his former love (now half vampire) that he has a child (Maggie). Maggie was kidnapped by the King of the Red Court to be sacrificed in a ritual; a blood curse that will kill all those related to Maggie. That of course meant, Harry would die too. The quest for Maggie was fraught with battles of the supernatural. The story is full of action.... you don't get bored cos something would turned up just as you think things are slowing down.

But a few things I noted... despite having a super duper faerie godmother, Harry realized that brains still play the more important role. There're quite a few other insights which I thought were quite nice but just cannot seem to put them into my own words here.

Personally I'd have reservations about letting my younger kids read this. Too many 'mixes' in the novel; compromise between good and evil, too much gray.

Another Cuti Lembaga....

Today is another Cuti Lembaga.... a day off for my school when other schools were still on. 8) I spent a short time at the gym and did some errands in the morning. Then I went home and slept. Am tired out by the activities of the week and also trying to pull Son away from the computer; his digital world. Trying to pull a kid (he says he's an adult) at that stage from a computer is energy sapping.... 8( The day's highlight was probably this... taking my girl for her swim at the Club. Had a nice time with friend by the pool catching up and watching everyone else. 8)

Been only to school one day this week. Was away for meetings and debate competition. And I missed my school's Speech Day too. 8) A break away from school is always nice... though there might be some overzealous bosses who will go to great lengths to make us feel bad...

It's nice to meet up with teachers from other schools; teachers who share familiarity of sorts. English teachers are usually very noisy (and loud). In a group, sometimes it be quite hillarious! Come to think of it, when I was in uni, the Lit people were usually the loudest at the Dataran where we hung out in between classes.

It's at such times that we compare notes... school stories and tales of 'bitches' and 'witches' which sometimes will leave you in stitches. But it helps us de-stress a bit. So what did I learn? Most schools are on a 'uniform' frenzy.... tis the time of the year when Speech Days are on. Schools are trying to look uniformed! And all kinds of amounts have to be forked out by the teachers... the highest I heard was RM350!!! That in spite and despite the fact that there is nothing in our General Order that says we have to wear uniforms. We are in the crazy business of 'monkey see, monkey do'. Then there are also tales of horrors. There are bosses who feel they own their teachers' lives. Teachers must do their bidding or life becomes miserable at school... that's supposed to strike fear in us! Over the years, I personally feel that the bosses' professionalism are on the downhill...

And I realized this too... I notice that where I am, there seems very few (or perhaps none) HMs who are English optionist even though there are more HMs with Social Sciences background. Guess the Science people are too 'kayu' to make a successful climb up. No oratory skills to help them kelentong. And also maybe one reason also why schools are getting so many frills every where now... the feminization and 'artistic' bent. I think there is a difference.....

Pulut Udang

... or coconut shrimp rolled in glutinous rice, grilled, wrapped in banana leaf. Guess how much the bag below cost?

There are 10 pulut udang(s) inside. RM3.00! Lelong price! I think usually it's priced at 40 sen. This is Alor Setar, city with kampung prices for the kuih(s); where you still pay 30-40 sen for a pulut udang and one of the reason I think it's a good place to live. These were bought Jln Sultanah Sambungan, near the traffic lights just before the furniture shop, Classy Glory. Further down the same road is TESCO Alor Setar.

If you want to have a bite of local kuih and desserts in the afternoon, head for Pak Leman's kuih truck, now found at Jln Sultanah; right outside Sanusi Junid's house, quite empty from the looks of it... the house, I mean.

This was the original site from where he operated until Sanusi became MB. Then for security reasons, he was asked to move. So to Jln Tun Razak he went, just a short distance away from the Fire Station. That was until last year. This pakcik who has a valid hawker's license was asked to vacate his Jln Tun Razak location because the other traders who had set up stalls there left their rubbish behind. He's law abiding, and he still kena.

People complained and the MBAS came and chased them away. I feel sorry for this pakcik. He has a stern face but if you get to know him, he's actually quite a nice man. His kuih(s) are good and cheap! My boy likes his curry puffs and cucur udang. My favourite is the tepung talam, one of the nicer ones around.

Anyway, this Alor Setar where kuih(s) still come cheap!

1Malaysia and Parliamentary Debate

It's debate season now. One of the requirements for any team to take part in a Parliamentary Debate is one of the 3 main speakers on each team must be a Bumiputera. BTW, Parliamentary Debate is for upper secondary school students. It's a souped up version of the old style debate with more oomph and kick. And it's good exercise for the gray matters too! 8)

And last I checked, our PM was still with his 1Malaysia thingy... So where is this 1Malaysia in a competition like this? Is he so far ahead that the rest of the gahmen institutions have yet to digest his call?

And there'll be lots of yadda, yadda, yadda...must give chance-lah, Malays not good in English-lah; plenty of reasons will continue to roll as to why special clauses are needed. I should think that the standard of English among the majority of students regardless of race is roughly the same now. Thanks to our short sightedness and the always-seems-to-be-under-siege gahmen... who always seem to feel the National Language is in danger of losing its importance! It shouldn't matter whether you have all non-Bumis or all Bumis in one debating team. Cos sometimes you also do get an all-Bumi team which can be quite mengancam.

So, 1Malaysia.... it's just one laughable PR exercise for the gullible. A lot of things are still in the 2 or 3Malaysia mode. Once you see real effort in dismantling the race-based-everything under our blue Malaysian sky, only then the PR exercise becomes for real. Anyway, what's all this protection going to do for the protected ones as the world becomes smaller? Sure they'll seem successful on the outside (or as long favours and privileges continue to swing towards them) but a couple of traits will become their baggage. For one, they will not be able to 'jiak-kor' (that's Hokkien for standing up to tough times). They miss out on the adage tough times don't last, tough people do thingy. Or tough times come, they go running to the Atuk! Just like my kid who comes running to us to solve his problems cos we shield him too much. Two, they won't be competent enough to compete... I could yadda, yadda some more but this is an old tale, 30 years old this year.

But the main thing is it's just not right! Fairness, Justice, Righteouness, Ethics... all the good moral values that we keep teaching our kids via religious classes and moral studies seem kinda twisted in our environment. It's like this Parliamentary Debate thing... each team is forced to have a Bumi speaker... I wonder if it's the other way around... do they also make it compulsory to have a non-Bumi speaker for debates in Bahasa Malaysia? I thought the PM's been hyping about 1Malaysia? Best to just do away with all this nonsense and start teaching our kids to go by meritocracy....

We are teaching our kids that we go by majority (that's cool)... but ours is the skewed type of majority, the bully-type of majority... in Hokkien, we say 'pau-yar' (sure-win). So, if every time we pray, we beseech to God Almighty who is supposed to be fair and just, merciful, etc, etc... and then in practice we get the impression that it's 1Fairness (justice) but 2 standards that we experience. Hmmmm, God of 2 standards??? You wonder. You see, almost everyday I'd listen in to some prayers... we are a very religious nation.... and somehow, after some time I begin to question the sincerity of their faith.... Well all this Parliamentary Debate thingy sort of just opened up this floodgates of thoughts....

BTW, this year is another new experience... I helped and 'kay-poh' with a friend's students. This time it's Keat Hwa. Over the years, I've lent my gray cells to my friends' kids who seemed to think that nestled among the crevices of my gray cells are goodies they can use.... So this year, it was for a friend's students. I enjoyed working with them; it was fun to see their enthusiasm. It was actually quite gratifying to see light bulbs going on in their eyes as they picked up steam in the prep process... that's what such activities are supposed to do for them. And it was extremely nice to see the two girls I was coaching scale up that steep learning curve with such determination and one of them did real good too.

This is the other side of education which I enjoy tremendously... the mugging part is over-rated; with its results being very hardworking and tenacious (the good thing) and rigid and self-centred (the not good thing). The prodding of the mind to be more critical in a constructive way, the challenge to understand the world around us (not just the little coconut we're in)... I think those are things which should hold equal importance to us.... and parliamentary debate is a small step towards the creation of that awareness. After all our world now is a world of adjectives... creative, sharper minds. Information?? It's very senang to get. It's such adjectives like critical, discerning, forward-looking, creative, that will separate the boys from the men, girls from the women! And our education system is not working much on those adjectives.... cos it feels like we're still at the noun stage...

House Rules... by Jodi Picoult

No 17. And I am extending my target to 25 from 20 this year.

Another repeat author. The other book by the same author I read was Keeping Faith. This is a mystery novel with an Asperger's Syndromme twist, and that's what kept me glued. The plot of the novel is actually quite thin with an ending that is quite an anti-climax. The mystery was solved way before you get to the end. But the Asperger's description was very educational.

The character of Jacob, the just turned 18 character with Asperger's Syndromme was the reason for my continued interest. It's well researched though he seems to display many of its traits to extremities. But then again, if it's not the book would not have the drama intended.

In a nutshell, Emma (his mom) is a single mom who takes care of him and bro, Theo who is 3 years younger and normal. Father bolted after his diagnosis. Why is it that in the novels, men are the ones who usually bolt and the women the ones who seem to be the one sacrificing? Then the 'murder' of Jess Ogilvy, his tutor for social skills and the courtroom drama that follows.

I minored in Special Education for my Diploma in Education, because I was inspired by Kamal, a blind post-grad student whom I used to read to and bring around to do his research during my undergrad days. So in my Dip Ed, all my non-compulsory slots were taken up by Special Ed papers... from both end of the spectrum; from gifted to special needs. It meant a heavier work load but I signed up anyway cos I had a friend who did the same..... peer 'pressure'. LOL! But it was a very good experience. My world got a little bigger and in the process I became a little smaller.

From there my lecturers exposed us to the various special needs children... kinda explains why I like the book. Back in those days, Asperger's Syndromme was non existence. Autism was. I remember visiting a centre for such special needs kids and somehow, this image of a teenage boy sitting under the table and rocking himself non-stop the whole time I was there got stuck in my mind. Even now, that's the thing I remember first of that particular visit. He was autistic. Even then, we learned autistic people experience sensory overload.... bright colours, loud noises affect them in a way that overwhelms them. My coursemate who did a case study (we had to do a case study each) on autism told of tales of really cute children who seemed so adorable yet distant... physically there but not really there!

Asperger's Syndromme is actually a diagnosis for high functioning autism. And some are brilliant. When Rain Man hit the cinemas, the term used for brilliant autistic people was idiot savant... they are brilliant in a field but a total 'social failure' in our world. And more boys are afflicted with this than girls... Asperger's on the other end of the spectrum and within it exists another spectrum.

But I think they are many Aspies among us, the high functioning ones who can fit into the society but with some awkwardness. Silicon Valley probably has more Aspies... diagnosed and undiagnosed than other places. Their brilliance... you've got to have certain traits to be a geek...

I find the many descriptions very familiar sometimes too.... of Jacob lining up his toy cars in straight lines on the floor, of him taking things literally... in one scene, the lawyer asked him what he understood by waiving his rights... he took up his hand and started waving it like a metronome... literal understanding. Yet when asked about rights he could recite word for word... how many of us have kids who exhibit some of these behaviours. There are kids who don't seem able to pick up the subtleties in a situation. There are also kids who just cannot seem to comprehend that... no matter how many ways you try to put it to them. I think for me as a parent and teacher, to be able to indentify kids with such traits might go some way in dealing with them.

As for my case study for my Special Ed, I opted for a spastic girl. She also was afflicted with hydrocephaly, a condition where the fluids build up in the brain area and compresses it. It was quite an experience for me to listen to her pump kicked in to drain the fluids from her brain to her stomach. The whirring sound from her ear was very unsettling the first time. I spent many hours with her both at the Centre and home. I continued going to see her even after I was done with my report. I've one thing to say about those teachers who work at such centres, it takes a lot of compassion and love. You've got to love the kids and have loads and loads of patience.

My case study was 7 then. Sharinna was her name and I still think of her sometimes, wondering whether she is still around. Kids with her condition are not expected to live long. Too many things can go wrong. I never did go into special ed.... didn't think I could do it cos it was just too heartbreaking often times.... House Rules, it's an educational read but do it with some pinches of salt. 8)

PLKN Revisited...

Went to visit Son again over the weekend, even though he is due for his semester break tomorrow...

For parents who worry for their children attending PLKN, it's actually not bad-lah. Consider this... for the first time in years my son's BMI has fallen within the normal range. He says one of his friends put on over 10 kilos! Actually, I can't ever remember him being ever in the normal range, being a picky eater and all that. Now he tells us he is hungry all the time. Not that they don't eat enough. They are fed 6 times a day! All the outdoor activities seem to have done him good. He's tanned and actually looks so much better.

And for the first time too he observes that the 'abnormal' people at camp just don't seem to understand the need to be obedient, even after repeated 'punishments'. As a result they've had many of their privileges removed. Theirs was one of the few camps where handphones were allowed. But that went after the 2nd week cos some of them couldn't stop texting even during lectures! And that repeated offences have increased their marching frequencies from 2 to 6 times daily! LOL! We told him, we too had to put up with his 'abnormality' that he observed among his PLKN mates. Nothing like real life experience as the teacher.

He reads his BM papers now, he says cos there is nothing else much for him to do. He has reread the 2 novels he brought with him thrice! That's super cool! Cool not because BM papers provide balanced news... Cool is because he is doing it because he sees that he needs to.... plus the fact that there is nothing else to do. I think our papers like Berita Harian and Utusan suck at news reporting.... kinda speaks volume the kind of journalists they have. One must have a little bit of time sometimes to force one into doing some reflection.... 8)

And frankly speaking, it was actually nice to be able to sit down with him for a whole hour and have a real conversation about his future.... that would not have been possible at home with the computers taking up his attention as well as time..... Oh yes! He plays football there too... All the staying at home, with the computer there ever to distract, a kid actually narrows his world to that realm of the digital world that eats them up...

So, yes! PLKN does have its pros... it helps to bring their little feet a little closer to earth. The cons still need some addressing that's for sure. But there is good that one cannot deny too.

Latihan Dalam Perkhidmatan

Can't remember when this was implemented but it's within the last 2-3 years. In an effort to maintain our professionalism and also keep us up-to-date, every teacher has to go for 7 days of courses... well, that's for the first year. In order to ensure that everyone could meet that 7 day target, schools had to conduct in-house training. It was a problem for many schools cos to do that we need people to conduct. But there was no problem of allocations...

By the second year, they made some amendments. Meetings were counted too as part of the 7-day thing. Still, some people found it hard to meet the 7 day requirement. And the gahmen was in the midst of another economic crunch.... but allocations were still rolling in...

This year, they changed the 7 day course/meeting thing to reviews for 7 books! Obviously the allocations have run dry! We hear of allocation trimming every where. Anyway, we've been told that the 7 books must be 'academic' or professional books. LOL! I can already forsee many loopholes. With the internet, there is actually no need to read. Just google reviews of the academic books 'you want to review' and you can cedok here and there and cook up your own. 7 synopsis shouldn't be too difficult. 8)

Anyway, perhaps the gahmen should consider making sure teachers remain competent by having a licensing or competency board, every few years go for some assesment or produce something that is quantifiable. Maybe that might do a thing or two to weed out the incompetent teachers or keep them on their toes...

And there is also nothing to prevent those who are more 'industrious' to do some business on the sideline. Compile book reviews in 7s and sell them! Nobody's going to know who did it! Or do exchange with friends from other schools.

We're trying to encourage people to read... and failing quite miserably at it. Teachers are to encourage students to read; but teachers themselves don't read save for the newspapers. Some teachers don't even read the papers! Plagiarism, anyone? LOL!